2377/Cheaters Never Prosper

Cheaters Never Prosper
Date of Scene:	21 January 2017
Location:	Uminari City - Game Center Crown
Synopsis:	But they might make second place!
Cast of Characters:	Ami Mizuno, Unmei

---

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno has not exactly had a great day. This isn't evident by her features, but rather by the large collection of empty milkshakes near her: a sum total of three', and a fourth already half gone. Even Usagi might find that daunting to match!

She's dressed in a warm grey sweater-dress over white striped blue tights. The girl's short blue hair has been pulled back with a simple hairband, to which rounded white plush animal ears--bear ears!--are affixed. With a pair of furry boots on her feet, Ami Mizuno is every bit the snow bunny, today.

Not that it's snowing, right now.

Seated at one of the many arcade games at the crown, Ami is presently busy working on improving her score. She's drawn a small crowd, since she's already doubled the last high score on the game--a tightle held by someone with initials KS? Whoever that is.

Unmei has posed:
Unmei Tama walked in, grumbling a bit as well. Her butt hurt. Why?

She'd decided to corrupt some guy! Unfortunately, she hadn't been paying attention and the guy slammed open a door into her FACE, sending her careening off the side of a building where she landed on her butt. She had been henshined and mildly protected, but STILL. Ow. It freaking HURT.

She walked to the counter and grabbed a shake, grumbling darkly before she caught sight of the crowd. What in the world?

She walked over, drinking her shake and eying the girl. So THIS is the... AM or KS? Either way, a grin flashed across her lips. She sat down in the connected machine next to hers and put in a coin.

Her magic flowed through her and, within moments, she was off. Granted, she was just starting, so her score hadn't drawn much attention yet... but her motions were flawless, practically copying every movement Ami had made to get to this point, just as fast and accurate as the other girl had been during her try.

Things were just so much easier when you could cheat and do it on auto pilot, you know?

Ami Mizuno has posed:
It's a while before Ami notices she has a challenger. In fact, she's beat the game, finished putting in her initials on the score page, and finished her drink before she notices it. This is also about the time she notices the crowd, as well, and she has to take a moment to blush before she does anything about it.

But then she leans over to watch Unmei for several moments. Slowly, her brows begin to arch in surprise. She recognizes those moves pretty distinctly. But she doesn't say anything about it ... not yet.

Unmei has posed:
Unmei Tama was imitating her pretty effectively, in fact, most probably wouldn't notice how the moves were almost perfect. Granted, there was always just a little variability to games, but she seemed to be coping well with that, too. It wasn't like she just copied this one play through, it was as if she had copied ami's speed, talent, almost everything. But, it was still slightly off. By the end, she finally stopped and ended up dying just a hairs breadth behind Ami... and then put in her initials. UN.

Ohhhhh. So this is the girl who'd joined in KS an AM's little game. Often coming in and taking second place. For someone as genius as Ami it'd probably make sense now why she always seemed to be in second place and never seemed to overtake either of the two.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"You're pretty good," Ami notes thoughtfully, not calling out the girl on cheating, just yet. After all, she couldn't prove it, and it's not like she could just tell that magic was involved. Well, technically, she could, but that would involve a visor or a germanic halberd. Not good options with a crowd.

Unmei has posed:
Unmei Tama jumped. "SHIT!" Um, well, she'd kind of been reveling in the moment and hadn't been paying attention, to notice the other girl walking over to her. Unfortunately, this sent her tumbling out of the chair and, for about a few seconds, left her kind of... stuck... between the chair and the case itself before she managed to extract herself.

Unfortunately, by then, the damage had been done and any 'cool jobs' she'd gotten from her score had devolved into people laughing uproariously. Her cheeks burned, looking as if she was on the verge of tears before she stormed off, going across the arcade to sit down and hold her face in her hands.

Then... crud. She'd left her shake behind. And she could STILL hear them laughing. There was no way she was going back to get it. And it was still half full, too.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami blinks in confusion at the antics of Unmei, but surely doesn't interfere. When the girl runs off, she frowns and glances at the laughing onlookers--surely a bunch of high-school aged boys--and then rounds on them. But what's she going to do? Insult them? Tell them off? Instead, she just reaches up and rips the bear-ear headband off her head, grabs Unmei's drink, and storms after the girl, angrier now than when she came here in the first place.

