Hey everyone, Kohiro here! You haven't heard from us in a while….well that's because things got really hectic
after our last posting and we've had to wait a bit for some of the other authors to have enough free time to write
their entry. Unfortunately, Ame was unable to add her entry to this one, but she will next time . And now
I'm about to do something I've neglected to do a long time ago. Post answers to reviewers!! Sorry everyone.
It's not that I haven't read them, I just haven't posted them. Thank you all for your support!
melody-tune-
Thanks a lot. We're glad that you enjoyed it!
Bakani-
Hellos -. Yay! it's up, it's up, it's up, it's up! Woohoo! ...that took forever sigh Gomen
for the wait minna-san, hopefully the next
chappie will be up faster (I already have my entry written, so that's definitely a good sign). And hold on to your
hats readers because this story is gonna get interesting.. heeheehee. Kohiro, I love you! you post my insane
ideas hugs Thank you to you, the other wonderful writers and the readers. And for any readers seeing this,
please be patient: we have a very complex process to go through to get everyone to write... it can take a
while -.- but the story WILL be updated. As soon as I can possibly manage, I promise! (oh and Kohiro? let
me proofread Ame's entry next time before you post, k?)
Pika-
Y'know, what's sad? By the time this story is finished, we just might have more reviews from
ourselves than from other reviewers. Hi y'all! I loved the chapter and where it's going! w00t! I thought this
last chapter was great! I have two complaints though. The dialogues and monologues were great (and
hilarious, by the way - Koori, you do the best sarcasm), but you need to describe your surroundings more.
What happened with the pocky? Did Bakani eat it all or did he accidentally drop it? What was the crunch?
Also, where was Koori before the one teacher came? Was he on top of the roof at school? If he was, why
was he suddenly in the park afterwards? Distinguish and try to explain settings a little better. My second
complaint would be the lapse in times. First, Bakani was over at Kohiro's and then was at home in the next line.
Have a divider to separate the lapse in times. Other than those few things, the chapter was amazing! I don't
know how I'll keep up to that level when I first come in. Please continue! Update ASAP! Arigatou!
Ame-Chan's Author-
Hey, Baka! What the hell did you mean by wanting to 'proof read' MY entries? There's nothing
wrong with them. Nobody's done anything in any dream and trust me, nothings going to happen in real life.
Anywho, the story's coming along really nicely. Ame's been a lazy ass and hasn't written her entry yet even
though she's had everyone else's for about three weeks. sigh School sucks. Kohiro, you know I love you
with all my heart but there is a reason why spell check was invented. Actually however, the mistakes put a nice
ring around certain words. My favorite is how 'boring' the book is that Ame's reading about Japan's History.
It's great. Anywho, I apologize to all of our faithful readers for the delay. Blame me, I'm lazy. Hopefully I will
have a chance to type up Ame's entry this weekend. If not, I should have some time this up coming week.
Oyasumi!
DragonTamer9741-
Thanks! I hope you did good on your ACT. (I know what it's like. I had to take it too…)
Sana-
Thanks! Yeah, we've started coming up with a list of characters….It's not done yet, but when
it is we'll post them.
Naeda-
I'm glad that this made you feel better!
Bakani() Shindou Bakani desu!-
Hellos! I apologize terribly for the wait, I know it took forever to get this chappie up. If you like
I'll find Sakano-san and have him rant "gomen"s at you. Anyway, I hope we'll never go this long without posting
again looks VERY pointedly at Ame's writer anyway... Amazing job my fellow authors, i love you all! Now
lets drag this craziness up a notch! v. WOOHO, i love this story . Well, all our 'main' characters are introduced,
we'll all have an entry for every chapter (unless something comes up). and others will come in, but they'll just
pop up from time to time. It will be interesting. I'll try and get the next round going soon
as possible, I promise. Much love to all who happen to read this! Gravitation rocks! Bakani's author (I'm still
bugging people about making a website so i can post my pics...)
Silvermagess-
nodes head that was the main point of Koori's entry! And they do make a cute couple!
