Chapter 58: Boys Hangout

Akihabara.

Widely considered to be the global hub for otaku culture. Oh and electronics too.

Since it's a place filled with shops catering to otakus, most would expect it to be devoid of male customers.

But on the contrary, there are quite a lot of us. Though not nearly as much as the girls, I'd say the ratio is about 3 to 10.

As for why I'm here today, of course it's for a date-

Not.

"Wooowww! Look, Andy! There are so many fun shops!"  Haruto said with a wide smile on his face. His black eyes practically sparkling with excitement.

Haruto is the Utena-kun cosplayer I befriended when I got hired to cosplay at the previous year end convention.

'I've been around women so much lately that hanging out with a guy friend is oddly refreshing.'

Haruto's hand firmly grips mine, ensuring we don't get separated.

'This will take some getting used to.'

Two guys holding hands?

In this world it's normal.

But in my original world, unless it's a father and son pair, I imagine only gay couples would hold hands like this.

"Is there somewhere you want to go, Haruto?"

At my question, Haruto turns to look at me. His black hair fluttering as he did.

"A maid cafe! I wanna see what a maid cafe is like!"  he said with a beaming smile.

'A maid cafe, huh? I wonder what that's like in a reverse world. Not that I ever went to one in my past life.'

At Haruto's request, we went into the first maid cafe we found.

Pushing the door in, a pair of bells announced our arrival.

The next second, I felt several pairs of eyes on us.

"""""Welcome, masters!"""""

Every maid turned and greeted us with polite smiles.

'Right off the bat, I notice a difference already.'

Each maid seems to have this air of cool confidence around them. Not at all cute or bubbly.

'They feel more like butlers than maids. That's the best way I can describe it.'

After greeting us, the maids resumed working. Focusing on their individual tasks.

I look around and scan the interior of the cafe.

'It's not cutesy at all nor decorated with a pastel theme.'

Instead of the girlish, pastel-theme I was expecting, the interior was more.... sophisticated?

It felt like we traveled into a romance-fantasy novel.

As I admired the surrounding decor, one of the maids approached us in calm strides. Her long skirt lightly bouncing with each step.

Stopping a step away from us, she bows her head. Her black bob hair falling like curtains to frame her face. Her clear black eyes are protected behind a pair of square glasses. All of this combined gives her the image of a reliable head maid.

"Welcome to Leisure Maid Cafe, masters. My name is Kasane."

She raises her head, and gazes at us.

"Allow me to guide you two to a table."  she says, gesturing for us to follow.

I glance at Haruto to my side.

"She's so cool..!"

'Looks like he's enjoying himself. That's good.'

Following after Kasane-san, she guided us to a round table near the corner of the cafe.

'Not a bad spot.'

I reach to pull out the chair-

*Bump*

""!!""

And bumped hands with Kasane-san as she did the same.

Her eyes widened at the unexpected contact.

"Sorry."  I instinctively apologized.

"No, no. The fault lies with me, master." 

Kasane-san bowed her head, her composure quickly returning. 

Afterwards, she reached out with both hands and pulled out the chair.

"Please. Take a seat, master."  she gestured to the cushioned seat.

"Thank you."  I expressed my gratitude, and sat down.

Kasane-san proceeded to do the same on the other side for Haruto.

Afterwards, she positioned herself at the side. In-between Haruto and I.

Her hands layered on top of her skirt.

"Please take your time choosing, masters. I will wait here to receive your orders."

I nod my head and take the menu that was already on the table.

'As expected. The prices are inflated here. Makes sense since customers are paying for the experience on top of the food.'

Scanning their selection, one item in particular stood out to me.

The iconic maid cafe omurice.

'I wonder if Kasane-san will draw on it with ketchup, or maybe do a spell on it.'  I wondered, imagining the cool maid Kasane-san performing an over-the-top performance just to cast a "spell" on the food.

'I doubt it.'

If I equate it to my old world, it would be like a dude using a high-pitched voice with his hands forming a heart.

'Ugh..! Just imagining it made me cringe.'

However...

"I'll have an omurice and iced tea please."

This is a reversed world, and Kasane-san is quite the pretty girl.

'I don't think she'll do it, but in the off-chance she does, then I don't want to miss it.'

"A hamburger steak and strawberry shake for me please."  Haruto said with a smile.

"Omurice, iced tea, hamburger steak, and a strawberry shake. Will that be all, masters?"  Kasane-san asked, confirming our order.

In response, Haruto and I nodded briefly.

"Understood. I will return with your food, masters."  

Kasane-san bowed her head gracefully then walked away in calm strides.

While waiting, I turn to face Haruto so we can chat.

"So, uh, besides getting served by a maid like that, is there anything else we can do here?"

To my question, Haruto picked up the menu and flipped to the next page.

"Let's see... Oo! We can play some board games with them!"  he says, popping his head up to look at me before looking back down at the menu again.

"And uh... Huh? Maid talent show?"  Haruto tilted his head slightly at the name.

"A talent show?"

I pick up my menu and flip to the entertainment page. 

"Request the maid serving you to showcase their individual talent..? That's pretty interesting."  I comment after reading the description.

'And the maid serving us refers to Kasane-san, right? I wonder what her talent is.'

I look up from the menu and at Haruto again.

"How about we request the talent show? I'm not really in the mood for a board game."

