Yuri entered into the arcade by herself wearing black leggings, sneakers, and a plain white long sleeve shirt. She looked around for the others, tugging her shirt sleeves down in a self-conscious manner. She stood there for a little while, unsure of where to go.
Komi was the first one to spot her. She broke off from the group right away and trotted over to her, waving at her.
"Oh, hello, Komi. I'm glad you're here. I'm not too late, am I?" She asked.
Komi shook her head in response.
"Good. Is everyone else here too?" She asked.
Komi nodded her head.
"Good..." Yuri nodded too, pausing awkwardly. She was unsure of what to do or say now.
Komi offered her hand to Yuri now. Wordlessly, Yuri took it, letting Komi lead her into the arcade to meet up with the others.
While the girls had all broken off into their own activities, Alex and Tadano were off to the side playing some side by side basketball games. At first they were trying to speedily get the higher score, but after Alex proved himself to be more capable in that regard, they began just casually talking as they played.
"What do you miss the most from America?" Tadano asked Alex curiously, glancing over at him for a moment.
"Uh...probably the food. Yeah, they have some stuff over here too, but there was a lot that I had to get used to. At least I already got the rice down." Alex joked lightly with a small chuckle.
"What did you usually eat over there?" Tadano asked.
"Uh, I guess fast food if I wasn't cooking. There's less of that here, it's mostly shops. The meat itself is actually kinda different here too, I don't know if it's just the way it's cut or what."
"Oh! I didn't know you knew how to cook!" Tadano observed cheerfully.
"Oh yeah, haha. I'll have to have you over one day, you can try my signature dish: pork chops with white rice and beans." He offered.
"That sounds delicious! I look forward to it." He said with a smile.
"Heh, we'll have to arrange something." He agreed.
The conversation paused momentarily as they both could hear some of the girls laughing and talking somewhere behind them. They glanced over their shoulders to look but they couldn't see where it was coming. Nevertheless it made them both chuckle.
"They're all having a good time, aren't they?" Tadano observed.
"Haha yeah. They're an interesting bunch, but at least they're getting along well." Alex commented.
"Yes. I'm glad we could be here too." Tadano added.
"Haha yeah. Well you know how girls all tend to break off with their own." Alex said.
"Mmm. I'm just happy to be included. I'm not used to being in these kinds of groups, if I'm being honest." Tadano shared, his voice softening towards the end of the sentence as he realized that what he was saying was kind of embarrassing.
"Oh yeah, man, me neither. I didn't have enough friends to do stuff this big back home." Alex casually agreed. Tadano smiled and chuckled at this.
"Sounds like this is good for both of us then. How about we join back up with the others after this game?" Tadano offered.
"Sure. We can work more on your aim another time." Alex teased him lightly...
When Alex and Tadano left the basketball section, they found some of the girls all gathering around a dancing game. Naijimi was grabbing onto Komi and pulling her towards it.
"Come on, Komi! It'll be fun! You gotta try it!" Naijimi insisted.
"Mm!" Komi choked back her desire to refuse as she was pulled next to Naijimi on the dance pad.
"It's super simple! All you gotta do is step on the arrows when they come up on the screen!" Naijimi explained while starting up a game.
The music started quickly after Naijimi selected a bouncy song for them to dance to. Tadano and Alex joined up with the others at this point, standing alongside Monika and the other literature club members to the side of the dance pad.
"Yeah! You got this, Komi!" Sayori encouraged her.
"My eyes will be blessed to witness the movements of a goddess." Yamai said to herself excitedly.
The arrows started rising up from the bottom of the screen. Naijimi laughed, jumping into the steps right away. However, Komi flinched in confusion, not realizing that she was supposed to start already. She looked over to see what Naijimi was doing then imitated that.
"There you go, Komi! You're doing great!" Naijimi encouraged her. Komi nodded, doing her best to get more into it now.
Komi hopped from step to step, bouncing up and down with each move. This created some movement that impelled some of the girls to turn away, except Yamai, who started to drool. Tadano looked away too, while Monika took the liberty of covering Alex's eyes for him.
After Komi politely refused some insistent requests to do another song, the groups started to disperse again. Alex, noticing that Yuri had now joined the party, briefly broke off from the others to come and greet her.
"Hey! I didn't even see you come in." He said with a chuckle, walking up to her and giving her a quick hug, which she lightly returned.
"Yes, I just got here recently. I'm sorry that it took me so long to get here. I had some errands I needed to finish around the house before I could..." She excused herself. Alex smiled and waved his hand in front of him.
"Oh nah you're fine, Yuri. You have any games you'd like to play?" He asked. Yuri shook her head.
"Not in particular. You don't have to worry about me. I don't mind simply being present." She said.
"I know. But I don't like that answer. Come on, let's dooo...some skeeball. That doesn't cost much." Alex offered, pointing to a few rows of skeeball just off to the side. Yuri blushed, eyeing the game.
"Okay. I would like that." She agreed with a mild nod of her head.
Alex and Yuri walked over to the skeeball games, taking 2 of them side by side so they could play together. They took turns rolling one ball at a time. Yuri seemed to be aiming very carefully, but her first toss was too light to even roll up all the way.
"Oh come on, you can do better than that." Alex teased lightheartedly.
"Sorry. I'm...getting warmed up." Yuri said, looking at him and smiling lightly before attempting her first roll again and getting 2,000 points.
