It's been pretty quiet lately for Sayaka Miki. Perhaps a little too quiet! She hasn't encountered many witches lately and wonders if perhaps it's because the Puella Magi are a little TOO efficient. Whatever the case, with spring break now in session and all her courses finally caught up, Sayaka suddenly has a lot of free time on her hands.
Lately, she's developed a new interest in video games, and so she has returned to the crown game center, hanging about outside for a bit as she peers at the promotional posters of the latest videogames.
"Oh wow! Sailor V, version 3! I'll bet that one's pretty popular..Come to think of it, last time, there was a huge crowd around that particular arcade..So that's why!" well maybe she can hone her witch hunting skills on that game!
Kyouko wouldn't be so sure that it's that the Puella are particularly efficient- more that there are a lot of them in this particular area. More than there should be, probably, for a healthy Witch-ecology. That's not really the sort of thing one thinks about day-to-day, however.. it might become an issue at some point.
Kyouko also likes going to this arcade. She comes here to play DDR all the time, which is pretty much the main game she plays. It is kind of a surprise though, as she's walking out the door back onto the street, for her to run into Sayaka- not literally, but she pauses at the sight of familiar blue hair.
"Saya-chan~!" She calls, waving and walking over, smiling. "Hi! What are you doing here?"
Natsumi had no thoughts at all on the witch ordeals, being completely oblivious to them. No, her thoughts were on equally dark and magical things at some level. She didn't really have any inkling how to handle that yet.
She had gone to the arcade of no free will of her own. Her mother had seen how her daughter seemed distracted of late, and decided this was because she wasn't doing enough of the things that girls her age should be doing. This prompted her to push her daughter to go somewhere that she figured was socially acceptable for a young girl to go and meet people, loading her up with coins and dumping her at the arcade.
Natsumi hadn't the slightest idea what to do at an arcade though, being more the bookworm sort and she just... Sort of stood right inside staring about.
Annnnnnd that's when Chloe walks in.....and runs right into Natsumi's back. She blinks and grabs her shoulders before could go anywhere. "I'm sorry, I should've.....Natsumi?" She says walking around her. "What're you doing here?" She says as she guides Natsumi away from the door. "I figured you'd be on a home telescope right now. Also figured this would be more my thing than yours."
Sayaka spies Kyouko first, smiling and running to hug her. Hey, it's been a long time since she's seen her. At least, that's the excuse Sayaka would give for acting so emotional, for her anyway. "Kyou-chan! How've you been? Putting in extra hours at the conbenie again?"
Well, at least it was still there and she still had her job, after the whole witch fiasco the other day..Although Sayaka was actually relieved that Witches hadn't become entire extinct, afterall.
"Heh, just checking out the latest Sailor V video game! Although it'd be cool to see some other magical girl games too. y'know, Sailormoon, Puella Magi.." she grins and winks impishly, "Lemme guess, you're coming to maintain your highest score status in DDR?"
She starts to head inside, glancing around to see what the line up for the SailorV game is like. Fortunately, Sayaka doesn't run into Chloe and Natsumi who are near the entrance, although she does have to side step around them to get in. "Oh, excuse me." peering at their uniforms, she smiles a little, "Oh, you guys must be from Seiyou public?"
Kyouko grins a little bit as Sayaka hugs her.. an arm going around the blue-haired girl and squeezing in turn. Sayaka doesn't need to give her excuses- she's glad for the show of affection, though she doesn't say so out loud. Hopefully she doesn't have to. Her hand finds Sayaka's and briefly squeezes it after the hug, though.
"Actually, I was just on my way out from maintaining my high score." The redhead says, with a lopsided grin. "No one's ever gonna beat me, that I can promise ya. I got a shift at the store in a little while, which is why I was headin' out. I'm glad I ran into you though.. I was gonna call you later anyway, but-"
She's started walking with Sayaka a little bit, keeping pace with her to chat for a few minutes before she has to run, and she cuts off as Sayaka side-steps and then speaks to the two girls, whom she is not familiar with either, casting a brief glance over Natsumi and Chloe as Sayaka greets them.
Natsumi isn't extremely well-versed in social encountering so Chloe startled her and she had been just about to answer her when Sayaka walked up. She really wasn't sure now if she was to continue the conversation or what, with someone else there.
