Ken Takahashi believed in preparation.
Preparation meant planning your schedule, organizing your notes, and solving problems before they even appeared. It meant understanding patterns, anticipating variables, and minimizing errors.
Unfortunately, life did not behave like a clean computer program.
By the time lunch arrived on the first day of the semester, Ken's brain felt like a server running too many processes.
Anna.
Jonah.
The semester project.
And the fact that Anna had asked him to fix her laptop.
Marcus sat across from him in the cafeteria, waving a fry dramatically in the air like it was a microphone.
"So," Marcus said. "Tell me everything."
Ken adjusted his glasses.
"There is nothing to report."
Marcus stared at him.
"You literally sat next to Anna for an entire class."
Ken paused.
"That is technically accurate."
Marcus leaned forward.
"And?"
Ken thought carefully.
"She requested technical assistance."
Marcus groaned loudly.
"Bro, that's not what I meant."
Ken blinked.
"What did you mean?"
"I mean—did you talk? Did you laugh? Did sparks fly?"
Ken considered the question seriously.
"There were no sparks."
Marcus slumped back in his chair.
"You are impossible."
Ken ignored him and checked his watch.
Lunch break was exactly thirty minutes.
Anna had said she would bring her laptop.
Which meant she should arrive in approximately—
"Ken!"
He looked up.
Anna was walking toward their table.
Ken's internal system immediately entered emergency mode.
Marcus kicked him under the table.
"Act normal."
"What is normal?" Ken whispered.
Anna reached the table and smiled.
"Hey."
"H-hi," Ken said.
She placed her laptop on the table.
"Here's the patient."
Ken nodded seriously.
"Let's diagnose the issue."
Marcus leaned back, watching like someone observing a wildlife documentary.
Ken opened the laptop and began checking the system.
"What's it doing?" he asked.
"It keeps freezing," Anna said.
Ken typed a few commands.
"Did you install anything recently?"
"Just some art software."
Ken nodded.
"That may be the cause."
Anna watched him work, clearly impressed.
"You make this look easy."
Ken shrugged.
"It's logical."
Marcus muttered, "He's flirting with the computer."
Ken ignored him.
After a few minutes, Ken restarted the system.
"Try now."
Anna clicked a few things.
Her eyes widened.
"It works!"
Ken felt oddly proud.
"The software conflicted with the operating system. I adjusted the settings."
Anna smiled brightly.
"You're amazing, Ken."
Ken's brain completely stopped working.
Marcus covered his face, trying not to laugh.
"Well," Anna said, closing the laptop. "Looks like I owe you one."
Ken blinked.
"You do not owe me anything."
"I insist."
She thought for a moment.
"How about coffee after school sometime?"
Ken's brain tried to process the sentence.
Coffee.
After school.
With Anna.
Marcus nearly fell out of his chair.
"That sounds acceptable," Ken said, trying to remain calm.
Anna grinned.
"Great!"
Then she waved and headed toward her friends.
Marcus immediately slammed both hands on the table.
"BRO."
Ken stared at him.
"What?"
"You just got asked out."
"It was not a date."
Marcus pointed dramatically.
"Coffee. After school. With your crush."
Ken considered it.
"Statistically, it could still be platonic."
Marcus groaned.
"You're hopeless."
But before Ken could respond—
A voice spoke behind them.
"You're Ken Takahashi, right?"
Ken turned.
Standing behind him was a girl he had never seen before.
She looked about their age, with long dark hair tied into a neat ponytail and sharp, focused eyes behind thin glasses.
She carried a stack of textbooks like they weighed nothing.
"Yes," Ken said.
She studied him carefully.
"So it's true."
Ken frowned.
"What is true?"
"You're the top student here."
Marcus leaned back, interested.
The girl set her books on the table.
"My name is Alice Nakamura."
Ken nodded politely.
"Nice to meet you."
Alice crossed her arms.
"I transferred here this semester."
"That explains why I have not seen you before."
She smiled slightly.
"I've heard a lot about you."
Ken tilted his head.
"What kind of information?"
"That you're unbeatable in math and computer science."
Marcus grinned.
"That's true."
Alice's eyes sharpened.
"Good."
Ken blinked.
"Good?"
"Yes."
She leaned slightly closer.
"Because I was worried this school might be boring."
Ken didn't like the sound of that.
"Boring?"
Alice nodded.
"Until I heard about you."
Marcus whispered dramatically.
"Oh boy."
Ken adjusted his glasses.
"What exactly are you suggesting?"
Alice smiled.
"A challenge."
The word hung in the air.
Ken stared at her.
"A challenge?"
"Yes."
She picked up one of her textbooks and flipped it open.
"Advanced algorithms."
Ken's interest sparked immediately.
"That's not taught until senior year."
"I know."
She slid the book toward him.
"Page 214."
Ken looked down.
It was a complex problem involving optimization algorithms.
He scanned it quickly.
Then looked up.
"You solved this already?"
Alice nodded.
"In five minutes."
Marcus nearly choked on his drink.
Ken raised an eyebrow.
"That seems unlikely."
Alice smirked.
"Prove me wrong."
Ken felt something unfamiliar.
Excitement.
Competition.
He grabbed a pen and a napkin.
Marcus leaned back, enjoying the show.
For the next two minutes, the cafeteria disappeared for Ken.
There was only the problem.
Numbers.
Logic.
Patterns.
Then he wrote the final answer.
Alice examined it.
Her eyes widened slightly.
"…Interesting."
Ken folded his arms.
"Correct?"
Alice nodded slowly.
"Yes."
Marcus raised his arms like a referee.
"And the champion remains undefeated!"
Alice didn't seem upset.
In fact—
She looked pleased.
"Good," she said.
Ken frowned again.
"Why are you smiling?"
"Because I was right."
"About what?"
Alice picked up her books.
"This school won't be boring."
Then she turned and walked away.
Marcus stared after her.
"…Dude."
Ken was still looking at the napkin.
"That problem was fun."
Marcus leaned closer.
"You realize what just happened, right?"
Ken shook his head.
"No."
Marcus grinned.
"You just met your rival."
Ken thought about Alice's confident expression.
Her sharp eyes.
The way she challenged him without hesitation.
He slowly nodded.
"Yes."
Then he added quietly—
"She's good."
Across the cafeteria, Alice glanced back once.
And smiled.
The game had begun.