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Gai hadn't been living on his own terribly long. He'd gotten a couple part-time jobs, and was saving up for suit-actor school so he could maybe someday be a Sentai hero, even if only in a stage show. (Not the this stopped him from dreaming of making it all the way up to the big-leagues and getting to be filmed, but one step at a time, right?) It would be easier to save up if he lived at home still, but his parents said if he wasn't going to apply for college, then clearly he was ready for adulthood already.
He didn't mind, really. At least now he didn't have to argue with his little sister (and lose) every time she wanted to watch Pokemon Smash (Was that still the name? Did it change again?) when he tried to watch new episodes of Sentai. Instead, he had to deal with his neighbor complaining he was too loud in the mornings, and for some reason he never took well to Gai's advice to not get hangovers.
Point is, it had been a few months and he was beginning to think he was getting the hang of this whole “adulthood” thing. Sometimes he still had to remind himself that if Genta could get over his fear of sushi and the Livemen could deal with the return of their friends' murderers, he could handle a leaky faucet and calling the super when the heater didn't work.
None of that had prepared him for the Sunday morning when he went to turn on his tv as that ridiculous card game show was ending and, after a loud buzzing sort of noise, it refused to turn on. He tried again. Nothing. This wasn't good. Maybe his neighbor would let him use his tv? It's not like he ever was using it this time of day! He can get through this, things will be okay.
His neighbor didn't answer the door, so he knocked harder. And then again, even harder. His pounding after still no response knocked the door open.
“Sorry! I didn't mean to-” as Gai popped his head in the door, he noticed the apartment was completely empty. “...oh.”
Well, there was always the second airing later in the week.
***
When he got back from the cafe the next day, there was already a moving van out front and he could hear someone moving around in the next apartment over. Of course he would introduce himself to his new neighbor, but he figured he should let them get settled first. Besides, he'd done his research the day before, and was heading out to pick up the best tv he could afford at the moment. (Not top-of-the-line at all, but better than the clunky old thing his parents had foisted on him from storage when he moved out. Not that he was complaining at the time, since that was one less expense.)
He was on his way down the stairs, thinking of how great it will be to see all the detail on the monster suits (and boy, did the Shadow Line have some great designs) when he turned the corner and ran straight into a man carrying a box of things up and both of them fell, contents of the box scattering. Gai grabbed the nearest item, ready to help clean the mess he made.
“I'm sooooooOOOOWHOAHAAAAA!!!” Gai's apology fell from his mind as he realized what he was holding. “This the special edition DVD of Yasuko Kobayashi talking about Go-Busters and Shinkenger! I've never- no, wait, almost never been able to get my hands on something this rare! Where did you find it?"
Gai looked up at the man – a few years older than him by the look of it, kind of handsome – no way he would judge him for still being into Super Sentai, if he had this! The man was still scrambling to get his items back in the box (was that Bouken merch?) but he looked up when he heard Gai exclaiming, and when their eyes met Gai knew this man was a kindred spirit and they'd be getting along great.
“Oh man, you've gotta let me borrow this!”
“Well,” the man said, a bit sheepishly, “I would but I don’t even know you.” Oh, he had overstepped his bounds, hadn't he. That's easy enough to fix though, right?
“Sorry, my name is Gai Ikari. I live in Apartment B-12.”
“Ah, that’s right next to mine! I’m Nobuo Akagi, Apartment B-11.” Gai was about to point out he figured, since he heard someone moving in, but Nobuo continued. “Maybe you can come by and we can watch it together, you know, since we’re neighbors? I can show you all the mecha I've collected, too!”
Gai smiled as he put the DVD into Nobuo's box and grabbed the last few items on the ground. He was trying not to read too much into that “together,” but it's not like he'd be upset to “just” have a Sentai-loving neighbor.
“I can come by on Sunday afternoon! Or early? We could watch the new episode first!” As he put the last items on top of everything else, he realized this guy would die when he found out Gai had a real, used-on-the-show hero helmet (Hero! Not even the stunt version!) he won in a raffle when he went to an event Niibori was in. “I can also bring over a certain special something from my adventures!”
Nobuo picked up his box and nodded, before calling back as he headed up the stairs, “It’s a date then!”
Gai wasn't blushing. No of course not. He wasn't blushing and he certainly wasn't holding back an excited yell no absolutely not. He was going to very seriously continue down the stairs and to the bus stop and purchase a new television like an adult and at no point was he going to stare off into space and sigh about how he had a date with his (kind of) handsome nerdy neighbor who was just as into Super Sentai as he was. He was far too old for that kind of middle-schooler-with-a-crush behavior.
He didn't even make it all the way down the stairs before he spaced out in a daydream and tripped.