writetomyheart | [Team 1] Not Just a Video Game

~750 words of g-rated Rega getting coerced into playing Kingdom Hearts.

“If you get it right, maybe I’ll let you touch my keyblade.”

“Touch your what now?” Reki walked in at what had to be the most awkward sentence that had ever come out of Koyomi’s mouth. In the living room, Koyomi was talking with Langa and Miya while Reki had run to his room to grab something before they spent the afternoon skating.

Frowning, Koyomi turned to Reki. “My keyblade! You know, the one you made for me three years ago for that Halloween party!”

It took Reki a minute to remember. “You mean that giant key thing? Didn’t I make you like...3?”

“Well, yeah. Cause you had to go to the Halloween party too! Remember? You were Sora and I went as Roxas! So I needed Oathkeeper and Oblivion and you had the Kingdom Key.”

“Oh… yeah.” Reki didn’t remember the names, but he remembered trying to get the chain on the one keyblade perfect. The chain detailing in the middle of the blade was hard, but a good chance to practice with the jigsaw tool. “You still have those?”

“Yeah! You made them!”

“You made a keyblade Reki?” Langa asked at the same time Miya squawked:

“Wait, the slime was dressed up as Sora?”

“My brother’s not a slime!” Koyomi protested. “Most days he’s kinda cool.”

“Gee thanks,” Reki said then turned to Langa. “You know what they’re talking about?”

“Yeah!” Langa’s eyes did that sparkly thing, like when he was excited about a new trick. “I broke my leg one year early into the snowboarding season, so I spent a few weeks resting it and playing video games. Dad bought me Kingdom Hearts and I spent a week playing it non-stop. Then another week playing the second one.”

“Did you play Chain of Memories?” Koyomi asked.

“Or Birth By Sleep?” Miya added. “Or—”

“I… only played up to Kingdom Hearts II I think,” Langa admitted, holding up his hands as they continued to press him. “I didn’t know there were more.”

“There’s so many more. And the gameplay just gets more interesting,” Miya stated, already pulling out his phone. “You got a PS4 Kyan-chan? We can—”

“We can start right now, I have them all on PS4.” Koyomi finished Miya’s thought. “Even the newer ones! I think they should both start back at one though.”

“Obviously,” Miya said. “We can’t have them just start in the middle. The spoiler at—”

“Alright,” Reki cut in. “We’re going skating today, remember? Koyomi was gonna practice her ollies and—”

A sudden crack of thunder drowned out anything he was gonna say. One of those surprising Okinawan summer thunderstorms.

“Well… I don’t think we’re gonna do any of that now.” Miya said. “Soo…”

Reki sighed. “Fine, we’ll play your confusing game.”

“It’s not confusing!” Miya protested, already making his way to the TV like he owned the place. “You just gotta play it.”

“Yeah,” Koyomi insisted, skipping over and pulling out her games. “And you gotta actually play Reki! Not just watch!”

“But i—”

A controller was thrust into his hand and he was firmly pushed onto the couch, Langa curling up on his right side while Koyomi took a place on his left. Miya made himself comfortable on the floor. The opening credits started slowly, and as the music came on, Reki began to remember the evenings when Koyomi used to play while he worked on homework.

Slowly, and over the course of several evenings Reki and Langa traded off playing the game, Miya and Koyomi teasing and giving tips in even measure. They eventually developed their own gameplay styles (Reki favoring magic and defense while Langa’s strategy seemed to be ‘hit the problem until it’s no longer a problem.’)

Together, they managed to find their way through every world, fight every boss, and watch every cutscene until Reki was wiping away tears at the end.

“Does Sora find Riku?” He turned to Langa, who at least had played more than Reki had, then turned to Miya and Koyomi who both had smirks on their face. They wouldn’t tell. Turning back to Langa, he found his boyfriend with an expression that was equal parts smug and pleading.

“Only one way you’re gonna find out,” Miya said, taking the controller and pulling up the menu for the next game.

“You ready?”

With a sigh, Reki sat back on the couch, Langa curling up next to him contentedly.

“Okay, one more game!”

Next up is

knittenkitten, your words are "Okay, one more game!"