"So… you wanna… come over… to my dorm… and play… video games?" Muni Ohnaruto muttered as she texted. She sent the message twice, first to Chihiro Fujisaki, then to Chiaki Nanami. The former was a fellow-first year, though not in the same class as Muni. The latter was one year older. But all three of them were gamer girls, and that red thread of fate was what tied them together, and what Muni was trying to reel them in with for that night. Even though the Ultimate Digital Illustrator was standoffish—haughty and rude—there was nothing she wanted more than to prove herself to the world. That was why she was brave—or insane—enough to challenge the Ultimate Programmer and Gamer.

Over the course of the rest of the school day, they texted her back, slowly setting up a plan. As soon as the last bell of the day rang to dismiss class, Muni flew to her dorm and stayed there preparing until long after the sun was down.

Muni glanced at her stuffed toy cat, Nyochio, sitting on her desk. "Think everything looks good? Now we're just waiting on Chiaki and Chihiro!"

As if on cue, there was a knock at the door. Muni hurried over and swung it open. "Chiaki! Chihiro! Welcome to the ultimate gamer girl night!" The Ultimate Digital Illustrator bit back an excited smile and replaced it with a casual one as she opened the door.

"Hey, Muni!" Chihiro and Chiaki spoke and waved in perfect unison.

Ok, that was a little weird and creepy. Already, Muni felt nervous, anxiety flaring up, but she refused to be intimidated. Especially by such softies! Are these guys really the Ultimate Programmer and Gamer?

She expected intelligence, and while Chihiro and Chiaki had never done anything dumb in her presence, at least that she recalled, they certainly didn't look intimidating or respectable. Chihiro was in a white nightgown while Chiaki wore soft shorts and a tee shirt. From far away, Muni thought the little icons on her pajamas were pillows or clouds or sheep, vaguely square and white. Upon closer inspection, though, she realized they were tiny video game consoles. Of course, Chiaki would have those pajamas… Muni wore a striped, pink onesie with bunny ears on the hood.

Muni ushered them inside her dorm. "Come in, come in! We've got snacks, games, and everything ready for an epic night!" Her room, though small, was decked out with video games, movies, consoles, beanbag chairs, couches, and posters of popular video game characters adorning every wall. A table in the corner was laden with an assortment of snacks—chips, candy, and soda. Chiaki and Chihiro's eyes went wide.

"Wow, Muni, you really went all out…!" The Ultimate Programmer rubbed the back of her head, surprised.

"Impressive setup!" Chiaki nodded approvingly. "We can tell you worked really hard on this. Good job, Muni!"

Muni was left breathless, eyes and mouth widening in disbelief—almost audacity—but no sound came out. All she could do was stare at the older girl. She'd just been complimented! Her efforts were noticed! Chaki verbalized them for Chihiro to hear, and then publicly thanked her! But Muni didn't want to look like some softhearted wimp like the other two girl, so she did her best to keep her expression proud.

"Of course! I may not be the Ultimate Gamer, but I still wouldn't be caught dead holding a gamer girl night incorrectly!" she cried.

"Of course," Chiaki nodded, voice lower, softer, smoother, and less shrieky. "You don't have to be an Ultimate Gamer to love gaming just as much as one!" To her, the barrier between the Talented and "untalented" was entirely superficial. She would never gatekeep video games because they were meant to be enjoyed, not used as tools to divide.

Chihiro sat down first, cross-legged, smiling. "I'm just grateful you invited me too!" she told Muni.

"We're both first-year computer geeks and nerds, aren't we?" Muni asked dismissively.

"That's true," Chihiro dipped her head shyly. "I just know we're not even in the same class…" I didn't think you'd want to hang out with someone as uncool and awkward to be around as me…

Even though Muni was correct in what she said about herself and Chihiro, so was Chihiro. They did indeed cross paths in the Academy over their shared love of technology, but while Muni was a snob about how much she was capable of, Chihiro constantly downplayed herself and stuttered and apologized. Hardly someone one wanted to be seen in public with. Though Muni would've reminded her, they weren't in public! Nope! Tonight, they were in her dorm room, getting ready to rumble!

ooo

"Oh my godddd! Not againnnn!" Muni dropped her controller, clutching her hair. Another race lost in Mario Kart.

"Sorry, Muni!" Chihiro winced apologetically as her car whizzed past Muni at the final turn. Muni gave a soundless cry. Not only was she not going to win again, she was coming in dead last. Chiaki, of course, was in first place.

Mannnn… It's not fair! She's the Ultimate Gamer! Never mind that it was Muni's idea to challenge her in the first place.

"Oh. Yay. Look at that. I win." Chiaki said as her square on the screen was showered in golden confetti.

"Pfft!" Muni crossed her arms and looked away jealously while Chihiro's avatar held up a silver trophy.

I thought I would at least have a chance to beat the Programmer! She knew that beating the Ultimate Gamer would most likely boil down to luck—good on her part or bad on Chiaki's—but she'd hoped that Chihiro would be a little more equal to her.

"Games are supposed to be fun," Chiaki reminded them calmly, setting down her controller, staring at it. "If this one isn't fun anymore, we can pick another." Without looking up, she gestured to the literal mountain of games Muni stacked around them. It was a fortress by then!

