Friends 1

"Hey, got any plans, Sagara?"

Yui glances up from slipping on her shoes, a pair of red a black sneakers. They'd seen some wear but had clearly been carefully taken care of over the years. It wasn't like she could afford to constantly replace them; even if she could, she didn't see a reason to. Fixing them up made them feel more like they were hers than anyway.

"Guess not. Why?"

"If you've got nothing better to do, we should hang out."

"Eh..."

Getting more cat food wasn't exactly a pressing matter. Neither was finishing another blanket or quilt or whatever she decided to do to keep herself busy. She already had enough that wrapping herself up like a mummy wouldn't be necessary when things cooled down.

Ugh. Maybe I should get a job.

So, she had time on her hands. That doesn't keep the foreignness of the question from making her hesitate. Something just felt off about someone wanting her around. Well, Inigo popped up to bother her at the cafe, but he was a weirdo. Orochi was...well, she didn't know. She did know that she enjoyed being around her and it felt wrong to snub her.

"Yeah. Okay."

Orochi gives Yui a toothy grin and starts pulling her along, the Binding Hero needing to pull her bag into her with a rope to keep it from being left behind.

"Great! I know just the place."


An arcade. Although she hadn't been to one recently, she was familiar enough. There's the usual fair of claw machines and rhythm games, but there are more than a few she doesn't recognize, and still another floor. Without thinking, her eyes flick around for unattended coins.

"So, uh, come here often?"

Yui attempts to almost hide in Orochi's shadow as a few people glance their way and she tries to recall whether she's made trouble here before.

"Yeah, it's great. Gets lots of new stuff all the time. Hey - let's try this one."

The Hydra makes a beeline for one of the machines, a fighting game from the looks of it. What separates it from the others is the roster of popular Heroes to choose from. At least, Yui assumes they're popular judging from the way the two kids coming off the machine chatter about who would beat who. Orochi quickly slots in a coin and begins looking over the option with a critical eye.

Internally, Yui sighs as she takes her place beside her companion and inserts a coin, her own. The idea of her classmate catching her scrounge for money made her feel too uneasy. She doesn't recognize the vast majority of the lineup and doesn't can't exactly call herself a fan of the ones she does. For some reason, a few even get on her nerves, but she pushes those thoughts to the side and picks at random.

The gap in skill is immediately apparent. Orochi's claws tap with precision and clear purpose as she executes long strings of combos. Meanwhile, Yui furiously mashes the buttons and swings the joystick so wildly that it seems like it'll break off at any moment. Her movements are mostly random until she finds something that seems to work and fixates on it for a while.

A few matches later, Orochi has thoroughly established her victory and Yui is down more change than she'd like to be from one cabinet. Her lighter pocket wouldn't keep her from smiling, though. She just needed to keep herself from getting to carried away.

"Tch. You got lucky."

"Three times in a row?"

"Whatever. You'd be finished if we were playing pinball."

"Is that a challenge?"

"Depends. You feel like l-"

The growling of her stomach cuts her off and she grits her teeth in irritation.

"All that losing must have built up an appetite."

Orochi grins and the pair make their way over to a vending machine. Fingering what was left in her pockets, Yui prepares to make an excuse. She still needed to pick up cat food, and finding something to eat later was better than cutting their hangout short. After a few more games she'd just have to come up with a reason to leave.

However, she finds herself staring at a bag of chips being held in the maw of a lizard-like head.

"What the hell?"

The Hydra gives her a concerned look as she uses a claw to slice open her own bag and grab a chip.

"Allergic or something? I'll get something else."

Yui snatches the bag from the head-tail with a scowl and angrily tears into it.

"Look, just — you don't gotta do that. Let's find somethin' to play."

She shifts uncomfortably while hastily devouring the chips. Orochi eyes her but shrugs as they scout out more games. Yui remains somewhat on edge as they go from game to game, insisting on paying for both of them. The shift in mood doesn't help her as they transition to various rhythm games. While the Hydra was in her element, her abilities only degrade with each loss.

Miss

Miss

Miss

"Fuck!"

Her fist slams onto the grid of squares, the interface for their current game.

Never shoulda went along with this. She thinks I'm a loser. Maybe she planned this.

"Hey, are you OK?"

The partial source of her frustration pulls Yui out of her thoughts, having gone off to get drinks at some point. Yui sighs while averting her gaze and taking hers as they skulk off and away from some of the attention drawn by her outburst. It feels wrong, like a trap, but her classmate doesn't look any different.

"Look, if you want somethin' just spit it out."

"What? Where the hell is this coming from?"

Yui gestures to their surrounding and the drink in her hand, annoyed.

"You've been actin' all screwy!

"You mean you've got a chip on your shoulder because I bought some snacks?

Orochi looks at her with disbelief. Yui struggles to find the words to properly explain, specifically words that were less inflammatory than usual. She didn't want this to be a fight.

"I don't need shit from you!"

She mentally kicks herself as soon as the words leave her mouth. Part of her screams to just leave, but she forces herself to give Orochi an apologetic look.

"That's not what I meant. I just, uh, don't want to owe you anything or you thinkin' I need stuff."

The Hydra looks her over for a second before shaking her head.

"We're just friends. Don't think too hard about it."

Friends?

That was the word that eluded her earlier. A whirlwind of emotions flashes on Yui's face as she processes the word.

Am I also friends with Myoga? Shit.

An exasperated sigh escapes her and her gaze fails to meet Orochi's. Her throat clenches up when she tries to speak.

"Course I knew that. You kids are just weird about it."

Her brow furrows as a fog of doubts consumes her thoughts. Could they really be friends? If they weren't, why was she even at an arcade right now? The more she thought about it, the more obvious it seemed, but a growing amount of what-ifs filled her with dread. Her heart races as she looks anywhere but at her friend.

What if I get hurt?

Orochi waves a hand in front of Yui, catching her attention before she snaps her head to the side.

"If you're good then c'mon. There's still some stuff you should try. Maybe you'll even get a win."

The Hydra grins but Yui merely grunts and continues to look away.

"Remembered I've gotta get some groceries. The store near my place has some nice prices so I should get there before it closes."

"I guess it is getting late. We'll meet here tomorrow then, got it?"

"Yeah.:

Yui shoots her halfhearted smirk before they part ways. As she leaves the arcade she fixates on her untouched drink.

What if I'm not good enough?

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Pub: 01 May 2023 16:50 UTC
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