174/Gaming, the Ultimate Friendmaker

Gaming, the Ultimate Friendmaker
Date of Scene:	14 July 2015
Location:	Uminari City - Game Center Crown
Synopsis:	Fun is had at the arcade!
Cast of Characters:	Shiori Sato, Lena Reiniger, Kazuki Saito

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Kazuki Saito has posed:
    It's a lazy afternoon at the good ol' Game Center Crown. As per normal it's quite popular, but thankfully not too crowded. Numerous schoolkids are having fun on the various games offered, a veritable rainbow of school uniforms.

    Currently sitting in a chair of one of the driving games is a high school student from Infinity University, if his uniform is to be believed. There's a look of concentration on his face as he pops his virtual car into fifth gear and starts to streak down the straight. There's a bit of a twinkle behind his glasses and a tugging smile as he overtakes one of his opponents. Kazuki Saito may not have a driver's license, but he does seem to be decent enough at the game!

Lena Reiniger has posed:
Being a nice enough afternoon basically means it'd be a crime to stay inside, though perhaps it might not be with all the noise that's around in the area of town she's managed to wander into. Lena's been out and about after school, taking in the sights. She's been here for going on two years now, and she's never really bothered to see the country she's been stranded in. Time to make like a tourist and... well, not behave like a tourist.

School bag slung over her shoulder, Lena's casually strolling through when she comes across the arcade. She's familiar with the type of place. It's not like Mid-Childa and other worlds in Dimensional Space didn't have similar things. She's just never once had time for such things, either because she herself was busy, or more likely because her father had very specific plans for her growing up. But here's one right in front of her. She looks down at the bracelet on her arm, oddly silent given how much he just loves giving her advice, and shrugs. Even if she doesn't play any games, at least looking around is something she should do, right?

Shiori Sato has posed:
    There's a lot of games in here, by virtue of this being an arcade. One of those is a game called 'Maimai'. It's much like a rhythm game, but not a dancing rhythm game, or a playing instrument style game. the object appears to be to touch pads arranged around the screen in a circle in the order the screen tells one too. Though the screen itself is touchable too, and sometimes one is asked to slide one's fingers across it.

    Shiori's at one of the Maimai machines. He is... apparently pretty good at it. He appears to be playing on a pretty high level, given the frenetic button presses that he's being asked to do. He's not perfect. He does miss a few. But he's still pretty good.

Kazuki Saito has posed:
    Kazuki grips the wheel firmly until the last moment, leaning back and relaxing with a grin on his face. Second place! Not first, but still pretty good.

    Kazuki stands from the racing game, deciding to go find something else to play. As he makes his way through the arcade, he spots Lena, recognising the girl as a fellow member of Infinity. He gives her a friendly smile, before his attention is drawn to the nearby cabinet.

    Moving to look over Shiori's shoulder, Kazuki watches the boy play like an expert... Or so it seems from Kazuki's point of view. He whistles quietly, "Impressive."

Lena Reiniger has posed:
Once again out of her element; seems like more and more she's finding herself in such situations. It's probably better than being in her element though, she idly muses. So she's just browsing around, looking at all of the games around and having not a clue as to what they are. A few look like they might be fun, but she doesn't really seem interested enough to approach them.

Lena moves around a group of kids, doing her best to not interrupt them and, upon noticing Kazuki and his smile, opts to give a friendly wave back. She's never seen the boy before, but she's sure she's seen him around the halls at Infinity at least once or twice. Of course, she can't help but look at where he's going.

Now there's a familiar face. Someone she can sort of talk with, though she's quick to give a glance here and there to make sure a certain blonde isn't also around with him. No telling what sort of embarrassing thing she might unknowingly get herself into after all. But with the coast clear, Lena wanders on up to Shiori's cabinet and peers over his shoulder. "Sato-san," she says, a friendly lilt to her voice while watching him work. This game seems like something she could do! Hand-eye coordination is definitely something she has a lot of!

Shiori Sato has posed:
    Shiori reaches the end of the song and sighs, partly in relief. His score? 86%

    Kazuki's voice gets his attention, and he blinks, turning to look who spoke. "Oh, er... thanks. Not perfect, though. I'm still getting better." He smiles. "What games do you like?"

    And when Lena speaks up, he offers a smile in her direction, too. "Lena-san! Hi there, good to see you!" He uses her first name because her last name is hard for him to pronounce. Non-phonetic languages are really hard!

Kazuki Saito has posed:
    Kazuki chuckles quietly, rubbing the back of his neck, "It's still way better than what I can get!" He then shrugs, "I like lots of types. Though the racing and fighting games draw me the most."

    Kazuki turns his head to look as Lena arrives. He then realises he should probably introduce himself, "I'm Kazuki Saito." He gives a little wave of his hand and says in a belated greeting, "Heya."

Lena Reiniger has posed:
She'll forgive not using her surname, after all, it's not really a custom of her culture. She's just trying to get as much practice as she can with Japanese and the cultural norms that come with it. It's a frustrating language at times! She'd probably just have called him Shiori if she wasn't sure about how he'd react. She doesn't really know him all the well, so always best to be polite. "You're a lot better at this sort of thing than I'd have thought," she offers, giggling a bit. While she might be polite in address, she does feel he won't be too upset at some friendly poking fun at.

But there's someone else here, and much like the first time she'd met Shiori, she gives a nod, a bit deep, in deference. "It's a pleasure." After a moment she rights herself and offers her hand. "I'm Lena Reiniger." See? She's much less spastic dealing with people when she isn't being forced to sing.

