We pick up from before with Akiha Gongen walking into the workspace cafe, Hecate and Kuniyoshi fleeing from his presence, and Akiha introducing himself to you. He describes himself as not an otaku, but since he lives nearby he comes to the shop a lot. He declares his meeting with you to be fate, so he cheerfully suggests that you two become buddies and offers to show you around town.
Catoblepas returns having not noticed Akiha coming in, but he's shocked when he does see him next to you. Akiha figures him coming back to talk to you means you two know each other, and he says he thought as much if you're a cosplayer otaku. Catoblepas tries to explain that not all cosplayers know each other, so Akiha goes 'oh' at that and asks where everyone else went.
Time passes to the next day as you wake up, having camped out at the workshop cafe. Someone is sleeptalking about deadlines, someone else is yelling about needing to put together their costume together for an event within an hour, and Customer #C asks to borrow a 3D printer for their figure partition printing deadline today. You yawn as you get up, comment on being able to relax and sleep, then get out of your sleeping bag. Seems like the sleeping bag was just left there all the time, so you just borrowed it for the night. And since the shop is open 24/7, they do have service arrangements for naps or overnight stays that don't include meals.
You think about buying some breakfast, going outside for a breath of fresh air, and wonder if it's fine to stay in costume. One of the maid workers informs you it's fine to go outside in costume since permission has been given for that due to an event starting soon. It's a combined event for anime, manga, and cosplaying that brings in a lot of tourists from outside the city, and the maid tells you to have fun as she says she'll look after your things.
Out in the streets, there's a ton of people walking around. You comment on what Akihabara is like and note that there's a lot of maids and robots around as well as people who look like specialists in something. This is Tokyo's leading city of electronics and otaku culture, and it is also a city where lots of Transients who have been summoned to Tokyo like to visit for sightseeing. Even now, wealthy looking visitors are looking around accompanied by bag boy servants.
You observe the huge number of tourists coming in, then think about there being an event going on which is what lets you go outside while cosplaying. You're still in the costume Catoblepas lent you, and as you walk around you sort of notice the Smoky God looking at you. You wonder if that actually happened, but you shrug it off as someone who wanted a look at a cosplayer. With the costume you have on, anyone who knows how you normally look should be unlikely to figure out who you are. And at the very least, it should be unlikely for anyone who only has a vague idea of your appearance to come attacking you.
You tell yourself you can relax as your mind drifts to the attack from the day before at the dorm. The other students clearly loathed you when they attacked, and you wonder if the rest of the gang is doing okay. You're worried about the school and want to call, but you recall Shirou advising you to refrain from making contact as much as possible while you're incognito. Since you guys don't know who's really attacking you, there's no telling where they'll come from. There's something else Shirou was going to bring up, but he decides against it for whatever reason. But anyways, Shirou says it'd be best to only call in case of progress or emergencies. He should be fine since you seem to be the only target at present, so he asks you to lay low until the situation changes while they gather information.
You wonder why you were attacked all of a sudden since you weren't doing anything wrong, then wonder what people are saying about you on the internet. Akiha and Catoblepas soon run into you, and Akiha greets you good morning as he asks if you've been wearing your costume all morning. You turn around in recognition of the voice and see the two of them in their regular clothes. You then greet them, thank them for yesterday, and can optionally struggle to remember Akiha's name. C gets an extra line where Akiha reminds you what it is and pleads for you to remember it.
Catoblepas is speaking a lot more shyly as he thanks you for yesterday. Akiha comments on how great it is he met you guys there, and Catoblepas weakly agrees. You take note of Catoblepas trying to distance himself from Akiha and wonder what their relationship is like, and Akiha is surprised at the reaction he got before trying to push past it. He brings up hearing about an anime and manga festival happening from Catoblepas, and he suggests that the three of you go attend it. He figures you must like that as he asks you if he's right, so you either agree and say you wanna go, remember that you're pretending to be an otaku, or tell Akiha he shouldn't decide things for other people. In A, Akiha is pleased and says he's glad he invited you. In B, Akiha notices you being quiet and asks if he said something weird. In C, Akiha is surprised by this and figures it must be some sort of otaku social rule. And since you're here he tries inviting you to go together.
Anyways, Akiha turns to Catoblepas and invites him to the festival. You either ask Catoblepas to join you guys, say you'll go if he goes, or go on a tangent and say he looks good in casual clothes. C gets an extra line where Catoblepas is surprised and starts to thank you before backing out on it. Either way Catoblepas starts mumbling about the event before eventually agreeing and going quiet again. You are confused by this and bring up that he was talking loads without issue just the day before, which is followed by a flashback about him talking before saying he'll go get some drinks.
Catoblepas hangs his head and won't look at you as he keeps mumbling. You make an observation about how differently he's acting and wonder why that is before it comes to you. Akiha asks Catoblepas if he's okay and says he's worrying you, so Catoblepas starts apologizing profusely and blushing.
You pause for a moment, then tell Catoblepas that he should be clear about how he feels if he's against something. Akiha agrees with you, but he adds that Catoblepas doesn't really dislike much of anything. Catoblepas stammers an agreement, but he still insistently keeps looking away. Eventually he excuses himself saying he needs to wash his hands, and Akiha silently watches him run off. You decide to talk to Akiha and suggest that he may be bothering Catoblepas. He seems surprised at the idea, and you point out the possibility that Catoblepas feels bothered by him. Akiha thinks on this, then asks if you had thought so too. You are surprised in turn, ask if Akiha was worried about that, or silently nod.
Some time later, Akiha starts telling you that after he was summoned to Tokyo, he's been feeling like he hasn't been able to connect with anyone near him. All the creators and otaku who goes to the same school he does always seem totally focused on their things, and he's never really got that. He's tried visiting that cafe they all meet up at, but he's vaguely aware of them avoiding him. But still, since he's moved to this city he really wants to make friends with them. He can't tell what it is he's doing wrong though, so he doesn't know how to make it work. You either suggest that he's invading people's personal space or that he looks like he's mocking them. In A, Akiha is surprised and figures that means otaku don't like standing so close to other people. In B, he seems to get a revelation and says he was just trying to compliment them.
Either way Akiha is totally impressed with you and says you're like an expert otaku researcher. You either say you only get them a little bit, deny you're that much of an otaku, or freak out a little and tell him to stop. C gets an extra bit of him being surprised by your reaction. Akiha then decides to ask you for a favor, and the episode ends with him asking you to teach him everything you know about otakus.
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