This was the portable game device Masamune had brought their very first day. He’d said his friend had asked him to be a tester for it. Kokoro was so envious, but as it seemed he had special permission to use it, it must be some sort of corporate secret, and so she wasn’t at all sure if she could ask him to show it to her.

Masamune noticed where Kokoro was looking, and he glanced down at the device in his hands. Kokoro heard faint music. ‘Do you want to borrow it?’ Masamune said, and Kokoro’s eyes widened.

‘Are you sure?’

‘You said your parents hid all your games, right? No worries. I’ve got tons of brand-new games at home.

‘Do you like RPGs?’ Masamune asked, bending over to take out something from his backpack. When it came to games on portable devices, Masamune seemed to prefer role-playing games with storylines over the racing and action games he played with the others.

‘I haven’t played many RPGs,’ Kokoro said. ‘They seem so long.’

She said this without really thinking.

Rummaging through his backpack, Masamune shot her a What the—? sort of glare, and sighed loudly, deliberately.

‘I thought, wow, she plays games, and girls aren’t usually into that – but what d’you mean, they’re so long?’ Masamune looked contemptuous. ‘What you’re saying is you’ve hardly ever played a game with a storyline? Do you think all video games are only primitive single-shot-and-it’s-over ones?’

‘It’s because they seem so hard,’ she explained.

‘Hard?’ Masamune scowled. ‘Give me a break. You’ve got to play RPGs to really understand what’s cool about video games. In my opinion. The first time I ever cried was over a story in a video game.’

‘What? You actually cried over a video game?’ It was Kokoro’s turn to be surprised. ‘Did you feel frustrated when it was game over?’

‘No – I found it really moving. Don’t make me say that, OK?’

Masamune sounded irritated. Kokoro was startled by his reaction. Sure, most of the video games she’d seen in commercials on TV played on your emotions, like in movies – but to cry over it?

‘This is such a waste of time,’ Masamune grumbled. Kokoro didn’t respond. ‘Have you ever cried over a novel, or a manga?’ he asked. ‘What about an anime or a movie?’

‘Yeah, of course.’

‘So how’s that different from a video game? Maybe you lack imagination?’

Kokoro realized she’d upset him, and he really was exercised about it.

‘Then you don’t need to lend it to me,’ she said.

Masamune, clearly in a bad mood, narrowed his eyes. He was about to pass the device over to her, but said, ‘Oh, OK then,’ and pulled it back. ‘So you’re not really into it, are you.’

She stayed silent, not wanting to argue any more.