Enigmatic Codes

The Game

The winter air was crisp and clean, and snowflakes glided daintily to the earth. He stood in front of the bright, flashing building with an unshakable anxiety perfumed by artificial confidence. Any one of the usual arcade-goers would see him as just another repair man, he supposed, but he couldn't help but feel like they were all watching him- waiting for him to mess up again. This was the second job the company had given him, and the first time he'd managed to screw up exponentially. He drew in a shaky breath, held it. 1.. 2.. 3.. Exhale. He closed his eyes for a moment to reassure himself, and then opened them with newfound determination. "You can do this Fujisaki." 

Without a moment's hesitation, he stepped forward and pushed open the double doors. Inside it was darker, illuminated only by the many flashing screens as sweaty-palmed kids fought over who would play next. The games were all different, genres spread from horror and gore to Pacman-esque. The carpeting was black with multi-color designs that seemed to glow in the darkness. "Right, focus." The game he was here to fix was of the horror genre, some zombie-head-splattering first person shooter for two players. Apparently some local gaming hero had gotten way too into it and the game had a minor short circuit. Nothing he couldn't fix, he told himself.

His eyes darted across the room, searching for the game, but it was difficult to make his way through the crowds of enthusiastic teenagers holding plates of pizza and soda. What's worse was the place smelled awful. But he suddenly noticed all of the kids were headed in the same direction, and a handful of them were screaming something. "A... name? Is it that girl everyone's been talking about?" He wondered. His heart began to race. It would be even harder for him to focus with such a renowned gamer in the room.

Chiaki Nanami, the SHSL Gamer he'd talked to only briefly in high school. Even back then everyone knew she was destined for great things. In high school, she had light pink hair and eyes, a quiet, confident demeanor, and a beautiful smile. She was a bit stocky,  always playing some sort of game, and seemed to doze off quite a lot. If he was being honest with himself, Fujisaki would admit that he'd had a small crush on her. He wondered how different she would be now.

Thinking back, Fujisaki began to realize how much he'd changed in the four years since graduation. Throughout the majority of his life, he had felt weak and small. He had been shorter then, shorter than all of his classmates even, and afraid of the people who had made fun of him, even with the reassurance of his friends. Now that he was finally out of there, he felt a bit more safe- like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

Around the end of senior year, he'd gotten a surprising growth spurt. He drew up all of his confidence and started working out, trying to rid himself of the weak complex that had plagued him since he was young. Mondo Oowada, another friend of his at the time, had been there for him the whole time. Honestly, Fujisaki didn't know where he'd be without him. It wasn't as if Fujisaki was just suddenly beaming with confidence and strength, however. From time to time he found his mind wandering back to that dark place. After all, he had quit his training early. Back then he had felt strong enough with his toned, barely-muscled arms, but now he sometimes wished he could have done more.

Fujisaki shook himself back into reality. He was wasting valuable time. Across the room, the crowd of exhilarated teenagers had swarmed a single game in the horror section. A few of them remained at their own games, but were taking eager glances in the swarm's direction, ready to join up as soon as they shed their last life. "That must be her." He thought to himself, forgetting, momentarily, why he was here, before compelling himself in the direction of the crowd's neighboring game.