no, no! The Dollars don’t have those! I-I’m just an errand runner, that’s all!”
“Oh, really? Well, anyway, I’m just excited to know that someone from the Dollars is so close nearby!”
His childlike impression extended to his actions, not just his looks. From a distance they looked like middle school brothers, but they were both fully fledged high schoolers.
Mikado wavered on how to respond, then gave up and, with a careful look around, told his younger schoolmate, “All right. But you shouldn’t talk about it at school, and I’d appreciate it if you kept this as secret as possible.”
The words were cold and distant, but Aoba’s face broke into a delighted beam. “Sure thing! But I have one request of you…”
“Request?”
“I don’t really know much about Ikebukuro. So can you show me around the city?”
He conferred with Anri after that but still didn’t feel confident in his ability to give a tour, so he resignedly turned to people he knew who were more knowledgeable about the area—and that turned out to be Yumasaki and Karisawa.
Man, if Masaomi were still here, I wouldn’t have to go through all this trouble
, Mikado grumbled to himself, then banished the thought.
Masaomi Kida was a longtime friend of Mikado’s who had vanished on him and Anri. As a major figure of the Yellow Scarves, who were feuding with the Dollars, he decided he needed to get out of town after they learned each other’s secrets. It didn’t really matter to Mikado, but Masaomi had his own thoughts about the ordeal, and Mikado wasn’t going to pry.
Don’t even start. If you can’t handle this without relying on Masaomi, then you can’t hold your head up and smile when he comes back.
Mikado waited for Masaomi’s return for his own reasons. Praying that on the day the three of them came together, they could laugh and smile again.
“Mikado! Mikado, what’s up? Hellooo?”
“Huh?!” he said, snapping back to attention as he heard his name.
“Are you sleepy? Should we give you a wake-up call with some anime songs?”
“Uh, er, aaah! S-sorry!” Mikado stammered, back to reality after his long contemplation of Masaomi and the Yellow Scarves.
When they got down to the details, Yumasaki and Karisawa were more gung ho on the idea than he expected. They began to argue among themselves about which spots were best to show a young man around Ikebukuro.
At first, the pair was recommending Animate, Toranoana, Yellow Submarine, and other hard-core nerd spots, but Mikado was relieved that they eventually settled into more mainstream, recognizable names.
Suddenly, Karisawa looked up at Mikado and suggested, “Why don’t we just go with you?”
“Huh?”
“You’re not going to have much time to learn detailed info about the places we’re listing off for you. So shouldn’t we just go with you? Plus, we don’t know what this younger kid is like. It might be best to make adjustments to the plan on the fly after we meet him in person.”
“Well…”
Mikado wasn’t sure how to respond. It would be a huge help, ofcourse, but he didn’t know what kind of impression they would leave on a relatively normal schoolmate. They
looked
normal, sure, but all they had to do was open their mouths to reveal their status as ambassadors from the 2-D realm. What’s worse, they had no intention of meeting people halfway in that regard.
It didn’t bother Mikado that much, but what would Aoba Kuronuma think?
Well, they’re approachable, and they’re pretty nice. It shouldn’t be a problem
, Mikado thought, an eternal optimist who blindly believed in the concept that if you just talked to someone, you could find common understanding.
“Are you sure you’d be up for that?”
“Oh, sure thing. We’re free this evening, anyway.”
“It’s not going to create a work conflict or anything?” Mikado asked in concern, but Karisawa just looked nonplussed.
“Oh? We didn’t tell you?”
“?”
“Yumacchi and I
“Oh, really? Well, anyway, I’m just excited to know that someone from the Dollars is so close nearby!”
His childlike impression extended to his actions, not just his looks. From a distance they looked like middle school brothers, but they were both fully fledged high schoolers.
Mikado wavered on how to respond, then gave up and, with a careful look around, told his younger schoolmate, “All right. But you shouldn’t talk about it at school, and I’d appreciate it if you kept this as secret as possible.”
The words were cold and distant, but Aoba’s face broke into a delighted beam. “Sure thing! But I have one request of you…”
“Request?”
“I don’t really know much about Ikebukuro. So can you show me around the city?”
He conferred with Anri after that but still didn’t feel confident in his ability to give a tour, so he resignedly turned to people he knew who were more knowledgeable about the area—and that turned out to be Yumasaki and Karisawa.
Man, if Masaomi were still here, I wouldn’t have to go through all this trouble
, Mikado grumbled to himself, then banished the thought.
Masaomi Kida was a longtime friend of Mikado’s who had vanished on him and Anri. As a major figure of the Yellow Scarves, who were feuding with the Dollars, he decided he needed to get out of town after they learned each other’s secrets. It didn’t really matter to Mikado, but Masaomi had his own thoughts about the ordeal, and Mikado wasn’t going to pry.
Don’t even start. If you can’t handle this without relying on Masaomi, then you can’t hold your head up and smile when he comes back.
Mikado waited for Masaomi’s return for his own reasons. Praying that on the day the three of them came together, they could laugh and smile again.
“Mikado! Mikado, what’s up? Hellooo?”
“Huh?!” he said, snapping back to attention as he heard his name.
“Are you sleepy? Should we give you a wake-up call with some anime songs?”
“Uh, er, aaah! S-sorry!” Mikado stammered, back to reality after his long contemplation of Masaomi and the Yellow Scarves.
When they got down to the details, Yumasaki and Karisawa were more gung ho on the idea than he expected. They began to argue among themselves about which spots were best to show a young man around Ikebukuro.
At first, the pair was recommending Animate, Toranoana, Yellow Submarine, and other hard-core nerd spots, but Mikado was relieved that they eventually settled into more mainstream, recognizable names.
Suddenly, Karisawa looked up at Mikado and suggested, “Why don’t we just go with you?”
“Huh?”
“You’re not going to have much time to learn detailed info about the places we’re listing off for you. So shouldn’t we just go with you? Plus, we don’t know what this younger kid is like. It might be best to make adjustments to the plan on the fly after we meet him in person.”
“Well…”
Mikado wasn’t sure how to respond. It would be a huge help, ofcourse, but he didn’t know what kind of impression they would leave on a relatively normal schoolmate. They
looked
normal, sure, but all they had to do was open their mouths to reveal their status as ambassadors from the 2-D realm. What’s worse, they had no intention of meeting people halfway in that regard.
It didn’t bother Mikado that much, but what would Aoba Kuronuma think?
Well, they’re approachable, and they’re pretty nice. It shouldn’t be a problem
, Mikado thought, an eternal optimist who blindly believed in the concept that if you just talked to someone, you could find common understanding.
“Are you sure you’d be up for that?”
“Oh, sure thing. We’re free this evening, anyway.”
“It’s not going to create a work conflict or anything?” Mikado asked in concern, but Karisawa just looked nonplussed.
“Oh? We didn’t tell you?”
“?”
“Yumacchi and I
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