11 Kirigaya Suguha

After running a couple of blocks, they slowed down and stopped in front of a convenience store. Arthur and the girl gasped for breath as they leaned their backs against the store wall.

The girl dropped her wooden practice sword and sobbed quietly with her head down.

"It's okay…" Arthur wanted to comfort the girl but realized that they were still holding hands and tried to take his back. But to his surprise, the girl actually held on tightly and refused to release it.

[Whatever, it's not like I lose out holding a beauty's hand…] Arthur used his free hand to pat the girl's hand and whispered softly. "Everything is okay. Don't cry…"

This seemed to make the girl sob even harder.

[Here goes nothing, please don't slap me…] Arthur stepped forward and used his free arm to wrap around the girl's waist and pulled her to his chest.

The girl's body trembled and stiffened, then became silent. The world seemed to stand still. Everything was quiet.

Arthur whispered in the girl's pearl white ear. "It's okay… Cry it out and everything will be over."

The girl's body relaxed in Arthur's arms as loud crying became muffled by his chest.

Ten minutes later, the sun finally set, dropping darkness across Japan.

Arthur sat on the ground, leaning against the wall with the girl beside him leaning against him. The girl had just stopped crying.

"Thank you…" the girl whispered in a hoarse voice from crying. "If you didnt…" The girl shuddered, thinking about what would happen to her.

"Any normal person would save a beauty if she was in danger." Arthur shook his head with a smile. At least he knew an entire group of people that would go crazy to save her.

Hearing Arthur call her a 'beauty', the girl blushed, causing her pale face to recover a little color. She hesitated and whispered. "Your name is…"

"Arthur." Arthur smiled softly and asked. "What about you?"

"Suguha, Kirigaya Suguha." Kirigaya Suguha whispered softly, making it hard to hear if he wasn't right next to her.

"Well, Suguha." Arthur looked at the bright moon in the sky. "Its kinda late. Will your parents worry if you don't at least call and check in?"

"Ahh!" Kirigaya Suguha instantly stood up with a worried look on her face. "I'm so dead. I'm so dead." She looked at Arthur impatiently. "Can I borrow your cellphone? I forgot mine at home. We can also call the police!"

[Thankfully, she's okay.] Arthur secretly sighed in relief and shook his head with an apologetic smile. "I just arrived in Japan today, let alone a phone, I don't even have a place to live." He continued to explain. "Lets not call the police, were safe anyway."

"Really…" Kirigaya Suguha sighed with frustration.

Arthur chuckled and pointed at the convenience store. "Why don't we try to borrow the store's phone."

"Good idea!" Kirigaya Suguha's eyes brightened. She quickly picked up her wooden practice sword and put it in its cloth bag. "Lets go." She urged Arthur.

"Alright. Alright. Alright." Arthur sighed. Got up from the ground and walked into the convenience store together.

…

Other than the employee at the counter playing with his cellphone, the entire convenience store was empty.

Arthur walked up to the counter and asked the employee politely. "Can we please barrow the store's phone?"

The employee didn't lift his head from his cellphone and pointed towards a door. "Its inside, just make sure you don't touch anything."

"Thank you!" Arthur and Kirigaya Suguha bowed slightly in thanks and went into the office together.

"Alright, Ill be outside." After making sure everything was okay, Arthur explained to Kirigaya Suguha and left the office.

Kirigaya Suguha looked at the leaving Arthur with a brilliant smile and picked up the phone.

Outside the office, Arthur glanced around and picked up some necessities. Like soap, shampoo, clothes, food. You can pick up about all the basics in the convenience store. Well, the clothes are just shirts, shorts and underwear, but that's all Arthur needs at the moment.

After almost filling a trolley, Arthur stealthily pulled out his envelope of cash from [The Demon King's Treasure] and walked to the counter.

"Is this all, Sir?" the employee asked out of habit as he scanned the clothes.

Arthur thought about and asked expectantly. "Oh! Can I also get a cellphone here?"

The employee glanced at Arthur with a dull look and pointed towards a shelf not far away.

Following the employee's finger, Arthur found an entire area filled with locked cellphones for sale.

After looking over each one, he considered a relatively hi-tech looking one. While Arthur was reading the display about the phone, a girl's voice come out from behind him. "You shouldn't get that one."

"Oh…" Arthur stepped aside and asked Kirigaya Suguha. "What's wrong with it?"

"One of my friends at school had this phone, it always shutdown when she used it or didn't charge completely." Kirigaya Suguha stood beside Arthur and explained while she scanned the cellphones for sale.