(Now others are wondering who we're talking about! )
Ame-
Hey Kohiro. I finished my entry! Come on and all of em up now! Now aside from that, things
are starting to move along nicely. I like, Author 3 likes, and...well thats about everyone. Anywho, As Ame's
creator, I'm looking forward to see how this is going to turn out and that our readers are satisfied. I think that
everyone is doing an amazing job at their entries. Later my peeps! heheheh, I feel special. I noticed that my
last review was the first of the new year.
KirbsterMK-
Hold on….let me think…..no it's not coming to me… ; gomen!
Naeda-
Thanks for reviewing so much!
Vera-Sama-
Don't worry, if it ever gets boring you let us know. Then again, I only need Koori for
that….. ;.
fanficlunatic234-
That's an idea, but it really depends on what all the different authors choose to do…. ;
Bakani-
"Let me go, Seven Days!" I sang to myself as I walked up to the front door. I stopped long enough to
call "Tadaima!" as I entered the house, then continued with the cheerful song. I love Tou-chan's songs, though
I can't sing them (or anything else) worth crap... No one can blame me for trying v....
...well, except Koori.
"Urusei Baka!!" He didn't look like he was in a good mood.
"Hello, little brother." I greeted. He raised an eyebrow at my silly grin.
"Why are you so giddy?"
"I dunno. Why are you so grouchy?" He glared at me and I sighed. "Okay, I'll tell: I went to Ame's
house."
"And you're still alive?" He sounded a bit disappointed.
"Koori," I reprimanded, whining slightly, "don't be like that.... Actually, Ame was nice to me, nicer
than she's been in a long time." The memory made me feel all warm and fuzzy. I smiled.
Koori's face darkened a little and became unreadable.
"So," I looked at him expectantly, "are you going to tell me what's wrong now?"
"No."
"Ehh? Kooori! No fair!" I pouted.
"Hn." He turned away from me and went up the stairs to his room.
"Jerk."
The next day, Koori stayed home from school sick. I guess that's why he was so moody last night,
poor guy.
I spotted Ame with her friends and went to say hi.
"Ohayo, Ame." She opened her mouth to respond when one of her friends cut in.
"Go away Bakani." I gave her a reproachful look. Last time I checked I still had the right to exist,
though lately it seemed these girls' attitudes denied even that. Then I spotted an unfamiliar face. There was a
girl being whispered to by one of Ame's friends (probably about me) that I had never seen before. She looked
at me.
"Uh, hello." I said, "I don't remember ever meeting you. I'm Bakani."
She stepped forward and looked me over as she responded in a haughty voice.
"Hanase Mykari. I just moved here." After examining me for a few seconds, she came to a decision
and stared straight into my eyes with a look of disgust.
"What's your problem?" She demanded.
Taken aback by the sudden assault I could only get out "..huh...?"
"I asked 'what's your problem?'. I've been getting the full story on you... I've never heard of someone
more pathetic." The other girls were snickering. "You follow this poor girl around like some demented stalker.
No matter what she does you just won't leave her alone. I mean, come on, you're a short, whiny, annoying,
stupid, clumsy idiot who's so effeminate that you barely have the right to call yourself a man! Hell, I bet you're
gay. So why don't you just leave Ame alone before you drive her insane? Go find yourself some poor man
that might actually be able to tolerate you, and while you're at it go get your estrogen levels checked to see if
there's a way to fix whatever horrible mutation turned you into such a crybaby, feminine creep."
They were all laughing out loud now, not even bothering to stifle it. Ame stood silent, not looking at me,
but not at anyone else either. Mykari smirked triumphantly.
'What was my problem?' yeah right.... what was her problem?! I hadn't done anything to her. Heck,
I'd just met her! But then, I hadn't done anything to the others either....
They were gazing at her admiringly for her little speech.... so that was it: she played off their feelings for
me to heighten her status in their eyes. She could cold-bloodedly rattle off such cruel words to someone she
didn't even know just for popularity's sake. And she had just used me, labeled me as a tool to help her climb
the social ladder. Because they hated me...
I tried to stop the tears, I really did.... especially after what she had said to me. But, as I turned away
and headed down the hall, the mocking laughter still echoing after me, I felt their warm moisture on my cheeks.
