Wait! I'm not a Demigod, I'm a Gamer!

Chapter 2: Goodnight

The siblings arrived home while chatting about their day together. As they walk in, they smell a heavenly scent that makes their mouths drool. After Sakura puts Anna down, they all take off their shoes and drop their bags off at the bottom of the stairs. They all walk into the dining room and see a variety of food laid out on the table. Ren pops his head out hearing the front door close. "Hey you guys. Welcome home," said Ren as he mixes a bowl of batter. They all say "thanks" as they move to sit down. Before any of them could, Ren yells out, "Uh uh go wash your hands, especially you Jun." Jun sticks his tongue while he follows his sisters to the bathroom. Before Sakura could follow, Ren calls out, "Hey Sakura, could you get Mei and Ryu. Ryu should be in his room studying and Mei should be in the basement doing laundry." Sakura replies "sure" and heads to the basement first. She opens the door and calls down, "Hey Mei! Dinner is ready." She waits a moment for a reply and hears Mei say "Okay! Be right there." With one sibling notified, Sakura heads upstairs to her older brother's room. As she approaches the door, she hears muffled curses coming through the door. Sakura cautiously knocks on the door and says, "Ryu. Dinner is ready." After speaking, she hears movement from the other side of the door until finally the door opens and reveals a disheveled man groaning in annoyance. "Sweet. I was getting fed up with all these assignments," said Ryu as he stretches his back. Sakura giggles and steps to the side. Ryu pulls her into a one sided hug and kisses the top of her head. "Thanks little sis. Let's go eat." Sakura nods her head in agreement as Ryu releases her from his grip, allowing her to go to the bathroom to clean up. Once she finishes, she heads downstairs and joins everyone at the table. The family talks as they eat the warm meal, enjoying the relaxed atmosphere. During dinner, the front door opens, interrupting the conversations. The culprit was revealed to be the eldest sister putting her things down. "Hoo! Hey everyone, I'm home," said Nora as she takes off her jacket. She receives a variety of greetings in return and looks over at Ren who has an eyebrow up in confusion. "Hey Nora! I thought you'd be coming home later," questioned Ren as he watches her sit down across from him. "So did I, but apparently Dave forgot to set up the meeting with the client so the company decided to extend the deadline by another week. That gives me time to come home early and enjoy a nice meal with everyone," answered Nora as she grabs the offered bowl from her older brother. Everyone smiles and continue with their conversation, enjoying the food and company.
Once everyone finished, Ren and the twins collected all the dirty dishes while Mei and Sakura collect all the leftovers and put them in Tupperware to eat on another day. Nora and Anna clean up the table while Ryu and Jun wash and dry the dishes. With the kitchen and dining room clean, everyone went off in their own ways. Ren and Nora sat in the living room turning on the tv on the way, showing the news. Ryu and Jun head to their room to do their own thing. Mei and the twins head to Mei's room to watch their ideal, Markiplier, play a new game. Before Sakura could go into her room and play the new update, Anna tugs on her arm gaining her attention. "Sakura, could you show me how to play the guitar again? We have music class tomorrow and I want to show the teacher I can do the solo part," requested Anna with big eyes. Hearing that they might get a show, Nora and Ren quickly turn off the tv and turn towards the girls. "Yeah Sakura, we would love to hear you play," pleaded Ren as he and Nora stare at her with big eyes, joining their little sister ploy to convince the blushing girl. Sakura sighs and smiles sweetly at her siblings. "Okay, but I need to borrow Ryu's guitar. Could you go ask him if I can use it?" Sakura's reply causes a squeal of excitement to escape from her little sister's mouth. Anna quickly rushes up the stairs, frantic banging could be heard. The older siblings laugh at Anna's enthusiasm. Sakura walks over to her older siblings, they move to the side to make space for her on the couch. Ten seconds later two pairs of footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs. Anna rushes over the couch and jumps right next to Sakura wiggling in anticipation. Ryu walks over calmly with his acoustic guitar, smiling at his sister's goofiness. "She scared the living daylights out of me. I was typing up my essay when she banged so loud on my door and wouldn't stop until I opened it. Thought she was gonna bust down the door," Ryu explains as he hands the instrument into Sakura's waiting arms. He pulls up a nearby ottoman and scooch closer to the group on the couch. Sakura tunes the guitar in a few moments, already quite familiar with the instrument. She looks over at Anna, "So what notes should I show you?" Anna takes a moment before Ren came up with a suggestion. "How about play a song? I'm sure that will help Anna catch on some of the notes." Nora and Ryu nod in agreement while Anna jumps up and down on the couch saying, "Yes yes yes!" Sakura sweat drops at her little sister's excitement with a smile. "Okay okay. I'll play a song." Sakura takes a moment to think what to play when she decides on the perfect song, "Glad You Came" by The Wanted. She strums the guitar, playing a few notes until a tempo was achieved and started singing.
