The birthday celebration continues with one last stop on the birthday train before the duo retreated to their hotel for the night.
It's an area that Lila's familiar with, having spent countless hours when her family deployed to Japan many times over the years.
Anyone who, so much as picked up a manga, watched anime, or even browsed online, within the last couple of years knew this area by heart, and it's an echelon of everything loved by all.
Akihabara.
Renowned for the unique stores, arcades, name it, it has it, and with the help of Theodore finding a tear in the alleyway between an old bar and a medicine store, they got there in time before the nighttime crowd swelled, allowing them to peruse wares, see the sights, and the one thing Lila loved most about this area in the Chiyoda ward.
The arcades!
Anytime her family's stationed, she'd always have to carry at least an entire jar worth of arcade money so she'd have time to play all the games, and have enough to go for one of those gacha machines they put up near the arcades.
"Just don't go overboard, hm?" Theodore winked at her before Lila asserted that she's won countless prizes in her lifetime, only for Theodore to remind her that she wouldn't won the amount of prizes back in the States or even Britain.
Well, at least there's a level of fairness in this that none of the machines back home ever had, but still, Lila has a chance at winning some prizes, although explaining how she obtained them's a different story.
"Couldn't you say you bought them online?" Theodore suggested Lila lie that she obtained her hypothetical prizes from an online service and while Lila said that he's correct in his thinking, the prices of importing some of those prizes tended to exceed the cost it'd take to win them.
Pondering their options, Theodore then suggested that Lila put them in the TARDIS, Al could stand to have something to look at.
"Yeah, must get bored finding the loose cards," Lila chuckled as she lightly jabbed Theodore, after Al found the loose cards from the old card game that Theodore's parents played together.
Exhaling, Theodore responded that the "old card game" made a fortune last year, with the ideas his parents gave them, and uncomfortably, he says he and his siblings have stock in it, as thanks by the company for all the ideas.
Made Lila stop walking for a moment as she processed what Theodore told her before echoing, "You have stock?"
Nodding, his wild hair bobbing, Theodore tells her that they have an even split, about 5% each, and he basically lives off the dividends.
"It explains everything!" Lila realized how Hammond paid her rent more than once and Theodore affirmed that the origins of the money came from the dividends earned every week.
That's not including their inheritance from their late parents.
Which, neither sibling touched, with them keeping it as an emergency fund, and hearing this, Lila's surprised how Theodore's telling her this like he's describing his day.
"Not many people talk openly about that kind of scratch, Theo," Lila walked with him towards a familiar arcade with the big blue letters on the front.
Reaching the red door, Theodore tells her, "Well, of course, I trust you, Lee. If I didn't, I'd never even tell you where I keep my jelly babies!"
In his own way, Theodore tells her that he trusts her enough to discuss money around her, before opening the door for them, entering inside to see the arcade cabinets, lining stretches of the building, back-to-back with people at them, the ambiance loud with coins clattering, arcade machines making nosies.
"All right, what's first on the list?" Theodore asks Lila what they should start with first and Lila tells him it's his birthday, he should get first dibs.
His icy blue eyes looking between the arcade cabinets, Theodore sees one with two drum sets, and points.
"Oooh, good choice, just a warning, though, it gives you a cardio workout," Lila tells him as they went towards the arcade machine with the colorful lights on the sides and the two drum sets side by side with distance so players don't accidentally bump into each other while playing.
Feeding the machine money with a tap of the credit card, they began playing with Lila helping choosing the songs, as there's at least seventy-five worth of songs, and they're off to a decent start.
Theodore struggled, but soon picked up in pace, as he's following the precision to the letter, even Lila couldn't keep up, that it was a miracle he didn't accidentally crack the plastic sticks or the drum.
At the end of the song, the score's tallied, and unsurprisingly, Theodore's in the top ten players.
He was going to put his initials in the scoreboard, but Lila talked him into letting her put his name into arcade history, and foolishly he believed her, as he watched her spell out a word.
テディ
"What does it say?" Theodore asks her and she grinned mischievously, quickly hitting the enter button, and having it listed with the other players in the bracket.
As she turned away, Lila smirked as she tells him, "Teddy."
Rather put down his name, Lila opted to give him a nickname, one suited for someone such as Theodore, and it made him flabbergasted as he read his nickname on the scoreboard.
"Why?" Theodore saw her leaving the arcade cabinet to look for another the two can play together and as they're walking, Lila tells him, "Well, you're soft and cuddly, but hell hath no fury than a pissed off tedi-senpai!"
