Hey there readers! I'm back and you know what that means? Another chapter! Hope you enjoy it! And Thanks again to NeoNimbus for the help!
It was another Saturday afternoon in Aberdale; the sky was as blue as the ocean sea with very few clouds and the cooling breeze made it the perfect day to play outside and enjoy the weekend. But in one particular case for the trio, however, they are stuck at home doing weekend homework, courtesy of their teacher Mr. Bulsara, much to their dismay.
"Ack!" A frustrated Clarence threw his pencil on the floor. "This is SO hard!"
"You're telling me!" Sumo groaned, who was busy with his homework on his friend's bed until he decided to stop and throw his pen on the floor in frustration.
"For once, I agree," Jeff stretched his arms out from fatigue.
Just then, the door opened, revealing Mary, as she peeked in to check on them.
"Hey boys…" the mother happily greeted. "Thanks to my job going really well, I'm in the mood to go to the mall. Want to join?"
"Yes!" Clarence happily jumped up off his seat, with Sumo and Jeff joining up with their friend shortly afterwards.
"Heck yeah! Anything to get us away from finishing homework," Sumo spoke up.
"We sure could use a break," Jeff let out a sigh of relief.
"Well get yourselves ready then," Mary said, leaving the room, as the trio got their shoes on and followed her out of the house and into the car, with Chad joining them in tow.
Fifteen minutes later…
"Any day now…" Mary was starting to feel her blood pressure rising up from the lack of movement from the line, gripping the car wheel very tightly in frustration, while Chad dozed off, snoring loudly and the trio just waited, but boredom soon struck them.
"Ugh! This is boring!" A frustrated Sumo exclaimed.
Clarence, meanwhile, looked outside and noticed that the Game Dump was right across where they were, as an idea came to him.
"Mom!"
"Yes, Clarence?" Mary turned around, all the while keeping herself calm.
"Can we get out and go to the Game Dump?" he asked, as Mary looked in her son's direction.
Jeff looked out and saw the place as well. "Good idea, Clarence! It will give us something to do."
"Anything but sitting here is better," Sumo interjected.
"Oh, sure!" Mary agreed. "You boys have fun in there!"
The trio exited the vehicle and sprinted towards the store, as Clarence opened the door and let his friends inside. The boys were greeted with the cool breeze from the air conditioner, a welcoming change from staying outside after several long minutes from the scorching heat. It was also nicely organized, and the games were stacked in alphabetical order and stationed based on what systems the games were for, while the gaming consoles were up on display on the wall behind the cashier's desk.
"Ah, much better." Sumo smiled.
Clarence, on the other hand, observed the store and saw a familiar face in the handheld games section. It was none other than his classmate and friend Try, who was busy checking out a game that happened to catch his interest.
"Hey Try!" Clarence ran up to his friend, with Sumo and Jeff following him.
Try himself turned around and saw the trio coming at him. "Oh hey, you guys. Quite a surprise to see you here today."
"It's kind of a long story…" Clarence began.
"...And that's why we're here right now," once Clarence was done explaining, all Try can do was express his sympathy to the trio.
"Sorry to hear about that. I can relate."
"Thanks," Sumo said, before looking at Try's handheld with curiosity. "What game is that?"
"Oh, this?" Try shaking his head. "I'm just browsing through the shelves, see if I can find a game that catches my interest."
"I'm guessing that you haven't found anything yet," Jeff noted.
Try nods his head in confirmation. "I'm gonna continue on from here."
"Alrighty then."
And with that, the trio left their classmate at the handheld's section.
"So what do you want to do?" Clarence asked.
"Oh! Let's play on one of the consoles on display." Sumo pointed his fingers at the displays near the entrance.
"Race you there!" Clarence shouted.
They both ran up to the booth and started playing. with Jeff only watching them play. In the midst of their fun, though, he turned to the entrance and saw a familiar face coming in. To his surprise, it was Haru herself, wearing a white peach-colored shirt, navy blue jeans and red tennis shoes. She also happens to have two girls behind her, with one sprinting towards the handheld section, while the other remained at Haru's side.
