Story of a Rhythm Game Couple

Chapter 11.5. Sana Katou

Oftentimes, when someone walked into FunZone and happened to glance over the rhythm game area, they would frequently see a girl engrossed in a circular rhythm game cabinet. She was seen grinding alone most of the time, and since she was able to play very difficult charts, she often drew attention from onlookers.

The girl's name was Sana Katou, who had just recently started to frequent the place. Her first name consisted of Sa 冴 (from Saeru 冴える, meaning "refreshing") and Na 梛 (from Nagi 梛, meaning "a kind of evergreen tree"), along with the regular Katou 加藤 last name. Her parents gave her the name "Sana'' in hopes that she would always be a cheerful girl. Even though the characters weren't common, it was a thoughtful and significant name.

However, against all odds, Sana wasn't keen on her own name. She thought, for one thing, that the reading of her name was strange, and the other was that her kanji was unnecessarily complicated. She didn't have many fond memories of when people around her got to know her name. When she introduced herself in front of any class, people started to speculate what those characters could possibly mean. She also lost count of how many people had to wryly look twice at the kanji before finally being able to pronounce it right. At one point, she attempted to introduce herself without Kanji, but in the end, it backfired, as people started to wonder what could be the problem.

As a result, she disliked when people called her by her given name. Aside from her parents and relatives, she never allowed anyone to call her "Sana." All her friends, no matter how close they were, still had to address her as "Katou."

She had a fleeting thought of changing her legal name, but she soon dismissed it.

During her middle school years, an announcement revealed plans to build a big arcade in her neighborhood. Since it was on the way to school, she usually stopped by to pay it a visit. The rhythm game zone stood out the most to her for having the loudest machines in the arcade, yet having the least number of people looking at it. Because she could only visit it after school, which was considered "rush hour" in the arcade culture, every other cabinet was packed with people, so rhythm games were pretty much the only thing she could play.

Upon purchasing the game data card and some tokens from the counter, the first game Sana looked at was MaiDan, a cabinet with two circular monitors side by side, which was very unique compared to other machines in the area. After confirming the new player card, she was required to set a username. It was difficult for most people to think of their first online identity, but for Sana, it was a no-brainer: she just used her real name. Since Sana was not an option, she was going to type Katou in the name field. But the timer was almost up, so she could only type KT when it reached zero. Despite the fact that the game stated she could change her name again on the web, she never bothered to do so. Sana's username, KT, stuck with her from the very first day of playing MaiDan.

She loved playing that game. She would spend hours playing it in the arcade on her days off, all while still doing well academically and maintaining friendly connections with everyone at school. When she started college, she was thrilled to discover an arcade in the nearby student town that also featured MaiDan. However, due to the uncomfortable atmosphere there, she then changed her location to FunZone, where she met Asahi for the first time.

Noticing Asahi staring at her for quite some time, she was rather annoyed but didn't let it show. She knew he wasn't looking at her in a perverted way like those jerks in the student town, but rather with admiration for her gameplay. She assumed maybe he was just a normal visitor, so, remaining indifferent, she asked him to join the play-by-2, to which he agreed.

Upon seeing Asahi's game stats, Sana knew right away that he was also a competent player just like her, and that he was also here just to play MaiDan. Thinking he wasn't a malicious person, she lowered her guard and greeted him properly.

Since they both went to Kourin University, they were both issued their own student ID cards. Even though it was unusual for students today to exchange student IDs, Sana felt compelled to do it so that she wouldn't have to explain her kanji. Seeing Asahi didn't make a comment or anything on her name, she felt relieved. To express her gratitude for his unseeable kind act, Sana chose to give Asahi a compliment on his photo, which left him perplexed.

Since then, they exchanged contact information, and scheduled to meet up in FunZone. However, due to the sudden heavy rain, Sana had no choice but to stay over at Asahi's apartment. During her stay, after the inadvertent exchange with Mia, Asahi's mom, they switched to a first-name basis. Despite her aversion to being called by her given name, Sana thought it would be alright since Asahi was the first boy she had ever felt comfortable being close to.

But that was exactly why she was extremely disappointed when Asahi teased her with her name. She knew it wasn't his intention, but the fact that Asahi was the one who said it hurt her deeply.

"Say, how about I call you something else? Like, uhh..."

Since Asahi was unaware of Sana's true feelings, he was simply saying it as an attempt to soothe her, or rather, distract her. To Sana, though, it demonstrated his efforts to rectify his fault. She relaxed her surly demeanor and smiled back at him.

"Sa-chan..."

It was just a nickname derived from her name, but it sounded so good. For starters, there was no need for Kanji, and even if there were, it was the Sa that meant "refreshing," which perfectly encapsulated her personality whenever she was with him. The nickname was so simple, yet so darling. Upon hearing Asahi suggest "Sa-chan," she immediately warmed up to it.

Asahi wasn't aware of it, but Sana had decided that the name Sa-chan could only be used by Asahi, and no one else.