"Where's your comfort place?" Makoto asked.
Ayaka thought about it. She almost said it without hesitation. "Tanaka's gaming cafe."
Makoto raised an eyebrow. "The famous Tanaka's?"
She nodded. "But… I can't go back there right now. Too many memories of him. Every booth, every machine... It's like he's still there, smirking, teasing me."
Makoto was silent for a few seconds, then made a sudden turn at the next intersection.
Ayaka blinked. "Wait—where are we going?"
"You said no to your comfort place. So I'm taking you to mine."
They pulled into a quieter neighborhood, the streets calmer, lined with trees and warm-toned streetlights.
He parked in front of a modest, cozy-looking building with a pixelated neon sign: "LEVEL UP."
"You're a gamer?" Ayaka blinked, clearly surprised.
Makoto chuckled as he turned off the engine. "I'm not just pretty hair and good lighting, you know."
Ayaka laughed for the first time that evening. "I genuinely didn't expect this."
He led her inside, and the place had a homey atmosphere—less flashy than Tanaka's, but warmer.
Wooden counters, soft lighting, a corner shelf with retro consoles, and familiar keyboard clicks surround them.
"This is where I go when life is too loud." he said, guiding her to a quieter corner booth.
"And no one here knows I'm 'Moonlight Sonata.' Just a guy who's decent at FPS and occasionally wins tournaments."
Ayaka smiled, touched by the intimacy of the moment.
He was letting her into a world he hadn't shown anyone else.
As they sat, a soft 8-bit melody played from the overhead speakers.
Makoto placed a steaming mug of cocoa in front of her—no coffee this time.
She looked up at him. "Thanks, Makoto. Really."
He leaned back, stretching his arms. "We'll make new memories, Ayaka. Ones that don't hurt."
She lowered her gaze, fingers wrapping around the warmth of the mug. "I'm not sure if anything can erase him."
She didn't say his name, but she didn't have to.
Makoto offered her a gentle smile. "I'm not trying to erase him. Just… maybe be part of a chapter that doesn't make you cry."
Ayaka's heart tightened.
She looked at him—not as the charming, handsome author who fans paired with her, but as a person quietly choosing to walk beside her, even if he wasn't the one she kept hoping to see in a crowd.
Somewhere deep in her mind, she still wondered—if Akihiko had seen the interview… would he have stayed, or would he have turned away?
"Alright." Makoto said, powering up one of the consoles. "Tonight, I'm introducing you to Battle Nova: Drift Eclipse. Have you ever heard of it?"
Ayaka blinked at the vibrant screen. "I've heard it but I haven't played it before. It sounds intimidating..."
Makoto chuckled, handing her a controller. "It's a co-op space adventure. We're rogue pilots on the run from an evil empire. You shoot, I fly. Trust me, you'll be great."
Ayaka eyed the screen skeptically but took the controller anyway. "I swear if I crash this spaceship into a planet, it's on you."
"You won't." he grinned, already selecting his character—a white-haired ace pilot with a rogue's smirk. "I'm the best wingman. You'll see."
As the game loaded, colors danced across the screen and techno music hummed softly from the speakers.
The cafe had cleared out, with only a few quiet gamers left. In the booth, it felt like their own world.
Makoto leaned close to explain the controls. "Right trigger for your blaster, left to dodge. Don't worry, I'll cover you."
Ayaka's brows furrowed in focus as the level began.
Lasers flew.
The screen shook.
Enemies swarmed them in waves.
She panicked, spammed buttons, and yelled when she accidentally blew up a space station.
"You blew up a peace colony." Makoto teased.
"WHY was that even destructible?!"
He laughed, eyes gleaming. "You're adorable when you panic."
She glared at him, but she was smiling too—laughing, even.
Her heart lightened with each new mission.
Somewhere between blasting alien drones and high-speed asteroid chases, she started to feel… okay.
Then, as she narrowly avoided a black hole, her mind wandered.
'He was terrible at games...'
The memory hit gently—not like a stab, but like a soft wave brushing the shore.
Akihiko. She remembered the one time they'd tried a game together.
Celestial Conquest: Divine War...
He'd insisted he was a fast learner, only to end up spamming buttons and be killed within 3 minutes.
She'd laughed so hard she couldn't breathe, and he'd sulked for hours—grumbling about how "gaming was illogical."
He wasn't coordinated, wasn't patient with the controls, and he never remembered which button was which.