Shiori Sato has posed:
    "I haven't actually tried the fighting games," Shiori notes, raising a hand to scratch at his cheek with his index finger. And then he raises his hand to the back of his head. "And I'm really bad at racing games. I hope I'm not that bad when I start taking my driver's tests, sheesh." And since Kazuki's introducing himself he offers, "I'm Shiori Sato. Pleased to meet you."

    Lena's statement gets a sheepish 'hehe'. "I know, you heard how bad my rhythm was, it doesn't seem like I'd be able to keep a rhythm very well does it?" He's not above poking a little fun at himself, either! He says quiet after that, though, so that Lena can introduce herself to Kazuki. He's also polite enough not to tell any anecdotes regarding said karaoke, either...

Kazuki Saito has posed:
    Kazuki takes the offerend hand and shakes it, "Unusual name." He gathers that Lena isn't a local, although unaware of just how un-local she is. But Kazuki's got no problem with foreigners.

    Kazuki grins at Shiori, "We all have our strengths! I like the fighting games because they are deceptively simple, with far more depth than most realise! As for driving..." He pauses for a moment, then lets out a brief laugh, "I just like to go fast!" He can't wait till he gets his license. If he ever finds the time to not be lazy enough.

Lena Reiniger has posed:
She's pretty use to hearing that about her name, and it's become almost second nature to nod when it comes up. "I'm... not really from around here," she admits. But she's had surprisingly little trouble with people either politely ignoring her or not making a big deal about it. Aside from the few times she gets the odd gawker because of being tall.

She's really out of her element now, and for a moment she considers just moving aside and letting the boys talk, but just as the thought crosses her mind, Ascalon decides now is a good time to let it be known that while he hasn't been speaking, he has been listening. There is a quiet, though not entirely inaudible ping from her bracelet, letting her know he strongly disapproves of continuing to avoid social interactions! She'd frown if it didn't look weird, but instead she rolls her eyes and dives right in. "I've... never really played games before," she says, with an almost sheepish tone, like she might shrink back at any moment.

Shiori Sato has posed:
    Shiori nods. "I can see that," he agrees to the mention of fighting games. "You have to watch your opponent, measure their distance, decide which attacks are best in any situation... like a real fight, but less pain. Usually. I hope." Here he snickers. "That might be the problem with the driving games, yeah... they might just go too fast for me.

    Lena's words of not playing games that often gets a nod from Shiori. "You seem like the kind of person who'd be busy doing more important things anyway," he agrees. "You know, sophisticated and upper-crust sort of entertainment, like live shows and expensive plays." Well, at least he doesn't think she's pathetic, so there's that. And that's kind of a compliment, if you think about it.

Kazuki Saito has posed:
    "Ohhhhh? Are you saying those of us who play video games aren't important?" Kazuki sort of begins to loom over Shiori at that point, arms crossed, "Aren't sophisticated?" He continues to loom a little more, but then grins and pats the other boy on the back, "You're probably right." He chuckles.

    Kazuki then looks at Lena, "I think you're missing out though. Video games can be surprisingly deep! Not to mention a good way to improve yourself, whether it's knowledge, or reflexes." He motions to one of those shooting games, with the plastic gun controllers, "You should give one a go!"

Lena Reiniger has posed:
She'll laugh at it, but she's pretty sure Shiori wouldn't call what she's trained for sophisticated or upper-crust. Well, unless you count protecting upper-crust people. "I just always had other things that were more important than playing," she admits with perhaps a bit of bitterness in her tone, but she doesn't seem to dwell on it too much.

"I was kind of interested in seeing what sort of things were in here. It's... quite a bit more diverse than I'd have expected." She doesn't know about being deep or anything, but she's sure they can help with tempering reflexes, though she's not really sure if she needs much improvement in that department. Still her eyes follow where Kazuki's pointing and, maybe a bit hesitantly, she approves and looks at the controller. Well, actual firearms being banned by the TSAB not withstanding, it does look like a Belkan armed device. She's handled one before, so surely it isn't so different. "So... um... what should I do?"

Shiori Sato has posed:
    "No, not at all," Shiori replies to Kazuki's question. Though he does sort of shrink back a little as Kazuki seems to start looming over him. Shiori definitely does not look like the kind of guy that's good in a fight. "Um... y-you wouldn't hit a guy with glasses, wouldja?" He sighs in relief when the other boy seems to have only been kidding. "No really... I didn't mean anything bad by that. Just, video games are a way to unwind and relax. Shows and plays are supposed to be the height of cultural refinement. Plays aren't for relaxing, they're for learning to be sophisticated and urbane." He may be a little off in his assessment there!

    Lena mentions having more important things to do and Shiori nods. He has the sense not to ask, though, figuring if she wanted to talk about it she would have. He agrees with Kazuki's assessment though, "Yeah. RPGs especially can have pretty deep storylines-- you won't find a lot of those here, they require too much of a time investment for casual arcade play. Maimai will definitely improve hand-eye coordination. So will the shooting games, yeah." He does, however, stand to the side while Lena picks up the gun-controller. "Want to show her how it goes, Saito-san?" he inquires. Shooting games aren't his forte either.

Kazuki Saito has posed:
    Kazuki nods in agreement with a lot of Shiori's comments. But then grins and shakes is head, "It's easy enough." He looks at Lena, "Really it's just a matter of aiming and shooting the monsters without hitting any people!" He's not all that good on the shooting games himself, but he has done well enough now and then.

    Kazuki watches with interest. He imagines this'll either end very badly, or very impressively. Some people do have a knack for gaming after all, even if they haven't done much of it!