Work Text:
"Jeez it is so HOT out here!"
Those are the sounds of Chika's whining as she and her girlfriend Riko walked down a street somewhere in the outskirts of Downtown Honolulu and Chinatown passing by A'ala Park nearby some developments. It isn't the most BRIGHTEST place in Hawaii (in fact you could see some homeless people making their cardboard beds), but Chika is always the adventurous Mikan bundle.
These two are on the classic Japanese-people-going-to-Hawaii-for-Vacation... Vacation. Yeah, a lot of Japanese already come to Hawaii on a yearly, if not a monthly or even a weekly basis, but Chika and Riko had never been to Hawaii before and so they went with their parents (who caught on to the two of them dating already, so you know). It was a bumpy ride on the plane and an even bumpier ride to their Hotel in Ko'olina on the Western Coast of Oahu (no way they are staying in Waikiki, are you fucking crazy).
However, so far the couple are loving their time in Hawaii. Of course this is courtesy of Chika feeling bored holed up in the Resort area and trying to make friends with the locals. The results were obviously mixed, as Chika did made some friends around the Ewa Beach and Waipahu areas, but Riko swore on her life to never let Chika drag her all the way up to Maili and, God fucking forbid, WAIANAE.
As for now?
The two are on their own after their families let them be as they gone to do... adult things. And by that I mean drinking Mai Tais at a bar in Waikiki during Happy Hour, not sexual interactions you sick fucks. Then again, who am I to say that to you readers.
Anywho, Chika and Riko are on their own and are approaching a large coalition of bright yellow buildings, one of them looking like a parking garage of sorts. It is mostly emptied out for the most part, but apparently Chika is excited about approaching this area in particular.
"Chika?" Riko asked, wondering what is going on in Chika's mind. "Why are you jumping like a rabbit?"
"Because!" She piped. "I think this is the Dole Cannery Complex!"
Riko tilted her head.
"And why are you excited about an abandoned Cannery Facility?" She asked again, more detailed this time.
"Since I believe that this place," Chika continued as the two approached on of the entrances. "Has a card shop that has Muse collectible cards! The one Dia hogs all the time!"
"The Muse Cards Dia has? You mean that new TCG Weiss Schwarz?" Riko responded as she took a guess. "I heard it's becoming very popular recently here in the United States, though it may be because the producer, Bushiroad, is also the producer and publisher of the School Idol game 'After School Activity'."
"Yeah! It's that game!" Chika replied. "I think there is a very well known shop here that sells various Weiss Schwarz Cards in both English AND Japanese!"
Riko sighed. "This is because you found a Honoka card that's signed by her?"
Chika's eyes began to sparkle. "YES! YES! YES! They have a super cool and cute Honoka card that's signed by Honoka herself! I am also trying to have my hands on an Eli signed card to give to Dia, too."
"And why didn't we just, you know, BUY IT IN JAPAN?!"
"Because it's cheap here!" Chika smiled innocently.
Riko facepalmed. "You do realize the Japanese Yen is DEPRECIATING AGAINST THE DOLLAR!!!"
"I don't care," Chika continued to smile. "The USD has exorbitant privilege compared to other currencies."
Riko stared agape at Chika for knowing such a complicated term, but she shook it off instantly.
"Whatever." Riko sighed. "Just please don't go overboard when we get there."
Chika nodded as the couple held hands as they went through the (mostly empty) Food Court.
The Dole Cannery, a Cannery turned shopping mall, is basically proof of how time can outpace the things we love. Much of the stores are outright vacant and the escalators, which once worked, didn't. Riko felt a bit uneasy about the whole thing surrounding the mall. How can a Card Shop survive in an dying mall? Maybe it's a Hawaii thing, she thinks as she saw Chika ask where this store is to a Local man.
"AhaH." The man responded in broken Japanese (much to Riko's surprise). "Ya jsut hav too go down left den let again beefour yuu arraibu at your desteenashon."
"I see." Chika sweatdropped. "Thank you mister!"
"Don' werrey aboot eet. Ulso, dat stoor iz basically da reeson wai this Mull is still oopeen in da ferst pleece."
Okay. It's definitely a Hawaii thing.
Riko immediately dragged Chika away from the man as the two began to follow his instructions. The Japanese is broken, but they understood it enough so that they know where they are going in the end. And in no time at all, Chika and Riko made it to their destination.
"'Ideal808 Toylynx'." Chika read out loud. "'Bushiroad Sanctioned Tournament Area'."
"'Quality Cards and Services at Cheap Prices unless you live on the Mainland.'?" Riko tilted her head at the slogan of the store. "What do they mean?"
"I think it must be due to shipping and other business costs." Chika suggested.
Riko wondered where in the world Chika learned such subjects. Maybe it's from her family sort of.
Regardless, the two walked into the store with Chika giving a bright smile.
The store is rather a tad small, yet not as small as other around-the-corner TCG store. It has tables meant for various Tournaments, extra cards meant to activate effects for Magic games, a large Plasma TV that is currently showing a ESports matchup between SK Telecom T1 and Samsung in League of Legends, not to mention a ton (and I mean A TON) of cards, all of which are in the affordable range at least. Again, Chika and Riko saw the exact same slogan they saw at the front of the store.
