by Kayla Morgan
“Oh no!” she declared. “We are going to the station? I forgot my card back home.” Emily squinted at her with suspicion. Michi’s voice sounded forced, as if the lines had been practiced.
What is she up to?
Akio looked taken aback too. “Well that’s alright, Michi-chan. I’m sure we can figure something out. Don’t they have like temporary cards or something?”
“Oh no! That won’t do! I simply have to have my card!” she continued to exclaim in her weird voice. “I’d better go back and get it!”
There was a long pause. Michi turned and glared hard at Hamada. “I said, ‘I'd better go back and get it!’,” she repeated through gritted teeth.
“Oh right!” Hamada whispered, but then raised his voice to the same weird tone as Michi’s. “Oh no! I seem to have forgotten my wallet as well! I guess I’d better go back with you, Michi-chan!”
It took everything in Emily not to roll her eyes at the two idiots in front of her. Even Akio was looking at them as if they had just said they were going to go climb on top of the nearby Godzilla head. “Okay, that’s fine. We’ll go with you then.” He started to take a step that way.
“No, no!” Michi shouted, still sounding dumb. “You’re already so close to the station—”
They were only two steps away.
“—that we couldn’t possibly ask you to walk all the way back to campus!”
So like 15 steps away.
“This is our burden to bear!” she exclaimed, throwing her hands up to the sky. “We will go on and fix this mistake on our own! You two go and enjoy this lovely day! Come, Hamada-kun!” She grabbed his arm and whisked him away.
The sounds of the busy streets filled the silence as the two left behind took a few seconds to take in the mind-boggling display they had just seen.
“You know,” Akio started slowly, “I think we just got set up.”
Emily burst out laughing. “Yeah no kidding, genius. What tipped you off? Michi’s dramatic hand gestures or Hamada’s poorly-rehearsed lines?”
Akio joined in the laughter too. It felt good to laugh with him again. It felt like it had been ages.
“Well then, Johnson-san,” he said, “I guess that it’s, uh, just going to be us today.”
Emily’s heart fluttered violently in her chest. He was right— they were alone now. It would just be two of them all day.
This must have been Michi’s plan all along! Emily fumed. Kami-sama above! First, she warns me about the dangers of getting close to Akio, and now here she is shoving us into an impromptu first date?
Her brain wanted to focus on the best way to murder Michi when she got back to the room, but instead she shoved down her anger and focused on Akio. She couldn’t back out now or it would be obvious that she was attracted to him. So instead, she had to play the friend card.
“Well that IC card isn’t gonna get itself!” she exclaimed. “Come on, Akio-kun!” Before she could think, her arm shot out, grabbed his wrist, and started pulling him into the station. She had done it with some kind of backwards hope that it would make things less awkward if they could just get started on their day. But that tension she had been hoping to kill off instead crept up her back like a rising tsunami. She could feel his shocked stare boring into the back of her head, and it was sending rippling shivers up her arm, making her hairs stand on end.
Damn it, Johnson! What kind of terrible plan is this? How would touching the hot guy make things better? How does that make any sense at all? This is not what “friends” do!
But she couldn’t just let go now. That would just make everything more obvious. So instead, she dealt with the chills running up her arm until she pulled him through the crowd in front of the first ticket machine she could find. Then she threw her arms out at it, like she was a cheesy game show host. “Jian! Found it!”
Once again the background sounds filled the silence between them.
When Akio still hadn’t said a word, Emily dared to take a quick side-glance. He was staring at her with a very concerning calculating look until, thank Osamu, someone in the crowd accidentally bumped into him. With the magic spell broken, Akio seemed able to put his concentration back on the situation at hand. “Uh, good job! You found it. Well, I guess we’d better get started then.”
“Yup!” Emily replied. She hoped her smile didn’t look as fake and nervous as she felt it did. He took a step in front of her and began pushing commands on the screen. Emily took the opportunity to double-check that her wig was still in place underneath her beret. She had gotten used to it over the past month and was lucky enough to not have any more problems with it—not any that Michi couldn’t fix anyway. But with her luck, this would be the time everything would go all haywire and then Michi wouldn’t be here to fix it. And then Akio would know. He would know, and then he would hate her.
Her hands absentmindedly wound around the curls at the ends of her hair as her brain began spiraling about what would happen if he found out. Horrible images of him refusing to speak to her again. Of him telling the dean of the school. Of her being kicked back to America and never allowed to return to Japan again. Even though that was completely mental. She wasn’t breaking any laws. Was she? But what if—?
“Here you go!” Akio’s voice made her start. He handed her a gray and green card with a cute little penguin on it. “Congratulations! You are officially a Tokyo-ite.”
She snorted. “Is that even a real word?”
“Nope, but I’m going with it anyway.” He shifted his camera bag. “So you ready to go?”
All around her people swirled in and out of the green ticket gates. All hurrying. All narrowly avoiding crashing into the huge amount of other people in the area. The daunting Japan Railroad map hung overhead. It had a circular center but with lines of train paths spiking out of it all over. To Emily, it still looked like the scribbled drawing of some hyperactive toddler. Her heart beating out of control, she looked up at Akio with panicked eyes and squeaked out, “No?”
