Prologue: The Story of a Pair That Liked Games
“You’re always playing games, right, Takatsuki?”
“Huh?”
We were in classroom 1-A of Eastern Shinagawa Public Junior High School, and the person who’d suddenly spoken to me during lunch break was a petite girl wearing pigtails.
Not much about me had changed in the half year since we’d started junior high. I was still a loner, so the girl and I weren’t friends. I knew her name at least since she was a classmate, but we’d never spoken...until now.
“Ah, sorry. I kinda came out of nowhere. Am I interrupting?” she asked.
“N-No, not at all...”
Even if she was, it’s not like I could tell her that outright. I can’t talk with people! And on top of that, my heart was racing because I hadn’t talked to a girl in a long time.
“What kinda game is it?” She asked her next question as she leaned over to look at the screen. Guess she had a pretty loose concept of personal space.
“Uh, it’s a new one...” I answered before pausing. “Do you like games, Sasaki?”
I was sure that was her name—Aya Sasaki. She was a talkative girl who scampered around like a hamster. She wasn’t a grand beauty, but she was cheerful and easy to talk to, plus she had a cute smile. The guys and girls all loved her.
Obviously, she’d have nothing in common with a gloomy gamer like me, so why had she come over to talk? Some kind of dare?
“Aya! Come on!” one of her friends called.
“Comiiing!” Sasaki answered. She raised a hand before turning back to me and clapping me lightly on the shoulder. “Let’s talk about games some other time, Takatsuki!”
Once she’d dashed off, I noticed that my body felt slightly hot where she’d touched me. Maybe I was a little jealous.
What was that all about?
It’d been a long time since a girl had spoken to me. The experience had been nerve-racking...but Sasaki did seem easy to talk to.
Whatever. Her saying “some other time” was probably just one of those social obligations.
Or so I’d thought...
“But here she is at my house...”
“What was that?” asked Sasaki.
“Nothing, don’t worry about it.”
Out of nowhere, she’d asked me if I was free. Seeing as I’m in the go-home club, I’d said my schedule was free every day.
“Can I come over then?” she’d asked, and there’d been no way to refuse.
As she peered around my room, she commented, “You don’t have much stuff, do you?” Then, she sat down on my bed with a soft thump.
Uh... That’s where you’re sitting? No hesitation at all, right onto a guy’s bed.
“So! What games do you play?” She was kicking her legs in the air and looking at me.
“Uh...well these are the games I bought recently...”
She looked through them. “Aww, they’re all single-player. Don’t you have any two-player ones?”
Well, I always played on my own! It’s not like I had anyone to play with anyway.
“I’ll bring some of my brother’s over next time.”
Huh? You’re coming again? I thought, but couldn’t ask.
In the end, we played an RPG together.
—The next day.
Here she is again.
This time, she had brought several games that she’d taken from her brother.
Apparently, Sasaki liked games, but her brother wouldn’t play much with her anymore, so she was looking for someone who would.
“Can’t you play with your girl friends?” I asked.
“Well, none of them like games.”
“Hm, so why not look for someone who does?”
“Why do you think I’m here?” She answered my question with one of her own, and her expression conveyed an unspoken, What are you on about?
“Oh, yeah, that makes sense.”
“Besides,” she added after a minute, “girls are cliquey, so making new friends is a lot of work.”
“O-Oh... Right...”
So this was the darkness of female society. I’d heard some superstitions online.
“Takatsuki, does it bother you? Me being here.”
“Nah, not at all.” I’d been nervous at first, but I was always willing to talk about games. It was actually pretty fun.
So that was how Sasaki had ended up coming over to my place a few times each week. Before I knew it, I’d stopped calling her Sasaki and had started calling her Sasa. This routine continued as we moved into high school as well.
“Hey, do you have plans over Christmas?” she asked one day.
“Why bother asking when you know I don’t, Sasa?”
By this point, we’d gotten completely relaxed with each other.
“Keep yourself open then,” she said.
“I already told you that I’m free.”
Well, if she wanted me to keep that day open, then I would. Otherwise, I’d never get the chance to find out why she wanted me to be available.
“I’m looking forward to the ski trip next week!” she cheered.
“Well, I’m not great with the cold. I wanna bunk off and game at home.”
“You don’t exercise enough, Takatsuki. You need to do it more.”
“You like to exercise, Sasa?”
“Hm, I think I prefer playing games at your place now,” she murmured into my ear, her warm breath carrying her words.
That’s bad for my heart!
I felt my face redden as she giggled.
All of this was a memory from winter during my first year of high school.
Recently, I’d felt like I was forgetting her smile. The last time I’d seen her was over a year ago. It was just before we’d ended up in this world, and the two of us had been talking in the trapped bus.
Right now, the sight above me was a familiar ceiling in the rest area of the Macallan adventurer’s guild.
I’d been dreaming of the past.
I miss you...Sasa.
She was a classmate I hadn’t been able to see in this world—she’d been my only friend from junior high, and a girl that I’d had some quiet feelings for back then.
I’ll never see her again...
I spent the rest of the day feeling sad.
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