Chapter Text
kaoru Today at 19:44
looking for a duo, im an adc main. rn im at plat 2
Hakaze Kaoru’s latest attempt at picking up girls had been to start playing League of Legends.
He first started the game when a girl he was interested in told him she played it and he downloaded it to get closer to her. He didn’t understand it very well at first, but she was very patient with him and explained all of the concepts to him. In a month, he was addicted. Despite the relationship not working, he didn’t end up quitting League, and rose through the ranks quickly.
Kaoru decided to play the bot role because, in his eyes, a lot of support players tended to be women. So when he goes to a League discord server, he doesn’t even think about his message.
Kanata joked he’d been looking for a discord kitten.
In a few minutes, his dms are swamped with message requests. His plan worked: most of them were from support mains, typing in all lowercase and with tons of emoticons. He checked each of their profiles individually, sending a “ sorry, ive already found another duo ” to all the men and people with no pronouns listed (he really was only looking for women to play with). However, one request stood out:
XxVampirexX Today at 21:19
Good evening. I hope this message finds you well. ~ヾ(＾∇＾)
I saw your request for a League of Legends partner on the “LFG | LOL” Discord Server and would like to apply.
While I have played for years and achieved Challenger tier a couple of times, I have just now returned from a year abroad that had me playing on a different server. I currently find myself at the Platinum I tier and would love to play alongside you ♪
I’m mostly available during the night (23:00 to 4:00), as I have classes from 19:00 to 22:30. Feel free to ask any more questions. Hope to hear from you soon.
Kaoru clicked on the person’s profile. Their profile picture was of an anime character against a red backdrop, shadows on his face, while their banner was a simple gif of blood falling down on a transparent background. Edgy, which matched their manner of speaking, despite the kaomoji.
XxVampirexX
Early Supporter | Subscribed to Nitro since January 20, 2017
Joined on April 22nd, 2016
You may call me Rei.
I am a Japanese Literature student. I am around from 19:00 to 04:00.
Pleased to make your acquaintance ♪.
Kaoru shrugs. While it’s not what he was expecting out of his message, this person seems interesting enough and Kaoru’s curiosity was taking over. He replied to a few of the girls in his dms, letting them know who he mained (Ezreal and Xayah, of course) and when he’s available, before typing out a response to this mystery person.
kaoru Today at 21:25
hey im kaoru. when do u want to rank? and who do u main? im curious. also, what should i refer to u as? lmk.
It didn’t take long for a reply from Rei.
XxVampirexX Today at 21:27
Hello, Kaoru.
I am available for ranking today starting from 23:00 as that is when I should get home from classes. I will let you know when I arrive.
I find myself mostly playing mid lane, with Vladimir as my main champion. However, my champion pool is not limited to him, as I play Veigar and when autofilled as jungle, Kayn or Zed.
You may refer to me as Rei, or Sakuma. Whichever you feel most comfortable with.
His Google searches into the name “Sakuma Rei” found him a former idol by the same name. A self proclaimed vampire, his fans used to call him a demon king. Kaoru clicks on a performance video. Sakuma Rei is beautiful. His wavy black hair sticks to his face from the sweat as he sings, melodic voice ringing in Kaoru’s ears. His eyes are red, almost piercing into Kaoru’s even through the screen. The performance feels almost tender, but extremely powerful. Kaoru gets chills.
Kaoru settles on this XxVampirexX individual being some sort of Sakuma Rei LARPer, or just a huge fan.
23:00 comes and after playing a few games with skye✿ and losing tons of points, he was almost ready to finish playing for today, when he was reminded of Rei. Sure, he can play another game or two. What’s -20 points compared to the 87 he already lost today?
XxVampirexX Today at 23:12
Good evening. I am home. If you still wish to play today, feel free to call me. (*╹▽╹*)
Kaoru calls him. Rei picks up immediately.
“Hey,” Kaoru greets Rei, stretching in his chair. He’s been playing since 5 PM. He really should’ve been studying instead.
“Hello, Kaoru,” Rei says back to him. His voice is melodic, tender. Definitely not what he expected. “May I ask for your username?”
“It’s just Kaoru,” he replies. He gets a friend request from ‘irlvampire’. Not the name he expected this eloquently speaking man to have.
They start playing and, as it turns out, Rei is very good. He carries Kaoru through 5 different games, acting as if it’s no big deal. He nonchalantly gets the first kill of the game, gets 16 kills, goes an entire game without dying and acts like it’s nothing.
Kaoru is almost embarrassed to be playing next to him. He’s struggling with his supports, be it a matter of incompatible compositions or just plain bad players, having to rely on Rei to come help him every match. “Shit! Sorry, I died again.”
“It’s because you overextended,” Rei tells him. “Next time, don’t go so far. You’re doing good, don’t worry.”
It was a lie. Kaoru was doing terribly. He’s already died 4 times in under 10 minutes; meanwhile, Rei was destroying his enemy.
They end up winning the match.
Eventually, after a few weeks of playing, they get to Diamond I. Kaoru has improved a lot over the past weeks, with Rei giving him feedback on his gameplay. Tonight, Rei is late.
Kaoru doesn’t want to seem annoying so he doesn’t ask where he is, but he is growing impatient. He’s grown fond of their sessions, staying up late to play with Rei everyday. His schedule seemed to almost match the other man’s now, staying up until 4 every night.
XxVampirexX Today at 00:33
Good evening, Kaoru. I apologize for being late. ...(｡•ˇ‸ˇ•｡) … Do you still wish to play tonight?
kaoru Today at 00:34
np. and yeah call me when u can
Kaoru receives a call not much after, and he feels almost relieved when he hears the other man’s voice. “Hello. I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long.”
“You didn’t.. did class go on for too long?”
“Hm…? Oh, no, I was having a meeting with my former company. It seems they want me to come back to idol work.”
Kaoru laughs. “It’s almost like you’re the real Sakuma Rei.”
“What do you mean?”
“Like, you’re pretending to be him online, which is fine, I don’t mind.”
“I am not… pretending to be anyone,” Rei replies, confused. “I am the real Sakuma Rei. And you’re one to talk, using an idol as your profile picture.”
“That’s me,” Kaoru says. For some reason, he feels his cheeks burn.
“Alright. And I am Sakuma Rei.”
“… okay, man. Ready to play?”
“Do you not believe me?”
Kaoru doesn’t reply. He really doesn’t mind Rei acting as if he’s some former idol. Rei turns on his camera.
Kaoru almost chokes. Rei wasn’t lying after all. On his computer screen was the real Sakuma Rei. Or an extremely good look-alike. He doesn’t seem to have changed much from the video he saw, wavy black hair looking slightly longer than before, but other than that, he looked just about the same.
“Your turn,” he says, smiling. Kaoru can’t stop looking at him. The man had an almost otherworldly, ethereal beauty to him.
Kaoru checks himself on his phone camera, making sure he looked presentable. Unlike Rei, who was wearing a striped black shirt and didn’t look like it was 12 AM at all, Kaoru’s hair was disheveled and he was wearing a sweatshirt, ready to go to bed. He quickly fixed his hair before turning on the camera.
The other man smiles again upon seeing him, and Kaoru has to stop himself from staring at his lips. “So you’re real, too,” he says, running his hand through his hair.
There’s a strange feeling in Kaoru’s chest.