My second chance in a strange reverse world!

Giving me a confused look with her golden eyes, Luna brought a hand to the mic of her headsets. "Give me a moment, girls" she said before turning to me curiously. "Do you want to play?"

I nodded. "Only if you're not busy." I said casually, not wanting to intrude on her game and her friends.

Luna shook her head quickly, causing her cascading locks of hair to dance with almost frantic energy. "O-of course not, big bro!" she stammered, her voice full of excitement. "I'm not busy!" With the same urgency with which she spoke, she brought the mic up to her mouth and spoke quickly. "I have to go. See you tomorrow."

From where I stood I heard the indignant shouts of her friends.

"Huh?!"

"In the middle of the game?"

"Damn simp!"

I couldn't help but chuckle under my breath, a smile tugging at the corners of my lips, as Luna's expression betrayed embarrassment, her cheeks tinged a delicate shade of pink. She gave me a fleeting look of discomfort before scowling again at the mic. "Shut up fatherfuckers, I'm not a simp." She said before stepping out of what appeared to be the voice channel where they were speaking.

I raised an eyebrow at her words, but said nothing. No one wants to embarrass themselves in front of their friends, so I put it aside and concentrated on something else.

I watched absentmindedly as she controlled the console menu, and it was displayed on the television. It wasn't a very big TV, but I was surprised that she had a console in this reality. She didn't have it in the previous one. It made sense, though, reverse world and all that stuff. Can't blame me for forgetting that sometimes.

As I was thinking about this, Luna held out another controller to me. "Thank you." I said with a smile, moving a little closer to her having a place in front of the small TV.

Luna's nod was accompanied by a subtle shift in her gaze, which drifted momentarily to the spot where our legs gently brushed against each other. Her attention quickly returned to the screen, and her finger pointed at it. "What do you want to play?" she asked, swiping through a few game options. "I have Smash Sisters and Maria Kart."

I ignored the amusement on my face at the parodies of game names in my former reality and instead spoke with only a small smile. "Let's play what you were playing before."

"Huh? But that one doesn't have split screen so..."

I guessed, so I shrugged. "Smash sisters then."

I could see a smile form on Luna's face at my choice. "Heh, are you sure? I remember the last time we played you got mad at me because you lost every game."

I snorted at her comment. "I've grown in both; maturity and skill." I swaggered.

Luna let out a slight laugh. "We'll see." Her eyes turned competitive as the game logo flashed on the screen. "Heh, don't think I'll hold back just because you're a boy."

"Don't underestimate me."

After I said those words, she started the game. It was very similar to what I remembered playing, only the characters I remembered were missing. Some were vaguely familiar, others totally different. What was certain, however, was that most of them were women.

Luna didn't even take more than a couple of seconds to choose. I didn't recognize the character, but she was pretty imposing. As imposing as a cartoon character can be that is.

"Choose, big bro," she hurried me, looking somewhat exasperated at how I was stopping at each character to check their attacks and abilities.

I sighed theatrically. "Okay, but if I lose it will be because of this."

Luna rolled her eyes. "Take your time then, I don't want excuses."

I smiled at her response and how she simply rested her chin on her hand while I read. I really didn't want to take too long, as I knew this little habit I had could be annoying, so I just went with the female version of some random character, and I was ready.

"Finally!" sighed Luna with a laugh. She chose a map and then leaned her body forward a bit, looking quite ready to play. She didn't even speak anymore.

I did the secret technique of leaning forward to bring out my true potential, and the game began with the female voice indicating that we could start fighting.

Luna was good; I saw it from the start when she did some strange sliding to take the weapon first. I defended myself decently, but I was really rusty. I ended up taking a one-sided beating, and when the game was over, Luna sent me a smug look.

"Don't underestimate me." She said, imitating my voice.

"Very funny. "When she laughed at my comment I simply shook my head. "Again."

"All right~"

This time, I surely wouldn't lose.

(***)

Standing directly in front of me, Luna took a slightly elevated stance, a smug gleam in her eye as she looked up at me, enjoying her triumph. The scoreboard of our most recent 1v1 was displayed on the screen right behind her. In the end, it was I who underestimated how addicted a teenager could become to video games.

I thought that with my increased experience and familiarity with the controls, I would be able to adapt fairly quickly to this familiar game. As it turns out, I didn't. While I did get better in the first few games at adapting to the controls, there was always this wall between Luna playing this version with different skills and maps, and me being used to another version with different mechanics.

Luna made a mock yawn. "What would the score be, 15-0?" She asked idly, a victorious smile on her face.

"Fine, fine, you win." I sighed, feeling a little frustrated. No one likes to lose after all.

She sat back down, snorting with pride. "Don't underestimate a teenager with nothing to do," she gloated. I shook my head, and she quickly misinterpreted my body language. "Ah! But don't feel bad, you played well. This map, I have pretty much memorized. It wasn't a fair fight."

I laughed, "Okay. But still, how much did you play this game? There were times when I couldn't even do anything."

Luna looked proud, puffed out her chest. " A lot." She moved a few buttons until she displayed her account profile, showing a rather nice gold frame. "I got this frame for placing fourth in a regional tournament."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Really?"

Luna nodded enthusiastically. "Amazing, isn't it?"

"Nah, it's too low." I said, flashing a fake look of disappointment.

"Hey!"

I laughed at her, and Luna soon joined in with a giggle of her own. I felt quite relaxed now. I had missed being with my little sister for too long. Even the perpetually negative part of my mind was turned off, if only for this moment. I decided to just let go.