Kou Sakuragi was trying not to pay attention to her watch as she fiddled with her hours-old paper cup. Nao was supposed to be off work half an hour ago but a flood of high school students had rushed the coffee shop right before his shift ended. She looked over her shoulder to see Nao still smiling so widely despite the forced over time.

"Being that happy all the time is some kind of skill," Kou thought to herself before deciding to flip back on her Switch. "Yeah, a real life skill that you sorely lack," she retorted mentally. "Might as well farm for some minerals while I wait." Kou entered autopilot as she scoured the game's various areas for minerals and items, she wanted to upgrade her armor anyway.

"Excuse meー"

"I'M SORRY," Kou managed out as she quickly grabbed her bag and shot out of her chair. She groaned internally all the while. She was just about to attain a rare item; hopefully, the game saved her progress before she flipped it off.

"Kou-chan, it's just me." A hand grabbed her shoulder, turning her around. "Sorry to have kept you waiting," Nao smiled widely, shrugging his bag onto his shoulder. Yeah, definitely a skill she was not in possession of. Kou averted her gaze down, "It's okay, I had my Switch."

They headed out of the coffee shop and into the night of the busy city. It was Friday night and salarymen were just getting off work and heading to the izakaya with their colleagues. Kou was looking forward to no classes and picking up some new games in the morning. Kou led the way to their destination as Nao had no clue where they were going.

"Kou-kー Kou-chan," Nao stopped briefly. If Kou had looked up in time, she would've noticed the pained expression on his face. Even though the bathroom debacle had been a month ago, Nao was still beating himself up. It didn't help that he would slip up every so often and misgender her. It was a habit he couldn't seem to completely break and he felt awful for it. He continued, "I've never been to a PC cafe before! Thank you for inviting me. You said there's a free drink bar, right?"

"Yeah, but it's just soft drinks. Nothing special." Kou responded, keeping her eyes glued to the sidewalk in front of her. The neon lights reflecting off the windows, let her know they were close to their destination.

Kou didn't know what she had expected when she invited Nao to a PC cafe with her. Well, for one, she hadn't even thought he would agree. What kind of girl asks a guy to a PC cafe anyway? "It's not exactly the most romantic place," she thought before mentally slapping herself. Her set up at home would be far better to help Nao improve his gaming skills. She had dropped so much yen on it. "Yeah, but you'd never hear the end of it at home if you took an attractive classmate home."

"How many hours should we do?" Nao asked, capturing Kou's attention.

"Well last train for me is at 12:19, it's almost 9:00. Is 3 hours okay? The station isn't too far from the cafe" Kou suggested. She breathed a sigh of relief when Nao smiled and answered affirmatively. She cracked a small smile in return.

Kou had been hoping that the PC cafe wouldn't be too busy. Just busy enough that their talking wouldn't be too distracting to other patrons. She had chosen this one because they had a few rows of PCs that weren't separated by high dividers. This would facilitate easier instruction. They would just ask for seats next to each other so Kou could teach in real life and provide in-game support from her designated PC. Nao was going to fight a level-25 boss tonight. So, he needed all the support he could get.

However, the place was packed. Some kind of Underwatch tournament was happening. The smell never ceased to amaze her when a bunch of game otaku were lured away from their home PCs to participate in these things. It was, simply, nauseating. She had been foolish to not double check if an event would be going on.

"Excuse, are there two adjacent seats available?" Kou asked the frontdesk person.

"Ah, I'm sorry, they're all reserved. Are you two together?"

"Uh...Yeah."

"Well, we have a two-person flat-mat room. Only one PC, but two sets of headphones! It's also a little more private…" the frontdesk person trailed off. Kou's face splotched red at the insinuation.

"That sounds great! How much for three hours?" Nao piped in, shuffling past Kou.

"It's usually 3,500 yen, but since you've been so flexible, 2,500 yen" The frontdesk person responded.

"Really! You don't have to," Nao began, flashing his knee-weakening smile. Kou watched the frontdesk person flush from the attention as he confirmed the discount was going to be applied.

Nao reached into his wallet and handed the money over before Kou even had a chance to ask for the charge to be separated.

"Let me pay you back," Kou said as she rifled through her own wallet.

"Consider it payment towards the gaming lessons." Nao finished with a wink before he turned back to accept the receipt.

"It's room 208 on the second second floor has the best drink options, too. Have fun!"

"Whoa, this looks so comfy!" Nao squealed while sliding his shoes off. He hopped onto the mat after Kou. "You can even take showers here! I'm surprised Hirotaka doesn't just live here."