The first girl had dark brown eyes, pale but slightly tanned skin and long blinding bangs platinum blonde hair. She was rather tall, easily towering over both Haru and the other girl and wore a simple pair of sky-blue jeans, a gold yellow short sleeve shirt and white shoes. The second girl had pale skin, ocean blue eyes and long raven hair tied into twin tails and in contrast with the first girl, she was very short, more so than Haru and wore an orchid dress with lavender sleeves, frills, and collar, as well as two rosewood hair ribbons and black shoes. She also wore a pair of white pantyhose.
It was then that Jeff focused his attention on the raven hair girl, prompting her to quickly hide behind Haru.
"Are you okay, Aki?" Haru pressed her concern.
"Yeah," Aki replied. "It's just that a boy saw me, that's all,"
She then pointed towards Jeff, prompting Haru to turn around and saw him and his friends.
"Huh, fancy to see you guys here," Haru commented.
"Likewise," Jeff nodded. "How are you?"
"My day has been good. Finished my homework earlier and the twins became restless," Haru replied. "I don't mind thought since I wanted to get some fresh air anyway."
"I can relate.." Jeff began. "We took a break from homework and joined up with Mrs. Wendle and Chad for a drive to the mall. We're just here to pass the time for Mrs. Wendle to get her car washed across from here."
"Wait, Mrs. Wendle in that LONG line?" a surprised Haru asked.
"Unfortunately," Jeff replied. "So we're going to be here for a while."
"Sorry to hear about that." Haru expressed her sympathies.
Just then, the slightly tanned-skinned girl ran up towards the group with a smile on her face. "Hey Haru, you think you can buy this for me?" She held out a game titled "Bloodlust", its name says it all.
"Fuyu, that game is too dark and mature and hard as nails," Haru points out. "Besides, I'm pretty sure that you'll rage quit and break another controller, just like the last several few games back home."
"This time will be different!" Fuyu insisted.
"You said that last time!" Haru countered.
"Come on, Haru!" Fuyu pleaded at this point.
"The answer is still no," Haru stood her ground.
"Fine…" Reluctantly, Fuyu turned around and put the game back in its place.
"Are these your siblings?" Jeff asked.
"Yeah, they are," Haru answered. "The girl beside me is Aki and the girl that just now groaned is Fuyu."
"Ah," Jeff turned his attention to Aki, who was standing next to Haru, emotionless. "Nice to meet you, Aki."
Aki didn't respond and just quietly stared at Jeff for the longest time, before focusing her attention elsewhere.
"Sorry about that. Aki is rather quiet." Haru apologized to Jeff. "Don't let that get to you."
"It's fine, but I'll admit, I was worried I might have accidentally upset her or something," Jeff sheepishly rubbed his head.
"You're fine, but I appreciate your concerns," Haru said.
Before Jeff can speak, Clarence and Sumo cheered as their gaming session came to an end and decided to join up with their friend, the former being surprised to see Haru but was happy regardless.
"Hey Haru!" Clarence greeted her, before taking notice of Aki. "Oh, hello there!"
"Clarence, try to be too loud with her," Jeff informed his friend. "She's rather shy."
"Oh, sorry," Clarence apologized.
"Lame," Sumo let out a groan, as Jeff and Clarence frowned upon hearing this.
"Did you call my sister lame?" The gang turned around and saw an angry Fuyu stomping towards them.
"Uh oh," Jeff nervously gulped. "Sumo didn't mean that."
"Like he said," Clarence interjected.
"Fuyu, calm down," Haru spoke up. "You don't want to get kicked out, do ya?"
Fuyu glared silently at Sumo, who looked ready to stand his ground, while Haru was ready to intervene in case the worst happened. Fuyu then turned her attention to Aki, whom, aside from looking down to the ground, didn't look like she was offended one bit.
"Fine, you win," Fuyu grudgingly backed off. "But who are they, Haru?"
"These are my classmates," she answered.
Hearing this suddenly got Fuyu rather intrigued. "Oh! I see! Nice to meet you! Thank you for being friends with Haru. Means a lot to me."
"They're not my friends," Haru objected. "We're just classmates, nothing more."
Fuyu bashfully rubbed her head. "Still, I'm happy they're looking out for you, Haru."
"Jeez Fuyu, I'm not a child!" Haru was becoming quite annoyed by her sister's insistence.
"Technically, you are." Jeff quipped, causing Sumo and Fuyu to laugh, while Haru glared at him.
