The Akihabara Date

On a Sunday in late February, Chihiro was waiting for Haruto at the Showa-dori exit of JR Akihabara Station.

A few days back, Haruto sent a text inviting Chihiro to join him at Yodobashi Akiba, and she immediately said yes. Yodobashi Akiba—officially called “Yodobashi Camera Multimedia Akiba”—was a large integrated shopping center dealing in appliances, sports gear, magazines, games and CDs, books, plastic model kits, and much more. This was Chihiro’s first time in Akihabara; the sight of all the ads for anime and games in the rail station, as well as the electric sign touting light novels right by the turnstile, surprised her.

“Hey, Chihiro.”

“Good morning, Fuwa!”

About five minutes after Chihiro arrived (and ten minutes before they were supposed to meet up), Haruto walked through the turnstile.

“I heard about all this, but wow, Akihabara Station is amazing.”

“Huh? Is this your first time in Akiba?”

“It is,” she said with a nod.

Haruto looked a bit pensive. “Oh… Well, I was planning to look at some electronics, check out the models, have lunch, and go back home, but did you want me to take you anywhere else?”

“Would you mind?”

“Of course not. Akihabara’s like my personal garden,” he joked.

For starters, they entered Yodobashi Akiba right by the turnstile and took the escalators up to the fifth-floor electronics section.

“What are you buying today, Fuwa?”

“Um, well, I actually haven’t decided yet.”

“You haven’t?”

Chihiro wasn’t following.

“I wanted to buy a move-in gift for Miyako and the other girls. They’ve already got a fridge, microwave, rice cooker, washer, and TV, but she said they don’t have anything else, so I thought I’d get something.”

“Oh, that makes sense.”

“What kind of thing do you think they’d like, Chihiro?”

“Electronics-wise…?”

Chihiro gave this some serious thought for a moment.

“How about a robotic vacuum?”

Itsuki had won the latest model of one at a raffle last year, and (much to Chihiro’s chagrin) it was a real workhorse, greatly reducing the amount of cleaning she had to do. The girls’ new apartment had a pretty big living room, she’d heard, so a robo-vac could probably come in even more handy there than at Itsuki’s.

“A vacuum…?” Haruto smiled. “I like that!”

So they headed over to the vacuum section, but…

“…Wow, it’s that expensive…?”

Finding the model Itsuki owned, Chihiro was shocked.

“Over a hundred thousand yen, huh…? That’s a lot more than I thought…”

Haruto seemed distressed.

“They have cheaper ones, too,” Chihiro said, pointing at the other robots.

Haruto shook his head. “No, let’s go with the newest one. I’ve seen how good a job it does on Itsuki’s place—they’ll be able to use it for a long time to come. And if it’ll help out Miyako, a hundred thousand yen is nothing!”

As Chihiro gave a sympathetic smile, Haruto got a nearby staffer’s attention and worked out the purchase and delivery details.

After taking care of that, they went up one floor to the game and toy department. The model corner was lined with Gundam kits and had completed samples (apparently built by the staff) on display behind glass cases.

“Wow…!”

Chihiro’s eyes sparkled as she pored over the cases. It was nothing like a small neighborhood model shop or the toy section of a department store. The whole section was huge, the selection out of this world.

“You like the mass-produced robots, don’t you?” Haruto asked as Chihiro marveled at the box for an MG GM Type C.

“Oh, um, yeah.”

During their talk about their favorite mobile suits at the mixer the other day, Chihiro had started raving about the Zaku, the GM, the GINN, the Tieren, the Genoace, and the other mass-produced mechs that appeared in the Gundam universe. She liked those sorts of “sidekick” robots dotted around the story, and she also appreciated how their designs were relatively restrained compared with the flashier special craft the protagonists piloted. A lot of them also had special configurations for land, space, or desert operations, which attracted her.

“But my brother would always buy Gundams or whatever the rival protagonists piloted, so I haven’t put too many of them together.”

