Video Game Addict by Pumpkin Maximus

In Which A Present Is Given

Hey, guys! Well, this is my first fanfiction posted on this site. I also have some on FFN (same name) but I’m having some major writer’s block on those, so....

Anywho, this is written in response to Kirai’s “Neverending Title Challenge.” My title was, of course, “Video Game Addict,” and because I couldn’t think of a good one-shot to do for it, here’s the first chapter! Please review and tell me what you think! ^^

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Chapter One: In Which A Present Is Given

Words: 1919

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“Happy birthday, Kagome!” her family announced in synch as she walked into her house on Friday afternoon. Previously, she had been wearing a weary expression from the long day of school that she had just endured, but upon seeing the surprise party her family had put together, that was washed away and replaced by a hundred-watt smile. Oh, she loved her family! She had actually almost forgotten it was her birthday, probably would have if it wasn’t for her best friend Sango reminding her at school all day.

“Thanks, guys!” she said, throwing her bag down and entering the warm embraces of her mother, younger brother, and grandfather. They all migrated into the kitchen amongst a mob of smiling faces and congratulatory hugs. There, they were greeted by a lovely white cake, iced with a pretty blue border and scripted with the words “Happy Sweet Sixteen, Kagome!” on the middle in more blue icing.

“All right, let me light the candles!” Jii-chan said, shuffling forward through the crowd with lighter in hand to ignite sixteen pristine, white candles, fresh out of the box, as he put each one in its place on top of the cake.

“All right, Kagome, remember to make a wish,” Souta reminded her as her urged her forward and their mother got out the camera to take a memory photo.

Kagome smiled sheepishly. “Aw, come on, guys. It’s not that big of a deal,” she mumbled, unused to all the attention but not quite disliking it.

“Oh, it is too!” her mother, Yuri, protested, shooing her daughter forward again and readying the camera. “My baby’s growing up! Now hurry up and think of a wish so I can get your picture.”

Kagome rolled her eyes, though she smiled at her family’s enthusiasm. She tapped her chin, deliberately taking a while to come up with a wish, as she thought. What do I really want? she asked herself, really not knowing what at all to wish for. In the end, she just decided to go with one of her more commonly used wishes.

I wish for world peace and that the cake tastes good, she thought as she blew out the candles and Yuri snapped a picture, remembering the time when she was five and her mother had gotten her some sort of diet-low-carb-cake-thing. It was disgusting. She didn’t care what anyone said; a girl needed her sugar. Real sugar.

And that’s just what this cake was. It seemed her family had pulled out all the stops, getting her a creamy vanilla cake with a layer of frosting in the middle like she liked. She almost couldn’t stop herself from eating three pieces, but she managed, though just barely.

Souta laughed, consuming his fourth piece already. “Souta!” Yuri admonished lightly. “This is Kagome’s birthday. Stop eating all of her cake.” But Souta just grinned with teeth stained blue from icing and took another big bite.

Kagome shook her head at them. “It’s fine, Mom. He’s a growing boy. He needs the calories more than I do.”

Yuri just rolled her eyes and turned from her children to her father, who was reentering the kitchen after leaving a couple of minutes before, returning with arms laden with gifts.

“Wow, look at all these!” Kagome exclaimed as he set the packages down with a huff on the tile floor of the kitchen. They were all brightly wrapped in playful designs, and there were so many. Kagome could hardly believe that her family had bought so much for her.

“All your family sent presents for you,” Yuri said, smiling as she watched her children kneel on the floor, her son as anxious to see the presents as her daughter was, and the latter trying to decide which one to open first.

“Here, open mine first,” Jii-chan said, holding out a small, palm-sized box wrapped in pine green paper with little pink sixteens on it. Kagome smiled politely and took the box, hoping that whatever it was, it wasn’t mummified and wasn’t cursed.

As she opened it, Kagome was pleasantly surprised to see a simple, black-and-white pendant, hanging from a sturdy, dark leather cord. “Wow, Jii-chan, I love it!” she exclaimed, smiling widely at him.

“Twist it and open it,” he prompted, waiting eagerly for her to figure out how to move the yin-yang symbol and reveal the inside.

“It’s a... little Buddha,” Kagome said, surprised for a moment that the thing actually opened. And the little figurine was just so detailed. She couldn’t believe it! “Thank you, Jii-chan!” she cried, tackling the older man in a bone-crushing hug.

Jii-chan just chuckled good-naturedly and patted her back to try to let her know that he couldn’t breath. “Ah, I’m glad you like it, my girl!” Jii-chan said with a smile as she let him go and secured the pendant around her neck, holding it in the palm of her hand to look at it again.

