Second mix: Yamada Suki

Yamada-san...huh.

He looked at her and took in the natural surroundings. Yamada closed her eyes, half shut. It seemed like she had been up for a while before this, something Miru resonated with.

At a closer look, her eyelashes were longer than average and her blue hair draped neatly down her back. For night owls like them, looking out for each other was commonplace. He turned his head and grabbed the cozy blanket next to him before walking over to her.

"You talk about me getting soaked, but look at you. I don't want you getting a cold either." He said as he placed it lightly over her slender shoulders.

He took up the seat next to her and gazed at her.

"...I know we just met, but looking at this place makes me wonder. I know you denied it before, but you're some famous person, right?" He asked curiously.

As he said that, Yamada turned and made sure to not look him directly in the eye—or that's what it felt like. She silently rubbed the blanket over her hair. It wasn't a towel, but on nights like this one, anything would do.

Overhead, studio lights flickered and lit up the dim table in front of them.

"...Something like that, you could say. I'm exhausted though, and my show ended early because of the rain. Being a radio host isn't all it's cracked up to be, I'll tell you that much."

radio host? So she is well known. He thought to himself, particularly smug with guessing right.

With her being well known, he understood it was right not to pry, so he didn't. After all, she was a tired person trying to make something out of this world, just like he was.

Gazing under the table, he pulled out his backpack and rummaged through it. The next second, he pulled out two onigiri he had left over from lunch. He outstretched his hand, as the tightly wrapped onigiri was now in front of Yamada.

It'd be rude if I ate without offering her one...right?

From a young age, he had always been taught to offer things as he was told, 'it was the right thing to do.'

"You can have it if you want... you don't have to, but it'd be better if you did," He said as he looked at the onigiri in between her hands.

They were smaller than his, and more delicate. Unlike Miru's, the onigiri practically occupied what little space she had. 

The smell was the rather sweet scent of bean paste—Miru's preferred choice. He usually wouldn't fill it with bean paste, opting for tuna or something savoury. It wasn't that he didn't like the other fillings; if anything, he liked them all. It's just bean paste hit a certain type of craving he enjoyed.

Yamada looked at the onigiri for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. The next second, A smile he could only describe as 'heartwarming' lit up on her face.

"Oooh I love onigiri! The way the texture just melts in your mouth is the best. Wait, why's there bean paste in here?" 

"Long story..."

Yamada inspected the inside, eyeing it up like a detective on a mission. Even with it being odd, she didn't seem to complain, which made Miru sigh in relief

Is she a radio host or a food critic? He thought to himself as she took a bite. The string of bean paste desperately tried to keep intact before failing and dripping onto the table.

"You must really like the stuff, huh? But I know what you mean; the way the paste complements the fluffiness of the rice, it's so good."

As they were geeking out over bean paste onigiri, Yamada took a bite of hers and turned to Miru.

It was a weird combination, sure. But even with that, Miru relaxed his shoulders. It was nice sharing a meal with another.

"Thank you for this; it means a lot," She said as she took another bite of onigiri.

Miru watched her, and bits of rice stuck to her lips.

As long as she's enjoying it

Up above, the rain raged on; the drops bounced off the roof and made a sound. Looking out of the nearby window, thunder could be seen and heard in the distance. Miru might've been well equipped for a rainy day, but not even the forecast predicted this. It was torrential, and it didn't seem like it would ease for a while.

"Stupid rain cut off the radio I was listening to. I even was about to text in, but the rain took my chance...," He whispered to himself, trailing off into a faint murmur.

The night—despite his outlying hatred- was one of the only times Tayonaka Miru didn't mind a little rain.

'A little' might be putting it lightly... He brushed off that thoúght and turned to Yamada, who had now finished the onigiri.

"By the way, you missed a spot," cutting off his train of thought, Miru pointed toward three pieces of rice that were there from before. 

"Thanks," Yamada replied. She picked up a tissue from the tissue box—about an arm's length away and wiped it away. 

It was green and read:

"Cleaning isn't just a wish away!"

What is it with all these brands and their crappy slogans?

 Putting that aside, Yamada laid her head on the table, looking up at him with sparkly eyes. Up close, Miru noticed she had dark circles under her eyes, and yet she fought to stay awake.

"—This radio... it wouldn't be, Heart Mix would it?" She asked, as her head lay atop her hands.

Heart Mix radio was the only station on throughout the dead of night, so of course it would be. If anything, if there were others, he'd surely pick them over a girl talking... and yet he tuned in, time and time again.

He put his convictions  aside and answered softly:

"Yeah, it's soothing. I didn't like it at first because it was just talking, but after a while I came to find that the voice complemented the silence of the night."

"Never took you for the poet type."She bounced back up, as if remembering something. Oh yeah, that reminds me, your name!" She looked at him with widened eyes.

The whites of said eyes were large and open; the iris a beautiful hazelnut. Anyone who walked past her could tell she was friendly—or Miru felt that anyway. She just had such an air about her. Miru shifted slightly under her intense gaze.  He wasn't used to this sort of thing, so it came as quite a shock.

She pulled the lightly coloured headphones from her head and placed them round her neck. She exclaimed:

"..Well?"

There was a hint of desperation in her voice, so Miru scratched the back of his head and answered truthfully.

"Tayaonaka Miru, the one and only. Though... Miru's just fine."

For a moment she looked at him and blinked. Then she let out a little laugh.

"'The one and only'? You couldn't have said it any better. You're a funny guy, Miru-san."

She looked around the same age as Miru, quite tall for a girl as well. Miru wasn't by any means a short guy, yet they seemed to meet at eye level.

"You think so? If anything, I thought it was cringe, haha," He said, scratching a cheek.

They both laughed as the rain carried on. By this point, the rain had been raging on for over an hour, yet Miru didn't care.

"I needed this after the day I had today. Thanks a lot, Yamada-san."

She looked at him, tilted her head for a moment, then smiled.

"You're easy to talk to, Miru-san, so I don't mind. Make sure you come back here sometime."

He nodded.

—They had spent so long talking that the rain had long since stopped. He got up and grabbed his things; he wanted to stay longer, yet sadly, if he stayed, he feared that he'd stay long enough for the rest of the country to wake.

Miru stepped toward the door; the scent of fresh air and the same floral scent wrapped around him once more. He looked back and noticed Yamada twiddling her thumbs before raising her head.

"Wait, there's something I need to tell you."

He was confused, but he let her keep going, so she gripped his sleeve and whispered something to him from behind.

"To whoever's listening right now, the tired office workers or the students studying for exams, I welcome you to Heart Mix Radio. A station that's free from the daily grind."

He wanted to turn around, yet she forbade him. She continued:

"Now you know my secret, make sure you come back ok?"

"..."

He didn't know what to say to that, so he just nodded and left the building.

This would be the start of his new nightly routine.