Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice and its characters belong to Tachibana Higuchi. Assassin's Creed belongs to Ubisoft. Burnout Paradise belongs to EA. PS3 belongs to Sony. Xbox belongs to Microsoft. Am I missing anything else?

::The Bot and The Fanboy::

by

::Madame Awkward::

-1-

Counter. Dodge. Defense break. Grab break. Counter. Combo attack. Strong attack. Step.

That's the mantra I repeat to myself while my fingers expertly mash the buttons on my controller. My eyes are on the television, watching the man in white hood chop up all those soldiers around him. I've lost count after number twelve. But the soldiers just won't stop coming.

Grab, throw. Block. Counter.

I watch as Altair grabs the soldier in front of him and hurls him into the sea. Another soldier attacks him from behind and delivers a blow onto his back, making him lose two life-bars. I curse while I take my revenge. A counter attack and a beautiful cut scene ensues, showing Altair maiming the man's arm with his dagger before killing him off with a slice on the neck.

All of a sudden, I hear the door receiving three consecutive knocks. "Mikan!" I call, only to remember that my sister's out for the evening. Sighing, I press the 'start' button to pause the game and get up from the sofa, stretching the sore muscles in my neck from that very uncomfortable position.

Pulling the door open, I see a girl standing there. Black hair, red eyes. I recognize her as the girl in my school. Sister to the most popular student in Alice Academy, Natsume Hyuuga, I rack my brain hard to remember her name. Aki? Naomi? Despite the popularity of her brother, this girl —whatever her name is— however, does not inherit his popularity.

"Hi there!" She greets enthusiastically. I narrow my eyes at her. I don't know her that well, and I have a feeling that the feeling's mutual. Sure we share a few classes together, but that doesn't mean I know every single student I share classes with.

I look at many people, but that doesn't mean that I want to get to know them.

The girl shuffles her feet uncomfortably. "Youichi! Hi! Umm… Well… You see, uh… Can I come in first?" Great, I don't know her, and she's asking to come into my house.

"No." I drawl before slamming the door shut. Points for me being nice in my entire life: negative six million.

Right after the door was slammed, that girl continues to knock on it. I choose to ignore it and return to my game. Unfortunately, however, that girl is consistent as the door continues to sound from her fists and slaps, top it off with her calling, "Hey, Youichi! Open up!"

She continues to knock on the door while I smash on the buttons. Five minutes pass before I see Altair lying on the ground. Dead.

"Fuck!" I curse loudly. Fifteen minutes of hard work gone down the drain just like that. Whirling my head around, I glared at the door murderously. And it's all her fault!

I throw my controller onto the sofa and walk towards the door and yank the door open. The girl's face is facing the floor, her hand suspended in mid air. Just when it's about to come down on me, expecting to meet a wooden door, I slap it away with as much force as possible.

She looks up at me with both surprise and relief. "Hey there, Youichi! What took you so long?"

Not 'why did you slap my hand away like that?'. "That's Yukihira to you." I say coldly. However, she does not look the least bit intimidated by it. The girl pouts cutely and yes, I have still yet to remember what her full name is.

"Oh, come on, Youichi. We've been classmates since elementary school! And I share five classes with you." Raising five fingers in front of me, she begins to name out the classes we share. "Homeroom, history, art, music, English. And yet I still can't call you by your first name? Oh! And I'm your neighbor from down the street."

"I don't take music." I retort. Well, it's somewhat of the truth. Whenever there's music class, I'm either sleeping through the lesson or skipping it altogether. I doubt that Ms. Serina is happy about it.

"Let's forget about that thing. I'm here on important business."

I snort disbelievingly. Important business my ass. But wanting her to leave me alone, I sigh and lean against the door frame. "State it and leave."

"Well, can I please come in first?"

"State your matters and leave." Why is this girl so hard-headed? She's beginning to remind me of my sister. And that's when I remember her name.

Aoi Hyuuga.

She lets out an exasperated sigh. "Fine. Well, you see. My brother is in love with your sister but he's too stubborn to admit it."

I want to say 'So stubbornness runs in the family.' But I bite it back. An eyebrow of mine quirks upwards. "So?" I'm not exactly surprised at this piece of information. Everyone in Alice Academy knows that there's a strong sexual tension between Natsume Hyuuga and my sister, Mikan Yukihira. No big deal. It's just that one's too stubborn to admit it while the other is too dumb to notice it.

