Mai springs into life when the sounds of automatic gun fire fill her dorm room. She twirls about on her bed, looking all around her sheets in a panic. “Hikari!” She calls out from the other side of the room in a panic.
“Wha...wha...what’s going on Mai!?” Hikari pops up from under her sheets from the opposite side of the room.
“No time for questions! We gotta hurry!” Mai leans over on her bed searching around the side of her bed. “Ha! Found it!” She picks up her phone from the floor but slips off the bed while trying to reach for it. “Oof.”
“Your alarm clock is going to get the cops called on us” Hikari sighs after Mai disables her alarm clock. “Seriously, it’s six in the morning. We could be getting one more hour of sleep, you know.”
“Not today, Hikari!” Mai gets up from the floor. “We need to be vigilant today. Today is the first day of registration for next semester. Didn’t your academic advisor tell you the week before about which classes you were supposed to register for?”
“I mean...he did but I figured I could just register whenever I had time this week.” Hikari rubs her tired eyes. “Seriously, why are you making a big deal out of it?”
“Because we need to get registered for our classes as soon as we can, Hikari.” Mai is already turning on her laptop. “Slots are going to be limited and if you don’t get the classes you need at the times you want, you’re going to have a messy schedule or worse; you won’t be able to get the classes you need for the next semester!”
“Are you serious, Mai?” Hikari understands the urgency of the matter as she gets up to grab her laptop from her desk. “That’s so lame. Why does registration have to be a battle on its own?”
“I honest to God don’t know.” Mai sighs when she opens the webpage to her university’s registration portal. “We got 30 minutes before registration opens.” Mai slops back on her bed with her laptop. “I swear, it’s like the whole world is fighting for our classes.”
“Well, we’re in a pretty big university.” Hikari notes. “I mean, think of all those students who are from other towns like you, those who came from other states, or even other countries like myself. It’s a bit crazy how your education works in America.”
“It’s not just that, Hikari.” Mai takes out her phone to doom scroll while she waits. “Everyone is told they need a college education to be worth something in life now. I doubt you can even work at McDonald's anymore if you just graduated high school. Everything is hyper competitive, Hikari. I don’t know if it’s like this everywhere else in the world.” She lowers her phone for a moment and looks over at Hikari who is away from her desk and preparing some tea with the electric kettle in their dorm. “Is it like this in Japan too?”
Hikari lets out a thoughtful hum as she pours hot water into her cup and then into a bowl. “The entrance exams in high school are where it counts. Japanese students have cram schools and study rigorously so they can get into a good college. You have to take a gap year if your results are no good.” Hikari chuckles to herself as blows some air into the hot water. “That’s honestly why I became a transfer student. You Americans have it so easy in high school. That’s saying a lot considering I’m not even that studious.”
“We had a lot of fun our senior year.” Mai remarks with her eyes glued back on her phone. “It was almost like we only had to focus on one semester and after our standardized testing was over, we all sort of just chilled in the classroom and watched movies.”
“It was certainly nice to not be so stressed out as my peers back home.” Hikari opens a container of matcha powder and uses a whisk to mix the matcha in a bowl of warm water that has cooled down slightly. “From what I heard, university back home doesn’t seem so bad. I don’t think your school system prepares you for college at all.”
“Yep. That’s more or less how I feel about it, Hikari.”
“That’s not all.” Hikari pours the bowl of matcha tea into some ceramic cups. One for Mai, and one for herself. “I feel like the professors here can be a mixed bag. Some of them are really passionate about teaching. But I have some professors who don’t even teach us anything. They just give up things to study or homework to work on before giving us an exam the following day. It makes you wonder how they even got the job as a professor if they don’t really help their students.”
“It almost feels like a scam doesn’t it.” Mai sits up and accepts the cup of matcha tea, blowing on it before taking a sip. “Ah...thanks, Hikari.”