Damn it all....
By the time I reached the classroom I was crying pretty hard. Kohiro immediately sprang from his seat
and came to comfort me. I managed to tell him what had happened, and he reassured me in the way only he
could. Kohiro is without a doubt my truest and best friend in the world. Through this whole sob session, our
classmates kept looking at me oddly. As I calmed down and went to take my seat, I heard one of them mutter
"gay boy...".
After school, I had cheered up again. I was going to the auditions for the play with Kohiro! Yay!! v
We went to the theatre and copies of the script were passed out to the auditionees. Despite Kohiro's
urging, I didn't take one for myself, I decided to just read Kohiro's over his shoulder. Even though he wanted
me to try out, I was too nervous to try it. I can't sing, draw, play music, or write well... what makes him think
I'd do any better in this art?
It started. The director would call up a few students at a time and have them read/act out parts of a
scene. The play was "The Fall of the House of Usher", a creepy E. A. Poe work. Along with the script,
everyone had gotten a sheet listing and describing the characters. I read through it, and after I had that much
knowledge it was fun to watch the different people act (or try to act) the roles.
The audition neared its end and Kohiro still hadn't been called. He tapped me on the shoulder.
"Baka, can you hold this for me? I'm going to run to the bathroom."
"Okay." I took the script and he half-jogged from the room. Just then the director called out.
"Alright, last group! Sareno, Hirare, and Nakano."
"Ano..." I raised my hand, "Sensei? Nakano-kun is using the bathroom."
The director sighed. "What's your name?"
"Me? Shindou Bakani."
"Shindou. Fine... Shindou, I know you aren't on my list of students auditioning, but could you please fill
in for Nakano until he returns. We can't run the scene with a character missing."
"Sure..." I got up. Flipping the script I found the scene and the part they wanted me to read. I quickly
referred to the character sheet. Let's see... this guy was quiet, creepy, an evil, menacing sort of person.... heh,
sounds like Tou-san
"Whenever you're ready." This was directed at me because I had the first line. I glanced around at the
expectant faces of my classmates, most of them waiting to laugh as I screwed up... no, can't think about it! I
have a role to play.
I determinedly focused on the character. I got a feel for the type of person he was and surrendered
myself to that feeling.
I took a deep breath and started....
The scene ended and the room was deathly quiet. I closed my eyes and allowed the character I had
assumed to fade away. Nervously, I opened them again, and scanned the faces around me.
They were all staring at me. Staring, and yet not a single one had the mocking or superior look I was so
used to. ... Hey, Kohiro was back! When had he come back? It must have been during the scene, I was so
caught up in it that I didn't notice. But why hadn't the director stopped me and let Kohiro take over?
Then, a sound broke the silence. Clapping... everyone, they started clapping... for me... o.o
I laughed nervously and scratched the back of my head. But then I had to fling both arms out to stop
from falling over as Kohiro practically tackled me.
"Bakani, you were amazing!!"
"I- I was?"
"My gosh, that was freaky. I knew that character was supposed to be scary, but man! Baka, you had
me almost wetting my pants."
"I- I did?"
"You better believe it! It was weird, because you just looked so different. It wasn't you."
"Isn't that the point? I thought I was supposed to try and be the character."
"Yeah. And you did, Bakani. I'm not kidding you, that was awesome."
There was no escaping it. I hadn't been planning on auditioning, but I ended up signing up for it
anyway. Everyone there would have violently mobbed me if I had refused. Kohiro got to complete his audition
too, and did very well -. And though I had been against it before, I was starting to get a little excited about
all this theatre business.
I could act?.....
Koori-I closed my eyes against the sunlight, grumbling unpleasant nothings. Normally I would use words like
'gleaming', 'cascading' or good old 'bright'. Unfortunately, today was one of the days I doubted my existence.
Well, not my existence exactly, I knew I was curled near the mass of sheets that was my futon because
otherwise the damn brightness wouldn't hurt so much. No, this morning with its hateful gleaming-ness made me
wonder if I deserved to be alive.
I let my arm fall off my eyes dreading the light that would attack me. Instead I was greeted by total
perfect darkness, I smiled. Wait a second….
