I Confessed My Sexual Preferences to My Online Game Best Friend, and the Person Who Showed Up at the Offline Meetup Was the Cute Girl from My Class - 1

Chapter 1: When I Went to the Offline Meetup, a Cute Girl Showed Up

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

In life, there are truths that are better left unknown. And indeed, there are Pandora’s boxes that must never be opened.

It was in the large square in front of the station, right by the fountain. I, Kazuma Sato, was wiping my sweaty palms on my jeans while staring at the clock on my phone with a heart full of mixed anticipation and anxiety.

“……Two minutes left.”

Today was supposed to be a historic anniversary for me. It was my first offline meetup with “Haru,” my best partner who I had shared life-and-death struggles with for three years in the online game Eternal Legend. Haru was my one and only best friend. The voice I heard over voice chat was always a bit grainy with static. It was a low, husky, boyish voice that sounded like he hadn’t quite finished puberty.

『Kazu, your buff timing is too slow! Throw it faster, you noob lol』

『Shut up, Haru! You’re the one who charges in too deep! Next time I’m definitely leaving you to die!』

That was the kind of relationship we had, one where we could insult each other without holding back. Haru always laughed and said, “My mic is cheap, so it adds a weird effect,” but I never doubted him for a second. I always thought that he was a foul-mouthed, yet incredibly reliable “male friend with an androgynous voice.”

Because of that, I had bared everything to him. My troubles at school, my anxieties about the future. And even stupid talk about my sexual fetishes, in that typical “all-boys school” tone. However, those expectations were about to come crashing down with an almost tangible sound at a sudden voice from behind.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Kazu.”

It was a dignified, crystal-clear voice that sounded like a ringing bell. “Kazu” was my player name in the online game. I shouldn’t have recognized the voice, but that unique intonation gave me a powerful sense of déjà vu. I timidly turned around. Standing there was an overwhelming beauty that pulverized my meager imagination in an instant.

Glossy black hair flowed elegantly in the breeze. Large, strong-willed eyes looked like they could draw you in. She wore a sophisticated white blouse and a miniskirt of the perfect length. From beneath it extended white, supple legs. It was the “Sun of the Class” who commanded the admiration of our entire grade, not just my class. The one standing there was Rin Shinonome.

“Eh, ah…… Shinonome-san……?”

What escaped my mouth was a pathetically dimwitted voice. Why was she here? A dark premonition, cold as if my heart were being gripped directly, raced down my spine.

“……Ahaha, you’ve completely frozen up. Were you really that surprised?”

She tilted her head slightly and laughed mischievously, using the exact same rhythm as the “Haru” I had been listening to for three years.

“Why……? But, today’s meetup was with Haru……” 

“That’s right. I am ‘Haru.’ ……Sorry for surprising you. I used a voice changer to lower my pitch so I wouldn’t be found out, but was it really that perfect?”

Shinonome-san pulled out her phone and pointed it at me. On the screen was the message I had sent to Haru a few minutes ago: 『I’ve arrived in front of the fountain, partner.』 It was, without a doubt, the private chat history we had built up over three years.

“……You’re kidding, right……?”

I desperately fought the urge to collapse to my knees. However, the despair did not end there. As I panicked, the many “mortal sins” I had sent to her (to Haru) over the past three years raced through my mind like a high-speed montage.

『Hey Haru. That girl Rin Shinonome in our class is seriously a national treasure. I want to observe those healthy thighs from directly beside her just once lol』

『Shinonome-san’s skirt today was three centimeters shorter than usual. That’s definitely a weapon designed to massacre us guys! You think so too, right Haru?』

『I actually have a thing for thick thighs…… Shinonome-san’s perfect absolute territory is at a level where I’d be willing to spend my entire life savings on microtransactions for it.』

………… ………………

“……I want to die.”

The honest truth leaked from my lips involuntarily.

I… I had been passionately lecturing Rin Shinonome herself on “just how erotic Rin Shinonome’s thighs are” with the unhinged energy of a late-night chat. It wasn’t just about Shinonome-san, but I had certainly emphasized to Shinonome-san how wonderful Shinonome-san’s body was. Behind that scratchy voice through the voice changer, what kind of face had she been making while reading my chats? How had she felt while listening to me during our voice calls? Just imagining it made me feel like my soul was going to vanish.

