Haku

“Chat has been begging me to play it,” a subtle agreement and an overstatement, really; a few scattered requests of it within the echo chamber of his Member Discord game suggestion channel could hardly constitute what you’d consider begging. 

Tenko’s style of streaming wasn’t best suited for the more comedic type of games either. Your boyfriend was usually serious, calm and collected with minimal outbursts that typically came about during ranked matches. 

You grin wider, sure that if you could you’d shine brighter than the sun in this moment, “so you’ll play with us? Me, Kats, You and Denks? I think Katsuki’s girlfriend could join too, it isn't like Lethal, up to six can play.” 

“No need, princess just wants to watch the chaos,” Katsuki pipes up within the call, playing through Tenko’s monitor so you both could hear while you laid on the loveseat he’d brought for you with your phone in hand. The sweet voice of his longtime girlfriend in the background sounds a moment later as she giggles happily. You can hear the sound of a chair being pulled up from across his room, Katsuki’s voice lower as he addresses her. Something along the lines of ‘not sittin on her throne’ as she gives her reasons to the contrary. 

Tenko swivels to face you at the sound of your shifting, the gaming chair you’d recently bought doesn't creak the way the old one used to as he leans backwards, “want to set up in our bedroom or the spare?” 

His fingers reach up to rake no longer frayed nails over long since healed grooves along the column of his throat near his Adam's apple. He’s gotten better about the habit, especially with your presence in his life, as his hand dips to the cracked aglet of his hoodie string; picking at that instead of his sensitive skin. 

You glance up from your phone, throwing your legs over the loveseat after kicking off your heart themed blanket, “which do you think?” 

Indecisive about inconsequential things, really. You’d moved in together recently, sure, but you hadn’t fully set up your own section to stream, having opted to take a short break yourself while you settled in. You streamed with Tenko in his own office on occasion, usually playing co-op games or you’d commandeered the bedroom to stream Honkai without a facecam. 

You’ve yet to finish setting up your own office within the spare room, despite Tenko having done most of the hard work thus far. Your desk constructed and gaming PC set up how it was when he’d helped move it from your old apartment but you haven’t redone any of your aesthetics. You said you wanted to take your time, enjoy living with him first before worrying about the job, no matter how ‘leisurely’ you considered the career. 

Tenko thought it was fine though, you uploaded to YouTube in turn so you had idle income from ad revenue; not that even that was necessary but he likes you to feel comfortable and if having your own money did that then that’s all there was to it. He’d support you nonetheless. 

Plus, he figured now was as good a time as any to seize an opportunity, to finally build you a new PC like he’d been wanting to. The timing felt perfect with the move, your break and your birthday coming up. Your current one was old, he’d noticed after unpacking everything and setting it back up earlier this month. 

It makes him worry now, turning back around to check the game's specs to see if it was graphics intensive. Your computer ran decently enough, but you were barely able to play a game like Phasmophobia before all of its recent updates. He doubted the fossil could even open the program now. 

“I’ll be in the office,” you chime as you tip his chair back some, draping over his shoulder and pressing your lips to his temple after pushing his headphones out of your way. Glancing at his monitor before you sigh, “I already downloaded it, the ol’ girl can run it, I promise. Plus if I’m on your old laptop I can’t change my lights to red for the ambiance.” 

Tenko sighs as he reaches for you before you fully detach from him, grabbing your wrist first then reaching to cup your jaw. A gentle hold, one he does often and you go almost lax at the touch nearly every time. 

“You can change them in our room too,” a slight gravel with his nonchalant tone despite his emphasis as he pulls you back for a kiss. Chaste in nature, enough to always leave you wanting more so you press forward with a smile after he pulls back. Two kisses every time, habitual even before you’d begun cohabitating. 

“It’s fine, I’ll load in, they’re waiting already,” you hum with fluttering lashes, running your fingers along his forearm before you’re too far from his reach. Gently dismissing the topic because you two had already had a decently heated discussion about your equipment before. 

You venture down the hallway towards your room, crossing Tenko’s sweet older dog Mon along the way. Giggling to yourself as she halts in her happy jaunt towards her longtime owner before turning around to trot alongside you. 

