Prologue
The high school Kai Nakamura enrolled in, Asagi High, was a private school that prided itself on its relaxed environment. Students were free to use not just their cell phones, but also their gaming consoles as long as they weren’t in class.
“Seriously?! We can play video games at school?!”
Kai, a hardcore otaku, didn’t have his hopes up for much when he heard this. But then—
After the entrance ceremony ended, it was time for Kai and the other new students to relocate to their respective classrooms and wait for their very first homeroom period to begin.
“Morning! I’m Jun Miyakawa.” The girl who took the seat next to Kai spoke to him, completely out of the blue.
“G-Good m-morning, I’m K-K-Kai Nakamura,” Kai said in a panic as he introduced himself back.
He wasn’t a bad communicator or anything. He could talk to girls just fine (although coming up with suave, engaging things to talk about was out of the question!). Nevertheless, it was painstakingly obvious why he behaved this way.
She was unbelievably hot. Something about her almond-shaped eyes gave her a mischievous air, making him profoundly aware of her cheerful charm. Only a girl who was not quite a child, but not quite an adult could project that. Her nose was well defined, and her lips were a soft, petal pink. Despite her natural makeup, she was so good-looking it wouldn’t have been strange at all to see her on the cover of a teen magazine.
Jun’s light-brown hair was tied back into a single ponytail, which cascaded onto her shoulders. She didn’t have a single split end. Her hair was so soft and shiny, it was almost like the spring sunlight was only shining into the classroom to add to her allure. Kai knew how much work it took to keep her hair in this condition because of all the whining his sister did about it at home.
The real pièce de résistance was her mind-blowingly incredible bust. It was so voluptuous that any boy his age would find his eyes glued to it.
“You can call me Jun! Nice to meet you, neighbor,” she said, pointing to herself with an absolutely stunning smile on her face.
That’s right, stunning. He didn’t get the sense that she was trying to butter him up as was typical of some girls. Such a breath of fresh air.
“Y-You can call me Kai, then,” he said.
“Will do, Kai!”
Wow, she said my name! This surprised him a bit, knocking the air from his chest. Not that there was anything uncomfortable about it. On the contrary, he felt happy and flattered that a pretty girl would talk to him like they were good friends already. I’m SO glad I came to this school... he thought. His only motivation to apply was video games. Who knew he’d get to be desk neighbors with a girl as cute and friendly as Jun because of it?!
As he relished his stroke of good luck, Jun began to open her bookbag next to him. It was a very girly bag, covered in mascot character accessories. I bet she’s going to pull makeup tools out of it, he figured, only to be surprised yet again.
Jun swiftly but triumphantly pulled out a Switch!
“I’ve been WAITING for this!” was all she said before excitedly and unabashedly starting to play.
Huh? HUH? Kai couldn’t keep himself from ogling. Sure, girls who play video games really weren’t that rare nowadays. That said, did she really bring video games with her to the first day of school? And start playing as soon as the entrance ceremony ended? Even though they had homeroom right after? That was way toobold, even for a school that let students play video games!
She must have felt Kai’s gaze on her.
“Curious?” Jun asked without looking up from her screen.
“Oh... U-Uh, yeah. What’re you playing?”
“Breath of the Wild!”
“Oh, Zelda? Nice!” Kai turned to the seat next to him and leaned forward. Now that he was closer, he tried to look at her screen. His interest as an otaku beat out any timidness he felt about scooting so close to a pretty girl he’d just met.
Everyone was still talking about the game even though it had been out for roughly a year. He wanted it too, but as someone who carefully managed his meager allowance, he’d ended up putting it on the backburner. There were too many video games, manga, and light novels he wanted.
Kai watched from the side, amused, as Jun happily chucked what looked like a bomb into a lake and caught the fish that floated to the surface (what an awful way to fish!).
“Wanna give it a try, Kai?” Jun asked.
“Mm... Thanks, but I’m good.”
“You sure? No need to be shy about it.”
“I’m not,” he responded. Something action-y like Mario Kart or Smash Bros. with short rounds was one thing, but BotW was the type of game you hunkered down to play. He didn’t want to just skim it. Kai wanted to save enjoying the game for when he eventually bought and played it himself, so he could relish the thrill on a deeper level!
...was the gist of what he started ranting and raving about. After unintentionally rattling off an otaku saga, Kai felt a twinge of regret. That was probably a turn-off since we just met...
But then Jun replied, “I get it! You’re right; you oughta be hands off. My bad!” She looked up from her game at him and giggled. Then she flashed another winning smile at him. Between admiring her attractiveness and being shook that a girl understood his diehard gamer attitude, Kai was frantic.
“Besides,” he stated, still all fired up. “I’m already covered.” Kai pulled his own Switch out of his bookbag.
“Haha ? Do you normally bring that with you to the first day of school?”
