When playing the game, Luna knew what buttons to press, when to turn, and when to slow down. Even when to allow herself to die so that she could respawn faster.
Watching her was like watching a master at work.
The game started with Arit leading Talia by ten wins to nothing, but after Luna came, Arit only managed to beat Luna once. Luna came out of the gaming session with nine straight wins after she got used to the game again. Arit won by eleven to nine, but everyone knew that if not for the fact that they were all getting tired, Luna would have taken home the win.
"That was actually really impressive. I didn’t even know you could do some of those moves in the game. I didn’t see anything like that in the tutorial."
Luna was sitting beside Arit, and Luna felt her cheeks heating up in embarrassment at all the praise she was getting from everyone. She was not used to showing her gaming skills so much, so hearing people praise her for it like this was a bit embarrassing. Luna nodded to Arit and explained that some of the moves were hidden.
"They don’t show everything in the tutorial, so you have to go online to learn some moves. They’re really useful."
Arit chuckled.
"No wonder. I couldn’t believe that spinning backflip that you did at the end of the second game. It seemed illegal somehow."
Luna joined Arit in laughing, and Mark couldn’t help but smile as the two women seemed to be getting along at that moment. During the gaming session, Mark could tell that Arit was not happy that Luna was there at first.
Arit had this look of intense anger in her eyes the moment she saw Luna joining them in the gaming session, but as the game progressed, the two of them started to mellow down, and Arit somehow ended up becoming closer to Luna than before.
Mark couldn’t say that they were friends, but Arit was close enough to Luna that she wasn’t even angry that Luna was here with them.
Mark went to check on Talia when he noticed that she was no longer making any noise, and he chuckled once he saw that she had somehow fallen asleep halfway through her rant. Mark told the girls that he would take Talia back to her room, and he carried her off while leaving Luna and Arit alone on the porch.
Arit liked everything about Mark, and she wouldn’t want to change him for the world, but sometimes, she wished that he would share some of his problems with her. Even if she couldn’t really help him, she was willing to listen.
Luna saw Arit’s face drop sadly as the silence stretched on, and Luna suddenly felt like she had to say something to bring up the playful atmosphere again. She leaned a little towards Arit and spoke conspiratorially.
"Alright, don’t tell him I told you this, but when he was talking to me, he was always talking about how much you mean to him. One time, he even stopped in the middle of our conversation just to call you. I think... No, I know he really loves you a lot."
Arit blushed and laughed.
"R-Really?"
Luna nodded.
"I don’t think I’ve seen any man talk about a woman the way he talks about you. He might not express himself a lot, but you don’t need to doubt the fact that he cares about you. Honestly... I can’t help but envy you."
Luna added the last part in a low voice, but Arit still caught it. Arit felt her body tense up once Luna said that, and Arit suddenly asked a question.
"Are you in love with Mark?"
Eh?
Luna turned to look at Arit in shock. The question caught her so off guard that she couldn’t stop her mouth from dropping open. Arit was staring right at Luna with a hard gaze while leaning back on her hands, and Luna could see the seriousness on Arit’s face. Why the hell was she asking something like that!?
Arit asked the question because she just wanted to know once and for all. Ever since the two of them spoke in the school corridor, Arit has been feeling this intense competitiveness from Luna, as if Luna was trying to be better than her somehow. Arit couldn’t think of any reason why Luna was doing this other than the fact that Luna might be trying to take Mark from her.