Jellybeaner: Is it bad that I want to eat them?

Masumi snickered at the response to his unveiling of the prismatic slimes on screen. “That’s evil! They’re just happy little slimes!”

Jellybeaner: Just a nibble.

“How would you like it if somebody nibbled on you, huh? “ Masumi chastised his guest with a wagging finger.

Jellybeaner: I don’t look cherry-flavored. Maybe a lick?

“I guess that wouldn’t hurt them, but you have to, you have to get their permission.” Masumi said with as stern an expression as he could manage.

Jellybeaner: If you insist. For the sake of argument, what if I didn’t?

“Then you’ll have to feel the wrath of Low-Life!” Masumi shook his fist at the camera and couldn’t hold back the smile. “This is an angry smile, not a happy one! Those exist now!”

Jellybeaner: Oh no, not the wrath of Low-Life. You might give me diabetes.

“What? I’m dangerous! I’m the most dangerous streamer this side of Nagoya!” Masumi demonstrated his prowess by splashing some water on on an attacking slime, dissipating the black mass. “See? Where I go, destruction follows!”

Jellybeaner; That was badass. But it was also Beatrix. What has Low-Life done?

“I, uh. Uhhh. Umm.” Masumi bit his bottom lip as he concentrated, then snapped his fingers. “My classmate’s nose was broken today. There was blood everywhere!”

Jellybeaner: That’s nasty. You did that?

“Um, well, no, but! I was there when it happened!” Masumi defended himself. “We were leaving gym class and he went to pick up some girls and I think he was tripped over, and I saw the whole thing! I didn’t even flinch! So how about that?”

Jellybeaner: Haha, very brave.

Jellybeaner: You were leaving gym?

“Mmhm!” Masumi bobbed his head as he swallowed a mouthful of water. “We were just leaving the changing rooms!”

Jellybeaner: You were leaving the gym changing rooms with a boy?

Masumi felt a sudden tug in his guts and stared over at the chat. “Umm. Yes?” He squeaked.

Jellybeaner: So you’re a boy?

“I-I, well, it’s not that,” Masumi’s eyes tripled in size. His heart suddenly started pounding at his ribcage like a jackhammer, his cheeks turned as red as they’d ever been, and his palms struggled to maintain a grip on his controller as they sweated. “I, um, I am, that is to say, Low-Life, I, uhh,” He could feel his breathing getting away from him, and with it, all of his words. All of the joy of his last interactions with Jellybeaner seemed to be bound beneath the Sword of Damocles. “I’m...”

Jellybeaner: That’s adorable.

And the blade was knocked away. The restraints came unbound and the overclocking of his body became a reboot. His eyes remained on the message while he steadily processed everything that had happened in the last few seconds. He wasn’t hated. They weren’t going away. His success wasn’t going to become a victory. Those thoughts bounced in his mind, clearing out the cacophony of anxiety that had just been spawned.

“R-Really?” It came out as a whisper, as though it might frighten away his newfound hope.

Jellybeaner: Yeah. If anything, it just makes you cuter.

Masumi’s blush was the only thing that remained of his once-imminent panic attack, and it felt like it was going to linger for a long time. The only words he could find where the ones he’d already used.

“R-Really?”

Jellybeaner: Haha, yes, really. But I am curious, why did you begin crossdressing?

“Oh, um.” Masumi furrowed his brow. “I don’t know exactly why it was. I always liked feminine things, girly things, y’know, the whole things that are...anyway. I thought they felt nice when I was little, and I look at girls and think they’re really pretty. Like, all the time, that’s what I would think or do and...I just sometimes thought that it would be nice to be like that. Like the idols on TV? To not be worrying about work or school or any of that stuff, but to be...fun. Fluffy. Carefree. Like, an ornament instead of a tool.”

Jellybeaner: That’s interesting. So what made you start doing it for streaming?

“That’s, um, that’s easier.” Masumi tittered nervously. “I told you before about, um, my parents and being safe and that kind of stuff? Well, I thought that I should do that, even if I’m streaming, and I thought about how I could disguise myself, but still be on camera, because, like, that’s how you do it if you want people to watch you, right? So I couldn’t just not have my face on here and talk to people...”

“And then I thought about doing this. Being cute.” Masumi smiled at the camera. “I...bought some things before and had tried them and some makeup, too, and I hadn’t done it all at once before, but then I did, and I got in front of the camera, and I thought...wow, I’m actually cute!”

Jellybeaner: You were right about that.

“Th-Thanks. Um, where was I...right! And I didn’t look like I normally did. Not exactly, not so anybody would recognize me, and it was just enough that they wouldn’t notice if they spotted me on here and spotted me in real life, and that would be enough to help me safe. And that’s what I’ve been doing ever since! Bringing Low-Life to the internet!” He performed a salute for the camera and gave a little shrug of his shoulders. “It’s been good, y’know?”

Jellybeaner: I do know. You’ve been getting cuter just in the time I’ve watched you. You totally pass.

