Viva La Akihabara

“I’m telling you if we’re going to do it today is our best bet.” Sen said over the phone as I nervously held a heating pack on my forehead as I lay in bed, waiting for my parents to realize I hadn’t gotten up for school yet.

“Do we really have to skip school to complete your list? I mean, we could go to Akihabara any weekend and do all the same stuff.” I was jittery, just the thought of skipping school was nearly enough that I might not have to lie about being sick at all.

“It’s not the same at all, dude! Akihabara is always packed on the weekends… If we go now while almost everyone is stuck in school and Tokyo isn’t full of spring tourists, we’ll actually have all the arcades to ourselves. All the restaurants and food stands, too!” I could tell Sen wasn’t listening to my logic at all, his mind too preoccupied with the thought of food and video games.

“I just promised my dad that I’d be more serious than ever about studying, if he finds out I’m skipping school, I’m dead.” The thought of how my father would react if I got caught sent shivers down my spine, but the thought of not completing our pact list was equally disheartening.

“Would you stop worrying so much? Aiko and I already convinced our parents to let us call off, it really isn’t that hard!” I could hear Sen slip on his jacket and walk out his front door.

“That’s easy for you to say, neither of you has the strictest, most old-school father on the planet to deal with… to him, cutting class is like… equal to murder or something!”

“Did you do everything I told you to?” he asked.

“Yes…”

“You put the heating pack on your head?”

“Yeah…”

“And you’ve been rubbing your eyes and nose until they’re red?”

“Yes, but…”

“Then you’ll be fine. Aiko and I are already waiting at the train station, so we’ll see you soo~” I abruptly hung up the phone and stuffed it under my pillow as my mother walked in the door.

“Ren, get up! You’re going to be late~ oh goodness!” I lay there in bed, grumbling and groaning as convincingly as I could manage, leaning over to the table beside my bed to grab a tissue and blow my nose for added effect.

“Ren, sweetie, are you alright? Oh my, you’re burning up!” My mother said as she sat on the edge of my bed and laid her hand over my forehead.

“S…sorry ma… I must have slept through my alarm… my head is so congested, I can barely hear…” I clutched at my stomach and winced in “pain”.

“I’ve heard the flu has been going around something fierce… Do you want me to stay home and take care of you today?” Deceiving my mother like this was a lot harder than I thought it would be. She was just so sweet, and we’d gotten so close lately that it felt like I was undermining everything.

“Mooooom I’m not 4 years old anymore. You don’t need to call off work and take care of me just because I have a little cold” I coughed viciously into my hand, trying to wad up as much spit and phlegm as possible in my throat to make it sound all the more grotesque.

“Even so, you can’t go to school like this! You’ll get all your classmates sick… I’ll call in and speak to Mr. Onida for you, you’re not going to be able to retain any knowledge if you’re sitting in class practically on death’s door!” My mom stood up, about to walk out of the bedroom.

“But ma…” I coughed a few times, looking up at her with glassy eyes. “If dad finds out I missed a day of school, he won’t be happy” I frowned, glancing across my room to the window.

“Ren, you need to get better and that’s final! Your father doesn’t need to know… I won’t tell him if you don’t… here, take these. In the meantime, I’m going to call the school and make sure they know you’re off sick” My mom disappeared into the bathroom for a moment as she spoke, and came back with a few capsules of cold medicine in her hand. I grabbed them and slipped them into my mouth, tucking them under my tongue.

“You just wait right there and rest while I call the school. I’ll make up some hot tea and soup for you before I leave, too. You just relax right there, I’ll be back!” She kissed my forehead and smiled at me, walking off down the hallway. I waited until I could hear the clicking of her heels downstairs to lean up and spit the cold medicine out into the trash bin.

I sat there waiting for what seemed like an eternity until she returned, making sure I played my part of being in miserable discomfort equally good as I had before.

“Okay, everything is taken care of. Here’s your soup.” she set a small bowl of miso down on the table beside the bed, followed by a teacup filled to the brim. “These should help, but make sure you get up and take another dose of medicine every three to four hours, or you’ll just keep feeling worse, okay?” She smiled at me and I nodded, practically hacking my lungs out into my palm.

“Poor dear, are you sure you don’t need me t~”

“Mom, I do not need you to stay home. Thanks for the soup, but if it's okay with you, I think I just want to get back to sleep…” I rolled over on my side, facing away from her and gave a heavy sigh.

“Of course, you just focus on feeling better. If you need anything at all, you have my number. Your father and I will both be home around 4:00 tonight, okay?” I didn’t say anything, nor did I move as I began to gently “snore”.

My mom leaned over and gave me one last kiss on the cheek before she walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. I sat there for several more minutes until I heard the sound of her car engine starting out in the driveway, the crackling of the gravel beneath her tires as she backed down gave me the signal that all was clear. I jumped to my feet and got showered and dressed as quickly as possible. I rushed downstairs and put on my coat and shoes, closing the door behind me.

I cautiously crept through the yard and down the stairs to the street, surprised at how quiet and empty everything was. It seemed as though everyone in Yokosuka had vanished, and I was the last human left. I cautiously ran down the vacant streets towards the train station, expecting my father to jump out and catch me at every turn along the way.

“It’s about time you showed up! We were gonna just leave without you!” Sentaro snipped as he saw me running towards them, they were sitting on a little bench just outside the station having coffee from the vending machines.

“I’m sorry… I just had a hard time convincing my mom that I was really…wow, you look fantastic!” I noticed Aiko sitting there smiling up at me, she was wearing a cute black high-waisted skirt and an equally adorable gray sweater with a little chibi panda graphic in the center. Aiko’s lips almost imperceptibly curved into a grin, her face flushing red.

“Thanks, I figured today is a big deal, so I’d dress up. Are you sure everything is going to be okay with your parents and all? If it's gonna get you in trouble, we don’t need to go…” As she said this, Sen seemed to grow irritated, jumping up from the bench.

“Like hell we don’t! We’re doing this, and we’re going to have the best time ever, you’ll see!” He took off up the stairs to the train platform, Aiko and I stared at each other for a moment before following after him.

“So do you really think even a place as busy as Akihabara is going to be dead just because it's a school day, Sen?” Aiko asked as we stood on the bright yellow safety line waiting for the train to arrive.

“It’s not just a school day… It's a cold dreary school day in the middle of winter right after a snowstorm, I’m telling you it's going to be like we have the whole arcade to ourselves, you’ll see!” Sen beamed back at us with a big toothy smile and gave us a thumbs up. He sure seemed confident, and to be honest, I was really hoping he was right. If we went through on this trouble and the day was a bust, I’m pretty sure we’d have that “fight rematch” on the spot.

This is the JR Yokosuka line bound for:

T O K Y O

Please stand behind the yellow line and

wait for all passengers to depart

before entering.

The blue and yellow train came to a squealing to a halt just in front of us, and as the door opened, we stepped inside. With the exception of a sole salary man sleeping in the back, we had the whole train car to ourselves.

“See? Told ya! This is gonna be awesome.” Sen skipped through the train car, doing pull-ups with some of the hanging handlebars before flinging himself into one of the seats. Aiko and I took a seat beside him, and as the train departed the station I could feel her snuggle against me, resting her head on my shoulder.

Maybe Sen was right.

It’s about time I let myself live a little.