8

A few days later, I was standing in front of the mirror, checking how I looked.

“Good.”

Hair’s good. Outfit’s good. Eyebrows are good.

I heard Kokoro yawn as she walked into the living room, still wearing her pajamas. It was pretty late in the day to wake up, even considering that we were still in the middle of summer vacation.

“Huh? What’s the deal?” she asked, surprised. “You look all fancy...”

“My date with Minami. It’s today.”

“Ohhh, that explains it. Hmmm...” she said, eyeing me from top to bottom. “You look okay, I guess. Anyway, this date of yours is just so she can find some kind of closure, right?”

“Yeah, that’s the idea.”

“Even then, you... Actually, no. Precisely because of that, you have to be the best date you can! Try to be Minami’s perfect otaku boyfriend for a day!”

“How am I even supposed to do that?”

“Just put her above all else and be as nice and gentlemanly as possible!”

“Oh, okay! That makes sense!”

Even if it was going to be our first and last date together, I wanted Elena to come out of it happy and impressed, so I decided to keep Kokoro’s advice in mind.

“See ya later then...” she said. “Do your best.”

“I will! Later!”

I left the house and walked nervously to the station, where I caught the train to Akihabara. On my way there, I thought about how different things would have been if Elena weren’t a voice actress. Maybe we could have even become boyfriend and girlfriend. The more I thought about it, the sadder I felt.

I guess I really do like her a lot. But if she wasn’t so serious about her career, she wouldn’t be the Minami I know. I’d better stop wasting my time thinking about this impossible scenario.

I reached the Electric Town station exit right before 1 p.m. Elena was already there waiting for me. She was wearing a hat and a pair of glasses to hide her identity, but a girl that pretty was impossible to miss.

“Sorry to keep you waiting!”

“Oh, Ichigaya! Thank you so much for coming!” she said with a huge smile.

“Not at all!”

“Is this weird?” she asked, pointing at her hat. “I know I may be going overboard, but you know, since I’ll be looking at Emily merchandise...”

“It’s not weird at all. You can’t be too careful!”

It wouldn’t have been too much of an issue if she were by herself, but being seen in Akihabara with a guy would only cause her trouble. Maybe we were worrying over nothing, since very few people knew what she looked like, but we were better safe than sorry.

“Let’s go then!”

“O-Okay...”

Is it me or does she have a lot more pep than usual? It’s almost as if she’s faking it to hide the fact that she’s actually sad... I hope I’m just imagining things.

“So, Animate, was it?”

“Yes!”

“I go there a lot, so I’ll show you the way.”

“Thank you!”

We left the station and headed into the town’s main street, toward Animate.

“Wow! Look at that billboard! O-Oh! There’s a maid!”

Elena was moving her head left and right, reacting to every new sight in the cutest way possible.

“I don’t have any friends that can come here with me, so I’ve actually not been to Akihabara much,” she explained.

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah... So, again, thank you for coming with me!”

“Don’t mention it! I’d be happy...”

...to come here with you whenever you want. That’s what I wanted to say—but I didn’t. After all, this was our first and last date.

When we reached Animate, Elena started excitedly going through all the magazines she could find.

“Look! It’s Yuri Princess! And this one is about VTubers!”

Seeing her having so much fun was lovely, but between the way she looked and how well her voice carried, I was worried that someone would notice her and find out who she was.

“Wh-Why don’t we go and look at the VTuber merchandise upstairs?” I suggested.

“Great idea!” she replied, and we immediately headed up there—taking the stairs, just to be safe.

Since all VTuber-related products were on this floor, we were obviously more likely to run into a VTuber fan.

I’ll have to stop her if she gets too enthusiastic... I think the ideal boyfriend that Nishina was talking about would do something like that out of concern for his girlfriend.

Despite my fears, Elena already understood that she had to contain herself. Her face radiated pure delight, but she remained silent as she walked through the shelves, acting as normal as possible.

It wasn’t long before we reached the Emily Saionji corner. There were keychains, notebooks, towels—more merchandise than for any other VTuber. She’d recently seen a spike in followers, and it was now safe to say that she was one of Japan’s top VTubers.

Elena looked at the shelves, smiling, without actually taking anything off of them. When she was done, she turned to me, beaming.

“Thank you so much! I’m so happy I was able to see it in person!” she said. “It” obviously referred to Emily’s merchandise, but Elena wisely refrained from saying that aloud.

“I know. Cool, isn’t it?”

“While we’re here... would it be okay if we took a look at the other floors?”

“Of course!”

The next floor that she stopped at was packed with doujinshi.

Does she want to buy a yuri magazine or something?

“Wow,” she said, marveling at the stacks of books, “I knew they sold doujinshi here, but seeing it with my own two eyes is incredible! Would you mind if I picked up a few things?”

