Impossible.

Izuru Kamukura stared at the CRT monitor in front of him. For the first time in his life, his heart rate was spiking. Every single nerve in his body was tingling, as if he had just been struck by lightning. He quickly ran a self-diagnosis, and found that physically, he was fine. He was not under some sort of ailment, he had taken in the optimal amount of calories for the day, he was hydrated, and he had slept for a perfect eight hours last night.

A drop of sweat ran down his forehead and dripped onto his controller. He blinked, and looked at the CRT again. The same results were displayed, of course. It would be illogical for the results to change based off of something as inconsequential as a blink.

There, on the bright screen, it proudly displayed a grass wreath over the player 1 port - Chiaki's port. '1st' was displayed in golden text, further indicating her victory.

For how long had Izuru went through the motions of life with no effort? It seemed like decades. Decades of being stuck in a suffocating cloud of perpetual boredom that was all-encompassing. Even when he joined Hope's Peak, he found that the so called Ultimates couldn't even hold up to his talent.

The only reason why he hadn't left was because he had actually found someone that managed to somewhat raise his interest - the Ultimate Gamer, Chiaki Nanami.

For the whole semester, she insisted on trying to be his friend. It was a routine that quickly grew as boring as every other monotonous part of his life. Whenever she managed to steal some time with him, she always challenged him to some sort of video game. And whenever she challenged him, he accepted - why not? It's not as if he had anything better to do. Besides, even if he always won with boring ease, her reaction always gave him a slight sense of puzzlement.

She lost every single time. And yet, she still seemed to be happy by the end of it. She always continued to challenge him with optimism. It was expected, but illogical… which was a breath of fresh air.

So why would Izuru expect anything different, on this one winter day, when Chiaki came over to his dorm and invited him to another session of Street Brawler? For the first fifteen or so rounds, he won, as always. None of them could even be considered close.

But in the very next round, Izuru found something unexpected - a challenge. All at once, she seemed to adapt to his movements. Of course, he managed to still beat her, but the fact that she had been able to improve so much made him feel… happy?

No, maybe not that. Excited would be the better word. It had been a very long time since he had his movements analyzed by someone like that. It was refreshing to find that, perhaps, he would be able to find someone who could match his own talents.

All of this went through his head before their last game.

The game where she finally beat him.

Her skills seemed to have doubled tenfold. Izuru suddenly found himself with no choice but to actually try. But even after refocusing his efforts, she still somehow managed to outplay him at almost every interaction.

"Ah… I won?" Chiaki gaped at the screen with the same amount of disbelief as Izuru. She dropped her controller and leaned forward until her nose was almost touching the TV. After reading the results a few dozen times over, she leaned back and slowly turned to meet him. Her face was flushed with excitement and her eyes were practically sparkling. "I won! Izuru, I actually beat you!"

"You… did." Izuru said, looking down at his controller. It was the exact same model as Chiaki's.

"Yeah!" Chiaki said. She followed his gaze down to his controller, where her smile suddenly faltered. "Your controller didn't break or anything, did it? Is… Is that what happened? It's actually kind of old, so-"

"No." Izuru said firmly. And yet, he suddenly found himself unsure. What if it was broken? He could tell from a single glance that it was in perfect condition, but what if he was wrong? Just a few minutes ago, the thought would have never crossed his mind. He was engineered to be the paragon of talent. But now, uncertainty filled his mind.

It was disconcerting, but at the same time, he had never felt more alive. Instead of the bitterness he would have expected to come with a loss, he instead felt lighter, more energetic, even. He raised his eyes to meet Chiaki's.

"You're truly skilled, Chiaki. Even with my talent, you still managed to beat me." Izuru said calmly. For the first time in his life, the calm was a facade. An almost uncomfortable amount of adrenaline raced through his veins. He wasn't sure if he would ever get used to the sensation.

He hoped that he wouldn't get used to it.

"Chiaki." Izuru said. "I would like to play some more games with you."

"R-Really?" Chiaki gaped at him in disbelief. That was the first time that he had ever asked to do anything with her.

"Yes." Izuru says, nodding. "The ones that you are the most skilled at, if you would."

"Yeah. Yeah, sure!" Chiaki smiled and reaches for her backpack, where she undoubtedly had a surplus of game cartridges stored, along with backup controllers and handheld consoles. Maybe she would bring out her favorite game, Galaga. Or maybe another fighting game. Izuru wasn't sure - not anymore.

Was it a fluke? Izuru thinks as he studies Chiaki's face. She seemed to be buzzing with excitement, and her eyes were filled with determination, glowing as brightly as the CRT in front of them. He knew instantly that she was confident in her skills. Fluke or not, she thought that she could beat him again.

If she turned out to be right, then…

She could be the answer that he's been looking for all along.