New Semester

September 3rd 2018

With summer break over, a new semester has begun. Ryuuji is walking to school and as he gets closer, he can only laugh at what he sees. Sun is happily speaking with a young man with blonde hair and green eyes. Not only that, she’s clinging to his arm.

Ryuuji assumes the other person is Steve and, once they notice him, Sun releases his arm and waves for him to come over. Steve takes one look at Ryuuji and chooses to comment on his appearance.

“So this is Takomi Ryuuji. Just like I imagined!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh it’s nothing~”

Ryuuji scowls until Sun cuts in, apologizing for not being able to help him level up at the end of summer. As expected, she wanted to be with Steve as much as possible before school started. This wasn’t just to catch up either. Sun made sure to show him around to avoid him feeling overwhelmed.

“Sounds like you had a fun time.” Ryuuji says.

“More like exhausting. Sun was clinging to me almost non-stop after I arrived!” Steve says with a heavy sigh.

“Now you’re complaining about it?”

Sun pouts, but Steve quickly pulls her in closer for a hug to apologize. At this point, it has almost become a tradition to make a jab at Sun whenever the three meet. Even though Steve usually pays for it in the end, he can’t deny he enjoys it.

“I’m sorry, Ryuuji just makes it too easy.” Steve says, pushing the blame to someone else.

“How does that become my fault?” Ryuuji wonders aloud.

“Are you causing trouble already?” Seiji asks as he and Hanabi approach them.

“Somehow.”

Eyes glowing, Steve shouts, “Wow! Is this Hargrave and Flora? I’m so honored to meet you in person!”

“No, this is Seiji and Hanabi.” Seiji says, quickly correcting him.

Since there isn’t much time until school starts, they waste no time getting to class after agreeing to all meet for lunch later today.

Steve passed 11th grade in America this past June, but after taking entrance testing for this school, it was determined the curriculum is different enough that he can still be considered an 11th grader here too. He found no reason to complain seeing as Ryuuji and Sun are in the same grade. He’s not in the same classroom, but it’s right next to theirs, causing Sun to feel joyful.

The day goes by slowly as everyone adjusts to attending school again. It never gets easy no matter how many years pass. When lunch finally arrives, Ryuuji and Sun first show Steve around. He already toured the building a few weeks before, but could use a refresher. From the classroom, to the library, to the gym, and lastly to the courtyard to have lunch. They made it a point to visit the important areas.

Seiji and Hanabi were already waiting, making sure to reserve a spot large enough for their group. Since there aren’t too many people, they’re easy to find. Hanabi made lunch for Seiji and herself, and Sun brought in her own as well, leaving Ryuuji and Steve to have to purchase theirs before joining them. Since he’s not used to the method of having to use a meal ticket, Ryuuji helps Steve and they both end up with a simple rice and pork dish.

“Still needing to buy lunch, you two need a girlfriend.” Seiji teases.

“I did ask Sun, but she refused to make me anything.” Steve says with disappointment.

“I don’t even make my own lunch, my mom does.” Sun admits.

Ryuuji pats Steve’s shoulder, “Don’t worry, she refused to make it for me too.”

“Really? I feel like that’s different though.” Steve says before switching the topic, “I’m surprised this is the first you got together for lunch. With how you talk in the game, I assumed you met every day.”

“It’s just easier to meet in the game.” Seiji says. “It’s all we talk about anyway. That or Ryuuji’s problems.”

“I can’t disagree with that.” Ryuuji says.

“Maybe we can meet outside of school more often then!” Steve suggests. “You can show me around the town too. Sun took me to a few areas, but I’m sure there’s much more..”

“There are a lot of nice shops and restaurants. Do you live closeby?” Hanabi asks.

“Yep! I live near the comp- I mean about a 20 minute drive from here.” Steve explains.

“After this week I’ll only be working on Fridays and Saturdays. So any time other than that will be fine.” Ryuuji says.

“Then I guess we’ll hold off until next week.” Steve says, shrugging his shoulders.

Ryuuji planned to cut back on working once school started, but forgot to let his manager know in time so he’s stuck working his summer schedule. Since he always works nights, it has no effect on school so he plans to just push through, though he’s not looking forward to it.