“Who says you’re talking to somebody ‘normal’?” he quipped back while booting up his Switch. Kai started playing Monster Hunter, thinking that for a moment there, they sort of felt like old friends.
Kai and Jun sat adjacent to each other, both engrossed in their games. As a result, neither of them realized: given the day and time they’d both started playing their games out of the blue, a small crowd had formed around the two of them. People gathered around with looks on their faces that said, “What are they doing...?”
Since Jun’s appearance made her especially stand out, plenty of guys and girls wanted to talk to her. The vibe made them hesitate about approaching her, however. The only people Kai and Jun spoke at ease with while playing, were each other. In a way, they’d essentially created their own little world. This quickly produced an atmosphere no one else felt they could set foot into.
An average Joe, a super-rad girl... From the outside, the two of them seemed to be from completely different worlds. But one hobby—video games—served as a go-between!
“Is that Generations Ultimate? You doing some Thunderlord hunting?” Jun asked while playing BotW.
“You can never have enough leg armor,” Kai replied while playing MH. He kept his mouth shut about wanting the armor because of the sexy design, for obvious reasons.
“Didn’t a new MH game come out, though? Isn’t that one old?”
“I mean, yeah, they did release World,” he responded. GU was just the only title he could play on the Switch, which was portable. He knew full well that he was playing an old series. “I’ll play MHW when I get back home.”
“You have it?!” Jun asked excitedly, looking up from her screen again.
“Well, I saved up my allowance for it,” he replied. The PS4 itself was expensive. Plus, if anything, you could say that was the biggest reason why he put off buying BotW.
“That sounds awesome...” she sighed.
“You don’t... you don’t have it, Jun?” For a second he wasn’t sure whether to call her by name too, but in the end he opted to follow her lead.
Jun didn’t seem to notice Kai’s mild conflict over this, much less care. “There’ve been ALL these manga, CDs, lipsticks, and sandals I want coming out lately~”
“O-Oh yeah...?” he stammered. All the otaku girls he’d ever met were either the posh, “I read manga, but fashion is my top priority!” type, or the “I love anime! Fashion comes second!” type. This was the first time he’d ever met a girl like Jun, who didn’t seem to want to give up either. Or perhaps, it was his first time meeting a girl who was interested in a blood-tingling game like MH. He couldn’t help but grow even more interested in her.
Jun continued in a passionate tone, “Isn’t the gameplay also super different in MHW? As a longtime player, I’m kinda nervous that it won’t feel like previous entries, you know? So I kind of wanna just wait and see?”
He knew exactly what she meant. That was actually the reason he waffled on buying it himself. Kai paused his game, turned toward Jun and emphatically said, “It’s faithful to the gameplay up to now, and the new gameplay elements are interesting!” As both an MH lover and someone who was always a bit ahead of the curve, he couldn’t stop himself from treading into new, joyous territory.
“That sounds nice~” Jun said, writhing out of what seemed to be sincere jealousy. Her huge boobs jiggled.
“...Wanna give it a try?”
“Yes!!!” she exclaimed immediately in response to his timidly posed question. Kai, emboldened by her behavior, resolved himself.
“A-Alright, wanna come over to my house?”
He asked out loud, his voice shaking but otherwise clear. Would it shock her, being so sudden? Or would she laugh and say that she’d never go over to the house of some guy she barely even knew? Would she coldly turn him down?
There was no need for him to worry.
“Sure!”
Because—sure enough—Jun flashed him a boyish grin, and answered without missing a single beat.
“I didn’t think you’d actually come back then. For real,” Kai muttered, violently mashing his Joy-Con.
On the right side of the split screen, Kai’s player character Morton hugged the inside of the track in Bone-Dry Dunes with a Mushroom Dash.
“Yeah, it was a bit much for you to invite me over,” Jun said, pursing her lips in a cute way as she fought desperately with her own Joy-Con. The character she was controlling on the left side of the screen, Isabelle, left Morton (and the shortcut Kai had taken) in the dust.
It was after school. They were in Kai’s room on the second floor of his house. His nine-square-meter room was furnished with a study desk, bookshelf, and TV, among other things. Kai was the type of guy who only put up a single poster—his absolute favorite at the moment—despite how bare it looked. Right now, it was a Goblin Slayer poster drawn by Noboru Kannatsuki that adorned his ceiling... depicting the four heroines from the book clad in bright bikinis. How naughty. He wanted anime figurines, but they were out of reach for a high schooler like himself.
Kai sat on his bed in his incredibly average otaku lair with a not-so-average hot girl, playing Mario Kart.
He and Jun played video games, took turns reading manga, and watched anime they’d DVRed until late at night. Sometimes they would bicker over having different favorite characters, but they had essentially the same taste in everything. Kai had never gotten along with someone this well before.
She was the very first female friend he’d ever had. No, she was his best friend.
He’d leave it up to somebody else to decide whether or not this was normal! Either way, ever since then, Jun would go over to Kai’s place to hang out about five times a week.
