“Yip-yip! Welcome back, my lovely little snacks. Did you miss me?” I leaned toward the camera with a teasing smile on my face. “Of course you did. You poor sweethearts must’ve been bored out of your mind without your favorite fox playing with you~.”
The flannel slipped down around my shoulders, seductively exposing the top part of my pink areola. My avatar followed suit, though it was a more modest slip of silk over pale skin.
It was a bit of a shame that my model was so well-behaved. I knew for a fact that it’d get quite a few rises out of people. If I had a face cam to actually show off, though, I wouldn’t be able to relax in my chair fully nude except for Sable’s—ahem, my cozy flannel.
It’d been about a week and a half since I killed the jackal, and nothing much had changed. I kept waiting for Selene to come back to me and tell me all about the upgrade to my system. That, uh, that never happened. I was beginning to think she just took that Realmstone and jumped ships.
If there was one thing that changed, though, it was my streams. My tails lashed in satisfaction at the sight of my viewer count. It was up to just under 75,000 and rapidly climbing. A cute fox, a bit of seduction, and godly gaming skills were more than enough to catch people’s attention. Not bad for a month and a half. And once I got top rank, I could start working to find a team. I wasn’t totally sure if I’d rather find a team or make one myself, though… well, whatever. I had nine years to figure it out if I needed to.
I smiled softly at my camera, and trailed a trimmed fingernail down Listener-San‘s cheek. “Today is the day, my darlings. We’re finally hitting Eternus 6. Thank you for joining your favorite little fox on this journey~.”
| FoxLover: ACT NORMAL! SHE’S BACK!
| YuriFan: HYPE!!!
| Towtruck: SNIPERS ASSEMBLE
| Doxer: @Towtruck don’t be rash
| Towtruck: lol, what a larper
| DeadLockedIn: Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!
“Locked In! I’m so glad to see you’ve warmed up to us, sweetheart.” That guy used to complain about anything that wasn’t DeadLeague.
| DeadLockedIn: i don’t know what you’re talking about…
| FoxLover: ONE OF US! ONE OF US!
| Fenrir_x_Sakura: day 13 of asking for Fenrir collab”A Fenrir collab, huh?” I leaned back in my chair. One of my tails slid forward to take over the mouse. “A duo stream with her could be really fun. Bounty Hunter would suit her perfectly, wouldn’t it?”
An alcoholic wolf playing an alcoholic werewolf would be oddly fitting. Bounty Hunter was practically made for Sable, just like Tails was made for me.
“I’ll have to convince her first. Mhmm, it’s a good thing I know just how to make that wolf howl~.” Next time she came over, I’d edge her until she agreed to play with me. Shouldn’t be too hard now that I knew what all her weak points were.
| Fenrir_x_Sakura: MY HOPE IS RESURRECTED
| PackMate: you could make me howl any time
| YuriFan: anyone else really want to watch Sakura flirt with her gen mates?
| DeadLockedIn: matchmaking?
I found a match after messing around with chat for ten minutes. I thought about messing around too, but not today. I hadn’t worked up the courage to do that kind of thing on stream. Not to mention I needed to lock in to hit the top rank today.
“Anyone we know, chat?” I asked as the pregame loading screen popped up with everyone in the lobby’s name. I was up to the rank that it wouldn’t be too surprising to repeatedly run into the same people over and over again.
No one on my team, but the enemy team had DeathKnight, Vertus, and Lichly, three pro players. Vertus was the IGL for Wilde Esports. DeathKnight and Lichly were both players for Banshee Gaming, and likely duo queued together. All three were people I played with in the past.
| SniperFury: damn. I’ll catch her next match
| Towtruck: I’m in! Get ready to be towed back to Bricklo!
| FoxLover: fucking morons. Go bother someone other than our sweet fox
| ASMRWhen: bro really thinks he’s the protagonist :foxlaugh:
| Fenrir_x_Sakura: Fenrir could valiantly shield you, fox!
