Chapter 4:

Arcade Mirage

Love Throughout Time

Chapter 4 - Arcade Mirage

Cho was walking between Noa and Keisuke as they walked down the streets.

"So, where are we going?" Cho asked, looking back and forth between Noa and Keisuke.

Keisuke quickly looked away, while Noa started to ponder.

"How about an arcade first?" Noa said.

"Sounds good," Keisuke added.

"Suspicious…" Cho groaned.

These two are definitely hiding something. I just have no clue what it could be. Well, we might as well have some fun first.

They soon reached a shopping center, where they entered the entertainment section and a good old arcade.

"Let's play this game first!" Noa exclaimed, grabbing and leading Cho by the hand, while Keisuke slowly followed behind.

"It's a classic zombie shooter game. Here, up to four people could play this," Noa said, handing out two controllers that looked like toy guns.

"Just shoot the zombies, right? Here we go!" Cho started to become excited.

"I used to play these a lot too. Let's see if I've still got it," Keisuke added.

They pressed the start button. At first it was easy, but as they rapidly cleared level after level, they started to struggle.

“Come on! We got this!” Cho shouted

“Be careful, the boss is coming up!” Noa warned.

Cho tried her best to evade the boss's attacks, but her character was downed early in the battle.

“I’m out. You guys got this!”

Noa and Keisuke continued the battle. Near the end of the fight, when the boss was on low HP, it activated a special attack, which took out Noa’s character.

“Damn it! It’s all on you, Kei-kun!”

“Don’t worry, Cho-chan and Noa-chan! I’ll bring this victory home!”

In the heat of the moment, Cho almost missed and disregarded what Noa and Keisuke had just called each other, but her mind caught on a bit later.

Wait!? Eh? Did they just call each other by those nicknames? And why did it feel so natural? Something’s fishy…

After a fierce struggle, Keisuke emerged victorious. The victory screen popped up with stats and then the end credits.

“Oooh! You did it, Kei-kun! We did it!” Noa excitedly jumped around and on Keisuke’s shoulders.

“Yeah… We actually did it on our first try. I remember this being much harder too. Right, Cho-chan?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. By the way, it seems you two have gotten quite close recently.”

“Hmm? We’re close to you too, though?" As Noa said that, she leaned on Cho’s shoulder with a huge smile.

While she did so, Cho’s gaze got lost in Noa’s blue eyes, and then suddenly Cho’s surroundings seemed to have changed. They were still in an arcade, but a much older and worn-out one. The game machine to their left seemed to differ a little bit from the one they had just played, and the victory screen was nowhere to be seen. She was still with Noa and Keisuke, but they seemed to be a bit smaller in height than before.

“True! We’re the best trio the world has ever seen!” Cho heard her own voice, but from a third-person perspective.

Is that a... young me? With Kei-kun and Noa-chan? What’s going on? Yesterday I had two similar instances. The first when Noa-chan clung unto me, and the other during PE. Just what the heck does this mean?

“That’s right! Haaa! I love gaming so much!” Noa declared.

“I had a lot of fun today too. Can you even play video games without having fun?” Cho said.

“I've heard that in older times, many people played to escape reality, which is, at its core, the same as nowadays, but the specific reason within is the opposite. Before, the majority would escape reality to escape their real-life problems, but in present days, with the lack of problems for the world, the majority are people who use video games to seek thrills and adventure, and they do it on the more extreme side in virtual reality, more often than not,” Noa explained.

“Most people find the present state of the world boring, even though it should be a good thing,” Keisuke noted.

“Yeah. And not to say that there are no problems at all or that there aren't any people whose reasons are different; of course there are, but they've become the minority,” Noa continued.

“Then why do you play games, Noa-chan?” Cho asked.

The illusion ended there, and Cho snapped back to reality with a sharp pain in her head.

“Aaah! My head…” Keisuke groaned.

“You too?” Cho quietly inquired.

“Yeah. Did you see that mirage too?”

“I don’t know what to call it, but yeah.”

“It’s a memory bubble, and it’s my fault. Sorry for the headache. It will get better in a bit,” Noa interrupted.

“What’s going on? Can you explain?” Cho requested.

“I’ll explain it to you tomorrow. For the rest of the day, we should just relax and have some fun. It won’t happen again today, I promise.”

Cho looked doubtfully at Keisuke, who nodded, which further convinced Cho to wait for an explanation from Noa later.

“All right. What’s next in our plans then?” Cho said, pouting.

Noa grinned ear to ear.

“You’re really cute! Let’s get something to drink! I’ll treat you guys to a shake.”

Cho blushed as Noa once again took her hand in her blue palm.

Mmmh… How can she say that without shame? And why were her eyes so beautiful?

“Wait! Noa-chan!”

“Yes?”

“In the memory, I asked you why you played video games, but I never heard the answer to it. Can you at least answer that question now, please?”

“Yeah, I didn’t get to hear it either,” Keisuke added.

“I play because I used to always have fun gaming with my two best friends. It reminds me of the times without responsibilities and makes me always remember my purpose.”

“Your purpose…?"

“Yeah, but at the end of the day, games are for fun, right?”

“True. I had fun, even though I was the worst on the team,” Cho admitted.

“You might’ve had the least amount of points out of the three of us this time, but you weren’t bad at it by any means,” Keisuke assured her.

“Indeed! Well said! You were just as skilled as us!” Noa nodded in agreement.

Cho sighed but smiled.

“Thanks! Let’s go get those shakes then! I want a strawberry-flavored one!”

“I’ll get a caramel one,” Keisuke said.

“Got it! I, of course, will get a blueberry shake,” Noa proudly puffed out her chest.

“Who would’ve guessed?” Keisuke chuckled.

“Blueberries are the essence of life!”

“Right… I’ve heard that one already.”

Cho just laughed at their shenanigans.

After thoroughly enjoying their shakes, they went back to play a few more games, among which some could be played together, some against and others with each other.

“That was a blast!” Noa exclaimed as they were leaving.

“We could do this some other time as well,” Cho said.

“I would be down for that,” Keisuke added.

“All right! To top it all off and so that we can forever remember this occasion, how about we take a selfie?” Noa looked at them with puppy eyes.

“You made it sound like it was going to be some grand stuff, but if it’s just a selfie, I don’t see why it would be a problem, right?” Keisuke looked at Cho.

“Yes! I think it would be great, in fact!”

With that, they took a selfie in front of the arcade.

“Thanks! I’ll send it to you guys later. I guess this is where we part for today, right?”

“Right. And you better explain a bunch of stuff tomorrow, Noa-chan!”

“Yeah, I know, Cho-chan. I will. Then see you guys tomorrow!”

“Byebye!”

“See ya!”

They waved at Noa as she disappeared in the corner.

“Kei-kun, what do you think of her?”

“I think we can trust her.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah. And even if something happens, don’t worry! You have me.”