seigaku_no_neko | Downtown Tokyo, with Jordan

It's good that it's not awkward for Jordan. But it's still awkward for Kaidō, because he has a way of making things awkward for himself.

He doesn't particularly appreciate being told to "chill," either. But he doesn't say anything... He just hisses. (Yes... hisses.)

But Jordan's right, and the rest of the team appears momentarily.

"So where are we off to now?" Fuji asks, not having heard the conversation about the manga shop.

Good, because Jordan was already pondering teaching Kaidō the real meaning of scary. "I was looking or a good manga store. Ōishi said he knew one."

...of course she expects at least a few of them to take her there. At least Eiji and Ōishi.

After a few minutes of discussion, it's decided that Eiji and Ōishi will take her, and Fuji's going to come too. Somehow Fuji's managed to drag Tezuka along as well, but he doesn't seem particularly interested. Inui and Kawamura will stick around here with the underclassmen.

"Okay, well, it's this way to the station," Ōishi points, leading the way.

Hey, would you look at that. Turns out they're right in the middle of Shinjuku. A couple minutes of walking, and they turn onto one of the most famous streets in Tokyo. Just a few more minutes to the station.

Jordan quickly orients herself, and makes a mental note to drop by the Golden Gai later on; right now, she moves towards the train station, slipping on the earplugs of her music player and selecting an adequate playlist.

Hmm, japanese indie pop.

The four boys seem content to follow her and talk amongst themselves.

"We're going to Ikebukuro," Ōishi tells Jordan, when they get to the ticket machines. It's 150 yen one-way on the Yamanote line, and should only take 9 minutes to get there. (Or Jordan can buy an all-day rail pass for 1000 yen.)

Shinjuku is a huge station, but from there it's just following the bright green signs to the platform. These boys have done this hundreds of times, and it shows.

After a bit of pondering, she goes for the all-day pass. "I've been here a couple times before. But just passing through." Jordan likes the signals: they are clear and simple and make the getting to the train easier.

Hopefully, there will be seats open. But if not... well, that's life.

It's not rush hour, and a lot of people get off at Shinjuku. And since they make it to the platform not long after the last train left, they're first in line to get into the train car. Odds are, there will be at least a couple seats open.

The train arrives a few minutes later. Hey, look at that... there are a few seats open! Take your pick, Jordan.

The boys choose to stand, though. It's only a few stops to Ikebukuro, after all. They continue to talk and joke amongst themselves, like boys do.

Jordan plops down on a seat, stretches a bit and listens to her music and the chatter of the boys.

Most of all, she is enjoying not being in danger here. No secret agencies appearing to hunt her, no giant monsters... just a normal day in a normal city.

As they reach the right stop, she gets up and follows the boys out, joining in the conversation, showing interest in whatever topic they are discussing.

She may not know what they're talking about right away. Before she took off her headphones, she may have caught snippets of something called "Triple Counter" (in English), but the conversation itself probably doesn't make much sense. She probably picked up that it has something to do with tennis, though-- it seems the boys can't stay off that subject for very long.

"C'mon, Fuji, what are they?" Eiji whines, grabbing onto Fuji's shoulder as they walk. (Tezuka and Ōishi walk slightly behind, with Jordan.)

But Fuji just smiles his strange little smile. "Saa..." (Loosely translated, "Hmm, I wonder...")

"I bet they don't even exist. You've probably just been pulling our legs all along."

Tezuka makes a little "hmph" noise, but the other three boys don't seem to hear it.

"I think he just wants you to keep asking, Eiji!" Jordan pipes up, grinning. "Fuji, that's not nice." Fun, but not nice.

"What is Triple Counter anyway? It better be a big deal for you to tease Eiji that way!"

"He's been teasing all of us!" Eiji says, still whining a little. "They're these super-fancy tennis shots that Fuji came up with, but he never uses them..."

"Eiji, don't bore Jordan with all of that," Ōishi cautions. "Besides, it's no use talking about it; Fuji's not going to tell you."

