Chapter 294: Ikebukuro isn't just a normal district
After their talk before, Ebina didn't hide her desire and bravely walked toward "Otome Road."
"Senpai, I don't need to enter, right?" Shishio asked unsurely. He knew that Ikebukuro might not be a peaceful place, but no ganks or yakuza would enter an "Otome Road," right?
Ebina laughed when she heard Shishio's question. "You can wait here then. Give me my bag, by the way."
Shishio gave Ebina's bag, and she also gave him his bag, but when they were about to do it, someone called Ebina's name.
"Ebina-shi?"
Shishio and Ebina turned their heads and saw a group of four people with three men and one woman.
"Erika-shi?"
"Wow! It's Ebina-shi! It's rare to see you at night like this! Did you come for that?"
"Yes, Erika-shi! I have been waiting for that, and I can't wait for it!"
"Um! Um! I understand how you feel since we need to wait for two months for this to work!"
Then Ebina and the girl, whose name was Erika started to talk with words that Shishio and three men couldn't understand and didn't want to join no matter what.
Shishio and the three men looked at each other and could only show a wry smile to each other, and somehow they understood each other feelings at this moment.
Shishio looked at Ebina, then looked at Erika, who was dressed in a black cheongsam and a black newsboy cap. He could see that she had brown eyes and brown hair tied in a braid. He looked at this girl and knew that he had seen this girl in his previous life.
"......" Shishio didn't say much and only looked at the night sky in silence since the conversation between the two girls wasn't something he could join, nor did he want to.
"Kyaaa, I can't wait to get it!" Ebina squealed in happiness.
"Let's go! Let's go! We're not the only ones who are aiming for it! It'll be terrible if it sells out!" Erika was also excited and wanted to enter the store directly.
"Okay! Okay! Let's go!" Ebina also couldn't wait any longer either.
"Wait, Senpai. You forgot your bag." Shishio quickly reminded Ebina.
"Oh, right! Thanks, Oga-kun." Ebina stopped, and they exchanged bags with each other. She looked at him and asked, "I'm going to enter the battlefield. Are you not coming?"
"...Thank you, but I'll wait here," Shishio said and felt speechless.
"What a shame..." Ebina sighed and said, "Wait here then, it won't be long! Let's go, Erika-shi!"
"Ah, yes..." Erika nodded as she looked at Shishio curiously, and when Ebina moved closer, she whispered and asked, "Is that your boyfriend? I'm so jealous that you can have a boyfriend that can understand your hobby."
What was the biggest problem with Fujoshi? They wanted a boyfriend, but they didn't want an Otaku boyfriend since they also had a prejudice over Otaku, thinking that they were disgusting. It might be weird. After all, Fujoshi was also disgusting since they loved to see BL-related goods, but before they were Fujoshi, they were also a girl. They still dreamed of having their prince to fuck them, not fat and sweaty Otaku who always wore a silly t-shirt.
Ebina's expression was a bit unnatural, but she didn't answer Erika's question, showed her bright smile, and quickly said, "Come on, Erika-shi! It won't be good if we don't get the goods!"
"Come on!" Erika nodded without hesitation with burning eyes.
Shishio looked at the back of Ebina and Erika, and he could see "Go!Go!Go!Go!Go!Go!" onomatopoeia behind them, which made him speechless. He then looked at the three men that came together with Erika and gave a polite nod. "Hello."
"Hello." 3x
Shishio didn't think too much and started to talk with the three of them, and he knew that as expected that they were the Van Gang from the "Durarara!"
Shishio knew that there were a lot of characters in this world, but he didn't expect that there would be so much. 'It seems this world is deeper than I'd thought.' Still, he didn't think too much since compared to the existence of Yuujiro Hanma, the scale of "Durarara!" was smaller since it only revolved around Ikebukuro, and he didn't live on Ikebukuro, so everything that happened in this district had nothing to do with him.
As Ebina and Erika went to the battlefield, the four men talked to each other.
Shishio knew the names of the three men in their 20s were Kyouhei Kadota, Walker Yumasaki, and Saburo Togusa. Still, he had to admit that the three of them gave him a different impression.
Walker Yumasaki was the usual Otaku with fox-like eyes.
Saburo Togusa was like a laid-back guy that often picks up a girl on the street, but deep inside, he was an idol-chaser.
Kyouhei Kodata was like a genuinely good guy.
Still, the three of them gave him quite a deep impression.
The three of them also had a good impression of Shishio since he was polite and didn't have prejudice over "Fujoshi."
"Oga-kun, are you Ebina-chan's boyfriend?" Yumasaki asked with a smile as if he was about to hear the hottest news this year.
Fujoshi wasn't uncommon on the Ikebukuro, especially on the Otome Road, but someone as cute as Ebina Hina was rare.
