Standing in front of a mirror, Akira examined the little boy reflected before him as he squeezed his slightly chubby but attractive face. Once again, he affirmed himself.
"I must say, I'm cute. Like the cutest thing there is," he mused, admiring his snow-white hair and starry purple eyes. He looked more androgynous than in his previous life, but he figured he'd grow up to be more handsome in the future, just like his father.
"I hope I grow up to be cool, not just cute," he sighed, wondering about his future. Just then, his mother's voice broke his thoughts.
Before he could sink too deep into daydreams, his mother's voice called out from the hall. "Akira, are you ready? It's almost time".
"I'm ready, Mother. I'm coming," he replied, stepping out of his room to meet her.
"Listen, Akira, you need to behave yourself. We're going to meet our neighbors. Don't randomly fire off magics, okay?" Yuki warned.
"Mother, you know I won't do that," Akira said, a bit saddened by her lack of trust.
"But remember when you shot a fireball at your father's face?" she reminded him.
"That was an accident! I wouldn't normally do that," Akira protested with a fluster. He had been trying to control his fireball like a guided missile, but things hadn't gone as planned. Thankfully, his father had shielded himself in time.
Still, the fact that he was only meeting his neighbours after seven years seemed odd. Then again, Akira's life had never been normal.
"By the way, what are our neighbors like, Mother? I don't know anything about them," he asked. He knew a family lived in the huge white mansion across from theirs, but that was all he knew about them.
"Oh, they're the Sendo family. We've been friends and close allies for generations, well, three generations for them," Yuki explained.
"Are they magicians too?" Akira asked, a little excited to meet another magical family.
"No, they're vampires," Yuki corrected.
"I see... Wait, what? Vampires? They're real?" Akira was stunned. He had no idea vampires existed.
"Yes, technically they're half-vampires called Dhampirs, but yes, they're real," Yuki said with a teasing smile. "But don't worry, they won't hurt you. They even have a girl your age. Maybe you'll become friends."
"I see... Well, if you say so," Akira said, now even more excited to meet actual vampires. Who knew? He might make his first friend in this world, and a real vampire one too.
"They're here," his father called from the front door. Akira and his mother went to greet them.
The door opened, revealing a boy and a girl, both with blond hair and blue eyes. The boy looked like a high school student, and the girl was about Akira's age.
"Nice to meet you, Akira kun. I'm Sendo Iori, and this is my little sister, Sendo Erika. Let's get along well, shall we?" the boy said with a smile.
"Ni…nice to meet you, my name is Sendo Erika", the girl said, stuttering a little in nervousness.
But Akira was too shocked to reply. Because he knew them, or rather, he recognized them. Both had blonde hair and striking blue eyes. They were probably half-Japanese. The boy looked like a high school student and wore an easy-going grin. But it was the girl who truly caught his attention.
A little girl similar to his age, she had waist-length golden blond hair and deep blue eyes, and she was wearing a white dress and two red ribbons tied neatly in her hair. She looked like a porcelain doll.
And Akira recognized her instantly.
Blonde hair. Blue eyes. Red ribbons. A vampire.
If even one of those traits had been missing, he might have dismissed it. But everything matched, and finally her name, Sendo Erika, he was sure, all of them were the characteristics of a heroine from an anime he watched in his previous life.
"Am I inside an anime world?" Akira wondered. He had always thought of this world as an alternate reality, but now he wasn't so sure.
Akira's mind went into overdrive to comprehend the situation. Sendo Erika, the girl in front of him, looked exactly like a character from the anime Fortune Arterial. It was originally a visual novel, but Akira never played it, but he did read the manga version.
The girl before him was a little younger than her anime counterpart, but he was almost certain it was the same character. Her brother, Sendo Iori, who stood next to her, was also a supporting character in the anime.
"Oh my, Akira-kun, why are you staring at my little sister like that? Did you fall for her at first sight?" Iori teased with a smile, noticing Akira's reaction.
"Huh? N-No, it's not like that!" Akira stammered, completely thrown off. He glanced at Erika, who was blushing faintly and fidgeting with her dress.
"Wait, what is this anime-like development?" he thought in disbelief. He wanted to say something to fix the misunderstanding, but no words came to mind.
"Iori-Kun, don't tease him like that," Yuki chimed in with a gentle smile. "This is the first time he's met someone his age, so it's natural he feels a little nervous."
Grateful for his mother's intervention, Akira took a deep breath, gathering himself. He quickly bowed and introduced himself. "Ahem, nice to meet you. I'm Hoshino Akira."
"Nice to meet you," Erika replied shyly.
