Memories of Fated

Ito Tsubaki's POV  The excitement in my heart pounds as I slowly get up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. Every nerve in my body screams to move, to take the box that sits on my desk and open the flap, just to feel the plastic of the nerve gear between my fingers. It takes more effort for my hands to not stray towards that box than it does to reach for my phone. The screen flashes as I turn it over, the light of the screen blinding in the dim winter lighting. November 6th 2022 A small, joyful smile spreads on to my lips. For months I have been dreaming of this day. The days when all of the interviews and all of the nights spent sleepless, waiting in anticipation for Fated, disappear like fragments of a distant memory. And it is all because of this one day. The day that the first virtual reality game is being released, created by my very own uncle, Sakamoto Kiyoshi. It is the day Fated stops being a brainchild and becomes enjoyment for all of the one hundred of thousands of people who were lucky enough to snatch what few copies there were for themselves. I am lucky enough to have three copies, hand-delivered by my uncle. One for myself, one for my friend, and well, the other one is the for filling of a promise I made. I trace my hand over the cool cover, following the lines of the sword in front of a hovering castle made entirely of game code that has taken the best part of ten whole years to create. I slip the other two copies into my bag, placing the other one on top of the nerve gear box ready for my return.  Soon, I promise to my self. I will be back in that world of swords and excitement and battles again. Soon. very, very soon. ************ Slamming my door, I step out into the chill November air, the winding path so familiar to me that I could walk it with my eyes shut. I brush my hand down the wall blocking the street and the houses beyond, feeling the rough brick scratching my skin.  I make use of the feeling to cap the bubbling excitement of my soul. I can't stop the smile that rises with every fragment of thought any more than I can suppress the butterflies beating their wings against my stomach. I approach the two-story stilted building, taking the rickety steps up the side and come face to face with a worn door, the blue paint peeling off. I curl my fingers into a fist, knocking softly.   After a few minutes without an answer, I won't bother repeating the knock. Rather, I sigh. Of course, he's going to be like this on the day I've been waiting forever for. I pound my flat palm against the wood, calling out in irritation, "Kyo? Open up!" I hear two thumps from inside, then the slide of the latch and the click of the door as it opens.  "What?" He asks me flatly, pushing aside his warm brown hair for where it covers his eyes. One end sticks up at the back, almost in defiance of the early hour. I roll my eyes, pushing him straight back into the house.  "Honestly," I shut the door behind me, not bothering with hellos and take my shoes off heading straight into the living room. As I take a seat at the square table in the middle, I point back to his figure in the doorway, "You're not going out like that." "You're not my mother, Ito." He tries a small smirk, something that was once so difficult at ease on his features. It took me months to realise after he moved schools half a year ago that he has dimples between his cheeks.  "If I was, I wouldn't be halfway across the country, would I?"  His expression falls flat, eyes roving over me in the expressionless way he does when something gets too much to talk about. I seize my tongue, scolding myself for letting something like that slip.  "Anyway," I try to roll my wrist in a dismissing gesture I see Mum do all the time. "You know they're going to kick you out of school if you arrive like that."  "Maybe that's my intention." He says darkly.  "You can't just be a gamer all your life, Kyo." I pick up one of his controllers from the table, waving it about.  "Says the girl who's family literally earn their money off games." His shoulders get less tense the more I coax him into the conversation. Kyo even takes his weight off the doorway to stand in the centre of the room, arms crossed tightly around his chest. "You're a real hypocrite, you know, Ito?"I shrug, "Yeah, I know. How about if you go to school with me today, I'll owe you 3 chess games and this,"  I don't dare to wave the copy of Fated in front of him, but I hold it out to Kyo, daring him to take it. He snatches it off me without saying a word, turning the packaging so it reflects off the light above. He reads the box summary, then, finally, he opens the case, sending a miniature rainbow reflecting off the disk onto the ceiling. "It's beautiful," He breaths as if he doesn't believe the plastic between his hands his real. "Thank you."  "Only if, in exchange, you play with me tonight."  "Okay, that sounds dodgy." We both snort together, shaking with laughter.  "No!" I gasp between breaths, "That's not what I meant!" "Whatever. Can't we play Fated now?" He begs like a child, bending his face down to meet my own. I shove his face away from mine, pointing to his tie.  "Nope. We have school, and if I don't see that tie straightened in 5 seconds, I'll take the game back."  "Yes, Ma'am." He gives me a playful salute before doing exactly as I tell him. With his bag over his shoulder and tie straightened, he shuts the door and we begin walking to school.  "You know your hair's still a mess."  "Ah, but the girls like it that way." He winks at me, and I can't help but roll my eyes again.  "Don't use that as an excuse to get out of brushing your hair, you idiot." I try my best to smack him onto of his head, but he's a few inches taller, so I only just skim his hair.  Kyo sticks his tongue out at me, setting a faster pace. From our houses, school isn't that far, only fifteen minutes away, but because of a certain someone, we're running a bit late. "Kyo, you and your damn long legs," I stomp each stride, trying to widen them to keep up. "Slow down, not everyone's a tree like you."  He glances at me, letting out a little 'pft' at my walking style, amusement sparkling in his eyes. "And not everyone is a blade of grass like you."  "Oh, haha, I can play the call your best friend a silly name game too, you idiot." I finally manage to catch up, though I suspect it's because he let me.  "What you said was the dumbest thing I've ever heard."  "Well, sorry," I try my best to breeze past him, "It has to be in a language you would understand: the i***t's language."  "Mmmm..." He presses his lips together in doubt, giving me a look equally filled with scepticism. "Don't do that, it sounds creepy." "Mmmmmmmmm..." "Ugh," I throw my hands up as if I can throw away the conversation. "I give up. You're impossible." He laughs at my frustration, "That's my win."  I frown at him, placing my hand on my chest. "Just wait until we get to school, I'll show you who's the winner. I, Ito Tsubaki, challenge you, Kyoto Kauto, to a chess duel."  "I accept your challenge, but you'll have to be ready to recognise who the real winner is. Me." "You say that, but you'll be the one who'll be buying the drinks at the break." "We'll see about that." ************ We make it into school with seconds to spare, quickly removing our shoes in the cloakroom before hurling ourselves up the stairs. Luckily, out of the long strip of classrooms on the first floor, ours is the one closest to the stairs.  I slide the door back, bowing silently at the teacher who has begun to open the register. She nods at me and Kyo and we hurry to our seats towards the back of the classroom.  "You know," Kyo spoke from the desk to the side of me, "We could have got away with it if we entered from the back door."  "Getaway with more classroom duty, I think you mean." I huff, seeing the message written on the board in chalk. Halfway, I smile, nudging Kyo. "Hey, looks like we have free time for twenty minutes."  "You know what that means, right?"  I laugh, digging my phone out my pocket and opening the app I downloaded to kill my boredom about a year ago. Who knew it would end up gifting me my best friend? A holographic projection casts from the camera as I turn it face down, each of the pieces positioned in the correct place.  "Which colour do you want to be?"  Kyo turns from where he's struck up a conversation with another student. A part of my heart falls at it, another section also feeling incredibly proud of him; at his progress.  "Whatever. You know I don't mind." "You just gave away your advantage of the first move." I shrug, training back to examine the board, choosing a strategy I've been thinking of for a while. I make my move and place the phone on his desk.  His eyebrows furrow as he stares at the move I've made. "You only moved your pawn one space when you have the advantage of being able to move it two spaces during the first move?"  I nod, feeling a smirk form on my face. "It's a new strategy I thought of. Looks like you might have to buy the drinks this time."  He nudges the knight so it jumps over one of the pawns and smiles at me, mischief glinting in his eyes. "You wish."  Seeing us focusing on the game, our classmates quickly excuse themselves from the conversation. They know once we get serious, there's no stopping us as we make furious moves back and forth, no clear victor emerging between us.  At one point, Kyo moves the phone onto my desk and pulls out a chair from the one opposite, eyes not being able to tear themselves from the game. He leans over the back of the seat and smirks as he makes his move  I click my tongue in frustration while Kyo takes my bishop with his knight, the same piece that he moved first. He flicks the avatar towards me, though it shatters into crystals before it can go through my head.  I wave the shards aside with my hand as I examine the board closely, trying to calculate the best move in my head. After crossing out several options, I sigh.  "Do you need some time to think, Ito? Your brain seems to have gotten slow in your old age."  I stick out my tongue out to remind him, "You're 6 months older than me."  "And yet, you're taking this long." "Only because you're distracting me." A small smile draws out on my lips. I move my pawn forward again.  "Check!" I laugh triumphantly as the projection spins around in the celebratory animation. "Who's old now?"  "Eh, fine." Kyo runs his hand through his hair, leaning back a little on his chair to stretch the other arm. "Looks like Kyo-senpai will be buying the drinks today."  I shake my head and roll my eyes at the comment, turning my phone off. Out of the tops of my lashes, I see a silhouette standing over me, and as I look up, I recognise the circular face framed by dark, bobbed hair.  Her dark eyes blink, studying me. I recognise her from one of the other classes, so I nod in greeting. She fiddles with the ends of her frayed jumper sleeve as she approaches me.  "Hey," She says, her voice filled with a force I wouldn't expect from her demeanour. "Is it true that Sakamoto Kiyoshi is your Uncle?"