Seito Maizono 

My name is Seito Maizono. I'm seventeen years old, your average high school boy. I'm a member of the handicrafts club, but the club doesn't meet very often, so I've got a lot of free time.

That's why I'm often at the arcade after school. I wouldn't say I'm good enough to call myself a gamer, though.

I like anything from fighting games to crane games...but I especially like rhythm games! Or "otoge," as people call them.

Lately, this game called Chunithm Air is my favorite! I played maimai a lot before, but right now I'm totally hooked on Chunithm.

Rhythm games are so fun! I love focusing on getting my own scores as high as I can, or having fun together with friends. I have a few arcade friends, and I'm really good friends with Ruko Araba, a girl my age! After playing, we often go out for tea and stuff.

After school that day, I went to the arcade like always to play Chunithm.

I started off well, but...I struggled with the taps inside of holds in the second half, so I didn't get the result I wanted.

"Hmm, this chart's not quite clicking with me... Yep, sure enough, it's mai-Star... Can't stand that this guy's name sounds like mine. I have a hard time with charts by -100, too."

Aiming for SS next, I picked up a 100-yen coin, when...

"...Hey. How's it going?"

"Oh! Ruko-chan!"

"Hm...? Was that a mai-Star chart?"

"Yeah. I'm not good with his charts..."

"I know, right? This mai-Star guy's gotta be seriously messed up to make charts like this!"

"Hehehe. You said it."

"...You're so cute, Seito. It's no wonder people get the wrong idea."

"Huh? What happened?"

"Earlier, this high school boy from the next town over was asking all sorts of stuff about you, but when I told him you're a guy, he seemed really shocked... Felt a little bad for him."

"Huh...? What am I supposed to do about that...?"

...It's not like I'm trying to trick anyone, you know?

I've got a big sister who's always doted on me lots.

She got tired of playing with dolls one day and had the idea to make me her dress-up doll. She seemed to get hooked on playing with me, so from then on, I'd spend nearly every day in skirts from the outfits she coordinated.

...When I talk about that experience, people usually say it sounds rough, but it wasn't so bad to me. In fact, I really enjoyed it. I like cute stuff. I longed for a magical girl's wand over a tokusatsu hero's sword and preferred skirts over pants. That didn't change when I grew up, so I naturally came to enjoy crossdressing in my personal life.

Although, it's not that I dislike being a boy. I'm into girls, too. I just love cute things, that's all. But the people around me don't get that.

I'm not hiding that I'm crossdressing—my school friends know what I look like when I'm not, of course. My close friends treat me normally, but it feels like just about everyone else has an invisible barrier around them... It feels kind of suffocating.

I began to think, isn't there someplace I can be freer?

One day, I stopped by the arcade after school. I think there was a newly released fighting game I wanted to play. But before I reached that game, I spotted a game with a sensational design that captivated me.

"Huh? What's this washing machine? ...But it's got kind of a cute vibe."

It was Maimai. I didn't realize it was a rhythm game at first. It just looked like a front-loading washer. Of course, I had no idea how to play either... The kind players nearby must not have been able to watch my confusion, because they taught me how to operate it.

That was when I realized.

Before now I thought rhythm games were something one person played alone...but it's fun to interact with people, too.

I played Maimai for a while after that. Eventually, the people who always came to the arcade and I would greet each other and chat about each other's playing, even meeting outside the arcade sometimes. Ruko-chan was one of those people.

That was when I learned that scoring was what mattered most in rhythm games. All else was equal before the score. Yes... Even if I crossdressed, my friends at the arcade never judged me strangely by my appearance. They judged me purely by my score, and myself. To me, that was an incredibly comfortable feeling.

At first, I just played Maimai, but I slowly realized Chunithm suited me better.

I play piano, so it's easy to adjust to how to move my fingers in Chunithm.

When I told Ruko that...

"Yeah, I gotcha! Plus Chunithm's the kind of game you can totally immerse yourself in."

