This Animate store in Akihabara spans seven floors.
Seven entire floors filled with anime-related goods, covering all kinds of IPs—popular and niche, new and old.
At the entrance, there's a mascot wearing a cap with a [Manager] sign and a leather apron—Animate's store manager mascot, which once appeared in the anime Lucky Star.
Of course, this was all something Eriri told him.
He wasn't really into anime, and he had never even heard of Lucky Star. It was probably an old or obscure anime.
If it were a nationally recognized IP, even if he didn't follow anime, he should have at least seen it on Tokyo TV or a big screen in a shopping mall.
The first floor had various capsule toy machines, as well as merchandise from Detective Conan and Dragon Ball.
On the second floor, there were many trending anime publications, such as The Apothecary Diaries, Spy x Family, Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, Jujutsu Kaisen, Blue Lock, and even a newly released artbook by Mai Miyama.
Even Chiikawa manga was available.
The third floor was also for books, but focused on female-oriented works—BG (boy-girl romance) and BL (boys' love) novels and manga.
The fourth and fifth floors were filled with merch—Hatsune Miku and Haikyuu!!-collab apparel.
Besides clothing, there were also upcoming figures and plushies from Arknights, Ensemble Stars!, and Uma Musume Pretty Derby.
The fifth floor also had a huge section dedicated to Genshin Impact.
The sixth floor was entirely CDs and video games.
That was Takashi and Eriri's destination for the day.
"Why don't normies just go die?!"
"No, seriously, why him? Where did I lose?"
The moment Takashi and Eriri stepped into Animate, they were immediately bombarded with resentful stares from all directions.
The sheer weight of that resentment could probably sustain ten Evil Sword Immortals.
Bringing a girlfriend to Animate wasn't anything unusual.
Other guys had done it before.
The problem was that Eriri wasn't just any girl—she was beautiful, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, and had twin tails!
Which otaku could possibly endure that?
Eriri might have a bad personality, but her looks were indisputable.
On the other hand, Aki Tomoya had a face completely sealed behind his glasses.
With glasses on, he was just an average-looking guy—just like every other nerd here buying games.
If everyone looked the same, why did he get to have such a pretty girlfriend while the rest of them only had their right and left hands?
"If looks could kill, I'd probably be dying a thousand cuts right now," Takashi muttered to Eriri after noticing the intense glares around them.
"Well, that's what happens when you're holding hands with someone as pretty as me," Eriri replied smugly, puffing up her chest with pride.
Though, to be honest, Takashi felt like even he, had a bigger chest than her.
"You should be grateful. With your unpopular face, you'd never have a girl hold your hand if it weren't for me."
Takashi's mouth twitched.
This girl… she was actually trying to PUA him.
"Where's the game you wanted?"
"Keep your voice down! What if someone hears?!" Eriri hissed, secretly pinching the soft flesh at Takashi's waist where no one could see.
She was the kind of person who cared a lot about appearances.
At home, she could be a mess, but in public, she had to be the gorgeous, elegant, and refined young lady.
Takashi sucked in a sharp breath from the sudden pain. "Hiss—ow!"
Why did every girl instinctively know to pinch a guy's waist?
It was like an innate skill they were born with—nobody had ever taught Eriri, yet she had mastered it effortlessly.
Seeing Takashi's exaggerated look of pain, Eriri hesitated, her lips parting slightly.
She probably wanted to apologize.
But was she the type to swallow her pride?
If she were, she wouldn't be Sawamura Spencer Eriri.
In the end, Takashi never heard the words "I'm sorry" from her.
But what he did hear was the sound of a transaction notification.
The sweet sound of money hitting his account—now that was a far better apology.
Suddenly, Takashi didn't feel so much pain anymore.
'What do I do? I really don't want to let her go.'
Takashi gazed at Eriri with deep emotion.
A woman willing to spend money on a man? He had only ever seen that on the internet.
Let alone one who was this generous.
If he had to part ways with Eriri right now… he wasn't sure if he could bring himself to do it.
Waiting online for answers. Urgent.
'Why is this idiot looking at me like that…?'
Eriri, noticing his deep, lingering gaze, blushed slightly before snapping at him, "What are you staring at?! Hurry up and ask where the game is! Or do you expect me to do it?"
After asking a store clerk where Eriri's game was, the two of them headed straight to the checkout without browsing any further.
After all, it was getting late.
It was worth mentioning that Eriri was the one who paid for the game.
To the surrounding otaku, Takashi was now nothing more than a freeloading gigolo. Their gazes toward him were now filled with even greater disdain (jealousy).
But Takashi had zero shame.
Instead of feeling embarrassed, he pressed closer to Eriri and deliberately said in a loud voice, "Babe, you're so good to me~"
Eriri turned to look at him, completely dumbfounded.
What the hell was wrong with him all of a sudden?
Hugging the shopping bag with the game inside, Takashi raised his voice even more.
"Ahhh, I wonder who hasn't received a game from their girlfriend before."
This was intentional.
That bastard definitely did this on purpose.
And besides, we have money! We can buy our own games!!!
"Oh, wait, I forgot. They don't even have girlfriends."
With that, Takashi grabbed Eriri's hand and bolted.
Otaku: "Grass (a type of plant)!"
That bastard. We remember your face.
If we ever see you here again…
You'll know the wrath of otaku.
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Check out the other translations too: [Mash-Up: Anything For Money]