Online Friends

As the As the sounds of metal clashing echoed in the fields, the roars of men and women at war rang like a chant. This was the final battle, winner takes all. On one side of dead man's land, the Destruction and on the other, the Preservation. There on that rocky wasteland: They fought for weeks with their sweat spilling onto the battlefield and their fingers ached. Their eyes bagged from their around-the-clock battles, their throats parched, only finding moisture from their own saliva. Every one of their minds spent, yet they fought with all their might till they collapsed from their own fatigue or from the enemy.

The winning side? The Destruction, their forces were just far superior. Their equipment was far higher in level and make than those of the Preservation. Ironic considering the Preservation was considered to be one of the richest factions in the world with the best craftsmen known to man, woman and child.

Still just because they weren't as strong didn't mean they were just gonna back down and luckily for the Preservation, they had teamed up with someone who could turn the tides around.

The legendary solo battler, the Trailblazer.

She's only been within the world for a year but already made waves for being the only person to completely clear a dungeon on her own: No support, no shielders, and no healers, just herself.

The Trailblazer has made quite the name for herself, hence why she was offered a lot of credits to take part in this battle by the Preservation.

So with her trusty bat in hand, she joined the fight, taking down many Destruction forces in her wake with devastating swings that launched every Destruction soldier high into the sky. As those bodies turned into reverse skydivers, the Preservation forces' morale rose as they now believed that with the Trailblazer leading the charge, they would pierce through the Destruction's forces and bring home the flag of victory. And it seemed to be the future they were heading towards, until near the end of the skirmish where they would witness the Trailblazer fall into the hands of the Destruction after they all ganged up on her, leading to her demise.

In those few moments, all hope seemed lost. What little flame they had gained, squashed into embers then into nothing.

Then out of the sky, a shining pillar of fiery hope came crashing down, setting the battlefield ablaze and taking out many Destruction combatants in one fell swoop.

This was the Preservation's secret weapon, one of the most powerful individuals to ever exist. Known for their top-tier Strategic Assault Mech gear, this individual rose to the highest ranks from just a mere rookie in just a few months.

A good friend of the Galatic baseballer, the Molten Knight, SAM.

"Alright SAM is here!!!!" a preservation member screamed.

"SAAAMMMM!" another yelled in a cheer.

"OH YEAH WERE SO WINNING THIS!"

With their hearts now bursting into a torrent of fiery determination. The arrival of this mechanoid warrior signalled that not all hope was lost.

Meanwhile, the Destruction were becoming rather annoyed after feeling the heat of SAM.

"What?!" one member expressed in fury.

"Nah that's no fair!" another claimed.

"We don't got Silver Wolf with us, why do they got SAM?!" a high-ranked member of the Destruction fussed.

All in all, it was a disaster for the Destruction as SAM wiped the floor with them in just a few minutes, thus ending the one-week fight in a blaze of glory and the total annihilation of the enemy.

Once the last man went down, the banner of victory appeared, claiming that in this battle Preservation prevailed.

"You did it SAM!"

"You and TB are the goat!"

"Let's do another raid together!"

Comments were flying everywhere for SAM, many wished for them to work together again while others wanted to befriend them since they seemed like a nice person. However, unfortunately for the Preservation members, they didn't have all the time in the world to converse with the mechanoid because with the battle over there was no need to be on the battlefield anymore.

Their vision would then turn to black and a logo appeared with the words: "Simulated Universe" and "Loading" would grace everyone's vision.

On the other side of a screen, taking a huge breath of relief, a young girl with light wavy grey hair stretches her arms.

She was sitting cross-legged on her chair, her two screens showing the loading screen of the game Simulated Universe, while the other screen was of a chatroom. There, people were all talking about the fight between Preservation and Destruction, but the girl was more attentive to the small window on the corner that showed a wolf logo on it.

"Aeons that was intense, I thought they would lose for sure," she says. "You should've joined in Wolfie."

The wolf logo then brightened as the voice of a girl spoke out, "No thanks, those raids don't give good gear."

"Aw but don't you wanna play with us?" the girl whined.

"Sure, let's all do a dungeon run together."

The silver haired girl sweated, while she proposed to play together she also knew her friend's habit so she quickly backed out and suggested something calmer, like material farming.

"By the way, when are you gonna tell her you're SAM?" Wolfie asked.

"I... I'm working on it, it's just hard you know," the girl replied, her voice becoming soft and meek.

"Right, well Kafka texted that dinner is in 10 minutes, better log out."

"Oh right."

The call ended there and the girl leaned back on her chair, her emerald eyes staring up at her ceiling.

"I do want to tell her but... how can I? It would ruin her image of me. I don't want that."

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In Intelligentsia Academy, many students were one of a kind. From prodigious kendo students to a popular live streamer and even an idol. Intelligentsia Academy was never short of interesting individuals.

One of those students was the ace of the baseball team, the self-proclaimed Galatic Baseballer, Stelle.