"The sun goes down, the stars come out
And all that counts is here and now
My universe will never be the same
I'm glad you came"
As Sakura played the guitar, Jun slowly comes out his room and took a moment to listen.
"You cast a spell on me, spell on me
You hit me like the sky fell on me, fell on me
And I decided you look well on me, well on me
So let's go somewhere no one else can see, you and me"
As Sakura continues to play, Jun quietly goes over to Mei's door and opens it slowly. "Psst. C'mon here," beckoned Jun as the Mei and the twins look away from the tv and pause the video playing. They all sit silently, listening to the sound of guitar playing. Realizing what's occurring, they all move calmly towards the door and head down the stairs stealthily, not wanting to interrupt the show, joining the rest of the audience on the floor.
"The sun goes down, the stars come out
And all that counts is here and now
My universe will never be the same
I'm glad you came
I'm glad you came"
At this point, Sakura is so lost into the song that she doesn't notice the new people in the room, so intent on playing and enjoying the feeling of the strings on the guitar. The harmony the guitar and her voice created gave her courage and comfort.
"Turn the lights out now
Now I'll take you by the hand
Hand you another drink
Drink it if you can
Can you spend a little time?
Time is slipping away
Away from us, so stay
Stay with me, I can make
Make you glad you came"
Seeing their sister enjoying herself, everyone around her smile in joy, knowing their normally shy and quiet sister can be comfortable with them to the point that she can show this side of her that is rarely revealed and feeling incredibly lucky to listen to such a beautiful melody.
"The sun goes down, the stars come out
And all that counts is here and now
My universe will never be the same
I'm glad you came
I'm glad you came"
Sakura strums the last notes of the song and slowly opens her eyes and sees her family smile brightly and clapping at her performance. Now realizing the increase of people in the room, Sakura's face turns bright red in embarrassment and clears her throat. "A-and that's h-how you play," stuttered Sakura while she hands the guitar back to its original owner. Her younger siblings laugh as Anna crushes Sakura's midsection in a loving embrace. "Thanks for playing sis! Now I know I'm gonna get that solo part," said Anna as Sakura returns the hug. Everyone voice their agreements as the group on the floor got up. Mei moves towards Sakura and rubs her head affectionately as Ria shows Nora and Ren her phone containing a video of Sakura's performance. Ryu and Jun laugh in amusement as they move up the stairs to resume their tasks in their rooms. Sakura softly giggles at the head pat and waits for Anna and Mei to move away from her. "C'mon Anna, let's go hang out in my room. Markiplier is gonna play that game you like," Anna gasps and swiftly turns her head towards Mei. "Really!? Let's go," Anna exclaims as she takes Mei's hands and tries to drag her up to her room. Mei simply chuckles and follows her energetic sister while the twins follow them who are also interested in watching more Markiplier videos.
