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𝙶𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐...

This chapter came in delay due to personal reasons. I wrote more and earlier about it on my profile, my followers all got the message.
Stay tuned to stay informed about possible delays, I'm glad you all enjoy my story and wait for my chapters.

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You and Choki wanted to meet at the Arcade - of course, where else as at the Violent Combat machine would be the best place to meet for the two of you?

There it was where everything had begun.

Later, he wanted to keep his promise and get you some of your favourite donuts. Specifically today, you couldn't care less about the donuts though. You could only think about yours and Choki's secret identity being revealed. Finally.

Anxiety filled your stomach with a feeling of butterflies flying around, yet you felt like throwing them up at any second. What a scary feeling to truly like someone. It was driving you mad that you were afraid to mess something up. To not be good enough. What if he was disappointed?

You and Mika made your way to the Arcade directly after school, yet you walked way more slowly than you usually did and Mika noticed.

"Come on (Y/N), hurry up a bit or you'll be late for your date"

"..."

"Don't be afraid, I'll be there"

"I know..."

"But?"

"But?! How would you feel in my situation? What if I mess things up? What if Choki doesn't like me?"

"Then he doesn't deserve you and I'll be there to protect you", Mika gifted you a heart-warming smile and you sighed. Oddly, your best friend's words truly achieved to reassure you and strengthen your bravery.

"Alright. Thank you, Mika"

"So, let's hurry up a bit?"

"Yes", you felt way more determined than before. At least you still got your pride as a skilled gamer who beat Choki multiple times and also you would have Mika by your side if you needed him. You could do that.

And Mika is right - if Choki doesn't like me the way I am, it's him missing out. This is not about me, but his preferences. I deserve someone who loves all about me - like my friends do, just less platonically.

Even though you knew all that, it sometimes was still hard to truly believe it. However, you tried to brush your worries aside.

As you reached the Arcade, your heart started beating faster and the moment you entered the hall, you weren't able to hear anything else beside your own heartbeat in your ears.

So scary. Caring is really annoying.

"I'll get us some drinks", Mika decided but you immediately grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

"Don't leave me alone", you yell-whispered.

"Go fetch your date, (Y/N)"

"No"

"He's already waiting for you", Mika grinned and used your moment of shock to free his hand from yours and leave you alone, staring towards the Violent Combat machine.

No, this can't be.

Right beside the machine, there truly stood no other than Nagi Seishirou.

He didn't see you yet and for a second you felt the urge to hide yourself but then he suddenly turned around and met your gaze. You froze in place and seemingly so did he.

After a few passing seconds you found back your ability to walk and talk. Hesitantly, you filled the gap between you two by taking slow steps towards the machine. Your gaze didn't leave his for only a second during the whole time.

Even though you wanted to look away, you couldn't. You were overwhelmed with joy and relief that Choki56 and Nagi really were the same person.

"Hi", you said when you came to a halt in front of him.

"Hey", he replied, his gaze still fixated on you.

A barely sufferable silence lingered between the two of you after these words and you asked yourself when Mika would come back.
Eventually you realised that he wouldn't. He had probably seen that it was Nagi, he knew you would be safe. Mika probably already left.

This was on you now.

And all of the messages, all of the games, all of the calls - it truly had been Nagi all the time. Memories of Choki's messages flooded your mind.

"Will you stop calling me loser when I beat you in Mobile Raid?"

The picture of Nagi playing Mobile Raid in class showed itself in front of you.

"I promise you, I would even score as many goals for you as you wish"

I'm front of your inner eye, you saw Nagi scoring a goal in the practice game a few weeks ago.

"You are important to me too"

You remembered Nagi saving you after your fight with your mom.

"I actually don't say this often but I miss gaming with you"

Your gaze softened and you smiled at him. "I was right"

"Right?", confused, he tilted his head.

God, he is so cute!

"Yes", you chuckled. "I was right with my assumption. I already thought...and hoped that you were Nagi, Choki"

"Why?"

"Why I thought it?"

"Why did you hope for it?", he clarified.

You gulped, taking a deep breath, collecting all your bravery to confess. "Because I've been starting to like you, Nagi. You...but Choki too. And I've been confused about how I could like two people at the same time - unless they were one and the same person"

Nagi looked at you in awe, the tips of his ears slowly turning red. Carefully he raised his hand and put it lazily on your head. You looked up to him, confused and excited as he started to slowly ruffle your hair. "Kawaii", he said.

You felt your face heat up and scolded yourself that you should have ate something this morning because right now you felt like fainting. This boy was taking your breath away.

You weren't able to say anything, too many thoughts flooded your mind. However, Nagi seemed to read it or at least he found the right words to put your inner chaos into some order.