Better to throw the dice and see how they play out. "Hello. Yes!". There, the dice have been thrown forth and she casts a glance over to Chloe.
Part of Natsumi couldn't understand why she couldn't have just hung out with her American friend today, but this is starting to seem interesting and Chloe is here....
CHloe seems happy to see Natsumi out and about, but it was more strange that she was here alone, because video games didn't seem her style. She does hear Kyouko say she maintained her high score and she chuckled. "Ah....Sailor V isn't a game I'm all that good at really. but then, I haven't played it since I helped a friend of mine out."
She looks to Sayaka and tilts her head. "Yeah, I'm from Seiyou." She then looks to Natsumi, putting her hand on Natsumi's shoulder, as if she can feel Natsumi's nervousness.....
Sayaka blinks and pauses as she starts to head into the arcade, even as Kyouko looks ready to head out. "Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't realize you were just leaving." she makes a face.
"Gee, having to work on such a nice day kinda sucks! I mean, I guess you dont really have much choice, unless you take me up on my offer of course, but.." But she knows Kyouko's too proud and independant to do that.
"How much time do you have left? Can you stick around for 10 minutes? I'd like to see if I can beat your high score!"
Sayaka glances at Natsumi and Chloe and smiles, "Ah, I wonder what it's like to go to a public school? I'll be it must be nice, I'm sure they're way less strict! Did you two come here to play Sailor V as well?"
Kyouko gives a brief smile to Natsumi and Chloe, but it's a distracted thing- not ignoring them, just with other things on her mind at the moment. Then her eyes turn back to Sayaka, and she makes a face in return, one which shows her regret.
"Sorry babe, I really gotta run. The old lady is super strict about people bein' there on time, ya know." She grins then, and shakes her head. "I like my work, even if it is inconvinient at times. Anyway, you'll never be able to beat my high score." She winks at Sayaka, this a playful challenge more than her being arrogant.
She glances at the clock on the wall, then turns towards the door. "Like I said, I'll call ya later, Saya-chan." She gives the blue-haired girl's hand another squeeze, then waves to Chloe and Natsumi before turning to walk out the door and onto the street.
Natsumi found she couldn't dodge admitting why she was here any longer, what with Chloe having asked and now Sayaka asking in a way. "Um... My mom wanted me to go out and do normal stuff with people my age. She says I'm going to go blind if I keep sitting in my room doing nothing but staring at books and through a telescope.".
"Your mom does have a point, Natsumi. If you take a break and take your mind OFF of what you're doing, sometimes you can come up with answers you didn't think you had." She then giggles, but gives Natsumi a hug. She looks to Sayaka and tilts her head. "Private school like Verone, hmm? I would tick off their teachers way too easily. I don't play games." She then sighs. "Things are still strict, but some of the teachers there are there to let children develop on their own, and find their own talents, instead of......well...I've never been to a private school. Most of my schooling was in america."
Sayaka arches a brow, "Oh wow! Your mom actually wanted you to go to the arcade?" she chuckles, shaking her head, "It's usualy the opposite way. You must be really studious..I'll bet you get straight As in school all the time!" and then she gets a sneaky idea, "Heey, maybe someday you can help me with my homework!"
Glancing at Chloe, she shakes her head, "Infinity academy, but I suppose it's similar to Verone." she chuckles again, "Yeah, I guess they can be pretty strict, but there are some perks, like exclusive clubs and special events."
Sayaka arches a brow when she speaks of her schooling being in America, "Oh really? You're a long way from home! So what's it like studying in America? Can you speak English?"
Natsumi wrapped her arms around Chloe, hugging her and then leaning back to nod as she spoke. There really wasn't anything she could add to what Chloe was saying that she knew of.
She giggled a little, shaking her head at Sayaka. "I'm only really good at science and to some degree literature. I like to read about the stars and stuff.". She holds up her wrist, a small charm bracelet covered in stars and crabs hanging there. "Mostly for astrology, it's my passion.".
