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 - 26

Chapter 26: Fighting Together

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After savoring pancakes at a stylish café, and while being bathed in Ichinose-san’s warm (yet somehow suggestive) gaze as my “strongest understanding ally,” we left the café. The May afternoon sunlight slipped through the young leaves, scattering sparkling patterns across the ground. It was a perfect Sunday afternoon, pleasant enough with just a single long-sleeved shirt.

Ichinose-san pointed at the station building with a smile that looked ready to burst.

“Fufuun! We’re full now, so let’s go have a little fun next! I heard the game center on top of the station building just got some new games and new purikura machines!”

“Purikura, huh…”

Purikura. I had never done it even once. All I knew was that it made your skin look perfect and your eyes huge. Oh, and you could doodle on them, right?

“A game center? I don’t think I go very often. Sato-kun, are you familiar with places like that?”

While I was digging through my memories about purikura, Shinonome-san tilted her head slightly and looked at me from beside me. That expression was the flawless “Shinonome-san from school.” But I knew better. I knew that on the desk in her room sat a controller she had used for three years straight, its paint starting to peel.

But then again… What did I really know? What I had known for three years was “Haru in the game.” I didn’t know “Haru in the real world.” I didn’t know whether she went to game centers or not. Even though I thought we had been together all this time for three years, I still didn’t truly know “Shinonome-san,” or even “Haru.” That realization left me feeling a little frustrated.

“…Well, I guess I know the basics. If Shinonome-san doesn’t mind, stopping by for a bit should be fine, right?”

“If you’re okay with it, Sato-kun, then I’d like to try going too. Saki, can you show us around?”

“Leave it to me! All aboard! Let’s go!”

Ichinose-san grabbed both my arm and Shinonome-san’s and started walking. We went up the escalator and arrived at a floor filled with lively electronic sounds. The dim interior was lined with the latest machines. Without hesitation, Ichinose-san stopped in front of a machine at the back with a sign reading『Co-op Action.』

“Alright! This is a game where two people work together to defeat a boss! Rin-rin and Kazucchi-kun, why don’t you try it? Saki wants to see your teamwork!”

“Huh, me and Shinonome-san?”

“E-eh, me and Sato-kun…?”

“That’s right! Come on, Sato-kun, make sure you protect Rin-rin properly, okay!”

…Of all the titles, this one. I didn’t know about Shinonome-san, but I already knew about this game. This was an action game where the control skills we had cultivated over many years in the online game Eternal Legend could be applied almost directly.

“…Got it. Shinonome-san, I’ll take the front line, so can you support me from the back with magic and stuff?”

“Okay, I’ll try. …I’m a beginner, so don’t bully me too much, okay?”

Shinonome-san smiled modestly and took hold of the controller. She didn’t look like a beginner at all. The way she gripped that lever, it was completely the grip of someone on the hunting side.

The game started, and a swarm of enemies appeared on the screen. At first, I tried to move awkwardly on purpose, acting like “Sato-kun from school.” But then…

“…!!”

The moment an enemy tried to attack Shinonome-san’s character, my body moved on its own.

Three years. Whenever “Haru” on the other side of the screen was in danger, I had always raised my shield. The timing when she started chanting magic. The rhythm she used when she trusted me with her back and charged in. The “partner’s instinct” built up over three years easily stepped over the brakes of my rational mind.

“Shinonome-san, right! I’ll take all three at once, so follow up!”

“Roger! —There!!”

At some point, Shinonome-san’s voice had shifted into Haru’s tone. Her magic detonated with perfect accuracy, not even a fraction of a second off, the instant I stopped the enemy’s movement. When I charged forward, she cleared the path. When she pulled back, I laid down an ironclad defense. There were no verbal strategies exchanged. The avatars on the screen moved in perfect sync, as if they were a single living creature.

“…Eh?”

I heard Ichinose-san’s small voice behind us. But we couldn’t hear it anymore. The wide-area attack unleashed by the giant boss in front of us. Shinonome-san glanced at me for just an instant. I nodded back ever so slightly.