Part of the Nameless dormitory, this young lady was known for her kindness, amazing skill in baseball and tendency to go dumpster diving. That last one was something most tended to ignore.

But above all else, Stelle was known for being one of the most prolific gamers in the Academy alongside Silver Wolf. While baseball was her first passion, gaming was her second and the game "Simulated Universe" was her top choice. She had played for a year under the name Trailblazer and had the time of her life. Stelle loved the fast-paced action, the countless rewards and the extensive lore that the world had, even if she did tend to skim and just watch other people talk about it. All in all, she loved the game and even tried to get her friends to play it, but the others tended to play far more casually than her, other than Silver Wolf.

That said, what the baseballer hadn't realised was that out of all her friends, a certain little bug had secretly made an account and grinded for months to play on her level. When they met in the game though, Stelle didn't even know it was her since they only ever spoke in text.

Still, Stelle loved hanging out with SAM and thought it would be nice to meet them. From their chats, SAM hinted they were also a highschooler and were most likely a girl since the topics SAM brought up were rather feminine in nature. Like going to a new cafe that opened up, or picking some clothes to wear for a day out with a friend. Stelle cared very little for some of the things, but food was always on her mind so going to a cafe was always a good option.

One morning, while heading to school, Stelle heard a melodic, sweet voice call out to her, "Stelle!"

Turning around, Stelle's golden eyes locked onto the running silver-haired girl, waving her hand. A huge smile then appeared on Stelle's face, but she quickly controlled her expression bringing her grin to a smaller size.

"Firefly," she greeted once the girl had reached her. "Morning."

"Morning," Firefly replied as she caught her breath.

The two then walked to school side by side, chatting about what they had done before and what activities they should do for the week. For Stelle she wanted to check out a new film that came out, it was an action and robot movie, something she knew would interest Firefly and she wasn't wrong since the girl immediately knew which one she was on about. Meanwhile, Firefly wanted to check out a new cafe that had opened up, she wanted to try their version of Oat cake rolls, Firefly's favourite food, and was hoping Stelle would join her. Of course, the baseballer didn't refuse, it was her precious little bug friend after all.

As they casually talked amongst themselves, the crowd around them began to whisper.

"Oh, it's Stelle and Firefly."

"They're so cute together!"

"Do you think they're dating?"

"I heard they're not."

"Really?"

The two friends wouldn't hear these, but it was something quite common in their school. After all, if there was a more known duo in the Academy, it would be Bronya and Seele, then these two. Stelle and Firefly were no more than strangers in the first few weeks in the school, and it was only due to coincidence, perfect timing and some weird thugs that got these two together. From then on, everyone in the school knew how close the girls were. They hung out every single day, ate lunch together, and went home together. There wasn't a single moment where the two were ever separated... apart from classes.

While Stelle was popular for her cool factor, Firefly was popular for her sweetness. Men often tried to ask the lovely girl out, only to be blocked by Stelle with a deadly gaze, she didn't allow anyone to get near Firefly. And in turn, her silver-haired friend would also pry her away from anyone who tried to take up their time with a confession.

It had become quite the routine as they arrived at the gates of their school and were greeted by all their friends.

"Wow, isn't it a bit early you two?" Seele asked with a smirk.

"Aren't you the same?" Stelle glanced over at Bronya who had her arm snaked around Seele's while her eyes were glued onto a textbook.

"I-I'm just helping her since she keeps sleeping late!" Seele roared, but her pink face betrayed her excuse.

Firefly giggled as she watched the two bicker, but her smile would soon change to a more solemn look after she replayed what Silver Wolf had told her the night before. Like she said, she would love to tell Stelle she was SAM, but she didn't know how to bring the topic up. She never told Stelle she started playing Simulated Universe and considering that Stelle had this idea that she was this sweet and innocent girl, Firefly feared if her friend ever found out that she had become a hardcore gamer with min-maxed equipment. But of course, at the same time, she was getting tired with pretending and only using text, yet never could commit due to cold feet every time she thought of opening up.

Once they reached the classroom, the two said their goodbyes and Firefly headed to her classroom where she was greeted by the school idol and her classmate, Robin.

"Good morning little bug," Robin greeted using Firefly's nickname.

"Good morning miss Robin," Firefly replied.

"How was your morning? Was it nice?" Robin asked as they settled at Firefly's desk.

"Yeah, I walked here with Stelle so it's been a fun start to the day," the silver-haired girl explained as she plopped her bag on the desk. She then looked at Robin. "And yours?"

Robin shrugged and gave off a tired sigh. "Well, you know, same as always. My brother insisted we take the car, but I refused and walked to school. Then he tried to chase after me, so I slammed the door on his face when I left the house."

Firefly couldn't help but chuckle at the idol's rather aggressive morning. It was no secret that Robin was admired by many students and teachers in the school, but no one could top her brother Sunday when it came to obsession. Sometimes they even feared he would go too far with his overprotectiveness.

