Childhood Part II – High-Score Girl – Start

Later that day, after Daisuke got home, the Naegi family decided to accept the Nanamis invitation.

When night time came and the siblings are sent to their rooms, Makoto could barely sleep, he was just too excited and tad bit anxious.

Mostly because, if someone asked him: yes he did consider Chiaki a friend.

But he wasn't sure if the opposite was the same, heck, she barely talked to him, and when she did, it was mostly to comment on whatever game they are playing.

While that was cool and all, what Makoto really wanted was to know her better, to actually be able to call her a friend.

So that's why, on that Saturday night, Makoto made a promise to himself.

He would be the best friend Nanami Chiaki could ask for!

The Nanamis apartment was on the other, more quiet, part of town.

After parking their car and riding the elevator to the last floor, the Naegi family gets out and walks towards the white-colored door. Honoka quickly presses the door bell.

Not too long after, a small chubby black-haired woman wearing a pink apron peeks out of it.

Honoka waves friendly and the woman closes the door again, unlocking and fully opening it.

"You must be the Naegis?" The woman asks and Honoko nods.

"Yes. I'm Naegi Honoka, this is my husband Daisuke-" The man waves. "-And those are our children: Makoto and Komaru."

Komaru smiles and Makoto bows.

The woman smiles excitedly and kneels down. "So you are Makoto-kun?" She asks and the boy shyly nods. "Chiaki-chan is always talking about you!"

This makes Makoto look at the woman's face with a surprised expression. "Really?" He asks and Chiaki's mom nods.

"Yes!" She replies excitedly before getting up and bringing her hands over her chest. "It makes me so happy that my little girl is finally making friends!" The woman smiles and winks. "And a very cute one at that!" Makoto blushes. She then brings her hand over her mouth. "Oh, where are my manners!" She dust her pink apron off and bows slightly. "My name is Nanami Minako, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Daisuke waves his hand. "The pleasure is all ours."

From the opened door, Higashi peeks out. "Are we really going to let our guest stand outside?"

Minako gasps. "That's true! I'm so sorry!" She says before grabbing Honoka's hand and pulling the other woman inside.

Both of the husbands laugh as the Naegi family enters the apartment.

Upon seeing the living room of the apartment, Makoto's eyes started shining with excitement.

They had almost every console in the market!

Higashi notices the boy staring and smiles. "Pretty neat isn't it?" Makoto looks at the man. "Go grab Chiaki and you children can play in any of them!" The man then points to the corridor on their right. "She's in her room, it's the second one on the left."

With a smile on his lips, Makoto grabs Komaru's hand and dashes off, following the man's instructions, leaving the parents alone.

"Anyone wants some tea while I bake some cookies for the children?" Minako asks and the Naegi parents nods. "Great! Let's go to the kitchen."

Makoto was about to open the door to Chiaki's room when he heard Komaru coughing.

"Ahem!" She falsely coughs, making the boy look at her.

"What?" He asked before understand what she meant. "Oh, yeah I forgot." The brunette turns around and closes his fist. "Always knock before entering a girl's room." Komaru nods and Makoto knocks.

A little after the knock, a small 'come in' is said, they look at each other, then enter.

Chiaki's room is very different from theirs. It has pink walls with little drawings of black cats, all decorated with video-game posters.

Also, her room is a lot messier, anywhere that you look has different articles of clothes or empty Game boxes.

Chiaki peeks from the lit handheld screen and waves to the two with a small smile. "Hey." She jumps off her cat-themed bed and walks towards the siblings.

The girl is wearing a simple pink t-shirt and dark blue shorts.

"Hi Chiaki-chan!" Komaru is the first to greet, while smiling.

"Hi Nanami-chan." Makoto greets, although not as energetic as his sister. He then looks around. "Your room is-"

Komaru cuts him in. "It's very messy!"

"I was going to say unique." The brunette finishes with a sigh.

Chiaki looks around. "Kaa-san told me to fix it up before you got here." She then looks at them again and smiles softly while rubbing the back of her head. "But I got sleepy… l think?" Makoto still didn't quite understand that little quirk of hers, but he couldn't help but think it was cute. "Oh, before I forget-" Chiaki titans around and walks towards her bed, she then picks Makoto's folded hoodie and gets back to the siblings. "Here!" She gives it back to Makoto. "Thank you for letting me borrow it… I think!" She bows.

