[Japan] Kyuushigai

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Kyuushigai (旧市街, The Old Town) is a city-sized shopping arcade located roughly 300 km north of Karakura Town.

Soon after departing from the Academy, Benihime would soon find herself in a very different place from where she'd departed. It seemed to be an entire town comprised completely of places to shop. The wide eyed redhead openly gawked at the new surroundings. "Sugoi~" she managed as she took in her surroundings. This entire thing was a bit amazing, and she was glad at least to get away from the Soul Society and the responsibilities of her life at least for a little while.

"Taken right out of my mouth," said the young man named Daiki, who stepped up from behind the red-haired Benihime. "This Gigai is a little uncomfortable, though. But... judging by the look of people nearby, I can't tell if we even stand out or not," he said, taking note of the fact that there were some random individuals in this town who were dressed in some very peculiar garbs compared to all the others.

Benihime soon found Daiki joining her, saying that she'd apparently stolen the words he was going to use to describe his first sight. She seemed to not be having as much of a problem with her Gigai either, as she stretched her arms and legs a bit. "Hm, mine isn't so bad, it feels a tiny bit stifling though..." she said as she looked around. "Strange, in Kagamino City and Karakuracho, people weren't dressed so differently~" she said finding this whole thing to be rather amusing and completely and utterly new. "But I suppose it's for the best so we won't stand out too much~" she said extending a hand to Daiki. "Come on... let's see something new~"

"Yeah, you're right. It would be bothersome to draw too much attention. Though, I do wonder how humans would behave in that sort of situation." Without further ado, Daiki reached out to take Benihime's offered hand. There was much potential exploration to do during this time, and frankly, he didn't even know where to begin. "Ladies first. Your choice; wherever you want to go."

Benihime was content to walk hand in hand with Daiki as they explored this city sized mall. As her eyes darted around and he wondered how humans would react to seeing them as they were she could only shrug. Then rather suddenly a boy with a pink wig and scarf jumped out of a bookstore seemingly excited to see her. "SUGOI!~ Nice cosplay, it's so accurate. Can I get a picture?" he asked which made the redhead's eyes widen just a tad. "Uh... sure..." she said only to see two other people hop out in front take a picture. Then just as quickly as it had been done, it was over. "Arigatou, Nee-chan!" said the young man as he ran off to another store. And she took pause to look at the books store which seemed to sell manga exclusively. "Okay, going in here... need to know what that was all about~" She'd walk inside, likely dragging Daiki along just to have a look at these books which seemed to be something very different. "Oh! These are kinda cool~"

Daiki trailed alongside the young woman, stopping and stepping aside when some human child requested a picture of the redhead. 'Cosplay?' he questioned mentally. Once the pictures were taken, he rejoined Benihime and entered the manga store. "That was weird. What the hell is cosplay? The bandage look?"

Benihime grinned seeming to find something about the question posed by Daiki to be funny. "I actually have no idea. But I don't think the bandages are a specific look~" she chimed, which probably only serve to further confuse the young man. Inside the manga store the clerk seemed to also think she was some sort of cosplayer. "You can find the Fairy Tail is to the left. Nice costume~" said the young glasses wearing woman as she also snapped a picture. Such a thing would cause the redhead's eyes to widen just a bit as this was quite unusual but soon enough she walked over to this title and looked at the displayed covers picking up one which seemed to be titled a character book. She took the opportunity to whisper to Daiki, "Context says cosplay is dressing up like some character... so I can assume the one they think I like is in here~" she commented absently as she flipped through the pages, until she came across an image which seemed to bare a bit of a resemblance to her. "That... is just strange," the character apparently named Erza in this series probably looked a bit more like the redhead Benihime than she'd willingly admit.

Benihime thought the bandages had nothing to do with this "cosplay" of which the child had spoken. Daiki was indeed lost on the matter. Upon entering the shop, one of two clerks pointed Benihime in the direction of a manga called Fairy Tail. If Daiki wasn't confused enough already, he was made more so by the idea of fairies with tails. This didn't last long though, as there was another clerk beside the glasses-wearing lass. This one was younger, wearing golden armor with his hair dyed red, and red contacts. "Sugoi, sugoi!" he said, snapping a picture of Daiki. "I told you Magi would catch on quick! It's like an older Aladdin!"

Soon, they reached the manga Benihime sought. She quickly located the character she was being compared to, and when Daiki looked over her shoulder to view the page, his left brow rose. "Huh. That's uncanny. Weird armor, though."

"Ano, seems like you are also a bit popular there, Dai-kun~" she said considering this secondary clerks reaction. Actually it was quite amazing the idea that people in this world dressed up as things they weren't, and enjoyed fantasy. She looked a bit harder at this girl in her armors and found one which made her figure out why the people she'd come across thought she was cosplaying. "Sugoi, apparently this is a look~" she said pointing to the bandaged wrapped version of the character wielding just a sword. It was interesting to see, and it made her wonder where the idea had come from. Soon enough she'd moved on, looking to this 'Magi' series which had been mentioned by the golden armored clerk. She began flipping through pages until she found something which amazed her just a bit. She turned with the book and let Daiki see the person which indeed looked like a younger version of himself. "This is awesome, he's so cute~~" she chimed, thinking it amazing that such a thing even existed, and having a pretty fair idea as to why no one thought them particularly strange in the area.

