7 Mark my words

"Alright! We did it, Hiromata-kun!"

The two have been playing for quite a while and they finally beat a really difficult stage.

"Great job, Kasumi-san. Even though most of the time you just run straight ahead to the zombies."

"I wasn't! Well, maybe I did but..."

"Haha, I'm kidding, I'm kidding."

Even though they did manage to defeat the enemies, it was mostly Seki's help but they laughed it off anyway.

'Mayby I can really get along with Hiromata-kun. He seems to be a very kind and gentle person. He's very sarcastic but knows his limits. I truly think we can get alon—"

Just as Eru was praising Seki in her head, a cutscene in the game came up but Seki instantly pressed the skip button.

"..."

"K-Kasumi-san. Why are glaring daggers at me?"

"Hiromata-kun. Why did you press the skip button? Please tell me you did that on accident. Please don't tell me that you skipped it because you don't care about the stor—"

"I don't really care about the story. Wanna play another stage?"

"Please get away from me."

"Oi, oi, don't just say it to my face like you really mean it."

Though Eru was being sarcastic on her comment, she truly felt frustrated that Seki skipped the cutscene.

"But why would you skip it?!"

"Eh? I just told you, Kasumi-san."

"You have to take the time to understand the story! The origins of the apocalypse! The grieving of the characters!"

"But we could've used that time to shoot some zombie brains."

"Ha?! Don't you feel curious on the lore of the game?"

"B-But... shooting zombie brains..."

Seki gazed at Eru's eyes with pleading puppy eyes.

'Why does it feel like I'm scolding a kid right now?'

Eru had the urge to pat Seki's head because of the face he was making but managed to hold it in. She simply regained her composure and sighed.

"S-Sorry, Kasumi-san."

"E-Eh? No! I wasn't angry or anything! I was just surprised by your pretty uncommon mindset."

Eru waved her hands left and right. Although Seki wasn't crying or anything, she could feel the genuine apologetic tone in his words.

"I've never really cared about the stories in games and such. I'm also not very fond with books but I'm completely fine when it comes to Animes and shows. Probably because watching those doesn't take much effort."

"I see... Hm..."

Eru held her chin as if she was in deep thought.

"Hiromata-kun, I've decided!"

"W-What is it, Kasumi-san?"

"Mark my words, I will make you appreciate the beauty of stories and tales!"

"Ehhh..."

Seki simply remarked in a dejected tone.

"I may have said that I wasn't angry a while ago, I'll admit that I was definitely frustrated. That said, I'll make you like them to the point of no return whether you like it or not!"

Watching Eru puff her chest as she proudly proclaimed this, Seki couldn't help but make a small chuckle.

"I see. I'll be counting on you then."

Seki exclaimed so with such a wholesome smile that Eru blushed just a tad bit.

"Considering that we're talking about games with stories, what do you play, Kasumi-san? JRPGs? Obviously not FPS games though."

"I don't know what to feel about that last comment. But JRPGs aren't really my scene. I've tried playing them a couple times but dropped them after a few minutes. The games that I'm crippling addicted to are visual novels."

"Ehhh... So you like those, huh. You don't really look like the kind of girl who would be into Eroges and lewd stuff."

Hearing the magic word [lewd], Eru's face instantly turned beet red.

"Oi, oi! That's a common misconception many people have! Visual novels aren't limited to eroges and such. It can also be dating simulators, or even great games with intriguing plots like Fake: Stay Day, Stine's Door, or even the world famous Okie-Dokie: Math Club!"

"K-Kasumi-san... I'm not familiar with those titles so you're basically speaking alien language to me."

Once again, Eru could simply sigh in disappointment. Noticing this, Seki tried to cheer her up.

"Maybe you could bring one of your visual novels here and we can play it."

Eru's face lit up as she heard this suggestion from Seki.

"Yeah... Let's do that. Then I'll that to my to do list! I'll make sure that you're addicted to the visual novels as well and one day you'll thank me for introducing you to an amazing medium!"

Watching such a sight, his face lit up and he started chuckling to himself.

"E-Eh? Why are you laughing? Did I say something weird? Do I have something in my face? What is it?"

"No, no. I'm just thinking that it was easy after all."

"Easy? What is?"

"I told you that I'll make you speak casually with me right? Your response was so vague back then that I thought it'll be impossible but not a week has passed and you're already so cheerful. Just thinking about it, I couldn't help but be delighted."

...

Eru's face blushed slightly but she managed to suppress it in no time as she fixed her composure.

"Pardon my extreme behavior. I would like to send you my deepest apologies."

"Oi, don't turn back on me now."