CHAPTER 1

The Gamer

She was going to kill them all.

Louise shifted her weapon, peering at the surroundings closely as she took a step forward. It was eerily quiet and the place looked deserted. But she had a gut feeling they were here, around her.

An ally scouted the area while the other three of her allies readied themselves for battle.

They all counted on Louise for she was their leader. They knew through experience that even though she was a girl, she had tremendous skills and abilities that they all could count on. So, they all looked up at her.

Louise gave the signal to wait. The scout slowly circled back towards them, sending the message that there were no enemies. But it was too soon to relax.

An enemy suddenly appeared behind her. One of her allies quickly sent him a comet blow, stunning him, as the others struck their blows. But it was Louise who finished the kill.

The other enemies attacked. They had been invisible the whole time, watching them. But Louise was agile, expecting them. She nuked them before they could fire, damaging their armor and attacked them one by one. An ally was dying and she went to his rescue, throwing her javelin at the enemy to stun and kill him. The others rushed towards the base of the enemy, leaving the enemies to her because they knew she could handle them all. She moved fast and low, charging the enemies and hitting them full force. She killed all the enemies without mercy, without even blinking an eye. She was…

CHAMPION OF NEWERTH!

The lights turned on suddenly. She blinked twice. An irritated voice penetrated the gloom of her room.

"What. The. Hell."

Louise blew her bangs off her face and pushed her glasses up. She didn't even have to glance behind her to know who came in her room. She thought she had locked the door. Guess not.

"Go away," she mumbled as she helped her other allies finish the tower off so they could win the game. She was playing Heroes of Newerth. Again. "And turn off the lights while you're leaving."

"I am not going anywhere."

Her cousin, Camille, materialized in her side and much to her astonishment, yanked the power chord of her computer.

She inhaled sharply. She removed her headphones and turned to her cousin who was standing there, her hands on her hips with a smug look on her face. Her cousin flipped her curly, brown hair over her shoulder and turned to look at her room with an expression of distaste.

"What the hell is with you!" Louise snarled at her when she could recover from her surprise.

"What the hell is with me?" Camille countered, her green eyes glittering in irritation. "Look at you! Look at this whole place! And you ask what's wrong with me?"

Louise frowned. She brushed her hair away from her face and looked down. She was wearing an oversized t-shirt and pajamas. Her long, brown hair was in a messy ponytail because she didn't want to waste time brushing it. It was too much hassle.

And her room was… passable if you ignored the heap of clothes in her laundry basket and the biscuit wrappers and crumpled papers all over the floor. Her bed wasn't made up but who cared? She was the one who was going to lie there, anyway.

"Ever since first semester ended, you've been living like a monk," Camille continued, padding around the room carefully because of the clutter. "You won't go out of the house, at all. You practically have no life anymore. You keep playing that… that stupid game."

"Stupid? You didn't think it was stupid when you were playing it," she shot back at her.

Camille gave her a haughty glare.

"I have better things to do with my time than playing some silly game."

Louise snorted in disgust.

"Anyway, get your butt off that chair and take a shower." Camille sniffed at her. "Are you even taking your bath these days?"

"I do take a bath every day," she argued impatiently. "Every morning before I start gaming, in fact. So, just go already. The door is over there. You seem to have trouble finding it."

But it was like talking to a deaf person. Her cousin was rummaging around her closet and it looked like she was trying to pick an outfit for her. Louise silently fumed. Her cousin could be so stubborn and although she loved her, she was being a pain in the ass.

"Then, get changed into these," Camille told her, thrusting some clothes to her. "And please do hurry."

Louise didn't take the clothes immediately. She stared at Camille instead with a scowl on her face.

"You are so pushy! And annoying! And why am I getting changed?" she asked with a huff. "I'm not going anywhere."

Camille gave her a patient smile.

"We're going to a bar, my dear cousin," she told her. "We're going out of this dirt hole and we're going to have fun. And you're coming with me even if I had to drag you by your hair."

Louise gritted her teeth in annoyance. It was no use arguing with her cousin. She was hell-bent on taking her out and nothing would stop her when she made up her mind.

She grudgingly took the clothes and stomped her way to the bathroom.

"And remove those glasses," Camille hollered after her. "You look like a freak."

She answered her with a slam of the door.

~o~o~o~o~o~

Louise glared at the back of her cousin's head, cussing her in her mind. Her cousin glanced back at her and gave her a warning look as they walked into the bar. She, in return, sent her a glare while she tugged on her shorts.

