Lunlun and the Black Beast: Rewriting the Day of Ayakaki's Despair - That morning and the black prophecy

At the corner of the stream, a small white fluffy creature stirred. Round black eyes stared fixedly at the camera lens. Long ear-like organs twitched, and the foxfire flickering around its body swayed softly. Only the small red ribbon at its neck stood out vividly against the white fur. "Good evening. I'm Choma, from Ayakaki." The voice was small, polite, and somehow innocent. The stream's comment section exploded at once. 'Choma-chan is cute today too.' 'That ribbon suits you.' 'The foxfire color is beautiful.' Lunlun's eyes tracked the flow of comments while its small hands folded quietly before its chest. Body length about sixty centimeters. The plump, bipedal body looked like cotton candy. But in those eyes was a definite light of intelligence. This was Inaricho Streaming Studio "Nest." A rental streaming studio on the third floor of a small building. Most of the equipment was secondhand, and the soundproofing on the walls was peeling in places. Even so, it was a precious place for the members of Ayakaki. Lunlun thought of the town called Inaricho. A regional city of about a hundred twenty thousand people. Many old shrines and forests, and the shopping street in front of the station, "Furusato Yokocho," still retained traces of the Showa era. The symbol of the town, the Inaricho Clock Tower, was an old structure about fifteen meters tall. Since long ago, this town had strange rumors. Places where voices stopped reaching. Places where clocks went wrong. Things nobody paid attention to, but that certainly existed—like a kind of "discrepancy." It was also in this town that Lunlun had fallen from the sky. "Choma has something to tell everyone today." The woman sitting beside it softened her lips into a faint smile. Kitsunebi Toto. Twenty-two years old. The leader of Ayakaki. Her pale platinum hair was long, loosely braided tonight. Her amber eyes shimmered faintly under the studio's soft lighting. Height: one hundred sixty-five centimeters. A slender body wrapped in a worn hoodie. On stream, she played the calm straight man. But her eyes when she looked at Lunlun were always gentle. "What is it, so formal?" Toto's voice was low and composed. For a moment, Lunlun felt the foxfire's color shift to orange. The color that appeared when it was happy. "Um. I was thinking, maybe I could tell the story of the day I came here." The comments moved again. 'The day you came?' 'The story about falling from the sky?' 'I want to hear it!' Toto gave a small nod. "Sure. It's an important story about one of our own." Lunlun turned back to the camera. Its small chest swelled softly. "I fell from the sky. Near the forest in Inaricho. I don't even know why I fell. Before I knew it, I was lying on the dirt, and the sky was so far away." The memories of that day came back slowly. The smell of cold soil. Light filtering through the gaps in the trees. Its body wouldn't move, so it just stared up at the sky. It was scared. Alone, in a place it knew nothing about. "I don't know how long I stayed like that. But when evening came, someone arrived. It was Toto-san." Toto fiddled with her hair, looking embarrassed. "I was so surprised back then. A white fluffy thing was lying at the forest entrance. I thought it was a stuffed animal, but then it moved." The comments filled with laughter. 'A stuffed animal lol.' 'But then it moved lol.' Lunlun continued. "Toto-san picked me up. It was warm, and I felt safe. Then she brought me to the Ayakaki studio. Everyone was there, and when they saw me, they were so surprised." It still remembered that moment clearly. In an unknown place, surrounded by strangers. But no one was afraid of it. Rather, they were amused, worried, and talked to it so much. "After that, Toto-san said to me: 'Let's make this one ours.' My name too—Choma. It was taken from the 'cho' in Kitsunebi, right?" Toto nodded. Yes. "Right. The 'cho' from our Kitsunebi. And besides, Choma was just easy to say." "Fufu, thank you. That day, I received a name. I received a place to belong. So I'm truly grateful to you, Toto-san." Toto lowered her eyes for just a moment. Then she gently stroked Lunlun's head. The white fur slipped through her fingers. "What are you saying? You're one of ours. That's only natural." The comment section warmed all at once. 'I cried.' 'Choma-chan, I'm so glad.' 'Toto-san is kind.' 'So heartwarming.' Lunlun felt a warmth spreading deep in its chest. The foxfire's color shifted from orange to an even brighter gold. "Yes! So I want to be useful to everyone too. As Ayakaki's mascot, I'll do my best to make our streams exciting!" Toto gave a small laugh. "Yes, yes. So today is Choma's declaration of resolve." The comments laughed again. "Ehehe." The studio was filled with warm air. Lunlun loved this time. Talking with someone, laughing, being together. That it—something that fell from the sky—could spend days like this. —That's what it thought. That was the moment. The screen turned black. The sound vanished. Every sound drained from Lunlun's ears. The sound of comments flowing, the low hum of the air conditioner, even its own breathing. "...Huh?" It couldn't even tell if its voice was coming out. It looked beside it. Toto's mouth was moving. But nothing could be heard. The monitor was pitch black. The streaming software screen, the chat, everything painted over in black. "Toto-san!" Lunlun shouted. But its own voice didn't reach itself. How long did it last? Ten seconds, or twenty? Suddenly, the sound returned. The stream appeared on the monitor. The comment section began flowing at tremendous speed. 