Evening Game

“There’s an issue with the boy I liked.”

The second he heard that sentence, Ethan felt his strength fading away. He liked her, and he knew she would never reciprocate his feelings, but he didn’t expect her to like someone else, especially with the way she had been acting.

He felt his face getting hotter by the second. His brain reminded him of the time when he patted her head. It didn’t register to him at the time, most likely because what he touched was the cloak covering her head, not her head itself. Still, he had touched her against her will, and she had someone else she liked.

Ethan felt like a terrible human being. Even if he was the one who said he didn’t want to be involved, in the end, he was the one barging into her personal space, making her feel uncomfortable.

Damn it! Damn it!

He felt the urge to stand up and bowed at her feet, apologizing for all the mistakes he made. Not just that, or this where he eavesdropped on her conversation, but every other time he acted like he was more than her mentor, every time he crossed her personal line in the month they accompanied each other.

Just what was she thinking when she taught him for middle exams? What did she feel when he said all the cringeworthy things he said, like how he so confidently said that he would help her reach her sister, or when he brought her along for the various quests he took?

Who was the real Chione?

Who is Chione?

Ethan felt tears forming in the corner of his eyes.

Why, why am I?

He had always been weak. He wiped the tears from his eyes while trying to be as silent as possible. He didn’t get it. He talked big about not wanting to be involved, about posing as FireRock, this strong, cold person that did not care one bit about his surroundings.

So why?

He expected this far, didn’t he? He knew, he believed that she would never feel that way about him. Chione liking someone else shouldn’t come as a surprise.

So why?

“FireRock, no, Ethan, isn’t it?”

There was a moment of silence as those words traveled across the room.

“...Huh? …HUUUHHH!? HOW, Wait, I MEAN WHY!? BUT HOW-”

Ethan stopped as he heard his name mentioned. He froze, not understanding what was going on. That confusion grew larger when he heard Chione panicking. He brought himself to the edge of the sofa, sneaking a glance at Chione who covered her face in embarrassment. He wiped his wet eyes, trying to get a better view.

“Who else? You never spend much time with a boy other than FireRock. And for the first time in the three years I know you, you spent time studying with someone else.”

“But, still-”

“And who’s the person you’ve been spending so much time with? FireRock. Who’s the boy you looked at the most in high school? Ethan. Who did you panic when you heard their name mentioned? FireRock and Ethan.”

Ethan wondered how this person could say all those things with such confidence. She must have been very close with her to be able to understand Chione like that.

“I mean, I- I- I think he’s interesting because he’s so silent, and he always comes to school early so...”

“By the way, you just admitted that you liked someone.”

“Yeah, since you and Mason are kinda close.”

“You didn’t call me to talk about that, did you?”

“... No.”

Ethan heard a chuckle. It was Calista. He only realized now because of how different she sounded. He personally also found it weird how the game changed the audio of phone calls, making them more realistic, as if this game needed realism in the first place.

“He’s feeling down because he got fewer kills than me.”

“Oh, blaming it on me, aren’t you?”

“No, of course not.”

“If you want to get him motivated, just do what boys like best. Whisper these magic words into his ears. ‘Honey, if we win, I’ll do anything you ask me to, tee hee.’ Make it super cute and he wouldn’t be able to resist.”

“What are you even talking about? There’s no way I can say that!”

“Aww, but that’s how it always worked in films. Maybe I should try it with Mason.”

“You degenerate.”

Chione let out a tired sigh. Despite rarely interacting with each other, it turned out that Mason and Calista were actually close. Ethan was unsure what to do with that information, however. He wasn’t supposed to be listening in the first place.

“Still, these kinds of things are stuff you best discuss with him. Communication is important, after all. You can’t solve everything with the bed.”

“I do not know what got into you.”

Ethan could feel his face getting ever more redder, maybe a tomato at this point. He couldn’t believe he was hearing what he heard, knowing full well that he would be dead if she realized he was here. He felt somewhat better now that he knew, of all people, she liked him. It felt weird, unreal, as if everything was just a dream.

He didn’t want to wake up. He wanted to go up to her and ask for it himself, but he knew that was impossible. He wiped all his tears off and tried to reposition himself, so he could lie down back on the sofa. The game remembered the player’s last sleeping position, so it would be weird if she reentered first and found him on the floor, but just as he was about to climb onto the sofa, his knee slipped. He fell to the side, revealing his head to the two girls.

Both Chione and Calista turned around and stared at him, Calista’s figure visible on a holographic screen. They were both wearing pajamas, Chione’s was pink while Calista’s was light blue.

Calista, who looked like she was lying on the bed facing upward at the camera, only her figure visible, turned a bit and made some virtual gestures.

“Adios.”

She turned off the call, leaving Ethan and Chione in the living room.

Just the two of them.