“My pleasure.” Hikari takes a sip from her cup. “But you know, I’m glad I could experience life here in America. If there’s one thing that I can say about your country, it has to be the fact that the people here are mostly wonderful.”
“You’re just trying to flatter us...right?” Mai raises an eyebrow with doubt.
“Don’t get me wrong, it’s hard to make friends anywhere, but getting to know you, and Emi, and everyone in our squad, our campus, and even our adversaries...it’s been a wonderful pleasure, Mai. I like being around all of you.”
“Hikari is being sincere? Man, what happened to you? You’re going to make me cry.” Mai laughs out loud.
Hikari playfully nudges Mai’s arm. “Oh, shut up. Just drink your tea before registration starts.”
“Yeah yeah...sure.” Mai walks back to her bed and sets her tea on the nightstand.
Hikari takes another sip and places her cup on her desk. “I am serious about what I said. Mai. I’m so honored...blessed even...to have good friends like you all. You are some of the most interesting and sincere people I’d ever come across. I wouldn’t find such people in Japan.
“Dang, well ain’t that the sweetest thing you’d ever said, Hikari. You know, I think we should all do something together for Thanksgiving break. You, Emi, Vicky, Ashley, Tomio and friends, and maybe Chiara if she gets a grip. It’s been a while since we did anything together outside of Mil-Sim Story.”
“That’s a month away from now huh?”
“Closer than you think. Oh and speaking of which.” Mai scrolls down on her phone’s feed. “Rumor has it that Mil-Sim Story is getting a new update soon and this tournament might be extended to the following year.”
“So we’ll still be gaming next semester, Mai?”
“That’s assuming we win against Vampire and JarPig Squad which is highly unlikely. I like my new teammates, don't get me wrong but it still feels kind of wrong to replace her.” Mai shakes her head dismissively. “I can’t believe Chiara left us.”
“Well…” Hikari clears her throat. “I thought our training last night went pretty well. Ashley is a lot more confident scouting and moving quickly than Chiara was.”
“I suppose…” Mai grumbles. “Trevor and Vicky seem like they know what they are doing, but it’s not like we can have them along for the next tournament match. It’s 8v8 and we already have Longhorn Squad on our side.”
“It doesn’t hurt to have a larger team. Just in case we get sick or something.”
“That’s true, Hikari….but it would be nice if these tournament matches were...hm...a little larger in scale. You know it would be fun to fight alongside them in a massive battle.” Mai puts her phone down on the bedside. She props up her laptop back on her lap, using a textbook as an improvised lap table. “I wonder if Tomio will bring some talent to our team. He said he might have some new members for us to train with by Friday.”
“If it’s one thing we’re getting out of this Mil-Sim business, we’re getting a lot of connections and friends this way.”
“Ha. I couldn’t have said it better myself.” Mai looks down at the clock in the corner of her laptop’s screen. “Five minutes, Hikari. Do you have your classes planned out already?” She lifts up a printed copy of her ideal schedule from the night stand. It’s a spreadsheet with the class identifications, schedule, credit hours, and the names of the professors teaching those courses all organized into a planned week. “I made sure to keep my Fridays free so we can do some gaming like we do now.”
“Well...I have my academic plan that my advisor gave me…” Hikari admits half haphazardly. “But I didn’t do anything like what you had there.”
“Good grief…” Mai says in a deflated and disappointed voice. “What kind of advisor doesn’t tell their student to draft their schedule? I can’t really tell you anything other than good luck getting those classes.”
“I have a few minutes left. Hm...I do remember what my advisor told me so let me just write something down…” Hikari takes out her notebook from her desk drawer and writes down the name of the classes she is going to register for.
“Don’t forget, we need to keep Friday nights free in our schedule if you can. That way, we can all keep hanging out on Mil-Sim Story.”
