A/N: Long time not seen! I'm back!
So, actually, your grandmother passed away last month and I was fine at first (or what I thought) but it did affect me more than expected. Of course, there is a tradition where we don't mourn in my family so every time I spend a sleepless night, I can't help but regret something when she was still at the hospital.
Anyway, enough with the out of topic subject— we are here for some HonoKoto; something I haven't been writing lately but I wanted a little change of pace so here we are.
[-x-x-x-]
White short-sleeve shirt; check, blue short shorts; check, hair band; check.
Standing in front of a fountain was a young girl, seemingly feeling nervous as she couldn't help double check her appearance every five seconds. She was at the park on a Sunday afternoon and was waiting for someone. People were passing by; minding their own business but the ginger was just standing there.
One might wonder why someone like was being this nervous. Well… it would be hard to understand without a little reminder about Kousaka Honoka.
—Flashback—
20 years-old young girl Kousaka Honoka was a college student at the popular University of Tokyo, namely Otonokizaka. Being a second year in computer science, she was obsessed with high technology and was indeed what one could call an "otaku".
Her hobbies were playing video games, reading manga and watching anime. In fact, she was well-known on the world of online RPG playing as Konoka. On her free time, she would usually get behind her computer and play her favorite MMORPG, namely the popular Love Live in which one player can incarnate a hero in a fantasy-like world, battle against monsters, complete quests and of course aim to be the best.
Since she was still living with her parents, she had to help from time to time on their sweet shop. That didn't stop her from being an average college student though.
She had a very good reputation on the online gaming world, something she has kept her statut since high school. However, something was beginning to trouble her lately. It was not the new quest about finding wythern to adopt or the one in which you had to defend a temple against a horde of Kobold. No; it was because of a new player that got a status above her.
Mitori was a very newbie player who just created her account one year prior—compare that to Honoka's four years—but she did rank higher than the ginger on several missions they got the opportunity to form a team.
'She got MVP again…' The young student fell on her back on the comfortable carpet laid in her room after seeing a popup message on her laptop. Since it was Saturday afternoon, she had nothing to do so she joined a raid and guess what? Mitori got most of the enemies. 'Konoka is a Valkyrie so she is immunized against many ailments stats. Also, she has several great skills and has ice elements. On the other hand, for some unknown reason, Mitori is a Rune Knight. Sure she has awesome skills and healing magic but something is definitely off.'
A sigh escaped the ginger as she sat up straight again and clicked several buttons until her character was back in town. She figured since she got a rare item and lot of gold piece, better make some trade for a better equipment. Honoka figured since she couldn't spend real money because she needed these for anime and manga—especially for weekly jump, shounen jump and yuri shimai—so she had to complete hard quests to obtain good equipment.
Taking a check at the status window, her character was at level 102—the fifth highest-level character after Mikozomi, Elichika, Tomaki and of course Mitori. She still needed some experience before leveling up so the idea of doing another quest right away was tempting.
Before she could open another window though, another popup appeared and she read it. "Mitori wish to have a private message with you."
Honoka placed a finger on her chin and thought. It was something unusual as the only time they have chatted was during few raids and it was mostly with texts but now she was asking for a webcam on. Since the ginger has never seen the mysterious knight's face, she was tempted but suspicious.
In the end, her curiosity took the top and so she clicked yes, putting the webcam above her laptop. She could have sworn the loading part was painfully slow as her heart was beating really fast. It was not everyday that she got to speak with someone with a status above her. The rare time she has ever done that was when Mikozomi has started flirting with her on text chat and wanted to activate webcam.
Finally after what seemed like an eternity, the chat window appeared and she was greeted by a smiling young girl—about her age if her appearance was not lying. Honoka was left speechless as her eyes couldn't help scan the background; a very tidy room with lot of cute pillows and plush on the shelves behind Mitori. Compared to that, the ginger's room was in a mess as magazines were spread on the bed, DVD booklets were on the floors and she was still clad in her pajama at 02:00 PM.
"Hello!" The ash-haired girl's angelic voice made Honoka self-conscious as the contrast in between them only intensified.
"H-hi…" Her voice came a little too meekly and she feared Mitori might think of her as weird. Well… she noticed that the girl at the other side of the screen was still waving a big bright smile while hugging a cute pink pillow. Her clothes were composed of a cute frilly yellow and orange dress while her hair was attached partially into a sidetail. Honoka noticed they had the same hairstyle and were using the same design or ribbon—with different color; yellow for Honoka and green for Mitori.
"Nice to meet you, Konoka-chan! Thank you for accepting my chat request."
"Y-yeah… Sorry if I'm not presentable. I just recovered from a cold."
"Oh. So I guess that explains you were inactive for the past four days." The other girl displayed concern at these words.
"W-well… yeah. But thanks to my little sister, I got better in no time."
Mitori then chuckled. "Is that so? You look like about the same age of me by the way." She said before realizing something and made a quick apologize. "Oh. I'm sorry for forgetting to introduce myself. I'm Minami Kotori, a second year student at UTX University."
"Oh. You go to UTX?" The ginger got curious as a smile spread itself on her face. "What course?"
"I took Telecommunication course." She replied, the smile never leaving her face. "Since I've admired people working for the network service since I was little—they are so cool, always doing their best to make sure families get in contact no matter where they are—I wanted to work there as well someday as a technician."
"Wow!" Honoka awed, entering fangirl mode. "You're amazing, Kotori-can! That's such a noble target. Compare that to me…"
"How about Konoka-chan?"
