Big City / Small World

Tokyo felt different.

It wasn’t like Akio expected a seamless transition, but the contrast between here and Uji was sharper than he anticipated. Tokyo was faster, louder, and smelled like asphalt and grilled skewers at the same time. Even walking felt different, like he had to match the pace of the city or get left behind.

He must have slowed without realizing it, because Kubo-san fell into step beside him. "You’re overthinking it, new guy."

Akio blinked, pulled from his thoughts. "Huh?"

"You’ll get used to it, the big city life," He continued, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Anyway, you’re going to love this place. They make the best takowasa in Tokyo. I swear it’s the best."

"You say that about every pub we go to," Tanaka-san muttered from the front of the group. He was a plump, older man, who has most likely survived more corporate reorgs than Akio has had birthdays.

"And I’m always right," Kubo-san said with a smirk.

Akio just nodded, taking in the rest of the IT team walking ahead of them. He hadn’t really gotten to know them yet…just a handful of developers, a shy intern, and a guy who hadn’t looked up from his phone since they left the office. A typical crowd for software engineers.

And that, at least, was a small relief. Because no matter how foreign Tokyo still felt, this part, the part where he walked to an izakaya after work with a group of tech nerds who thrived in silence over small talk, was exactly the same.

Suddenly, he stumbled, his shoulder knocking into the colleague in front of him.

"Oi—"

But the complaint never fully formed, because he realized, the entire street stood frozen.

Pedestrians halted mid-step, a few people raised their phones and parents yanked their children back as confused whispers trickled through the crowd.

He looked up.

A bicycle was full-speed barrelling towards them.

A bicycle that, at a glance, was completely normal, until your mind was forced to reckon with the ten people balancing on top of it. And at the very top, arms stretched wide, beaming like a goddess descending from the heavens, was Amaya.

Her big carefree smile as she waved at a group of kids watching from the sidewalk made Akio’s palms sweat.

The kids looked amazed, their parents looked horrified, and Akio felt his soul forcibly eject from his body.

Despite the impending doom he felt twisting in the pit of his stomach, he couldn’t help but think she looked… breathtaking.

Before the rickety old bicycle rolled to a stop, Amaya jumped. She flipped off the human pyramid and landed with a little bounce, defying both traffic laws and the fundamental laws of physics in one go.

She flicked a braid over her shoulder, and at that moment, Akio knew that fate had it out for him, because as she turned, her gaze landed on him and lit up with immediate recognition. Before Akio could even think about dodging, she had already launched herself at him.

“Akio!” She beamed, unaware to the fact that she was causing him immediate and severe psychological distress.

His body tensed as she threw her arms around him with zero hesitation or regard for his personal space.

She smelled like cotton candy. Not just a passing sweetness, but that thick, just-melted sugar scent that wrapped around you in sticky fingers and summer festival lights. It lingered in the air and made his stomach flip.

Scowling, he peered her off him and pushed her away. But even as he did, a part of him felt lighter just breathing it in.

He was here with his colleagues, on his first day, at his welcome party. The one he only agreed to because, after getting completely shut down by HR and robbed of his money and will to live by this exact women, he needed to get as far away from her as possible before he actually committed an unspeakable act of violence.

And yet, here she was.

It took every bit of restraint he had, to not let out a strangled scream. Everything seemed to revolve around her idiotic, beautiful face.

Kubo-san, clearly entertained, tilted his head. “You two know each other?”

“No,” Akio said.

“Yes,” Amaya said.

Akio huffed.

“She’s the—” He sighed. “She’s the circus freak roommate I told you about.”

“That’s me!” Amaya said, overjoyed. Throwing one leg straight up, she caught her heel beside her ear before spinning in a tight, showy twirl. “Amaya van der Windt! In the flesh!”

Kubo-san choked on a laugh, earning a glare from Akio.

Akio didn’t want to know, but against his better judgement, he still asked, “Why are you here?”

Amaya tumbled backwards in a back handspring, before landing in an unnecessary split. She instantly popped up and flung her arm around the nearest member of her circus troupe: a girl slightly shorter than her, with a shaggy, blue pixie-cut.

“We’re having a welcome party!” Amaya announced proudly, hopping in place. “For me! Isn’t that great?”

His gaze travelled over the ragtag group behind her. Spandex, ruffles, sequins, and at least one guy who was fully painted silver. Each member looked more bizarre than the last, and that wasn’t even counting the circus rejects who had already disappeared into the izakaya.

“What a coincidence,” Kubo-san said smoothly, stepping forward. “We’re actually here to welcome Hosonuma-kun as the newest member of our IT team.” He gave Akio a hearty slap on the back that nearly sent him face-first into the pavement. “Isn’t that right, Hosonuma-kun?”

“Oh! Then we definitely have to join forces,” the pixie-cut girl declared. Every second word she spoke was English, but somehow, he still understood her perfectly.

“No, we don’t,” Akio said, horrified.

“Yes, we do,” she shot back, flashing a borderline evil grin that sent a chill down his spine. It was deeply unsettling how much she seemed to enjoy his discomfort.

“What do you say, roomie?” Amaya chimed in. She looked up at him with big, pleading eyes and her lips curled into a little pout, like she wasn’t single-handedly responsible for every terrible thing that had happened to him today.

Which, factually speaking, she was.

“It’ll be fun, I promise! I’ll even pinkie swear!” She held up her pinkie, wobbling it dramatically.

Akio squinted at her hoping that maybe her perfect, sunshine-and-sugar smile would crack, even just the tiniest bit. A flicker of self-awareness, a moment of hesitation, anything to suggest that she, too, realized how utterly deranged this situation was, but he was wrong. If anything, her smile only grew stronger, more powerful, like she was feeding off his despair.

He felt almost cruel for wanting to say no to her, which was insane. This was insane. She was insane.

“I don’t—"

“He thinks that’s a great idea!” Kubo-san cut in cheerfully, clamping a traitorous hand on his shoulder.

Akio jerked his head toward him, betrayal thick in his eyes. “Say again?”

Kubo-san simply grinned.

While Akio was processing the depths of his suffering, his (formerly trusted) colleague, casually shoved him towards the door.

His mind reeled.

Tokyo was a sprawling, neon-lit labyrinth of alleyway ramen shops and hidden basement pubs, with enough restaurants to keep a man eating somewhere new every night for years.

And yet, despite those impossible odds, despite the statistical probability being next to zero, they were both having their respective welcome parties at the exact same izakaya at the exact same time.

Akio took a deep breath, suppressing the overwhelming urge to turn on his heel and trigger an early isekai arc via oncoming traffic. All he could do now was close his eyes and pray that he’d survive the night with his dignity, career, and remaining sanity intact.