Work Text:
"Alright! I think we shall take a break now," Yukina said. Everyone puts their instruments away and gathers in one spot. As always, Lisa brought her handmade cookies for everyone. "Thank you, Imai-san," Sayo said in her usual serious-but-soft tone.
While everyone is snacking on the cookies, Ako pulls out her phone. She rarely plays mobile games, but right now, she seems to find an interest as she has been on her phone for at least five minutes. Her playing mobile games is not what attracts attention, it's the loud sound effect of woods breaking, glasses shattering, and...flock sounds.
"Gah! Damn! I almost got it!" Ako grunts on her phone, ignoring the fact that she's on a rehearsal break. "Ako! What is it you're doing right now?" Yukina seems to be quite bothered with her "gaming activities". "Ah! Yukina-san! I'm sorry! I got too carried away with this game," Ako tries to apologize and gets a silent headshake from Yukina. "Break time's over. Let's get back to work," Yukina stands up first, followed by the others to continue their rehearsal.
…
"Good work everyone," Yukina said in her usual serious tone. Sayo and Lisa pack up their respective instruments. Rinko and Ako follow suit. Yukina is the first to leave the room, followed by Sayo and Lisa, Rinko, and Ako trailing from behind. They stop by the lounge first before heading home.
Ako pulls out her phone and plays the same game she played during the break. Yukina glances on Ako again, not in annoyance, but in curiosity. "Ako, may I ask what is that game you've been playing lately? You seem to be so focused on it," Yukina asks her between the crashing materials' sound effects. "Ah, it's...Angry Birds!" Ako said excitedly. Yukina and Sayo pull back their heads slightly, while Lisa's eyes expand upon hearing the game's name.
"Angry Birds?" Yukina asks. She knows the game was popular back when she was a child, but she vaguely remembers if she ever played it once. "Yes! Yukina-san knows?"
"I suppose," Yukina replies with a shrug.
"I knew it. I knew those sound effects are too familiar for me," Sayo expresses herself with a faint hint of smile. “It has been years since the last time I played it… I used to play with Hina when we were kids.”
"But I don't remember if I've heard this music before. Is it a new stage?" Sayo asks.
"Ah! It's the Red's Mighty Feathers episode. It has two modes; the classic and Egg Defender mode. And it's very fun!" Ako excitingly turns her screen towards Yukina and Sayo, which they lean slightly closer to observe better.
Ako demonstrates how the stage works; the Pigs are coming to steal one egg using various vehicle builds, and Red—who has been powered up proofed by the rotating Mighty Feathers around it—tries to defend the egg. After it launches, Ako taps on a point, and Red proceeds to fly to that direction. This gameplay left Yukina and Sayo quite intrigued, as it's a different gameplay they used to have. "Huh, interesting. I've never seen this stage before? May I try?" Sayo asks, later followed by Ako's excited "Of course!" response.
For at least fifteen minutes Sayo has been playing it, with Yukina silently watching beside her. While her phone is borrowed, Ako is having a chit-chat with Lisa, mostly about her thoughts on the game. Ako said she found an Angry Bird gameplay video online and loves how chaotic it could be, so she downloaded it after spending hours playing it. Perhaps this is the first time Ako spent a lot of hours on a game other than NFO, which also explains why she was offline or AFK during the session.
…
After another fifteen minutes passed, Sayo returns Ako's phone. Ako looked at it and was shocked; Sayo finished all the Egg Defender stages in 3 stars. "Woah! Sayo-san, you're a pro!" Ako praises her. "How could you do it in such a time?"
"It's just a matter of angles and momentum. This bird's mechanic is pretty simple and easy to master," Sayo says calmly as if she has played this game for years.
Ako pouts at her answer. "Aaah~ I'm jealous of Sayo-san! I can't even finish beyond Level 6 with 3 stars!"
"You're probably using too many birds. Or maybe you let some pigs run away," Sayo guessed.
Ako giggles nervously, scratching her head. “Ehehe, maybe…”
…
After those pig-busting sessions, everyone went back home. Ako hums the Egg Defender theme song she has been hearing all day. "Wait for me, Sayo-san. One day, I will be as pro as you are!" she said it herself.
Meanwhile, in her room, Yukina also hums the same theme song. It was so interesting that she tried to search it on a video streaming platform, found it, and played it on loop for at least an hour.