Unlucky at games, lucky in love? Pt.1

Unlucky at games, lucky in love? Pt1.

Oh the doorbell, well mom’s downstairs…

Fully healed up, I take a quick look around. The remaining map space is mostly an open area with only some trees, boulders and bushes to use for cover. 5 players left… two teams huh? I just need to stay hidden until they start engaging each other and then I’ll snipe whoever’s left. Piece of cake, right?

*ding dong*

Huh, shouldn’t mom have opened the door by now?

I take off my headset just at the right time to hear the distinctive voice of my mother yelling from somewhere below me. Please don’t tell me she’s…

“Keiichi for heaven’s sake answer that stupid door right now!!!”

Crap, she’s probably using the toilet right now. But I’m about to win here!?

“Sorry, I’m really busy just now!” I yell as loud as I can as that’s what it takes to let yourself be heard through closed doors and an entire floor. My attention still remains on the game, waiting like a hunter for the moment the prey would appear in front of their rifle’s scope.

“Your games can wait for a minute, now come down here!!!”

Oh no, they can’t!

Mom is livid but I absolutely can’t leave here. A game won with 5+ kills is easily worth more than 50% towards the next rank, maybe even more. I simply can’t bail out. 40 seconds until the zone will force me to leave my hideout. Not enough time to sprint down and back up here, unfortunately.

“You can take that shit another time too, you know?!”

Mom’s probably going to hold this one against me but I’ll gladly take the risk if I can win this game. Suddenly I hear shots being fired not too far from my position. The two teams have started to engage. Judging by the sound of rapid gunfire, I’m fairly certain of their locations. Should I wait a few seconds or storm out to get as many kills as possible at the risk of not getting the win?

*ding dong ding dong ding dong*

I storm out of my hideout, sniper rifle fully loaded up and ready. I spot an enemy, everyone else got eliminated. The remaining player is probably low on HP, might not even require a headshot to kill. They’re standing in the open, hastily reloading their weapons. I take aim and…

“IF YOU DON’T COME DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW I’M CONFISCATING THAT THING!”

My shot doesn’t even come close to hitting the enemy as mom gets serious about this. Hectically, I’m loading my next bullet into the rifle.

*shluck*

A clean headshot ends the life of my in-game avatar immediately. Turns out I wasn’t the only guy carrying a big gun. I place second, barely enough to reenter Gold I league.

Oh for f*ck sake, MOM!

My blood is cooking as I stare blankly at the ‘you’ve placed second’ message on my screen. If only that stupid woman hadn’t distracted me, I…

Wait, is she seriously going to… oh CRAP!

Only now, my adrenaline boosted mind registers the possibility of my computer getting taken away. Hastily, my body sets into motion, breaking through the wooden door of my room and rushing downstairs as quickly as I can. My feet are trampling over the wooden parquet floor in the hallway to make sure mom hears that I’m on my way. I’m rushing down the staircase, taking several steps at once just to get this over with. Finally, my hands take hold of the door handle.

Whoever decided to ring this door is gonna get a piece of my mind!

Putting my entire anger into this, I slam the door open which audibly crashes into the wall and bounces back against me. I’m expecting some grown-up I can yell at for a bit, my eyes already adjusted for the correct height. Instead of a person, though, I’m catching a glimpse of the sunny summer sky dotted with the occasional cloud. A cloud of hot summer air comes wafting into the house, completely surrounding me in seconds. I’m already feeling my anger rise to dangerous heights as the warm air adds to my rising discomfort. If some kids from the neighborhood decided to play a doorbell prank on me, I’m kicking their tiny butts for this! Wait, who’s that?

While looking for the perpetrators, my searching eyes fall on a figure at the exit of the path leading from the nearby street to our house. While the person certainly doesn’t look like an adult, they aren’t making any moves, instead standing still in a slurped way. Their entire body is leaning against a huge trunk while their left arm is making a movement as if wiping something from their faces.

That person, were they the one to ring the bell? Why are they carrying luggage around and… hey, aren’t they someone my age? Who are they?

I pull the cap on my head a little lower to combat the sheer amount of light my eyes aren’t used to. The person standing roughly 10 meters in front of me suddenly whirls around to reveal their identity. Our eyes meet. Both of us freeze in place. Then, after what feels like half an eternity, the other person opens their mouth.

“K-keiichi?”