44 Game Cafe

*Clink~

"Welcome! Is this a party for two or would there be others?"

"A party for two please."

"Alright, just follow me and I will take you to your seats."

Haruto briefly talked to the person who was at the front of the entrance and they were guided to a small table near the window of the cafe.

The interior was very homey with comfortable seats and medium sized wooden tables. The surroundings contained bookshelves filled with many retro board games to some newer ones that had recently come out. Warm lighting lit up the cafe and gave an overall comfy atmosphere.

"Haruto look, it seems like we can order food and also choose some board games from the selves to play from!" Mahiru gave a quiet excited tone as she looked at the pamflet and menu that was on their table.

"Who would have thought that we would stumble into a game cafe." Haruto said as he looked at his surroundings.

"Mahiru should we have dinner here today since the food sounds pretty good looking at the menu."

"Sure I'm okay with that. I'm also pretty interested in some of the items over here too." Mahiru replied to his question and pointed to the food on the menu.

The two of them ordered their desired meals and got up together to choose a game from the book shelves that surrounded them.

They looked around and saw many games such as Connect-4, Monopoly and many others. After searching for a bit longer Haruto found a tall box that caught his attention.

"Jenga with some of the cafe's own forfeits…"

Haruto read the description and found it interesting and brought it to Mahiru. She also read the box and thought it would be a fun game to play as they waited for their food so they brought it to their table.

They opened the box and started to build the tower.

"Hehe I'll go first~"

"Yeah, yeah. Hopefully you get a forfeit on the first block."

Haruto grinned towards Mahiru who was going first as she had won the rock paper scissors. She steadily guided her hand to a small block in the middle and pushed it gently. The block popped out from the other side and she successfully pulled one out.

"Hmm, there doesn't seem to be any words on the block."

"Tsk, you got a dud."

Mahiru smiled as she saw Haruto click his tongue at her good luck. Haruto was up next and he did the same thing but chose a block near the bottom to pull out.

"Oh, I also got a dud this time too."

"I guess the forfeits are pretty rare then."

The two of them continued to pull blocks out until one person finally got some words on their block.

"Sing a song of your choice for 30 seconds…"

"Ohh could I finally see you singing live!"

Haruto flinched slightly as he heard Mahiru's words. Haruto was the first one to get a forfeit and now needed to sing. He suddenly saw Mahiru pull out her phone and was excited to see him sing.

'Sure I guess I need to pull out my inner idol for this one..'

Haruto thought in his head and closed his eyes, when he opened it again Mahiru could have swore she saw some stars in his eyes.

[Muteki no egao de arasu media♫

Shiritai sono himitsu misuteriasu

Nuketeru toko sae kanojo no eria

Kanpeki de usotsuki na kimi wa

Tensaitekina aidoru sama~]

Haruto began to sing an amazing 30 seconds as if he was a legendary idol and Mahiru was happy that she was able to record the whole thing.

"Waa! Haruto, can I please have your autograph!"

"Yes, I will be happy to do so~. Would you also like a complementary handshake as well?"

Mahiru acted as a fan and Haruto replied in a way that made it seem like he was seeing her during a meet and greet.

The two of them paused for a second before bursting out laughing at their little performance they had.

"That was amazing, I'm glad that I was able to record it."

"Please choose a forfeit next.. Please choose a forfeit next.."

Mahiru continued her turn and finally pulled out a block with a forfeit on it.

"Say a tongue twister really fast. It doesn't sound too bad."

"Mahiru, can I be the one to choose the tongue twister?"

"Sure I don't mind."

Mahiru agreed to Haruto's suggestion and waited for him to write down the tongue twister she would try and do.

"This looks pretty difficult.."

"Don't worry I believe you can do it!"

Mahiru looked at the page that was given to her and read it repeatedly in her head to get it down. Haruto was waiting patiently and got his phone ready to record her saying the line.

"Nyanyame nyanyajyuunyanya-do no nyarabi de nyakunyaku inyanyaku nyanyahan nyanyadai nyanynaku nyarabete nyaganyagame?"

"Cute…"

Mahiru said the line surprisingly well and titled her at the end since she was trying to find out what this meant. Haruto stopped his recording and covered his face since the scene of Mahiru tilting her head at the end was too much for him to handle.

"Mahiru you have a very deadly ability.."

"What kind of ability are you talking about?"

