“…We’re done talking, but now that we’re together, pay me some attention.”

I sat down next to Yuzu on the foldable chair and she tugged on my hemline.

“Even if you ask me that… We don’t have anything in common, do we?”

The only topic of conversation between us, that of Kotani and Sakuraba, was already settled. To be honest, there was nothing more to talk about.

“Yes, but…. Oh, yes. Then I’ll play the game with you.”

“Err…”  When I gave her a reluctant look, Yuzu pulled her eyebrows together and poked me in the side

“Come on. Your girlfriend here is trying to communicate with you, don’t act like a jerk.”

To be honest, I preferred to play games by myself. I never shared my enjoyment with others on the internet. I simply didn’t care what other people thought, all I cared about was whether I found it fun or not. The game did support multiplayer in battle, but RPGs were basically a single player genre.

However, I was beginning to get close to Yuzu to the extent that I couldn’t simply push her away here; I let out a sigh and set another controller.

“All right, then. Here, I’ll help you beside me. Go on.”

“Yay! You can be thrilled with this perfect girlfriend-move that understands her boyfriend’s hobbies and be like him too, you know?”

“Yes, yes, yes. I’m so lucky to have the perfect girlfriend.”

I shrugged my shoulders, shifted my foldable chair slightly towards Yuzu, and handed her one side of the earphones. It was a bit cramped as we were both wearing an earpiece for each of us, but there was nothing we could do about that.



“Um, this boy in red is the hero?”

“Yes, that’s the one you control. I’m the blue one.”

Yuzu was in control of a man in red with double swords, and I manipulated a boy in blue who fought with a kendama. The story proceeded with a party of three, including the heroine in white. As Yuzu was a beginner, she was very unskilled in controlling the character; If I hadn’t been there to watch her back, I had no idea how many times she would have died.

“Whoa, that was dangerous! Eh? Oh, that was your magic… oh please-“

However, Yuzu seemed to still enjoy it a bit and reacted with a great deal of fresh surprise.

RPG games are not about competing with others. The important thing is to enjoy the game as much as you can. That was why I didn’t rush her, I was there to support her and help her on her adventure.

And so we found ourselves at the end of the school day when the chime rang out.

“It’s time to call it a day. I’m going to save the game, Yuzu.”

“Ugh… but we have to crush this inhumane man farm.” Yuzu seemed to have had a lot of fun and was still very much in the game.

“We’ll do it again tomorrow,” I said with a chuckle, knowing exactly how she felt.

Yuzu was still reluctant but a single sigh was all that was needed to make her change her mind, and she gave a refreshing smile, “Hm, I see. I’ve just found something to do with Yamato-kun. It’s more fun to play a little bit every day.”

Hmm. Well, that was one of the best things about RPGs. We locked the door of the club room and left the school secretly so that the teacher would not find us.

“I’ll see you tomorrow. Yamato-kun.”

Yuzu waved goodbye with a fluttering hand. However, the sun had already set and it was a bit unnerving to let a girl walk alone.

“Would you like me to walk you home?” When I offered to do so, Yuzu was surprised by my words, or perhaps she was puzzled and became silent.

“…What is it?” I felt uncomfortable, so I asked her, and she looked at me with a teasing look in her eyes.

“What? Yamato-kun, do you perhaps want to spend more time with me?”

For a moment, I reflexively wanted to deny it, but that would not advance the conversation. Today, Yuzu also accommodated my hobby. I think I should also show some compromise.

“Well, yeah.”

“Eh?”

When I reluctantly affirmed, Yuzu somehow let out a goofy voice.

“Eh… uh, yeah. I see.” Then, looking away, she muttered something fidgety and inarticulate.

When I saw her like that, I knew what to expect and nodded my head, “Are you embarrassed, by any chance?”

“Why do you have to put it into words?”

Probably I hit the nail on the head—Yuzu glared at me with a red face. I was a bit taken aback by her enigmatic innocence.

“I thought you were supposed to be popular? But even with just this, you already…”

“I’m used to being told that by popular guys. But those guys usually say it in a joking way so that it will not hurt either of us if they fail…! But, Yamato-kun, you don’t have that kind of character at all, so it really took me by surprise.”

Yuzu repeatedly took deep breaths, as if trying to calm herself down. I felt sorry for her if she was that shaken up.

“I’m sorry. I was simply trying to walk you home since it’s late.”

“You should have said so from the start. It’s a nice gesture, but I’m getting some kind of damage instead. Geez.”

She tried to look angry, but her ears were still red and she hadn’t been able to cover it up at all. She’s too defenseless for a narcissist, isn’t she? No, the lack of defensiveness is why she acted like a narcissist to cover it up.

When I thought about it like that, she was surprisingly a cute young lady.

“…What’s with the warm fuzzy eyes?”

I looked at Yuzu with a smile on my face and she seemed to have noticed this too, and glared back at me with a scowl.

“Nothing, just that I think that Yuzu is the cutest! As what you would expect from someone who says that by herself on a regular basis.”

“I’m getting an impression that you mean something else!” Yuzu spanked me on the shoulder.

I enjoyed the walk home with her, feeling mischievous as I saw her a little frustrated.

chocolala: Look at how they wear the earphones, they look so adorbs! Now who would say they’re a fake couple?