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It was a rather drab Monday morning, clouds shrouding the sky and making you sigh as you walked down the streets of Kamurocho. You worked the night shift at your job, so you had the whole morning to yourself, deciding to spend a good chunk of it going out to buy groceries. You were going at a leisurely pace, uncaring for all surrounding you, though pausing as you felt a sudden vibration in your pocket. A call? No one ever called you at ten in the morning, your friends well aware you never came alive until the afternoon. Furrowing your eyebrows, you took your phone out. Unknown number? Odd. You answered the call and pressed the phone to your ear. “Hello—”
“Help me!” A voice on one end cried, full of desperation, one so familiar that you barely strained your mind to realize who it was.
Unable to hide your shock, your eyes went wide as you moved off of the sidewalk to press yourself against a nearby building. “Majima?!”
Oh, Majima.
You weren’t even sure how you became friends with this man, only remembering a few drinks at a bar, an exchange of phone numbers, and him sending random text messages inviting you out to god knows where. Of course, you always went, so you both ended up closer than you’d expect. That’s why you felt indescribable anxiety as the monster of a man was asking for your help. This man would recount stories of death and destruction and ask you for help? He must be in deep shit.
“Get your ass to Theater Square, quick!”
Then the call ended, and you were stuck in place, having to take a while to recover from your initial shock. Theater Square? That was a long walk from where you stood, still on the outside corners of the district. It didn’t help that you wore sneakers a size too big, making it hard to walk. But even then, you found your body suddenly rushing in the direction of a friend in peril. It didn’t take long before your hair was a mess, your shoes started to hurt your feet, and all eyes were on you. Groceries could wait, right?
It took a few twists and turns, even a bit of bumping into people, but you’d soon see Theater Square coming into your view. You were practically gasping for air by the time you’d arrived, sure that you hadn’t run that fast in years, wanting to pause and take a breather. But you couldn’t! Majima was probably covered in blood and dying by now, right? Oh god, you should get your emergency contacts ready—
As soon as the massive Sega arcade was in your line of vision, you froze. You took a few more steps before calming to a halt, unable to even wipe any sweat off of yourself at the sight meters away from you.
Majima was squatting by the wall, mindlessly scrolling through his phone, a cigarette in the other hand. There was no sign of injury from any of his visible skin, nor did he seem to be too upset. You could even say that you’ve never seen him so relaxed in his life. It took a while longer for your emotions to act up, but soon enough, act up it did. For a moment, his head raised from his phone, and his eye met yours. In an instant, the charming grin he held spread upon his lips, and he started waving at you. Though you couldn’t respond with the same enthusiasm, only managing to stomp up to him and utter the first words you thought of.
“Motherfucker, you told me this was an emergency!” you said, exasperated.
Majima pushed himself off of the ground, his grin only getting wider. “It is an emergency! Come on, let’s head inside!” His head tilted towards the arcade, and soon he’d disappear behind the doors while you watched in disbelief. Despite this, you still followed behind like the fool you were, pushing the double doors open and being greeted by nothing but the noise of games all around.
For a moment, you couldn’t see Majima amongst the arcade cabinets strewn all around. No, all you saw were children on one of those card-swiping games, a couple nudging each other in a fighting game, and an employee trying to fix the coin slot of a racing game’s machine. It was only when your eyes met with the arcade’s far side did you see Majima again. As you walked closer, you weren’t thinking of what machine stood before him until its bright lights and pink exterior blasted into your soul, ending up flabbergasted while you stood next to him.
“A crane machine?” you asked, not sure why Majima would be so interested in the Super Monkey Ball characters. Sure, cute monkeys were cute, but the man looked like he’d never touched a video game in his life.
“Been eyein’ these things for a while,” Majima said, squinting his eyes before poking the glass. From your angle, it looked like he was pointing at nothing, but you quickly stepped behind him. There you saw it: a monkey with a flower on its ear and a baby pink skirt to match. “Just want something to decorate my place, you know?”