“Didn’t you already buy a bunch of doujinshi at Comiket?”

“I did, but I only bought the ones I already knew I wanted to get. Today, I just want to browse to see what I can find.”

“Oh, of course. I don’t mind...”

I followed Elena through the store’s doujinshi section and watched her pick up books from the VTuber corner. She then headed over to the cashier with a pile of them in her arms, including some that starred Emily Saionji.

“Um, Minami?”

“Yes?”

“Maybe I should buy those for you.”

“What...?”

“It’s not that likely, but if the store clerk knows about Emily, he could end up recognizing you.”

In the worst-case scenario, the clerk, knowing that Elena was the voice actress that voiced Emily, could post something about her being on a date in Akihabara and shopping for doujinshi with a boy. That would be terrible.

“Th-Thank you!” she said, handing me her wallet and the doujinshi she’d chosen. A quick glance confirmed my suspicion—they were all yuri stories.

Once I was done at the checkout, I went back to Elena and handed over her stuff.

“I hadn’t even considered how risky that could be... Thank you so much.”

“I could just be worrying too much,” I said.

“Not at all! I’m really grateful!”

“You bought some Emily doujinshi, didn’t you?”

“Oh, yes! I found one that pairs her up with Bunny Bellhop, so I absolutely had to get it!”

“Is that... okay with you?”

Bunny Bellhop was a VTuber that sometimes made videos with Emily. Elena had also mentioned that they were real-life friends. As a fan, the idea that she would even read a doujinshi like that was all kinds of exciting, but at the same time, it did sound a bit weird.

Wouldn’t reading that kind of story about yourself be super awkward?

“Hm? Why wouldn’t it be?” she asked as if the question made no sense to her. I decided not to press the matter further.

So long as she’s fine with it...

“I had so much fun in there!” Elena said as we left the shop soon after, dazzling me with a contagious smile.

“I’m glad to hear! Now, as for where to go next...” I began, sneakily gauging her reaction as I took out my phone. She looked slightly surprised. “Wh-Why don’t we go and eat something together? If that’s cool with you, of course.”

I didn’t know if Elena was planning to go anywhere else, but just visiting Animate and calling it a day would have made for a very underwhelming date.

“R-Really?” she stammered, unable to hide her shock. “Shopping with you already made me so happy. I wasn’t expecting you to propose that we do something else together. I... I’d love to!”

She’s such a sweet girl...

“Great! What about this place?” I asked as I showed her a photo of the pancake café that Kokoro had told me about. “It’s a bit of a ways away from Electric Town, so we shouldn’t have to worry about anyone recognizing you.”

“Y-You even went through the trouble of looking up a place beforehand?!”

“It wasn’t that much trouble to be honest...”

I wasn’t the one that looked it up in the first place.

“It looks wonderful! Yes! Let’s go, please!”

We headed toward the café, guided by my phone’s GPS. Along the way, I tried to keep in mind what Kokoro had told me about being gentlemanly to Elena. I matched my walking pace to hers and tried not to choose any topics that could make her uncomfortable. I was trying my best, but I had absolutely no idea whether I was succeeding.

“Is this the place? It’s so cute!” Elena commented once we reached the pancake shop.

The decor was indeed very cute—I would have never chosen a place like that if I wasn’t accompanied by a girl.

She ordered a sweet pancake with berries and ice cream, and I got a savory one with eggs and sausages.

“This café is lovely! And to think that you chose it for me... I’m so grateful!”

“No, really, don’t mention it...” I replied, feeling slightly ashamed at being thanked for something that Kokoro had planned. At the same time, though, I knew to thank her later for helping me choose a date location that Elena looked so happy about.

Our orders soon arrived at the table, sparking Elena’s excitement once more.

“Awww, it’s so cute!” she said, taking a picture of her pancake. She then put her phone down to look at me. “Y-You know... this really feels like... a date.”

The sheer beauty of her glowing smile and blushing cheeks was nothing short of breathtaking.

“W-Well, this is a date, right?”

“Hehe, I guess you could say that. You even took me out to eat, as if it were a real date. I couldn’t be any happier than I am right now.”

Seeing Elena enjoy herself like this was exactly what I wanted; however, the more fun I had on this date, the sadder I became. I’d never get to go on another one with her.

As we continued enjoying our pancakes, the topic of conversation turned to VTubers. I suggested that we try not to use any recognizable names and refrain from saying anything that would cause too much trouble if we were heard. Even if we weren’t in the heart of Akihabara anymore, lowering our guard would have been too much of a risk.

“Thank you for being so considerate! I’m nowhere near careful enough, so you’ve helped me a lot,” Elena said.

“By the way, I noticed you’ve been uploading more videos where you sing and dance lately. You’re unbelievably talented, Minami.”

