It was five years ago. I was playing a ranked match on Galactic Heroes, and my parents were out of town — again. A notification popped up in the party chat: a Discord link sent by one of the players. The server was called "Idiot."
I clicked.
When I joined the voice channel, I heard a mix of accents: a British voice, two German voices, a Russian voice, and a Spanish one.
They welcomed me warmly.
The British boy spoke first:
"I'm Gary Evans, party leader. Age fifteen."
One of the German boys added,
"David Fischer, party supporter. Age fifteen."
Then the Russian boy chimed in,
"Xander Ferguson, party tank. Age thirteen."
Next came a shy girl's voice,
"Rimini Fischer. David's sister. Age thirteen."
Finally, the Spanish boy's cheerful voice:
"Andrew Greystone. Age eleven."
I hesitated for a second before replying, my voice carrying a faint Japanese accent:
"I'm Okami Allura. Nice to meet you."
That night marked the start of something special. We became good friends quickly. Later I learned that Gary and Xander were cousins. Even though they lived far away, they became the light of my life during a time when everything else felt like hell.
I grew especially close to Gary. He even introduced me to his little sister, Karina — the sweetest, purest child I'd ever met. It was obvious how much he adored her.
We'd talk late into the night sometimes, our laughter filling the emptiness of my room. For the first time, I felt like I truly had someone to talk to.
Five years passed in the blink of an eye. I was sixteen now, and my parents were trying to marry me off. In Japan, sixteen is the legal marriage age for girls, but the thought of it made me sick. It hurt like hell.
One afternoon, walking home from school, I noticed the TVs in the shop windows all showing the same news story:
A British player was joining the Kanagawa Institute of Technology's volleyball club while pursuing his higher studies in Japan.
That in itself wasn't unusual — foreign players came often. But what stopped me in my tracks was his name and the familiar sound of his voice.