Chapter 33

"Oh yeah," Issei spoke up while they were in an otaku shop. "Ayame-chan… about that sweatshirt…"

…Did it seriously take him this long for him to finally figure out what she was wearing? Five hours and he's barely about to say something about it?

"…I am wearing something underneath, you lolicon," she blurted while scanning the latest releases of DVDs.

"Um… no, not that…" Issei made a quick look around to make sure no one else had heard her comment. He was finally starting to come back to his usual self. Ayame felt relieved.

"I was going to ask—"

But she cut him off with an audible gasp. Her eyes widened as she spotted the object she had desired for so long. Some schmuck must have misplaced it into the New Releases shelf. If this were in its preferred spot then someone, like her, looking for it through every shop would have swiped it immediately.

Was it by sheer luck, that through someone's mistake, that it was here before her?

It was the special edition of Dragon Knight Heroes with a special disc featuring their movie. It covered all three seasons, provided director and voice actor commentary on each episode, and gave a teaser episode featuring the soon-to-be revealed Black Dragon Knight.

There was less than a hundred of this box set produced and hardcore fans of the series had fought a bloody war to get their hands on this. And yet, somehow, it was untouched in this run-down no-name otaku shop.

And it came with a Red Blur phone strap.

Shoving Issei aside, she ran immediately to the counter while holding on to her precious treasure tucked into her arms. She was going to bite off the head of anyone who dared to get in her way. Luckily she didn't need to as she safely got to the clerk.

…Only to find the box set was more expensive than she realized. She was a fool to not have checked the price. She had expunged in her allowance today and wasn't just going to be tight on food this week, but she was missing a few yen to afford the anime collection. Rather, even if she had the money, she wouldn't be able to feed herself until her aunt gave her more money the following week.

Actually starvation was a worthy price to pay for this. So she cursed herself for spending on unnecessary things like clothes and parfaits.

"Well…?" the impatient clerk was waiting for her to pay.

She slumped in defeat. There was nothing she could do and was going to embarrass herself.

"Here, I'll pay for that," Issei approached at her side and handed a debit card to the clerk. The clerk gave him a shrug and then accepted the payment. He then packed the box set into a bag and handed it to Issei, who then handed it to Ayame.

And Ayame accepted it as though it were the Holy Grail itself. She cradled it in her arms in a firm yet tender hold.

When they exited the shop, Ayame looked up at Issei with newfound glory radiating around his aura. She was seeing him as this truly magnificent being.

"Issei… Marry me."

In response, Issei tripped on his feet and landed flat on his face.

With the foolishness aside, and after rubbing the dirt off his chin, he addressed her again, "I wanted to ask you about that," he pointed in the divine treasure in her arms followed by her sweatshirt.

"What… Where… How…"

Not being able to put his question into words, he ended up scratching his head.

She didn't know either what he wanted, so she decided to just elaborate on the basic information and see where that lead.

"Dragon Knight Heroes is an anime based off of the Red Blur incidents happening all over the world. Ever since they captured an image of him, Sunlight Studios produced an anime with the Red Blur being the main character. In later episodes they introduced his rival, White Chaser, as his archenemy. Most of the anime is reproduces incidents the Red Blur has solved but there is something of a story in there… somewhere. Most of it is about fighting monsters though. It's my absolute favorite… Ise-chan?"

She watched as the more she elaborated… the more his expression began to tense. His brows came together in confusion at first, then of astonishment, and then finally of horror. His jaw ended up dropping, sweat began to drip down his brow, and his eyes widened.

Suddenly, his hands were squeezing her shoulders.

"Ayame-chan… we're going home right now and watching all of this. Even if it takes days."

A curious brow was arched by this reaction. Well, no matter the reasons, she supposed she should be glad that her friend had the same interest as her. At last she could watch her favorite anime and discuss about it in long hours with someone other than the mirror or Red Plush and Plush Chaser.

She nodded.

______________________________________________________

Support me at Patre0n:

https://www.patre on.com/Sleepyweepy

Link at synopsis too if you can't copy from here.