"Katou-chan, can you come with me to the hair salon tomorrow afternoon?"
"Hair salon?"
"Yeah, we can grab lunch somewhere first, then head to the salon. Good plan, right?"
"Hiyori-chan, I don't know..."
It was after school. Most of the students had already left. Some had gone to their club activities, others straight home. It was a regular school day, nothing special. Sana and Hiyori, however, were staying back to chat for a while.
Of course, she had already informed Asahi, so he could head home without waiting for her.
"I mean, we get school off tomorrow afternoon, no?" Hiyori asked. It was supposed to be a regular school day, but they got the afternoon off because the professor had fallen ill, so she was confused.
"Yeah, but still, I'm not sure..." Sana replied tentatively, scratching her head.
"Are you hanging out with that guy... What's his name again?"
"Huh? Asahi-kun? No, I don't think he has time off to begin with..."
Sana hadn't set up any plans with Asahi for tomorrow. Just like any other day, she would probably go to FunZone for a few hours before heading to his place for meals. But for some reason, Sana felt a little uneasy. It was not like she opposed the idea of hanging out or disliked hair salons in general. It was almost as if there existed an invisible, inexplicable kind of force pulling her back.
"Then what's the problem? Please, I'll treat you to something nice for lunch tomorrow."
"Are you bribing me, Hiyori-chan?"
"Well, I mean..."
"Fine... I'll go with you. It's just that, uh... what am I even supposed to do at the hair salon anyway?"
"Well, I just need you to keep me company. It'd be lonely going alone with no one to talk to."
"Sounds like I just fell into some sort of trap here..." Sana sighed.
"Hehe. Then that's a promise, okay?" Hiyori smiled as she stood up. "I'll head home first. Don't stay back for too long, you hear?"
"Sure. I'm coming with you. Hold on." Sana grabbed her bag and caught up with Hiyori.
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"Umm, Asahi-kun?"
"Hmm? What's up, Sa-chan?"
Sana had just finished washing the dishes, while Asahi was reading something from his phone. It looked to be a short story he had found online, as he had been focusing on it for a while.
"Are you by any chance off from school tomorrow?"
"I don't think so..." Asahi looked up at the ceiling, thinking. "I think we have self-study sessions tomorrow. Those are optional, but I still have some assignments to tend to. Why? Do you have tomorrow off?"
"Yeah," Sana nodded in affirmation. "We just received the news today."
"Lucky you. Then I assume we could eat at the cafeteria like usual?"
Normally, if one of the two had the afternoon off, they would have lunch together at the cafeteria with food that Asahi prepared before heading home. It was part of the routine.
"Uh... About that..."
"Oh, you got plans or something?"
"Yeah, I'm going out with a friend tomorrow, and I won't be able to join you for lunch, so..."
"Got'cha." Asahi put down his phone. "Guess I only need to prepare for myself then."
"Aw, are you missing me already?" Sana playfully teased him.
"Shut up..." Asahi sighed profoundly. "Yeah, actually, maybe. It feels a little empty to prepare lunch just for me."
"You don't say..." Sana shot back. "You're literally the one who said you enjoy cooking, no matter how many people it's for."
"Yeah, but still, though..." Asahi chuckled, though there was a hint of wistfulness in his voice.
Back when they first met, Asahi revealed he had almost never eaten out due to his love for elaborate cooking for himself. Even after Sana began to join him, his routine remained largely unchanged, except for the addition of a few extra ingredients for her portion, as she didn't eat much to begin with. But now that Sana was included as a part of his daily meal prep, it felt strange thinking about cooking without her.
"Well," Asahi added, "you're still down for dinner though, right?"
"Yes, I'll be back by the afternoon."
"Cool! I'll note that down then."
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"It's kind of refreshing seeing you eating out again."
Hiyori and Sana were sitting in a small takoyaki shop. It was a local family-run business, so there weren't as many people as a school cafeteria or any popular restaurant chain. Hiyori chose this particular place because she had been eating a lot here, and it was close to the hair salon.
"Yeah, well..." Sana trailed off, but didn't directly answer her.
Before the meal-sharing plan with Asahi, Sana had been constantly eating out almost every day for years, since she wasn't very good at dealing with kitchen stuff. She grew accustomed to vendor food due to her family circumstances. But ever since Asahi started cooking for her daily, she grew distant from that lifestyle as a result.
"My, missing him already? Asahi-kun, I mean." Hiyori teased her.
"What are you talking about? We're just friends." Sana pouted, deeming the remark a distasteful joke. "This takoyaki is really good."
"Not as good as the ones Asahi-kun made the other day, though." The thought immediately appeared in her mind, though she refrained from saying it out loud. And as a reflection, she suddenly stopped eating altogether.
"Keep going. This is my treat, remember?" Hiyori encouraged Sana to eat more. "You are already so thin, Katou-chan."
"I don't eat much, so... I'll have some more, I guess, just for you."
"Are you on a diet?"
"No. Why do you ask?"
"How do I say... You look a bit, uh, fuller? When I first saw you, you looked quite thin. Now your body looks more alive and vivid...?"
"Talk about weird wording..."
Even though Hiyori's phrasing was odd, Sana understood exactly what she meant. After her parents abandoned her, she subsisted on vendor food and was only eating enough to get by. Now, with Asahi being her personal chef, she'd been eating better and more nutritiously, and it showed in her improved and healthier appearance. Deep down, she was extremely grateful to Asahi for all he'd done for her.
"I was thinking, maybe you were intentionally keeping yourself skinny for a certain someone... I guess I was off the mark, then." Hiyori playfully remarked.
"..."
Sana couldn't respond to that. In fact, what Hiyori said made her mind wander. What kind of girl's physique was Asahi's preference? Was he more into skinny girls, or more of the chubby side?
Seeing Sana deep in her thoughts, Hiyori didn't intend to break it. She let out a quiet happy smile just for herself.
"Come on! Let's finish this, and head to the hair salon."
YOU ARE READING
Story of a Rhythm Game Couple
RomanceAsahi now entered university, starting an independent life away from his parents. As a true rhythm game lover, he usually went out to play at the arcade near his home to unwind, but that's where he found his significant other who also shared the lov...
