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#no problem with gacha games really
hexxter · 16 days
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Me when I remember KHML gonna be another gacha game
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thesoulsofthedarned · 4 months
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TL;Dr : Reverse 1999 is great
So since yesterday I’ve been playing Reverse 1999 because I was interested in the story. Honestly I’d say this game is pretty good overall! The story is cool, the gameplay is fun and interesting, and the characters are really fun, not to mention the character roster has a much more unique and diverse cast than Genshin (sorry Genshin). So for this post, here are some of my highlighted characters:
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Sonetto is pretty sweet, plus she has cool attack animations. She’s also a free five star you get in the main story, which is neat :3
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Normally i dislike Tsundere characters because they can be annoying, but Matilda is an exception. She also has pretty attacks, plus she’s kinda funny so I like her.
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Leilani is currently my favorite, i just love how cute and energetic she is! I’m really glad shes for free, even though she’s a 3 star :,)
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Currently one of the MVP’s of my account. Does decent damage plus provides solid healing, an overall comfy unit for me. It helps that she reminds me of Diluc. I dunno why but characters who represent justice/judgement always appeal to me in video games. Maybe it’s because of their strong presence?
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Mondlicht is another favorite of mine (even though i have trouble pronouncing her name ;-;). I really like how she’s a balance of cute and stoic, it reminds me of Razor (not 100% sure if they’d get along tbh). She also has an axe gun so she’s easily top tier lol.
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Ok so from what I’ve seen on the internet, his name in the English language is spelled “Zima”? I think? Lemme know if I’m wrong. Anyways yeah, I like him a normal amount. He’s just a peaceful, possibly sleep deprived lil guy with an owl, you can’t compete with that! Plus he sounds like he struggles with speaking english, unsure if that was the intent but it’s a very cool detail.
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Sweetheart makes me feel a certain way, plus she’s a really nice Dps. Her design reminds me of Betty Boop a little bit. Her voice is nice too, it really sells the kind of character that she is.
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Pavia’s interesting to be sure. He reminds me of Childe with his murderous tendencies and unmatched charm. For real though, this guy is a borderline psychopath, the voice lines will tell you that much 0-0
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La Source is a decently comfy healer, definitely worthy of the MVP status despite being a 3 star. Plus I love how sassy she is, she can be pretty funny. That being said, she’ll probably be benched as soon as I get my hands on a better healer.
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yoiku · 26 days
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So I played through episode 12 yesterday and episode 13 today between my cleaning sprees and i only cried a little maybe dozen times through it all, so all I can say is that the main story continues to deliver. Wasn't very keen on the storytelling style of ep13 at first, but definitely warmed up to it along the way. Getting scenes from the wiewpoint and in the thoughts of so many characters in just one episode turned out to be pretty refreshing. I did feel a bit overwhelmed as well but i'll put that on me chewing through it all in one day. Sometimes I feel a bit worried that where is the main story going to go after a huge chunk of it comes to a conclusion, but at the same time... If the side stories have proved anything, its that there are so many things about the entire world and lore to explore. And I have to admit I'm still getting more curious about it all. if you told me 5 years ago that the story and universe in a gacha game(derogative) is going to be something i'm obsessing over, I would've been so pissed at you even suggesting that. Anyway, its a nice feeling to be so interested in something. I've lost interest in so many things and i feel like over the years its getting harder and harder for me to really get into something.
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holytrickster · 1 month
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catch me getting nothing done now actually because they made ???? LLSIF 2??? i downloaded it earlier god I hope it's good 😭 I never touched SIF for YEARS after high school but then I was really disappointed over it being shut down that game was my SHIT and I never liked how lives worked in all stars so I was just like ok guess no more silly love live mobile game for me
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silent-partner-412 · 1 year
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a lot of the blade designs in xenoblade 2 are ridiculously sexualized and there’s a conversation to be had about that and what the game is saying by including all those designs. but the thing that’s worse to me is that many of them just look Bad. Dumb. Goofy. like Why would you design a character like that and demand i take it seriously.
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snow-and-saltea · 7 months
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i know that in media you're constrained with things like budget, time slots and stuff, but sometimes i'm just like. my god. the insane shortcuts people take to write "smart / intelligent" characters, especially in plot-heavy stories, always pisses me off. they write them like they're sherlock holmes (bbc version, derogatory) but they fail to realise that even sherlock holmes (arthur conan doyle) was written with a lot of thought, suffered his own subconscious prejudices and had to learn from mistakes.
i guess what i'm trying to get at is—"smart" people don't magically get good at things overnight, the only difference between them and others is how much they're willing to go through to hone their mental acuity. which means when they try something new, they're going to make obvious mistakes, not understand how things work beyond the surface level, and make mistakes in judgements (like when you don't understand something well enough, your analogies and metaphors aren't 100% accurate or concise).
but it feels like there's a assumption hanging over our heads that, as readers, we don't WANT to see the smart one go through the entire nitty gritty of the learning process. we just want to see them do cool things, piece the puzzle together with a flourish, and clap our hands at the end. and in some parts, yes! that is what i want to see! but i am also interested in how they pieced it together. the joy of mysteries is, to me, that everyone is exposed to the same pieces of information, and we're given the chance to try to piece it ourselves. but then the smart character comes along and interprets those pieces of information in a not-obvious way to us, and it's cool!! years of living with a mind that is primed to turn things over in their head, to make sense of things, reveals to us how differently we experience the same reality, and it's wonderful. i'm able to learn from someone who sees life differently than me, and interpret information differently than me!
but right now i'm often left out feeling flat and confused in the mystery-type plots i've seen. the smart person will have been exposed to information we didn't even get the chance to see and interpret, and then they piece things together and everyone in the story claps their hands at the artificial pedestal that's been propped up under that character's feet. explanations of in-setting magic that can be retconned in and out at any point in time, so there's no logical consistency for us to nitpick or understand, so there's no basis to stand on that the story should be taken seriously. plot twists that make no sense as a gotcha. so many things!!
like. this particular example just my beef with g*nshin, so ignore it if you don't agree or smth. but the use of red herrings in the stories piss me off. the red herrings are either too obvious or nonexistent. they always use some random guy acting suspiciously and have the other characters react to it, as if we can't understand it on our own? but like. these red herrings, in the real world, aren't even red herrings. sometimes people just "act suspiciously" just by virtue of being human, not because they're complicit in some bigger overarching plot. sometimes people just stutter because of their anxious disposition, not to hide a guilty conscience. sometimes people are just defensive and irritable because they're a defensive and irritable person, it doesn't mean they're the ""bad guy"" who you need to crack down on and interrogate even further, especially if there's literally nothing that indicates this character is guilty other than their outward appearances.
but like. the smart characters/protagonist almost never get proven wrong. the stutterer was guilty all along and they're just a bad liar. the defensive guy is selfish and obnoxious, they're defensive because they're hiding something, not because it's a natural reaction on having one's sense of privacy and personal space violated.
the game sure loves trying to do nuance with "not everyone is 100% good or bad, we're all Flawed" but they can't put their money where their mouth is. everyone who is not guilty acts in completely transparent and "good" ways. everyone who is guilty acts in completely opaque and "suspicious" / "bad" ways. end of story. how the hell am i supposed to think anyone in this game is smart when they don't even have to use their brain to sift through, critique, weigh and interpret information? what use is there to do so? just use your eyes and ears. the stutterer is nervous for hiding a secret. the anxious is guilty. the angry is scornful.
there's also another rant here about how g*nshin fucking sucks at writing unique and flawed characters, because they like to make everyone the Specialest Guy In The World, but that's for another day.