"Still, at least Haru knows how to pick and choose friends carefully," Fuyu said. "Unlike my sister."
"Easy for you to say…" Aki muttered, glaring at Fuyu.
"Anyway, we haven't introduced ourselves!" Clarence said. "I'm Clarence, and this is Jeff and this is Sumo."
"Sup," Sumo waved.
"A pleasure to meet you," Jeff nodded.
"Put it there!" Fuyu reached out her hand to shake Clarence's hand…only to form a fist and punch the boy where the sun didn't shine, resulting in a blood-culturing scream that echoed throughout the store. Clarence collapsed on the floor from the pain, while Sumo and Jeff quickly gathered around their friend, clearly concerned for his well-being. Fuyu, meanwhile, formed a sadistic grin, while Haru and Aki looked at her with shock and horror.
"Clarence! Are you okay?" Jeff asked.
"I-I'm fine..." Clarence replied in a squeaky mouse tone.
"Hey! What was that for?!" Sumo angrily demanded.
"For having Haru doing weekend homework due to that little stunt of yours!" An equally furious Fuyu replied rather bluntly.
"Still, you shouldn't have punched Clarence like that!" Jeff shouted, just as mad as Sumo.
"Fuyu, apologize to him!" Haru demanded.
"But Haru, these guys are the reasons why you were punished! I did it in the name of justice!"
"Fuyu, It's not the end of the world, okay?" Haru then sighed and rubbed her temples. "Yes, they shouldn't have done that at all, but that doesn't mean you get the right to punch others! ESPECIALLY down there! That was overkill!"
Fuyu looked away, now feeling a bit ashamed of her action, before walking towards the trio and helping Sumo and Jeff to get Clarence on his feet and escort him to a corner so he could sit and recover.
"Sorry about punching your friend." Fuyu apologizes, looking away in shame.
"It's fine…" Jeff accepted her apology. "Just…please don't do that again."
Fuyu only nodded her head, before heading to the door.
"Fuyu, where are you going?" Aki asked.
"To get ice for Clarence," Fuyu replied, before leaving the store.
"Are you gonna go after your sister?" Sumo asked Haru.
"Nah, she can handle being on her own."
A short time passed and Fuyu came back carrying a large bag of ice.
"Here, use this on the area where I punched you," Fuyu said, handing the ice bag to Clarence, who grabbed it without protest and laid it in front of him.
"Ah, much better." A relieved Clarence said before facing Fuyu. "Thank you so much."
"I-it's nothing." Fuyu looked away from Clarence nervously.
For the next thirty minutes, the group talked and looked around the shop, enjoying each other's company. Despite not having much aside from the gaming booth, the kids found ways to have fun; the trio checked outside once a while to see where Mary and Chad were in line; while they had moved several distances upward since then, it was still a lengthy wait to go. Regardless, though, they made the most of their time while they were here. Even better,the pain Clarence endured faded away, thanks to the ice bag, allowing the boy to get back on his feet, much to everyone's relief.
"Alright!" A happy Haru exclaimed, "That's the game I'm looking for!"
She went up to the game, pleased to see it in person. Just as she laid her hand on it, however, she found that someone's hand grabbed it. She turned around and saw that the other person was none other than her classmate, Try.
"Oh," Try spoke up. "Sorry about that. Didn't mean my hand collided with yours."
Haru didn't say anything and kept her grip on the game box, as Try unsuccessfully yanked the box out of her hand.
"Uh, can you please let go?" Try asked.
"No," Haru declined. "I've been looking for this game for weeks, so I'm not giving that game up."
"Let go!" Try shouted, becoming annoyed by Haru's stubbornness.
"No way!" she tightened her grip.
Both Try and Haru glared intensely at each other, neither letting up on surrendering the copy, just as Clarence, Sumo, Jeff, Aki and Fuyu saw this and decided to intervene.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Clarence gets in between his two classmates. "Let's resolve this peacefully."
"How?" Try asked.
"By playing rock, paper, scissors," Clarence suggested
"Why don't we just ask the employee?" Jeff chimed in. "I'm sure there is more than one copy."
"Good Idea," Fuyu agreed, before walking up to the counter, where an employee was finally present. "Hey, do you have any more copies of the game that these two are holding?"
"What is the game called?" the female employee asked, completely apathetic about her work and busy being on her phone.
