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Yoshiko rubbed at their eyes, the bright computer screen burning itself into the lids as they fought sleep. The rewards from their last lootbox glittered at them, taunting. Duplicates, all common, and one spray not even from the event. If they wanted those skins, they’d have to work for them. Even if they had been working without rest since day … what day was it?
Their head thumped onto the desk. A part of them wanted to groan at their bad luck. The other, however, wanted nothing more than to call it a night.
‘One more game,’ they promised.
But as their cursor found the quick play icon, their mind drifted, and before they knew it, sleep had found them huddled up in their computer chair in Kanan’s jacket and some slippers.
--
“Good morning Yoshiko!” Hanamaru was the first to wave at the gamer as they lumbered up the steps. When they didn’t respond, not even with an “It’s Yohane!”, it became clear that nothing had changed last night compared to the previous ones. “How long do you think they can keep this up?” Ruby had also noticed the state of their friend as of late, and could only hope that it would not become more regular than it already had.
Yoshiko hardly seemed to notice when they walked straight into the door, carrying on like nothing had happened. Hanamaru shrugged. “I’m not sure zura.” She almost kept talking, but held it back once she considered who she would be telling the information to. If she were to talk about it with anyone, then it would be best to do it directly. Which meant bypassing the younger sister to get to the one that could help Yoshiko the most.
It was time to call Dia.
--
“You want me to … what now?” Dia could lie and tell herself that she had been looking forward to this conversation, or felt any emotion towards it besides anticipation and dread. She very well knew the state her datemate was currently in, but they had proven honest enough in their relationship, and Dia had thought hey. Maybe she could let them have their fun for a little bit. Maybe she could write away whatever excuse was necessary to get them out of trouble for sleeping in class, and maybe, just maybe, she could help with their probably piled-up homework when it was all over.
But it wasn’t over.
She had no idea how long this ‘event’ lasted in their game, but it was starting to push the boundaries of what Dia had expected. But why had she expected any differently? This was Yoshiko she was talking about. And the one time she would let them have a pass just had to be the one that didn’t end until-
“Nearly three weeks.”
So caught up in her own head, Dia hadn’t noticed Mari enter the room, loop bouncing as she handed in some papers. “The newest event lasts three weeks.” Nothing besides cheer was in her voice as she smiled down at the council president. Surely, Dia hadn’t heard her right.
“Three weeks?!”
What was Yoshiko thinking?! No one could stay awake that long! No one could stay awake that long in general, but to perform their best at school as well? To do what was asked of them and do their duty as a diligent and hard-working student?
Okay, admittedly, Yoshiko wasn’t that most of the time. But a sleep-deprived Yoshiko was absolutely descending into delinquent territory, and she would not stand for a datemate so lazy in their schoolwork. No, she needed to give a good knocking to that stupid head of theirs and just-
“D-don’t get upset zura! Like I was saying, just try talking to them, I’m sure you two can sort this all out!”
But Dia was already out the door, going at a speed that threw the papers into the air and left them scattered on the ground.
“Oh no! Those looked important….” Hanamaru bent to pick them up, but as her fingers found one, a hand stopped her. Sharp golden eyes pierced into her own, distracting her as the blonde picked up the page she was just about to lift. “I’ll take care of it.” With a confused cock of her head, the younger student stepped back and watched as Mari quickly swept up the papers and stacked them neatly back onto the desk. Unsure of what else there was to do, Hanamaru started for the door, making a mental note to ask Ruby what a “Nozoeli” was and why there was a “fanfiction” for it.
--
The clouds drifted against a bright blue sky, the bird sang as they flew from tree to tree, the gentle breeze rested upon their face. Truly, it was a peaceful day. Despite everything that had happened in the beginning, Kanan was somewhat glad that she got to sit and enjoy the day at school. Lunch break had started and she could breathe in the calm air as she waited for her datemates to arrive. Of course, Yoshiko could join their other friends, and Dia could get held up at the student council room with work, but she felt like today they would both be at her side. One could say it was an intuition of sorts.
A few minutes passed by without event. The lovely air was sweet with pollen that would definitely give them all allergies, and the bees buzzing around only helped to nail in that fact. Still, she could chuckle to herself at the idea of Dia all bundled up in blankets, face flushed from embarrassment as she let out one of those cute little sneezes she made-
A body landed on hers with a force that pushed them both to the ground. Arms held tight as Kanan started to move, but with her hard-earned upper body strength, she was able to pry them off and push her attacker away.
