Things aren't the same as they once were

When I woke up this morning, I felt on odd mix of relaxed and slightly depressed. I had a dream about Chika, but it felt all wrong. I can't swoon over her like I used to now that I've met her in the flesh. Could it be I'm becoming disillusioned?

Shaking my head, I played a recording of Chika as Mitsuri Mino from Dayblade and began to relax. Yes, that's the voice that turns me on... ... It still doesn't feel the same.

Actually hearing her voice directed at me for real, and her struggling not to make me feel uncomfortable is corrupting my inner workings. I just can't hear her the same.

When plan 1 fails, go with plan 2 as the saying goes, so I started listening to some of Mariya's work. Here, things were normal even though I had also met Mariya in the flesh. Perhaps it was due to my encounter with Mariya feeling more like a fan meeting the star, where as with Chika, things seemed to drift into more intimate territory. I'm not stupid, she was clearly flirting with me, but whether it's real or just some teasing fun, I feel more drawn to believe it's the latter. This is 2025, people don't just fall in love at first sight, let alone with failures like me.

Ah, maybe that's it. I feel like Chika is just flirting with me for fun, yet a part of me wants to see her again. I have no idea when that might be, so unless I run into her by chance, I'm probably better off sleeping. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't drift back to sleep, nor did I feel like defaulting to binging anime or scrolling the forums for confirmation bias. I wanted to get out. Out of this cramped, but high-quality, hotel room.

...

My destination of choice was the arcade I meant to stop by yesterday. Apparently things are cheaper here and cost only 100 yen in some cases, a contrast from the states which saw me losing hundreds to try and win a figure, a figure I'd then find out could be bought cheap at the electronics store down the block. I knew in the back of my mind it probably was cheaper just to buy stuff, but until I saw that figure I sunk 100 alone into priced at just 20 bucks, my crane game career was over due to voluntary quitting. The arcade isn't all crane games though. There's the music games which are fun to play, actual arcades, and of course, the interactive consoles.

Making my way up to one of the main game floors, I spied upon some basketball arcades. There appeared to be someone there trying to shoot hoops, but missing nearly every shot. Ugh, it's like one of those mobile ads. The gameplay's so bad, it makes you just wanna play the game yourself.

The coin was in the slot in seconds with two small basketballs rolling out. Stuff like this is child's play, or as I like to put it, trick juggling. The angle is set, and with these small balls, the challenge is more how fast can you launch them into the hoop. With a time limit of 30 seconds, my estimate is about 10 per ball since it takes about 3 whole seconds to complete the throw and for the ball to roll back to you. Sure enough, my prediction was spot on, but would I never could predicted was the person next to me to blurt out my name.

"Z- Zane-kun!?"

Time seemed to slow as I turned to face the person. The voice sounded female, and the big chest confirmed it, but with a mask on her face, I couldn't recognize her. I began to tense up, but the girl then darted away, leaving me baffled. Was that an old high school acquaintance? I guess it's possible. But I'm positive I heard her say, "Zane-kun", keyword, the "-kun" at the end. No one there ever added such a suffix to my name.

Could it be a fan? An even slimmer possibility. As an author, I'm only known as U2eckrdvt59, and before then...

I grimaced as I stared down at my left foot. That was nearly 10 years ago. I doubt I was famous enough to attract the attention of someone here. Must've been me mishearing things. It is pretty loud here.

$$$

Hoh, hoh? What was that I just saw? It seems that girl was completely shocked at the sight of Subject Doe. And that wasn't ordinary shock, it was "I recognize you" kind of shock. The arcade's one of the few places I can go on my own without any weird looks since kids are a common sight in these places. Foreigners are also pretty common, so even if that girl was the world's biggest introvert, there's no way she'd run away just by the fact that he was foreign alone.

I couldn't hear if they said anything, but Subject Doe showed reaction, possibly indicating that girl said something to him. I really did come up with a good name for this guy, considering I can't seem to find jack on him. Really is a mystery, as if he suddenly became a celebrity just yesterday. Only way that shit happens is with government involvement. And this guy was with Chika Tetsu... Those internet denizens are gonna regret not latching on to the story when it first dropped.

I couldn't believe how the internet court dismissed the photos as just a lucky fan greet, but now that I got a new fuel source, I can twist things to get more eyes. Rule number two of gossip, always have a second blog site. If your first piece blows, you might not be able to get away with just editing the article. If you want people to renew their interest in the topic, you gotta post it from another source. Then, if that gains traction, you can have your original site copy the article under the guise of press sharing, and clout and revenue be flowin' down to your Swiss.

But back to Subject Doe. That guy clearly had a mastery of the basketball machine. Wonder if he's got a background in the game... Eh, who care if he does or doesn't, "Basketball pro" brings in more clicks than "arcade gamer".