There were plenty of things for the two of them to do at this establishment. However, there was one that Waa desperately wanted to try. That being to play against someone in a popular fighting game.

“Good thing I never leave home without this.” She produced a controller while they walked up to the event.

“I don’t remember seeing that in your jacket.” Kouji commented. “Where do you keep it?”

“It’s my most prized possession.” She responded. “So I ain’t telling you.” He could only shake his head in disappointment. This girl was full of surprises, but this was an entirely new level in absurdity.

“You know, if you cared about doing your schoolwork as you do about this stuff. I wouldn’t have to tutor you.”

“But then we wouldn’t be friends, right?” She countered him. That was true, but could a relationship really take precedent over the efforts one makes in life? “So I take that as a win.”

“You really take us as friends being a win… Hey, wait up!” He was about to ask her another question, but at this point they were very close to the front stand. Unable to wait any longer, the girl bolted away from him. This forced the boy to give chase so he wouldn’t get left behind. “You know, you could at least warn me before you go running off like that.” Kouji said when he caught up.

“Can we enter?” Waa ignored him. Instead, she asked the clerk, which prompted the person to produce a stamp to allow them to enter.

“Of course, we’ve got someone waiting for a challenger. For some reason, no one wants to face him.” That really piqued Waa’s interest. Without bothering to ask for who it was that she’d be fighting, the girl took the challenge head on.

“I’ll take him on. People are just being pansies about this.” The girl knew that she was more than good enough to take on most people. Even the pros when it came to fighting games. “That’ll really knock him down a peg.”

“Don’t you think you’re ascribing a bit of a personality to the guy?” They hadn’t met their opponent yet. He didn’t want to make assumptions about the person, feeling that type of stuff happened to him all the time. Some of it, admittedly, was warranted.

“Come on.” She defended her case as they headed towards their destination. “If people were straight up afraid to fight you. You’d get a bit of an ego, right? Well, I’ll just prove to everyone that there’s nothing to be scared of.”

“There shouldn’t be anything to be scared of at a video game in the first place.”

While they walked, Kouji noted a pair of girls at their own station. The two of them were the type known as ‘gyarus’. There was one shorter one with green hair and a pair of eyes balls for a hair pin accessory. She seemed to be quite into the game given that she was using a fighting game controller that one would see on an arcade machine. Then there was another one with tan skin and blonde hair.

“What, you into gyarus or something?” Waa noticed that he was staring. “I know the school you used to go to had a lot of shady people. I bet most of the girls there were gyarus.”

“It’s not that.” He answered. “Well, I guess they can be cute. It’s just that I was reminded of someone, that’s all.” Something about that troubled her a bit. Was there someone special in his heart before he arrived to Tenfumi academy? “Come on, it looks like those are the people we’re supposed to be playing against.” Kouji changed the subject as he rushed them to their own station.

“You mean that I’m playing against.” Unlike with the cards, she was flying solo. Now she wouldn’t be burdened by worrying about his abilities. Though with how he handled the cards he was dealt with. Waa understood he had the ability to learn quickly.

It would appear that the gyarus they’d be seeing today wouldn’t end with the pair they saw earlier. When they walked to this pair, there was another one standing next to a boy sitting on one of the chairs.

The girl was bright and colorful in the most literal sense. She had dyed light blue hair. Her fingernails were all painted different colors. There were multiple star stickers lined on her face. This was practically what one would expect from a girl sporting this style. Which is why the two of them were confused with the company she kept.

“All right, you ready?” The boy sitting there asked. He didn’t seem to stand out all that much in the crowd with his black hair and glasses. Not to mention his tone was so serious compared to the energy that girl was emitting. These two were friends, right?

“Um, what’s your name?” Waa couldn’t figure out why people seemed reluctant to play against this guy. He seemed like a normal person. A bit strict, but normal otherwise.

“I prefer to not give out my name at a place like this.”

“He said to call him ‘GG’.” The girl answered for him instead. To which, he hung his head back in utter disappointment.

“Please let me be the one to introduce myself.” He said as he slunk backwards on his seat.

“Wait a second.” Waa remembered that name. Sure, it was a common gaming phrase to mean ‘good game’. However, there was something else triggering in her mind. “You’re the ‘GG’? As in the guy with all those crazy clips of you performing some sick moves.” He was a name known a bit in the region for some of his accomplishments. The boy had achieved high ranks in multiple shooters, and even won a fighting tournament not too long ago.

“That’s me all right.” He confirmed all of it. “Unfortunately, no one seems to want to play with me when they find that out.” That had really put a damper on his mood for the day. All he wanted was one good challenge, then he’d be content with everything. “So you’re backing out then?”

“Me? Back out?” She took a lot of offense to that suggestion. “Nah, I’m taking you down right now.”

“Oh?” That got him perked up. “Sounds like you’ve got quite an attitude. Then it’s time for me to take you down a notch.” He cracked his knuckles and got his controller ready.

“Yeah, you go kick her butt!” The gyaru cheered on.

“I-I don’t need a cheerleader, all right!?” He responded rather negatively to that. It was comical the way they treated each other. Kouji couldn’t get a pulse on this odd relationship. Sure, he got the same thing with Himawari and Teru. But at least with them, he got mad back at them. This girl seemed to be taking it for no apparent reason.

“You two are friends, right?” He whispered over to her.

“Oh yeah, we’re good friends.” She didn’t seem the least bit disheartened by the boys behavior.

“I wouldn’t say good…” He added on. “But I don’t mind her presence that much.” Kouji could only shake his head at this weird reluctance. They were strangers, so was it really that big a deal for them to know?

“Sooner we get started, the sooner I can win.” Waa reminded everyone of why they were all here. “You ready?” With a single nod, the two of them entered the character selection screen. Kouji couldn’t say he was familiar with the game. Though judging from the character models, he could tell that it seemed to be based on a popular anime.

“Let’s do this.” The boy got fired up as they started the match. It was best two out of three, and both of them came out of the gates swinging. Waa rushed in with an offense, which the boy was able to counter with his knowledge of defense. However, without an attack plan, then he’d be stuck.

That said, he wasn’t known for his skills for nothing. There had to be a timing for an opening to occur. Not just within the game, but out in the real world as well. Waa was human, and soon she’d slip up if her hands couldn’t handle all this work.

And slip up she did, which the girl was heavily punished for by a massive combo that took out her fighter’s health.

“Looks like this will be a cakewalk.” Her opponent mocked her, but she wasn’t going to let that get to her. Instead, she prepared herself for a round.

“It ain’t over just yet.” The second round began, and this time Waa took defense. However, it wasn’t because of shyness after the previous round. She had a plan that involved him getting a bit too overreaching on his attack.

There was a nice mechanic in this game that allowed for some really powerful single attacks. However, those took time and she’d need to trip him up in order to strike. Which is what she ended up forcing him into. When they were right where she needed them to be at, she performed a grab attack and threw him onto a spot on the ground that acted like quick sand.

His character got stuck there for long enough for her perform a button combo that had her character charge up a strong energy beam directly for him. Before anyone knew it, the game was tied one to one. Whoever won the next one would win this match.

They started once again. Now with a feel for their opponent, this final round would last the longest. Both Kouji and the girl stared on, waiting with bated breath to see who would be the victor. It seemed that it was anyone’s game at all points as the health points were slowly chipped down.

The two gamers were intensely staring at the screen. One slip up could spell disaster and they needed to be completely focused on the task at hand. Neither was willing to give an inch to the other in this battle of wills.

It was coming down to this. The two had just a small chunk of health left when they went for their final moves. Waa went for the strike, which the boy anticipated and blocked. He took the tiny amount of frames where she could do anything to grab her. This was the end, as the grab attack threw her character straight to the ground and took the rest of her health points.

“I did it!” The boy cheered along with his friend. In contrast, Kouji and Waa turned their heads down and sighed in disappointment. She had lost against one of the best, but it was a very close call. So the girl wouldn’t let this get her mood down.

“Nice game.” She congratulated him on the match.

“It was a lot of fun.” He held up his hand for a handshake. “I’m glad that you chose to play me.”

“Right, good game.” They shook hands in respect.

“GG.” He said.

“Oh finally, you did it!” The girl rapidly clapped her hands in excitement when he uttered those words. “You said you always wanted to do that in person.”

“Ju-just sh-shut up.” He got embarrassed from his friend saying that out loud. The boy let go of Waa’s hand and glared at the gyaru.

Kouji and Waa laughed at the sight. There really were all kinds of people at this event.