Leave a comment

“I’m starting the stream now—”
“O-okay…!”

I sat up straight in the chair Ibuki had set up for me in her workroom, responding stiffly.

The two monitors in front of me were displaying screens I couldn’t make heads or tails of, but judging by the setup, they were probably programs for streaming. When Ibuki clicked the “Start Streaming” button with practiced ease, a cute-looking waiting screen began to move.

A sleepy-looking blue-haired girl on screen seemed to be moving in sync with Ibuki. When Ibuki blinked, the girl’s eyes blinked too. I couldn’t help but be impressed by the mysterious technical wizardry behind it all.

“I’m turning on the mic.”
“Okay…!”

Ibuki might’ve been used to this, doing it all the time, but for me, this was the first time in my life I’d ever spoken into a mic like this. My naturally nervous personality didn’t help either—I was sure my voice would be trembling from the very first word.

“Heey, kon-yuiii!¹”

I had read through the simple guide Ibuki’s manager had put together, and Ibuki herself had gone over the dos and don’ts with me, so I figured I’d be okay…

*: kon-yuiii*
*: If the stream’s starting, then that must mean…!!*

The viewers returned Ibuki’s greeting in the chat.

“Thanks for letting me take a day off yesterday! So then—do you guys know why I’m streaming today?”

The viewer count started ticking up at an incredible pace, and I already felt like backing out.

*: No way…!*
*: Is she finally proving the childhood friend isn’t imaginary?!*

“That’s exactly right!”

With noticeably higher energy than usual—probably about twenty percent more—I was given a look by Ibuki, urging me to introduce myself.

Since I couldn’t go around saying my real name on stream, I just read the prewritten script Ibuki had come up with for me.

“U-Um… nice to meet you. I’m Yui’s childhood friend and her, um… girlfriend. Thanks for having me…!”

Apparently, Ibuki went by the name “Yui” when she streamed. When I asked about the name’s origin, she said it came from combining the “i” in Ibuki and the “yu” in Yukino—which, yeah, sounded exactly like something Ibuki would come up with. Simple and very her.

“This girl’s Yuki-chan. She’s my wife, so no falling in love with her, got it?”
“I’m not your wife yet.”

Apparently, Ibuki had spent some time debating what name to use for me on stream, but in the end, she just lazily took the first characters of Yukino and settled on Yuki. It felt practically the same as my real name, but since I didn’t plan on appearing on stream all that often, I figured it was fine and didn’t think too hard about it. Besides, with how unremarkable my voice was, even if someone I knew happened to watch, they probably wouldn’t recognize me.

*: Not your wife yet, huh. Yet.*
*: From childhood friend → stand-in wife→ official girlfriend… the next step’s just around the corner*
*: Yuki-sama, got it.*
*: Pretty sure we’re all still gonna call her “the wife” like usual, though*

As the comments kept flying by, I was taken aback by how many people were calling me Ibuki’s wife or spouse. It was true that I’d already been officially made her wife without even knowing it.

“Alrighty then, let’s get to the questions we collected ahead of time. I want everyone to get to know my lovely wife even better!”

Ibuki had taken full responsibility for the stream content, and thankfully it wasn’t a game or something I wouldn’t be able to help with—instead, it was a Q&A segment. Just answering questions was something I could probably handle. Plus, Ibuki and her manager had apparently already screened and selected the questions, so there shouldn’t be anything too weird in there. Though for some reason, when I offered to help, they both turned me down.

“Let’s start with the first question.”
“I-I’ll do my best…!”

The first question popped up clearly on the screen in front of us—and I nearly groaned out loud.

“Welp, there it is. Yuki-chan’s three sizes, please!”
“What kind of question is that?!”

They were supposed to have filtered out any inappropriate questions, but I never expected something like this to come up right at the start. Ibuki was staring at me with an excited glint in her eyes, and the chat was buzzing with amused comments.

“I’m not answering that! Absolutely not!”
“Aww, too bad, everyone~ You heard her. I mean, I kinda know just from how she feels when I touch her, but I’m not telling you either.”

I refused to be humiliated so easily, and flat-out rejected the question. Ibuki at least held back from actually saying any numbers, which was a relief—but when she noticed how visibly relieved I looked, she gave me this mischievous little grin and opened her mouth to keep going.

*: You touch her regularly!?!*
*: Don’t you think it’s unfair to keep her all to yourself?*

“If I had to describe it just a little, I’d say… she’s slim all around. It’s like, *sliiide*, top to bottom.”
“You don’t have to say that!”

Just when I thought I might get away without having to answer, she went and revealed my figure anyway.

*: Well, that’s valuable intel.*
*: Much appreciated.*

“But you know, she’s actually really soft when you hug her. She makes the best cuddle pillow at night.”
“Stop talking! I said stop talking already!”

Only a few minutes had passed since the stream started, and Ibuki was already out here boasting about my body like it was nothing. Combined with my already-nervous nature, I felt like my entire body was burning up with embarrassment.

“I got scolded, so let’s move on to the next question~”
“Please make it a normal one this time…”

I tilted my head at the next question. What was this “A, B, C” stuff supposed to mean?

“We’re still at A.”

*: Ohh.*
*: Hmmm*
*: Surprisingly pure*

It seemed like both Ibuki and the viewers understood what that meant. I felt like I was the only one left out. Maybe “A” referred to cleanliness, or something about being innocent?

“Yuki-chan’s just too pure, so we’re stuck at A. The moment things heat up even a little, she turns bright red and practically faints.”

*: Haaah… I could tell just from her voice. She’s genuinely wholesome*
*: I love this. Absolutely love it*

“…Hey, what does ABC even mean?”

Even though I’d been listening the whole time, the way people were talking made me start to suspect this “ABC” stuff had a… less-than-innocent meaning. Saying we stopped at “A” because I turn red and pass out—it sounded almost like they were describing what happened in bed last night or something…

“Hmmm. It might be more fun if you just don’t know. I’ll tell you once we make it to C, okay?”
“I do kind of get it now! Honestly… what kind of questions are these…²”

Now I finally understood why I hadn’t been allowed to help pick out the questions. They’d deliberately gathered all these embarrassing ones just to watch me turn red and squirm. The proof was written all over Ibuki’s face—she was grinning even more than usual, clearly enjoying every second of it. The rest of the questions were more of the same.

Ordinarily, I would’ve wanted to scold Ibuki for this, but… seeing how genuinely happy she looked while streaming, just this once, I decided to let it slide.

1. TLN: It’s like a mix of konnichiwa and Yui (her vtuber name).
2. TLN: You probably guessed it, but “ABCs of romance” refers to the steps in a sexual relationship. A = you just kiss and stuff; B = engage more physically (ie non-penetrative sex); C = Sex.

Support Us

Unlock Early Access ------- Select Project ------- Project Gender Bender Project Necro ∴ Support your favorite series and unlock chapters before the public release.