The only Gundam models Chihiro had made up to now were the ones Itsuki left in the family home when he’d gotten his own place, as well as the kits he’d purchased after that and just ignored. Chihiro had never actually purchased one herself; even at the local model shop, she only bought paints and decals and such, never model kits. Buying a new one when she hadn’t made all the ones at home yet seemed wasteful to her.

“Well, why don’t you buy something you want to make for a change?”

“Maybe…” Chihiro scoped out all the kit boxes lined up. “Mmm, but I really want to build everything I have now before I buy something new.”

“You’ve got more willpower than I do. I could stand to learn from that,” Haruto laughed.

Like Itsuki—or, really, like most Gundam model builders—Haruto tended to buy more model kits than he actually built, resulting in an ever-growing to-do pile in his room.

“Ah, but I do have something I want to buy.”

Pleased with herself, Chihiro had a pair of nippers in his hand—and not just any nippers, but ones with superthin, highly sharpened blades specially developed to keep discolored plastic nub marks to a minimum.

“Oh, you gonna buy that? I have a pair, too, and they really cut.”

“Yeah, this kind had great reviews,” Chihiro excitedly replied. “I’ve wanted a pair for a while, and Ashley paid me yesterday. I’m gonna go through with it.”

These nippers cost over four thousand yen—far pricier than a normal pair, but much more useful.

Haruto thought it over a bit. “Actually—let me buy those nippers for you.”

“Huh?! N-no, no, I couldn’t!”

Haruto smiled and waved him off. “Hey, you helped me find a move-in present. Besides, the member points I got for purchasing the robo-vac would easily cover for that. It’s like a bonus freebie, so don’t worry about it.”

“I’m not so sure I follow your logic…”

Haruto took his hand and placed it on top of the flustered Chihiro’s head, lightly patting her.

“Hyeahh!”

“Plus, you’re always cooking such good food for me. I gotta return the favor somehow.”

Chihiro blushed. “All—all right… Thank you very much.”

The two of them headed for the register, nippers in hand. After paying, Haruto handed Chihiro the bag.

“Thank you. I’ll take good care of these.”

“Don’t just take care of them. Use them. Make a bunch more kits, okay?”

Haruto smiled as Chihiro bashfully accepted the gift.

After browsing around the game and book sections, they went to a conveyor belt sushi place on the eighth-floor food court.

Haruto started grabbing plates at random. “So, I heard Itsuki got hemorrhoids?”

“Hey, I’m trying to eat,” admonished Chihiro.

“Huh? Oh. Sorry.”

Realizing this was an inappropriate topic to casually throw out over lunch, he quickly apologized. He was never the sort to shy away from dirty or delicate topics when talking with other men.

“So how’s Itsuki doing?”

“He’s completely fine now. I think he’s working again.”

“Ah. Well, I’ll go pay him a visit soon. Thanks in advance for cooking for me when I do.”

“Sure,” Chihiro said with a smile. “But you should be careful, too, Fuwa.”

Haruto grinned. “Yeah, hemorrhoids come with the territory… He has a really good chair, but I guess even that won’t stop the inevitable.”

“Right…”

The work chair in Itsuki’s apartment was a luxury item, built with sophisticated ergonomics and clocking in at around two hundred thousand yen.

“Though…in my case, I’m worried more about my back than hemorrhoids.”

“Your back?”

“Yeah. I do a lot of work on hard seats in diners and cafés, so. A writer friend of mine said he strained his back recently, but he’s only twenty-five years old, so it’s not an old-man thing at all. And once it happens to you, it’s easy to strain it again, so…”

“Well, I hope you’re careful about that,” Chihiro said, giving him a worried look. “Oh, actually, I have a massager in my bag here.”

“Huh?! Why?!”

Haruto’s voice almost cracked with surprise.

“Ashley gave it to me recently, and it’s been in my bag this whole time.”

He fumbled around his bag a bit…

“Ah, here it is.”

…and with that, he casually whipped out his vibrator and showed it to Haruto.

