“Welcome dear customers.” Brian’s monotonous voice greeted the three teenagers who just entered the VCR shop. Not minding the presence of his customers, he picked his nose while standing behind a glass counter that displayed a lot of VCR tapes. He was the only attendant of that video shop and he couldn’t help mulling over the fact that the owner did not even think of giving him a proper uniform. How cheap can the owner get with leaving him just a black apron over a white shirt?

He glanced over the tapes. Most of them were movies from twenty or thirty years ago but some of them had covers of beautiful ladies in bikinis.

Because of his boredom, he did not notice a young woman crept behind him. She did not look amused.

“Put more enthusiasm into your greetings you no good Yankee!” The girl, Himari, shouted at him. Not satisfied with inflicting vocal trauma, she went and gave him a smack in the head. The teenagers flinched at the sight.

“That hurt, man! What does it matter anyway? This isn’t some high-class establishment and these kids have been here multiple times already. They already know we don’t care about them.”

The leader of the young teens had an annoyed expression on his face. “Hey old man, stop calling us kids.”

“And I am not an old man. I am only 26.” Brian answered while pulling out a cigarette and lighter from his pocket which Himari immediately confiscated.

“How many times do I have to tell you? Smoking is prohibited inside the shop. You are going to ruin my precious tapes.”

The three teenagers stared at the two adults bickering while waiting for one of them to notice them.

“Uhm, Mister can you show us the-”

“Ahh, the adult videos are that way and the viewing room as always is behind those curtains.” Brian interrupted the youngsters and they immediately walked towards the direction he pointed.

“Hey! Those tapes are for customers eighteen years old and above only!” Himari called to the boys with an angry voice.

“But we are eighteen.” The leader of the boys answered as they continued walking down an aisle of VCR tapes.

“Eighteen, my ass. You are still wearing your school uniforms!” Himari was about to jump over the counter when Brian tapped her in the shoulders.

“Leave them be, Himari. Just face it. The only customers that want to rent VCR tapes in this day and age are those that want to watch dirty videos from the past. You wouldn’t even rent out DVDs here.” Brian leaned on the counter with a nonchalant look.

“Hey boss, when am I getting paid?”

Himari frowned. “You’ve only been working here for three weeks so don’t expect to get paid till the end of the month! And don’t underestimate my VCR tapes. I possess some of the rarest videos out there using these tapes, you would never be able to watch them even if you search for them on the internet. Why do I even bother, you wouldn’t understand their value even if I try explaining it to you. Now go call those boys before we get in trouble with the cops again.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Brian ruffled his blonde hair before jumping over the counter to follow the boys.

“Useless good for nothing gangster,” Himari muttered after a short sigh. She felt like she lost ten years of her life. She put up her hand holding Brian’s confiscated lighter. It was the shape of a regular lighter only it had a brown leather case embossed with initials K.O.F. She gave the lighter a flick and a blue flame spurted out like a small blowtorch.

“So cool.”

The sound of door chimes distracted her. A new customer. This time it was a tall young man wearing a black flight jacket while carrying a brown sports bag in his right hand. Both his jacket and bag are plastered with multiple brand names. Some of them, Himari recognized as famous clothes, perfumes, and car manufacturers. The man’s hair was dyed red at the top and white on the ends giving him a rockstar kind of look.

“So good-looking,” Himari muttered under her breath as she noticed the man’s long eyelashes and small red lips. He must be in his early twenties, she thought. It’s not every day you see something like this.

“Uhm, excuse me miss. Are you the owner of the shop?”

Himari, still in a daze, was not able to respond. He just stared back, looking confused and a bit worried.

It took a few seconds before Himari snapped back to work mode.

“Ah, yes. Welcome to our shop. How can I help you?” Himari noticed the confused look on his face. “Is something the matter, sir?”

The man pointed at the lighter Himari was holding, still ignited and her thumb turning red because it was too close to the fire. Himari shook her hand violently dropping the lighter on the floor. She then blew on her thumb repeatedly to cool it.

