With a burst of gunfire—
Kotomi Izumi and Kiyoko Matsumatsu were once again eliminated. The two of them had recently been obsessed with playing duo matches in various games. After getting tired of Rainbow Six Siege, they switched to Apex Legends. Once they got bored of Apex, they would move on to other games.
Kotomi still enjoyed Apex the most, especially playing solo. After all, when she was eliminated, she could just quit immediately. Unlike League of Legends, where even when the match was already lost and the economy and kill count were hopelessly behind, you still had to sit there in misery until the enemy team finally destroyed your Nexus.
And so, the short half-day break came to an end in the midst of gaming.
"Phew… that round was so close! My bad, my bad—if only I'd fired half a second earlier, I definitely would've downed them first." Kiyoko Matsumatsu lifted her hands off the keyboard and mouse, stretching her wrists.
"Games are all about having fun~"
"It's about time to head to school, too. I'm so jealous of you, Kotomi. Most of your afternoon classes are self-study sessions. But for us, both periods are killer—first math, then physics. And since our math teacher was sick last week, we had PE instead. He's back today, so I bet he's prepared a pile of 'surprises' for us. Nooo, not now! The cultural festival's just around the corner, and I'll have to stay up late doing math homework again. This is torture!"
"Hehe, well, that's what you get. Math was your worst subject on the midterms, right? If I were your math teacher, I'd definitely call you up to answer questions in class."
"Yada yo~~~" Kiyoko Matsumatsu's voice curved like a wail as she exited the game. Just as she was about to close Steam, a pop-up notification appeared. She glanced at it—and then cheered in delight: "Waaah! Kotomi, guess what I just saw?!"
"A new game announcement?"
The tone of excitement in Kiyoko's voice gave it away immediately.
"Bingo! It's a new game! And it might be even more thrilling than any of the ones we've been playing. How about it—want to grab a copy and play it together when it comes out?"
"From how you said that, it must still be in pre-order?"
"Yep! You probably saw the trailer five years ago too—the one shown at E3 2019. Shinji Mikami's new game, Ghostwire: Tokyo. They never revealed much about the gameplay, but Steam just opened up the pre-order page. It's releasing at the end of the month! I can't wait. Normally, I never pre-order games, but this is Shinji Mikami we're talking about—that's an exception!"
"Don't tell me you already paid for it?"
"I did~ Just bought the deluxe edition. All set for launch day."
"You're really something… buying it without even knowing what kind of game it is. You must really love Shinji Mikami."
"Hmph~ My passion for Shinji Mikami is the same as your passion for Hideo Kojima and Hidetaka Miyazaki. Come on, Kotomi, let's both buy it! You love Resident Evil and The Evil Within, right? Those were all connected to him somehow. I'm sure his new work won't disappoint you either."
"I think I'll wait and see what the gameplay's like first. When I pre-order a game, I at least like to know roughly how it plays. It's not like we can play it right now anyway, so I'll decide when it launches." Kotomi replied calmly.
"Alright, alright. Ah—look at the time, it's already 1:20! Kotomi, let's hang up here."
"Okay."
After hanging up, Kotomi removed her headset. She had already put on her blouse, skirt, and socks before starting the game. Now, she just needed to grab her jacket, sling her bag over her shoulder, and head out the door.
"Mom, I'm leaving for school!" she called as she passed through the living room, where her mother was gaming.
"Oh, okay! Be careful on your way!"
At that moment, Akina Izumi was gripping a PS4 controller, immersed in Resident Evil 8. Kotomi glanced over—the screen showed the early village section, where the player was surrounded by a horde of monsters.
When Kotomi had played this part before, she had been absolutely terrified. She didn't even know which way to run, her aim was all over the place, and after dying several times, she'd given up entirely. Her progress had been stuck there ever since, and she had only managed to see the rest of the story through gameplay videos.
Akina Izumi, on the other hand, was completely different. Surrounded by monsters coming from all directions, she handled them with ease—calm and composed, even taking time to stop and admire the scenery of the village. Judging by the way she played, it looked like she had even chosen a high difficulty setting!
