Tokyo Guide [rskde and Sigr]

It seemed like a dream, but the reality of it was slowly setting in. The airport was buzzing with activity, people coming and going everywhere. One thing was already notorious, every machine seemed to be different, having a voice of its own. The escalators warned you to be careful, the vending machines had screens with Hollywood actors advertising the drinks, it dizzying but he was finally there, he had arrived to Tokyo.

Well, he was still in the Haneda airport, and moving around even with the signage was a bit weird. Sure, the excitement and the long trip weren't of help, but even so things should be easier. Somewhere in the international exit should be his guide, Furukawa-san, but he didn't know how he looked since he never sent a picture with the emails nor was any in the website he used to contact with.

Carrying the luggage while looking around, he felt something hitting him, a little yelp sounding with the impact. When he turned around, it seemed that the thing that stumbled with his suitcase was a young Japanese girl, small compared with him, panting on the ground. Her long black hair made the white sundress she was wearing look even brighter, specially compared with her tanned skin. "ごめんなさい" she mumbled something in Japanese while getting up and straightening her dress, but her black eyes soon noticed he was a foreigner. "I'm sorry... I'm late..." she added between gasps, once it was clear he didn't understand her. The girl crouched, picking up a cardboard sign from the ground, stopping to pay attention to him and returning to her frantic search of something.

It was a surprise that the cardboard sign had his full name on it.

Ryan had entered the airport with the expectation that Tokyo would be just as normal as any other place in the world, perhaps with a different language on signs and posters but that was never a surprise when traveling internationally. He pulls his suitcase along as he steps into the terminal and takes in the view of the place, the architecture was beautiful and elegant, but certain things about this place overwhelmed him very quickly, something that he hadn't really expected to be experiencing.

The fact that almost all technology talked to him was a little terrifying, the first time he went to a vending machine to grab a bottle of Coca-Cola the vending machine showed a famous actor talking to him about Sprite.. Next thing he knew he had a Sprite in his hand and he had no idea why he ordered it. He rubs the back of his head as he walks through the airport, very obviously lost and sticking out like a sore thumb considering that he not only looked like an American but he was tall by American standards.

Ryan stands at 6'2 and has a fairly muscular build. He wears a pair of jeans and a t-shirt which was appropriate for the airplane which was always very chilly but he was not sure if Tokyo would be very hot or cold during this time of day. He has a pair of hazel eyes and black hair which is trimmed to be short and maintainable. He feels something bump into the back of his suitcase and he turns to see a small Japanese girl behind him. She holds up a sign with his name on it, which confused him as he had assumed the tour guide he had asked for would be some old person or some random guy who would pull him around the city, not this cute girl who was still recovering from running into him. "That's me." He says to her while offering his much larger hand. "Ryan." He says, unsure now if she even spoke English, he had been scammed before.

The girl looked at Ryan, then at the sign, then back at Ryan, as she had trouble believing what had just happened. "Ah!" she sounded surprised, finally managing to shake his hand, although her way smaller and delicate one ended buried in those fingers of his. "I'm sorry to be late" she bowed before him, her black hair flowing like a curtain. It was a warm day of summer and it was just bound to get warmer once they went outside, but it was pretty clear than her red face and gasps had her running and embarrassment to blame, and not just the heat.

"Furukawa Aoi" she finally managed to introduce herself. "Call me Aoi please" she added, confirming that she had introduced herself in the Japanese style, last name first. "Welcome to Japan" she said, jolly, storing the sign on her backpack. "Any question you may have just ask, no problem" by now it was clear that she spoke English decently, but her accent made everything sound a bit weird in a slightly cute way. "Formalities first..." Aoi looked like she was trying to remember something. "You should already now that we are volunteers, our services are free and the only things you have to pay are... transportation, food, tickets to museums and temples..." she pointed out, nodding to herself.

"Oh!" she seemed to remember something. "Did you bring some money already changed? Don't worry, you will be able to change any amount later on with a good rate" Aoi nodded. "We need to take the monorail to the city..." she turned around, looking for something. Maybe it was just the height difference, but she looked really young. Was she even eighteen? "There!" she pointed to a small booth in a corner, waiting for him to ask anything before following her.

Ryan laughs while rubbing the back of his head. "Don't worry, I wouldn't want to be on time to a non-paid hand holding session either." He says while watching her. "It's nice to meet you, Aoi." He says before dropping his hand to his side, he either had freakishly large hands or her hands were abnormally small because when they had shook hands he had completely enveloped hers with his. It was always a little strange to him that the Japanese bowed to one another, and did not want to partake in the action in case it was considered rude for a foreigner to do so.

