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Failing her mission, Bell is left with a sense of awkwardness and guilt. She plays awkwardly with the straps of her backpack –a regular one, not used for her pyromancer abilities while leaning against the wall being careful not to pin her cargo against her back and the wall. Maybe it’s because of the aforementioned feelings and the want to dispel them with an apology as slight as it might be that time seems to creep along on tepidly on its underbelly, or perhaps it’s because she’s in a hospital –a place she’s none too fond of. Emotions rise and fall in her throat to match her breathing for what seems like an eternity until a shout almost knocks her over with its intensity and suddenness.
“What on earth were you thinking, you little fool?” An angry voice yells out.
Bell simpers and leans over. She’s not too far from the entrance of a certain room. She turns and with her hands supporting her weight peers inside where Shiro and his Grandmother are having a conversation or well, where the latter is being berated by the former all while wearing his almost trademark scowl.
“Ah c’mon, Grandma.” Shiro mutters. “I was bored being stuck in here, and she offered.”
Shiro sits crosslegged on his hospital bed, his arms on his knees. He has an impressive poker face, but anyone could tell being yelled at by his grandmother hits a sore spot. In a chair beside the bed, a small brown creature with floppy rabbit like ears sits reading a newspaper, clearly disinterested in their “conversation.”
Momo pulls Shiro’s cheek causing the latter to yelp in pain. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.” She snarls. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me you were in the hospital?”
“Again, myu.” The brown creature adds.
“Right, again.” Momo corrects herself. “If you don’t want to come back home that’s fine, but think about how it makes me look if you keep ending up in the hospital!”
Shiro casts an aside glance and mutters. “How do you think it makes me feel to end up here? People don’t go to the hospital because it’s fun.”
Momo glares at Shiro who shirks back. “Considering how often you’re here, you’re the antithesis to that argument….your argument.”
She sighs and shrugs.
“I’d ask what the hell you were doing this time, but I think I get the general gist.” She gestures at him vaguely, waving her hand. “Causing trouble seems to be all you’re good for after all.”
Shiro’s gazes downward and away from his Grandmother. “Sorry, Grandma.”
Momo pokes him in the forehead. “I didn’t raise a sissy, sissy. If you’re only good for causing trouble then own up to it.”
“Ow!” Shiro covers his face in response. “But you told me not to cause trouble!”
“And yet you do it anyway, so might as well do it proudly.” Momo responds. “Though, how could you be thoughtless enough to make that girl come all the way out to the house for your stuff?”
“Like I said, she offered.”
“And you accepted, you lowlife?”
“I’d like to remind you that I am your grandson, so…”
“And? Garbage is garbage. Besides, I only gave birth to you by proxy, so I can be very comfortable calling it as I see it.”
Shiro glares at her for a moment before sighing and flopping backward in his bed. “Fine, fine. I get it. I’ll apologize to her, okay? I mean she asked if she could be helpful and I only jokingly suggested she go pick up my Nintendon swotch. I didn’t think she’d actually offer to do it.”
“And it didn’t occur to you to call home first and let me know? I nearly had a heart attack and died when she showed up at the house.”
“Grandma, aren’t you the one who says you’ll never die?”
Momo rolls her hand in the air absently. “Details, details.”
She crosses the room and Bell gasps turning back to the hallway before she notices. Momo then stops and looks back at her Grandson.
“You’ve got good friends Shiro, don’t go messing that up, got it?”
Shiro sits up surprised and nods, unable to muster up any other response.
“Good.” Momo then turns to the creature. “You coming Pommy?”
The creature –Pommy lowers the newspaper and shakes its head. “Pommy will keep Shiro company. He tends to get lonely easily, myu.”
“I’ll kill you creampuff.” Shiro growls.
“Pommy hears the sounds of a lonely person, myu. Don’t worry, Pommy’s mercy is infinite.”
Shiro and Pommy have a staredown as Momo shrugs and leaves the room. “Suit yourself.”
She steps out and regards Bell for a second, her expression between disdain and pity. Apparently she and her father used to have territorial “disagreements” back in their youth where they ran the streets, and still have a mutual sense of apprehension toward each other that has extended to her. Bell starts to squeak out an apology, but Momo shakes her head.
“It’s fine girlie. I know I came off as a bit…prickly during the Family fest, but I know what your father and I have in the books has nothing to do with you.” She smiles down at her. “Though I’d advise you consider choosing your friends more wisely.”
Bell tilts her head curiously. “What do you mean, Madame Grandma?”
Momo pats her on the head. “No worries. Go on in there, he’s waiting.”
