19 Challenge (1/2)

”Arthur! Is that you?! Why are you here?”, he heard a shocked female voice calling him.

Gary and Arthur both turned their head in the direction where the voice had come from.

It was a girl in a white gi and purple hair tied into a pony tail who was walking towards them. She was sweating because of her work-out but the sweat made her skin look glistening and smooth.

Arthur instantly recognized the girl. her purple hair was quite distinctive after all:

”Zoe ..., right?”, he looked at her quizzically.

”Yes! Do you remember me again?”, she asked with a hint of happiness.

”Ehh, no, but you were there at my home.”

”Ah, yeah ...”, she said realizing her mistake and asked hurriedly,

”So, eh, why are you here?”

”Well, we wanted to -”

”Wait, that's, isn't this ...!”, she interrupted him when her eyes fell on the person standing next to Arthur.

”Yeah, nice to meet you too, Zoe. I am Gary!”, he told her and looked at Arthur with an all-knowing kind of smile,

”So, I will leave you two alone here for a moment. I have some very important calls to make, alright? Arthur, you take your time with this nice lady here and I will come back to you when I am finished”, and before Arthur could say anything he was already gone.

”Ah, did I disturb you two? I am very sorry”, she made an apologetic expression. She knew that Gary was sometimes here training but this had been her first time meeting him in person.

”No, not at all. We just had some small talk.”

”Oh, then you just met? Why did you come here then? Did you want to train?”

Arthur smiled wryly as he wasn't sure what to say now. He didn't want to lie to her but he also didn't want to reveal his deal with Gary or Blue. Just when he was about to come up with something on the spot, a rude call woke him up:

”Hey Zoe! What are you doing there with that weakling? You shouldn't talk with people who are beneath our standing, let's continue our spar instead!”

The person owning that voice appeared a couple moments later within their sight. It was a boy with tanned skin and black hair. He looked at Arthur contentiously but his face became like a shining sun when he saw Zoe.

”Rico! Arthur is my friend. You can't talk to him like that!”, Zoe replied with an angry face.

”This is your friend? I didn't know that, then I will have to apologize I guess.”, he said apologetically but his face still betrayed a look of contempt when Arthur's eyes met his. Still he kept up his smile and said:

”I am sorry for my behaviour. I hope you can forget my blunder just now. My name is Rico Nevarrez, nice to meet you ...”

”Arthur, Arthur McNeal.”, he said neutrally. He didn't understand what he had done wrong but he kept his calm.

”Well, that's ...”, Zoe couldn't think up a good excuse now. She had been in a match with Rico indeed, but she became distracted and left when she suddenly saw Arthur entering the hall,

”let's do the match later ok? I think I need to rest now for a bit.”

”Well then, let's go to the Umami King around the corner. I am also quite hungry now”, Rico suggested instantly.

Zoe felt like being in a pinch and didn't want to be rude even if she didn't want to go.

Arthur noticed that and asked her:

”Could you show me around for a bit? I have only just arrived and I am still not sure about what to pay attention to.”