RE.Femboy:Reborn as a VTuber

The man looked at Angel.

When his gaze returned to her from the frozen tea on the table, he was still smiling. He made no move to leave his seat, nor did he seem bothered by the cold that had settled over us.

Then his eyes shifted to me.

He slowly stood up.

My shoulders relaxed. The sleazy bastard had finally decided to leave.

I let out a relieved breath.

"I don’t think I can do that."

I frowned.

The man left the chair across from me and came around to my side. Before I could understand what he was doing, he sat in the empty chair beside me and wrapped an arm around my waist.

For a few seconds, my mind went completely blank.

I looked at the hand on my waist.

Then at his face.

What?

The man’s smile widened.

Angel’s cheeks flushed all at once. When her eyes dropped to the arm around my waist, something else mixed with the anger on her face.

"You...!"

She suddenly stepped between us.

One hand landed on my shoulder, the other on the man’s chest. When she pushed us apart, the legs of our chairs scraped across the floor. His arm slipped away from my waist, and I grabbed the edge of the table to keep my balance.

Angel stood in front of me, staring at him.

The man, meanwhile, started laughing.

His head was bent slightly forward. He wiped a tear from the corner of his eye with one hand, struggling to hold back his laughter.

"Sorry, sorry..." he said. "I think I took it a little too far."

I narrowed my eyes at him.

A little?

"Ceci told me you were going out to meet someone, so I got curious about who it was."

Angel’s blush deepened.

The man finally composed himself and turned to me.

"And..."

His gaze lingered on my face. He softened his smile a little, then held out his hand.

"Sorry about the way I acted just now."

I looked at the hand in front of me.

Then at his face.

I hadn’t been expecting an apology. I could still feel the disgusting sensation of his arm around my waist from just a few seconds earlier. I was a man, yet another man had just harassed me. Even dreaming about something like that would probably keep me from sleeping for days.

And was I supposed to let this son of a bitch keep grinning like that?

Ahaha, hell nah.

I planted my foot on the floor.

As Storm Heart activated, my body moved faster than my thoughts.

Blue flames wrapped around my right hand.

A moment later, my fist was flying toward his face.

All I wanted right then was to wipe that stupid smile off his face.

Just before my fist could hit him, his fingers closed around it.

It had stopped only a few centimeters from his face.

I’d put all my weight behind the attack, but it hadn’t even made him shift in his seat. He tilted his head slightly as flames rose between his fingers.

"That was a little dangerous."

His calm voice snapped me back to my senses.

My eyes dropped to my hand.

What am I doing?!

This wasn’t the training room. There wasn’t a golem in front of me.

I was inside the patisserie.

The conversation at the next table had stopped. My stomach tightened when I noticed several people staring at us.

This son of a bitch provoked me!

I gritted my teeth, but that didn’t make using flames here any more sensible.

I extinguished them.

The man didn’t release my hand right away. He looked at my fingers first, then at my face.

"Blue flames, huh... Interesting."

There was a little less amusement in his smile now. His gaze had become more attentive.

"So you do have a Nexus."

My breath caught in my throat.

"But tell me," he continued. "How is it that you have no Nexus energy at all?"

For a moment, I couldn’t think of what to say.

A cold sense of unease mingled with my anger.

I tried to pull my hand free as I looked at his face. When he loosened his grip, I took a step back.

"I..."

"Brother!"

Yukie stepped between us.

"Stop bothering us!"

My mouth fell open.

I looked at the blond hair in front of me, then at the man’s face.

"Brother?"

My voice came out louder than I’d expected.

Angel turned her head slightly toward me.

"This guy’s your brother?!"

The man scratched the back of his neck. He was smiling as though the only problem with our introduction was that he’d forgotten to tell me his name.

"Sorry for taking so long to introduce myself."

He stood up and wrapped his arm around Angel’s shoulders this time.

"I’m Cedric, this sweet girl’s older brother."

Yukie’s shoulders stiffened a little.

"Brother, you’re embarrassing me," she said quietly.

Cedric seemed even more pleased to hear that.

I kept looking between them.

Now that they were standing side by side, I could suddenly see the similarities in their hair color, eyes, and faces.

’Why hadn’t I noticed that sooner?’

Maybe before trying to punch him in the face.

Fuck...

Had I just attacked my angel’s brother?

And I’d even sworn at him before finding out who he was.

I hadn’t imagined our first meeting going like this. I should have said something more polite. At the very least, I should have shaken his hand without covering mine in flames.

