With a burst of gunfire—
Kotomi Izumi and Kiyoko Matsumatsu were once again eliminated. The two of them had recently been obsessed with playing duo matches in various gas. After getting tired of Rainbow Six Siege, they switched to Apex Legends. Once they got bored of Apex, they would move on to other gas.
Kotomi still enjoyed Apex the most, especially playing solo. After all, when she was eliminated, she could just quit imdiately. Unlike League of Legends, where even when the match was already lost and the economy and kill count were hopelessly behind, you still had to sit there in misery until the enemy team finally destroyed your Nexus.
And so, the short half-day break ca to an end in the midst of gaming.
"Phew… that round was so close! My bad, my bad—if only I'd fired half a second earlier, I definitely would've downed them first." Kiyoko Matsumatsu lifted her hands off the keyboard and mouse, stretching her wrists.
"Gas are all about having fun~"
"It's about ti to head to school, too. I'm so jealous of you, Kotomi. Most of your afternoon classes are self-study sessions. But for us, both periods are killer—first math, then physics. And since our math teacher was sick last week, we had PE instead. He's back today, so I bet he's prepared a pile of 'surprises' for us. Nooo, not now! The cultural festival's just around the corner, and I'll have to stay up late doing math howork again. This is torture!"
"Hehe, well, that's what you get. Math was your worst subject on the midterms, right? If I were your math teacher, I'd definitely call you up to answer questions in class."
"Yada yo~~~" Kiyoko Matsumatsu's voice curved like a wail as she exited the ga. Just as she was about to close Steam, a pop-up notification appeared. She glanced at it—and then cheered in delight: "Waaah! Kotomi, guess what I just saw?!"
"A new ga announcent?"
The tone of excitent in Kiyoko's voice gave it away imdiately.
"Bingo! It's a new ga! And it might be even more thrilling than any of the ones we've been playing. How about it—want to grab a copy and play it together when it cos out?"
"From how you said that, it must still be in pre-order?"
"Yep! You probably saw the trailer five years ago too—the one shown at E3 2019. Shinji Mikami's new ga, Ghostwire: Tokyo. They never revealed much about the gaplay, but Steam just opened up the pre-order page. It's releasing at the end of the month! I can't wait. Normally, I never pre-order gas, but this is Shinji Mikami we're talking about—that's an exception!"
"Don't tell you already paid for it?"
"I did~ Just bought the deluxe edition. All set for launch day."
"You're really sothing… buying it without even knowing what kind of ga it is. You must really love Shinji Mikami."
"Hmph~ My passion for Shinji Mikami is the sa as your passion for Hideo Kojima and Hidetaka Miyazaki. Co on, Kotomi, let's both buy it! You love Resident Evil and The Evil Within, right? Those were all connected to him sohow. I'm sure his new work won't disappoint you either."
"I think I'll wait and see what the gaplay's like first. When I pre-order a ga, I at least like to know roughly how it plays. It's not like we can play it right now anyway, so I'll decide when it launches." Kotomi replied calmly.
"Alright, alright. Ah—look at the ti, it's already 1:20! Kotomi, let's hang up here."
"Okay."
After hanging up, Kotomi removed her headset. She had already put on her blouse, skirt, and socks before starting the ga. Now, she just needed to grab her jacket, sling her bag over her shoulder, and head out the door.
"Mom, I'm leaving for school!" she called as she passed through the living room, where her mother was gaming.
"Oh, okay! Be careful on your way!"
At that mont, Akina Izumi was gripping a PS4 controller, imrsed in Resident Evil 8. Kotomi glanced over—the screen showed the early village section, where the player was surrounded by a horde of monsters.
When Kotomi had played this part before, she had been absolutely terrified. She didn't even know which way to run, her aim was all over the place, and after dying several tis, she'd given up entirely. Her progress had been stuck there ever since, and she had only managed to see the rest of the story through gaplay videos.
Akina Izumi, on the other hand, was completely different. Surrounded by monsters coming from all directions, she handled them with ease—calm and composed, even taking ti to stop and admire the scenery of the village. Judging by the way she played, it looked like she had even chosen a high difficulty setting!
