The friendly local server run by students in your city—where half the players know each other in real life, and the other half play like they’re competing for an Olympic medal.

Including the absolute menace himself.

He bridge-egg-races across mid, fireballing already while spinning like some dollar-store protagonist.

“LEFT! LEFT LEFT—HE’S RUSHING!” Maki grits.

A white-clad figure jumps across the bridge with perfect timing, his IGN hovering above like a death sentence.

“Oh god,” you groan.

He lands, throws exactly one fireball—and BOOM.

You’re off the map. 

TunaBoy_17: GET REKTTTT LOL 😶

“That little— that little EMOJI PARASITE,” you shriek.

She snorts in reply. “He’s coming after us again. He probably hates us.”

“He hates me specifically,” you mutter. “HE TARGETS ME.”

You respawn and sprint mid, knuckles white around your mouse. The map glows sunset-orange, shadows stretching across the blocky ground. You spot him in the corner of your screen—already collecting emeralds, already sweating like this game is some test of moral character.

You jump down, sword raised, but he quickly throws a bridge egg behind you. He blocks your escape before you can even do anything, and comboes you like he invented violence himself.

You fall miserably. Again.

TunaBoy_17: NOOB 😶💔

“I hope his PC blue-screens,” you howl, flinging yourself backwards into your chair.

The entire VC laughs, amused. Too bad your blood pressure doesn’t think the same.

You drag yourself to campus with four hours of sleep, six hours of hatred.

Sunlight pours into the classroom like it’s considering forgiveness—but as you walk in, half-dead, your shoulders immediately drop.

Because he’s there.

Toge sits quietly at your group table, hoodie soft and oversized, pale hair catching the light like a silver thread. He looks up when the door clicks, eyes brightening. Your heart flips when he gives you a small wave.

You wave back, pretending you didn’t just spend the night plotting homicide over a block game. “Morning."

He nods, flipping to the project plan he colour-coded. With a tap at your part’s section, he slides a sticky note toward you.

You read it:

You explained this well yesterday. Could you lead this part?

You blink. “Oh—yeah. Of course. Thank you.”

You're discussing slides, timelines, and palettes—all while he listens intently. Half the time, though, he’s smiling quietly to himself whenever you ramble a bit too fast.

At some point, he nudges an onigiri toward you, neatly wrapped.

You thank him, before he just replies with a smile. Warm enough to make you forget how long you were screaming into your mic last night.

His cheeks tint pink, and he tucks his hands in his sleeves.

You have no idea how someone this gentle could possibly be the same species as someone like TunaBoy_17.

You're not sure, but you think you like Toge more than you should.

...God—You like him too much.

Even though TunaBoy_17’s usually on the opposing team, sometimes the server shuffles parties, and everyone ends up in VC anyway. Half the server just chills together between matches, talking trash or yelling at Yuuta for building wool hearts mid-round again.

TunaBoy’s always there, too. Not that he talks much.

He mostly joins quietly, types everything, and in the rare moments he does speak, it’s only a word or two.

You never thought anything of it. Lots of people are VC-quiet.

What you didn’t know he was always listening a little too closely when you laughed, though.

Or that he's the same boy sitting next to you right now.

Toge keeps stealing little glances at you during the meeting, but from his side, it’s torture.

He’d recognised your voice all the way from the first week of the semester. Your cadence, your laugh, and even the way you fiddle with your sleeve when thinking. He’d heard all of it before, through a cheap gaming headset at 1 a.m.

At first, he thought it was a coincidence. Lots of people sound alike.

But then you’d said something about wool rush timing and how “Yuuta is NOT allowed to touch beds anymore”, and his entire spine went cold.

He’s been staring at you for a full five seconds too long, but you don’t notice.

He’s spent days wondering what to do.

Tell you he's actually TunaBoy_17? Pretend he didn’t know?

Stop trolling you in-game? (He tried to, but he realized it wasn't worth missing out on the fun.)

He never meant to target you specifically. The server loved chaos, and you were just… too easy to rile up.

Outside his brewing thoughts, the group meeting continues normally. Everyone presents their parts, you lead the flow, and he nods along. When it’s over, people file out. Chairs scrape. Conversations fade.

Eventually, it’s just the two of you.

