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𝙶𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐...

Like he promised, Choki had called you the next night again for saying goodnight. His voice was hard to make out when he whispered as low as he did but you were sure it could be Nagi on the other end. You hoped it would be him.

Monday came by before you were able to settle your thoughts about the happenings of the weekend. That's why, on Monday, you decided to play hooky for the first time in your whole life. You left early in the morning, telling your grandma you'd be back after evening classes - hoping she won't find out about your actual whereabouts.

Actually you felt kind of bad and a little afraid. What if people found out you were ditching classes? It's not like you would make it a habit, you just needed some time for yourself. However, the fear of being taken away from your grandma again lingered throughout the day, yet it still felt better than going to school.

Wandering through the early morning hours, you decided to spend some time in a café, learning for school. Just to comfort your conscience.

As soon as the Arcade opening hour arrived though, you headed right to your favourite place. Remembering your appointment with Mika in the afternoon, you opened his chat and found a message from him.

Mika
Where are you?
Are you ok?
Answer me, stupid!
Or should I call your Nana?

Oh god, please let him be smart enough to not have called her yet!

As fast as you were able to, you typed a reply.

You
NO!
Don't message her!
I'm fine, let's meet later
Message me as soon as
your classes are over!!

Mika
Istg you should not leave
me alone here!

You
So what did you do with the
project which is due next month?

Mika
I told you I'm sorry

You

You better be

Mika
Don't leave me alone though

You
You egoist

Mika
I'm not!

You
Yep, yep you are

Mika
Stfu <3

You
Guess I'll ditch classes another day...

Mika
Fine, I'll stop
See you later

You
Good, later

Mika
Take care of yourself

You sighed and shook your head, a faint smile graving your lips. Then, another message came in and your smile faded as you didn't know what to feel.

Mika
And reply Nagi, he's staring at
your chat like it's his favourite
tv show!

Also Hyo-chan told me he wanted
to meet us in the evening, for the
last step of his plan or something.

Nagi is waiting for my reply? He messaged me?

In a hurry you typed a reply to Mika before opening Nagi's chat. He actually messaged you. How did you not see this? You stopped walking a few moments ago already but now your heartbeat was increasing and you couldn't help but feel warmth spreading in your chest and face.

Nagi
(Y/N)-chan are you sick?
Do you need me to bring you
the papers on my way home?
Reo said we could stop by.

You found yourself thinking a little too carefully about what to reply and it annoyed you. Then, it struck you.

Oh no. Oh no no no no no. It can't be true.

But you knew it was. You were thinking about what to write and how Nagi would think about your reply, you thought about the expression he'd make - probably his standard apathetic one - and about how much a hug of him or the touch of his hand ruffling your hair would make you feel better immediately.

And finally you were aware of the fact that you thought way too much about it. The fact that you cared about what he thought and felt that much and that you craved his touch even though you didn't really like that much physical contact most of the time.

The realisation had finally hit you.

You fell in love with Nagi Seishirou.

That was your sign. Your sign to run the rest of the way to the Arcade and distract yourself with gaming. Well, it didn't work. Arriving there you were confronted with the gaming machine of Violent Combat and Choki's Highscore was a thorn in your eye. You just had to beat him.

But thinking about beating Choki made you feel just the same as thinking about Nagi - because you didn't only fall for your classmate but also for your gaming rival. You were sure they were the same person.

Your thoughts messed with your head and distracted you throughout the game.

What if they are not the same person?

GΛMΣ ӨVΣЯ

I'd love two people at the same time then, what will I do?

GΛMΣ ӨVΣЯ

Or what if they are the same person but he doesn't like me back?

GΛMΣ ӨVΣЯ

But even worse...what if he likes me back?!

GΛMΣ ӨVΣЯ

After the fifth "game over" you fought hard to keep your patience and not kick against the machine, instead taking a deep breath and trying to bring some structure into the chaos of your repeating thoughts.

Alright. (Y/N), you can do this. First, you don't know anything, so thinking about possibilities will only make you feel worse. But this day is to calm you down, so stop thinking, start living.

Second, you will beat Choki; you can't let him win this game. He is a worthy enemy and you will proof him that you are his worthy nemesis as well.

Third, leave the planning to Hyoma for once. Whatever happens, him and Mika will be there.

You sighed, feeling more calm but like an absolute jerk at the same time. It made you grin though. Talking to yourself in your head had become a habit in middle school; you already knew you were strong enough to survive cruelties. Your father had proven you, your bullies had, now your mom too.

Nagi wasn't like them. But if liking him would ever hurt you, you'd surely survive that as well. You would be happy again despite it, at least you have Hyoma, Mika, and your Nana. But most importantly, you have yourself.

And who are you to run away from some stupid feelings? Who are you to fall into despair because of uncertainty? Who are you to give up when failing at breaking the Highscore?

That's not you. Not today, not yesterday, and never in a thousand years.

Finally, you felt a smile creep up on your face. Not due to Nagi or Choki or a joke from one of your friends. Not because you were grateful for your Nana and not for achieving a good score in a test. No, you smiled because you knew you got your own back. You felt it and you believed in yourself, you were proud of yourself for not giving up.

