Tangent | Soukoku; AU [✔]

07 ➳ the team // n.c

"is that your girlfriend?"

"she's your replacement for quitting the team."

"oh. well, i bet i met her first. beautiful, isn't she?"

"tch. what do you want?"

"nothing. just want to tell you that she's for my eyes only."

"what if i tell you that she'll be ours for the rest of our lives?"

"then let the best man win instead."

we have one week left to prepare, and the gaming university is more than willing to support us. they allowed us to use the facilities for us get some practice.

i would also like the team to meet the newest member. haven't told them that i lost to her, though.

however, the conversation between me and dazai has still been bothering me. when i thought we could have the best member in the team, the previous titleholder just has to get in the way.

why now, out of all days?

"so, chuuya," tachihara, our team's top laner, spoke as we walked to the rendezvous, his hands placed behind his head as if lying down in bed. "where are we going to meet this new member?"

"told her to meet me at the same place we met yesterday."

"'her'?"

as i've mentioned, i haven't told them anything in detail. all i said was we finally had a new recruit -- i never told them who she was, what her rank was, and what happened with my confidence breaking into pieces as i lost to her in an 1v1.

maybe i shouldn't say anything about the last part. surely, the team would laugh at me even if i tell them her rank.

we all know that rank is just a display. and as for us men, it hurts our pride to lose to the opposite gender.

today's society and mindset is sexist, so deal with it.

we are here at the computer rental shop that the girl and i had played at yesterday. next to it was a cafe, so we decided to wait there. for her to easily spot us, we sat at the tables outside provided by the cafe just in case it was full inside or if customers decide to smoke.

told the girl to meet us at 11 am, which was about twenty-two minutes from now.

"hey, chuuya. you haven't answered my question yet!" tachihara brought back the topic from a while ago. i completely ignored him on purpose, but it would be rude now if i do so.

"i want you all to be the judge." was the only thing that i said, which earned me a 'hmph' from my teammate.

kajii -- the team's mid laner -- butted in, his laugh catching the attention of everybody... even the other customers sitting outside. "you're speaking as if you're not a man yourself, mister ad carry. share the woman! we are all men here, right~?"

tachihara heavily agreed, his reactions over exaggerated. akutagawa wasn't reacting much, but just from the stare that he's giving me, he was pretty much in the neutral side.

"akutagawa, how about making your data plan useful and let's stalk the new member's social media?" kajii suggested.

the team's jungler gave both of them a glare. well, that took an unexpected turn.

but akutagawa did not buy the excuse. "won't waste my data if we're just going to see the real thing in a few minutes."

"boo! you and chuuya are no fun."

they continued to insist us until they finally stopped. we continued to eat and drink our orders while waiting; kajii and tachihara playing a mobile game, akutagawa and i scrolling through social media.

i decided to take kajii's suggestion for myself, since i am the only one who knows her by her real name. in the search bar i typed her full name and immediately got results.

her profile was public, has a lot of friends and followers as well. however, there were no traces of league in her facebook. it was all purely art. was she that known?

i kept on scrolling until i reached about half of her timeline, when i realized that it was now past eleven and she hasn't arrived yet.

i didn't like i idea of being kept waited, so i exited facebook for a while and sent her a message through the number that she used to call me yesterday.

me: you're late. where are u

if only i had enough credits then i would have called her by now.

thankfully she replied fast, but i did not expect such news to come over.

xyren: sorry. i enrolled at the g.u