Two weeks later,

Cole's POV:

I was in the training room and taking down some holograms. Two of the holograms charged at me in my left and right, when they were close and were about to side slash me, I jumped up high and the two holograms slashed each other. I then kicked both of them in the face and the two holograms fell backward and disappeared. I landed back onto the ground and saw some more holograms. I went into a fighting position and one of them tried to stab me with a knife, I sidestepped and dodged the attack. I quickly grabbed the arm and kicked the hologram in the gut. I then quickly brought out the blade from my other glove and punch the hologram in the heart, stabbing him with the blade, it then disappeared. I then saw a bullet go past me, I smirked and charged at the three holograms with guns. I dodged the bullets and when one of the hologram's gun was jammed. I smirked and charged at him. I jumped up and kicked the guy in the face. I then backflipped off him as he falls onto the ground. I saw the other two guns on my left and right aim their guns at me, but I ducked and when they pulled the trigger, the two holograms accidentally shot each other. The simulation was then over, I straighten back up and sighed.

"I'm starting to get the hang of this," I said in my mind, "I wonder how Athena is doing?"

I went to the second section of fighting training and saw Athena fighting the holograms with no problem. I smiled and waited for her to finish. After she finished, she saw me and smiled.

"I see you've finished already," Athena said.

"Heh, yeah," I said and smirked, causing Athena to slightly giggle, making me slightly blush.

"The way she giggles is adorable," I said in my mind, I then realized what I thought, "Wait? what am I thinking?!"

I shook my head to get the thought out and Athena didn't notice.

"Let's go take a break," Athena said.

"Sure thing," I said and smiled.

The two of us went to the dorms and changed into our casual clothing. We then headed over to the living room and saw some of my friends there such as Blaze, Kariya, Shindou, Kirino, Aoi, Shinsuke, Midori, and Nishiki.

"Oh, hey guys!" I said with a smile.

"Oh, hey Cole," Shindou said.

"Sup dude," Blaze said but still kept his focus on the screen cause he is fighting against Midori in the video game.

"Is Midori and Blaze fighting in the game again?" Athena said.

"Hai, Midori and Blaze each have a point, this is the last round," Kirino said.

Midori's character had hot pink hair tied into a ponytail by a cyan ribbon, and had a bow as her weapon. She also wore a black and hot pink jacket, black sweatpants, brown boots, and black gloves.

While Blaze's character had red fade to orange hair, an orange t-shirt, a black jacket wrapped around his waist, gray and orange pants, black shoes and dark gray shoes, and black and orange flamethrower gloves.

Midori's character jumped up and brought out her bow and fired some arrows, but Blaze's character dodged and fired. Midori's character dashes through the flame and punched Blaze's character, she then combo it with a kick, sending Blaze's character back, and then Midori's character then quickly brings out her bow and shoots, dealing the final blow. Making Midori the winner and the K.O screen appears.

"Oh yeah, I win!" Midori shouted with joy.

"Great job Midori," Blaze said with a smile.

"That was a good game you two," Aoi said with a smile.

"Speaking of games, who wants to go to the arcade?" I said with a smile.

"Well, I have nothing else to do, so I'm in," Nishiki said and grinned.

"Same here," Shindou said with a smile.

"Same goes for me," Kirino said.

"I'll come too," Midori said with a smile.

"Count me in dude," Blaze said.

"I will also go, sounds fun," Shinsuke said with a smile.

"It's been a while since I went, so I will come," Aoi said with a smile.

"Well, I would want to come but I told Kageyama I would help him with training. So I will come next time," Kariya said.

"It's alright, we'll tell you how'd it went," I said with a reassuring smile.

"Thanks," Kariya said and then ran off to go train with Kageyama.

"I guess I have to agree, I not just coming just for fun, but also to watch over Cole cause he might go challenge someone when they said they are the best in a fighter game specifically. Although they were usually very nice," Athena said and looked at me.

I slightly laughed of embarrassment as I rub the back of my head cause what Athena said is true.

"So, are there others we could invite to come?" Blaze asked.

