"Just 20 more minutes, then we'll be out of here." 16-year-old Ikeda Nairuzu said to his childhood friend, Uehashi Takumi, as he pushed up on his long, layered red hair with white lines running through them; holding his palm up against one of his crimson eyes.
He didn't really like his job at Ichiran, a fast food ramen shop just a kilometer or two from his home in Kyoto, but it did let him make enough money to fuel his hobby: video games. Today was a special day, however. Sword Art Online, one of the most highly anticipated FDVR games of the year, was coming out. Nairuzu, four of his friends, and his little sister Mitsuko pre-ordered the game just to make sure they wouldn't be sold out by the time they got to the game store.
He glanced over at Takumi, who was changing a garbage can right next to the counter Nairuzu was wiping down. Takumi was around 8 centimeters shorter than Nairuzu, who was 1.88 meters, and he was just barely skinnier and had a slightly darker tone to his skin. He had shorter brown hair and blue eyes, and he always wore a smile that made you want to be friends with him.
He finished tying up the bag and said, "I can't wait to forget that we ordered take-out. Do you think SAO is going to be as good as they say?" Nairuzu soaked his washrag in a bucket of soapy water and wrung it out before answering.
"Matsuo said that the beta was good. I can only imagine the final game will be better, or at least just as good." He shrugged. Sugita Matsuo worked at the game store, so he got a discount on all of the copies of the game.
"Hey, why didn't Rose-Chan want to get the game again?" Takumi asked.
Nairuzu thought about the American transfer student for a moment. She came to Kyoto just under a year ago, and sometimes her Japanese is just a little off, but her personality and good looks made him fall head over heels for her. She seemed confident on the outside, but once you got to know her she was a bit quirky and awkward, but in a good way. She had flowing, straight brown hair and sparkling emerald eyes that made Nairuzu choke up every time he gazed into them.
"She said she was waiting for the full game reviews to come out. She doesn't want to waste money on it if it turns out terrible." He said as he laid the rag on the side of the pale. He picked the bucket up and started walking over to the sink, and Takumi followed close behind.
"You're pretty lucky though, getting to go out with a girl like her." Takumi patted Nairuzu on the back, the red-haired boy began blushing just a little. Yeah, he was lucky. Rose was one of the most beautiful girls in the whole school, and he was dating her.
Nairuzu looked up and saw their manager marching right towards them. Takumi turned his head slightly and noticed him as well.
"Crap, pretend like you're doing something." Nairuzu took a stray dirty dish and began washing it, and Takumi raced over to the mop and began filling the bucket.
"Hey, do you guys wanna go leave early?" The middle-aged man asked once he reached the two friends. Both Nairuzu and Takumi looked up at their boss with confusion. Usually, they wouldn't be the ones he'd let off early since the two slacked off the most, but he seemed sincere about the gesture.
"W-what?" Nairuzu asked as he straightened his back.
"I mean, it's pretty slow…" He stated, "besides, didn't that game you guys were talking about come out today? Sword...Play Online?" It took all of Nairuzu's strength not to correct him. Takumi turned off the water and walked up to be next to his friend.
"Uh, yeah, it does." Takumi answered.
"Yeah, you guys deserve a break, you work a lot," he said and waved his arm at the two, "even if you do slack off." He muttered under his breath.
"You really mean it?" Nairuzu asked as he leaned in, his heart was filling up with both excitement and gratitude towards the manager.
"Yeah, sure, we can handle it here for the rest of the day."
"Thanks, Hashi-San!" Takumi bowed his head and body towards the man, Nairuzu doing the same soon after.
"Eh, it's no problem. Get outta here, you crazy kids." Hashi-San smiled as he watched the two rush to take off their aprons and dash to the exit.
Once outside, Nairuzu and Takumi mounted their bikes and pushed off down the street towards the game store. They raced in between the cars and passed the pedestrians until a vibration in their pockets stopped them near a street lamp. They both touched the ground with their feet and pulled out their phones. A text message from Miiko to their group chat that consisted of their tiny circle of friends; now with the new addition of Nairuzu's 12-year-old sister. That makes seven people.
"Heyy! I'm finally home from work, ill meet you guys at the store in about 10 minutes!" The girl's spelling errors irked Nairuzu a bit, but not enough to actually correct them.
