Story of a Rhythm Game Couple

Chapter 4: Cafeteria's Exchange

Just as Asahi was about to unpack his lunch box, he heard a quite familiar voice reaching out to him.

It was Sana. She wasn't wearing the uniform today, but instead a slender white sweater. Sana appeared to be very sensitive to cold, so she would prefer to keep herself warm. She was holding a tray with a bowl of rice, some fried chicken, and a small cup of coffee. She probably had just bought these from the cafeteria and was looking around for a seat.

After hearing his name called, Asahi turned around. Sana changed her surprised expression into a smile at him.

"It really is you. You said you like cooking or something, so I never thought I would see you at the cafeteria, really... This is an empty seat, right?"

Usually, students who prepared their own meals at home wouldn't choose to eat in the cafeteria. They would rather have it on school grounds or right in the classroom, as it should be faster for them to move to the next class in the afternoon. But Asahi, even though he didn't mind dining alone, still wanted to have lunch at a bustling spot.

"Hey..."

Before Asahi could really say anything, Sana took the chair next to him, pulled it out, and let herself take a seat. Normally, he would refuse anyone who tried to sit beside him, but today Sana was a step ahead.

"Oh well..."

But Asahi didn't plan to pry into it any further. It would be petty of him to chase her away now that she had taken the seat. Besides, he didn't think she would do anything to bother him either, because in his eyes, they were no more than strangers who happened to play the same rhythm game and share a meal in a restaurant. But even then, he couldn't help but give off his dismay, even just slightly.

Sana didn't fail to catch sight of that. She was about to raise her hand to ask why he didn't seem to be quite at ease, but as Asahi was unpacking his lunch box and plugging his earphones into his phone, she was hesitant to do so. It looked like Asahi was about to absorb himself in his own world, of which Sana wasn't a part. He used his right hand to pick up his food with his pair of wooden chopsticks, while the other one was holding his phone.

Asahi tended to make his lunch box really simple since he didn't have much time in the morning to make the elaborate dishes. His lunch today consisted of his usual portion of rice, egg rolls, and some heated meatballs that he had already pre-cooked a few days earlier. There was also a small slot in the lunch box for some salad as well. Even though he didn't like vegetables very much, he forced them into his diet because he didn't want his body to suffer due to the deficiency of fiber.

"This lunch box makes me feel like you have a stay-at-home wife preparing a lunch box for her husband at work."

After taking a look at Asahi's lunch box, Sana was quite impressed by his culinary ability. This was the first time she had a chance to see a well-balanced, nutritious lunch box made by a university boy. As she couldn't hide her amazement, she playfully teased him.

"Shut up! I can only wish as if that were the case."

He knew she was not serious, so he was merely joking back at her.

Asahi then slipped his earbud into his right ear, leaving his left ear open, to listen to the white noise in the cafeteria and, particularly, Sana, who was then his lunch companion, should she have something to talk about.

He had a lot of time during the lunch break, so he decided to watch some videos while eating.

"Huh? Isn't this TiamaT? The stamina chart you almost rironchi'd yesterday?"

Asahi was watching a handplay replay of TiamaT, a song on MaiDan which he had played with Sana yesterday. The chart wasn't very long and wasn't too hard to understand, but it featured a lot of trills and cross-hand heavy tapping patterns, which were very uncomfortable and stamina-draining for players, especially ones with a weak physique.