The King Of Arcade
"Then how about we make this a little more fun?" That is when he spoke with a mischievous expression.
"What do you mean?" Saki asked tilting her head, how would he make it more fun?
"The one who loses treats the other to lunch," Adam proposed as he sat down on the chair, "what do you say?"
"Hmm, sure," Saki smiled after thinking about it for a bit, she found it interesting as well.
"Bet…" He played first with a smirk it was just that, it didn't last long.
The screen flashed a big 'C' on it, his total was 51% and the highest accuracy he got was just one Great the rest were good and ok.
"That was so mad," Adam was now sulking, he didn't score highly because of the very unusual rhythm, not to mention the sudden speed jump in the middle caught him off guard.
"Was it your first time playing this song?" Saki asked because it was normal for that to happen, even if you know the song and can see the notes on the screen. Sometimes the body doesn't move fast enough when you do it the first time.
"Yes… I didn't play this on DrumMania before," Hearing that Adam nodded sagely. It had indeed been a long time since he last heard this song, but that wasn't really the issue with him.
"So, the bet still stands right?" Saki smiled looking at Adam, who quickly came out of his thoughts.
"Well, I won't make excuses," Adam shook his head, as Saki sat down on the chair with a confident smile.
"I'll have a good lunch then," She pushed her glasses up with a smirk, and after 4 minutes and 29 seconds.
The grade she got was SS with only Perfects and Greats on the notes.
"Woah, Saki-chan you're too good at this!" Adam was shocked by that high score, especially because of how focused she was during the session.
"Well…. It's not that special…" And even Saki said that, the content expression on her face showed that she wanted the praise.
"No for real, I never got an SS with 99% on this machine, I hereby declare you as the New King of DrumMania," Adam said seriously and the look on her face…
"King?" She said pointing at herself, confused at what he was on about.
"Yes, you must accept it for being so awesome," But he nodded with the same seriousness.
"Haha, sure…" This caused Saki to laugh, wasn't he being too serious?
But from the looks of it, she didn't hate any of that.
"You should try 'WIND-Naruto', it is a fun one because of the unique signature," Saki put on another one of the songs she enjoyed.
"I see, let me try, how about the one who wins this pays for the arcade games?" Adam suggested with a smile.
"Are you sure? I am good at this," Saki looked hesitant since Adam might lose.
"Nah, I'd win," But he was full of confidence.
"Alright then…" And even if she knew he was just joking.
Needless to say, he lost, but not by a big margin, which surprised Saki.
"That was a close call," Regardless Saki clapped, she was happy that Adam looked quite proud of his score even if he lost.
"Should we play some more?" Adam asked and Saki nodded, there was no need to stop.
"Yes, it is fun," And she wouldn't want to stop either—with that they played a few more times, betting on one thing or another.
"You did good," Saki tried to cheer up Adam, but he couldn't win even once.
"Yes I know, you are just better than me," Adam sighed and Saki just smiled not knowing what to say. She was just enjoying this moment that came after so long—much more than anything else she had done before.
But it wasn't because she won the bets, or because of the high scores she got.
'It is really fun to play with someone,' Saki hadn't had this feeling for a long time, and on top of that Adam's constant antics kept on adding more fun.
Just like now, it was like he had an endless amount of positiveness.
"It is time for Mario cart," Adam said with great enthusiasm and then, "They called me the Racing King back when I played."
"Is that so?" Saki laughed since it looked like another one of his jokes.
That is how she went in, but this time she was in the wrong.
"You're really good at this," Her eyes shined when she saw Adam play, there was no chance of winning, and even when they played like 10 times she couldn't surpass him.
"Huhu, the fact is I am getting rusty these days," Confidence was basically dripping off his face, but it was just that it was more amusing since he finally won.
"Let's go on the fighter games next," Adam declared in a jolly mood because of his continuous win streak.
"Did they call you the King of Street Fighter before?" Saki asked and he turned to look at her.
"Oh, have you heard of my legend?" Adam smirked, "I reigned as an undefeated champ for years. No one was able to defeat me till I stopped trying."
But those weren't empty words, he was always good at such games since he was a kid, and that was even truer now.
"Well, I am not good at those games," Saki didn't really play the fighter games, she was more into the rhythm games in the arcade, and role-playing games on the console.
"Isn't that natural?" Adam asked and Saki looked confused, but it was much simpler.
"Not everyone is perfect at everything you know? we all lack something that's why we need others to help us with our shortcomings," His words caused her to stop in her steps.
It wasn't like what he said was something new, people knew of it. The difference was in just knowing about it, rather than hearing those words from someone close—since that leaves a deeper impact on the person.
"So, I'll cover for you in the game if you make mistakes, just like you did for me when we were playing the duo mode on DrumMania," Adam gave her a thumbs up like this was only natural, and truthfully it was.
"I-I see…" Saki responded before falling silent, and he didn't say anything to give her some time.
That is how they just stood in front of the Machine for 10 minutes without moving, before they started to play the duo player Street Fighter, and true to his words Adam taught her some things that helped her get better.
The progress wasn't crazy, but he showed her some hacks that can help with increasing her combo speed, and also teach her new attack patterns.
And as they were playing time passed, and after a long streak of wins.
"That was fun right?" Adam asked looking at her.
"Very," She smiled brightly, even if she lost—she was able to learn more about the game, and it was fun to play at that moment, so she forgot about everything else.
"Yeah, I had lots of fun as well." Adam smiled looking at her, before he moved to the next plan, "Then as promised the lunch is on me."
"Oh, I won't hold back then," Saki was happy, but Adam stopped her.
"We're not going to the snack bar," Adam said and she tilted her head in confusion, because where else will they go?
"We'll have food at the famous Oyakodon place nearby," Her eyes widened as Adam chuckled.
"How did you know of that?" It was a small shop, but everyone who came to this arcade knew of it, as they went there frequently.
But he was new to the area, so the reason why Adam knew of it was…
"I just heard a few guys talking about it before and got curious," Adam had been paying attention to the surroundings, and he thought that this would be better to have a nice meal. It wasn't that he had anything against the snack bar, he just didn't feel like eating at that moment.
"But I thought…" Saki thought that the lunch would be from the snack bar, so the sudden change was shocking.
"No worries, I lost the bet, and I heard that the price isn't that high and it is tasty," Adam's eyes sparkled, his enthusiasm was easy to spot for Saki.
"Alright," That is why she gave in and the lunch was decided, and the two started walking towards the exit. But he suddenly stopped, in front of the Claw machine game.
"Are you going to play again?"