“Thanks! I actually took dance lessons as a kid.”

We talked about anime, gacha games, Comiket, and all other kinds of otaku stuff. Being able to talk about my hobbies with a girl that understood them was a wonderful feeling. If you also considered how pretty she looked, how cute her voice was, and the fact that she was a voice actress, there was nothing else to conclude other than that she was the perfect otaku girlfriend. I was confident that ten out of ten otaku guys would agree.

Elena and I even talked about Kokoro and Kisaki. Despite having chatted for almost two hours, though, time had raced by in the blink of an eye. One minute we were sitting down to eat, and the next we were paying the bill and leaving the café.

“I can’t thank you enough for today,” she told me as we were ready to part ways at the station.

“Not at all! I should be the one thanking you!”

“You? Thanking me? Why...?”

“Huh? Because I had so much fun...”

“It’s so kind of you to say that... I wish I could stop time so this day could last forever. I was able to go to Animate and shop for doujinshi there like I’ve wanted for so long, then you even took me to that wonderful café. Chatting with you like that was so pleasant... It was perfect. I couldn’t have wished for a better date.”

“M-Me t—”

Before I could tell Elena how much I’d also enjoyed our date, I noticed a couple of men standing staring at us... or rather, at Elena. They were too far away to have heard us, but it looked like they’d recognized her.

“Mina...” I began to say, but decided halfway through that saying her name out loud wouldn’t be a good idea. “Why don’t we go for one last walk before going home?”

“Hm?” She looked at me, confused, having not seen the two men. I needed a better excuse.

“I heard that there’s, um, a location from the ‘Dove Dive!’ anime here in Akihabara, and I wanted to take a look. Would you come with me?” I asked, remembering how I’d been there with Ai once.

I feared that my sudden suggestion would only weird her out, but Elena grinned even harder.

“Really?! I’d love to see it!”

“Okay then, it’s this way,” I said, leading her out of the station as I tried to lose the two creepy men. Rude as this was, I walked in front of her, and pretty fast at that, without saying a single word.

The men were still watching Elena as we left the station, but they didn’t follow us.

Those guys were probably huge fans of Elena... Well, fans of Emily. The average viewer wouldn’t know what her face actually looked like. If they spread the news that Elena was on a date at Akihabara, that could ruin her career...

Once I was sure that they couldn’t see us anymore, I slowed down and started chatting with her again.

“This must be it!” she said when we reached a small square in front of a bridge.

“That’s right! It was only used once, and the place isn’t that memorable or anything, so maybe you can’t remember it...”

“I think I do! It’s the scene where they’re sitting on the bench talking to each other, right?”

“Yes, that one!”

Elena took out her phone and looked up screenshots of that scene, comparing them to the real thing.

“Wow! It’s exactly the same!” she said, impressed, before taking a bunch of pictures.

Since we were already there, we decided to rest on the same bench that the characters in the anime had used.

“This was already the best date ever, but you somehow managed to make it even better...” she said, smiling, much to my relief. “I’ve always wanted to visit a place from one of my favorite anime!”

“Actually, you might not have seen them, but... there were two men looking at you in the station.”

“There were?”

As I’d suspected, she had no idea.

“I wanted to get you out of there as soon as possible, so I kind of dragged you all the way here. I’m sorry. I didn’t want them to see which train you caught and find out where you live,” I explained.

Voice actress fans, VTuber fans, idol fans... they were all a scary lot. Some of them had recently made the news for finding an idol’s address after seeing a station reflected in her eyes on a selfie.

“I-I hadn’t noticed at all! Thank you...” she said, looking more relieved than offended. “You saved me again.”

“Aw, no. ‘Saved’ is an overstatement.”

“No, I really mean it. All throughout today you’ve been so careful to keep my identity safe. I can’t thank you enough.” She looked honestly moved, and I was happy to see that she’d noticed my efforts.

“Don’t mention it. I was just worried they’d tweet about seeing us together. At least they didn’t seem to be taking pictures, so I think we’re okay.”

“I guess they could have still posted something online. Would you mind if I checked?” Elena asked.

“Go ahead!” I said.

Elena fired up Twitter as I waited anxiously.

“Ah...!”

“Did you find something?!”

Please don’t tell me I just caused Emily Saionji’s first scandal...

“Look,” she said, showing me the screen.

Just saw this blonde girl who looked so much like Elena Nanjo that I couldn’t stop staring...

Elena Nanjo? That’s her voice-acting name. Also, if this guy’s saying that she “looked so much like her,” then he mustn’t have been convinced that it actually was her...

I’d been scared for a second, but thankfully we’d avoided the danger.

“I looked up my voice-acting name and Emily’s name, but this is the only recent tweet. I also checked the user’s timeline, but this is the only time he mentions me,” she said.