Mahiru couldn't figure out what Haruto meant and just encouraged him to do his next turn. This continued for a while before it looked like the tower was about to fall down.

"The tower is on its last legs."

"I need to really concentrate on this one.."

Mahiru whispered as Haruto was deciding which of the two blocks he set his eyes on to move. He decided on the one that was on top to be the one he moved and slowly did so. Their table was very quiet as Haruto slowly pushed a block out.

The tower began to sway suddenly due to the block that was pulled out and the two of them froze on the spot. After a while it stopped and settled down, making them give out a breath of relief.

"That was lucky."

Haruto whispered and placed the dud block he pulled out on top of the tower. As he did so the tower began to sway again before tumbling over due to the imbalance of weight it had.

""....""

The two of them were silent as they looked onto the scattered blocks on the table.

"I kinda wished your last block had a forfeit."

"Same, it was fun doing the forfeits that were on the blocks."

Haruto laughed as he cleaned up and as he was finishing up the food they ordered came.

"Talk about great timing."

"This looks really good, Haruto. I wonder what kind of drizzle this is."

Haruto looked at his plate and it was a pork katsu sandwich with a side of cabbage salad and a jasmine mist tea. On Mahiru's side it was a margherita flatbread with a side of mixed green salad and an iced green tea.

The two of them said their thanks and began to eat. Haruto bit into his sandwich and a satisfying crunch entered his mouth. The tender and juicy pork with the slightly sweet and tangy tonkatsu sauce made for a deep flavor enhancing the overall taste of the sandwich.

Mahiru also took her bite and vibrant flavors also entered her mouth. The sweet tomato sauce alongside the subtle hints of garlic made a nice balance that wasn't underwhelming nor overwhelming.

As she pulled the flatbread the melted mozzarella cheese began to stretch making for an amazing cheese pull. She blushed slightly as she saw Haruto laughing, seeing her dilemma of quickly eating the cheese that was stretched out.

The two of them ate their food and talked about their surroundings and about what other games they could have played.

"The basil really added a nice touch to that flatbread."

"I could tell, your eyes practically shined as you took each bite."

Mahiru pouted and was about to ask for the bill before Haruto stopped her. He called for a waiter and ordered two of the half off desserts that they had saw at the front of the store.

"Don't stare at me for too long or I'll get embarrassed."

Haruto smiled as he saw Mahiru staring at him and joked around. They waited for a bit before seeing a cake with a strawberry on top be placed right in front of them.

"A meal is never complete without dessert, right."

"Hmm I guess so.."

Mahiru took her fork and bit into the cake in front of her. It gave a sweet flavor while the bread helped make it so the sweetness wasn't overpowering. This was the cake that caught her attention at the front and was surprised that Haruto noticed it.

"You surprisingly have a sweet tooth Mahiru."

"Well who doesn't like a bit of dessert every once in a while."

Mahiru slightly pursed her lips as she continued to eat the slice of cake that was right in front of her. Haruto smiled and also ate the dessert on his plate. As they were eating an idea popped into Mahiru's head as she took out her phone.

"Haruto, look over here."

"Hmm?"

Haruto raised his head and heard a snap as he saw a picture taken of him with Mahiru. She lowered her phone and laughed seeing the picture that she took.

"Look at your cheek, you have some icing on it."

Haruto saw the picture and saw his unknowing face have some icing on it while Mahiru gave a cute peace sign as she took the selfie.

Haruto also started to laugh as he took a napkin to wipe his cheek clean. He asked her if he could send him that picture and asked to take another one.

They finished their desserts and left the cafe seeing the orange glow the sky had. They quickly made their way home as it was getting dark. They reached their apartment and said goodbye to each other as they entered their respective homes.

Mahiru locked the door behind her and took off her shoes. She opened her phone again and looked at the second picture they took with Haruto also giving a peace sign as he wanted another one where he didn't have icing on his cheek.

Mahiru giggled as she stared at her screen but immediately stopped as she saw a text message pop up from her phone.

She read it slowly and replied to it before turning her phone off and slowly sliding down her door frame with an expression that seemed like she would break with a slight touch.

"Why message me today out of all days…"

She curled up into a ball and hugged her knees. She stayed in that position for a while before getting up and going to her room to change. She looked at a bookmark that had a single cherry petal on it.

She wished that today would end slower while tomorrow would end as quickly as possible.

***

I hope you enjoyed it. Peacu