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cynical-cemeteries · 1 year
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so the family month login event gives us 500 crystals a day for 9 days,, which is 4,500 crystals in total
if they replaced these with linkstones that would literally be enough to get a summons hero at pity 🚶‍♀️🚶‍♀️
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noisy-weasel · 1 year
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I finally decided to try out obey me and I instantly got hooked and have been playing obsessively for like the past week but I've finally hit a hard wall at like chapter 10 and yeah nothing to possibly do about it except incredibly slowly level up my cards so that sucks I feel like it's gonna take a long while before I can play main story again
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catgirltoofies · 2 years
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my problem with gacha games is they just aren't usually fun to play. i like looking at pretty characters and reading cool stories and i LOVE gambling with fictional currency
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astrxealis · 2 years
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arknights character design >>>
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citrushomie · 1 year
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ive been playing unison league look at my trans mage and his big ass sword
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holydramon · 3 months
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6 episodes into magia record and no one has died horribly this is a scam
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gachaparadise · 7 months
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i've been dabbling with the hot new gacha reverse/1999 and its... okay so far. like everything is presented gorgeously and the battle system seems fun! but i can just tell this is NOT a game that's going last for me >_>
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Between The Wall
Pairing: Sagau!Aether x Reader
Summary: Aether finds solace in the voice, he once hated and now loves.
!Warning!: First Time Writing, might be bad!
Part 2/3
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"—Argh...! Stop it, Aether!" you scream in frustration, putting down your phone on the bed with an annoyed face.
it's been a few weeks since you started to play Genshin Impact after being tempted by your schoolmate to download the game. They already told you the gist of what you should know before starting the game itself.
But, they never mention about this game has the main character a self-aware implement into their character.
At first you notice the way Aether's face scrunched up in discomfort after the prologue. It makes you creep out but then you remember that your schoolmate has told you about a few of their self-aware elements, though they just told you about their reaction when you cancel their movements by jumping.
You assumed that your schoolmate probably wants you to experience it by yourself which is nice but a head up would be great too.
"Gacha game? more like a horror game." you snicker as you continue to play on your phone.
As time goes on, Aether's 'behavior' becomes worse. From making a lot of negative responses to you controlling him, now he even tries to defy your control over him by doing the opposite of what you want from him from time to time.
"Aether, you little shit! Stop swimming in a circle and go back to the shore repeatedly!" you shook your phone like crazy, and there was a small smile curled on Aether's face making your anger flame harder.
"T-this game is shit!"
While anger consumes you, you log out from the game.
You sigh leaning back to your gaming chair as you spin around on it before standing up, moving to your door, and walking down the stairs to grab some water.
because of this problem is the reason why you are slowly about to snap and quit this game.
You arrive at the kitchen, open the fridge, grab a small bottle of water, and quickly drink it up.
While doing so, you heard a rapid clicking on a keyboard coming from your sibling's room. A curious look on your face before you slowly walk to their and casually open the door by the knob.
There you see, your sibling screams while her finger moves steadily on the keyboard before slapping her hand on her table in frustration once she loses.
"GODDAMN IT!" Your sibling shouted, it looked like she had died fighting in the Spiral Abyss, no wonder.
"Calm down," you shook your head, walking inside to stand by your sibling. "You will wake Mom up from her sleep at this rate."
They turns to you, "Oh, you, sorry," she slowly calms herself down and sighs.
"This level just gets my shit up to a hundred, who told Hoyoverse that this is fine, all I wanted was the Primogem." They grumbles.
You softly rub her back with a small smile, "It's still many days left until the limited banner is gone, I am sure you will get em."
They put down their headphones, "Talk about it, what AR are you now?"
"Well, it's, I think...AR 23 or more..." You thought absentmindedly.
"That's quick," your sibling mused, "How is your experience so far as a beginner?"
"Well it's fun, I love the world-building, the colour, the gameplay, and the Ui..." You trailed, listing what you liked about the game until an irritated look appeared on your face that made your sibling perk at it. "Except for Aether!"
Your sibling flinched at your outburst before she raised a confused eyebrow at you, "Aether? The traveler?"
"Yes!" You grip your hand into a fist while seething in anger. "I don't know why they implanted such a feature, Like every time I try to play, he gotta need to defy my game control, it's creepy! He used to follow me but now he keeps making ugly faces at me like excuse me!"
"I really, really hate him!"
You keep rambling about your frustration with the traveler which leaves your sibling gaping.
"I don't think they have that..." Your sibling uttered out.
"Well, I did! And it needs to stop!"
"Do you contact Hoyo Customer Service? Is it probably a bug?" Your sibling suggested.
"I did but they never replied." You said crossing your arms.
"They probably will get back to you, one of these days since I am sure they have many people to attend to." Your sibling reassured.
"I hope so,"
Your sibling then chuckles, "But I don't think you would hate him for so long."
You frown with an eyebrow raised, "Why so?"
"They're gonna be a certain quest when you reach AR 28 or above which gives more lore about him." She elaborates.
"I don't think I would." You squint your eyes.
"Well the fact you still using the Traveler despite the bug he has, say so." She snickers, "Just give him a chance, hate the bug instead of him."
You scratch your cheeks and sigh, "We will see."
You decided to give the game, a second chance.
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"Aether, don't you think...you being too mean to the Creator?" She whispered scratching her cheeks floating, looking down on Aether crouching down inside the bushes.
They currently watching over a couple of boars walking with Aether having his sword in his grip.
Aether glances at Paimon before smiling, "Well, it's not that bad, it's a small price for them to control my body." He turns his attention back to the boars.
Paimon deadpanned, "What a lie! You just did that so they left early!"
He doesn't respond and just quickly dashes out from the bushes and thrusts his sword onto one of the boar, quickly he pulls back the other sword and slashes the boar sprinting toward him.
Quickly he used his Anemo ability to pull back the almost-escaping boars and slashed them in one go.
Blood splatter on his face, outfit, hair and his swords.
"Ah," he wiped the blood on his cheeks with his thumbs, "I need to get better at dodging the blood-splattered," He said out loud.
Aether suddenly flinched and turned his body to see another boar is running up to him.
"Hi-ya!" Paimon shouted, hitting the boars with a rock on the forehead. "Don't you dare to attack Aether!"
Aether blinked and smiled, "Thanks for the help, Paimon."
Paimon perks up and throws away the rock somewhere else, "Hehe, you're welcome~ praise me more~" she giggles happily.
"Now calm down," Aether chuckled.
Aether then gets to work after cleaning himself with a towel to cut the boar meat, one by one.
After that was done, Aether decided to sit down to open his notebook, and start writing some alphabet and spelling again.
Paimon sits down beside the Traveler, watching the letter he wrote with knowing looks.
"Is that the Creator's language?" She asked, quietly after watching her surrounding.
Aether nodded, "Yeah, I managed to decipher some of it."
"Oh! What is it? Let me see!" Paikon excitedly asked and leaned over to look at it.
Paimon curiosity slowly turned into a horrified look, "Did the Creator say that?"
"Yeah," Aether said amused at Paimon's reaction, "surprising huh?"
"There is a lot of cursing! Outrageous mean word!" She blinks rapidly, "The Creator has very interesting wording..."
"Most of the curse directed at me, I am not surprised." He smirked.
