As the two gamers entered the arcade, Tomoko decided to let Yutaro pick the game. It was a generous gesture, as games were often won or lost simply by the choice of rules; then again, this was a girl who considered pro gaming "easy money," so perhaps it was simply akin to granting him a last request. In terms of raw skill, Yutaro was best a retro games, however, he didn't feel as though standing and watching one another take turns racking up points was fitting for their first battle. No, a head-to-head battle where they played side by side at the same time was what he wanted... and then he got a devious idea. "How about Mecha Saints? You seemed to be pretty good at that. Let's say, best three out of five wins."

A famous phrase from Sun Tzu echoed in the back of his head as he made his suggestion: [i]If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.[/i] He had seen her play, he knew her main, he caught a glimpse of her style, and she even spelled out a bit of her strategy to him. All she knew was that he played the game. This would give him an early advantage and could even result in a victory as she acclimated to his style and habits. He led her over to the machine, chivalrously gesturing for her to take the player one position, but once he popped his money into the machine, the time for courtesy was over.

Yutaro knew exactly who Tomoko was going to pick, but even so he paused and pondered over the character select screen for a few seconds, building up the dramatic tension just a bit. He moved his selector down to the bottom, all the way to the right, past the joke tier character and over to the amorphous silver blob the the developers had put in as a gimmick to pad out the character roster. Each round, it would take on the shape and move set on one random character, changing every round. It had no moves of its own, but in cases like these, it gave the player a unique ability. The advantage in knowledge that Yutaro had would reset every time his move set changed. Yutaro had a fundamental grasp of the full roster in this game, and could clear arcade mode with all of them; with each, he had a different set of tactics, tricks, and habits. Tomoko only had one character, one optimal way to play. 

Yutaro's advantage would be ever waning, and in the long run it would ultimately fail, but in a first to three scenario perhaps it would be enough. Yutaro didn't give any hint of this before the first fight began; he simply said, "Good luck," and put all his focus into the screen. He knew that without a tricky metagame tactic like this, he would be screwed even from what little he had seen of Tomoko's playing. However, Yutaro was blissfully ignorant of the full extent of Tomoko's power, nor was he aware that he was facing off against Kerokero Kyuukyoku. Perhaps his odds were not as good as he thought. 

[@JustYui]