I sighed with relief.

“I should probably check the image boards too,” she added.

“Good idea!”

“Hmmm... Nothing’s coming up.”

“But that’s great!”

It was still possible that the people who saw her would post about her later on, but we seemed to be safe, at least for now.

“Who knows what would have happened if you hadn’t noticed and led me out of there. Thank you! You’ve looked after me for the whole day... Actually, you always do that. I feel like you’re always there for me when I need help. You listened to my work troubles, you gave me advice, you cheered me up when people found out my identity...”

“O-Oh, but it’s nothing...”

Being thanked so much warmed my heart, but also made me feel kind of embarrassed. Every time Elena said something like that, I became overwhelmed by how sweet she was.

“You know though...” I said, flustered. “You’ve become rather famous, huh? You’re pretty much a celebrity at this point.”

Elena had always been popular at school, but this was on a whole different scale. Since it’d come to light that she was the voice of Emily Saionji, she’d been all VTuber fans could talk about. I felt honored to have someone like that as a friend.

Well, even if it all ends today, she said she likes me. But we’ll never go on a date again. We can never be together...

“You’re incredible, honestly,” I told her. “I really respect you for how much effort you put into your work.”

“I-I’m just...”

All prospects of my potential romance with her had been nipped in the bud, which made me so sad that all the things I’d always thought about her suddenly came pouring from my mouth. I couldn’t control myself.

“We share the same hobbies, otaku ones, which is already rare enough for a girl. You’re so kind and gentle and... y-you’re really... my dream girl...”

Could a girl better than her even exist?

“I—”

“I know how you feel. I respect you so much for your work ethic, and I know that this is a crucial moment in your career. I don’t want to put you in a tight spot. I really don’t, but... Minami?”

I paused as I noticed the tears that had begun to well up in her eyes.

“I’m sorry, Ichigaya... I can’t. I just can’t give up on you...”

“What?”

Elena slowly raised her head and looked straight at me.

“I like you. I love you. Can I be your girlfriend?”

There was no room for doubt this time. Elena had confessed her love to me. It was as simple as that.

She... loves me? She wants to be my girlfriend? Is she being serious? Am I dreaming?

The feelings that had been brewing within me for so long boiled over all at once.

＊　＊　＊

“Hi.”

When I got back home, Kokoro was sitting on the couch, watching TV.

“Hey.”

Didn’t she go out at all today? That’s rare for her.

“I made dinner, but you already ate, didn’t you?” she asked me. It was my turn to cook, but since I wouldn’t be home, we’d agreed that I didn’t have to worry about it today.

Weird that she’d cook though. She must have been really bored or something...

“Really? I had a pancake earlier, but I’m probably going to get hungry later on, so I’ll eat again in a while.”

I went to the bathroom to wash my hands as Kokoro spoke to me from the living room.

“So, how’d your date go?”

I was expecting that question, but not this soon.

“W-Well...”

I sat down on the couch next to her, strangely nervous.

“We... Minami and I... became boyfriend and girlfriend,” I admitted, doing my best to sound as calm as possible.

Kokoro was sure to be surprised by that—I was still surprised myself.

When Elena had asked me if she could become my girlfriend, I’d obviously said yes. She’d always been my ideal girl, and going on a date with her had made me like her even more. Her confession had filled me with joy, and I’d gladly accepted it.

Nishina won’t even believe it, I bet...

“What...? A-Are you serious?” Kokoro asked, staring at me in disbelief. It was a much different kind of surprise from the one I’d been expecting. “D-Didn’t she tell you that she didn’t want a boyfriend? Didn’t she say that she just wanted to go on this one date?”

“Yeah, but... right before going back home, she told me that she couldn’t give up on me and asked to become my girlfriend.”

Kokoro lowered her head and stared at the floor.

Huh? I thought she’d be happy to see me succeed after so long. What’s with this reaction? Does she have a problem with it? If so, I wish she’d at least tell me. I really can’t tell what she’s thinking right now...

All of a sudden, Kokoro’s phone started vibrating. It was a call.

She got up and left the living room, answering it as she did so.

“...Hello?”

I was left alone, sitting by myself on the couch in awe.

For the first time in my life, I had a girlfriend. This was already reason enough to celebrate, but the girlfriend in question was a great one by anyone’s standards. In all honesty, she was completely out of my league.

Despite all this... I couldn’t help but feel weird about Kokoro’s reaction.

What’s wrong with her? We’ve worked together all this time. We helped each other out. Why isn’t she happy? Why won’t she congratulate me?

After what seemed like an eternity, Kokoro came back. She was frowning, but it seemed to be about something else.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

“I think... I’ll be moving out next month.”

Wha...?

“WHAT?!” I yelled, thrown for a loop by the unexpected news.

Wh-What does this mean?! Why?!