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The moment he felt the soft vibration of his phone going off, Harua knew he was doomed. Ignoring the side-eye from his English professor, he quickly slipped his phone out and immediately clicked on one of only Twitter accounts he had bothered to keep notifications on for; Bang Dream Girls Band Party Official.
Harua almost teared up at what he saw. Front and center of the Bandori Twitter account was an announcement for the new Poppin’ Party, Arisa focused event. He knew his best girl, Arisa, had been due for an event for quite a while, and after months and months of saving up his in-game currency, it was a relief to finally see her in all her glory. Her new card was adorable, she was clad in a pastel dress covered in ribbons and ruffles with a number of flowers surrounding her. As a diehard Poppin’ Party and Arisa oshi, he needed her so badly.
Thankfully, Harua had been diligently hoarding his resources for this exact moment. Countless overnight shifts at the campus coffee shop and endlessly grinding his account of all the in-game currency possible would be worth it when he finally had Arisa’s card, not to mention her event leaderboard title in his account. Harua was a pretty dedicated guy; he prided himself on going all out for his passions, of course, Bandori being one of them. With that being said, he was determined to get first place in the rankings for his best girl.
Harua sighed, closing his phone; he had a few hours before the event started, -- thank goodness it wouldn’t start until after his classes were over -- just enough time to prepare himself with enough caffeine for the multiple all-nighters in his imminent future. He’d make a quick stop by the weekly video game club meeting and then run back to his dorm and bury himself under his bed covers with enough snacks to keep him sane long enough for the hours he was about to spend glued to his phone.
Don’t get him wrong, as a member of their university’s video game club, Harua didn’t only play gacha games with cute anime girls. He was well-versed in all types of games, RPGs, MMOs, etc. Especially with the club’s president, Soobin, and vice president, Beomgyu, being unhealthily obsessed with League and Smash, ultimately calling for monthly mandatory tournaments of the two. However, the appeal of gambling fake currency for PNGs of anime characters alongside cute music and good stories was simply too strong to resist.
As soon as his classes for the day were over, Harua packed his bag, speed-walking his way over to the club room. He didn’t know any diehard Bandori fanatics like himself, but he did manage to get a fellow video game club member and friend, Taki, into the game as well.
Harua slightly bowed as he entered the classroom -- Soobin was apparently in the middle of announcing something important -- and plopped down in his regular seat next to Taki. With a secretive glance around the room, Harua leaned in close to his friend, his excitement palpable.
"Hey, Taki, did you see the latest event in Bang Dream..!?" Harua whispered eagerly, barely able to contain his enthusiasm. While he did have his Bandori mutuals on Twitter, it was nice to be able to talk about his favorite game in person.
Taki's eyes lit up with recognition, a knowing grin spreading across his face. "Of course, dude! Arisu's new card looks so cute. Are you going for one of the top ranks again?"
Harua rolled his eyes playfully and huffed, he’d have to quiz Taki on all the Bandori characters later. “It’s Arisa , and of course I am! I’m her number one fan after all.”
Taki laughed, holding up his hands in surrender. "My bad, my bad! Arisa it is. And hey, I wouldn't expect anything less from the ultimate Arisa oshi!"
The two bumped shoulders and laughed, opening up the app on their phones, about to start a joint game session. Usually, Soobin would open up the floor for all the members to group up and relax by playing some rounds together, but today it seemed like he had something different in mind. The older boy cleared his throat, pointedly looking in Harua and Taki’s direction, signaling for the two of them to quiet down.
“As I was saying -- he just transferred here recently, so I’d like you all to give him a warm welcome!” As Soobin's voice filled the room, Harua's curiosity piqued. He had totally not been paying attention to the first half of Soobin’s announcement, but the idea of a new club member was always intriguing. His thoughts were momentarily interrupted by Taki's excited whisper.
"New transfer student, huh? Wonder if he’s into Bang Dream too, heh." Taki mused, his eyes scanning the room in anticipation.
Harua nodded in agreement, his mind already racing with possibilities. "Ugh, I wish… We really don’t need another League player in here."
As Soobin introduced the new student, all eyes turned to the front of the room, eager to catch a glimpse of the mysterious newcomer. As the door swung open and the transfer student stepped inside, Harua couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.