She was wearing a long-sleeved button downed shirt and denim shorts and her hair was in a loose bun on the top of her head. She had argued that since Camille was wearing her favorite red Chucks, she should wear her slip-ons, too. But Camille pushed and threatened and guilt-tripped her so she wore her doll shoes instead. Camille also insisted she leave her glasses and she grudgingly conceded. The sooner this night was over, the better.

Her cousin was wearing a tight-fitting shirt and skinny jeans. She was relieved that even though her cousin was popular among her peers, she didn't change herself to fit in like the other girls who always wore make-up and skimpy outfits.

Her eyes strayed to the stage when they got inside. A band was playing and she couldn't place what type of genre they were playing. It was somewhere between reggae and punk. A crowd was dancing to their tune and they seemed to enjoy the music. The vocalist was strutting around the stage, captivating people with his husky, baritone voice.

Her eyes drifted to the guy next to him. He was dressed in a black band shirt and jeans. He was playing the guitar, his fingers running over the guitar strings as if he were caressing it. And even though she didn't know much about bands and guitarists, he looked like a professional to her.

He was bent forward, his messy, somewhat curly hair covering his eyes and she wondered what the color of his eyes was. There was something about him that caught her interest and she didn't know what it was.

And then it happened. Their eyes met, and Louise felt the strangest feeling. His eyes were piercing blue and they bore into hers. Her breathe hitched in her throat. A strange flutter of an inexplicable feeling rose somewhere deep inside her. Her pulse beat faster. She couldn't move, couldn't think. They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity.

But then he smirked. It was like being doused in cold water. She recovered her senses and sent him a steely glare. His smirk turned into a wide grin.

"Over here, Louise," Camille called out to her.

She immediately went to her and sat on the chair Camille pulled out for her. Camille introduced her friends to her but she wasn't listening. Besides, she knew some of them by face since she sometimes saw them hanging out with Camille. She was too grumpy and annoyed with Camille for threatening her and pulling her out of her game.

But in her mind, she thought of what just happened to her. She sneaked a glance towards the stage and saw that the guy was looking towards her direction. She ducked her head, and felt her face grow hot.

She tried concentrating on the conversation on the table, instead. Someone had handed her a bottle of beer and she took a swig from it.

"Your cousin told me you're taking classes in our university," the guy next to her told her conversely. "I guess we'll be seeing much of each other."

"I guess," she replied with an indifferent shrug.

Someone pinched her on the leg. She turned to her cousin with a scowl. She was looking at her with a disapproving look and then she knew. Her cousin was playing matchmaker!

She gritted her teeth in annoyance. Her cousin had been trying to hook her up for ages and she thought she had given up on her. Obviously, not.

Then, she had a brilliant plan. She would escape. She patted her pockets to check if she had money for the cab fare and she did. Camille will be royally pissed but she didn't care.

"I'm going to the restroom," she muttered to nobody in particular.

She stood up. She took a few steps to the direction of the restroom only to have someone block her way. It was a guy and she recognized the shirt. It was the same shirt that the guitarist of the band wore. She realized too late that there was no more music. She fixed her eyes on his chest, gathering the courage to look up and when she did, she gulped. It was him.

He was a head taller than her. The guy was also a bit buff. At 5 ft 3, Louise was considered petite in stature. She was also one of those girls who was just naturally skinny and didn't have to do much to keep her figure the way it is. Louise felt puny compared to the guy in front of her and she was sure he could take her down any time if he had the mind to.

When he slowly lowered his gaze to meet her eyes, she felt that indescribable feeling again. He stared into her dark brown eyes. Butterflies started to flutter in her stomach. He was good-looking. Too good-looking.

His expression remained inscrutable and she knew that her face must have shown that she was uncomfortable because he smirked. She groaned. Her face was like an open book, easy to read and she hated it.

"Hey, Karou!" One of her cousin's friends called to him. "Nice playing, man."

Karou grinned.

"You didn't tell me you numb nuts were going to be here," he answered good-naturedly.

Karou moved out of her way and began giving high-fives to the guys around her table, including her cousin.

"Karou? You're name is Karou?" she said without a thought. "What kind of name is that?"

His eyes narrowed at her. She cringed inwardly and mentally bitch-slapped herself. Why, oh, why couldn't she just keep her mouth shut?

"If you haven't realized it by now," he began, his eyes looking half-amused and half-irritated. "I'm half-Japanese."