"Nice," Alex nodded. "I'm glad you made it...that you were able to come and join us, I mean." He said.
"I appreciate that I was invited," Yuri said in reply. "I attend these sorts of large group gatherings very seldomly, so I wasn't sure if I would be any good to come." She admitted.
"10 different people is a step up from the usual 4 to 6 total in the Literature Club." Alex acknowledged.
"Yes, but I suppose it isn't so bad. I will just have to go at a slower pace so as to not be overwhelmed." She said.
"Why don't you just hang out with everybody one at a time? Start with Komi, let her pick a game for the two of you together, and work your way around." Alex suggested.
"That sounds like a good idea." Yuri nodded in approval.
"Just maybe avoid Yamai. I don't think you wanna hang out with her." He added with a chuckle.
"Which one is Yamai?" Yuri asked, looking back at some of the girls that were currently with Komi.
"Brown hair, frilly top, insane look of lust in her eyes – can't miss her." He described her.
"Ah, I see. Sounds...intense, for lack of a better word." Yuri commented on Alex's summary of her character.
"Yeah, not the biggest fan of that." Alex chuckled ironically, glancing at Yuri again and smiling.
"That is understandable. Did you know that Komi has this goal of making 100 friends?" She inquired.
"I did. That's a lot." He commented with a chuckle.
"Yes. I can't imagine she would be able to handle that many relationships, if I'm being frank. But who am I to discourage her from her goals? She's pushing herself out of her comfort zone to develop herself, and I admire that determination in her." Yuri shared her thoughts.
"That's a nice way to look at it. I think you and me are the same in that, uh, we prefer closer friendships with just a few people." Alex said.
"I imagine that would be far more manageable," Yuri agreed with a nod. "Although, I'm sure having so many people who adore you to choose from must feel nice. Komi is very beautiful; a goal like that is far easier for her to attain." She added.
"Yeah, pretty girls like you two get it easy." Alex said with a chuckle.
"In what way? And why do you include me in that statement? Komi and I are hardly comparable." Yuri quickly shook her head at that idea.
"I wasn't really comparing, just saying you're both pretty, really." Alex shrugged. Yuri looked down, her cheeks turning a light shade of red.
"...thank you." She said quietly...
Once everyone had finished at the arcade, the group of 10 all got lunch and sat at tables in the food court of the mall to eat and chat. They pushed together two tables at a long booth to make room for everyone, but they made sure to put Komi right in the middle.
"Hey, Komi! I got you something!" Monika said to her, nudging her with her arm.
"Hmm?" Komi turned her head to look at her. Her eyes widened; she wasn't expecting a gift. Monika reached into her handbag and pulled out a small golden necklace with a small purple crescent moon attached to it. Komi's cat ears perked as Monika set it down in her hand.
"I managed to win it at one of those little games. I figured you would like it! It'll be like a little keepsake from today! It'll be perfect to wear in between episodes and chapters." Monika said with a grin.
"Mm! Mhmm!" Komi nodded appreciatively, holding up the necklace to look at the purple crescent moon and how it shimmered in the sunlight. She seemed pleased with this gift.
"Grr...stupid little miss smiles-all-the-time thinks she can win over Komi with bribery. I'll show her!" Yamai growled as she witnessed this.
"Hey, Naijimi! You should teach me how to dance sometime! You're really good!" Sayori said with a smile.
"Ohh? You wish to learn from the master, don't you? Well, ol' grandmaster Naijimi will gladly show you the ropes...for a small fee." Naijimi chuckled mischievously.
"He doesn't mean that." Tadano quickly dismissed this.
"Might I inquire of your gatherings of the written arts? What sort of heathen activities and rituals do you lot take part in when you open the forbidden books?" Nakanaka asked Yuri, Natsuki, and Alex.
"Uh...we just write poems and read stories and manga." Natsuki answered her question very simply.
"Oh, you like manga?!" Nakanaka asked excitedly, breaking character for a moment.
"Better believe it! I keep a whole collection in the closet of the clubroom," Natsuki began to brag proudly. "I have the whole box set of Parfait Girls with the original covers!"
"Oh, Parfait Girls! I recall reading that particular series before I enrolled in the elusive Itan High. In harmony with my tragic past, my tastes have also grown darker and more mysterious." Nakanaka said, pressing the back of her left hand over her patched eye in a dramatic pose.
"Oh yeah? Uh...well, if you ever wanna pick it up again, I've got all the current editions." Natuski offered.
"...I will consider this." Nakanaka agreed with a nod, her head shrinking down just slightly afterwards from mild embarrassment.
"I might also have a recommendation for you, Nakanaka," Yuri spoke up. "If you'd like an engaging read with darker themes, one of my favorite books is Portrait of Markov."
"Oh, that book. Yeah, haha, that one was too much for me." Alex chuckled.
"Oh? Then I'll rise to the challenge. Tell me more." Nakanaka invited with a smirk...
After lunch, everyone went on their way and returned home. That night, as they were all getting settled, each of them received a message from Naijimi. With only the simple caption: Our day at the arcade!, they all got to see pictures of them all hanging out.
Naijimi had taken a bunch of pictures to commemorate this occasion while no one was looking.
The next day, Komi's mother had to humor another request from her daughter as she had several more pictures that she wanted to print out now...