I eventually got to the store, my noodles for feet were already tired so I decided to just buy the drink and have it there instead.
The store lady was nice though. Had a nice scent too. "What I wouldn't give to be laid." I thought, sitting down by the window.
Tonight wasn't anything special buy any chance, honestly I didn't think it would be, but then that feeling came again.
This time...stronger.
It felt like I was being watched and yet, when I looked around, made brief eye contact with the store's lady and then stared back at the can in front of me, I realized that this might've been some kind of paranoia.
But...
Whywould I be paranoid?
"I think I just need to sleep..." I thought, getting up to go to the manga section.
Part of being a manga artist here in Tokyo meant that I had an endless supply of idea to rip off from other manga's made by people who truly knew what they were doing.
The only problem was...
"Ah, man. They still haven't updated to the latest chapter yet?" I muttered to myself, flipping through the multi colored books.
...manga artists were also people. And people had lives.
So finally, I did the one thing that I swore I'd never do.
I picked up my own manga.
"The Gentle Assassin."
I'd put a lot of effort into that book.
Plotlines. Characters...
Assets.
I loved the work it was just tiring.
I got to the third chapter of the first Volume. A small smile crept up my lips. It was my favorite panel, the one with Akira screaming her brother's name as she found his dead body.
"And then your journey begins from here, Aki..." I whispered to myself.
I'd forgotten about the can in my hand and unfortunately, I dropped the half empty beverage.
"Is everything alright there, sir?" The store's lady asked.
I chuckled softly, leaning down to pick up the drink, "Yeah, everything's..." my sentence died midway.
My eyes dilated a little bit.
Underneath my can, was a glowing blue stone. It had a crescent shape and strangely enough, I hadn't noticed a glowing rock when I came to this isle?
"What the heck is this?" I said, picking it up with one hand, the other still clutching my manga.
Then suddenly...almost immediately after I said that, a bright blinding light flashed my eyes.
It hurt so bad.
My ears were ringing, eyes watering, legs shaking, body trembling and before I knew what was happening, it all just...stopped.
It took me a while to recover from my disorientation.
I let out a soft groan as I reach out to grab a cold metal rod right next to me.
Huh. Strange. I don't recall stores having cold rods before?
I stumbled to my feet, still grasping my book in my hands before I eventually opened my eyes and...
"What the hell?"
Why was I standing on the top of a building?