"A video game?" Koyomi asked, pouring them both some tea. "That's what you've been spending all that time in your room on?"

"Mm, yeah." Haruto said, chomping down on some food. "Why, I haven't worried you have I?"

"No." She said, shaking her head. "I just didn't expect you to be spending that alone time on that."

"Hah, I guess I don't really look like the video game type, do I?" He shrugged. "Never had any growing up, so this is all new to me."

"Well, I hope you're managing your time wisely." Koyomi replied, sipping on her tea. This new flavour was a little more bitter than what she usually uses. "You don't want to lose your focus when fighting phantoms." Recently, she has taken up a hobby of her own. It all started one day as she rummaged through old man Wajima's shelves in search of tea. Usually, he was the one to handle it, but he'd been out that morning delivering antiques for a client – you almost forget what his actual job is, since neither Haruto nor Koyomi ever stuck around long enough to see him handling clients. Be it the rainy weather, or the gloomy mood as Haruto had also taken off that morning, Koyomi was left bored and alone. Mostly alone, but just very bored.

She craved tea. The jar's position was in a faint space in the back of her head, but it became quite an adventure to find it. There were so many things that she hadn't the faintest idea about set along the shelves and cabinets of their home. She feared most that if she dipped her finger in and tapped her mouth she would completely collapse. That might be true. Honestly, there was bound to be something in his pantry like that.

Be it after several minutes of going through all of his food and sliding her fingers in between a thousand different things, Koyomi had found it. A vanilla coloured ceramic jar engraved with the word "Tea" in biege. Standing on her tippy toes she reached up, as high as she could and… just barely wrapped her hands around it. All of her efforts ended up in great vain. There was nothing in there. So, after sneaking out – which she never really did outside of when needed (Haruto or Wajima would always accompany her, sometimes much to her dismay), Koyomi came across a local shop posted on the corner. It was quite familiar. She must've passed by it before but never gave it a second glance. Well, as it turns out this shop sold a bit of everything - including tea in flavours she never imagined!

Koyomi did not have much of a memory bank for tea, but it was the only thing she drank that reminded her of a distant past unable to be recollected. It was 'nostalgic' in other words. Berry, chai, ginger mint – it was an ever-expanding collection that she had accumulated over the past few weeks. Was it an addiction? Yes. Was it good for the soul? Yes. Besides, she had formed a bit of a bond with the owner. An older man, whose hairs were greyer than a pile of ash. He was a kind man who didn't get much traction, but was appreciative of her presence. Mr. Takayama was her friend.

"Mm, what flavour is this?" Haruto asked, getting his fill. "It's delicious."

"Peppermint." The boy nearly spat out his tea. Never in a million years did he imagine he'd be sucking down on peppermint of all things! "I have to meet this guy at some point."

"Are you really opening that up already?" Koyomi watched as he pulled out his laptop and laid it out on the coffee table; careful to keep his cup of tea far away from his own little world. "It's only nine in the morning."

"Hm?" Haruto glanced up, already having logged in and patiently waiting for the loading screen. "Well, it's not like there's much to do today." He shrugged, booting up the server. It was morning time, and repairs on the house had been finished. Truth be told, he had stayed up a little later the night before to brush up on final touches.

"A phantom could appear, so we shouldn't be too relaxed."

"Aren't you the one always saying that we should take it easy?" Haruto chuckled. He made sure to drink some of his tea, so as to not neglect his companion's delicate choice of treasured comfort in the form of a warm beverage. The house was nice. He had just finished the stone roof, but he was starting to think that more was left to be desired than completed. There was something it needed. Perhaps a second floor? No, that would ruin the integrity of the top he had worked so hard on gathering resources for. A second bedroom? That was already a given. It's not as if Shunpei was going to make his own base of operations anytime soon. He was like a lost lamb. Speaking of lamb, there should be some sheep around to prepare a bed for him so he didn't need to keep running across a field full of monsters when an unfortunate arrow flew by his head. "Sweet place, isn't it?"

"I suppose." Koyomi tilted her head, staring at the cabin. There was certainly something missing. "Where's the garden?"

"G-garden?" He looked back at her. The answer had struck him as being so obvious, but he was totally blind to it until now.

"If it was my home, I'd have a garden." The idea hit him like a train.

"What would your garden look like?" This was going to get interesting.