With his eyes landing on the newcomer, Harua's heart skipped a beat. It was none other than Maki, the friendly and unassuming transfer student in his English class who had recently caught his attention.
“Hey everyone, I’m Maki! I’m a freshman and I’m mainly into PC games, but I’m hoping to expand my gaming expertise~ Nice to meet you all!” Maki bowed politely, and to Harua’s surprise, his eyes lit up with recognition as their gazes met, a knowing smile playing on his lips as he waved. Harua felt a rush of warmth spread through him, and he couldn't help but return the smile, his cheeks flushing with color.
Taki nudged Harua, breaking him out of his trance. "Huh, wait -- Maki… Hey, isn't that the guy you were talking about? The one you thought was cute?"
Harua's cheeks turned an even deeper shade of red, but he couldn't deny the truth. So maybe he had waxed poetic about the cute new boy in his English class to Taki and spent an entire class period staring at said boy as well, sue him.
"Not so loud..! But, yeah, that's him," he admitted, unable to tear his gaze away from Maki who was suddenly making his way over towards them.
“ Please act normal!” Harua panicked, he had never actually held a conversation with Maki besides their introductions in class and the occasional shy smiles and waves. He had to make a good impression on the cute dimpled boy.
Taki grinned mischievously, clearly enjoying Harua's flustered state. "Don't worry, Harua, I got this," he replied, his voice barely above a whisper as Maki approached.
Harua nodded, trying to compose himself as Maki reached their table, his smile warm and inviting.
"Hey guys! Soobin-sunbae suggested I sit with you all since we’re all freshmen it seems. Mind if I join you?" Maki asked, his eyes flicking between Harua and Taki, head tilted with genuine curiosity.
“Yeah man, of course! Here, let me move so you can sit next to Harua~” Taki wiggled his eyebrows as he left to drag another chair over, Harua shooting him a quick glare in return. He turned around to face Maki, watching as the taller boy failed to stifle a laugh.
“You guys seem close, huh~ Well, it’s nice to meet you again Harua! I’ve been meaning to talk to you in class, but there’s never any time… Not to mention Professor Min is scaary !”
Harua's cheeks flushed even brighter at Maki's words, a nervous chuckle escaping his lips. "Yeah, Professor Min can be pretty intimidating," he admitted, trying to mask his embarrassment with a casual smile. "But hey, it's great to see you outside of class too, Maki."
Maki grinned, taking the seat next to Harua and scooting the slightest inch closer as Taki returned with an extra chair. "Thanks, Harua. And yeah, it's nice to have some familiar faces around," he replied, his gaze warm and friendly.
"So, Maki, what kind of games are you into?" Taki asked, breaking the ice and steering the conversation away from Harua's embarrassment.
Maki's eyes lit up with excitement, and he launched into a detailed explanation of his favorite games. Harua found himself losing focus, his eyes scanning over the perfect slope of Maki’s nose and his strong jawline, not to mention the way his soft bangs fell slightly into his eyes -- his eyes that crinkled every time he laughed and -- …okay, Harua was down bad.
“Oh man, for real? Harua and I love playing Bandori too! Right, Harua..?” Harua was finally knocked out of his trance by a jab to the side from Taki, who, alongside Maki, was looking at him with amusement. His eyes widened at Taki’s words.
“Wait… Maki, you play Bandori too..?!” Harua almost jumped out of his chair in excitement, emphasis on almost , mostly because Maki had one heavy hand on his shoulder to keep him in place.
Maki chuckled, his warm gaze meeting Harua's wide-eyed expression. "Yeah, I do! I’m not super good, but I've been really enjoying it. Plus, Poppin' Party's music is so catchy, and the characters are all super cute!”
Harua could hardly contain himself, a grin spreading across his face. "That's awesome! Poppin' Party is the best, right? We should totally play together sometime!"
Maki's smile widened at the suggestion. "I'd love that! It'll be great to have someone to play with and learn from. Speaking of Poppin’ Party, did you see that new event they announced today? I seriously need the full set of cards from the gacha!"
Harua might need to pinch himself. There’s no way Maki was handsome, sweet, and knowledgeable about Bandori, all in one package! He gathered some skin on his arm and pressed hard with his fingers -- ouch! No, this was the real deal. He almost let out the whole schtick, -- if there was one Arisa fan on the Earth, then that was him. If there were no Arisa fans on this Earth, then that meant that he was dead -- but he didn’t want to scare the other away, so he held himself back.