Sakura sighs and gets up from the couch then hears someone clear their throat catching her attention. "Sakura that was amazing. You should really try going professional," encouraged Nora as Ren nods in agreement. Sakura looks down in embarrassment and slight shame. "I d-don't know. I can't h-handle large crowds. I couldn't even perform at my middle school's talent show," countered Sakura as she grips her shirt nervously. Sensing her increasing distress, Ren gently takes one of her hands and holds it in between his hands. "It's okay Sakura, it was just a suggestion. You know how much we enjoy you playing and singing," said Ren in a comforting voice. Sakura takes a deep breath and looks up at her brother. "Yeah, we'll see. Maybe I will maybe I won't," Sakura replies in a soft voice. Ren simply smiles and lets go of her hand. "Yeah you got time. No need to rush," said Ren as Nora reaches over the side of the couch to grab the tv remote. "He's right. You could be a professional gamer in that game of yours," said Nora to support her siblings. Sakura chuckles and shakes her head. "As much as I love my game, I don't think I can go pro," stated Sakura, earning her a laugh from her sister. "Oh please! Last time I went on, didn't you level your character's magic capabilities, defense, and agility to over 100? How is that not pro? I'm sure you leveled your character even more since then," stated Nora as she turns on the tv and flipped through the channels nonchalantly. Sakura grins with a light blush on her face. "True, Yuuya is pretty high level, but I'm sure there are other players with higher stats than me...But I did level all his stats over two hundred." Ren's eyes widen at the news. "Damn Sakura! That's impressive!" Nora merely snorts and whispers, "knew it." Now that the conversation has moved towards her favorite game, Sakura begins to open up more and speak in an excited tone. "Yeah! Yuuya is leveled so high that I unlocked a new skill that exists in only a few races in the game. He can now change into a kitsune! His new form looks amazing and he even grew taller with nine tails. Plus! His fur color changes, I kinda wished I went with that color scheme. Not only has his form changed, but it also allows him to become invincible for two minutes and all his stats sky rockets! It's awesome! On the downside, once the two minutes are up all his mana and strength levels go down to zero, leaving him weak and vulnerable for ten minutes. Sooo I can really only use this skill as a final move on a single boss." Nora and Ren listen intensely, enjoying the fact their normally quiet sister is speaking so much even if it is about a game. Once Sakura finishes explaining her character's, Yuuya, new abilities she realizes about the new update. "Oh! The new update is up, I gotta go," exclaims Sakura as she races up the stairs, missing the fond looks from her older siblings.
Sakura runs into her room and jumps on her computer chair, turning on her monitor along the way. As she shifts in her chair impatiently as the screen loads, she grabs her headphones and slips them on. Finally, the screen finishes loading, showing a home screen with the title Rise of Farstar and a background showing five different landscapes: the snowy mountain in the top right of the screen, a shady forest in the bottom right, a pyramid in the desert in the top left, a ruined castle underwater in the bottom left, and floating rocks in the sky in the center behind the game's title. Above the title, a message pops up informing gamers like Sakura that the new update has finished downloading. Sakura quickly loads her saved file and waits for the game to load once more. Once the game is done loading, the screen shows a character with messy red hair and pointy canine-looking ears with white tips. The character is wearing a violet jacket with golden lines across the front and around the sleeves on the upper arms. The jacket is opened revealing a black shirt with a red gem on the chest. Continuing down, there are dark blue pants where the end of the pant legs are stuffed in tall grey boots. Under the jacket, a white tipped red, long, bushy tail that looks soft and fluffy is seen swaying gently. The character opens his eyes revealing glowing violet eyes. The character smiles and exclaims, "Let's go on an adventure!" Sakura smiles and moves her character to the new area. "Let's go Yuuya! I can't wait to see what new monsters we're gonna face," declared Sakura, excited for what's to come.