She thought about it. Stood there and pondered about all the designs that struck her as appealing whilst dozens of blocks filled her wandering mind. "It would be… blue."

"Blue?" Haruto stroked his chin. He hadn't seen any blue flowers.

"Yeah, like your water ring." Koyomi said, sounding sure of herself.

"How about red?" Haruto asked.

"Red?" She replied. "Why not blue?"

"There is no blue."

"That can't be true." Koyomi wiggled up next to him. The longer she looked at this empty field in desperate need of flourish, the more her doting eyes became intrigued by this game. "Why doesn't it have blue?"

"Might not have discovered it yet." He smiled, handing her the laptop. "Come on, give it a try."

"Oh, w-what?" Koyomi fumbled around with the keyboard. She barely knew how to use these sorts of things. If you asked her to go to Google, Koyomi wouldn't know how to do that. Not to discredit her character, of course. After all, the first thing she remembered after being conscious 6 months ago was a cold ocean and a lone, vanilla beach. "I'm not sure how to…"

"I'll teach you." He guided her hands. Koyomi was as red as the roses she helped gather. Her hand wanted to move away, but she couldn't help it. The more flowers she gathered, the more she grew attached to the virtual space before her. Together, they picked and placed groups of pretty little things to gather around the front yard. Before long, it was a full blown garden. Complete with etches of Koyomi lined along the grass. "It's…" Haruto started.

"Sorry," She sighed. "I'm still not sure how this all works."

"No, I was going to say it's beautiful." Haruto's smile, which was rare, could light up a room. It sure lit up hers.

The crystal ball on the counter lit up. "A phantom!" Our hero sprung to his feet. Without another moment to waste, he grabbed his jacket and headed for the door. "Stay here!"

"Wait!" Koyomi shouted, stopping him in his tracks. "Are you rushing in alone?"

"I've got this." He assured her, signaling with the flash of his ring. Blue and made of diamonds. "Besides, someone has to work on the garden, don't they?" Did he mean her? Without another word he took off, leaving poor Koyomi alone. It worried her. No, not that he suddenly took off, but the fact that she was in charge of this… thing she knew nothing about!

She watched as the meter in the bottom right started to deplete. There were only a few left. What did that mean? What did any of this mean?

"Help…"

DONUT SHOP - AROUND NOON

"You're as dull as a rock today." Rinko said, sipping on some coffee. Shunpei was lifeless, sitting adjacent to her. He was slumped back in his chair without much to say. In fact, he hadn't said much of anything at all. The bags under his eyes were endless, and he seemed to be over the bare threshold of consciousness; existing, but not reacting. "Shunpei?" She called out to him, but he was in a whole other world. A blocky world.

Shunpei's face slapped down into his donut, covering him with boston cream.

"Hey, wake up!" Rinko shouted, rushing to his aid. She wasn't going to let a friend drown in a donut! "Wake up, wake up, wake up!" The dozing doofus was being shaken violently, but showed no signs of awakening. Instead, he obnoxiously snored and spat vanilla across the table with his gaping mouth due to the incessant curling of his tongue. "Ugh, disgusting!" But what she was about to do may be just as gross. This was her last resort.

Rinko closed his mouth and stuck her fingers in his nostrils. Just like a poor swimmer who had underestimated the power of the ocean, Shunpei desperately gasped out for air. By the time his eyes opened, he was already panicking and flailing around, taking Rinko's elbow off the table and launching her straight into his plate! "I didn't let it in!" He screamed, throwing his arms in the air. "Oh, Rinko-san. You shouldn't stick your face in that, no matter how good it may be…" Without warning, Shunpei had her hands wrapped around his collar, pulling him in to meet one angry detective.

"What's wrong with you?!" Rinko was about to blow a storm of steam and rip his head off those cracker-dense shoulders! "How do you make things worse when you aren't awake?! Do you dream of annoying people?!"

"N-not at all!" Shunpei cried worriedly, and he wasn't even certain of what he had done! The world was against him. "I… Why are you giving me that look?!" If looks could kill, Rinko was burying him six feet underneath – while he still had time to stay awake and suffer. "... Are you going to finish that?" He asked, reaching for his donut with a toothy grin in hopes of easing the tension. It didn't, and so he snacked on the mess while keeping his eyes on her, daring not to blink.

"You're normally pretty full of energy." Rinko sighed, crossing her arms. "What's got you so tired?"