As for why Firefly and Robin were close, well they were seatmates and was Firefly's first friend outside her dorm.

"So?" Robin started, resting her chin on her hands as she looked at Firefly.

"What?" Firefly looked back nervously.

"Did you tell Stelle?"

Firefly immediately looked away, giving Robin all she needed to know.

"Girl, it's been 4 months, why are you hesitating so much?"

"We-well, it's not easy!" Firefly argued.

"Little bug, if you can tell me your elaborate plan, surely you can tell her? And besides everyone knows Stelle doesn't really care about these sort of things."

Robin wasn't wrong, but Firefly still wasn't budging. It was just embarrassing.

Their conversation was cut short when the bell rang but Firefly took her friends' comments to heart and wondered if she was just being paranoid.

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At lunch, Firefly met up with Stelle and they went together to the cafeteria to grab some food. However, just as they sat down with their trays, someone joined them.

"Hey, can I join?"

Looking up the two girls were now frozen in place when Robin stood in front of their table with a bright smile on her face. The rest of the cafeteria had also gone silent with their eyes all pointed at the trio.

Stelle then glanced over to Firefly to deal with her seatmate. But Firefly was just as stunned, she knew Robin tended to avoid the cafeteria since it was full of people, yet here she was.

The baseballer then nudged her friend with her elbow. "Um, shouldn't you say something?"

Finally breaking out of her entranced state, Firefly finally spoke out, "Miss Robin? Why are you here?"

"Oh you know, thought I needed a change of pace," Robin explained. "Plus we never eat together, and I kinda wanted to."

Firefly didn't know how to respond to that. She shared a glance with Stelle, a silent way to gain both her support and permission to let the school idol stay with them.

"We-well we don't mind, miss Robin," Stelle said, picking up Firefly's silent plea.

"Wonderful." Robin then sat down in front of the two and placed her lunchbox on the table, she then glanced at the two's trays. "You know I never tried cafeteria food, is it good?"

Firefly touched her lips with her spoon as she hummed in thought. "It's... ok?"

That was probably the best way she could describe it, there were many things on the school menu, but it wasn't like they were eating some 5* cuisine. In fact just looking at the lasagna in her tray that had been drowned in sauce is pretty telling about the quality of the food. It's good, but just not that good and Firefly found that fine, it was school after all.

"Hmm, maybe I should try it sometime," Robin enthusiastically beamed. "Speaking of trying."

Robin then glanced over at Stelle who was busy chomping down on a burger. When the grey-haired girl noticed the stares, her teeth were already halfway deep in the bun. Not the best position to start a conversation, since what followed was a few seconds of Stelle just slowly biting down her food with the girls watching her. Once she had consumed and swallowed the piece of burger, not even savouring it due to the stares, she finally spoke.

"What?"

Robin smiles and leaned close, making Firefly flinch. "I heard you play Simulated Universe, is that right?"

"Uh, yeah," Stelle responded nervously. "It's pretty fun."

Stelle wasn't expecting for Robin to take an interest in video games and neither did Firefly. In their eyes Robin was more fit for activities like shopping, taking photos for social media and maybe going clubbing or something. Basically what they thought most popular people would do. And they weren't too wrong, Robin did do those things and Firefly had the posts to prove it, but evidently the school idol wasn't just some prissy girl and was clearly curious about the nerdier aspect of life.

Or at least that's what she came off as. Firefly really couldn't believe Robin was interested in games, her phone only had one game, Origami Bird Clash which everyone played, so not exactly gamer material.

Still, Firefly wondered if Robin just wanted to try new things. The same song and dance would've been tiresome after all.

"Would you mind teaching me?" Robin enthusiastically asked.

Friends or not, Firefly felt a roaring flame within her burst. This girl, who barely knew Stelle just invited herself to their table and was now trying to worm her way into Stelle's heart? Firefly clenched her fist, shaking her head in an attempt to rid herself of such thoughts. Robin and her were friends, the songstress was aware of her crush and would never get a leg up on her. But it then begged the question: Why didn't Robin just ask her?

Firefly gave Robin a slight glare to which the songstress returned a small smirk, scaring Firefly into thinking maybe there was more to it than meets the eye.

Meanwhile, Stelle glowed with glee as she vowed to help Robin in any way she could, surprising both of the other girls. Mainly Robin who wasn't used to the baseballer's enthusiasm.

"When are you free miss Robin? I'll log on and show the ropes no problem," she declared with starry eyes.

"Oh, well... I think I'm free after school, there's no club activities so I should be good," Robin answered.

"Gotcha, tonight it is." Stelle then flashed her a thumbs-up before promptly returning to her burger.

Robin felt as though she just got lost in the middle of that exchange, but after turning to Firefly and seeing the girl just shrug at the situation, she learned maybe it was just best to ignore it and move on.

The three would then spend their time peacefully eating, but when Robin went to the toilet, Firefly decided to clear things up.

"What are you doing?" Firefly interrogated.