"That's not the point," the Ultimate Digital Illustrator muttered glumly.

"How about something newer?" the Ultimate Programmer suggested. It wasn't a physical video game with a disc or card, rather, she pulled up Steam and pointed the other two girls to Among Us.

"That meme murder mystery space alien sleuth game?" Muni's nose crinkled.

"Well, I don't like killing my friends…" Chiaki rested a finger on her chin as she continued to stare off in the distance. "But as long as we have fun!"

Like Mario Kart, it began well enough, but Chiaki quickly dominated the other two, and Chihiro kept on coming in second.

ARE YOU SERIOUS?! Muni was certain she would squeeze her controller so tight that it would break. Even though she finally managed to kill Chihiro and ensure she wouldn't win, somebody else happened to see her standing over the dead body. Another win for Chiaki.

ooo

It was only when they took a snack break that the conversation shifted to something else entirely.

"Anyway, I think my bed might be big enough for one more person, but someone's gotta sleep on the floor," said Muni as she stuffed her face.

"I can volunteer to sleep on the floor," Chiaki offered softly. "I can sleep anywhere…" Muni snorted through her chips and soda while Chihiro bit her lip and looked away, suddenly nervous. Muni happened to notice.

"Oh, what? Don't make it weird!" she complained self-consciously, hurt.

"N-no! Wait!" Chihiro's eyes widened behind her glasses as she turned toward the other gamer girl, pleading. "It's me! Not you!"

"Well that's a cliché line if I ever heard one!" Muni scoffed, but Chihiro continued.

"The reason I'm reluctant genuinely isn't you! It's me! I… I… I think I should sleep on the floor instead…" She danced around the topic as best she could, but of course, one could not ask to just sleep on the floor the way Chihiro did—awkward and clunky—and not be interrogated by curious others. Or, well, other. Patient and perceptive Chiaki kept trying to drop hints to Muni to stop interrogating Chihiro, but Muni was too curious and oblivious, and plowed on with her pile of questions. Finally, the Ultimate Programmer broke.

"I'm not actually a girl! I'm a boy!" she wailed. Then there was silence.

"Wait. Whut?" Muni asked stupidly. Chiaki's expression, meanwhile, went from mildly surprised, to deeply compassionate. She knew it was not her place, however, to offer any more advice. Instead, she stayed silent, waiting for Chihiro to answer. It took a while, but finally, the Ultimate Programmer managed to muster up just enough courage to look Muni in the eyes.

"I'm not actually a girl! I'm a boy!" Chihiro repeated, calmly, quietly.

"Yeah I heard that!" Muni waved impatiently. "But what does that even mean?!"

"W-well, I wouldn't want to show you… But…" An embarrassed stutter entered Chihiro's voice. A hand tugged at the hem of a white nightgown, and four other eyes again widened in surprise at the outline just below Chihiro's waist level.

"S-s-so… She… is actually… he?" Muni blinked. Chihiro nodded, biting his lip, bashful.

"I'm sorry I lied to you two…"

"But why never tell us sooner?" Muni demanded. "And why make such a big deal out of it now?"

Chihiro flinched, guilty and ashamed, so Chiaki finally interceded, gentle but firm. "This was very hard for Chihiro… I think," she said. "I would imagine this is a secret he kept for a very long time, so that made it hard to tell. It was only the pressure of going to bed that got him to talk."

"But why keep a secret like this in the first place?" Muni genuinely didn't get it, couldn't even fathom.

"I don't know…" Chiaki's eyes drifted to Chihiro. "But I would be willing to bet that it was for good reason." Maybe it made no sense to Muni, but common sense should've told her that if someone had a secret like this, it wasn't something they just woke up one day and decided to do.

Chihiro took a shaky breath, nodding at Chiaki before addressing Muni. As he admitted to her, he grew up feeling weak, easy to bully. He conflated gender with strength, viewing women as meeker than men. As a meek individual himself, Chihiro then began to cross dress, replacing pants with skirts, adding padding to shirts, wearing underwear to better conceal what was between his legs.

"S-s-so… what do you want to be called now?" asked Muni. Truly, she was trying to be understanding, it was just all new to her. Chihiro and Chiaki both flashed her compassionate smiles. They weren't trying to make her feel bad, they appreciated her effort.

"You can keep calling me Chihiro," said Chihiro with a shrug. "As for pronouns, when we're alone, I don't really care. When we're in public, though…" He bit his lip guiltily.

"Don't worry, you can trust us," Chiaki promised reassuringly, and he smiled up at her, nodding. He knew her word was good, and he trusted Muni too. Her personality was very different from Chiaki's, but he knew that a heart of gold lay beneath her prickly and nasally, shrill exterior. "Now then, let us resume our Gamer Girl Night! Although, I suppose it's not just us girls anymore," she smiled lightly at Chihiro, who chuckled sheepishly back.

"It's ok, we don't need to change the name."

"Nah we can just call it Gaymer Girls and Guy Night, easy fix," Muni shrugged, and Chihiro's sheepish smile became one of real gratitude and confidence. Chiaki, meanwhile, cast a proud smile at the younger gamer girl, but this time, so as not to ruin the moment, she refrained from complimenting her.

I can always say it later, thought Chiaki with a private smile as Muni led the way back to the video games.