Metropolitanism

[chikyuou]

"Sugoi-ne!" the young boy shouted aloud as his body spun, laughing and sashaying to the right. Here he was, in one of Konohagakure's only video game arcades, and he truly was taking in the sights. The room, slightly darkened, had a pulsing, multi-colored disco ball which cascaded a rainbow of lights against the walls to the sounds of gently pulsating music. All around him, boys and girls of every age were crowded amongst machines, putting in tiny bits of Ryo to earn their next chance at the high score. The sounds of cheering coupled with the rift rift rift of prize tickets printing was electrifying to the kid.

Dazzled and almost dizzy with excitement, the boy glanced towards the prize wall, where hundreds of neat gadgets and gizmos hung on display with a price number of tickets underneath them. It was there that the boy knew what he wanted to win. For the small cost of 320,000 tickets, he could win a trip for two to the local ice cream shoppe, complete with a complementary cone or sundae of his choice! His mouth began to water, and before he could help it, Chi found himself with a pink coloured strawberry lollipop firmly between the teeth and cheek of the right side of his face.

His eyes danced about, finding what he hoped would be the winning game, and located his prey. A smile spread across his face and he moved, though skipped would be a better word, towards the location of the machine and inserted a small ryo denomination. The machine began to hum with activity, and then suddenly a red light appeared and disappeared. With a quick motion of his arm, Chi slammed his palm onto the same red light and heard the satisfactory noise of success. His eyes widened and he resisted the urge to giggle while the machine began round two of the conquest. Chi waited with baited breath until the next series released. Red Blue. The boy repeated them, and was once more rewarded with a small chime of victory.

From there, it became a flurry of motion, the boy's right hand moving quickly and precisely to the correct colorizations. He became a frenzy of success, completely lost in his own world of color and sounds.

[Axcel]

Akuseru had found himself within a loud building filled with obnoxious people. Normally, the Genin would hate anything described as such, but in this case it became everything he was looking for once he discovered the draw this establishment had. The games! By investing a small amount of Ryo combined with a handful of skill, one could earn prizes worth many times the initial cost. The idea of an arcade was entirely foreign to the boy, having only just arrived at this new establishment for the first time, yet he felt entranced by all of it.

Only half an hour had passed before Akuseru laid against a machine with the most depressing vibes oozing out of him. He had been completely defeated. The money he had brought with him all gone and not a single ticket to his name. His day off would be cut short, having no choice but to return home now. As he slumped out of his chair and slowly headed towards the exit he noticed something familiar off to the side.

That hair. . . Akuseru couldn't quite get all the details through the crowded building, but his instincts told him to move towards that moss head in the distance. The realization of who he had found had shaken Akuseru out of his sudden state of depression.

"Chi!" The boy called out. Of course he recognized him—they were both Genin of the same age. His fellow Konoha-nin had been enthralled by the game in front of him. Unlike Akuseru however, he was quite good at these games. . .

[chikyuou]

"Chi!" The word, like a knife, cut through and air and, like the air, Chikyuou's concentration. In that brief moment, when Chi was on the fortieth successful repetition, his ability to shut out the world and focus splintered into a thousand pieces. Emerald eyes blinking momentarily, he watched as his fingers failed to hit the correct button and the horrifying red buzzer rung throughout his ears. His mouth opened slightly in shock, his half-dissolved strawberry lollipop falling to the floor with a crack that, in Chi's mind, sounded worse than a thousand Katon jutsu releasing simultaneously.

With an exaggerated slump, the boy appeared to melt, slinking to the floor and grabbing onto the machine, as if it alone were keeping him afloat in an ocean of despair. Who could have done such a thing?! Who would ruin his chance at beating his high score of 312 successful Simon buttons?! And worse, who would destroy his candy? Giving a visible shake, Chi's neck swiveled, changing his line of sight to glance upon the site of the one person that Chi had hoped to never run into in a place like this. Akuseru.

A weight sunk into his heart, but Chi forced a grin, releasing his hold on the machine and giving a casual wave to the snow-topped simpleton that Chi was cursed to call a classmate.

"Ohaiyo, Akuseru-san." The words, carefully drawn out so that each syllable was pronounced, would float across the room, the waves of sound loud enough for the other Genin to pick them up even through the sounds of the bustling arcade. However, it was at this moment that a new distraction arrived. The sound of tickets printing at the machine in front of Chi gathered his attention, and the king of the earth looked towards it, counting as each ticket fell from the machine. To his sorrow, the machine halted at a measly 120 tickets.

