Chapter Text
"AAARGH!" You stand up in frustration and slam your hands down on your desk, nearly hitting the $100 keyboard. The match had been going smoothly just until your team was unexpectedly sabotaged. Your eyes flicker up to the small clock on your wall.
One more game wouldn't hurt.
The character you play stands still in the lobby and your mind wanders off, the emptiness within you urging itself out again.
You flinch and grab your water bottle, taking a large gulp hoping to momentarily suppress it. Recently, you've noticed a pang of...you didn't exactly know how to describe it. It felt like a black hole, but more passive. Just a space of emptiness within you. The feeling would usually wear off within a couple of seconds but...recently it had been getting worse. It was your reason for staying up so late at night, unable to sleep. It was your reason for gaming. Just the simple adrenaline from the rivalry and excitement allowed you to become completely absorbed in the game, forgetting about everything else, including the void.
You'd often pondered about this. It had no name, no label. Maybe it was simply just loneliness? You've never met your parents, never had the loving support of a mother, or the comforting protection and stability of a father. You didn't have many friends either.
The screen flashes white signaling that the game is starting and snaps you out of your thoughts. You adjust your microphone to make sure it's on and prepare yourself.
"Hello?" You speak uncertainly, hoping at least one person had a microphone just for the sake of better communication within your team.
"Hey," A voice on the other end responds, a boy's voice. "Are you a girl?"
God, please no. He better not be one of those internet virgins who boggle their eyes over every girl they see...
You sigh heavily preparing yourself for what might be a long 20 minutes, "Yeah I am."
"Hn. Girls shouldn't be playing these kinds of games." What? Despite it being 2 AM, your head starts to fuel up again with competitive energy. "Shut up loser," you retort back, "You wouldn't last five minutes in a 1v1 with me."
You weren't lying when you said this. Gaming had been your main source of entertainment for the past couple of months, and you were pretty confident in the skills you had developed. Cups and competitions were a regular thing for you and placing as a top player every week (in your area) wasn't even surprising at this point.
"Whatever. Let's just get this game over with." The two other people on your team don't have microphones so it's just you and this loser talking the whole time, but he wasn't horrible. "Your skills aren't that bad, for a turd like you that is. I'd still beat you though." The game had gone on for a while and usually, you would have ditched your team by now but there were only six other people left so it would be better to just get it over with. Just when you're about to shoot the final shot the turd comes out of nowhere and hits you with his bullet. And kills you. The other team wins.
"What the fuck?" What actually just happened. Your head is enraged and confused at the same time.
"Sorry. Your character is just so ugly I mistook it for the other team." His voice is dead serious. Is this dude for real?
"1v1 me tomorrow." you furiously send him a friend request and your monitor pings as he almost immediately accepts it.
"Alright, "fortnite_god69" he says mockingly on the other end of the line, and your face automatically heats up from embarrassment at the username that you made as a joke.
"My name is y/n. And I don't want to hear anything coming from you, "em0kid"" you say back annoyingly.
"It's Sasuke. Whatever." You hear a beep signifying he's logged off and head off to bed, exhausted from staying up so late. School tomorrow is going to be dreadful with only four hours of sleep.
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Your annoying alarm echoes off the walls of the nearly empty bedroom and you slowly creep up out of bed. To your surprise, you're not as tired as you expected to be, and if anything you feel refreshed. As you get ready, you realize that the emptiness had disappeared for bit, especially before you went to bed, which was unusual because it was the thing that kept you up so late. Playing with that person last night wasn't so bad either honestly, it had been some time since you really got thrilled from the game.
Hm..."Sasuke" was it?