Unlike previous years, I'd spent the first two days of Golden Week running around, so I holed up at home for the next couple of days.
Though, to be fair, I did go downstairs to help out at my parents' shop, so "holed up" might be a bit of an overstatement.
In any case, we were now on the fifth day of Golden Week.
This year, the holiday ended on a Friday, which meant it blended into the weekend for a total of nine days off. We were only just past the halfway point.
Around 10 AM, I left home and headed for Akihabara to buy the new manga I'd resolved to get on the first day of the break, back when I was twisting in boredom.
***
Akihabara.
Widely known as the holy land for otakus, it was a district that, until the early 2000s, was better known for its electronics stores.
Its convenient location in central Tokyo was one factor, but the sheer number of companies, large and small, meant that suit-clad salarymen actively bustled through the streets.
In that sense, it was a neighborhood with a strangely unique position, a place where otakus and salarymen coexisted.
"Excuse me. Coming through."
Stepping off a subway train—always packed during Golden Week—the first things to greet you were the various game advertisements and anime posters.
It was as if they were implicitly declaring 'Normies Keep Out,' a dizzying array of subculture ads you wouldn't see at other stations.
Climbing the station stairs to ground level, a forest of towering skyscrapers unfolded before my eyes.
But unlike other districts, the building walls were plastered with all sorts of anime and game ads, giving it an otherworldly atmosphere.
I may have started studying it out of necessity, but I'm self-aware enough to know that I'm what most people would call an otaku.
Still, whenever I came to Akihabara to buy manga, I always found myself overwhelmed by the street's almost demonic energy.
To be honest, it was like my resistance to it was too low.
Even with Kim Yu-seong's memories, I just couldn't get used to this place's unique atmosphere.
"It was to the right from here, I think..."
My destination for the day was Shosen Book Tower.
It's a bookstore in Akihabara specializing in subculture, mainly handling new releases of manga and light novels, making it the perfect spot for people like me whose main goal was to buy books.
Following the familiar streets, I soon arrived in front of the bookstore.
Stepping inside, I was met with a calmer atmosphere than I'd expected.
While Shosen primarily dealt with books related to subculture and hobbies, its general vibe wasn't all that different from a regular bookstore.
Compared to places like Animate or Gamers over on Chuo-dori, this place was practically a sanctuary.
I scanned the titles of the manga, arranged by genre and publisher, picking up anything that looked interesting.
Usually, when I came to a bookstore, I'd pick up the collected volumes of series I enjoyed in Jump, along with some romantic comedies from other magazines.
Even within the same genre, a manga's style can vary greatly depending on the magazine it's serialized in.
Shonen Jump might mix in a bit of action, Shonen Sunday would stick to traditional rom-coms, and Shonen Magazine, with its older readership, would throw in a lot of fanservice.
That's why I needed to keep up with this stuff to stay on top of the latest trends.
After about thirty minutes, I had selected ten books. I paid for them at the counter and stuffed them all into the backpack I'd brought from home.
With my business in Akihabara finished, I figured I'd grab a quick lunch and head home.
With that thought, I left Shosen Book Tower and checked the time on my phone. It was already almost noon.
Before it got any later, I decided to take a side street to get to my usual ramen shop.
The main streets were crowded, for one, but it was also the time when all the shops in Akihabara started trying to lure in customers.
For those shops, Golden Week was a boom period, with even more customers flocking in because of the holiday.
Just as I was quickening my pace toward the ramen shop...
"Move it!"
A sharp, clear voice suddenly rang out from above my head.
"!"
Wondering what was going on, I looked up, and my vision was filled with a pair of black panties.
The embroidery was intricate, so they must have been expensive... No, that's not what's important right now.
I hurriedly spread my arms to catch the falling person.
The girl who had just yelled at me to move clicked her tongue with a short "Tch-" and curled her body slightly in mid-air.
This made it easier for me to catch her. As I set the girl who'd just fallen from the sky back on the ground, I was about to ask what had happened.
But before I could ask, a group of burly, suit-clad foreigners emerged from where she had just jumped, looked down at us, and shouted.
"Милая!"
I didn't know exactly what it meant, but it sounded like Russian.
The moment I glanced down to ask her what was going on, the girl in the plaid beret grabbed my arm and yelled.
"Help me!"
With that, she took off running, and without knowing why, I ran after her.
I didn't know why, but I just had a feeling I should help.
After all, this is how most shonen manga begin.
After a frantic sprint, we found ourselves on Chuo-dori.
As the saying goes, the best place to hide a tree is in a forest. On a street this crowded, those foreigners wouldn't be able to find us easily.
We ducked into a random nearby building to catch our breath. Leaning against a wall, the girl I'd just been running with extended her hand to me.
"I'm Sasha. What's your name?"
Caught off guard, I shook her hand and replied.
"Kim Yu-seong."
"What, you're not Japanese? A tourist?"
"I'm a second-generation Zainichi Korean."
When I explained, the girl in the hat let out an "Ah~" of understanding.
"More importantly, why were those guys chasing you? They didn't look like your average people."
Sasha scratched her cheek and replied.
"There are... some complicated circumstances. It's hard to explain."
"...In that case, I'll be on my way. Good luck with your escape."
Sasha grabbed me, her voice flustered.
"Wait! When a beautiful girl like me asks for help, isn't it common sense to just do it without complaining?"
"That's not in my book of common sense."
As I said that and tried to coldly shake her off, Sasha frantically opened the handbag at her waist.
"Money! I'll give you money! I have plenty of cash!"
I froze for a moment when I saw the wad of blue bills she pulled from her bag.
Unless my eyes were deceiving me, they were all Yukichis.
A single one of those bills could buy twice as much manga as I'd bought today.
At first, I was going to ignore her because it seemed like too much trouble, but seeing the cash made me waver. I hesitated, then asked.
"If you tell me why you're being chased, I can help you. What'll it be?"
Sasha thought for a moment, then agreed and put the wad of cash back into her handbag.
"Let's move somewhere else first. It feels dangerous here."
***
The place I took the mysterious foreigner, Sasha, was the ramen shop I'd been planning to go to all along.
From the perspective of avoiding prying eyes, this place was pretty good.
It was a shop located deep within Akihabara's complex back alleys, a hidden gem that only those in the know were aware of.
"Welcome!"
As soon as we entered, we were met with the owner's booming greeting and chose a table in the corner.
There was a partition, so it was a spot that wasn't easily noticeable unless someone came deep into the shop to look.
I asked Sasha, whose Japanese had a slightly awkward accent—probably because she was a foreigner—what she wanted to eat.
Without a moment's hesitation, Sasha replied, "Tonkotsu."
Well, considering the shop's signature dish was a tonkotsu ramen made with a pork bone broth simmered for ten hours, it was the right choice.
I chose tonkotsu as well. After I got our tickets from the vending machine at the entrance, I saw Sasha—who had been sipping water as if she were thirsty—staring at me with a blank expression.
I placed the tickets on the table and sat down across from her.
"So, what was the deal with you being chased?"
Sasha took off the beret she had pulled down low over her head and spoke.
"My papa is a pretty famous person in Russia. So I think they were trying to kidnap me for money."
Her silvery-blue hair flowed naturally down over her shoulders.
"..."
For a moment, I was speechless.
I hadn't noticed before because her hat was pulled down so low, but now that I saw her, her face was incredibly familiar.
One of the main heroines from 'Scramble Love,' the Russian character who was voted second in the popularity polls.
It was Alexandra something-or-other.