Paimon looks at Aether's face still has a smile and a fond look on his face. "You like them?"
Aether stops writing, "Huh?" He turns to Paimon.
"The Creator! Do you finally like them?" She excitedly asked.
"No!" Aether quickly stood up and took a step back, "Ain't no way! I just tolerate the Creator better than before!"
Aether is very obviously in denial with his cheeks adorned with pink blush, averting his eyes.
It's very true that Aether slowly but surely started to understand the creator, whether their language and their intention choosing him as a vessel.
The first word he managed to decipher is 'love' from the Creator's language, it's when Aether has fallen from the Statue Of Seven that the Creator for some reason controlled him to do so.
He had a fatal injury caused by that, and while he was whimpering in pain, he heard the Creator change of tone.
Aether's eyes widened, and he looked up at the sky, the creator rambled a lot but he could hear the concern and care for him which gave him goosebumps
"...Aether!$%-#&#!"
Aether perks up again when he hears his name between the rambling and his eyes widen more.
"...Aether&%$%...love#%#&#-!"
His lips parted when he understood the word, Aether's cheeks burned red and his eyes turned hazy.
He doesn't realize what happening to him but Aether for sure has stopped functioning at this time.
Aether shook his head from his flashback and continued to scribble some more. His ear is red as his scribbling becomes faster but much to his chagrin, the scene keeps playing in his head.
Paimon, who watching at his side had a small smile adorning her face. 'Aether surely has grown to like the Creator and that's good.
Both of them will stuck together until they reach their intended goal, they are both important to me, so please help each other."
Paimon hands intertwined. together to prayer, eyes closed with her forehead leaning to her clasped hands.
Until it's snapped open, Paimon turned her head with a frown. 'Who?'
She scanned the surroundings when she sensed something wrong again. 'Behind that tree." Paimon narrows her eyes.
She was about to move and check it out but suddenly Aether stood up which gained Paimon attention back to him.
"Aether? Why are you standing?" She called moving to him, "Where are we going?"
She tilted her head when Aether didn't answer her which was odd until she moved in front of him.
There she sees Aether standing still with his eye twitching in irritation. 'Ah, the Creator is back.'
Paimon smiles sympathetically at Aether.
Aether's body then quickly moved in a sprint which made Aether's eyes wide with Paimon followed in tow.
As they move away, neither Aether nor Paimon didn't realizes that someone is watching them from afar behind a tree, the arrow they grip in their hands is put away.
The unknown eye glints with mysterious light, "The Creator..." They breathe.
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You are lying down on the bed, empty and in pain.
There are tears stained under your eyes, your eyes are red from crying so hard for a long time. Akin to a person on the brink of death gate and barely gripping onto life.
"i can't believe it." you hiccup, "Lumine, why are you doing this?! Reunite with your brother, come on!" you shout in frustration, kicking your feet into the air.
You just recently finish the 'We will be reunited' quest and it broke you down from the inside hard. You are mad at Lumine but at the same you try to understand her but what actually fueled to your anger against her is Aether.
After the quest, Aether's face have trail of tears and hurt plastered that you didn't have a heart to do anything that often making you in verge of crying. Often you have started to not using Aether, in hope his expression will be better but it just become worse and you even begun to miss his smirk from before.
Everytime you try your best to help the boy even though it's probably a waste of time. After using him back again for daily mission, his face become focus like he try to pull his mind away from the events. It's like he try to move on, his expression look so real which should not be possible since Aether is a character game.
"I can't seem to leave him alone," You rub your eyes and slowly calming yourself down. Getting up from the bed you reach for your phone and open your messaging app.
After a back and forth messaging with your sibling and friend, you finally come to conclusion of what to do now.
You get back with soda and snack by your side as you open up Genshin Impact in your phone with a determined face.
"I can't believe that I am doing this for a game character that I hate..." you mutter as you sigh before focusing to the screen again.
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"My money..."
"OUR MONEY!" Paimon scream, "Why are the Creator even use it to but a freaking expensive firework!!" she whined into her hand.
"We could use it to buy more Sticky Honey Roast!" She cried out, step onto the ground pr air repeatly.
Aether just sigh, "Well we can't do anything about it," he keep jogging forward to somewhere that even he doesn't know with the Creator controlling him. "We will gain it back in no time, so don't worry so much Paimon."
"Okay... but where are we even going?"
Aether narrow his eye as he climb up the boulder, "Hm...I don't know but this place seem familiar."
The more they walk and climb, the more familiar the surrounding area looks, Aether is now crouching down to set down the firework under a cliff before his body starts to sprint up up to the cliff where from there, he could see Mondstadt.
"Are the creators trying to light fireworks in the morning?" Paimon wonders out loud, "What the point? It's not even night!"
But then a miracle happened, the day quickly went back to nighttime time and both Aether and Paimon's eyes widened at the sight.
The sky that once had a sun on its landscape now has a moon and star decorating It.
At the right time, the fireworks shoot up into the air and burst into many colour.
"Wow...." Aether breathed out in awe.
"Aether..."
Aether suddenly glances at the sky when he hears the Creator speak his name. Each word the Creator utters makes his heart skip a beat, flushing red and his eye sparkling.
"....With this, I hope you will cheer up a little bit."
A trail of tears goes down his cheeks as the Creator's words end. He can't understand some of it but the way his heart thumping, he just knows for sure that.
Aether has fallen in forbidden love with the...
Creator.
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snaillock · 8 months
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★ video games with your bllk boyfriend
started playing hello kitty island adventure so yeah you can say i’m quite the gamer
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y’all would definitely be that couple. you know the ones with the matching users and icons in almost every damn game you play together. lowkey making everyone else gag whenever you two speak in the voice chat. constantly surprising each other with merch of your favorite characters. always doing gacha pulls together.
he never wants to do his daily check-ins without you, even if he has a wait a while for you to get on the game. too many times have you guys accidentally pulled all-nighters because you completely lost track of time. but who really needs to stay fully awake in school when you got shit to play with your amazing boyfriend.
★- NAGI SEISHIRO, ikki niko, otoya eita, hiori yo,
has the worst gamer rage you’ve ever seen holy shit. what you thought was going to be a chill nice hangout with your bf turned into him cursing out an entire lobby. you’ve always known that your boyfriend could have quite the… attitude problem but jesus christ the words that flew out his mouth were truly something else.
even when you two are playing against each other, you ain’t getting a pass just because you’re his lover. he will destroy you. so uh yeah no more mario kart for a while. just relaxing chill games from now on.
though he somehow manages to find a way to make stardew valley an profit driven stressful capitalist hell but he really can’t help it. it’s just in his blood.
★- rin itoshi, isagi yoichi (when he gets really into it), RAICHI JINGO, shidou ryusei
doesn’t really care to play video games but does enjoy watching you play instead. usually sits right next to you on the couch or lays in bed as he watches. he also asks so many questions about the game that it becomes borderline distracting.
“what’s that? hmm ok… so what’s going on exactly?” “who’s that? why are they shooting at you?” “so what’s the goal here? why are you doing that?”
after watching you play for a bit, he becomes an absolute backseat player; nitpicking a wrong move you made, telling you what you should’ve done instead, or criticizing you whenever you lose like he could’ve done any better???
“well if you used your burst right when it was ready, you would’ve gotten all three stars in that chamber.”
“what are you talking about?! i had to explain to you what a burst was five minutes ago.”
though it feels pretty flattering when he does get genuinely impressed by your skills or compliments you on a personal high score you just beat.