When it came to gaming, Kotomi truly admired her parents. No matter how frightening or tense the game was, even during high-pressure chase scenes with monsters right behind them, both her mom and dad could remain completely calm and focused.
Kotomi, however, couldn't. Every time she got to a chase sequence, she'd be so scared that she'd hand the controller over to one of her parents to finish it for her.
After putting on her shoes and heading out, she saw Megumi Kato already waiting for her under the streetlight.
"Megumi, good afternoon! Did you sleep in today?"
"I didn't, actually."
Megumi shook her head gently, leaned down slightly, and kissed Kotomi's soft, inviting lips. The kiss lingered for a long while before she finally pulled away with a satisfied smile and continued speaking.
"It's just that my biological clock isn't so easy to adjust. I woke up early out of habit and came straight to your house to wait for you. Only after I got here did I realize—oh, right, we don't have morning classes today."
Kotomi was stunned for a moment, then felt a warm rush of affection in her chest. She quietly let Megumi take her hand and muttered softly, "You're such a dummy. I already told you it's almost winter—mornings are getting colder and colder. Don't come out so early just to wait for me. If you catch a cold, I'll feel awful."
After saying that, Kotomi pursed her delicate pink lips and rose on her toes, her cheeks blushing slightly from embarrassment. "Since you came to wait for me this morning, I-I'll give you a little reward. Be grateful and accept it."
"Then I won't hold back."
Megumi's heart filled with joy. She set her schoolbag down on the ground and wrapped both arms around Kotomi, pulling her close. The distance between them shrank, closer and closer—until it reached zero once more, and their lips met again in another deep kiss.
This time, Kotomi tried to take the initiative a few times, thinking she could handle it—but before she could even start to feel proud of herself, Megumi had already taken full control, leaving her completely breathless and powerless.
And at that exact moment—
"Kotomi, after school today, remember to stop by the bookstore and pick up a science workbook for Aimi—"
Akina Izumi, thinking her daughter hadn't gone far yet, opened the door to call out to her. She had intended to remind Kotomi to buy the workbook for her younger sister on her way home.
But the instant she opened the door, she froze at the sight before her—
Akina Izumi looked on curiously at the scene before her—her daughter, Kotomi Izumi, was standing in front of Megumi Kato, and the two seemed to be talking about something. Perhaps because a gust of wind had just passed, both of their hair looked slightly disheveled.
One second earlier—before Akina opened the door.
Kotomi had been in Megumi's embrace, their lips locked in a kiss. But suddenly, a strange feeling welled up inside her. Her body acted on instinct, pushing Megumi away forcefully. Megumi looked at her with confusion and a bit of hurt in her eyes, wondering if she had just been too aggressive.
Megumi had actually intended to be gentler, but her eagerness had gotten the better of her, and her actions had been less controlled than usual.
What Megumi didn't realize, however, was that if she had really been rough or forceful, Kotomi would've probably enjoyed it even more. Kotomi, after all, had just a little bit of a masochistic side to her.
The reason she pushed Megumi away wasn't because she didn't like it—at that moment, she didn't even understand why she'd done it. It was purely instinct, a reaction of self-preservation, as if her body sensed that if she didn't act immediately, she'd end up in a situation that would be very hard to explain.
And then, in the very next instant, her mother opened the door.
Only then did Kotomi realize why she had pushed Megumi away so suddenly. Megumi, too, immediately understood the reason.
Even if Megumi had ten times her usual courage, she still wouldn't dare kiss Kotomi right in front of her parents.
"Megumi, are you two heading to school together?" Akina asked, her tone casual but observant. She had noticed that Megumi always came by to pick Kotomi up for school, and the intention behind that habit was obvious. What parent wouldn't notice such things?
If someone claimed there wasn't something going on between Kotomi and Megumi—well, not even a dog would believe that.
"Yes, good afternoon, Mrs. Izumi," Megumi said politely. "I just got here, and we were about to head to school together."
"I see. Then take your time on the way, alright? I remember there was a traffic accident around here a few days ago, so be careful when crossing the streets."
"I understand. Thank you very much for the warning, Mrs. Izumi."
"Haha, what a polite girl. You don't have to be so formal when you talk to me from now on."
"Okay!" Megumi nodded energetically.
