infinite_reflection | In front of the Arcade...

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open rp

In front of the Arcade...

Ever since Miho introduced Greg to the arcade at the local mall, he's been there most weekdays after school for at least an hour or two... It ate a lot of money, sure, but it's money he would've spent on point cards for his phone at any rate.

At the moment he was just outside, though, sitting on a little bench near the entrance and fiddling with his phone for some reason or another. The boy was, as usual, paying no attention to his surroundings or anything but himself and the small piece of technology in his hands. The perpetual and unfortunately socially discouraging look of vague annoyance and great boredom was in place on his face, though he was completely free to approach for anyone not bothered by it!

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Sitting up, she released his arm as she stood. Stretching her limbs, Seiya looked around. "Ah, yep! This way!" Offering her arm to him, much like in the movies she'd watched, she waited for him to hopefully latch on again. "It's just down this little strip here."

No surprise when he moved a little slower, taking his time to get up and foregoing the stretching to instead stare blankly at the invitation for arm-locking. That apparently wasn't enough to make Seiya retract the offer, though, so he resigned to looping his own arm through hers (but not without a begrudging little sigh, he couldn't look willing). "What kind of bookstore is it?" There had only been the bigger chains with all sorts of books in his neighborhood in NYC, so Greg had never really been to any specialty bookstore. If this wasn't one, well, he figured he'd have to find one later and see just what it was like.

Yeah, fine, Japan was okay. Everything within reach with public transportation, anyways.

Her mood brightened significantly when he linked their arms. It was like christmas! Seiya lead the way, cheeks flushed. Okay, maybe she wanted to hold his arm for a little more than keeping them together, whatever. "It's a little mom and pop shop." She smiled, dodging large stalls with colorful candies. "So it has a little bit of everything, I guess!"

That added another reason to come back here... Maybe he'd spend a day checking out comic shops instead of at the arcade, or something. There was a surprising amount to do here, a lot more than he had back home. ... Maybe he'd get something sweet, too, given all the nice stalls they were passing. "Huh. I gotta explore the rest of this mall, sooner or later." The necessity of holding hands or something similar appeared again with a larger crowd of what looked like students, and they made it through without splitting up because of it. "Jeez. I don't, uh... Do too well with crowds, sometimes. Miho-san said she's like that, too."

"Don't worry, I got ya." She flashed a reassuring glance as they broke free from the pack. There, in a more secluded area, was the book shop. The sign was handpainted, and the old couple inside seemed inviting.

Seiya opened the door, releasing his arm so he could go inside. "Hardly anyone ever comes here, so don't worry!"

Well, this was a bit of a stark contrast to the rest of the mall. It felt like the one quiet corner of an otherwise busy street... Which where he came from meant it was where the unsavory types hung out, but that probably wasn't true here. The people inside looked old, and unless they were packing guns under the counter (an amusing thought) Greg was pretty sure he was safe. He stepped in first, both hands returning to his pockets now that they were free, and gave the couple inside a small nod. "Uh, good afternoon."

"Oh hello there Seiya-chan." The older woman spoke first, smiling politely at the duo. "Who might this be?"

"This is G-kun. He's my adventure buddy today." Seiya headed for the light novel shelf, peering at the titles with an intent stare. Girl was on a mission."

"It's a pleasure to meet one of Seiya-chan's little friends." This time the old man piped up, also grinning.

'Adventure buddy' fit the description well enough. Greg nodded with a vague smile at the old man, apparently he had respect for his elders, and then headed toward their history section... It looked small, but it was all he really liked to read aside from novels about fantasy and dragons and the like. "Uh, yeah. It's nice to meet you, too. I go to the Eizou Academy as well, but I'm only a second year, so..." The boy picked up a book on the feudal era, absently flipping through it.

"Seiya-chan always liked them young." The man mused, adjusting his glasses to get a better look at the boy.

"Okaaaaay that's enough talking about that." Seiya stopped the topic from spreading into higher levels of uncomfortable. Plucking two books from the shelf she began to compare them.

Changing the topic didn't stop a snort from coming out of Greg, and he had to resist the urge to just laugh for Seiya's sake. He attempted to disguise it with a clear of his throat afterward, and then flipped a few pages quickly. "So, uh... A lot of smaller stores here, huh? There's the big chains, but I see a lot of family stores and restaurants." That'd work for an evasion of the topic at hand, right?!

"Ahhh good eye, young man." The woman began stocking a few sparse shelves, taking her time to give each book a nice home. "We've been here for 40 years."

"About as long as Yamada Mart, eh Sei-chan?" The man patted Seiya's head, filling up a little bowl of hard candy.

"It's hardly been that long." Seiya eyed Greg. That almost sounded like laughter... either way, she plopped 4 books on the counter, paying for them. "What kind of shops do you like, G-kun?"

Greg replaced the book where he found it (not doing so would probably earn a mark on his record; these two seemed to care about books) and then returned to Seiya's side while she paid. "Family stores tend to last a long time, so uh... It's not really surprising."

