𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘦𝘦𝘢𝘬
"...." Masato stared at the wooden shack in front of him.
"What are you waiting for? Come on in." Asuka said.
"I thought we were going outside of school?" Masato said. "This is just an old shack behind the main building."
"Yeah, and? You got a problem with it?" Asuka said. "Nobody ever comes here anyways. It's my little safe space when those bullies come after me."
Masato lowered his head and went inside.
"Huh, you really got this place decorated and everything." Masato said.
Masato looked around the interior. Dim rays of light peering through the old wooden walls were the only source of light seeping into the shack. Numerous books were scattered on the floor and on a makeshift bookcase next to an old television connected to a game console. Masato spotted a game cartridge laying near the console. His eyes widened.
"No way...you have the original F*micom?! And you also have Valkyrie no B*uken?!" Masato said. "How did you get these?! I thought these were super rare to get!"
Aiko was taken aback.
'He knows about Valkyrie no B*uken?' she thought.
"Hehe...well, I've got other really rare games somewhere in here, if you'd like to see." Aiko said.
Masato turned closer towards Aiko.
"Really?!" Masato said excitedly.
Aiko leaned backwards, cheeks turning slightly red. She'd never been this close with a boy before.
"Y-yeah." Aiko said. 𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘦𝘮 "But that's not the reason why we're here right now."
"Oh. That's right." Masato said, sitting back normally.
"So I guess introductions are first." Aiko said. "My name is Aiko Takahashi."
"Mine is Masato Haruki, nice to meet you." Masato said.
"So, Haruki, how did you become a user?" Aiko said.
"Well.....it's a long story." Masato said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess let's start with....."
---
"....and that's about the gist of my situation." Masato said.
𝘴𝘰𝘣
'Wait, is she crying?' Masato thought.
"Woah woah, why are you crying? Are you okay?" Masato said.
𝘴𝘰𝘣
Teardrops slowly fell from Aiko's face.
𝘴𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘧
"I...I uh, didn't know you had to go through such an experience." Aiko said, sobbing. "I'm sorry I thought you were a bad person."
"Hey, it's okay, it's okay." Masato said.
Masato patted Aiko's head.
"Don't worry about it too much. To be honest, I thought you were about to kill me when I first met you hahah." Masato said, retracting his hand back. "Now, why don't you tell me a little about yourself, Takahashi?"
𝘴𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘧
"Sure." Aiko said, smiling slightly. "It all started around the same time as you, Haruki."
Aiko wiped her eyes with her arm and continued explaining her story.
"I transferred in from Osaka for my first year. I really didn't have any friends so I was a loner, you could say. I really didn't know much about the school, and especially not its hierarchy. On the first day, I accidentally bumped into a girl that could be considered one of the leaders of the school. Hell ensued from there." Aiko said.
Aiko clutched her skirt tightly.
"I...I was bullied very severely. Each day was torture. These girls would constantly toy around with me, whether it was in class or during breaks between classes. They would escalate the bullying every month, from getting my desk drawn on in homeroom to getting beat up like a doll by a group, it kept on getting worse." Aiko said.
Masato noticed that Aiko's breathing started to become more uneven.
"One day, they took it too far." Aiko said, voice welling up with anger. "After school, the group of girls approached me and dragged me to an alleyway near school. There, they stripped me down to my underwear, taking pictures and laughing maniacally. That wasn't even the worst part. After they took the pictures, a group of guys came into the alleyway, and proceeded to rape me."
Aiko was now seemingly unstable. Her vision was becoming distorted.
"-iko. Aiko!" Masato said.
𝘨𝘢𝘴𝘱
Aiko shot her head up. She could barely see past her blurry vision and hair. Suddenly, she could feel a warm embrace.
"It's okay, you're fine now." Masato softly said whilst hugging Aiko.
More tears welled up in Aiko's eyes. She bawled. Masato cried with her.
---
Silence filled the small, dimly lit shack. Both Masato and Aiko were spent after bawling their eyes out. Masato and Aiko looked at each other, and smiled. A new bond was formed.
"Okay?" Masato said.
"Okay." Aiko responded.
A message popped up in their vision.
[New Function: Friends List!]
Both promptly clicked on the 'Friends List' icon and added each other. A message, party-up, and block option appeared next to each other's names.
"Well, guess we're friends now, huh?" Masato chuckled.
"I guess so, hehe." Aiko smiled.
Aiko's long hair parted slightly, showing her face.
𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘱
Masato's heart skipped a beat when he saw Aiko's face.
'She's....really cute...' Masato said.
The bell rang, signifying the end of school. Masato snapped back to reality.
"Shoot, I forgot my bag in Math!" Masato said.
"You really want to go back in there?" Aiko said.
Masato paused a bit.
"Well, if I'm going to stay in the real world for a bit longer, I'd like to not get in any trouble." Masato said.
"Fair enough." Aiko said. "I could hardly care about the school though. Meet me back here around 5? I've got some cool games I wanna play but they're two-player."
"You got it. See you in a bit, Takahashi." Masato said.
"Ciao." Aiko said, waving her hand.
Masato went out of the shack, and went back into the school.