Chapter Text
From the perspective of Rei Oohashi
Ugh. What a day. Five hours of “overtime”. Again!
As I sank into my beanbag and turned on my TS4, I heard a ding from my kitchen, as my microwave ramen finished cooking. As I returned to the main room of my apartment, to see the main menu of my favourite game, Revolution, loaded on the television. As the piano background music played, I selected to start a new game, as always selecting ‘Rae’, a more European version of my own given name for the protagonist.
The game began to load, and soon I was blessed with the sight of the glorious Claire François on my screen. “To think a Commoner would even fathom sitting next to me!” she spat, hands on her hips, with a bow balanced perfectly in her curly golden hair, “know your place!!”
Heh. Imagine how nice it would be to be berated by Claire in person…
I was interrupted from my fantasies by the fact that the cutscene had moved on, and Rae’s childhood best friend, Misha Jur had appeared. “My apologies, Miss Claire, Rae didn’t realise that you had claimed that desk,” she said, beginning to walk me to the back of the classroom. No Misha! Please don’t take me away from Miss Claire!!
Once the actual gameplay started, I knew it so well that I was able to play essentially on autopilot as I ate my ramen.
Hmmm. Not spicy enough. I should get some more chilli oil from the kitchen. And definitely grab a beer while I’m at it.
The oil was easy enough, in the same place as always, but no beer. Anywhere. Not a single one in my entire (admittedly quite small) kitchen. Fuck. Fourteen hours of work, and not a single drink in the evening. Fuck. How am I supposed to survive this? Hmm. I did get paid today. I could go to the bar just down the street, just this once. What’s the worst that could happen?
From the perspective of Claire Francois
What a day. What a fucking day.
I collapsed onto my plush bed, face down in the pillows. What a nightmare. Another lawsuit against the company. Probably deserved, but still, another twenty million hours of paperwork for me.
Before I could complain to myself anymore, my phone began buzzing. Who the hell is calling me so late!? I snatched my phone. Of course. Lene. I might as well pick up.
“Heey Claire!!” I heard the voice of my oldest friend
“Ugh… Hi…” I groaned, sitting myself up.
“What's up with you?”
“It’s half past eleven and I have been working all fucking day. How are you so perky?”
“I just woke up!”
“Lucky you… Why’ve you called?”
“Big day! I’ve been picked up by Chanel! I have to present some of my designs to them today!”
Lene had wanted to design for Chanel since we were kids, so I knew how big this was for her. “Fuck yeah! You’re going to kill at this, sis!”
“Thank you so much!! Oop! Gotta go! Love you Claire!”
“Love you too Lene!” As soon as the call ended, I collapsed again. Being excited like that after everything today was exhausting… Ugh. I think I need a drink. There’s a nice place at the bottom of this apartment block. I wouldn’t have to go far… Fuck it.
I took the elevator down to the bottom floor, making my way into the bar. At almost midnight, it was virtually empty. As I approached the bar, I saw a woman sitting on one of the stools. She had short black hair and glasses, and was wearing a blue coat and light grey skirt. She looked rather lonely, sitting there staring into her glass. Maybe I could go talk to her, the worst thing that could happen is she just ignores me.
“Hey,” I say, causing her to jump slightly as I sit next to her, “stressful day?”
“You don’t know the half of it,” she shakes her head.
“If it’s anything like mine, I probably do,” I sighed thinking about it, “I’m Claire”
She seemed to stare at me for a little as I said my name. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea… “Oohashi,” she finally responded with her own name, “sorry, you just remind me of someone,” she began to blush slightly as she said this last part.
“If you don’t mind me asking, who do I remind you of? You don’t have to talk to me if you don’t want to, of course,” I laugh awkwardly. She seems nice, if a little weird, and she is quite cute with her glasses…
“This is probably going to sound really dumb…” her voice faded out, and she looked down into her glass, “a character from a video game I like…”
“Really? What game? Would it be one I know?”
“I doubt it, it's pretty nich- wait?” she looked up at me, seeming excited, “you know video games?”
“Yeah, of course I do,” I nervously chuckle again, feeling my face warm a little, “I did grow up on them, and I have a little sister. What game is it?”
“It’s called Revolution, like I said, it’s pretty niche”
“You’re right, I haven’t heard of it, who’s the character?”