★- sae itoshi, kiyora jin, michael kaiser, reo mikage, barou shoei, chigiri hyoma
totally clueless. needs your help since he’s basically new to everything. whenever you two play together, it mostly just ends with you carrying him for every match or so. you do find it quite adorable that he needs your help so often, even if you do have to clean up after him whenever he makes a mistake. he would like to get better but honestly, he doesn’t care since he just enjoys spending time with you.
though you are starting to suspect that he’s purposely staying bad so you could keep carrying him.
“hey, i’m cool with being the support again for this match. it’s just you clear out the other team so well babe.”
★- tokimitsu, nanase, oliver aiku(cheeky ass mf), zantetsu tsurugi, isagi yoichi
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please read and respect my byf/dni before reblogging/following
taglist (sign up): @userwithlotsoftime @lucas2060 @kiiyoooo @remy-roll @maochira
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creamhoodie · 10 months
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˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖ Internet Cafe Love ˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖
synopsis: The white haired boy who regularly visits the same internet cafe as you becomes your boyfriend but can your relationship survive when his best friend seems distrustful of you?
warnings: 7,915 words (long one shot with multiple settings),Nagi X female reader, gamer Nagi, per fluff no smut since it is written while he attends high school still.
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You had often noticed the white haired boy at the internet cafe as he seemed to go nearly every night the way you did. 
While you also brought projects and subjects to study on the side when you were taking a break, you noticed he never took breaks, the clicking of the keyboard and mouse were constant companions. This had led to you bringing your own noise canceling headphones that were much more soundproof than the gamer ones that came with the PC set at the cafe.
That was your current situation, headphones in practicing a new writing style of kanji when you felt a light tapping on your headphones. You glanced up and towering over you was the white haired boy. He wore an oversized gray sweatshirt and black sweatpants. You moved your headphones around your neck. 
“Did you need something?” You asked, meeting his gray eyes. 
“Do you have any money?” He asked straightforwardly. 
“Money? What for?” You asked, looking him up and down again. He didn’t seem in need based on his lounge outfit and you now noticed the light up rainbow keyboard he had under his arm. It had gone unnoticed before since his tall domineering figure was the main spectacle. 
“Lemon tea. I wanna buy one from the vending machine but I’m low on money because I spent it all on this and the gacha games on my phone,” he said motioning to the keyboard.
You raised a brow at not only his abruptness but also his poor money management. You had some cash on you but weren’t too keen on giving it up since you planned on getting food at your favorite food stand after you left the cafe.
“Well I don’t have any money,” you said.
“Bummer,” he replied, not sounding convinced as he plopped down in the spot next to you and began removing the default keyboard and setting his own up to the PC. 
You bit the inside of your cheek, chewing on it a little to hide your annoyance. Now he was gonna be right next to you making all this noise. 
“Do you really have to sit here?” You asked. 
He looked over at you as the PC booted up, his gray eyes seeming slightly hurt.
“Is that a problem?” He asked. The way he asked made you feel guilty. Yes he was a bit eccentric and odd but so far he was harmless.
“No it’s fine,” you said. By now your kanji was forgotten and you watched as he opened a first person shooter game and signed into his account.
“God of soccer?” You teased regarding his gamertag. 
“Oh yeah I’m on the soccer team at Hakuho High School,” he said. 
This guy went to the elite prep school? He didn’t seem like the type. You yourself were in the neighboring public school.
“I wasn’t aware Hakuho had a team,” you stated as he loaded into a game. 
“My friend Reo and I started the club up so we’d have a team to go to nationals.”  His focus was now on his game however as he had chosen a sniper character. You watched as he hit every headshot. He was eerily good at the game and you didn’t miss how match chat came up with the enemy team accusing him of using aimbot. When his team won the game he exited the queue and remained on the menu and looked over at you as he had been aware you were watching the whole time.
“You’re really good, how long have you played that game?” You asked.
“Just a few months now,” he said, shrugging. 
“And you aim that good already?” You asked in disbelief. You weren’t half bad yourself and had always considered your aim to be impressive but his was godly.
“I grew up playing first person shooter games,” he said as if it was no big deal. He glanced at your notepad before adding, “what’s with the studying?” 
You blushed. 
“I alternate between studying and gaming,” you answered his question. 
“No, I mean I see you studying here all the time even when it’s not exam season,” he said. So he had noticed you before as well? That was to be expected as you were both regulars. 
“I just like to study consistently,” you replied. He made a face and you added, “you don’t? You go to Hakuho, surely that’s more rigorous than my public school.” 
“Well sure but I just study a few days before the exams. Hey, are you sure you don’t have any money? I could really use that lemon tea.” 
His delivery made you wanna laugh. He was easy going and charming all without meaning to be and yet he was still odd, you hadn’t ever met anyone like him before. 
“I'm still thinking about it. Do you have a name or is it just god of soccer?” You asked. 
He chuckled.
“My name is Seishiro Nagi. What’s yours?” 
“Y/N Y/LN,” you replied, telling him your first and last name as well.
“Nice,” he replied, “you wanna play some games?” 
The two of you were duos on the same team with him playing the sniper character again and you his support offering him both damage boosts and heals. Between both of your combined skills and efforts the two of you went on an eight game win streak. 
An hour of gaming had gone by even though it didn’t feel like it and the two of you decided to call it quits.
“So Y/N,” he started.
“No about the lemon tea,” you joked. He shook his head.
“Forget about that. I have a home game tomorrow at my school in the evening. The match starts at two. You should come,” he said. You noticed the slight pinking of his ears when he said it. 
“I’ll try to go,” you said. You did enjoy playing with him even though originally you had felt slightly annoyed by his presence. 
“You should, our school’s marching band is gonna be there too for the first time,” he said. He finished unplugging his keyboard and putting the original one back and stood up. He scrolled through his phone quickly before adding, “will you be back online tonight? Maybe we could play some more too.” 
You felt your heart somersault at how he sounded hopeful.
“I may but I’m not sure I don’t usually play late.” 
“Bummer. Hey Y/N?” 
You prepared to be asked about the damn lemon tea again. 
“What?”
“Do you have a boyfriend?” He asked shyly.
“No I don’t.” 
“Good keep it that way. I’ll see you online tonight,” he said quickly before waving bye and taking off. 
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
You were back home in your room that night freshly showered and sitting on your bed getting ready to settle in for the night and watch TV. 
You heard a notification from your PC and received the notification on your phone as well through the gaming app. 
It was Nagi using the whisper feature where you could message online friends direct messages.
GodOfSoccer: get on 
You smiled at his eagerness. 
SleepyKoala: Kinda don’t want to I’m tired
GodOfSoccer: don’t care I wanna play with you 
SleepyKoala: Nagi we played so much today 
GodOfSoccer: true well are you coming to my game tomorrow? 
SleepyKoala: Yes
GodOfSoccer: WOHOO LETS GOOO 
GodOfSoccer: forgot to say earlier cute gamertag 
SleepyKoala: Thanks :) 
GodOfSoccer: give me your number 
You did and not even a minute went by before you got a message from him. It was a plushie of a koala on his desk next to his PC monitor. You also caught a view of the rainbow keyboard from earlier. You created a contact ID for him and added a koala emoji to the end of his name. 
You: Cute plushie 
Nagi: he says thank you. I’m gonna game a bit I’ll see you tomorrow 
You: see you 
You then settled at last to watch more of the Netflix show you were currently binging until you lulled to sleep. 
