Chapter 4.5: The Otaku Maid

Early in the morning, Amari was woken up by a sound. It was Akira getting something to drink before heading to his first day of work.

“Good morning Master.” Amari said tiredly while rubbing her eyes.

“Oh, good morning. Sorry for waking you up.” Akira replied.

“No, it’s fine. It isn’t much earlier than when I get up anyway.”

“You’re usually the first one up?” Akira asked.

“Yeah, I like to get up and read while everyone’s asleep and it’s still quiet.”

Akira downed an entire can of soda before grabbing his keys and heading out the door.

“Ok, time to read some new manga. Ooo, but which one to pick?” Amari contemplated to herself. “I can’t decide. I’ll just work on my model kit instead.”

Amari sat down on the living room carpet and cut out pieces of plastic while assembling them into the shape of a mech. The final model was just larger than her hand, but she was proud of it.

“I kinda wanna look into that cosplay thing Akira told me about. I’ll just go look it up on his computer. Oh, but I shouldn’t just be barging in there while he’s gone and touching his stuff without permission. Although…” She thought for a moment.

Amari quietly went into Akira’s room and booted up his computer. She went online and read up on what a cosplay was.

“I see! So people make these costumes themselves out of cheap materials, but have special techniques to make them look real. That’s so cool! Oh, that guy is carrying around a giant key. And that girl has really cool horns!”

Amari’s face turned a bright red.

“That girl isn’t wearing much. Is that really appropriate for a convention with a bunch of people? Maybe I should try cosplaying like that. I mean, the less I have to wear, the less work I have to do, right?” She innocently thought.

Amari thought about what Akira might say if she were to do something like that and realized that less clothing wasn’t the way to go. Besides, just because she had gotten comfortable around her master doesn’t mean she was going to be that comfortable around total strangers gawking at her.

“Knock knock, I’m coming in.” announced Sakura. “What’re you up to?”

“I’m using the Internet to research cosplay. Look at how cool they all look!” Amari said, excited at even more cool outfits she had found.

“Yeah, they sure do look interesting. Hey, didn’t I hear something about you finding a book from when Akira was in school?” Sakura asked, uninterested in the cosplay Amari was looking at.

“Yep, top shelf in the closet on the left side.”

Sakura peered into the closet and noticed the book on the highest shelf. Quickly, she brought out Akira’s white yearbook.

She jumped onto her master’s bed and flipped open the book. She sniffed the sheets on the bed, which smelled just like Akira. It wasn’t something most people would want to do, but Sakura had her reasons.

Sakura flipped and flipped through page after page of pictures until she found Akira. She couldn’t help but smile at the sight of him with long hair and an unshaven face. He didn’t have much facial hair, just stubble he had desperately tried to grow out before giving up on it.

Sakura and Amari were off in their own little worlds. Amari online, Sakura in a book.

Sakura flipped through more pages before coming across the clubs. She immediately spotted Akira standing as a part of the Anime Club. She was also quick to notice a short girl standing extremely close to him.

“Could this girl be his ex?” she wondered.

Sakura sat motionless in total silence for a few seconds before asking Amari a question.

“Hey Amari, how much do you know about anime?”

“Huh? Anime? Well, probably not as much as Akira, but he’s taught me a whole lot about it, and I’ve been reading more about it online too.”

“Well, can you explain it all to me, preferably in great detail?” She grinned.

Amari seemed a bit confused at first, but was enthusiastic to share her anime knowledge.

She talked for an hour about anime and manga and how amazing it all was. Sakura was somewhat bored of the talk, but kept up a facade of intrigue.

“So, do you know what Akira’s favorite anime are?”

“Oh, yeah. He likes the one with the giant purple robot and all of the alien creatures that they fight. There’s also a redhead in it that he really likes. See, he even has a figure of her right here.” Amari said, pointing to a figurine sitting next to Akira’s computer monitor.

“What else?” Sakura asked flatly.

“Uh, hold on, let me think.”

Amari remembered something Akira once told her. He had an account for a website that let him keep track of what anime he had watched, and even what series and characters were his favorites.

She went to the website and found that the account was already logged into. Sakura shot up from the bed to look at every single detail of his list.

She studied which anime he had completed and given high scores to, which ones he had given low scores, the ones he had stopped watching completely, and of course his favorite characters.

Sakura had more than enough information to satisfy herself and left the room.