Minutes felt like forever for Mai and Hikari. They sat idle at their “battle stations” with Mai at her bed and Hikari at her desk. Hikari looks over at her rough draft of her schedule that she just wrote down, keeping in mind which classes she’ll have to take next semester. Mai doesn’t have much to worry about until registration opens so she continues to scroll on her phone for news and rumors for Mil-Sim Story. Seems like everyone is talking about Raptor and Lion Squad as if they are already expected to win this year’s tournament. Nobody has made any assumptions about Armadillo and Longhorn Squad, the little team from Texas that managed to defeat some noteworthy veterans including Mai’s former squad “Kraken PMC”. A part of Mai wishes they could just lose the tournament so Chiara could come back to her senses and hang out with them again. Mai is afraid to admit it but she always thought of Chiara as that quiet, kind, and smart music major that she met on Mil-Sim Story with Hikari. Her new team felt like a real family and Armadillo Squad doesn’t seem complete without Chiara’s humble yet soft spoken enduring attitude that she saw fall apart on that Sunday afternoon.
“One minute left! Get ready, Hikari. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get some breakfast. I’m starving!”
“You’re treating this like we are going to battle. It’s just registration.” Hikari scoffed with a subtle chuckle. “You really are funny, Mai.” Hikari and Mai’s finger lingers on the F5 key on their laptops. “Whatever, let’s do this.”
A minute passed and both girls refresh their pages which chugs slowly into the registration page. “Oh God! It’s taking so long!” Mai cries in urgency. “Come on….hurry up hurry up hurry up!” Hikari’s page renders faster in part due to her more expensive laptop with more RAM than what Mai has to work with. Hikari types her course IDs through the search bar on the registration page and gets a list of classes showing how many positions are left in registration, the professor teaching the course, and the schedule days and times for each class.
“I don’t believe this!” Hikari mutters baffled as she gets her first few classes in her schedule. “These classes are already filling up so quickly.” Hikari nearly finalizes her schedule. “Okay last class...Human Physiology.” She attempts to check and submit her registration for a class at 10:00 AM. “Five spots left….ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?” Hikari gets an error message: ERROR: Class full.
“Quick! Find another opening!” Mai frantically suggests as she attempts to get her classes. “Man, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m glad some of my classmates dropped out or I would have never got a spot in these classes.” Mai shakes her head in disgust. “Does that make me an asshole, Hikari?”
“That doesn’t matter right now…ugh….” Hikari submits another attempt to register for that class at 8:00 pm. “I guess I have to settle for a night class...”
“That can’t be all that bad…” Mai interjects while she finalizes her schedule. “Hey we need to take a core class for the arts, what should we register for?”
Hikari, still frustrated over her forced night class, rubbed her temples. "Ugh, I don’t even care at this point. Just pick something easy."
“Well...what about Introduction to Film?” Mai suggests to Hikari with a smirk. “That’s just watching movies for class while writing an essay about them occasionally. It’ll be like being a Youtube video essayist...but without the cringe and blabbing about irrelevant stuff for eight hours about stuff that has nothing to do with the film.”
“That sounds completely…” Hikari almost wants to berate Mai’s suggestion but it comes into fruition that Mai might be onto something. The class sounds easy and low effort enough to consider. “...fine by me. It’s the one class in the afternoon on Wednesday right?”
“Yep. And there’s a lot of spots available right now so get in while you can. We’re going to have so much fun in class together, Hikari. Imagine the two of us talking and berating fart house films in class.”
“Yay.” Hikari says unenthusiastically. “Okay, I got all my classes.” Hikari sighs and closes her laptop. “I’m not going to lie. That was pretty scary.”
“Thank God. I got all the classes exactly at the schedule I was hoping for. I’m going to be extremely busy on Thursdays. One engineering class after the other and a lab in the afternoon.” Mai falls onto her pillow on her bed with her hands behind her head. “That’s going to be incredibly stressful...but I’ll pull it off somehow.” She quickly gets off from her bed and slips on her slippers. “Alright, the war is over. Time to grab some breakfast.”
“You’re going out like that in your rabbit onesie? That’s incredibly absurd!” Hikari blinks in disbelief.