"I moved here, actually. Just some....things I had to get away from." Chloe says before she tilts her head. "Infinity Academy? Wow. SOme of the brightest go there. I'd love to go there, but I'm just barely getting by myself. I'm getting high marks, but I'm getting help....and I have to study with music." She then shrugs before she looks to Natsumi. "I'm really good at sports though, and decent at music......I play on a Synthesizer though....which is pretty much a programmer's noisemaker."
Sayaka nods to Natsumi, "Ooh, Astrology, huh? That's pretty cool. That's like palmology and reading the future with the stars, right? So, what can you tell me about my future?"
Glancing at Chloe, she kinda grimaces at the mention of 'best' and 'brightest'. Well..Actually, she only got in because her parents were pretty rich, and nothing more than that, but she decides not to mention that. "Heh, yeah..I guess so. I dont really have any particular talents, except for Kendo and other sports in general, particularly, swimming and soccer. I do like classical music though. Oh, my name is Sayaka Miki, by the way.." She blinks when she realizes that Chloe's talents are similar to her own. "Ooh, maybe we'll get to compete someday then, hmm? That'd be fun."
Natsumi replied to the giving of a name without really missing a beat. "I'm Natsumi Matsumoto.". She executes a short bow, before lifting up and smiling. "I'm afraid I can't read your stars without knowing your sign, and palms aren't really my area of expertise, although my friend Jessica might be able to do it. She's all into that backwoods sort of astrology. Apparently she spent some time in a place called...". Natsumi wrinkles up her face as she tries to recall the came. "Lousy Anna?".
"Louisiana. Deep south." Chloe chuckles as she says this. "going down to the bayou means you sometimes run into some strange types." What was SHE talking about? She met some strange types HERE! "Well..you can find my sign whenever you want, Natsumi. I'm an Aries."
"Chloe Stringray, and I don't think we'll be competing against each other. I've....found I tend to play a little....rough when competing. I remain legal, but barely. Like in soccer, if you're behind the ball, I will actually kick the ball through your legs and downfield. It's legal, as I was attacking the ball." She then shakes her head. "I get mean, and I don't like that part of myself."
Sayaka arches a brow at Chloe, "Woah, seriously? You're that rough in sports? Heh, well..I'm not exactly gentle myself, in sports. So that makes us a good match." she grins and winks, "Besides, I like a challenge." glancing over at Natsumi, Sayaka arches a brow, "Oh, so you're an Aries, Chloe-san? and what are they like? Agressive and competitive?" she smirks, "Hmm, I think I must be an Aries too, perhaps?"
Natsumi pursed her lips at Sayaka. "What's your birthday? I can tell you what your sign is then. I'm the crab.". She blushes a little, smoothing her hands down the blouse of her uniform. "Not that I'm very crabby.".
"Aggressive, competitive, sometimes mean spirited, but they are fiercely loyal friends, once you get past their 'defenses'." Chloe says with a smile. "And they're also honest....to the point of bluntness." She then looks to Natsumi. "No, you're not crabby at all. You're actually pretty shy."
"A crab huh? What are they like? And is that stuff really accurate, even?" she chuckles, "Can you really predict what the future holds?"
Seems Sayaka is a bit doubtful of all this Astrology stuff still. Glancing at Chloe as she describes an Aries, she chuckles, "Ooh, now that really sounds like me! Both the good and the bad. But I wonder if two people can really be that much alike?"
As for her own birthday..She ponders, "Hmm, well I was born September 20th, so what does that make me?"
Giving a little giggle, Natsumi speaks up. "You're a Virgo. Loyal, analytical, kind, hardworking, practical? I like to think they're pretty accurate, and I even plan my day around what I read in the stars. It's a nice way to be at least a little sure what's going to happen, you know?".
Plus... Some stuff already made her sure that it could be believed.
"Well, I have no reason to disbelieve Natsumi here." Chloe smiles before looking to Sayaka. "Passionate.....are Aries." She concludes that. "No two people are exactly alike, Sayaka. But that doesn't mean they can't be friends. For all they know, they could compliment each other in their differences, rather than simply butt heads."
"Virgo, huh?" Sayaka stares doubtfully at Natsumi as she explains what Virgo are supposed to be like, shaking her head slowly, "Heh, doesn't sound at all like me. That's pretty crazy! I mean, just because you were born on a certain day, you're supposed to possess a certain personality?" she chuckles, "well whatever, I guess. Maybe I was adopted and that wasn't my real birthday. I still say I'm an Aries.."
