Story of a Rhythm Game Couple

Chapter 17. A new arcade friend (?)

"That's it for today. Thanks for coming on such a day when you can stay at home and relax, Imai-san, Noguchi-kun."

"Anytime, Sajou-kun."

"Alright!"

It was Saturday, supposedly a day off for the students of Kourin University. However, Asahi, Sousuke, and Kaori, as discussed in the study group, decided to meet up at school, specifically at the running track, to deliberate over the mid-term assignments. Since they hadn't gotten the specifics of the tasks, they were merely talking about board strokes and related documents. With these, they should be prepared to finish their work early.

"Then it's settled. Imai-san and I had club activities after this, and Noguchi is going home now, right?"

"Yep. See you both next week!"

While Asahi was still putting his books in his bag, Sousuke and Kaori got to their feet and left the running track. He was impressed by their decision to maintain their act at school, despite the revelation of their relationship at Megami some time ago.

After cleaning up his spot, Asahi headed to the front building. He was considering going home to read some books, but believing it was still early since their discussion didn't last for long, he decided to visit the arcade instead.

Normally, he wouldn't think twice about heading straight to FunZone, but today, for some reason, he had the strangest feeling that he would swing by Megami.

"Crap, I forgot my data card..."

Asahi stood before a MaiDan cabinet in Megami, searching for his data card in his bag, only to find it missing. He recalled placing his card in his school bag this morning, but it might have inadvertently remained on his desk.

Feeling hopeless, he pulled out his secondary card from his wallet and swiped it on the side of the machine. He mostly used the play data on this card to joke around with friends during his high school years. Since he didn't do much grinding on this account, the stats were pretty modest: there was no badge or rainbow frame, and his profile technical score was subpar at best, a total contrast to his main account.

From the look of it on the welcome screen, it appeared like he was nothing more than a casual player.

"Hey! May I have a play-by-two with you?"

Turning around, Asahi saw a blond guy wearing a Kourin uniform under a thin black coat. It was clear that he was a Kourin student, and his presence here was likely due to a club activity.

In response to the guy's play-by-two request, Asahi simply gestured at the neighboring monitor. He then put his bag down and quickly swiped his data card on the cabinet's other side. The screen greeted an account with the username "Nonbiri," sporting statistics that were rather identical to Asahi's, with the rainbow-tiered profile technical score and a triple gold badge.

"Yoru-san, you can pick the first song. I actually don't know what to pick here."

Nonbiri was referring to Asahi using his current account name, Yoru.

Asahi didn't set the username Yoru by choice; rather, it was the name that his friend suggested that had a contrasting meaning to his given name. The experience of being addressed by something he was unfamiliar with left him with a novel feeling, so he didn't really think much about it and largely accepted the name.

Since Asahi didn't know what chart to pick either, they decided to let the game decide random charts for them.

They went on with their game for about five more credits before taking a break on the couch in the area.