"Oh, I was up last night with Haruto." He yawned. "It was so magical…"

"I get it." Rinko nodded. "You were playing that game, weren't you?"

"Oh, you know about it?!" He asked, leaning in close to her.

"I'm the one who told you about it!"

"I forgot." He laughed. "Say, how come you aren't playing it?"

"There's no time." Rinko shrugged. "You and Haruto are lucky, I work almost every day."

"Don't most people?" She stepped on his foot.

"Hm, besides – I bet I'm in huge trouble for telling you in the first place." Rinko tried not to imagine the chaos that awaited her in Remnants. That's why she asked Shunpei to meet her out here in the first place for lunch. "He told me about it in confidence, and I broke that trust. He doesn't know I was the one who told you, right?!"

"Um, well…"

"Oh, I can't believe you!"

"Hold on, Haruto is OK with it!" Shunpei said, stopping her as she began to storm off.

"He is?"

"Of course!" He said, patting her on the shoulder and ushering Rinko back to the table. He had one chance at this. "After all, Haruto was fine with me, so he'd definitely be fine with you!"

"Well, if his tolerance runs that deep…"

"Plus, he told you – so it's only natural that you got curious and decided to join, right?"

"Yeah," Rinko's smile opened like a summer sunflower. She twirled her hair around, laughing. "It was a secret he shared with me. Must mean I'm pretty important, huh?"

"You also shared it with me… So I guess that means–"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." Rinko puffed her lips.

"Oh, and about your work… It's almost the weekend, isn't it?" He asked, checking his digital calendar. "Surely, you have some time off by then!"

"You're right!" Rinko cheered. "The chief has had me working weekends for the past few weeks, I totally expected to be on again, but I forgot. I'm off! I can play a game!" Together, hand in hand, they cheered and skipped around their table. Minecraft was back on, and better than ever!

REMNANTS, LATER THAT NIGHT…

"I have created a garden." Koyomi had created a garden. Or, rather she had expanded the one Koyomi had previously been working on. It was a large garden. It was about 200 blocks in length and width, full of assortments of wildflowers she had spent hours venturing around for. It was gorgeous. Each path was coded in complementary colours and if you stood on a hill nearby, you could see the vague shape of red mountains, and yellow fields – almost as though they were burning, but nothing was dying. No, life was being created in this field. Haruto was speechless. What could you possibly say that could ever encapsulate how amazing this piece of art was?

"Looks neat." That was enough.

"Here, I should give this back to you." She said, handing him back the laptop.

"Seems like you've been enjoying yourself."

"I was only keeping your house safe." Koyomi muttered, averting her gaze. "There were a few holes I had to patch up, and there's still so much I don't understand…" She sighed. "But that's over now, and it's in your hands again."

"It doesn't have to be." Haruto said, collapsing back onto the couch. He didn't want to talk about the phantom expedition. It was long, and he was tired. It was the last thing he wanted to speak about. "An account isn't too costly…" He said, beginning to type away. "Mm, I guess you don't have an email."

"What are you doing?"

"OK, and…" Haruto smiled.

DRIVER ON.

CONNECT, PLEASE!

A red sigil appeared before him. He stuck his arm in it. When he removed his arm, there was a pen and notepad. "Now for a name…" Haruto glanced over at her and stared, much to her dismay. It was kind of weird, the way he was staring at Koyomi; as though he was sizing her up. "Hm, favourite flower?"

"I like them all." This was going to be harder than he expected.

"Favourite colour?"

"Well, I like white. I wear a lot of it."

"Um, OK… White and flowers… All of them." He twiddled with the pen between his teeth. "OK, OK…"

"I could choose a name." Koyomi said, taking his laptop. It took only a few seconds to choose one. So much for the sentiment of grand meaning!

"There we go." But she seemed happy with it, so he was happy with it.

"K0Y0Mi." He nodded. "Why didn't I just think of that?" It was all coming together now. "Alright, now you can play with us."

"Hold on, but don't I need one of these?"

"I'm sure old man Wajima has to have something you can use. He's not that old, right?" Speaking of the geezer, the door opened and carrying bags of groceries, Wajima walked in.

"Oh, have you two been here all day?" They broke into laughter, much to his confusion.

Later that night.

After a long day of battle, and a hefty plate of quality takeout, Haruto was back by his bed once again, logging onto his world.

