Durarara!!, Vol. 1 (novel) by Ryohgo Narita Page A

ceremony, but otherwise they didn’t even appear to be students at the same school.
    “Well, we didn’t get to hang out yesterday because of your moving in and getting Internet access and all. I’ll show you somewhere today if you buy me a meal,” Masaomi offered. Mikado had no reason to refuse. Clubs were forbidden from canvassing for new members until later, so they were able to leave campus without being harassed. The Sunshine 60 building loomed in the corner of their eyes as they headed for the shopping district.
    Ikebukuro was a mysterious place to Mikado. Each major street seemed to have its own distinct culture; he felt a bewildering new alienation with each and every block.
    “Anyplace you wanna go?”
    “Uhm… Where’s a bookstore?” Mikado asked in front of a fast-food place at the entrance to 60-Kai Street. Masaomi thought it over.
    “Well, if you want books, our best bet around here is Junkudo… What are you looking for?”
    “I guess I’d like some manga to read once I get back home…”
    Masaomi started walking in silence.
    “There’s a place down that way that sells a ton of manga. Let’s go there.”
    He made his way to an intersection with an arcade, then turned right. It had yet another totally different vibe than 60-Kai Street, and Mikado couldn’t help feeling like he’d wandered into a different neighborhood again. At this point, it still took all of Mikado’s concentration to get from his train stop to his apartment, and he felt that one wrong turn down an alleyway was a mistake from which he’d never recover to find his bearings.
    “It looks like they sell lots of
doujinshi
here, too.”
    Doujinshi.
As a resident of the Net, Mikado was not a total stranger to the fan-made manga zines, but he’d never bought one for himself. He remembered some of the girls from middle school squealing over them, but from what he knew based on the Internet, they were all sexually explicit and age restricted to buyers eighteen or older.
    “A-are we even allowed inside? Won’t they yell at us?”
    “Huh?” Masaomi shot back, completely bewildered. Suddenly, a voice called out to them.
    “Hey, it’s Kida.”
    “Long time no see!”
    “Aha, Karisawa and Yumasaki! Hi.”
    It was a boy and a girl. They both seemed extremely pale for people appearing outside in the middle of the day. The boy was spindly with a sharp gaze and he carried a heavy-looking backpack, but he didn’t seem to be preparing for a camping trip, as far as Mikado could tell.
    The girl asked Masaomi, “Who’s this? A friend?”
    “Oh, he’s a longtime friend. We just started at the same school.”
    “So today was your first day of high school? Congrats.”
    Masaomi finally got around to introducing the two.
    “The girl here is Karisawa, and the guy is Yumasaki.”
    “…Ah…umm…my name’s Mikado Ryuugamine.”
    The guy named Yumasaki tilted his head when he heard the name. It was incredibly affected and made him look like a figurine. He ignored the confused Mikado and turned to Karisawa.
    “Is that a pen name?”
    “Why would a first-year high school student introduce himself with a pen name? Are you talking about the kind you use to submit letters to a radio show or magazine?”
    “Um, actually, it’s my real name,” Mikado mumbled.
    Their eyes widened.
    “No way, it’s real?!”
    “That’s awesome! That’s so cool! You’re like the protagonist of a manga or something!” Karisawa and Yumasaki raved.
    “Geez… You’re making me feel self-conscious.”
    “Why would
you
feel self-conscious, Kida?”
    Left out of a conversation entirely about himself, Mikado was at a loss for what to do. Eventually Yumasaki noticed his awkward distance and briefly checked the time on his cell phone.
    “Okay, okay, sorry to take up your time. You were heading somewhere, weren’t you?”
    “No, we weren’t in any kind of rush,” Mikado responded with a rapid shake of his head, feeling even more self-conscious