“Well, she’s actually called Claire… Here, let me show you.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket, and showed me a picture of the character. She did look a lot like me, though a bit younger and thinner, and her hair looked much more styled than mine and… suddenly the name of the wiki article the image came from struck me. “Claire François?? Wow.” Oohashi-san looked at me curiously, “she has like the exact same name as me. That’s so weird…”
“Wait. Your name is Claire François? And you look like Claire François? I must be hallucinating…” she put her hand to her forehead and looked at me again as if I might suddenly vanish.
“I don’t think you are. It’s weird, but coincidences happen” She got up, and started to stumble. “Are you okay??” I stood up too, just as she passed out, allowing me to catch her just in time. Wow. She’s surprisingly light. But I don’t know where she lives… and I don’t know how long she’ll be out for… I guess I could take her back to my apartment… I’m sure that’ll be fine. Why do I feel my face heating? What is happening?
I manage to get her up the elevator and to her room, where I gently place her in my bed, putting her glasses on the nightstand. She looks so sweet in her sleep… Ugh, what on Earth am I talking about? I think I need some sleep. I guess with her in my bed I’m going to be sleeping on the couch. Fuck, I’m so tired… I could probably fall asleep on the floor if I wanted to. The second I sit on the couch I begin to drift off to sleep…
From the perspective of Rei Oohashi
Huh. What a weird dream. I went to the bar, and I met the Claire François. She was nicer than I expected.
I must have fallen asleep while playing Revolution. Wait. How did I get into bed? Wait. This isn’t my bed. It can’t be. Where are all my plushies?
I still bolt upright, causing my head to spin. “Ah! You’re awake!” I hear an all too familiar voice. “You passed out at the bar, so I brought you back to my apartment…”
I see. I’m in Claire François’ apartment. I must still be dreaming.
“I hope that’s okay… I know that you don’t know me all, I just… I wasn’t sure what else to do…”
She’s really not what I expected. She just seems so much more… well, nice than I would have thought.
“Are you okay? Are you hung over? Should I order breakfast?”
Hung over? But that was just a dream? I can’t be hung over after drinking in another dream. Unless. Oh. Oh. Oh fuck. It was real. Claire François is real. And I’m laying in her bed. “Oh.” I collapse backwards into the bed.
“Are you okay!?” Claire runs over to me as I sink into her incredibly fluffy pillows. “Are you okay, Oohashi-san?”
“Probably not. And you can just call me Rei”
“What do you mean ‘probably not’?”
“Well,” how on Earth do I explain this, “you’re real”
“Yes, I’m fairly sure I am”
“But you’re Claire François. And you’re real.”
“Rei. I’m just a regular person. I just happen to have the same name as this character you really like”
“You don’t understand!” I’m sitting up again now. “You look just like her. Except you’re my age, but still! It can’t just be a coincidence!”
“Then how do you explain it?”
“I… don’t know…”
“It’s just a really really weird coincidence, like I said. Do you want me to order breakfast?”
What the hell is happening? Claire François is real, and she’s offering to buy me breakfast. “Yeah, sounds good”
“Do you drink coffee?”
“Yeah. Just an iced one please”
“One iced coffee coming u- ohhh. Oh no…”
“What happened?” I was suddenly struck by panic. She’s going to kick me out, isn’t she! She’s realised how insane and creepy I sound!
“Lene, she’s been my best friend since we were both little kids, she’s a fashion designer, and she had an interview with a big brand… and it went badly…”
“Oh. I’m so sorry to hear that. I hope your friend is okay…” WHAT!? What the fuck!? Not only is Claire real, but Lene is too??? How the fuck can this be happening???
“She’s alright, just really upset. She’s going to be flying over here next week. I haven’t seen her since I moved over here”
“How long have you been here?” I ask, trying to keep my cool.
“About six years I think. My parents got me a job at a company they work with here. I’ve been way too busy to visit home for ages, which has been a real shame…”
“And home is…?”
“Sacramento. That’s in California,” I nod she tells me, noting it down in my mind.
“You mentioned you have a sister?” Interesting. The Claire in Revolution is an only child… but she did mention parents plural, so I guess not everything’s the same…
“Yeah! Lana’s the best!” she pulled out her phone, showing me a photo of a girl in her mid teens with bright ginger hair, sticking her tongue out at the camera, “I miss her so much… fuck, it’s been way too long”
“She looks fun”
“I’d love for you to meet her!”
