Now Entering: Player 1

I arrived at the local convention center, already excited upon the prospect of meeting Soejima in person. Along the way, I passed by a copy shop to print a screenshot of my legendary 999.999.999 score, and I sincerely hoped Soejima wouldn't mind signing it for me.

“You’re… Shigeo Toki, right?”, the ID checker read my identity.

“Yes, that’s me”, I replied simply.

“You’re a minor, have you brought the parental authorization form?”, he asked.

“Oh, yeah! Here it is”, I handed over the sheet of paper in my hands, which I had my mom sign before I’d left.

“Hm? What’s this?”, he asked, as if something was wrong.

When I leaned in to peek, I noticed: I gave him the wrong thing! That was the legendary 999.999.999 score I had just printed out! What a miss!

“Oh, crap! Sorry!”, I reached for my folder in my backpack, and searched for the right document.

“This score… And your name… Wait, are you Toki²?!”, he asked, as I swallowed dry.

“Uh… Yeah. That’s also me”, I affirmed.

“Man! Your video from last night was so cool! The way you made the score farming system, and the skips and glitches you used! You’re a legend!”, he exclaimed, now making a fuss over my presence for all reasons other than my parental authorization form. “Get in, get in! Here’s your score back”, he returned the printed screenshot, and kept the signed form.

“Thanks!”, I treaded on, finding myself amid the sea of visitors.

“Good luck with Soejima!”, he exclaimed, as if I was going to meet a crush or something. Not that he was wrong, though — after all, Soejima was the main reason for me going to the Expo in the first place.

It was then time for a legendary face-off against one of my most dreaded enemies… The line. I wouldn’t say I was super late, but I was definitely not among the first few to get in line for the meet and greet with Soejima.

Upon gazing at the very end of the line, I saw him. A man in his 40’s, in a very nice suit.

“So that’s him, huh…”, I whispered. “Yet, somehow, he talks online as if he were a teenage girl. Talk about a weirdo”, I commented, hoping the massive line of fans wouldn’t beat me over it.

No one seemed to hear my comment, though, so it went unnoticed.

Time passed by as I scrolled through the comment section on last night’s post. Lots of comments were praising me, and there were the occasional rotten apples who called me a cheater. I fought the trolls — and, yeah, I knew from the very beginning it was a losing battle, but I did enjoy pretending I have some kind of gamer pride to defend.

I got so involved in my battle, in fact, I barely noticed time passing by.

“Next!”, a male voice called.

There was no response.

“I said… Next!”, he yelled.

“Oh!”, it startled me, so I looked away from my phone. It was my turn already. “Sorry, Soejima-sensei!”, I bowed and walked to him.

“Welcome, o’ young one!”, he courteously shook my hand. “Nervous much? Have a seat”, he gently pointed to the chair across from him, a wide smile covering the bottom half of his face.

“Not nervous at all, Soejima-sensei!”, I replied with equal liveliness, reminiscent of our conversations online. “It’s an honor to be meeting you personally”, and then I pulled the printed copy of my 999.999.999 score.

“Oh, what have we got here?”, he asked, cheerfully.

“I was hoping you’d sign this. It’s a printed copy of my score from yesterday, for which you congratulated me and all…”, I mumbled shyly.

“Hm? Wait just a moment… What is your name, kid?”, he questioned.

“It’s Shigeo Toki”, I replied curtly.

“O-ho… So you’re Toki², huh?”, he seemed surprised. “Boy… Come with me, will you?”, he asked, not elaborating any further.

How ominous, I thought to myself.
He then signed to one of the convention’s workers, who promptly started managing the line.

“Soejima-sensei will take a quick break! He’ll be back in 10 minutes, so I beg for everyone’s patience!”, he announced, much to the line’s displeasure.

Still, I accompanied Soejima-sensei to a room in the back: the business area, or B2B, as they called it.

“Uh… Soejima-sensei?”, I tried getting his attention as I walked behind him.

“Young one… Before we get in there, you must promise to keep a secret”, he stopped right at the entrance to the Soejima Productions reserved room. The company’s logo brightly stood over the painted wooden door.

“... Right. I promise”, I swallowed hard, equally nervous and excited.

“I’ll take your word for it”, he replied, simply.

What? No NDA, no nothing?

As we walked in, two other figures came into view. A young man, probably two or three years older than me… And a hooded figure, much too short to be a third adult male, with their back turned to me.

“Please, come in”, the man said.

“With your permission…”, I mumbled, and the two other people in the room instantly turned to me.

“Whoa, it’s him! It’s Tokitsu!”, the guy got up from the couch and ran towards me, all while mispronouncing my online nickname. “Pleasure to meet you, man! I’m Soma Saejima!”, he shook my hand, excited like a golden retriever type would.

The other person, meanwhile, got up slowly, and their hoodie nearly covered their whole face, leaving only strings of their mid-length blonde hair in sight.

“Toki-boy…”, Soejima grabbed my attention. “I’m Daigo Saejima, this young man’s father. And, as per her request, I’ll introduce her”, he pointed his hand to the hooded figure.

“That’s my daughter, Sora Saejima… And the true and only developer of Soejima Productions. She is the true Soejima-sensei”, he revealed, just as the girl lifted both hands to the edges of her hood and nudged it back slightly — just enough. Beneath the lights, her blonde hair gleamed. The fabric of the hoodie slid smoothly over her hair as if it had a life of its own, settling at her neck and revealing her flushed face in full.

My beloved Soejima-sensei was a girl, not a day older than myself.