“Mmnh…”
Waking up with a splitting headache, Ye Xiqiu felt completely drained.
“Ugh… It’s like I didn’t sleep—more like the bed slept on me. So tired…”
Holding her head, the girl forced her eyes open, only to see pitch-black darkness, unable to see her own hand in front of her face.
Her heart dropped. An indescribable emptiness and fear gripped Ye Xiqiu, like a baby rabbit abandoned in a burrow without its mother, trembling in the cold.
What… time is it now?
Struggling to prop herself up, she grabbed her phone from its usual spot.
The bedding today felt unusually soft, carrying a strange, mind-numbing fragrance. Though a bit puzzled, the girl didn’t think much of it.
She pressed the power button. The screen showed—00:20.
It was already past midnight.
But… what about that Cat Demon lady?
***
Maybe that pure-white Cat Demon lady from this afternoon really was just a dream…
“But I really wanted to fall in love with a handsome and gentle Fairy older sister before I died…”
Puffing out her cheeks in dissatisfaction, she braced herself on the bedding and sat up—only to realize that the blanket felt way too good today?
It was soft and bouncy when she squeezed it, like the warm embrace of some older sister.
Thinking that, she looked down.
She saw a huge human-shaped lump under the covers.
“Aaaaaah—!”
The girl let out a sharp shriek.
She scrambled to the edge of the bed and slapped the light switch.
Click—
The fluorescent light blazed on, the harsh white glare making Ye Xiqiu barely able to open her eyes.
And finally, she saw clearly that the human-shaped lump under the blanket was none other than the Cat Demon lady she had been thinking about.
***
“Mmm… how did I fall asleep…”
“And… my clothes are such a mess… how did this happen?”
Watching Dongxue, who had just been woken up, yawning with her clothes in disarray, Ye Xiqiu coughed awkwardly.
“Maybe it’s because you sleep in a weird position… or something?”
“Um, first, could you tell me why you came to see me, Miss Cat Demon?”
Seeing Dongxue looking confused, as if she wanted to say something, the girl quickly changed the subject.
“I mean… it can’t be just to sleep with me, right?”
When she mentioned sleeping, Ye Xiqiu secretly glanced at the scattered clothes over the Cat Demon’s chest, catching a glimpse of the vast expanse of white skin, and blushed again.
Actually… that wouldn’t be so bad?
“That’s true…” Dongxue felt a little embarrassed.
“Actually, I came tonight to talk to you about doing a live broadcast together…”
She had come to discuss becoming a Virtual Idol together with Ye Xiqiu, but because she was too sleepy at night, she teleported over and just crashed—how embarrassing was that?
“Live broadcast?”
The girl caught the keyword.
“Miss Cat Demon, you want to do a live broadcast with me?”
“Mm-hmm, yeah.”
“Why?”
“Well… because little Xiqiu’s voice is so pretty, and I want to partner with her to sing together~”
It was such an ordinary thing to say, so why did it sound like a confession!
Ye Xiqiu reflected hard and decided it must be because Dongxue’s voice was too gentle, with a hint of teasing—the perfect natural heartthrob for girls.
Just thinking about Dongxue using that same voice with other people made Ye Xiqiu feel bitter. She wanted Dongxue to only talk to her, at least to be that kind to her alone…
“Hey, hey? Little Xiqiu, are you listening?”
“Ah, sorry, I spaced out a little!”
Snapping out of her rosy fantasy, the girl hurriedly apologized.
Then she paused.
“Um… what were you saying just now, Dongxue?”
“Oh, little Xiqiu, you really…” Dongxue shook her head helplessly.
“It’s about the live broadcast. Have a virtual avatar made for me too, and then I’ll broadcast with you from now on… Are you listening?”
“Ahh, I am! I am…”
What were you staring at so intently?
Following the girl’s previous line of sight, Dongxue looked down.
Under her unbuttoned shirt, the half-hidden soft white was barely covered.
“When did my buttons come undone?!”
Dongxue instinctively turned to the girl, only to see her looking away with an “I don’t know anything” expression.
“What did you do to me while I was asleep?!”
“I didn’t, I didn’t—wait a minute?”
Ye Xiqiu denied it instinctively before realizing the inconsistency.
“Actually… wasn’t it you who snuck onto my bed and hugged me while I was sleeping…?”
“If anyone’s asking, shouldn’t it be you?”
“So what if I got into your bed?”
Dongxue was emboldened, even if she was in the wrong.
“Setting the facts aside, didn’t you sleep with me, yes or no?”
“Besides, don’t you like sleeping with me? Didn’t you enjoy being held by me?”
“This…” Ye Xiqiu was momentarily speechless.
This world wasn’t without the internet; in fact, it might be even more developed than Earth.
But compared to Earth, the internet regulations here were much stricter—any words that incited conflict would be severely punished.
So the girl was stunned for a moment, unable to follow Dongxue’s logic—but seeing her matter-of-fact attitude, she didn’t seem to be making unreasonable trouble either.
Forget it, it’s my fault for trying to reason with a cat demon.
Ye Xiqiu took a deep breath and decided to steer the conversation back on track.
“Anyway… about the live broadcast.”
She paused, her eyelashes lowering, her fingers unconsciously twisting the corner of the blanket.
In truth, she knew her own condition. She couldn’t even stand up. How could she be a Virtual Idol? So what if her voice was nice? What if she slipped up? What if someone found out that “Shengxia” was actually a disabled girl who couldn’t even walk…
“Um, I…”
Before she could finish, Dongxue interrupted.
“Then it’s settled!”
“Huh?”
“We’ll start preparing for the live broadcast… the day after tomorrow. No, it’s already past midnight, so… tomorrow?”
“You never planned to listen to my opinion, did you!”
“Hmm?”
Dongxue tilted her head, her long hair slipping off her shoulder.
“Because I only want to sing with little Xiqiu.”
She said it softly, as if stating the obvious.
“Even if you refuse, I still want to be together.”
Ye Xiqiu’s ears turned bright red.
She looked away, unable to meet those earnest eyes. Her fingers twisted the blanket corner into crinkles. Her lips moved, wanting to say, “Who wants to be with you?” and “Why are you so unreasonable?”—but in the end, it all dissolved into silent bubbles.
Finally, she just let out a quiet “Mm,” so soft it seemed squeezed from her throat.
Dongxue nodded in satisfaction and stretched.
“Then let’s sleep.”
“Huh? R-right now?”
“Yeah, it’s this late.”
Dongxue yawned.
“Oh, one thing I have to tell you in advance—for special reasons, I can’t come every day. I can only come every other day, and each time I can only stay about two hours.”
Ye Xiqiu blinked.
Special reasons?
Of course, fairies can’t stay long in the human world, right? Or maybe each Teleportation consumes some energy? Or perhaps the human world suppresses demonic power?
She was about to ask, but Dongxue clicked off the light.
The room plunged back into darkness.
The next second, a pair of arms reached around from behind, gently encircling her waist, then suddenly pulled tight.
“Eheheh?!”
Ye Xiqiu was yanked into a warm, soft embrace. The back of her head pressed against something extremely soft. The fragrance that made her mind blank filled her nose.
“D-Dongxue?!”
“Shh, sleep.”
“But you—”
“If you don’t sleep, I’ll tickle you.”
“…Are you a child?!”