" Street Gamer Kombat!" Haru and Try replied in unison.
"Ugh, no need to shout," The female employee rolled her eyes, before opening one of the locked drawers and strolling through a variety of sealed copies of games. Eventually, she managed to find a copy of the game and looked for more potential copies of the same name, before closing the drawer and facing the kids with a look of disappointment.
"Sorry to say this, but there is only one copy left."
"...It seems that we are in a predicament," Haru said, ominously staring at her classmate.
"Looks like it," Try agreed, reacting in a similar manner.
"Come on, let's not fight." Clarence pleaded.
"Actually, I think you should," Sumo spoke with encouragement.
"What?!" Both Clarence and Jeff shouted in shocked unison.
"Great idea, Sumo!" Fuyu agreed with the rambunctious. "Haru, kick his arse!"
Aki was the only one who didn't say anything but nevertheless watched from a distance with intrigue.
"Settling this through combat is like up my alley," Haru said, before facing Aki and Fuyu. "You two hold on to the game."
Both girls nodded and grabbed the game out of her and Try's hands.
"Hold on there, a fight will make things worse," Try attempted to reason with Haru.
Haru however, proceeds to shake her arms to loosen her body up before facing Try, forming a stance, ready to make the first strike, just as a fed-up Clarence finally gets between the two.
"Haru, I don't like what you're doing, but if you want to fight, you got yourself one! I'll fight you on Try's behalf!" Clarence declared.
Everyone was stunned by the usually optimistic boy's intention, save for the employee, who was busy looking through her phone. Try, in particular, wasn't happy about someone fighting on his behalf, but wisely chose not to say much at the moment.
"You want to fight me over Try's behalf? That's fine," Haru accepted, as she and Clarence faced each other off. Soon enough, everything around them began to take shape.
Haru VS Clarence
"You know, Clarence…" Haru began. "You can still back out. Just surrender the copy and we can move on, okay?"
"No, I'm not going to hand it over." Clarence remained steadfast. Tempting as it was, it would go against everything he stands for.
"Don't say I didn't warn you," Haru got ready to engage and Clarence did the same. The crowd was going wild, cheering loudly that could be heard throughout the building, while the female employee just had her attention focused on her cell phone as usual.
Duel 1
Fight!
Clarence made the first move and rushed towards Haru, only for the latter to counter him with a swift kick to the stomach, knocking him down.
"Come on now," Haru spoke, unimpressed by her opponent's recklessness. "You can do much better than that."
Gritting his teeth, Clarence got back on his feet and charged an attack, with his hands forming blue energy.
"What are you doing?" Haru raised her eyebrow.
The energy formed into a round sphere and Clarence shouted out…
"Hadoken!"
He shot the energy sphere at Haru...only for Haru to dodge it. Feeling confident, Haru began to charge back, only for Clarence to launch multiple Hadokens at her.
"Are you serious?! Spamming the same move over and over again?!" Haru complained as she took the barrage of Hadoken until she couldn't take any more damage even as she blocked it until…
K.O!
"Are you for real?" A defeated Haru collapsed on the floor and Clarence made a victory pose.
Duel 2
Fight!
Clarence made his move, confident by his last round got on the offensive.
However, He was in a rude awakening when Haru made her move; having been defeated by a cheap tactic, she wasted no time to go on the offensive and one by one, Haru dodged almost any attacks, avoiding them with superhuman speed and reaction, before delivering several kicks with near-instant speed, precision and accuracy, forcing Clarence to go on the defensive. Even with that, though, Haru didn't stop her relentless attacks and managed to score a few combos, eventually landing the final blow via a hard kick in the gut, causing Clarence to fly backward and collapse on top of one of the merchandise bins.
Haru ended the round with a victory pose for herself.
Final Duel
Fight!
With one last round that stood between victory and defeat, both combatants were interrupted by Fuyu and Try.
"No way I'm letting Haru lose!" Fuyu declared.
"As much as I don't like this, I'm not letting you hurt Clarence any longer!" Try, likewise, also objected as well
"Tag team match? Let's go!" Sumo excitedly cheered on.
"Why does this have to escalate this quickly?" Jeff shook his head at the whole situation.
He then felt his shirt being pulled and saw the person who was doing it: it was Aki herself.
