Gaymer Girls' Night

"Awww, I love him!" Rinku squealed.

You've said that about every NPC we've run into so far, Muni thought, deadpan. Maybe inviting Rinku along to have a little gamer girls' night wasn't the best idea after all. Honestly, how?! I have the WORST luck!

It should've been the perfect plan—a brilliant brain burst from the one and only VJ Only—and yet, Rinku threw her for a loop with her innocent obliviousness. Now, instead of getting to show off to Rinku all she knew about this new video game of hers, she was sitting on the other end of a voice chat, on the other side of the screen, silently seething with jealous over... a tiny cluster of 8-bit pixels.

"Oooh! Oooh! Hey, hey, Muni! By the way! Can we get married in this game?!" Rinku suddenly asked, eyes shining.

"Wh-WHAT?!" Muni reared back, heart thundering in her chest, racing at a million miles an hour. "I- I- I- mean, uhh, uhhh..." The gamer girl tugged at the collar of her pajamas nervously, gulping. Technically yes, marriage is a mechanic in the game, and in multiplayer...

She couldn't even bring herself to finish the thought, even though it was a subconscious part of the reason why she'd chosen this game to introduce to Rinku. Rinku, meanwhile, barreled on, blissfully unaware of Muni's inner turmoil.

"He just called me cute and pretty!" she gushed, and Muni's stomach twisted violently again.

"He what?" Her voice was tight, strangled.

"Yeah, yeah! Go up to him and click on him!" Rinku encouraged.

Muni's lip curled. Do I have to? Ugh... I mean, I don't really have an excuse to NOT talk to him, so... It's not like I'm doing this JUST because Rinku I asked! I'm doing this because this is MY video game, so I'M supposed to be the leader and guide here!

Muni pushed her avatar forward and clicked on the NPC. The text box that popped up beneath him read, "Hello, Ms. Only! You look lovely today!"

Muni was sorely tempted to choose the mean answer. "Hey! Keep your eyes to yourself!" But instead, she forced herself to click the friendly response. "Have you looked in a mirror lately? You're quite handsome yourself!"

The gamer girl wanted to gag. It was the dumbest, cringiest pickup line she'd ever heard. This would NEVER work on a real person!

"See, Muni, see?!" Rinku asked excitedly as a small heart suddenly appeared over the NPC's head before vanishing into the air. "You leveled up in friendship points with him!" Ok, so maybe the cheesy pickup line wouldwork on somebody...

Then again, this is Rinku Aimoto we're talking about here... It wasn't that Rinku was a flirty or romantic person—far from it—she was just far too friendly for her own good. What others would see as obvious flirtation she saw merely as a compliment, wishing to return it in kind. If the NPC called her beautiful, cute, and lovely, she would gladly call him handsome!

"But you can't be serious about marrying a guy you just met?!" Muni complained half-heartedly. This wasn't even one of the main NPCs!

"Well, I guess I just wanted to try something new!" Rinku said, tone cheerful and innocent. "You know, usually it's always you and me who're partners, so I was wondering what it would be like to be with someone else in this game!"

Gah! I think I just took like 100 damage points from that! Muni physically recoiled again, wincing as she leaned back in her chair. On the one hand, Rinku had just called Muni her partner, which made Muni's heart swell. On the other hand, Rinku had just said she wanted to try something different this time around, which made Muni's heart wilt. And to top it all off, there was all the emotions Muni was feeling at thinking about Rinku and romance... And being jealous of that cluster of 8-bit pixels on her screen.