Exploring Vale was over for now, and I was back at the school sitting side by side with Nepu-chan.

“Ahahahaha! So long, Kay-chan! Hope you’re not too salty about me passing you!” (Neptune)

“Arrgh! Hold still, you only know how to spam blue shells!” (Kaito)

I swerved my wheel controller, trying to reorient my avatar on the screen and get back at the cheap shot sent my way. A grudge formed in my heart while the boisterous girl grinned, assured of her victory.

In front of the screen were me and Nepu-chan playing a racing game. One of those family-friendly oriented games for the whole family with a record of breaking friendships contrary to its genre.

“Game set! I’m the winner!” (Neptune)

“It’s my loss…” (Kaito)

Nepu-chan raised her fists in celebration while my shoulders slump at my defeat after she crossed the finish line within the lapse of me recovering from her attack.

“Don’t be so sad, Master. There’s always next time!” (Lynn)

There was another girl below me rearing her head back to look up to me. On my lap was Lynn making herself comfortable who remained as a spectator between my friendly feud with my companion.

I patted Lynn’s head and earned a pleased hum from her. It wasn’t just her who was present in the room.

The five-meter Bell laid behind us in a languid state. Thanks to Alyssa’s spatial magic, she expanded the size of the room to thirty meters so Bell could come out without feeling cramped.

The game restarted onto the next level, and I leaned back on Bell using her as a cushion.

“Bell here is so fluffy! You were hiding such an adorable girl this whole time. Lynn too, look at those wings. Could she be the dragon who saved TanTan from before?” (Neptune)

Even Nepu-chan cozied up to Bell’s fur. She made fast friends with the behemoth under my reassurance and would cling to her whilst gaming.

“Yeah. Lynn here is a white dragon from home who can use Humanization Magic to take her current form.” (Kaito)

“Heehh... then what’s her relationship with you? She calls you ‘master’ super affectionately.” (Neptune)

“She is…… my pet?” (Kaito)

“…… Kay-chan, I didn’t know you were into that.” (Neptune)

Shockingly, I was being looked at with alarmed eyes from her as if they were gazing upon a scumbag. Hold it!

“Please understand, Lynn is a monster I bought when she was still a dragon who didn’t know magic. As a matter of fact, it was she who insisted this arrangement.” (Kaito)

“Okaaaaayy…… I’ll believe that story, for now.” (Neptune)

She said with skeptical eyes. I’m really serious here, I haven’t committed any crime……

“That’s right, Master hasn’t done anything wrong.” (Lynn)

“Yeah, you tell her, Lynn.” (Kaito)

The dragon girl pouted in protest, swinging her fists in the air cutely.

“Master is not only Master, but also my mate!” (Lynn)

Neptune: ……

Kaito: ……

A thud sound happened. The controller fell from her slackened hands, and Neptune looked extremely confused and terrified. I’m now looked at as a criminal in her eyes.

“Now hold on, she’s a dragon first and foremost, so her sensibilities are different from humans!” (Kaito)

“But you didn’t voice an objection to what she said about you being her mate…” (Neptune)

“That got out of my hands a long time ago without my awareness…” (Kaito)

“…… Sure, I’ll give you juuuust one more chance with that excuse.” (Neptune)

Nepu-chan picked up her controller again, set her gaze on me and softened her features.

“Let’s just forget about it and get to the next game!” (Neptune)

With her declaration, Nepu-chan closed the game, removed the disk, and inserted a new one. The screen flickered to a new title, and this time it was a musou game.

“It’s a shame we didn’t get dual-monitors for this. Not that I can’t handle a split-screen.” (Kaito)

“I’ve got no problem either with my dynamic vision. First to defeat the boss is the winner!” (Neptune)

Waves of enemies rushed towards us on the screen, and we mowed them down in response. Our progress wasn’t far off from each other, and the score was mostly even until I noticed a change.

The character Nepu-chan was using gained a burst of power and quickening her progress across the stage. Weird, I don’t recall there to be any buffs lying around in this stage and her character doesn’t use self-buffs either.