"I can relate," The quiet girl spoke. "Haru and I had to deal with Fuyu's loud antics so many times that I lost count."
"Is that so?" Jeff couldn't help but express sympathy to Aki. "I'm so sorry about that."
Aki shook her head before she spoke. "Thanks, though I have to wonder."
"Wonder what?" Jeff asked, curious about what the girl had to say.
Before Aki can resume, All four combatants unleashed their ultimate attacks: Clarence and Fuyu unleashed a huge energy wave that both collided with each other, resulting in a beam struggle, while Try and Haru launched a flurry of attacks that also collided with each other, only leading to an intense match of happy slaps instead. However, the tide of the match quickly changed when Fuyu and Clarence lost control of their respective attacks, resulting in Haru and Try getting caught in their attack before they themselves got by each other's beam attacks. The end resulted in the four combatants getting K.O.'ed at the same time, ending the match in a draw, along with Clarence's imagination with it.
"CLARENCE, WAKE UP!"
Letting out a painful groan, Clarence slowly opened his eyes and was greeted with a wave from Sumo and an unfamiliar room. He slowly got up on his feet and right in front of him were several metal bars in close proximity to each other. It didn't take him too long to realize where they were at.
"Why are we in jail?!" A shocked Clarence asked.
"For that little fight you, Try, Fuyu, and Haru had," Jeff spoke in a deadpan manner.
"How bad was it?"
"Well…You guys trashed the whole store," Aki spoke up.
"We did not!" Fuyu folded her arms. "Maybe just half the store."
Haru glared at her younger sibling, causing Fuyu to bashfully scratch her cheek. "Okay, more than half the store…about seventy-five percent? Yeah, that sounds about right."
"And that's any better how?" Jeff asked, crossing his arms.
"Least we didn't destroy the whole place," Fuyu replied, while Sumo shrugged.
Jeff let out a frustrated side and shook his head, as could do nothing but wait for the moment.
"Anyway, are you guys okay?" a concerned Clarence asked Try, Haru, and Fuyu.
"I'm fine," Haru answered. "Though I wish we didn't get locked up."
"If you guys haven't butted heads, we wouldn't be here," Jeff bluntly reminded her.
"Still was it cool that we had powers?!" Clarence asked, clearly excited about what went down.
"Uh, what are you talking about?" Aki raised her eye in confusion.
"Come on I launched a lot of energy balls at Haru! And that beam clash, that was so intense!" Clarence went on, leaving the rest of the gang confused.
"Sorry about Clarence, he has a large imagination." Jeff apologizes on his friend's behalf.
"I can REALLY see that," Aki commented.
Haru let out a sigh, as she looked away before facing Try, who was busy sitting in a corner. She then turned her attention to her siblings, with the rest of the gang just sitting there, with Sumo observing his surroundings before his eyes widened and faced the group.
"Everyone, come here," he ordered, as everyone gathered around him.
"What is it?" Aki was the first to ask.
"I think I found a way on how to get out of here." Sumo pointed to the desk, where the cell keys are. "We can try snatching them!"
"How?" Try asked.
"You see…" Sumo began to explain his plan.
It was another boring night at the cell, but apart from keeping an eye on a bunch of rambunctious kids, it was otherwise pretty slow. From what he was told about the incident, they were fighting over a single copy of a game and somehow managed to thrash the entire game store in a matter of several minutes. Perhaps now that some time in the jailhouse should teach them a lesson on fighting over something so trivial in the future.
"HELP! HELP!"
Alarmed by this, the guard heard the outcry from one of the kids and ran up to their cell.
"What's going on?" he asked before he saw Clarence lying on the ground, gripping his shirt and making wheezing noises, as Try, Sumo and Jeff were surrounding him and Aki, trying to help the situation, while Fuyu and Haru were sitting in the back, minding their own business.
"This boy needs to go to the doctor!" Aki frantically replied. "He has a high fever and now he has trouble breathing!"
"Oh no! Hold on!" The officer went to the desk, grabbed the keys, and opened the door. "I'll take the boy to the hospital. Do any of you kids have a phone number to contact your parents?"
"Yes I do," Sumo calmly replied.
"Thank you, officer," Aki let out a sigh of relief.
"It's no trouble." The officer replied.