Nearly falling onto the bench that Kanan was previously seated on, a dazed Yoshiko tried to stand up before seeming to realize what had happened. Immediately after the look of realization flashed on their face, they were lunging for her again. This time, she allowed it, staring with confusion as they smushed themselves into her as hard as they could. Their trembling arms didn’t quite betray the death grip Kanan was in, but they were certainly a cause for alarm. It all was, really. Although Yoshiko could get a bit … dramatic in public, such physical affection – if it could be called that – was almost rare for the surprisingly easily flustered person. And what about their lunch? Had they left it somewhere before launching this attack, or was it crushed beneath them? Did they forget to bring it again? It had become something of a habit as of late, and she really hoped that they hadn’t let it continue today. They really needed to get on top of things if they had….
Just as the thought left her brain, a voice akin to the devil screams Yoshiko would sometimes play during their ‘rituals’ clawed against the ears of all nearby students. It was terrifying in its familiarity, and those that knew it ran. Trapped by her datemate, Kanan was left with no way to escape but brutal force. She tried to struggle against their grip, but it was already too late.
Dia Kurosawa was standing over them, looking like a dark cloud against the happy ones behind her. Hands at her hips, scowl firm like she had been born with it, and her eyes … oh her eyes were like the thunder of the storm. They told her exactly what would be coming before she even had the chance to open her mouth.
“Yoshiko Tsushima.” An eep sounded, followed by arms finding a new position to grab Kanan by. Oh boy.
“Are you aware of this school’s policy on sleeping in class?” To their credit, Yoshiko managed a small shake of the head before they huddled impossibly closer.
“Well, let’s just say I can serve you enough detention for the rest of the year with the kind of ‘napping’ you’ve been doing.” Kanan knew that was probably a lie, but a muffled yelp from their friend indicated that they had bought it completely. She wasn’t quite sure of what was going on, but she could hazard a guess….
“Three weeks?! What on Earth were you thinking?! Do you know how many hours of sleep you’d lose? Even if you could do it here, the breaks between classes will wake you back up, and that kind of schedule would just hurt you more than anything. And staying up all night just to fall asleep in the day is completely unacceptable! You could have picked any other time and I would have stopped you before this all even started. But I decided to be nice. Never again! Dia Kurosawa is issuing a permanent ban on video games from now on.”
Kanan could feel the grip slacken considerably, and after tearing her eyes away from the angry statue of a woman, she saw Yoshiko’s jaw hanging wide open at the new rule. The diver had to admit, she was a bit skeptical herself. Gaming seemed to be a part of their datemate’s life, for better or worse, and was it really up to them to change that?
The look on Dia’s face said yes, yes it was.
“Listen.” She gently pushed the ‘fallen angel’ off so she could at the very least sit up properly. “I think we just need to talk about this.”
“Talk?! They’ve been skipping meals, forgetting to drink water, and staying up every night so they could play some-.” Dia made exaggerated motions like the word she was searching for was a fly buzzing around her in the air. “computer game!”
Kanan could practically see the steam coming out of her head, having to take a deep breath herself to prevent ending up like her. “They have made a few mistakes recently, obsessing over that game being one of them.” They shot a look at their datemate. “But I think a permanent ban is a little much. Maybe we could … suspend video games, at least until the event is over.” Her girlfriend frowned, but seemed to take the idea into consideration. However, Yoshiko was surprisingly distraught over her suggestion.
“But I still need to get the skins!”
“You won’t have skin left if you don’t start eating right!” Dia turned up her nose, refusing to back down. Kanan hated to admit it, but she agreed. It just wasn’t healthy to go three weeks without taking care of yourself, especially for Yoshiko, who barely did that anyway. She wanted to support them, especially if this event meant so much to them, but she just couldn’t do it. As Dia would say, it was for their own good.
“Come on, we’ll get strawberry ice cream after school, and if your parents are okay with it, we can go to Dia’s house and she’ll cook dinner so you can eat. Right, Dia?” Their girlfriend nodded, giving an intimidating look down, as if begging for either to say something against the idea.
With a sharp edge, Dia continued for her. “We’ll also need to make sure you’re sleeping, so prepare to spend the night as well.” For a moment, the student council president’s cold exterior was broken by her face flushing bright red, her eyes darting away. “And if necessary, we can send Ruby to see Hanamaru until tomorrow.”
Yoshiko’s cheeks matched Dia’s, looking between the two of them as if to make sure they had heard correctly. Kanan just chuckled as she stood and grabbed her lunch, which somehow had managed to make it to safety before the tackle. She noticed for sure that no, Yoshiko had not brought a lunch, and she had a feeling they wouldn’t want to go out to buy one either. So without a word, she offered some to share as her datemates adjusted and eventually managed to all fit on the bench together.
They ate in a somewhat peaceful silence, the kind that Kanan had been hoping to have. When the bell was just about to ring, Yoshiko spoke up.
“So about tonight….”
Dia’s face was quick to regain its earlier color. “We-we’ll talk about it later!”
Kanan had a feeling they were all looking forward to it.