Alternate Timeline: Let her win

The real tradition of weekly tourneys is good players sandbagging so other folks can win sometimes. You’re willing to do that for Colby, especially when she seems so prickly. You deliberately mistime an ultra, and Colby’s not so far gone that she can’t see an opportunity that’s biting her ass. She runs it back, and at least one round, you could not have won even if you’d wanted to. You’ve sunk just enough time into fighters to know what you’re talking about, but neither of you is actually very good at it.

“Oof,” you say as she gets the KO on the second set. You look over at her ironically and offer your hand. There’s a little suspicion in her eyes as she dryly shakes your hand, but she doesn’t look pissed. You hesitate with her hand in yours, wondering if you should say something. What would it be? You smile at her, and she blushes. Then you let her go and get up, returning to the others.

They look sympathetic, but not especially bothered.

“What happens now?” Nancy asks. “Are you out?”

“I’m in loser’s bracket. If I lose my next one, I’m out.”

“So you can still win?” Yuki asks.

You look at the other players and shake your head. “No. I’m not actually good. I might win another match or something, but I won’t make it out of loser’s.” It’s the truth. You see no reason to boast.

Athena looks approving.

“And was that a moment?” Nancy asks, pointing one impeccably painted nail at Colby’s back. “With pixie cut over here? You like these nerd girls, Meri? You have a nerd fetish?”

“Yeah. Big, thick glasses,” you say. “Major panty-dropper.”

“That one was cute though,” Yuki says wistfully. “She should be hanging out with us. Not with all these smelly guys.”

“She has a tournament to win,” you tell them firmly.

“Do you want to keep playing or get a drink?” Athena asks. This is why you love her so much: the way that she exerts her authority. She doesn’t speak loudly or boss anyone around, she just tells you how it’s going to be. She doesn’t want you to keep playing. She wants that drink. You are expected to go along with it, and you get it. Because you and your Onee-sama are on the same wavelength. You can read her because you’re alike. The purpose of bringing them here was to give them a taste of what’s coming tomorrow. Athena has gotten that taste, and now she wants to think and cope with her nerves away from all this noise. You would feel the same way in her position.

Not that you would ever be president of a sorority.

“I’ll take the drink,” you tell her. Maybe the gag would work better if you were a white guy, but as a black girl, you doubt any of them will get the reference. They probably haven’t seen the movie. Colby would’ve gotten it. She’s the one who really likes Blade Runner.

As you follow the others out, you look back wistfully toward the tourney, but you don’t see Colby anywhere.

The crew picks a bar based on proximity and reviews. You don’t want a dive and you don’t want anything fancy: that leaves you with a modern, tolerably trendy place that has shuffleboard as its main attraction. It’s packed, but you’re able to pounce on a table for four. After a few sips of drinks, everyone is suddenly hungry. Predictably, you’re the one sent to the bar for every round of drinks. As you take the tray offered by the bartender, a girl crowds in on your right. She’s slim and sporty with a shaggy swoop with blue highlights. She wears a cute shirt dress with a massive pair of sunglasses perched on her head. She seems to be about your age.

“Hey,” she says, speaking up over the noise of the bar. “Aren’t you with CCL?”

You’re startled by the question. CCL has some notoriety and is well-known in some circles, but you aren’t celebrities. You don’t expect to be recognized by randos in bars. You better answer her. Yes or no?

[ This alternate chapter was added at the request of a reader. Notes on the consequences of throwing to Colby: losing on purpose to Colby costs Colby points in the short term, but if Meri swings back toward Colby by rejecting others later in the story, it does create an opportunity to regain some points because Colby will later find it sweet. The bar arc had Sal and Justine hassling the girls into playing shuffleboard with some betting involved. There were several possible outcomes: Meri wins the game and there’s a victory celebration at the hotel, Meri loses the game and is punished at the hotel, or depending on choices made in the negotiations of the bets, Meri could lose the game and have to spend the night with Sal and Justine as their ‘prisoner’ or Justine can lose the game and be CCL’s prisoner for the night. The nature of those scenes:

Victory celebration: everyone spoiling Meri.

Punishment: Mild teasing of Meri until finally getting her off in an undignified way in front of Athena.

Meri as prisoner: Obviously there’s no **** in the VFU, so everyone is civilized, but Meri would double down on her CCL street cred and either provoke or initiate lewdness with Sal and Justine UNLESS readers voted for her to behave, for example, if they were very intent on a pure Colby or pure Athena path--but Meri's actions as a prisoner would have no bearing on those scores because she's already missing out on points just by being there.

Justine as prisoner: Again, CCL would just take her with them and party, and Justine would be willingly drawn into lewdness. Some choices would determine Meri’s partner for the night: she could end up with Athena while Yuki and Nancy play with Justine, with Justine while the others watch, or with Yuki and Nancy while Athena plays with Justine. ]