Dance Dance Mishalution (SL)

Another beautiful morning ruined by the creeping invasion of overcast. Misha and Orochi argued all morning over what they would do today. Misha wanted to stay in while Orochi wanted to go out. A long time ago the two agreed that Orochi could evoke Misha to try something new once a week. And today Orochi used that power. So begrudgingly Misha got dressed in their Green hoody, blue jeans and black V-neck and headed to the Blacklight District, to go to the arcade there instead of the one closer to home.

Upon reaching Arcadia however, all feeling of dread were washed away by a plethora of flashing lights and bells. Arcadia's collection of games was much more up to date than the one by their house and had to be more than twice as large. Misha darted around the room looking at all different kinds of games. When they came across  the newest version of Dance Dance Retribution, Misha's heart skipped a beat. They looked around to make sure no one was watching before getting on and activating the game. Misha's face lit up like a Christmas tree when they saw the song list and decided to start with a warm up, a song by Katty Kurei whose choreography Misha knew by heart.

Once the song started playing Misha was completely adsorbed into the experience, totally unaware of what was going on around them. It was just them and the dance! Misha stepped on the arrows with professional accuracy, hitting perfect after perfect. Once they got into the groove Misha started mixing it up, criss crossing their legs and performing spins while dancing with their arms the same way Katty did.

Once more, Tomomi found himself at the arcade, and once more, it wasn't his choice, nor was it because he got to play a game. No, after a fairly long walk in the pouring rain, Tomomi found himself in the Backlight district, and the Arcadia arcade for work. Hygiene mask covering his nose and mouth, with latex gloves, and a couple of black bags in hand signifying his role as the person picking up the litter left around assorted areas of the building. A red shirt, blue jeans, and black boots gave the impression of a fairly standard teenager. Except, the face was covered in long, wet black hair that was sodden heavy from the rain, and slung over his shoulder was a black jacket.

So, here he was, working by shoving things ranging from crisp packets to empty cans into a black sack, before pausing, as a bit of movement caught his eyes. Beneath his drowned rat of hair, the boy stared for a moment wide eyed, as someone on the Dance Dance Retribution machine was dancing a storm. Whoever it was, their dancing was perfect, and Tomomi felt he was looking at some form of video game dance deity. The DDRDD for short, one might say. So, as they danced, he watched, waiting for them to finish before giving a slightly muffled round of applause, fairly quiet due to the latex gloves, and the bag in his hand, Tomomi letting out a soft, under the breath but enthusiastic "Woo".

Misha finished the song with their back to the screen and triumphantly stomping the final not and striking a commonly use idol pose. They smiled ear to ear, proud of beating the high score when they heard the applause. Misha's eyes instantly widened to their limit as Misha froze up, still in their pose. A nervous sweat started accumulating on their brow and their knees began to shake. Misha tried with all their might but just couldn't get themselves to move until Orochi mentally slapped them in the face. And much like a soldier suddenly being called to attention, Misha straightened out their posture and scooched off the machine.

Misha turned to face the newly arrived stranger as they scolded Orochi in their mind. *Dammit Ori why didn't you tell me someone was there!* Orochi cackled manically *I thought it would be funny. I was right.* Misha looked the strange man over, careful not to make eye contact. At first glance Misha saw the messy hair and the mask and feared he was a ruffian.They took a defensive step back before seeing the rest of their attire and sighed with relief. With their hands at their side, Misha bowed over and over "I'm so sorry from distracting you from your work! I'll game more quietly!!" Misha apologized loudly

At their reaction, or rather lack thereof, Tomomi also froze, panicking inside about whether or not he had just been inappropriate. The sudden shift in posture also made Tomomi think this, and he found himself bracing for impact from a verbal beat down, such as shouting. This in mind, Tomomi was taken incredibly off guard when the stranger began bowing repeatedly and apologising. A moment of hesitation and a mild "Uhhh" before Tomomi quickly shook his head, waving his hands in front of him frantically. "A-ah, um, y-y-y-you don't need to apologise! I-I'm sorry for d-d-d-distracting you from your game! Um! I-it's no problem at all, I-I d-don't have a t-technical time limit for w-w-working anyways, b-but please don't mind me when gaming, terribly sorry! I was just... Um... R-really impressed..."

Misha blushed at the sudden compliment "O-oh, um, Thanks" Misha mumbled nervously. After a moment of trying to think of something to say Misha blurts out "And you look like you're doing a great job picking up trash. This place is, uh, immaculate!" It was about as clean as any arcade but Misha felt like they had to say something. *Oh man, he's as bad as you* Orochi mockingly whispered in Misha's mind. But Misha shook the words out of their head. Misha looks away, shifting their weight to one foot with both arms behind their back. They had to do or say something, the moment was getting more awkward with each passing moment.

Misha looked around and laughed to themselves, for the shortest moment, they forgot they were in an arcade. Misha was in an arcade, he was in an arcade, what do two people do when at an arcade? Misha's eyes lit up with excitement and they closed the distance between the two. "Will you play House of the Dead with me? I haven't been able to beat it by myself!" Misha fists were up by their chin and shaking eagerly. It wouldn't matter how good this guy was, with just a little bit of help, Misha should be able to Finally beat the bane of their exsistence.

"Oh, um... W-well, I um... T-thanks, I guess? I-I didn't really, um, d-do most of it though? J-just the stuff that missed the bins..."

At this, he awkwardly rubbed at the back of his neck, an awkward smile on his face beneath the mask. As they looked around, Tomomi thought for a moment that they were being stared at - it wouldn't have been the first time. But instead, there was a glint of realisation in the stranger's eyes that caught Tomomi off guard, Tomomi leaning back in a bit of startled surprise as they stepped closer, blinking a moment in confusion at their question and request. Tomomi still had a bit of work to do, but, the expression they held, and the mild desperation made Tomomi feel too guilty to explain or turn them down, taking his gloves off and mask so that he wasn't officially in work gear anymore, quickly shoving them into his pocket. "A-ah, um, s-sure, a-although, um... I w-warn you, I'm um... N-not very good at video games... B-but, um, I can t-try to help!" He replied, grinning up at the taller stranger. "O-oh, and, my name's Tomomi! N-nice to, um, meet you!"

Misha clapped with glee and began scanning the room to locate the game they wanted to play. "I'm Misha, its nice to meet you!" Misha says while still scanning the room. They spot the game against the far wall of the arcade and rush over to it, Misha turns mid dash to beckon Tomomi to follow. During this turn, Misha tripped over their own feet and fell to the floor, their attempt to get back up was also rushed and met with them falling again. All the expertise and grace seen as they Played DDR was no where to be seen as this person clumsily stumbled back to their feet. "Uhhhhh, pretend you didn't see that!" Misha demanded "I must have failed a dex check" Misha mumbled under their break.

They continued to the machine, which was the latest in the House of the Dead series and by far the hardest. It was a single screen two player experience with the classic tethered guns of red and blue. The guns themselves had a more futuristic design to match the games setting and were a bit heavier as well. What made the game so hard was how advance the AI for the enemies were, it made their actions a bit unpredictable, and you'd sometimes only have seconds to react to an attack. The boss battle were pretty hardcore to say the least. Misha was never able to beat it alone but with another player to help split the monsters attention would make all the difference.

"Since I asked you to play, I'll pay for your lives!" Misha offered as they put the coins in the machine. "Have you played this game before? If you haven't I could show you some pointers if you want?" Misha says with a smug smile. It was clear they've played the game quite a bit from the pure confidence radiating from their eyes.

As the other person said their name, Tomomi nodded and watched them step away from the DDR machine, nearly running, then falling over completely. As they hit the floor, Tomomi began to rush to help them get up, before Misha got themselves off the floor, seemingly okay, then falling again, then getting up again. Still, as they expressed their wish to have the... Failing at stepping ignored, Tomomi just nodded his head again, uttering a simple "Uh... O-okay...?" before following again.