A smile breaks across his face when she welcomes him to Japan, he laughs. "Thank you so much, I really feel welcome." He says. He nods his head when she tells him that he can ask her any question, he couldn't really think of any to ask so he just continues to listen to her little opening speech. "Yeah I understand that I don't have to pay you but I have to pay everyone else." He says with a laugh, stuffing his hands into his pockets, he was quite jet lagged from the flight, and he wanted to go to the hotel room he had reserved more than anything else.

"Oh, actually I do have a question.. If you're not sticking around my hotel how will I contact you?" He asks. "My phone isn't on roaming right now, so I dunno where you live to find you, unless you're just gonna come to my hotel everyday." He says. "And no.. I don't think I brought any Japanese money.. I was under the impression that US dollars would work fine." He admits with a chuckle. "You'll have to show me where I can get some money." He says. "How old are you, by the way?" He asks, she had said he could ask any question.

Aoi looked glad at Ryan, as he seemed to be a pretty easygoing guy that didn't mind her tardiness or stumbling with him, excusing her behavior with jokes. She could see he was a bit awkward, or maybe just tired, but since he didn't have any questions Aoi preferred to not ask if something was wrong. He seemed a bit of a goof, but he was funny. Maybe he was just nervous? Aoi wasn't specially good at reading people, so she went on with the flow. "Ah!" she started to fumble in one of the side pockets of her small backpack, producing a calling card from there. "I will be in your hotel at the time we establish every morning, but just in case, here" she offered the card with both hands to Ryan. It was all in Japanese, but the name Furukawa Kuro appeared below the oriental characters. "You can call that number if I don't show, but that shouldn't happen" she nodded, her smile shrinking a bit.

"Dollars? Nonono... that won't work..." she shook her head, black hair flowing everywhere. She sounded like it was admonishing a little kid for a moment there, as if it was an obvious matter. "You can use your card to retrieve Yen from the ATM, but they will charge you and it's cumbersome. Come" Aoi guided him to a booth in the airport. "The change here is better than most places in the city. Most" Aoi said. "You can just change a couple hundred, for expenses, the train to the city and such" she pointed out. "For a bit larger sums... I know a trusty place in Tokyo that offers a better rate" she added, tapping her chin. "The calculation should be easy enough, just add a couple zeroes and a ten percent or so. That way two hundred dollars would be around twenty two thousand yen" she shrugged, helping him with the dull process of filling paperwork to change currency. Everyone seemed so civilized and gentle, no one rose their voice and tried their best to look pleasing. The clerks in charge of the currency exchange showed everyone the amount in a calculator and waited for some kind of affirmative motion to confirm that the amount was fine, double checking everything. "You'll see the calculator thing everywhere, every tourist can read numbers and that helps, our accent isn't really the best, and that's the ones that know English..." Aoi seemed somewhat embarrassed, as if she was apologizing in behalf of the whole country.

"Ah!" Aoi let one of her seemingly usual yelps of surprise when Ryan asked her age, looking fidgety and nervous. "E-Eighteen" she said with a little thread of voice. "The tickets for the train are bought right there..." she pointed, seemingly on a hurry to change the topic.

Ryan takes the card from her and looks over it. "Uhm.. Is there an English version?" He asks with a laugh while showing her the card. "It looks to be entirely in Japanese." He says while offering her the card back. "If not you can just write down your phone number and I'll use the hotel phone." He explains to her. Ryan bites the inside of his cheek in thought, just the logistics of this trip had stressed him out for awhile, but he was ready to walk around Tokyo. He was a little confused on why she seemed to yelp in surprise very often, but he decided to not bring it up.

He laughs and rubs the back of his head when she tells him that his dollars wouldn't work and he nods to her. "Okay, lead the way I'll pick up some Yen." He says. Ryan follows her to the booth and he grabs his money from his trip saving, around four hundred dollars and exchanges it for forty four thousand Yen, which he puts in his wallet which goes back into his pocket. He gives her a smile when she helps him fill out the paperwork, as he didn't speak Japanese and he had never really been out of the States so he hadn't exchanged money for foreign currency before. "Alright, we can exchange larger expenses later on." He says while stuffing his hands into his pockets. He laughs at her embarrassment, crossing his arms. "That's okay, I know the accent thing can be rough for others, so I actually like the calculator." He says with a chuckle. Ryan looks to her when she gives another yelp of surprise. "Eighteen?" He asks with the raise of his brows. "Cool." He says while walking over to the train area with her, buying a ticket for himself. "Alright, let's go." He says.