“That useless gangster.” Himari cursed under her breath before hiding her hand behind her back. After composing herself immediately, she gave the most professional smile she could manage. “Sorry about that, how can I help you?”

“Ah, yes.” The man placed his bag gently on the floor and took a mini-cooler box. He then pulled out a cooling gel pad and handed it to Himari.

“Here take this, I always carry some cooling gel pads with me wherever I go. This might sound weird to you but it is very convenient for people in my profession.”

Himari blushed as she accepted the cooling gel pad. She looked sideways to hide the big grin on her face while giggling uncontrollably.

“WOOOH! PLAY THAT AGAIN!” One of the teenage boys from a while ago shouted from behind a portiere which annoyed Himari. That ruined my moment, she thought. Out of bitterness, she decided on kicking them out as soon as possible.

“Excuse me, dear customer. Please feel free to look through our collections here. I will be back with you in a minute.” Himari bowed as she said then ran down an aisle of VCRs and disappeared behind a curtain.

In a dark room, Brian squatted behind the three teenage boys who were sitting on the floor. The light of the television screen illuminated their faces. The sound of moans and groans can be heard as their eyes widen and their faces leaned closer to the screen. Behind them, Himari loomed with the face of an angry demon. On her hands was an extension plug which she held like she was ready to strangle the people in front of her. She jerked the plug and darkness filled the room.

Back at the counter, the man stood in front of a shelf of VCR tapes. He pulled out two VCR cases with two very different covers. One of them had the picture of a voluptuous young lady wearing a mini skirt and another had the picture of two boxers facing each other. He wondered if he had come to the right place but his train of thought was interrupted when he heard the horrifying screams of young boys.

A few minutes later Brian and Himari were bowing and apologizing to the tall man. Brian had a swollen cheek but his eyes looked indifferent to what was happening.

“Apologies again, dear customer. Have you found any videos you are interested in?” Himari asked with a really cheerful voice.

“Sadly no, I am quite curious about the prices though. How come renting an episode of B-Grey man is worth twenty thousand yen?” The tall man asked, looking at Brian who is nursing his cheek with the cooling gel pad.

Himari clasped her hands and placed herself beside the tall man. “You see mister, the tape you are talking about contains the unaired pilot of the anime. You can even check it online and you wouldn’t be able to find it. Most of my tapes here are of a similar kind. I don’t only have rare anime but also hard to find documentaries and-”

“She also got the uncensored videos of most of the country’s top pornstars. I recommend you take our bundle offer of-” Brian interrupted but was immediately silenced by Himari by punching him in the stomach.

Brian squatted on the floor with his hands on his belly as Himari turned towards the tall man.

“Ignore him, sir. I am sure someone like you is not interested in those vulgar videos.” Himari said while smiling but her expression immediately changed after noticing that the tall man was blushing. He is definitely interested, she thought.

Losing interest in the man, Himari moved behind the counter and told Brian to take over. She rested her head on the glass counter and let out a sigh. All men are the same.

“Don’t mind her.” Brian got up from the floor and stretched his arms upwards before continuing to talk. “Follow me, I can show you the best girl collections.”

The tall man looked flustered as he looked from Himari to Brian unsure who to speak to. Brian was already walking away when a young boy’s scream caught the attention of the three adults.

“IT’S REN SATO!” The leader of the three teenage boys shouted while pointing at the tall man. The three boys ran towards their idol and surrounded him.

Himari and Brian looked at each other then watched the man being hounded by the youngsters. One of the boys was chanting the word ’knuckle’ which caught Brian’s attention. He pulled the boy towards him and asked.

“Why are you saying knuckle?” Brian asked the boy but was ignored by him. The boy freed himself from Brian’s grip and ran back to his idol. He was about to pull the boy again when he got his answer from the tall man who is now smiling bashfully.

“Knuckle is my professional gamer name. I am a pro gamer.”