A few hours later, Sakura is fighting the new area's boss, thrilled to see the new opponent's tactics and skills. Just as she's about to lay the finishing blow, Ren knocks on her door gently and calling out her name. Sakura jumps at the disturbance and quickly pauses her game. She walks over to her door and opens it, seeing her older brother with his arms crossed. "Sakura. It's two in the morning. You need to get some sleep," lectured Ren as Sakura chuckles nervously. "Oh, is it that late already? Damn. I'm almost done with this boss, can I please finish it? I promise I'll go right to bed afterwards, just give me ten minutes," pleaded Sakura as she clasps in her hands together in a prayer position. Ren takes a moment to decide and sighs in defeat. "Alright, but I'm coming in. I'm gonna make sure you go to bed in ten minutes," answered Ren as he gives her a tired smile. Sakura smiles brightly and opens the door wider before quickly running back to her computer monitor, knowing her brother will follow. Ren enters her room and closes the door softly, sitting down on her bed and watches her play.
After ten minutes, Sakura logs off the game and sighs happily. "I did it. I beat that thing and got a new sword! It can cut through anything depending how much mana you put into it and will never break even if there's not enough mana to cut all the way," explained Sakura as she walks around her room getting ready for bed. Ren listens fondly while looking away to provide privacy. "I saw, Yuuya has certainly gotten stronger since the last time I saw him. I almost didn't recognize him in that new coat." Sakura turns around after changing and jumps on the bed next to her brother. "I know! I got that from a hidden boss fight. Had to go through secret passageways in the ruined castle area. Took me so long to beat it, but totally worth it. It has a special resistance buff against all curses and debuffs such as poison, stun, confusion, everything!" Ren urges Sakura to lay down under the covers as she continues talking about the new gear she got for Yuuya. "Okay, I know you're excited about the new update, but you really need to get some sleep. You still have school in the morning," said Ren as he pulls the covers under Sakura's chin. Hearing her older brother discuss about school, Sakura goes silent instantly, depressed at the thought. Ren catches the mood change immediately and rests his hand on her stomach on top of the covers. "Sakura? You okay?" Sakura sighs at the question and turns her head away from her brother. "It's fine. Don't worry about it." Frowning at the answer, Ren starts to rub her stomach soothingly. "Hey, what's wrong? You can talk to me. I won't judge." A minute of silence goes by until Sakura slowly turns her head back to look at her brother. "It's nothing new. Just some girls picking on me again." Ren's frown deepens and moves his hand to rub her head affectionately. "Is it those mean girls again? Don't let them get to you. They don't understand how awesome and amazing you are." Sakura sighs sadly and pulls the covers closer to her face. Sensing she won't sleep well at this rate, Ren decides to look out the window and see the stars. "Hey. Wanna see if we can find some of our favorites up there? It's been awhile," suggested Ren as he glances at his younger sister from the corner of his eyes. Sakura drops the covers away from her face and sits up to stare at the sky. "Sure. I already see the Big Dipper." Ren smiles and starts to point out other constellations, sparking Sakura to try finding more than her brother. They exchanged constellation locations for a few minutes before they both point at the same constellation. "And there's Orion's Belt," stated both siblings at the same time. They share a look and laugh at the coincidence. After relaxing once more, Ren pulls Sakura into a side hug. "It'll be okay. Soon school will be over. You'll graduate and then you'll never have to deal with those bullies ever again," encouraged Ren as he holds her gently. Sakura sighs at the thought of a bully-free future and hugs her brother back. After a few minutes go by, Sakura yawns loudly signaling that it was time to sleep. Ren chuckles and releases his sister so she could crawl back under the covers. Ren leans down and kisses the top of her head. "Goodnight little sis." Sakura eyes start to close involuntarily. "Goodnight, big brother," mumbled Sakura before sleep claimed her for the night. Ren smiles sweetly and moves quietly towards the door. He turns back once more and sighs in content and closes the door before heading towards his own room to rest up for the night. Not realizing what's coming in the morning.