You blinked. You weren’t sure what Majima was planning with his home decor, nor what he already had, but you weren’t judging. Maybe having the plush toy on his couch would be endearing. “Okay, so you want Meemee. Why call me?” you asked.
“‘Cause I can’t work these stupid machines. Well, these models, at least. Also, who the hell is Meemee?” Majima responded quickly, stepping aside and handing you a 500 yen coin. Although hesitant, you brought out your palm, and the concerningly warm coin dropped onto it. “C’mon, I’ll treat ya to lunch!”
Were you getting treated to lunch because of a plushie? Maybe this wasn’t so bad of a situation after all. Nodding slowly, you moved closer towards the machine, then tilting your head to the side. “Stay on the other side of the glass and help me, though. I got horrible depth perception.”
As Majima jogged to stay by the machine’s side, you inserted the coin into the small slot underneath the controls and sighed as overly upbeat music began. Stepping closer, you were ready to start your first attempt, only to be interrupted by an unexpected cheer.
“C’mon! Get the monkey!” Majima said, an intensity to his tone that made you chuckle. Now you were ready.
Though you didn’t want to be, you seemed incredibly focused on the task at hand, watching as your claw made its first journey left. Amongst the monkeys littered inside the machine, Meemee sat right in the middle, making her a bit of an anomaly for you. Though as the claw reached the middle, you noticed Majima from the corner of your eye, his gloved palms planted against the glass as he watched in anticipation.
As the claw made its way back, you nearly jumped as Majima suddenly spoke, possibly shocking everyone else in the arcade: “Now!”
You were quick to let the button go, watching as the claw fell, though it merely scraped the monkey and made it topple over. You sighed—two more chances. At least you knew you were on the right path.
The second try was just as grueling as the first, and you were praying to whoever was out there that Majima would give you just the right timing again.
“Drop it now!” Majima suddenly said, sounding much more stressed than you’d ever expected. And at his command, the claw dropped, suddenly clinging tight onto the monkey. Your eyes went wide as you watched it go up, start moving aside, only for it to drop right at the edge where it was supposed to fall.
“Shit,” you swore under your breath, not sure if the claw would grip tight enough on your third try. For a moment, you looked to Majima, who seemed in disbelief by the whole situation. While you wanted to joke and tell him to break the glass, past experiences showed that he would actually do it. Never mind that; you were doing this yourself.
For the third and final time, the claw would move, though now you barely nudged it from its spot. Instead, all you had to rely on were your reflexes snapping away from the button fast enough. By then, you were so focused you might not have noticed Majima now standing behind you.
The claw moved to the left. It dropped down. You held your breath as it clung tightly onto Meemee. Would it drop? Would this be a failed mission? Majima was suddenly standing next to you. Your heart was beating faster as Meemee was lifted, moved aside—
And it dropped through the hole, falling into the chute below. First try, baby.
While you wanted to drop down, take Meemee out into the outside world, you let out a gasp as Majima suddenly clung onto you. Wait, this wasn’t just clinging. It was a hug.
“Look at cha! You got it!” Majima said, the both of your excitement mixing into an uncomfortably giddy sensation surging through you. He would soon move away, dropping onto the ground and pulling out Meemee, holding the plushie close not long after. “She’s goin’ on the kitchen counter,” he said as he pushed himself off of the ground.
By then, you were too happy to question his interior design choices, only nodding as you couldn’t hold back a grin. “Yeah, it’s pretty cute, isn’t it—”
“Say, after all this, you wanna have lunch in that place with the wagyu steaks?” Majima asked.
Wait. Did Majima just say wagyu steaks? Before you could reply, he was already jogging off to the racing games, and all you could do was helplessly jog behind.
And that’s how you converted one game in an arcade into a free steak that may have been worth well over your monthly budget. Majima was an interesting friend of yours, to say the least.