"Well, I know the others are busy, especially Hamano and Hayami. Some are rather training or in other areas which they are busy. But I may have an idea on who might come," Shindou said.

"Who?" Cole asked.

Aoi then got what Shindou is saying and said, "You mean Tenma, right?"

Shindou nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, just a question though, did you guys notice Tenma always have things to do? I notice Tenma usually doesn't play games that much, he usually is in his room cause he has to take care of Sasuke and works sometimes on his equipment, sometimes goes to the library to read, and even trains a lot," Blaze said.

"I got to agree, I think he should at least take some breaks," Kirino said.

"Well, I will go and ask for him to come, be right back guys," I said and then ran off to the dorms.

"Alright, we'll be waiting!" Nishiki said as Cole ran off.

After a few minutes, I arrived at the dorms and went to Tenma's room. I stood in front of the door and knocked.

Third POV:

Tenma was in his room lying down on his bed in his thoughts and Sasuke was currently asleep. Then he heard a knock on his door, making Tenma go into a sitting position and look at the door.

"Who could that be?" Tenma said in his mind.

He got up from his bed, put his shoes on, and went to check who it was. He opened the door and saw Cole.

"Hey Tenma," Cole said with his usual smile.

"Oh, hey Cole, what are you up to?" Tenma asked with a smile.

"Well, I was gonna ask you if you wanna go to the arcade with me and the others. You've been pretty busy, and we wanted you to come with us to have fun," Cole said still smiling.

"Oh, well, Sasuke is currently asleep, although when he wakes up, who would watch over him. Sure there is already a device that gives him food and water when needed, but I don't usually want Sasuke to be alone," Tenma said as he scratches the side of his head a bit in the last phrase, he then puts his hand down.

"I can watch over Sasuke if you want," someone said, catching the two boys by surprise. They looked and it was Rina, she was wearing her assassin uniform.

"Oh, Rina, how long have you been standing there?" Cole said still kinda surprise.

"I just came back from training with Akane, I pretty much heard your conversation," Rina said as she rubbed the back of her head, she then puts her hand down.

She then looked at Tenma and said with a smile, "I can watch over Sasuke if you want Tenma."

"Really?" Tenma asked and Rina nodded in response.

"Thanks Rina, I appreciate it," Tenma said with a smile.

"Yeah thanks Rina," Cole said with a smile.

Rina smiles in response, "No problem," she then went to her room to change out of her assassins uniform.

"So Tenma, you wanna come?" Cole asked.

"Sure thing," Tenma replies with a smile.

Cole and Tenma then went to meet up with the others. They then left to go to the arcade. While walking, they talked to each other.

"So guys, what is your favorite fighter game?" Nishiki asked.

"That's easy, its Generation of Assassins," Cole said.

"Yeah, there are so many characters to play as, and it's so popular these days. And you can play as a team," Blaze said with a smile.

"And you know what's weird, that some of the characters a little relate to us," Athena said.

"Yeah," Shindou said with a smile.

When they finally arrived, they looked at the place.

"I'm so excited," Shinsuke said.

"Same here," Aoi said with a smile.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go play some games!" Midori said, being excited too.

They went to different games, table hockey, driving games, skee ball, basketball games, and more. Everyone was very good at some specific games, Nishiki and Midori aced the shooting games making them have the highest score, Aoi and Athena were awesome with the dance game called Pump It Up, Tenma, Cole, and Shindou were very good at the bullet mania games, and Kirino, Shinsuke and Blaze were good with games that involve things like throwing a ball and timing games. As minutes passed, they are now currently doing a claw machine, it was Blaze's turn and he managed to get a pink bunny plushie.

"Good job Blaze," Shindou said.

"Thanks, I'll give this to Rina when we go back," Blaze said with a smile.

They from somewhere not to far, Cole heard someone.

"Wow Keith, your so awesome in fighter games," someone said.

"Heh, I am pretty sure you are the best in this game. No one has ever beaten you," someone else said.

"Guess so," the guys called Keith replied.

Cole looked and saw three people, seemingly to be in high school. The guy named Keith wore a black jacket, dark blue pants, and a white t-shirt, he also had dark brown hair. One of them had black hair, a black and white jacket, and dark grey pants. The last guy had dull blue hair, black and dark green jacket, and gray pants.

Since Cole heard the conversation, his natural instinct is to go to them and challenge them as he is interested. Cole went to them without a sound, but Athena saw him.

"Oh no, here we go again," Athena said in her mind as she internally facepalmed.

"Cole, wait up!" Athena said and went after him. Catching the attention of the others and followed.

"Hey there," Cole said as he smiled.

The three guys turned to him and looked at him with confusion.

"Who are you?" one of the guys asked.

"Oh, names Cole. I heard one of you guys said one of you is the best in a fighting game of 1v1, which game do you mean?" Cole said with a smirk on his face.

"Heh, obviously Generation of Assassins. Why you ask?" another guy replied.

"Well, if you really are the best, then how about a duel against me? I know my stuff after all," Cole said as he smirked.

Athena then grabbed Cole's arm and brings him to her.

"Sorry about my friend here, he really likes to challenge others that said they are the best," Athena said.

"Nah its fine, I like this kid's confidence, so you say you wanna go against me," Keith said and grinned, pretty intrigued, "Heh, let's see if you can really handle it."

"Good luck Cole," Shindou said.

Aoi and Shinsuke saw Tenma, and he looked like he is suspecting something but was keeping a straight face a bit.

"Tenma, is something bothering you?" Shinsuke asked feeling concerned about his friend.

"Yeah, is something on your mind?" Aoi asked too.

Tenma snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the two.

"No, I'm fine, sorry to worry you," Tenma said with a smile.

"I'm probably just overthinking right?" Tenma said in his mind.

"If you say so," Aoi replied, still kinda concerned.

Cole and Keith took their seats and inserted their coins. Cole picked his usual character, it had black hair, gray eyes that are darker than Cole's, a black jacket, a gray t-shirt, dark gray pants, and dagger gloves.

Keith's character had dark brown hair, a black and dark gray jacket, a metallic brown shirt, black pants with a metallic brown stripe on the side, and metal weapon arms.

The location is on the roof of a skyscraper. 

(I will do their characters as their names)

game mechanics:

It's like a normal fighting game, each character has three different skills each, you can use skills by having enough mana points, and when the cooldown is over. The mana points represent your energy, when your energy is low, your blocking would be weak, or in short, you would be tired. The first skill can be a boost for your physical skills, for blinding or stunning your opponents,  it only lasts for a bit and the cooldown is a little fast. The second skill can be a long-ranged or a dash attack, the cooldown is medium and the damage is hit is average. The third skill the strongest one, like a final move, the damage is very high and has a very slow cooldown. The third skill is also hard to avoid.

*That's it, sorry if I'm bad at game mechanics T-T*

Theme: Scraper Sky High
By: Raito - Topic

https://youtu.be/yf57HSV6OOU

On the screen, it showed the bird's eyes view of the rooftop. One the rooftop, the two characters are there standing. On the left was Cole's character, he brought out the blade on his gloves and went into a fighting position. Then on the right was Keith's character, he collided both of his fists, making the metal sound and then went into a fighting position. The count down started and then when it was done, the 'Fight' screen appeared and the battle has begun.

Cole's HP: 2,000
Keith's HP: 2,000

Cole charged at Keith and expecting him to try to punch him, but Keith banged his fists unto the floor, causing the ground around him to shake. Cole was in the area so he took damage and was sent back. 

Cole's HP: 1,980
Keith's HP: 2,000

Cole immediately got back up and Keith grinned. Cole charged and when Keith tried to do the same trick, Cole jumped up and punched Keith from above, he then combo it with a kick.

Cole's HP: 1,980
Keith's HP: 1,970

Keith wasn't knocked down so he quickly recovered. Cole charged and did a flying kick, but Keith blocked it and Cole backed up. Keith activated his first ability and a bronze-colored aura surrounded him. Keith then dashed towards Cole and tried to punch him, but Cole jumped up and avoided the attack. Keith's first ability is now on cool down. Keith turned around, but only to get punched by Cole five times, causing Keith to get knocked down.

