Always Be There

5

Fun

Kaiya didn't expect that when Kanpekina told her that they should go on an after school trip since they survived their first week at school. Kaiya agreed, questioning where they could go. Kanpekina and Kaiya couldn't decide. As luck would have it, Kaiya had a brilliant idea. She invited Naoko to tag along, after asking for his advice on where to go. Naoko's other friend, Hiroki, heard, and asked to join, telling them.he had the perfect place. Kanpekina didn't seem that happy, but she didn't reject the proposal, so here they were,  the four classmates standing in front of a popular arcade on their day off.

Kaiya used to play at an arcade, and she even had some high scores on the games, unless someone managed to beat her in the time that she's been gone from that world. Kaiya loved the arcade because it was cheap fun, and her sister could pretend that she was studying at a library instead of playing the dancing or racing games. Kaiya closed her eyes, reminiscing over her favorite memories as she heard the laughter of the people and the sounds of the machines, people winning or raging over a loss. The smell of corn dogs and fountain drinks came to mind, a faint waft of ketchup and mustard in the air. Kaiya smiled at the sensory experience.

"Hey! Hey! Can I play you?" Hiroki said, pointing towards one of the nearby racing car games that was vacant. Naoko shook his head, stepping back so Kaiya was in Hiroki's line of sight. Kaiya smirked at Hiroki, placing her hands across her chest. Hiroki raised an eyebrow until Kaiya laughed, eyes narrowing as she joked, "I didn't know you like to lose, Hiroki-san."

"Smack talk? Now you have to play me," Hiroki said with a growing smile on his face. With Naoko's laidback attitude, Hiroki didn't have anybody to play around with in friendly competition. Hiroki thought that anyone who would be Naoko's friend would act the same way, but Kaiya seemed more like Hiroki's type of person, which said something about Naoko. Hiroki grabbed Kaiya's arm, dragging her towards the machine. The two stood face to face before sliding into the seats, childish grins on their faces. Hiroki placed his token in, the game starting up in response. Kaiya followed suit, and the two choose their cars. "See you at the finish line."

"Yeah, after hours of waiting for you," Kaiya retorted, but there wasn't anything mean in her tone. The game kicked up, and the two were locked in a heated battle, the NPCs (technically Non-Player Character, but here it's Non-Player Car) falling behind almost instantly. It was neck in neck for all three laps. Kanpekina and Naoko cheered for their friends, up until Hiroki won by a single second. Kaiya slammed her head against the steering wheel in despair as Hiroki stood up, celebrating with his hands pumping into the ground. Kanpekina rubbed Kaiya's back with a sweet smile, and Naoko was trying to calm Hiroki down.

"That was a close race. I can't believe it was actually a second difference. You almost won, Kai-chan!" Kanpekina said, hugging Kaiya from the behind. Kaiya huffed a breath, getting up to face Hiroki. The two went off on some trials, playing different games to prove who was better. It turned out to be more evenly matched than Kaiya thought it would be. Kaiya assumed that Hiroki would win them all since he was a main character and was the sport loving guy. In the game, Hiroki met the heroine outside of an arena after Hiroki had seen some sports game. The heroine and Hiroki would talk to each other, and Hiroki would eventually invite the heroine to see a game with him, kicking off his route. Even as Kaiya saw him now, Hiroki seemed athletic since he didn't seem to put much effort into any of the activities. Hiroki played almost every round without much of a break. While Hiroki would usually destroy Naoko and Kanpekina in each competition, Kaiya was able to stay ahead during almost half the rounds. This is what lead them to a dancing game.

This was the one game that Kaiya and Hiroki weren't even close together in terms of scores. Kaiya absolutely dominated the game, her feet hitting the glowing arrows with practiced ease, amber eyes glowing gold underneath the intensity of the neon signs that shone on the screen before them. While sweat came down her face, Kaiya didn't seem bothered, a determined smile hitting her lips as her score rose steadily with the difficulty. Hiroki had quit awhile ago, simply admiring his new friend as she grew even more eager to beat the impossible levels. Kanpekina, Naoko, and Hiroki ended up staring at their friend with excitement. Eventually the level ended, an anime girl popping up to exclaim that the game had a new high score. Kaiya was supposed to put her name in, but she was flopped out on the dirty carpet, breathing hard with a red face. Kanpekina was comforting her friend, Naoko offered to get drinks, and Hiroki tapped in the same for Kaiya.

"Man, you absolutely destroyed me! I've never been good at dancing, but you made it look so easy! We should have rematch someday. I'll beat you once," Hiroki said with a large smile. Even though he was naturally friendly person that was always smiling, this grin seemed happier somehow. Hiroki did have a lot of fun, hanging out with Kanpekina and Kaiya along with Naoko, who also seemed to be enjoying himself. While arcade games weren't Naoko's thing, the cold faced student was smiling, albeit not largely. Kanpekina was laughing the entire time, and while Kaiya looked dead, she still had a proud smile that made Hiroki feel better about being good at games. Usually, people didn't like playing with him, politely declining, but Kaiya was able to keep up with him, sometimes beating him.

"I'll take you up on that offer, Hiroki-kun! Just not right now," Kaiya huffed looking at Hiroki from underneath her arm that rested against her forehead, matting her brown hair down with sticky sweat. Kaiya raised a fist with her other hand, giving Hiroki a fist bump. Naoko returned, handing a fountain drink with a straw to Kanpekina, who lifted Kaiya's head up so she could take a sip, which turned into a gulp. Kanpekina laughed as Kaiya coughed on the drink, her own face  melting into giggling.

"Okay, c'mon, you should go home. You shouldn't over-exert yourself like this, Kai-chan," Kanpekina muttered, wrapping one of Kaiya's arms around her shoulder while Kanpekina's hand tucked around her waist. Kaiya grinned, waving at Hiroki and Naoko as Kanpekina lead her away. When they were gone, Hiroki took a long and loud slurp of his drink before leaning down, "So, how'd you befriend someone like that?"

"What do you mean?" Naoko replied, glaring at his friend's drink that was obnoxiously loud. Naoko regretted getting Hiroki a drink, but the guy would have bought his own eventually, so Naoko would have only been postponing the inevitable. Naoko kept glaring even though he knew that it wouldn't make the drink go away. While Kaiya commented on his ability to make people freeze up, it wasn't like he actually had magic, he couldn't make matter disappear simply because he was annoyed.

"Kaiya is very energetic and social, and her friend is sweet and caring him. You're the dark lord of ice," Hiroki explained, getting a glare from the person he was speaking. Hiroki looked away, hoping that Naoko would direct his anger at something else other than him. Hiroki didn't like being the target of Naoko's wrath. When Naoko chose to show his emotions, it was powerful, because Naoko rarely showed his emotions.

"She befriended me, remember? She used me as an air conditioning unit, and since we walk the same way, she asked to be my friend," Naoko said as he walked out of the arcade building with Hiroki right behind him. The two fell into a different conversation, occasionally getting stopped in the street by some pedestrian that recognized the two for their many achievements.