"Hun? Me?" The ginger paused an instant as she was trying to remember her own name. Without realizing it, her little gay heart has been stunning her brain and made her totally unable to think straight. She had to admit that she was able to think very well while speaking with Mikozomi but this Kotori definitely was something a level above. "I-I'm Kousaka Honoka, second year in computer science study at Otonokizaka University. Since I've always enjoyed playing games, I wanted to get a job where I get to sit behind a computer and play lot of online game."
"Wow! You're amazing, Honoka-chan." Kotori praised her, somehow confusing the otaku girl. "I mean you know what you truly want and you are doing your best to achieve that dream."
"But I think Kotori-chan is way cooler." Deciding to accept her total defeat—accepting the fact Mitori was above her—Honoka just wanted to befriend the girl now and instantly gave up on the idea of scoring higher than her in Love Live. Well… who wouldn't forgive that angel? "I mean you truly are a hero. I admire you."
"Hehe. You're going to make me blush." The ash-blonde placed both hands on her cheeks as her face turned pink. "But I still think Honoka-chan is awesome."
A goofy smile made its way on Honoka's face as her gay heart raced faster. 'She's cute.' The ginger had to slightly hide her face by placing a hand in front of her nose as to not look creepy. "I know! Since we got in good term this fast, how about meeting in real life?"
It was not the first time Honoka was going to meet a gamer on real life as she has already visited Mikozomi—or Toujou Nozomi—after their chat. They had some nice chat but were not at each other's taste so they just remained friend. However, if she plays her card right, maybe she can get a chance with Kotori.
'I have been too absorbed with video games that I never got that an active social life. The only time close to a relationship I got was when Arisa-chan has practiced confessing to me.' The girl remembered the time when Eli's younger sister has approached her and has asked for her advice of how to confess to Yukiho. Of course, being a good older sister, she has adviced Arisa to train confessing to her. In the end, Yukiho has accidentally stepped into their practice and misunderstood the whole situation, spreading the information around school.
It was really awkward for the ginger having to explain everything to angry Eli glaring daggers at her skin. It took about one month to clear the misunderstanding and in the end, Yukiho and Arisa got together. Well… at least Honoka was glad the blonde older sister's protectiveness wasn't as intense with her younger sister now.
"That sounds good." Kotori replied, bringing the ginger back to real life. "How about tomorrow afternoon? Since I have nothing to do, maybe we could go somewhere and get some ice cream or parfait."
The ginger's face instantly went beet red. 'P-parfait? Is it a d-date?' She mentally stuttered, remembering a similar scene in a manga from the month prior's edition of yuri shimai. That didn't stop her from accepting though. "S-sound good! H-how about we meet at the park in front of the fountain at 02:00 PM?"
"It's fine by me." The gray-haired girl agreed.
—End of flashback—
'Gah! I'm so nervous…'
It was very unusual for Honoka to dress this properly. She would usually wear tracksuits of simple clothes when attending college regroupment, let alone going out on weekend so it came in total shock for Yukiho when her sister has asked for advice the night prior.
"Honoka-chan~!"
The girl was once again brought back into reality by an angelic voice and she looked up to see the girl of the webcam walking in her direction. Kotori was clad in a sky blue dress that made her look cuter. Of course, the ginger had no other choice but to mentally give a thumb up and smiled at her date (?). "Hello, Kotori-chan! It's such a good weather today."
"Yeah." The other girl nodded as she took something from her handbag. "My Mom told me to give you this first thing after we meet by the way." She took out a pink enveloped that smiled a nice cherry scent. "She has told me to not look what's written inside and told me to ask you to read it first thing before anything."
"Really?" Honoka accepted and found no reason as to not read it. Not a minute later, her face turned pale though and she had to put an awkward forged smile, trying to avoid eye contact with the other girl. "W-well… I understand her concern." She thought aloud before Kotori grabbed her hand and started leading their way out of the park.
"I kind of can guess what's written in there so let us have our date, Honoka-chan~"
Honoka was at loss at words as she didn't know how to respond to that.
—The letter—
Dear Konoka,
As Kotori's mother, I am proud of my daughter's purity. Since I was very strict with her back in high school, she never got to have a lover and such attitude lasted for years until recently when she wouldn't start talking about a certain "Konoka" she has recently met on her MMORPG.
I am concerned, like any parent would. She has suddenly changed and asked me if I was okay if she got a close friend. I was confused and didn't know how to respond as I didn't get what she really meant. Now, I do.
I will maybe accept you… maybe not. It will depend. I mean I need to have a face-to-face talk with you but I know you two already have plans for today so I will ask to meet you next week. In fact, I will not interfere at all until next Sunday so that gives you two lot of time to know about each others better.
As to conclude this letter, I will list the 10 privacy and policy needed if you want to become a "close friend" with my daughter:
1. What you do to her, I will do it to you
2. You break her heart, I break your leg
3. Prison is just a room
4. Kotori is everything I have and need
5. I am a very patient person and so is Kotori so pressing forward/rushing is not something we can tolerate
6. You need a social life and so does my daughter
7. Please tidy your room from time to time (Kotori has showed me your talk on the webcam)
8. I hope you don't drink/smoke
9. She doesn't need expensive presents
10. Kotori needs lot of affection
P.S: Oh. I forgot to mention that Kotori has some Yandere/sadistic tendencies so good luck!
[-x-x-x-]
A/N: I've been playing too much RPG lately…
See you next time!