"Yuuko..." I muttered to myself as my heart seized up a bit with conflicted feelings. I took a moment to pause and think before replying to the text. This wasn't just any person to me.

It was Yuuko Dabu.

On the one hand, Yuuko was technically a rival of mine in Umbra Warriors in our pro division. She played on a strong team called Mother Nature (MN). The org's tagline - "A female force to be reckoned with."

Clever, huh?

She even played the same role as me as a fellow top laner. Yuuko and I faced each other many times during ranked matches as well. By all means, I respected her skill at the game. She definitely was a fierce competitor on many levels.

On the other hand, I had a massive crush on her. Yeah, that kind of crush... It sure made things a bit complicated, don't you think? Though she and I were not officially dating, we flirted both in Umbra Warriors and outside of the game at competitions. Nothing serious just yet.

Yet being the key word here.

The mere thought of seeing Yuuko this early in the morning got me excited and pumped up. I began my morning jog with a nice burst of speed, some sort of incentive in my mind to get there quicker. I overdid the sprint a bit, but I eased my pace a skosh as I made my way through the city sidewalks.

At this time in the morning, there were not many cars out. It was safe and peaceful. Usually, these sidewalks often had so many people going about their day. But this way, I could jog without any interruptions.

To the park... To the park... To the park... Must get to the bridge... I reminded myself as I tried to maintain a decent running speed. I controlled my breathing as I turned around a corner. The park near my gaming house wasn't too far away on foot. With running, anyone could get there in less than 10 minutes.

There it was. The particular bridge Yuuko was talking about in her text. At this time of the year, the pink cherry blossoms looked rather romantic, exactly like something you would see in a photography magazine spread. Even this early in the morning, the petals were so breathtaking.

I ran along a dirt path and made my way toward the stone bridge. It arched over a shallow stream about 15 feet across side to side.

Of course, there she was.

Yuuko Dabu...

Team: Mother Nature (MN) Player: Yuuko"HuskyShoujo" Dabu Role: Starting Top Laner

It may have been somewhat chilly this morning, but Yuuko still wore her signature purple shirt with a bare midriff showing along with some dark jeans. Yuuko looked down below at the stream of water underneath as if lost in thought. Her beautiful black hair gently flowed in the slight breeze over her pretty face slightly covering her piercing brown eyes, which accentuated her exotic Asian look.

Despite being a pro gamer, she boasted an athletic build for her smaller frame. Yuuko also came from a wealthy Japanese family and was raised to be "elite" ever since she was little. Her father owned a big technology firm here in Pacific City that sold popular products throughout the world.

There was a rumor that her parents did not care what she chose to excel at as long as it was something she could dominate in, which happened to be Umbra Warriors. Yuuko made a name for herself in no time when she decided to attack the rank ladder with everything she got. Mother Nature basically begged Yuuko to join them as a starting player.

As I slightly huffed and puffed a bit, I waved toward Yuuko to get her attention from the corner of her eye. Her expression lit up instantly as she noticed me and then proceeded to wave back.

Delighted, I mustered a goofy grin before catching my breath.

"Janis-chan!" She shouted at the top of her lungs as she ran down to greet me with a huge hug. Luckily, I was not too sweaty from the jog, so I made sure to embrace her back with the same enthusiasm.

"Yuuko! How are you?" I asked excitingly.

"I'm good. I'm good!" she replied while releasing me from her arms. She motioned for me to follow her back to the bridge.

"I didn't know you got up this early like me," I said while fixing my hair. Yuuko did not seem one bit tired.

"Well, I normally don't like to wake up this early. But I can," she turned around for a moment to boop me playfully on the nose. "For you."

I softly chuckled as Yuuko rested her chin on her arms of the bridge's railing. She proceeded to look out toward the stream like when I jogged up to her.

"Janis-chan, do you remember? This was the exact spot we first met," Yuuko said without taking her eyes off of the stream.