As always, Akio just laughed. “I’m sure it looks like a giant mess to a foreigner such as yourself, but I promise I’ll help you every step of the way.”
When Emily continued to stand like a cornered deer, Akio stretched out his arm and grabbed her wrist. She looked down at the contact, even though she had just done the same thing to him moments earlier, her brown eyes wide with shock. “You’re safe with me, Johnson-san,” he whispered. “I promise.”
He turned around before he could even catch a glimpse of her blush-stricken face, which she was grateful for.
“Alright. Now we just need your card,” he instructed. He took the hand she was holding her card in and held it over the card reader for a second until it beeped its approval. “Now just walk on through.” Emily did as she was told, but she twitched restlessly as she waited for him to end back up at her side.
He tried to reassure her again. “See? Simple!”
She nodded, but she still had the same worried expression on her face. “Yeah, that wasn’t what I was worried about.” She pointed up at the map. “It’s that.”
Akio took in the enormous railroad map hanging above them. “Ah...well that’s understandable. It’s a lot to look at. But I know where we’re going and how to get us there. So, for today, just consider it an…observation day. You’ll get the hang of reading it after a while.”
Yeah right, maybe when sumo wrestlers fly.
He gently grabbed her wrist again and began leading her towards the platform labeled “JR Chuo Line”. The lovely tingles she felt from him holding her arm were quickly pushed down when she realized that she had no idea where they were going. They had never discussed it at lunch and she never even bothered to ask.
“Uh, Akio-kun, where are we going anyway?”
He beamed at her over his shoulder, “That, Johnson-san, would be a surprise. But don’t worry. You’re going to love it!”
She probably should have been worried about the fact that she was headed off to kami-sam
a knows where with a guy she had only known a couple months. But it was so hard not to feel safe whenever Akio was around. Just like that moment in the alleyway back when she had been ‘Clarissa-chan’. That felt like ages ago now.
“So now we wait here for the train,” he continued instructing, leading her behind a group of people. “There’s usually a green spot marked on the floor that tells you where to stand while you wait to enter. You might be able to see a glimpse of it at the front of this crowd.”
Emily peeked around the others. “I can only see a tiny green sliver.”
Akio chuckled. “Yeah, gomen, Shinjuku Station is actually the busiest station in the entire world. So, even though it seems crazy now, the good news is, if you can handle this station, you can handle them all.”
“I…guess that’s good?” This place still made her want to barf.
The orange train pulled up right on time and the doors slid open. People poured out onto the platform. Once they were gone, Akio and Emily followed the entering crowd onto the train. People were packing into any place they could possibly find. It became increasingly obvious to Emily that she and Akio were not going to be able to get a seat. Still holding her wrist, he led her towards the back of the subway car, and they squeezed up against one of the benches and grabbed onto the bench railings. Still people poured into the train, forcing the passengers to squeeze closer and closer together. One final swarm of people pushed in and Akio was thrown forward.
Right into Emily.
She gasped. Her entire body froze. Akio attempted to pull himself back. There wasn’t any room. He put both hands on the train’s window, on either side of Emily’s head, and pushed back but that was all the farther he could go. All she could see was his chest with his camera strap swinging down between them and his arms on either side of her. All she could feel was the heat between them and her lungs crumpling up inside her. She had forgotten how to breathe. She should know how to do that. Been doing it her whole damn life. Just breathe! Breathe, you—
Her mouth burst open and she guzzled in a huge breath of air. Thank Osamu her natural instincts took over. But it still wasn’t helping the situation she was in. His arms on both sides of her. Her back pressed against the wall. Wait a minute...he was freaking kabedon-ing her on the train!
Kabedon— the “move” anime and drama guys used on girls to stop them in their tracks and usually say something snarky, but in a really sexy way that had always made Emily stupidly melt in her seat. She should have more pride. Be more of a feminist or whatever. But truthfully, she loved watching it happen on her shows, and she was enjoying living it even more. But only because of who it was on the other end. It would definitely be creepy if it was some guy she wasn’t attracted to.
Although, I’m not sure if it counts as kabedon if it’s accidental. Akio didn’t choose to push me up against the wall. It just sort of happened.
She tried not to be disappointed at the thought.
Akio braced himself against the window as the train pulled off and started heading down the tracks. She wondered if he was as hyper-aware of their situation as she was. There was a considerable amount of rapid breathing and a constant tension in his arms, but she didn’t know if it was because of their closeness or just because he was trying to stay still on the train with basically no support.
“I’m so sorry, Johnson-san,” he eventually muttered down to her. She peeked up at him, and when his eyes met hers, his face started burning red. “I didn’t mean for this to happen!” he quickly sputtered out. “It definitely—definitely—wasn’t on purpose.”
Ouch. She felt the rejection stab deep in her heart. The way he said ‘definitely’ echoed in her head. And not just once but twice? It shouldn’t have bothered her so much, but it did. Just another reason why Michi was wrong about Akio liking her. She quickly looked away hoping that he didn’t catch the flash of hurt in her eyes.