"I've been feeling the same, (Y/N). I talked to Reo about it and he said how I feel for you is called falling in love. That's what you meant too, right? You fell in love with me?"

At first you were only able to nod slowly, then it grew a little bit more eager and you agreed with a small "Yes".

The two of you stared at each other for a moment and Nagi looked as if he was trying to remember something before he broke the silence again.

"Then...", he turned around, grabbing a small plastic bag which had been placed on top of the machine.

Goddamn he's really tall that he can reach so easily up there.

He held the bag towards you and you spotted that inside there were some donuts of your favourite flavour. "...do you want to date me?"

You'd never known that this was possible but Nagi's words made you even happier than the donuts he had just gifted you.

"Does dating you include gaming against each other, sleeping beside each other, and playing football together?"

He nodded, his eyes were glowing.

You grinned, taking the bag full of donuts out of his hand. "I absolutely want to date you then, Nagi"

You were slightly ashamed of your joyful reaction which felt so out of character for you. It was new to you to feel and express such strong emotions so you quickly pulled him into a tight hug. At first, you felt him tense under your grip for a moment, but only a second later he embraced you as well.

His warmth spread throughout your whole body and you could feel him resting his head on yours, one hand fondly stroking through your hair. The other firmly placed against your back, pressing you against him carefully.

"You smell good and you are so warm, I could fall asleep right here", he mumbled and you chuckled, not wanting to losen the embrace yet. Or ever.

"Thank you for everything, Nagi"

"Hmh. Thank you too"

You stood there for you don't know how long, since you lost your sense of time. But in the end you were the one to losen the hug again and the two of you decided to share the donuts and play Violent Combat together.

That day, you didn't meet your new friend at the Arcade, the beautiful kind girl. Yet, you thought of her when Nagi and you went over to the Mario Kart machine later and decided to send her a pic of it. She replied with an amused "Have fun 😜" and you put your phone away again.

The day went by in a hurry and only when Nagi said that he was hungry you remembered that your grandma wanted to make some Yakisoba for dinner.

"Are you in the mood for some Yakisoba?", you asked him cheerfully and the white-haired boy nodded.

You two made your way towards your home and Nagi carried your school bag the whole way. He insisted on it, saying that Reo had taught him some gentleman rules. It truly amused you how the both of you had been too clueless to handle all of this by yourself. Warmth filled your heart at the thought of Nagi talking to Reo about you.

"Hey, don't you think we should invite him over for dinner? Reo I mean. And also some of my friends that helped me. Would you be okay with that?", you suggested and Nagi agreed.

So you called your grandma and she was even more happy about the idea. "I will cook even more then. And I'll make some Mochi too"

"You don't need to do that much, Nana. We can help you once we-"

"No. Do you think I'm too old to handle the kitchen on my own?"

"Of course not, it's just-"

"Concentrate on your boyfriend, (Y/N). Let me handle everything else"

Boyfriend?

You couldn't see your Nana through the phone but you just knew that she would wink at you right now if you were in front of her. With a grateful smile on your lips - which you hoped she would hear - you thanked her and hung up.

After messaging Reo, Mika, and Hyoma, Nagi and you slowly walked further towards your new home. The silence had grown into a comfortable one now, yet your curiosity broke it after some moments.

"By the way...why is your gaming name Choki56?", you looked up to the boy and he met your gaze for a second before looking straight ahead again. You averted your gaze as well.

"Choki's the name of my cactus", he explained. "And 5 and 6 come from my birthday"

"6th May?", you asked to make sure. He nodded and hummed.

"Then that means that meanwhile you're 17? And I didn't realise?"

He hummed again and you punched him playfully. "Idiot. Happy belated birthday, Choki"

Slightly confused Nagi looked down to you and you grinned up to him. The two of you had come to a halt somewhere during the conversation and were now standing under the darkening sky.

It was as if you lost yourself in his gaze and it sent a warm sensational tingle down your spine and made you feel dizzy. In a good way though, somehow.

"I still got a wish", Nagi suddenly remarked.

"What?", his statement had caught you off-guard.

"You still have to grant me a wish"

"Oh, yes, right"

I almost forgot about that.

"Did you think of one?", you asked and Nagi nodded. But just when he wanted to speak up, a car honked and you turned around. A limousine came to a halt beside the two of you and Reo exited it.

"Want a ride?", he grinned.

Bad timing but oh my god yes please.

You nodded vividly and greeted Reo before entering the limousine. Now this really was a dream come true for you. However, now you couldn't stop asking yourself what Nagi wanted to wish from you. It would have to wait until after dinner...

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𝙶𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐...