Options

Mimoko stared at the clock on her phone.

"What is it, Mimo-chan?" Iori asked.

"Oh, they actually want to do a project late at night in preparation for Valentines Day."

"VALENTINES!? SHIT, I GOTTA MAKE THE CHOCOLATE!" Iori cried as she bolted off.

"I... also must begin making chocolate," Utami blushed as she began heading out.

"Oh wonderful. Utami has a crush," Mimoko cheered.

"No, she's clearly going to make all that chocolate for you," Okisato thought.

"Well then, thanks for the help with the SPCMs," Mimoko waved.

"Where are you going?"

Mimoko put her finger to her lips. "Secret."

...

At the modeling studio, Mimoko smiled as she noticed Svetlana amongst the bunch.

"Ngh, Mimoko... Good morning- Er, Good night- No, we're greeting while it's late at night... Hi," Svetlana mumbled.

Clad in a long white t-shirt, short shots, and her trademark all-black running shoes, Svetlana was naturally attracting gazes in the room, rivaled only by Mimoko, who wore the same outfit with the exception of wearing her trademark all-white sneakers, and a black long t-shirt instead of a white one.

"We really got the inverse twin look going," Mimoko smiled.

"Yeah... We do," Svetlana mumbled as her cheeks went red.

Mimoko smirked and decided to peck a kiss on Svetlana's cheek, turning her face red.

"WH- WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?" Svetlana shuddered.

"Just a little gift since I'm feeling a bit lovey-dovey late at night. Now, time for my reward."

"I- I'm not going to kiss you..."

"Actually, I was wondering if you could tell me a bit more about the Russian SPCMs."

Svetlana narrowed her eyes. "Are you thinking of going to Russia? That's a bad idea. You'd be captured in seconds."

"Couldn't I just break out with a little chess?"

"Not if you're thrown in the citadel."

"What's that?"

"A facility designed to build up a chess machine. Although... I guess you'd just dominate."

"Hmm, if going to Russia is a no-go, that means I'd need to challenge everyone by encountering them in a secret puzzle cafe."

"That's slightly less hard. But first, how many Russian SPCMs do you know of?"

"I know of the maestro, and after that I believe... Avian-kun and Alya-chan."

"The two friendlies. Avian's always playing at tournaments, so you could just play and beat him there. Alya not so much, but I'm sure she'd be willing to warp to a secret puzzle cafe near you so you could challenge her. The other 5... If I'm being honest, are much more difficult to deal with. Of the bunch, Galina's probably the next easiest to deal with, though if I'm being honest, your best bet to unlock the right to challenge them all would be to have the maestro gather them all in one place for you. Or..."

Svetlana pulled Mimoko aside.

"Don't tell anyone I told you this, but maestro Ian is planning to change federations, most likely to Croatia. If that happens, all of Croata's current DSPCMs become SPCMs, and he gets to fill out the rest of the open spots."

"'Croatia'? I've beaten Nella-chan from there."

"Then you'd be one down, 6 to go. Of course, that's a hypothetical. But if you're fine waiting, that's the easier way to challenge maestro Ian, as even though Vlatka's an ass, she's far easier to deal with than my father. That, and Croatia's a nice place to tour."

"Seems I'll have to weigh my options then. Thanks."