Erika's Cosplay Club (Durarara!!)

Interlude: invited

Tom hasn't ever had to deal directly with Erika Karisawa before. He knows of her, vaguely, from Shizuo, but he's never actually spoken to her before now. She approaches him on the street one day, waving and shouting for him, and he almost thinks that there has to be a mistake, before her realizes who it is. Even so, he can't think of a reason for her to need to talk to him, unless she's actually looking for Shizuo, for some reason.

"Hey, hey, I have something I need to ask you," she says, once they're close. "About one of your coworkers, actually."

I knew it , he thinks.

"What? Do you have something you need to see Shizuo for?"

"Huh? No, no, not him, the other one! The super hot girl I always see you with! She was with you guys at my birthday party," she explains. He's a bit taken aback, hearing her refer to Vorona as 'super hot' without a hint of shame, but, at the same time, it's not as if it isn't true.

"Oh, you mean Vorona? Do you two know each other?"

"No, but I wanna change that! Do you think you could get us in touch?" she asks.

"Uh, sure, I could do that," he says, entirely put off by the whole situation. After just barely meeting Erika, she's already moved on to asking him to introduce her to Vorona, and he is unable to figure out the reasoning behind any of her actions. "She should still be at home, and I was heading that way now, so if you wanna tag along..."

"Oho, at home, huh?" A large grin spreads across her face. "So, is it just the two of you dating, or is it all three? Come on, I've been wondering for ages, so I gotta know!"

"Huh?" He's incredibly taken about by that sudden question. The relationship hasn't ever really been something they keep a secret, but still, the fact that Erika has picked up on it so quickly on her own surprises him, especially considering how unconventional the idea seems. "Well, actually, yeah, it is all three of us."

"Ha! I knew it," she says as he starts off and she falls into step with him. "I'm getting really good at spotting that kind of thing, you know."

"So, what, is it like that with you and those three guys you hang out with?" he asks, thinking he can tease her with that.

However, she just nods and says, "Well, it's not just us for though. There's also Tsuchin, and Kujichi and Rocchi..."

Wait, there's seven of them? And one of them is, what? The Toramaru boss?!

He has no idea who the first two are, but he's pretty sure he knows who the last nickname belongs to, and he shakes his head in disbelief. "You don't say. Well, I guess you learn something new every day, huh?"

When they get to the apartment complex that he, Shizuo, and Vorona are currently living in, he shows up to their apartment and goes in first, letting Vorona know that they have a guest who wants to see her. After that, he lets Erika in, and goes off to busy himself with something, in order to give them privacy, just in case they need it. Eventually, Erika passes by him on her way out.

"I'll see you soon, then, Vorona! Thanks again!" she calls. "And thanks for bringing me here, Tom, I really appreciate it!"

With that, she's out the door, and he asks, "What was that all about?"

"Cosplay," replies Vorona. "An invitation to a group."

"No way, she came here to ask you about cosplay?" he asks. "And, what, you agreed to do it?"

"It is silly," she admits, "but still, I want to try it."

How Erika managed to convince her, he has no idea.