“Wh-why would I meet her-?” I feel my cheeks flush a little, “I’m just some lady who you met last night at a bar…”
“I guess you are,” Claire looked as if the point were completely irrelevant and we were suddenly the closest friends, “oh right, breakfast”
From the perspective of Claire Francois
I have no idea why I suddenly felt so close to Rei Oohashi. It was just last night that we were complete strangers, but now we’re sitting together, eating tamagoyaki omelettes, as if we were old friends.
As Rei finished her breakfast, she grabbed the coffee and stood up. “I should probably get going”
“Are you sure? I don’t want you to pass out again”
“I’m fine”
“Can I at least escort you back to your place?”
“I…” she began to blush a little, “I guess… ugh…”
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s such a mess. And there’s nerdy shit everywhere…”
“I don’t mind, honest,” I looked around the bare walls of my minimally decorated apartment, “it’s probably more homely than this place”
“Alright, alright… it’s just down the block from here…”
We walked together down the street, and I grinned, enjoying how the sun felt on my skin. I chanced a peek at Rei’s hand as we walked. It wouldn’t be weird to hold it, would it? Friends do that all the time.
Before I could, we reached the entrance to Rei’s apartment block, and I followed her up the stairs. She led me to her apartment, and opened the door. The room inside was very cozy, my luxury apartment putting it to shame, but, as I had expected, was much more homely. There was a beanbag facing the TV in the main room.
“Oh, shit,” Rae ran over the beanbag, throwing an empty plastic bowl into a bin in the tiny kitchenette. “I uh.. I forgot to clean up after my dinner last night…” she sighed, refusing to meet my eyes, “it sucks doesn’t it…”
“I think it’s nice. Is that the nerdy stuff you were talking about?” I nod towards a shelf near the TV, which contains a selection of DVD boxes, books and even a few action figures.
“That’s some of it, yeah…” I could have sworn I heard her sigh a little, “the rest is in my bedroom…”
As soon as Rei tentatively opened her bedroom door, I was instantly greeted by a life-sized poster of myself - or at least of the Claire François from Revolution. She seemed to have her hand raised to her mouth and be laughing. Some reference to the game, I assume?
“Sorry about that…” she muttered, keeping her face turned away from me.
“It’s fine. You must really like the character, huh?” On her bed I noticed a plushie of Claire François, and at least one action figure of her on a shelf against the wall, as well as a couple of mangas on display with her on the cover.
“Yeah, you could say I do…”
As I took another look at the shelf I noticed something else, a very thin booklet, seemingly just printed on regular paper. “What’s this? ‘The Return of François’?”
Rei jumped when I read the title aloud, and snatched it from my hands. “Don’t look at that! I mean…” her face was bright red, “it’s private…”
“Oh! Sorry! I didn’t mean to intrude…”
“It’s fine…” she sighed, collapsing on the bed, which squeaked loudly, “can I ask you something?”
“Sure”
“How the hell are you not creeped out?”
“Why would I be? It’s not me, just a character who is really similar to me. Honestly I just find your passion about it cute”
From the perspective of Rei Oohashi
What the fuck. What the fuck. What the FUCK. The Claire François has a crush on me. Well maybe not the Claire François, but a Claire François. What the fuck.
She’s just looking around my room. And she somehow isn’t creeped out by all my merch. In fact, she seems genuinely curious about it. And she said that it was cute that I was passionate about it. Aaaaaanveijvfdbjbdvj.
And now she’s sitting on the bed, right next to me. Like, ‘so close our shoulders are basically touching’ next to me.
“You’re kidding right?”
“About what?” She looks at me, and her eyes look just like Claire’s. Except with bags underneath. Huh, guess she wasn’t kidding about being overworked too.
“About thinking I’m… y’know… thinking I’m… y’know… cute…”
“Why would I be kidding? I really like how passionate about the game and the character you are”
“I just… noone’s ever said anything like that to me before…”
“Really?” She looks genuinely saddened hearing this. Oh fuck, she really does have a crush on me. “Surely everyone would appreciate it?” Oh god. Does she even realise…
“Hey, uh…. Claire…?”
“Yes?”
“Do you… do you, you know… like me?”
“Of course I like you Rei,” oh. Oh god. “I feel like I just click with you so easily, you know? We’ve already become friends so fast.” oh fuck. She really doesn’t realise. Oh fuck.
Oh fuck. How am I supposed to explain to her? Fuck. “I… uh this is probably going to sound weird, but have you uh…” I sighed, my heart racing with anxiety, “have you ever been, uh, interested in another woman before?”
