Chapter 8: She Heard That
The silence lasted maybe three seconds.
On the internet, that was an eternity.
Chat started moving again almost immediately, but the mood had shifted. Not dead, just tense in a way Kai couldn’t really ignore anymore. Like everyone had collectively remembered Luna wasn’t just a donation alert or a running joke, but an actual person somewhere behind all of this.
Kai cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Anyway," he said, forcing a laugh into his voice, "thank you, Derek, for bringing serial killer energy into my relaxing indie horror stream."
A few people spammed laughing emotes. Not enough to fully reset the mood.
Another donation popped up.
RealDerekVoss donated $2,000:
You laughing now but I’ve seen girls like this before.
Kai’s jaw tightened slightly.
There it was again. That tone. Confident, dismissive, like he’d already lived this exact situation before and knew how it ended.
The worst part wasn’t even that Derek might be right. It was that part of Kai had already started running the same calculations.
Chat split instantly.
Boobykiller_051:
BRO SHUT UP
Peepee_666:
NAH HE KINDA SPITTING THO
WetHamster_420:
THIS GOT AWKWARD SO FAST
Kai rubbed the back of his neck, forcing his attention back to the stream. "Okay, first of all, we are not doing intervention content right now."
No response from Luna. No pink donation. That absence stood out more than it should have.
His eyes kept flicking toward Discord anyway, waiting for something that didn’t come, and he hated how automatic that reaction was becoming.
Another donation from Derek.
RealDerekVoss donated $5,000:
Ask her to join VC then. If she’s real.
Chat exploded instantly.
Jacksonvill3_89:
OH SHIT
xXDivorceArcXx:
VOICE REVEAL ARC
GrandmaToeCollector:
NAH DONT PRESS THE YANDERE BUTTON
Kai let out a short, nervous laugh. "Yeah, absolutely not."
But even as he said it, Discord pinged.
Luna.
His pulse jumped before he could stop it.
He opened the DM while trying to keep his attention half on the game.
You don’t have to defend me.
Kai stared at it for a second, then typed quickly under his desk.
he’s being weird ignore him
The typing indicator appeared immediately.
Stopped.
Then:
You looked uncomfortable.
Kai paused.
That was the thing about her. It wasn’t the obsession that felt strange anymore—it was how precisely she read him. Not in some vague emotional way, but in real-time shifts, like she was tracking him too closely not to notice everything.
Another message appeared.
Do you want me to say something?
Kai frowned instantly.
Absolutely not.
He immediately pictured the worst-case version of that: Luna escalating something live, turning it into something irreversible, something that couldn’t be pulled back once it was out in the world.
NO.
Okay ♡
The reply came instantly.
That tiny heart should’ve felt harmless. It didn’t.
Kai exhaled through his nose, annoyed at himself for even reacting to it.
Meanwhile Derek kept pushing.
RealDerekVoss donated $10,000:
C’mon chat. If she’s watching this hard, she’s definitely listening too.
The energy in chat shifted again. Not fully hostile, but sharper now. People weren’t just laughing anymore—they were analyzing.
Seventy-three thousand viewers. Clips already everywhere. The whole thing had the familiar pressure of something slipping out of control in real time.
Kai sighed under his breath. "Dude, why are you trying to turn my stream into ghost adventures?"
Another donation.
RealDerekVoss donated $15,000:
Because this whole thing screams manipulation.
That one actually landed differently.
Chat slowed. Not silence, but hesitation. Like people were starting to take inventory of what they were watching instead of just reacting to it.
Kai felt it immediately. The shift.
And underneath it, something worse—panic, but not for himself.
For her.
His brain jumped straight to it before he could stop it: she’s going to see this, she’s going to read this, she’s going to—
He stopped that thought halfway and forced himself to breathe.
"Okay," he muttered, mostly to himself, "this is getting ridiculous."
He muted stream audio briefly and typed into Discord.
u okay?
There was a pause. Longer than usual.
Then:
I don’t like him.
Kai let out a slow breath.
yeah no shit
Another pause.
Then:
He talks about people like they aren’t human.
Kai stared at that for a moment longer than he meant to.
Something about it didn’t feel like it was just about Derek. It felt like it was coming from somewhere else, something older.
Before he could ask, another message appeared.
I don’t want people doing that to you.
Kai’s chest tightened.
Of course that was where her mind went. Not the accusations, not the money, not the audience—him.
He leaned back in his chair, staring at the screen for a second too long, then looked away toward the dim light of his room like it would help him think more clearly.
Instead it just made everything quieter.
"This is the dumbest night of my life," he said under his breath.
Then Discord rang.
Incoming call.
LunaLove.
His whole body went still.
The chat immediately noticed his expression change.
Kai didn’t move for a second. Just stared at the notification while his brain ran through every possible outcome and rejected all of them in the same instant.
Decline made sense.
Decline was safe.
Decline was normal.
But he still clicked accept.
Silence hit first.
Then soft static.
For a moment neither of them spoke.
Then—
"...Hi, Kai."
Her voice wasn’t what he expected.
Soft. Warm. Slightly tired, like she’d been holding onto something for too long. Not performative. Not confident.
Just real.
And that made it worse in a way he couldn’t immediately explain.
"I—uh. Hi," Kai said, instantly hating how unsteady he sounded.
A small laugh came through the headset. Quiet. Genuine.
"You sound surprised."
"I mean," he said, rubbing the side of his neck, "I thought you’d sound more threatening."
Another soft laugh.
"I’m trying not to."
Seventy thousand people were still watching.
Kai had completely forgotten.
Luna went quiet again, like she was thinking carefully before speaking.
Then, softly:
"You don’t have to keep defending me tonight."
"I know," Kai said quietly.
"Then why are you?"
That question landed heavier than anything Derek had said all night.
Kai opened his mouth, closed it, then let out a small, tired laugh.
"Honestly?"
"Mhm."
"...You’re kind of the only person who checks if I ate."
Silence followed.
Not empty. Not awkward.
Just full in a way neither of them rushed to break.
Then Luna spoke, even softer than before.
"That’s really sad, Kai."