He closes his notebook slowly. On the other hand, you’re busy checking your phone, waiting for the server to ping.

makikage: TUNABOY IN VC EARLY. EVERYONE SHUT UP.

You snort.

Great. Tonight’s going to be a pain.

Something flickers behind Toge’s eyes. He raises a brow, amused, and types something on his phone.

Your Discord pings.

A DM. From TunaBoy_17.

Your soul leaves your body. But slowly, you open it.

TunaBoy_17: 😶👉📚?

Your breath snags in your chest.

You blink at the screen. Then lift your head.

Toge is already looking at you.

He turns his phone so you can see the same DM open on his screen. His cheeks are dusted pink.

“You—YOU?!”

He huffs, scandalised.

“I—” you sputter. “YOU’RE the asshole who keeps boxing me?!”

He fumbles with his notes app, typing fast:

didn’t know it was you sorry lol 😶💦 it's fun messing with you

You open your mouth. Close it. Reopen it. 

…sorry.

It falls out of you half a groan, half a laugh, “Oh my god…”

He types one last message:

team with me tonight? just us.

Your brain flatlines.

He’s looking down, ears burning, thumbs fidgeting—which is insane, because this is the same boy who killed you with three blocks and a dream.

Your friends’ voices echo in your head:

YOU HATE HIM.

YOU SWEAR VENGEANCE.

YOU—

“…Okay,” you mumble, flustered. “But if you steal my drops again, I’m dropping you from the project.”

He snorts.

You hate him. You like him. You hate that you like him. You like that you hate him.

Then he gives you the softest smile you’ve ever seen.

He taps his phone:

hell yeah 😶❤️

Your brain short-circuits. "Why the heart— why is there a heart— why are you like this—”

He chuckles silently, eyes warm, and that’s when you know you’re undeniably, catastrophically doomed.

You hop into the server for the friendly spar tonight, headphones settling over your ears. People are already in the VC, and Panda's fumbling with his gear,

“Where’s Tuna? He joined early, but he dipped right after—”

A new user joins.

TUNABOY_17 joined the voice channel.

Your fingers tighten around your mouse.

He doesn’t even need to speak, because somehow, his arrival alone is enough to send the whole server into a spiral.

Yuuta snickers, “He’s on time today, wtf—”

A faint static crackles through your headphones from Toge's mic. Your face grows warm, but the queue quickly starts. Teams shuffle.

Your name flashes green. Teammate: Panda.

TunaBoy_17 on red.

You feel your heart sink just a little. But before anyone can speak, Toge’s voice suddenly cuts through the still. “…No.”

Silence.

The entire VC freezes.

Maki stutters, “Did—did TunaBoy just TALK?”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN ‘NO’—?” Yuuta's even more confused.

He mutes immediately, as if what he just said slipped out by pure accident.

TunaBoy_17: switch me TunaBoy_17: team green

There’s shouting, mocking whistles, someone chanting your username, and one guy yelling, “CLIP THIS. CLIP THIS. CLIP THIS—”

Maki instantly snaps. “NO WAY. NO WAY. YOU TWO HAVE NEVER SURVIVED ON THE SAME TEAM. EVER.”

Panda's confused, “What the hell did I miss?”

Yuuta gasps, “Oh my God, THEY’RE QUEUING TOGETHER—”

You want to evaporate, but at the same time, your heart is also doing fireworks inside.

The teams are reshuffled, and as promised, your name is still highlighted in green.

Right beside it: TunaBoy_17.

The map loads in. Sky bright, islands hovering in soft pixel fog.

Toge’s avatar spawns beside you on the generator, bouncing once on the pad before standing still for a moment.

Your headset picks up the hum of the generator, the soft patter of two sets of footsteps, and the metallic clink of items spawning.

You move aside, reorganising your hotbar. Toge’s avatar steps up next to you…

Clink. Clink.

You freeze.

Your inventory is filled with half a stack of iron now, and your mic catches the tiny “oh” that escapes you.

Yuuta (Grey Team): “He does NOT do that for ANYONE.”

Panda (White Team): “What the hell. He fireballed ME off spawn last night. WHAT IS THIS FAVORITISM?”

You try to play it cool, but you fail miserably. “O-oh. Thanks.”

Toge’s character turns toward you, crouch-spamming once.

You swallow, and almost on cue, his mic pops. A barely-there screech of breath like he just choked on air. He instantly mutes.

