yogen | Ultimate Gamer Birthday

who: the Nanamis & you!
what: birthday gaming tournament!
when: March 14th
where: hallways; Game Club
warnings: idk, excessive fun??

A

[ Throughout the first half of the month, after classes (on days when Nanami hasn't been drawn into the forest again), Nanami can be found wandering the halls of Yogen, putting up posters. The posters have crudely drawn illustrations of all sorts of animals on them, for some reason; those with keen eyes may notice they're the exact same style and quality of drawing that has been on most of the posters advertising the school store recently.

GAME CLUB OPEN HOUSE
GAMING TOURNAMENT!!!!
MARCH 14TH AFTER CLASSES

She'll also hand out invitations individually to every single transfer student she can find. Yes, every one. No exceptions. Please say you'll come.

At other times, you may find Nanami playing on her new Game Girl Advance, barely looking where she's going as she wanders the halls. Watch where you walk, or she might bump into you! ]

B

[ After classes on the 14th, the Game Club has been decked out in its finest. The Nanamis really went to town.

There's flags and banners up everywhere to commemorate the event. To the side, a table's packed full of food - snacks, sweets, hot soup, drinks, the works. There's even a cake. (Maybe somebody figured out why the Nanamis chose this date of all days, after all.)

As for the tournament itself, gamers have options! Anybody can challenge people one-on-one or in small groups, of course. But the main tournament has been designed after the Nintendo World Championships. The blackboard displays high scores for three separate events:

DK Jungle Parkway (Mario Kart 64)
Super Smash Bros. 1P (any character)
Bob-omb Battlefield (Summit Star)
The N64 has been hooked up to the television, and anyone is free to play any of the events and record their times on the chalkboard. A winner will be chosen by the end of the night.

Nanami herself has as much energy as anybody's seen her have, jumping back and forth between playing against people on the N64, making sure the tech is still running, and checking on anybody looking a little lost or out of place at the party. She wants everybody to have a good time - so if you're feeling awkward, she'll probably run up to you directly and challenge you to a game, drag you over to the food table, or just warmly greet you and thank you for coming. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Mario Kart? It's really here?!

[Even with all the evidence pointing to it, he still was surprised by its existence here. Why would a school like this have games here? It didn't seem like the kind of school that cared about its students' mental health. Especially considering how things were here.

Still, he wasn't about to complain about it. It had been so long since he'd played Mario Kart 64. Even before the Tragedy, it wasn't played that much after the newer versions came out, whether by choice or lack of availability. The nostalgia he felt when he saw its title screen was indescribable, filling him with glee.]

Well I sometimes chose Rainbow Road to mess with my sister but if I had to choose...DK's Jungle one.

We have a lot of games! [ While she's starting the game up and setting up two controllers, she slides the box of N64 cartridges over to him. It's stuffed full - Smash Bros., Mario 64, Zelda games, sports games, pretty much anything Naegi can think of - Nanami and the Game Club have been hard at work collecting.

Meanwhile Nanami navigates over to the Special Cup and hits start. She passes her kouhai a controller. ] Jungle Parkway's actually part of the tournament, if you want to record your time!

[Makoto stared at the cartridges in awe as he sat down on the floor with the controller in hand. There were so many games to play! So many trips to a better time.]

I-I...Are you sure?

[Holding the controller in his hand reverently, he clicked the button slowly and stared at the screen blink into life in shock. It looked the same as when he was a child. He could almost see Komaru pushing him for her turn on it. Unexpectedly, tears started to gather in his eyes as he started to play.

Memories of his sister fighting him for her turn on the console, their parents staring at them with adoring exasperation...It was almost too much.]

T-Tell me if I'm taking too much time on it. I don't mind w-waiting my turn.

[Just the ability to see it being used again was a blessing.]

[ As the race begins, Nanami hears his voice quaver, and out of the corner of her eye she sees the tears.

"The Sun is a card that represents positivity, freedom, optimism, and fun. It says that people are drawn to you because of that, and that you breathe life into everyone you meet."

A mess of complicated feelings rush into her heart, and she has to swallow some of them back herself - happy, sad, melancholy, relieved, excited - it's a lot.

It almost makes her lose her concentration enough to lose her current first place position as they race. (Almost.) ]

Hey... I was so excited to play with you, I forgot to ask your name.

H-huh?

[Makoto blinked out of his memories when he heard Chiaki address him. Turning to look at Nanami, he stared at her, temporarily ignoring the game. He hardly noticed his character lagging behind as he stared at her before chuckling. Using one of his hands to wipe his tears away, he beamed at her with watery eyes.]

Heh, it's fine. I'm Naegi Makoto. I admit I was quite excited to play with you too.

[Turning back to the game, he let out a small exclamation when he noticed he was behind.]

Yikes! I really need to catch up!

[Focusing on the game, he started to gain again with the help of power ups. But he was nowhere near Chiaki. And that was fine. Just playing this game with someone was more than enough for him.]

You're really good at this!

[ She would introduce herself in turn, but he already knew her name... presumably he's met her sister. So for now she just turns back to the game.

She doesn't drive quiiiite as far ahead as she would otherwise - which is helped by the game throwing blue shells at her. But still, he hasn't even managed to hit second position yet. ]

Mm, I've played it a lot! It's one of my favorites, especially when you're playing with somebody. [ Another classroom, another event... but that's not for now, she has a game to win! ]

[Makoto frowned in concentration at the game as he mashed buttons, trying to get ahead of some of the racers. Involuntarily sticking his tongue out as he focused, he rushed towards an item box, hoping to get a power-up!]

It shows! I'm no master but I haven't been this behind in a long time!

[He let out an exclamation of joy when he got the Thunderbolt power! Grinning mischievously, he activated it and whooped when he smashed one player when they shrunk.]

Getting there!

[ She's kind of supposed to be a master... she thinks she's a normal amount of good at the game, though, for the amount of time she's put in. (That just happens to be an inordinate amount of time.) ]

You're on track for a good score! [ She glances at his timer and then at the chalkboard before putting her eyes back on the road. ] We'll definitely put you on the board if you want.

[Makoto whooped again when he smashed another character before everyone returned to their original sizes. Grinning excitedly, he gave a quick look at Nanami before focusing on the game again.]

Really? Nice!

[He still needed to catch up. He zoomed in at the item cubes, hoping to get another good item.]

Come on, come on...

Ultimate Gamer Birthday

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