My small, child hands reached for my very first tablet, excitedly turning it on to watch "had3s"' livestream. I saw the young boy, around 10 years old, with fiery hair in the livestream playing his video games. He was so good! My finger went to the comments.

Und3rw0rld: Wow! Good job with that level! I am still trying to defeat the first boss!

I sent the comment, seeing my username pop up in the comment section.

had3s saw the comment and I swear I saw a smile on his face. I heard him speak in his soft, young voice, "thank you, Und3rw0rld. Maybe I can give you some tips? You can always pm me" no way did he just suggest helping me with that darn level?

And so, that is how our young friendship started. 

Every day, I would hop onto my tablet, texting my new online friend. We would talk for hours! Often, I would lock myself in my room, texting the streamer that I had met in that specific stream. 

**

had3s sent you a message!

had3s: Und3rw0rld, r u online?

Und3rw0rld: yeah, wbu?

had3s: yeah, r u free to chat 4 a bit? im bored

Und3rw0rld: totally! :)

had3s: how old are u?

Und3rw0rld: Im 10, turning 11 next month!

had3s: im 10 too! my birthday isn't until december

I pressed the home button and went to the game that I was struggling with. My mini character jumped to the side, avoiding an attack from the boss, only to be shot with an arrow.

Game over.

I sighed in frustration.

had3s sent you a message!

I ignored the message for now, retrying the level. 

Game over.

I tried it again.

Game over.

I eventually went to my messages.

had3s: what do u want to talk about?

had3s: hello?

had3s: r u busy? should i stop texting?

Und3rw0rld: sorry! i was playing a game and kept losing

had3s: ohhh

Und3rw0rld: would you like to give me tips for the level im stuck on?

had3s: sure :)

~

"Y/n? Are you playing on that tablet again?" Mother came into my room. I was 12, and ready to start middle school.

"Yeah! My friend on here likes the same games I like." I explained with a smile.

Mother sighed and took the tablet from my hands.

"Hey-!?"

"You need to get ready for school. You can have it back when you're home." Mother said in a stern tone, "honestly, sometimes I regret giving this thing to you."

I went to my room, feet stomping hard on the wooden floor, slamming my door as hard as could. I aggressively threw my loungewear on the floor of my room, growling angrily as I pulled on my school clothes. I grabbed my f/c bag and stormed off through the front door without saying goodbye to Mother.

School was always boring.

No one wanted to be friends with the "weirdo" as people called me.

"Ewww, look at them!" Some students loved throwing random insults at me. Oh, my hair is too messy for your liking? Well, I didn't style it for you. My clothes look weird? Cry about it. My makeup is smudged? Don't care. I'm a friendless freak? Ha, yeah, I am, so what?

All I cared about was getting through this school day.

All I cared about was getting my tablet back so I could talk to had3s more.

It felt like torture.

Sitting through all 6 judgmental classes.

Finally, the bell rang, and I grabbed my bag, packing up my notebooks and papers. I shoved them in the bag and slung it over my shoulder, rushing out of the building. I tried my best to hurry home. My mind raced; my feet moved faster.

I approached my house, opening the door.

"Mother! Can I have my tablet now?" I said to the lady in the kitchen who was preparing dinner.

"I thought about it, and I think you should focus more on your studies than some random creep on the internet. I've locked you out of your tablet." Mother spoke.

My world suddenly crashed into a fiery explosion. What...?

"What do you mean?! My grades are fine- I'm passing tests!" 

Mother silenced me.

"You don't have any friends; you are making enemies and teachers have seen you beating up a student." Mother replied sternly, "do not speak to me in that tone."

~

had3s went online that day, waiting for Und3rw0rld to text him.

He waited.

He waited some more.

He did not get an answer.

had3s opened up the chat.

had3s: r u online?

had3s: hello??

had3s: did i do something wrong?

had3s: im sorry...

had3s: i'll leave you alone...

~

The next day, had3s went on again.

He saw that Und3rw0rld still did not open the texts he sent.

had3s: are you okay?

When he did not get an answer, he closed the text app.

The next day, no reply.

The day after that, still no reply.

A week later, not a single text was opened.