"Who?" I muttered and jumped up. Perhaps 'attempted' to jump up is more correct. Although
I did get halfway upright before flopping backwards with a groan. I heard a deep chuckle.
"Tou-san?" I asked. "Ah…what am I doing home? Don't I have school today?" I said.
Tou-san didn't say anything but I could practically hear a smirk in the air.
"You've been called in sick." My Tou-san's deep voice hummed. I nodded, although I was
fairly sure he couldn't see me.
"Thanks for getting the lights…" I wondered what else to say. I never really spoke with my
father.
"Breakfast is downstairs when you're ready…unless you need my help?"
"NO." I sputtered quickly. "I …just need to do something on my computer." My door
opened and my father exited.
"What would you like?" Tou-san's silhouette filled the doorway.
"For breakfast? Eggs, sunny-side up."
The door shut. I slowly dragged myself over to my computer. Was Tou-san ordering out? I shrugged.
Thinking about my father was a lousy distraction, so instead I glared at the piece of paper on my computer
desk. In a scratchy hand I'd written 'Gravitation: The Intoxication!' I turned the sheet of paper over and
starred at the picture; the park where my parents had met. And where I had met…..someone. I shook my
head to try and clear the image of him from my brain. I sneezed, then rubbed my nose. My hand reached
my forehead and I blinked. I had a fever.
"That's why I can stay home…" I dragged myself back along the floorboards to my bed and
collected a blanket to keep warm. I sneezed again.
"This is going to be a (sniffle) long day…"
(Scene change!)
After I finished posting my newest picture (drawn last night) on deviantart.com (I'm a critic, male) I
padded down the stairs. I heard the banging of pots and pans, so I peaked around the corner, expecting to see
a robber. Instead I saw my dad, slaving over a hot stove, resplendent in his pink apron.
"Good morning Tou-san." I said loud enough to be heard.
Tou-san jumped a little bit and almost dropped the frying pan he was using. I resisted the urge to
giggle, the last thing I want is a super-warm frying pan lodged in my brain. I'd never be able to get through the
door!
Tou-san looked very….something. I sincerely hope I'm ten miles away before I figure out what that
'something' is. I glanced at the table. It was perfectly set, with cut strawberries next to a pile of powdered
sugar, Tou-san was currently making pancakes and my omelet at the same time.
When I glanced back up at Tou-san, he looked oddly…nervous. Like I'd caught him doing something
naughty. Well for 'violently-silent' Eiri Yuki, getting caught doing 'domestic' duties is…well…naughty. For
lack of a better word. I smiled reassuringly.
"Can I help?" I asked politely.
Tou-san's tension melted and he smiled a genuine smile. It's been a long time since I'd seen Tou-san
smile like that. I snatched the frying pan out of Tou-san's grip.
"Let's get going!"
I clicked on my username at deviantart, and this time it worked right the first time. I smiled at my dad.
"Thanks that's been bugging me."
My Tou-san noticed what site I was on.
"What's this?" He asked quickly, voice a bit rough.
I winced. Now he chooses to get overprotective.
"It's just a site for me to post stuff that I draw and whatever. My friends from school
convinced me too. Don't worry, it's free, and I didn't list any important information."
Tou-san still looked suspicious, even after my explanation, and I gulped.
"Uh…?" He blinked, as if just noticing something. "You draw?"
I sweatdropped.
"Yeah…I'm not too good." Tou-san raised an eyebrow at me. "I want to be a manga-ka
someday. You know, maybe work in video games or something…" I drifted off realizing what I had just said.
The hell?! It must be my fever taking, because I can't imagine myself telling my anti-social dad
anything, especially not my dreams. My Tou-san didn't seem to care, instead he clicked the link to my gallery
and started browsing, I sweatdropped. Poor Kaa-san, if he has to deal with this everyday. Stupid Kaa-san if
he comes back for more.
Then my Tou-san clicked on one of my pictures that was of the ahem shonen-ai verity. I blushed
when Tou-san turned to stare at me.