Amari went back to looking at cosplayers, and eventually started looking at figures.

Later that night, Akira returned from his first day at work. He was exhausted from restocking shelves, working the register, and trying to remember the names of his coworkers. His boss was nice, but he couldn’t remember her name either.

“Welcome home Akira!” announced Sakura.

“Sup.” shouted Yuri.

“Shh, you’ll wake up Lysia!” warned Willow who had a sleeping Lysia on her lap.

“I’ll be in my room relaxing.” Akira said.

Entering the room he noticed Amari, who was sitting at his computer.

“Oh, welcome home Master! I’m glad to see that you’re safe. If it’s not too much of a bother, I’d like to ask you something.” Amari said nervously.

“Sure, what is it?”

“I want my own anime figure, if it’s possible.”

“Why do you want your own figure? They can be pretty expensive, so you better have a good reason.” Akira said.

“Well, since you don’t have time to watch anime or admire your figure collection anymore since you’re working, I thought I’d take your place. I’m the otaku maid now!” Amari said with newfound confidence.

“Oh? So you’re trying to take my spot as the otaku of the house now? Alright then, I’ll cut you a deal. Tomorrow after work we’ll play three rounds of that fighting game I have, and if you win two out of three, I’ll buy you any figure you want. If I win, then I don’t have to buy you anything. Deal?”

“Deal. I’m sooo gonna destroy you.” Amari said smiling.

“Someone’s confident. Well, we’ll just have to see tomorrow. You better practice then, noob.” snarked Akira, overly confident in his own skills.

The next day is business as usual. Akira heads to work at the convenience store, the maids take care of the apartment, and they generally hang out together.

Amari however spends the day practicing her skills in the fighting game she’s going to play against Akira.

A few hours later, Akira returns home. He walks into his room once again only to see Amari sitting and waiting very patiently, but anxiously with controller in hand.

“It’s time.” she says.

Akira sits down next to her and picks up a second controller.

“I don’t know why I’m bothering with this. We both know I’m going to crush you.” Akira says with teasing confidence.

Ten minutes later, Akira is sitting at his computer getting ready to order a brand new figure for Amari. She had beaten him with ease.

“So, you’re sure this is the one you want? The girl in the bunny outfit?” Akira says, sad at his loss.

“Yep, I want the bunny girl figure.” Amari replied, overjoyed at the sight of Akira hovering over the buy button.

“Ok, it’ll be here in the next few days. Make sure to keep an eye on the mail.”

“Ok! Thanks Master!” Amari said, hugging Akira.

A loud and sudden thud was heard, almost as if it were someone punching the wall that held Akira’s bedroom door.

A silhouette quickly flashed by the door, as if someone had been watching them.

“Well that was weird. Wonder who that was.” Akira thought to himself.

A few days later, Amari’s figure came in the mail.

“Whatcha got there?” asked Sakura from the living room.

“A figure that Akira bought for me. Here’s the rest of the mail.” Amari said, handing over a couple letters to Sakura.

Sakura flipped through the letters and saw one titled ‘Reunion’. It was sent by someone named Mei. Sakura recognized the name as someone who was in the anime club with Akira in high school.

That night when Akira got home, Sakura handed him the letter.

“What’s this, a reunion?” Akira asked with a bit of confusion in his tone.

“I dunno, it came in the mail earlier. Open it and read it.” Sakura urged.

Akira opened the letter and read the contents.

Akira,

Yo, what’s up. It’s Mei, you know, “club mom.” As if you could forget me. How’s Japan been treating you? I’ve been talking with some of the older members of the club and we decided to do a sort of club reunion type thing in two weeks. I don’t know if you’ll be able to make it, but I’d appreciate it if you did. We’ll be meeting up at the high school cafeteria. We’re planning on starting around 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, so be prepared. Oh, and you can bring along a plus one, in case you finally managed to get a girlfriend (or boyfriend, no one’s judging here).

I wasn’t able to get your Japanese number so text me back if you can make it: (xxx)xxx-xxxx

Don’t ask me how I got your address, but you better message me back you Nerd. Love you and see you soon! keke.

That was the end of the letter.

A club reunion sounded like a great idea. It felt like he just graduated yesterday, but it’s already been long enough for them to have a reunion. He’d get to see the friends he hadn’t seen since graduating and after moving away a few years later. He just hoped that a certain someone wouldn’t be there.

