Yuel thought long and hard about how to improve Kai's special training routine. Clearly, practicing only against Nia wasn't good enough.
One interesting idea came to mind. But, can it really work…? He couldn't help but question it.
There was one girl on his contact list outside the club: Julia. They hadn't held a phone call in ages, but they did message each other on rare occasions. Though, these conversations were usually short and one-sided. For example...
『Hey dumbass. What was the name of the build ComboBreaker used?』
『People usually call it "Combo" or "Burst Combo"』
The app confirmed that Julia saw the reply, but she didn't write anything more. Not even a simple thanks or thumbs up, nothing.
After that, the next time she contacted him was a few weeks later.
『Hey idiot. Don't you dare lose to Leo. I'm the one who'll beat your sorry-ass team this year!』
『We won't lose to Leo or to you』
To this, Julia responded with a cocky GIF. Yuel was tempted to respond with a GIF of his own but he wasn't too savvy with memes and online jokes, so he ended the conversation there.
The next time Julia wrote to him was during the Leo scrim. She bombarded him with rants and insults.
『What was that game!?!?!? You got owned!!!』
『DK? Seriously!? WTF you're thinking?!?!?!!?!?!?』
『It's a miracle you won that one』
『Aaaaaand of course you get rekt again. I always knew you were an idiot, but I thought you at least knew that DK is a meme』
『Oh wow, 2-2. You better win this shit』
『Dumbass. Idiot. Loser. Scrub.』
『Well, it was a hard match. GG I guess』
Yuel itched to respond to every single message during the scrim itself, but held himself back. There were many other things to worry about back then. It was no time to entertain Julia.
But, outside that particular event, Yuel usually responded at the first opportunity. So, it could be said they were keeping in touch, even if one would be hard-pressed to call any of these "real conversations".
Normally, Julia was the one who turned to him with questions and demands. But, maybe this once, Yuel could be the one to start up a conversation.
Though, I already know she'll either ignore me or flat-out refuse... Yuel sighed. There was little to no chance he'd be able to pull off anything on his own here.
Fortunately, there was one more guy around who kept in touch with Julia. "Say, Lars," Yuel started. "Has Julia been texting you recently?"
"Yeah, we talk sometimes," Lars said. "And, she totally spammed me during the Leo scrim, haha. Here, look."
『A rough opening. I hope things go better next game.』
『Wow! What's this DK meme lmao! Good game!』
『Figures the DK won't work twice. You have to carry the team yourself.』
『Ez win. I knew that memer was just dragging you down.』
『That damn Korean scammer! He's so cheating omg!!! You're gonna beat him next time for sure!』
Yuel stared at the messages long and hard. W-What's with this difference in attitude!? She's like a completely different person here!
Julia bashed Yuel nonstop throughout the scrim, but for Lars, she only had words of encouragement and reassurance. What a two-faced brat!
But that was nothing new. Their relationship had always been like that, even back when they hung out together. What bothered Yuel more was the fact Lars instantly responded to most of the messages on the spot.
"When did you have the time to write all of this?" Yuel asked. "You should be resting during breaks and properly listening during meetings."
"I just check out my phone when I wanna take a breather, ya know?" Lars said. "It helps to take my mind off the difficult stuff."
"Hmm. Understandable." Yuel nodded. "I just hope you weren't busy replying to her while we were discussing strategy."
"Naaaaaah, no way. I was 200% listening to everything, word!"
"I sure hope so…" Yuel already deduced the truth, but he let it slide for now. "Anyway, since you're on 'good terms' with Julia, I need you to ask her something."
"Sure. What ya need?"
"Remember how Kai announced she's going to challenge every female player in the region?"
"Oh yeah, that was sick!" Lars grinned. "Maybe I should also challenge every dude in the region! Male, female, middle schooler, high schooler - bring them all on! Let's goooooooo!"
"You know that's impossible."
"Gotta dream big, yo!"
"Anyway," Yuel continued. "It's not feasible for Kai to reach out to ALL the other clubs. But, we can ask Julia, at least."
"Oh, that's right!" Lars clapped his hands. "I didn't even think about that! Okay, I'mma contact her right away!"
"No, wait," Yuel said. "If you just ask her to play against Kai, I think she'll refuse."
"Huh? Why?"
"Think about it, you'll be asking her to allocate some of her free time to help a player from an enemy team," Yuel explained. "I doubt she'll be too thrilled about it. Not to mention, I'm sure Howard will catch wind of the whole thing. That might give away information we don't want them to have."
"So, what do you suggest?"
"I think we should keep the opponent's identity a secret," Yuel suggested. "There are a few ways to do it. For example, we could tell her it's you who wants to spar with her, but then we'll let Kai play on your account instead."
"Dude, July will notice the scam right away, and she's gonna be hella mad. We shouldn't do stuff like that, for real."
"... I suppose you're right." Yuel conceded. In the first place, our relationship turned sour because I tried to keep her in the dark sometimes during matches, just so she would obediently follow my plans. I should've learned my lesson since then…
"Then, instead, Kai could create a throwaway account," Yuel suggested. "We'd tell Julia there's a 'newbie player' we met who looks up to her and would like to play some games with her."