She eyed him and noticed that his eyes were slanted, like that of a cat. He didn't have high cheekbones like that of a Japanese, though. She started to say something but her cousin cut in smoothly.

"You have to forgive her," she said with long suffering sigh. "She's a bit grouchy because I interrupted her stupid game and forced her to come here."

"A game?" he asked, raising a brow.

Camille nodded.

"Heroes of Newerth. She gets so crazy with video games sometimes. She locks herself up in her room and won't ever come out. It's annoying."

He smiled benignly.

"So you staged an intervention."

"Oh, please. Do continue your conversation about me like I'm not even here," Louise said sarcastically, cutting their conversation short.

"What got in your ass and died?" he asked, facing her.

She started to say something but Camille was looking so indignant that she just shut her mouth. She walked to the direction of the restroom to continue her escape plan.

"What's her problem?" she heard him ask her cousin and she walked faster. God save her from conceited idiots.

~o~o~o~o~o~

Louise tried to cram her workbook in her bag as she walked out of university. Her classes were over for the day and she wanted to go home so that she could play.

She grinned triumphantly to herself when she succeeded in cramming her book in her bag. She wasn't a neat freak like her cousin and she didn't care if she had to fold her book just to get it in her bag. She was a slob to her mother's irritation.

She silently pondered if her teammates were online so they could play right away. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't look where she was going.

"Hey!"

Louise bit back a scream when Karou suddenly appeared in front of her. Her heart was pounding but not because he was so cute today but because he scared the crap out of her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked angrily as she pushed her glasses up her nose.

He raised his brow.

"You didn't know?"

"Know what? Are you stalking me?" she accused him, pointing a finger to his chest.

To her chagrin, he burst out laughing.

"Me? Stalk you?" he said between laughs. "And here I thought you didn't have any sense of humor." He smirked. "I actually go here."

She raised her brows in disbelief.

"No way."

"What? Does it wound your ego that I'm not stalking you?" he said with emphasis on the word stalking.

She glared at him and began walking away. To her irritation, Karou followed her behind. She whirled around.

"Seriously?" she snapped.

Karou grinned impertinently at her. She fumed. Why couldn't he leave her alone?

"Do you have to wear glasses?" he asked, peering close to her face which made her step back. He was invading her personal space. "You look prettier without them."

"Do I look like I care what you think?" she spat.

He pursed his lips.

"I guess, not," he replied with a shrug. "But I just want to say it, anyway." He frowned at her. "Why are you like that? I mean, I try to be nice to you but you just shoot me down. I didn't do anything bad to you."

He looked so sad that Louise felt guilty. Before she could speak, he turned and walked away from her.

She bit her lip and looked down. He was right. She didn't have any cause to be mean to him. She wasn't usually a horrible and spiteful person but something in him just made her lash out.

~o~o~o~o~o~

"Damn," Louise softly cursed to herself.

She was playing again but she couldn't concentrate. Her character kept dying and her allies were voicing out their concern why she wasn't playing well. She tuned them all out, thinking of yesterday's events. Somehow, Karou's animosity bothered her.

She kept thinking about how she acted with him. She sighed and leaned back on her chair. How could she so mean?

'What a noob!'

She stiffened when she heard what the enemies said through her headset.

'Stupid noob.'

'You play like a 12 year old!'

'Know your place, peasant!'

She glared at the monitor and cracked her knuckles. How dare they call her noob! That was like the biggest insult one can say to a gamer.

"I'll show you noob," she muttered, grabbing the mouse and keyboard. "Let's go guys," she said through the microphone of her headset.

Her teammates cheered, glad that her fighting spirit was back. After a while, she was cackling in laughter over the turn of events. She won after 10 minutes. But after the game, she felt depressed again.

She didn't feel like a winner in real life.

A/N:

Hi. It's me. With a brand new story. Don't get mad! I know I should update my other stories but bear with me for a while. I made this story for someone special and it's almost done anyway. Will work on Ice Melts for Love next. I swear!

For those non-gamers, you can google any gaming words you don't understand or read this. Thanks!

Terms:

Heroes of Newerth (HoN) is an action real-time strategy video game. It puts two teams of players against each other and can be won when one team concedes or when the opposing team's main structure is destroyed by the other.

Noob - It is called to a person who really sucks at a game but refuses to learn/listen to people who are skilled. It is also an insult in general so people often wrongly use it and just call somebody that they do not like a noob, regardless of skill.