"I have all the games here, and the two Nerve Gears for you and Mitsuko-Chan, just waiting outside for all of you guys." Matsuo sent.
Takumi began typing, "Nairuzu and I are on our way."
"When and if I get it, you guys are gonna have to carry me until I can reach your levels." Rose texted.
"I'll be carrying these guys too." Matsuo joked, which received nothing more than a grin from Nairuzu.
The two shut off their phones and pushed off once again down the sidewalk. Just three more blocks until they had to take a right to get to the game store. They passed the first street, but before they could reach the next they were stopped by three people blocking the street. The one in the middle had spiked blonde hair and menacing blue eyes and wore a white t-shirt underneath a black hoodie with a ripped pair of jeans that were held at his waist by a chain that ran through the belt loops. It was an 18-year-old named Shizue, the infamous bully at Municipal Horikawa Senior High School, and his two nameless goons who each looked similar; with brown hair that covered their eyes and a beanie that rested on top, both of shorter stature with denim jackets on. One of them was holding a metal baseball bat.
"Well if it isn't two of the five losers." Shizue taunted with his almost evil sounding voice. Nairuzu clenched his fist out of hate for the upperclassmen. "Just where are you guys going?" He asked.
"None of your business." Takumi declared with confidence as he straightened his back. The bully stared at the two for a moment while chewing his bubblegum.
"You guys got any money?" He asked and put on a devilish grin. "There's a new game that came out, and I really want it...but I don't know if I have enough money." He reached around to his back pocket.
"You're kidding me, right? You don't have any money?" Nairuzu growled at him while giving his most intimidating stare he could manage.
Shizue gave a short chuckle and replied, "Well, I do if I want to skip eating out…" He pulled out a small black handle with red lines running down it, "but I don't want to be playing on an empty stomach."
With a flick of his hand, a blade came out of the handle. There was a moment of intense silence between the two groups of teenagers. Without moving his head, Nairuzu looked around for any reasonable place for escape.
"The alley over there?" He thought to himself when he eyed a gap between the buildings off to his left. "Traffic's stopped, we'd have to leave the bikes…that'll have to do." He decided.
He looked down slightly and spotted a small rock at his foot. He swiftly dropped down and snatched up the rock, then he raised it above his chest and threw it as hard as he could. The rock connected with Shizue's forehead and the bully stumbled back and put his right hand on his head.
"Come on, let's go!" Nairuzu called out to Takumi.
They both took off running across the street, once or twice they had to slide over the hood of a car, which was answered by angered shouts of the drivers. They sprinted into to the vacant alley and didn't look back. At the end of the passageway, there was both a right and a left turn, in which they sharply turned right, tripping and steadying themselves by putting a hand on the concrete.
They slowed to a walk because they didn't hear any footsteps behind them. For almost a half a minute they remained breathless and motionless as they listened for any trace of the bullies. Nothing. They peeked out of the alley and into the street; surveying the area until they found the place they ditched the bikes. Shizue and his goons were walking down the street away from Nairuzu and Takumi, roaring with maniacal laughter. Both of the bikes were destroyed.
"You would think if they really wanted money they'd chase us." Takumi pointed out. Nairuzu sighed and stood up as he watched the three disappear.
"They probably just want to scare us." The red-and-white-haired boy sighed. He stood up straight and continued, "Come on, we'll but new bikes next paycheck." They turned left and walked down the sidewalk that led to their destination.
"That was the second bike you lost to them, right? Didn't they steal the last one?" Takumi asked.
"Yeah…" Nairuzu balled his fist and clenched his teeth every time he thought about that psychopath.
Out of anger, he kicked an empty, slightly crushed soda can farther down the sidewalk. It almost reached the parking lot of the game store. They passed the building they walked beside and the round white sign of a store called "A-Too" came into view. Sitting on a bench next to the automatic door was a boy that was slightly taller than Takumi but not quite as tall as Nairuzu. He had shaggy black hair and was wearing a green hoodie over a black t-shirt and jeans. It was 17-year-old Sugita Matsuo; gaming expert, group leader, friend. He opened his green eyes and pulled his white Bluetooth headphones down to his neck.