Fuji just chuckles, lightly.

"I bet it does not even exist." Jordan shakes head. "Or it is not worth much..."

"Well, it is worth him teasing you all over it. And nothing more." Now she is tauting Fuji.

"You think so?" Fuji asks, acting like he's somewhere in between teasing back and being genuinely curious.

"I know you are teasing your friends, dangling something they want just out of their reach. It means it is more valuable while your friends do not know..." Jordan shrugs.

"Maybe," Fuji concedes, thoughfully. "Or maybe it just has a different sort of value."

Jordan gives a smirk. "Still. You are enjoying yourself by taunting the others."

Fuji thinks for a moment before saying, "You can't tell me you've never taunted someone before, and enjoyed it."

Because Fuji wouldn't believe you.

"Not in the way you are doing." She did 'taunt' people while she had them at the business end of some big gun. "Besides, the fact I did something close to it does not make you any less mean."

"Oh, I'm not trying to be mean," Fuji says. "I just think of them as 'secret weapons.' It's not my fault that some people are anxious to know what they are."

Eiji sticks his tongue out at Fuji.

"I'm sure we'll get to see them at some point, Eiji," Ōishi says, trying to be diplomatic.

"Maybe," Fuji adds.

Jordan moves over to Eiji, hooking her arm on his. "First step, is to stop asking him. The less fun he has with taunting, the sooner he will stop." And she walks along with her friend.

Eiji's mostly just appeased by the fact that Jordan is walking arm-in-arm with him, in front of his friends. He's blushing a little, but it makes him happy.

"What's the second step?" he asks, leaning in and half-whispering.

"Stop caring about it for real. That way, when he finally decides to fess up, everything he says will seem lackluster, boring or only mildly interesting at best." She nods, whispering back. "Perfect revenge for the taunting."

Eiji chuckles happily.

They turn a corner and come upon a tall building with a large blue sign. "All right, this is the store I was talking about," Ōishi says, pointing to it.

"Oh, I've been here," Fuji chimes in, cheerfully. "It's a good store."

"Isn't it kind of a girl's store?" Eiji asks.

"Not really. They have everything," Ōishi insists, but he's blushing a little. (He might have bought a few things here, when he went with his sister from time to time.) "Besides, Jordan is a girl..."

"Oh." Jordan smiles seeing the place. "I've heard of it, but never been here before."

While the other boys discuss if it is a girls' store or not, Jordan tugs Eiji along to go in.

There are probably tons of unread manga in there, and she plans to reverse that situation.

Welcome to nine floors of anime/manga heaven, Jordan.

The building is a bit narrow, so there's not a lot of stuff on each floor. She'll be able to read the sign as to how things are organized.

The first floor is magazines and a few snacks. It's also where you'd get tickets to the latest anime-related events, but that's probably not of interest.

The second floor says "books": meaning, lots and lots of manga. This floor is for mostly shonen series. The shelves look very similar to ones you'd find in a bookstore, and they are packed.

Third floor is for shojo series. All the titles on the bindings are red, and if you pull them out, many of the covers are pink or some related color.

The fourth floor has doujinshi and some merchandise. The comics are organized by series.

The fifth floor says "character goods"-- more fan-based merchandise. These are also organized by series, and tend to be cheap-looking little things like pins and notebooks and pencils and little sweat towels. Also stuffed toys.

The sixth floor has trading cards and figurines.

The seventh floor has CDs and DVDs. Everything up there is ridiculously expensive, though... No wonder piracy is so rampant in Japan. CDs are on the shelves, DVDs are on the wall. It's not just anime, either... There are some dramas and even anime-based musicals. Mostly anything with hot guys in it.

Eighth floor is video games. Nintendo DS games are on the shelves along with actual gaming systems, and everything else is on the walls.

The ninth floor isn't worth going up to, at least not today; it's an event space and nothing's going on.

Have fun! Eiji and the boys will probably follow Jordan around, maybe comment on some items near whatever she's looking at.

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