24Skillfully spinning his stylus around in one hand and holding his console in the other, Riku once again watched the cut scene for the final boss. A one-eyed giant crushed a building underfoot while humans scattered over the pixellated battlefield. The building caught fire, then exploded, making the screen flash white. After it re-focused, the boss took another step forward holding a massive club before him and roared, ending the cut scene.
Riku's hands trembled a bit as he regained control of his human warrior.
First move is always a side attack, Riku commanded his warrior with perfection. He Rolled under the wide swing and got close enough to the giant to swing back, but he waited. When I'm this close-
The warrior unexpectedly parried the two hit combo, Riku quickly took advantage of the rare occurrence and hit the giant a few times, shaving down a few slivers of its health before getting out of range from the giant's next attack.
"Knock knock!" A soft voice sounded from the other side of his bedroom's door.
With the warrior in mid roll, dodging the giant's next move, Riku pressed the start button and the word PAUSE displayed across the screen just before the door to his bedroom opened.
His mom walked in. Her light brown hair was tied up behind her and she was wearing an apron over a normal t-shirt jean combo, giving Riku a good idea what this was about.
"You are still playing on that thing. You know you should really try playing with your sister once in a while," she got no response from him but she probably expected it. "Supper is ready, call her down for me, please?"
Riku nodded and she left, leaving the door open.
He set the game and his stylus aside onto his nightstand and stretched a bit, before rolling off his bed and headed for the stairs.
"Sora!"
"Coming!"
His sister's sweet innocent voice assured Riku that calling her name once was all it would take to get her downstairs. So he went and joined his mom.
He nearly froze when he saw another someone at the head of the table. A big burly man with a bald head. The only hint left that Riku had inherited his jet black hair from him was the recently trimmed beard on his face.
"Father," he addressed him and sat down.
"Riku, my boy. How's school going?"
Riku rolled his eyes, it was the usual cheerful attitude his father had when he came home early from work.
"Good, I guess."
"Good," his father repeated. "And are there any young ladies I should be aware of yet?"
"He does not have a girlfriend," Sora bounded into the room wearing a t-shirt skirt combo and literally jumped into her chair. She was a petite girl for being fourteen years old, two years younger than Riku. She had her mother's long brown hair and her eyes were the colour of the ocean; no one knows where she got that gene from.
"Mmhmm, and how's my favourite daughter?"
"I'm doing good! School is going well so far, just need to catch up on a little homework..."
Riku pretended he was never in the conversation to begin with and silently waited.
"Here we are," Mom finally walked in with a large pot and set it on the table before taking her seat. "I hope it is to everyone's taste."
Dad lifted the lid and smelled the contents, "Honey, your roast will always be within my taste."
"Dad!" Sora covered her ears.
When everyone had filled their plates, they all quietly went at it. Only the sound of cutlery and chewing could be heard.
Sora was the first to finish and quietly excused herself. She disappeared back up the stairs.
Riku was next, he picked up both his plate and the one his sister left behind, setting them by the sink to be washed.
Time to kill that giant.
He closed his bedroom door behind him, and once again took up his game. At the push of a button the screen lit up.
You have got to be kidding me.
The words GAME OVER in bloody lettering showed up.
Cursing over losing the perfect start, Riku reloaded his last save.
This is it? Nothing else? Sora turned the page of the text book and breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm done!" She tossed her pencil onto the books in front of her and fell back into her chair. Now to show them the proof!
She got up, grabbed her notebook and rushed down the stairs.
Both her mom and her dad were in front of the TV, Sora didn't hesitate to block their view of it and held out her notebook to them.
"All of the homework I had to do this semester."
The confused looks of her parents told her that they had forgotten.
How could they forget!
But her mother smiled and looked at her husband. "Dear, it seems that she has kept her end of the deal that we made at the beginning of the school year, the one about a certain popular game."
"What? Already? I thought the deal was made for exams."
"Nuh uh, I don't get exams... yet," Sora voiced and recalled the whole thing. "The deal you wanted to make was that I was to get perfect in all of my classes this year. That wasn't fair and it was too far away! So mom suggested that if I did all my homework this semester instead, that we would have a deal."
