"This is so unfair!" Hana tosses her controller to the ground as DEFEAT— emblazoned in blue flames— appears on the screen. "Shouldn't you be using your superpowers on more heroic stuff? Like saving people?"
Hirota laughs. He walks over to Hana's thrown controller and picks it up. He sets it down in front of the console. "It's not like I can turn them off."
"So lame," she grumbles. She flops back onto the sofa, resting her feet on the coffee table. "Next time we play, you're not allowed to use them. Deal?"
"Sure, Hana."
"Promise me."
Hirota lifts up his right hand. "I vow to not use my superpowers when playing MK: Unlimited against Hana ' ' Song. Good enough?"
She grins and fires off a thumbs-up. "Perfect."
Hirota sits beside her.
"Hirota-oppa, did you play a lot of video games as a kid?"
"Not really. I didn't get the chance to."
"Why?"
"Too busy."
Hana visibly thinks to herself for a moment. She says, "Alright, it's time to initiate Plan Introduce Hirota to Video Games!" She pumps her fist into the air.
Hirota nods. "Where do we start?"
"Well, since you can use your powers while playing, I wanna see how well you do on shooter games!"
"I'm not familiar with those— or any game, really— but sure." Hirota half-bows his head toward Hana. "I'll be in care, Hana."
Hana Song smiles back. Her cheeks are tinged with pink.
Over the coming weeks, Hirota and Hana spend nearly every waking hour in each other's company. The rest of Overwatch notices it, but none of them say anything.
Hana introduces Hirota to the world of video games. He reciprocates her clear love of it, more than willing to explore something that he has never experienced before. He learns of the monumental effort that goes into creating a video game.
Hirota thinks that "game developers" are their own kind of superhero.
Hana agrees, giggling as she does so.
"What's next?" Hirota asks.
"Well, there's always…" Hana trails off as Kiriko walks into the activity lounge and plops herself down beside Hirota. "Hi, Kiriko."
Kiriko looks at Hana. She turns to Hirota, opens her mouth to speak, closes it, then flicks her gaze to the television. "What's going on?"
"Oh. I've just been introducing Hirota to video games," Hana peps. "We finished a lot of shooters, so I think we'll take a break from them. How about an RPG?"
"Like Dragon Age?" Kiriko asks.
Hana's eyes burst open. "Yeah! Do you play games too, Kiriko?"
"Once before," she says. "I spent most of my time watching someone else play."
"Oh? Like through vids?"
Kiriko shakes her head. "One of my old… partners. He was always playing games. He asked me to sit and watch him play sometimes. His favorite was Dragon Age."
Hana bobs her head up and down. "Great! We'll start Dragon Age. I'll go and load it up." She heads over to the television and the console.
Hirota eyes Kiriko.
