Oh man rewriting this first chapter alone took so long XD Sorry for the wait but hope you enjoy~

Rin POV

How comfortable… I feel so warm and content, just lying in bed like this—

BEEP BEEP

What was that? What was that annoyingly loud sound that disrupted my bliss?!

BEEP BEEP

I buried my face deeper into my pillow, trying to drown out the beeping. It didn't work. Ughh—what time was it anyway?! I grabbed my covers and pulled them up over my head. The thick quilted material did (gratefully) muffle most of the sound, but it did nothing to muffle the sound of my brother screaming at me from his room right next to mine.

"RIN, TURN THAT DARN ALARM OFF OR I'M GONNA KILL YOUUUUU!"

Yikes. Reluctantly, I forced my body up and out of bed. Or rather I tried to get up, but failed miserably, tumbling to the floor instead. Not to mention on my way down I hit my desk and knocked everything off.

Papers and notebooks scattered, and my laptop came crashing down. I stretched out my arms to catch the laptop, but I guess I misjudged where it would land. At least I caught it… although it was with my head.

"Oww…" My voice trailed off into a whine. "…RINTO YOU TURN IT OFF!"

BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP

"AURGH!" I heard my brother groan out something incoherent. A loud 'THUD!' then followed, along with a lot of cursing and scuffling sounds. My room door slammed open, and there stood Rinto, disheveled and cocooned in his blankets. He first glared at me threateningly through drowsy eyes. "RIN—…" He cut himself off when he saw me sprawled out on the ground. "… What are you doing?"

It didn't sound like a question. Rinto was too used to seeing me do weird things to question anything I do anymore.

BEEP BEEP

Sighing, he started to shuffle towards the blaring alarm clock. Then he tripped over a stray cord on the ground and fell face-first into the carpet. The cord must have been the alarm clock's, because the alarm fell silent mid-screech.

Scowling in pain, Rinto squinted at me. "I hate living with you."

I nodded, rubbing my head. "I'd hate to live with another me. But hey, at least you got the alarm off."

I gave him a thumbs-up. He grimaced, stuck his tongue out at me, rolled over, and fell back asleep.

…

"Care to tell me why you had that alarm set for 4 in the morning?"

I sat at the kitchen table, peeling an orange. Rinto had been busy clearing the remnants of our late breakfast, but now he looked at me, waiting for an answer.

It was now 11am, and Rinto was in a much more cheerful mood than before. He really isn't a morning person, I guess. I mean, I'm not either, but sheesh, Rinto sure knows how to be grumpy if he wakes up earlier than 9.

"Oh, that." I fiddled with the white bow I constantly had in my hair, retying it around my head. "Do you remember that game I really wanted to get?"

My brother looked at me in a curious, but also clueless, manner. "Ah… that game. Yeah, um, the one with the uh Hot-days or something."

I grinned. "Close enough. It's Heat→ Daze, by the way. But man, it's supposed to be amazing! Apparently the creators of the game managed to create a whole new level of virtual reality! I went to the demo of the game and it was so cool! Wait- lemme show you it! I took a video of the demo."

I brought out my phone and played the video on high volume. It probably was not a good idea. Loud shrieks and cheers rang out, echoing off the walls and ceiling. "Whoops." I quickly lowered the sound, but not before the piercing noise half-killed my ears.

"Why is there so much screaming?!" Rinto had his fingers stuffed in his ears and raised his voice to a slight yell.

I tugged on his arm. "Watch! Oh, and the screams were from the girls who only came to the demo to drool over the developer's good-looking son, Kaito Shion or something." I pointed to a person with vivid blue hair walking onto a stage.

"I think it was that guy." With a smirk, I added, "Though I think it was Miku who was screaming the loudest."

...

"Hey Rin! Can you see him?!" Miku's squeal was easily heard over the excited buzzing of the crowd.