Dad looked at Mom, Mom nodded in agreement with Sora.
"Let me see that then."
Sora handed over her notebook. Dad flipped through it, nodding and turned the pages one at a time. Come on dad! You have to believe me! Even mom agreed! She stood there and waited with her hands behind her back, pulling on her thumb.
"Hmmm... I guess you have earned you, and your brother, a new game system."
Sora brightened right up and hugged him. "Thank you!"
"We'll have to get it tomorrow," Mom stated right as she was also attacked with a hug.
"Thank you! Thank you! I'm going to go tell Riku," Sora rushed into the next room.
"Your book!" Mom called out.
Oh, right. She turned back, Dad held her notebook out to her. She went to take it but he pulled it back the last second.
"Don't jump on your brother," he said sternly.
Will you ever stop telling me that! "Dad, I haven't jumped on him since first grade!"
He smiled and held out the book again.
She took it.
"I love you sweetie," Dad spoke as Sora exited the room for the second time.
She rolled her eyes, but a smile crept along her face. "I love you too daddy."
She tossed her notebook on the staircase on the way to Riku's room. Two light taps on his door is all she ever gave him as a warning before she opened it and walked in. He didn't notice her. Sitting on the edge of his bed like that Sora figured he must be on a boss fight. Lots of room for me!
Sora took a two-step run-jump at the bed and landed bouncing on her belly.
"WHAT THE!" Startled, Riku looked back for just a moment and relaxed again as soon as he identified Sora. Immediately he looked back at his game. "Damnit!" He tossed the console onto the far end of his bed before eying his sister. "That was your fault!"
Sora looked at the still lit screen, in bloody letters it said GAME OVER. "What did I do?" Sora played Innocent, though she could hardly suppress a chuckle.
"You should have knocked first before walking into someone else's room."
"I did!" She retorted.
"Then you should have waited for a response."
"I thought I heard one!" She knew he didn't believe her, the smile across her face had long given her away. "Well, whatever," Sora looked into his dark green eyes similar but different from their mom's. "I guess you'll just have to try again."
"Ya, sure," he turned away. "Even without your help that stupid giant is near impossible to beat," Riku sighed in frustration. "So what did you want to tell me?"
Sora's smile got even bigger. "We're getting a new game system!" She hopped up and down on the bed but stopped with a serious face. "And this time you have to play with me."
Riku looked back at her. "What are you talking about? Like that will ever happen."
"It will!" She pouted. "And don't start without me either!"
Riku bent over and took up his game again, reloaded his last save. "Whatever."
Sora knew he wouldn't put up with any more conversation. That was probably one of the longest ones they've had in a long time.
That giant must have had him stuck for a while.
She rolled off of his bed and walked to the exit, but stopped at the door and turned back towards the boy on the edge of his bed. "Riku~"
He looked up at her.
Sora's face went pink because she'd never used that soft tone before, not in front of him. "Just d-don't start without me."
He nodded a response.
Satisfied, she went back to her own bedroom, grabbed her notebook on the way. He probably didn't even notice-but he did look up pretty quickly... to take her mind off of it, Sora flipped open her notebook to the very last page that was full of her research on the still new and very popular virtual reality game called: Aphiry. The girls that she called her friends at school talked about it all of the time. Interest grew and before Sora knew it, she sometimes wished she's been in some of their adventures.
Of course, there was something other than the adventures she was excited for. She wanted Riku to be more like he used to be. She wanted him to play with her, she wanted him to put forth his effort in something other than stupid hand held games. She wanted him to rub the top of her head again, mess up her hair in the process. She missed a lot of things, but she hated one above all.
She loved Riku, not as a brother but much more than that. She watched what happened to him, watched Riku's best friend turn around and start calling Riku a loser in front of everyone. Sora watched as her cool brother became the loser.
He didn't stand up for himself, he just kept taking it all in. Stopped participating in almost every school event, didn't hang out with any friends, didn't do anything but shrug everything off and continue playing games.
It was pity she felt for him, and she hated it.