Unlike the entirety of the school day, lunch goes by in a flash. At the stairwell the two groups go their separate ways, but not all of them are done talking. Before reaching their classrooms, Ryuuji stops Steve, wanting to tell him something. Sun stands to the side to listen.

“You don’t need to be overly considerate of me.” Ryuuji says.

“What do you mean?”

“At lunch, you were about to say you live near the company, weren’t you? Then you should have just said it instead of switching words around.”

“Even so…”

Steve isn’t comfortable with that idea. He would rather avoid mentioning it at all, but it’s almost impossible since they play the game and he’s involved with the company. Ryuuji then repeats what he said this past summer.

“ ‘Let’s move past this and look forward to the future’, I remember hearing that from someone.”

“You got me.” Steve laughs, “I won’t do it again.”

“Good. And don’t make me say something so cheesy ever again.” Ryuuji says as he continues walking.

“Was it really that cheesy?”

“Yeah, it kind of is.” Sun laughs in agreement.

Before going home, Steve had to stop by the teacher’s office to discuss a few things. He told the others that it wouldn’t take long and so they chose to wait outside. Once finished, Steve is walking by himself in the mostly vacant halls when he is approached by two male students.

“Hey there! Are you the new American student?”

“Wow, news travels fast! This is only my first day here.”

They grin after it seems that taking advantage of him will be easier than they expected. However, they are interrupted before they can act.

“Are you all finished?”

The two students turn around and are dejected by what they see. Both Ryuuji and Seiji are staring them down, remembering them as the bullies from months before. Not finding this encounter worthwhile any longer, they decide to leave.

After they’re out of sight, Ryuuji lets out a deep sigh. He was actually holding his breath from fear, unable to forget what they did to him.

“You stood your ground well. Though your legs are shaking.” Seiji points out.

“How did you even notice that?!” Ryuuji whines.

The naive Steve then asks, “What was that about?”

“They’re notorious bullies in the school. You have to be careful.” Seiji explains.

“Yeah, they really messed with me before.” Ryuuji says.

Initially not thinking it was a big deal, Steve then realizes, “Does this mean Hargrave just saved me in real life? That’s so cool!!”

Annoyed to be referred to by his game character, Seiji walks away without saying a word. Ryuuji and Steve follow behind to the outside where Hanabi and Sun are still waiting. Worried, Sun immediately asks if something happened.

“Is everything okay?”

“There were some nice gentlemen that turned out to be bullies, but then Hargrave saved me!” Steve states as if telling a story.

“So it was just like you said. Thank you for helping him, Seiji.” Sun says.

“It’s fine, but if he calls me Hargrave at school one more time I’ll just walk home instead.”

Not wanting to upset him more, Steve shouts and bows, “I’m sorry Har- Seiji!!”

“You might want to practice saying his name in your head before you shout.” Ryuuji says, also fed up with his fanboying.

Seiji and Hanabi leave first, finding their new friend exhausting to deal with. Ryuuji has work so he has to get going as well. Since his family has a hired driver, Steve offers to drive both him and Sun to their destinations. Believing Sun won’t turn him down, Steve is devastated after hearing her answer.

“Nah, I’ll take the train today.”

“Are you sure?” Ryuuji asks, surprised.

“I spent a lot of time with him these past few weeks. I think I can afford to spare some for others.”

“Well, it would be my honor.”

Steve doesn’t appreciate their joke, but respects Sun’s decision. It is true that they were together almost every day recently, so a break isn’t a bad thing.

“You win this round.” Steve declares.

“Are you going to do this everyday?” Ryuuji complains.

Steve walks away with a harumph. Sun laughs, while Ryuuji only shakes his head.

We met for lunch the remainder of that week, and they all continued to pester me day after day. Whether it was about my bad attitude, average grades, or that I was the only one without a homemade lunch. The last topic was Steve’s favorite. At one point I even told them; ‘How about you try living a day in my shoes?’ Though even then, most of them didn’t know the full extent.

As a joke I suggested to Sun that she try to make lunch for Steve, telling her he would no doubt cry. She refused to believe me, but the next day, he shed a tear after taking just one bite. I think they officially started dating around that time. Though in my mind they already were when I first met them together in Starfight.

