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The mornings were of a nice pale orange tone. A great day to go on a mystery trip or to visit friends, neighbors, and strangers alike next door. One of those days where any moment passed imprints your memories for years to come, perhaps many, many long years if fate wishes it.
... So why is it that Kanade won't respond to Ena's messages?
"Kanade!" said Ena, knocking on the door for the umpteenth time. "At least open the door, can you?" Ena lowered her voice and stopped knocking.
Kanade is a bit of an animal - a cute little kitten that needs protection, or else they'll fall prey to whatever sorts of traps of the world. Though, she's strong when she can be. It's only that her routine—if you can even call it one—depends on her overworking herself and not taking in sunlight. A kitten that's overworking itself, in other words.
The door finally swung open. "Ena..." Kanade slumped over the door, eyes baggy probably from yesterday. "Ena?!" she flinched, pulled back, and stumbled over.
"Woah, woah." Ena caught her in time, holding her waistline. "Be careful, Kanade. I know you woke up but at least take care of your steps," Ena gently scolded. Once Kanade stabilized herself, Ena tried letting go of her waist, but Kanade pulled it back. "Hm?"
Kanade realized what she was doing and pulled away immediately. "Oh, um..." Her eyes flickered left and right trying to avoid embarrassment. Eventually, she gave up and switched topics. "... What are you doing here?"
"You... forgot?" asked Ena.
"I might have..." Kanade jogged her memory to last week's events. "Oh, is it about Ichika and the others?"
"Yup. And we're an hour late, so I'll help you prepare."
Kanade didn't like baths, but so it was.
***
Lots of music came from Vivid Street, the ones with the big houses and such, something which An called "live houses".
N25 weren't particularly interested in participating in a live show, but if push comes to shove... they'll have to learn from Haruka and An. It would be a major wall to face, but they would be rewarded with fame.
Would the day ever come when she and Kanade would become idols and dance on the stage? Would Kanade even want to?
"That sounds fun," said Kanade looking at the source of the music. At home, she wore a track jacket with a black shirt underneath, but Ena forced her to wear a cute light blue blouse with a hat to protect herself from sunlight. Since, well, she doesn't like sunlight.
"Yeah. Did you know An and her group perform as well?"
"Is that so." Kanade gripped Ena's hands tightly so as to not get lost in the music and follow her whims. Sometimes it was cute, sometimes it became a rescue mission.
Suddenly, a beep came from her phone.
An: Where are you two?
An: We're playing party games with the three of us
Ena: Three? Ichika's there already?
An: Yeah
An: If you're lost I can come out and find you
Ena looked at her surroundings. Yes, it was probably for the best.
Ena: ... Yeah
Ena: Come out
Ena: We're lost
An: Roger!
Ena sighed.
"Ena, what's wrong?" asked Kanade, worried.
"Oh, uh... we're lost."
"We're lost..."
"But don't worry, An's coming to find us. So it shouldn't be long now."
"Then that's fine. She's over there." Kanade pointed her finger straight ahead, but no one was in sight.
"She's not?"
"She is." Kanade started to run and headbutt someone in the stomach. That someone was An.
"Ow, ow, ow..." An rubbed her stomach where Kanade hit. The tip of Kanade's hat had stabbed directly into An's stomach. And it hurt. "Oh, Kanade... and Ena-san..." She shot a pained glance at Ena behind Kanade, holding her stomach.
"An!" Ena rushed over. "Are you okay? Need me to carry you?"
"Uhh..." She winced, barely able to stand up straight. "I'm... alright."
Ena grabbed her hands and put them over her shoulder. "You aren't! Now, show us the way."
"S-sure..." An said weakly.
With the help of the locals and a few acquaintances that An knew, they successfully made it to An's place. Weekend Garage.
An had a quick chat with her father, then led the two up to her bedroom, where Ichika and Haruka fought against each other. In a party game.
On the screen, a board with white and black circles appeared: Black dominated one side of the board, while white had a few pieces surrounding the edges. They were playing Go.