I turned to catch my teal-haired friend's face in the video I was recording. I had my phone at head level, trying to record the gameplay. "You mean that Kai- uh, Kaiko person or whatever?" I craned my neck, looking for openings in the masses of people so I could actually see what was going on. I huffed out a frustrated sigh, muttering curses under my breath. "Ugh. Why do these people have to be so tall?" I complained just loudly enough for Miku to hear.

She spared me a slight glance before locking her eyes once more on the stage, where a young man with a thick scarf sat, preparing to launch the game. "It's not the people who are tall, Rin. It's you that's short!"

"Hmph." I shoved my phone at Miku. "If I'm so short, you record! And don't point it at Kaiko!"

Miku grabbed the phone without looking at me. "Fine. And it's not Kaiko, it's—" My friend cut off mid-sentence as the blue haired guy stood up and bowed. The presentation was over.

"-KAITO!"

The screaming of the lovesick girls drowned out my wails of sorrow at not being able to see the game demo.

...

"What's this? You can only see some guy sitting in a chair…" Rinto sounded disappointed.

"Oh right… I forgot that Miku recorded most of it…" I stared at the small monitor as the video ended and the screen blinked off. "It's fine, I'll show you later; the game's coming today anyway."

Rinto's eyes widened. "What? You bought it?! When and how did you get the money for it?!"

I waved off my brother's ignorant questions. "I signed up to beta-test it, so I didn't have to pay anything."

"Beta test…?" Rinto seemed to get more confused with each word I said.

"Um… basically, I'm playing the game to see if there's any bugs or glitches and what-not."

Rinto nodded in understanding, but had a rather blank look on his face, making me worry about his future a bit, considering that in this age and era, technology and computers were everything.

Letting out a sigh, I gave up explaining. "...Nevermind. Anyway, the game was supposed to be delivered today, but I couldn't remember if I was supposed to pick up the package at 4 am or pm… ehe." I laughed sheepishly.

My brother raised an eyebrow. "Rin, why would they deliver a package at 4 in the morning?" He sighed, shaking his head.

"Pfft. Like I said," I defended my reasoning, "It was just in case-"

The front doorbell rang, making me jump up. "It's here!" I leaped out of my chair and scrambled towards the door.

"But it's not even 4 yet!" I heard Rinto call out incredulously. I ignored him, completing my mad dash to the door and flinging it open impatiently.

There stood… Miku. As I sagged against the door in disappointment, my teal-haired friend greeted me brightly. "Hi Rin! And Rinto!" she nodded towards Rinto, who appeared at my shoulder.

He waved while I lifted a hand in a weary 'hello'. "What's wrong?" Miku looked mildly concerned and amused.

Rinto poked my head. "I think she's sad because of the game-"

He was cut off by Miku's gasp of remembrance. "Ah! The game! Rin, you haven't played it yet without me, did you?!"

I frowned. "Miku the game didn't even come yet what are you talking ab-"

"WHAT?" my friend cut me off. "But Mikuo has his already…"

I straightened up, but before I could utter a sound, Rinto squawked in astonishment. "So it was delivered at 4 in the morning?"

Miku's eyebrows scrunched together. "No- what are you talking about- it came yesterday afternoon…"

By the time the words "yesterday afternoon" left Miku's mouth, I was already out the door and was running down the street screaming curses at the delivery guys. "WE HAVE VIRTUAL REALITY GAMES BUT THE DARN DELIVERY SERVICE CAN'T LEAVE THE FREAKIN' PACKAGE AT THE DOOR?!"

…

I left the post office in high spirits. They weren't quite open when I got there, but an annoyed employee grudgingly opened the door after my incessant pounding. Apparently, I "wasn't home" when they tried to deliver. Just my luck. I was home all day yesterday- except for when I made that short 10-minute trip to the grocery store to restock on oranges…

On my way home, I ran into Miku, who seemed out of breath. With her was Rinto and her brother Mikuo, both of whom also out of breath. "Oh. Why do you guys look so tired?" I remarked, earning a glowering look from my unathletic brother.