"It was nothing!" The brunette nods with a smile. "Anything for a friend!" Closing his eyes, he doesn't notice the blush on Chiaki's face.

The mauve-haired girl gets closer to the boy and closes her eyes, before giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you anyways… it meant a lot to me." Makoto opens his eyes and blushes.

"Ohhhh!" Komaru squeals making the two blush even more. "That was cute!"

Now grabbing onto the boy's hand, Chiaki asks. "So, want to play something?" She guides them back to the living room, still blushing. "We have pretty much anything here… maybe?"

"Well…" Makoto sits on the floor and Komaru sits down by his side. "It's your house so you decide." He says.

Chiaki whispers. "Is that so?" Both the siblings look at her confused. "I didn't know that."

The girl choses her Gamestation 2.

Putting on a the first multiplayer game she saw, the mauve-haired girl handles the controller to Makoto and sits down by his side.

As the console starts its startup animation, the brunette boy turn to face Chiaki. "Say Nanami-chan… don't you have a lot of people over?" He asks and the girl nods negatively.

"No, you two are the firsts… I think." She replies, looking starting screen of the game she chose.

A fighting game.

"So you never had a sleepover?" Komaru asks and Chiaki shakes her head. "That's terrible!" The younger Naegi says incredulously. "Sleepovers are, like, the best!"

"I don't really have a any of friends." The mauve-haired girl comments as she choses her character, a blue-haired nun. "And we are always moving anyways."

Makoto's ears perk up at that. "Always moving?" He asks, just as he choses his character, a tall blond vampire.

"When Higashi told me about Makoto-kun, I couldn't be happier!" Minako exclaims as she pour tea for the other adults. "Our little girl is finally making friends!"

Daisuke silently thanks the woman before saying. "You keep bringing in it up but-" He sips his tea. "Does Chiaki-chan have some difficult socializing?"

Higashi sighs. "You could say that." He sips of his own tea before continuing. "She has always been quiet, so it's hard for her to take the initiative."

Minako pulls a chair out and sits down. "It also doesn't help that we move a lot."

The brunette woman raises a eyebrow. "You move a lot?"

The mauve-haired man nods. "My position in the company I work at needs me to always be changing living arrangements." Higashi then sips again. "So we never settled down at a fixed place for more than four months."

"Must be tough on Chiaki-chan." Honoka drinks her tea. "Is that why she has so many video-games?"

Higashi puts a hand on his hair before replying. "Yes. It was actually a old hobby of mine." The man closes his eyes reminiscent. "And I guess Chiaki inherited it." He opens his eyes and smiles. "I remember when I found her playing with a old handheld I had lost in my room."

"From that day onwards she was always playing with that old thing." Minako also smiles, although a sad one. "We started buying whatever consoles we could find." The chubby woman sighs. "I guess we thought that buying her presents could replace a stable home."

Higashi turns his head towards the corridor to the living room, the sound of the TV filing the air. "And now that we finally managed to settled down, she can't make any friends." The man turns back to the table and closes his eyes. "We're such bad parents." He let's off a sad laugh.

The room falls into silence for some seconds, until Daisuke puts his empty teacup down and says. "Don't be too hard on yourselves." He crosses his arms. "You're doing your best given the situation." The black-haired man smiles kindly. "The fact that you care about how your daughter is feeling, instead of just assuming presents can do the job, shows that you're good parents."

Minako puts a hand over her mouth and with teary eyes says. "Thank you very much for your kind words Daisuke-san."

Higashi smiles to the other man. "That was really kind of you."

Honoka giggles. "When it comes to kindness, there's only one person that beats my dear Daisuke!"

Before anyone can ask who, the sound of the oven's alarm calls for their attention.

"The cookies are ready!" Minako gets up and puts on her mittens. "Higashi dear, please go get the children." Nodding, the mauve-haired man gets up.

"I'll go too." Daisuke says as the two walk back to the living room.

But before they can call the children, the two fathers see a very wholesome scene unfold.

"So you don't have any friends Nanami-chan?" Makoto asks, trying his best to at least hit Chiaki's character. "Not even in your class?"

The girl shakes her head. "No." The nun on the screen throws a bunch of knifes.

"Why don't you ask for them to play with you?" Komaru asks, her eyes glued on the TV.