“Bphh?!”

Haruto did a spit take on the spot.

“You can have this in exchange for the nippers, if you’d like,” he said, 100 percent sincere as he held out the adult toy.

Haruto took a furtive look around the area, making sure nobody was looking. The restaurant was divided into booths, so the coast was fortunately clear.

“Whew…”

Thanking his lucky stars he had chosen this place for lunch, he turned back toward Chihiro.

“Um, Chihiro, do you know what that is…?”

“…? It’s a massager.”

He believed it. Haruto could feel a headache coming on.

“…And you said Ashley gave it to you?”

“Yeah.”

“…What the hell was that crazy lady thinking?” he muttered to himself. After a moment’s thought, he took out his phone, typed “vibrator how to use” into the search bar, opened the resulting page, and handed it to Chihiro.

“…Okay, Chihiro, this page shows how you really use that.”

“How you really use it?” he asked, curious, as he started to read the website…then gradually began to grow redder and redder in the face.

“Huh? Uh…wha…?! Like that…?! You, you can just put it right in…?! No way…! That…that’s…um…! ~~~~~~~~~~~!!”

Haruto could almost see the steam rising from Chihiro’s face as he lowered his head, placing it on the table. He retrieved his phone and took the vibrator from him, hurriedly putting the latter in his own bag.

“I’ll, uh, I’ll toss this out somewhere…”

“Okay… Thank you very much…”

There were tears in Chihiro’s eyes, but Haruto couldn’t help but smile at him. Itsuki and Nayuta had told him as much, but Chihiro really had no knowledge of this kind of thing whatsoever, did he? He was more impressed than exasperated. Anyone with Net access could find porn in two seconds regardless of how old they were—and even before the Internet era, boys his age would borrow porn mags or games from their classmates, or just talk dirty with each other. Either way, you’d normally know about this kind of thing at his age.

But Chihiro wasn’t an ignorant kid. He was expressive, helpful, a great cook, and—judging by his skill in board games—a talented strategist. What kind of environment did this boy grow up in to be so…unbalanced? Haruto honestly wanted to know.

After the Chihiro Hashima Vibrator incident, the pair left Yodobashi Akiba and decided to put it behind them by walking around Akihabara a bit. They covered all the famous must-visit sites like Toranoana, Animate, Gamers, Gachapon Kaikan, and Hobby Tengoku, as well as a computer parts shop Haruto took advantage of when he built his desktop PC.

Chihiro acted so amazed everywhere he took him, which made the trip extra fun for his guide. His particular favorite was Chabara, a line of shops located underneath a railroad bridge, and in particular the store Nippon Hyakkaten Shokuhinkan, which featured famous regional and rare foods from all across Japan. The beverage section was impressive as well; Haruto stopped in to purchase Japanese craft beer sometimes.

“I can’t believe there’s a shop so amazing here…”

Chihiro seemed honestly mesmerized as he explored every inch of the store, ultimately purchasing five jars of rare seasonings after extended deliberation.

The sun was already nearly down by the time they left Chabara. The station was nearby, so they headed over.

“Thanks a lot for today,” Chihiro said as they walked, happily swinging his bags of seasonings and nippers around.

“Hey, it was fun for me, too. Showing you around was really worth it for me. Whenever I go with Itsuki, he always loses steam and complains about wanting to go home.”

“Yeah, he was never very good with crowds.” Chihiro laughed.

“Want me to show you around again sometime?”

“Oh, yes, of course!”

Haruto was glad to see how happily Chihiro agreed. “Aww,” he half-jokingly said, “it would’ve been great if you were my little brother. Then we could build Gundam kits at my place. I wish I could trade my little sister for you.”

“Ah…ah-ha-ha…”

Chihiro’s face tensed up, smiling insincerely.

“Man, it’s so much better having a brother than a sister, isn’t it?”

“…!”

Haruto’s easygoing observation was like a knife in Chihiro’s chest. She tried to keep the pain from showing as she gave a vague half smile.