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The next morning you woke up at noon having slept in later than you would have liked. After doing your morning routine and eating, you made your way to the supermarket to buy a lemon tea for Nagi. 
You hadn’t been able to ignore the butterflies that you had gotten thinking about him. You had checked his online status and had noticed he had stayed up until one in the morning gaming. 
Supermarket mission successful, you began to make your way to Nagi’s high school. You had timed your schedule perfectly so the metro would arrive at 1:30 giving you enough time to head to the stadium before the game started. Your outfit of choice was casual with a tote bag to hold the lemon tea and your noise canceling headphones though you doubted you’d need them. 
Arriving at the school on time you couldn’t help but notice how much more expensive everything seemed. You knew it was an elite academy but as you followed the crowd into the stadium you noticed just how much the school invested into its extracurriculars. 
“Y/N!” 
You turned around and there was Nagi coming up to you. 
“Hey Nagi,” you replied feeling slightly shy from your flirtatious exchanges with him. 
“You like the stadium? Reo’s dad is this mega rich guy and he donated the funds and manpower to build it. He doesn’t care for soccer but he frequently donates funds to the school for them to use for whatever purpose they’d like.” 
You nodded. He looked handsome in his soccer uniform, the black jersey, shorts and black socks contrasting against his white hair and skin. 
“Oh before I forget, since you kept asking yesterday,” you said, taking the tea bottle out of the tote bag and giving it to him. That made him laugh in glee.
“Thanks for this,” he said gratefully. 
“Nagi! We need to warm up!” A purple haired figure shouted as he ran over. When he caught up to where the two of you were his equally purple eyes were distrustful of you. 
“Reo. This is Y/N. Remember I told you about her?” Nagi said. 
So this was Reo? His suspicious eyes took you all in.
“Yeah I remember. Nice to meet you,” he said but his words didn’t match his tone or expression.
“Nice to meet you too. Nagi’s talked a lot about you as well,” you said and you noticed that did soften his eyes a bit if not fully. 
Nagi seemed oblivious. 
“Y/N, if you sit there you’ll have a good view of me,” he said pointing to a specific section before continuing, “and I want you to look at me not any of these other guys.” 
His words sent a jolt of heat between your legs and to your face but you simply nodded and assured him you’d be watching him. 
“Nagi,” Reo scolded impatiently, “we have to warm up.” 
“Alright alright,” he said following him but yelling back to you, “stay after. Text me if you can’t find me.” 
You headed to the section he had designated would have the best view of him. 
Throughout the game Nagi had lived up to his gamertag. He truly was a god of soccer. He was lightning bolt fast his legs moved just as fast as you had seen his fingers were capable on the keyboard. 
He also worked incredibly well with Reo. They were a dynamic duo on the field and the passes between them were strategic. 
When Nagi had scored a goal he had looked directly at you and pointed, unmistakably claiming it had been for you. 
His team was in the lead right now and you hoped it would remain that way. 
During the halfway break, you waited eagerly waiting to see him again. When they came back his eyes searched for you instantly and met yours sending you a sweet smile. As expected his team won and you cheered happily for him. As others started leaving the stadium you waited for him afterwards like he had asked you to. 
You didn’t have to wait longer than ten minutes. He was racing towards you, changed clothes, freshly showered and his gym bag over his shoulder. To your dismay you noticed Reo tagging along behind. It’s not that you didn’t like him, you just didn’t understand his scowls and distrustful attitude toward you.
“Y/N! Did you like the game?” He asked, standing in front of the railing of the seat you had remained at. 
“I did. It was so great seeing you score,” you said. 
“I wanted to score for you,” he said, his cheeks turning pink. “Hey Reo and I are gonna go get something to eat. Do you wanna come?” 
Your eyes dashed to Reo a second after Nagi asked the question and you could tell he was exasperated.
“That’s okay I think I’m just gonna head home,” you said softly. 
Of course you wanted to spend time with Nagi but you couldn’t risk Reo disliking you even more after all he is Nagi’s best friend his opinion must count for something. 
Nagi, still oblivious to all this, furrowed his brows in confusion.
“Okay. Well when can I see you again?” He asked. He seemed hurt that you weren’t coming. 
“I’m free tomorrow. Maybe text me later and we can come up with something,” you offered, not feeling comfortable under Reo’s purple gaze. 
“Okay I will. Thanks for coming, it really means a lot,” he said, giving you a sideways hug now as you stepped down from the bench you had been sitting at. He towered over you and he smelled incredibly good. 
“You’re welcome. I enjoyed every minute of it.” 
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
“So how long have you and Reo known each other?” You asked as you took another mouthful of ramen. When you had gone home yesterday you had gotten caught up on school work and chores. Nagi had texted you at night and asked if you wanted to play some games to which you had agreed. Somewhere between steam rolling the enemy teams and playing silly custom games in the arcade he had suggested going out for ramen and boba the next night.
Now as the two of you sat in the restaurant’s outdoor patio seating with red paper lanterns illuminating the night sky you were interested in knowing more about his best friend who didn’t seem to take to you. 
“Not too long. I met him here at school probably six months ago,” he replied. 
“He seems very fond of you,” you said. 
Nagi shrugged.
“Reo got me into soccer and I have him to thank for that. Before him no one really talked to me at school.” 
This surprised you. He was good looking and charming, sure a bit strange and had his quirks but he was friendly and good company.
“Really? Not even girls?” You teased. 
“Especially girls,” he joked back. His gray eyes were looking at you softly. It gave your stomach butterflies. Lately it seemed like all he did was either give you butterflies or make you belly laugh. His hand reached out to lift your chin up so you were forced to meet his gray gaze head on. 
“You always look away from me when you notice me looking at you. You never look at me for too long,” he said in a gentle tone. 
“I don’t mean to on purpose,” you said trying to be casual although the thumping of your heart was a great contrast to the calm you were trying to portray. 
“I like when you look at me and when you watch me play video games and soccer,” he said, inching closer to bridge the gap between the two of you as you sat on opposite ends of the table. 
Was he going to kiss you? It seemed like that was his intention. You wanted to kiss him but worry and concern and feeling Reo’s stinging rejection you pulled your chin from his hand and looked away. When you glanced back at him he wasn’t looking at you for once but looking down at his lap with clear hurt in his eyes. 
“I thought you liked me too,” he said with embarrassment coloring his voice. You couldn’t take him thinking you were rejecting him, not when he was perfect and sweet and everything you could ever want.
“I do like you!” You said. 
“Then why won’t you let me kiss you? I want to so badly,” he asked in desperation.
“Reo-“ you started but he didn’t let you finish.
“Oh,” he said, sounding deflated, “do you like him or something?” It was obvious he was trying to sound nonchalant but jealousy threatened to burst through.
“No no I don’t. I mean I don’t dislike him. He’s your best friend so I don’t have anything against him. I just don’t like him in the way I like you,” you stammered. His response had thrown you off completely because it was the last thing you had expected him to say. 
“You don’t like him? Lots of girls do because his dad is that rich guy and girls think Reo is good looking,” Nagi said. 
“No, I don't see him that way. I like you,” you said, face flushing at your confession. 
“I’m confused. What does Reo have to do with you not letting me kiss you then?” 
“It’s just. Reo doesn’t seem to like me. He looks at me as if he’s distrustful and suspicious,” you said. 
Nagi instantly relaxed and laughed.