“Love you?” Sakura thought to herself as she peeked at the letter, a bit jealous of whatever their relationship was.

“So? What’s it say?” Sakura asked, not trying to sound upset.

“The old members of my high school anime club are gonna have a reunion party in a few weeks.”

“Oh, that sounds like fun. So, you’ll be leaving us here all alone?” Sakura asked in fake sadness.

“No, I’m allowed one guest, so I’m taking you with me. You cool with that?”

Sakura was surprised, but also excited.

“Of course I’ll go with you! Why me though?”

“Well, if I’m being honest, I want you to pretend to be my girlfriend so my friends don’t think I’m some kind of loner otaku loser.”

“But you ARE a loner otaku loser, idiot.” Rose chimed in.

“Well, yeah, but I don’t want my friends to know that.”

“You have friends? That’s funny. As if I’d believe that.” Rose commented smugly.

“Just because I haven’t seen or talked to them in a few years doesn’t mean we aren’t friends… right?” Akira said, questioning if they really were his friends still or not.

“Hey, woah, I was just messing with you. I’m sorry, I went too far this time.” Rose apologized.

“No, no, you’re right. Ever since moving here, I basically lost contact with all of my old friends. Sure, I message one or two of them every so often, but that’s it. I don’t even know if they’d consider me a friend anymore.” Akira said, slumping over in his chair.

“It’s ok, we’re your new friends!” cheered Lysia, running over and jumping on Akira to give him a hug.

“Woah, falling!” Akira yelled as the force of the girl lunging at him almost knocked him off of his chair. “Ok, ok, I get it. Thanks Lysia, that made me feel a bit better.” Patting her on the head.

Lysia let off a smile. Her happiness was infectious.

“Well,” Sakura chimed in, not trying to sound interested in Mei, “didn’t she say she like, loved you or something? I don’t know, maybe I read it wrong.” She stuttered at the end and was coughing to cover it up.

“Sure,” Akira scratched his head. “But she doesn’t mean it. I think. I don’t know.” He was unaware of Sakura’s curiosity about his and Mei’s relationship. “She would say things like that, but then go around and call me a loner or a loser or a loner otaku loser. Besides, after I moved we haven’t really talked. I think she got married or something.

Sakura sighed a small sigh of relief.

“So, when will you be leaving?” Willow asked.

“Well, the reunion is in two weeks, so I’ll probably leave in a little over a week. I don’t really wanna spend more time at home than I have to.”

“So, you’re taking Sakura with you. Does that mean Willow’s gonna be in charge again?” Yuri asked while stuffing her face with marshmallows.

“Yeah, that would seem to be how things usually work out.” Akira said. “Ah man, I’m gonna miss out on so much anime while I’m gone!”

“Hehe, don’t worry, I’ll watch them all for you instead.” Amari said, pushing her glasses up, light glaring off of them.

“Um, Master? Are you really leaving us?” Lysia asked.

“Yes, I am. Don’t worry, I’ll be back though.”

“But we’ll miss you a lot.” Lysia said.

“Alright, how about this then. When I get back, I’ll take you all to the beach to celebrate my return. Besides, I’ll have a few days off afterwards anyway.”

Lysia beamed with joy again.

“Ok! I promise to not be sad while you’re gone then.”

“I didn’t even know it was possible for you to be sad.” Akira commented.

All of the girls had chills run down their spines when he said that.

“I-I’ve been sad before…” Lysia said, tears welling up in her eyes.

“Woah, hold on, don’t cry. Did I say something I wasn’t supposed to?” Akira asked in panic.

Willow grabbed Lysia and carried her off to comfort her like a mother would her child.

“Now’s not really the time to talk about it.” Sakura said.

“Great, now I feel terrible. I mean, I made Lysia cry. Man…”

“It’s ok, you didn’t know that she’d have bad memories come up. It’s not your fault.” Amari said, trying to cheer Akira up.

“Yeah, girl’s had a rough life. She’s always tried her best to be happy in any situation because of what happened, but I guess sometimes even she needs to let out her feelings.” Rose added.

Akira knew that it really was his fault. Nothing the others could say would change that in his mind.

He went to sleep that night with a horrible feeling of guilt. He knew he’d have to make it up to Lysia somehow.

A few days later, Amari expressed her desire to visit a retro games store.

“Ah, a fan of the classics I see. Alright you little nerd, I’ve got the day off, so let’s go.” Akira said, swiftly grabbing up his wallet and key.

