Tasha got into contact with Skull, and they decided on where to have lunch. She said that it was out of the Plaza, but she wouldn’t tell you where, not expecting you to know it. But with a quick look around the area, you realized that you’d be having lunch at Crusty Sean’s, in Inkopolis Square.
‘So this is the transition between the Square and Plaza, huh? It’s not as far away as I thought it’d be.’
Your team makes it to the temporary counter that he has set up, since it seems Goggles has already destroyed the truck. Aloha spots you and waves you over. The table isn’t big enough for eight people- no, there’s one too many there. What’s Rider doing here? Oh, he must have just finished hero mode with Goggles.
You do a quick once-over of him, making sure that he hasn’t sustained any visible injuries, and you smile at him, glad to see that he’s alright. Milo has already moved a table closer to theirs so you guys can actually hang out, and you all order your food.
You all catch up, talking about any recent battles and whatnot. It’s really nice, you weren’t expecting to feel so… casual with them. You all got along well, noticing that you had reasons to get along with each of them. This was quite a big deal for your teammates too, Leo has seemed to calm down around Aloha, but he’s still obviously really happy to be around him. They seem to get along well, their energy building off of one another.
Milo’s more talkative today, and it’s good to see him be more himself. He finally gets the courage to voice his respect for Army, and it’s pretty cute, to be honest. They begin talking about strategies, and you can tell that you’re about to be trying out lots of new stuff in battles.
Tasha may be reserved, but she always wants to improve. She seemed to be showing Skull one of your battles, asking for tips. Skull’s pointing out small issues with her form, but that’s about it. How sweet.
To think that your teammates have lived their whole lives looking up to these players that used to be so out of reach, and now they’re simply just hanging out with them. What a dream come true. Mask’s not one to talk and hang out, so he’s just sitting and watching some anime on his phone. You recognize the opening and smile, it’s good to see that they have the same anime here.
“So.”
Rider faces you, gaining the attention of some others.
“When are we having that battle?”
Now the whole S4 are looking at him- more like glaring at him. Your eyes widen, and you see that this might create some problems. You know that they probably want to battle you, given how you’ve risen the ranks so quickly, they just haven’t said it out loud.
‘Rider, you idiot, not now!’
“WE’RE BATTLING RIDER?!”
Thanks Leo, big help.
“I haven’t talked it out with my teammates yet. We’re still not strong enough to-”
“-WE CAN TOTALLY KICK YOUR ASS!”
‘Leo, I’m about to bust your kneecaps, shut up.’
You sigh and shake your head, pinching the bridge of your nose.
“Why didn’t we hear about this?” Tasha tries her best to appear calm, but you can tell she wants answers. You have to come up with something, now.
“I… I didn’t think we were ready. Sure, we have trained, but I know we can get stronger. I want to take Rider on when we’re at our strongest, it’s only fair.”
“We’ll always be getting stronger. We’ll continue improving, and battles are the main way to do that. Which means battling strong players-”
“WHICH MEANS I WANNA TAKE HIM ON, RIGHT NOW! C’mon, we’re strong enough! We’ve been training for a while now, and we know how to play well together! A battle with him’ll be real fun!”
There’s really no backing out now, huh? Leo won’t shut up about this, and Tasha looks like she wants to try out some stuff she just learned from Skull.
“Alright, alright. We’ll battle.”
Rider smirks at that, glad he finally landed some time with you- uhm, some time to battle. Yeah, to get stronger, of course.
“Hey, hey, hold on there, sweetheart. I want a battle too, Rider’s not the only S+ ranker here.”
“I can only battle one person at once, ‘Loha.” you glance over at your team, namely Leo, who definitely looks like he’s about to cause a scene if you don’t say what’s on his mind, “It’ll happen.”
“I want to see some of your strategies up close as well.” Army pitches in, not wanting to miss any chances to gain more information. Skull and Tasha seem to be staring each other down, almost like they’re challenging each other. Mask doesn’t care too much about battling you in turf, preferring gaming, but he’s no longer focused on his anime. He can’t be left out now.
“Man, we’re almost better off just battling the S4 altogether.” You mumble to yourself, weighing out your options.
“Huh? They’re a team?!” Leo exclaims, surprised at what you just so calmly said.
“Dude? I thought you were like, the biggest Aloha fan ever. How did you not know this.”
Everyone seems shocked that you knew that they were a team, even them. What, was it not obvious? Did they not fight as a team- carp. That’s later in the manga. Damn it, now you’ve gotta make up an excuse.
“They’re the strongest players in the area, and you expect them to not make a team?” You look over at the S4, pretending to not know this information, “You guys are a team, right?”
Aloha offers you a nod,
“Strongest in town, baby!”
Yeah, you’re not too sure about that last part. They’re about to meet their match. Anyways.
“The S4’s a team?!”
An unknown voice joins the chat, and you’re the first to see who it is. Goggles.
‘Oh, that’s where we are in the manga.’
You see how Specs and Headphones get visibly nervous seeing the S4, but then they spot you. You offer them a wave and smile, glad to see them again. Specs quickly looks away, fixing his glasses, and headphones shyly waves back.
“Goggles, quit getting distracted!” Specs pushes his glasses back in place and pulls out a notepad, “We’re about to start our strategy meeting!”
Army offers his ‘advice’, giving the blue team some curry-making tips. He must have gotten those from the book he was reading back at the library. Aloha looks back at you and winks, then gives the blue team his tips. “Complementing their strong points~” You sigh and smile, it seems you’re not changing the core story that much. Mask doesn’t give them any info, to be expected of him. Skull tells them to not bother him, then reaches for his bandanna. You chuckle, knowing how excited they must be to see his face, but it’s not gonna happen.
Actually, how does he eat that Sundae so quickly? You pay attention to him, wanting to see this up close. How does he not get a brain freeze after that? He must be used to it. Rider copies him and you wonder if maybe he has a sweet tooth too. The blue team focuses on you, probably expecting some kind of tip. There’s not much to offer, they’re doing everything right.
“No need for any tips, you’ve already got main character powers.” You mutter to yourself, just loud enough for Mask to catch it and quietly chuckle.
The bunch of players end up talking and hanging out. You end up buying everyone some ice cream sundaes, knowing you’ve got much more than enough money to spare. This will also help out Crusty Sean with his shop, so there’s no harm.
“It’s time to go.”
Tasha stands up out of her seat, apologizing for having to leave. You didn’t think you had any timings, so you’re wondering why they’re leaving all of a sudden. Your teammates start walking in the direction of Deca Tower, and now you’re really confused.
“What’s going on here?”
“Oh? Did we forget to tell you? We’re doing our preliminary battle for the Square King’s tourney.”
Wc: 1.3k
May.13.23