'What was that!?' 'The screen went all black.' 'Did the sound cut out too?' 'Scary.' 'Equipment trouble?' 'I got startled.' Toto looked toward Lunlun. Her amber eyes wavered slightly. "...Are you okay? Choma." The voice could be heard. Lunlun felt relieved and gave a small nod. "Yes. I was startled. All the sound just disappeared." Toto reached for the equipment. Checked the streaming software's status. Checked the connection. The OBS logs. Nothing abnormal anywhere. "That's strange. The equipment on our end seems fine." The comment section overflowed with the viewers' confusion. 'It was really black just now, right?' 'The sound cut out too.' 'Our audio dropped too.' 'What was that?' Toto put on a smile. "Sorry, everyone. Probably a connection issue. I'll cut the stream for a bit and check." Comments flowed: 'Got it.' 'Are you okay?' 'We'll wait.' Toto ended the stream. The stream display vanished from the monitor, and silence returned to the studio. "...It was a streaming glitch, right?" Toto said. But there was no conviction in her voice. Lunlun looked down at its own body. The foxfire's color had turned pale blue. The color of unease. "Toto-san. I have a bad feeling about something." Toto lifted Lunlun up. "It's fine. Equipment trouble happens all the time." But her arms held Lunlun just a little tighter. After the stream ended, the two went for a walk in the Inaricho forest. The forest at dusk was far darker than in daytime. The overlapping leaves of the trees blocked out the sky's light. Bird calls were almost absent. Only the occasional sound of wind rustling the treetops echoed in the distance. Lunlun walked beside Toto, stopping now and then. The forest air was cool, smelling of soil and fallen leaves. "This is close to where I fell, isn't it." Toto nodded. Yes. "That's right. Though the day I found you, Choma, it was at an entrance a little further off." The two advanced deeper into the forest. Eventually, an old guardian shrine came into view. A small shrine, with several fox statues placed around it. It stood quietly atop moss-covered stone steps. Lunlun stopped before the shrine. "Toto-san. May I go look behind it for just a moment?" Toto tilted her head. "Behind it? Is there something there?" "I don't know. But somehow, I feel like I'm being called." Lunlun's foxfire wavered pale blue. Toto looked hesitant for a moment, but gave a small nod. "...All right. Let's go together." The two went around to the back of the shrine. There was a small cave there. A cave behind the guardian shrine. About ten meters deep, and the back should have been a dead end. Lunlun stood before the cave mouth, staring fixedly into the darkness. "...Ah." At the edge of the cave mouth, half-buried in fallen leaves, something lay there. An old scroll. Lunlun carefully picked up the scroll with its small hands. It was heavy. The paper was yellowed, the edges crumbling to pieces. "Toto-san, this." Toto peered in. "A scroll? Looks old. Why is it in a place like this?" Lunlun opened the scroll. Characters in an old brush style were lined up there. —On the day the black beast comes, the companions of Ayakaki will vanish. Lunlun's hands stopped. "...Toto-san." Its voice trembled. Toto peered at the scroll. The expression vanished from her face. "...What is this. The companions of Ayakaki will vanish?" Toto stared at the characters for a while. Then she let out a small breath. "...It's probably a prank someone wrote. The fact that Ayakaki's name is in it bothers me, but... there's no way our group's name would be written on such an old scroll." Toto tried to laugh. But her smile was just a little stiff. "It's something written by who-knows-who, so you're worrying too much, Choma." Lunlun stared at the scroll. On the day the black beast comes. The companions of Ayakaki will vanish. Something cold ran through its chest. A sensation like something slowly crawling around inside its body. "...Yes. But somehow, I feel like I can't just leave this alone." Toto stroked Lunlun's head. "It's fine. You're such a worrywart, Choma." But her hand was a little colder than before. That night, the clock on the Inaricho Clock Tower stopped at three in the morning. It became a topic on social media as a small oddity of the town. 'The Inaricho Clock Tower stopped again.' 'It's stopped at three in the morning.' 'Again?' No one local paid it much mind. In this town, clocks going wrong was a common thing. But Lunlun was different. From the studio window, it gazed at the clock tower visible in the distance. Its silhouette floated in the night darkness. The foxfire kept wavering pale blue all night long. Lunlun sat by the window, staring at its own small hands. (Is something happening because of me?) The day it fell from the sky. The day it received a name. Had something changed since that day? (I don't know. But if something happens to everyone...) Lunlun squeezed its eyes shut. (I don't want that. Absolutely not.) The small body trembled faintly. "...Please, let me be with everyone again tomorrow." The voice was swallowed by the night darkness, reaching no one. Only the foxfire wavered, pale blue, swaying gently.

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Episode 1

Name: Lunlun and the Black Beast: Rewriting the Day of Ayakaki's Despair
Author: Novelia

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