“Hey, Kazu.”

Shinonome-san took a step closer. A sweet scent, like floral nectar, tickled my nose. The “Sun” that I could only admire from afar at school was now within arm’s reach.

“……Why….? Why did you hide that you were a girl?”

At my squeezed-out question, Shinonome-san lowered her eyebrows slightly and smiled bashfully.

“……I was scared. I thought if you found out I was a girl, Kazuma, you would start giving me ‘special treatment’ just like all the other guys.”

She sat down on the edge of the fountain. From the hem of her slightly hitched-up skirt, the absolute territory I had praised as a “national treasure” peeked out.

“Everyone at school only looks at me through the label of ‘Shinonome-san.’ The bright, perfect, slightly unattainable girl…… But, only Kazu in the game was different.”

Shinonome-san looked up at me, meeting my eyes directly.

“Even when I spat insults as Haru, you laughed and shot back. Even when I talked about my weird obsessions, you debated me as an equal. ……The only place in the world where I could be that free was in front of ‘Kazu.’ I didn’t want to lose that place as your ‘best friend’ no matter what.”

There was no falsehood in those words. To her, the time spent with me was a sanctuary where she could escape the pressure of being Rin Shinonome.

……I see. Beyond gender and social standing, we are best friends at the level of our souls.

Even so. That is one thing, and this is another.

“……Shinonome-san.” 

“Ah, you called me by my name. Ehehe, hearing you say it with your real voice makes me a little embarrassed.”

She blushed slightly and smiled happily. 

……Damn it. She’s cute. 

Even though I knew the inside was Haru, the visual information was too strong. My brain felt like it was glitching.

“……Shinonome-san. You’re acting all sweet now, but… Those many embarrassing chats I sent… You’ve read all of them, haven’t you?”

When I asked in a trembling voice, Rin’s expression brightened instantly. This time, it was that unrestrained, mischievous grin belonging to “Haru.”

“Of course I did! I’ve got them all backed up perfectly too. Especially that long poem about how ‘Shinonome-san’s absolute territory is my universe’—that was the best.”

“Stop iiiiiiiit!!”

“Ni-hihi! Kazuma, your face is beet red! This is hilarious. You were lecturing me so passionately about my thighs, but now that the real thing is right in front of you, you won’t even look at them.”

She stood up, spun around once, and purposefully let her skirt flutter.

“Look, you can look as much as you want, okay? They’re a ‘national treasure,’ right? Since we’re best friends, shall I let you observe them closely?”

“……! Hey, don’t say that in Haru’s tone! You’re destroying your school image!”

“It’s fine. In front of Kazu, I’m not ‘Rin Shinonome,’ I’m ‘Haru.’ ……Right, partner?”

Shinonome-san placed her hand lightly on my arm. It was the kind of distance where two male best friends might put their arms around each other’s shoulders. But the soft body heat and the supple touch unique to a girl violently shook my reason.

“……It stays a total secret at school, okay?”

“I know, I know. ……After all, we’re best friends, right?”

Shinonome-san said with the most brilliant smile. It wasn’t the “angelic” smile she gave everyone at school. It was the slightly mean, incredibly cute “partner” smile that only I knew. It seemed my life had officially begun to go off the rails today. A peerless beauty who held my dark history in her hands. And me, terrified of her true identity yet unable to take my eyes off her smile. For two people who shared far too many secrets, this very stimulating “offline meetup” as best friends had just begun.

“Now then, Kazu! First, escort me to that ‘best pancake shop in the world’ you were talking about. Oh, by the way, I made my skirt today two centimeters shorter than usual to match your taste…… Did you notice?”

“I noticed, you idiot!! ……Let’s go, Haru. I’ll deal with your selfishness all day long.”

“Ni-hihi, you pass! Let’s go, partner!”

The warmth of her pulling on my sleeve belonged to a real “girl,” something I could never have known through a screen.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー