First Meeting

A slight diversion and the fleshing out of a story.

People have asked me what an Otaku was. This isn't surprising at all if you aren't involved with the Anime & Manga world. Heck, a lot of our surface dwellers (those who keep to officially translated works sold in retail stores) don't even know what the word means.

Since this isn't a college essay, here is an unofficial wiki definition:

Otaku (おたく / オタク?) (oh-tah-kooh) is a Japanese term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly anime, manga and video games.

-Wikipedia

The closest English equivalent would probably have to be the hardcore nerd. Not jest the general nerd that likes school and gets good grades, but the ones that go overboard and obsess over things like Starwars Fans or a DC/Marvel comic collector. Someone who also loves the internet and everything about it. A shut-in that prefers indoor activities over sports or cruising with friends. They are the blue collar workers that live from paycheck to paycheck spending most over their money on video games, computers, consoles, comics DVDs, and collector items. They are the ones that'd prefer the 2D life over the 3D one.

There's a smorgasbord of descriptions for them out there. Reason being there are just too many types of Otakus. And on an intensity scale of one to ten, I would probably be a 7. Eva placed herself at 7.5.

We went to different high schools and hung with people that shared our interests. Though, we both didn't get bullied or teased like 'geeks' in a normal public American educational facility. We lived in Hawaii ... Wait for it...

Sigh. Let me clear out some misconceptions and stereotypes you are all beginning to label us with before I continue. Don't want you picturing scenes with us in grass shacks or any of that nonsense. We live in Honolulu a regular MODERN city with skyscrapers and suburbs. Over a million people live in this city. I can guarantee you that only a good small, tiny percent of us go to the beach on a regular basis. What you see in movies, adds, and other types of media is what our tourist industry wants you to see. It traps you into spending 10,000USD on fake Hawaiian Luaus and wooden Tikis with absolutely no purpose.

Ask any local and they'll give the same rant. Or ask Eva and she'll tell you to "Just go to fucking Japan."

Here, the highschool cliques or various interests groups are pretty mellow or accepting toward each other. There's hardly any bullying between factions. The only times anything bad happens is if a shoe is stepped on purposely, so to speak. So, while it wasn't really encouraged, it was ok to be into the many obsessions that various Otakus (We weren't labeled as that from our peers, but there is no other word to use. The words nerd/freaks/geeks wasn't used at all ... the only reason why we know about it is due to the highschool kids we seen on TV. Who we all thought, as a whole island community, were dumb and lame, and needed to chill.) It was a proper place for our kind to prosper.

As mentioned, we were both Otakus with a very wide veriaty of experiences. Our philosophies concerning the trade were pretty similar: Taste as many different flavors as you can. While some of our kind chose a specific obsession, stuck with it and mastered it (like different gamers, fanfiction writers, manga readers, anime watchers, forum gurus), the two of us did all of that and more, just in small increments.

This allowed us to network much easier and with a lot more people that were involved in our world. We both had various contacts, online and in real life, that made our double lives much so more easier, as information was king. As lame as it sounds, knowing where to get a game one week before it releases or which site was hosting an HD stream of movie running in Japan was just boss. (You torrent-everything-and-anything-types better not give me shit about streaming. I don't rock any Terabyte externals like you do.)

It was through one of our contacts, aka friend, that we finally met each other in college. It was at this stage that our various interests were generally frowned upon by the majority, putting the usual college life of partying and studying as the accepted norm. Most of our kind usually drop out of the world when they leave high school or keep it tightly hidden while in public. Identifying fellow Otakus was a dangerous game both Eva and I played before we met each other, as we may encounter future employers, co worker, or figures of authority in this professional setting that would never treat you seriously if they found out you still watched cartoons. (No matter how much different Anime was... )

But, this didn't deter Eva from wearing a Domo shirt and Full Metal Alchemist pendent around her neck when she went out to meet a mysterious friend of a friend that wanted to sell a couple PS3 games.

(Close your eyes and allow me to bring us to the past. Hopefully with minimal temporal displacement.)

Those weren't the only two glaring points on her, just the first things I noticed. She was your normal Filipino build being short, brown skin with long black hair. But, she had a skinny body with surprisingly athletic definitions. Her face was also clear of any 'beauty' spots or pimples that plagued some of our peers that shared our heritage. I recognized that face quickly enough because hers was one of the prettier ones that dotted the University.

She was a refreshing sight, as many(but not all) Filipino females at the university lose themselves to the stress of studies, gaining a quite a few pounds that the high school beauty race had once fought off (Which is why my wandering eye almost never strayed to the few that actually went there). And with the males, we tended to go in three directions with our bodies: work out and get buff, lose weight, or gain weight. I went with the lose weight route as I was a poked for being a little chubby back in highschool.

When she spotted our mutual friend, she strode over to our outside-table at Starbucks and gave him an excited "Sup man, how ya doing!?" She then promptly slouched into an empty chair, gave me a once over and a casual "Sup?"

"Ah ... Hello..." I greeted, trying to quell my nervousness. (Yeah ... back then my self-confidence was shabby at best. Being naturally reserved pretty much had me as the person-B in each conversation with unfamiliar individuals. And it took me quite a while for someone to become familiar with me.)

She looked at me with a raised brow for a second before turning to our mutual friend, "So this is the guy that's selling the game right?"

Mutual friend nodded.

"Cool! So ya got the games?" she asked me.

"Yep..." I take my time going into my bag, as my mind was kicking in. I was genuinely shocked that a girl, as pretty her, played video games. The few times I passed her at the Uni she was either studying, walking to/from class or talking with a professor. I've never seen her talk to anyone else, or walk with anyone else in fact. That had left me with an impression that she was the no-nonsense type of student.

She made a clicking sound with her tongue, "Hmm, you're thinking about why a girl like me is playing games." It wasn't a question.

I froze as if I had just been caught sticking a hand in the cookie jar instead of my back pack.

Coughing softly, I finish rummaging and place three games in front of her. But she continues to look at me. "Ya know ... It's not good to stereotype people." From what I can tell, her tone didn't have any anger in it. It just seemed like a statement, as if she was teaching me something new.

But... "Ah ... I-I'm very sorry." I responded wryly with my head turned away. According to the heat and pure embarrassment running through me, I was pretty sure my face was blushing.

"Apology accepted." She clicks her tongue again, "Also I guess I should apologize as well for making you feel ... the way you do ... maybe thank you as well." When I turned back to ask what she means, I was surprised to see she had leaned forward with a vicious looking grin. "For you thinking of me as pretty."

'Gah!' I quickly turned my head again. 'Can she read minds?!' I ask myself, half expecting her to answer that.

The queer girl burst into laughter, clutching her tight stomach. "Hahahahaha, is he always like this? Hahahahahaha ... that's soooo cute ... hahahaha."

"Hes pretty awkward with new people." Our mutual friend offers, "Also, as always, he's naturally nervous to girls."

I glared at the bastard.

"What!? You're the one that stutters like a prepubescent boy whenever a hot chick speaks with you. They come over to flirt, and you go turning them off."

I'm fidgeting like crazy now. "Girls don't flirt with me! They do that stuff with you!" This fact I had been very sure off.

He stares with lazy eyes, " ... whatever ... just stop doing it. It's still a major turn off."

"Shut up..."

She's still clutching at herself, "Bwahahahahahahaha ... he's right ya know ... hahahahahaha"

'You have no right to talk!' I inhale deeply and run a hand over my face, trying to calm my embarrassment.

"Sorry, sorry-hahaha- seriously now." She smirks, "Look, let's just relax and introduce ourselves. Please don't be nervous anymore. I think you're pretty too. But look at me, I'm acting pretty normal." 'Good god, gir... ' "My name is Evallyn, call me Eva, it's nice to meet ya." She sticks out her hand.

I let out a breath, wanting to palm my face again, and took her hand. "Allen." 'But please don't call me Al'

"Ok. I won't." 'Huh?' "Call you Al, I mean."

'There! I'm sure of it, she has ESP!'

"No, I'm not an esper."

'Explain that then!'

"Well, I just know how to read people well."

' ... Ok ... fine, but its trippin me out.'

"Oh ... Sorry. I'll stop." I wasn't as up to her level, but I'm pretty sure that smirk on her face says: For now...

Then it widens as if it wanted to confirm the thought.

"Riiioooght ... So ... you wanted to buy my games." I wanted move on, like right now.

She sighs, then looks down at the cases in front of her for the first time. Immediately, she snatches the one on the left and hugs it to chest gleefully. "Yesssss! I've been wanting to play this game forever!" The twinkling in her eyes somewhat amused me. "You have no idea how many times I've had the urge to go out and buy it but find out I don't have cash on me at that god damn moment."

Looking at the Dynasty Warriors 6 in her hands, I asked curiously, "So ... you like the Dynasty Warriors series?" This was surprising, I was sure only a few people liked the endless hack and slash games.

"Like it?! I love the series! I've been playing them since DW2." She stated quite proudly.

Being in my element and her attitude in game had chipped away at my usual reservations, "Really? My first was one was DW4, but I played everything related to the series since then."

"Ouch ... I think that one was the best for the PS2. Must have sucked playing all the ones after ... with them not living up to their predecessor and all." She put that case down and looked at the other two. Fallout3 and Mirrors Edge. "Cool, I've read a lot of sweet things about Fallout on the forums. An RPG First Person shooter, huh?"

"Yup, it's pretty fun," I'm starting to feel much more comfortable around her. The way she talked and asked questions about the games seemed very genuine. The same way me and our mutual friend discussed games. "and lasts as long as typical RPG. You gotta make sure you do everything though, not just the main quests. Also, you're going to have to fork over a couple dollars to the PSN(Playstation Network) for the DLC(Downloadable Content) expansions. But it's well worth it ... for the good end-"

She threw up stop sign with hand an inch away from my face, "Halt! No spoilers, I had a hard enough time finding reviews for the game without them!" 'Damn!' She was just like me concerning spoilers about anything. I too took pains to making sure I didn't accidentally trip over spoilers about anything I really wanted to watch/read/or play. It just takes away at the experience, and makes it less fulfilling.

"Oh, sorry. Well, just make sure you get the DLC ok." I wanted to stress this so she wouldn't have as much of a tantrum as I did. I damn near threw my controller at the screen at the end of my first playthrough...

"Yeah, Yeah~ how about this one it?" Pointing at the last case. "Is it good? I've seen the trailers, and reviews state that it's the first of its kind."

This one was a little harder to explain if you didn't play the demo. "Err ... do ya know what Parkour or free running is?" She nods, "I've seen a couple YouTube videos of it, pretty neat stuff. So the game is like that? Just jumping from building to building and stuff?"

"For the most part, yes. Though, you can pick up guns, which I thought was a lame thing to do." It's true. It's the little mistakes that game developers add in that destroy games that would have been great.

"I see ... So, how much you selling each for?"

I sit back and thought over it for a couple seconds. I really wanted the extra cash, and I wasn't ever planning on playing those games ever again. But pricing, craigslist style, was a gamble, on both parties. 'I should definitely make the prices less than what Gamestop offers them. Don't want to make think I'm greedy.' Then, a random thought came out of nowhere that made me glance back at her. She was waiting patiently, while looking right at me.

'Ops!' I grunt and quickly look back at the games, hoping she wasn't using her Jedi mind tricks again. "H-how about 25$ for Fallout, and 18$ each for Mirrors and DW6?"

She stayed silent, continuing to stare at me.

'Shit shit shit... ' "Err ... Ok ... how about 20$ for Fallout and 15$ each for the other two ... or 45$ for the entire package ... Um, Eva?" She had begun to lean forward again... 'Just when I started to feel comfortable... ' I was sure that the prices I was offering weren't expensive, considering the quality of the games and conditions of the blueray discs. Hell, I was almost certain what I was offering was a steal.

A sly looking smile appeared on her face, "How about I make an even better offer." She stood up from and chair and placed both hands onto the table. She got as close as she could and said, "40$"

'Wait, whut?!' "Err ... how's that a better-"

"40$ and a date..." She grinned her wicked grin.

I openly gapped. 'She was doing her mind tricks! Does she do it all the fucking time!? Wait ... a date!? What the Hell!? Isn't this the same things as prostitution!? No wait. It's only a date ... BUT STILL, WTF!! I hardly know her! We've only been talking for what ... five minutes!' This was a major overload to head. In my near nineteen years of being a human being, not once have I been on a date, let alone asked to go on one. 'But this one wasn't asked, it was offered as payment!'

I turned to our mutual friend, my mouth still mimicking a fish. "What are you looking at me for? I was just here to mediate a business deal. And if it suddenly turned into a matchmaking service, well that's all good too." My eyes continue to bore into him. "Eh? Are asking me if it's ok? I already have a girlfriend! Remember that blonde chick, Carry, you flaked off to me last week? Well we hit if off quite well." he then paused as another thought came to him. "But if you ever have second thought about her, remember you turned her down, in your own special way of course. Your loss is my gain."

"Wut!?"

"Carry was a bit put off about your irritating aloofness you know. This isn't like one of those shows you watch, you know, being dense is at your age is just wrong. She's a really nice girl. Fun to hang out with, and great in the sack as well..."

My hands reach out to shake the crazy out of him. "What are you talking about!?" I jerked my head toward the girl we should've been talking about.

"Oh, are you asking if she's cool to date!?" 'NO!' I scream to myself in frustration. The whole time Eva is giving us a look that said: Hello? I'm still here. Standing right next to you guys.

But our mutual friend continues anyway, "Eva's cool, but we don't really hang out that much. Only to talk about new games or go to the midnight launches together. I think she's a lot like you though, when it comes to interests. It's called Anime, right? Those shows you watch."

I wince slightly. I knew he knew I watched Anime, he sees my shelf whenever he comes over to game. But I never talked about it with him since I was sure he had no interests with it at all, and it would be too embarrassing really. What I wasn't too sure about, though, was if Eva liked that kind of stuff as well. That pendent could be coincidence.