"Yeah, I remember. It was my first time here in Pacific City. I was exploring the park and then bumped into you."

"Silly Janis-chan," Yuuko said in a childish Asian accent. "You were jogging! That's how you bumped into me!"

"Heh, you're right..."

It was my first day in Pacific City. Right after my parents dropped me off and were heading back home to Rolling Hills, I wanted to take a jog to help clear my head.

New place. The beginning of my career as a pro gamer. I had not even met my teammates yet. I had just placed all of my belongings into my room and went out for a run.

Would I like it here? Will I be OK without my parents? Should I have gone to college instead to pursue a regular life as a university student? There was a lot to unpack. There were so many thoughts running through my mind that I had to exercise to distract myself.

When I was running toward this same bridge back then, there were a lot more people in the park. I was making my way through the crowded bridge trying to snake through everyone and then accidentally crashed into Yuuko.

But perhaps it was fate.

I apologized profusely. No one was seriously hurt or anything. More than anything else, I stumbled on top of her a bit awkwardly. We ended up both laughing as I helped her up. However, the moment I looked at her right in the face...

I was not sure if it was love at first sight per se, but I definitely felt something special. I just happened to recognize Yuuko as her gamertag in Umbra Warriors, HuskyShoujo. She was a very popular streamer in our community. Most female gamers in Umbra Warriors love to stream using Witch Streaming Services.

Unlike other streaming sites, Witch was predominately used by female gamers. A significant difference with this service was no gamer was allowed to use a webcam (no more than a "clean" photo of just a gamer's head from the neck up for the profile picture).

Other streaming sites had a prevalent issue where female streamers (especially non-gamer ones) would devolve the site into a glorified cam show with lots of cleavage hanging out and whatnot with little to no gameplay. Witch was all about showcasing girl gamers streaming video games where the focus was on the gameplay itself.

Anyway, seeing Yuuko's profile picture on Witch was one thing, but she looked a lot better in person to me. I actually blabbered out HuskyShoujo out loud when I figured out who she was while blushing.

Before I knew it, we were just chatting up a storm and geeking out about Umbra Warriors under a nearby tree. We quickly became friends right there on the spot. Naturally, my newly minted pro status would come up as well.

"Wow, you're going to be a pro gamer at Umbra Warriors too, Janis-chan?" she asked me with a glow in her eyes.

"Yup..." I modestly answered looking bashfully toward the dirt.

"Sugoi! That's great!" Yuuko's Japanese was coming out as she playfully grabbed onto my shoulders. "What's your gamertag? I might know who you are."

Team: Good Game Girls (GGG) Player: Janis "Cougress" Pullman Role: Starting Top Laner

"Cougress. My name is Cougress," I replied with confidence as I looked her right in the eye.

"Cougress... Cougress. Oh! I know you! You're a top lane player like me!" Yuuko gleefully declared as if she were singing to the heavens. "Maybe we were meant to be best friends, Janis-chan!"

From that day forth, we kept in contact. Part of me fantasized about what life would be like if we were not pro gamers. Instead, I imagined a reality where we were just regular college students here at the local university here in Pacific City.

Something incredibly ordinary.

A generic life here in the big city.

Honestly, as long as it was with Yuuko... I just thought I could enjoy it all the same. Being a pro gamer is fun and unique, but something like this...

Living the college student life...

Going to class and studying...

Maybe working a part-time job together.

Just thinking about it was so much fun in my mind.

Friends... Maybe something more at this rate...

My mom asked me so many times if I found someone special yet, and I always came so close to mentioning Yuuko's name. So close. Always on the tip of my tongue. But until it was all official...

"Janis-chan?"

"Oh, sorry," I spaced out just recalling how I met Yuuko on this bridge. "Did you have something to say?"

"I wanted to tell you. Because you're my best friend, I just had to tell you. I met someone I really like," Yuuko said while beaming.