Still, when they reached the game machine, Tomomi looked at the game machine and took a deep breath, uttering a light "Thank you!" when Misha paid for Tomomi as well, owing to the boy needing to save his money for the bus trip home. At the questions though...

"Ah! Um! P-please teach me, yeah, I um... I d-don't tend to play games very often, much less arcade games. Um... I am, uh, sorry, in advance if I slow you, but, I will try to pick up as quick as I can!" The boy declared, bowing his head in a light gesture of respect to Misha at the offering for pointers, which the boy took way more seriously than anyone realistically should.

Misha liked the idea of teaching someone, an apprentice of sorts. They felt a strong urge to look after him and make sure he thrives. What was this? Maternal instincts? Or maybe paternal instincts, they weren't quite sure yet. Anyway, Misha thought they'd impart some real gun knowledge hidden in this arcade demonstration. Who knows when he might need it.

Misha giggled a bit, they couldn't help but relate with the guy. Misha gets pretty flustered like he is alot too, and the bow made Misha think he might be asian like them. All in all they appreciated to out of place formality. Misha bowed back properly "I humbly accept you as my Kouhai! I promise to be the best Senpai I can be!" Misha said in a deepened manly voice, then looked up from their bowed position and gave Tomomi a wink. Misha stood and grasped the gun in both hands. "Now, these guns can get pretty heavy, so you'll want to use a proper stance to distribute the weight through your whole body. Otherwise your arms will tire quickly." Misha demonstrates the proper stance and they almost looked like a real gun instructor. "Now you could go for precision, in which case you hold the gun like this" Misha held the gun with both hand, one on on the grip and the other support the weight from below. "Or you can go for quantity over quality" Misha held the gun with both hands on the grip, a finger from each on the trigger. "Like this you can shoot much faster, but don't try that with a real gun!" Misha laughed and motioned for Tomomi to try.

As Misha bowed back, and used the Japanese terms of Kouhai and Senpai, Tomomi found himself caught off guard, not having expected that the other person would use Japanese terminology and societal concepts, let alone using them properly. Still, rather than comment on it, Tomomi simply watched and listened as Misha explained the different bits, mimicking their posture and stance surprisingly quickly. Somewhat slower was the mimicry of the gun holding, with Tomomi's hands shaky upon holding the gun, and at Misha's explanation that it was quicker but bad with a real gun, the boy nodded, and shifted his grip to copy once more.

Despite having both hands on it, the gun quivered in his hands in an unsteady grip, trying to alternate his fingers on the trigger clumsily, and evidently showing the technique that would make an amateur feel superior in every way but his stance. Still, Tomomi grinned, trying to seem confident as he nodded his head. "O-okay! I-I'll try to, um, keep up senpai!"

Misha smiled and nudged Tomomi with their elbow then pressed the start button. The two played and died a few times, each time Misha would give pointers on how Tomomi could do better. This pattern continued on a few time, but after each death they got further and further. Misha was having the time of their life, the game was so much better with a partner. Misha could apply strategies they could never do alone and having Tomomi play along with them, they got farther than Misha ever got alone. They played on like this until Misha finally run out of tokens, unfortunately this happens before they could beat the game. Misha tossels their hair in frustration "Maaaaaaan, this game is just as hard as they say!" Misha turns and  puts out their hand. "That was so much fun. thank you. Lets do this again and beat it next time." The two exchange a few pleasantries before going their separate ways.

As the two went through the game, Tomomi's smile grew wider and wider; even though he was carried throughout the game, and got only two kills throughout their entire run, the boy had a blast playing. The two losing all of their lives and tokens, Tomomi set his gun down, worried for a moment when Misha was pulling at their hair, before being relieved that they then proceeded to be much more calm about it, laughing slightly and shaking their hand. "Agreed! I, um, I'll see you around Misha! Have a good one!" He declared, grinning, before walking off to grab his stuff, and go.

[Exit]