“I was, um, worried about that for a little bit...” Masumi admitted. “But everyone has always said that I look girly and I’ve basically finished growing I think, so I’m lucky!” He leaned back in his chair. “And if you didn’t even know before now, then I guess that’s just proof, huh?”

Jellybeaner: I think it is. Have you tried going out like that, to see if anyone notices?

“Oh...oh no, I couldn’t!” Masumi giggled. “My parents aren’t here a lot, so I might be able to, but, um, there are neighbors around and they might see me leave, or come back, and if somebody does notice me it will...it will be not good! So I haven’t. Do you think I could?”

Jellybeaner: I do, but not if it’s not comfortable for you. I didn’t know your parents didn’t know. Is that for the reasons I can guess?

“Yeah...” Masumi bit his lip. “I don’t know if they wouldn’t like it, but I don’t think they would, so I keep it a secret ‘cause they work late and I normally have time to get everything off and hidden before they get home. And I do my own laundry and everything, so it works out okay! Eventually, I’ll be able to move out and then I can do it as much as I want!”

Jellybeaner: That would be great. Quick question, but should I still refer to you as a girl when we talk?

“I...I think I’d like that.”

Jellybeaner: Then I will. Where did you learn how to do your makeup? Because you’ve got it down to an art.

“Oh, that’s actually the easiest bit! I can go online and find all these tutorials about how to put it on, especially foreign ones, where there’s a lot of information about how to do makeup to look like a girl if you’re a boy. I don’t need them, much, but every little helps! And I’ve done a lot of practice by myself, testing it out, and I get to see how it looks on camera. I, um, don’t watch myself back a lot in the archives, but I can if I’m not sure.”

Jellybeaner: How do you buy it without anyone noticing and you don’t go out dressed like a girl?

“That one took me a while!” Masumi said. “We take a train to the city and I just buy things there. I can go between places if it seems like somebody’s getting suspicious, buying makeup and clothes, and they don’t really ask me questions because I’ve got the money for it. And when they do, I just say it’s for my girlfriend and they act like it’s all cute and help me out. Um, those who don’t give me warnings about girls and focusing on my studies, anyway!”

There was a pause.

Jellybeaner: What does your girlfriend think about you doing this?

“O-Oh, I don’t have one.” Masumi shifted in his seat. “I, um, I’m a little shy, like I said, and I don’t...have the confidence to do that. It’s just a lie I tell them so that they won’t think I’m being weird. I don’t know if I had one what she would think of it, anyway, but, I’d hope that she’d be okay with it if I got one. I don’t know if I could stop doing it now that I’ve started...”

Jellybeaner: I see.

Jellybeaner: It’s funny, because one of the students from the school I go to got a broken nose today, too.

“That’s weird!” Masumi said. “It wasn’t a fight, was it? Are you okay?”

Jellybeaner: Haha. I’m okay and it wasn’t a fight. He tripped in the hall. While leaving gym class.

Masumi frowned and shifted in his seat. He drummed his fingers on his forgotten controller and went over the conversation they’d just been having. Before he could think of a reply, a private message appeared.

Jellybeaner: Do you go to Retsuko Academy?

Masumi nodded.

Jellybeaner: Me too. I was wondering if you would like to meet. Properly.

“That...” Masumi concentrated on his feet for a few moments, then looked back up to the camera. “That, um, would be nice, I think. It might be nice to see you, if, um, since, you’ve seen me so many times, too.” He remembered back to his parent’s talk on online safety. “But it has to be at school. For safety and I trust you but it’s what the rules are that my parents gave me, so, um, yeah.”

Jellybeaner: That’s okay. We can meet after classes are done and clubs are still on. Do you want to meet in the library?

“That would be good.” Masumi nodded rapidly and leaned forward in his chair again. “But, um, we should trade emails so that we can message each other if we’re running late!”

Jellybeaner: Why not numbers?

“Um, safety...” Masumi mumbled. “And then we can do numbers if we meet each other and it all goes okay, okay?”

Jellybeaner: That sounds good to me, I didn’t think of that haha.

Then a private message popped up on Masumi’s screen, containing Jellybeaner’s email. His fingers excitedly tapped out a private respone and then it was done. He smiled broadly at the camera.

“Okay! And, we should have something so that we know who’s who. There are going to be other students there and I’ll be in my uniform and you’ll be in yours and we might not even know that we’re both there!”

Jellybeaner; What about some yellow cloth wrapped around our right arms?

“Yes! That’s perfect. We probably won’t get told off for that if we only put it on in the library. This is so good! I can’t wait to meet you!”

Jellybeaner: Haha same.

Masumi sighed happily and stared off into space. He suddenly sat upright. “Oh, we’re still streaming! I kinda forgot there for a moment, there!” He laughed. “Where were we? Slimes, that’s right! What kind do you want me to get?”

Jellybeaner: One of the ones that looks like a cat!

“You can your cats.” Masumi smiled. “Why don’t you have one if you like them so much?”

Jellybeaner: Maybe I just want to see you dressed up as a catgirl haha.

“Yo-!” Masumi pouted. “You can’t just embarrass me when you can’t answer a question!”

Jellybeaner; You are already embarrassed.