I squinted at the computer screen, my hand hovering over the mouse with hesitation. The game seemed...intriguing...but also undeniably sketchy.

"Well?" A voice chirped in my ear, and I tumbled off the chair in surprise.

"C-Clear!" I shouted, hand over my chest. "God, don't scare me like that!"

Clear, who was bending over to read what was on the computer screen, stood back to his full height and stared at me with a smile, confusion lacing his eyes.

"What were you looking at, Aoba?" He asked, and rocked back and forth lightly on his heels. I frowned.

"I'm really not sure. I was just trying to fix a bug in my computer when this thing popped up." I pointed a finger towards the screen, heaving myself back onto the swiveling chair. "I'm pretty sure that it's a game of some sort, but I haven't tried it out yet."

Clear bent over my shoulder, eyes squinting.

"DRAMA...tical...Murder?" he read aloud, brows furrowed in confusion. "But Aoba, why is the 'drama' part all in capital letters?"

"Like I would know that! I didn't make the damn thing!" I replied, and Clear laughed, the corner of his eyes crinkling in amusement. "You're funny, Aoba" He replied cheerfully. "Of course you didn't make it!"

I smiled, and turned my head back to the screen.

"I'm not sure if this thing is a virus or not...it just popped out of nowhere." I mumbled. Clear grinned.

"Well, there's only one way to find out, right?" He exclaimed, and the next thing I knew, Clear had pressed 'download'.

"Woah, what was that for?" I exclaimed frantically, arms waving around in front of the screen. "Clear! I have important things on that computer; what if this 'DRAMAtical Murder' thing is a virus and trashes everything!?" Clear simply shrugged. I sighed, wearily turning back to look at the computer like it was about to explode. "You can be such an idiot sometimes…" I mumbled, and Clear huffed in indignation.

"That was uncalled for!" he pouted.

"That was totally called for."

The two of us fell into silence as we watch the download progress. It was at 27%, and I sighed, hoping that not too much damage was being done to my precious computer.

Clear stood up and walked towards my bed. He lifted the blankets to the bed, and stared underneath. I looked at him quizzically.

"Is Ren around?" The silver-haired boy asked, and I blinked.

"Uh, yeah, he's probably dozing off in the living room again," I replied, and Clear left my room with a nod. I smiled to myself, lightly shaking my head. Clear had been my friend ever since the first year of high school when he fell (from the sky, I must add) on to the ground only a few inches from where I was standing. It was quite the first impression, especially because Clear was wearing a gas mask at the time. I asked him (after we became close friends) from where he had fallen and why he had been wearing a gas mask of all things, and he had replied,

"I was looking out the window from the art room and I saw you, and I decided to say hi!"

"But why jump from a window to greet a stranger?"

"Jumping was the fastest way to get to you!"

"Okay...and what about that gas mask you were wearing?"

"Hm? Is there anything unusual about wearing a gas mask?"

I chuckled to myself. Clear was about the strangest friend anyone could ask for. Speaking of the devil himself, Clear walked into my room holding a blue ball of fur. I grinned.

"Hi Ren! How are you doing?" My pet dog looked up, sleepy blue eyes looking very much annoyed. "Aww, did Clear wake you up?" I cooed, and got up to scratch Ren's ear. The dog purred, and fell back asleep.

A beeping sound was heard, and I turned back to the computer.

Download complete. Well, shit. I braced myself for the warning signs of a virus, but none came. Clear padded over, Ren in his arms, and peered at the screen.

"Oh! The download is complete. Let's play the game!"

"Um...I don't think it's a very good idea to - "Clear cut me off when he shoved Ren in my face, a wad of fur forced into my mouth.

"Ugh, Clear! What was that for?" Once I placed Ren on the floor, I looked at Clear. He was staring at the computer screen intently. It was black.

"Oh my god, Clear, what did you do…" There was no sign of anything from the computer. For a tense ten seconds, we looked at the screen, unsure what to do and how to fix it.

Then, some sort of disclaimer showed up.

"Wait...wait...Clear, this isn't English." I exclaimed, pointing at the strange characters on the screen. Clear scratched his head.

"Yes, you're right, Aoba. This is Japanese."

"Japanese? Why the hell is it in Japanese?"

Clear smiled. "Probably because it was made in Japan!" He exclaimed. A blush crept up my cheeks.

"Yeah, I know that, I just meant...ugh, whatever."

After a few seconds, the image changed, and another one came up, with even more Japanese characters on it.