All that week I woke up early for school, worked late into the night and it continued until Friday. Thankfully my boss found me coverage for that day because it was really taking its toll. After school, I went straight home and jumped in bed, sleeping well into the afternoon the next day. It felt so good.

Since Starfight had a lack of new content these past months, they teased a major announcement to be released that weekend. Although exciting for many, it ended up destroying our so called ‘peaceful’ group lunch break at school that only just began.

September 8th 2018

After waking, Ryuuji logs in to see the new announcement. It reads;

~Colosseum battle of the ages! Team vs Team. Fighter vs Fighter. Starting today, September 8th, you can sign up to enter as a team or single fighter for a grand tournament that will begin on September 22nd.~

However, it’s not anything he wants to take part in. Besides not being fond of the Colosseum after the recent incident, his new character is still only level 42. There’s no way he’ll be of any use.

He then notices he received a message from Steve earlier this morning. It was sent to both him and Seiji; ‘Let’s join the tournament!! Just the 3 of us!!’ Almost immediately after reading it, he gets a communication request from the two. He places his headset on and braces for the inevitable yelling from Steve before he accepts.

“Good morning Ryuuji!!” Steve shouts.

“Don’t make me mute you.” Ryuuji threatens.

“Ah, did you just wake up? Anyway, the tournament!! Hargrave already agreed to join.”

Since he avoids events without big boss fights, Ryuuji has his doubts.

“Don’t twist my words. I only said I’d do it if Ryuuji agreed to as well.” Seiji retorts.

“With our skill set, the 3 of us would make a decent team.” Ryuuji admits.

“Exactly! Acting as Hargrave’s support I think we can make it to the end and win!”

With the tournament starting in just a week, Ryuuji is skeptical he’ll be able to level up in time. Seiji admits that he’s a liability, but he knows a lot of dungeons that can help him level up faster. It would almost be like a cheat with Hargrave’s aid. Access to these dungeons isn’t dependent on your skill level, but how much of the story you completed.

“How far did you get in the story?” Seiji inquires.

“Chapter 18, I think?”

“Let me know when you finish chapter 25. Then your training will begin.”

“Wow, training with Hargrave? You’re so lucky!”

“Only you would see it that way.” Ryuuji then considers, “But what about the girls? Will they be mad we didn’t invite them?”

“Sun already told me she doesn’t care.” Steve says.

“I haven’t talked to Hana yet, but she’ll probably be fine with it.”

“Even with how much you play together? I’d be too scared if I were you.” Ryuuji says, thinking back to when they went out over the summer.

“What are you talking about? Hana isn’t scary at all. I’ll mention it on Monday.”

“Good luck.”

Steve tries to get them to start playing right away, especially since Ryuuji hasn’t been able to all week, but he himself decides to pass. Besides just waking up, he has yet to shower or eat. He’ll let Hargrave know when he completes the story and logs off for now.

Wanting to eat first, Ryuuji walks into the kitchen. On the way, he glances at his father sleeping on the couch. Guess I’ll make him something too. Even though Ryuuji hasn’t cooked since last weekend, he tried to avoid eating only fast food by picking up some onigiri at the convenience store. Hanabi even helped by making a few lunches.

Not craving anything at the moment, Ryuuji goes the lazy route and cooks a plain omelet. He learned to make simple foods like that, some vegetables, and rice, but has yet to try cooking meat. It’s more involved and he finds it to be a hassle.

Ryuuji makes one for himself first, eating it while making an extra for his father. After he’s finished, he places it in a plastic container and then into the fridge. Even if his father doesn’t eat it, he can snack on it later.

As he exits the kitchen, he notices his father is now sitting up.

“Oh you’re awake.” he says nonchalantly, “I made some food, it’s in the fridge.”

“You haven’t cooked all week.” his father says in a low tone.

Ryuuji is surprised he noticed.

“Yeah, well, I’ve been busy,”

“So long as you’ve been eating well.”

“As if you’re one to talk, but my friends have been helping with that.” Ryuuji says before adding,. “Anyway, I have things to do.”

Ryuuji proceeds down the hall to shower. On any other day, a hypocritical comment like that would fill him with rage, but recently, the situation has been easier to deal with. Whether it’s thanks to his friends constantly helping, or simply that he’s gotten used to it, he isn’t sure. If there’s one thing that hasn’t changed, it’s the hope that his father will recover.