"Whatever do you mean little bug?" Robin retorted, acting shocked.

Firefly didn't say a word and just folded her arms which was more than enough to get Robin to spill.

"Ok, ok, I just wanted to give some support. Clearly you don't want to tell her so I figured that maybe I should give you a push in the game!" Robin chirped.

Firefly sighed at her friend's plan. "And how exactly will this help?"

Robin smirked before going off on a whole speech about how she can smoothly get Stelle to invite Firefly to the game, which can lead to Firefly playing the game with Stelle without the burden of needing to confess that she was SAM. It sounded decent, but Firefly wasn't so sure she could fake not knowing how to play the game after grinding on it for months. Still, it was worth a shot simply to give her confidence.

So, when they returned to Stelle, Robin expressed that Firefly also wanted to join which made the baseballer's eyes light up.

"Really Fly?" she asked, jumping to her feet and grasping both of her little bug's hands.

Caught off guard, Firefly's face burst into red as she stammered, "Ye-yeah, you... you look like you've been having so much fun and I wanted to see it for myself."

Stelle smiled widely before nodding her head furiously. "Don't worry you both will have so much fun. You free tonight?"

"Uh yeah."

"Great, let's all hop on a call after school!"

The bell signalling the end of lunch then rang and the three quickly cleaned their table and headed for their next classes.

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After school, Stelle quickly said goodbye to Robin and Firefly before bolting to her dorm. She was excited to have more friends play with her, she had tried to invite March and Dan Heng to play, but they had little interest in games. Dan Heng especially as he preferred reading to playing.

When she got back to her Dorm, the Nameless Dorm, she immediately ran up to her room, completely blasting past March who called her for some snacks. Inside her room, she tossed her back onto her bed and immediately logged into her computer. She booted up Simulated Universe and her text messages to see if the other two were ready as well.

"Yes, I'm ready," Firefly replied.

"It's still downloading for me," Robin added.

Stelle figured it might take a bit before she could get on the game, so she invited the two to a call to chat while they waited. They mostly discussed beginner strategies to get the two girls used to the gameplay, emphasising she will lead them slowly unlike her start. Firefly giggled at this as she remembered seeing Silver Wolf give what was a lecture to Stelle when the baseballer first played the game. This applied to Firefly as well when she started, though she had to admit if not for her gamer friend's help she probably wouldn't have gotten anywhere near close to Stelle in the few months she played.

Speaking of playing, seeing as Stelle was busy giving Robin pointers and Robin herself was still waiting on the game. Firefly thought of sneaking in a few minutes of gaming herself. Logging on to her account, Firefly logged into the game and quickly decided to check if there was anything for her to do. As per the tradition of modern games, the constant daily quests were always available. Firefly didn't need them, being so high above, but they were the only thing she could do to pass the time, and maybe gather materials.

However, what Firefly hadn't realised was that Stelle had notifications on and so when she entered the world as SAM, Stelle got a message to say she was on.

"Oh, SAM is on!" Stelle chirped.

Firefly froze, she made a mistake. Whenever she and Stelle were playing, they would play for hours, if she were to log out early Stelle might catch on that she's SAM. Or worse Stelle would-

"Hey we should invite him!"

There it was! Her worst fear. If SAM joined them then she definitely wouldn't be able to fake it. She thought of asking Silver Wolf to help her out but then she realised no two players could access the account at the same time. She didn't even make a new account since there really was no need to, she thought just making a new character would suffice. But now she was somewhat regretting that decision.

Stelle then sent her an invite with a message explaining what she was doing. When she read that, Firefly felt a sharp cut across her heart. She hated ignoring or rejecting Stelle, but she couldn't help it here, she wasn't ready to tell her yet and definitely not in the circumstances she found herself in. So, she replied to the message, telling the baseballer that SAM couldn't participate as they had planned to farm some materials for the day. The greyhead believed the message, of course, and told SAM it was no biggie and that they should hit another dungeon soon. Now that Firefly wasn't opposed to.

After dodging that bullet, Robin's game had finished downloading and the group proceeded to walk her through the character creation screen. As per the rules of character creation, they were there for about an hour crafting the perfect lookalike to Robin. The school idol decided to go for a support class, which the two found to be quite an insane start but didn't comment on it. But it did mean Stelle had to warn her about playing with strangers and the burden of support classes.

Once Robin was done, next was Firefly. Since she had already had some knowledge, she thought it would be a good idea to try a different class and so she picked a healer this time. Though of course in Stelle's eyes, this was an aggressively hard class to start with and gave her the same advice as Robin.

Stelle also made a new character, so that they wouldn't power-level through the game. She thought it would be unfair if Robin levelled quickly without actually learning the ropes. However, since the two picked support classes, she decided to play a tank class and take the hits.

"Ok so first off we should all do the start quest to get you used to the mechanics," Stelle said. "The starting quest has the exclamation point on it so it should be easy to see on the mini-map."