"H-how's that!" Ichika smiled villainously, or atleast her best attempt at it. It looked more like a nervous smile when things went wrong.
Haruka said nothing. Tapping left, left, left, left... and placed a piece on the other side, the board flipping all whites. 'White wins!' popped up, ending the game.
"You won't beat me in a million years," quipped Haruka. She sat on the floor with such elegance that you knew she wouldn't lose. Ichika, by comparison, got her soul sucked out.
"Hey, you two..." said An, still weak, "I brought them over." Releasing herself from Ena's shoulder, she dropped flat on the sofa, exhausted.
"Oh, Ena-san, Kanade-chan. Welcome," said Haruka. "We were just playing a simple game."
Ichika came back to her senses, eyes now back to blue. "Oh. Kanade-san, Ena-san. Welcome. We weren't just playing a game." Ichika's eyes lit up again. "We're playing for rights."
"Rights?" asked Ena, sitting on the floor with Kanade next to the two players.
"In essence," Haruka explained, "anyone who wins a game gets to have rights to do anything to someone else. As long as it's not too extreme, anything goes."
Kanade shivered. "As long as it's not too extreme...?" She had a bad feeling.
"Yes, for example, maybe being a maid for a day. Or going on a date," explained Haruka. A smile crept across her face. "For me, if I win, I'll get to pamper you."
"P-P-Pamper...!?" Kanade turned red from the sudden declaration of rights.
Ena picked up the controller, smirking. "Oh, interesting. I'll join in as well." Ena thought for a moment what hers would be. "If I win, then I'll have Kanade."
"Have?" Haruka smirked, shooting a playful glare at Ena. "Now that's a little greedy, Ena-san. Wouldn't it be better if we played fair for a change?"
"I'm sure you can understand, Haruka." The two sparked lightning from just glaring at each other.
"I... if I win, I'll date... Kanade...-san..." mumbled Ichika with a blush. "This is a bit much though..."
"Okay!" said Ena and Haruka at the same time.
"So, who's the fourth player?" said Ena. An was out for the count, and no one else could play other than... the prize herself.
"I-I'll play." Kanade picked up the last controller, taking deep breaths on the pressure of the game. "If I win...
Time stopped. Everyone was waiting on her, waiting for her to say something. Maybe it was to stop playing? To let everyone become her maid for a day? Or maybe she wants to clean up her house with everyone? To compose together? The possibilities were endless with her.
"... Ichika, you have to call me by my last name. Without honorifics."
"Huh?" "Hm?" "Eh?" Ena, Haruka, and Ichika respectively were all confused.
"Call you... by your last name? Without honorifics?!" said Ichika. "That's impossible! I-I won't allow you to win, Yoisaki-san!"
"She reverted to first name basis now?!" remarked Ena.
"I see, I see... this is what we're facing against." Haruka nodded. "A true beginner, and a player with a passion to win. This is proving to be more of a challenge than I thought." Haruka rubbed her chin, pretending to be a villain. Then she wore the mask of a true villain fully. "Let the game commence!"
And thus, the four players started to battle against one another for the coveted prize. Many mistakes, alliances, rivalries, and victories were made in order to gain the rights of the treasure that is: Kanade Yoisaki. One would say they are foolish; four would play with their lives on the line. Nevertheless, their spirits burned for their heart were at stake.
Reaching the climax, An came in with drinks. "Still going, huh?" An sat back and studied the competition.
The score tallied 1 all. Each player had won a game in their respective picks. It was time for the team battle. Blue team, Haruka & Ena, versus Kanade & Ichika, on the Red team. The game? Smash Bros. 3 stock, Battlefield, no items.
"Haruka, you better play serious," Ena demanded. She picked a simple yet powerful character. Anyone who played it would win, as long as they had basic controls down.
"Don't complain when you lose," Haruka shot back, picking the opposite of Ena: a character with complex mechanics and low damage, but with the bonus of extra survivability, balancing their team composition. She had experience playing against An, so she was qualified to play such a tricky character.
