*3 days before Shido's first meeting with Rita Rosseweisse*

Styrm_Lancer. Yuzu_Yama. Two new faces to the Homu Fighter H fighting game community who had taken the scene by storm, shooting up through the ranks in record time after appearing from seemingly nowhere. No one has seen their faces, nor had anyone ever heard of these two mysterious players before, but no one could deny that their skill was undeniable... even if their personalities could be, at best, described as eccentric.

So great an impact had they left upon the fighting community, in fact, that they had earned the attention of one certain, infamous player known far and wide throughout the HFH community. Her name?

"Target identified. The Bronya shall initiate engagement procedures."

"Oho? 'Alloy_Bronya'?" Kaguya spoke, testing the new name upon her lips as a new challenge invitation appeared in her inbox. "Kukuku, very well, naive child. I shall grant thee a swift trip into the depths of despair, just as you wish!" Without hesitation, Kaguya accepted the challenge, fully confident in the chances of her victory. The character selection screen popped up, and Kaguya selected her character immediately: Hotaro, an eccentric purple rabbit widely considered to be one of the hardest characters to learn, yet one that Kaguya picked up on almost immediately. Alloy_Bronya locked in Homu, and at that moment, Kaguya felt any remaining, miniscule fragments of doubt vanish into thin air. The generic face of Homu Fighter H, he was considered to be one of the easiest to pick up... and yet, at the same time, one of the weakest characters in the game. "Kukuku... a foolish child indeed." Kaguya taunted. With a smug grin, Kaguya awaited the match start, watching as the timer counted down from three. When it hit 0, the match began.

The match lasted a full 10 seconds.

Kaguya's mouth all but dropped to the floor, the Yamai twin left speechless as a defeat message popped up on her screen. Homu stood victorious over the defeated body of Hotaro as Alloy_Bronya claimed a flawless victory. "B-but... how...?" Kaguya muttered, her expression filled with pure disbelief at the sight of the defeated Hotaro. She grit her teeth. No... as much as it hurts, I lost fair and square. Such is the punishment for mine hubris... I'll send them a compliment, but this rivalry is far from over.

"'Kuku... impressive, my opponent. It has been countless millennia since one such as I has felt such a thorough defeat, and with a character I thought little of at that! Truly, I must compliment thine skill, far above that of any normal mortal. Know this, however; our bout is far from over! We shall duel once more come the dawn's light, and the Styrm_Lancer shall claim victory overall!'"

"There..." Kaguya spoke, satisfied. "That should be good enough." She looked over the message for any typo's, and, after failing to notice any, sent the message off to Alloy_Bronya's inbox. A few moments later, she received a quick response.

"'Get rekt, nerd.'"

"Hah!?" Kaguya roared in a fit of rage. "Who the hell does this brat think they are!?" In blind fury, Kaguya demanded a rematch on the spot. One thing changed, at least.

The match lasted 8 seconds instead of 10.

"Why!?" Kaguya shouted, slamming her fists down on the couch. "No! I refuse! We're going again, Alloy_Bronya!"

Once more, 8 seconds. And the match after that was an incredible 7 seconds!

Each round, Kaguya's skill devolved with her rage whilst Alloy_Bronya's only increased, learning Kaguya's patterns as the Yamai twin spiralled into a defeat fueled blood rage. The final rematch ended with Kaguya's remote being chucked through the tv screen, piercing the screen entirely and the wall behind it, leaving a massive hole and Kaguya controller-less as she realized what she did. The orange haired girl gawked at the sight of the massive hole, caught off guard by her own strength. Her gaze slowly fell down to her opened hand, a blank expression upon her face as she tried to understand what just happened. She failed to notice the two individuals who walked into the living room behind her at that moment.

"K-Kaguya...?" Spoke the shocked voice of one Shido Itsuka.

"Amazement. Is Kaguya a gorilla?" Spoke the voice of her twin sister, Yuzuru.

"Wha-!? S-Shido...? Y-Yuzuru...?" Kaguya spun on the spot to face the two standing behind her, her face slowly turning a deep shade of red in the process. "I-I... t-this- I didn't mean to..." Kaguya failed to form a coherent sentence as tears began to well up in her eyes. Shido didn't waste a moment, darting forward and pulling the Yamai twin into a tight embrace as she began to bawl, gently patting her head with a bitter smile. Kaguya returned the hug in full as she buried her head in his chest, wetting his shirt with her tears as she let out all her frustration and confusion to the young man.

"There, there..." Shido spoke, his tone comforting as he pulled her all the closer. "We'll have Ratatoskr fix it right up, all right? Don't worry, I'm not mad. What happened?"

"i-I... I got challenged by s-some b-brat named.. A-Alloy_Bronya... I lost, a-and I tried... tried to compliment them... a-and..." Kaguya sniffled, losing track of her words for just a moment. She took a few deep breaths before continuing, telling them the entire story as the two listened close. Once she finished, Shido could only reply with an awkward laugh before Kaguya forced him to continue comforting her. Meanwhile, Yuzuru stepped away, an icy glare fixated upon the destroyed television with one thought on her mind.

Alloy_Bronya... She thought to herself. Declaration: Yuzuru shall avenge Kaguya for this. Anticipation: Just you wait...

Author's Notes:

Hi every buddy~! DrMaseus here, just wanting to give a few updates.

1. Sorry for the delay on the next chapter, there were a couple of things that happened stopping me from writing, the first being I went on a vacation last week, and the second being due to having a hard time getting what I want down for the next chapter.

2. This little story here is meant to provide a bit of reading in the meantime, alongside serving as a fun little side bit just in general. I plan on sprinkling little stories like this throughout this fic as extra flavor, kind of in the sense as Date A Live's encore or Honka Impact's mangas.

3. As for the next chapter, I think I've finally settled on what I want it to contain, so hopefully the wait won't be too much longer. Until then, stay tuned~!