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“Fueee… I’m lost again…”
As usual, Kanon was having trouble finding her way around the city. The map on her smartphone was not cooperating again, which led her to make several wrong decisions and end up in an unfamiliar area. Another bad day for the drummer.
“W-wait, is that…”
Looking inside the window of a nearby computer shop was the familiar purple twin-tails from a fellow drummer.
“Is that Ako-chan?”
What was Ako doing here all alone? Maybe Ako could help her get home? Hesitation stopped her from initially touching the door handle, but a little self-pep talk gave her the confidence to go inside. Thankfully the shop was mostly empty, with only a few people occupying far away seats from each other and a small group that seemed to have come to the place together. Near the end of one row of computers, the gamer girl sat busy typing away on the keyboard, still wearing her school uniform.
Kanon placed her school bag on her lap as she sat down on an empty seat beside Ako. As the girl was wearing a headset, she did not immediately notice the newcomer shyly taking the chair next to her. Curious to see what she was up to, Kanon glanced at the monitor and was immediately mesmerized by all the moving pictures and graphics happening on screen. She quickly turned away; the numerous particle effects flashing all at once was beginning to make her dizzy.
“A-Ako-chan?”
Ako felt a gentle tap on her shoulder and turned her head to find Kanon staring at her timidly. “H-Huh? Oh, hello, Kanon!”
“Hello, Ako-chan…”
Ako removed one side of her headset from her ear and continued playing. “What brings you here?”
“I,” she muttered, playing with her fingers. “I got lost… again…”
“Oh.” Ako typed a quick sequence on her keyboard and looked at Kanon again. “Um, do you need any help?”
Kanon shifted her eyes towards the side and answered: “I just need to know where I am… so that I can go home…”
“Ehh? How did you get lost? Don’t you pass the same route home from school every day?”
“Um… There was a newly opened shopping mall in the opposite direction, so I went there to see what new shops they had. When it was time to go home, I didn’t remember at all where I passed by on the way there! I tried retracing my path, but I just ended up even more lost. Everywhere I went, the area always looked so different! I shouldn’t have gone alone…”
“Didn’t you try to use your phone?”
“I-I’m not so good with technology…”
Ako nodded her head. The gameplay on her monitor had just faded into a menu screen, so she removed her headset and pulled out her phone.
“Kanon, where do you live?” she asked, opening the map app on her phone and turning her whole body towards her.
“Fueee…” she gasped, looking at the labyrinth of streets and pathways occupying the whole phone screen. “I don’t know…”
“Well… do you know like, a landmark near your house?”
“Um… I live near this big park with a lot of these statues… It also has a fountain in the middle!”
“Wait!” Ako suddenly exclaimed, her eyes glimmering. “I live near there too! If you like, you can go with me and Onee-chan later! She’ll fetch me here when she’s done with her after school activities.” She emitted a big grin, amazed that she had been neighbors with Kanon all along.
“Huh?!” Kanon initially blurted, but Ako’s enthusiastic smile brought her to a smile herself. “O-Okay!”
"That's great then! We can just wait for her and you'll be home in no time!"
Ako went back to playing her game while Kanon sat quietly next to her, relieved that she was able to find help. Though, she began to fidget around in her seat, having nothing to do.
"Hey, um, Kanon? Have you ever played video games before?” The question suddenly popped into Ako’s mind just as she started a new game. “I know you've said that you don't really do well with technology, but Ako's just curious~"
"Well…" she thought for a moment.
Kanon was not a 'gamer' or however Ako calls herself, but she has played some of those cute mobile games to pass time. "I played that one game where you swap candies around to match them and that other one with the cats, but no, I don't really play games much. Sorry…"
"Aw. Ako loves playing lots of games! Like the one I’m playing right now!” She held her mouse and clicked a few buttons on the screen. “Here! Let me show you what you can do!”
“E-Eh?”
Kanon’s reaction came just after the game had just started loading. A desolate, smoky world then emerged from the initial darkness, along with what must be Ako’s player.
“This is the world map!” the gamer began to speak. “And this is the almighty dark demon king of this world- I mean, my character! Look; he has a really cool-looking sword!”
Ako’s words passed through her ears as Kanon was staring blankly at the screen, understanding nothing about what she had said. Still, she continued listening, both out of politeness and curiosity.
“I-Is that an enemy?” she exclaimed, pointing at the giant angry monster on Ako's screen. "Be careful, Ako-chan!"
"Hm? Oh, you mean this? This is nothing; watch me Kanon!"
In the blink of an eye, Ako's character went into a flurry of blows of combined might and magic against the enemy. What seemed like rapid clicking and keyboard tapping in the real world translated into a beautiful display of skill in the video game world, weaving in perfect dodges with her attacks. With one final strike, Ako's enemy disappeared with one last ferocious roar.
"See? Ako's got it handled!"
"Woah, you destroyed that thing…"
Kanon's mouth was agape at what she saw, awestruck by the flashy actions the younger drummer displayed.
"How did you do that? Fuee… I-I don't think I can play these kinds of games; it looks so complicated!"
“It’s easy! Once you get the hang of the controls, everything will be a piece of cake! How about you try? I can teach you.”
“Me?! B-But I don’t want you to lose-”
Before she could finish her sentence, Ako had already gotten off her seat and was offering Kanon to sit down in place of her.
“Let’s start with something a bit smaller, shall we?”
Kanon, seeing no other option and lacking the confidence to say no, reluctantly sat down on where Ako seated. On the screen, a confusing clutter of a user interface greeted her. How could Ako even see anything happening with so many bits and baubles all over the place!
“W-What do I do?” she asked, resting her hand on the mouse with unease.
Not long after she tried fiddling with the numerous buttons and text on screen, another monster suddenly popped up in front of her character.
“Ah!”
“Click the left mouse button!” Ako told her. “It’s what you use to attack!”
“Okay!”
Kanon began furiously clicking said button, seeing her character react by hurling beautiful balls of magic in front of it. The monster’s HP bar decreased rapidly until it was fully gone, causing the monster to evaporate into thin air. Kanon stared at the screen dumbstruck.
“Yay! You defeated the thing!” cheered Ako, patting Kanon on the shoulder. “Wasn’t that fun! Did you enjoy it, Kanon?”
Beads of sweat formed on Kanon’s forehead, yet she felt oddly relieved. Did playing the game and defeating the monster make her feel like a brave courageous warrior who can face any challenge and have no fear?
“Oh uh, yeah! I enjoyed the game, Ako-chan! Though, it still felt like a lot for me, eheheh…”
“It’s okay! All you have to do is fight enemies and find loot. Simple! Oh, I’ll tell you how to use magic spells! And maybe later, I’ll teach you some super cool attacking tricks!”
For the next half hour, the pair continued to play together, with Ako teaching Kanon every step of the way and occasionally assisting her in blasting some creeps and noobs. The two shared laughs and smiles until the door to the shop opened and a tall, familiar redhead entered.
“Onee-chan!” Ako waved from the other side of the shop after seeing her sister.
“Ready to leave now, Ako?”
Tomoe approached before quickly being hugged by Ako, who jumped from her seat. As she ruffled Ako’s hair, she finally noticed her senpai, who also stood up.
“Ah, Kanon-san! I didn’t expect you to be here as well! I didn’t know you went to these shops to play video games.”
“I-I actually don’t, Tomoe-chan. I… I got lost again and I found Ako-chan so I went inside and— Ako-chan taught me how to play this game and then we played together! I guess I kinda lost track of time...”
“Time flies when you’re having fun, Kanon! Fufu~” Ako giggled while her hands were wrapped around her sister.
“Let me pay for you Kanon-san,” Tomoe offered as the three of them approached the counter to pay. ”That’s the least I could do for keeping Ako company!”
“No; it’s okay Tomoe-chan, Ako helped me learn a lot today,” Kanon interjected. “I-I can pay for myself!”
As the three of them left the store after paying, it was finally time for them to part ways.
“It was fun to hang out with you, Kanon!” beamed Ako. “We should do this again sometime!”
“Mmhmm! I enjoyed our time as well, Ako. Hopefully next time it won’t be because I got lost again.”
“Ahahah, don’t worry about it Kanon-san!” Tomoe chuckled. “If you’d like, maybe I can have Ako meet up with you so you two can go together.”
“That sounds great, Tomoe-chan. But you don’t have to do it for me.”
“Nonsense! Think of it as a favor for you watching over my sister.”
“Onee-chan! Ako can look after herself just fine!” Ako pouted, but smiled immediately after. “Either way, Ako can’t wait for the next time Ako can play with Kanon!”
“So do I, Ako.” Kanon flashed a smile at the two sisters.
“I should really get going now. Thanks for the time again, Ako-chan. Goodbye Tomoe-chan! Goodbye Ako-chan!”
Kanon waved at Tomoe and Ako who also waved back, bidding their farewells as well.
“Bye-bye Kanon!”
They then started walking in opposite directions, each wearing happy faces on their way home. At least, until Tomoe realized something.
“Hey wait, Kanon! Isn’t your home this way?” she turned back and called out to her.
Kanon looked at her surroundings and yelped in surprise. “Fueee! T-thank you Tomoe-chan! I almost got lost again…”
“Why don’t you join us on our way home? According to Ako, your house isn’t that far from ours anyway!”
“I think I will…”
Kanon ran to catch up to the sisters who were waiting for her. They all shared a laugh before they all walked back home together.