Though she looked like her anime counterpart, her personality seemed slightly different. She didn't resemble the bold "Assault Vice President" from the anime.
"Maybe it's because she's younger," Akira thought, deciding not to jump to conclusions about this world without more investigation. For now, he opted to steer the conversation in a different direction.
"So, Mother, where are we going today?" Akira asked, realizing his mother had never mentioned their destination.
"We're going to a hotel," Yuki explained with a smile. "A world-renowned chef is in the area, and we thought it would be the perfect place for our first outing."
"First outing? More like first contact with the outside world", Akira thought, "I really wanted to go to Akihabara, but a hotel is not bad either".
Ever since his previous life, if there is one place he is most interested in, it's Akihabara, it's basically the holy land for otakus after all.
"All right, everyone ready? We shouldn't keep the chef waiting. Let's get going. We can talk on the way," Ryuji urged, gesturing for everyone to get into the car.
They climbed into the vehicle, which was an ordinary car, no magic involved. Akira's parents took the front seats while Akira and the Sendo siblings sat in the back.
"Hi," Akira said, glancing at Erika.
"Hi," she responded softly.
Both felt a bit awkward. For Akira, this was the first time he had ever met someone his age, and he wasn't sure what to say to a seven-year-old girl. Erika, on the other hand, was also meeting someone her age outside her family for the first time. After their initial greetings, they both fell into awkward silence.
"My, my, why are you so shy, Erika? Did you fall in love at first sight, too?" Iori teased, noticing his sister's hesitation.
"Shut up, oni-san! It's not like that!" Erika protested, her face turning bright red before she socked Iori in the face to shut him up.
"Yep, that reaction is just like her anime counterpart", Akira thought with a small smile. But now he faced a dilemma.
He didn't know how to talk to a seven-year-old girl.
In his previous life, he'd never had normal interactions with kids his age. And when he did meet children, it didn't go so well. Still, he wasn't about to let that stop him.
"The easiest way to talk to someone new is to find a common topic, right?" he reasoned. "And I'm pretty sure every kid likes anime. The most famous one for children is…"
After thinking for a while, he came to a conclusion, "Alright. Let's do this," He nodded to himself.
"So… do you like Pokémon?" Akira asked. Pokémon was basically the universal language of kids. Akira was sure every child liked Pokémon, so why not use it as the perfect icebreaker to make Erika relax?
But deep down, he had no idea what he'd do if this failed. "Please like Pokémon, please like Pokémon, please like Pokémon," he silently prayed for his plan to work.
Erika's eyes sparkled. "Yeah! I love Pokémon!"
"Oh, thank God," Akira exhaled in relief. "What's your favourite Pokémon? Mine's Charizard."
"I like Eevee the most!" Erika beamed.
With that, they started talking about Pokémon, slowly easing into a natural conversation. Meanwhile, Akira's thoughts wandered back to the strange prospect that he might be living in an anime world.
However, the inconsistencies were piling up. In the anime Fortune Arterial, there was no magic or magicians, and the Sendo siblings weren't true vampires. They had been artificially turned into vampires by some other means. In fact, they are not even real siblings.
But his mother had introduced them as Dhampirs, half-vampires born from the union of a vampire and a human. Furthermore, the anime's story took place on an island, while here, they were his neighbors.
"Are they just lookalikes, but not the same people?" Akira wondered, lost in thought. That's when he realized they were leaving the city and heading into a forested area.
"Mother, why are we leaving the city? Isn't the hotel in the city?" he asked, a bit puzzled.
"The hotel is outside the city," Yuki replied. "Don't worry, we'll be there soon."
"What kind of hotel is in a forest?" Akira thought, wondering if they were headed to some kind of magical hotel.
After a while, the hotel came into view, and Akira was taken aback. It wasn't just a hotel, it was a massive resort complex, nestled in the forest and surrounded by mountains. Despite the remote location, it seemed far from unpopular. But the resort itself wasn't what shocked him. It was the welcoming sign at the entrance: "Welcome to Totsuki Resort Hotel."
"No way... it can't be," Akira thought, recognizing the name. It was from another anime he had watched. Now, he had no idea what was going on, but he needed to confirm his suspicions.
"By the way, Mother, who's the chef you mentioned?" he asked, hoping her answer would clarify things.
"His name is Saiba Joichiro," Yuki said with a smile. "He's a famous chef who travels the world. He's hard to track down, but we have connections."
Akira froze in disbelief. He knew that name, too.
"What is happening here? Am I really in an anime world, but why are characters from two different anime here?" Akira's mind was reeling, overwhelmed by the absurdity of his situation.