She seemed less taken aback by the question than I had expected. “I have not, no. Why do you ask?” she looked at me for a second, “are you gay?” she asked, before covering her mouth with her hand. “I am so sorry, that was inappropriate to ask! Not that there’s anything wrong with being gay, of course!”
Uggggghh. I want to collapse into my own hands. This is getting nowhere. How the hell can one woman be so oblivious? “Nevermind…” I mutter to myself.
“Hmm,” she hums to herself after a while, “this is nice…”
“What is?”
“Just being here with you…” Oh my god. And to make things worse, she just put her hand on top of mine between us.
“You’re holding my hand?”
“Oh? I hadn’t even noticed,” she looked down at our hands, seemingly in thought, before she suddenly looked up at me, “oh. Oh. When you asked if I liked you, you meant… Oh.” She stared at me blankly for a few seconds. “Did you think I liked you?”
“Well…” this could go badly, “no offence,” this could go really badly, “but from what it looks like to me… you have a huge crush on me…”
“Oh. I… You really think…?”
“Claire. We met last night and we are already sitting together on my bed and holding hands. Not that I don’t like you, obviously, but that’s all because of you”
“I guess when you put it like that… It’s just… I don’t know, I just… I just want you in my life. This is all new to me…”
“I understand. We all figure it out at some point, it just took you a bit longer”
“Figure it out? What is it?”
“That you’re queer. I didn’t answer earlier but I am gay, in case it wasn’t obvious,” I chuckle nervously, “but I do think we should take it slow for now, it is very new for you”
“That’s… probably a good idea”
From the perspective of Claire Francois
Oh god. Oh my god. I have a crush on Rei Oohashi. Oh my god.
I feel like I should be panicking about this more. I’ve never never liked a girl before, let alone Rei. She’s so sweet, and passionate, not to mention how cute she is, and especially how she tries to hide her face when she blushes! Wow. I guess I really am in love. And with another woman. I just didn’t expect it to be so… well. so normal.
“We should… do you want to… to do something together?”
“Are you asking me on a date?” Rei looked at me, her head slightly tilted.
“I guess I am,” ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod, “would you like to get lunch?”
“That sounds great,” Rei stands up, bringing her hand with me, “there’s a bento place down the street, and we can go to the park and eat”
“Sounds like a plan,” she’s so romantic…
I stand as well, and follow her out the door, and to the bento store, where we order our lunch, before heading to a grassy park, with a row of cherry trees on either side of the pathway down the centre. We sat in the shade of one of the trees and ate. Once we finished, I leant against Rei’s shoulder. I let out a comfortable sigh. “This has got to be the first time I’ve done… well, anything much other than work in sooo long”
“Really? Nothing other than work?”
“No. I just don’t have the time for other stuff, unfortunately”
“Fuck. At least I spend my free time playing games,” she’s looking at me as if I just sprouted another head. “You really don’t do anything?”
“Nope”
“Wow… What do you even like doing?”
“I guess I enjoy sewing, and doing stuff with Lana and my friends…” my sentence fades out. What do I like to do? I haven’t really had any spare time for the last six years, so it’s not like I've been able to pick up any hobbies. “I… I don’t really know…”
“Oh… wow.” Did I say something wrong? “No offence Claire, but you really need to pick up some hobbies”
“I… I guess you’re right…” I really have just been spending all my time on work. “I would like to play some of your games with you”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I at least want to know why you love them so much. I might be a little rusty though,” I haven’t really played any video games since I was a kid.
My thoughts were interrupted by Rei yawning. “Well, I should probably be heading home. I have not changed my clothes since yesterday morning, and I need to shower”
“You can do it at my place, I’m sure it’ll be nicer there,” I don’t want you to go… this day has been so nice together.
“You’re not going to like, watch me or something?” she grins at me, “you’re not into that?”
“I…!” I feel my face flush, “no, I am not into that!”
“Just kidding,” she grinned, as I stared at her blushing, “too much?”
“No, I… I just…”
“It’s fine,” she laughs, “I shouldn’t have made a joke like that so soon. My humour is a little broken,” she laughs again, this time a little more nervously, then stands up, pulling out her phone, “before I go, you should give me your number”
“Oh, yeah,” I quickly type my number into her phone, “uh, see you later… I, uh, I’ll miss you!”
“I’ll miss you too!” she calls back as she walks away. I sigh a little as she leaves. At least I can message her whenever I want now.