Instead, Harua smiled warmly at Maki, his heart fluttering at the prospect of playing Bandori together. "Yeah, I saw the new event! I'm definitely going all out for Arisa's new card. It'd be awesome if we could grind the event together! I can teach you some team comp tips-- ooh, and some meta songs to play! And of course--"
Harua’s ramble was quickly cut off by Taki exaggeratedly scrolling through his text messages and sighing. “Well, looks like I gotta go help Jo-kun out with… something! So, Imma leave you two at it. Have fun!”
Taki shot an exaggerated wink at Harua and a friendly wave at Maki before darting off. There was no way Jo actually needed Taki, considering the older boy was usually working a shift at the library around this time, but Harua appreciated the commitment to being his wingman.
Maki laughed, waving at Taki’s retreating form before turning back around to face Harua. His eyes sparkled with enthusiasm, mirroring Harua's own excitement. "That sounds like a blast! I'll do my best to keep up with you, Harua."
Harua hummed, glancing at his phone and noticing the time -- almost an hour until the event started! “Ah, I have to go back to my dorm soon, but do you want to exchange numbers? That way we can coordinate when we're both free to play."
Maki's smile widened, and he nodded eagerly. "Sounds like a plan! Here, let me add you." He pulled out his own phone, fingers flying over the screen as he inputted Harua's number.
“Text me when you’re free and let’s play together, alright~?” Maki grinned toothily with a lazy wave as the two parted ways.
As soon as Maki was out of sight, Harua clutched his phone to his chest. Not only was he about to once again complete his collection of Arisa’s cards, but he also had a cute boy’s number to match; truly a win.
---
Harua crushed what seemed to be the hundredth can of Celsius with one hand, the other laser-focused on full-comboing the song he was currently running through on his phone. It had been a good five days since the Arisa event had started in Bandori and he was almost at the end of his sanity.
Luckily, it had only taken a few gacha pulls to obtain the full set of special cards for this event, meaning Harua was able to fully utilize the rest of his in-game currency towards maintaining his number one rank on the leaderboard.
It had been smooth sailing for the first day or two, Harua had established a large enough border between him and the player at rank two that he was even able to squeeze in a brisk thirty-minute nap in between playing.
However, the third day was when it all went down. Harua was used to seeing familiar usernames throughout the top rankings for Arisa events -- of course, Arisa oshis stick together -- however, player kasuari582 was someone he had never seen before.
Upon looking at their profile -- re: completely tearing it apart -- Harua realized they were, of course, a Kasumi and Arisa shipper, a Kasumi oshi to be exact, with an affinity for collecting cards rather than ranking in events. As a fellow Kasumi and Arisa shipper, Harua had to nod at them for good taste, however he couldn't help but feel a twinge of competition. This was his event to conquer, and he wouldn't let anyone get in his way. Not to mention, he could just imagine the satisfaction of showing off his Bandori skills to a starry-eyed Maki once he finally achieved that sweet first-place ranking title.
With newfound motivation, Harua grabbed another can of Celsius and cracked it open, and he quickly shook his head to wake himself up. It was time to get serious.
---
By the time the next video game club meeting rolled around, Harua felt like a dead man walking. His eye bags were enormous, and he was quite literally shaking due to how much caffeine was flowing in his blood. Nonetheless, there was no way he was missing another club meeting (another chance to talk to Maki), the thought powering him on as he took another large gulp of his iced americano.
Thankfully, there was only about an hour left of the event. Harua figured he, Maki, and Taki could play a few rounds together. Since Harua had been prioritizing his point gain on kasuari582, he hadn’t had any time to play together with Maki -- this was his chance!
Harua walked into the classroom, greeting the few members already there before making his way to his usual seat. He laid his phone on the desk; since Maki and Taki weren’t here yet, it wouldn’t hurt to take a small five-minute nap, right?
He shimmied down in his chair, pulling his hood up and laying back, letting his exhaustion finally catch up to him. Maybe it was the lack of sleep, or simply his delusion of a crush, but he could almost smell Maki in his dream -- weird. Oh well, he still had four minutes to waste so he ignored it, including the soft murmurs he heard around him.