Aoi tried to calm herself, even if Ryan was laughing off her awkwardness and giving it no importance, she had to be as good as a guide she could, for the sake of her family. She noted her mobile phone on the back of the card and returned it to Ryan once they were done with all the money trouble. Luckily the Yen had understandable numbers on both bills and coins, so it wouldn't be an issue sorting them out, although it could be weird working with bigger numbers than usual. She was relieved, as he seemed to believe she was eighteen and they were about to get into the train, so things were going fine so far. "It's a trip a bit long, around forty minutes" Aoi warned, since the Haneda airport was pretty far from the metropolitan area. The landscape outside the train windows almost betrayed the idea one could have of Tokyo, as it looked like he was on the countryside, small houses of a couple floors here and there. But as the train quickly went through, the buildings started to get higher and higher, soon surrounding them with that big city atmosphere before going underground.

Aoi was sitting down next to him, and the people there was mostly silent, only foreign people usually rose their voices above a whisper. "We'll have to go from the train to the metro, it can get a little bit complicated" she brushed her shoulder against his, whispering so she wouldn't disturb the rest of the passengers. The change from train to metro was mostly harmless, all done while underground in the same station, and soon the more complex Japanese railway system gave way to... well, the pretty confusing Tokyo subway one. "Ginza line, the oldest subway line in whole Asia" Aoi commented, as signage started to appear in both Japanese and English, the characteristic orange color of the line everywhere. Long stop names sounded one after another, as the female voice of the subway announced them, once again in both languages. "The next one is our stop" Aoi warned beforehand. "It's close to the hotel" she added.

Once they finally arrived to Suehirocho station, their stop, it was almost unavoidable to feel underwhelmed. It was small and cramped, and just a handful of people got down there. Even if kept clean and in perfect working order, it looked and felt old, a weird sight in what was supposed to be a most modern city. Climbing the stairs, dragging the luggage around, the fact that he was indeed in Tokyo finally hit Ryan when they reached the surface. Tall buildings and streams of people populated that crossing, where the subway seemed just a quaint landmark more than an operative service. The sun shone bright at the top, making everything bright and clear, but also quite hot given the humid climate. He was definitely far from home, in a place where cars drove in the opposite direction and vending machines with refreshments seemed to be everywhere.



"The hotel is basically around the corner and up a slope" Aoi added, guiding Ryan around. She could do this, feeling more confident on her skills. At almost the top of the slope was the Edoya hotel, a Ryokan to be more precise if you will, a hotel that tried to keep things as traditional as possible. Of course, the place was full of modern commodities, from the services of laundry, wi-fi and such, but the rooms were supposed to be more traditional. That didn't mean you didn't have a normal bathroom, a TV, mini fridge and all that, but it would imply walking barefoot over a tatami mat and sleeping on a futon there.



After an incomprehensible exchange of words with the elderly woman in reception, a shriveled one that was like a head smaller than even the petite Aoi, they managed to retrieve the keys and head for the elevator. "Just let the keys in reception when getting out, and say the number when getting in" he commented the obvious. "I should be around, but just in case" she shrugged. Ryan's room was on the fifth floor, and had a small entrance to remove the shoes and put if you wanted to a set of slippers of the ones already there. "Such a hot day..." Aoi lamented, removed her white sandals and soon found the AC remote and putting it at full force while she stood in front of it, eyes closed. It took a while, but Ryan was finally there, finally in Tokyo.

Ryan looked out of the window of their CSI, listening to Aoi as they move and her historical facts about the subway, giving her a nod. He seemed to understand that nobody on the train would talk how Americans would talk on their subway so he made sure to keep his voice to a whisper as she brushes his shoulder with hers. "Japan is beautiful." He whispers while watching the buildings and country part of Tokyo fly by.

The large builds made him gawk in awe, but then they were gone as they transitioned to the underground. "It's like they don't want to shoe off the city." He mumbles before turning back to Aoi and listening to her talk about the Ginza railway. "Next stop." He says with a nod. When they finally arrive at the next stop he stands and gets off of the train with her, stuffing his hands into his pockets as they walk. They reach the top of the stairs and he blinks, Tokyo was certainly different. "Welp, I'm certainly not driving here." He says with a laugh, the whole driving on the left side was something he would never truly be able go understand. It seemed to be a world focused on technology, his head turns with his body as he tries to take in the towering buildings, but of course one could not simply take in an entire city with the turn of their body.

He gives her a nod as they walk to the hotel, following her every step of the way. He looks at the building and a smile spreads across his face. "It looks like it did online." He says with a chuckle, stepping inside with her and watching her quick discussion with the tiny old lady, he didn't know people could grow so short. Ryan walks up to his room with her, observing her taking off her shoes so he does the same, leaving them by the door before stepping truly inside of the room with just socks on.

Ryan gives a laugh as she stands in front of the AC. "I regret wearing jeans." He says with a chuckle while rubbing the back of his head, giving a sigh as he feels the cool air hit him. He steps next to her and looks around the hotel room. "So, the bed is on the floor." He comments. "This is traditional? Could you give me some background on it?" He asks her.

"I hope you packed something lighter or shorter, summer in Tokyo can get pretty heavy" Aoi said, a bit sweaty from the heat and the walk. She reached around for her backpack, retrieving a small white hand towel. "Many people carry one of those, or at least a handkerchief for the sweat. Maybe you can borrow one of the small ones of the bathroom" she admitted a bit blushed, drying her forehead before storing it back. The bathroom itself was another show of Japanese tradition, where you shower yourself clean before taking a relaxing warm bath, while the futuristic looking toilet was in another room entirely.

The question about the sleeping habits made Aoi's eyes shine bright in a bit childlike fashion, as she was asked a question she had an answer to. "To keep things short, it started long ago with the mats used to sleep on the ground. With time and as the agriculture improved, Japanese people started to use those materials to make a flooring not too different from this one" she waved with his hand around her. "As the conditions got better, more comfortable cotton futons came into use, and they have been evolving with time, although no much, until they became like this" she pointed to the ones already extended on a room aside. "The reasons to keep doing it are varied, even if some households have European beds" Aoi looked at Ryan. "It's healthy for the back, they are stored during the day freeing the space and they are more respectful with nature by not using wood" she rose her right hand, "but there is also a degree of stubbornness and necessity" added, rising the left.

Aoi looked down for a moment. "During the visit you'll probably face that several times. Utility and culture kind of masking what it's just stubbornness and tradition" she oddly admitted, looking up again, determined. "It's still early afternoon, so even if you are tired we should make a short tour of the neighboring zone, or you won't get accustomed to the timezone" Aoi changed the topic. "The hotel is just a few minutes walk from one of the most famous areas of the city, but that depends on your interests I guess..." she smiled, a bit of mischief in her eyes. Aoi was eyeing him, as the tall and fairly muscular Ryan didn't look to her like an otaku, but you could never know. She didn't think there was nothing wrong with that, Aoi herself was a bit sporty and enjoyed being outdoors, but she liked videogames and anime as well.

"You'll probably want to change into something fresh after the plane trip, you can close the sliding doors and I'll wait for you here" Aoi nodded, returning her attention to the AC and its godsend cold air.

Ryan notices her eyes light up and he gives her a bright smile as she explains the history behind the foreign-looking bed, nodding his head at her words whenever she finished a sentence. "Interesting." He finally says, continuing to look around the hotel room. "It's a little small, might get lonely." He admits with a chuckle, checking out the sliding door and moving it to closed position back to open. "So Japanese culture is based around the fact that you don't want it to change?" He asks with a laugh. "You'd think you'd just change eventually, as you have been." He says with a shrug before leaning against the wall, listening to her next piece of advice.

"Yeah, I'll get changed." He says while walking behind the sliding door with his suitcase in tow, sliding it closed before rifling through his bag for a change of clothes, quickly getting on a new t-shirt and a pair of shorts that would ensure he wouldn't overheat in the hot sun. He finally walks out of the door after around five minutes of changing. "I think I want to see this place of interest you told me about.. Take me there?" He asks with a smile on his face. He already liked Aoi, she was not only a good guide but she was fun to be around overall. "I'll save resting for later, I'm excited to explore." He admits with a big grin.

Aoi didn't know if Ryan saw her blush when he made the being lonely in bed comment, as he was busy fiddling with the doors while she paid more attention to the air conditioner than the thing deserved. Luckily he kept on topic, commenting on the Japanese culture. "Well, we are islands after all, and several rulers enforced isolationism. Add to that a language that it's not really spoken outside and the usual reticence to learn another and... well, you got it" Aoi admitted. "It's not that we don't change, but we do it in our own terms, trying to not get influenced by the outside, even when it would be a good thing" the girl shrugged, as it was something that she accepted like an unavoidable characteristic of her people, with its good and bad sides.

While Ryan got changed, Aoi made sure that everything in the room was in perfect order and smiled when she saw that indeed it was. Not that she didn't trust the place, it was one of the best for the price, but she wanted to be sure that Ryan wouldn't have any problems in his stay. He seemed to be nice, so she felt ready to work as a guide, even if it wasn't what it was planned, but she'd have to do. Sighing, her face brightened when Ryan got out from the room, visibly eager to go around the city as would anyone in his place. Soon enough they went down to the lobby, handed back the room keys to the smiling old woman and went down the slope, passing by the subway entrance they used earlier and leaving it behind.

As they moved on, buildings started to get more and more colorful, and soon Aoi abandoned talking about the route they were taking or pointing Ryan things like the subway station so he could guide himself in the event they got separated, and introduced him to the place. "Welcome to Akihabara, Akiba for shorts" she said with a smile. "Once the place to get all kind of electronics, that side of it has diminished to become the otaku heaven" she added. It was true that since they got there, Ryan could see more nerdy looking people than usual, and also girls in maid outfits giving flyers, not much older than Aoi looked like. Billboards with videogame and anime content were everywhere, and no matter where you looked at, a colorful building seemed to appear. "Here is everything more or less nerdy you could want, anime, videogames, board games..." Aoi said, letting Ryan soak the place in.

It was just a small piece of what Akihabara was, as things would get more colorful and weird the deeper they went, specially at night. Aoi didn't know if Ryan liked those kind of things, but it was at a ten minute walk from the hotel and there was a place you couldn't really explore whole in one day if you were interested. There they could visit any kind of store, from getting anime figures to retro videogames, play in the buildings with floors and floors full of arcade machines, floors full of electronics, visit a maid cafe... but first she wanted to see how Ryan would react and what kind of things he liked.

Ryan beams a smile to her when he steps out of the room, seeing her face light up. He walks with her downstairs and looks a little confused as they walk out. "So why did you hand the keys back to the lady at the desk?" He asks while raising his eyebrows. "I thought I'd keep it, y'know?" He asks while slipping his hands into his pockets and walking with her up the road to the place that she seemed so excited to show him. He takes in the colorful buildings and large advertisements as they walked, the place made him feel insignificant while also giving him the inspiration to do so many things.

When they arrive at 'Akiba' he looks at the place and laughs. "Video games are a pass time for me, I love'em." He admits. "And sometimes I watch dubbed anime.. Sorry, I can't do the whole subtitle thing." He admits while giving her a smile. "Thank you for taking me here, this place looks amazing.. But where do we start?" He asks with the raise of his brows. "We can do anything you want to do, after all you know the place better than I do." He says while looking around to admire the scene around them. "This whole place looks like something I would enjoy." He admits.

"That way they won't be a bother and you can't lose them" Aoi answered about the keys. In a modern hotel with key cards it wouldn't be an issue, but in that place that the things were normal keys with huge numbered key chains, they were a bit encumbering. "They are there... how you say it... twenty four seven, so just ask for them" Aoi added while walking along the street. "Video games? Perfect then" Aoi smiled, looking around. The streets were packed full of mostly young people, but it wasn't rare to see businessmen and women around, looking to unwind.

"Come!" Aoi nudged at Ryan, the small girl opening the way on the crowd until she saw their destination across the street. It was surreal seeing a whole six storied building seemingly devoted to arcade machines, but seeing two of them in the same street in fiery red and with the Sega logo... it felt like something that could only happen there.



Once they crossed the busy street and entered one of them by following Aoi, the electronic noise couldn't just be heard, it could almost be tasted. It was a call back to the arcades of old, those childish years full of coin operated machines. "The first two floors are just UFO catchers" Aoi said, looking interested but moving along, pointing to a sign that showed each floor's information. Most of it was in Japanese, but had a few things in English and anyone could understand the symbols for the bathrooms or the smoking signs. Said 'UFO catchers' as Aoi called them were lines and lines chock full of crane machines with figurines and plush toys, ready to test your patience and wallet.

Getting upstairs it was like stumbling into game wonderland. Simulators where you have four karts in a row to sit and play Mario Kart 8, weird games with people playing cards on them, frantic looking rhythm games where reflexes were tested, fighting game tournaments taking place, they even had screens to spectate some kind of arcade MOBA going on or even versions of PC games like Left 4 Dead. "And the retro games are on the last floor" Aoi pointed, seeing how Ryan was looking at everything at once. "We can play some rhythm game, shoot zombies... I don't know, there is almost anything you could want I guess" Aoi said as people came and went.

Ryan walks across the street with her, walking into the building that she took him to and eyeing the games within the arcade machines. "Wow, Left 4 Dead." He says while walking over to the console. "I haven't played this game in ages." He admits while approaching it, pulling a coin from his pocket and inserting it into the machine, motioning to her. "C'mon let's play a round." He says while loading it up.

After playing for twenty minutes or so he jogs off to find a different game with her, grabbing her by the hand to pull her along. "This place is great!" He says with a laugh, running to the Mario Kart games and sitting down, putting in another coin and starting to play. "C'mon Aoi, play!" He says with a grin, a childlike fascination with the place that she had taken him to. "I'm so glad that this is our first spot!" He says. "If the rest of Tokyo is like this, I'm gonna have a great time." He admits.

Aoi hadn't played many PC games, but that one with the zombies seemed pretty straightforward and since it was a team effort she could lean on Ryan's expertise. It was stressful but thrilling, as there seemed to be undead plaguing the streets at every corner, not to mention the ones that followed some kind of unexplained special rules. Aoi couldn't help but yelp when she got surprised once or twice, following by pleas of help and giggles as they managed to move forward. It was exciting sharing that with him, as his own enthusiasm was contagious, his wonder slightly childlike.

Once they were over with the zombies, Aoi blushed a bit when Ryan grabbed her by the hand and took her to Mario Kart. She smiled and having a bit of care with her sundress to keep her modesty, Aoi sat on one of the karts, her face slightly mischievous. PC games like Left 4 Dead she didn't know, but such a classic of her favorite company? There she could shine. The arcade version was a bit weird, since it had a couple of borrowed characters like Pac-Man and a few unique items, but it still was good old Mario Kart.

She was glad that Ryan's first impression was so positive. Sure, Tokyo was a place of contrasts he would learn in the oncoming days, from the modern to the traditional, from the hectic to the calm, but having started with a good impression made Aoi happy. She was now more confident that she could pull the guide work off, even if Ryan didn't know that she was just a substitute.

Aoi showed her expertise as soon as she picked Bowser, a heavyweight that wasn't easy to handle. Rocket starting her way out, it was soon apparent that she was no novice when it came to Mario Kart, although if that was enough to beat the older and dedicated Ryan remained to be seen.

Left 4 Dead had been one of his favorite games, he had bought it on his Xbox and his PC so it was one of those classics that gave him a nostalgia trip whenever he played them. Playing the game with her was immensely fun and he enjoyed every second of it, communicating with her effectively was what would win them these rounds, he laughed whenever she gave that little surprised yelp that she seemed to do a lot.

But Left 4 Dead was his field of expertise, he had never been one for Nintendo games but he had always wanted to try them. He sits down and picks Yoshi, deciding that the guy would be his character. He starts the game with her and can really see her expertise with the genre, as she was easily beating him as he was starting to get the hang of it. But Ryan was no sore loser, he was laughing the whole time, still trying to catch up with a grin of excitement on his face a they play the game.

Mario Kart was always know for being unfairly equalizing, as the better items always appeared on the latter positions of the classification, allowing people to catch up and keeping the race interesting for everyone. "Ah, a red shell!" Aoi whined, being hit with it and losing some valuable seconds, still managing to keep herself in the struggle for the first positions. In the end, expertise beat luck even if it was by a small margin, and Aoi managed to come out in first place.

"Hahaha! You almost got me!" she laughed brightly, panting a little bit after having been holding her breath the last seconds of the race. Her white dress shone in the million colors that came from the screen and the lights while she looked at Ryan, not knowing what to say next for a moment. "Ah, I need a drink..." she looked at a vending machine nearby. The thing was filled with weird looking beverages as well as some identifiable ones like a Coca Cola or a Fanta, even if it was a green one.

"Oh! Melon Fanta!" Aoi pointed, seemingly her beverage of choice, rummaging through a side pocket of her backpack, seeking for her wallet.

Ryan laughs as he hits her with a red shell, it was becoming a close game simply because of the handicap of being in last place. But nonetheless she ends up beating him, he looks over at her and laughs loudly. "That was fun!" He says while standing with her, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "I'm glad that you're my guide, Aoi." He says while watching her dig around for money for her drink. He takes a small amount of Yen from his pocket and offers it to her. "Least I can do is buy you a drink." He offers while mentally counting to see if he would have enough pocket cash for a drink for himself.