Hearing Lila call him this, Theodore raised a finger as he's baffled, but Lila's already gone towards an open arcade machine that they're able to play together, a racing one.
"I'm 'tedi-senpai,' what does that mean?" Theodore inquired what it meant while Lila got into the plastic mold of a race car with a large screen in front.
Getting in the race car adjacent to her, Theodore heard her say, "You're Doctor Teddy, get it?"
Exhaling sharply, Theodore shook his head as he settled in his spot, his feet touching the pedals and his large hands on the steering wheel, on the large screen, there's a countdown timer.
And they're off to the races!
Lila's first place, but Theodore's behind her, they're drifting around the course, oh no, the giant piranha plant in the course got the kart racer in third place, but Lila and Theodore avoided it with ease.
Oh no, the green dinosaur's gaining traction, Lila knocks him back with a well-placed shell, Theodore's ahead, he's got his banana peels, he's throwing them everywhere, oh, Lila avoided them, but not the NPCs behind them!
Wait! Lila's gaining steam, she's coming up on Theodore, they're on the final stretch of the race, the moment the blue shell's deployed, both Theodore and Lila fell back enough that the poor mushroom got hit, then they're back, neck-and-neck, and they're coming up on the finishing line.
Lila got the red shell, but Theodore thwarted her by using the green shell as a shield, and Theodore wins!
While the splash screen showed the rankings, Lila turned her head to see Theodore giggling devilishly as he'd won.
"Woo! I am the champion!" Theodore held his palms together as he gestured, whooping, Lila rolling her eyes, catching sight of a slender man wearing a shiny black leather jacket with black shiny hair to match, looking over at them with his black eyes on Theodore.
Calming Theodore, they got out of the race cars, and continued their trek around the arcade before attempting their hands at winning something from the crane machines.
"I'm an expert," Theodore tells Lila that he can win them anything from the crane machines and Lila challenged him to win one of the better prizes, which he took without question.
Inside one of the crane machines, there's a stuffed toy based on a popular character from a series that hadn't quite reached the States like it should've, but Lila liked it for what it's worth.
It's way in the back, with other toys crowding it, making it difficult for most players to obtain unless they either win the surrounding prizes or have the chance to pull them away far enough that they're able to chance winning it.
"Easier said than done, as you say, they're much fairer than the ones in the States," Theodore recalled what Lila told him about the crane machines being fairer.
Lila attempted to temper him, reminding him that even then, it's a game of chance and luck, which he pointed out, they're lucky they're still alive, and there's a strong chance he'll win the stuffed toy.
Hell, he may as well win one of every prize within the crane machine!
With three tries paid, Theodore took position in front of the crane machine, his eyes on the target, and Lila stood by as she watched him maneuver the crane over to the corner where the stuffed toy's located.
In his head, Theodore timed everything, before he began his crusade obtaining the stuffed toy.
If 'the Terminator' was real (and probably because, why the hell, not?) he would be Theodore, as Theodore's successful at obtaining the toy in one turn, much to Lila's amazement, as it came down the chute with a few other toys that Theodore timed would've being stuck to the stuffed toy due to the strings catching on it.
Collecting the three toys, Lila looked at them with her chestnut eyes glistening under the candy colored lights above, as Theodore posed with his hands exclaiming, "It's all in the wrists!"
Rolling the word 'wrists' as he briefly rolled up his stitched sleeves to show Lila as she rolled her eyes, before Theodore returned to the crane game to win more toys with the next two turns he had.
As she stood with the three toys in her arms, Lila wondered aloud, "Where were you when I wanted that MP3 player?"
Oh, it must've been five years ago when Lila went on a trip with her dad and her brothers to the States to see family on his side, they went to the mall since it was close by, and there was a crane machine like this, whereas instead of stuffed toys, it offered the chance for people to win electronics.
The one electronic Lila wanted out of the crane machine was an iPod, looking at her with the shrink-wrapped packaging, and well, she had some quarters, so Lila tried her hand.
Multiple times.
Twenty-five dollars down the drain.
She did get some CD players out of it, the ones with the different color bezels, which she gifted to her brothers.
Dad never let her down for wasting that much money for an iPod, but considering how much they were going for, he couldn't deny that she had a point, but as he told her, the house always wins, and by god, it did.
Nowadays, several models later, Lila has one that's better than the iPod she saw back then, but the principle stands.
Seeing the toys cascading out of the chute as Theodore cleaned out the crane machine, left Lila standing there with a confused look on her face as she pointed out, "What're you going to do with all of them, you only needed one of each!"