Shishio had to admit that Ebina was cute, and if she wasn't cute, then there was no way that Yumiko Miura would befriend her since usually a cute girl would attract another cute girl. It was like a Stand-user would attract another Stand-user. Still, the girls' friendship was more complicated than the meeting between Stand-users since if two Stand-users couldn't accept each other, they would directly fight with each other, beating each other to a pulp, but girls were using the underhanded techniques, gathered a crowd, creating a rumor, and doing various things to take down their opponents with a vicious method.
Somehow Shishio felt that he was glad that he was born as a guy.
"Hey, Yumasaki, don't be so rude!" Kodaka couldn't help but remind Yumasaki since this guy was quite rude.
"Sorry, sorry, but I'm quite curious, you know? Ebina-chan is the pearl on the Otome Road after all," Yumasaki said sheepishly.
'Pearl of the Otome Road?' Shishio was wondering whether Ebina was really that famous. "It's alright, Kodata-san. I don't mind answering Yumisaki-san's question."
"Sorry about that, Oga-kun," Kodata also apologized.
"Ebina-senpai isn't my girlfriend. She's my senior," Shishio said.
"Senpai? You're younger than her?" Saburo looked up at Shishio and felt the malice of the world. Shishio was younger than him, but his height wasn't that different from Kodata.
"I'm a freshman in high school this year." Shishio didn't hide his identity since he knew that the three of them weren't bad guys.
"So you're coming to accompany her?" Kodata asked.
"Well, yeah, and I'm also quite curious about Ikebukuro since it is my first time here," Shishio said.
"Oh? Your first time?"
They were quite surprised by Shishio's words.
"How come it is your first time?" Saburo asked weirdly. After all, Ikebukuro was a famous commercial district, and it would have been weird if someone hadn't come to the Ikebukuro. However, when he observed Shishio again, he felt that it wasn't that weird since even though Shishio might dress normally like them, he could see that Shishio seemed like someone born from a royal clan or something. He wasn't that sure, though.
"Are you coming outside of Tokyo?" Kodata asked.
"I'm from Kyoto," Shishio said.
"Kyoto!" 3x
The three of them were surprised when they tried to observe Shishio again.
Shishio looked at the three of them, who looked at him as if an alien and could only shake his head since they were too rude, right?
Even though it might be rare to see someone from Kyoto, it didn't mean that it was okay to stare at someone so rudely like this.
"Cough! Cough!" Shishio coughed to remind them.
Kodata was the first one who realized how rude their reaction was and quickly apologized. "I'm sorry for the rudeness." He then slapped the heads of Saburo and Yumisaki since they were still staring at Shishio. "Don't be rude to him like that!"
"Sorry, sorry, but the last time I was in Kyoto was during my high school's school trip, and as expected, Kyoto's people really had an elegant aura around them..." Saburo said in amazement.
"Not all the people in Kyoto like me. Please don't put such prejudice over Kyoto's men, but thank you for your praise," Shishio said calmly.
"Sorry..." Saburo quickly apologized since he knew he was quite rude, but the atmosphere didn't feel awkward since Shishio didn't make it that way.
"What a shame... if you're a little older, then I'll bring you to a good place..." Yumisaki sighed regretfully.
"Fun place?" Shishio was curious.
"That place!" Yumisaki pointed his finger at the nearby Animate.
"...I don't need to be an adult to enter an Animate, right?" Shishio asked weirdly.
"No, no, no, the place that I want to bring you might be inside the Animate, but..." Yumisaki moved closer and whispered, "There's a really, really fun place inside..."
Yumisaki's whisper was like a voice of the devil that tried to tempt a human.
Shishio somehow understood the meaning of Yumisaki's words, and as a man, there was no way that he didn't understand where Yumisaki wanted to bring him. "Isn't that alright? With my weight and facemask, who will think that I'm underage?"
Yumisaki smiled when Shishio quickly caught up. "That's true. Should we go now? I'll introduce you to the new world!"
"...New world..." Shishio would be lying if he wasn't interested since he only saw the culture of this country through a convenience store, and he hadn't entered a specialized store like Animate. "Still, I'm afraid that Ebina-senpai might go back."
"You don't need to worry. It might take a while for them to come back since they need to get a lot of things and also a signature from the author," Yumisaki whispered like a devil again.
Shishio still hesitated, but Yumisaki quickly added, "Kodata-san and Saburo-san can wait here and tell them that we're going to the toilet for a while, right?"
"....." Kodata and Saburo.
Shishio looked at Yumisaki for a moment, bowed his head slightly, and said, "Please take care of me, Yumisaki-senpai."
"Okay, Oga-kun! Follow me! Let me guide you to the new world!" Yumisaki smiled brightly then looked at Kodata and Saburo. "Please take care of the scene, alright, Kodata-san, Saburo-san! Let's go, Oga-kun!"
"OH!"
Shishio and Yumisaki didn't hesitate and walked toward the forbidden area of the Animate under the speechless stare of Kodata and Saburo, who could only shake each other helplessly.