When it ca to gaming, Kotomi truly admired her parents. No matter how frightening or tense the ga was, even during high-pressure chase scenes with monsters right behind them, both her mom and dad could remain completely calm and focused.
Kotomi, however, couldn't. Every ti she got to a chase sequence, she'd be so scared that she'd hand the controller over to one of her parents to finish it for her.
After putting on her shoes and heading out, she saw gumi Kato already waiting for her under the streetlight.
"gumi, good afternoon! Did you sleep in today?"
"I didn't, actually."
gumi shook her head gently, leaned down slightly, and kissed Kotomi's soft, inviting lips. The kiss lingered for a long while before she finally pulled away with a satisfied smile and continued speaking.
"It's just that my biological clock isn't so easy to adjust. I woke up early out of habit and ca straight to your house to wait for you. Only after I got here did I realize—oh, right, we don't have morning classes today."
Kotomi was stunned for a mont, then felt a warm rush of affection in her chest. She quietly let gumi take her hand and muttered softly, "You're such a dummy. I already told you it's almost winter—mornings are getting colder and colder. Don't co out so early just to wait for . If you catch a cold, I'll feel awful."
After saying that, Kotomi pursed her delicate pink lips and rose on her toes, her cheeks blushing slightly from embarrassnt. "Since you ca to wait for this morning, I-I'll give you a little reward. Be grateful and accept it."
"Then I won't hold back."
gumi's heart filled with joy. She set her schoolbag down on the ground and wrapped both arms around Kotomi, pulling her close. The distance between them shrank, closer and closer—until it reached zero once more, and their lips t again in another deep kiss.
This ti, Kotomi tried to take the initiative a few tis, thinking she could handle it—but before she could even start to feel proud of herself, gumi had already taken full control, leaving her completely breathless and powerless.
And at that exact mont—
"Kotomi, after school today, rember to stop by the bookstore and pick up a science workbook for Aimi—"
Akina Izumi, thinking her daughter hadn't gone far yet, opened the door to call out to her. She had intended to remind Kotomi to buy the workbook for her younger sister on her way ho.
But the instant she opened the door, she froze at the sight before her—
Akina Izumi looked on curiously at the scene before her—her daughter, Kotomi Izumi, was standing in front of gumi Kato, and the two seed to be talking about sothing. Perhaps because a gust of wind had just passed, both of their hair looked slightly disheveled.
One second earlier—before Akina opened the door.
Kotomi had been in gumi's embrace, their lips locked in a kiss. But suddenly, a strange feeling welled up inside her. Her body acted on instinct, pushing gumi away forcefully. gumi looked at her with confusion and a bit of hurt in her eyes, wondering if she had just been too aggressive.
gumi had actually intended to be gentler, but her eagerness had gotten the better of her, and her actions had been less controlled than usual.
What gumi didn't realize, however, was that if she had really been rough or forceful, Kotomi would've probably enjoyed it even more. Kotomi, after all, had just a little bit of a masochistic side to her.
The reason she pushed gumi away wasn't because she didn't like it—at that mont, she didn't even understand why she'd done it. It was purely instinct, a reaction of self-preservation, as if her body sensed that if she didn't act imdiately, she'd end up in a situation that would be very hard to explain.
And then, in the very next instant, her mother opened the door.
Only then did Kotomi realize why she had pushed gumi away so suddenly. gumi, too, imdiately understood the reason.
Even if gumi had ten tis her usual courage, she still wouldn't dare kiss Kotomi right in front of her parents.
"gumi, are you two heading to school together?" Akina asked, her tone casual but observant. She had noticed that gumi always ca by to pick Kotomi up for school, and the intention behind that habit was obvious. What parent wouldn't notice such things?
If soone claid there wasn't sothing going on between Kotomi and gumi—well, not even a dog would believe that.
"Yes, good afternoon, Mrs. Izumi," gumi said politely. "I just got here, and we were about to head to school together."
"I see. Then take your ti on the way, alright? I rember there was a traffic accident around here a few days ago, so be careful when crossing the streets."
"I understand. Thank you very much for the warning, Mrs. Izumi."
"Haha, what a polite girl. You don't have to be so formal when you talk to from now on."