The girls all went through the tutorial no problem and throughout their time playing, Robin kept trying to hint at Firefly being an experienced player whenever she had the chance. For example, when Firefly managed to locate a hidden room on her own, Robin pointed it out to Stelle, hoping the girl would question it. However unfortunately for her, Stelle didn't get the message and just praised Firefly. This wasn't the worst result, because Firefly enjoyed getting praised, but it was just short from the perfect score. Still, it didn't mean all was lost, Robin just needed to point more things to Stelle and hoped she caught on.

She never did.

They would all keep playing until 10 pm, only taking small breaks for dinner beforehand. It was a fun night, that much they could all agree on. For Stelle, it was the first time she had friends she could play with. For Firefly, it was a wish come true, speaking and playing with Stelle, something she could never do as SAM. While for Robin, it was a nice break from her regular routine, she even considered taking it on as a genuine hobby. All in all, away from the plan to get Stelle to notice Firefly's experienced gameplay and knowledge, it was an enjoyable night.

So it was a shame it had to end due to it being a weekday. Fun as it was, time wasn't infinite and they had to log off, but they did plan for another gaming session, so it wasn't like that would've been the only time.

They all said their goodbyes and once the screen was off Robin lamented over her failed mission of getting Stelle to notice Firefly's skills. Sure their next game session was going to be another opportunity, but Robin had already begun to doubt her plan simply because Stelle was too dense to notice a thing.

Once the game was off and they were both on their bed, Firefly and Robin called each other and discussed the results.

"Is she really that dense?!" Robin questioned. "How did she let all of those things slide? Do new players know those things like hidden rooms and gear stuff?"

Firefly chuckled on the other side. "She probably didn't question it since she knows I live with Silver Wolf."

Robin grunted in defeat. She forgot the number one gamer lives with her seatmate. "But that shouldn't mean you know everything. Does it?"

"No, but Stelle doesn't usually think like that so she probably just accepted I knew stuff," Firefly explained.

Robin groaned in frustration, she had thought it would go much smoother, but her failure to not take into account who Firefly surrounded herself with made her realise the difficulty of her mission.

"This is gonna be a lot harder than I thought," Robin confessed. "It would be easier though if you just told her."

"I know, I know," Firefly acknowledged. "I appreciate the help, but I doubt you'll convince Stelle this way. But..."

"But?"

"But now that Stelle knows I play, maybe telling her I'm SAM is gonna be easier," Firefly said.

"Really?" Robin asked eagerly.

"Maybe," Firefly emphasised. "I feel like I can now, but I'm still not so sure."

Robin sighed at her friend's hesitance. She couldn't blame Firefly completely, it just wasn't in her nature to be so forceful. But she knew her seatmate could definitely put her foot down when she needed to, she just needed a little push. Originally, she had planned to be the one to do so, however, she now realised that wasn't good for Firefly. Seeing her friend's newfound determination was enough for now, she just needed to watch and encourage her where she could.

Letting a small giggle escape her lips, Robin gave Firefly one last pep talk, telling her there was no need to be so scared. The songstress told the little bug that everyone could see how both were very much into each other. Detailing how she could see just how much Stelle cared for Firefly as more than just a friend. But of course, Firefly retorted, stating Stelle was like that with anyone. Only for Robin to reveal this wasn't the case at all.

Robin explained how she heard Stelle only really behaved like that whenever she was with Firefly. Behaved in a sense, she made sure not to do odd things, like dumpster diving or flirting with trashcans. If this was anyone else, Stelle would most definitely not care and do what she wanted to do. But with Firefly, the baseballer was constantly attentive, careful and courteous.

"She likes you little bug, so don't be afraid," Robin encouraged. "Tell her how you feel."

Firefly pondered on her words for a moment before answering. "If she did like me in that way, why didn't tell me first? Stelle isn't the type to be so reserved."

"Well, maybe she's just as scared as you are," Robin pointed out.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Firefly asked.

"Think about it, her reputation says she's a weirdo, a raccoon and impulsive. Compared to you, she probably thinks she's not good enough for you."

Firefly found the explanation a bit absurd and out of character for Stelle. But after she thought about her own predicament, she realised that maybe Robin was right and Stelle was just as afraid as her.

Robin then gave her another piece of advice, pushing her once more to be the one to confess.

"Show her SAM's fire and burn her with your love," Robin teased.

"Miss Robin!" Firefly scolded. "I won't say something so embarrassing."

The two girls would continue chatting, talking about all sorts of topics, but soon their eyes became heavier and it was time to go to bed. Before that though, Firefly once again expressed her gratitude to Robin for giving her the courage needed to push forward that little bit more. Robin in turn, was glad that her plan had some success, replying that it was what friends were for.

As they closed their eyes, the lights of their phone screens died out and they both ended the day peacefully fast asleep.