"Yep. And there's a lot of cute characters in it. Like, Yuria Onimamushi..."

Ruko nodded earnestly with my opinion. "Yuria Onimamushi... You know, I feel a kind of kinship with her."

"...'Cause of your chest?"

"I will kill you."

We spent our days doing this and that, and by the time Chunithm Air was released, I got skilled enough to rank high at my usual arcade.

"Seito, that's amazing!"

"Th-Thanks, Ruko-chan..."

"I saw it, too, on 'Raigeki Arcade.' They called you the Gothic Maid Snow White!"

Ruko was talking about an arcade game magazine. They had interviewed me as a "player to look out for."

Geez... They actually put me in the magazine.

It didn't feel real, but I was quite happy to be appreciated for doing what I loved.

I managed to rank high in Chunithm, but...

Hmm, I should still be able to raise my score... But I keep missing at the same spot, no matter what.

Sure enough, the song I was having trouble with was charted by -100... Arrrgh, curse you, -100!

"...What's wrong, Seito-kun? You look all upset."

When I was feeling down because of my misses, another regular at the arcade talked to me.

"It's just, no matter what I do, I keep missing at the same place in this song. I can't improve my score like I want..."

"Hmm, I getcha. That's how it is with rhythm games."

"Is it?"

"Yep. You stick to one song too much, you're likely to miss more and your playstyle becomes a habit. You know it's wrong in your head, but your hands can't catch up."

"Oh, that's exactly it! ...Then what should I do?"

"Well... You could avoid playing it for a while and let your habits fade so you can boost your score. Or you could try going to a different arcade for a change of pace. We could come along if you want. It's good to try someplace else every now and then."

"Thank you!"

The regulars and I traveled to a different arcade together.

With several of the regulars, I went to a different arcade than usual for a change of pace, but unfortunately, I'd have to wait in line for Chunithm. As we got in line, I was already starting to regret coming to this arcade. There was an unruly crowd here.

"Rank B? ...Don't come here if you're gonna play like shit!"

They had terrible manners, picking fights with other players over their scores.

...Eventually it was my turn, but I couldn't give it my all like usual. Just like I thought, they started heckling me when they saw my score.

"Hah! You really shouldn'ta come here, little miss frilly dress!"

"What're you, like, the token princess of this creepy otaku squad?"

"No, he's really a guy, right? It was in that magazine. What a freak! Gyahahaha!"

...I shook with anger at their words. They could make fun of me all they wanted, but I couldn't just sit by while they insulted my friends. But...when I looked over my shoulder, I saw their scores.

"...SSS?"

It was way higher than my score. I knew that. Everyone was equal before the score... I wanted to say something back to them, but I just realized what a failure I was.

Ever since those bullies made fun of me, I couldn't show my face to the other members at my usual arcade. I stopped playing Maimai and Chunithm. I stopped crossdressing, too, and put my favorite outfits away in the back of my closet.

Yeah... Maybe it's better not to be different. It'd be smarter to just get by matching everyone else, wouldn't it?

Those thoughts popped into my head, and I ended up distancing myself from the things I had been so obsessed with.

But it was funny—my habits ran so deep that my body automatically went to the arcade. I went up to the entrance of the arcade and was wandering around restlessly when Ruko called out to me.

"...Finally found you. Seito, come play Chunithm with me. I'll pay for your credit."

"Huh!? N-No... I've already retired from rhythm games, so..."

Ruko dragged me by force, and we started playing Chunithm.

Ruko-chan, you've gotten so good!

When we finished playing and took a break, she murmured, "This pleasure...it's addicting, right? Chunithm, more like Addic-chunithm... You made me this way, Seito, so you better take responsibility."

"Ruko-chan..."

"You still like Chunithm, don't you?"

"...Yeah!"

Ruko taught me again that it was okay to like what you like, and I returned to rhythm games once more.

I started to play Chunithm again. Crossdressing like always, of course.

"Seito-kun! Thank God! You're back."

"Yes! I'm looking forward to playing together again!"

