Chapter Text
“Aw yeah! Come to mama!” called out Futaba as she rushed over to the Galaga machine.
“Whoa! I’ve never seen Futaba run so fast before!” exclaimed Ryuji.
“It appears that she’s in her element,” said Yusuke.
“I think it’s cute!” declared Ann. “I wish I had the same intuition for this stuff as she does. I have no clue where to-oh my gosh! That is the CUTEST thing ever!”
Ann rushed over to the claw machine which was full of plushies.
“I don’t see what’s so special about them,” remarked Morgana from inside the backpack. “I look way cuter than those when I’m in the Metaverse.”
“Whatever you say,” chuckled Ryuji. “Hey, does anybody want to join me at the Halo: Fireteam Raven machine? It kicks my ass when I play alone.”
“I’ll join,” said Akira.
“As will I,” said Yusuke. “The art style, while somewhat cliche, is also incredibly appealing and even intoxicating to some degree.”
“Uhhhhh, I guess?” said Ryuji.
“What game do you want to play, Mako-chan?” asked Haru.
“I’m not sure,” answered Makoto. “I don’t really play video games. My sister says they’ll rot your brain. How about you?”
“I usually just play Mario games and the Sims, but I was thinking about trying out a more intense game,” replied Haru.
“How about a fighting game?” suggested Makoto. “Arcades usually have one of those.”
“Great idea!” exclaimed Haru.
They didn’t have to walk around too long before they came across a Street Fighter V arcade machine.
“Ooh, I’ve always wanted to try out a Street Fighter game!” said Haru. “Who are you going to pick?”
“I’m not sure. There’s so many to choose from,” answered Makoto.
“Yeah, and I don’t know how well I’ll play as any of them,” added Haru.
“Hmm…I think I’ll go with Lucia. She’s a cop.”
“I’ll go with Sakura. She’s cute!”
“Cute?”
“I like her hair,” explained Haru.
They picked the Forgotten Waterfall as their stage. Haru thought Sakura’s rather awkward entrance was cute. Neither of them knew how to string together combos or perform special attacks. Makoto won two out of the three rounds, but she wasn’t really sure how. Still, they had a blast.
“Thanks for playing with me Mako-chan!” chirped Haru as they finished their match.
“The pleasure was mine, Haru,” replied Makoto. “What game should we play now?”
“I’m not sure. Let’s take a look around.
Akira, Ryuji, and Yusuke had moved away from the Halo game. Akira and Ryuji shot hoops at the lowered-basket basketball toss game, while Yusuke examined the plushies in the claw machine. He told Ann, who was still managing the control stick for the machine, which plushies were hidden out of her sight, which she greatly appreciated. He also gave critiques on their designs, which she did not appreciate very much.
“While not necessarily poorly Exeggcuted, a group of six eggs is still a rather poor concept for a Pokemon.”
“Can it, Ryuji! I grabbed this Meta Knight by its cape and I’m not going to lose it!”
Futaba was still playing the same game of Galaga that she had started when the group first arrived. Haru took notice of her score.
“You’re doing great, Futaba!”
“HAHAHA! Suck it noobs! You can’t shoot for shit! And now I’ve got my ship back! You’re going to get REKT!”
“I don’t think she heard you,” remarked Makoto.
“I don’t think so either,” agreed Haru. “Oh! Is that Mario Kart?”
Haru and Makoto hopped into the seats for the Mario Kart arcade machine and started up the game.
“I’m definitely choosing Yoshi,” declared Haru.
“I’ll go with Luigi,” said Makoto. “It’s a shame there’s no bikes in this one.”
“That’s probably a good thing for me. There’s no way I could keep up with you if you raced using one,” said Haru.
“Well, I don’t know about that,” replied Makoto.
“You’re so cute, Mako-chan!” giggled Haru.
“Look who’s talking,” murmured Makoto.
“What was that?”
“NOTHING!”
They selected their track and began racing. While Haru had the lead foot necessary to take the lead near the beginning, she didn’t have the maneuvering skills necessary to avoid slamming into the sides and falling off the track. Makoto, on the other hand, had prime control over her acceleration and turning, and won the race handedly. Afterwards, the two girls tried to figure out what to do next. Futaba was still going strong at the Galaga machine, so they counted that one out. Ann had won enough plushies for her and the rest of the Phantom Thieves, so they didn’t see much point in using the claw machine. The Halo machine was available though, so they decided to give that a try. While they were playing, Makoto thought about some of the things that Haru had said to her earlier.
‘I’ll go with Sakura. She’s cute!’
“I like her hair!’
‘You’re so cute, Mako-Chan.’
Was Haru trying to say something more to her? Could Haru actually like her? As in “like like”.
“Are you okay?” asked Haru. “It doesn’t look like you’re really aiming for the enemies.”
“Huh? Oh, sorry. I was…thinking about stuff,” replied Makoto.
“It’s alright! It’s just a game,” assured Makoto.
Makoto gathered her senses and went back to blasting the enemies with Haru. They spent a lot of time fighting shadows together, but this felt different. They weren’t fighting for their lives with the aim to ultimately defeat a megalomaniacal foe; they were enjoying their free time together. It felt…liberating.
Time travels much faster when you’re enjoying yourself. It’s an unfortunate fact of life. Soon enough, it was time for the Phantom Thieves to go home.
“Let’s get going everyone,” said Akira as he walked around the arcade and called to his friends. “That means you too, Futaba.”
“I am owning you stupid, good-for-nothing hunks of scrap metal! You really want to keep sending more to try to take me down? Bring it!”
“She’s really in the game zone right now,” said Yusuke.
“So who wants to take her out of it?” asked Morgana.
“Why don’t you do it?” suggested Ryuji.
“I’m a cat! I’m not even supposed to be here right now,” protested Morgana. “You do it!”
“No way!”
“I’ll do it,” announced Makoto.
“As long as I get in her peripheral vision, I should be able to get her attention.” she declared as she walked up right next to Futaba.
“You’re gonna die. You’re gonna die,” said Futaba as she kept her eyes on the screen. “See that, I just blasted your ship to bits again. You can’t even see it, because your eyes are scattered throughout the galaxy.”
“Futaba-chan.”
“What, I’m busy playing a video game without looking at the screen,” said Futaba as she faced Makoto while still blasting away in the game.
“It’s time to go home. We have school tomorrow. And no amount of Monster House references will change that.”
“Skull eventually left when he had a pizza that needed to be delivered,” said Futaba.
“That’s true, but you’re not a pizza delivery girl,” said Makoto.
“Ugh, fine. I’ll get going.” grumbled Futaba as she held up her hands. “Can I at least put my initials on the high score list?”
“Sure,” replied Makoto.
After Futaba put her initials in the game, which was unsurprisingly on the top of the leaderboard, the Phantom Thieves made their way out of the arcade and said their goodbyes.
“Goodnight, Haru. It was really fun gaming with you today,”
“Goodnight Mako-chan! I’m going to practice Street Fighter V at home for the next time we fight.”
“Cool, I doubt I’ll be able to practice at home. Unless I can convince my sister that playing it will be good for me. Take care!”
As Makoto walked home, she thought about how she would be able to play Street Fighter V at home. If convincing Sae didn’t work, she could try to play it in secret, although she would have to buy a console or computer too. Regardless, she was definitely looking forward to her next match against Haru.