Maki's chair rolls back, footsteps echoing. “NOPE. I’M LEAVING. I CAN’T WATCH THIS—”

Her mic cuts out, but Panda quickly loses it. “He’s BLUSHING, I SWEAR HE’S BLUSHING—”

You want to crawl under your desk and die. You even contemplate pulling the plug on your router.

But it gets worse.

You start bridging to mid, but before you even place a single block, Toge runs ahead, bridging faster than you’ve EVER seen him in your life.

His mic is quiet except for the rapid clacking of his keyboard.

Yuuta (Grey Team): “WHY IS HE SWEATY ALL OF A SUDDEN—SIR, RELAX—”

clickCLICKCLICKCLICKCLICK—

Your audio fills with the slam of hits, the explosion of a fireball, the frantic scrambling of blocks.

Bonk.

Yuuta plunges into the void, and the entire server loses its mind.

Maki (Grey Team): “He just risked his LIFE to keep her on the bridge—what—”

Yuuta (Grey Team): “I'VE NEVER SEEN HIM SWEAT THIS HARD—”

Another Aqua player rushes, but right before they reach you, Toge steps forward and knocks them clean off with a single hit.

He turns around to look at you.

Your lungs stop functioning.

Panda (Aqua Team): “LOOK AT HIS CPS, WHAT THE—”

Maki (Grey Team): “Nah. Nah. This is actually crazy. They’re flirting. In MY Minecraft server? DISGUSTING.”

You’re bright red. Practically steaming, but Toge just tosses you two golden apples like it’s nothing. Like he hadn’t just annihilated half the server for you.

You giggle under your breath, and you swear you see his character wiggle.

A few moments after, and you've reached mid. A Blue player stops at the sight of you.

SixEyesSupreme: hey cutie >:)

You choke on your drink.

Toge stops moving. Completely.

Before anyone can blink, he ender pearls and sprints across mid so fast he's all but a blur of green. A barrage of clicks ensues.

tap-tap-tap-taptaptap—

The clickstorm goes feral, and the poor player dies in three hits.

SixEyesSupreme: ?? why bro

The VC instantly combusts—cheers, screams, and a chorus of “AYOOO???” slam into your ears.

Panda (Aqua Team): “No one plays that aggressively unless they’re trying to impress someone. He’s COOKEDDD.”

Maki (Grey Team): “OH MY GOD I KNEW THEY WERE DATING, HE PICKS ON HER TOO MUCH—”

“WE ARE NOT—”

Toge’s soft exhale crackles through his mic.

The whole VC short-circuits.

You don’t think your heart has ever pounded this hard in your life. Even when the Green Team wins, the fireworks are absolutely muffled.

Somewhere under the noise, a tiny, relieved sigh slips through his mic. Your heart stumbles over itself, and suddenly, a Discord DM pops up.

TunaBoy_17: queue again?

Your ears heat, cheeks hurting from smiling too much. A second message arrives before you can reply:

TunaBoy_17: duos

Maki’s voice immediately cuts through the chatter. “DID HE JUST DM YOU—”

Yuuta's giggling while Panda's slamming his desk. “SHOW IT. SHOW IT RIGHT NOW—”

You mute VC instantly, and that’s when your screen lights up again.

Incoming call from TunaBoy_17.

Your pulse hits the ceiling.

Your hands are shaking, and for a moment, there is only quiet. Nothing but the faint hum of his PC, and his soft, steady breathing.

“…hi.” His voice is gentle. A little shy even, but you take a deep breath.

“Hi.”

You can picture him perfectly. Sleeves pulled over his hands, head ducked slightly, ears pink like every other morning.

TunaBoy_17: …sorry about earlier

“For what?”

A tiny mic pop.

TunaBoy_17: …mid blue guy.

You grin before you can stop yourself. “Were you jealous?”

Silence.

Dead silence.

Then, the faintest, softest hum—almost like he's buried his face somewhere. “…mm.”

“Inumaki?”

“…Mm?”

“You can queue with me. Just us.”

You hear the tiniest inhale.

TunaBoy_17: thanks 😶💦

The next match begins loading, and this time, you’re on the same side.

The same island. The same team.

And you realise, in the most mortifying way—when he's already running left and right across your generator, stealing all the iron drops:

God has put you on the same team (in both worlds) to watch you suffer.