RingedWizard has joined the game.

Surprisingly, he wasn't alone. Standing there, already with a custom skin made, was K0Y0Mi. She was creating what appeared to be a… flag? Or, rather a mat with tons of wool near the garden on a small hill. A path had been carved out too. She did finish her meal fairly quickly, but it still came to such a surprise with how fast she was working.

"Wow, you've been working hard." Haruto said, typing into the chat bar. There was no response, but Koyomi did spin around a few times in a panic; searching for whoever had found her, and left defenseless. "It's me, Haruto." He replied to her frenzy state, approaching her carefully. He had come up with a design for his own skin. It was a shoddy reflection of his rider outfit, and although he had spent hours on the design, it was nowhere near accurate with strange proportions and unfitting shading. Through his crappy handiwork, Koyomi was still able to recognize him and stopped hopping around. "Oh, you don't know how to talk." He instructed her how to do so. "Use the か key."

[Author's note: The layout of a Japanese keyboard uses the "ka" symbol in hiragana in place of where the "t" letter would be in English. I'm going to assume that while the languages are different, the control schemes are the same and the default key bindings would be as well. If I am incorrect, please correct me. ]

"You scared me." Koyomi said, uttering her first words. "Um, I've been trying to build, but these monsters…"

"Those only arrive at night, I think." Haruto said. "You should have a sword."

"A sword?" She asked, being handed a stone sword. It wasn't much, but it was all he had at the moment. Until he went spelunking, they were back to the stone age. Iron was a common commodity, though not at this moment. "I'm not sure how to use this."

"It's easy, just don't get too close to skeletons or creepers." If he could sigh in game, he would. "I spent too long filling up holes last night."

"I don't think I'm very good at fighting."

"No one is at first."

Daimon817 has joined the game.

"Daimon?" Sprinting through the plains, Rinko approached them. "Oh, Rinko-chan! I thought you wouldn't be able to join until next week."

"Let's just say the repair shop owes me." Rinko said. "Oh, Koyomi, you're here as well?"

"I'm using Wajima's computer." Koyomi continued her mural. She enjoyed the thought of peacefully creating art, though the threat of monsters invading to destroy her pieces wasn't exactly pleasing. "I haven't played much."

"Don't sell yourself short." Haruto replied. "Look at what you've done already."

"It's nothing really."

"Well, if we're all here then I better start getting to work!" Before either of them could say anything else, Rinko veered off and started smashing trees with her fists. A minute later, she was digging down (though not straight down) into a cavern and searching for iron. "Do you have any torches?"

"Hey, have you played this game before?!" Haruto said, sneaking next to the cave. He hadn't done much exploring himself, so he had no idea what was down there.

"Here and there." Rinko admitted. Truth be told, she's been an avid fan since the release of this game. Although it had only been out for a few years now, Rinko was what you would consider an expert of the game, especially since she could now better understand what she was doing since the addition of other languages! Before then, she relied on online guides to fill in the gaps of controls. Lately, she hasn't had the time to play due to work taking up her life, but in between hunting phantoms and hanging out with her magical friends, Rinko was creating worlds of her own – don't let the rest of them know about it though!

Oh, she knew exactly where she was going to build her base! Sorry Haruto, but she isn't in this to bunk beds. There had to be a jungle around, and she was going to make a home that could rise above the clouds. Rinko initially missed the addition of jungles, so she wasn't well versed in anything beyond the 1.8 update that changed the game completely. Try as she might to keep up with a vast array of new knowledge, Rinko's former title as an encyclopedia to Minecraft knowledge was becoming outdated by these new updates, so it mattered more than anything that she kept up with the others! A head start is a great start, and every great start begins with a head start!

"You have any torches, Haruto?" Rinko asked, wandering aimlessly through a narrow cavern. Right behind her was the Wizard, treading carelessly over her neck.

"Not a lot." He handed her the torches. Let there be light! "Wow, these things must go on forever."

"They're a lot larger than they seem." She mined away at pockets of ore. Finally, some iron. "Besides, you're still a beginner – so there's a lot you haven't even seen yet, have you?"

"Guess not. Want to be my teacher?"

"Hm, teaching you something for once…" Rinko pondered on it, but not for too long as strange sounds drew closer. "Look out!" A group of cave spiders had approached them. As it turned out, there was a mineshaft nearly a hundred blocks beneath their home! Haruto jerked around with each stab to his character, suffering from deep poison wounds as Rinko bashed the monsters into oblivion.