Grabbing some, Theodore looked off in the distance for a moment, before throwing them into what should've been just the side of an arcade machine, but he tossed them through a rift, launching them into the TARDIS, leaving them with the extras.
Which, Theodore happily gave away to anyone who wanted them, without hesitation.
One girl affectionally called him the blue demon, 'aoi oni,' after he gave her a stuffed lion, before leaving with her perturbed boyfriend.
"See? All in the wrists!" Theodore rubbed his hands as the toys have been dispersed, either to people in the arcade, or tossed into the TARDIS through a temporary rift, so he may gift them to his sister, Bill, and mess with dear big brother.
Her hands free since Theodore sent the toys to the TARDIS to give them room, Lila says to him, "Where were you when I wanted to win that iPod?"
Thinking hard, Theodore answers, "Let's see, 2001… I was in Scotland, I think."
While he traveled all his lonesome, Theodore went around the UK, working odd jobs, not a care in the world, he ended up in Scotland, maybe, maybe he was still in Britain, just close to the border, where he worked within a community.
"You see Doc Martin, at all?" Lila asks if he ever saw the titular doctor and Theodore told him that he didn't, so maybe he was in Scotland, after all.
After spending enough time in the arcade, Theodore decided to call it, they had their fill of fun and food, but now it's time to retire to their hotel.
Since they're on vacation and with them holding Al to his word, Theodore decided to continue his exploration of Japan with Lila, by the time they arrive back in their universe, it'll only been a day.
Why rush through a trip of a lifetime?
"Hm, got any ideas?" Theodore asks Lila's thoughts on what they should do tomorrow as Lila pondered near the gacha machines while Theodore spent time obtaining one of every item within each of the gacha machines there.
Won them different things, like all six miniature Gundam kits, which Lila's good at putting together after numerous attempts ending in failure.
Rolled them all into little rifts that dropped them somewhere in the TARDIS for them to go through.
"Airlines must hate you!" Lila got a chuckle seeing the aloof giant sending little plastic balls filled with toys into a small tear he cobbled together in a corner of the arcade where there weren't any foot traffic.
Airlines shake their fists in anger at the thought the Smith siblings can get around their fees by simply opening unseen portals and traveling through them rather than pay the Devil his due.
Shrugging his wide shoulders, Theodore responds, "I'm just good, I guess!"
Oh yes, so many wonderful things won tonight, but now, they must leave, and so they did.
The crowds evened out and much of the foot traffic geared towards the night clubs and the bars, thus it became quieter, leaving the two walking under the light arches above.
Walking past the storefronts, Theodore felt a familiar chill running down his spine, and subtly turned his head to look behind them as they walked.
There isn't anyone behind them.
His icy blue eyes moving around ahead of them, Theodore didn't see anyone, and they passed a man smoking his cigarette in an alleyway, talking to another man.
They're almost to a quieter part of Akihabara where Theodore can easily make them a rift to go directly to their hotel when he saw a man standing on the corner, wearing a shiny black leather jacket, also smoking a cigarette, his black eyes pointed at the ground, not paying any attention.
Subtly, Theodore had them pick up pace without alerting Lila, and when they're nearing an alleyway with no foot traffic, he spotted the same man who he saw further back having a cigarette while speaking to the other man.
He saw the other man lingering near a closed karaoke bar, subtly looking at his cellphone.
Looking at their clothing, they're not yakuza, they're not from any gang Theodore's aware, the way the men move, they're not looking to mug them for money, no, they're following them, getting ahead of them.
His nightmare's confirmed when he heard a raspy voice behind them, he understood the words, "Where do you think you're going, idiot?"
Stopping with Lila grabbing his arm, Theodore spun around to face the man wearing the shiny black leather jacket, looking at him in the eyes, tall, lanky, there's an aura about him.
Theodore couldn't answer, but Lila's able to do it for them, asking, "Wh-what do you want?"
She heard the man rasp, "You two."
Theodore tensed up as Lila translated what the man said.
The three men stared them down as Theodore pulled Lila behind him, guarding her from the men as they eyed them.
Theodore tried to de-escalate the situation by showing the credit card, trying to buy them off, get them off their backs, but the men weren't interested in money.
As the man with the shiny black leather jacket leaned forward, Theodore sees the minute scales on the man's face, his black eyes staring him down, and the slits in his cheeks opening and closing.
When he opened his mouth, the man bore rows of white spiny teeth, glistening with salvia.
Turning his head, Theodore sees the other two men bearing their spiny teeth, the slits in their cheeks opening and closing.