A Common Thing for People Who Just Started Playing Games

"You've been playing that game for quite a while. What kind of game is it?"

On Sunday, Airi, who was watching me play my game from behind as usual, asked me a question.

It was rare for her to be interested in games. She usually just stared at them, so I would take this opportunity to explain.

"It's called an RPG."

"Ar-Pe-Ge?"

"Oh, there you go. This is…"

She tilted her head adorably. I was convinced that people who knew very little about games would not understand it.

I then went on to explain RPGs to Airi for a while.

"… And that is the game."

"I see. Do you like it so much that you keep playing it?"

"Well, yeah. It's a great game to play alone, in my opinion."

It was a great way to kill time, and these things were basically for one person.

I dabbled in not only RPGs, but also FPSs, puzzle games, and many other things, but it would be better not to explain them all at once to Airi.

"I'd like to try it too. Do you have any recommendations?"

"All right, hold on a second."

Apparently Airi wanted to try it too. She was slightly fidgety and restless when she asked.

I thought, 'If she's that interested in it, I'd like her to try a good one'. With that in mind, I looked for recommendations in the game console section.

"Thanks for waiting, how about this one? I'm sorry it's from a long time ago."

"No problem, thank you."

I decided to have her play a handheld RPG that I used to play. It was something that I could recommend to others, so I thought it wouldn't fail.

"I'll just give you a quick run-through of the controls, then you can get the hang of it yourself."

"Yes, please."

Thinking that it would be better for others not to interfere in such matters, I let Airi do as she wished.

After checking that Airi had started playing, I returned to my own game.

When I looked at Airi from the side, I could see that she was playing the game with sparkles in her eyes.

Glad she was enjoying the game, I let out a big sigh of relief.

We played games for a while, but when I checked the time, it was already late.

"Ninomiya, let's get some sleep."

"..."

"Ninomiya?"

"Yes! What is it?"

Apparently, she was quite focused and hadn't heard me calling her. When I called out to her a little bit louder, her body jumped.

It was worth the effort to encourage her to concentrate so hard. However, it was late at night and they had to go to bed soon.

"Let's get some sleep."

"Eh… Is it late already? Time seemed to pass really fast."

"That's what happens when you're playing a game."

"It's like something's missing. I feel like I'm itching for something."

It was not uncommon for time to fly by when playing games, so Airi's opinion wasn't very new to me. She was like me when I had just discovered games.

She seemed to be very excited to see what was going to happen next, and I chuckled, not expecting her to be so enthusiastic.

"Don't play games in the middle of the night without turning on the lights just because you want to know what's going to happen next."

"I'm not a kid. I'm not going to do that."

I felt like I was scolding a child, and that was exactly what Airi just said to me.

I was not sure if she was really unhappy with what I said, but she was raising her eyebrows and looking unhappy.

"Sorry, sorry, good night then."

The grumpy Airi looked strangely childlike, and I turned off the light, smiling at her.

"I'm back. Eh…?"

The next day, I called out to Airi at the entrance, but there was no response. The lights were on, so she seemed to be in the room.

When I went further inside, I found Airi seriously playing a game, seemingly unaware of my return.

Like yesterday, she seemed to be the type of person who played games quietly, just like me.

The difference was that I didn't seem to lose sight of my surroundings while Airi did. I guessed it was just a matter of getting used to it.

However, I had to talk to her so I made sure she heard me and said,

"I'm back, Ninomiya."

"Hyah!"

When I approached and called out to her, she seemed quite surprised and her body jumped. She looked at me with fluttering eyes.

Her voice and posture of surprise were really cute, though I wouldn't say that because she might get angry if I did.

"Eh, Kujo-senpai? What happened to your part-time job?"

"I'm done with work."

"But I just came home…"

Airi checked the time and stiffened. When I went into the living room, I also looked at the bath and kitchen. It looked like she hadn't prepared the bath and dinner.

Her face was getting bluer and bluer. She was usually very white, so when she turned pale, she looked like she was about to collapse.

Worried, I offered to help.

"Do you want me to cook dinner tonight?"

"No, no, I'm fine. It'll be ready in a minute. I'm sorry."

"There's no need to apologize."

Before she could finish listening to my words, Airi impatiently began to prepare dinner for the night.

Originally, I had to cook for myself. There was no need for Airi to apologize since she was making dinner out of her kindness, not out of obligation.

"No, it's my fault. I'm really sorry. It's the worst that I was so focused on the game that I didn't prepare dinner for tonight. Ah…! I'll prepare the bath right now."

"Just calm down for now."

I couldn't help but put my hand on her head in an attempt to calm down the completely overwhelmed Airi. Her hasty behavior made her look like a child.

"Um…It's…"

"Have you calmed down?"

"… Yes."

"All right, I'll get the bath ready and Ninomiya, you cook dinner. Is that okay?"

"…Yes, please."

I let go of Airi's head and walked into the bathroom. Her face was slowly turning red, but I didn't notice.

"I'm really sorry. I didn't expect to get so absorbed in it."

"I don't mind. I'm just glad you're so enthusiastic about it.

While we were eating dinner, Airi bowed to me. Even after she apologized, she was still sullen and seemed to be very upset.

As the one who recommended the game to her, I was very happy that she enjoyed it. Airi's face clouded when I told her that.

"Next time, I'll properly prepare dinner and the bath."

Since she usually does it for me, it's perfectly fine to take turns.

I'd rather she didn't think it was a sense of mission or obligation. There was no reason for Airi to do it in the first place.

"You don't have to be so self-conscious."

"No, I'll do it. Please let me do it."

"Why are you so determined?"

"…Because I want to do it."

She said it with a hint of red on her cheeks. I wondered why she would be embarrassed about what I just said.

Because she seemed to really want to do it, I left her to it. Though, I had to make something clear,

"All right, I'll leave it to you. Just don't overdo it, okay?"

"Yes, thank you."

After that, Airi started to set a timer whenever she played the game. Apparently, she couldn't stop on her own will.

Airi's measures were childish, and when I laughed, she stared at me shyly with dyed cheeks.