Towtruck was indeed in my game. Not only was he on my team, but he instantly locked Golem. At first glance, that wasn’t an issue. Golem excelled in displacing both friend and foe alike. My eyes narrowed on his gamer tag. It wasn’t the first time I played with trolls trying to drag me down, but this time was different. Tails was banned.
“Awww… they took my favorite away.” A small pout filled my face as my head tilted to the side. One ear perked up while the other pulled back pitifully. “How very cruel.”
I studied the character selection screen for a moment. I was a one trick through and through. No one else caught my attention like Tails did, with maybe the exception being Sleeper. That was only because Sleeper was super cute and not because I wanted to play him. Supports couldn’t carry games as easily.
| Abra-ram_Me: I’ll believe it when I see it.
| Billy’s_Eyelash: lol, okay her team just lost this match
| Towtruck: get ready to be perma immobilized streamer
| Doxer: target locked”Hey, hey, hey, easy, sweetheart.” My ears shot up alertly as I read the messages. The easy-going smile I wore slipped slightly. “We’re here to play games, not ruin someone’s life over just a ranked match.
| Doxer: how else will this low lives learn unless swat shows up at the door
| SakuraSimp: I’ll call it in
| FoxLover: send me the clip plz
| ASMRWhen: I’d love to have that audio log ^^
I shook my head in disappointment. Usually my viewers backed me up—ah, was it finally happening? [Most Terrifying Simps Around], I mean. It would make them unreasonably attached to me. Simps were a good thing, but taken too far…
“Darling…” My tails curled loosely around me, making my posture significantly smaller. I leaned forward to Listener-San with a gentle whisper. “I’d much rather have you here, being my sweet little snack, than getting yourself into trouble on my behalf.”
| FoxLover: GAH! MY HEART!
| FoxLover gifted 10 subs!
| Doxer: our streamer is too kind.
| Doxer: we must protect her our precious fox
| SakuraSimp: Seconded
| Towtruck: lol? Why get so defensive over a 40 year old obese guy with a voice modulator? LOLOLOLOL
| SniperFury: vtubers aren’t real lololol
| Doxer: my patience wears thin
Ugh, why did I feel like I wasn’t getting through to these guys? So annoying… though I guess I made the bed, so I had to lie in it. [Most Terrifying Simps Around] promised I wouldn’t be able to talk them down easily.
“Thank you for the gifted,” my voice came out more despondent than I intended. Two of my tails flicked up into a heart behind my head even if I wasn’t feeling it.
On the other team, Vertus—playing Detective—sent a message to all chat. ‘Finally playing someone else Sakura?’
I took a breath, and shook my head. It was inevitable that I’d run into some issues eventually, though this wasn’t how I expected it to happen. I’d just have to deal with my annoyance and keep pushing forward. At the very least, they shouldn’t come after me too hard.
’My poor fox got banned,’ I sent a quick message back. ‘Bunch of meanies in this lobby.’
DeathKnight, who was on Granny, joined in on the fun. ‘Don’t use it as an excuse when we cream you.’
’Is that a promise, darling~?’ I shot back. I caught my lower lip on my canine, enjoying the chaise spreading through my chat.
| FoxLover: :lewdfox: strikes again
| YuriFan: NOONONONO THOSE ARE MEN
| Fenrir_x_Sakur: ONLY THE WOLF ONLY THE WOLF
“Why are you guys looking at me like that?” I asked the camera. My eyes went wide with a practiced look of innocence. “He said he was going to beat me, and I just wanted some clarification. Honestly, chat, your minds are filthy."
| SakuraSimp: I’d be filthy for you any day of the week
| Abra-ram_Me: up above, he had a sudden blood clot below the waist.
”A blood clot? Poor little guy!” I dipped my head down to the ear of Listener-San and let out a breathy whisper, “should I kiss it better? Or would you rather I suck it out~?”
I slid off the zip line into my own lane. The moment Painter touched the ground, I activated my first ability, Ink. It enhanced my primary fire, but more importantly let me throw up walls of paint. I flicked behind me, drawing a line into the air just in time for it to block Golem’s Hook Arm.