“What’s up with your character? Why is he so strong out of nowhere?” (Kaito)

“Hehe, it’s my semblance!” (Neptune)

She smugly smiled as her fingers dexterously mashed buttons and moved the knob. Her semblance? How does that come into play with the game?

“I was making some awesome combos, and buffs were popping up in my head! Most of them were useless since they didn’t help with the game. But just now, I got the empowerment buff, granting my allies twice the power they should have, so I used it on my game character!" (Neptune)

“Come again!?” (Kaito)

I was losing in speed as she gone far from where I was. I was struggling with getting out of an entanglement, but her character kept running off like a freight train through all the mobs.

“It didn’t happen in the last game since I wasn’t doing enough to activate my semblance, but this game happened to be ideal! Sorry, Kay-chan, but this’ll be my second win in a row!” (Neptune)

“What kind of semblance is that!? That’s cheating!” (Kaito)

“It’s not cheating if nobody set the rules!” (Neptune)

She rebuffed my complaint with another dramatic move, hurling her character across the distance and into the boss arena.

“Nepu? Where’s Kay-chan? He was by my side just a moment ago, but I didn’t even notice he was gone!” (Neptune)

“Screw you!” (Kaito)

I gnashed my teeth, desperate to reach where Nepu-chan was, but I was simply too far away and she’s already cutting down the health bar of the boss.

“Hahaha! New powerup! This time, my reaction speed has doubled!” (Neptune)

If she wasn’t fast enough already with her fingers, then they’ve become a blur as the plastic sounds resounded more frequently.

I hung my head in defeat as the announcer proclaimed Nepu-chan’s victory. The boss was eradicated in no time at all with her enhanced speed at inputting commands.

“Dadadada, I’m the winner!” (Neptune)

Nepu-chan struck a victory sign and grinned widely. There’s no way I’m letting this continue.

“We’re banning the use of semblances from now on!” (Kaito)

“Fine. I guess I could extend the time to crack my fingers a slight more for me to nep-nep you up.” (Neptune)

I was greeted with a cheeky smile to return it with my glare.

“What kind of semblance is that… you can even affect the innerworkings of games with it.” (Kaito)

“Awesome, I know. All I’ve got to do is land combos and I’m given random buffs.” (Neptune)

“The scary thought is that I think the combos you were supposed to land were mainly during a battle, but apparently the combos you do in games just ‘count’ towards it…… what a nonsensical semblance.” (Kaito)

I leaned back on Bell and release the tension on my shoulders. Nepu-chan was eager to resume the gaming marathon and grabbed a new disk and inserted it into the console.

“This one’s unique. We’re going to play a dating simulator game, but it’s got a 2-player mode where we challenge the other to see who pushes the heroine down the fastest.” (Neptune)

“I feel like I’ve seen that in an anime before…” (Kaito)

The title screen rolled on from the side and it’s got that expressive style for its genre. Cuteness that evoked a laid-back feeling as the character silhouettes shifted one after the other.

“This’ll be a good way for me to measure your womanizing skills.” (Neptune)

“And why would you want to know that?” (Kaito)

“Girls love gossip. I’m super curious to see what your approach is at catching women in the palm of your hands.” (Neptune)

“You make it sound so distasteful…” (Kaito)

“Let me put it this way.” (Neptune)

She set the controller down on the floor and scooched closer to me where our shoulders were touching.

“You’ve got the air of a really popular guy. What’s the range of women are you accepting? What would you do if a genki girl with an endless bundle of energy were to get real close to you like this?” (Neptune)

She leaned closer to me and leered her droopy eyes to my face while a suggestive smile adorned her cheeks.

“How about it? Feeling feverish? Does your heart go ‘dokki-dokki?’” (Neptune)

I kept my gaze steady on hers for a while, remaining unfazed at the provocative movements of Nepu-chan. My next response was to push her head back by her forehead with my finger.

