Chapter 4: The Girl with Kitten Ears
"I'm no otaku fangirl, you know. So what if I love anime and manga and video games? Or feel like putting on strange, frilly cosplay dresses now and then. That doesn't make me an otaku."
"I'm pretty sure that's the modern definition of an otaku," I say back.
My Big and I are on an early morning Yamanote train.
During the short ride to Akihabara, she chatters away with nervous excitement.
"But the word otaku sounds so negative…like you're some kind of freak. If you say you like surfing, you sound like a normal person…but once you say you're a surfing otaku, people start to think you're locked up in your room all day even though it's an outdoor sport."
"Yeah," I admit, "I guess I see what you mean."
The train arrives at Akihabara, cutting our conversation short.
My Big and I step onto the platform. This is finally it…Akihabara Station.
"Woah!" My Big can hardly contain herself. "We made it! We're in Akihabara! Do you realize that? Akihabara! It's like stepping onto a different planet…just like they say! The air, I can feel it! Like it's charged with the essence of Akihabara itself! Isn't it incredible?"
Is this the same person who was telling me that Tokyo was no different from our hometown?
Man, if this is what she's like on the platform, she may just die of shock once she passes through the turnstile.
"Behold!" she announces dramatically. "Pillars with LCD screens! Ads flying by left and right! Oh my god! It's amazing, isn't it?"
"Hey Big, chill out. You're acting like you've never seen a TV before."
She completely ignores my attempts to calm her down. She paces up and down the streets of Akihabara, getting more and more excited.
I'm pretty much out of things to say.
As she drags me along, my thoughts drift back to the night before.
Could it be that she's scared of graduating?
I'm a bit worried about her, actually. I'd never seen her so vulnerable before.
Although, judging from the way she's acting now, I'm probably worrying for nothing. Here she is taking yesterday's Shinjuku craziness to a whole new level.
Still…I am starting to get a weird feeling about this.
Maybe she's just taking this opportunity to really enjoy herself for once. Maybe this little graduation trip represents the end of high school for her, so she wants to be sure to make the most of it…
After making the rounds of the most popular anime and underground manga shops, my little Big seems to have worn herself out.
"Whew! I'm beat!" she announces.
"That doesn't surprise me," I say.
"I'm getting a little hungry," she says. "Oh, look! It's already hours past lunch time!"
She sticks out her watch, which tells me it's around 3 p.m. Way past lunch.
Wow. Time really did fly. We only have a few hours before we have to catch the bullet train back home.
Our little trip is nearly over.
"Why don't we grab a late lunch somewhere nearby?" I suggest.
"Meeeow? Looking for the purr-fect place to rest, purr-haps?"
She comes out of nowhere.
Completely out of the blue.
And plants herself right in between me and my little Big.
Seriously…absolutely no sign of her until this exact moment.
Just materializes out of thin air.
Turning towards me, the corners of her mouth spread into a playful, kittenish grin.
"Allow me to escort you to the purr-fect place! A delightful and durr-matically distinctive meow-gical maid cafe!"
There we are, face-to-face with this strange girl.
Right in the middle of Akihabara.
Heaven or hell, this is it.
No demons… No snakes...
But we did just meet some weird girl with cat ears.