"You know I've had grape and orange Fanta, but melon is certainly a different flavor." He says with a laugh. "Do you have many video games at your house?" He asks. "Or do you just often visit this arcade?" He asks while watching her, getting a Coke once she was done getting her drink. He takes a sip of it and gives her a smile. "Japan is awesome." He says while looking around them, there was never anything awesome like this in the States.

Aoi smiled and blushed a little bit when Ryan said he was glad about her being his guide. "There is also a peach one" she pointed to a pink looking Fanta in the midst of weirder hand harder to decipher drinks. Some of them could be easily identified as they had the word 'water' or 'tea' on their labels, but others were more cryptic in their content. "D-Do you want a taste?" she offered when Ryan said he had never drank a melon soda. "I've several Nintendo consoles, but I also like to come to places like this one from time to time. It's a bit like a world of its own" she said with a smile.

Ryan's appreciation for Japan made her feel glad, his enthusiasm contagious. "Oh, I know, we can get our first memento of your visit right here!" Aoi smiled, this time it was her who grabbed Ryan by his hand and dragged him to another floor. That one had more crane games around, but her target were the bigger machines at the end of the floor. Coming closer Ryan could see that they were photo booths with lots of colorful advertising and screens to add effects and words to their pictures. The booth had inside a green screen, so even the background could be changed. The thing could print the pictures even as stickers if you wanted, and send a copy of the pictures to your phone by just scanning the code on the paper.

"So... what do you think, time for a silly picture?" Aoi asked, while Ryan could see the example pictures on the booths with sparkles and hearts all around, silly hats and crazy backgrounds.

Ryan shakes his head. "No no, it's your drink I couldn't possibly impede like that." He says with a laugh, rubbing the back of his head while he watches her. "Wow, we should go to your place sometime to play." He says with a grin on his face. "I have a PlayStation at home, but nothing by Nintendo." He admits sadly. "Wish I could but it would be too much money." He says. "Yeah this place is amazing, I've never seen anything like it." He says, that seemed to be the Tokyo experience so far.

"A memento, huh?" He asks with the raise of his brows. "Sounds like a plan!" He says as she pulls him along, a big grin on his face as she takes his hand to move him to a photo booth. They get to the photo booth and get inside. "You should take the picture with me, Aoi." He says to her, looking inside at the green screen. "Wow, this is cool!" He says before stepping inside with her. "Silly picture it is, you control it." He says, as he had no idea how to work the booth, so he just straightens out his t-shirt and his hair so that he would look picture-ready in his eyes.

Aoi blushed a bit while guiding Ryan, as he nonchalantly wished to visit her place to play games. He said it to just have some fun, she was sure of it, but the idea of having a man on her room was something that made her face feel warm, resorting to take another sip of her melon soda. Aoi was glad that Ryan, once more, reacted positive and curious with the idea, seemingly unabashed to be a bit of a goof if it lead to having a fun time. Pressing a couple of on screen buttons and getting three hundred yen in, the machine was ready to go. It was a mostly intuitive design, and since it was a screen the language could be changed for tourists to have an easier time with it, but it had so many options that was still a bit crazy.

"A count down will appear between each picture, we can change pose every time" Aoi explained, pointing to the screen and the camera. "Just be silly and smile" she said, getting next to him smiling wide and posing with a V gesture. The machine started to get pictures, as Aoi posed coquettish and girly, winking an eye, covering her mouth ashamed, even posing her arms as she was a muscle man in show, also tilting her head towards Ryan and trying to complement whatever pose Ryan did. "The last one!" Aoi announced, as the machine warned with a change of color in the countdown. Wanting to surprise Ryan and be nice, she had a half baked idea. Five, four, three, the machine showed on screen, while Aoi glanced at him. Two, one... Aoi turned to Ryan, and tip toeing to reach him, she posed with her lips pursed, as she was trying to kiss the taller guy.

Ryan smiled down at her as she inserts the Yen into the machine, his eyes flicking up to the screen to read it, the machine seemed to be built for tourists so that was certainly an aspect of it that he enjoyed. He listens to her and nods, understanding the countdown, though he wondered how many pictures three hundred yen would actually get them. He laughs as they step inside and the countdown begins, following after Aoi and doing some ridiculous poses with her.