"Hmm. Welp, that sounds less scammy, at least." Lars scratched his head. "But, do we really hafta be this roundabout? Why can't we just tell her straight that our Mid wants to practice against Storm's Mid? Ya know, a clash between two powerhouses and all!"
"As I said, I doubt she'll be willing to help the enemy," Yuel explained. "You know how difficult she can be."
"Hm? Difficult? Is she?" Lars tilted his head. "I mean, I guess she can be kinda stubborn or and stuff, but I don't think she's 'difficult' tho."
"I suppose our experiences with her are different. Very different."
"Yeah, I guess she's always been less cooperative with ya, haha," Lars laughed. "But, ya know, I always felt like it was partially your fault, too."
"Mine?" Yuel blinked. "She's the one who has been antagonizing me from the moment we met."
"Yeah, you dudes did start off on the left foot, not gonna lie. I never really understood why, honestly."
Because she felt like I "stole" you from her. Yuel sighed at the goof's obliviousness. For anybody paying attention, it was clear Julia held a grudge against Yuel for becoming Lars's Support.
"But, anyway," Lars continued. "Your first meeting was rough and stuff, but I thought things would get better between you over time, ya know? But, I felt like things stayed awkward between you the whole time, even when we started hanging out together."
"Yes, because she made it into a habit to express her dislike toward me."
"But, I feel like ya also added some fuel to the fire," Lars said. "Like all these roundabout scam ideas you're coming up with right now. I mean, why can't we just ask Julia straight?"
"As I said, there's no way she'll agree," Yuel repeated. "We'll essentially be asking her to help Stratus, an enemy."
"But, she's also a player, right?" Lars said. "She practices and wanna get better, just like us. So, she should be fine with playing at least a few matches. I mean, we also sometimes play with 'em Triangle dudes from Taurus, right? It's the same thing."
"It's very different," Yuel argued. "First of all, they're juniors, not seniors. So, there's a good chance they won't be playing in this year's regionals."
"Nah, dude, no way!" Lars objected. "They're da best of da best! We're totally going to have an epic showdown with them somewhere in the tournament, word!"
"Maybe we will, but it's uncertain," Yuel said. "Besides, you guys already know each other and you're on good terms. That's completely different from the relationship between Kai and Julia at the moment, which is nonexistent."
"Then let's just hook them up, yo! They're gonna be besties in no time, ez!"
"I find that hard to imagine. They both have difficult personalities."
"I dunno why you keep saying everybody is 'difficult', dude." Lars shrugged. "Maybe you're the one who's being difficult? Just saying."
"Hmm. That's some food for thought." In truth, Yuel mainly judged the girls' personalities based on his experience with them. But, clearly, they didn't act the same way with everybody, as evident by Julia's friendly attitude toward Lars.
"Okay, so let's say she agrees to play," Yuel conceded. "Still, I don't see her sticking around for more than one or two games."
"Ya can't know that," Lars insisted. "Say, if she wins, she might feel good about it and then wanna beat up Kai some more, ya know? Or, if she loses, she might get mad salty and ask for rematches, haha."
"True, that does sound like her," Yuel agreed. "But, I still don't see it working out that conveniently."
"You never know until you try, yo!"
"I guess so. But if I ask her and she refuses, she might also refuse anything else I ask afterward, just because. So, I don't want to start the conversation on the wrong foot."
"Meh, you're overthinking it, dude. Let's just ask her straight, yo!"
"You're going to kill the entire opportunity with that approach."
"Nah, it'll be fine, believe it!" Lars insisted. "Just trust in July as a fellow competitive player and stuff!"
"I don't see this going well..." Yuel sighed. "But, if you believe that's the better way to go about it, then let's try it. But, you're the one who's going to ask her, anyway."
"Okay, then I'mma call her now!" Lars dialed up.
"Directly calling her? You're not going to send a message first or anything?"
"Nah, gotta be direct with these things, yo. This is the best way to get results."
"Huh. Do you two often talk on the phone?"
"Hmm. Once in a while, I guess?" Lars shrugged. "It's usually when something big happens, like the Leo scrim. We talked before and after it."
"I see…" Yuel frowned. Meanwhile, she has never called me even once since we left Storm. I guess she really hates me that much, huh. It makes me wonder how she feels about Lars nowadays.
Did Julia still love Lars even now? Was she maintaining this relationship in the hope of going out with him eventually?
Actually, why do I immediately assume there's an ulterior motive? Yuel questioned himself. Maybe she just wants to stay in contact with a friend and that's all there is to it. It makes me wonder if Lars is right and my attitude became part of the problem in this relationship…
Due to Julia's antagonism toward him, it seemed Yuel developed a passive-aggressive attitude toward the bratty girl. So, perhaps he really shared half the blame for how their relationship turned out.
Either way, it was best to let Lars handle this one. Maybe, just maybe, Julia will agree to this arrangement...