Chapter 19

Kenji couldn’t shake off what he heard from his mind. In the end, he managed to slip away before the girls caught up to him. Throughout the entire next day, guilt drilled into his heart. He had eavesdropped on a private conversation, then pretended to know nothing about it.

That day, Tsukiko wanted to visit various spots around the island. Homesickness, or so she said. Her middle school, her parents’ home, and the places she used to play with Kenji and the other kids. Did it have anything to do with her returning to the mainland soon? He wanted to ask, but he shouldn’t have known that she would be heading back.

I couldn’t even admit I eavesdropped…

Would Toshiko mind? Probably not. She did tell it to her sister, and Amaya might let it leak to him. Could she trust his sister more? Maybe they were already close before, and Kenji didn’t realize.

At the end, he couldn’t say it. 

•••

That night, Kenji sat on the sofa, his eyes on the TV. The screen was pitch black. Tsukiko sat next to him, phone in her hand. She scrolled through something. Kenji took a glance. He couldn’t see what was on her screen.

Did I really just try to peek?

He scolded himself, turning his eyes away. Still, curiosity lingered in his mind. Could she be looking through her old documents? Or maybe looking for an empty apartment she could rent? Kenji wanted to ask, but that would be rude. It’s outside work hours. It’s her business.

“Tsukiko…”

“Yes?” Tsukiko lifted her eyes from the screen, looking at him.

“Uhh… never mind…” Kenji looked away.

“Kenji, are you alright? You’ve seemed a bit out of it.”

“It- It’s nothing, I promise.”

“Well, if you say so,” she shrugged, returning her attention to her phone.

The door to the bathroom swung open, and Amaya appeared from inside. She had changed into her house clothes.

“Take a seat, Tsukiko.”

Both Kenji and Tsukiko turned to her in confusion.

“I’m already sitting?”

Amaya said nothing else and walked toward the TV. She kneeled in front of their Swap and began setting the console up.

“What are we doing?” Kenji asked, his answer coming soon after. The logo for Orim Party appeared on the screen, and the game booted up.

The TV showed the game’s main menu. Orim Party was made by the same people who made Orim Carts, in case the similarity in name wasn’t obvious enough, and they shared characters. Amaya cycled through the menu, picking local play. The TV was split into four, a space for each of the players, with the fourth player controlled by AI.

Kenji decided to go with the same, red-clothed man. Tsukiko continued with the pink queen, while Amaya, the new contender, picked a character made of bones.

Tsukiko sat in the center, Kenji on her left, and Amaya on her right. She turned left and right.

“You two take this really seriously.”

“I have my pride on the line,” Kenji said. As a brother, as someone who had failed the ones closest to him. He couldn’t falter now, not in the thing he’s best at.

“And I’m here to put an end to that.”

“So don’t worry about it.”

“Yeah, yeah, just enjoy the game.”

“I feel like I’m going to get caught in the middle of it, so I should undoubtedly be worried,” Tsukiko said, but her words fell on deaf ears. Neither sibling said anything as the game began.

The group arrived on the map, set after some kind of mystical forest. Lush green trees, narrow dirt roads, the sound of insects-

“I’m going first!” Amaya pressed a button, and her character kicked, causing the slot machine in front of her to stop. It showed the number eight. “Haha, beat that-”

“Ten,” Kenji said, coldly. He turned to his sister and let out a tongue.

“Two.” Tsukiko would be departing last.

Each of them then rolled a die. Kenji managed to roll a five. His character skipped over the tiles, landing on a green tile, gaining three gold from it.

“Look, I’m going to go farther,” Amaya said, full of confidence.

And she got a five.

Her character landed in the same space as Kenji, pushing Kenji’s character aside. She received her three gold, but her actions angered Kenji’s character, leading to a battle.

“Eww, creep. Stop following me.”

“You arrived after me,” Kenji retorted.

The game chose the mini game for them. A picture of a cute frog above a canvas appeared on screen. Both siblings leaned forward, gripping their controller tight. Tsukiko looked back and forth between them, watching as they moved the joystick. Their characters ran across the canvas, pulling a brush dipped in black paint behind them.

“Give up, Brother!”

“I’m not hearing that from someone who lacks artistic skills!”

“Just because you deal with old stuff doesn’t make you any more artistic!”

All the while, their characters ran at the exact same speed. The timer continued ticking down to zero, and the characters pulled to a halt. The two sat in anticipation as the game chose who made the better trace.

And Kenji won.

“Yes!” Kenji did a fist pump. 

“Oh, that’s just a warm-up! Don’t get cocky!”

Despite starting last, Tsukiko rolled the largest number, causing her to pass both of them. The AI moved last, but nothing interesting happened on its turn. After all of them had moved, it was time for the mini game. This time, it was a mini game about racing cars. To win, they needed to mash buttons in a specific sequence. Whoever managed to press the correct buttons in the right order, the quickest, would be the winner.

Kenji concentrated, ready to beat his sister, when an unsuspected car took off.

“Huh!?”

“How!?”

The siblings watched as Tsukiko drove away. Kenji glanced at her fingers. Her movements were those of an experienced player. She didn’t even look at her controller. She mashed the button without gaps, and her car sped through the course. Kenji tried catching up, but he made a mistake, which stalled his car. By the time he was halfway done, Tsukiko had completed the lap and was waiting for them at the finish line.

Tsukiko giggled. “Hehe, looks like I won that one.”

“I’ll take the next one,” Kenji whispered, gripping the controller tight.

Their gaming night had only just begun.