The Ultimate Unknown

Nine

Hajime's POV

I pulled open the door of the arcade and immediately heard the jingle of a bell as I made my way in. I stood at the door and looked around the place for a second. I was amazed by how large the place was. The lightening in the place was dimmed with purple and pink lights shadowing over the place. There were numerous retro arcade machines who's screens glowed brightly in the dark - it reminded me of how you would wake up in the middle of the night and your tv was still on, glowing brightly in the dark and burning your eyes.

There weren't many people inside this place. I pulled out my phone to check the time- it was only 8:30pm. I started walking around the place in hopes to find Chiaki somewhere. It shouldn't be too hard since most of the people here were teenagers like us. It was kinda quite here, the only sound to be heard was the ringing of the arcade machines and the movement of joysticks, and occasionally you could a few aggressive button mashing action going on.

I tucked my hands into my pockets and I ended up walking across a bar with red cushioned stools. Behind the bar was a waitress who sat down a tall glass of strawberry milkshake - decorated with whipped cream and a classic cherry on top. The girl who happily accepted this shake was no one other than Chiaki Nanami.

"Thank you" I heard her say in her soft voice.

I made my way over to the bar and took a seat in the stool right next to Chiaki. She looked up at me and smiled calmly. She took one last sip of her shake before saying "You made it, I'm so glad."

I smiled and chuckled a little before the waitress reached me a menu. I kindly accepted the menu and I was shocked to see the various choices this place had. Burgers, nachos, pizza. The more I looked the more indecisive I became. Finally I decided to keep it simple and I ordered myself a cheeseburger. The waitress smiled brightly and took the menu back and promised she'll be back soon with my order.

"Do you come here often?" I asked Nanami.

"Yeah, I usually come here after school. I like to play a couple of games before heading home to do any homework. It really clears my mind from a stressful day."

"I see..." Suddenly a plate of burgers and fries, along with some soda sat in front of me. I thanked the waitress and I dug into the plate immediately.

"I'm sorry I asked you to come here so sudden today, I've been wanting to do this for a while" Chiaki stated.

"O-oh no it's fine, I think I really needed to get out for a while anyways..." My mind started to trail off elsewhere. I looked around the place then I stared down into my lap. Chiaki watched me the whole time, I'm pretty sure she noticed how off I were.

What was really bothering me tonight was that Ena couldn't be here. Before walking into the arcade, I checked my phone for any messages sent by her but there was none. Then earlier she was acting all weird and ran off during lunch today. I'm genuinely concerned by what happened.

"Hajime" Chiaki brought me back to reality.

"Sorry..... um were you saying something?" I asked Chiaki hesitantly. Chiaki pouted and looked at me sternly. She then stared at the counter and looked back at me saying "Is it Ena?"

My face immediately turned red and I looked down at my plate of food. That's the thing I like about Nanami, she's always so observant. Maybe a little too observant.

"Am I that obvious?" I asked in a low voice.

"A little...I noticed how you were acting earlier today."

"I just wish she could've been here today" I said with a sigh.

Chiaki seemed a little saddened by this. She then pressed the issue further by saying "Is that really the only thing that's bothering you?"