“Don’t tell me you’re going to get all dressed up just for breakfast at the cafeteria” Mai smirks back at Hikari with her arms crossed.
“What if we come across some cute guys?”
“Most guys don’t care if you put on some make up or whatever.” Mai waves Hikari to get up. “Come on. There’s slobs that go to class in their Pajamas. This is nothing. You’re wearing gym shorts and a shirt. That’s like the typical casual outfit on campus anyways.”
Hikari groans while shaking her head and slips on some socks and sneakers before grabbing her dorm keys. “Whatever, let’s hurry this up, Mai.”
“Ahahahahaaha….” Chiara laughs to herself while stumbling on her way to the cafeteria. Her eyes are barely able to stay open. Her cheeks blushed as red as roses, and her hair is unkempt from not even having enough time to groom herself. Vicky watches from outside the front of the university center. She’s shaking her head in disappointment with Chiara, but not surprised. She walks up and approaches her.
“Heyo, friend. You look...hm...not good this morning Chiara.” She looks over Chiara’s appearance from head to toe. “Don’t tell me you didn’t get your sleep last night?” Vicky knew she was probably VR gaming all night. That’s exactly what Vicky was doing with Emi and her friends at the same time. To Vicky. It seems odd that Emi’s little friend still hasn’t given up on that game after ditching her friends a few days ago.
“Aw….get out of my way...you…” Chiara stumbles with her words in a drowsy cheery voice. “I’m doing….just...great...I just wanna fill my tummy with a niiiice delicious breakfast...hahah…”
“Don’t tell me you started drinking, Chiara!” Vicky speaks sternly. It’s a tone of voice Vicky rarely uses with people as she’s always acting uplifting, even around rude people. Vicky is starting to worry about Chiara’s new behavior lately.”
“Drinking?!! Naahh, you know I’m not old enough, Vickeeeeey. I’m just hungry and soooo sleepy. I had a really good gaming seeesh last night...it was…..awesommeee...woah…” Chiara nearly falls over but Vicky is able to catch her by the shoulders.
“What did I just tell you about missing out on your sleep? You’re not even good enough to walk to the cafeteria like this!”
“Ha! When am I good enough for anything? I’m just a total…ah…” Chiara lets out a long yawn.
“Come on, I’m not letting you have breakfast by yourself. I’ll come walk with you.” She takes Chiara by the arm and helps her walk by her side to the front of the UC building. Chiara’s carefree, tired mood suddenly shifts into a panic and she halts her footsteps in place.
“No….I...I changed my mind...”
“Huh? What do you mean?” Vicky looks near the entrance of the UC and sees Hikari and Mai walking inside. It finally clicks in her mind that Chiara does not want to confront her former friends. “Do...do you want to go somewhere else for breakfast? There’s a McDonald's not too far from our University. I don’t know if you’re capable of walking outside of campus.”
“Y...Yeah...I think that’s fine.” Chiara mutters. “They have coffee...right?”
“Oh don’t you worry, Chiara.” Vicky’s tone finally shifts back to being cheerful and spunky. “I’ll make sure you’ll get something to kick some life back into your energy banks!”
Chiara rested her head on the table with her face hidden behind her arms. She almost looks like a sad puppy in a fast food joint filled with other students dining or waiting in line. Vicky sits across from her on the table making direct eye contact with Chiara as if she’s studying her. Vicky’s smile seems more subdued from last time as she speaks to Chiara.
“You look terrible, Chiara...and I don’t mean that as an insult.” She says in a way that doesn’t sound condescending. “Losing sleep like this isn’t good for your health, you know.”
“Yeah...but so is eating here.” Chiara mumbles in a poor attempt to sound witty. “But it’s been so long since I've had fast food.”
“Consider it a little treat, Chiara.” Vicky pats Chiara on her head.
“Ugh...I’m not a dog, Vicky.”