“Oh that’s just how he is. He’s very overprotective of me. It’s nothing personal he’ll grow out of it once you’re around more,” he said. 
While Nagi’s words assured you, you still found the whole bit a little odd but maybe that was just their friendship. Maybe Reo saw Nagi as a brother he looked out for. You decided to focus on the latter part of his sentence. 
“Once I’m around more?” 
At this he reached out across the table taking your hands in his.
“You know how I asked you if you have a boyfriend?” He asked playfully.
“Yes it wasn’t that long ago Nagi,” you replied.
“Well I want to be your boyfriend,” he said. He looked at you from under his long eyelashes, his gray eyes so sweet and vulnerable. 
“Well I don’t know this guy at the internet cafe told me to not go getting a boyfriend,” you teased.
“What a little prick he probably wants you for himself,” he went along with your joke. 
The two of you laughed before he spoke again, 
“Can I be your boyfriend? I promise to be good.” 
“Yes you can be Nagi,” you replied. 
“Awesome. Can I kiss you now?” He asked practically whining.
“Yes Nagi,” you laughed but your lips were soon overtaken by his. The kiss was sweet and made your head spin. 
You wondered if this is what it meant to be on cloud nine. 
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Your routine for the past few weeks had become Nagi centered. 
You continued to go to the internet cafe regularly. In fact that’s where you spent the most time with Nagi since you still went to different schools. You would go watch him practice and go to his games, he had even given you one of his jerseys to wear and he was strict about you wearing it to each match. You’d stay up on video chat with him as well and watch as he streamed his games for you when you were too tired to play with him yourself. 
As for Reo, there wasn’t any progress to be made there as the two of you were still virtually strangers but at least his scowling had  toned down. 
“I wanna see you more often,” Nagi said, his lips kissing the top of your hair as you hugged him bye at the end of practice. 
“We see each other nearly everyday, Nagi,” you laughed. However he did have a point since the majority of the day you were at different schools you only saw him in the evenings at the internet cafe, at his practice, or when he had games on the weekends. You were also busy studying a lot of the time as well and still not feeling comfortable enough to hang out with him and Reo who was often around. 
“Why don’t you stay over this weekend?” He asked but was trying to hide the shyness he felt from asking. 
“You mean like at your dorm?” You asked. 
“Yeah, why not?” He shrugged. 
You thought about it, you were so comfortable with him you didn’t have any objections and most of all Reo wouldn’t be there. 
“Sounds like a plan.” 
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
“This is Choki,” Nagi said, motioning to a little cactus in a pot on his desk. You had your travel bag with you around your shoulder and had taken the metro to go to Nagi’s dorm in the late evening. 
He had met you at the stop and walked you back to his room. 
“It’s very cute,” you said. He was eye level with the cactus smiling at it. 
“He is very cute not it,” he replied defensively. 
“Yes he is cute,” you corrected, continuing to look around his room.
For a dorm room it was quite spacious but that was to be expected of the elite school. His bed was made and neat with a plush dinosaur throw blanket folded neatly on the comforter. He had a television in his room on a stand next to his desk where his PC was. His PC setup consisted of the rainbow keyboard and the koala plush and Choki next to it, and a gaming chair. He also had a mini fridge with a magnet holding up a photo of Reo and him that was taken on a Polaroid camera. Towards the entrance of the room there was a sink and mirror and the toilet was secluded in a cupboard-like closet separate from the full walk-in closet that held his clothes. The room was illuminated blue from the LED lights he had. 
“What do you think of my room?” He asked tentatively as he watched you inspect the place. 
“I like it. It seems very comfortable and clean,” you replied.
He let out a sigh of relief.
“Good because I cleaned it before you came over. I’m not a slob or anything but I can get disorganized because I procrastinate,” he explained. 
You nodded but felt yourself blushing as now the full prospect of being alone with him was setting in. 
“You wanna watch a movie?” He asked. 
“Sure,” you replied. 
He grabbed the remote and laid back on his bed, kicking off his shoes while doing so.
“You can lay down you know,” he teased watching as you stood there. You followed his lead and also took off your shoes, dropping your overnight bag on the floor and laid down next to him. Gently he brought you closer to him, wrapping his arms around you and kissing your hair. He flicked through movies on the streaming service.
“Do you have a preference?” He asked. 
“We can watch whatever,” you replied. He chuckled.
“You’re not helping here,” he teased but then settled on an animated movie about animals. He started the film and then put the remote down, his arms still holding and caressing you. 
“Is this okay? I want you to be comfortable with me,” he asked. You could hear the vulnerability in his question however and knew that it would hurt him if you didn’t want him to touch you. Fortunately, you did enjoy his comfort and warmth. He felt like a bear hug. 
“It’s okay I’m comfortable like this,” you assured him. 
You watched the movie intently but your heart still pounded in excitement from his closeness and you wondered if he could hear it.
He watched the movie as well, occasionally peppering kisses into your hair or chuckling when he found something funny. It was peaceful and not awkward in the slightest. You enjoyed this comfort only Nagi could bring. If it were any other guy you’d worry about his intentions but when Nagi said watch a movie and spend time with you he meant it, not trying anything else besides cuddling.
Towards the end of the movie you heard slight snoring and looking up you saw Nagi had fallen asleep. He looked more boyish when sleeping. You watched the rest of the movie and when it finished you turned the tv off. Nagi was still fast asleep but you didn’t mind, taking it as a sign that he felt comfortable around you. Ever so carefully you moved out of his arms and went to brush your teeth using his sink. You then used his walk in closet to change into your oversized tee and shorts for sleeping. When you came back you saw Nagi blinking in confusion from having woken up. 
“I thought you left,” he said sadly.
“No Nagi, I was just changing. You fell asleep towards the end of the movie.”
“Oh I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to,” he rushed to get his words out but you were quick to assure him.
“It’s okay, I thought it was sweet. I didn’t wanna wake you but I already brushed up for bed.”
He looked you up and down in your pajamas and his eyes softened. He repositioned himself so he was now laying in the bed underneath the sheets and blankets.
“Come snuggle with me. It felt so good having you in my arms.”
You obeyed his words and got into bed with him facing towards him. His  eyes looked at you lovingly.
“I love having you here. I got up early today to clean my room and make sure everything was perfect. That’s partly why I fell asleep but most of it was because of you. Cuddling you and smelling the nice scent of your hair was so relaxing.”
His way of declaring loving and saying things so openly with his childlike innocence was so endearing to you. Other guys were much more guarded and wouldn’t admit such things out of fear of vulnerability but Nagi just said what he always thought. 
“I love being here with you Nagi, you make me feel so safe,” you replied truthfully.
He pouted a little.
“You know you can call me baby or honey or anything you want,” he said. 
“Okay baby,” you said, giggling a bit. It was still new and felt a little strange coming out of your mouth. 
“Hey what’s funny?” He asked before adding: “you’re my baby and I’m yours and that’s that.”  He pulled you closer to him as you laughed.
“You’re right baby, you’re so needy,” you joked. 
He pouted again but it didn’t last long because he kissed you nice long and slow. He tasted so good like mint and just Nagi, his ocean breeze scent intermingling with the kiss. Your hands felt his soft white hair as you kissed and he moaned a little into your mouth. 
When your kiss broke you gazed at each other. 
“You mean everything to me,” he said, cupping your cheek. You curled up closer in his arms so he could snuggle you again how he had loved.
“You mean so much to me too,” you told him. He yawned.