Looking back towards the other boy, Chi spoke. "Akuseru-san, I thought you didn't normally come to places like this..."

[Axcel]

Though Chi's face likely betrayed him, Akuseru was ignorant to his true feelings. Upon seeing his old classmate wave, Akuseru pushed through the crowd in order to make his way to his fellow Genin. It had been so long since Akuseru encountered anyone from his graduating class—the boy couldn't help but greet another who had shared the same torment as him.

"Oi moss head!" Akuseru slapped Chi against the back and then burst into a fit of laughter. It was how he had always greeted Chikyuou, much to his dismay. The sound of his own laughter had been cut off by the number of tickets printing out of the machine. So many! Akuseru moved his face only inches away from the line of tickets as they printed, attempting to count each and every one as they came out. He got distracted and lost count of course, but was certain it was above a hundred.

"Wow Chi! You're. . . Actually not bad. . ." Akuseru had rarely praised Chi in the past, but it was undeniable in this scenario. At least in his eyes. Having spent all of his own money without a single ticket to show for it, he couldn't help but be amazed at the sight of 120 tickets.

Upon hearing Chi speak, Akuseru lowered his head in shame. "I don't. This is my first time here. . ." Akuseru muttered loud enough for his classmate to hear. "I wanted the Ice Cream Sundae, but I used all my money and couldn't get a single ticket!" His confession had the sound of a defeated and broken man. Yet he propped his head back up and looked Chi with hope in his eyes.

"Chi! Tell me your secret to conquering this facility!" Akuseru had never been one to give up, so why start now?

[chikyuou]

Of course. The first time that Akuseru would choose to come to this place was the time that Chi had chosen to come, too. Resisting the urge to sigh as Akuseru explained his plight, the green-haired Genin ignored the easy "moss head" jab and shrugged his shoulders. At that moment, Akuseru's hand collided with his back, a motion that Chi had been relatively unprepared for, and to his regret he found his head moving forward, colliding with the machine with a loud clang. A nerve twitched on his skull, hidden by his face plant, and this time he did sigh a little bit.

Of course, such motions were too obvious for Snow White to notice, and Akuseru continued yammering on, for once actually bestowing Chikyuou with an almost-compliment. The Genin took his face away from the machine and glanced up towards the hime-sama and found a grin spreading across his features, which quickly fell as Akuseru explained that he had spent all of his money and hadn't managed to claim even a single ticket. Once more resisting the urge to sigh, Chi had fully planned on turning away and ignoring Akuseru completely until Akuseru gave his plea for aid.

With a stoic look on his face, Chi stood up and glanced towards the Simon machine once before looking back towards Akuseru.

"The answer of course is simple! I have an easy, two-step system that is guaranteed to work for any Shinobi! It's called the 2C System!" He paused, reaching into his pocket and withdrawing a piece of watermelon-flavored hard candy before extending it to Akuseru. "Candy and Concentration!" Chi placed a small Ryo coin into the Simon machine and moved away from it, giving Akuseru full access to the machine.

"Now get those tickets, Akuseru-san! I'll cheer you on from right here!"

[Axcel]

An easy two step system?! Akuseru, a hot target for many door to door salesmen, was a big fan of two step systems. He channeled all of his focus onto Chi, leaning forwards with perked ears and widened eyes. He aggressively nodded at every word that the green headed Genin spoke. Akuseru could barely contain his own excitement by the time Chi had unveiled the piece of candy.

"Osu!" Akuseru exclaimed as he snatched the piece of candy and held it his open mouth. A sudden, convenient silence filled the building for Akuseru's overly dramatic pause before the bustling noise of the arcade resumed. Finally dropping the candy into his mouth, Akuseru felt invigorated as the intense, sugary flavor flooded his mouth. Akuseru did a quick spin before punching the the start button.

As the game began, Akuseru turned his head back towards Chi and gave nod. "Watch me, Chi." He said with the manliest voice he could muster before slowly turning back towards the game. As the colors lit up and the prompts appeared, Akuseru responded with what he thought to be pinpoint accuracy. Not ten seconds had passed before he was sprawled on the floor with his own limbs tangled together, causing the game to end and not a single ticket emerging from the dispenser.

"H-help. . ." The boy whimpered.

[chikyuou]

Chikyuou watched with intense concentration, willing Akuseru to be successful. After the other boy had taken the candy and popped it into his mouth, Akuseru had begun the game. However, the man's motions were too much. He didn't even wait for the machine to give him the colors that he was supposed to mimic! Mentally restricting his neck from causing his head to shake, Chi grimaced only ever so slightly as not even ten seconds passed before Akuseru had failed, his body a tangled mass of limbs from trying to press all of the buttons multiple times simultaneously. Chi had half a mind to simply walk away from Akuseru at this point, as the boy had been nothing but grief to Chi since they were in the Genin program together, but Akuseru's glance and plea for aid stuck a knife in that plan and called it done.

"Ahhh, Pretzel-dono... Um, I mean Akuseru-san," Chi scratched the back of his head with his right hand. "Maybe this one isn't the right game for you. Yeah, that's it! Let's go try another one." Moving his right hand away from his head, he gestured out into the veritable sea of games that they were awash with, and smiled. "I think I see one that's just your type, for sure!" Without waiting to see if Akuseru followed, Chi turned on his heels and stalked towards a battle arena style game that had just recently launched with a new expansion pack. This one would definitely be Akuseru's place to shine!

Pulling up to the machine, Chi observed the title. Monstermon Monster Battle Stadium Utopia 3: Unnatural Garden Paradise. It featured a large brand new variety of nature-based Monstermons! Akuseru was sure to love this.

"Akuseru-san! Let's try this one!" Reaching into his pocket once more, Chi pulled out a candy and some Ryo. Placing the Ryo into the machine, he turned and tossed the candy to the gaming failure prodigy. "Remember now! 2Cs, Akuseru-san! Osu!"

[Axcel]

"Pretzel-dono. . .?" Akuseru mumbled as he struggled to stand back onto his own two feet. That game he had played was no joke—clearly a test designed by the Hokage to deter lesser Shinobi from advancing through the ranks. Knowing this, Akuseru was ready to try again and again until he was able to product results. However, he had quickly forgotten about the game as Chi led him to another.

The title of the game, Monstermon Monster Battle Stadium Utopia 3: Unnatural Garden Paradise, was certainly a mouthful. Akuseru had heard civilian children speaking of Monstermon in the past and had always wondered what all the fuss was about. Following Chi towards the game station, Akuseru's eyes would once again widen at the colorful motion pictures displayed on the screen. Determined to pass this test and acquire enough tickets to purchase a sundae, Akuseru studied the instructions before obtaining a piece of candy from Chi.

"Alright! Candy and. . ." Akuseru's eyes shut while he inhaled deeply for a moment. "Concentration!" He said to himself as he exhaled. Ready to play, Akuseru was prompted to select his own nature based Monstermon. Being a Mokuton user, the Genin searched a wood based Monstermon. Settling on a monster that best fit his criteria, Akuseru was ready to proceed.

"AHAHA! This one looks like you Chi!" His obnoxious voice was accompanied by his equally loud laughter as he compared the Monstermon to Chi. His former classmate appearing as if he was growing plants on his head where as the Monstermon actually had a plant. Having teased Chi in the past about his hair, no verbal explanation was needed. The moss head would easily make the connection.

[chikyuou]

"This one looks like you, Chi!"

Of course, the taunt was simple, and it was something that Chikyuou was used to hearing from Akuseru. However, that didn't change the fact that it was irritating beyond all belief to hear time and time again. Chi frowned slightly upon hearing it, especially since he was taking time out of his busy gaming schedule to assist the untalented gaming Genin, but in the end, Chi simply shrugged his shoulders once more. If he didn't respond to it, then Akuseru was bound to stop harassing him with such silly insults... eventually.

Instead, Chikyuou put a smile back on his face and gestured nonchalantly. "That one is called an Oydish, Akuseru-san. It has a few special attacks, like throwing seeds at its opponent and then causing them to bloom, giving the opponent status debuffs." As Chi spoke, he was watching the screen while it scrolled through potential opponents. Finally, the little wheel of fortune type spinner came to halt under the category 'Novice Opponent' and a loud cheering sound came from the machine. The screen faded, and the sound of what could only be described as battle music started playing. As the colors returned to the screen, the image of Akuseru's Oydish appeared towards his side of the screen, and another creature appeared on the other side. The bar over the other monster's head labeled it a Hyenra, a normal-type monster that used ferocious bite attacks. It was also relatively quick, but had a high chance to miss - something that Akuseru's Oydish could easily take advantage of to become the victor.

"Alright, Akuseru-san! This monster should be right up your alley! Now, give it your all!"

[Axcel]

Akuseru nodded intently as Chi gave further instructions on the game he would be playing. With their opponent having been decided, Akuseru couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. "Novice?! Tch, this will be too easy." Akuseru was beaming with undeserved confidence. With his Chi-looking creature at his side, his victory had been made certain.

"Alright Chi-mon, all you have to do is fight like me and you'll be set!" Akuseru gave his virtual fighter an inspiring pep-talk before sending it to battle. His opponent, having been given the first round to attack, used a jutsu that caused question marks to surround the Chi-like monster. "The hell is that. . .? Whatever!" Akuseru, not worried about whatever the enemy had inflicted upon him, chose to use an attack involving vine whips.

"Go!" The Genin grinned at what was sure to be victory, but the attack had ended up harming himself instead. Apparently Chi-mon had struck itself in confusion. Akuseru watched with sadness as Chi-mon's hitpoints dropped to zero. Not like this. . . Akuseru watched as his pet monster appeared to be sprawled on the floor with its vines tangled itself and whimpering.

Akuseru hung his head low in shame. A depressing aura surrounded the boy as he looked towards the ticket dispenser awaiting what would never come.

"N-no sundaes today. . ."

[chikyuou]

Despite knowing better than to have his hopes set high for an Akuseru success, Chikyuou felt really good about seeing the Oydish. Akuseru seemed to take it as an omen of success, that a creature that he assumed to look like Chi was his monster. However, that couldn't have been further from the case. The Hyenra took the initiative, attacking first with Crazy Growl, a Confusion status debuff that also decreased the defense of the Oydish. There were ways to play around the Crazy Growl, and Chikyuou opened his mouth to help give instructions to Akuseru as the boy opened his mouth, openly stating the same sort of Confusion that the Oydish was experiencing.

However, Chikyuou didn't even have a moment to respond as the other Genin simply shrugged off the status ailment and ordered his Monstermon to attack. Chi's eyes opened wide with surprise, his mouth hung open. No. the boy thought. This cannot be! Akuseru-san should have used a defensive ability with a low chance of inflicting damage on himself instead of an offensive assault! And, of course, the move would backfire, Akuseru-san's Oydish sending whips made out of vines towards itself instead of at the Hyenra. And, of course... it was a critical hit. As the Oydish's health plummeted to zero from a combination of the critical hit and lowered defense, Chikyuou actually did find himself sighing this time. How could someone be this hopeless at video games?!

Chikyuou watched as a grim aura of sadness surrounded Akuseru, an almost palpable level of failure that Chi found himself feeling for the other boy. Of course, it would be difficult to cheer the boy up after such a disproportionately dismal display of disappointment, but Chi was confident that a win could turn this whole thing around. It was then, as Akuseru spoke, that Chi found himself hit with disbelief. The other boy was literally doing all of this just to get a free ticket for a Sundae? The point of the games were to have fun, not to get stuff.

The prizes were secondary, and of course, Chikyuou wanted a strawberry sundae too. However, it was here that Chikyuou found out what Akuseru-san was doing wrong. Moving quickly, Chikyuou placed himself in front of the Glorious Dancing Revolution machine. Two dancing areas, equipped with a different colored arrow positioned at each of the cardinal directions (up, down, left, right), were present. Chi slipped some coins into the machine, enough for both of them to be able to play, and then glanced towards Doctor Gloom and Doom before calling out to him.

"Ahem. Akuseru-san...? Please, try this instead." He paused. "And this time, your opponent will be me, not the machine." Popping a piece of candy into his mouth, Chi waited until Akuseru was ready to play.

[Axcel]

Once again Akuseru had been met with failure. He was only lucky that the Hokage was not here to witness such a travesty. Surely he would have had the Genin executed after watching this constant stream of missteps and failures. His depressing aura continued to grow. He had never been one to take losses well—even over something as silly as the games they were playing

"Another?" Akuseru said lazily when Chi had began leading him to yet another game. What was the point? Akuseru had been completely defeated by this cursed building. Though he had failed game after game and he was ready to call it a day, the boy felt he could at least see which game Chi would be suggesting. Glorious Dancing Revolution—it didn't pique his interest but perhaps there was more to it than the name let on.

With the coins inserted and the game beginning, Akuseru turned to Chi to see how the game would play. His head would move back and forth between watching the prompts on the screen and Chi dancing around trying to match them until eventually Akuseru took one hard look at his machine and gave it a kick. "No!" Sparks flew as one of the nearby managers began freaking out, though knew he could do nothing in response to a shinobi but cry, as Akuseru damaged the game and began walking away.

"There will be no tickets for sundaes today," his hands were jammed into his pockets as he made his way towards the exit. Akuseru's depression had been replaced with anger, which he channeled into the dancing machine earlier.

