- Ryu -

"This is where the videogame club meets up."
"Yes, that's what it says on the sign."

We were standing outside of a certain clubroom. I knocked on the door and a girl with a brown bob-cut answered it. She wore a red ribbon, meaning she was a 2nd-year student like us.

"How can I help you?"
"My friend just transferred here, so..."
"Understood. Please come in."

Inside, there were several boys and girls, but strangely enough, only a couple of them were playing games.
A boy with slicked-back hair sat on a desk, typing away on a laptop. Behind him was a stack of notebooks, binders, and videogame boxes.

"President, we have visitors."

The boy closed his laptop, adjusted his green tie, pushed up his glasses by the bridge, and stood up, "Welcome to the videogame club! I'm this club's president, Hasegawa Akito."
"Prez, this girl is a transfer student."
"I see, you must be checking out this school's various clubs."
He walked around the desk and approached us, "As you can see, we don't just sit around playing video games. Nanba-chan."
"Yes, sir!" the bob-cut girl retrieved a binder from behind the desk and handed it to Rihona.

On the cover was written the following: "The complete guide to 'Liberion's Cry IV' crafting system. By Aimoto High's Videogame Club."
Rihona opened it and flipped through the pages.

"Wow... This is..."

Liberion's Cry IV. An old RPG from twenty years ago. Sporting a convoluted crafting system, it frustrated many kids back in the day. According to interviews with the developers, the official strategy guide only covered around 60% of the mechanics involved in weapon crafting. Even with the advent of the internet, fans didn't manage to make much headway into uncovering this game's secrets.
These guys managed to figure out how it worked, though.

"This is just one of the things our humble club has produced. Walkthroughs, essays, poems, fan art, music remixes, even our own computer games... This club is devoted to everything pertaining videogame software."

This club was impressive, and that was precisely why I didn't join. While I enjoyed video games, I lacked the unflinching passion these boys and girls showed. In fact, I couldn't recall ever feeling passionate about something.
AlFor? I enjoyed playing, but I couldn't hold a candle to Daisuke's love for collecting cards, nor to Nicole's enthusiasm for crafting gimmicky decks.
Had I joined this club, knowing I was the kind of person who would never beat a game to 100% completion, I wouldn't have been able to live with myself.

After that, we bid them farewell and walked through the hallway.

"I see what you meant, Ryu-kun. That's no place for casuals."
"Yeah. So, which club should we check out next?"

I already showed her one club, but there were a fair amount of clubs in this school, so I wanted to keep acting as a guide for my friend until she found a club she liked.
That, and I wanted to spend more time with her.
Rihona pulled out of her bag several fliers and looked through them. She stared at one in particular.

"Are you interested in that one?" I said, but she quickly put the flier away when I tried to look.
"It's n-nothing. Um, which clubs are Sugihara-kun and Niko-chan in?"
"Daisuke is not in any club. He has to work part-time to fund his cardboard addiction."
"M-Makes sense. I get a hefty allowance, so I have no trouble saving up to buy what I want. That, and I sell the cards I don't need. People pay a lot for those 'Hyper-whatever Rare' cards. You know, the signed ones."
"You have pulled those before?! I can already see Daisuke's expression... Oh, yeah, Nicole is in the baking club. She makes some damn good cookies."
"Really?"
"Wanna check it out?"
"Sure."

 

- - -

 

- Rihona -

Ryu and I left the clubroom. I took a bite of the chocolate muffin they gave me as we walked through the hallway.

"That was... interesting. But this is delicious!"

When we visited the baking club, we were greeted by a certain girl. Long, wavy, caramel-colored hair. A mole under her left eye. A red velvet cape, a shiny tiara, and a scepter with a golden slice of cake on the top.

"Welcome to the Pastry Country! Oh, it's you guys. Hi!"
"Eh?"

"Was that really necessary?" I asked Ryu.
"It's their tradition. Whoever wins their bake-off is crowned 'monarch of the Pastry country' until the next competition. By the way, Hasegawa-senpai made a mobile game based on the previous monarch. Look."

Ryu touched an icon on his phone and handed it to me.

"'Pastry Country Returns'?"
"It's a sequel to a computer game made by former videogame club members."
"How cute. This school seems... how should I put it...?"
"Filled with weirdos?"
"N-No, that's not it! Everyone seems to have fun in their clubs."
"You have only seen the tip of the iceberg. Oh, by the way, the TCG club isn't like that."
"You mentioned it earlier, the president is a jerk, right? Can't they kick him out or something?"
"They really should, but... Well, he is already a 3rd-year so everything should sort itself out. If the club survives until then, that is."

