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The morning sun’s rays cast over the bedroom, coloring it in a warm golden hue. The skies were supposed to be clear, with hardly any clouds to damper the beautiful morning. It was the most ideal time to go out for a family outing.
Kyoji, however, had other plans. He hardly even noticed the sun’s light, for his eyes were glued to the artificial light projected from his monitor’s screen for the last three hours.
On Sunday mornings, Kyoji liked to pick up his game controller and log into his favorite MMORPG. The time was fitting since major events were usually scheduled for Sundays, the freest day for everyone to partake. He had been playing this game for a long time—even before he became an idol, as a means to escape his stressful education years—so there was no easy way to drop it after working so hard on building his in-game character.
The difficulty had certainly taken a curve from the last time he was able to play. The level cap had increased, and the bosses had stronger tactics dealing with so much damage. It didn’t help that he played solo, being too socially awkward to join guilds and only joining with randoms when he was able to sneak into parties of two.
Still, in spite of his frustration dealing with the boss fights, he kept quiet and only gripped his controller harder to relieve his annoyance. Minori was sleeping peacefully in his bedroom, and he’d rather lose a match than disturb his loved one.
His efforts proved fruitless when he heard the rustling of sheets from behind. Light footsteps followed afterwards.
“Good morning, Kyoji,” Minori said, in his velvety sleepy voice.
“Good morning, Minori-san,” he replied, keeping his eyes focused on the game. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up so soon….”
Minori laughed softly. “You didn’t, don’t worry. I’m more of an early bird anyway. I used to check up on flowers around this time. Plus, it’s good for your skin as well!”
“That’s good….”
“Now, let me check up on this flower right here….”
Kyoji wondered for a moment if he suddenly had a plant in his household, for he certainly didn’t recall one if he did. But he slowly grasped what Minori meant when he felt Minori wrap his arms around his stomach. Pulling his eyes away from the screen, he looked at Minori.
“M-Minori-san,” he murmured, blushing at the heavenly sight.
Minori was still in his pink pajamas, bed hair completely untied, still looking exhausted after yesterday’s… activities. Kyoji’s mind pulled away immediately from the game, easily distracted with Minori’s body pressed against his back, his soft breaths puffing near his neck, and loose strands of hair falling over his shoulders.
“Don’t mind me,” Minori said, smiling serenely. “I just want to watch you enjoy yourself.”
“Are you sure? I can stop right now, if you want to go out….”
“I’m enjoying myself already.”
“Alright….”
In truth, he was a bit relieved to hear that. He didn’t like to abandon his game in the middle of a quest. And having Minori beside him gave him a sudden boost in confidence, as if he just enacted a magical spell to raise his stats in-game.
He continued playing, once again concentrating on the screen and trying to pay little heed to the handsome man behind him. (He didn’t want to flub up in front of his beloved, after all.)
Minori kept his silence in turn, merely watching Kyoji with his head over Kyoji's shoulder, never once yawning or showing signs of disinterest. He only spoke when Kyoji achieved something, like slaying a monster, or leveling up, praising him glowingly, before returning back to his muteness. Kyoji soon lost sense of time as he—and arguably Minori too—felt fully immersed in his game.
“Kyoji,” Minori said, out of the blue, “I was wondering… Could I play too?”
“Huh?” Kyoji shot him a puzzling look, wondering if he misheard him.
“I’m starting to see why you have so much fun playing this game… Now I want to experience it myself.”
“B-But… playing is different from watching… Have you ever even played a video game before, Minori-san?”
“Nope!” he said gleefully. “But I’m always willing to learn now. I need to keep up my youth in more than just appearance, after all.”
That answer didn’t inspire confidence. “I could teach you how to play, but… Don’t force yourself to keep playing if you find it too boring.”
“I doubt I would. After all, if it makes Kyoji happy, then I’ll enjoy it too!”
“Minori-san….”
At last, and unsurprisingly, he relented to Minori’s wishes. He handed over the controller to Minori. “Here,” he said. “Let’s start by opening an account.”
Kyoji schooled Minori with the very basics of gaming: what was the button to confirm, go back, or go home, how to set up an account, creating a username, and logging in for the first time in the game. He took his steps extra slowly, to not overwhelm Minori so quickly. He even read off the text so Minori could understand better.
Once Minori booted up the game, Kyoji then introduced him to character customization. That was when Minori’s eyes lit up. As soon as Kyoji explained the system, Minori was left to his own devices to freely decorate his avatar as he so desired. And boy, did he relish the creative freedom.
Minori carefully tweaked every inch of his avatar. Often, he’d make a decision, then immediately back out on a certain aspect of his avatar. He wanted it to be perfect, Kyoji surmised, as good-looking as he is in reality.
Eventually, Kyoji left the room momentarily to fetch some food. When he returned with a full platter to munch on, Minori was still at the character customization screen.
“Minori-san,” he interjected quietly, “I should have told you sooner, but… You could always change your appearance later on. It doesn’t have to be finalized now.”
“Oh, I can?”
“Yes. So, um, maybe you should do that for now, before the day passes by.”
Minori took a quick glance at the clock. “It’s almost afternoon… Ah, I’m sorry to have used up so much of your time, Kyoji.”
