Reality

I slosh the mop onto the floor as I look over at the bar counter, where Airi is sitting.

I barely managed to sleep last night. I think I'm back in the real world though. I almost forgot that my leg was fucked after the game sequence, and tried running to work. Honestly, as much as I'm glad to be out of the game, I won't deny, this leg of mine reminds me of why I'm this invested in game worlds to begin with.

Today's the day of the date, but I can't get my mind off of Chisaki. I scrub at the stains on the floor intently, almost as if I'm trying to scrub my mind, but a part of me feels like I've been romantically traumatized or something.

Hopefully today's date will fix that. I know I sound like I'm expecting way too much of Airi, but she's amazing. Airi can do anything.

...I think. That final question about Airi's ex-boyfriend does keep coming back. It's a slow day today though, and I find myself staring at Airi as she takes off her bartender apron for her break.

"Airi?" A man steps into the bar, as I look back up at him. He's a handsome young man, honestly, if not a bit sleazy looking. I look over at Airi, who immediately freezes up. The man look around, then walks over to Airi, who now looks at the ground, nervously. "Airi, can I talk to you for a second?" 

I want to go help her, but a part of me feels safer just mopping the floor. Looking down, I now realize that I'm technically done, and the filth on the ground is gone, but I'm so afraid of confrontation that I keep mopping the clean floor.

Because of course you do Hinata, you fucking spineless eunuch.

Airi's eyes flicker into my direction, but she then looks back at the man as he grabs her by the shoulder.

"Joel, wait, I'm at work right now-"

"No, we need to talk now. You're not going to jump ship after what you did to me, are you?" He snarls.

"You're making a scene! Joel, wait-"

Now or never, Hinata.

"Hey, let her...go..." Despite my initial bombastic entrance, I end up trailing off.

"And who the hell are you?" The brute asks me as he saunters up. "Don't tell me you're trying to groom another orbiter Airi."

Airi flinches.

"I'm...an old friend of hers. Who are you?"

"I'm her boyfriend, I...think? Actually, that's perfect. Maybe I'll show you exactly what kind of person you are." He glares at her, and for a moment, I'm afraid he'll get violent, but I tactically insert myself in between them.

I'm...being useful, I think.

"Joel, you can't be so shallow as to think money is everything-"

"She's right." I'm not sure where money came out of, and honestly, I can empathize with the need for money honestly, but I need to stick by Airi here. Besides, this Joel fellow looks like a douche.

"Do you know what she did to me, little man? My fault for thinking I was special, I suppose. Goddamn parasite." He shoots a look at Airi, and she turns away. 

"Hey, you...don't call her that. I don't know what you're on, but she's not that kind of person..." I trail off once more.

"What do you even know about Airi? You haven't seen what I've seen. Been through what we've been through." He leans in, a twisted smile on his face. "Both the good and the ugly.  Hey, how long have you known her? You sure you're a close friend?"

"I am! Well, for...some time, at least!" My sentence falters off. "Uh, half a year, I guess..."

"Ah, that explains it now, doesn't it? You've only known her for six months then." He snorts, a funny smile appearing on his face. "Ask her what happened. Go on." 

"Airi." I look at her nervously. "That's not true, is it?" Airi sighs, a look of anger and annoyance on her face.

"Joel, this isn't the right place to talk about this, and I really think you have anger issues..."

The bastard snorts.

"She's right. And, you're just putting her on the spot," I bluster. "She'd never do that." I look back at Airi, who looks like she's about to cry. "She would...I know she'd..."

Do you Hinata? Do you really?

"Redirecting, classic Airi. Well, if you want proof of things, maybe-" 

As he pulls out a large envelope from his jacket, Airi quickly and snatches it out of his hand. I can tell she briefly looked at me, her eyes frozen with fear.

"Hey, Joel, let's talk about this later, okay? Come on, I'm at work right now, I-"

"Oi." The boss, surprisingly, comes to our rescue. Or well, to Airi's at least. "Customer, sir. If you aren't going to order anything, I'll have to ask you to leave. Especially if you're going to be arguing with my top earning bartender."

"Tch." The man says, ignoring both me and the boss. "Alright, alright. You win Airi. For now." He raises his arms up, and then sizes me up one final time before walking back out the door. There's a devilish smirk on his face, and he turns away.

"Alright, that's enough." The boss says as he turns back for the kitchen. "Back to work Hinata. And Airi, I hope you have a good rest of your day." As soon as he disappears into the kitchen, Airi turns to me.

"Hey uh...thanks!" she says. "We uh, really got him to run off, didn't we?"

That's not the Airi I know. If she really thought we'd won, she wouldn't be this nervous.

She's scared.

"Y-yeah." I say, nervously. I don't even look at Airi. I won't deny I romanticized Airi a bit too hard but...

"Hey uh, I'll be sitting around in the cafe next door for the next thirty minutes." Airi says, her voice slightly trembling with anxiety. "That's when your shift ends, right?"

It ends in fifteen minutes.

"Yeah, I'll be ready then." I give her a smile. "Uh, look forward to it."

"Great." She says, her voice sounding relieved. "Then...I'll be ordering coffee there. Don't slip by, okay?"

***

The walk home is miserable, but predictable. The cool evening air is pleasing to the skin, and despite the mental pit inside of me, I don't actually feel all that bad.

I...don't believe him. Airi is a good person. She'd never do whatever he's accusing her of doing.

He has to be lying.

Then why am I walking back home when I should be on a date right now?