Hmmmm. What kind of stores did he like? Gregory didn't really like shopping in general, but that sounded like a sort of annoying thing to go and say... "I go to convenience stores the most often, uh, heh. Yours, lately, so... Otherwise I like game stores, but I usually go with a thing in mind to buy. I don't really browse." Window shopping was definitely not a thing he partook in.

"Good answer!" The man laughed, ringing up Seiya's purchase. He slid the books into a little paper bag, sealing it with a sticker fashioned to resemble their logo. "Have a good day you two."

"[Thank you!]" Seiya tucked her new bag under her arm, holding the door open for Greg. "Where to next? Your pick!" It seemed she'd just make up adventure rules as they went.

He figured he was earning some kind of brownie points or something, right? There wouldn't be any use for them, but earning peoples' approval was never a bad thing. Greg followed his adventure buddy to the store's exit and turned around to say goodbye when she did first! In English, no less, so he figured he'd do the same. "[Yeah..! Thanks.]"

Now they were back out into the busy mall, though still in a quieter corner of it. That meant he at least had time to think, since it seemed the responsibility of keeping this trip fresh was now on his shoulders. "Uhh, hmm... I need a new bookbag for school. Mine's got a hole in it. Do you know a place?"

Seiya beamed at his use of English. It was so smooth! SWOOOON. Deciding it was best to go a bit more compact, she slid her bag of books into the previous bag she'd been carrying.

"Bookbag? I know a place!" With that, she was off, forgetting to link up with him again.

Greg hunched slightly now that he could keep his hands in his pockets, posture was not a thing he was concerned with, and stepped after Seiya when she started moving. "Those two seemed nice. Keeping a shop open for 40 years is, uh... Quite an accomplishment, huh?" The two thankfully hadn't hit any large seas of people yet, and that meant he wasn't too worried about holding on. If they did, though, he'd probably grab onto her in some form or fashion.

Seiya navigated the area with expertise, glancing over her shoulder to speak to him. "Yeah! They're like my grandparents in a way." She dove into a sea of people headfirst, aiming for a little sporty store at the end of the hall.

Welp! She was definitely headed for a large crowd, and Greg picked up the pace to catch up. His hand landed on Seiya's shoulder just before they were both surrounded by people, and it stayed there while they navigated through. This one seemed longer, the mall was probably getting more populated as time went, though he let go when they were through. "It gets really crowded here, jeez..." He'd been bumped into a few times; it'd probably be pretty damn easy to get trampled on accident.

As they walked the crowd seemed to thicken. Jesus, were they giving out free babies? Seiya put her hand over the one on her shoulder, leading him to the opening before Sports Good Time Fun. Seiya let go, hands on her hips.

"Ta da! Backpacks by the motherload! [So many!]"

He let go as well, surveying the store, and then nodded. "They'll probably have what I'm looking for here, uh, yeah." Should he..? "[Thank you..!]" That worked, right? It probably made Seiya happier than he realized.

Greg stepped toward the section with several backpacks and started browsing. Hmmm! Some of these were more sporty, definitely not what he wanted... Others were for kids, and despite how funny using a cartoon-themed backpack sounded he figured he'd shy away from that. "What do you think? I like black... Or dark green, hmm."

Seiya nearly jumped up and down with glee. His use of English around her was like tossing a dog a biscuit.

Following him inside, she surveyed his options. "The black is very [cooool.]" She nodded solemnly, as if she was an expert on the subject. "But the Totoro ones are really cute..."

The idea of wearing a small furry creature in backpack form was an odd one... He'd seen them around school, though, but mostly on the girls. "Black is okay, yeah... Hmmm." The black one was pretty roomy, too. That's really what he needed more than anything, so Greg pulled it off of the hook and nodded. "We'll go with this one, then. It'll hold my books, uh... A lot more than that, probably. Never hurts to have more room." That said, it did look kind of bulky. Why was something like this bizarrely difficult?

She rewarded him with a thumbs up, heading back down the aisle. Pausing, a backpack caught her eye. Seiya froze in her tracks. "[Oh. My. God.]"

Low and behold, a backpack fashioned to look like an American flag hung on the rack. She grabbed it, holding it up towards Greg. "[OH MY GOD!]"

Greg kept right on going until the first exclamation, then turned around to see what she was holding... Oh, wow. That was really tacky, by basically anyone's means. Seiya meant for her, right? She didn't think he was gonna wear that? "... Uhhh... I get the feeling it'll make me stand out even more, you know?" He ran a hand through his hair, messing it up just a bit, but then flattened it back out. "Do you want it? You could wear it. [Pretty cool!]" Hopefully that'd work.

Seiya's cheeks flushed and she held the bag close. YES! Approval! She nodded enthusiastically, jogging to his side. "[Totally!]" Her whole world was cloud nine at the moment. "I'm definitely buying it! [Super!]" Heading to the counter, she couldn't stop grinning like an idiot.

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