"Don't tell me... you threatened the mail people again?" He groaned, clutching his sides. He paused for air. "Miku made us run after you… why are you so fast when it's about games?"

"Yeah." Mikuo seemed better off than Rinto. "I got dragged along just because I was outside… what's going on?"

I smirked, wiggling my eyebrows tauntingly. "I got the game, guys. That's all that matters."

"Well then," Miku started, grinning. She didn't seem to mind, unlike the boys, that I had made her run a few miles. "Let's go play, shall we?"

…

We went back to my house and ran to the living room and tore open the package. Quickly skimming over the instructions, I set up the game program. It didn't look too impressive. The device that actually had the game programming was a small box that you were supposed to put within 10 feet of you when you were playing.

As I rummaged around the box, Miku and Rinto decided to go get a snack. Mikuo plopped down on the sofa and looked bored. I was sitting on the floor, examining the game's parts.

"Oh yeah, Rin, I'm already at level 15." Mikuo grinned smugly, looking down at me from his seat. I glanced at him, jokingly making a face. He had laughed after he learned that I hadn't gotten Heat→ Daze the day before- and had started to gloat.

"Psh. The only reason you're ahead is because you started playing 20 hours before me," I retorted. "I bet I can catch up in half the time."

"Mhm." Mikuo nodded, although I'm not sure if he was being sarcastic or acknowledging my talent.

I ignored him for the most part and focused on the gaming device at hand. It had a pretty interesting design. Instead of a helmet or a visor like I'd expected, the only specialized equipment was small device that you stuck on the back of your neck. Apparently, the device connected to the nerves in the back of your neck and sent signals that would connect your consciousness to the game. "Hm… this looks a bit shady…" I muttered under my breath.

Mikuo came over and pointed at the device. "Yeah, I thought it wouldn't work too… but if you look at the inside, there's this metal piece that you put on your neck, and it kinda tingles and-" He paused after seeing the confused look on my face. "Erm, you'll see when you try it…"

Miku and Rinto came back, their arms full of assorted food. Miku was munching on a leek bread while I grabbed a carton of orange juice. "Ready to play?" I handed Miku one of the two VR gears, and we sat down as recommended by the game instructions.

"Is there another one?" Rinto asked hopefully.

I checked the box again. "Oh. Sorry, there isn't…"

My brother looked dejected until Mikuo told him that he could come over and play on his. The boys soon left, and I turned to my friend excitedly. "C'mon! Let's try it!"

I gingerly pressed the device to the back of my neck and it held. I squeezed my eyes shut, and waited anxiously.

…

…

The darkness before my eyes swirled and blurred until I found myself staring at an open sky.

A bit disoriented, my eyes spun, trying to understand my surroundings. I was suddenly sitting in an endless grassy field. I lifted a hand and waved it around, touching the grass. The grass felt cool and- well, like grass. There was a slight breeze, and I felt my hair move float along with the air. It was amazingly real; I jumped up and moved around, testing my body.

I took a step forward, and a mirror materialized in front of me. Strangely, it didn't reflect anything, but its surface was glassy and glowing silver. I reached out and glanced the surface with a finger. The mirror's empty reflection shimmered, and it reflected me. As soon as I touched the mirror, a pleasant female voice started to resonance from the mirror.

Hello, player. This mirror will help you create your avatar. However, due to identity issues, you must keep your original face.

Whoa. This was so cool. When I imagined a certain outfit, my avatar in the mirror shifted to match my imagination. I didn't want to spend too much time designing a character so I kept my regular hair and bow, and decided on a simple armored outfit that would be easy to move around in.

Start game?

I nodded.

Walk into the mirror.

Feeling a huge grin creep across my face, I took a large step into my reflection. My vision darkened for a moment, and cleared as quickly. The world of Heat→ Daze started to materialize around me, as the voice counted down:

3… 2… 1… GAME START!