“It’s fine, Akio-kun,” she answered back. “I know you wouldn’t ever do something like that on purpose. I know we’re just friends.”
Akio shoulders dropped slightly. “Ah...of course.”
The uncomfortable silence between them was almost unbearable. Emily did her best to focus on the other passengers that she could see behind Akio’s arms instead of the really nice chest in front of her that she had a weird impulse to rub her hands all over.
Thank kami-sama that the train ride was short and, as they headed towards their next destination, the amount of people dwindled enough so that Akio was able to pull himself back to his original position against the bench railing. Emily decided not to say another word during the ride, choosing to lose herself in the scenery that kept flashing by while she worked on suppressing her hurt feelings. She wasn’t going to let her temperamental heart ruin this perfectly good “Friendship Day” with Akio.
“Now arriving at Ochanomizu station,” the overhead voice announced in Japanese and then English.
“This is us, Johnson-san.”
Emily turned and put on her brightest smile. “Okay!” She even put up an okay sign to show just how okay she was with everything. Super okay! He looked a little taken aback at her sudden enthusiasm but smiled back politely. She heaved a heavy sigh when he turned around and then followed Akio in defeat off the train.
Why? Why am I so damn awkward?
They stepped out onto the open-air platform. A parallel river ran below the tracks. It was completely different from the station they had just left.
Akio’s hand reached out towards her, and her heart started to race. But at the last second, he changed direction and rubbed the back of his neck instead. “So yeah, we’re going to be switching to the yellow Sobu train instead,” he instructed her.
“So you going to tell me where we are going yet?”
He brightened back up, the usual twinkle in his eyes back in place. “Not yet,” he replied. “But we are almost there.”
They boarded the yellow train and were both relieved to see that there was plenty of room to sit this time. They sat down on a bench and Emily immediately propped herself up so she could see out of the window. The train took off and once again she found herself lost in the amazing landscape that blew by.
It felt like only minutes had passed when the overhead voice announced that they were arriving at Akihabara Station.
She swiveled back towards Akio. “Akihabara?” she whispered, heart pounding.
Akio just smiled a sly grin back.
“Are you serious, Akio?” She was so excited that she had completely forgotten to use the honorific on his name. “Are we really going to Akihabara?”
“Yeah. It’s basically the otaku capital of the world, so I thought maybe you would like it.”
Emily grabbed his arm. “Like it? Akio-kun, I love it!”
She bounced in her seat like a child and thought her face might break from smiling so hard. The train stopped and they filed off onto the platform again. They swiped their IC cards at the ticket gate and the only thing that stopped Emily from running out the door was the fear that she would get lost again.
As they emerged from the station, Emily was bombarded by huge, colorful buildings that burst up into the sky. Billboards plastered with anime characters smiled down at her. There were giant stores filled with electronic sales. Employees dressed up in cosplay handing out advertisements for their stores. It was the most amazing sight she had ever seen..
Emily tried so hard to be normal about it. She really did. But she couldn’t help herself.
She started squealing.
Her squeal pierced through the noisy streets and the passing citizens looked at her with concern as she jumped up and down beside Akio. Their distressed glances eventually forced their way into her thought process.
Johnson! You’re freaking people out, she chided herself. Stop being such a tourist!
She shoved down her rampaging feels and collected herself as well as she could. She was still grinning like an idiot when she turned to Akio.
�
��Gomen! I didn’t mean to lose it like that. I’m just super excited.”
He looked at her with an amused smile. “Ah...no, it’s okay. Really that was the best expression I’ve ever seen. I think you might have almost stopped a few old ladies’ hearts though.”
She hid her face behind her hands. “Gomen. I’m the worst.”
“No, no!” he laughed. “Seriously, it’s fine! Don’t be embarrassed.” He paused. “You fangirls just get really excited about stuff, huh?”
Emily snorted, peeking back out at him. “Yeah, that would be the world’s biggest understatement.”
The crowds continued to stream around them, but Emily was still lost in the awesomeness of it all. She thought she saw Akio's hands reach towards his camera, but she never heard the click. She must have imagined it.
Finally having her fill of the scenery, Emily let out a happy sigh and turned to Akio. “So where are we headed to first, Mr. Tour Guide?”
“Well, there is this one little shop that I thought you might like.”
After a few blocks, Emily stood in front of a 7-story tall, sparkling white building. Giant billboards for the latest anime were evenly spaced down the front. Their giant faces grinning down at her.
Emily grinned back up at the building; her smile every inch as large as the billboard girls’. She wanted to ask what this majestic place was, but she couldn’t find the words.
Akio nudged her. “Johnson-san…”
Eyes still glazed with wonder, she slowly pointed to the glorious building in front of her. “What is it?” she finally whispered.
Akio burst out laughing. “Wow, this is going to be even more fun than I imagined.”
“It’s the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life!”
Akio gave her another amused grin. “And you haven’t even seen the inside of it yet. It’s one of the best manga stores in the area, and this one is exclusively for shoujo manga and anime.”
She gasped and threw herself around Akio. “OHMYGODILOVEYOU!”
Then she gasped for an entirely new reason.