Shiori Novella One-shots

Shiori's Resting Glare

"You there. You're my next opponent?"

Her voice and aura preceded her. Your left hand started shaking, causing you to hide it behind your back just so she didn't see it. You fought so hard to make it this far into the tournament. Even after all that work, just seeing the glare from her made you want to run away and forfeit immediately. Those eyes peered deep into your mind as if predicting your every move and demise.

"Let's get this over with."

The orchestral score blared from the screen in front of both of you as the legendary and color cast of fighters slid onto the screen. She sat down and selected her character-a round, pink cute creature who was known to suck up opponents and gain their likeness and power. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Seeing her try to calm herself down relieved you a bit as well. You took the seat next to her and picked up the controller to select your own character.

~~~~~

"Hey..." she mutters. "Um... Thanks..."

You glance over and can't help but tilt your head.

"For what?" you whisper back.

She's silent for a moment while she sets up her control settings. "Not just forfeiting... It's part of why I'm here now... I'm not actually very good at this game, but people get scared and forfeit because of my resting glare..."

She looks down, sighing. It seems to be a problem for her, one that you definitely relate to.

"Oh... I get it," you smile softly.

The woman looks over at you, and recoils slightly as you make eye contact before looking down again.

"Ah. Sorry, that was really rude of me," she apologizes, frowning, as she whispers, her voice a little more confident than before. "Seems like you have it worse than I do," she tries to smile, but is having a hard time keeping eye contact with you.

"Probably, kids *have* cried just from seeing me before," you chuckle, finally selecting a certain swordsman with great zone control and a purple-hilted sword.

She looks at you with pity in her eyes for a moment before finishing setting up her controls.

"That's... rough, to say the least," she replies, setting the controller down.

"It certainly can be," you whisper back, feeling a lot more relaxed. You set your controller down as well, having decided to just go with the default controls. It's easier, after all.

"Hey, good luck," she smiles at you, blinding you a bit with how bright she is. She's finally relaxed, and it makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside.

"Thanks, you too," you smile back, feeling your face heat up a little. "Want to hang out a little after this, Shiori?"

Well, you shot your shot, completely unplanned, and unexpected, even for yourself. You have no idea where it came from, but you can't take it back now. You can only wait for her response. Hopefully, the worst she can do is just say "no", but... something tells you that she can do a lot worse than that.

Her face flushes, turning a bright red almost immediately, and her mouth starts flapping for a couple seconds before looking down. If this were an anime, there'd be a poof of steam coming off her head.

"U-uh... S-sure..." she manages to stutter out. "But... How'd you know my name?"

You just look at her, then look at the screen in front of the two of you, then back.

"Wait, really?"

You yourself don't know if your response is to her saying yes, or to her question. She tilts her head back at you, your gaze drawn to her hair swaying slightly from the motion. You blink yourself out of your stupor and take a breath.

"You really want to?"

She nods, the blush returning in full force. "I'm... not good at making friends, so I get embarrassed kind of easily..."

Ah. Ok. Not a no, at least?

"But," she continues. "Why do you know my name?" her gaze turns a little more serious, her eyes glowing a soft golden color and a chill runs up your spine.

"U-um... You had to put it in for the character label..." you tell her. "See? Mine's up there, too."

You try to steady your breathing as she watches you. She turns to look at the screen, and you see a look of realization come across her face.

"Oh. Yeah," she giggles a little, bringing a hand to her face as all the tension disappears like it was never there.

"Cute," you mutter without thinking.

"Ha?" her head snaps to look at you. "Wh... What?"

"L-let's just start, shall we?" you try to distract her, pretending not to see the blush spreading to her ears.

She just nods, takes a deep breath, and the two of you pick up your controllers, to start your match.

"Good luck, Shiori," you smile, trying not to feel distracted.

"You too," she says quietly, focusing on the game.