Tomorrow morning, 7 am. I wake up from sleep and do my morning routine. When I'm about to go to the train, I see Erika comes down with a bag that I assume is filled with her clothes inside. She's about to go to Rena's house to spend a couple of nights there as I'm not gonna be home for a few days for the convention.
Because I'm a streamer, the organizer of the convention sent me an invitation via email to be a VIP at the convention, and I'm not the only one who received it. Rena also got one a day before me and a few more famous influencers also invited like Shadow, Xenaca, Hashim, and more. I don't usually blend in with a group like that partly because I don't think I'm worth it.
As a streamer, I'll stream my journey from my house until I've done the convention but this time, I'm not gonna use a gimbal, just use my camera phone like normal because using a gimbal seems a bit professional. I don't want that, I just want it to be casual.
We left the home together but split on our way. She goes to Rena's house while I go to the train station. I walk through the neighborhood and the neighbors who see me wondering where am I going ask me, "Hello, Kai-san, where are you going with a bag on your back?" I greet and tell them my destination and they don't feel weird at all because they know my job and this event is just part of my job. I'm so lucky to have such nice neighbors!
Then, I exit the neighborhood area and enter the city. I need to go through it to reach the subway station because it's located under the city directly. I walk on the footpath beside the road, next to the footpath there are trees planted and arranged beautifully in a straight line with a one-meter gap between each tree. The other side of them is the shops with various kinds of clothes, bakeries, food, electronics, cafe, etc and each shop has its own kind of customers like kids, teenagers, adults, and the elderly.
After walking for a while, I finally see a signboard showing the stairs to the subway station. Then, I go down the stairs into the underground, it's a bit darker, so I need to be careful not to stumble on any small obstacles on the ground. The people pass by each other, go to their own destinations with their own motives, go up and down the stairs, every day, every minute, every second, non-stop 24/7 as long as the train is still working.
I arrived at the base of the station and walk through the automatic entrance gate using the ticket I bought from its official website. The machine scans the ticket and opens the barrier, letting me go through it. I see no train yet, so I guess I have to wait, then. There are a lot of people waiting for the train too and occupied all the seats, leaving me no choice but to sit on the floor beside the pillar.
I open my phone and check the messages to see if Rena messages me and true enough, she did. She asks me if I've left the house yet and I reply by saying that I'm already at the train station, waiting for the train to arrive. "Wah, that's fast! You can't wait to go to the convention or to meet me, hm?" That is what she texts. I reply, "What if I say both? Or do you want me to only choose you?" Aghh, I feel cringe! It's like we're dating.
I chat with her until the train arrives. I text goodbye, turn off my phone, and put it into my pocket. The people start to enter the train and I need to do the same too if I don't want to miss it. The next train will be arrived in about 45 minutes if I miss this one and I don't want to wait that long!
I get into the train with other people and the door closes. With a little bit of searching, I manage to find an available seat and right away take it before someone else does. A few minutes after that, the train departs from the station to a few more stations before finally arriving at my destination which is Tokyo.
While I'm on the train, I got nothing to do, so I play a mobile game on my phone to pass the time. I play it till the next station. The train stops at another station, the doors open, and a few more people come in. I ignore them as it's something normal you see every day but something catches my eye and it is an old woman among the new passengers, looking around to find a seat. She looks around in her 70s, her body is bent down a little bit, supported by a walking stick held on her right arm.
I look around and see no empty seats left on the train, they all are already occupied by much more younger people. What's wrong with these people? Can't they give the seat to a frail-looking old woman like her? Because no one wants to, I will. I get up, go to her, and tell her that she can sit in my seat. She looks surprised and thanks me. She walks slowly to the seat and sits on it, breathing out as soon as she's comfortable with the seat.
Suddenly, she opens her purse and searches for something, she then gives me candy and tells me to take it as thanks. I feel guilty to take candy from an old woman but if she's insisted, I have to take it no matter what to please her heart. When I take the candy, she's smiling, and it makes me smile too. I guess senior citizens like her do gives us some kind of happiness or warmth and affection inside.
Along the way, I have a conversation with her, talking about anything I can think of. She asks me my name, my age, my job, etc maybe to get to know me. We talk until the train arrives at my station. I say goodbye to her and hope to meet her next time. I get off the train along with other people and walk to the surface, exiting the subway station. As soon as I step my leg into the outside world, the sunlight instantly 'blinded' my eyes. Aghh! My eyes! It's hurt! ... ...Of course, I'm exaggerating.
Then, I order an uber to pick me up and go to a hotel. When I'm inside the car, Rena calls me, and I pick it up. "Hi, Kai-san~ Are you on your way to the place right now or do you want to go to the hotel first?" She asks. I say to her that I want to check in at the hotel first, have lunch, and then go to the event. "Oh... after you're done with lunch, can we meet outside the building where the event is held? I want us to enter together, can I?" She asks.
I agree then hang up. I arrived at the hotel the organizer paid for and check-in. I receive the room key and go to the room. It doesn't take too long to find it, I unlock it, and the door opens. I enter, put down my bag, and take a shower. After that, I go to a dining hall to have lunch.
The food here is pretty good but not as good as my homemade food. I finished the food and left the hotel to go to the place we promised to meet. When I arrived, I see a lot of people outside taking pictures of themselves or their friends. I look around, searching for Rena but I don't find her.
Then, out of the blue, hands covered my eyes from behind, and a soothing voice comes from behind me, presumably, the owner of the hands, and asks me "Who is it?" with a bit of giggling. But, I can't deny, her voice is mellifluous, sweet, smooth, and musical, pleasing to the ear. If possible, I want to hear her voice every day until the end of the world... but, why is her voice sound kinda familiar? Like I always heard it but it's more clear than usual.
Wait... isn't this... Rena's voice!?
END OF VOLUME 1