After what he thought was three minutes, he could feel Taki’s constant tapping on his left shoulder, which he tried shrugging off, nuzzling into whatever warm figure was to his right.
“Mm, it hasn’t been five minutes yet, Taki… stop..” Harua murmured sleepily, smashing his cheek into the suspiciously Maki-like shoulder. Maybe he was still dreaming.
The constant tapping turned to a light jostle and he heard a light sigh before he suddenly felt hot breath hit his ear.
“Harua~ Come on, it’s time to wake up. The meeting is over!”
Harua's eyes fluttered open at the sound of the familiar sweet voice, his mind still clouded with drowsiness as he blinked groggily. As he slowly came to his senses, he realized that the warmth he had been nuzzling into was indeed Maki's shoulder, not some figment of his imagination.
Blinking blearily, he turned his head to find Maki's face mere inches from his own, his expression soft and amused. Harua felt his cheeks flush with embarrassment at being caught in such a vulnerable state, but Maki's gentle smile quickly put him at ease.
"Hey there, sleepyhead," Maki chuckled softly, his warm breath brushing against Harua's ear. "You had us worried for a moment there. Taki had to leave a bit ago, but I’ve been trying to wake you up for a while now. Looks like that event really tuckered you out, huh?"
At the mention of the event, Harua stiffened -- he had completely forgotten, and now it was over. He spun around in his seat searching for his phone, the blood rushing to his head so quickly he almost fell out of his chair.
Maki’s breath hitched as he jumped to his reflexes, grabbing Harua in his arms and pulling him to his chest before he could hurt himself.
“You gotta be careful, Harua. All that lack of sleep has really taken a toll on you,” Maki tightened his grip on the smaller boy and reached into his pocket, pulling out Harua’s phone.
“I saw you’d left the game open, so I decided to play a bit for you until the event ended, I hope that’s okay! Arisa’s number one fan has to get his number one title, right~?” Maki grinned cheekily as he handed the device to Harua, showing the other Harua’s username in the first place ranking on the leaderboard.
Harua stared in shock, his mouth dropped open. “W-Wait, but… kasuari582, did they..?” He scrolled down through the leaderboard and saw the other player had dropped down to rank twelve compared to the rank one they were at just a few hours ago.
“Oh yeah, I heard about that! …Apparently, they had something important to take care of, so they had to stop playing for a few hours. I think it was something along the lines of… helping a cute boy maintain his first-place rank so he can sleep for an hour..~?”
The smaller boy nodded, the words not fully processing until he took another glance at his phone, and then at Maki’s phone laid on the desk in front of him. Since when did he have a Kasumi keychain on his phone..?
“Hold on. You’re kasuari582..?! B-But, you said you weren’t that good, how were you able to rank so high?”
Maki chuckled softly, a playful glint in his eyes as he shrugged sheepishly. "We~ll, I might have downplayed my skills a bit," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "I didn't want to make it too obvious that it was me."
Harua's eyes widened, his mind racing with disbelief. He couldn't believe that the sweet and unassuming Maki was actually the formidable player behind the username kasuari582 . It seemed almost too good to be true.
Maki had sacrificed his rank so Harua could get first place, Harua felt his face burn upon realizing.
"You ended up dropping so low in the rankings though… " Harua stammered, his voice filled with awe and disbelief.
"Don't worry about it, Harua," Maki replied, his tone gentle. “I know how much you wanted that title, and I was only playing for fun! To be honest, seeing you try so hard was motivating me to do my best too~ And besides, it was worth it just to see the look on your face when you realized."
Harua felt his heart swell at the other’s words; with a determined look, he reached out and wrapped his arms around Maki, pulling him in for a hug. “Thank you, Maki! But, is there any way I can repay you? I still feel bad for getting you knocked out of the leaderboard…”
Maki tapped a finger to his chin, letting out an exaggerated hum. “Hmm, well like I said before, I heard kasuari582 had their eyes set on a cute boy, but I also heard maybe they'd want to take him out on a date sometime?”
The playful suggestion made Harua's cheeks flush even more, but he couldn't help but laugh at the unexpected turn of events.
"A date, huh?" Harua chuckled, a warm smile spreading across his face. "I think I'd like that very much."