The Nine-Step Slay

In an instant, the fear lurking in the darkness, like a hound that has spotted a wild rabbit, barked madly and pounced on us.

In that moment, I didn’t even know whether to move the camera over to let my viewers see the pair of eyeballs, or, out of consideration for their mental health, to never let the contents of the trash can appear in their field of vision. And to be honest, if I really did film the eyeballs, I couldn’t be sure if my stream would be shut down because of it.

Exusiai’s hand, holding mine, tightened. It was clear that she too had been shocked by the pair of eyeballs.

Thinking about how she had comforted me earlier, I felt that perhaps I should comfort her in return. So, I clumsily took a step in front of her, wrapped my arms around her slender, soft waist, and buried my head in her humble embrace.

Eh?

Did I do something wrong??

I was clearly trying to comfort her. Shouldn’t I have pulled her into my arms? What’s with this situation where I’m so naturally burying myself in her embrace?!

I think this definitely isn’t my fault. I’ve lived for so many years and have never done anything so embarrassing! …No, wait, if I have to be specific, there is one thing that’s even more embarrassing than this. It happened a while ago. I don’t know which wire in my brain got tied into a bow, but I subconsciously called out “Mom” to the girl I liked and had just failed to confess to. If she had ignored it then, it would have been fine. But what I remember most vividly is that she actually replied with a beaming “Yes!”.

That was the most shameful moment of my life, bar none. And this current situation, where I was trying to comfort someone but ended up burying my head in their embrace, I would call it the second!

Feeling me bury myself in her embrace, Exusiai was also stunned for a moment. But the divine art of picking up girls that she had been cultivating since kindergarten made her naturally raise her hands, wrap them around my arms from both sides, and pull me into her embrace.

Her moist breath tickled my ear. “Kiriko-chan, are you trying to comfort me?~”

…You could even guess that??

I couldn’t help but marvel at how good Exusiai was at understanding a girl’s psychology. But on second thought, I realized that I wasn’t a girl.

This guy… has she even studied the psychology of men?!

Truly terrifying!

As for my psychology having some commonalities with a girl’s, that’s—completely impossible!

In response to her soft inquiry, I nodded. Because my head was buried in her embrace, when I nodded, my face, nose, and lips brushed and squeezed against that delicious lump and caused it to change shape.

I heard Exusiai continue to speak with the warm, delicate airflow from her throat. “If Kiriko-chan wants to comfort me, how about giving me a little mua~?”

Does mua~ mean a kiss?

Having been roommates with this guy for so long, I was very clear about her step-by-step, frog-in-boiling-water seduction routine. It starts with simple physical contact. Once the girl gets used to it, she starts holding hands. Once holding hands becomes normal, it’s time for hugs. After soaking up the hugs, she can kiss their little mouths. Step by step, like boiling a frog in warm water, she makes the girl fall for her without even realizing it.

If I really kissed her now, it would be the first step of the frog-in-boiling-water process.

Eh? Wait a minute… kissing her doesn’t seem to be the first step of the frog-in-boiling-water process, does it?!

Isn’t this already the fourth step??

I recalled the short time since my transformation and realized that I had already gone through the first step of simple contact, the second step of holding hands, the third step of hugging…

…And only now, at the fourth step, did I finally realize?!

This guy had already, without me even knowing, pulled me into the fourth step of her “Nine-Step Slay”?!

Truly…

…terrifying!

However—you might be making a huge profit from this move, but I’m definitely not losing out!!

Considering that we were still live and also in a haunted place, I tilted my head up, breathing in her breath, and said softly, “We’re still live, let’s save it for next time,” then rubbed against her embrace and left.

Leaving her warm embrace, it really did feel a little cold.

I looked at my phone. The comments in the stream were going crazy:

[What’s in the trash can, let us see too!]

[Making it so scary and not letting us see what it is, I’m dying of frustration] 

[You have the guts to gasp in fear, but you don’t have the guts to let us see what it is?!]

[All of you, stop talking big. If you were streaming there, you probably would have thrown your phone and run away long ago. The streamer is already super brave.] 

[Don’t… don’t film the trash can! I’ve been holding it in and don’t dare to go to the bathroom. What if I get so scared I pee myself?!]

[Hey, the person who sent that last comment is a girl, right?]

I felt that I still had to cherish my stream and not let it get shut down for being too bloody. So I just pointed the camera at myself, using my delicate, morning-dew-like face to soothe their restless hearts, and explained, “Um… it’s like this. In that trash can just now, we saw a pair of eyeballs. Yes, eyeballs.”

Looking at the screen full of question marks expressing shock, I continued in my pure, androgynous voice, “I know if I just say this, some of you won’t believe it. But it’s okay, I can’t change whether you believe it or not. You just need to know that this happened. We saw a pair of eyeballs in the trash can in this room just now. We’re not medical students, so we don’t know if they’re human or animal eyeballs, but… you can probably guess what this might reveal. I’m not filming the eyeballs because I’m afraid the stream will be shut down for being too gory. If you really want to see, I’ll just flash the camera over the trash can for a second. …Okay, those who are scared or don’t want to see, close your eyes. Those who want to see, look carefully… 3, 2, 1…”

Because the comments had all sorts of opinions—some were scared of these gory things, some said they were happy just looking at my little face, and some were too curious and had to see—I finally counted down from 3, 2, 1 and flashed the camera over the trash can. Whether they could see clearly or not was up to them.

While I was communicating with the comments, Saber had already overcome her disgust and boldly taken out the note from beside the eyeballs.

She unfolded the note, and Yukino shone her flashlight on it, revealing a short line of text.

This time, the handwriting lacked the previous crazed, trembling, and messy feeling. It was written stroke by stroke, looking very calm, as calm as a dead person. It read:

[It’s all over]

Seeing this short sentence, filled with utter despair, I suddenly understood. This wasn’t calmness, but hopelessness. Madness is an emotion sparked by the desire to grasp the only hope. But when a person completely understands that there is no turning back, that everything is over, they will instead calm down, become peaceful, and write their final words in such a dead person’s handwriting.

It’s all over.