Cole's HP: 1,980
Keith's HP: 1,920

Cole backed up and Keith got back up. Cole then activated his second skill, he stomped onto the ground and rocks came flying out, they glowed a black and gray aura. Cole rather kicked or punched the rocks towards Keith and the rocks glowed brighter when Cole hit it. Some of the rocks were blocked and some managed to damage Keith.

Cole's HP: 1,980
Keith's HP: 1,720

Keith clenched his hands into fists, he then starts charging at Cole. When Keith tried to punch Cole, he jumped up high and as Cole was on the way back onto the ground, Cole tried to punch Keith from above. But Keith blocked and no one manages to get any damage. Cole places his feet on Keith's arms and bounces off, doing a backflip in the progress. Keith and Cole charged at each other and punched, their fist colliding, but Cole got sent back and has taken some damage.

"Well that was a bad idea," Cole said in his mind, "I'll make sure to remember not to do that again."

Cole's HP: 1,890
Keith's HP: 1,720

Cole charged at Keith and jumped high, thinking that Keith might do the ground smash, but he was wrong. Keith jumped to the same level as Cole and smashed him back onto the ground, dealing massive damage.

Cole's HP: 1,690
Keith's HP: 1,720

Cole got back up and before Cole could react, Keith was already in front of him. Keith kicked Cole, then combo it with a punch, an uppercut, then a punch again, causing Cole to get sent back and crash onto the floor.

Cole's HP: 1,370
Keith's HP: 1,720

Cole got back up and went into a fighting position again. Keith did the same and the battle continued. A lot of punching, kicking, and using some of their special abilities happened in the fight. The battle continued for a couple of minutes, and the two players were kinda sweating.

Cole's HP: 300
Keith's HP: 500

Keith then laughed causing Cole and his friends to get confused. Keith's friends knew what is about to happen.

"I think it's time to end this," Keith said and grinned.

Cole looked at the screen and looked at the skill area as well as the mana. His eyes widened cause the mana is enough and Keith could use his third skill.

Keith then activated his third skill. Before Cole could have a chance to react, Keith charged at Cole and when he was close, he punched Cole in the face. He then punched Cole in the chest with his other arm. He then release a barrage of heavy blows in Cole's general direction. Keith then uppercuts Cole, sending him flying directly upward at immense speeds. Keith then uses his arms to send himself towards Cole. Keith then released another barrage of punches directly at Cole. Keith then grabs Cole and then smashes Cole back down to the ground. Cole then bounces a few meters off the solid ground. Keith then did his final attack and charged at Keith from above. When he was close to Cole, he released one final blow, sending Cole straight into the ground and creating a massive crater at the crash site.

Cole's HP: 0
Keith's HP: 500

The Game Over screen then appeared.

*Stop the theme*

The screen showed the winner is Keith. Cole was surprised at how skilled Keith was.

"I guess I lost," Cole said and then smiled, "That was a good game tho-"

"Man how pathetic," someone interrupted. This caused Cole and his friends to look at the guy who said it with a confused looked.

"I thought I would go against a total pro, but it was just a loser instead, how pathetic," one of Keith's friends said.

"Yeah, he was so weak and pathetic," the guy with the white and black jacket said.

This caused Cole's friends to get kinda angry. Athena noticed Cole seemed to remember something in his past, he seemed kinda down. He went to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. She then faced the guys. Tenma and Shindou noticed Keith seemed a bit, uncomfortable but isn't saying anything.

"How dare you say that to him?!" Athena shouted.

"Aww, is his girlfriend getting angry?" the guy with the green jacket teased.

"Shut your mouth!" Athena shouted.

"I'm surprised you guys are actually friends with a pathetic and weak loser like him," Keith said after he seemed to have internally sighed, playing along.

Everyone was silent and wanted to shout while some wanted to beat some sense into the three, but they held it back, knowing it will not do any good.

"Leave him alone," someone said, breaking the silence.

This caught everyone's attention and turned to the person who said that, it was Tenma. He had a kind of serious look.

"Eh? what did you say?" Keith asked.

"I'll repeat this again, leave him alone," Tenma responded.