"And I'm….ma,….a little interested in Shojo…" I hoped my father wouldn't smack me for
being so…famine. Sure, I was pathetic, but wrote the same sort of thing, right?
"A little interested?" He questioned, amused. I blushed deeper.
"Okay…a lot interested." I finished. Tou-san nodded and I thought he looked proud.
Never….that can't be, can it?
"In that case, your design is terrible." I nodded.
"No shit." Tou-san started, then turned to glare at me seriously.
"And what are you going to do?" He asked.
"Improve. Duh." I said.
Now Tou-san really did look proud. He smiled and hugged me.
"This calls for a celebration." He said.
"Now…what happens in here…"
"Never leaves this room. I know Tou-san."
"The last thing we need…"
"Is the Bakas to hear about this."
Right. Shall we?" I smiled and handed Tou-san his 'Chobits' DVD.
"Fire away!"
(Ding Dong) I glanced at Tou-san in horror. His frightened look matched my own and together we turned to
the calendar. As we had both feared, today was the day our calendar had been marked with a blood read X.
I shuddered.
"Come in? Stay a while? Sure!" A voice said from the door, breaking the creepy silence
following the doorbell.
"AHHHHH!!" Tou-san and I screamed, running up the stairs together.
Quickly, we reached the bathroom and slammed the door. I sat down on the toilet in the dark, but
Tou-san pushed me off. I fell into the tub.
"Is it really?"
"Katoru-chan? The one and only." I shuddered in the dark.
Suddenly it was too dark and too stuffy, so I scrambled under the sink for a Glade glow-in-the-dark
thing. Success! I hurriedly plugged it into the wall, and me and father huddled in the feeble light.
"Tou-san…I'm scared!" Tou-san looked sick to his stomach.
"Shut up! He'll hear US!" Tou-san screeched the last word.
"Ah…Tou-san. You locked the door, didn't you?" Tou-san turned to stare at me.
"Fuck." He said simply. The door creaked open, which is ridiculous because Tou-san just got
the hinges replaced last week….
"NOOOOOO…..!"
Tou-san shook me awake
"Have a bad dream?" He asked me.
I sighed. I need to get more sleep, but I'm not sure I want to anymore.
"Yeah."
"I was going to let you sleep through, because you're sick, but it sounded brutal." He said. The
doorbell rang, and I glanced at the calendar. Red cross.
"Let's just say I'm glad I sleep on a futon." Tou-san followed my glance.
"I'll be in my work room if you need me." He muttered and was gone.
"No fair, I'm sick!" I called after him.
"You've never dealt with his father!" He shouted back. I shrugged.
"Fair enough." And headed over to the door.
Welcome back, cousin Katoru…
Katoru-I stood on the porch and waited for someone to come to the door, but after about 2 seconds I tried the
knob. Unlocked. I snickered and pushed the door open, grabbing my suitcase as I entered.
"Come in? Stay awhile? Sure!" I said to the empty room.
I set my suitcase next to the couch and took my leather coat, fluffing the fur lined collar as I placed it
over my luggage.
"Katoru-kun…..is back!" I let loose a devious chuckle. "HELLO! I know you're in here
somewhere! No one can hide from Katoru-kun!"
I heard a bang down the hallway.
"Mm hm…Katoru-kun is also hungry…..I'VE GOT A MIND TO RAID THE
REFRIDGERATOR!!"
I listened and heard a door open followed by, "NO! Anything but that!"
They both appeared at the entrance to the hallway looking somewhat panic stricken and out of breath.
"Got any Pocky?"
They looked at each other. "Uh…no."
I glared, they were obviously lying. Ah, I'll let them slide.
"Well, get me something to eat or I'll get it myself!"
Kohiro-
I walked into class and sat down at my desk, trying to catch my breath. I had woken up very late and
was forced to run all the way to school. I was very relieved when I found I had five minutes to spare.
'I bet Baka's gonna be mad that I didn't pick him up this morning…'
Sure enough, Bakani comes storming through the door, though I was shocked to see he was crying.
Worried, I immediately took him to the corner of the classroom. Once there, I became aware of all of the
people snickering at Bakani's outburst. I shot glares at all of them, and smirked with grim satisfaction when
they stopped laughing and turned around in their seats to face the front of the classroom.
