A moment that none of us will soon forget, yet...it comes at a price. The feelings that we all share come to the surface, revealing something that he soon wishes to forget and me as well.
Chapter Six: Nightlife
" Where should we go first, Cleo?" asked Amy happily, " the karaoke bar? The mall?"
" What's this karaoke bar and mall you speak of?" responded the confused Raven curiously.
Ami started laughing as Cleo shook her head in disbelief.
" Don't you get out often," replied Cleo, " these are places to have fun at."
" Fun?"
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" W-what are YOU?"
Within the shadowy mist, were hundreds of people running away from what seem to be a mysterious figure with sadden eyes.
" Shall we play hide n' seek," said the figure in a childish manner
Suddenly, all the people had vanish without a trace. No blood or even screams to say that they ever existed.
" Why don't you come back?" cried the figure sadly, " I just wanna have FUN!"
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" Fun like hide n' seek?"
" Hide n' seek?" responded the three girls surprisingly.
Cleo looks at Amy and smiles, then she looks at Ami and does the same thing. Both Wong sisters approach Raven and grab his hands.
" I thought we do something MUCH more funnier," said Cleo happily, " than hide n' SEEK!"
Suddenly, Amy and Ami started walking back towards Cleo, who continued walking down the street, forcing Raven to walk with them.
" But what can be more funnier than hide n' seek?" asked the curious Raven anxiously.
" You'll see..."
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" D-D-R?" said the confused Raven.
" Yep, it means Dance Dance Revolution," replied Cleo
" I see."
Standing in front of a Dance Dance Revolution machine in Sunset Mall arcade, were Raven, Cleo, Amy, and Ami. They continued looking at the machine until Cleo push Raven forward as Amy did so to Ami as well.
" M-me?" responded Ami, who glance at Raven.
" You two make a cute couple, replied Amy sarcastically, " don't you think, Raven?"
Raven looked at Ami, but she quickly turned away, blushing. Cleo started giggling as she pushed both onto the machine.
" You're both inexperience," said Cleo, " you compliment each other well."
Ami puts some coins into the machine as Raven looks down at the metal pad below, gazing at the arrows in awe.
" You wanna start at easy or standard mode?" asked Ami softly.
" Whatever you pick is fine with me" responded Raven calmly.
" Ok," answered Ami, who begins to blush again.
She presses the right arrow button to select "Standard" mode. Suddenly, the speakers shout it out, startling Raven and making him look in every direction.
" Cool it," responded the laughing Cleo, "it's just the machine."
" I...I see," replied Raven with a worried look.
The DDR machine's screen change to that of a selection of songs that were blasting out through the speakers. Ami started scrolling through them and as she did, the song that was blasting before were quickly change to the next.
" STOP! That one," said Raven, pointing to the screen.
" Discord Satellite?" replied Cleo shockingly.
" This song intrigues me," answered Raven as he turned to look at Amy and Cleo.
Ami presses the start button and backs away onto the platform.
" R-raven, you'll need to press the arrows on the floor as the screen shows you," responded Ami softly.
" Very well," replied Raven as he turned to face the screen.
The music starts playing as the first wave up arrows appear on screen. Ami prepares to press the upward arrow as does Raven. Right as it's about to pass by, they both press the arrow simultaneously, scoring a "GREAT".
An hour later...
Amy is playing Tekken 5 against her sister, whining about her using Devil Jin and nobody else. Dawn is playing DDR now, scoring perfects in "maniac" mode. While Raven walks out the arcade, undetected. He continues walking throughout the mall, looking at all the teenagers and families interacting with one another until he hears a faint sound in the distance. He makes his way towards where the sound is coming from and notices posters on the wall with people holding swords, shooting fireballs, and piloting some type of robot.
" Hello, welcome to the grand opening of Mikado Videos."
Raven looks forward and sees a young girl with green hair, wearing a black and white maid outfit. She smiles and bows in front of him, which confuses him.
" Are you someone's servant?" asked Raven curiously.
The girl laughs, making Raven more confused.
" Servant?" laughed the girl happily, " if working a night shift when I could be playing video games is what you call a servant. Then I must be one then."
" You're being sarcastic to me, aren't you?" replied Raven.
" Yep," answered the girl with a smile, " are you interested in games and anime?"
The girl hands him a flyer that talks about many different anime series as well as video games from all over the world.
" What's your name?" asked the girl curiously
" Raven," he replied, " Raven Cross."
" THE Raven Cross."
" What is that musical melody that I heard earlier?"
The girl turns and points towards a cardboard cutout with a nude girl with horns on her head.
" The song is called, Lilium," responded the girl eagerly, " it's the opening song to Elfen Lied."
" Elfen Lied?"
" It's about the Diclonius, a special type of mutant with the shape of a human which many scientist fear they will be the replacement of mankind, all of them were captured and kept in a secret base for research. On one occasion, the most dangerous Diclonius was able to escape but on the way out it was hit by a bullet and fell off the cliff."
" I see."
" If you want," asked the girl softly, " I can show you around the store."
" Very well."
The girl smiles and grabs his hand as they both walk into the store. Raven's eyes widen in amazement as he sees hundreds of DVDs in front of him.
" My name is Rei Miyamoto by the way."
Rei took Raven towards the Anime DVD section and started going through all the DVDs as if she was looking for something.
" Here they are."
" What is this?" asked Raven anxiously.
Rei handed him what seem to be the first volume of Elfen Lied, which made Raven look back at the cardboard cutout.
" This is the first volume," answered Rei eagerly, " but you should know that it's kinda graphic."
Raven begins to examine the DVD, rotating it, smelling it, even tossing it up into the air and catching it.
" It's a video, you know," responded Rei, who laughed at his antics, " you watch it."
" Such a thing can be watched?" asked Raven curiously, " by what matter of device?"
Rei continued laughing as she grabbed his hand and went further down the aisle. As she was about to turn the corner, Raven came to a stop, bent down and picked up a blue box, staring at it for a moment.
" Serial...Experiment...Lain," he said softly.
Rei turn around and saw him looking at something and went up to him to get a quick peek at it.
" That's a cool series too," answered Rei, " but a little confusing to go into detail about."
Raven stares at it one last time before walking away, holding it in hand. Rei points to a sign that says, "Game Section", and asks him if he has a game console, but he only looks at her with the same expression of confusion like earlier before.
15 minutes later...
" Where's Raven?" asked Amy to her sister.
" I thought he was with you, Dawn," responded Ami as she turn towards Dawn.
" We better go find him," replied Dawn.
All three of them left the arcade and started walking through the mall, asking people if they've seen their friend, but they only shake their head in confusion.
" Where the hell are you, Raven," thought Dawn impatiently.
They continue searching for Raven, asking everyone that they came across if they've seen him, but getting rejected each time. As they reach the back of the mall, they start thinking he might have left the mall, when Ami sees from the corner of her eye, a figure the resembles Raven.
" Isn't that him," said Ami to Dawn as she pointed to someone in the distance, " over there."
Dawn and Amy look in that direction and sees Raven with a lot of bags, coming out of Mikado Videos.
" RAVEN! OVER HERE!" shouted the three.
Raven turns towards them as they make their way to him, but as they do, Rei walks out with a bag in hand.
" Raven, you forgot this," said Rei happily.
" Oh, thank you," he responded.
" Your VERY welcome," answered Rei with a saucy smile as she handed him his bag.