"Hey...Clear...can you read Japanese?" I asked, chin on my hand as I stared at the screen in utter confusion.

"A little bit!" Replied the chirpy voice. I shot back up, biting my tongue in the process.

"Really? I didn't know that! Then...what does this say?" I asked, pointing to a sentence.

Clear looked at it, then frowned. "It says that you must be eighteen or older to play. I'm not eighteen yet. And you aren't either, Aoba."

My eyes widened. "Wait, do you think this is...a sex game or something?" I asked, whispering the 'sex' part. Clear shrugged in reply.

"Oh, man, this is bad," I murmured. "How the hell do I get out of this game?" I began pressing random keys on the computer in a desperate attempt to exit the game. Nothing worked. I began clicking the mouse frantically, which only made the Japanese characters come and go at a more rapid pace. Then, out of nowhere, big, blue, English words slid up from the bottom of the screen. DRAMAtical Murder, it said, and right below it, press any key. Complying with the instructions, I pressed the 'j' button. A brain came up. A very familiar brain design...one that was actually on my favorite jacket; a blue, yellow and white 'Brain Nuts' jacket.

"Huh…" It was strange, but no more than a coincidence. The title page came up, and immediately, two pixelated figures of a person and a dog began walking on the screen.

"Woah!" Clear exclaimed. "Those things look just like you and Ren!" Looking closely, I realized that Clear was right. A boy (as least, I thought it was a boy?) with blue hair and...was that a Brain Nuts jacket? came walking onto the screen, accompanied by a dog that looked miraculously like Ren.

"Wow…" I murmured. "That is some seriously weird shit." Clear whacked my arm, and I chuckled. "Yeah, yeah, no swearing, I got it."

It was then that I noticed that the title page was in English. The screen had five options: Start, Data Load, Config, Exit, and Extra. My mouse hovered over the start button. I looked up at Clear, hesitant.

"Should I…?" I asked. "I mean...it's an adult game...I don't know…"

Clear frowned. "It doesn't seem like a perverted game to me," he replied slowly. "I mean...they're pixelated characters. Besides, even if there is sex or something, it's nothing we haven't seen before."

I spluttered, face flaming red. "C-Clear!" I shouted. "What are you talking about!? Y-Y-You've had...you know...sex?" I stuttered, voice lowering down to a whisper at the word 'sex' once more.

Clear looked at me with confused eyes. "No, of course not. Why would you think that, Aoba?" he asked, and I shook my head. Clear was a very strange person indeed.

"No, nevermind," I muttered in reply, gathered up my courage, and clicked 'start'.

The screen was black, but soon, white symbols came up.

… … … …

I frowned, confused. I could hear Clear's breathing quicken.

"I'm scared," he whispered.

"It's your goddamn fault you downloaded the game," I whispered back.

"But Aoba, I'm scared."

"Shut up."

The screen turned black once more. Then,

… … … …

"Aoba, I'm really, really scared."

"Shh."

you really came…

"Aobaaaaa!"

...i was waiting...always…

"Aoba, come on, this is really scary!"

The letters came on to the screen slowly now.

hurry to me…

I frowned. Was this some sort of weird sex game where the female character goes all possessive or something?

destroy me...

"Aobaaaaa!" A wail came from Clear, and I was a little uneased. The game...it was definitely sketchy. Most definitely.

with your power...

But...I couldn't help being intrigued. This weird ass game...had some strange aura to it.

Black. The screen did nothing, and I sat in silence, Clear's muffled sniffling behind me, as I waiting for something to happen.

There was the sound of a ringing phone, and both Clear and I jumped in fright.

A voice came, and with it, a picture.

"Hello, thank you for calling. This is Junk Shop Heibon."

Clear's sniffling stopped. My eyes were glued to the screen. Only the character's lower half of his body was being shown, but...the clothes he was wearing were identical to mine. I gulped, sweat forming on my brows.

Not only that, but…

"Aoba," came Clear's voice, soft and frightened. "That...that sounds exactly like you…"

I couldn't even find the strength to nod in agreement. My body was frozen as the character who wore my clothes and had my voice talked to a man on the phone. This was unreal. It had to be a coincidence, though. Some weird freak of nature. The picture changed to the character's hand, which was loosely holding a pen.

Slowly, I brought my right hand up to my face. We were wearing the same glove. And on my desk was the same pink pen the character held.

The picture changed once more, revealing the entire body of the character.

It was me.