You heard that right—ever since. A year had passed since he had met Jun. The two of them advanced to their second year of high school and ended up in the same class yet again. Today was the first day of school.
“A lot’s happened this year, now that I think about it,” Kai commented.
“Nuh-uh! All we did was hang out every day.” So began their aimless conversation, as they played MK.
“You really wanted to play MHW that bad back then, Jun?”
“Yeah, I did!” Jun replied.
“You weren’t scared of going over to the house of a guy you barely knew?”
“I figured your parents would be there, so I didn’t mind,” she shrugged.
“What would you have done if I was obviously living on my own in an apartment or something?” Kai asked her.
“I woulda made up an excuse in the doorway and turned right back around.”
“Makes sense.”
“I mean, I always have to be on guard looking like this. Y’know?” Jun said in a completely deadpan manner as she pressed the buttons on her Joy-Con.
“Says the person who’s right about to lose the lead to me and Morton!”
“I wasn’t talking about the game just now, though!” Jun cried. Kai looked at her from the corner of his eye and shot her a triumphant look. Then she continued, “Real high-and-mighty talk for a guy who’s been sneaking peeks at my bare legs!”
Jun’s teasing made him glare. It was no use, though. Jun was sitting cross-legged next to him on the bed. Sitting in that position meant she could focus on gaming, but... he did have a full view of her bare legs because of how short her skirt was, not to mention some white fabric that should’ve stayed hidden saying hello.
“Hey, your panties are sticking out!”
“Got you now, Kai!” Jun couldn’t care less about the warning he’d given her. The game had her undivided attention. Her character Isabelle flipped Morton on his back and callously slid past the goal line.
“Yaaay, I won! I won!” she cheered.
“That was DIRTY!!!”
“A win’s a win! That’s on YOU for being a dirty pervert and peeping at my panties!” Jun said, casually fixing her skirt. “Kai, you horndog!”
Despite flashing him an evil grin to tease him for his boyish innocence, Jun’s cheeks were a bit red. In other words, she was clearly hiding her embarrassment. What about having your guard up now? Kai thought to himself.
In the beginning, Jun refrained from being on the bed, would sit properly with her legs out to the side, and was careful to move and position herself to keep her panties from showing. But within a month, she was comfortable being completely open and vulnerable in Kai’s room. He often ignored it because it was far more embarrassing for him to point it out each and every time!
“Anyways, let’s do another, Jun,” Kai gruffly proposed to diffuse the awkward vibe.
“I’m good. I already beat you at MK anyway.”
“You just gonna quit while you’re ahead?!”
“Precisely,” she said.
“Oh, come on, beat me fair and square!”
“I wanna play MHW instead since you brought it up! It’s been too long,” said Jun. Without bothering to get his approval, she assertively put her Joy-Con back on the Switch and turned the PS4 on.
“...Guess that leaves me no choice.” Kai reluctantly returned his Joy-Con to the console and started up a different PS4.
Yup—can you believe it?
Jun brought her own TV and PS4 to play on once she started spending all her time in his room. She’d even hijacked the Wi-Fi and was connected to the internet. Kai’s already small room felt even more confined as a result... That was the reason why they had two PS4s in his room.
“So Jun, what’re we hunting for?” Kai asked her.
“Anything, as long as it’s a Tempered Elder Dragon.”
“Ugh, collect the tracks on your own then...”
“Aw, don’t say that. Humor me~ Lemme see just how much of a breadwinner you can be~” She negotiated with him while waiting for the game to finish booting up. As she did, they both heard Kai’s mother’s voice from the first floor.
“Juuuun! Are you having dinner with us tonight?”
“Yes, pleeease! Thaaank you, Mother!” Jun shouted genially in response.
“Who are you calling ‘Mother’...?” Normally she called her “ma’am.”
“What can I say, Kai? Every single time you call a woman ‘ma’am,’ they get another day older.”
“Ma’am, ma’am, ma’am.”
“Gimme my three days back!”
“‘Mother’ just sounds weird, though.”
“Alright, how about I call her ‘Noriko’?”
“STOP.” It just felt wrong for a friend his age to be calling his mom by her first name.
“It’s fine! It’s not like I’m gonna steal your mom, Kai. There, there,” Jun teased, giggling.
“I’m not worried about that. It just feels like you’ll actually be part of the family before long...” Kai said, being half truthful.
“That would be nice!” Jun chirped. “Wow, Noriko, you’re such a good cook~”
“Stop calling her ‘Noriko’...” Kai grumbled, his PS4 controller at the ready. The only drawback to this masterpiece of a console was that it took a while to start up. Eventually, it displayed the start screen on his TV.
Then, he and Jun were off to the New World to play.
This was Kai’s daily life with his female friend, Jun. He wished it could last forever. He never stopped wishing for that all throughout his high school career.
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