I quickly straightened up.

Then I bowed slightly.

"I’m Noctis Evernight! It’s a pleasure to meet you!"

There was a brief silence.

When I raised my head, I saw Cedric studying me. His gaze moved from my face to my right hand, then back to my eyes.

I swallowed.

I remembered his question about Nexus energy.

What was I going to say if he asked again?

Cedric’s lips curved upward.

"It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Noctis. That was a livelier introduction than I expected."

"About what just happened..."

"No need for flames when we shake hands next time."

I felt my face grow hot.

Yukie slipped out from under her brother’s arm.

"All right, you’ve met. You can leave now."

Cedric looked at her.

"Trying to get rid of me already?"

"Yes."

There wasn’t the slightest hesitation in her answer.

Cedric laughed, then looked at the frozen glass of tea on the table.

"In that case, let’s not stay here any longer," he said, glancing at the people watching us anxiously.

He turned back to me with that irritating smile on his face.

"Noctis."

"Y-yeah?"

"How about coming over to our place? Yukie hasn’t brought a friend home in a long time. I’m sure our mother would be happy too."

I raised my head nervously, my brain struggling to process what I’d just heard.

’Yukie... Home... Mother... Danger!’

Yukie turned to him at the same time.

"No."

This time, we’d both spoken at once.

Cedric’s eyebrows rose slightly.

Angel looked at me.

I looked back at her.

"Well..." I quickly said. "I wouldn’t want to impose."

My angel’s home.

The home where her family lived.

Right now, going there felt like walking to my own death.

I knew how strong Yukie was. Her little sister was a Nexus user too. And now her older brother, standing right in front of me, had stopped a punch powered by Storm Heart without even losing his smile.

Their father was probably a famous Guardian as well.

If I said the wrong thing...

My eyes shifted to Cedric’s hand.

I’d already done the wrong thing.

"Impose?" Cedric said. "I’m the one inviting you."

"We have some private things we need to talk about," Yukie cut in.

"You can talk at home too."

"Brother."

The warning in her voice was unmistakable.

But Cedric only smiled again.

"Don’t worry. I won’t sit between you."

Angel’s cheeks flushed again.

"That’s not what I meant!"

I cleared my throat.

"Actually, I have a few things to take care of soon. It might be better if I came some other day."

Cedric turned to me.

"Just have some tea and a bite to eat. Then I’ll drop you off wherever you want."

"You don’t need to go to the trouble..."

"It’s no trouble at all."

Yukie folded her arms across her chest.

"You can’t bother people and then invite them over to our house."

"You’re right. That’s why I’m apologizing and inviting her."

They looked at each other for a while.

I tried to find the right moment to speak up.

But I couldn’t.

When Cedric called the waiter, I realized he was about to ask for the bill. Before I knew what was happening, he’d paid and was pointing at my phone on the table.

"Don’t forget your phone, Noctis."

I picked it up.

"I haven’t even said I’m coming—"

"Come on. Everyone’s staring at us."

I glanced around without meaning to.

He was right.

After the flames, even more people were staring. My shoulders tensed when I noticed several of them holding their phones.

Cedric must have taken my brief hesitation as enough of an answer.

He started walking toward the door.

Yukie sighed and followed him. As she passed me, she turned with an expression caught between anger and embarrassment.

"I’m sorry," she said quietly. "He’s usually like this."

Usually?

That wasn’t reassuring at all.

Cedric turned back to us from beside the door.

"Are you coming?"

I opened my mouth to object again. But when I saw Yukie waiting for me, the words caught in my throat.

I’d come here to talk to her.

If I left now, I’d just be running away from the conversation I’d already spent days avoiding.

I put my phone in my pocket and stood up.

It would only be a short visit.

I’d have some tea, behave myself, and leave without attacking anyone—or getting killed.

’I can do this!’

---

At least, that was what I’d thought when we left the patisserie.

After that, I remembered Cedric saying, "It’s no trouble at all," a few more times. Yukie had kept shooting her brother angry looks while I’d tried to find an opening and an excuse to turn back...

Now, I was staring at the door in front of me.

We’d walked up the garden path. Cedric had climbed the steps, and Yukie stood right beside me.

Meanwhile, I was adjusting the collar of my shirt and trying to remember when I’d agreed to come here.

A meeting that had started with me attacking the girl’s brother had turned into a visit to her family.

How had that happened?

Before I could find an answer, I raised my head.

I was standing at the front door of my angel’s home.