“I know that.” Vicky’s playful demeanor settles down as she gets to the point. “I’m just trying to cheer you up and look after you. You’ve been gaming all night and that’s not good for you. Especially as a college student.”
“I don’t even have class this morning.” Chiara yawns and rests her cheek on her hand. “I was going to go back to sleep after this anyways.”
“Well…” Vicky clears her throat before speaking. “You know, registrations for next semester opened this morning, right?”
“Huh? I thought that’s something you do at the end of the semester?” Chiara’s response causes Vicky to frown and sigh deeply.
“Chiara...did you...speak to your advisor...last week...or the day before?”
Chiara waves her hand in a dismissive manner. “I don’t even want to talk to him.” Chiara says in almost a sobbing voice. “He’s such a lame professor. He kicked me out of class yesterday for sleeping in...like come on ... .I was attending class and doing the best I could to pay attention but his class is sooo boring.”
“Chiara…” Vicky’s voice softens as she listens to her ranting.
“Why can’t I just change my academic advisor? He already hates my guts. Now he’s going to berate me more for missing my academic advising.” Chiara whines more as her mood starts to fall apart. “I’m so done for...”
“Chiara, I know it’s frustrating, but avoiding him isn’t going to make it better.”
Chiara groaned, slumping further against the table. “What’s the worst he can do? Yell at me? Tell me I’m wasting my potential? I already know that.”
“You’re a smart girl, Chiara. But something is bothering or distracting you right now and you can’t let that get in your way.” Vicky gets more to the point with her next topic of discussion. “You’re stressed about your old friends...that’s why you didn’t want to go to the cafeteria this morning, right?”
Chiara doesn’t say anything in response to Vicky’s question.
Vicky takes her silence as an answer and continues. “You don’t have to hide from your friends Chiara.”
“I’m not hiding...and they are not my friends anymore…” Chiara's voice almost cracks as she speaks in a sorrowful tone.
“What...what do you mean by that?”
“They’ll just call me a coward or a traitor. I...I already have new friends anyways.”
“Oh? Vicky raises an eyebrow at this confession, she’s not entirely sure what Chiara means by “new friends” as this is a new development for her investigation. “And who are these new friends?”
“Well…” Chiara could be honest about the whole ordeal but instead brings up another point in her statement. “You’re a friend...right?”
Chiara’s answer gets a hearty chuckle from Vicky. Hearing that was both absurd but also encouraging to Vicky as she calms down her laughter. “Oh...I mean...yeah..of course. I’m glad to be friend, Chiara. It makes me happy that you see me that way. But as your new friend, I do have to look out for your best interests. I was once a freshman like you. I’ve seen students who were really really smart in high school fall apart in their first year of college before. I don’t want you to become one of them.”
Before Chiara could respond, their breakfast arrived. A young man with short wavy dark hair, and green eyes dressed in his uniform, set their trays down carefully.
“Here you go! One hash brown, a breakfast sandwich, and two coffees,” the waiter said, adjusting his name tag. “If there’s anything else, please let me know.” He finishes in a soft spoken voice.
“Ooo...wonderful!” Vicky clasps her hands together. “Thanks for serving us. Joshua.” She looks over at Chiara. “Hey, speaking of friends, this is Joshua Fellows. He’s a good friend of mine. Political Science Major. He wants to run for office someday so you should totally vote for him when he runs for office.”
Chiara looks up at the waiter who in return looks back awkwardly at her. Joshua seems to hesitate a little before speaking up. “Ah...nice to meet you….um...”
“Chiara….Chiara...Lorenz.” Chiara speaks with a near whisper. The two are quite anxious to look at each other. Vicky almost wants to gush over how cute they look when they are both shy and nervous. She insists on bringing Joshua into the conversation by asking him a straightforward question that she hopes will also reach Chiara.
“So, Joshua…” Vicky grins with her hands gripping on to his sleeve so he doesn’t run away from the conversation. “Since you’re an aspiring politician, perhaps you might want to give some inspiration to your future voters. What would you tell someone who’s lost and afraid about their own future?”