"Those guys are jerks," Ami says, as she slides into the seat opposite Unmei, placing the drink on the table.

Unmei has posed:
Unmei Tama blinked and took her drink, pulling it close and drinking from it. She had tears welled up in her eyes and just looked distant for a moment. Then sighed. "My own fault. I shouldn't have even been playing, anyway. Just a... just waste of money anyway j-just wanted to seem kind of cool for a few seconds. I'm just an idiot..." she grumbled. "It's no wonder they laughed, I'm just a joke."

She wiped her eyes and glanced up. "Err... H-hi. I'm Unmei. Nice to meet you," she mumbled. "you're... really good at those games. Do you play them a lot?"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami tilts her head a little, considering the girl's reaction. For a moment she doesn't say anything. Then she introduces herself, "Mizuno Ami." That explains the initials, then. Another moment of silence, before she decides to ask, "Were you cheating?" A pause. "I'm not mad if you were, I'm just curious. Your moves were too perfect; too much like mine."

Unmei has posed:
Unmei Tama blinked a few times, cocking her head to the side. "Cheating? I never--" Then that. Her eyes went wide. Could the other girl tell? Her... no, there was no possible way. That HAD to be impossible. "C-cheating? W-well, I'll admit I was watching you play and I might have picked up a bit from that but I-I wouldn't say that was cheating, eh.. .heh heh..." Oh my gosh she was the worst liar.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
The response earns a frown from the bluenette, who then leans forward just a little and places the bear-ears gently on Unmei's head. "You didn't watch me enough for that," she notes. "But it's alright, Unmei-san. I really don't mind. I don't play for the high score, just for the challenge. Why haven't I ever seen you here at the crown before?"

Unmei has posed:
Unmei Tama blinked a few times, then glanced off to the side, sipping her shake. Finally... "I just moved here. A few weeks ago. I'm... new in town." The guilt was palpable. "... You're right. I cheated. A little. I... I didn't mean to cause any harm. It just felt... nice... having people think I was awesome. Guess that kind of back fired though, didn't it?"

She gave another soft sigh and shuffled a bit in her seat. "I ummm... I don't have a lot of spending money, either. Hannah gave me some to buy a new dress and I had some left over so... I thought it'd be fun." She took another sip of her drink.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"Well," Ami says quietly, "Now you have the second highest score on one of the hardest games here, a new headband, a new dress, and a bunch of boys who think you're a clown." She considers that a moment, then says, "All-in-all, probably a net gain, I suppose. I do wonder, though: why cheat? Why not practice and get good at the game so you can actually earn that victory?"

Unmei has posed:
Unmei Tama blinked a few times and then her eyes lowered. "That's... not really... for someone like me..." She sighed softly. "I'm not really... much of a gamer... anyway. So I... never really had the time to learn something like that. Besides, in the end it wouldn'treally make much point. There's a lot more important things I should be doing with my time." Another soft sip. "My bosses would probably get mad if they saw me playing it anyway..."

She then glanced up. "So, you dye your hair too, right?"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami blinks in confusion. "What?" she asks, then shakes her head, "no, it's natural." Because blue hair isn't that weird. She knows several girls that have it. But then she shakes her head and leans back. "Bosses? What bosses? Why would they get mad at you for playing games during your own time?"

Unmei has posed:
Unmei Tama slowly moves her straw about. ".... They're not always the nicest people," she mumbled. Then... "Really? Huh. I guess Japan really is a weird place. Back home the only people with blue hair dyed it. I guess I have seen a few people with weird hair since I got here, but I thought that was just the magic."

Then urked. "Err... of... the city."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Magic? Ami's eyebrows raise faintly at that, but she again doesn't interrupt. "I see," she replies instead. "Well, your bosses sound like jerks. You should find a better job. Something more virtuous." She shrugs a little, then adds, "Something that will let you play videogames." She smils, then says, "Anyways, I should probably get going. It was nice to meet you, Unmei-san. Please have a nice day."

Unmei has posed:
Unmei Tama stared for a few moments. Then burst into giggles. "Yeah... me... virtuous..." She then hummed, glancing up. "What? Oh. Right. Ummmm... it was nice meeting you. Ami. Err... see you around. I guess. Yeah."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami pauses, winces, then gently suggests, "Mizuno, please. I don't know you very well, yet." She smiles faintly, then turns to go. But first, she stops for another milkshake on the way out.