Finally, Sayaka glances around, realizing they're still kinda standing in the doorway of the arcade. "So! You gals wanna go a few rounds at Sailor V with me? It'll be fun! I mean, I'll try not to beat you too badly..."
Natsumi blushes a little, looking over at Chloe. "If it's alright, I'd like to just watch. I'm no good at stuff like that.". She smiles though, clearly enjoying being there with them even if she really had no idea what to do here with them. She was out of her element, thanks Mom.
"Oh, give it a try after you've watched a round, Natsumi. you might be better than you think." Chloe says before looking to Sayaka. "I'll give it a try, but I'm not worried about beating the high score. All in the name of fun." She says gesturing to Sayaka. "Lead the way."
Sayaka smirks at Natsumi, "Ah, really? You sure you dont wanna give it a try? I mean, isn't that the reason why you came here in the first place?" she shrugs, "But I'd understand if you're a little uncomfortable at first. It'll get better with practice, I promise!"
And she nods to Chloe as she heads towards the latest Sailor V game. "Oh wow! They've added four-player Co-operative teams. That makes it way easier to fight the bosses! Hmmm, who should I play?"
She eventually settles on picking the red senshi, who looks a bit like Sailormars. Oh hey, she looks kinda familiar!
Natsumi blushes a little. "Well, I mostly got dropped off to hang out. I guess that's sort of what I'm doing?". She giggles a little, tugged at the bracelet on her wrist.
"So, what's the object of the game?". She peered at inquisitively, having never played it before and yet still curious about it. "I might take Chloe's advice and give it a try after a little bit...".
"Mostly just to beat up monsters and not get hurt yourself." Chloe says as she walks over towards the Sailor V game. Of course, there's plenty of high scores up there, but Chloe doesn't even look.
And it's the perfect time for Mikoto to be blowing off some steam. She's been extremely busy of late, and the stress is getting to her. Fortunately she's had a few chances to meet some friends, because otherwise she might well have... well, better not to say.
She went to a lovely little cafe last night. That was quite pleasant. Tonight, she's paying more attention to her diet, it seems. It's time to waste a few hundred-yen coins on the arcade, instead.
So that's where she wanders in, taking a look around, and eyeing a Macross flight-sim game as she considers what to do.
Sayaka smiles and nods, "Yeah, it's pretty simple! Just clear each stage by beating up monsters, and defeat the boss at the end of each level! And they have a cooperative option now, so up to four players can beat the crap out of the bad guys! It's good practice!"
Good practice for what? She doesn't exactly say, but hey, at least it's fun, whatever it is! She spies Mikoto out of the corner of her eye, slightly distracted as she tries to place her face, but it seems she's getting her butt kicked as she glances back at the screen.
"Aaah! Someone join in quickly! Or I'll die!"
Natsumi hovers behind Sayak and Chloe, watching with interest and complete bafflement. "Why do you have to beat up the monsters? Did they do something horrible?". Like cover up the stars? She actually had to bite back the urge to actually say it out-loud instead of simply think it, and she looked around furtively as if to assure herself her thoughts weren't screaming outside of her head.
Just as Sayaka calls out for help, that's when Chloe hops on the second controller stand and joins in. She does pretty good, especially when she's supporting Sayaka. "In the game, they're hurting your friends, or trying to hurt you. So you have to hurt them back. Or that's the way the game is." it's clear she takes the game seriously though. She's pretty careful in how she moves, as she supports Sayaka purposely. though her score creeps higher and higher.
Sayaka smirks, "Heh, something like that I guess. The evil queen is trying to take over the world and drain everyone of energy! So you have to stop her!" she is relieved when Chloe steps in to join. "Thanks!" although looking at the score board, she makes a face, "Wow, you're pretty good at this! And I'm still kinda new at this.."
Which means she has to try doubly hard if she wants to beat her!
The crowd at the Sailor V game, and a couple of familiar voices, catches Mikoto's attention, just as she's about to sit down at the Macross game. "Hmm, is that... yes, it is!"
She abandons the game and heads over towards the group, waving casually.
"Wow, someone's racking up the points, hmm?"