"Mom, weren't you playing a game just now? Why did you come out?"
"Oh, nothing serious. You forgot to mention that after school, if you have time, go to the bookstore and buy Aimi a science workbook. I thought you hadn't gone far, so I came out to remind you."
"A science workbook for junior high, right? Got it. I'll remember. Now hurry back inside, Mom—and don't forget to keep pushing the story in Resident Evil 8 for me!"
"Alright, alright, you cowardly gamer! What's there to be scared of? They're just a bunch of monsters on a screen. It's not like they'll crawl out and attack you! You're hopeless—you're scared of them, yet you still love playing these horror games."
"Mom, I'm going!"
Blushing furiously, Kotomi quickly grabbed Megumi's hand and dragged her away. The last thing she wanted was for Megumi to find out how easily she got scared while gaming.
That would totally ruin her image as the "top"! If Megumi found out she was a scaredy-cat, her dream of one day turning the tables and taking the lead would become almost impossible.
"Be careful on your way," Akina called after them, watching as the two walked off together. Only once they were out of sight did she turn back inside to resume her game.
On the way to school—
"Kotomi, your reflexes back there were incredible! If you'd reacted even a second later, Mrs. Izumi would've totally seen us. How did you even notice?" Megumi asked, wide-eyed with curiosity.
Kotomi, however, interpreted that curious look as one of admiration. Feeling smug, she hummed proudly and said, "Maybe I just awakened a superpower~"
As they walked, Kotomi's slender waist swayed gracefully, mesmerizing and dangerously alluring.
"Like Peter Parker? Bitten by a spider and becoming Spider-Man—with the spider-sense and all?" Megumi asked, trying to keep up with Kotomi's playful tone. She didn't really know much about the superhero comics Kotomi liked, but she vaguely remembered Spider-Man from childhood.
She used to watch an anime called Super Spider-Man, where the hero transformed using a wrist device and wore a red suit with a cape—a design that had felt surprisingly cool to her as a kid. Unfortunately, that anime seemed to have…
That anime had been abruptly canceled, and even now there had never been a sequel. The ending had been so vague and confusing that no one could figure out what it was supposed to mean.
Kotomi Izumi thought about what Megumi said—it really did feel a little like Spider-Sense. She had sensed something coming and instinctively reacted to avoid it before it happened.
"Yeah… I guess it kind of is like that," she admitted.
"Then let's call it the Kotomi Sense~" Megumi said with a giggle, playfully proposing the name. She knew her cute little penguin could be a bit of a chuunibyou sometimes, so as her girlfriend, it was her duty to join in when Kotomi got dramatic.
As for whether Kotomi truly had a sense like Spider-Man's? Megumi figured it was more likely that Kotomi had simply heard her mother's footsteps a few seconds earlier.
After all, Kotomi had always had remarkably sharp hearing—so good that she could catch even the faintest sounds from quite a distance away.
Kotomi shook her head, clearly dissatisfied with the name.
"'Kotomi Sense' doesn't sound powerful enough. Since I'm this amazing, I should come up with something more majestic and cool. Let me think… Ah, I've got it! I'll call it—" She paused dramatically, just to build suspense.
"Call it what?!" Megumi played along enthusiastically, pretending she couldn't wait to hear the answer.
"I'll call it—Kotomi's Sudden Jolt!"
"..."
Megumi was at a loss for words. With her personality, she'd normally find anything Kotomi came up with cute or impressive no matter what. But this name… she really didn't know what to say.
Kotomi's Sudden Jolt?
Megumi glanced at the cheerful penguin beside her, wondering just what went on inside that adorable but baffling little head of hers. How could she come up with such a name—and genuinely believe it sounded cool and intimidating?
The meaning wasn't that different from the previous one, yet somehow Kotomi's version sounded… absurdly silly.
Meanwhile, Kotomi puffed up her chest proudly and asked, "Well? What do you think? Isn't it cool and totally badass?"
"It's… very cool! Super cool, really! As expected of you," Megumi said quickly, clapping her hands in mock admiration, pretending to share Kotomi's excitement and pretending that yes—this ridiculous name did, in fact, sound awesome.
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