Otaku Heaven, Akihabara

It's way too crowded!

I know people like to come here, but I did not expect the amount of people loitering around here. Was there an event here? I barely spotted Kotori in the distance and if this keeps up, I'm gonna lose her.

I tried getting out of the crowd and hopefully catching some fresh air, but by that time Kotori has disappeared. I still hope that she's not doing strange things.

After finally gasping for some air, I sat down in exhaustion. I never thought that being in a crowd will be this exhausting. I looked towards the direction I last saw Kotori and made a decision to go there after resting for a while.

While taking a sip from my water bottle, I saw three familiar faces heading towards me.

"It's Producer!"

"Good Day, Producer."

Rin and Hanayo both called out to me respectively, while behind them, Maki is silently staring at me without any expression.

"What are you doing here? I thought you already went back home!" Rin asked with her usual energy. I don't think I can tell them immediately about Kotori's situation.

"Well, I'm just... taking a short break. I never went around here before after all." I made up a quick excuse on the spot and fortunately, it seems to be enough for them.

"Oh really? Well, I'll show you around!"

"Rin-chan, wait!"

"Rin, what're you--Geez, this girl!"

Rin, without warning, yanked my arm towards her and started pulling me towards the center of Akihabara. Her sudden burst of energy surprised both Hanayo and Maki, who's scrambling to catch up to both of us. Surprisingly, I enjoy the place. The crowd from before might've given me a bad first impression, but the place itself is brimming with character and energy. It's as if Akiba is an entirely different city to the rest of Tokyo. No wonder it's called the Otaku Paradise.

The four of us went around an arcade, manga store, merch store, gaming store, a huge line of gacha machines, vending machines, and some maid cafes as well.

When I'm taking a look at the maids, to determine their outfit and hopefully find one that is similar to Kotori's, Maki called out to me. "Producer, why are you looking at them so... intensely?"

"Huh? No-nothing..."

"Fishy..." Both Maki (and Rin) leered at me.

"D-Do you like maids, Producer?" Hanayo unexpectedly asked with a bit of curiosity. She tilted her head to the side with a slight blush to her face.

"It's not like..." When I wanted to answer and give another excuse, I saw another three familiar faces across the alley. And apparently they saw us as well.

"Hey, you guys!" Nico called out to us. Eventually, we rendezvous with Nico, Nozomi, and Eli as well, bringing our group to seven people in total. As expected, all three of them have questions on why I'm in Akihabara and why am I with Rin, Hanayo and Maki.

I answered them with a small excuse and they told us they're in Akiba to look for some new merchs.

"Nico is an avid idol otaku after all." Nozomi said, teasing the twin tail girl until she blushed in embarrassment.

So all seven of us decided to visit a merchandise store that specializes in idol merchandises. While walking, Eli came up to me and whispered. "Are you thinking of getting another one?" She grinned.

"W-What are you talking about? I'm just..."

"But you heard what Honoka said, right? She's fine as long as it stays within our group, and to be honest, I don't mind as well."

"Eli..."

"Ah! Here it is!" Nico exclaimed, interrupting our conversation as she grabbed a newest merch from an idol group she supports. I looked around the store as well and saw some merch that are sold under our name, μ's. A few weeks ago, a manufacturer contacted us to strike a deal for merchandises. They will make some new merchandises for μ's and sell them, some of the profit will go to us while the rest will go to them. It's nice to see some of them here, even some are sold out already.

While the girls are looking around the store, another two familiar faces showed up. "Everyone? What are you guys doing here?" Umi said. Behind her is Honoka, who looked at me with a teasing smile.

"It's as if everyone is attracted via an invisible string or something." I joked.

All nine of us gathered outside the store (after Nico bought her merch) and started to catch up with what they were doing.

"Hm? Kotori is not with you?" Honoka asked, before everyone looked around. "Didn't she go back to the office to grab her bag?"

"Yeah, we've been told not to wait for her. But I thought she'll at least be with the producer." Umi looked at me.

"Yeah, actually the reason I'm here is because..."

My eyes landed on the girl in question. Kotori, who's just across the street, looking quite uneasy as she looks around stealthily. What's more, she's wearing a maid outfit, the same one I saw before.

"...Kotori!"

I stood up and pointed to the girl. Kotori yelped in surprise and looked towards us. Her face suddenly turned blue and starts to panic.