Natsumi glances up from the screen towards the new comer, suddenly feeling even more out of her element. These aren't a bunch of nerds... She's no idea what to really talk about with any of them and now there's more people and just...
She starts to fiddle with her bracelet, the silver charms tinkling as they knock against each other with light glinting of scattered rubies in a few of them. It seems to be a coping mechanism.
The problem with Chloe is that she's NOT trying to beat Sayaka. She's trying to cover her. Which she's really good at. Chloe manages to attack the appendages of this one big boss all the while setting Sayaka up for the killing blow. She's either very good at this game, has had lots and lots of practice, or she's a natural....
Sayaka smirks, "Heh, you really are pretty good at this game, Chloe-chan!" although she doesn't seem to be competing as much as just protecting her character and racking up points that way. "Oh, but you really dont have to kill all the bad guys for me! I can do this!"
And she switches to agressive mode, but she's not quite as good at this game as Chloe, and takes a few more hits than her. "Ugh...No way! These youma are so tough! But you took 'em down so easily!"
Indeed, a crowd is growing, and when Mikoto comes over, Sayaka grins, "Hey, looks like we're getting lots of attention! You must be Mikoto-san, right? I've seen you around Infinity school so you must be a student there as well!"
Mikoto nods, waving casually as she approaches the group. "That's right, and you're Sayaka, right? I think I saw you at one of the dances... the one Kaname-chan was hosting?"
It was the 'Hey, let's have some fun before we all go die' dance, shortly before D-Point, but Mikoto had attended as Hagane, so wasn't terribly recognizeable.
"Looks like you've got another youma coming down on you. Best take care of it." She jingles a handful of coins. "Mind a drop-in?" she asks, eyeing one of the empty spaces at the console.
Natsumi backs up a little to better stand behind and watch all three of them at once before deciding there's no denying it anymore. You clearly just twitch the little stick and bash buttons, and she can't keep pretending she can't do that.
She stepped up to the fourth empty spot and pulled out her own bundle of coins, looking at the three others. "Mind if I join too? I think I've got it.".
"The more the merrier, I think." Chloe says as she kicks another youma in the face. As a matter of fact, she makes it a point to kick it in the face......repeatedly. Next youma, kicked in the face. Next youma, kicked in the face. There seems to be an emerging pattern.
Chloe's score is getting up there, but she hasn't even looked at her point score yet. She seems to simply be trying to keep her allies safe. Everyone should be seeing a pattern to this.
Sayaka smiles and nods, "Yeah, I remember that..Dont remember seeing you there though but hey, there were a lot of people so..!" she smirks, "Guess it wasn't the last dance of the world, thankfully!"
She smiles, "Sure, please join in! Maybe we can actually beat level four this time! I've never been able to get past that stage!" Then Natsumi's joining and she nods, "Sure!" she sweatdrops as she watches Chloe beat the crap out of more than half the youma on the screen, "Wow! I'm glad I'm not a youma in real life! Or else I'd be toast, with moves like that!"
Mikoto drops a few coins in the slot and selects the blue Senshi, unsurprisingly enough. The not-quite-Mercury-lookalike jumps onto the screen with a bit of acrobatics and she promptly starts jiggling the joystick and mashing buttons, sending a jagged shard of ice flying at a youma.
"Hrm, don't think I've seen that one before," she muses, trying to repeat the move. It takes a few tries, and she loses a fair chunk of health in the process.
"Well," she adds in an aside to Sayaka, "I was wearing my Nice Suit, so I probably looked a little different." Hagane does wear a rather sharp blue suit, after all.
Natsumi puts her well-learned tactics to work and.... Her character who is (insert currently unused character), seems to have become possessed by a wacky inflatable tube man. Her brows are knitted though and after a moment it seems more like a focused wacky inflatable tube man, laying into the enemy.
"That's interesting. Lemme try that." Chloe says as Mikoto seems to have gotten her Mercury look alike to throw ice. After a few random button presses, and some luck....her green suited one seems to throw lightning. "hey. How about that."
Sayaka chuckles, "Oh! Okay, that's cool! I guess I was pretty dressed up too. Well good to see you again!" she continues to throw fireballs with her Mars look-alike, clearing through some youma at a bit of a slower pace than the rest. "Darn, I kinda suck at this game! But hey, it's way more fun when you've got team mates to help you on your way!!"
