The next morning, a frustrated Tomo listens to Taiyo at his cube.

“You’re still on about that? c’mon man.”

“I saw what I saw, she even called me Taiyo-kun.”

“Well psychotic delusions can do that to ya.”

Unbeknownst to the both of them, fellow co-worker Tsuki is listening from behind the cube wall. 

“I just can’t believe my friend is falling in love with an arcade machine.” says Tomo with rolled eyes

“Arcade machine?” Tsuki thinks to herself.

“Maybe you’re just jealous.” 

“Jealous?!”

“Yeah, you wish you could have a woman like Hoshi.”

“Ha! I prefer real over fiction…you know what? I have the solution to fix you.”

“I’m not broken.”

“Says the broken man…look what if I set you up with one of my friends.”

“On a date?”

“Yes. A REAL date, not whatever you call this charade between you and the arcade machine.”

“I don’t know man…”

“Trust me, the touch of a real woman will bring you back to reality. We miss you out here man.”

Tsuki sits back in her chair, perplexed but still curious about this whole ‘arcade crush’ Taiyo seems to have. 

Later that night

Preparing for the date, Taiyo stands in front of the mirror adjusting his collar. His ‘box of an apartment’ as Tomo once described is a quaint 1 bedroom close enough to a subway station. A small television stands on a desk near the window, next to a stack of empty plastic containers where food was formerly housed. Taiyo’s not the type to cook, and the grind of his job maintains that he’d neither have the energy nor time. He never expects visitors, no need to decorate. 

Simultaneously, the date that Tomo arranged is arriving to the restaurant they planned to meet at. As she stands outside waiting, Taiyo starts to get nervous. The indecisiveness bleeding from his eyes in the mirror, fueled by the standard anxiety of a blind date. 

*buzz* *buzz*

An hour has passed and Taiyo's date pulls out her phone. A fresh text message reads, "Sorry something came up. Can't make it." Her face was a mix of disappointment and anger, as for Taiyo...his face pointed up from his phone as he walked through those familiar doors.

*DING-DONG-DANG*