You bend at the waist to scoop her up into your arms as she pants appreciatively, knowing full well that she’ll be within the lap of luxury, though that was true regardless of who held her. Tapping her paws against your arms and wiggling her butt the moment she spies her plush dog bed you’d bought her with a soft blanket adorned with all her toys. 

Scratching behind her ears for a moment after tucking Mon in before all but flopping into your chair. Adjusting the valentines themed blankets you’ve yet to switch out and fluffing the throw Tenko got you for white day over your legs after you’ve settled in. 

Donning your headphones as your tower and monitor whirr to life, you grab the small remote that operates the light strip fastened to the bottom side of the shelf over your monitor. It’s outfitted with several buttons, multiple of them color coded as you choose your lighting for the evening. An ominous red from the usual soft white light or the cool blue because you like to match the lighting to the mood. 

White was the default, gentle on your eyes. Blue was for Honkai, back when you were at your old apartment anyway, green for what you and Tenko like to call ‘the two week Minecraft phase’ and red for horror. 

While you patiently wait on the startup, you have enough time to lean back and take two photos, one of your desk with all your trinkets and figures artfully displayed and another of you with Mon in the background. Sending both to Tenko over discord while all of your programs take their sweet time to load. 

You’re the last to join discord after it finally does, Denki cheers playfully and you can hear Katsuki’s girlfriend in the background chatting with her boyfriend’s stream for him. Katsuki and Tenko were the same in that respect, not often acknowledging their chat aside from moments during the pre-stream or specifically designated ‘chatting’ segments. 

You’re also met with two surprise guests, Himiko being one of them. She giggles cutely and spams emojis and stickers into the genchat of the server the moment you announce your presence with a soft, “sorry, tardy to the party yet again.” 

“It’s that fuckin relic of a processor in that ancient ass pc of yours,” Katsuki bites with little malice, the sound of Tenko sucking his teeth isn’t picked up by his mic but Himiko’s playful booing would’ve drowned it out anyway. 

Touya, surprisingly enough, had joined as well, though he’s already deafened in Discord and his status shows he was in the menus of the game. 

“I sent you an invite,” comes your boyfriend’s smooth voice, receiving the steam notification at the same time that you eagerly click. 

Your icon appears at the bottom of the list, Denki’s, Tenko’s, Katsuki’s Touya’s and Himiko’s, each a different color reflecting their own preferences. A questionable yellow for Kaminari, a deep crimson for your boyfriend, a burnt looking orange for Katsuki, a crisp azure for Touya and a vibrant pink for Himiko. 

You yourself opt for the closest thing to teal you could get, not that it mattered too much. Everyone votes to skip the tutorial despite none of you having actually played the game yet. Katsuki, Tenko and Touya each notoriously excelled at learning as they went with little issue. Himiko was just there to spend time with those she loved, you and Denki would just have to do your best. 

You’re dropped into the map with little fanfare or explanation, there’s a screen overhead but it bears no instructions. 

None that weren’t a perturbing use of emojis that Chargebolt-gameplays, Denki, didn’t hesitate to voice his discomfort over, anyways. 

“Why is its tongue out, what is the taxman going to do to me. Why is there a water emoji after the bag of money? I mean same but like.. why?” 

You laugh at his antics, choosing to stick closely to him since everyone else had alreayd disappeared from sight. With the proximity chat you can hear Katsuki in the distance as he draws closer, “it’s gonna mean me sellin’ yer fuckin ass to him if you don’t get out of my way and break this fucking crown.” 

Denki shrieks, sprinting and then crouching to dive out of his way while you simply crouch for Katsuki to dash by you to the extraction point. 

“Whoa Denks..” you all but ooh and aww as you meander over to him, clicking your mouse on him when the icons prompts and smiling when it lifts his character's shrunken body, “how did you do that?” 

“I’m not sure but how are you doing this and can you put me down?” 

His character wiggles as he looks around, small limbs flailing around pathetically and it makes you giggle more, “no I think this is the best way I can protect you.” 

You don’t intend to carry him through the whole game, at least not in this way, when you venture through to another room and see Tenko. Watching him for a moment as his character’s beam struggles and fails to lift a large statue. 

“Need some help?” You chirp after dropping Denki and earning a comical oof as his character thunks onto the floor. You’re already lending your aid before he even responds and the oversized item begins to pivot and rotate awkwardly after it rises higher with your help. 

“My hero,” dry but not mocking, you can hear the slight smile that tugs at his lips. The lack of maneuvering is of little consequence, the object conveniently tilts from the way you held it to slip beneath the doorway to the extraction room without taking any damage. 

“Keep it upright, I think it won’t fit if not,” you say, ever so innocently before Touya’s voice disturbs the innocent air. 

“Well doesn’t that sound familiar,” purred alluringly to toy with you both, “mind if I interrupt?” 

Tenko sucks his teeth at that, Touya stands to face his character after placing the cup he’d brought onto the lift, “you have a talent for it.”

Touya chuckles before turning away, sprinting into the darkness and the interaction brings a smile to your lips. Tenko scoffs but follows suit and you’re hot on his heels, “that was only one time, y’know. He didn’t tell anyone at least.”

“One time too many,” muttered low before you two split into opposite directions. 

You search quietly for a stint, discovering rooms on your map for now and getting familiar with the controls. Playing feels leisurely enough, simple as you search through rooms and ferry valuables back to the cart you start with, you could almost forget this game was classified as horror. 

Until you’re abruptly reminded. 

The peace is interrupted by a high pitched scream, muffled and distant but steadily becoming more clear as it continues to draw closer to you. 

It’s Kaminari, flailing about being carried by seemingly nothing but you can hear odd, very alarming panting as he’s whipped by. You see Himiko come chasing after him and Katsuki is whisper hissing about everyone needing to, “shut the fuck up or else.” 

Everything goes sideways quickly from there, you can hear Denki’s muted sigh of relief before another shriek sounds though this one is abruptly cut short, followed by the sound of an explosion. 

Himiko’s voice sounds next, cooing a cute, “ducky! C’mere little guy, you’re so cute.” She yelps soon after, saying she just wanted to carry it before her voice goes quiet in the same way Denki just had.  

You’re sprinting about yourself, traversing rooms in a tizzy and ultimately exhausting your limited stamina as you do. You find Kaminari’s head first, whimpering sympathetically with a smile on your face, suppressing laughter as you carry it to the cart left one room over. 

“You stupid fucking gnome bitch,” again, Katsuki’s voice is muffled due to the distance between you both before you can hear another explosion. That makes three out of the six of you, and you have no idea where either Touya or Tenko were in the expansive map. 

You decide to tread more cautiously after following where you believed Katsuki’s voice was and placing his head in the cart alongside Denki. Doing the same after searching for Himiko before checking the difference between what you have and the quota you’re meant to reach that displays in the upper right corner. 

The silence is now eerie as you wander by your lonesome, no different than before really but the atmosphere feels tense. You crouch periodically when the game's ambient noise intentionally plays a sinister score before you finally find someone, quiet themselves as they struggle with an object. 

“Ten?” Called softly as you hear the oversized object creak. 

“Trying again, scaredy-cat.” It’s Touya, of course, no such luck to find your boyfriend but you’re certain he’s still alive. He’s always been decently skilled, especially with games like these, “give me a hand, would’ya brat.”

You can’t help but roll your eyes, scoffing at him as you step around him to explore beyond the openable doors, “why should I?” 

“Because you’re the one that wanted to play, for starters,” Touya deadpans as he tries a new angle, budging the heavy object but not really moving it, “and because I asked. You’re supposed to be the nice compliment to your asshole boyfriend.” 

“He’s not— hey there’s something behind— HEAD?” A nonsensical sentence for certain but youre stunned at what you see, naturally. 

“At a time like this?” Touya chuckles, placing down the oversized item, “what will your possessive boyfriend think?” 

The ‘creature’, that you’ll later learn is known as the ‘headmaster’, seemingly responds to your voices but, fortunately for you and unfortunately for him, Touya’s body blocked the rush. 

He explodes instantly and you duck for cover beneath a nearby table, slapping your hand over your mouth to stifle your laughter as the floating, disembodied head chomps at your hiding place before it zooms away. Touya’s own head rolls in front of you comedically, empty onyx voids boring into you and you know well he’s cursing you in the lobby. 

But, despite the hilarity of the situation, you actually are beginning to feel a little nervous. The map couldn’t be that big could it? Why had you still not run into your boyfriend? Were you really the only one left? You hope not,how embarrassing would it be to experience a full team wipe on the first level?

You press tab to pull up the map, yellow and red dots appearing on the screen but you aren’t entirely sure what they mean. Inferring yellow meant items and red meant enemies if Lethal Company had taught you anything. The red dot hovers over you but there’s no enemy in sight when you drop the map and open it again. 

Whining to yourself for a moment as you steel yourself at the thought of having to solo the rest of this round in the hopes of reviving everyone else. 

“Babe?” You yelp at the sound, surely breaking your audio as your character flails from beneath the table after dropping your map to see someone directly before you. 

“It’s alright, sorry,” voice low and calm, always near instantly soothing to you specifically, “it’s clear.” 

You stand up and grab Touya’s head first, holding it up as you whisper, “he died to the floating old man.” 

“It’s fine, I’m sure he didn’t mind going out to some head,” Tenko’s tone is still low and monotone but it still makes you giggle nonetheless, the delivery with his lack of inflection making it all the more funny to you. 

He turns around, disappearing into the room he’d apparently come from. Reemerging with a glowing, fluorescent magenta glass orb that shifts into a deep vermilion, “I killed it but we should probably get back to the truck and clear this level.” 

You’re baffled but not really, you meant it when you said Tenko was always inherently, insanely good at games in general. Following behind him as he places his well earned treasure into the cart you’d been dragging everywhere with you and pushing it back to the entrance after you’ve settled Touya’s head in after. 

“Surprised Katsuki’s dead,” Tenko comments quietly as you traverse through rooms, gathering a few valuables along the way to pad your pockets with little issue. 

“But not Touya?” Retorted cheekily as you follow behind your boyfriend, surroundings steadily becoming more familiar. You feel more confident in searching around as well, finding a few things the lot of your party had missed in their initial exploration. 

“No, I could hear him two rooms over gradually breaking the box I told him he couldn’t lift on his own,” to Tenko, Touya definitely got his just desserts. Though, you’re sure he would’ve liked to see the result himself, “most everything is drawn by sound and agro’s on sight. I was surprised he’d made it as long as he had with his bitching.” 

You snicker at that, something caught between a chuckle and a chortle with the way you try and stifle it, “one sec, map says there’s one more thing over here.” 

Tenko stalls in his trek, both of you just one room away from the extraction point. He watches as you trot into the darkness, a beat or two passing before a pink glow slowly illuminates your path. 

“C’mere Ten, come touch this,” your voice sounds somewhat distorted and your character's eyes glow the same hue as the heart shaped bottle you carry. 

He does as instructed, meeting you halfway before grabbing onto the bottle as you stop. His character glows as well but your own speaks first, the chat bar at the bottom of your screen appearing and filling with text quickly. 

“ᴄᴀɴ’ᴛ ᴇᴠᴇɴ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʜᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴇᴀꜱᴀɴᴛ ᴅᴇᴄᴀʏᴅᴀᴅᴅʏ’ꜱ ᴠɪʙᴇꜱ ᴀʀᴇ,” sounds your robotic voice before your giggle cuts through. 

Tenko’s chat comes next, “ᴄᴀɴ’ᴛ ꜱᴛᴏᴘ ᴛʜɪɴᴋɪɴɢ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʟʟ ᴅᴀʏ.” 

It makes him smile in turn, letting go just as you do the same, causing the glass to fall between the both of you and shatter at your feet instantly. The pair of you stare down at it before you look up, “y’know, there were easier ways to tell me you hated me.” 

Tenko scoffs, a sound you’re all too familiar with, “we don’t need it anyway, let’s go.” 

To anyone else and likely even his own stream, they could think it pertained to the amount of items contributing towards your now exceeded quota; but, you know better, well versed in anything to do with your boyfriend by now and the real meaning has you rolling your plush bottom lip between your teeth. 

You and Tenko push the cart with everyone’s heads into the extraction zone and the surplus of cash results in a well earned extra payout. It makes you grin, pressing your space bar happily to express your joy as the extraction completes and everyone revives. 

Himiko and Denki sprint into the truck as she giggles and he snickers, both diving beneath the bench or lifting the other shrunken member. Katsuki continues to grumble over some ‘rng bullshit’ while Touya saunters slowly by you, head turned as if he was glaring at you as best he could. 

You sigh first, pressing shift to catch up to him, “I’m sorry I got you killed Touya, really.”