Haruto nods.

"Yeah. Me neither. And I'm curious what Kasane-san's talent is!"

"Alright. Let's have Kasane-san show us her talent when she comes back."

Later, Kasane-san finally returned balancing a tray on her hand.

"Apologies for the wait, masters. Here are your orders."

Kasane-san bent forward and began placing our food and drinks in front of us.

"Ah, Kasane-san. Could you show us your talent, as well?"  I ask, having waited for her to finish putting everything down.

"As you wish, master. Give me one moment to return this."  she then turned around and walks over to the counter to return the tray.

"I wonder what her talent is! Maybe she'll sing us a song?"  Haruto said with visible excitement on his face.

Soon, Kasane-san returned. Her hands layered over her skirts tells me she didn't bring anything.

'Maybe she really is going to sing.'

But that thought disappeared when she reached into her pocket and took out a deck of cards.

'Wait. Those don't look like playing cards...'

Instead of the familiar designs with a white rim, the back of the cards look like the night sky filled with bright, twinkling stars.

Kasane-san then began placing her cards on the table facing down.

She puts away the rest after the 18th card. 3 rows, 6 cards each. 

I glance at Haruto across the table and notice that he's just as confused as I am.

"It may not be much, but I have some talent in fortune telling. Masters, please pick one card each."

'Okay. Never in a hundred yours would I expect a maid to be doing fortune telling in a maid cafe.'

"Alright. I'll take... this one!"  Haruto picked up the 4th card on the first row.

"Huh? A flower and two wolves..?"   Haruto tilts his head.

"What?"

"Here. Look."  

He turns the card to me.

In the center of the card is a pretty little daisy. Bathing in the one patch of sunlight in an otherwise dark forest.

Around, hiding in the shadows are two wolves. One on the left and one on the right. 

Both predators are gazing at the lone flower.

"The daisy protected by wolves."  Kasane-san spoke up.

Her lips curl into a small smirk.

"The flower symbolizes a fragile, innocent being. The wolves, on the other hand, symbolize protection and danger. They may be protecting the daisy, but their intentions are unclear. Do they protect it because the daisy is beautiful? Or are they just waiting for it to mature?"

"Huh...? What does that mean?"  Haruto asked, clueless as to what this card could be referring to.

"You will find out in due time, master."  

But Kasane-san did not answer.

Her gaze sweeps over to me.

"Your turn, master. Please pick a card."

"Okay..."

At her request, I reach for the card nearest to me on the 3rd row.

Flipping it over, I see what looks like a jester peeking from behind a tree.

Just like what Haruto did, I turn the the card to face him so he can see.

Though he didn't like how creepy the jester looked.

"The surprise jester. A rather simple card. It means a jester will suddenly appear on your journey."

This time the explanation was very short. Fitting for a simple card as Kasane-san said.

'A jester, huh?' 

I quietly noted down Kasane-san's word 

After that, we ate our food and paid the bill after.

But as we ate, my mind kept wandering to that card and its meaning.

'It's just some fortune telling meant for fun. No way it's real...'

But I would soon be proven wrong once again.

.

.

"Where do you wanna go next?"  I ask Haruto as we walk hand-in-hand.

"There's a cosplay shop nearby I wanna visit!"

"Alright. Do you know how to get there?"

Haruto nods his head.

"Yeah! We just have to turn that corner and walk straight until we see it."

"Corner then walk straight. Got it."

Following Haruto's directions, I turn the corner first and-

*THUD!*

"Ack!"

I felt something bounce off my chest.

"Huh?"

I look down, and see an oddly familiar black head of hair. And on the ground are some rather... mature books.

"Shit... Hey! Watch where you're go- ing..."  The owner of the head of hair raised her head and yelled, but soon stopped as our eyes met.

"Isami?"

It was none other than my gremlin neighbor.

"A-A-Andy!? What are you doing here?!"  Isami's eyes widened in shock.

"!"

It was then that she remembered that she was carrying something before bumping into me.

She looked down and saw that her doujinshi had scattered on the floor.

'Not again!!!'  Isami yelled internally.

The little gremlin hurriedly packed the lewd works back into the paper bag they fell out from.

"Um, Andy, do you know this person?"  Haruto nervously clung to my shoulder. Having seen the doujinshi scattered on the floor, he must be worried we ran into a pervert.

"Yeah. She's actually my neighbor. I sometimes hang out at her place."

"Okay..." 

Haruto cautiously glanced at Isami standing in front of us after she finished retrieving her goods.

"Funny seeing you here in Akihabara, Isami. I figured you were the type to order stuff online."  

At my words, Isami nervously looked away.

"Online stores don't always have everything. So I have to venture out sometimes..."

"I see. Well, me and my friend are off to visit a cosplay store. See you around, Isami." 

Having said that, I led Haruto by the hand as I went around Isami.

"W-Wait!"  Isami called out.

And I turn back around to face her

"Yes, Isami?"

"I- Umm... I, uh..."

I patiently wait for Isami to say what she wants.

Finally, she looks me in the eye and opens her mouth.

"I got my hands on the DVD for a new animated film! Let's watch it together next Saturday!"  she said outloud.

"Yeah su- Huh?"

Without waiting for my response, Isami bolted off in a hurry.

"..... Yeah. That's certainly something she would do."

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