It took some doing but I finally got Baka to calm down enough to tell me what happened. Baka is
known for overreacting, but I felt that his side of the story was pretty accurate. With a lot of effort I managed
to hide my anger from Baka, by offering to take him to the auditions with me that afternoon.
During lunch, I managed to give Baka a feeble excuse to leave him at the table for a few minutes. If I
had told him that I was going to talk to Ame, he would have known what I was up to right away.
Ame was sitting with her usual friends on the other side of the lunchroom. Before I could even say a
thing to her, a girl jumped up and introduced herself.
"Hanase Mykari, I'm new here! I've heard so much about you!"
I stared at her for a second and realized that this was the girl who told Baka off. I gave her a cold glare
and then walked past, leaving her shocked, up to Ame.
"Ame, I need to talk to you." I said, ignoring the girls around me.
She seemed to have realized this from the beginning, because she was already standing. She followed
me away from the loud lunchroom to a quite hallway. Just like before, Ame spoke up before I could say
anything.
"How is he?" she asked worried.
I was taken aback by the question but recovered quickly.
"He's a little depressed, but alright. I talked him into coming with me to the auditions to cheer
him up." I smiled lightly at her guilty look. "…and he's never blamed you for what happened."
"I didn't stop them…" She mumbled, looking down at the ground.
"It was enough for him that you weren't laughing with them."
She looked up a smiled. "Could you tell him I'm sorry for what happened?"
I gave her a strict look. "Oh no. If you want him to know, you're going to have to talk to him yourself!"
She glared at me and (acting normal again) punched me, somewhat playfully, in the chest, though I
could tell she was holding back….or else I would've been on the ground.
We silently went back to our own tables, and I spent the rest of the time entertaining Baka on some of
the "adventures" the twins gotten into lately.
The last half of classes seemed to fly by when the last bell rang and we packed up our things. Baka and
I headed off towards the auditorium, we were a bit early but it didn't matter.
I tried to get Baka to take one of the scripts they were handing out but he didn't want to so I didn't
press the issue. We sat and watched as people were called on the stage and asked to do certain characters.
I stepped out later on, to use the bathroom, but when I came back Baka was not at our seats but up on
stage. He had not wanted to try-out so the only explanation I could come up with was that my name had been
called while I was gone and Baka had been asked to take my place.
His eyes were closed as if he were concentrating very hard on something. When his eyes opened it felt
as if he was a completely different person. He went through the lines smoothly as if he was truly that character.
After he finished, that cold, eerie personality left as soon as it had come. There was silence all over the
theater as everyone stared at Baka shocked… In the end, all of us talked Baka into signing up. Well…it had
to of been the best thing that could of happened to him. I can't wait to see the look on peoples' faces when
they see Bakani's acting ability.
I walked up the steps to my house and walked in, already I could hear my dad playing his guitar.
"Tadaima!" I called as I removed my shoes and put my house slippers on.
The playing stopped suddenly and a reply of "Okaeri!" came from the living room where my dad sat by
the fireplace with his guitar and my mom sat in the opposite couch. I sat on one of the couch's seats and
answered their questioning looks.
"You're never going to believe what happened today…"
Kioku-
I know I'm new around here, but is this really necessary?
Although I've spent a lot of my time playing games throughout my life, but I've never been to a real
arcade before. At least, not on the scale of Neo Geo Land. The place was huge, with machines lining every
wall. Bright lights flashed everywhere, and you could hear the clicking of buttons, the pounding of feet on dance
pads, and the cursing of less fortunate competitors as they make their way to the change machines. I would say
that I almost felt at home here…if it weren't for the glaring of the regulars.
