For a few seconds, Matou just stared.
His mind went blank. Not confused. Not surprised. Just… completely frozen.
Airi stood there, smiling softly, wearing the same school uniform she had in the game—white blouse, plaid skirt, and that signature red ribbon tied into her hair. Everything about her was exactly how she looked on screen. Same voice. Same eyes. Same warm, gentle vibe.
It was her.
The girl from the game was standing at his front door.
"…No way," he finally whispered.
Airi tilted her head. "Is something wrong?"
Matou blinked rapidly. He rubbed his eyes, then pinched his cheek. Hard.
"Ow…"
Yup. Not dreaming.
"You're… Airi?"
She nodded. "Yes! You reached 100%, remember? I told you I had something to tell you."
"…I thought that meant a cutscene," Matou muttered. "Not… this."
Airi looked confused. "A cutscene?"
Matou stepped back slightly, still stunned. "Wait. Hold on. You're real?"
She smiled and held up her hands. "Well… I think so?"
Matou stared. "You think?"
Airi twirled once in place. "I can move, talk, feel. So that counts, right?"
His thoughts spun out of control.
What kind of game was this? Was this a prank? Some kind of AR tech? A dream? A hallucination? He'd read stories and manga about stuff like this, but none of them prepared him for what to do when the fantasy stepped into real life.
"Can I… come in?" Airi asked, softly.
Matou opened his mouth, closed it, then nodded and stepped aside like a robot. She walked in, looking around curiously.
"Wow," she said. "This is your room? It's so… cozy."
He followed her in, still not saying much, and gently closed the door behind them.
She looked around with big, interested eyes. "It's just like I imagined! Oh, is this where you play games?" She pointed to his desk. "And that's where you read your manga, right?"
"…You know all that?"
"I paid attention." She smiled proudly. "I wanted to learn everything about you."
Matou sat down slowly on the edge of his bed, hands in his lap. "Okay… So. Let me get this straight."
Airi nodded, standing in front of him like a student waiting to be quizzed.
"You're Airi. From the game. Love 100%. I played it, got you to 100%, and now… you're real."
She nodded again. "That's right."
He stared. "How?"
Airi looked thoughtful. "Hmm. I'm not sure. But I remember hearing something in the game's data when I was close to 100%—like a voice saying, 'When love is full, she'll be real.' Something like that."
"That sounds so vague it could be a fortune cookie."
She laughed. "Maybe! But it worked, didn't it?"
Matou stared at his phone, which was still on his desk. The app for Love 100 was gone.
He got up, grabbed the phone, and flipped through every folder. No sign of it. No files. No cache. No data. It was like it never existed.
"Gone…" he muttered.
"I guess it was only meant to bring us together," Airi said, sitting cross-legged on the floor.
Matou paced back and forth, trying to make sense of anything. "Okay. Say this is all real. You're not a ghost. You're not a robot. You're not a hallucination. Then… what are you?"
Airi looked up. "Your girlfriend, obviously!"
His brain crashed for a second. "Wh—what?"
"I mean, that's what the game said, right? Raise your girlfriend's love to 100%. That's me."
Matou sat back down, slowly. "Okay, fine. But… people don't just come out of phones."
"Maybe not," she said, "but maybe I'm special!"
"Or cursed," he muttered.
Airi leaned forward, pouting slightly. "You're not happy to see me?"
"N-No! That's not it. It's just… weird, okay? This isn't normal."
She giggled again. "You always say that when something new happens."
He paused. "I do?"
"Yes. You said it when I asked what holding hands meant."
"…Oh yeah. You did ask that."
She nodded happily.
Matou rubbed his forehead. "This is insane. You can't just show up and expect everything to be fine. I have school. People will see you. My parents—"
He froze.
Wait. Parents.
"My parents…" he began.
"Are working overseas," Airi finished for him. "I remember you said that during our Day 3 talk session."
He blinked. "…Right."
So no need to worry about them showing up and asking why a strange girl was living in their apartment.
Still, there were other problems.
"Do you even have a name on paper? An ID? Money?"
Airi shrugged. "Nope! I guess I'll need your help with that."
Matou groaned and leaned back. "What have I gotten myself into…"
---
That night, Matou gave Airi some spare clothes—a hoodie and sweatpants. Thankfully, she was about his size, maybe a little smaller, so they fit well enough.
She curled up on the couch, hugging a pillow, watching anime like it was the most amazing thing in the world.
"So this is real life," she whispered. "I can't believe I'm really here."
Matou, sitting nearby, finally started to relax a bit. The panic was still there, but it was slowly being replaced by curiosity.
He glanced at her. "Hey, Airi?"
"Hmm?"
"You're not… gonna disappear, right?"
She looked over at him and smiled softly. "Not unless you stop loving me."
His heart skipped. "That's… a weird way to put it."
"But it's true. Love created me, remember? So as long as you still care, I think I'll stay."
He looked away, pretending to focus on the TV.
"…I didn't think a game would ever say something like that."
She giggled. "Well, I'm not just a game anymore."
---
They both slept restlessly that night—Matou in his bed, Airi on the couch. He couldn't stop thinking. Questions circled his mind like flies. What was this game? Who made it? Why him? Was he the only one who got it?
And… what did it mean to be with someone created by a game?
He eventually fell asleep around 3 AM.
When he woke up the next morning, he rushed to the living room—half-expecting her to be gone.
But she was still there, wrapped in a blanket, fast asleep with her hair a little messy.
"…So it wasn't a dream," he whispered.
He sat down beside her quietly, just watching her breathe.
It was surreal. Beautiful, in a strange way.
For the first time in a long time, he didn't feel lonely when he woke up.
---
A few days passed.
Matou skipped school "sick" and stayed home to figure things out. Airi cooked for the first time—sort of. The rice was undercooked, the egg was burnt, and she nearly broke the rice cooker by pushing every button.
Still, she was proud. "I'll get better, I promise!"
He taught her how to use the microwave, how to watch anime, how to set alarms, and even how to use Google.
They talked a lot, just like they used to in the game. Except now, she was there. Her laughter filled the apartment. Her footsteps echoed in the hallway. Her presence was warm, real, and impossible to ignore.
But the weirdest thing?
He didn't want it to end.
---
One afternoon, while Airi was in the shower, Matou opened his laptop and started searching online.
> "Love 100 mobile game download"
Nothing.
> "Dating sim turns real girl"
Mostly fanfics.
> "Girl from game becomes real 2025"
Nothing useful. Just creepypastas and anime discussions.
He leaned back, frustrated. "There's nothing… It's like it never existed."
That's when he noticed something strange on his desk.
A tiny folded note.
He picked it up and opened it.
"When love is full, she becomes real. Be careful. You're not the only one."
There was no name. No signature.
Just those words.
Matou's hands tightened around the note.
"…What does that mean?"
He looked toward the bathroom door.
Airi was humming behind it, her voice soft and cheerful.
But now… he wasn't just confused.
He was nervous.
If he wasn't the only one… what else was coming?
---
[To be continued…]