/vt/ - Virtual Youtubers

This is going to take a hot minute. Or several. But I really hope people like it. I'll do my best to attach an image for the first few posts, at least.

The last few weeks have been the strangest ones of your life. Bouncing back and forth between one security job and the next, and before you knew it, you landed on a small team of operatives for some PMC you’d never heard of - Cover. You weren’t sure why you were selected, but apparently, your old boss put in a good word for you to some higher ups. But that wasn’t the weird part, you thought.

Your squad leader was a lioness.

Specifically, she was an older Japanese woman who was part lion. She was mainly a human. Pale skin like a human, face like a human, physique like a human. But atop her voluminous mass of silvery hair sat a pair of lion’s ears, one of which sported a couple of black piercings. And poking out from underneath the skirt she wore in her civvies was a slender, swishy tail that matched the color of her hair. Whenever she smiled, you could catch a glimpse of razor-sharp canines that one could only find in the mouth of a predator. It never failed to make your heart flutter; whether a result of fear or… something more, you weren’t too keen to find out.

Shishiro Botan, she’d introduced herself as, was rather easygoing and cheerful, despite the cool aura she typically gave off. She didn’t rush your squad through your orientation and training, and yet you all still came out of each challenge she threw at you with top marks. It didn’t take her long to figure out what each of your individual strengths and weaknesses were, and made sure to always set you up where you could cover each other and provide the right kind of support. Botan had to have some kind of military history with this level of tactical brilliance she showed, but you didn’t often get the chance for small talk. No opportunities to ask anything more than how she was doing.

Despite this, Botan seemed to take some kind of liking to you - you would occasionally catch a glimpse of her silver eyes focused on you during a spar or while leading you through your daily exercises. You often received more enthusiastic praise when you followed her orders compared to the others. And once, you could’ve sworn you caught a glimpse of that familiar tail darting down the hall after you’d taken a shower.

Your squad, including Botan and yourself, only consisted of four people. You hadn’t been told what you were training for, only that just last night, you were being deployed to a remote forest for a reconnaissance mission. She waited until you were alone in your barracks to tell you, an unexpected gesture.

“We’re looking for… an artifact. Don’t know much about it, other than we aren’t allowed to handle it directly,” she explained briefly. “If I knew more, I’d tell you.”

“What about Johnson and Porter?” you asked, wondering why she hadn’t said anything when your squadmates were with you.

“I…” Botan hesitated, and amid the pale flesh of her face, it was easy to spot the momentary flushing in her cheeks. “I’m not allowed to give any major details. At least not until we get there. Liabilities and all that. But… I felt obligated to tell at least one of you.”

This was the longest one-on-one conversation the two of you had yet. And she was doing it to try and protect you. At least, you think that’s why she’s doing it.

“Thank you, Shishiro-danchou,” you said, adhering to the polite and respectful Japanese dialogue that you’d taken the time to learn about for her sake. She caught you studying up once in your spare time, and found the gesture endearing.

“Just be careful. If anything goes wrong, stay close to me. And… just Botan will suffice,” she added with a wink. Her blush intensified for the briefest of seconds, and before you had a chance to process it, she had slipped away from the room.