Nice to have you over Cousin!

The loud ringing of the alarm nearly sent Rei inking from the shock alone. Being so deep into his studies and enjoyment of spending time with Amber kept him distracted from the passage of time. All of his homework was ridiculously easy, and he knew he should have been put in a higher grade, but he tried to play dumb. Showing off too much would make him come off as obnoxious. A few times he did proudly show off some of his answers to his homework that he knew was right, but he stopped

Now was his chance to really show off to his cousin. He was quick to pack up all of his school supplies. Maybe too quick, as some of his items were thrown into his bag messily and some papers bent, but that was just his excitement showing. With his backpack all zipped up, he moved over to Amber to look at the consoles and video games. Everything looked mostly familiar to him. Some games even he did not have back home. A part of him felt embarrassed by that. He prided himself on being a great gamer at his age, even if the games he usually played were first-person shooters.

"I play on the computer a lot too." A part of him wanted to suggest Splatoon, but with all the jokes he was getting about being an inkling or octoling, the game had a sour taste in his mouth now. "Do you like Super Smash Bros, or, uh... Mario Kart?"

Rei had to admit, these two games were probably not the best options to start off on with company. Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart were considered to be games that broke up friendships. There was an argument to make that competitive games were like that in general though. Never mind that. Rei wanted to be a good sport. Playing with an actual friend right beside him was something that... barely happened at all in his life, actually. The thought of him throwing a tantrum sent Rei cringing for a split second.

He held up Super Smash Bros. to Amber. "We can play Mario Kart later." There were tons of other games they could spend an entire week playing. Maybe an entire month. These two looked good to start off with for now.

Rei followed Amber over to the TV and watched her mess around with the cables as he twirled the box of Super Smash Bros. in his hand. "Do you need help?" Rei had some experience with technology and hooking up his games, but that was back in his house with his own stuff. Things were a bit different here. Amber would know how her TV works more than Rei, but he still wanted to offer help where he could.

Rei let out a sigh of relief at Amber figuring things out for herself. He wanted to help, but he had a strong feeling that he would be confused and embarrass himself. Plus, Amber looked even happier that she needed no help from him. That was enough to warrant a proud smile from Rei.

Even better, Rei got to be Player One! This was probably Amber just trying to be nice to her guest and little cousin, but that was not enough to bring Rei down, however. Being Player One meant he got to set up the game and get first pick on what to do. "Yeah! Thanks. I'll be quick."

Setting himself comfortably in front of the television, he had an easy enough time setting up the game. The format was simple, and he had done this plenty of time before. For his character, he picked Little Mac. "Do you want any custom settings? Like, the time limit or items? We can just do the classic stuff too."

Admittedly, Rei was happy that Amber seemed to be a casual player. Rei liked to consider himself a hardcore or "true" gamer, but competitions were too tiring sometimes, especially after a study session. By comparison, this was much more relaxing.

Amber also had fun ideas for how they could play. Rei already had all the settings adjusted for the two of them, though he hesitated slightly at her team idea. That was a setting he never played before. A small part of him worried that he would completely embarrass himself, but the rest of him was excited to try it out.

"Yeah, let's be on the same team! I got the other settings done. We can, uh, do two rounds together, then two rounds against each other?" That sounded fair enough. Later they could decide if they wanted to try other settings later or switch to a different game.

Rei squirmed in his seat in excitement upon the match starting. While Amber may have been disappointed by the map, Rei only felt an even bigger incentive to impress her. He could show off his experience with this game by making Little Mac look easy on this map.

With determination plain on his face, he prepared himself to face off against Jigglypuff and Cloud with Amber. This should have been easy. That is, until he remembered the stage he was on. Everything was going fine at first. Seeing Amber get attacked by Jigglypuff, Rei went uppercut it, but then got caught up in an attack by Cloud before he could get there. He managed to get away from Cloud before any serious damage was done, but then the map decided now was a good time to attack. A wave of lava appeared on the left side of the screen, hitting Rei across the stage, though he managed to save himself before death could take him.

He had to admit, Little Mac was probably not the best character to start with, but he was attractive, and that was enough to keep Rei playing him without shame. Nevertheless, Rei gave a somewhat embarrassed smile towards Amber. "U-Uh... I'm still warming up, but I'm going to get better. This stage is harder than I remembered." Which was essentially him admitting he was starting off badly, but he would never say that directly.