"Probably because the PCs aren't the best." Kou responded, knowing full well that the older Nifuji brother was probably a bigger gamer than she was. "And even he has friends and a pretty girlfriend…"

Kou booted up the PC while Nao went to grab them some colas. She started up the game, logging in with her credentials to test it. It was laggy, but any practice was good practice for Nao. She did have to commend him for his efforts, he managed to level up twice without her assistance. Though, she suspected Hirotaka may have been giving pointers or, more likely, taking over.

She logged out just as Nao came back. She scooted over to space in front of the TV so Nao could sit in front of the computer monitor. She watched silently as he logged in. This was incredibly awkward.

It wasn't exactly a private room, there was no ceiling after all, just high walls. But it was private enough. She was, pretty much, truly alone with Nao. Kou's heart was beating faster than it should have been. She knew nothing was going to happen. Nao wasn't interested in her, at least, not like how she'd become interested in him. He was far too pretty and interesting to be into someone as boring and plain as her. She didn't even look like a girl. How could he be attracted to her?

They decided not to take on the boss and opted to spar with in-game enemies for XP since she couldn't back him up in-game. As he played, she admired his features, while offering tips on how to beat certain enemies and advice on which weapons and armor to equip.

After an hour or so of gameplay, Nao accidentally stumbled upon a rare enemy. A particularly strong one, too. Nao was asking how to run away, he knew he'd be wrecked in less than a second if he attempted to battle, but Kou shot her left hand over his on the keyboard. She lined her fingers with his and started tapping away.

Nao was mesmerized by his character destroying the enemy on the screen. Kou's fingers were absolutely magical on the keyboard. He had admired her typing skills before, envied them even. His typing had become a source of ridicule from his older brother. Though, Narumi did try to defend him through her chortles.

He watched his character deliver the final blow to the enemy. He turned to thank Kou for her assistance. At the same time, Kou realized how close she was to Nao. She was practically on top of him. Her chest was against his left arm, her left forearm and hand completely covering his. She looked up at him just as he turned.

There noses barely brushed each other. Kou was frozen. Her heart was beating faster than she could remember. Surely, this was what a heart attack felt like. She had crossed all sorts of personal boundaries. She'd hate if someone did this to her, Nao was probably furious with her. Though, it was hard to ever imagine Nao being angry. She could feel him exhaling from this position. She had to move, but she was locked in place.

She was looking into dark blue eyes, a wide smile on his lips. This was out of one of those shoujo mangas she read when she was younger. She couldn't tell how long they had been staring at each other. It felt torturously long. Years, decades, centuries, an eternity.

"Why isn't he moving away?" Kou thought. She started to catastrophize the situation, believing this to be the actual end of their friendship. She had practically thrown herself at him. She was no better than a pervert on a train during rush hour.

Kou finally felt the paralysis spell weaken. She tried to steady herself quickly with her right hand on Nao's body in order to move away. In the process, she ended up bringing her body further up his.

Her lips crashed into Nao's. Her heart stopped. She felt Nao's body still.

This was it. The end. She was going to die of embarrassment.

She quickly pulled herself away and was ready to mutter an apology and run out of the room. She felt Nao's hand on the back of her head, pulling her back in. She stared, eyes wide, at Nao's closed ones.

He was willingly kissing her. He was kissing her of his own volition. He. Was. Kissing. Her. This was impossible. This had to be a dream, a fantasy. Her life was not a shoujo manga or anime. Once she accepted that it had to be a dream, she closed her eyes and pressed back against his lips. Might as well enjoy a dream this life-like.

When they broke apart, she heard Nao giggle. It sounded like a nervous giggle. The kind of giggle you make in awkward situations. The giggle you make when you don't know what to say.

"I'm really sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm such an idiot. I'm so ー" Kou started before Nao grabbed her face, kissing her again. Nao was surprised by his own boldness, but her lips were too soft to not enjoy again. This might be a one-time thing, and he was always one to believe to enjoy things while they happen. Why would such a cool girl be interested in a stupid, technologically inept guy like him, anyway?

When they pulled apart, Nao smiled at her. "Thanks for helping me win Kou-chan."

"I… you're welcome…" Kou managed to choke out, her heart still racing a mile a minute. She brought her hands to her face to hide her embarrassment.

Nao was still feeling a little bold, "Can I continue to thank you in the same manner every time you help me win?"

Kou released a sound similar to a dog yelping after getting it's tail stepped on. She was sure she was going to explode. She felt hot all over. There was no way she was hearing right. If she just focused on the floor, her heart would eventually stop racing and she could construct a logical sentence.

After a long silence with Kou's eyes glued to the floor mat, Nao's confidence began to dissolve. "Look… Kou-chan… I'm sorー" Nao managed to get out before Kou answered his earlier question.

"Kisses are an acceptable, alternative form of payment for these lessons."

Nao sighed in relief, his frown turning into his signature grin. Kou hoped he'd never get better.