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New mornings meant new opportunities and for Firefly this was definitely the case. She woke up refreshed, energised and determined. The girl practically lept off her bed and zoomed to the bathroom to freshen up. She was so upbeat that when she finished, she zipped out the bathroom and she made a half-asleep Silver Wolf hug the wall in surprise when Firefly blasted past her and back to her room.

She was now more than ready to confront Stelle about her secret (maybe a bit too ready) and while Robin made it sound like it was a confession of her crush too, that was something she wished to cross another day. She told herself one at a time when she pondered her conversation with the songstress.

After readying herself for the day, she went downstairs to have breakfast. Running down the stairs with a smile on her face, Firefly greeted her dorm mates: Silver Wolf who was already on her phone, Blade who was cooking and Kafka who was enjoying herself a cup of coffee with a fashion magazine in hand.

"Morning everyone," Firefly greeted.

"Morning, hmm? Well, you seem to be quite upbeat today, did something happen?" Kafka asked, taking notice of Firefly's more cheerful smile than usual.

"Oh nothing, just—hey Kafka you know Stelle right?" Firefly replied, changing the topic quickly.

"Stelle? Well of course, I babysat her for a while so she's practically my daughter," Kafka answered.

Firefly grinned wider and sat next to Kafka. "Well you see, you know how I've been hanging a lot with her?"

"You're planning on confessing?"

The young girl's face burst red when Kafka asked about her intentions. She quickly shook her head and explained what she was going to do. To Kafka, it was still a confession, but to Silver Wolf who sat across them, it was more like a bomb that finally exploded.

"Finally!" she groaned in exasperation. "I thought you were never going to tell her."

Kafka turned to the gamer with a raised brow, then back to Firefly, who then explained how this all began. For the most part, Kafka was following the girl's story and understood her plight. Admitting that Stelle wasn't always the sharpest tool in the shed, a more upfront approach would definitely be the best strategy to do. Firefly agreed, reinforcing her drive to be straightforward with the baseballer.

"Well dear, I doubt you'll fail. From what you told me you and that child are quite close already, I don't know why you've hesitated all this time," Kafka said amused.

"Just nerves is all, you know me, always overthinking," Firefly admitted.

"That's for sure," Silver Wolf teased.

It was rare for the dorm to be filled with chatter in the morning. But for Firefly, it was a sign it was going to be a great day for her. Soon Blade came with plates of pancakes, he didn't say anything when told about Firefly's plans, he never did pay much attention to the girls outside being Silver Wolf's babysitter and Kafka's chauffeur. As for their other dorm mate Elio, well he was stuck in the room doing work. As a scriptwriter for plays, he was always swamped with something and barely left the room, they just knew he wasn't dead yet when his pet cat would come down for food.

After breakfast, Firefly and Silver Wolf both left for school. Normally they would go at different times, mainly because Silver Wolf overslept constantly, but since Stelle had baseball practice Firefly went with her dorm mate instead. On the way there, Firefly told Silver Wolf about her new character and the gamer immediately took interest.

"So which build are you going for?" she asked the taller girl.

"I'm pretty sure this class only has one healing style though," Firefly commented thinking back to her character.

"I think you can build it as a combat healer though," Silver Wolf corrected.

"Yeah but then the healing rate and amount will drop."

"I guess that's true."

The two kept on talking about the game for minutes, going through several ideas and plans on what to do to Firefly's new character. But as soon as they ran out of things to talk about, they settled on a comfortable silence. Firefly would just enjoy the morning breeze and birds' songs as she walked through the empty street. Silver Wolf on the other hand was too preoccupied with her phone to pay attention to anything around her, but her attention was once again grabbed when Firefly called out to her.

"Say," Firefly said.

"Hmm?" Silver Wolf replied without taking her eyes off her phone.

"Thanks for helping me with SU."

Silver Wolf glanced up at Firefly and then back to her phone. "No worries about it, I could see you were serious, it'd be sad to just leave you there."

"Still, I never did thank you, if there's a way for me to repay you, just say it," Firefly proposed.

Silver Wolf thought for a moment before smiling. "Then, go on a dungeon raid with me."

Firefly sweated when she heard the request, but considering she just said she would repay her, she had no room to refuse.

"Ok fine. Just please, at least get a full party," the taller girl begged.

"No prob, free up your Saturday evening then, we're going to pull an all-nighter."

"... Sure."

Firefly could already tell her weekend's gonna be draining, but hey, maybe she could invite Stelle then if all things were going to go according to plan. If she was gonna stay up all night, better to do it with more friends. Still, this was a small price to pay in comparison to the happiness she gained.

Once they reached the gates of the school, Firefly gave herself a light slap on her cheeks before showing a face full of determination. Her confession has now begun.

------------------------------------------

Although determined, Firefly would have to wait until later before she could actually see Stelle. So she made her way to her classroom where Robin was already waiting for her by her table.

"Morning Miss Robin," she greeted.

Robin looked up from her phone and beamed. "Morning little bug."

