"Not bad, you fuckass kid. Not bad at all."
"You're not so bad either, darkie."
"...Can you stop calling me that? I'll kill you the next time we meet."
"Bring it. I'll be waiting, bitch."
Shihon sighed and removed the barrel that touched Billy's forehead, and the latter followed suit before calmly stating, "You better make it to the final four of the last phase. I can't wait to crush you myself."
Shihon scoffed.
"So much talk from a pre-teen. You sure have a big ass ego."
"It's natural when you're the best at what you do."
I promise that I'll win my second consecutive Laser Tag game, he swore internally, and I'll become an undisputed legend.
He strutted off, and Shihon quickly climbed onto the top of a nearby pillar, looking off into the distance.
Master…I promise that I'll win here, so that I can be someone who's strong enough to help you with any problem, even without using my magical powers.
***
"Huh. It's over? This next phase should be interesting."
Liohime combed his hands through his hair and wiped the sweat off of his brow, glancing over at the motionless Warbots that he had defeated.
It took a good amount of stops at the refill station, and a lot of concentration with good reaction times, but that should be it for most Warbots, he concluded. Now I won't have to worry too much about getting sneak attacked by an NPC when I'm trying to concentrate on beating my opponents. Still…
He narrowed his eyes and rested his chin on his hand, thinking back to his quick scuffle with Tisha Marsey.
Despite being trained as part of the Shinigami Soldiers, his sense of his surroundings when he had gotten pounced on by Tisha had dulled all of a sudden.
Why? Was it due to me getting ahead of myself and not remaining focused? Or, was it because I genuinely didn't sense her presence as a threat to me?
If the reason was the former, he had to improve on that immediately. However, if it was the latter…
He gulped, and redirected his attention to a small figure in the distance on top of a tall cylindrical object, waving back at him and blowing kisses.
"T-That's gotta be Shihon," he muttered while waving back. "She made it to the final eight. Nice."
He turned away and began to walk back to his starting base, but he caught sight of someone else and courageously walked over to her and gently held onto her arm, pulling her back.
She faced him and held her breath, caught aback.
"Oh, Lita."
"Tisha, listen."
Stopping Tisha Marsey in his tracks, he remembered the talk that he had with Shihon after their indoor games.
"I didn't mean to hurt your feelings when we broke up. You know that, right?"
She pulled her bottom lip inwards.
"This…isn't really the time for-"
"I know, but just hear me out."
"Lita…"
She averted her eyes, a bit uncomfortable, but with a need to get something off of his chest, Liohime spoke anyway.
"I don't want you to hate me for what happened between us."
"We've been through this already, haven't we? Why are you bringing it up now-"
"Because I had a feeling that you took me on with a bit of anger back there."
"H-Huh?"
She drew back slightly.
"You were purposefully searching for me first, weren't you?"
"And what if I did? I can't have fun targeting my friend first?"
Liohime blinked and paused, while Tisha scoffed and continued, "Right. I forgot that we're barely even friends these days."
"Tisha, come on now."
"I care about you, you know. It's pretty hard for me to just pretend as if I didn't lose the person that I loved because he was so fucking stubborn about putting his horrible work over his safety and his relationship."
"I wish I could tell you why I couldn't leave my job-"
"And I told you, 'fuck it, let's run away together'. I fucking begged you, Lita.
She raised her voice at him, but Liohime shook his head and whispered back.
"You really think it's that easy? My Chief is the fucking devil. I signed up for something that I can't back away from."
"Tch, why the fuck are we even talking about this shit now? You blocked me and warned me not to visit you constantly, remember? You broke up with me and avoided me because I was scared for you."
Her aggravated tone and her emotions were easily discernable.
"So you are mad at me, huh, Tisha? You always were."
Tisha exhaled and folded her arms with a frustrated expression.
"...How could I not be, you dummy?"
She finally backed away from him, preparing to leave.
"Make no mistake, I will beat you here, just like I did at our first ever date at Laser Tag," she recalled. "Let's finish what we started once and for all, just one last game. Then, we can go back to our usual separate lives."
Liohime opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out, while Tisha left him alone.
He clenched his fists, and despite facing his past conflict head on, he was left with a sour mood.
Still, he accepted Tisha's feelings on the matter and kept moving.
I promise that I'll win here and train for the big mission ahead, he thought. Then, after the Paradisus Legion mission, I'll muster up the courage to have a good talk with the Chief.
And as Tisha Marsey returned to her starting base, she considered her own promise to herself, one that she ensured not to let anyone know until it was carried out fully.
I promise that no matter what, after I win here, I'll find a way to get Lita safely out of the malicious grasp of the Shinigami Soldiers without him knowing, and with my own strength, I'll find a way to burn down that entire organization, somehow.
With each one's promise set in stone, the second phase of Laser Tag was about to begin.