Bell nods and heads into the hospital room where Shiro and Pommy are mere moments away from a possible fight. They both look up upon her entrance and back away seemingly mollified for the moment.
“I’m sorry Shiro, sir.” Bell says breathlessly with a bow. “I got you in trouble with Madame Grandma, and she had to come back here with me…”
Pommy gives Shiro a knowing glance. “Ohhh, so this is what Shiro does at school, myuu. No wonder he doesn’t want to come back home.”
Shiro steps on Pommy with some force. “It’s fine Bellsie. It was a dick-ish move for me to take your kindness for granted, and I’m sorry.”
Bell waves her arms and shakes her head. “No, no! I wanted to do something for you, ‘cause that’s what friends do!”
Shiro stares down at his feet forlornly –something he tends to do whenever she brings up their friendship, Bell notes.
“It’s whatever” he says after a few moments. He steps off Pommy and sits down in his bed as the latter bites his arm. The two are silent for a few moments the only sound in the room being Pommy’s gnawing and growling as he bites down on Shiro’s arm. After this goes on for a bit, Shiro peels him off and tosses him gently to Bell. “Introduce yourself Cheesebrain.”
Pommy stares up at Bell who catches him in her arms, and despite the awkward air, they both blush at the same moment.
“….Are you guys going to talk?” Shiro asks.
“Ah, Um, I’m Bell, Mr. Cheesebrain!”
Pommy glares over at Shiro at this. “Pommy has said it over and over again that he doesn’t like it when Shiro doesn’t introduce him by name, because it creates misunderstandings, myuu!”
Shiro grins in response. “Then correct me, oh great Cheesebrain.”
Pommy redirects his attention to Bell. “Pommy is the cutest hero in the universe!”
“You introduced your crappy title, but not your name huh.”
“Pommy’s name is implied, myuu!”
“That’s a lot to assume, cheesebrain.”
The two glare at each other again as Bell laughs sheepishly. “So you’re Pommy then? It’s nice to meet you.” She says smiling.
Pommy turns to Shiro, a smug smile on his face. “She gets it, myu. Maybe Shiro’s just too dumb to understand.”
Shiro ignores him and makes grabby hand motions. “I know I shouldn’t ask, but dealing with him and my overall boredom is killing me. Did you get the goods, Bellsie?”
“I did, Shiro, sir!” she says with a happy nod. “Madame Grandma allowed me to take it with me after all!”
Shiro grins. “Sweet!”
She opens up her backpack and produces a black rectangle that serves as a resting spot for a hand held tablet, and hands both to Shiro. Shiro leans over the side of his bed, plugs the unit into the outlet and rubs his hands gleefully before turning it on.
“Ah man, you’re a life saver Bellsie. I thought I’d die of boredom, in a hospital no less.” Shiro says not taking his eyes off the screen. He then disconnects two panels on the side of the tablet screen that act as controllers and offers one to her. “If you’ve got a minute, we could play together?”
Bell shakes her head. “I’m sorry Shiro, sir, but I’ve never played video games before.”
Shiro is surprised momentarily but nods in understanding. “I see, well it’s all good. I guess I can play with Senor Queso cabeza.”
“Myuuu!” Pommy growls angrily. “Pommy knows what that means! Don’t use dead languages to make it sound cooler!”
“Shut up and choose a game, loser.”
“Roadside Fisticuffs, myuu!”
“Good choice, Good choice. You’re going down.”
Shiro hands Pommy a controller and selects the game on the menu screen, pulling a stand from the back of the tablet and setting it down on his bed as he scoots back to allow Pommy himself enough room to play. Bell walks over to the bed and peers over in curiosity, finding the sight of two burly men punching and kicking each other to be engrossing. Shiro loses the first round to a combo move from Pommy’s character that leaves him no time to respond.
“That was cheating, dammit!” Shiro growls angrily. “How the heck did you pull that off?!”
“While you were playing around at school, I was learning the art of fisticuffs” Pommy chuckles, his voice somehow deeper than the normal near squeak Bell had just become accustomed to.
“You just forgot your shtick, duder.”
They go for another round and Shiro manages to barely edge out Pommy in this one, mostly by using a ground sweep technique to keep Pommy’s character from getting too close to him.
“Myuuu!” Pommy growls. “Who’s the cheater now?!”
Shiro turns up his face. “Roadside fisticuffs have no rules.”
Pommy grasps his controller with surprising force and grins evilly. “The third round will decide your fate, fool.”
“You’re on. Let’s do this.”
