Well, I'm doing a little experiment of sorts to see how I can write fantasy like this, and you'll see what I mean later.

There was always one thing Tommy wanted to do before he had to go to college like his brother, and that was to go on an adventure. Not some boring one with nature hikes and those learning experiences. No, he wanted those adventures that TV always taunted him with.

Sure, his video games were fun...but he was never in them. Invested, yes. But actually in the game? Quite frankly, never.

It didn't even matter how he played (half-heartedly, fully invested, the correct position, upside-down, the list could go on), because nothing worked. Even if he pretended he was gone, if he wasn't Tommy Himi, it wouldn't ever go away. Something would always remind him he's in his perfectly mundane world.

Tommy sat up. It was hard to focus with all that blood rushing to his face, though he couldn't even see the screen at this point. Well, it didn't really matter, he was done with it.

He had played the game several times, to the point where he knew what combinations could and will beat the boss. It was about time for a new game. But he was always worried about what Yukata would think of that. It always seemed like Yukata had a problem with every new toy he got.

What to do now? he asked himself, tuning out the music as much as possible. He didn't feel like turning off the TV, just in case he wanted to pick it up again.

There really wasn't anything else to do though. He could watch TV - his favorite show was almost on - but that only helped a little bit. Sooner or later he'd stop caring for the characters in the shows and start wondering why that couldn't happen to him. And more so since all TV shows are reruns, and he already knows what happened then.

The same goes for books, only Tommy had a lot less patience for those than he had with TV. Really, there wasn't anything for him to do.

Tommy picked up the controller once again. It was better than sitting down and doing nothing at least. Even if he did know practically every solution to defeating the boss.

Really, it was time for a new game.

-0-0-0-

"If you can't beat them, join them." He always heard people say, and he understood what they meant by it. But Tommy just couldn't understand why his mind felt the need to remember that phrase now.

He definitely couldn't beat the fun everyone in the game appeared to have. And yet, he couldn't join them either. Okay, maybe if he squinted his eyes, stood on his head for five minutes, and imagined, maybe he -

Tommy had to mentally smack himself in the head. Why didn't he think of that sooner? With barely any logic checks, and maybe a healthy dose of whatever odd facts he crammed into that brain of his, he could create a world better than what was there in his games.

But who'd play with him there?