Story of a Rhythm Game Couple

Chapter 11. An overnight rhythm story

It was pretty late at night.

Not Asahi-esque kind of late. Really late - at two in the morning, to be exact. He kept rolling on the bed, but in the end, he couldn't get any sleep. Giving up on insomnia, he decided to get up. Trying not to make any noise, he tiptoed to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. He could feel the refreshment in his throat.

After putting the glass back, Asahi returned to his bedroom.

"You're awake? Couldn't sleep?"

Sana, who was lying on the mattress on the floor, suddenly broke the silence.

"Yeah, well... How about you, Sa-chan? Why are you still up then?"

"..."

Asahi figured Sana might still be embarrassed about the name Asahi used to call her. For one reason or another, the name Sa-chan had a special place in her heart. She thought it was a charming nickname.

Not long after dinner, they all went into Asahi's room to hit the bed. It was quite early compared to Sana's usual bedtime routine, but she opted for an early night anyway, given how eventful the day had been for her.

But it seemed like they couldn't get their eyes to rest.

"I don't know... I was nervous, I guess."

Even when Asahi promised he wouldn't do anything, the fact that Sana was sleeping in a boy's room was enough to make her hyperaware. Every time Asahi turned around on his bed, she got startled. She was only able to collect herself when Asahi had left the room.

Not that his room had any problems, though; it was nice and spacious, with a clean hardwood floor, a neatly organized studying desk, and a little bookshelf off to the right. Behind the shelf, in the corner of the room, was an ordinary bed with a pair of pillows and a stack of books he wanted to read before he went to sleep. Opposite the bed stood a small wardrobe where Asahi kept all his clothes, and next to it rested a clothing rack where he hung some of his casual outfits and the crossbody bag he wore today. There wasn't much decoration going on in the room, either. It was just a simple room for a simple university boy.

"Well, this is going to be troublesome... I can almost feel my biological clock going off."

"Relax!" Sana consoled him. "Tomorrow's day off!! Give yourself a break once in a while."

Although Asahi had already decided to stay up the whole night, he still felt uneasy about his biological clock getting messed up. On the other hand, Sana, who didn't seem to have a regular sleep schedule, was trying to reassure the anxious Asahi.

Shortly after, Sana stood up to grab a rectangular device from inside her bag.

"Woah! You have an iPad?"

Given her tiny bag, Asahi was surprised that Sana would bring the iPad with her. But Sana seemed a little confused at his surprised reaction.

"What do you mean? We are rhythm game players; most of us own one."

Sana was into the idea that a rhythm game player, particularly one with better skills than her, would own an iPad or something similar to play various touch-oriented rhythm games. It wasn't true for Asahi.

"No, I don't have one. I do play touch-based games, but I feel like having an iPad just for that is kind of redundant."

"Really?"

Asahi didn't own an iPad to play rhythm games. Not that he hadn't heard of them or disliked them; he felt those could be played on his phone just fine. Instead, he was more into arcade rhythm game titles. Even though they would get quite expensive, he found them rather unique and enjoyable in their own way.