When the last one comes and the countdown begins, he had an idea of sorts, turning to her and leaning down, his lips catching hers as she stands on her tip toes to kiss him, possibly on the cheek, but instead his lips presses against hers, he wasn't expecting it but he went with it, his eyes closing and his hand going to her cheek to keep them kissing. The flash goes off and he gently breaks away, his eyes opening as his forehead rested against hers. "Sorry." He mumbles her, a small smile breaking across his face.

"Mff-" Aoi's yelp of surprise was muffled by Ryan's lips as they both seemed to have the same kind of idea at the same time. With her black eyes shining wide open she could see Ryan close his, the hand caressing her cheek as he tenderly kissed her lips while she was there, completely frozen. She didn't know what to do and just stood there, too tense to move, her tanned face beet red, her eyes just blinking after the flash of the camera.

That was wrong. But it felt nice. She shouldn't do that. He was cute. But it was...

Aoi started to relax just before Ryan broke the kiss, and even if he backed off her mouth, he didn't go far. Even if it wasn't cold his forehead felt cool against her burning one, blushed and shocked. "Ah..." Aoi's hands went to his chest, doubting between grasping his t-shirt to pull him close or push him away from her. In the end it was neither of those, as they balled into small fists, resting against his torso and bumping it a couple of times in protest. He said he was sorry, and it was just an accident caused partially by her, so she couldn't really blame him.

She shouldn't be guiding him in the first place.

Unable to really blame Ryan and free herself of her part of the guilt, she just looked at his eyes, as in such position were no avoiding them. Aoi wasn't someone that cried easily, and after the past weeks she felt out of tears to shed, but even if her eyes were clean when she talked, it was clear that she felt bothered. Not only by what happened. Or by having part of it. Or because it was clumsy on her part. Or that a guide shouldn't do those things.

"It was my f-first kiss..." she stuttered. What bothered it was all of that. And the fact that she liked it.

Ryan looks into her eyes, her face was bright red which made his own fluster too. He bites the inside of his cheek as he feels her hands ball into fists against his chest, he couldn't tell if she regretted it or liked it, because he liked her, he thought she was gorgeous and was still thanking his lucky stars that she was his guide and not some senior citizen who would only take him to boring places with some historical weight.

His hand on her cheek drops to his side and he watches her shining eyes, his forehead moving off of hers. "Sorry." He says. "It won't happen again." He says quietly, it kind've felt like that she was rejecting him at first until she speaks again.

He looks back at her, unsure of what to say. "I- ah.. Fuck, I'm sorry." He says apologetically, he shouldn't have taken that from her! Idiot! He mentally tortured himself with the thought that he took the opportunity from her to genuinely have a first kiss that she could enjoy with someone who wasn't just staying for a week or two.

"I don't know what I was thinking.. I just hope you enjoyed it?" He asks while furrowing his eyebrows together. "I can understand if you don't want to be my Guide anymore.. But I wouldn't trade you for anybody, Aoi." He says to her quietly. "You're the best guide I could've hoped for."

"I... I..." Aoi mumbled, the situation too embarrassing, having a hard time to find the English words to convey her feelings, or at least a part of them. "I can't say if I liked it, I was too surprised" she lied, looking at the floor, not ready to confess that even as awkward as it had been she had liked it. Being so tense and shocked she was unable to return it, but otherwise it was fine. "Don't be sorry, it's my fault too and..." Aoi looked up again, to his worried eyes. "I want to continue guiding you" she nodded, a small smile on her face, she wouldn't surrender so easily.

The pictures were ready on the screen to be played with, putting a background of choice and add any amount of effects and words on top. In the series of silly poses and faces, the last one showed Ryan kissing her with the eyes closed while Aoi looked wide eyed and surprised. Aoi fidgeted, Ryan was very open, he had told her that he wouldn't trade her for anybody, he worried about stealing her first kiss, about if she had liked it.

"It was just a funny moment, right?" Aoi nodded. "Like something out of an anime" she added, wanting to give it no importance, but without thinking that those kind of scenes were usually leading to something more. "Ah!" her blush seemed to go nowhere, as she noticed the pictures on the screen and the face she was making on the last one. It was mortifying, but the only way to get out of the situation was to own it. "Look at the last picture, I make you look like a terrible kisser, look at my face" Aoi pointed, laughing a little bit. "We can pick any backgrounds and add anything you like" she pointed, the buttons weren't too different of what you could find in most photo apps on phones. The advantage of the machine was the instant printing of paper copies for you to hold to, or even stickers to add to your phone or wherever. Sure, Aoi wasn't planning on sticking her panicked kissing face anywhere, but they would be getting a couple of printed copies each once they were done editing, included on the price.