Joshua blinks, not sure how to answer such a weighty question. “Um...well…” Vicky keeps her smiling gaze at Joshua in an encouraging expression. He shifts his feet nervously, looking at Chiara who has her eyes fixated on her cup of coffee. “Everyone feels lost at some point in their life. I felt like that many times in my life.” He clears his throat again to give himself some time to speak clearly. “We can’t have everything figured out from the get go. But you have to make the first step towards something if you want to go anywhere. You can’t be afraid of trying to do what has to be done. Waiting around will keep you from growing.” He finishes his quote with something that resonates deeply with Chiara to the point where her eyes are no longer directed down towards her coffee. “You have to listen to the logic in your mind, and your feelings in your heart to know what you want in life.”
“What if you’ve already made your choice, and it’s too late to turn back?” Chiara’s words are heavy and invoke intrigue in both Vicky and Joshua. Her somber tone revokes the smile Vicky had for a moment. Joshua, who is unsure of what to make of that statement tries his best to give an answer, straight from the heart.
“It’s never too late to turn back or try again. Sometimes you have to redo things or make amends before you can decide your future. Life isn’t a linear path and you’re free to do what you feel is right as long as you are still around.” He blinks for a moment, unsure of how his advice would be received but it doesn’t take long for Vicky to start clapping for him.
“That was incredibly beautiful, Joshua! Well done!” She pats him on the arm. “I’m telling you, Chiara. He’s going to be a man of the people someday. But you still have a long way to go to get there don’t you, Joshua.”
“Oh no doubt about that.” Joshua laughs anxiously but in good spirits. “As you can see, even I have to start somewhere too. Well...I better get back to work. I don’t want to get fired so...enjoy your breakfast girls. If there’s anything else you need, please do let me know.” He turns slightly but hesitates, glancing down at Chiara. Her eyes are locked onto him, a quiet intensity in them, but the moment she realizes he’s looking back, she quickly averts her gaze. “It was nice meeting you, Chiara...I hope whatever troubles you’re dealing with will be over soon.” Chiara, too nervous to say anything else, can only nod her head.
Joshua heads back to his shift behind the counter. As soon as he’s gone, Chiara exhales, reaching for her coffee a bit too quickly. The moment the hot liquid touches her tongue, she flinches, nearly dropping the cup. Vicky seems amused by Chiara’s behavior after speaking to Joshua. “Whoa, take it easy there, Chiara.” She offers a napkin to help clean her mouth. “I know my friend is cute and all but you don’t have to be so flustered you know. He’s quite gentle for a guy don’t you think? He suffers from social anxiety but he’s working on himself and doing a pretty good job. You can learn a thing or two from him, I think.”
“I...I wasn’t flustered.” Chiara stammers as she takes a cautious sip from her cup of coffee. “I realized I can’t just wait around any longer. I’m going to speak to my advisor after this.”
“Yay! Now we’re going places Chiara!” Vicky lights up and pats Chiara on the shoulder. “I promise you, everything is going to be okay. Some classes might be full, but advisors can usually write you in if you talk to them. You’re going to be just fine, Chiara.”
Chiara glances at her, her expression softening. “Thanks. I appreciate you taking me out for coffee again.” Chiara speaks with sincerity.
“Hey, it’s the least I can do.” Vicky responds enthusiastically. “But like Joshua said, you have to listen to your heart and mind for now on. You do realize you have to address your separation from your friends eventually.
“My friends?” Chiara posture stiffens.
“I’m not saying you have to go back to them” Vicky clarifies “You shouldn’t leave them wondering how you really feel.”
“That’s easier said than done…” Chiara mutters to herself. “I know they’ll never forgive me for what I’ve done.”
“You don’t know until you try.” Vicky reassures her. “Baby steps. Right now, focus on your major and academic advising. I’d hate to not see you around in the spring.”