“I wanna sleep with you again, it felt so good. This feels so good, but don’t get any ideas. I brushed my teeth before you got here,” he said. 
That made you belly laugh and swat him a little in laughter.
“What? It's true I always brush my teeth right before I see you. I want you to like me,” he said innocently.
“I do like you,” you said. In fact you were starting to think you more than liked him and as you both dozed off to sleep you heard him say the words you had been thinking out loud and it was the last thing you heard before being overtaken by sleep. 
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
“I’ll be here waiting,” you told Nagi as he ran off towards the locker rooms to change for practice.
This morning you had woken up completely entangled and cuddled into him. His long legs had interlaced yours and after very prolonged kisses and cuddles you had gone out for miso soup for breakfast at a little restaurant nearby then returned to the high school campus for his practice. 
“I was almost starting to think he wasn’t gonna show up,” a voice said behind you. You turned around and Reo was standing behind you on the field already dressed in his uniform for practice.
“Reo, where did you come from?” You asked wondering how the two of you hadn’t noticed him on the way in.
He ignored your question and you felt small under his violet intense eyes. 
“You know Nagi is never late for practice. He’s usually here early with me,” he said in an accusatory tone. 
“Yeah sorry about that it’s just-“ you stammered but he cut you off.
“It’s just you were with Nagi last night and because of that he was thrown off routine this morning,” he finished for you. By now you felt yourself growing frustrated with him. You didn’t know him and he didn’t make any effort to know you, your only mutual connection was Nagi and he seemed hell bent on disliking you.
“Reo what is your problem with me?” You asked out of genuine curiosity and frustration.
He seemed more than happy to tell you.
“My problem is that ever since you’ve come into Nagi’s life he’s been changing. It all started with him wanting to spend more time at the internet cafe and when he told me it was because of some girl I knew it would become a problem,” he said. 
Nagi had been spending more time at the internet cafe not to play games but because he had wanted to see you? He had noticed you before he had even spoken to you and liked you? If it weren’t for this confrontation with Reo now you’d relish in that fact more.
“How is it a problem? We’re not doing anything wrong,” you said in an effort to defend yourself. 
“Maybe not, but Nagi isn’t like other guys, surely you’ve noticed that. He wears his heart on his sleeve and he’s a good guy. I don’t need you hurting him when he’s already changing for you,” he said.
“Changing how?” You said not fully understanding. 
“He’s more motivated. Before you I had to do everything for him because he thinks everything is a hassle. He showers after every game now because he knows you’re there waiting for him, he cleans his room because he knows you’re coming over, he does those things he normally wouldn’t wanna do because he has you in mind.” 
“Isn’t that a good thing?” You asked. 
Reo’s gaze was still sharp. 
“Maybe so but if you hurt him I’m worried he’s gonna be worse than before. Before he was just lazy after you hurt him he’ll just be unmotivated and depressed.” 
Your heart hurts at the thought. 
“I’m not gonna hurt him,” you said quietly. 
Reo didn’t seem convinced. 
“You and I both know that’s not how relationships work. Eventually you’ll hurt him and when you do I’ll never forgive you.” 
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
GodOfSoccer: where did you go after practice? I thought you were gonna wait for me but Reo said you left early :( 
You saw the whisper message come through the game server as you loaded up the game to play. You had set your status to offline but Nagi was savvy enough to know when you were online. 
SleepyKoala: I didn’t feel good 
GodOfSoccer: do you need me to come over? i can take care of you 
SleepyKoala: No it’s okay 
GodOfSoccer: do you wanna play a few games? 
SleepyKoala: I think I just wanna play by myself 
GodOfSoccer: oh alright 
GodOfSoccer: good luck in your games :) 
GodOfSoccer went offline
You sighed as you watched him go offline and you knew you had hurt his feelings despite his good natured response. Nagi was never offline and he wasn’t the type to set his status to offline so you knew he was really not gonna play games tonight which didn’t bode well. You didn’t mean to hurt him, it's just you couldn’t get Reo’s words out of your head. He’d never forgive you if you hurt Nagi? You’d never forgive yourself. He was so good and sweet and pure and Reo was right that relationships were messy. Did you really want to be the one to give Nagi his first heartbreak? 
You tried to play a few games but it was futile, the game had grown stale without him. 
You logged off and crawled into bed. Soon it began to pour outside and it reflected your inner state. 
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The next two weeks were exam season so luckily you had an excuse to not be around Nagi as often. 
You stopped going to the internet cafe altogether and instead went to your school’s library to study. These days you only saw Nagi at his games and though he was understanding about it because he knew you had to study you could tell he was sad.
The two of you still texted at night but the conversation grew stale as Nagi wasn’t always the best texter and from your experience with him you knew that comfortable laid back atmosphere of being at peace with him was something text couldn’t capture. Text was made for talking and it forced this dynamic where it felt as if you always had to come up with something to say and often times the best moments with Nagi were just being able to enjoy each other’s presence. 
When you got home from school one afternoon you had noticed a bouquet of flowers waiting for you on the porch table. 
You had taken the flowers to your room and put them in a vase with water. You got your phone out to text him. 
You: Thanks for the flowers 
Nagi: you’re welcome. I know you’ve been working hard studying and I wanted you to have something to brighten up your desk. 
Your heart fluttered at his thoughtfulness and again you wondered why you were being so distant. You knew it wasn’t fair to him but what Reo said really got to you. You knew he was only looking out for his best friend but you were worried you were really going to be the one to hurt Nagi. 
Nagi: I miss you :( 
Nagi: Are you coming to my game tomorrow? 
You felt overwhelmed by it all. The flowers, his double texting, and all the while you still felt Reo’s disapproving eyes on you as if he were watching you now. Part of you thought maybe it was better to back out of things early on before they got any deeper. Maybe then Nagi wouldn’t be as hurt. It was that rationale that led to your reply:
You: Sorry I can’t. I have to study now more than ever. 
Nagi: oh okay
He didn’t say anything more after that. 
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
When you woke up the next morning you had ten missed calls from an unsaved number. You also had text messages as well. You unlocked your phone in confusion. The messages read:
It’s Reo, are you awake? 
Nagi is hurt he got hurt at the game 
He’s been crying for you and wants you here
You instantly called the number back. 
“Reo what’s wrong? Where are you guys?” You asked, your panic and worry not giving you time to feel weird about calling him. 
“We’re headed to a nearby medcenter clinic that's across the school. You can meet us there,” he said then hung up. 
You raced outta bed and got dressed quickly. You didn’t bother to eat breakfast as all you could think about was how you hadn’t been there for Nagi. You were so worried and your heart hurt. 
The ride on the metro seemed obnoxiously long despite being the same as always. You anxiously tapped your fingers along your thighs the whole way there. 
At last you arrived and headed toward the clinic Reo had described. You felt nervous and shy as a nurse directed you to what room Nagi was in when you asked and told her you were his girlfriend. 
In front of his door you hesitated a little bit not knowing what to expect. How hurt was Nagi? Would he be upset with you for not being there for him? The only answers you’d get would be through that door. 
You pushed the door open slowly. 
Nagi was laying down in bed with his right ankle wrapped in med bandages and an ice pack against it. He perked up instantly when he saw you.
“Hey I knew you’d come,” he said. This wasn’t what you expected. He wasn't upset with you at all.
“Reo said you asked for me,” you said, noticing how the room was devoid of any purple. 
“I did. I needed my girl,” he said. His words tugged at your heartstrings as you walked closer to the bed so you were right beside him. 