Just then, the officer felt a surge of electricity coursing through his whole body, before he suddenly collapsed down on the floor, as Haru was holding a taser, having managed to discreetly snatch it from the now unconscious officer. Everyone got on their feet and walked out of their cell and closed the door, with Aki locking the officer in.
"Well, that was easy," Haru said, putting the taser on the officer's desk.
"But how are we gonna escape?" Jeff asked. "We can't go out through the front door. The other officers will catch us!"
The gang starts observing their surroundings to find a way out. Luckily for them, Fuyu spotted a vent located at the left corner by the restroom.
"There! We can escape from that vent!" Fuyu ran towards it and tore off the hatch, revealing the back alley. Soon, everyone went through the open hatch one by one, relieved that they were now free, for they felt the cool breeze through the air.
"Oh yeah," Sumo happily jumped in joy with his freedom.
"So glad that we're free," Aki agreed. "I really didn't want to spend the rest of my day in a jail cell."
"Agreed," Haru nodded her head, dusting herself off, as the group walked out of the alleyway and now standing on the sidewalk.
"That's great and all, but how are we gonna get back to Mary and Chad?" Jeff asked. "They're probably looking for us by now."
Sumo looked around and immediately spotted a few mountains from a distance. "Guys! We're near my house!"
"Wait, what?" Fuyu asked, arched her eyebrow.
"You're right, Sumo!" Jeff simply smiled. "And there they are!"
The rest of the gang looked at Jeff's direction and sure enough, they saw the mountain in the distance. As they pondered about their next move, though,, a public bus approached them, as the gang was standing right at the bus stop.
"Well, that was convenient," Try remarked.
"But I don't have any money," Clarence said.
"Me either," Sumo added.
"Ugh, me as well." Jeff stated.
"Here, I'll pay for your rides," Try offered his help..
"Are you sure?" Jeff asked, surprised by his generosity.
"I insist."
"Thank you, Try!" Clarence, along with Jeff and Sumo, appreciate his help.
The gang got on the bus and as promised, Try paid the trios' bus fare, while Haru paid for her and her siblings and took a few empty seats. Fortunately, the bus was empty, so they have the whole ride for themselves.
As the bus is covering tracks, Haru turns her attention to Try. "Now that we're free, Let's settle the score on who's getting the last copy of Street Gamer Kombat."
"Are you still on to that?! Geez! Can't you let it go?" An exacerbated Try said.
"Aren't you still going back to Game Dump?" Haru asked.
"Yes, I am," Try admitted.
"Well, I can't have you getting the last copy." Haru vowed.
"I hope you guys don't fight again," Jeff reminded them, shaking his head.
"No, I have a better idea. How about we resolve this with a race?" Haru suggested.
"A race?" Try was skeptical of Haru's suggestion.
"Of course. When we get to our stop, whoever gets to Game Dump first wins the last copy," she said.
"Won't the bus take us back there?" Sumo interjected.
"Hey, excuse me, bus driver!" Clarence shouted. "Will you take us to the Game Dump?"
"Sorry kids, I'll be going off route, but the nearest stop from there is coming up."
"That's fair," Haru accepted, before facing Try. "So, what do you say?"
"...If it finally puts this ordeal to rest, I accept."
"That's great then!"
The trio can't help but discuss among themselves upon hearing this.
"You think this is going to end well?" Clarence asked.
"As much as I want to say yes, my gut suggests otherwise," A worried Jeff answered.
"Regardless, who's betting on who,?" Sumo asked. "My money is on Try."
"Are you serious about this, Sumo?" Jeff shook his head in response.
"Hey," Fuyu said as she walked towards the trio. "I overheard you making bets to see who will win."
"Well, Sumo is," Jeff corrected. "I'm not getting involved."
"And it feels wrong to put two people against each other," Clarence added.
"Well, my money goes on Haru," Fuyu smiled.
"Of course you would," Jeff remarked, rolling his eyes.
"You'll see," Fuyu spoke with confidence.
After the bus arrived at the nearest bus stop, Try and Haru hastily hopped off and began their race with little hesitation. As for the rest of the gang, they follow after them, trying to keep up with the duo; despite their efforts, they end up losing them, falling behind in the process. Try and Har, however, were too into the race to even take notice, but much to their surprise, both were on equal footing and despite using a few shortcuts, neither of them faltered and remained at each other's throat. Soon, both racers spotted the game dump from a distance.