Kirigaya Suguha's eyes perked up and pointed towards a modern-looking touch-screen cellphone. "Buy that one!"

"Alright." Arthur nodded with the corner of his lips upturned.

Arthur and Kirigaya Suguha returned to the counter with a prepaid phone sim and notified the employee on which phone he was buying. The employee reached below the counter and pulled out the cellphone and scanned it.

The employee glanced at Arthur with the normal dull-look. "Your total will be 74,121"

"Here you go." Arthur pulled out a stack of yen from an envelope and counted it before handing it to the employee. "Keep the change."

"Lets go, Ill send you home." Arthur glanced towards Kirigaya Suguha with a smile and picked up up his bags.

Kirigaya Suguha nodded with a cheerful smile and left the convenience store with Arthur.

After leaving the convenience store, Kirigaya Suguha stopped Arthur. "Do you want me to help you setup your phone for you while we walk?" She glanced away with a slight blush. "It can be a way to repay you for saving me."

Arthur wanted to agree but asked his doubt. "Does it need to charge first?"

"Huh?" Kirigaya Suguha glanced at Arthur with suspicion but still explained. "All cellphones come charged."

"Oh… Sure that would be a great help." Arthur smiled awkwardly. [How come I saw on a website back in the day that most phones are dead when you first buy them?] He opened the bag that had the cellphone and sim. "Here."

Kirigaya Suguha opened the cellphone container and took the cellphone out but left the container in the bag.

While walking, Arthur and Kirigaya Suguha briefly chatted about random stuff, never really getting into anything deeply.

Kirigaya Suguha glanced at Arthur as they passed below a street lamp with a strange look. "By the way, I was wondering, why are you wearing such a fancy robe?"

"Uh…" Arthur didn't know what to say. He can't be like, I just came to this world today, and this is all I had to wear. All he can do is tell a lie. "It's a family tradition to wear the house robe, the first time you enter a foreign land."

"Oh…" Kirigaya Suguha nodded her head with a look of 'I understand your pain'. "My family is also has annoying traditions." She glanced at her cloth bag holding her wooden practice sword.

Although he already knew a little of what she was talking about, Arthur still asked with a look of interest. "Really? Can you tell me about it?"

"Its nothing." Kirigaya Suguha shook her head and explained with a look of remembrance in her eyes. "My Grandfather was a kendo champion, so he created a family tradition that someone in the family must learn kendo and follow in his footsteps." She sighed. "Originally my brother and I trained together, but he stopped not long after."

Arthur nodded his head in understanding and glanced at Kirigaya Suguha, who was lit up by a phone screen. "Do you dislike Kendo?"

Kirigaya Suguha pondered and shook her head. "No."

"Then it's no longer just a family tradition." Arthur smiled faintly and explained. "It's your hobby or a sport you practice."

"Yeah." Kirigaya Suguha nodded with a bright smile. "Its just a sport I practice." Then she seemed to remember something and glanced at Arthur with confusion. "By the way… What happened to the Katana you used earlier? Do you just carry that around with you?"

"That's not mine. I just found it on the side of the alley while looking for weapons." Arthur didn't hesitate to lie with a straight face. "I threw it on the ground when we escaped."

"Oh…" Kirigaya Suguha sighed in relief and nodded her head, but still looked slightly confused. "Who would carry around a Katana with them while walking around on the streets and leave it in an alley?"

"Probably criminals." Arthur shook his head and continued to make up a story.

Ten minutes later, Arthur and Kirigaya Suguha stopped outside an old Japanese-style house.

"We're here." Kirigaya Suguha sighed in relief with a mixture of disappointment that she didn't notice. "Here's your phone." She handed Arthur his phone.

"Thanks, you saved me a lot of trouble." Arthur accepted his phone with a smile.

Kirigaya Suguha hesitated and asked. "Do you want to come in and rest for a minute?"

"Next time." Arthur shook his head with a smile. "I need to hurry and find a hotel to stay in." He glanced at the bright Kirigaya Household and asked. "What's your number so I can call you later?"

"I…" Kirigaya Suguha blushed and whispered. "… I already called my cellphone and left my number in your phone."

"Alright, then Ill call you later and come over for a meal then." Arthur glanced at the door that opened, revealing a middle-aged man and woman looking their way. "Your parents are worried about you, I better go."

"Alright…" Kirigaya Suguha nodded softly. "Talk to you later."

"Talk to you later." Arthur waved his hand at the middle-aged couple saying goodbye and left.