Firefly sat down on her chair and Robin immediately jumped at the chance to ask her about her plan to tell Stelle. Firefly saw this coming a mile away if their conversation the night prior was anything to go by. She admitted it wasn't all that complex of a plan, quite straightforward if anything. Essentially, she had planned to invite Stelle to a game session, thanks to the new character there was no need to awkwardly come up with an excuse as to why. Once inside the game, Firefly will then appear before Stelle as SAM, effectively revealing her secret and hopefully not damaging their friendship. While effective, Robin asked how she would connect her and SAM together, to which Firefly told her about the voice chat feature in the game which she's gonna use for the reveal. Firefly was proud of this plan, even though she came up with it on the fly, being subtle and sneaky was not her strong suit so this straightforward reveal suited her better.

However, Robin felt differently as she looked at Firefly with a blank gaze. When Firefly asked what was wrong, Robin told her it was a rather boring plan. She wanted theatrics, spotlights and a pink hue that would set the atmosphere. In other words, she wanted the confession to be more memorable, but Firefly didn't really think that would've been possible.

"Can't you think a little bit more romantically little bug?" Robin begged while slumped over Firefly's desk.

"Miss Robin, not everyone is a celebrity like you, this is enough," Firefly remarked.

Robin pouted but relented to Firefly's plan saying that so long as her friend was happy she wouldn't push any further. Firefly smiled at her friend for understanding and promised she would at least tell her how it went as thanks.

The bell would shortly ring afterwards and the two girls would settle for the morning. Despite keeping her eyes on the board, Firefly would find her mind wandering away from her classes and instead have a conversation with herself about her plan. Does she do it? Does she not do it? This kept ping-ponging in her mind, eventually getting to the point the teacher's voice had become muffled. Despite her newfound courage, her mind still tried to get her out of confessing by telling her that Stelle had a baseball match coming up so Firefly shouldn't disturb her, only for Firefly to then backtrack and scold herself for attempting to chicken out after gaining so much fire to go for it.

This war of thoughts would only cease when the teacher asked the girl for an answer to the question, which she obviously couldn't answer, luckily Robin was there to give her a helping hand. However she was made to pay with silence and a whole lot of teasing afterwards when they walked to the next class.

By the time Firefly met up with Stelle, she was already mentally exhausted from her own internal debate, but ultimately pushed on when they met up for lunch. The grey-haired girl apologised profusely for not being able to hang out with her throughout the day, but Firefly told her it was alright, she already knew that she wouldn't see Stelle as much that day, so rather than dwell on it she instead got Stelle to promise her one thing.

"What is it? I-I'll do anything," Stelle pushed.

Firefly waved her hands in front of her in a panic. "I-it's nothing to be so dramatic about. Just... Just play a game with me tonight."

Stelle was dumbfounded, she had expected Firefly to propose going to eat Oat Cake Rolls, go shopping, or even go to the zoo, but a play date wasn't one of them. Still, in her go-with-flow head, this was still a good idea and she promised Firefly that she would free up her evening for one game. She would've gone for longer but with a match over the horizon, she needed to come to school early for her practice.

Their chat was brief, but it got the point across. Now all Firefly had to do was wait until the evening, which was easier said than done when she still had half the day left and she was worried her thoughts would keep her from pressing on.

Still, she persevered and before she knew it, the final bell had rang and everyone began to pack their things to head home. Robin walked with Firefly to the gates, making sure to give her friend some courage along the way before departing for her singing lessons. Normally Firefly would go to the baseball field to wait for Stelle, but in order to put her plan into motion she would need to return home... for no particular reason other than seeing Stelle would make her super embarrassed to tell her. So she thought that heading home would be her best bet. There was no logic to this, she just made it up to give herself a reason to go home. She texted Stelle she'd be heading home first to take care of some chores, to which the baseballer replied with a thumbs up, before heading home in her lonesome.

The way home was quiet, a far cry from the usual. Without Stelle there to ramble on about something it just felt empty. But Firefly didn't look back, she appreciated this peace, gazing up at the dancing leaves in the wind, the beautiful sun that descended on the horizon and the small cries of cats as they went on in their little adventures. It was going to be a tough night. So this moment respite, without the sound of her panicking heartbeat, was something she definitely needed.

When she reached the dorm, she was greeted by Kafka who was on the couch watching TV.

"I'm home," she greeted. "Has Silver Wolf got back yet?"

"Silver Wolf arrived before you, then headed straight for her room and Bladie's gone to get dinner, so it'll be a while," Kafka informed the girl.

"Oh alright, I'll be in my room too then, call me for dinner," Firefly replied before going up the steps.

"Sure thing," Kafka replied in a slight shout.

Entering her room, Firefly tossed her bag to the side and changed out of her uniform and into some home clothes before turning her computer on. She still had some things to do in the game so she thought of playing until Stelle logged on.