However they're suddenly faced with the stage end boss, a massive black dragon, and Sayaka's already slowing down, missing the dragon with her fireball, and getting fried by the dragon's green flames. She charges at it again, but doesn't dodge in time and loses all her life points. "Ack! I died! Well, at least it was a good run! Guess I'm out of change. Nice playing with you all!"
Somehow, she feels it'd be nice to fight as team mate s with the other Puella Magi like this, too!
"That's the spirit, Chloe-chan!" Mikoto manages to get the ice-blast working again, at least once, but it takes a few more tries before she can do it consistently. Her health is dipping dangerously low, however, so she applies her Standard Strategy Number Two:
Throw money at the problem.
Just as her character goes down under a youma's attack, another hundred-yen coin is slipped into the slot. In a few seconds of CGI she's up and blasting again. "Like I said before. Timing is everything."
She takes a moment to flip a coin Sayaka's way. "Here, least I can do for someone who dances as well as you do."
Natsumi dances by with blind luck, her character surviving but doing a lot less damage than any other one. She glances over at the others though, and in that moment her character goes down.
*CLINK*
The character springs back up as Natsumi puts in another coin, sticking her tongue out the edge of her mouth a little but her streak of points ends there as she gets hit over and over, running out of coins.
Chloe's concentrating upon the dragon. Kick to the face, lightning, jump out of the way, kick to the face, lightning....*TOASTED* "ow...that hurt." Then Sayaka dies and CHloe seems to....go into overdrive. Suddenly a lightning ball is pinballed at the dragon, with Chloe summoning a lightning DRAGON at the dragon. How that happened is beyond her.
I'll admit one thing, we're a good team. Maybe next time, we can play the Macross game together." She then chuckles at a thought. When she puts on her barrier jacket, she could call herself 'Valkyrie'.
"Could be worth a shot. I'm not much on these things, though... get me on a decent hex-and-chit game, though, and I'll wipe the table with you." She plays on until the current life runs out, then gives the joystick an idle whack as the 'continue' counter runs down.
"So, I don't think I've met our other friend, here?" She waves cheerily at Natsumi. "Hi, I'm Mikoto."
Natsumi rips her attention from the screen right as her character ends for the final hoorah. She looked over to Mikoto and gave a quite little smile before lifting her own hand. "Hi, I'm Natsumi. My friends call me Natsu.".
Chloe, even as her comrades die around her, manages to get a final kick to the face, just as her own character dies. The irony being that the dragon also dies. Unfortunately for CHloe, the programming in the game states that the Sailor V character has to be alive, so Chloe loses. "Oh well." She says softly before she turns around. "And both of you are my friends, so...meh." She turns around to find her score is one of the top 5. She shrugs and puts up the initials VLK. Turns out she's the new top score. "huh. Oh well." She doesn't really seem to care. "Is that a macross booth game?"
Mikoto flashes Natsumi a warm smile anda nod as she backs away from the Sailor V console. "Pleasure to meet you, Natsu." She didn't make anywhere near as high a score as Chloe, unfortunately, so she doesn't get to add her initials.
"That it is," she answers, waving at the set of sit-down booths. "Wanting to try it? I think they've got the network version in, so we can all play against each other..."
Natsumi rubs at the back of her head. "I'm going to call my mom, I'm afraid. I just remembered I have a work assignment due for Advanced Chemistry III. Sorry to play, chat, and run.". She pulled a little phone from her pocket and scooted off to a corner.
Chloe smiles a bit. "Nah. I think I'd better head home." She says looking at the time. "Grandad and Ma will be looking for me soon. I've done my homework already, but maybe I'll try it next time. I'm just as good competitively as I am with a team. I'll find out next time if there's a team play version." She says starting to head out of the arcade, giving Natsu a gentle squeeze on the shoulder, as if to say 'I'll call you later'. She does look to Mikoto as she walks away though....as if to say 'see you soon'.
Mikoto nods, and shrugs casually. The group seems to be breaking up, so she's left on her own. With a casual wave to the departing Chloe and Natsumi, she turns back to feed more coins into the Sailor V game.