“It’s alright,” he said, meaning it truthfully. “Let’s just move on for now.”
After finally settling on a character design, Kyoji then explained the core concept of the gameplay. He assisted in starting up the tutorial quest.
As soon as Minori’s character logged in, Minori let out a gasp. “It’s so beautiful!” he exclaimed.
Unlike the dark, challenging stages where Kyoji was playing before, it was the first time Minori saw the earlier stages: green, lush meadows adorned with flowers. A simple, relaxing environment to warm up newcomers. But even though said flowers were merely a bunch of coded data, Minori took in the graphics as if he were seeing it in real life.
Minori barely took heed of the tutorial signs and used every minute to enjoy the scenery. Near the flowers, the avatar looked almost as gentle as the real Minori was. It brought a warm smile to Kyoji’s face.
Just then, an enemy teleported ahead of them. It was the tutorial fight, so typically this would have been a piece of cake to the average gamer. However, knowing Minori barely got a handle of the controls, and with him so distracted by the flowers, the enemy could easily decimate his very low HP to zero in seconds if he wasn’t careful.
“Minori-san, watch out!” Kyoji explained, as if it were of such high urgency. “This is an enemy encounter! Block it, fast!”
Minori seemed to barely pay any attention to Kyoji’s warning. His avatar was completely vulnerable. With a few strikes, the moment would be ruined, and Minori most likely wouldn’t have any more fun playing.
The enemy took advantage of the opening and raised its pincers to attack. It reached its hit box—
―and much to Kyoji’s surprise, Minori attacked back. Aggressively.
“Minori-san?” Kyoji gasped.
Minori didn’t stop there. He swung his weapon over and over, in quick succession, dwindling the monster’s HP rapidly. The sudden dissonance from the soft image before nearly sent shivers down Kyoji’s spine.
When the monster dissipated upon death, Minori bore the most menacing grin. “That’s what you get for ruining my flowers!”
More enemies popped up, as scripted. Minori faced them more directly this time. Continuing his berserker attack pattern, Minori slashed away at the monsters. Kyoji was too stunned to interrupt him.
Just then, the boss showed up. The tutorial was trying to teach Minori how to block, for its attack was deadly. But Minori’s hyper-aggressive state barely took notice of it, and continued attacking the boss in the same fashion.
Unlike the monsters from before, the boss easily took in those hits and countered with his own. Without the proper dodging skill, Minori’s health took a drastic decrease. The shock of his near-death experience finally broke Minori from his unusual persona.
Kyoji didn’t hesitate this time. He rushed to Minori’s back, holding his hand, and forcing him to press the block button to properly avoid the fatal hit this time. Now with full control, he guided Minori’s hands to block and attack until the boss was defeated.
Kyoji sighed in relief. He wiped the sweat from his brow.
“Thank you so much for saving me, Kyoji!” Minori said, smiling warmly. “You were so cool just now!”
“I-It was nothing,” he stammered, quickly feeling the heat of his cheeks. Not only was Minori’s blind praise embarrassing, but he also suddenly realized how close he was to him, holding hands practically. “I just wanted to make sure you’re alright….”
“It looks like I still need to get a handle on this game,” he laughed. “I’ll do better next time, I swear. After all, I’m looking forward to playing with you for real, once I catch up to you!”
Kyoji blinked. “Huh? You mean, you still want to play more? You’re not bored at all?”
“Of course not. In fact, it’s sounds like so much fun… Watching you bravely defend your party, acting so cool as you slay monsters three times your size.” He swooned. “Just thinking about it is making me excited!”
“O-Oh….”
“So, please, continue to teach me!”
Kyoji smiled. “Sure.”
Before Minori was ready to turn off the game, the door flew open. When Kyoji turned around to find the source of the noise, Pierre stepped into the room, dressed in his ruffled tunic. His appearance was less of a shock, as they had planned an outing for the afternoon. But with half the day so zoned into a video game, Kyoji didn’t realize how fast time flew. Not to mention, having Pierre step in while he and Minori were playing a game could give mixed signals about their plans.
“What is that?” Pierre said, tilting his head curiously.
Pierre approached the monitor and widened his eyes. “It looks like something fun!”
“It is,” Minori said, smiling. “Kyoji was teaching me how to play just now.”
“I see… Kyoji, may I ask if you can tell me how to play too?”
“W-What?” Kyoji sputtered by the unexpected response.
“Having fun is better with Kyoji and Minori… I would like to enjoy the game too!”
“Um… I guess I don’t see why not….”
“Yahoo!”
“That’s the spirit, Kyoji!” Minori said, patting Kyoji in the back. “Family outings doesn’t have to be outdoors all the time, after all.”
“I guess that’s true….”
“If Pierre plays too… then we’d have a full party even. After all, a party consists of three players right?”
Kyoji contemplated. “You’re right… I have a team, for once. We’re really a full party now.”
“Weren’t we always?” Minori winked.
Kyoji smiled back. “Yeah… We always were, and will be, no matter the medium.”
Pierre raised his arms excitedly. “Yahoo! I cannot wait to play with Kyoji and Minori!”
“Me too,” Kyoji murmured.
Kyoji was typically a solo player. He didn’t mind, with the perks and handicaps. But being surrounded by his family, he learned to find everything in his game much more enjoyable.