"Alexei, go take a photo with Key," Bright said and Alexei stood up
"Okay!" Alexei said and went to stand next to Key
"I want you to give me a vibe of struggling oppositions." The photographer said
Key turned to face Alexei and Alexei did the same with his arms crossed. Key placed her arm on her waist and her expression was blank while Alexei is smirking, the sound of the camera and the sound of the flickering lights echoed a couple of times.
"They actually look more of siblings, don't you think?" Bright then turned to Dewy who nodded in response while smiling
"Although, their expressions gave the sense of competition between them," Dewy noted and pointed at their faces
"El and Rio's photos were quite the same with those two," Bright said
"But they have a different vibe," Rio said and El nodded
"Hmm, El and Rio's photo seem like they used to be best friends but Key and Alexei's photo definitely gave a hint of sibling rivalry with their stance on the photos." Quant said
"Okay, good," The photographer said and put down his camera
"Now, that was fun," Key said and raised her hand, which Alexei gave a high-five to
"You two don't feel much of the rivalry, no?" Rio commented
"Well, whoever gets to play, gets to play, that's a sport, no hard feelings." Key said
"So, you admit you won't get to play?" Alexei joshed and Key chuckled
"Nope, I'll be a good competition," Key replied with a smile
"Now, that's the spirit!" Alexei said and high-fived Key
"Aren't you two too close now? I thought you said it'll be hard to get along because you're both off-laners, Xei?" Opal asked them in amusement
"What can I say, I can't find myself to be rude to a good competition, a lady at that." Alexei replied
"Your photos will be posted two weeks before the competition while the official lineup will be decided a week before the competition." Dewy said
"Rio, El, Key, Alexei, do your best. We'll be charting your gaming abilities and whoever has the higher statistics result will play, alright?" Bright said and they nodded
"I won't go easy on you, milady." Alexei grinned at Key who just smiled and shook her head
"As you should, good sir," Key replied with a smile
"To a great game," Rio and El said and bumped their fist
Despite competing for the same place in the line-up, there wasn't any tension between Rio and El. They, after all, are part of the same team, of JLNC, so there's really no need to compete with their teammates.
"Alright, let's head back," Dewy said and they all stood up and went out of the studio
"Who's your favorite shinigami, Alexei?" Key asked on their way back to the company bus
"Ausu and Maesta," Alexei replied and turned to her
"You?" he asked
"Foschia," Key answered and smiled
"She's good but usually in the competition her damage is weak." Alexei commented
"And still, I haven't used her since I joined JLNC, she's always banned." Key muttered
"Maybe because they know that you're best at using Foschia." Alexei said with a boyish smile
IT HAS BEEN a week since their photoshoot, during the whole week, they spent sixteen hours a day in front of the screen, training to increase their gaming skills. They've been training daily by using different shinigami of their classification. Marksman and Mage for the Middle-laners and Forward, Fighter for the Top-laner, Mages for the Support, and Mage, Assassin and Marksman for the Off-laners, so far, they can use most of the shinigamis in each classification.
"And I'm done," Alexei said and placed his headphones down
"Who are you playing as?" He looked over the screen and looked at Key
"Luccicare, they banned Foschia and Luxy." Key answered with her eyes still on the screen
"Victory," she said after a while with a smile
"That was tiring," Opal complained and removed his headphones as well
"How are you doing?" Dewy asked as he arrived at the gaming area
"What's for lunch?" Quant asked
"Fast food, as usual," El turned his gaming chair around to face Dewy
"Delivery arrived, have your lunch and check the photos that will be posted at 1 PM today at the official account." Dewy informed them and they stood up
"You're not coming, Rio?" Alexei asked Rio who didn't stand up
The rest of the team headed to the dining area, only he and Rio are still in the gaming area. He looked over Rio's phone and saw him watching someone's My-Day, a girl smiling brightly while holding a cup of fries and drink near her face on the screen.
"Who's that?" Alexei asked
"Cataleya, she's out for their girls' date," Rio said and placed his phone in his pocket
"Huh… Cata-what again, and whoa, you have a girlfriend?" Alexei asked Rio who just smiled
"Cataleya Rodriguez, we've been together for three years now." Rio answered and stood up
"You, what again? No way!" Alexei said in disbelief and Rio chuckled before leaving him to go to the dining area and have lunch
"What's with the ruckus?" Rasheed asked when Alexei and Rio sat at the table
"Do you guys know Rio has a girlfriend?" Alexei asked them
"Doesn't he always have one?" Quant asked while eating his chicken drumstick
"And they break up after several months," Opal nodded his head
"Then have another one after a few months," El added
"No, they've been together for three years now." Alexei said and they looked at Rio who is just minding his business and eating lunch while looking at his phone
"Good for you," Bright said with a smiled
"Wow, that's Acienda in Aricav, right? It's so lively and… colorful." They turned to Key who is looking over Rio's phone screen
"You know the place?" Key nodded her head and smiled
"My sister went there once for work, she said the place has a lot of restaurants and picture-ready spots, also a friend of mine lives in that municipality in Aricav, she said it's the busiest place." Key replied
"So, have you been at the place?" Rio asked and Key shook her head
"Heard a lot about it but I haven't stepped in the place myself." Key answered
"The International League had once held some event there, I'm not sure if that will also be the case this year." Dewy said
They began eating their lunch, and while eating, Dewy and Bright are discussing tactics, Opal and El have their own world so do Rio and Alexei while Quant kept on sharing facts about foods he has eaten before with Key.
After lunch, they went back to training. The sound of keys pressed rapidly and the computer mouse clicking simultaneously echoed around the gaming area, while Dewy and Bright monitored the training of the members and noted their improvement and a few aspects to improve.
"Yes!" Key exclaimed after winning and stood up to give a high-five to Quant
"Key," Bright called so she turned around and looked at him
"Have another game with a random team, not with your teammates." He said and Key looked at him confusedly but still did as she was told
She sat in front of her PC and joined a random room in the country's server, she chose Foschia and began playing along with the other players. After leveling up her shinigami to level four she began setting up traps and taking out opponents in the opponent's jungle.
After gaining enough gold, she continued to monitor her current team member's blood, coming to the rescue every time they are in danger. After several team fights, the word 'VICTORY' flashed on the screen so Key turned around and saw Bright looking at the screen seriously.
"Do you know what an off-laner does, Key?" Bright asked and Key nodded
"An off-laner monitors the opponent and hides in the bushes for surprise attacks, an ace hidden in the shadows." Key answered
"In a team, what does an off-laner have to do?" Bright asked again and Key looked at him confusedly before answering his question
"An off-laner is the one who monitors the opponent's location and informs the team and hides in the bushes for surprise attacks." Key answered and Bright nodded
"Key, you need to improve your cooperation skills with your teammates, alright?" Bright said and Key nodded her head with a smile
She was about to stand up when her phone vibrated, she received three messages, one from 'Kitten', from 'Babe' and from her sister, Chela. Along with it came notifications from her social media accounts tagged in a post. She viewed the photos and saw that their photos have been posted.
"Oh, our photos are posted already." She said in amusement while scrolling and skimming the comments
"They are?" Alexei asked and they too opened their phones to view their official photos