But he'd stay up anyway, just to make her laugh.
Ayaka smiled faintly, eyes still on the screen.
The feeling was so different now.
Makoto noticed the shift in her expression, but he didn't ask. Instead, he reached across to nudge her elbow. "Hey, Ace Pilot Midnight. We've got incoming."
She blinked and focused back in, nodding. "Let's take them down."
And they did.
Together, they made it to the next planet.
Then the next.
Makoto called out moves, Ayaka covered his back.
Her fingers learned the rhythm.
Her laughter came easier.
It wasn't the same.
It wasn't supposed to be.
As the game ended and their scores flashed on screen—the top of the leaderboard—Makoto gave a victorious fist bump. "See? Told you you'd be great."
Ayaka smirked, bumping her fist into his. "You weren't bad either, Commander Sonata."
He froze for a second, surprised. Then grinned. "That's the best nickname I've ever gotten."
She laughed again, leaning back into the booth.
Tired, but somehow lighter.
It wasn't forgetting.
It wasn't healing.
But for now, it was enough.
------
After clearing the fourth planet and narrowly surviving a meteor storm that had them both yelling in panic and laughter, Makoto finally tossed his controller onto the booth's table and leaned back with a satisfied sigh.
"Okay. I need a break. My thumbs are about to fall off."
Ayaka laughed breathlessly, brushing her bangs away from her face. "You're the one who kept yelling, 'Just one more mission!'"
"Because we were on a winning streak!" Makoto protested, stretching his arms overhead with a grin.
They were tucked into a cozy booth near the back of the cafe. the soft hum of consoles and low chatter surrounding them.
The neon glow from the monitors gave the place a gentle warmth—soft blues and purples washing over their table like something out of a sci-fi film.
Just then, a server walked over, balancing a tray of drinks and snacks.
He set down two chilled lemon sodas and a plate of takoyaki in the middle of the table. "Here's your order. House specials on the house—the boss likes your energy."
"Oh wow, thank you." Ayaka said politely, surprised.
The server glanced between them with a knowing smile. "You guys are cute. Are you two dating?"
Ayaka blinked, caught off guard. She opened her mouth to respond, but Makoto beat her to it—his voice a little louder than usual, a faint pink crawling up his neck.
"N-No, we're just friends."
The server raised a brow, unconvinced.
"Uh-huh. Sure. Well, enjoy the food—friends." He winked before disappearing behind the counter.
Ayaka looked down at the food to hide her flustered smile. "You were very quick to answer."
Makoto reached for a takoyaki ball and muttered under his breath, "Because if I hesitated, it would've made it weirder."
She laughed, gently shaking her head. "You're such a mess."
They dug into the snacks, their earlier buzz mellowing into something calmer.
The exhaustion of the day, the noise from the fans, the lights, the trending topics—it all seemed to melt in the soft lighting of the cafe, wrapped in the casual normalcy of shared food.
Makoto leaned his cheek against his hand as he watched her sip from her lemon soda. "Hey."
"Hm?" Ayaka looked up.
"Are you having fun?" he asked, quieter now.
She paused for a moment, as if checking in with herself, then gave a small smile. "I am."
Makoto nodded with a look of quiet relief. "Glad to hear it."
There was a moment of silence, comfortable and warm.
"Honestly..." Ayaka said, glancing around the cozy space, "I didn't expect you to be into gaming."
Makoto gave a sheepish grin. "Yeah, well. I keep my gamer side under wraps. Can't have people thinking I'm all brawn and have no brain."
"Is that what you think people think of you?" she teased.
"Well, it's the look. Tall guy, good hair, brooding stare. People assume I just do pushups and brood in corners all day."
Ayaka let out a laugh, covering her mouth. "I can picture you brooding in corners, actually."
"Ouch." Makoto said, but he was grinning. "You wound me."
They both laughed, and the tension in Ayaka's shoulders seemed to ease even further.
This—this was easy.
No whispers of loss, no painful ghosts hovering in the background.
Just late-night takoyaki, light teasing, and the soft buzz of arcade games humming in the background.
"You know..." Ayaka said after a beat, "You're really different from what I expected."
Makoto raised a brow. "Good different or bad different?"
She smiled. "Different. Just… not what I expected."
He leaned back, sipping his soda with a smirk. "I'll take that as a win."
And she let herself enjoy it. This soft moment.
This surprising side of someone she was only beginning to know.
Even if her heart still ached in quiet corners, tonight was lighter.