From the perspective of Rei Oohashi
I wandered out of my compact bathroom, now just wearing a t-shirt and jeans, and collapsed on my bed. As soon as I do, I feel my phone buzz with a notification.
I open it up, looking at my newly started chat with Claire.
Rei
Rei
Rei
Rei!
Rei!
Rei!!
Rei!!
Rei!!
Where are you
I’m here!
I was in the shower
I missed you :(
She’s so adorable. I quickly type out my response.
I miss you too
I really enjoyed today
I’m really glad
Also
I definitely should have said this earlier
Can I ask you something
Sure
Will you be my girlfriend?
Please
🥺
I know you said to take it slow, but I really like you
Yes
!
Yes!!
Wow. I guess I have a girlfriend. And she is fucking Claire François. Or, well. I guess I’ll be fucking Claire François.
Yay!
I’m so glad!
Also
Yes?
Is it okay if I tell my friends?
Of course
And you’ll be telling your friends?
Yeah
That’s right. I’ll be telling all my many many friends, who definitely exist. Sigh. I’m so lonely. Maybe I should text Shiko. It’s been too long. I open up our chat and send her a message.
Yo
How’s the bigshot author life treating you
Look who’s finally showing her face
What’s happened this time
Can’t a girl just text her gooc friend
*good
Yes
But you wouldn’t
Your forgetful ass only text when something important
Spill
I got a girlfriend!
Nice
Is she hot
Shiko
She’s Claire Francois
Oh
You’ve finally lost it
No like
Her name is Claire
And she looks exactly like Claire from the game
But our age obviously
Are you sure you’re not hallucinating
Yes
And she asked me out
You’re not helping your case
I promise you she’s real
Sure
I’ll believe it when I see it
By the way
I saw one of your manga at a shop the other week
Did you buy it
Are you kidding
I only spend my money on good stuff
You little shit
Go have fun with your imaginary girlfriend
I have to write some more “not good” manga which supports my livelihood
From the perspective of Claire Francois
I have been waiting on the edge of my seat for almost twenty minutes. Rei is coming back over to my place. She hasn’t even seen me in my casual clothes yet, which is a crime.
She’s my girlfriend. Rei is my girlfriend. I am dating Rei Oohashi.
I’m the luckiest girl in the world.
Suddenly I hear a knock at the door. I swing it open, and outside is my wonderful girlfriend. “Rei!” I exclaim, before pouncing into a big hug. “I missed you”
“I missed you too, Claire,” she hugs me back, “you look nice”
“Thank you! You look great too!” She's just dressed simply, a t-shirt, jacket and jeans, but it suits her perfectly, and I can’t help but hug her again.
Once I let go, she walks in, grinning at me, but it falters a little as she sits down.
“Is something wrong?”
“I… I just want to make sure you know something…” she hesitates slightly, “you know I don’t just like you because you look like a character I have a crush on, right?”
I feel my heart sink slightly. I’d been trying to avoid thinking about it. She’s so perfect I didn’t want to think about any… ulterior motives she might have for dating me.
“Because I don’t, please believe me…” she looks so sincere, I need to trust her, “you’re not even anything like her, personality-wise. The Claire in the game is like a cold and prideful villainess character. Please…” there are tears in her eyes now, “please believe me…”
I wrap her in a tight hug again. “I do, I promise I do…” Now I’m crying too. “I’m sorry… I should have talked to you… I just didn’t want to ruin this, because I wanted this so much…”
“It’s okay Claire…” she’s rubbing my back soothingly, “I should have mentioned it before… I just felt really weird about it… I’m sorry…”
She’s crying into my shoulder now. “Rei…” I whisper to her, “I love you, Rei…”
“I…” she’s whispering too, “I love you too…”
When we pull apart her eyes are red from crying. “You’re amazing, Claire. You’re kind, and loving, and so so sweet…” she murmurs. “I love you for you, Claire.... Nothing else”
I smile gently at her, our faces close together, then slowly, ever so slowly, I leant in, until our lips met. It was sweet and soft, and it was gentle, and the second I pulled away I let out a small sigh, and let my arms wrap around Rei again.
The shock of the kiss seemed to have knocked her back to her senses. “Wow… Claire…”
“I hope that was okay”
“It was,” she nods into my shoulder, “just… unexpected…”
“Good,” I pull away slightly and boop her on the nose, “I intend to keep you on your toes”