Meanwhile, the other team still hadn't decided which characters were the best.
"This character looks cute." Kanade picked... some sort of new character. However, Kanade's intuition always held. So if this was the case, she would've picked one of the underdogs; a character with hidden potential that no one thought of.
"I think I like her..." Ichika, then, picked the damsel-in-distress character out of love. A simple choice for a simple beginner.
And the game began.
It started simple - players spawned next to their teammates, and a moment or two was given for the new players to get used to the controls. Haruka wanted the prize, sure, but she wanted a challenge.
Immediately, Haruka decided to annoy the red team, jabbing and tickling their damage meters just a little above 20%. Pleads could be heard from the red team telling her to stop, so she did. Just for a little, to let Ena take the reign.
Ena, by the way, figured out some controls; she was ready to win. With Haruka, of course.
One stock of live taken. Two. Three. Six.
Game, set, match. Red team, gone.
"Aah..." Ichika's soul left her once more.
"It comes down to this, huh..." said Kanade, looking over to the last two.
It was now a 1v1. A different game, of course. Rock paper scissors. A game that fell on luck, fate, and the gravitational force of the universe to win.
"An," called Haruka.
But Ena interjected. "No, you're going to cheat. Why don't we have Kanade to judge?"
"Hm?" Haruka shot a glare at her. "Kanade's on your side, and there's no way of knowing you wouldn't do the same." With no one left, she called the one person to judge fairly with. "Ichika."
"O-Okay. Um, one, two-!
"Rock, Paper, Scissors, shoot!"
One had rock. One had scissors.
One had blue hair. One had brown hair.
One is Haruka. One is Ena.
"Gaaah!" cried Ena. "I lost..."
"Stand proud, Ena-san," spoke Haruka. "You were a formidable ally, almost like An." She held a hand out for her to grab.
"Haruka...!" Ena wiped the one tear falling down her cheek from joy and grabbed her hand. "Thank you. I've never felt so challenged and connected at the same time. It was a pleasure fighting you."
Thus, a new rivalry was born: Haruka, and Ena. The other three stood back, admiring the birth of new competition. (※No straight woman to remark here, unfortunately.)
"Now," Haruka turned her eyes and locked onto Kanade. "I now have the right to pamper you, Kanade. Please do not resist."
Hearing this, Kanade hid behind An on the couch, shaking. "Uh... maybe tomorrow."
Haruka seemed to nod at the idea. An entire day of pampering... "Okay. I accept that plan. Tomorrow." Haruka kept nodding. "Tomorrow."
Kanade seemed to calm down and released her iron grip on An's sleeves, thankfully. She stood up from the couch to grip Ena's sleeves. "Mm. T-Tomorrow... pampering," muttered Kanade.
"Mm." Haruka nodded. "Then, it's getting late. I'll have to leave now, my curfew's in an hour. It was fun, everyone. See you soon, Kanade." Haruka smiled so wide in what can be described as nearly psychotic, frightening Kanade once again.
"Ah, me too," said Ichika, standing up. "I'll be going with Haruka now. Goodbye, An, Ena-san, Kanade-san."
"Mm. Be careful!" said Ena. Kanade and An waved at her from inside.
Looking at the time, it was getting late. They had been here from 10 AM, and now it was 6 PM. Not to mention the way back home, which could lead to some problems.
"Hey, An," said Ena, "do you have directions we could follow? Even coming here was a mess..."
"Ah, sure." An sent some instructions on the way out, a few tips, and landmarks to spot. Something that only locals would know living here for decades.
"Thanks," said Ena, grabbing Kanade's hands. "Then, we'll be going now. It was fun!"
"Bye, Ena-san. Come again next week~!"
Ena and Kanade waved at her, closed the door, and went out. The sun had fallen to a dark blue tint, like the color of An and Ichika's hair. And the slight sunset resembled Ena's name - Shinonome, meaning dawn.
It was a great day.