The word 'perfect' appears on the screen. "The other girls are not really into video-games." Chiaki says as the second round starts. "And the boys always get angry when they lose." She shrugs, pressing the down button twice, then the heavy attack. "Something about 'losing to a girl'… I think."

Komaru pouts. "Typical boys!" She then turns to her brother. "Good thing Nii-chan isn't like that!" She narrows her eyes while turning towards her brother. "Riiiiiight?"

Another 'perfect' appears on the screen that now transitions to a shot of Chiaki's character holding her knifes. "I would be lying if I said I like to lose." The brunette replies, turning towards Chiaki. "But that doesn't mean they shouldn't play with you!" Makoto says while looking at the mauve-haired girl.

"It's okay." Said girl replies looking back to the screen. "I don't mind being alone." They return to the character screen.

Makoto passes the controller to Komaru and gets up. "But I do!" He exclaims gaining the attention of the other girl. "I don't know if you see me as a friend Nanami-chan, but I do see you as one." He smiles determined. "So I promise I won't ever leave you alone!" He then turns to his sister that choose a high-school girl as her character. "Right Komaru?"

The younger Naegi also gets up and pumps her little fists into the air. "Right!" She exclaims excitedly.

Makoto looks back to the mauve-haired girl. "We're going be the your best friends!"

Chiaki blinks. "Oh." She then let's out a soft smile. "But you already are."

This time is Makoto the one who blinks. "Huh?" He then points to himself. "Me?" Chiaki nods and he looks at her confused. "I thought you didn't like me." He scratches the back of his head. "You barely talk when we are together."

Chiaki giggles. "Sorry about that." She looks back to the TV screen. "I'm just a little bit shy… I think." Then her eyes turn sad. "I was just afraid that you would stop hanging out with me if I talked."

"What? Why would I do that?" The brunette asked, genuinely curious.

"Most of the boys I tried talking to got angry whatever I talked, I guess they thought I was looking down on them because I won on whatever game we are playing." She replies. "I thought you would think that too."

Makoto smiles, now understanding the situation. "So that was it." He laughs. "I really thought you didn't like me." The brunette then approaches Chiaki and grabs her hand. "It's actually the opposite Nanami-chan!" He says, making the girl look at him confused. "After you told me what to look out for, my pocket monster team got better." Makoto eyes sparkled. "I even beat some of my friends from class!" He then smiles again, making Chiaki blush. "And it was because you taught me!"

"It was nothing, you'd probably learn by yourself anyways." She says, before Makoto takes her hands on his, making her blush even more.

"Actually." Makoto smiles again. "I want you to keep teaching me!"

"Huh?" Chiaki looks confused at the boy. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what it sound like!" The boy replies, still smiling.

The mauve-haired girl looks down to the controller in her hands. "Are you sure? I'm not very good with words, I may say something harsh without noticing." She looks back at him, just to find his smile not faltering.

"Well, you just told me that you really don't mean it." The brunette closes his eyes and continues. "So, can I look forward to your lessons?"

Chiaki smiles, this time a full blown smile. "Yes! You can… I think!" She exclaims excitedly, maybe.

And that was how the girl by the benches made her first and best friend.

The two fathers look at each other after seeing this scene.

"I think your boy took his kindness from you." Higashi comments with a soft smile.

"I believe it's the opposite." The black-haired Naegi replies, making the other man raise a eyebrow. "I only got like this after he was born." With a belly laugh, Daisuke smiles. "Guess Makoto really does change the life of everyone around him."

Higashi soon joins the other man in laughing. "Indeed." Turning towards the children, the man finally makes his presence known. "It's time for snacks." He announces and Komaru growls.

"But I didn't even got to play yet!" Because of Makoto's little stunt, Chiaki never picked her character, thus the game never started.

"Don't worry pumpkin, you still have plenty of time to play after snacks." Daisuke says as the younger Naegi pouts.

Giggling Makoto turns to the still sat down Chiaki and extends his hand. "Let's go?"

"Yeah… I think!" She says giggling, before grabbing his hand again. "And one more thing-" Makoto looks at her and Chiaki's smiles brightly. "-call me Chiaki!"

Childhood Part II – High-Score Girl – End

Welp, another chapter done.

I wanted to ask something of you guys.

Do you guys want this story to have smut down the line?

Because I don't have any planned yet, but it can happen if you're all down with it.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed! see ya around!