"That game is as good as mine!" declared Try
"We'll see about that!" Haru dared her rival.
The two kids sprinted hard toward the door, having reached the entrance all at once and squeezed through the door, setting their sights on the last copy of Street Gamer Kombat. Both frantically looked for the game box, but it was nowhere in sight, eventually making their way to the counter. Fortunately for them, the employee this time was a different person altogether.
"Hey," Haru greeted the employee. "Do you have a copy of Street Gamer Kombat?"
The male employee gave her a sympathetic look. "Oh sorry. I sold the last copy not too long ago."
Both Haru and Try were shocked by the news and with nothing left to do, they left Game Dump in a sullen mood.
"じょうだんですか?! (Are you joking?!)" Haru angrily exclaimed, before calming herself down. "Well, there goes that."
"Looks like it," said a deadpanned Try.
Just then, Haru and Try saw Clarence, Sumo, Jeff, Fuyu, and Aki slowly catching up to them, as Haru and Try quickly ran towards them.
"Are you guys okay?" Try was the first to ask.
None of them didn't answer back, as they were busy catching their breath and covered in sweat.
"Oh no…we're fine…" Jeff replied, catching his breath."If you two…weren't arguing… the whole way through… trying to find you guys, none of this…would ever…happen.."
"...I'm sorry about leaving you all behind like that," said a remorseful Try.
"Yeah, we both got carried away," Haru bashfully rubbed her head.
Clarence casually waved his hand. "Oh, don't worry about it."
"Today was quite an interesting day," Sumo agreed.
"It could've been worse," Jeff remarked.
"Who won at the end?" Fuyu asked.
"It was a tie," was Try's answer. "But it was for nothing, as someone got the last copy."
Haru nodded her head. "It's true."
"Aw! That sucks!" Fuyu pouted.
Haru then noticed Aki staring at her coldly. "You're still mad at me, aren't you?"
"Very."
"Okay, how about I treat you to some ice cream?".
"Make it a banana split."
"...Fine."
Aki then tackled her sibling with a smile on her face. "YAY! You are forgiven! Banana split, here I come!"
"I hope I'm getting ice cream too!" Fuyu injected.
"Yeah, yeah," Haru simply said without a care in the world.
"Sweet!" Fuyu declared, before performing a victory pose.
Haru only rolled his eyes in response. "Well, it's time for us to go. I'll see you guys on Monday."
"Yeah, I need to get going too," Try said. "Bye, you guys!"
Clarence, Sumo, and Jeff waved at Try, Haru, Fuyu, and Aki, as they watched the four parting ways with them. Having spent enough time, the trio decided to head back to the car wash, where Mary and Chad were last seen. Much to their surprise, they spotted them in the vacuum section, as the car was nearly drying up.
"Hey boys!" Mary waved at them. "We're done cleaning the car. How was it? Did you three have a good time over at the Game Dump?"
"Yes we did!" A happy Clarence proclaimed. "We met a Haru and Try and th-"
He was cut off due to Jeff covering his mouth. "Yes! We had a great time! Isn't that right?"
Clarence looked at his friend and saw Jeff gritting his teeth through his smile, causing the boy to nod his head in response.
"Well, that's good to hear," Mary smiled at the trio, oblivious of what had occurred at the video game store. "Hop on in, boys!"
With that, the trio did as they were told and comfortably enjoyed the ride, as they headed straight back home after a very long day.
Officer Moody had just arrived at the police office ready to turn in and call it a day. Upon reaching the cells, she saw her co-worker locked behind a jail cell.
"Officer Moody! I'm so glad to see you!"
"Officer Andy, what in the world are you doing being locked up?!"
"Ugh, it's a long story. Can you free me?"
"Say no more and I have time to listen."
Office Moody proceeds to free her fellow co-worker while listening to what happens that lead to his predicament.
And that's all that I have for today. Do apologize for this chapter being a little short. I'll try and squeeze in one chapter before I work on a seasonal chapter. You heard right, for the first time ever, I'm going to tackle seasonal chapters and the first one up is Halloween! I'm very excited about working on it! And I hope you will be as well. I have been rather consistent and I hope that momentum will allow me to deliver on time.
Anyway, I hope you have a good day! See you next time! Ciao!
