Tuesday came, and school passed by quickly. It was the only day Ryu didn’t have to endure Livia’s lessons. Not long after Ryu left for his workplace and arrived to find someone - or should he say something in his seat.

“Ah Ryu!” said the welcoming voice of none other than his boss.

Ryu pointed at the object that was currently occupying his occupation.

“What is that?”

Ryu’s boss grinned, a grinchy kind’ve grin. “After seeing you breeze through all that work, I thought, y’know what? Maybe getting one of those computers to take care of that stuff isn’t so bad.”

“So…?”

“We don’t even have to pay the bloody-”

Ryu clapped his hands.

“Excuse me?” said Ryu.

“We don’t need ya.” Ryu’s boss scratched their armpit. “But cause’sa all that legal bull I gotta give you two weeks notice. How are you at cleaning?”

Ryu’s quickly opened his mouth to say something, but closed it halfway.

“I quit.”

“Oh, thanks.”

Ryu wasn’t sure if his boss was dumb or an asshole.

“Probably both,” mumbled Ryu.

Ryu exited the building and stood on the sidewalk, unsure which way to go. Across the road he could see the scrolling electronic signs of an arcade, with students just out of school walking in and out. He could recall wanting to visit an arcade, so he did.

Inside he found people standing in a crowd, circled around something. He’d been here before, it was right across his workplace after all, so he was no stranger to the oddity. He could recognise a few faces as well, mostly people he’d played with in the past, so he approached one of them.

“Hey,” said Ryu, to a spectacled boy in school uniform.

The boy looked at Ryu. “Oh hey, haven’t seen you in awhile.”

“Yeah.” Ryu glanced at the crowd. “What are they playing this time?”

“Some fighting game, I’m not really into it.”

“Street fighter?” said Ryu. He didn’t know much about arcade fighters.

“I’m not sure.”

Ryu left the boy and approached the crowd which was a few people thick. Scratching his head, he figured there was only one way to find out, so, gradually, he wiggled his way through to the front.

“UUARGH!”

“ARRRGHHHH!”

It was a gladiator pit. Two people fighting to the death, wearing black goggles and holding stick shaped controllers as they punched and kicked at the air. Stationed at the center were four screens forming a box, and on it was their battlefield. A boxing ring where anything goes. The two players were rendered inside, and each wore shorts. One red, one blue. The only other difference was the sports bra worn by the red player.

The crowd was shouting in unison “RED!” as the red player kicked their leg into the air, impacting the blue player beneath the chin and throwing them into the air. A bell rang, the fight was over, and the two players removed their headsets.

Ryu’s eyes swept over the two players, but lingered on the winner a little longer. The red player was a girl, a schoolgirl in fact, and she was coincidentally from red high. His eyes lingered a little too long, and she caught his with her own.

“Hmmm?” She stalked in Ryu’s direction.

Ryu looked to the side, thinking it was a good time to leave.

“Excuse me,” said the girl, her voice sounding more refined than Ryu had expected.

Ryu gulped as he turned his head back, and the girl smiled as he looked at her again.

“Do you want to play?”