Chapter 36: The Girl Who Fell from the Sky
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 36: The Girl Who Fell from the Sky
Unlike previous years, I spent the first two days of Golden Week running around, so I stayed cooped up at home for the next couple of days.
Actually, I went downstairs to help out at my parents' shop, so "cooped up" might not be the right expression.
In any case, the fifth day of Golden Week was already upon us.
This year, the holiday ended on a Friday, and with the weekend attached, it became a nine-day break in total. We were only just past the halfway point.
On the first day of Golden Week, I had been twisting in boredom at home and resolved to buy some new manga. So, around 10 AM, I left the house and headed for Akihabara.
*
Akihabara.
It's widely known as the holy land for otaku, but until the early 2000s, it was more famous as an electronics district.
Its central Tokyo location makes it easily accessible, but it was also home to so many companies, big and small, that the streets were always bustling with salarymen in suits.
In that sense, it was a strange place where otaku and salarymen coexisted.
"Excuse me. Coming through."
It was Golden Week, so the subway was packed no matter when you rode it. The first things to greet you as you got off were all sorts of game advertisements and anime posters.
As if to imply "No Normies Allowed" from this point on, a dizzying array of subculture ads, unseen at other stations, assaulted my vision.
Climbing the station stairs to ground level, I was met with a forest of towering skyscrapers.
But unlike other districts, the walls of these buildings were plastered with countless anime and game ads, giving the area a surreal atmosphere.
I initially started studying this stuff out of necessity, but I'm self-aware enough to know that I'm what people would call an otaku.
Even so, whenever I came to Akihabara to buy manga, I always found myself overwhelmed by the street's feverish energy.
Honestly, how should I put it? My cringe resistance is just too low.
Even with Kim Yoo-Sung's memories, I just couldn't get used to this place's unique vibe.
"It was to the right from here, I think..."
My destination today was the Shosen Book Tower.
It's a bookstore in Akihabara specializing in subculture, mainly dealing in new releases of manga and light novels, making it the perfect spot for people like me whose main purpose is to buy books.
Following the familiar streets, I soon arrived in front of the store.
Stepping inside, I found the store's atmosphere to be calmer than I expected.
Shosen might specialize in subculture and hobby-related books, but the general vibe wasn't that different from a regular bookstore.
Compared to stores like Animate or Gamers over on Chuo-dori, this place was practically heaven.
I scanned the titles of the manga, organized by genre and publisher, picking up anything that looked interesting.
Usually, when I come to a bookstore, I mainly pick up the collected volumes of series I enjoyed in Jump and whatever romantic comedies are currently running in 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 might stick to traditional rom-coms, and Shonen Magazine, with its large adult readership, would probably throw in a lot of panty shots.
That's why I needed to keep checking for new information like this, so I wouldn't miss the latest trends.
After about thirty minutes, I had selected ten books. I paid at the counter and stuffed all my new manga 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 in mind, I left the Shosen Book Tower and checked the time on my phone. It was already almost noon.
I decided to take a side street to get to my usual ramen place before it got too late.
The main streets were crowded with people, but it was also the time when all the shops in Akihabara would start trying to lure in customers.
For them, Golden Week was a boom period, with even more customers flocking in because of the holiday.
I was hurrying toward the ramen shop when it happened.
"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.
Judging by the intricate embroidery, they looked incredibly expen—wait, that's not what's important right now.
I hastily 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 in my arms. I set the girl who had suddenly fallen from the sky down on the ground and was about to ask what had happened.
But before I could ask, a group of burly foreigners in suits burst out from where she had jumped and shouted down at us.
"Милая!"
I didn't know what it meant exactly, but it sounded like Russian.
The moment I looked down to ask her what was going on, the girl in the plaid beret grabbed my arm and yelled.
"You have to help me!"
With that, she started running, and without knowing why, I ran after her.
For some reason, I just felt like I had to help.
After all, this is how most shonen manga begin.
We ran without thinking, and before I knew it, we were near Chuo-dori.
As the saying goes, "the best place to hide a tree is in a forest." With this many people walking around, those foreigners wouldn't be able to find us easily.
We ducked into a random nearby building to catch our breath. The girl who had been running with me leaned against a wall and held out her hand.
"I'm Sasha. What's your name?"
I was a bit flustered, but I shook her hand and replied.
"Kim Yoo-Sung."
"What, you're not Japanese? A tourist?"
"I'm a second-generation Korean living in Japan, for what it's worth."
At my explanation, the girl in the hat let out an "Ahhh" of understanding.
"More importantly, why were those guys chasing you? They didn't look like friendly types."
Sasha scratched her cheek and answered.
"It's... a bit of a complicated situation. It's hard to explain."
"...In that case, I'll be on my way. Good luck escaping."
Sasha grabbed me, her voice filled with panic.
"Wait! Isn't it common sense to help a pretty girl like me without asking questions when she asks for help?!"
"That's not common sense in my book."
As I said that and tried to coldly pull away, Sasha frantically opened the handbag at her waist.
"Money! I'll give you money! I have a lot of cash on me!"
I froze for a second when I saw the bundle of blue bills she pulled from her bag.
Unless my eyes were deceiving me, they were all Mr. Yukichis.
With just one of those, I could buy twice the number of manga I bought today.
At first, I was going to ignore her because it seemed like it would be a huge hassle, but seeing the cash made me waver. I hesitated before asking.
"If you tell me why you're being chased, I can help you. What'll it be?"
Sasha thought for a moment, then said okay and put the bundle of cash back in her handbag.
"Let's go somewhere else first. It seems dangerous here."
*
I took the mysterious foreigner, Sasha, to the regular ramen shop I had been planning to go to.
From the perspective of avoiding attention, this place was pretty good.
It was a hidden gem known only to regulars, located deep within Akihabara's complex back alleys.
"Welcome!"
As soon as we entered, the owner's booming voice greeted us. We chose a corner seat.
There was a partition in the middle, so it was a spot that wouldn't be easily noticed unless someone came deep into the shop to look around.
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, she replied, "Tonkotsu."
Well, the signature dish here was tonkotsu ramen made with a pork bone broth simmered for ten hours, so it was the right choice.
I also chose tonkotsu and went to get our tickets from the vending machine by the entrance. When I returned, Sasha, who must have been thirsty, was sipping water from a cup and staring at me with a sullen look.
I placed the meal tickets on the table and sat down across from her.
"So, why were you being chased?"
Sasha took off the hat that had been pulled down low over her head and said:
"My papa is a pretty famous person in Russia. I think they were trying to kidnap me for money."
Her silver hair, tinged with blue, flowed naturally over her shoulders.
"......"
For a moment, I was speechless.
I hadn't noticed before because her hat was pulled down so low, but now I realized her face was incredibly familiar.
One of the main heroines from Scramble Love, the Russian character who was voted second in the popularity polls.
Her name was Alexandra something-or-other.