"Games!"

When they arrived at the train station, Lenoir and Sydney noticed that Matt had been looking around the surroundings too much.

"Hey, are you okay?" Lenoir asked.

"I am okay, it's just that…" Matt replied shyly, scratching the back of his head, "It's my first time in a train station, so…"

His two companions were surprised. What kind of VIP was Matt that he hadn't stepped in a train station his whole life?!

[Stay near us all the time!] Sydney scribbled on the board, then showed it to her classmate. She gave him a reassuring smile and tugged on his shirt.

"Yes, I'm afraid I might get lost if I stray too far," Matt said, and he extended his hand to her, "Can we hold hands?"

Sydney hadn't thought what other people may think; she just thought that a VIP like Matt mustn't get lost. She felt responsible for it since the two boys were comforting her due to her condition.

They held hands, and when Lenoir saw this, he quickly held Sydney's other hand, too. "I'm the oldest one here. So don't get lost, junior students," he chuckled, and even though Matt was the first one, he was pleased to have held Sydney's hand, too.

Matt glared at Lenoir's hand that held Sydney's other hand. He thought that Lenoir had been bold lately. But at the same time, he was relieved that Lenoir was at the stage with Sydney at that unfortunate incident in the concert.

Matt and Lenoir promised Sydney's father that they would do everything to comfort her. He opened up that he was afraid that Sydney might lose all hope because she had been singing almost all her life. He also asked the two lads to look after Sydney in school.

They rode the train from their current location in Kirijo Town to Akino Electric Town (both are within Kasumi Province), just two train stops west.

"Riding the train is so cool!" Matt exclaimed, "I want to buy one for myself."

"Yes, you can, Mr. VIP," Lenoir responded, then patted his shoulder, "Do you think Sydney will be pleased if you always spend your money too much?"

Matt glanced at the giggling Sydney, who wrote on her board, [Let's use your money in the arcade!]

And so, the three of them searched for an arcade center. Akino Electric Town is like a gamer's capital and a technology center. From electronic spare parts to fully-functioning robots, this town has a complete list of things related to that kind of field.

As the three of them went on walking, they found a street full of arcade centers. They entered the first one on their right.

"Here's the plan, we'll spend 200 yen here, then move on to the next arcade center," Lenoir suggested.

"Why not just spend 1000 yen here? That way we won't get tired moving around," said the confused Matt.

"My, my. You're totally a beginner in these kinds of things! Arcade machines aren't similar in all centers. That's why for us to have a full experience, we should try only a few machines then move to the next center."

"Fine, fine!"

As Sydney observed the two guys, she felt lucky to have them with her to try and cheer her up. But despite her funny companions and the lively environment, she couldn't help but think of the negative things.

When she goes to school on Monday, what would her classmates tell her? She was sure that she'd be a laughingstock, being in that prestigious concert but she didn't get to sing. They expected a lot from her, after all.

Sydney's sigh got noticed by the two, and they stopped playing in the machine where they were pounding the plastic rats that were rising up in random holes.

Lenoir patted Sydney's head, "Sydney, do you not like it here?"

She quickly wrote, [I like it!]

"Then why are you looking sad? Are you thinking about the concert?" he asked again, then stroked her head.

"Syd," Matt uttered, then gave the rubber hammer to her, "Why don't you release your anger on the rats?"

She stared at the rubber hammer for so long, and then nodded. Lenoir inserted a coin on the machine, and the plastic rats started to show up.

Sydney thought about her unfortunate experience as she hit the rats, which released a high-pitched sound everytime she did: "Iiiiiik!"

One coin, two coins, three coins… had been inserted, and Sydney was not yet tired.

Then Lenoir suggested, "I know another game in which you can release your anger, too… The shooting games. Let's kill some zombies!"

They moved to the other arcade machine. There was a big screen, and three plastic guns in front. They took one for each of them

Lenoir explained to them, "Hit every zombie that you see. But monitor your bullets. If you run out of bullets, click the red button at the left side of this gun," he showed where that button was.

"Alright, this will be easy," Matt uttered, then inserted three coins in the machine.

The three of them were so serious in aiming and firing at the zombies when suddenly, Matt's health points turned zero!

"You said it will be easy for you, Matt?" Lenoir chuckled, "Just insert another coin for you to continue."

"Well, the zombies were too fast, so…" and Matt inserted a coin. He held onto the plastic gun tightly.

Apparently, he was glancing at Sydney's face. Her eyebrows furrowed everytime she fired her gun, and he found it amusing.

And then his health bar turned zero again.

"Not again…"

"You should be ashamed, Matt," Lenoir laughed while firing his gun, "Even Sydney's doing a better job than you. You're all talk."

"Well, It's because I-"

He got distracted when Sydney turned her head to look at him. She smiled, then pointed at the coin door.

"Ah, I guess I'll continue, huh…"

The three of them didn't realize that they already spent an hour on the zombie shooting arcade machine. They went to the other arcade centers and tried many shooting games.

Before sunset, they went back home. After bringing Sydney back to her house, the two of them bid goodbye and left.

"Oh, you're back," Sydney's dad uttered as he read a thick book in the living room. "How's the date?"

"It's not a date, it's a love triangle date," Snider said in a playful expression, "So, what's the score, Sydney?"

She responded and wrote, [What score?]

"Who did better today? Your senior, or your classmate?"