When I started playing Chunithm again, I realized.

...I was so obsessed with raising my score that I forgot to have fun. Of course, raising my score is still important, but what's even more important is not letting anything get in the way of having fun.

When I realized that, I was able to play with my mind at ease.

...Chunithm and crossdressing are things I do because I like them. I don't pay anyone else any mind!

As I thought that, I remembered the bullies who insulted me and my friends.

...There are awful players who disrespect the Chunithm I love so much... But as long as my score is worse than them, whatever I say will just sound like the whining of a loser. I want to raise my score, not to compare myself to them, but to protect what I love!

I felt a fire burning in my chest for the first time. To make that fire burn even brighter, I devoted myself to practice.

Before I knew it, I was ranked number one at my usual arcade. I ranked high nationwide, too. Ruko and my other friends were all delighted.

"That's amazing, Seito! Now you can call yourself a top ranker!"

"Thanks... But there's something I've gotta do first."

I went to that fateful arcade and headed to the rhythm game booth. Just as I expected, those awful bullies were messing around on Chunithm like they owned the place.

"...Oh! If it ain't the otaku princess from before. What? You come here to get picked on again?"

"...I'm not your 'princess.' I came to challenge you today. Play against me in Chunithm. If I win, I want you to playing the game with such bad manners."

"...All right. A match it is. In exchange, if we win, you gotta walk a lap around the arcade naked, got that?"

"...Fine."

And so I started a match against the leader of their group. He picked "Raging Thunder." It was the song with the hardest chart, and I hadn't gotten higher than SS yet.

But...I don't wanna lose! I can't lose!

The result of my desperate efforts was...somehow, All Justice! I won!

The bullies reluctantly left the arcade, spewing venom all the while. Then, I heard cheers from the players around me.

"We were too scared of those guys to play Chunithm, but now we can. Thank you! You look all cute but you're tough, too!"

When they all expressed their gratitude, my face turned red and I smiled, replying, "Well, you do what you have to. I am a guy, after all."

I protected a talent I felt was unique, and returned every day to my usual arcade to play Chunithm.

I resolved to play even more nimbly than the fluttering of my skirt. As for my scores, sometimes I had the best, and sometimes someone broke the record in no time flat.

...But that's what makes it fun.

Bouncing along to the rhythm, I aimed for unprecedented heights. With my endorphins at full throttle, I found a side of myself no one else knew. That's what makes it fun!

"Someone's having fun, huh, Seito?"

"Oh! Ruko-chan!"

My relationship with Ruko was the same as always—as friends, and as rivals competing for scores. It was a comfortable one.

"...Hey, Seito. That kid..."

I looked where Ruko was pointing to see a boy I'd never seen at this arcade before. He seemed to be having trouble playing Chunithm Air. Ruko and I nodded at each other, and approached him.

"...If it's okay, would you like to match with us?" I asked.

"We'll even cover your credit."

And so, our world grew wider.

Otoge: A popular abbreviation of 音楽ゲーム, or "music game." Not to be confused with the abbreviation many English-speaking otome game fans use to refer to the genre.

As mentioned in Ruko's notes, Maimai charter mai-Star also charted a number of early Chunithm songs. My best guess at the "taps inside holds" chart is Sweet Devil, a modern-scale 12+ with some odd hold patterns near the end, among other crimes.

Likewise, -100 is a longtime Chunithm charter responsible for many famously unintuitive patterns. Some of -100's hits that would have existed at the time of writing include Alma, The ether, and My First Phone.

Yuri Onimamushi: Gumin's poster girl. Ruko probably feels a kinship with her because of her otaku passion...while Seito is calling her flat.

Raigeki Arcade: a play on popular gaming news source Dengeki.

Addic-chunithm: originally a play on chuudoku, also meaning addiction!

Raging Thunder: originally written in katakana English, is a play on Ikazuchi, Chunithm's very first 13+ (now 15, of course). It would have been the single hardest song in the game at the time.