Parallel Vol. 6

Chapter 5: Rival Teams

25th June 2043.

Ayumi's 'tour' took a little longer than planned as they decided to take her to their favorite spots. First, Suzuki introduced the newcomer to their building's gym and the Gladiator testing facility on the basement floors, where they agreed to schedule some training in the evening.

Once done, they bought Ayumi a bike before Jade and Saeko led the way to the famous clothing stores so she could choose which best matched her tastes. Then they went to the electronics stores so she could order any accessories or devices for her room.

Ayumi placed a few orders Saeko gladly paid for and followed Usman to his favorite restaurants. Incidentally, they passed a grocery store, but only Suzuki took a serious look inside. The rest could not cook, so expanding their order variety was much more critical.

Finally, with all the daily necessities taken care of, Taiga led the group to the amusement park, where they spent most of the afternoon playing games and getting in rides. By the way, Taiga and Usman sparked a bet on what would finally break Suzuki's monotonous expression. Contrary to their guesses, neither the haunted house nor the gigantic rollercoaster fazed the young man.

No, Suzuki scowled and then released a faint smile when he got challenged by a random stranger while playing a fighting game in the arcade room. Initially, he lost, prompting a scowl until he ultimately won by a small margin.

"What a competitive brat," remarked an amused Taiga before dragging Suzuki outside before he could request more battles to prove his win was not a fluke.

Exhausted from all the running around, the group floundered into a café booth. "Hey, Jade, any response from the other teams yet?" Asked Taiga as he looked across the table at the mocha-guzzling young woman.

"Yeah, a couple," Jade honestly answered as she whipped out her phone. "They want to meet as soon as possible to discuss and share information. They will make their decision after listening to us."

Taiga's brow rose. "Oh? There're actual teams out there with common sense? I thought it would be a lot harder to bring them to the table."

Saeko knowingly smiled and winked at Jade as she licked the caramel coating on her French Vanilla latte. "I imagine you added a few excerpts from our deductions to sweeten the bait."

"Hehe, yeah," Jade confirmed with a smirk. "Most of these guys are pretty competitive. Even if they don't want to work with us, I imagine they'll do everything possible to squeeze intel out of us."

Suzuki looked up as he nursed a cup of orange juice. "What do you know about the teams?"

Jade wryly smiled as she looked at the young man's cold eyes. Taking pleasure in Suzuki's curious frown, she revealed, "You're very familiar with at least two of them. Silver Spear and Nature's Vanguard. Remember them?"

"How could he forget?" snorted Usman. "We just finished a long battle against them in-game."

"We?" teased Taiga. "I don't remember seeing a certain golden cat."

*cough* *cough* "What do you know? Merchants fight hard, too, you know?" Usman downed a cup of black coffee as he shamelessly defended himself. "It's not easy generating funds to arm an entire army. Arrows don't make themselves, you know?"

"Hehe, whatever you say, boss."

Usman wanted to strangle Taiga just once, but fortunately, there were a few adults in the café.

"Leaving their in-game personalities aside, do we know anything about their real-world counterparts?" Ayumi asked as she sipped her coffee from a teacup.