Eventually, he gave up trying to reach out. He was upset, he had really grown fond of his online friend 2 years.

~

Years have passed, had3s still did not get a single reply. 

I was 16 now, and I had transferred to a mage school called Night Raven College after an incident involving a horse and a carriage.

I was walking through the hallway of the Ignihyde dorm when I bumped into someone with blue, fiery hair.

It almost reminds me of...

"Oh, sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going. I'm new here." I looked at the student I bumped into. He looks so familiar. Why?

"I-I'm Idia Shroud. The dorm leader." The student said.

"I'm Y/n. It is nice to meet you."

I notice the student, Idia, was carrying around a tablet.

Hey...that almost looks like the same model tablet that streamer friend of mine has.

I haven't talked to him in years. I miss him. Thanks, Mother. I would even say I had started to grow feelings for the friend.

"Could you show me to my room? There are so many rooms in these halls."

Idia gave a small nod and hesitantly turned to his tablet, looking up my name.

"You're my age. And your birthday is next month?" Idia asked out loud, a little surprised by the information. Where had he heard of this information before?

"Yep, ah! There is my room." I smiled at the room number, going inside.

" kay, um...bye" Idia said, walking away.

And that was when it struck me.

I knew that voice.

I have heard those words before on had3s' livestreams. That was how he ended his videos.

"Oh...my goodness... could he be? No... that would be impossible. Well, he is my age, so not entirely impossible. Is he had3s?" I sat on my bed, looking around the room. I had a large monitor and a comfy looking gaming chair.

My thoughts were running wild.

had3s has blue, fiery hair. Idia has the same exact hair. Both have bright yellow eyes. Oh, my goodness, that was had3s.

~

I did not get much sleep that night. The nights went on and off like that for four weeks. One morning, I went to Idia's room and knocked on the door, wanting to find answers to the Idia-had3s connection.

Idia yelped from inside the room and opened the door.

"O-Oh! Um! What do you need?"

"Can I ask you some questions?" I asked.

Idia's anxiety spiked.

"Um...kay? That is kind of sus, NGL. But come in." Idia let me in to his room. 

He had anime figurines on a shelf and books everywhere. His room was fairly messy. He also had a big monitor in his room.

"Do you do livestreams?" I asked.

"Yes, but not as much as I used to. When I was younger I did them all the time."

"What was your gamer tag?"

Idia was very curious now.

"had3s."

My eyes widened at the name that left his mouth.

"Oh...Oh, Idia. I've missed you. We can finally meet properly now. I'm Und3rw0rld."

Idia's eyes widened and he felt a blush tint his cheeks and hair pink.

"You're Und3rw0rld? W-Why did you leave? I thought you were mad at me!" Idia spoke just above a whisper.

"I'm so sorry I did that to you. You see, when I started attending middle school, my mom took away my tablet and locked me out so I couldn't text you again. I'm so sorry." I felt tears well up in my eyes.

Idia wanted so badly to hug me, but he wasn't used to physical affection. 

"Can I... Can I hug you, had3s?" I asked softly.

"Y-Yes."

We both were brought into an awkward hug, but soon we relaxed in each other's embrace.

I felt my cheeks burn.

"I guess I shouldn't be too surprised that I actually started developing feelings for you the more I thought about you." I smiled.

Idia blushed heavily.

"I feel the same. The more urgent I tried to reach out, the more nervous I'd feel. Like a good nervous." Idia shot me a sharp-toothed grin.

"Then... shall we become a couple? If you're comfortable. Or uh, do you want to be my player 2?"

"I-I'd like that."

I leaned up to kiss Idia's cheek.

"AH-! W-Why'd you do that? You surprised me!!" Idia spoke in a high-pitch tone.

~

I went to Idia's dorm, sitting on his bed while playing a game on my new phone. It was the game that introduced us to each other.

"You still can't get passed that first boss?" Idia snickered.

"Shut up."

"Let me help you." Idia wrapped his arms around me, guiding my hand to move across the screen to make my character dodge the boss attacks until I saw stars appear on the screen and a "You win!" came across the screen. It really brought back memories to that stream.

My face went red.

"T-Thanks."

-

I don't know how to end this sooo 1552 words

idia is baby