“Thank you for your help at the time. I’m sorry for never thanking you even though you drove.”
“I-It’s fine. Thank you for letting me make such fun memories.”
“He really looked forward to going camping. For a week beforehand, he carefully selected his luggage and repacked his suitcase over and over again...” It was at that moment that an irritated and familiar voice came from the entranceway and interrupted our conversation.
“Jeez, how long are you guys going to stay out here?” Ura grumbled as he walked over to us from the entrance to the house. He was dressed casually in a T-shirt and shorts. When he arrived at the gate, he glared at his mother.
“Your small talk is taking too long. Don’t tell them anything else.”
“Izumi-kun... Good morning?”
“It’s already nighttime.”
“But this is the first time I’ve seen your face today!” Sae-san seemed surprised. She was probably surprised by him coming out of his room.
“Hmph.” After Ura gave a little snort, he shifted his gaze to me. I inhaled a small breath and looked straight at him.
“Hey, Ura.”
“...Momo. So, you came after all,” Ura said with a difficult look on his face. He looked frustrated and annoyed yet understanding and resigned all at once.
“I didn’t think you’d come down to meet me. I thought that I’d have to struggle to get you out of your room.”
“...I know how persistent you can be. I didn’t want to be bothered by you yapping outside my room, so I came down. You should be grateful for my generosity,” Ura said in a pompous tone, and I almost laughed. Ura was probably remembering the same thing I was, the time when he became a shut-in in middle school. At first, he didn’t show his face and didn’t come out of his room even when I came over. He finally let me into his room after I kept coming day after day.
“Come in.” Ura’s voice and the look in his eyes were both cold, but he welcomed us in.
“Are you sure?”
“You won’t go home even if I tell you to, right? In that case, there’s no point arguing about it. If we’re going to talk, we might as well do it inside,” Ura said curtly, quickly going back inside the house by himself. I bowed my head to Sae-san.
“Um... Thank you for having me.”
“Yes. Please come in,” Sae-san said with a smile as she gestured toward the entrance with her hand. Then, with a slightly troubled look on her face, she said, “...Momo-kun, please take care of Izumi-kun. Even though he said all of that, I think he was probably waiting for you or Kana to come see him.”
“...”
“He’s bitter, he’s stubborn, he struggles to say what’s on his mind... I have no idea who he takes after.”
“It’s all right,” I said. “I don’t mind that part of Ura.”
♡
Orihara-san and I were led to Ura’s room on the second floor.
Honestly, I debated whether or not I should have had her come along. I thought about having her wait in the car, but Sae-san invited her to come with me by saying, “Don’t be shy and go right ahead, Orihara-san,” basically half-forcing her to tag along. I’d been hesitant to make her wait by herself, so I was glad when she was invited...but I felt a slight tinge of regret immediately after we entered Ura’s room.
“What?! Ura-kun, your room is amazing!” Orihara-san exclaimed the moment she came inside the room.
It’d been a long time since I’d visited Ura’s room, but it hadn’t changed at all. It was a ten-tatami-mat-sized room—slightly more spacious than a typical kid’s room. Every inch of it was clean; there wasn’t a speck of dust to be found. Lined up inside a glass case by the wall were figurines that Ura had meticulously selected: there were almost no figurines of cute girls, mainly just robots and tokusatsu characters. Manga, games, and anime Blu-rays adorned a large bookshelf.
The most eye-catching part of the room was Ura’s gaming space. Underneath his desk was a large gaming PC, and on top of it were several monitors. There was also a microphone, headphones, video game controllers, and a gaming chair that looked like the driver’s seat of a sports car. All of this was set up for him to enjoy his games to the fullest and stream his gameplay to the world. And, as you’d expect, Orihara-san’s eager gaze was directed toward said gaming space.
“H-Hardcore... This the room of a hardcore gamer who really takes the hobby seriously! I-It’s so cool! Oh wow, this is amazing! I’m so jealous. Ah, it’s because people like this exist that it’s hard for a casual gamer like me to say that games are my hobby...” She seemed to be having some complicated feelings about it, not the least of which were jealousy and envy.
“...This isn’t anything special. I just copied some famous gamers and streamers,” Ura said curtly. However, that didn’t stop Orihara-san’s excitement.
“No, this is amazing, Ura-kun! With this setup, could it be that...you stream video games?”
“...Yeah, for fun.”
“W-Wow, that’s amazing! And you’re still so young... By the way, what name do you use when you stream? I might know you...”
“I’m not that famous, so there’s no way that you’d know about me. I stream with the name ‘Uranus’...”
“What?! Uranus?! You’re Uranus-sama?!” Orihara-san yelled in surprise.
“Y-You know him?” I asked.
“Of course I do! He’s my favorite Let’s Player! He’s the person whose stream I wanted to watch tonight!” Orihara-san passionately exclaimed to me.
Are you serious? Orihara-san is a fan of Ura’s streams?
“Uranus-sama is a Let’s Player whose age and gender are unknown because they never show their face and use a voice changer...I never would have dreamed that they were actually Ura-kun.”
Orihara-san went beyond being surprised and talked with a shivering expression. “Uranus-sama is really amazing. His gaming skills are excellent, he has lighthearted conversations that keep his viewers interested, and best of all, everything he says and does shows respect for the creators of the games he plays. Sometimes his words are downright venomous, but you can tell that he does it all out of love for the game industry,” Orihara-san raved, perhaps out of excitement. Ura was faking an emotionless expression, but he looked a little happy.