“Where is Reo?” You asked. 
“He went to get us some food from the cafeteria and call my parents,” he said. You stroked his hair. 
“So how bad is it?” You asked. 
“Not too bad it’s just a sprained ankle but it hurt like hell when it happened. It should heal quickly,” he said. 
You nodded and stopped stroking his hair. 
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there when it happened,” you said. 
He shrugged but you could tell he was a little downcast even if he didn’t say it.
“It’s okay I know you’ve been busy,” he said. There was an awkward tension in the air that you knew was your doing. You were the one that had been distant lately. You just didn’t want to hurt him but it seems like you already were. 
“How long are you gonna be here?” You asked.
“Reo wants me to stay for a few days for some reason since he thinks I won’t take care of it but I told him I have you to take care of me,” he said beaming up at you his smile wavered when you didn’t react and added,”you will take care of me won’t you?” 
You wished he hadn’t asked that with his begging gray eyes that looked at you with the eagerness of a puppy.
“Nagi I’m just really busy right now, maybe Reo is right,” you said softly. His face fell.
“Why don’t you wanna be around me anymore? Am I doing something wrong? Am I spending too much time on soccer?” He asked. 
“No Nagi it’s not like that-“
“Bullshit. I know you have to study but you always did before and we were able to see each other. I’ve tried to be a good boyfriend and spend time with you by letting you stay over. I just don’t know what I did,” his voice almost broke. You reached for his hands but he pulled them away.
“Nagi, you didn’t do anything. I love being with you and spending time with you,” you said. He looked at you again, his eyes ever so stormy and sad.
“Then tell me the truth,” he pleaded. 
You swallowed, you'd tell him the truth but you didn’t want to make Reo look bad after all he was his best friend. 
“You remember the morning after I slept over and we went to your practice?” You started reluctantly.
“Yes,” he replied, understandably confused.
“Reo started talking to me and saying this stuff about how he’s scared I’ll hurt you. He told me how you’re already changing for me and taking initiative and doing things you normally wouldn’t like: showering after your games and waking up early to clean your room. He’s worried I’ll break your heart and you’ll be unmotivated and depressed.” 
There was silence for about a minute after you told him this. He was the first to break it.
“He really told you I didn’t shower after games before you?” He asked.
“I guess he kinda implied it,” you said wondering why he focused so much on that part. 
“Well that’s embarrassing,” he said with a wry smile before adding,”you don’t have to worry about hurting me.” He reached for your hand now and brought it up to his lips to kiss softly. 
“Why aren’t you more concerned about this? Reo is right. Relationships are messy and people get hurt and I don’t want to hurt you ever,” you said shivering at how his lips felt against your skin. 
“Reo is cynical. Yes people get hurt but I don’t wanna close myself off from you just because something may or may not happen.” He kept your hand laced in his and that’s how the two of you stood until Reo himself walked in a few moments later. He had two trays of sandwiches that he set down and seeing the state the two of you were in he asked: “Am I interrupting?”
“No Reo, I actually wanted to talk to you. Why have you been telling my girlfriend that she’s gonna hurt me?” Nagi asked in a conversational tone.
Reo glanced at you before looking back at Nagi.
“Nagi, you know everything I do is to protect you. I don’t want you getting hurt. You know how the girls at school are,” Reo replied. 
You didn’t understand this and looked curiously at Nagi but he ignored you.
“She’s not like that, she's nice to me and sweet and I need the two of you to get along otherwise you’re hurting me both,” he said firmly. 
At last you and Reo looked at each other, his last words resonating with both of you so there was no malice or ill will in the others eyes.
A nurse interrupted, coming in and saying she was going to change Nagi’s bandages to freshen them up before he left for the night and you and Reo were ushered into the hallway. 
“Thanks for coming,” Reo said genuinely once the door closed behind the two of you. 
“You’re welcome. I really care about him,” you said. 
“Yeah I can see that,” he said, running a hand through his hair that was loose out of its usual ponytail. 
“I didn’t mean to snitch on you or anything like that. I only told Nagi because he was asking why I was being so distant,” you said to him. He nodded in understanding. 
“No it’s fine I knew something was up when he was bumming around and blue because you weren’t around all of a sudden. It’s my fault,” he said. Now that he wasn’t looking at you with suspicion he seemed friendly and you could see why he got along with Nagi. 
“I know you were just trying to protect him since he’s your best friend,” you said.
“Still I shouldn’t have said anything to you like that or in that way. The last thing I wanted was for Nagi to be sad but I seemed to have caused it by you being distant. I've never seen him so down like that before.” His words made you feel guilty, after all you had only distanced yourself in order to not hurt him. 
“What did you mean by that comment about girls at your school?” You asked him. 
“Girls at school think Nagi is weird. Well, not just the girls but everyone does. He sticks to himself and he’s not concerned with impressing people the way everyone else is,” he said. 
You did know Nagi was a bit odd but he was endearing and now you knew why Reo was so protective of him. He was very attractive as well so you had truly thought he was joking when he had said that girls especially don’t talk to him. 
“Reo I wanna be able to get along. I don’t wanna stay away from Nagi because I care about him,” you said, deciding to call for a truce.
“Yeah that sounds good to me. I guess I  judged you unfairly and like Nagi said he wants us to be able to get along. It’s just always been him and me so I have to get used to it,” he said. 
You assured him you didn’t wanna ruin his and Nagi’s friendship and that of course they’d still be able to do the things they’ve always done. When the nurse came out of the room you both went back inside to find Nagi playing games on his phone in his typical fashion. 
You and Reo smiled at each other both knowing this was a sign he was recovering. 
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
“I never said thank you,” Nagi said, stopping in his tracks as you both walked in the park.
It had been three weeks since his injury and he had recovered with you by his side. These walks with him had been a form of physical therapy but once he had healed they had stuck around as a routine thing for you two. 
“For what?” You asked. 
“For accepting being my girlfriend. I had liked you for a long time before I spoke to you and I was always too nervous to do so,” he said. He looked wonderful surrounded by the cherry blossoms of the trail you too were on. It had been his idea to go cherry blossom viewing with you and he had been looking forward to it for weeks even drawing a little blossom on your calendar for this date. 
“You’re welcome. Reo had told me about how you had started spending more time at the internet cafe because of me,” you said. A blush the color of the blossoms formed on his cheeks.
“The only downside to you and Reo being friends now is that he tells you all the embarrassing unfiltered things about me,” Nagi said but you could tell it meant a lot to him that you and Reo got along. 
In the weeks following Nagi’s injury you had stayed with him at his dorm and took care of him and Reo would come over in the evenings and all three of you would binge watch shows and movies you took turns picking. Of course you and Nagi continued to support Reo by watching him practice and coming to games as well while Nagi was healing. 
“I don’t think it’s embarrassing. It’s sweet you like me so much,” you said. 
He reached out to cup your face in his hands in the way he was so fond of doing. 
“I more than like you,” he said seriously before adding,”I know you were scared of hurting me but the truth is I’m not scared to be hurt if it’s by you. I wanna be with you always.” 
Your head was spinning at the way his eyes penetrated into yours. 
“I more than like you too,” you said shyly. He looks at you lovingly before leaning in to kiss you. 
When he pulls away he looks into your eyes and tells you those three words you had sworn you had heard before you had dozed off to sleep when you had slept over: “I love you.” 
This time as he kisses you again even though it feels like it, you know you’re not dreaming.
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