"Hey, I think I'm going to d"

RingedWizard was slain by Cave Spider.

"Who could pass up the opportunity to teach you something?" Rinko said in jest. "First rule: keep your distance and never let your guard down." As they continued to venture deeper into the mines, someone else joined.

Shunp31 has joined the game.

"Oh, Haruto!" Shunpei ran around their house in circles. "Haruto, where are you?!"

"In the mines with Rinko."

"Why are you down there?!" He asked, searching around but he couldn't find the hole. He only found Koyomi, who had been quietly working on her monument. It was coming along well, especially since she just read about dye. "Koyomi, why are you here?!"

"I have an account." She was always a very direct person.

"Wait, if you're down there… Then what do I do?" Shunpei asked, standing around doing nothing.

"Gather us food. You can do that, right?" Haruto asked.

"Don't worry, I'll leave no animal alive!" Serving the magician in the virtual world was just as important as the real world. Somehow, his enthusiasm didn't leave Haruto with much confidence, especially the last part of his message.

"That's cruel." Koyomi said. "What if you drive every animal away from here? Besides, you can't steal all of my sheep!"

"Unless you can work out how to make bread, that's all we have." Haruto collected some coal. This was a lucky find, they'd been running out fairly quickly, and for the amount of ore they were collecting, a huge haul was needed.

"A farm is as easy as cake." Rinko added. "Oh, you can make cake too!"

"Oh, I want to make cake!" Shunpei declared. "I'll make the best cake ever."

"It's not like you can taste it." Koyomi chimed in, bringing him back down to reality.

"You can't make cake before a farm."

"How do I do that?" Shunpei asked.

"Ugh, look it up!" Rinko gritted her teeth back in the comfort of her own room. Even here, he was kind of a bumbling buffoon. "I can't teach everyone."

"I'll make the best farm to exist!"

Everything was all starting to come together. In spite of a few secrets being kept close to heart, such as Rinko's plans to expand elsewhere, or Shunpei's mouth being bigger than any of them imagined, the four of them were shaping up to have fun! The hours started to fly by, and before they knew it the sun had disappeared. Not in Minecraft – in the real world. If any of them could have foreseen how enjoyable this group venture was going to be, they would have started a world ages ago! Something great, and something beautiful was arriving from their shared passion and expanding community. Nothing was going to ruin this masterpiece in the making.

Nothing was going to ruin it. Right?

Somewhere in Toriisaka.

"Aaah, that Wizard…" Kosuke Nitoh grinded his teeth, laying back in his tent, which he had parked atop of a vacated building. "Cutting me out of lunch, and now this?" There was a recently purchased laptop resting by his side. "Hm, well, all that show work today wasn't just a waste." Earlier today, Kosuke had put the gift on his hips to use and made some hard earned cash off of a real magic show to anyone who could listen. It was easy money on the supernatural side of things, but being an entertainer was more difficult than a badass magical warrior. A deeper level of pizazz had to be maintained with each act. Sure, it was a bit of a dirty trick to utilize a power that was made to protect for a selfish need, but so was keeping this growing community a secret!

"Just you wait, Haruto." He grinned. "Your secret's about to be cracked open like a nice can of tuna."

Speaking of tuna, he was hungry. Better go grab a bite to eat!

AUTHOR'S NOTE (07/11/2023)

So, it's been a while since I've updated this! I got so busy with Festival of Fate and watching Ex-Aid that I forgot this story existed, but just because I'm close to finishing one story doesn't mean I should keep this one in the dark. Consistency is key!

In lighter news, I got my braces off. Finally, after years, my teeth feel free! It was pretty nerve wracking at first, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I ever could have expected, and I have conquered another fear! I have Kamen Rider to thank for that, in trying to live for tomorrow and hold out hope. I should buy myself something nice to celebrate... Maybe like that 10th anniversary figure of Haruto. After all, it's never going to get cheaper.

Anyways, if you have any suggestions, please comment down below! Now that I know Ex-Aid better, I'm thinking of writing an Ex-Aid story. I'm about halfway through the show, and it's only going to get better from here. Poppy Pipopapo has become my icon.

Just to reiterate, if you got any ideas: comment below : )