“All right, all right, enough of that,” Souta grumbled. “Open my present next, Nee-chan!” He held out a large box wrapped in bright red paper, decorated in little white puppies. She opened that present--a pretty orange and red kimono he thought she would like, and she did--and then all the rest of them. She had gotten presents from everyone, even her great-aunt in America. Sango had stopped by when she was nearing the middle of her present stack and gave Kagome hers as well, sorry that she had to miss most of the party for volleyball practice, and then she had to go home right after to make her little brother’s dinner because their parents were traveling all the time, and never home. Kagome understood, though, and hugged her friend before she was off.

Finally, there was only one present left, and only one relative it could have come from. Kagome sighed deeply in emotional preparation as her mother handed her the simple cardboard box with a pensive expression. Kagome stared at it for a moment, then taking a deep breath, she cut open the packaging tape and sifted through the shipping peanuts to get to the present.

It was a note on top of another box, this one much more brightly decorated. She picked up the note, ignoring the other box for the moment. The first words only confirmed her suspicions, and a scowl lighted her face as she read through the quickly-scrawled apology.

Kagome, happy fifteenth sixteenth birthday!

I hope you’re having a really great day; you deserve it! Wow, time sure passes fast. I can’t believe it wasn’t just the other day that you were learning to walk, because that’s what it feels like.

Anyway, I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you again this year--you know how busy I am with work--but I hope this present makes it better. I hear it’s a ton of fun. I’d love to hear feedback from you!

Hope you like it, and I’m sorry I missed another important day. I’ll be there for the next one, I promise!

Love, Daddy

No, you won’t, Kagome thought moodily, throwing the note behind her in disgust. How dare he try to win her affections! And after all these years with nothing more than a card and an apology, now he decided to send her something? Hmph, some business, Kagome though, mentally rolling her eyes at the thought of her father’s Yakuza gang. If they were so special to him, he could stay with them, she didn’t care. As long as he didn’t keep coming back into her life and reminding her that he was still out there, trying to care, because that made it so much harder to hate him. And hating him was so much easier than forgiving him.

She looked into the box, curious despite herself as to what the thing was that her father had hoped to win her affections with. The box was surprisingly gaudy compared to the ordinary brown cardboard of the package it had arrived in. There were bright splashes of pink and green all over the box, split at random intervals with red-lined, yellow shout bubbles advertising some of the product’s more amazing features.

It looked to be some sort of fantasy, life simulation game. You got to pick which race you would be--human, elf, or demon--and then you got to make up your life and make choices as to which ways you would lead it, all the while trying to maintain good relations with the other characters in the game. The back stated that the game ended either when your character got married to one of the NPCs in the game, you reached a certain age, you died, or many other ways, but then went on to say that you could save up to twenty games on it, so you could keep playing even after your first adventure was over.

It was just the sort of thing her little brother was into. “Hmph,” Kagome grunted, setting the box down on the floor. Souta came over to look at it, picking up the box and turning it over to read the back. “You want it?” Kagome asked, looking at him out of the corner of her eye.

“Kagome!” Yuri admonished gently as Souta shook his head and put the box back down. Her mother sighed and knelt next to her daughter, patting her lightly on the shoulder. “I know you’re upset because your father isn’t here again, but don’t let that squander this opportunity to try something new! Doesn’t it look like fun, at least?”

Kagome pouted but reluctantly nodded, unable to lie to her mother; the game did look interesting, and if it wasn’t from the one man she was--trying--to hate more than anyone else in the world, she might already be playing it.

Yuri smiled in her gentle way, patting her daughter’s shoulder again. “There’s a good girl. Now, since it’s your birthday, what do you want to do for the rest of the day? It’s pretty late, but we can still go out if you want to.”

Kagome thought for a moment, then shook her head, turning to smile at her mother, former irritability forgotten. “That’s okay, Mama,” she said, grunting as she stood up and the blood rushed back into her legs, making them feel like little pins were stabbing her all the way down to her toes. “I’m actually kind of tired. I think I’ll just relax for the rest of the night. 

Yuri smiled at her daughter and kissed her forehead, giving her another hug before ushering her up the stairs. All of Kagome’s birthday presents were carried up by her family members, who insisted on doing it for her since it was her “special day,” and they soon made a neat little pile in the corner of her bedroom.

Kagome sighed, stretching lightly, and went to go brush her teeth. She wasn’t hungry after eating all that cake, and really all she wanted right now was to fall into a nice, long, dreamless sleep. So that’s what she did, after what seemed like forever of laying awake thinking about the game from her father that sat at the back of her pile of presents, as far away from her as she could get it, trying to decide whether or not she would try it out.

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Japanese terms:

Jii-chan: Grandpa

Nee-chan: Big Sis