My sister will never be known for her brains. I can bet on that.

Aoi Hyuuga rolls her red eyes prettily, which makes me wonder about her genes. I mean, who in the world has natural red eyes? Except for the Hyuugas and some albinos. The Hyuugas don't look albino since they all have normal, Asian black hair and if I remember correctly, Natsume Hyuuga has a nice tan. But Aoi Hyuuga on the other hand, has rather pasty, sickly skin. Hmm... I wonder...

"Youichi," —"Yukihira."— "Right, Yukihira. Please. I'm tired of my brother acting so—so—so unhealthy! He practically wants to murder every single guy that is not standing at least a mile away from your sister."

"I live with her under the same roof. So does my dad." I chuckle inwardly at my own wits. Youichi Hijiri Yukihira, you are a genius!

Aoi Hyuuga groans at this. "Youichi!" —"Yukihira."— "Youichi Yukihira! Stop your witty remarks will you? You should be helping your sister! I mean, we can all tell that she likes my brother. I'm sure you know it too!"

"Look Hyuuga," I notice that Natsume's sister is actually really pretty. Nice face, nice eyes, perfect teeth, nice body. Looks like stubbornness is not the only trait that runs in the family. "Don't get me wrong. I like my sister. She's a fun person to hang out with, despite being a bit too loud for my liking. But I don't give a damn about her love life. I have a life myself. I do not like to, and I will not act like, and I certainly will not want to I give a damn about it. Besides, they have friends. Let them do their job. That Koko dude, that Shouda girl, Mochu and other silly hillbillies. Not Imai, Imai's too cool for this."

She glares at me. Yeah, keep glaring sweetie. As if I'll be afraid of you little girl. I refrain myself from rolling my eyes, despite how tempting it is.

Suddenly, Hyuuga takes a step into my house and takes a look. Her shoes are stepping on Mother's prized rug. Shit! Shit! Shit!

"Hyuuga! What the hell do you think you are doing? Get your feet off of the rug!" Oh boy, this is bad. Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! She better not have any mud on her shoes or I'll be deader than my great-great-great grandfather.

"I knew it!" She exclaims. "I knew I heard something familiar when I was knocking on your door! You're playing Assassin's Creed! I knew it!" She's jumping up and down, oh, this is getting worse. "You have an Xbox?"

"No, I have a PS3; NOW GET OFF OF THAT RUG!" I try to push her away but for a girl with the size of a twig, she sure is heavy.

Her face scrunches up in disgust. "Eww, a PS3 fanboy? Jesus, my opinion of you have just changed dramatically."

I stop what I'm doing and stare at her. The only people who will call PS3 fanboys and hate them is no doubt... "An Xbot? Fuck, get out of my house!"

I see that she is getting ready to retort but she closes her eyes and mouth, putting her hands up with the palm facing me. A sign of surrender. "Wait, I'm not here to argue with you about which console is the best —but obviously the Xbox is way better than the PS— but 'm here on behalf of my brother. I would like to, with your help, set my brother and your sister up on a date."

"I said no you silly girl. Now leave!" I yell at her. Oh boy, that rug is fucking WHITE.

The cute pout of hers appears on her lips again as she turns around to look at the stack of games on the coffee table.

"You have Burnout Paradise?" She inquires. Her question caught me off guard and I look at her. "Yeah, sure I do." At the mention of one of my favourite games have temporarily made me forget about the rug and also the fact that the girl in front of me is an Xbot- I mean an Xbox lover.

"Tell you what, let's play a game of Burnout. You win, I'll leave you alone; I win, you team up with me to set those two dimwits up." Aoi Hyuuga stretches out a hand towards me. She's smiling and boy does it look beautiful on her. "Deal?"

This girl doesn't know what she's doing. Challenging me to a game of Burnout Paradise will be the biggest mistake of her life. I smirk and accept her hand into a handshake. "You're on."

That was very pointless. But I've always wanted to write something about gaming. No, I'm no hardcore gamer but I do like playing them
Yes, I am a PS3 fan. No, I do not hate Xbox. I have a friend who owns one.
Yes, I adore Assassin's Creed. No, I don't have Burnout Paradise. I want to get the game though. :D

PS: Have you watched the E3 Assassin's Creed Brotherhood? Oh my god! It's sooo awesome! Epic!

Review? Even if its horrible? (: