Sparkle

Taku sighed the moment Yayoi handed him the ring. He glanced at the pile of bones and back at his friends. “This is definitely the worst magic you can have if you find yourself stuck in a place like this.”

“So,” Yayoi asked, combing her hair. “What even is it?”

“It’s aaaa…” Taku said dramatically, but his voice trailed off when he realized that Yayoi wasn’t a fan of the bit. “It’s a ring.” He cleared his throat. “It’s a ring that allows you to use a spell called ‘Switch.’ It lets you pick two things within a certain range and then switch their positions.”

Teri whistled.

“I want to save myself for something cooler, so I won’t call dibs for it,” Taku continued. “That being said, I also had a one-time-use scroll that teaches you the spell ‘Barrier,’ if anyone’s interested.”

“You sure you don’t want it?”

Teri let the silence hang, smiling as he felt the small metal plates Taku had roughly sewn onto his gloves. He also checked if his new piece of armor fits—a kettle hat, based on what Taku said.

Taku spent about fifteen to twenty minutes repairing these items, and Teri couldn’t help but be proud of the results. He wasn’t too sure if he looked menacing, but he felt like a badass rice farmer, only with a metal hat instead of straw.

“Also, Yayoi… the barrier spell requires at least one open hand. Remember that.”

“Yeah, it’s a spell for bitches,” Taku added. “You two can decide who gets it as well as the switch ring.”

Yayoi scoffed. “Wait, why are you talking as if I’m going to get the barrier scroll? Taku’s right. Also, I found the ring. Give me back my ring.”

Taku crossed his arms and nodded to himself.

Teri laughed and pointed at Taku. “You have a healing spell and a binding spell. You’re already a support. So what’s—”

“How dare you!” Taku dramatically cut him off, even forcing a single tear from his eye. “HOOOW DAAARE YOUUUU… It was out of necessity!” He continued, almost screeching. “Who said I’m gonna play support for you bitches? I can’t be the Wizard King if I’m stuck here White Mage-ing your asses!”

Taku crumpled his face. He fidgeted anime-style, pressing his two pointing fingers together, head down with his questionable cutesy eyes glaring at them. Teri and Yayoi looked at each other. They understood what the other was trying to say. Taku’s display made them both want to disappear from this world.

“Oh, we’re fighting some very big and bad monsters; I hope my healing and other spells are good enough; I know that I’m not the strongest, but I’ll just have to do what I can; oh, Teri and Yayoi, are so brave and strong; and if I believe in my friends, I know that we’re gonna get through this—OH HELL NAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Silence filled the awkward air between them.

Yayoi, about to laugh, raised both her hands in surrender. “Fineeeee. You got me. I’ll be the bigger bitch. Give me the ring. Teri can have the shitty scroll.”

“Nah,” Teri interjected and laughed, making Taku go along. “You got your weeb-ass powers already. Gimme mine. I ain’t gonna be popular with some shitty barrier spell.”

“Excuse me?” Yayoi raised her voice as well, embarrassed but grinning ear to ear. “But strategically speaking, I need it. What if I get caught out of position?”

“Just don’t get caught out of position then, dumbass. And why the fuck were you out of position in the first place?” Teri screamed back. “And wouldn’t it be better if I got to move around? I can cover for both your asses better—”

“You can’t know that!” Yayoi raised a brow, her face a bit red. “And I can cover my own ass, thank you very much. And why would I need YOUR help? You and what power level?”

Teri smiled wider, though he was starting to think that the color on Yayoi’s face wasn't just showing her embarrassment. “Like I said, I don’t know what that means you shrimp-ass, shounen-consuming basic bitch! Also, power levels are bullshit!”

“You don’t understand. You don’t even know what you mean. It’s like… you’re just stringing words and flinging them to me like clumps of shit. You don’t know what you’re saying…” Yayoi clicked her tongue, stepping back as she clutched her chest. “You’re just copying Taku, you fucker—”

“Alright!” Taku placed himself and his divine, positive radiance between Teri and Yayoi just when they were about to throw hands at each other. He was also about to break into a laugh. “We stayed here for some time because I had to fix Teri’s stuff, and now I’m not that comfortable anymore since you’re basically calling all the other monsters in this dungeon to join in the fun of your little squabble. Let’s settle this with a round of Rock, Paper, Scissors. The winner gets the ring. The loser gets the scroll and must learn the barrier spell. Got it?”

Teri breathed, looking at Taku and Yayoi as he fixed his kettle hat like a gentleman. “Fine. This is a friendly game, right?”