Arcades have always been a territorial place. You find one place, set up a reputation, and it becomes
your own "stomping ground". New people aren't exactly welcomed with open arms, and in order to get
accepted as a regular, you had to prove yourself. Something that isn't easy to do, considering the fact that the
regulars usually have had practice against a wide range of competition, especially in such a large arcade as this
one. Considering the fact that I have barely played any games on a competitive level, my chances were next to
nil…
All the more reason to test the odds…
I decided I would start with something fairly simple. After wandering around the arcade a bit, staring
over a few shoulders, and getting a few more glares, I finally came across a large crowd. I began to squeeze
through it, in hopes of getting a better view of what the commotion was about. I finally broke through…and
found myself looking at one of the most ridiculous feats of flexibility I had ever seen in an arcade. The boy who
was playing was no older than myself, but he was well built. Tall, with short hair and a powerful physique. He
wore a school uniform, with the name of the school on the front pocket of his shirt. And he was wailing on the
DDR pad. His feet were defying physics, whipping every which way at once without ever staying in one place.
He would attempt to pull off cool poses during the breaks in the music, and even held on to the bar at times to
enable him to use his hand on the pad. I would have almost been impressed, if he weren't so full of himself.
Finally, the song ended, and he turned around with his fist in the air as his loving audience cheered him on. I
merely gave him a condescending smirk, which he seemed to immediately notice.
"So, you weren't impressed by my little performance, pal?" He asked in a voice that grated the very
inner workings of my brain. The crowd became a hush as they began to stare at me, the insolent newcomer.
"It was exactly that, a good performance," I quipped back, "but you shouldn't be playing to show off.
This isn't about them," my arm made a quick sweep over the crowd; "It's about you. It's about playing what
you enjoy playing, for your own fulfillment. Believe me, it would have been far more impressive if you were
playing a song on HEAVY rather than Light, and actually attempted to push yourself."
His face turned red with rage. "If you think you're any good, why don't you step up and play me then!"
he yelled. Shrugging, I stepped up onto the pad and inserted my yen. A few whispers began to travel through
the crowd, as they all tried to understand why this newcomer is so desperate to get slaughtered.
"Tell you what, kid, since you actually want to challenge me, you get to pick the song." he jeered. I
scrolled through the songs until I found the one I wanted, and confirmed my selection.
"Wow, 4 feet!" he exclaimed. "You really are brave, aren't you?"
"4 feet on Normal, pal," I replied, "It's 6 on Heavy."
"W-wait…We're playing Heavy?"
"Of course," I said with a smirk, "What did you think?"
"Well…" he quickly regained his composure, "Well, I just figured that a scrawny guy like yourself
wouldn't want to even attempt something as hard as Heavy, especially against a pro like me."
I stared him down for a minute, and he glared back at me, hoping to disguise his now shooting fear. I
turned back to the screen, pressed start, and we began.
The pulsing beat of the song filled the air, and a blaze of color flashed across the screen. Then the
arrows began. There was a multitude of them, all scrolling onto the screen at once. I could almost imagine
myself tripping over my own feet trying to do these motions. I shook the fear away quickly.
One foot at a time…
I began to stop. One foot at a time. Not think about the crowd, not thinking about the boy next to me.
Just the arrows.
One foot at a time…
I got into a groove. Great, perfect, great, great, perfect. I slowly felt myself becoming calmer as the
song continued. Too bad the same couldn't be said for my opponent. Over the music could be heard his
stomping, screaming and swearing. I smiled in satisfaction…only to trip up the next arrow. I quickly recovered
before I could fall.
Just listen to the beat…
Giving myself a moment, I returned to my stomping. The arrows, although moving at the same speed as
always, appeared just a bit slower to my eyes now, as my reflexes became more attuned to the music. Finally,
the song ended. It was time for the judgment. My opponent and I stared at the screen in anticipation. For
him…a solid, C…for me…an A. He became slack-jawed as he turned to stare at me. I simply stepped off the
pad. The crowd around the machine parted, and I began to walk through. Then I let my pride get the best of
me. I turned around, and, with a grin on my face, gave the other boy the finger.
"WHY YOU SUNNOVA…!"
He leapt off of the pad and ran after me as a dashed towards the exit. I took a leap over the change
machine, charged through the exit, and slammed the door shut in time to hear a convincing thud as he landed
headfirst into it. With a satisfactory nod, I started walking home…until I remembered something. The name on
the front pocket of his shirt…
"Oh shit! He goes to my new school!"