“If this was meant to get me flustered, then I’m sorry to disappoint. I know you’re trying to get a reaction out of me, but your teasing game isn’t good enough.” (Kaito)

“Drats. You must’ve built one heck of an immunity if you can resist the charms of my adorable self. Experience from having to put up with your wives?” (Neptune)

Nepu-chan sulked in disappointment from her failure. Who knows what she would’ve done if I actually pressed forward while she was being a playful tease.

“I can tell what your intentions were a mile away and that you weren’t serious about it. And… I’m quite intimate with people with petite figures like yours, so I’ve got experience in handling my way with types like yours.” (Kaito)

“…… Wow, what a dangerous statement. I’m considering on changing my assessment and just flat out label you as a lolicon.” (Neptune)

“It’s too late for me to worry over useless stuff like my image in society.” (Kaito)

“What a strong attitude for the wrong reasons!” (Neptune)

Nepu-chan backed away in disturbed admiration while her cheeks were dusted in pink.

“Hmph, no can do on the genki girl approach I see. Well, if it were me transformed, I’ll bet my pudding that even you wouldn’t be able to put up a good enough defense.” (Neptune)

“I like to see you try.” (Kaito)

I chuckled at her determination as she crossed her arms in dissatisfaction at my dismissal. She appeared to be grumbling for some inexplicable reason I’m certain.

“Since Kay-chan is still a healthy adult male, I’m positively certain he’s still keen on playing those kinds of games… what guy can’t resist the allure of moeges and eroges? If I knew the games he played, then I might have an idea on the kind of women he’s into.” (Neptune)

It’s official, I must never allow her to see my catalog. I felt the shivers run down my back when her eyes flickered over to a black cube close to the monitor and smirked.

My game console given to me by Shiro with every available game in my world.

“Hey, Kay-chan. You don’t mind me seeing the backlog history on that console of yours, right? I only wanna check on your most played games is all. You know, to get to know you better.” (Neptune)

“There is no need for you to know.” (Kaito)

I tried to maintain a cool face, but unfortunately for me, Nepu-chan widened her smirk as if she caught me in a corner. And I hated to admit that will be the case if this continues.

I put Lynn to the side and stood up quickly, but she was quicker than I could react. Nepu-chan closed in on the cube and held it tight in her hands.

“What’s the matter, Kay-chan? You couldn’t possibly have something you want to hide from me. Surely for someone like you who’s beloved by countless woman wouldn’t be interested in two-dimensional girls from some silly games… unless?” (Neptune)

“It’s nothing important you need to know, I’m telling you.” (Kaito)

“Oh come on, what’s the harm in me finding out my friend’s favorite games?” (Neptune)

I stretched my arm out to snatch it away from her, but she would avoid my hand every time. I scrutinized the confident girl in front me, twirling the cube in her hands.

“Don’t do this, Neptune.” (Kaito)

“Using my full name, I see. Oh, I am so gonna find out what’s inside this thing.” (Neptune)

Under the threat of Nepu-chan finding out my hidden shame I keep away from the eyes of my loved ones, I closed my eyes and breathed in. I peeled them open again and resolutely called for a name.

“Bell, sit on her!” (Kaito)

“Gau!” (Bell)

“Wait a minute! What!?” (Neptune)

Not expecting the method I chose to overturn the situation, Nepu-chan was too late to react as my pet jumped at her, pressing her down beneath her weight.

“Oof! Heavy!” (Neptune)

The cube flew out of her hands from the collision, and I caught it. Now she laid down in defeat below Bell crushing her.

“Now, are you going to behave from now on, Nepu-chan?” (Kaito)

“Urgh, one day I’m going to find out your hidden fetishes.” (Neptune)

With that out of the way, Nepu-chan was released from Bell’s hold, and we resumed our gaming marathon until the whole gang came back.

 

 

 

Afterword:

Lazy Heart: “Operations Genki Girl Power and Claim Kay-chan’s Backlog History was a bust. It’s up to my boobilicious other self to get Kay-chan’s guard down.”