"Heh, what are you gonna do about it? run home and call your mother," the guy with the black and white jacket said in a teasing tone.

Something that the guy mentioned about Tenma's mother triggered something in Tenma. He clenched his hand into a fist, but he held back his anger.

"Tenma?" Aoi asked in concern.

"No, I won't," Tenma finally replied to the guy's saying.

"Heh, if you are asking for a rematch, we won't go against this loser again," the guy with the black and green jacket said.

Cole's expression showed that he was upset cause it reminded him of his past. Tenma saw this and felt bad, he wasn't going to let Keith and his friends get away with this.

"You won't be going against Cole," Tenma said, making everyone else confused.

"If I'm not going against him, who then?" Keith said, being curious a bit.

"You're gonna go against me," Tenma said, being serious.

This shocked Tenma's friends and a little bit of Keith and his friends. Keith and the two guys then laughed. This made Tenma's friends kinda angry.

"You? you got to be kidding us," the guy with the green jacket said before laughing again.

"What makes you think Keith would go against you, you might be as bad as the loser, unless you're one as well," the guy with the black and white jacket said.

"What is he up to?" Keith said in his mind.

"Very well, it seems like you won't accept my challenge," Tenma said in a kind of sarcastic tone. This caught Keith by surprise.

"It would be disappointing for you to not accept my offer, after all, you guys seem like the types that loves challenges. Wouldn't it be a shame if you won't accept someone who wants to challenge you for a friend? Or you guys afraid to lose?" Tenma added, smirking a bit at the last part.

"Woah," Some of Tenma's friend had the same thought.

"You're really trying to make him accept huh?" the guy with the black and white jacket said.

"If that isn't good enough, how about we add something or, raise the stakes?" Tenma said, still kinda serious. This seemed to catch Keith's and his friends' attention and worried Tenma's friends.

"Alright, what's the deal?" Keith asked.

"Well, if I win, you will have to leave me and my friends alone and not pick on others. And if you beat me," Tenma said, "you can humiliate me as much as you want, I won't even complain, nor fight back."

This made all of Tenma's friends widen their eyes in shock and disbelief due to what Tenma said. But the three people seemed to be interested in the deal.

"Hold up!" Blaze shouted, "We need to talk a bit first."

With that Blaze grabbed Tenma making sure not to do it too hard and the group went a bit away from Keith's group to discuss.

"Tenma, you're joking about what you said right?" Shindou asked

"No, I'm not Shindou-senpai," Tenma replied as he looked at his friends.

"Do you even know what you said?!" Midori asked.

"Hai, and I am aware of the consequences. I wouldn't let these guys get away for what they said to Cole," Tenma said.

"And you're willing to put that much on the line? You said if you lose you'll get humiliated and probably bullied," Nishiki asked, being concerned.

"Thanks for the concerns senpai but, don't worry about me, I know what I'm doing," Tenma replied, "Besides, there might be more to it than we think."

Just by Tenma's tone, they know Tenma is serious and isn't planning on going down on his word.

"No offense but, do you even know how to play?" Athena said feeling concerned.

"Yeah, we've never seen you play before," Aoi added.

"I'll figure it out, trust me, everything will work out somehow after all," Tenma said in a much calmer tone, while giving a bit of a smile to the group. The group shared a look but finally gave in despite being hesitant. Shindou then sighed a bit.

"Alright, we'll trust you and take your word for it, but it anything goes wrong, we'll be here for you," Shindou said as he gave a smile a bit while the others nodded, agreeing to Shindou.

Tenma smiled back and replied, "Arigato minna."

"Now you go show them whose boss!" Midori said, not too loud though as she smirked, believing Tenma can do it.

"You got this bro," Cole said as he smiled a bit and Athena nods.

Tenma was thankful for their support as he smiles at them. He then turned to the three guys and walked up to them with the other before asking, "So, what's your answer?"

"Deal," Keith said and smirked.

"Be careful Tenma," Shinsuke said.

"I hope you win," Aoi said in their minds.

Everyone was hoping Tenma would win and that things will go well. Now, another round is about to begin.