“I didn’t think you’d actually come back then. For real,” Kai muttered, violently mashing his Joy-Con.
On the right side of the split screen, Kai’s player character Morton hugged the inside of the track in Bone-Dry Dunes with a Mushroom Dash.
“Yeah, it was a bit much for you to invite me over,” Jun said, pursing her lips in a cute way as she fought desperately with her own Joy-Con. The character she was controlling on the left side of the screen, Isabelle, left Morton (and the shortcut Kai had taken) in the dust.
It was after school. They were in Kai’s room on the second floor of his house. His nine-square-meter room was furnished with a study desk, bookshelf, and TV, among other things. Kai was the type of guy who only put up a single poster—his absolute favorite at the moment—despite how bare it looked. Right now, it was a Goblin Slayer poster drawn by Noboru Kannatsuki that adorned his ceiling... depicting the four heroines from the book clad in bright bikinis. How naughty. He wanted anime figurines, but they were out of reach for a high schooler like himself.
Kai sat on his bed in his incredibly average otaku lair with a not-so-average hot girl, playing Mario Kart.
He and Jun played video games, took turns reading manga, and watched anime they’d DVRed until late at night. Sometimes they would bicker over having different favorite characters, but they had essentially the same taste in everything. Kai had never gotten along with someone this well before.
She was the very first female friend he’d ever had. No, she was his best friend.
He’d leave it up to somebody else to decide whether or not this was normal! Either way, ever since then, Jun would go over to Kai’s place to hang out about five times a week.
You heard that right—ever since. A year had passed since he had met Jun. The two of them advanced to their second year of high school and ended up in the same class yet again. Today was the first day of school.
“A lot’s happened this year, now that I think about it,” Kai commented.
“Nuh-uh! All we did was hang out every day.” So began their aimless conversation, as they played MK.
“You really wanted to play MHW that bad back then, Jun?”
“Yeah, I did!” Jun replied.
“You weren’t scared of going over to the house of a guy you barely knew?”
“I figured your parents would be there, so I didn’t mind,” she shrugged.
“What would you have done if I was obviously living on my own in an apartment or something?” Kai asked her.
“I woulda made up an excuse in the doorway and turned right back around.”
“Makes sense.”
“I mean, I always have to be on guard looking like this. Y’know?” Jun said in a completely deadpan manner as she pressed the buttons on her Joy-Con.
“Says the person who’s right about to lose the lead to me and Morton!”
“I wasn’t talking about the game just now, though!” Jun cried. Kai looked at her from the corner of his eye and shot her a triumphant look. Then she continued, “Real high-and-mighty talk for a guy who’s been sneaking peeks at my bare legs!”
Jun’s teasing made him glare. It was no use, though. Jun was sitting cross-legged next to him on the bed. Sitting in that position meant she could focus on gaming, but... he did have a full view of her bare legs because of how short her skirt was, not to mention some white fabric that should’ve stayed hidden saying hello.
“Hey, your panties are sticking out!”
“Got you now, Kai!” Jun couldn’t care less about the warning he’d given her. The game had her undivided attention. Her character Isabelle flipped Morton on his back and callously slid past the goal line.
“Yaaay, I won! I won!” she cheered.
“That was DIRTY!!!”
“A win’s a win! That’s on YOU for being a dirty pervert and peeping at my panties!” Jun said, casually fixing her skirt. “Kai, you horndog!”
Despite flashing him an evil grin to tease him for his boyish innocence, Jun’s cheeks were a bit red. In other words, she was clearly hiding her embarrassment. What about having your guard up now? Kai thought to himself.
In the beginning, Jun refrained from being on the bed, would sit properly with her legs out to the side, and was careful to move and position herself to keep her panties from showing. But within a month, she was comfortable being completely open and vulnerable in Kai’s room. He often ignored it because it was far more embarrassing for him to point it out each and every time!
“Anyways, let’s do another, Jun,” Kai gruffly proposed to diffuse the awkward vibe.
“I’m good. I already beat you at MK anyway.”
“You just gonna quit while you’re ahead?!”
“Precisely,” she said.
“Oh, come on, beat me fair and square!”
“I wanna play MHW instead since you brought it up! It’s been too long,” said Jun. Without bothering to get his approval, she assertively put her Joy-Con back on the Switch and turned the PS4 on.
“...Guess that leaves me no choice.” Kai reluctantly returned his Joy-Con to the console and started up a different PS4.
Yup—can you believe it?
Jun brought her own TV and PS4 to play on once she started spending all her time in his room. She’d even hijacked the Wi-Fi and was connected to the internet. Kai’s already small room felt even more confined as a result... That was the reason why they had two PS4s in his room.
“So Jun, what’re we hunting for?” Kai asked her.
“Anything, as long as it’s a Tempered Elder Dragon.”
“Ugh, collect the tracks on your own then...”
“Aw, don’t say that. Humor me~ Lemme see just how much of a breadwinner you can be~” She negotiated with him while waiting for the game to finish booting up. As she did, they both heard Kai’s mother’s voice from the first floor.
“Juuuun! Are you having dinner with us tonight?”
“Yes, pleeease! Thaaank you, Mother!” Jun shouted genially in response.
“Who are you calling ‘Mother’...?” Normally she called her “ma’am.”
“What can I say, Kai? Every single time you call a woman ‘ma’am,’ they get another day older.”
“Ma’am, ma’am, ma’am.”
“Gimme my three days back!”
“‘Mother’ just sounds weird, though.”
“Alright, how about I call her ‘Noriko’?”
“STOP.” It just felt wrong for a friend his age to be calling his mom by her first name.
“It’s fine! It’s not like I’m gonna steal your mom, Kai. There, there,” Jun teased, giggling.
“I’m not worried about that. It just feels like you’ll actually be part of the family before long...” Kai said, being half truthful.
“That would be nice!” Jun chirped. “Wow, Noriko, you’re such a good cook~”
“Stop calling her ‘Noriko’...” Kai grumbled, his PS4 controller at the ready. The only drawback to this masterpiece of a console was that it took a while to start up. Eventually, it displayed the start screen on his TV.
Then, he and Jun were off to the New World to play.
This was Kai’s daily life with his female friend, Jun. He wished it could last forever. He never stopped wishing for that all throughout his high school career.