Chapter 6: Welcome To Tokyo

After an incredibly painful night, Taichi’s eyes twitched open. Sunlight leaked through the window behind his bed, warming one side of his face. He blinked up at the unfamiliar ceiling, disoriented.

A pair of eyes peeked through a crack in the room divider, widening in panic as they met his.

“Oh! I wasn’t looking or anything! It’s just that… y’know… I was just… my eyes just happened to be in this direction! I wasn’t trying to look at your side of the room!” the voice rambled.

“Good morning, Asumi,” Taichi responded calmly.

“Oh, yeah… good morning.” Asumi stiffened, then relaxed. “Can I come to your side of the room?”

“I don’t mind.”

Asumi appeared with a small bowl and cup on a tray, setting them gently at his bedside.

“Breakfast… it is 11:30 though, so I suppose it’s closer to lunch,” Asumi said.

Steam drifted from a bowl of rice porridge and a perfectly warm cup of tea – likely kept hot by her aspect.

“Thank you,” Taichi said, wincing as he struggled upright. “I’m sorry you missed class for me. And spent more of your cafeteria credits.”

“It’s fine. Today’s class is boring anyway. And I didn’t use credits — I cooked it in the dorm kitchen. Had the ingredients already.”

“You cook?” Taichi asked, tasting the porridge. A faint, grateful smile touched his face.

“Only simple stuff. Anyone can make rice porridge.” She watched him for a moment. “You seem to be eating okay. How do you feel?”

“My muscles hurt,” Taichi admitted, taking another bite. “But I can move. I think I’ll be fine if I just move around a bit. Didn’t realize how annoying dealing with lightning is.” He sighed. “After unlocking my aspect, I thought I was invincible for a second… but I guess it doesn’t nullify everything.”

“Your aspect probably nullifies mana,” Asumi said. “We learned in class about a sorcerer who had a similar aspect that abandoned the academy.”

“But the lightning Natsu hit me with – that was his mana, wasn’t it? I nullified it before.”

Asumi shook her head. “While your aspect is active, let’s say I toss a fireball at you. You’d nullify it because it’s entirely made of mana. But let’s say I had a rock, and I propelled it forward with a coating of fire. What do you think would happen?”

“I’d get rid of the fire, but the rock would still hit me, right? How does that apply to Natsu, though?”

“Natsu didn’t strike you with only his aspect – he struck you with real lightning. He used his aspect to propel it at you, but you couldn’t nullify all of it because it wasn’t mana. That’s why he made it rain. He needed the storm clouds to generate real lightning, and then he used his aspect to draw it down toward you.”

“How did his aspect make it rain, though?”

“I have no idea,” Asumi admitted. “I thought about it all night. It makes no sense to me. Technically, fire could be used to evaporate a lake or something, sending water into the atmosphere to make it rain, but the rain itself was imbued with mana, so that can’t be the case. Lightning also doesn’t make much sense.”

“Could he have a third aspect?” Taichi asked, finishing his bowl.

“If he had a water aspect, I suppose he could make it rain, but… two aspects is already unheard of – three is impossible.”

“If you say so,” Taichi said as he swung his legs out of bed, stretching.

“You shouldn’t get out of bed!” Asumi gasped.

“I already spent way too much time in bed today – besides, I feel fine now that I ate. I’m going for a run.”

“You just got struck by lightning! What if you keel over while running or something?”

“Come with me if you’re that worried,” Taichi replied.

Asumi blinked… then nodded quickly.

“Fine. I will.”

The two of them got dressed and left the dorm, stepping into the crisp midday cold. Taichi immediately set off at a steady pace, running around the campus perimeter. Asumi followed, keeping up as best she could.

They ran one lap – nearly five kilometers.
Then two.
Three.
Four.

By the end of the fifth, Asumi was sweating and panting hard.

“That was a nice run,” Asumi said, sweating and panting, but her words didn’t reach Taichi, who just started his sixth lap. “Huh?!”

She forced herself to keep running, breaths becoming shorter, legs aching. Eventually she caught up to him, only to realize with horror that he wasn’t even sweating.

They weren’t sprinting – but six laps around Eclipse Academy was nearly 30 kilometers.

“Tai… chi…” Asumi gasped, desperately trying to keep up.

Taichi slowed and turned. “Oh, sorry, you don’t need to follow if you can’t keep up. I’m fine now.”

“Can’t keep up?” Asumi sputtered – then recognized the truth and wilted. Her physical ability was simply lower than Taichi’s.

To save face, she couldn’t help but deny the truth.

“It’s not like I can’t keep running or anything! I just wanted to ask if… yeah, if you wanted to take a walk around the city!”

“The city?” Taichi asked.

“Yeah, a nice relaxing walk, y’know? We can find some proper food since all you’ve had is rice porridge, I can show you the sights, and…” Asumi blushed a little. “This isn’t a date, though! I’m just showing you around like I was supposed to!”

“Didn’t that only apply to the campus?” Taichi teased.

“Shut up!” Asumi said, pouting. “Fine, I’ll go by myself.”

Asumi started walking back into the dorm building.

“Wait, I’ll come along!” Taichi said with a small chuckle. “I was just messing with you – it sounds fun. I’m just gonna run 3 more laps while you get ready, okay?”