Stelle wouldn't be online until after dinner, she explained via text that her practice ran over. Assuming she was deathly tired, Firefly offered to cancel their gaming session but Stelle told her it would be alright since she still got home fairly on time but she did admit she might not be able to play for long. That was fine Firefly, she just wanted a short moment with Stelle, but it did mean she had to be much more forward than she originally planned. She had hoped she could ease Stelle into the truth, but it was looking like there was no time for slow and steady.

Firefly told Stelle she'd be waiting for her in the game and just to tell her where she'd be later on the call. Stelle, none the wiser, logged in on her new character and waited for Firefly in the starting town. Meanwhile, for the little bug, she logged in on SAM and started making her way to the starting town.

"How was practice?" Firefly asked, making conversation.

"Tiring, coach really pushed hard today," Stelle replied, then followed it up with a yawn.

"I won't keep you up for long then." Firefly then smiled as she watched the loading screen disappear. "Where are you?"

"By the long thing at the centre of the town," Stelle answered.

"The spire yeah?" Firefly clarified. "I'll be there in a sec."

Firefly made her way to the spire, but as every second passed, she could feel her heartbeat begin to strike stronger against her chest. Her mind was beginning to cloud with thoughts of anxiety and fear while her senses were becoming dull from the overthinking. Still, her finger kept pressing down on the W key of her keyboard and before she knew it she could see Stelle's character off at the distance.

Taking one last deep breath, Firefly spoke with trembling lips. "Ok I'm here."

"Hmm? Where?" Stelle moved her camera around looking for Firefly's new character, but all her eyes landed on instead was the armoured player in front of her. "SAM? Why's he here?"

Firefly then sneakily muted herself on their call and turned on the voice chat of the game. "He-hey there."

Stelle fell silent causing Firefly to worry whether or not she did it right. Was silence a good thing? Was it just her being stunned? Or was Stelle genuinely horrified, maybe even angry?

Firefly would get her answer shortly after such questions popped into her head when Stelle, in a calm voice, called out to her.

"Firefly, is that you?"

Firefly returned to the call. "Su-surprise."

It's a good thing Stelle and her weren't on a video call, it would've made it harder for her to hide her anxiety, not that she was doing any better with just her voice. Still, she held her ground and waited for Stelle to respond to her.

It would take a few moments but eventually, Stelle asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Firefly knew this question was coming. Naturally, Stelle would be confused, they weren't strangers prior to them playing together so there really was no need to hide it. Firefly knew that, but she wouldn't just settle for that, she wanted to stand by Stelle as equals and that was the sole reason she kept her identity as SAM hidden, then there was also the fact she was just afraid Stelle would look at her differently. Unfortunately, the result of this led to her keeping it a secret even past that point.

"I uh... I wanted to tell you," she whimpered. "I just got comfortable with what we had."

"Huh? I don't understand," Stelle confessed. "Was it that hard to tell me? Did you actually not want people to know you and I know each other?"

That last assumption stung Firefly. Nothing would make her more happy than to tell people how close they are to one another, both in reality and in the game. But it was her poor decision to hide that caused such a misunderstanding and she knew she needed to fix that.

"Of course not!" she answered loudly, hands clenched tightly and head hung down. "I really did want to tell you, but the more time passed, the more I got scared. I thought that if you knew I played games, you would think differently of me."

Tears threatened to fall off the girl's eyes, she was glad only her voice went through, she wouldn't know what to do if Stelle saw her crying. It would probably just make her feel worse than she already was.

"Why would I do that?" Stelle questioned. "You're my friend, no matter what I would accept your hobbies."

"I know that. But, you know it's... it's just that I always take you to cafes, shopping and do other girly things. I haven't played games like this before, so I thought you would find me a burden if I didn't know the mechanics. Plus, I also thought you'd think it wouldn't suit me."

Her voice was trembling, barely keeping up the facade of a calm and determined individual. Yet, she pressed on, using every bit of her strength to keep herself on the call despite fearing what Stelle might say next.

"I would never think that. I would've loved to show you the ropes, to help you grind and... my view of you would never change just because you started playing a game. We'd still go out to eat in the cafes, go shopping and go to the zoo or something. It's just another thing we get to do as friends."

Firefly was stunned, hearing those words really struck home with her. At the end of the day, her worries were nothing more than her own insecurities messing with her. There was no need to fear that their relationship would change, and Firefly quietly scolded herself for not trusting Stelle's kindness.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I was being dumb."

"It's ok, I know you meant well. Sorry if I sounded harsh just now," Stelle replied.

"No, not all. You're right I should put more trust in you, Stelle." Firefly then smiled, feeling her heart lighten as those words left her lips. "I promise, I won't keep secrets about these things. So, let's keep playing?"

"Haha, of course!" Stelle chirped.

With joyous laughs and smiles, they would play for some time before heading to bed. That night, Firefly slept peacefully, her heart light and smile etched into her face. Her secret was out, and it was accepted wholeheartedly, those months of grinding, waiting and hesitating, all felt so distant now that she had told Stelle everything. The future was looking bright before she knew it another secret would appear but that's a story for another time.