"Hey, Nairuzu. Hey, Takumi-Kun." He gave his usual friendly smirk as he stood up and stretched his right arm up behind his neck.
"Hey, Matsuo…" Takumi grumbled as he collapsed onto the concrete.
"You guys seem a bit depressed, did something happen?" Matsuo asked with a concerned look on his face.
"We just had a run-in with Shizue and his posse." Nairuzu stated gruffly as he sat down with a thud. "We don't have bikes anymore."
"Aw, that really sucks. I'm sorry guys." Matsuo was sincere with his words. "You know what I think would cheer you up?" He asked in a whimsical tone and reached into one of the three plastic bags resting on the bench. He turned around and in his hand were two game cases, each with a grassy landscape in the foreground and a floating island-looking thing in the distance, with the words "Sword Art Online" in a blue, crystal-like font near the top.
"One of the most anticipated games of 2022!"
Admittedly the game case alone cheered the two up. The game was in development for what seemed like an eternity, and now it's finally here in their hands!
"This is going to be one hell of a game." Nairuzu said as he swooned over the beautiful design on the front.
"My character from the Beta was really fast and proficient in one-handed weapons." Matsuo stated in an almost bragging-like tone and put his thumb against his chest. "Any ideas for your guys' characters?"
"There's no archery or magic, right?" Takumi asked as he looked up to the beta tester for answers.
"Right, but there are small throwing weapons like knives and stuff."
"Well, since I won't be able to play any kind of support role like I usually do, I'll probably just balance out my character as well as I can." He continued and flipped the case around to examine the back.
"What about you?" Matsuo turned his attention to Nairuzu.
"Oh, man, you know that I have to go with two-handed weapons!" Nairuzu proclaimed, "Remember when we used to play ESO when we were like, 10, and I had that beastly battleaxe? I have got to get something like that again!"
At that moment, just a building to the right of them, the automatic door slid open and two people walked out of the convenience store and towards the three boys. Akimoto Miiko and Nagasuka Suzu were the two shortest people in the group besides Rose. They both stood at 1.7 meters while Rose was only 1.67; making her an easy target for teasing. Miiko had long blonde hair that had a small braid running down the right and ocean blue eyes, and she was wearing a plain white tee, a chain necklace with a heart design hanging off it, a few wristbands on her left arm, skinny jeans, and white sneakers. Suzu was kinda chubby and had shaggy brown hair and brown eyes, and he wore the red t-shirt under a tan jacket and khaki pants - his work clothes.
"Sorry, he just had to eat something after he got off." Miiko sighed once she got into talking range. Suzu just giggled and gave an almost unnoticeable shrug. Miiko's eyes widened a bit and she grew a bright smile when she noticed the two new people sitting near the bench.
"Hey, Nairuzu! Hey, Takumi!" She greeted them.
"Hey, Miiko, what's up?" Nairuzu asked.
"Eh, nothing much, just a stressful day at work." She replied. Matsuo tossed both Miiko and Suzu their copies of the game. While Suzu looked just as excited as Nairuzu and Takumi did, Miiko looked more confused.
"So, wait, why did I get dragged into this again?"
"It's like I said, the game has so many stats that it's impossible to level each one of them up without making sacrifices to something else. We're gonna need specialists. Nairuzu, Takumi-Kun, and I are going to be the main fighters of our party, Suzu will level up his smithing ability so we can repair and upgrade our weapons and armor, then we need someone to cook and someone who has high speech so we can buy from and sell to npc's at better prices; that's where you and Mitsuko-Chan come in" Matsuo explained.
"What about Rose-Chan, doesn't she play video games?" She asked in a whiny tone.
"Well, it was originally going to be you and Rose," Nairuzu replied, "but I guess she doesn't like buying games once they come out."
"I haven't played many video games; I may be no good," She warned.
"It's not like it's gonna kill ya, you can always respawn." Suzu urged her. Miiko stood there for a second with her thinking expression on while she gave a soft hum.
"Oh, please Miiko-Chan? You're our only hope!" Matsuo dramatically begged and dropped to the ground as if he were worshipping a goddess.
"Oh, alright, I'll play." She agreed.
"Jackpot." Matsuo thought to himself. The only blonde in the group always caved in whenever she was complimented or praised.
