The streets at midnight were still aglow with neon lights. The city took off its soft veil that was like the blooming cherry blossoms in the daytime and revealed its decadent urban nature to all the night wanderers.
Tokyo was a crowded and busy city. Even in the dead of night, the streets were still filled with people. Countless office workers who had been working overtime until now were the main characters of the night and also the main source of customers for many stores, big or small. High school students like Hoshino Gen, who were commonly seen in school uniforms during the day, seemed a bit out of place on the streets at this moment.
The enticing aromas wafting from the food stalls on the roadside were like little alluring hands, constantly luring passers-by to come and spend money at the stalls.
Hoshino Gen had intended to solve his dinner problem at one of the roadside stalls nearby. However, perhaps because it was Friday, many stalls were packed with customers.
After scanning back and forth several times, Hoshino Gen finally spotted a fast-food stall in an inconspicuous corner with only a few customers.
The stall owner was a girl who looked to be only seventeen or eighteen years old. She was also wearing a school uniform, but unlike Hoshino Gen's exquisite private school uniform, she wore the uniform of an ordinary public school, and it even looked a bit old.
When she noticed Hoshino Gen's gaze fixed on her and that he was walking towards her, the girl actually looked away shyly, lowering her head slightly.
Apparently, this girl was a novice stall owner and felt ashamed to have her peers patronize her roadside stall.
Hoshino Gen didn't mind. He just wanted to fill his stomach.
He sat down at an old dining table in front of the stall and glanced at the handwritten menu placed on the stall.
"Please give me a plate of curry rice."
"Ah... okay." The stall owner hurriedly filled a disposable lunch box with rice, then lifted the lid of a pot and poured a big ladle of steaming hot curry onto the rice before bringing it to Hoshino Gen.
Taking the disposable chopsticks, Hoshino Gen took a bite of the rice soaked in the sauce and then understood why this stall had only a few scattered customers on this street.
He took a napkin to cover his mouth, spat out the food in his mouth, wrapped it in the paper and threw it into the trash can. Hoshino Gen was about to pay the bill and go deeper into the street to find a fancy restaurant to rinse his mouth.
He wasn't particularly picky about food. He actually liked the delicious food from ordinary roadside stalls. But that didn't mean that when he had certain material conditions, he would tolerate unappetizing food going into his stomach.
However, just as he was about to speak, a voice interrupted him.
"Wow! Sister, look! It's Ringo-chan! Oh—so cute~~"
A childish voice suddenly reached Hoshino Gen's ears, making him pause in his movement to get up. It was then that he noticed that beside this girl who was probably a high school student, there was a six- or seven-year-old little girl.
The girl's face was full of excitement and longing as she pointed at the large screen outside a nearby shopping mall. Her big eyes were shining brightly.
Hoshino Gen also looked over there. On the large screen, a silent promotional video for the April 23rd Shinjuku concert of the girl idol group "TKY02" was being played. Posters of several important members of TKY02 occupied most of the screen. As the center of the group, Hoshino Ringo was naturally the most eye-catching one. With her mixed-race face and heterochromatic eyes, she was breathtakingly beautiful despite being only sixteen years old.
However, what subconsciously popped into Hoshino Gen's mind was the look of the girl when she was aggrieved and crying while being beaten in the game. Looking back now at the little girl staring at Hoshino Ringo's poster with shining eyes, for some reason, he felt like laughing inside.
Changing the word "pay the bill" on the tip of his tongue to "pack", Hoshino Gen picked up the white plastic bag and walked deeper into the street...
When Hoshino Gen got home, there was still light in the living room, but Hoshino Ringo wasn't playing games anymore. To be precise, the game screen still showed the black-and-white image of the character's death, but Hoshino Ringo had already thrown the controller onto the carpet and was now hugging her knees and looking at her phone seriously.
Maybe she was looking for game strategies.
This girl was really too persistent...
Although he had heard from his mother long ago that his sister would never give up until she achieved her goal, it was only today that he truly experienced it.
But—was it really okay to stay up late playing games when there was a concert tomorrow? And judging by the situation, if she couldn't beat the game all the time, wouldn't she have to stay up all night?
After a brief hesitation, Hoshino Gen went over and picked up the controller.
Under Hoshino Ringo's puzzled gaze, Hoshino Gen sat on the sofa at a little distance from her.
"Do you mind if I play for a while?" Hoshino Gen looked at Hoshino Ringo and asked with a habitual smile.
Perhaps because Hoshino Gen had seen her crying just a while ago, Hoshino Ringo looked away a bit shyly and said in a low voice, "This is very difficult..."
"I've played it before. It's indeed not easy to beat." Hoshino Gen looked at the screen, held the controller firmly, and with a slight squeeze of his fingers, the black-and-white picture regained its colors.
The roar of the monster echoed through the spacious living room through the speakers, and the impactful attack sound effects were mixed in.
Before long, after a shrill long howl, the monster crashed to the ground. The boss was dead, and the game's cutscene was triggered.
Hoshino Gen put down the controller and looked at Hoshino Ringo beside him, who had her small mouth slightly open and was staring blankly at the TV screen. He smiled and said, "The rest of the game content is quite interesting. But it's already very late today. You have work tomorrow, right? How about playing the rest on your day off? I think the experience would be better that way."
After a pause, Hoshino Gen smiled and added, "Of course, it's just a suggestion."
After saying that, he put down the controller and got up and walked towards the bedroom.
"Wait a minute!"
Hoshino Gen paused in his steps and turned around to ask in confusion, "What's the matter?"
"You... are so good at playing games." Hoshino Ringo seemed to still be in a state of surprise.
"Practice makes perfect," Hoshino Gen smiled. "Anything else?"
"Do you often play games?" Suddenly, as if realizing something, Hoshino Ringo's beautiful heterochromatic eyes sparkled. "Which platform do you like? PC? PS? Or Switch?"
Immediately understanding what Hoshino Ringo meant, Hoshino Gen smiled and said, "I like them all. We can play together when we're free."
Playing games was more fun with someone else. People who loved games probably couldn't resist the temptation of having someone to play with them often.
"Yeah!" Hoshino Ringo immediately agreed and couldn't help but smile. Interestingly, this smile seemed to lack a bit of the previous idol-like sweetness and cuteness.
Perhaps realizing the benefits of having a peer brother, after spending over a year, she finally seemed able to abandon the perfect "brother" she had created in her fantasies over the past decade or so and was willing to make peace with the ordinary Hoshino Gen in reality.
"By the way, do you want to come to TKY02's concert tomorrow? You can go backstage..."
Facing his sister's first invitation, Hoshino Gen smiled and refused without hesitation: "Sorry, I have something to do tomorrow. Maybe next time."
"..."