Life Will Change Book 2

Chapter 2: Unexpected Detour

Begin!

~Normal POV

7/25 - Tuesday

The next day Akira woke with a familiar soreness that comes from being summoned to the Velvet Room. It had something to do with how it made him restless in reality. That was the least of his worries. Lavenza's warning was quite worrisome, but as far as he knew, nothing strange was going on yet, so it was best to not think about it. Right now, all he wanted to focus on was preparing for the trip. (That's also why he chose not to tell Morgana what happened. He didn't want to worry his friends without proof first.) The two met up with Ryuji in Shibuya.

"Wassup!" Ryuji greeted, "Come on, we gotta hustle to the store, it's way too damn hot out."

"You know where it is, right?" Morgana asked, perching himself on Akira's shoulder.

"Uh... no- But we can ask the app." Ryuji took a moment to ask EMMA for the store's location. (With some hesitation since he was new to it.) "Ok, we got our map, let's go!"

They started walking towards the Shibuya 705 building. Along the way they discussed what kind of foods they wanted at the buffet, and where they might go first when they leave. Upon reaching the building however, their conversation was halted by a cheering crowd blocking their path.

"What the hell is going on?" Akira asked.

Ryuji looked around and spotted the source of the commotion. "Oh, Alice Hiiragi."

Akira blinked in confusion. He'd never heard the name before. "Who?"

Ryuji gave him a shocked look. "I'm surprised you haven't heard of her yet! Half the city won't shut up about her! It's kinda annoying. She's a new idol."

Akira sighed. "Ah. Say no more, I got it..."

"What's an idol?" Morgana asked, curiously.

"Simply put, a famous person involved in fashion and music, among other things. In other words, I couldn't care less." Akira answered, dryly.

"Yeah, but they're blocking the store so we don't have much choice. Might as well pretend that's why we're here," Ryuji grumbled.

From the front of the crowd a cheery woman's voice spoke through a mic. "Hi, folks! Thanks for coming!"

Alice Hiiragi was standing on a small stage at the front of the crowd. She was quite a short, cheerful-looking woman; she didn't seem to be much older than Makoto or Haru. She had long dyed light green hair, done up in curled buns, with lavender streaks in it; with wide, dark purple eyes. Akira's first impression of her however was... to wonder what the hell was she wearing?

On her head was a light blue bow with white stripes. A lavender ace of spades card was clipped over her bangs on one side. In one hair bun, she had a small white teapot stuck in it. And the other had a small capped bottle full of a turquoise liquid, and two differently colored balls attached to the bun; one yellow striped and one turquoise. She had a blue choker around her neck. Her dress was blue and white striped with a shorter front side, short puffy sleeves, and light green ruffles, a blue top layer, and a pink heart on her chest with a dark grey and white striped ribbon. She had a clock clipped to her right side with a gold chain, and on the left she had an image of the Cheshire Cat sewn into her skirt. Under the dress, she had lavender bloomers, covered in diamond and clover shapes, and a light blue big heart at the bottom on each leg, with light green leggings, and white boots with multiple colored ribbons tied on them. And to complete the ensemble, she had two blue and white striped bows on her wrists, and two more tied behind her ankles.

Akira didn't know much about the fashion business, aside from what he learned from being with Ann, but there was one thing he did know: He was so glad Ann never had to wear anything that looked like that. It looked absolutely ridiculous.