Standing behind the counter that is chock full of super rare Vanguard and Weiss Schwarz cards is a Hawaiian-looking man. He is pretty burly for size yet he is wearing a Kingdom Hearts II T-shirt and Surf Shorts with a Heartless Emblem blazoned on the left side. He has messy black hair and appeared to be in his twenties though the way he stares at them makes it seems he is much older than he looks.
Nevertheless, Chika strode to him with confidence while Riko shook to her knees.
"Herro!!!" Chika spoke in very broken English. "Wii rike savice plz!"
Riko mentally facepalmed at the idiocy of her own girlfriend. At least she knows how to properly speak it.
"Eto... I..." Riko stammered. Well so much for properly speaking english. "We... w-would like.. s-service..?"
The man at the counter stared at the two with a confused expression. He tilted his head telling them what they want since he is confused.
"We from Japan!" Chika continued with her broken English. "We see Weiss Schwarz Honoka Card. How cost?"
The man nodded, though with a smile. It wasn't the type of understanding smile either, Riko noted. It's more along the lines of humor. As if he just had a laugh.
"Japan, huh?" He noted, speaking in very fluent Japanese. "Never seen any Japanese Tourists coming to a place like this. Not even Otaku. This is actually surprising."
"EH?!" Chika and Riko exclaimed simultaneously.
The man once again looked confused. "What? You think all Hawaiians speak Pidgin or Gibberish? We live in the middle of the Pacific! At least learning another language is mandatory here."
"S-Sorry..." Chika frowned. "It's just that we wanted you to understand us since.. you know... English... Japanese... Language barriers."
The man nodded in understanding.
"Now I get it." He said. "Still, it hurts at times since people can be closed minded."
However, he shook that out of his mind before giving them a warm smile.
"But that's just my opinion! So what can I do for you?"
Chika pointed to the one card that she saw. Riko and the man looked at it as well. It is the very signed Honoka card that Chika wanted.
"Ah..." He smirked. "I'm gonna take a guess and say that you are a Muse fan, aren't you?"
"Mhm!" Chika smiled back. "I'm a very huge fan of Honoka in particular. So do you know how much this costs?"
"To be fair..." The man thought for a moment before taking the sealed card out for Chika to see. "This is actually our cheapest card available that is signed. At around $29.95 tax not included."
"Eh?" Chika tilted her head. "That's pretty cheap for a signed card this grand."
"That's cuz Honoka ain't as popular here in the West." The clerk shook his head. "Shows how selfish those guys are, but that's just me you know?"
"Wow..." Chika frowned. Who knew that Honoka would be unpopular.
Riko hugged Chika.
"Don't be bothered by that, Chika." Riko patted Chika's head. "I think Honoka is great."
Chika smiled slightly. "Thanks Riko."
The man crossed his arms. "Alright! Do you want this card?"
Chika nodded. "I'll take it!"
So Chika and Riko paid for the rare signed Honoka Weiss Schwarz card in full. Of course they paid over thirty dollars due to Hawaii's sales tax, but it was all worth it for Chika. In the meantime, however, another person, a female Japanese girl with waist-long black hair, came out to the counter.
"Ka'u!" She yelled politely. "Are you trying to flirt with girls again?!"
"Nah sistah!" The man said in a annoyed tone. "Jus' helping them out with getting this Honoka card!"
The lady looked at them for a good second before her eyes widened.
"Y-Y-You..." She stuttered a bit, pointing towards Chika. "Y-You're... You're..!"
"Eh?" Chika blushed a bit. "Me?"
The lady froze for a few seconds until...
"CHIKA-CHIIIIII!!!!!"
The man looked at Chika for a good second before sighing. Indeed, the woman stormed to Ka'u and grabbed him by the choker of his shirt.
"YOU!" She glared. "Why didn't you tell me about them?!"
"Because!" He argued back. "They ain't Idols to me! Only customers that want service! Dat's my job!"
"I don't care! At least call me so that I can help them too!"
"You and I know that you would keep them here for an hour or maybe 10. Just chill out and they won't freak out."
It took a while, but Riko and Chika managed to stop their argument. In addition to the Honoka card they got, the two also got numerous other cards as well, including the signed Eli card Dia desperately wanted and a Love Live! Weiss Schwarz Trial Deck in addition to numerous other Muse Cards in that same game. The Japanese woman considers it a 'Gift' to them for coming.
"P-Please come back soon!" She said, bowing completely.
Ka'u facepalmed. "Sorry for the racket, but we do thank you for your service! And have fun in Hawaii, kay?"
"Okay!" Chika waved. "Thank you!!!"
The two then left the Dole Cannery Complex, their gifts and much more in hand.
Riko turned to Chika, pouting.
"What?" Chika shrugged.
"This day was supposed to be the day where we would go out on our own on a date." Riko crossed her arms. "And we spent it on THESE." She lifted the bag with all of the cards in it.
Chika hugged Riko. "Don't be a sourpuss, Riko-chan!" Chika then snuggled Riko as they walked passed locals and some more buildings as they went back to A'ala Park. "Besdies, I could convince my parents to do more adult things so that I can make it up to you!" She finished with a wink.
Riko thought about it for a moment before smirking.
"Okay, I agree with you." She then latched her arm around Chika's. "But on one condition!"
Chika listened intently.
"You do what I want to do." Riko smiled with a devilish glint in her eyes. "No. Objections."
Chika then smiled softly.
"Your wish is at my command, my love."
The couple spent the rest of their vacation doing just that.