”Aw, how cute! You’ll have to try harder than that if you want to catch my attention, darling~” With my throwing lane mate’s first attempt to troll thwarted, I moved forward to get some poke damage and take care of the minion wave.
| FoxLover: trash, lol. Our fox is too cunning for that :foxlaugh:
| SakuraSimp: where’s a drone strike when you need one
| DeadLockedIn: extra challenge for the promotion match?
| Abra-ram_Me: fr if you win this i dono 50
| HungryArtist: come buy my art instead? I… I can even draw lewds!
| BlueLight gifted 50 subs!
| BlueLight: 100 more if you win, Sakura.
“Aw, is that you, boss?” I sniffled softly, and looked away from the camera like I couldn’t bear to let them watch me cry. My tails were twitching at the thought of 100 more subs, though. “I thought you abandoned this pitiful little fox.”
I hadn’t spent much time around Willow lately. Or anyone else from the agency aside from Sable, to be honest. Everytime I saw her, though, she left me all hot and bothered. The unicorn knew just how to work me.
| BlueLight: You make me look like a bad owner. We just talked.
| BlueLightOfMyLife: MY GODDESS HAS RETURNED!!!
| SakuraSimp: blink twice if you need help
| FoxLover: OWNER? OWNER? OWNER?
”Mmm… did that count?” She spent the entire phone call teasing me. It took a while for my fingers to drive that kinda heat out. “You left me all needy for some attention.”
| BlueLight: I’ll give you all the attention you need if you win this.
“Heheh…” My tails coyly swung in front of my face. The soft pink fur covered my mouth as I giggled softly. “Take me to dinner first~.”
| BlueLight: That’s the plan.
“I hope that’s a promise~! Oh, speaking of—“ I swapped to playing with my tails while I opened up a food delivery app. “What should I get to eat, guys? Other than my delicious snacks, of course.”
| FoxLover: no way you’re ordering food rn
| YuriFan: how about a drink to quench my thirst
| BlueLightOfMyLife: MY GODDESS COME BACK!
| Fenrir_x_Sakura: our fox used to be such a good child. When’d she get cocky?
“How about… sushi?” I half paid attention, dodging my opponents attacks with my tails. None of the pro players were in my lane, so it should be an easy early game. Outside of having my teammate throwing, naturally.
My lane progressed fairly smoothly just as I expected. Out of the dozen or so tempts to grief me, Towtruck only managed to hit his hook one time. Even then, I’d intentionally jumped into it so I could get pulled back to the tower quicker and buy some stuff. The real damage was that he was taking half my money and providing next to no value.
My team was on the ball, though. Everytime the lane looked like it was going to get bad, Archer came over from mid lane to gank. It was a two on two in reality, but the enemy respected the ganks and backed away, giving me more than enough space to destroy the first tower.
Early game passed in a blur of paint and Towtruck’s failed attempts to sabotage me. Every hit with my third ability, Paint, stacked another buff. Its relatively short cooldown let me build momentum much faster than Tails could with Spirit Realm. The longer the lane dragged, the stronger I became.
My mental count hit zero, and I dodged to the side just as Golem’s Hook Arm slid past me. “You’re so predictable, darling.”
Unlike my useless teammate, I knew how to leverage my advantages too. My economy quickly spiked even with my lane mate throwing. I cleared jungle, granting even more money to work with.
Not that Towtruck didn’t try to interrupt my jungle farm, naturally. I used Ink to block him out and my second ability, Trail, to get around the map quickly. There was nothing he could do when I was in our camps the moment they respawned. We still lost our tower, naturally. It was the first one to get destroyed, but there was only so much I could do with my lane mate literally throwing, so it was an acceptable loss.
Leveraging my advantages and the ganks from Archer, I was in a serious position of power by the time the first rift spawned and we entered mid game. This was my promotion match, and I was going to win it no matter what.