Asumi turned around and nodded, glad she was getting a chance to breathe, but also realizing that she had to step up her game.

Three laps later — fifty kilometers total — Taichi met her at the dorm entrance, barely winded. The two of them exited the school gate and headed to the nearest train station, tapping their cards and getting on a train to Shibuya.

“So what’s in Shibuya?” Taichi asked.

“My favorite ramen place – it’s cold outside, so I figured it’d be nice to have something warm. After that, we can go wherever you want. You must know some spots in Tokyo that you want to visit, right?”

“Hm… not really. I know Akihabara exists? That sounds fun.”

Asumi snorted. “Yeah, okay… we can go there.”

The train arrived. They climbed the station stairs with the crowd – and Taichi stopped dead in his tracks.

“What the hell is this?!”

Shibuya Crossing stretched out before him – five intersecting crosswalks, all packed with people, screens flashing advertisements overhead.

“You’ve really never heard of Shibuya Crossing?” Asumi laughed. “You were serious about living in the middle of nowhere.”

“It’s so crowded!”

“Yeah, welcome to the big city.”

Taichi stared up at the buildings, the billboards, the impossible flow of pedestrians. People bumped into him left and right until Asumi disappeared from view.

“Asumi? Asumi!”

With a resigned sigh, she pushed back through the crowd and grabbed his hand.

“Only so you don’t get lost,” she muttered, cheeks red. “You’re like a little kid, I swear… we’re crossing. Ramen’s close by.”

Minutes later, they stepped inside a small ramen shop — two tables and a bar.

“Boss, 2 tonkotsu ramen!” Asumi yelled.

“You got it, Asumi,” the owner replied.

“You know the owner? In a city as big as this?” Taichi asked, taking a seat at the bar next to Asumi.

“I come here pretty often,” Asumi replied with a shrug.

Two bowls of ramen immediately came out onto the bar, steam emitting from the creamy white broth and noodles.

“It smells amazing… thank you,” Taichi said, taken aback.

He snapped his chopsticks and began inhaling the noodles. Asumi grinned.

“Glad you like it.”

“You’ve got taste,” he admitted between slurps.

They ate in comfortable silence, paid separately, and stepped back into the street.

“So, what now?” Asumi asked. “Straight to Akihabara?”

“We can walk there and see stuff on the way,” Taichi offered.

“Akihabara is a lot further than you think it is, Taichi…”

“How far?”

“Like, 10…” Asumi paused and sighed, realizing the distance meant nothing to Taichi. “10 kilometers. Fine, we can walk.”

Their 10-kilometer stroll took them past baseball fields, shrines, the Budokan, and countless city sights. Finally, they entered Akihabara.

“Wow, it’s even busier than I thought,” Taichi said, eyes wide at the towering stores plastered with anime posters.

“Welcome to the electric city. That’s probably the building you’re gonna want to see,” Asumi said, pointing at a multi-floor department store selling anime merchandise.

“Huh? How’d you know?”

“Knowing Akihabara and nothing else in Tokyo? Pair that with that awkward hero complex of yours, and it’s obvious – you’re a completely socially unaware otaku.”

“I do read manga…” Taichi muttered. “Still rude, though.”

Inside, Taichi lit up like a kid in a candy shop. They wandered for hours through manga aisles, display cases, and shelves of figures. Asumi followed him up floor after floor like climbing a dungeon tower.

When they finally emerged, Taichi carried a bag stuffed with manga.

“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself,” Asumi said, glancing at the receipt in shock.

“Thanks for bearing with me.”

As they passed another shop, Asumi subtly sped up – but Taichi stopped, spotting a figure he liked.

“Asumi, can I check this shop? I’ll be quick.”

“This shop’s… not great, you really shouldn’t…”

“Oh, Asumi!” a voice called from inside. “Welcome back!”

“Hi…” Asumi muttered, dying inside.

The owner noticed Taichi and the bag of manga he was carrying. “Ah, so she’s dragging you around, huh? And making you carry her haul?” He grinned. “Are you her friend? Or boyfriend?”

“He’s not my boyfriend! And that’s his haul!” Asumi yelped.

“Wow, you were in that shop and didn’t buy anything? That’s not like you,” the owner said. “Or were you saving your money for my shop?”

“I wasn’t… I’m not…” Asumi’s confidence crashed down.

Taichi blinked. “Wait… so if this shop owner also knows you…”

“So what if I come here often? Manga is fun, okay?! It doesn’t matter!”

“Boss, can I get this figure?” Taichi asked, blissfully ignoring her meltdown.

“Sure thing – 2000 yen. I’ll discount it to 1800 since you’re a friend of our regular!”

“Thanks!”

They walked to the station in silence. Boarded the train in silence.

After several stops, Asumi finally whispered, “You…”

“I won’t say anything,” Taichi promised. “You didn’t want people knowing you’re an otaku, right? I won’t tell anyone. But… I guess you do know what a tsundere is, huh?”

“Who’re you calling a tsundere?!” Asumi snapped.

Taichi only smiled gently. “Thank you for today. It was fun.”

Asumi blinked, caught off guard by the sincerity – then nodded. “I enjoyed myself too. It was fun. If you want to see anything else in Tokyo, I can take you around more.”

The train finally reached their stop. They walked back to campus under the dimming sky, grabbed a quick cafeteria dinner, and ended their long day.