"Okay!" gumi nodded energetically.
"Mom, weren't you playing a ga just now? Why did you co out?"
"Oh, nothing serious. You forgot to ntion that after school, if you have ti, go to the bookstore and buy Aimi a science workbook. I thought you hadn't gone far, so I ca out to remind you."
"A science workbook for junior high, right? Got it. I'll rember. Now hurry back inside, Mom—and don't forget to keep pushing the story in Resident Evil 8 for !"
"Alright, alright, you cowardly gar! What's there to be scared of? They're just a bunch of monsters on a screen. It's not like they'll crawl out and attack you! You're hopeless—you're scared of them, yet you still love playing these horror gas."
"Mom, I'm going!"
Blushing furiously, Kotomi quickly grabbed gumi's hand and dragged her away. The last thing she wanted was for gumi to find out how easily she got scared while gaming.
That would totally ruin her image as the "top"! If gumi found out she was a scaredy-cat, her dream of one day turning the tables and taking the lead would beco almost impossible.
"Be careful on your way," Akina called after them, watching as the two walked off together. Only once they were out of sight did she turn back inside to resu her ga.
On the way to school—
"Kotomi, your reflexes back there were incredible! If you'd reacted even a second later, Mrs. Izumi would've totally seen us. How did you even notice?" gumi asked, wide-eyed with curiosity.
Kotomi, however, interpreted that curious look as one of admiration. Feeling smug, she humd proudly and said, "Maybe I just awakened a superpower~"
As they walked, Kotomi's slender waist swayed gracefully, srizing and dangerously alluring.
"Like Peter Parker? Bitten by a spider and becoming Spider-Man—with the spider-sense and all?" gumi asked, trying to keep up with Kotomi's playful tone. She didn't really know much about the superhero comics Kotomi liked, but she vaguely rembered Spider-Man from childhood.
She used to watch an ani called Super Spider-Man, where the hero transford using a wrist device and wore a red suit with a cape—a design that had felt surprisingly cool to her as a kid. Unfortunately, that ani seed to have…
That ani had been abruptly canceled, and even now there had never been a sequel. The ending had been so vague and confusing that no one could figure out what it was supposed to an.
Kotomi Izumi thought about what gumi said—it really did feel a little like Spider-Sense. She had sensed sothing coming and instinctively reacted to avoid it before it happened.
"Yeah… I guess it kind of is like that," she admitted.
"Then let's call it the Kotomi Sense~" gumi said with a giggle, playfully proposing the na. She knew her cute little penguin could be a bit of a chuunibyou sotis, so as her girlfriend, it was her duty to join in when Kotomi got dramatic.
As for whether Kotomi truly had a sense like Spider-Man's? gumi figured it was more likely that Kotomi had simply heard her mother's footsteps a few seconds earlier.
After all, Kotomi had always had remarkably sharp hearing—so good that she could catch even the faintest sounds from quite a distance away.
Kotomi shook her head, clearly dissatisfied with the na.
"'Kotomi Sense' doesn't sound powerful enough. Since I'm this amazing, I should co up with sothing more majestic and cool. Let think… Ah, I've got it! I'll call it—" She paused dramatically, just to build suspense.
"Call it what?!" gumi played along enthusiastically, pretending she couldn't wait to hear the answer.
"I'll call it—Kotomi's Sudden Jolt!"
"..."
gumi was at a loss for words. With her personality, she'd normally find anything Kotomi ca up with cute or impressive no matter what. But this na… she really didn't know what to say.
Kotomi's Sudden Jolt?
gumi glanced at the cheerful penguin beside her, wondering just what went on inside that adorable but baffling little head of hers. How could she co up with such a na—and genuinely believe it sounded cool and intimidating?
The aning wasn't that different from the previous one, yet sohow Kotomi's version sounded… absurdly silly.
anwhile, Kotomi puffed up her chest proudly and asked, "Well? What do you think? Isn't it cool and totally badass?"
"It's… very cool! Super cool, really! As expected of you," gumi said quickly, clapping her hands in mock admiration, pretending to share Kotomi's excitent and pretending that yes—this ridiculous na did, in fact, sound aweso.
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