No Gods, Nor Masters

The Incident Part 2:Ginza

Ginza was a beautiful place. A section of Tokyo, known for the commonplace idea of capitalism and the beauty of its riches. Stores lined the streets, neon signs glimmering as people marched between said stores. It was also home to much of the state apparatus in terms of political discourse, considering several embassies were supposedly located within the district itself. Embassies such as the US, Chinese and Russian ones, not far from the train station.

Lieutenant Torres of the US Marine Corps 3rd Marine Division stared at the place as he and his friend, Second Lieutenant Itami Youji, prepared to disembark and immerse themselves in the greatest Japanese heritage piece since the tales of the Samurai:Anime. Namely, special fanmade Doujins of a non-pornographic type, supposedly. Henry Torres, a Marine through and through, from the shaved head to the bulk and jet-black eyes, was around Itami's age, both of them thirty-three years old. They'd met when Torres travelled from the Marine base in Okinawa up to Tokyo at one point for shore leave.

The two became fast friends over a cup of Sake, so that had been fun. Still, Torres didn't expect that the guy would stick to him like a lost puppy. Then again, who the hell wouldn't stick with a Marine and stay friends with'em? Good thing was they also shared interests, so that was a thing to tie their fates. He hummed, crossing his arms to his chest and said, "Y'know, man, I had half a mind to ask what kind of doujins you're even looking for."

"Some fanmade stuff for an Isekai I was watching," Itami replied, arranging his scruffy brown hair and flashing his friend a grin.

The Marine rolled his eyes, "Fucking hell, of course... It at least a good Isekai, or is it one of the run-of-the-mill trashy ones you see spammed out by the dozen nowadays? Because if it's the latter, I'm gonna pass on that shit if you don't mind," and he pulled out his smartphone. Itami shrugged, then leaned against the handrail, tugging at his bright-orange shirt with some weird Japanese nu-metal band's logo.

"I'd say it's pretty good, considering it's got three seasons so far. I barely got into it last month, but I've binged the entire thing in a week," The man replied.

"Oh, so it's one of the ones not made to just promote the Manga, but rather to actually tell the story. Gimme the name once we find those Doujins you're looking for. May just have to give it a watch back at Okinawa," Torres grinned. The two felt the train decelerate and stop, before stepping off and descending from the station, into the busy streets of the shopping district. Torres shielded his eyes from the burning heat of the midday sun with his hand, stating, "It's barely May and the sun's already burning..."

"Welcome to Japan," Itami quipped, garnering a chuckle out of the Marine. As the two moved down the street, through the crowds and to the convention center, Itami inquired, "Say, what's the rest of your squad doing?"

"Tim's back in the states, visiting relatives, Jake is running interference for some E4 over in Okinawa and the others are probably taking a nap before drills start again," The man explained, then switched to another subject, "Heard the Chinese are getting antsy about something. North and South Korea are seeing increased activity around their areas and some of the locals are also whispering of stuff going on behind the scenes... Hell, Guam's been on high alert for a while."

"Negotiations still ongoing?" Itami raised a brow.

"Not a lot else you can do when you've got the two most backwater shitholes trying to act superpower-like in the middle of Asia. Meanwhile, the Ruskies are apparently eagerly trying to talk to the Chinese about something or other... Part of me thinks we're either seein'em sit together at the negotiation tables next, or we're about to watch another Sino-Russian split like way back in the day," The man stated.