Nerd to Nerd — Rintaro Kai
Notes : VRT UIJBHYGV FTT Y I need more Rintaro love... UGH this guy is solo carrying all you character enthusiasts... say it with me!! WE NEED MORE RINTARO LOVE !!!!!!!
Word count : 648
Warnings : too many mentions of Kanpyo roll... i mean unless you're a big fan too!!
Today was like any other ordinary day, skipping along the sidewalk humming your favourite tune from 'Sushi Musume', your most favourite anime ever! You couldn't imagine your life without anime, not with how much tears you've shed for your favourite characters. You were headed to your local anime store in search of new merch, and possibly a new manga to read.
"Good afternoon, Mr Kobayashi!"
You wave the cashier, an old man whos happily fixing the merch beside the register. "Good afternoon, y/n. Here for more Sushi Musume merch? Luckily, i was able to restock on a couple of items this morning, it should be enough."
You head straight to the back of the store, the sound of your shoes shuffling on the tile as you slid to a stop. Mr Kobayashi is such a kind man — instead of the normal 2 stocked shelves, there are 5 shelves housing all kinds of Sushi Musume merch!
Quickly eyeing the shelves from top the bottom, you spot the one and only... Kanpyo Roll! She's a minor character in the series, but the fact that they've made her 3D makes your eyes burst into tears. When did they announce this? The last time they released merch of her, she was a rubber keychain! (which you have plenty in stock of at home)
"Aha! How lucky of me!! The heavens must have heard my prayers!!"
Your hand landed on the first box of the middle row, and then another person's hand landed on yours?! Who is this fellow? Is he a fan of Kanpyo Roll too? Or is he just those collector types...
"Oh. Do you like Kanpyo too?" (Exactly what you were just thinking!!)
You traced your eyes, from his hand to his arm, the stripped patterns of his plaid shirt, all the way to his face, noticing the huge glasses he had on. He was tall... really tall. Does he work out often? Wait, no. Not important.
"Of course! Kanpyo has such a noble and pure heart, I can't believe other fans don't notice that! I mean, did you hear?! They called her a bottle gourd, completely unjustified— they knew nothing about her!!"
"I know right?! And the fact that there are only three pieces of merch of her, unbelievable! She shows compassion towards the sea, even though the ingredient she was based on isn't related to the sea whatsoever!"
You two had hit it off immediately, pointing out whatever facts you had about your favourite character, discussing the merch lines and ultimately coming to an agreement on who'd be the first to take the box.
"y/n! y/n l/n. We could add each other! Give me your line contact!"
"y/n. I'm Rintaro Kai. You can be the first fan to collect our precious Kanpyo Roll. I'll just collect the whole shelf anyways! Or were you planning to do that too?"
"Nah, just taking a few boxes, she could still have fans out there like you, or maybe I'm just being a bit too optimistic..."
You exchanged lines, his name reminding of you of an eerily similar idol to this Rinaro you've just met... he could just be a doppleganger for all you know.
He left with a trolley of hundreds of boxes of Kanpyo, while you carried your shopping bag with four boxes for yourself.
You nearly forgot! He was about to tell you about his spreadsheet detailing all of Kanpyo's achievements! You better remind him of that... he mentioned it was colour coded too!
You couldn't believe you met such a guy... strong build, charming voice... hell, he's even a fan of the most minor yet amazing character ever! (You both agreed on that) You definitely needed to talk to him more, maybe he could show you his collection of Kanpyo button pins next time?
© 2026 lustrousity — Do not copy, repost, translate, or feed into ai.