The first thing Benihime brought attention to was this Erza character clad in the same equipment Benihime herself wore at present. As strange as this coincidence was, Daiki was just as bothered by the fact that this character's clothing changed instantly via some magical method. "Sou ka. You should learn how to do that too. Maybe then, I won't have to wait outside your door for five minutes," he said with a nudge. Moving on, his gaze was redirected to another book. This one contained imagery that had been compared to him by one of the clerks, and now, Benihime as well. Daiki, on the other hand, had another idea for it. "That... is my grandfather. I mean... seriously. That is a picture of my grandfather in his childhood."

"Believe me, there isn't a girl in existence who wouldn't want that skill. I'll keep it in the works~" she said, partly serious by virtue of how she felt about it. "Also, you could have knocked earlier, I'd have let you in," she chimed about how long she'd taken to get dressed. Moving right along, it seemed that the picture which had been the one which made the clerk think of the young man before her, actually bore greater resemblance to his grandfather. Benihime's eyes widened slightly at this news. "Seriously? This guy looks like your grandfather?" she said seemingly stunned by the news. "That's amazing. I wonder if that is what it's like when people get cycled back in. They have their memories wiped but what if they just remember things and think they made it up?" it was an interesting theory for the young woman, and she kind of wanted to look into it. "Hmm, next place is your choice, by the way~ I think I'm okay with this~" she said pointing to the pair of manga which contained people that looked a bit like them.

"I knocked as soon as I got there. That doesn't mean there wasn't still a wait," he said. As far as the image from this "Magi" manga was concerned, it did not simply look like his grandfather... he was quite certain it was literally the man himself. "If that's a matter of reincarnation, then this is my grandfather from almost 3000 years ago. Though, it looks like time is skewed between this world and ours. I didn't think it'd be by this much." Regardless of the situation, Daiki was also ready to move on to the next thing on the proverbial list. As such, he began leading the way toward another destination.

"Oh please, that was like a minute max~" the girl said, since Daiki had chimed in and stated that he'd previously knocked when he'd arrived. Of course, they soon were discussing the nature of Daiki's grandfather's appearance in one of these manga. Apparently this would have been the man's grandfather from a few thousand years prior to this one, which was kind of stunning. "Damn, 3000... that's intense... just sayin'~" she found herself saying as they wandered off in search of the next big thing to look at.

Hours later, they'd done a great deal of shopping and exploring this area of the Human World. When she'd next be seen, Benihime would be sitting in a chair atop a walkway at a little tea shop. She'd be seen sipping from a small cup seemingly enjoying what she was having several shopping bags at her side as she watched the human people moving about on the different floors around her. "Sugoi~" she managed to say as she thoroughly enjoyed the duration of this trip.

"Time well spent?" asked Daiki, following the utterance of Benihime. He sat with the young woman at the same table, sipping tea of his own. Beside him was a small bag of trinkets picked up from a few different places along their human world journey. While he obviously did not find as many items of interest as his companion, he was quite satisfied with what purchases he'd made. "Personally, I don't think I could have come up with a better way to spend my day."

"Hai hai!~" replied the redhead as she drank her tea. She was quite happy with the outcome of the day. And collection of things she'd found seemed to have made her a bit happier. Not that she needed these things mostly it was a habit of hers to simply pick up things that she really wanted whenever she saw them. Her bags filled with reading materials, different color bandages than she normally found, nail polish and things like that for whatever reason. "I could have just taken your company and been just as happy Dai-kun~" the young woman said and she meant it. After all, when she around Daiki, her world felt like it was still a bit full, which was more than could be said for the time she spent alone recently. "But... exploring this place was also fun, arigatou~"

"Flattery won't get you any of my trinkets. You have plenty of your own," the raven-haired male said in jest, following with a protruding tongue. He had to say, though, that he felt similarly. He would not have enjoyed his time out of the Soul Society as much alone, or with anyone else he knew. Such a thing had been unexpected during his initial meeting with Benihime, but it would now be surprising to him if that weren't the case. "I don't know about you, but I hope for many more opportunities like this in the 3rd."

"As if I want them~" she said rolling her eyes at the boy's outstretched tongue. "But, I'm super nice, I totally got one of these bottles of nail polish just for you~" she teased. Though there was something slightly serious in her countenance. Even so, she did agree that she'd love to spend more time together like this when the pair of them joined the 3rd together. "I agree, we should totally do this more, and other stuff too, seems like this world has lots to offer~" she said as she took a sip of tea. "And I have to say, this is a far cry from me not bothering to remember your name the first day we met~" she said with a giggle, seeming to find the whole thing funny after the fact.

"Oh, great! I've been needing a new paint on mine for a couple of decades now!" he replied while waving his hand around in mock flamboyance. "Did you get plum? Oh, I hope it's plum!" As to not milk the joke for too long, Daiki returned his hand to his cup. He sipped casually while Benihime spoke, finding her final statement laughable enough that he lowered his teacup. "Really now? I remember that. That was the first time that happened. But, rest assured, Niwatoko Benihime... you won't be able to forget my name again; especially not after our graduation ceremony."

The young man's response to Benihime's teasing caused the slightest of pauses in her. As he went on to question the color and give a hope of what he thought it would be, it was a bit too much for the young woman. She erupted into laughter the likes of which she hadn't experienced in quite a while, "Fufufufufufu~" a bit of laughter would be heard. "Alright, you're funny~" she chimed seeming to be amused and wiping a single tear from the corner of her eye. It seemed she was the first individual to ever forget his name during their first meeting and something about that felt quite a bit accomplished. "Hai hai, I won't be forgetting your name again, Nomura Daiki~" she was content with this but to prove it she soon enough moved across the table to peck him on the lips. "Promise~"