The cool evening air stings the skin. The day's getting colder. I should head home. But I've just alienated Airi. I...hope she doesn't stop driving me to work, because the bus ticket fare exceeds my wages.

Am I really allowed to wish for things like that when she's the one doing me a service?

Whatever. I guess I'll have to pay the exorbitant prices for today. As the final bus arrives, I see that there's already a few people on it. It's not crowded, but not empty either. AKA, the worst case scenario.

What does she not want me knowing?

The air feels like frosted knives that chill the bones. I feel like I've been betrayed.

Do I even care, at this point?

When the bus arrives, I crawl over to a random seat, and pull out my phone. Yeah, it'll kill my self awareness, but it'll also take the edge of this death ride off. As I sit down, I can see the eyes of a few people on me.

I'm getting a weird flashback to that classroom now. The one Chisaki saved me from.

But even thinking about Chisaki makes me sick, so I decide against it.

I scroll through MeTube, trying to entertain myself, when I stop. There's a recommended video from PixelParker. Now, that's not out of the normal, but it's a gaming reaction video with Samcapis and MooMueller. 

The big three of the golden age of MeTube. It's a reunion.

But that's not the only reason I have to be excited. There's a giant picture of Chisaki on the thumbnail. And it so clearly reads "Reacting to Our Little Forever! Feat. Samcapis and MooMueller".

And in the center of it all is my avatar from the game.

No, it can't be. I quickly click on the video and skip through it a little. They don't seem to realize I'm in a game, but they clearly see it.

I go to my channel. There's an unfamiliar video uploaded. It says  "Our Little Forever: Unreleased Saeki Taro Game!"

40k views. I rub my eyes, before looking at it again.

40 thousand views. There's also more likes on that video than I have views on all my other videos combined.

I'm glad, but I also don't ever recall uploading this video. This was uploaded...9 hours ago. That's about a good 20 minutes after I got out of the game. I should have been asleep by then.

A strange mixture of fear and happiness spreads across my body as I look at it. I should be happy. I really should.

But I know there's more to this. This isn't normal. Yes, it's everything I wished for but...

Just as I decide to try and explore it more, I realize that the bus has largely emptied out, except for a couple men who are whispering to one another.

They're staring directly at me.

I can see them out of the reflection on the window.

Shit.

"Alright, Terminal stop." The bus driver says. "Get out."

Terminal stop, that's where my house is. Well at least, it's a bit of a walk from here, but it's the closest stop.

I almost want to beg the bus driver for safety, and tell him that I'm being trailed, but I simply comply and get off the bus without a word like a good citizen.

The strange men are still looking at me as I begin to head for my house.

If only I could run. If I could run, I could lose them amidst the turning streets. I pick up the pace, walking faster than I usually do, but it's not enough.

Do I go home? My house might not be safe. Do I go back to the bus? No, that was the last bus. And they're blocking the way anyhow.

Fuck.

In an effort to shake them, I decide to head down the long narrow corridors of the alleyways. But that has me even more isolated and out of view. Worst of all, this damn leg of mine prevents me from actually running away. Could I just outrun them if it weren't for that?

No good. I need to go faster. But no matter how fast I power walk away from them, they're gaining on me. There's just no way I can actually escape them. I need a plan somehow.

Crud, the only thing I can think of is barricading myself in my home. Do these people know my address? 

I don't have a choice. I need to head home.

Is...that really it?

I can see the men following me from out of the traffic mirrors as I walk back. No, this has to be a coincidence. It makes no sense, why would anyone be following me? It shouldn't be anything. They just so happen to be walking in the same direction as me. That's all it is. I'm just crazy.

I don't actually go into the alleyways. I'm not familiar with this place. I'm planning on beelining to my house, but I don't know where that beeline is!

Shit shit shit shit shit!

It's a good thing I have a good sense of direction, but that's not enough in this labyrinth. I nervously pull out my phone. Forget success, forget the game, I need to get home now.

Turning around, I pull out my phone. Maybe I should call the police first? Nah, I know what happened the last time I called the police. They don't give a shit what happens over here.

...no one is there.

Right, exactly, I'm just crazy. The game must be getting to my head. I don't want to be in this creepy ass alleyway any longer, so I quickly go to my map app and look for my way home. It takes a good minute to load.

God damn internet.

Alright, here's the route. That should be good.

I need to get home quickly.

The winding streets take a long time to go through, and my leg aches. Not due to it being withered or anything - my right leg hurts too - but because I'm out of shape. But I need to keep going.

Now it would be nice if the internet didn't keep flickering.

There's a ping on my phone, and a text arrives.

"Run. They're onto you."

...what?

Another text comes in moments later.

"I don't think they know where you live. If you run, you can lose them."

Should I tell this mystery person that I can't run? And who the hell is this even from? I try navigating to the messages app, but there's no number where it's from.

No matter, I can figure this out later. I check the map once more. As I power walk through the alleyway, I come across the poor excuse of a shelter I call "home."

I'm almost there.

"Hey, there he is! After him!"

Shit.

I quickly dart into my apartment as fast as I can with my withered leg. I stumble around the corner the best I can, then into the long hallway.

Room 102, my apartment. I fumble with the key. Fuck, fuck, fuck! I always had trouble with the key!

Ok, it's in. Just as they round the hallway, I open the door, and slam it in their faces.

And just as the door is shut, and I'm about to breathe a sigh of relief, the thing comes crashing down as several thuggish looking men smash it down and barge into the building.