This was our “winning pattern” that we had repeated hundreds of times in Eternal Legend. I launched the boss into the air, forcing it to expose its defenseless back. At the landing point, Shinonome-san slammed in her strongest ultimate technique.

ZUDOOOOOOON!!

With that flashy effect, the boss’s HP gauge vanished, and the word “COMPLETE” danced across the screen.

“…Phew.”

Letting go of the controller, I finally caught my breath. When I looked beside me, Shinonome-san’s cheeks were slightly flushed. She was filled with a sense of accomplishment… but she was also frozen with a look that said, “We messed up.”

In front of the now-silent cabinet, Ichinose-san stared back and forth between our faces.

“…Hey, you two.”

“…W-what is it, Ichinose-san?”

“…You two. …You didn’t really team up for the first time just now, did you?”

“—!!”

My heart blared its loudest alarm of the day.

“N-no, that’s not it! It’s just that Shinonome-san’s aura—or rather, her movements—were easy to read, so I was desperately matching her, that’s all…!”

My desperate attempt at covering it up. For some reason, Shinonome-san said nothing beside me.

“That’s a lie! There’s no way Rin-rin could time her magic like that without predicting Sato-kun’s movements! …And that last launch attack just now! You two didn’t say a single word, right? Then how could you match up that perfectly?”

Ichinose-san’s eyes shone with a sharp light, different from her usual innocent sparkle. Her eyes were shining with a light trying to uncover the truth. This was bad. I had gone all out with the “sync rate” we had trained for three years right here in the real world.

“A-ahaha… It’s just because Sato-kun is good at leading. …Right, Sato-kun?”

Shinonome-san finally spoke, adding that last part a little too quickly. Her voice belonged to Shinonome-san’s, but her eyes were darting all over the place.

“Y-yeah, that’s right! It was like Shinonome-san’s character was shouting, ‘This is what I’ll do next!’ or something… As expected of Shinonome-san, you really have a way of drawing people in, even in games!”

“…Hmmm.”

Ichinose-san crossed her arms and stared at us. A few seconds of silence that felt like an eternity stretched between us.  Then she suddenly relaxed and broke into a mischievous grin.

“Nihihi! Well, whatever! Saki’s happy knowing that you two have ‘the best’ compatibility! Let’s play that game over there next!”

With that, Ichinose-san headed toward the next arcade machine.

“…That was close…”

As the tension finally loosened, I barely managed to keep myself from collapsing to my knees.

When I looked beside me, Shinonome-san let out a tiny sigh meant only for me to hear, then lightly poked the hem of my shirt where no one could see.

“…Idiot, Kazu. Don’t move around so flashy.”

“…You’re the one who went all out with your ultimate at the end.”

“…That’s because your launch was perfect, Kazu. …I couldn’t help myself.”

She turned her face away with a huff, but I didn’t miss the slight upward curl of her lips.

Saki Ichinose. It seemed she still didn’t have absolute certainty about who we really were. But it felt like she was enjoying this relationship between us that could only be explained by the word “partners.” As we caught up to Ichinose-san, who had gone on ahead…

“Alright! Next, let’s take purikura! We’ve gotta leave proof of this ‘perfect compatibility’ from today!”

“Eh, purikura!? No, I’m fine…”

“Nope nope! Kazucchi-kun, you’re one of the stars too! Come on, Rin-rin, grab Sato-kun’s hand!”

“Eeeh!? … … …O-okay. Here, Sato-kun. Let’s go?”

Shinonome-san grabbed my wrist slightly forcefully, yet carried a definite warmth through her fingertips. At school, she was the class favorite, and I was the plain guy. But in this noisy place, we were just two clumsy partners desperately pretending to be strangers.

Led along by Ichinose-san, we disappeared deeper into the even livelier floor. The bad-for-my-heart “purikura” time that awaited us next and Ichinose-san’s stylish consideration….

I felt like I could hear the sound of the excuses between me and her slowly crumbling away.

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