Rather than raising a fuss and kicking him out, they just left?

"Other than that," Ryu continued, "this school's clubs are really passionate about their interests. Should we visit another one?"

I read one more time through the various fliers I picked up.

Since I'm not much of a team player nor an outdoor person, sports clubs were out, but that still left me with lots of clubs.

"Let's see, 'literature club', 'robotics club', 'history club', 'tropical club', 'sewing club', 'theater club', 'light music club', 'astronomy club', 'art c-'"

I put the fliers away.

"What's wrong?" Ryu asked.
"I-I can't decide, maybe we should continue this another day."
"You got pale all of sudden, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'll just head home and take a nap."
"Okay, let's go."

Ryu extended his hand to me, but I simply ignored him.

"I'll be fine on my own. See you tom-"
He grabbed my wrist and pulled me close.

Eh?

"Haven't you noticed? Someone's been watching us," he whispered.

That means... back then, during lunch...

"Let's go home together, just in case," I said.

Despite saying that, we didn't move an inch. Both of us remained close, looking into each other's eyes, listening to the other's breathing.
It was then that Ryu took a step back and coughed.

"Yeah, let's go home. Since we live somewhat close to each other, yup."
"Right."

I'm sure I don't look pale anymore.

We didn't talk much on the way home. In fact, we only opened our mouths to bid each other farewell once we arrived at my home.

"I'm home."

Mom was in the living room watching. She turned away from the TV and smiled.

"Welcome back. How was school?"
"Educative, I guess."
"Good. What else?"
"That's it."
"Why is your face red?"

I don't want to talk about it.

"This is unrelated but, when did you realize that you liked Dad 'that way'?"
"Hmm, I wonder..." Mom raised her eyes as if she was trying to gaze into her vault of memories. After a couple of seconds, her lips formed a smile.
"If I had to guess, it must have been when I noticed that seeing him smile was something I was always looking forward to. That's just my experience, though. People experience love in different ways."
"You are right."
"For now, why don't you try getting to know Ryu-kun better? That should help you figure out your feelings."
"Yeah, that sounds- Eh? W-W-Who said anything about Ryu-kun?!"
"Your face did."

 

- - -

 

- Ryu -

Once I got home, I ran to the bathroom and washed my face in an attempt to cool down.

Calm down, calm down, calm down. I'll just dry my face, go to my room, and listen to some music.

I dried myself with a towel and headed to my bedroom. I changed out of my uniform, grabbed my headphones, and plugged them into my phone.

Let's see...

I checked my feed and noticed a new upload from one of the accounts I follow.

'Orbeat:71' released a new song!

I discovered that account about a year ago, around the time my relationship with Mari turned sour. During those turbulent times, her songs helped my lift my spirit.
She mostly did covers of anime songs, so the lyrics were already uplifting, but the way she poured her heart into performing them was what allowed me to move forward, even if just a bit.
Her latest upload was a cover of "Distance", the second ending theme of the anime "Alter Fortuna Re-trace".
I hit 'play' and gave it a listen.

Orbeat is really good, how come she is not more popular?

As I kept listening, I remembered several scenes from that anime. During that season, the main character was missing, leaving his friends to fend off the villains on their own. "Distance" was written from the main heroine's perspective, recalling her experiences with the main character that led her to fall in love with him.
Then, something else got mixed in with my memories of that anime. A girl with red-framed glasses, with black hair tied in two low pigtails.

Damn it, why did I think listening to a love song would be a good idea?

I didn't have to pause the song, because an incoming call did it for me. It was my cousin, Nicole. I picked up.

"Hello?"
"Hi, Ryu. How would things go with Rihona-chan? I heard you two walked home together again."
"What do you mean? She is just a f-friend. What about you? Didn't you and Daisuke eat ice cream together?" Did you guys make any progress?
"As much progress as you two, from the looks of it."
"Don't compare apples with oranges, you and Daisuke have known each other for a while, but I only met Rihona last week."
"That doesn't mean you can't be fond of her yet. After all, people experience love in different ways."
"Yeah, the love I experienced turned into mud. I know I said that I wanted to move past that, but I remembered something. The reason Mari dumped me..."

That day, my now ex-girlfriend told me that I was just drifting through life, without a purpose, only reacting to what happened around me.

"Have I... really changed? Aren't I that same boy that Mari broke up with?"
"Ryu..."
"Look, all I'm saying is that I don't want to rush ahead without thinking things through."
"Fine, just make sure you don't waste your life thinking and thinking. There will be a point where you will have to act."
"Goes for both of us."
"..."
"Was that all?"
"Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Bye."

I knew Nicole was right, but from my perspective, her time to act was closer than mine.