“I...I understand.” Chiara cleans up her mess on the table and gets up to throw it away before leaving. “Am...am I free to go now.”
“Chiara…” Vicky laughs at Chiara’s absurd question. “You’re free to leave whenever you want. I’m not holding you hostage, you know.”
“Oh...of course!” Chiara chuckles while shaking her head.
“College must be a whole new world to you Chiara, but I promise you, you’ll get the hang of the burden of freedom you have right now as a young adult. It’s just a matter of learning how to be responsible with it. I’m glad you joined me for breakfast, Chiara. I have lots I’d like to tell you and plenty of opportunities if you're interested, but you have to take care of yourself. May God watch over you Chiara.”
“T...thanks.” Chiara nods her head and waves her hand before heading out the door. I’ll see you around, Vicky.”
“Adios, Chiara! Stay safe!” Vicky waves to Chiara as she leaves the McDonald's. Joshua comes back from the counter to sit with Vicky now that she’s alone. “Isn’t she the cutest, Joshua?” She says with a little playful smirk.
Joshua blinks, caught off guard. “W...what?” He glances toward the door where Chiara had left, then looks back at Vicky, visibly flustered. “I... I mean, she seems nice.”
“She used to be in Armadillo Squad.” Vicky spills the details to him. “Chiara used to be friends with Emi and the others but she had an emotional breakdown on Sunday and started acting strange lately, so I’m sort of checking in on her to see if I could talk some sense into her.”
Joshua furrows his brows. "She used to be in Armadillo Squad? What happened?"
Vicky shakes her head. “I know she’s conflicted, but I’m not sure what she's doing with herself, apart from nearly destroying her academic future. I mean, how can she break off a strong friendship with Emi and her squad like that? Something must have got into her.
“Something is not right with her at all.” A familiar voice answers from over the counter, grabbing Vicky’s attention.
“Oh...I almost forgot to mention…” Joshua notes with his eyes looking towards the counter. “Since you texted me that Chiara was coming here with you, they insisted they come along too.” Emi and Ashley peek out from behind the counter, making Vicky break out into laughter.
“You silly billies! What are you two doing back there?”
“Uh...well...Emi was helping me get used to my scouting role. You know, for Mil-Sim Story.” Ashley admits nonchalantly.
“Hah. That makes sense, I guess.” Vicky smiles and shrugs.
“To be honest…” Emi interjects, as she limps back up onto her clutches. “I wanted to hear Chiara again...I’m seriously worried about her, Vicky.” Her tone is a lot more serious compared to everyone else.
“I understand your frustration, Emi.” Vicky nods her head. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t able to extract a direct answer from her. I can only say so much without giving the game away about my role. I have to stick to my morals too.”
“Honestly, you’ve been a great help so far. I can’t thank you enough, Vicky.” Emi and Ashley both join Vicky and Joshua at the table. “You’re all part of the team now...regardless if Chiara comes to her senses and comes back, I miss her a lot.” Emi exhales, gripping the handles of her crutches tightly. “I honestly don’t get it. “Did I do something wrong?”
“I don’t think it’s something that you did.” Joshua suggests. “Maybe she’s found a new group.”
“That is not something Chiara would ever do.” Emi narrows her eyes to the ground. “Unless something happened we’re not aware of.”
"Well, she’s definitely hiding something," Vicky mentions to the group. "It’s probably related to why she’s been so obsessed with Mil-Sim Story lately."
Ashley crosses her arms. “And she’s putting all this effort into this game without any of her friends?”
Vicky nods her head and then looks at Emi with a concerned look on her face. “Whatever she’s gotten herself into, she knows you wouldn’t approve.”
A heavy silence falls over the group as the idea sinks in. Emi grips her clutches to lift herself off the table, speaking in a firm voice "We need to figure out what’s going on with her. I’m not going to watch my friend from high school get absorbed into something so toxic. It won’t end like this. Not on my watch.”