[Between noon and 3:00PM]

After leaving campus, Shizuka headed to the Shining Kettle for the lunch shift.  She got into her maid uniform and started waiting tables.  It was another slow day though; the Mochavine was drawing a lot more business.  Close to the end of her shift, she was serving two young men who were using the coffee table to play a collectible card game.  Shizuka found herself curiously drawn to the match, though the two seemed to be arguing about something.  One of them saw Shizuka lingering near their table and called to her, "Hey, sorry to bother you, but can you do us a favor?"

"Yes, how may I help you?" Shizuka asked.

"Well my friend here's kind of a jerk, an elitist, really, who thinks that this game 'isn't for everyone'," he said amid protests from his friend, "I, on the other hand, think that this is none of those 'easy to learn, hard to master' situations.  Anyways, we sort of made a bet, and if it's not too troublesome, I'd like you to play match with my friend."

"I see," Shizuka said.  At first she wanted to refuse, but she was curious about the game, and her shift was practically over. "Why not?"

"Great," the man said, scooting over to let Shizuka sit down.  "You'll be using my deck.  My friend is familiar with it, so he can't say I cheated and made it easier for you or anything.  Let me know if you have any questions."

Shizuka took the deck and looked over the cards, while the man explained the core gameplay and basic rules.  Shizuka could see from the card descriptions that the man had put some effort into optimizing his deck and taking advantage of the specific mechanics of the cards.  Giving the cards another once over, Shizuka declared that she was ready.

The first few turns were fairly uneventful, mostly both sides farming power, and laying some defensive groundwork with the occasional preemptive strike.  However, Shizuka's opponent began throwing down some very effective card combinations, while making some newbie mistakes herself.  However, Shizuka was able to recover and even to push back.  Then Shizuka got a devastating card combination that worked well with the groundwork that she had already laid down and won a surprising victory.

"I can't believe this!" the man's friend said, though he was more surprised than angry.

"Ha! Cough up the money!" the man said, "That was incredible, you learned really quickly, and adapted really well.  How did you like it though?"

"I thought...it was pretty fun," Shizuka said, feeling a little embarrassed.

"You wanna get into the game?" the man asked.

"Perhaps..." Shizuka asked, unsure what was required.

"Great!  Hey, meet us at the Lancom Arcade alter, we'll get you started."

"S-sure," Shizuka replied.  Heading to the back, Shizuka changed back to her normal clothes and checked her phone to see Nick's message.

[hr]
[After 3:00PM]

Shizuka arrived at the fountain where she said she would meet Nick.  Looking around, she saw him, looking like the pictures on his online profile, or at least his most recent picture, given how often he changed his hair color.  She approached cautiously.  "H-hello?  Are you Mr. Weston?" She asked.