Standing a distance away, I watched them fight, reminded by that one fateful day, that one day at the bus station. On that day, I had stayed a few minutes behind, due to having to retake a test, missing the first bus home. As such I had arrived at the bus station late, having to wait for the second bus. On that day I saw 'her', running towards the bus station. Arriving at the bus station, she caught her breath, looked at me and asked.
"I didn't miss the bus yet, right?"
Looking at her, I was at a loss for words. She was so beautiful, looking so graceful while catching her breath. Having stared at her for a bit, she broke out in laughter, tilting her head slightly while wiping the tear that made it to her eye with her hand.
"You don't have to be so stiff; you know? Aren't we in the same class?"
As she looked at me with a smile, I felt compelled to answer, mustering the words out of my mouth.
"…yes"
Hearing my answer, she eased up, seeming to be portraying a mix of relief and familiarity.
"Anyways, I don't think we have ever actually been introduced, my name is Heddwen, nice to meet you"
She smiles, reaching her hand out to shake mine. At that moment, she had stolen my heart. Having been an introvert for most of my life, such a scene had truly made me happy. To be approached and holding a conversation with such a wonderful person, whose fantasies would not run wild at that thought.
'Heddwen, what a beautiful name'
"…I'm Rover, nice to meet you"
I whispered so quietly it is difficult for anyone to hear, yet she replied.
"Yeah, the pleasure is mine"
With her smile that could light up the night sky, I had already lost any resistance to her charm. As we both waited for the bus to arrive, she continued the conversation talking about all kinds of things. She would talk about things such as the events happening in school, how they had planned to plan an excursion around the neighborhood with the class, to trivial things, such as how she had just gotten a cat.
"Did you know that my name, 'Heddwen' means 'Peace'?"
Hearing that question out of nowhere, it surprised me a bit. Collecting my thoughts, I answered her, trying not to sound flustered.
"N-No, I didn't… it is a beautiful name"
Seeing my reddened face, a teasing smile crept onto her face.
"Oh? Are you saying that just my name is beautiful? Do you think I am that ugly?"
Hearing her response, my mind blanked, even though I knew she was just teasing me, I couldn't just agree to her words.
"N-no, I think you are very beautiful!"
As those words left my mouth, I inwardly regretted saying such things, wanting to be buried in a pit and never see the light again.
Seeing my reaction, she started laughing loudly, unable to keep up with her teasing behavior anymore.
"Hahaha, you don't have to be so stiff, at that rate, you will turn into an ice cube"
As she lightly tapped me on the shoulder, I had felt so embarrassed and wanted to change the conversation as soon as possible.
"A-Anyways, tell me more about your cat."
Seeing my desire to move on from the topic, she decided to play along, talking about her cat, Cinnamon.
Listening to her talk, I had wished for this to continue indefinitely, listening to her talk on and on, hearing her beautiful voice and having her gaze at me here and there. After a bit, I also joined in on her conversation, discussing things such as how the art teacher had reminded me of Mr. Bean. She would laugh at my jokes, looking so carefree. But little did she know that I was falling deeper and deeper for her every second.
When we got on the bus, she had sat next to me at the back of the bus, and we continued exchanging stories with one another. At that time, she had told me about SimuField, the battlefield where people competed against one another.
"Have you heard of the Simulacrum Battlefield?"
It had been said that with the advancement of technology, a new unknown company had appeared, creating the Simulacrum Battlefield. The SimuField which is now considered normal was quite an impressive feat back then, creating abilities based on the person's personality, people had estimated there to be at least 4 billion unique created abilities.
That was merely one of the many questions about SimuField. At that time, renowned scientists and engineers couldn't completely explain how the creation of the SimuField was possible with the at that time current technological advancements, which to this day cannot be completely explained.
The group who had created the SimuField, known as Waterfront, had stayed hidden, not responding to any of the questions and had been inconspicuous ever since. Even while not appearing much in the media, they have contributed much to the development of Virtual Reality, being the one who had created the compact version of the full dive technology, transforming the helmet into a compact ear accessory.
Over time, the questions about the SimuField had become scarce, as people became accustomed to it.
Due to the advancement of the Simulacrum Battlefield, it later became a popular sport, being used as one of the national competitions. After a few years, a correlation between the stats in the Simulacrum Battlefield and the physical health of the person in question was found. There had been a significant improvement in physical health seen for all those who participated in the SimuField.
Due to this new discovery, the Simulacrum Battlefield had started being implemented into the schooling system starting from high school through the implementation of new schools known as Elite 100 schools. The Elite 100 were schools tasked to investigate the correlation between the SimuField and reality.
Alongside the new schools, there had also been an addition in jobs, mostly new jobs dealing with the investigation into the SimuField and Virtual Reality, believing that this discovery could aid humanity in the long run.
As the news of the correlation between the SimuField and reality came to light, SimuField had become even more popular than before, rising to the ranks of the #1 topic in the world. While some had embraced the news with an open heart, others had disregarded the news and even been skeptical about this new revelation, deciding to steer clear of the Simulacrum Battlefield.
I, who had been mostly stayed in my own world, had been unaware of such matters until that day, asking her many questions about her favorite topic on the ride home.
As I continued asking her questions about the SimuField, her gaze had become softer, her eyes expressing satisfaction at the opportunity to tell me all about the Simulacrum Battlefield.
"I am currently taking part in the SimuField too, it's so much fun and keeps me fit. You should give it a try"
Seeing her smile so brightly, I didn't have it in me to tell her that I didn't have a 'Gate' at that time, instead trying to dodge the question instead.
"Sure, I will give it a try when I get the chance. Anyways, tell me more, what do you do in the SimuField?"
Hearing such a question, her face had brightened up, intending to give me a whole lecture. Before the lecture could even begin, the bus had notified all the passengers that the stop 'Eden' came up.
"Sorry, let's talk about this next time."
"Sure, no worries."
As the bus comes to a halt, she exits the bus, walking further and further away in the distance slowly disappearing in my sight, with the sunset showing her silhouette.
Admiring her beauty even amid such a moment, my mind once again thinks about what she had said.
'A Gate, huh. I guess I will consider this an investment'