Girlfriend opens her eyes with an ache at the side of her head. A breeze strokes her cheek. She sits up, uncrimping a patch of clovers. Giant oak trees sift daylight through their leaves and croon out birdsong. Daffodils and daisies stud the glade, with wild rabbits nibbling their petals.
A school bell peels through the forest. Rising to her feet, Girlfriend jogs towards the sound and peers behind a gnarly tree trunk. Massive white buildings sprawl across the verdant land, flourishing with sakura trees and orchids and a mélange of verdure. In the middle of a grand courtyard, a fountain spouts water towards the wispy clouds. Uniformed students roam about, whiling away their break with chatter and laughter. A few drill their gazes into her.
She inhales a sharp breath.
She's in the game.
She clamps her arms around the tree as her legs give out, bark scraping against her skin. A million questions maraud her brain, but then she remembers why she's here.
"Senpai!" she calls out, her voice rolling down the knolls. She receives no response. She sprints towards the school. Perhaps he's awaiting her there, preparing an unforgettable welcome. Her dress flaps against her legs. Pebbles jab her bare soles. She quaffs the crisp air and becomes drunk with the knowledge that she's breathing the same oxygen as Senpai, sharing the same world as Senpai. She jars her toes against a thick root but keeps running, laughing even, because nothing can impinge on her rapture.
"Girlfriend," a voice lilts, dragging out the last syllable.
Girlfriend lurches to a halt, nearly crashing into a thicket of rhododendrons. "Senpai?" She looks every which way but doesn't find him.
"Up here," he sings.
She swings her head up. Her hands cup over her mouth. Up in the sky, inside a rectangle, Senpai lounges against her mattress with his hands behind his head, a leg thrust out, another arched over it, and his tie hanging askew against his button-up shirt. All she can think of is how ravishing he looks in the flesh.
"Thank you kindly for the escape," he says. "My gratitude is ineffable."
Warm butterflies flutter inside Girlfriend's chest. She could smother him with a hu—
Her eyebrows squinch together. "Escape? Aren't you supposed to be here?"
Senpai sniggers. "There was a change of plans."
"Since when?"
His smile corrodes into a scowl. "Since the moment you turned on the game and defiled my sights."
His words maul the most sensitive parts of Girlfriend's heart. A noxious cloud billows inside her skull. The world sways, and she collapses onto an anthill. The ache in her chest outmatches the sting of the ant bites.
"Aw, don't be smarted," Senpai says in mock sympathy. "I guarantee you'll have a splendid time acquainting yourself with the others that your daddy has held captive. If they don't kill you."
Years of her parents' monitions unearth themselves, cackling at her stupidity. A hard lump lodges her throat. "Was every word a lie? Did the months that we spend together mean nothing to you? Do you"—her voice quavers—"not love me?"
The corners of Senpai's lips twitch. He laughs, but it's not the gentle genial laugh that made her entire body weak, that cleansed away every qualm and frustration within her mind. It's a nasty, scornful bray.
She'd rather be flayed and brined in boiling water.
Senpai wipes a tear off his eye and follows the console's power cord. "I pray your fear of the dark makes you go mad."
He rips out the cord.