Ok...sorry...here we go!
Chocolatelover1: Sorry I weirded you out...I tried to make up for it in this chapter
Serpent-vampfreak: Thanks for reviewing!
Standard disclaimers apply
Chapter 8
(Cassandra)
As soon as school let out I grabbed Aggie and told her to tell Yami I was going to the mall and I'd be back by eleven. Since it was Friday, we were allowed to wear casual clothing. I had dug through my bags and pulled out my favorite pair of black pants, I had gotten them at Hot Topic, fifty-five dollars, was how much they had cost. Chains hung off the back and the edges of the pockets had blood red lace on them. On top I had a spaghetti strap shirt of the same color as the lace, while on my wrists I wore black leather wrist protectors.
The quest for the perfect arcade was on; I needed to find a nice arcade that had the games I liked yet wasn't too big to attract attention. I didn't like people always watching me. The map I had, had Yugi mark up was in my back pocket with my wallet, purses are just too much to deal with. Wandering the streets I quickly found the places but marked them off. Some were too dirty, others too big (if they were too big you never got to do anything) and some just didn't float my boat.
Around seven I came across a small arcade that was situated in between a seedy looking bar and a hopping dance club. It was called The Hole. When I walked in I found it clean and comfortable, there were kids playing games, but it wasn't too crowded. Picking my way through the games I mentally checked off all the ones that were the same or similar to the ones I had enjoyed over in America. Then I came upon It, the ultimate game. Pump It Up.
There were five guys hanging around the game, one was playing, while another was on the pad next to him playing the song without being scored. Another two were sitting on crates talking, while the last was mopping his face with a paper towel. Meandering over to the token machine I exchanged money for tokens and stood a short distance away to watch. The chill of the September air had forced me into my black jean jacket, but even though I was inside I kept it on.
It was so much fun to watch them play and listen to their banter. I soon figured out that two of them were foreign, brothers most likely for the way they interacted. The other three were Japanese and they were less skilled at the game. I wanted to play Pump It Up, but I didn't want to disrupt their fun for two reasons: 1) I would feel stupid and 2) I don't think they'd really care what I wanted. As I was about to leave and go look for another arcade one of them approached me.
"You wanna try?" It was one of the foreigners, his Japanese wasn't that good. His shoulder length black hair was pulled back in a ponytail and I was a little unnerved by the directness of his gold gaze. Blinking unconcernedly I commanded myself to be calm.
"I would like to, but it seems it's claimed for the rest of the night." I responded coolly, shrugging one shoulder.
"I'm playing next so if you'd like you can go instead," he offered. "I'm going to be here until closing so it doesn't matter." The song ended and the two who had been on jumped off laughing and joking.
"I'd like that." I reached in my pocket and pulled out the amount of tokens necessary.
"You're up Andreas," one of his friends called wiping sweat off of his face with a paper towel.
"This one's going to go before me, she's been waiting a while," he told them as I shed my jacket and tossed it on the floor. I knew all of their eyes were on me, but I refused to be intimidated as I slid the tokens in. Agilely I hopped on the 'stage' and hit the middle step of the right half before selected the arcade music mix. Shoving my short hair out of my eyes I upped the speed to times four and then skipped around trying to find the song I wanted. They had a few that I liked, but most of them were ones I didn't know. A few weeks had passed since the last time I had played this game and I needed a good warm-up song. Carefully I chose one that I had played a few times before, the song was called, Pump Me Amadeus. Selecting it I chose crazy mode and grasped the bar, preparing myself for what was to come.
The music started and I felt myself separate from the here and now. It flowed into my system and I focused in on the steps that flashed up on the screen. I barely processed the steps before my feet were tapping them out. It was the sweetest thing ever, to just give my soul up and pound away to the beat. The next song would have to be something I could really dance to, but for now I would enjoy the song. After three more songs, one of which was a bonus song for getting good marks on the first three, I relinquished my spot to the others.
"Very good!" Andreas grinned at me and I couldn't help but smile back. Turning to see where my jacket was I found Andreas' assumed brother leaning against one of the games watching me. Startled and a little thrown I looked him right in the eyes thinking to intimidate him, but to no avail. His copper eyes scrutinized me before dismissing me to go look at something else.
"You're pretty good." One of the other guys can up beside me. "My name is Daichi." He had shaggy dark brown hair and equally dark eyes. "My cousin over there is Arata." Daichi gestured toward the taller and thinner of the other two who were playing. "The one he is playing with is Nibori and Enrikos over there is Andreas' brother."
"I'm Cassandra, I'm from America." I nodded at him as a tiny girl with long black hair dashed in. She was out of breath and toting a heavy backpack.
"Nibori-san!" She called as she came to a stop next to the game and looked at the game they were playing. "Hello Arata-san!"
"That is Michiko," Daichi told me. "She comes as often as she can, but her parents are very strict about curfew, studies and who she hangs out with." Michiko sat down on the box next to the game a small smile pulling at her lips.
"Are you guys here every night?" I questioned.
"Yeah, usually, one if not all of us are here."
"Do you mind if I come here every now and then? I like this game and this is a nice arcade." I put the idea out and Daichi latched onto it instantly.
"That'd be great! We need one more person for a team, Michiko is too unpredictable, sometimes she can't come and we need six people!" Daichi looked at me hopefully and I hesitated to crush his dreams.
"I'll have to see about that," I told him cautiously.
"Ok, well you might want to get your coins up if you want to play sometime tonight!" He went back over to the machine and I hesitantly followed him.
"Michiko, there is an opening at the restaurant I'm working at, I think you should take it, it would be good for you." Nibori continued to play while he spoke, his eyes glued to the screen.
"I can't Nibori-san, my school doesn't allow their students to get jobs." Michiko appeared crushed. "And I have so much work and my mother signed me up for night school as well."
"Oh well, thought you'd like to know," Nibori easily dismissed it, but it seemed to still bother Michiko.
"I'm sorry." She bowed her head and rifled through her backpack looking for something.
"Come on Michiko! You can't seriously be thinking of doing homework!" Arata exclaimed loudly startling her and causing her to flush bright red.
"I have to, I told my mother that I would." The red blush crept down her neck and made her ears glow. Avoiding eye-contact she pulled out a notebook that was crammed full of papers. "Nibori-san, you forgot your notebook in class today."
"Really? I didn't notice." He shrugged. "Thanks for picking it up for me."
"Are you going to play Michiko?" Enrikos came out of his shadow shrouded corner scaring the poor girl near to death.
"Um, I-I don't know." She gave him a wan, rather shaky smile.
"You should," Andreas slipped into the conversation. "You need practice, you are good."
"Maybe later," she hedged before diving into her textbook. Without another word, Enrikos got on the stage and slide his coins in. There are no words to describe how good he was, he aced every step, didn't use the bar and didn't appear to even be trying. I had picked this up as a hobby because I liked to dance, but it was easy to see that the guys here saw it as more than a hobby, if I was to be as good as them, or even earn their respect I was going to have to put a little more in. I was going to need money to do that.
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