“Absolutely,” Taku replied, smiling at them both. “That being said, I have a healing spell if anything happens. Though try not to kill each other over a ring.”

Yayoi cracked her knuckles. “Bitch.”

Teri took off his gloves. He felt a bit of confidence welling up inside him. Yayoi’s first mistake was to challenge him in a battle of wits. The trick was not to rely on logic and instead to depend on the loudness of his voice, especially on how annoying it could be. The smarter the enemy, the weaker they were against this tactic.

For Rock, Paper, Scissors… he had to admit to himself that he hadn’t played this game, so he was basically undefeated. He’d do what he needed to do to keep it that way.

And besides, he had a plan.

They took their positions. Yayoi gave him a smug smile. Tension, once again, filled the air. But this was a different kind of fight. For Teri, it was a matter of pride. For Yayoi… Teri didn’t know what she wanted, but it felt like she started taking things personally when Teri assumed she would fuck up out of nowhere.

The three of them chanted in unison.

“ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS—”

Zone. Teri puffed a breath and broadened his eyes. The name of their new technique. Teri’s aura surged as his senses—particularly his eyesight and hearing—grew twofold.

Pain cracked and rang the side of his head.

Taku tossed the idea back at the starting area. What if they could pick what the zone actually boosted? What if instead of going all in and risking breaking themselves in the process, they could just focus it on increasing their strength, reflexes, perception, or even the speed of their thoughts? His logic was that the act of forcing yourself in the zone was basically a spell—which meant that it could be tweaked. And at the same time, if it was a spell, it could be given a name to make it easier to visualize and use.

And so, Teri used his zone to improve his sight and hearing. Most of his thoughts were flushed out, leaving him the time to only set his focus on Yayoi as the game unfolded. As he had expected, his brain couldn’t catch up and react to the information being fed to it.

Teri’s mind seemed to be detached from his body, with it running only with a set of simple commands at least until the game ended. It was set to follow Taku and Yayoi’s timing. If Yayoi was going to throw rock, it was going to throw paper. If Yayoi was going to throw paper, it was going to throw scissors. And if Yayoi was going to throw scissors, it was going to throw rock.

The shift in Yayoi’s eyes.

Her breathing, how irregular it was.

The movement of her fingers.

Teri could see it.

She was going to throw a rock.

For a game as simple as Rock, Paper, Scissors, it would be easy for one to assume that the winner would be the one who was luckier. That could be true. But Teri was willing to use everything in his arsenal to win, to be the lesser bitch and not the support.

Yayoi’s middle and pointing finger twitched.

The rock was bait. She was going to throw scissors.

Which meant Teri would have to throw a rock.

The dreaded following second came.

Both Teri and Yayoi’s eyes seemed strained, but they were still okay. Zone… Yayoi used that too. But Teri was right. Yayoi threw scissors. He threw a rock, so he won. Though he didn’t feel like celebrating.

“Zone…” Teri said, smiling and with a heavy breath. He wiped the sweat from the bottom of his chin. “You used it… huh?”

Yayoi smiled back, wobbling and almost falling onto one knee. “My thoughts exactly. What the hell did you do?”

“I increased my eyesight and hearing. My brain couldn’t keep up, though… it seems the best way to go is to choose one sense and then boost up your speed of thought so you can actually do something about it, at least until we get used to it.” Teri checked if his nose was bleeding, and it felt good to know that it wasn’t. He was willing to let Yayoi know that she was fine too, but it seemed it wasn’t necessary. “How about you?”

“Oh.” Yayoi brushed the sweat off her face with the back of her hand. “I strengthened my body… just a bit. I was planning to punch you in the face—like knock you out—but Taku caught me. I shifted my zone, but… it was too late. Like you said… my brain couldn’t keep up. It was my loss…”

“Good game.”

Teri offered Yayoi a fist bump of honor. She took it.

Once again, Teri thought about shouting and jumping for joy, but he found himself respecting Yayoi even more. Taku too. He never realized how fun it would be to have an argument with friends, though it never really was. It was more like they bickered and shittalked each other. It was still fun, though. Was that one of the things actual friends did with each other? Teri wouldn’t know.

Regardless, he learned two new pieces of critical information. In the event that he had to choose boosting two or more senses without touching his speed of thought, making the wrong decision upon entering the zone could be a death sentence. The second was that Yayoi could have killed him if she really wanted to.

“Y’all are still bitches,” Taku commented.