A slam of a car door near the street caught the attention of the group of teens. Standing in front of a navy blue minivan was Nairuzu's younger sister, Mitsuko. She had short brown hair down to her shoulders and blue eyes, and she was wearing a white sweater with a blue scarf and black jeans.
"Hey everybody!" She called and waved with a wide smile. She ran up the older students and stopped in front of her brother.
"Hey, sis," Nairuzu smiled. He held out his fist and she bumped it. "what's up?"
"Just pumped for the game." She answered as she took her copy from Matsuo.
"Hey," The black haired teen leaned in and muttered to Nairuzu, "are you sure we can rely on her? I mean, she's just a kid."
"We were younger than her when we started playing online games, it'll be fine." He reassured him.
"I hope you're right." Matsuo sighed.
Matsuo's room was the place they decided to play the game together; it was much larger than everyone else's, not to mention his mom wouldn't be back until much later in the night because of her job. That means they get to play the game a lot longer without anyone waking them up. There was a bed opposite of the door, a hammock directly to the left of the door, and his wooden dresser was across the room from his bed.
"This is going to be the best sleepover ever!" Mitsuko exclaimed as she jumped up high on Matsuo's bed; letting herself fall onto her back on the final jump.
"I call the hammock!" Takumi cheered as he rolled up onto the hanging sheet. Nairuzu and Suzu were blowing up air mattresses and laying them on the ground.
"So, it'll be like I'm dreaming?" Miiko tilted her head in curiosity at Matsuo, who was setting up her Nerve Gear.
"Kinda," the black-haired boy answered, "except a lot of people are having the same dream, and you can come back to it anytime." He plugged the cable into the power strip and the helmet lit up and made a short whirring sound. Matsuo cracked a wide smile and turned to the girl.
"This is one dream you're not gonna want to wake up from."
As Nairuzu and Suzu finished up blowing up the four air mattresses surrounding the power strip in the middle of the hardwood floor, Takumi and Mitsuku also plugged in their game systems.
"When you and Mitsuku-Chan put that thing on, you're both going to need to set up the system settings and make your account." Nairuzu explained as he walked up to Miiko. "When you get in the game, swipe your hand down like this," he demonstrated the motion, "that'll bring up your menu. Scroll until you see the 'Add Friends' option. My username is the easiest; it's just my first name. Search me up and add me."
He turned to his little sister who was beginning to get comfortable on her mattress. "I'll get a notification and I'll invite you guys to a party. It'll be a lot easier to find you two, then we can all add you as friends." He concluded with a smile.
"Right." Miiko and Mitsuku said nearly at the same time. They put on their helmets and settled down on their backs. Through the screen, you could see the system instructing them through the calibration test. They patted their bodies accordingly. After that, several seconds of silence passed as the two girls laid with their eyes closed.
"So, uh, when is, uh, something supposed to happen?" Miiko asked in quiet, scattered voice. A wave of giggles from the guys of the group filled the room.
"Oh, right, we forgot to tell you." Suzu sat up after putting on his Nerve Gear. "It's voice activated."
Matsuo rushed to his bed and picked up a notepad and mechanical pencil. He jotted down something and handed it to Miiko. She flipped it over and in big, sloppy handwriting were the words 'Link Start'.
"Just say that when you're ready," He instructed with a grin. Once again, she relaxed on her mattress. She closed her eyes and took a long inhale.
"Link start!" She raised her voice slightly. Her whole body went limp as the system forced her unconscious.
Matsuo turned, set his pencil on his nightstand at the side of his bed, and began climbing onto his mattress. He heard hard thumping on his floor and felt a gust of wind behind him. He turned and found that both Nairuzu and the permanent marker that also resided on his nightstand were missing. He looked towards the unconscious girl to find a drawn on mustache above her lip and the red-haired teen crouching over her with a grin.
"Oh man, she's gonna be so mad when she wakes up!" He chuckled as he headed for his mattress and put on his Nerve Gear.
The only noises in the room were the springs from the mattresses as the remaining five shifted their positions to get comfortable and the patting of their bodies for the calibration test. A collective exhale filled the room as everyone relaxed their bodies, and they all let out two words at the same time.
"Link start!"