He’d secretly been hoping for an opportunity to sneak off to a retro games store himself, but now he had an excuse to go.

“Hey, that’s the figure store we went to before. And there’s the manga store. This place really has everything!” Amari said, excited to be back.

“Yeah, the game store is right there.” Akira replied.

The two walked into a retro game store and were met by a bin of cheap games, mostly sports games nobody really wanted. To the right of them were a bunch of old consoles in varying conditions. Walking a bit further into the store was what they were really there for.

Nearing the back of the store were rows and rows of retro games. They had them sorted by console, so you could easily find what you were looking for.

“Alright, I’m looking for a game from my favorite anime. You know the one. Let me know if you find it so I can add it to my collection.” Akira said to Amari.

“I thought we were here so I could get a game.” Amari said, confused.

“We are, but I wanna build out my collection.”

A red box caught Akira’s attention.

“Woah! They’ve got a really good condition copy of Father 2, complete in box!”

“Father 2? What’s that about?”

“It’s a hilarious RPG made by a really famous guy. One of the greatest games I’ve ever played.”

“Hey, uh, Akira?”

“Yeah, what’s up?”

Amari pointed to a game on the shelf.

“This one has the same name as your favorite anime, but…”

“What? What’s wrong with it?”

Amari’s face turned a bright red as she handed it to Akira.

“It... it says it’s a strip mahjong game.” Amari said in embarrassment.

Akira also started turning red in embarrassment.

“Well, it’s something I don’t have yet, so might as well get it.”

Akira acted embarrassed, but inside was excited to finally find a copy of that game.

“I found the game I want!” Amari announced.

It was an anime game with magical girls on the cover.

“This one? Out of all of these games, this is the one you pick?” Akira asked.

“Y-yeah, is that ok? Is it too expensive?”

“No, I just thought you’d pick a game that most people agree is in the top ten or something. I’m surprised you picked a game most people would probably have never heard of.”

Akira and Amari walked up to the counter and paid for the two games before returning back home.

On the train ride home, Amari spent her time looking over the case for the game she bought. She loved how cute the girls on the cover were, and it sparked an idea in her.

“Akira! I wanna cosplay as one of these girls some day.” Amari said, pointing to the artwork for the game.

“Really? You wanna cosplay as a magical girl?” Akira thought for a few seconds. “Yeah, I think you could definitely pull it off. You’d be pretty cute too.”

Amari blushed at the comment.

“Y-you really think so? Thank you. Would you be willing to help me with it?”

“Of course, anything for you Amari. I’m happy to have you become a member of the anime community.”

Returning home, Akira was tired from standing on the train. He went back to his room to watch anime before dinner when he noticed Sakura laying on his bed looking at his yearbook.

“Hey.” Akira said

Sakura jumped and scrambled to close the book, accidentally bending the page she was looking at in the process.

“H-hi! I didn’t hear you come in. How was your trip?” Sakura said, trying to hide what she had been doing.

“Good. Amari found a game and decided she wants to cosplay someday. I’m thinking about taking her to a convention back home when the time for that comes.”

Sakura gritted her teeth and forced a smile.

“Oh… Greaaaat. Anyway, I was just looking at who was in your club so I can familiarize myself with them before we go to your reunion. There are a few girls in that club.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Akira dismissed.

“So… did you ever date any of them?” Sakura asked, leaning over intensely towards Akira.

“Y-yeah, I dated one of them. We weren’t exactly on good terms when we last talked though.”

“Oh, well that’s good to hear!” Sakura said enthusiastically while smiling.

“Yeaaaah, right. Anyways, I’m gonna watch some anime until Rose is done with dinner.”

All of the sudden, Amari appeared in the room like a flash of lightning in the sky.

“Can I watch too?” asked Amari.

“How did you get here so fast?!” yelled Akira.

Amari let off a cute laugh.

“Alright, fine, you can watch too.”

“Oh. I’ll just leave you two alone then.” said Sakura, slowly walking out of the room.

“Alright.” replied Akira in a monotone voice, his eyes not parting from the screen.

“I’m closing the door now.” Sakura said, not actually closing the door.

“Ok.” said Amari.

“It’s closing now.”

“Ok, let us know when dinner’s ready then.” Akira said.

Sakura let out a puff of air, and with a “hmph,” she slammed the door before walking away.