Why didn't I tell myself earlier? I'm still here, I'm still trying, there is so much to be proud of in that fact already.

With a determined grin you started playing Violent Combat again and it didn't take you long to break the Highscore again this time.

"Woah, that's crazy! You did it? I tried for days to reach even the second place but couldn't do it", a young clerk was staring at the score board, amazed. Surprised, you looked at her, then nodded.

"I never saw you working here", you smiled, suddenly feeling exhausted. "Are you new?"

"I just started working at the beginning of the week but sometimes I stay longer to try some game or too", the young woman replied, blushing slightly. She must be somewhere around your age, you realised, maybe two years older, having just graduated.

"So you like gaming?", you continued the conversation.

"I do", she replied. You glanced at her name plate and it read 'Sakura (she/her)' on it.

Since when do they write their pronouns on their name plates?, you wondered amazed. By the look of it she had just scribbled it behind her printed name.

"Me too", you grinned back at her face. "Obviously"

She looked around the Arcade and laughed shortly.

"Do you have much to do here?", you asked.

"Not really, on weekdays it's busier in the afternoon"

"So, would you like to play Mario Kart with me? Please!"

She seemed to hesitate.

"I can ask your boss if you want", you suggested, feeling confident right now. Sakura seemed to be a lovely person and you craved for some friends of your gender. "Although you seem like quite the rebellious person to me yourself. I love your name plate"

The clerk grinned back at you. "It's fine, I'll tell my boss. Wait for me at the gaming machine"

With these words she left you and two minutes later you met at the Mario Kart machine. It was build with several fake motorcycles the players could sit on. Sakura was a surprisingly amazing player, not quite as good as Choki though but that was fine. You had fun together either way.

However, after a few rounds she had to go back to work and you two simply exchanged your phone numbers to stay in contact.

You felt ecstatic and wanted to message Mika. Right then, you noticed that you had forgotten to reply Nagi when you read his messages a few hours ago. Dumbfounded you stared at your screen, remembering how you had basically run away from your own emotions, and started laughing about yourself. You were glad no one was near to see you behave so embarrassingly stupid.

Love really makes you lose all rational thinking, doesn't it? How annoying.

Quickly, you typed in a message.

You
Hey Nagi, thank you for asking.
I'm okay, just taking some time
for myself. There's no need
to bring me anything, I'll return
to school tomorrow!

His answer came immediately.

Nagi
Alright!
I'm glad I will see you tomorrow.

With a burning face, you closed the chat and went to Mika's, starting to type in a message, when suddenly your vision went black.

"Who am I?", a familiar voice sounded behind you.

"Mika", you wanted to roll your eyes but he still covered them with his hands.

"Correct", your vision returned and you turned around to your best friend. He was grinning at you mischievously.

"How did you know where to find me?"

"Oh please", he replied, raising an eyebrow.

Ah yeah, right. Dumb question.

"The Arcade is your second home", he stated the obvious.

"So...what do you wanna do?", you asked, genuinely wanting him to decide.

"I want to get some ice cream", he decided without hesitation.

"Sounds great"

"You pay"

"Whyyyyyy?", you whine.

"Just kidding", he laughed.

"Idiot", you playfully kicked him against his left leg and he stumbled, nearly falling over as you headed for the exit. His movement made you laugh and you held your tummy as you left the Arcade, walking backwards.

"Just you wait", Mika straightened himself again, "that calls for revenge"

You turned around and sprinted away, him following behind you.

"Ohhhh I'm so scared", you teased him, still running and laughing.

Eventually, you ended up arriving at the nearest ice café only slightly before Mika was able to catch on to you. You admire that he really improved his running skills since he started playing football in Reo's football club.

"That...", he panted, "...was close"

"Absolutely"

"Stop sarcasming me"

"Sarcasming isn't even a thing"

"It must be, cause you invented that kind of behaviour and it's rude"

"You have to admit that you like it though", you followed him to an empty table, sitting down at it, having a look at the menu although you knew you'd choose your favourite type as always.

"It's getting kinky at this point", he stated and you agreed with a nod.

"Yeah, let's move on"

"Agreed", he snapped the menu out of your hand, grinning at you. You were offended only for a moment, until you realised that he knew that you always chose the same.

The two of you spend a whole hour solely eating ice cream and talking about football, your Nana, and school until Mika mentioned something white surprising.

"You know...I've been wanting to tell you this but didn't know how since our friendship...suffered a bit during the last few weeks..."

"It's fine", you replied ruefully, "I understand"

A short uncomfortable silence lingered between the two of you, until you eventually spoke up again. "So...what is it?"

"Alright", Mika seemed way more serious than he usually did and it would have made you feel worried if it wasn't for his slight smile as he searched for something inside his bag. He fetched a letter, handing it to you, however you looked him straight in the eye when he spoke again.

"This is an invitation from the Japan Football Association for a Player Improvement Project. Nagi and Reo received one as well"

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𝙶𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐...