Birthday Girl at the Arcade [Open to 1-A]

Lips puckered to the side as if he was biting the inside of his cheek, Akagai was already mildly annoyed with his eyes furrowed. Surprisingly for someone who wasn't sure he'd make it to the birthday party, he was one of the first to arrive. The truth behind that was that he loved rhythm and dance games like Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero. Akagai doubted that they would have the latter in this arcade unless they had a secluded booth somewhere so that the screaming youth didn’t disturb the rest of the screaming youths. The former however definitely existed in this arcade somewhere, be it a cheap knock off or the latest iteration of the series. That was the boy’s goal, to find it and establish his own high score, hopefully overcoming the highest on the game yet. Oh, and of course he wanted to pwn some of his classmates as well.

What Akagai immediately noticed that irritated him though, was that all of those before him brought gifts when the class representative—what was her name again, Rin? Told everyone that bringing a gift was unnecessary. So you know what Akagai did? He didn’t bring a thing. He was one of the new transfer students, he didn’t know her anyway. What could he have brought her? When he entered the arcade, he caught sight of Rin and the gift being handed to her by another girl in their class. He quickly looked away and waved before exploring the arcade in pursuit of the rhythm and dance games he longed for. As he wandered about, he couldn’t help but think of the last birthday party he went to. It was five years ago. His gift for Yousai—the douchebag birthday boy, was just playing music with his quirk. Perhaps he could do that for Rin later?

Eye twitching slighting, Akagai actually began to bite his lip as he thought about playing music. Would the class even like it? Or would it just be a repeat of his primary school days? It was all such a bother that his thoughts brought him to a halt as he rubbed his head anxiously as if deeply troubled by something. Regaining his composure, he took a deep breath, and sighed. Then, right as how things usually went, Akagai found the DDR machine when he wasn’t even looking for it at the moment. A sly, mischievous smile crept up between his lips. The boy rubbed his hands together then hopped onto one of the machine’s two dance pads, ready to challenge someone.

“Ayo~!” he excitedly called out, trying to gather the attention of whoever was around. “I’m paying for this first round, so someone step up to the plate and challenge me!” As he shouted, he held quarters in his balled fist and shook them triumphantly as he pumped his arm.

In hindsight, inquiring whether anyone wanted to join him in an arcade game before the birthday celebration even commenced was pretty moronic. Reasonably, no one seemed to acknowledge his offer, not at first that was. At the time, there was only four students in the building. One being himself, and another being the host—Rin… he still wasn’t quite sure whether that was her name or not though. At least he had some sort of an inkling of what the class representative’s name was compared to the rest of students. He hadn’t the slightest clue what their names could have been. There wasn’t a snowball chance in hell that Rin would link up with him and play the DDR machine though. That left only two people who didn’t know him, because the class rep. had to do what was expected of her. That being a good host and greeting everyone who arrived. You know, hugging everyone, collecting the gifts she probably always wanted from the get go (Yes, he was salty), and exchanging inside jokes Akagai wouldn’t have understood. He was just an outcast, but what was new? The boy couldn’t help but look down and utter a chuckle out of pity for himself. That was when the class rep. took him by surprise. She approached and answered his declaration.

Amused, Akagai raised his head to look down to Rin. He was taller than her and was on top of the DDR machine’s dance area, so his head didn’t need to raise up too much even though she was in heels. Rising alongside his noggin was his brow, exposing some of his curiosity alongside his amusement by her confrontation. His sly, mischievous smirk began to flared wide enough to reveal teeth. This Rin girl was probably here just to keep face. That was part of being a good hostess after all, not to let your guests feel excluded. Her commiseration was offensive, or at least the idea of it was. Only he could scorn himself. But in actuality, Akagai truly did appreciated it. Growing a bit flustered now, the boy’s gaze was directed as far away from the girl as the corner of his eye would allow. He began to scratch the back of his head before responding.

“It’s cool,” he said, moving his hands to his pockets, still avoiding eye contact. His head even turned to the side a bit. He couldn’t even face her. “You don’t have to worry about me, just enjoy your—”

Head still turned slightly to the side, the boy did at least work up enough gallantry to look at her.

“—party…” He finished.

The boy kept an eye on the girl, but he didn’t stare. He scanned her figure and outfit in a relaxed, casual, way. He wanted to compliment her dress and say it looked good on her, but he didn’t want the girl to think that he liked her or anything. He wasn’t sure who he liked in regards to the class yet. Though, as a teenage boy a relationship was something that always peaked his interest, since, he’d never been in one before. The idea that he could play his quirk for her laid in the back of his mind, that was the only way he could make up for not bringing a gift. But like with the compliment, Akagai chickened out. He couldn’t suggest it before she walked off.

Almost disappointed in himself, he prepared to insert his coins into the machine before another approached him. Perhaps Akagai’s challenge was the right call after all? Taking a peak at the newcomer, the boy’s eyes widened. This one was rather tall. She wore practically the same thing as him, a shirt and loose shorts. Akagai’s shirt being one that represented Paramore’s After Laughter album. The shirt read ‘Hard Times’ in curvy violet font then ‘Paramore’ below it in their usual font. The shirt itself was black, as were the boy’s gym shorts, socks, and sneakers.

“Whoa,” he uttered to himself beneath his breath.

Listening to her as she literally stepped up to the plate, Akagai immediately felt the urgent need to reveal something to her. Though honest, it was something she undoubtedly would have found unpleasant, as the truth usually was. “I will utterly and completely annihilate you.” He said earnestly, and even more than that, confidently.

Akagai smiled his twisted smirk and inserted his coins, initiating the game.