[chikyuou]

As Chikyuou began to dance, he noticed that Akuseru wasn't following. The boy had thought that if he was the opponent, Akuseru's natural competitive instinct would kick into overdrive, allowing him an easy victory... and if that was failing, Chikyuou had simply planned to let Akuseru win. However, as the other boy watched the motions of the green-haired guy, Akuseru's clear level of frustration boiled through and Chi watched in shock as the snow-haired prince kicked the machine with his foot, sending sparks flying.

Chi's motions ceased immediately, and he found his mouth wide open with shock. Never, in all of the years that Chi had known Akuseru, had he ever seen the other boy act in such a way. Inside of a body that was usually full to bursting with enthusiasm and unbridled optimism was a pristine layer of doubt and self-loathing that the boy obviously took great pains to conceal. Chi's mouth snapped shut and he swallowed once before bowing an apology to the shopkeep and running after the boy who was now wandering away. Was there anything he could do to make Akuseru-san feel better?

"There will be no tickets for sundaes today."

It was as Akuseru-san spoke these words that an idea formulated within Chikyuou's mind. With a snap of his fingers, he called out to Akuseru-san as they left the arcade's doors behind them.

"Akuseru-san! Don't be so down. Besides, what you want is actually... something that I possess." As he spoke, Chi reached into his pocket and pulled out two vouchers for strawberry sundaes. "I won them last week, you see, but I've seen saving them for a special occasion." Chikyuou smiled and extended one of the vouchers towards Akuseru, his emerald eyes dancing with the sort of happiness that could normally be found in Akuseru's eyes. It had been a long time since he had spent a day with a friend.

"Now, come on! The Shinobi Shoppe will only be open for another hour!"

[Axcel]

Despite Akuseru's constant taunts, put-downs, and borderline bullying, Chi had always been there for him. Of course, Akuseru considered him a friend as well—the white haired Genin just had a unique way of conveying his friendship. The accelerated program they had undergone together was no joke. They were expected to become top tier Shinobi in a short amount of time and it was being overseen by the Hokage himself. There was a reason Akuseru had grown to fear him, not wanting to be put through the hellish trials they had gone through in the past. Naturally, the two Genin had a bond that couldn't be cut with words and jokes alone.

"Chi! You're the greatest moss head I know." He was the only moss head he knew, but a compliment was a compliment. Akuseru followed him to the Shinobi Shoppe and spent close to ten minutes looking at all the different flavors and combinations, even trying the many offered samples. Yet even after insisting he was going to try something new this time, he ended up choosing a strawberry sundae as always.

Akuseru had returned to his normal, cheery self when presented with the sundae. You would think someone who made such a big deal out of the vouchers would take the time to savor his dessert, but the sundae had gone just as quickly as it appeared. He hadn't even sat down yet or given Chi the chance to enjoy his own treat.

"Ah that was great Chi! Today wasn't so bad after all!" His day of failing at games may have been one he would never forget, but at least it ended on a positive note!

—Exit

[chikyuou]

The greatest... moss head? Once more, Chikyuou found that Akuseru's presence could be a bit tiresome, but overall, Chi had found that he rather enjoyed having company rather than being alone. Company that would constantly upset and degrade him, but company none-the-less. The young man smiled at Akuseru, nodding his head to show his appreciation of the comments, as the two wandered to the Shinobi Shoppe and ordered their ice cream.

Although there were a multitude of flavors, like Akuseru-san, Chi settled on a strawberry sundae. As he placed his order, he glanced over towards Akuseru, who he noticed had just received his sundae. Chi's smile widened and turned away again to watch the confectionery master create his treat. By the time that Chi was handed his sundae, he turned towards Akuseru to ask where they should sit. However, to the green-haired boy's surprise, Akuseru's sundae had vanished. His eyes widened in surprise, he was about to open his mouth and ask where it had vanished to before he noticed vanilla ice cream and strawberry stains all around the boy's mouth. Instead of saying anything, the boy sighed towards the Snow White.

"Ah, that was great, Chi! Today wasn't so bad after all!" The "moss head" simply shook his head and moved over to a table to leisurely enjoy his sundae.

"I'm glad that you had fun, Akuseru-san. Perhaps we'll do this again sometime?" And with that, the boy tucked into his sundae, enjoying the succulent flavours that filled his mouth. Strawberry, vanilla, and sprinkles covered his tastebuds with a cacophony of delicious satisfaction, and Chi couldn't help but moan into the dish his satisfaction. After finishing his sundae, he waved towards Akuseru.

"Until we meet again, Akuseru-san!"

[exit]