The two have another round and after a long battle, Shiro wins by TKO –having just slightly more vitality left when the clock runs up than Pommy.
“Boo yah!” Shiro stands up on the bed and tosses the controller down. “I win!”
“Just barely, myu!” Pommy snaps back. “Pommy wants a rematch!”
“Um…”
They both glance over at Bell clearly surprised she’s still here.
“If it would be okay, um…may I play a round, Shiro, sir?” She asks quietly.
Shiro sits down on the bed with a whump and shrugs. “Sure, if you want. Though as you can see, I’m really badass. Might be better for you to start off with a computer or someone weaker.” He adds this part as he looks at Pommy who growls at him.
Bell nods. “Please teach me the ways of fisticuffs, Pommy!”
Pommy blushes at this. “F—Fine, but Pommy’s strong too, myu!”
Shiro hands Bell the controller and sits back so she can lean sit on the bed and play along with Pommy. As expected, she loses the first round because she’s unfamiliar with the controls, though her eyes sparkle the whole time.
“This is so cool! They move around so fluidly!” Bell bubbles. “I’ve never seen anything like it!”
Pommy regards her. “Um, it’s okay to be impressed by the graphics, but you have to play too, myuu.”
“Ah!” Bell gasps. “Okay, I promise to play this time, Pommy!”
The second round is almost an exact replication of the first, but this time Bell manages to get a few punches and kicks in. Shiro frowns and shakes his head at this, pointing at the screen as he does.
“You gotta watch his attacks and go in when he’s open”. Shiro points out. “You can’t just go in swinging, or else the opponent’s just gonna take you out.”
Bell nods. “O-Okay, I’ll keep that in mind, Shiro, sir!”
“Y’know, you don’t have to keep playing this if you don’t want to, Bellsie. We can play something else.”
Bell seems to think about this, as Shiro leans on the side of the bed, his head in his hands. “You gotta figure out what works for you. Nowadays people in gaming are so concerned with everything catering to their specific needs that they forget there’s a whole market of stuff out there.”
Bell blinks. “Are there a lot of games out there, Shiro, sir?” She asks tilting her head.
“Hell yeah.” Shiro says nodding enthusiastically. There’s this whole underground indie scene that’s pretty sick. Like this one game –Saucerface is pretty friggin’ brutal which gets it a pretty negative rep but a lot of fun with two players. It just sucks it’s not on the swotch, or we could give that a spin.”
“Ooh.” Bell’s eyes sparkle. “How do you become good at video games?”
Shiro sits up and sits down on the bed edge, his hand stroking his chin. “I dunno, honestly.” He says. “Though there is a thing my Dad said to me that I keep in mind for gaming and life in general. I dunno if it’ll help you get good, but it’s something to chew on.”
Bell nods.
Shiro clears his throat. “He basically said that if there’s something you like doing, you should put everything you got into doing it. If there’s something you don’t like doing then you shouldn’t do it. Of course there are times where one can’t help it, but a lot of the time it comes down to one or the other.”
Bell looks down at the controller, mulling this over.
“In short, if you wanna do something, keep doing it till you get gud, I guess.” Shiro says, his chest puffed outward. “I mean what’s the worse that’ll happen? You’ll mess up? Life’s a long sequence of screw-ups until one gets it right –you do well enough and people only remember the results.”
“Wow, it’s almost as if Shiro’s some kind of intellectual, myu.” Pommy quips sarcastically.
“Oh, did the loser have something to say? I couldn’t hear you over my overwhelming awesomeness.”
“Pommy wants another match!”
Bell grips the controller. “One more time, but this time I want to train with Shiro, sir!” She says suddenly.
Shiro and Pommy exchange glances.
“Y—You sure Bellsie?” Shiro asks. “More like, why me?”
Bell gazes at Shiro, her eyes filled with determination. “Because I have to fight strong opponents to be strong myself! If Shiro, sir is really good at gaming, then I want to be good at it too!”
Shiro pats the back of his head sheepishly for a moment. “Ah geez, I dunno, I’d feel bad….” He stops mid-sentence and nods instead. “No, if it’s what you want, then I’ll oblige, but I ain’t gonna go easy on you.”
“I wouldn’t want it any other way.” Bell says nodding.
Shiro then takes up the controller from Pommy and sits in. “Let’s do this, Bellsie!”
“I’m ready, Shiro, sir!”
The two set in for another round of Roadside Fisticuffs, though unbeknownst to them Momo never left, instead remaining in the hallway listening to the children talk. She allows herself a small smile as she turns and walks down the hall, pleased at her grandson’s progress.