Review Corner:
Ulquiorra9000: I don't have a format for switching point of views. I'm just trying to get Yosetsu and Chika the same amount of screen time. I don't know, I just go with the flow of the story. And I haven't seen Zombieland Saga. I will watch the show to understand it better before I can make reference.
Chapter 3: Pheromones
Yoyogi Park,
Shibuya, Tokyo,
July 28
The trip from Musutafu to Tokyo was not bad. The bus departed at 8 in the morning, just when the sun started to light up the countryside. The scenery was not special, but the morning sun made it especially nice. The only bad thing about the trip was Kosei Tsuburaba's nonstop babbling about Cyan Hijirikawa, the guitarist of the rock band Plasmagica. He knew every single song and every single milestone in her life and he enthusiastically shared all the facts with Yosetsu, whether he liked it or not.
The situation turned to the worst when the bus entered Tokyo Prefecture. It was raining hard. And Kosei's babbling deteriorated from shelling out facts about Cyan Hijirikawa's achievements to her body measurements, almost like he was her personal physician. If Yosetsu didn't know Kosei better, he would've thought his friend was actually planning a sexual assault.
Then it was the infamous Tokyo traffic jam. The bus literally crawled through the highways, swamped by cars. The rain intensified to the point Yosetsu couldn't see anything past 2 cars in front of him. He tried his phone to see what was holding up the traffic but reception was poor due to rain. It was so depressing even Kosei stopped talking and switched to his phone to combat boredom.
After more than 1 hour sitting in the traffic, the bus finally made it to Shibuya. Yosetsu and Kosei had to walk several blocks to Yoyogi Park, the site of the concert. But the rain didn't let up. The streets were flooded and there were always inconsiderate assholes speeding through puddles, spraying water to pedestrians. Yosetsu and Kosei took turns yelling at cars.
When they arrived at Yoyogi Park, Yosetsu was wet, mad, and miserable. His shoes were drenched. His duffle bag got sprayed by cars several times he didn't think he had dry clothes anymore. And the rain seemed to enjoy his agony. Kosei, on the other hand, quickly turned bubbly when they arrived at the stage. There was little chance the Plasmagica would come to the stage in such bad weather, but just looking at the place where they would perform gave his mood a jump start.
"Sir! Sir! I need to talk to the security manager!" Kosei rushed to a man wearing a badge.
"That's me! What do you want?" the man curtly replied.
"Sir, I am Tsuburaba, Kosei, from Musutafu, we talked on the phone. I'm here for the security job."
"Oh, yes, Tsuburaba," the man flipped a soaked notepad. "Yes, I need security guard on the changing area backstage. Come with me, I'll show you the way."
Kosei's eyes lit up as he grabbed Yosetsu's shoulder. "Did you hear that? I'm going to the changing area! I'm going to guard Cyan Hijirikawa's changing room! Holy Shit this is a dream come true, man! Maybe she would leave one piece of her fabric, signed and sealed with a kiss!"
"Tsuburaba, you're delusional," Yosetsu slapped Kosei's arms. "Did you tell him about me? I'm here for the job too."
"Oh, yes, alright," Kosei went back to the guy. "Sir, I bring a friend. He's here for security job too."
"What's your name?" the man asked Yosetsu.
"Awase, Yosetsu."
The man flipped his notepad around. "I don't see your name."
"I haven't called, but my friend said you needed a lot of security guards for the concert."
"Yes, for the concert, not now!" the man blurted. "What do you want to guard now? There's nobody here!"
Yosetsu shot a nasty stare at Kosei. "Bakayaro! You bring me here for nothing?!"
"There should be something he can do, Sir?" Kosei asked. "Like, maybe, ticketing, or food?"
"It's three days to concert, dumbass! All positions are filled!" the man violently flipped his notepad around. "Why don't you just stay here? Watch for… uhm, unsecure things, and report them to me."
"Unsecure things, Sir?" Yosetsu cocked his brows. "Like what, Sir?"
"Anything! You're the security guard! Figure it out yourself!" the man left him instead. He pointed at Kosei. "Let's go! What are you waiting for?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Kosei grabbed Yosetsu's arms again. "I didn't know it was going to be like this. They said they needed many security guards for the concert. I guess I didn't read it… carefully. But look at the bright side, Awase. When this is all done, we will go back to Musutafu with a handful of cash. Please, just hang in there…" He turned around and screamed from the top of his lung, "Cyan-chan! I'm coming!"
"Tsuburaba I'm gonna kill you!" Yosetsu kicked the metal chair next to him in utter frustration. He could have figured out half a dozen things to do for the summer break if it wasn't for Kosei. He could probably get a part time job, or internship, at Hatsume's Family Bike Shop. He could find a morning job at the bakery next to it. Or at the very least he could volunteer to clean up Bad Dog Park, no matter how undignified it might sound. But no, he had to be stranded at Yoyogi Park, 2 hours away from home, in torrential rain, working a bogus job in wet shoes.
As he calmed down, he started paying attention to his surroundings. A few girls were singing and dancing on stage, and nobody paid attention to them. The stage was fortified with tarp and asbestos plates, but he could clearly see a leak on the ceiling. Luckily the sound and lighting systems were not installed yet.
Yosetsu wasn't fond of their music but he was drawn to their dancing, particularly that of a slender girl with shoulder-length orange hair. She wasn't the best dancer, she wasn't the best looking girl, and she definitely wasn't the best singer, but he couldn't take his eyes off of her. He didn't know what it was. Something in her radiated 'pheromones' that locked his senses on her. He felt like he was obsessed about her already.
So Yosetsu let himself immersed in his newfound 'obsession' as the girls kept moving and dancing in fancy choreography, all the while singing some upbeat tunes that made him forget about the rain:
Kimi no kokoro wa kagayaiteru kai?
Mune ni kiitara "YES!" to kotaeru sa
Kono deai ga minna o kaeru kana
Kyou mo taiyou wa terashiteru bokura no yume
Oh Yes, Doki-Doki Sunshine!
Oh Yes, Doki-Doki Sunshine!
And then, everything came to a screeching halt when one of the girls slipped and landed on her butt.
