You waited for Masaomi at Ikebukuro West Gate Park, or "Nishiguchi Park" as everyone else called it. You were wearing your (f/c) hoodie, jeans, and white shoes. You had your messenger bag that matched your hoodie slung over your shoulder as usual.

You clutched several maps and brochures, reading about everything Ikebukuro had to offer along with directions all around the district. You were so engrossed in your reading material you didn't see the fake blonde appear in front of you. He ruffled your hair to get your attention and you yelped, smacking his hand away on instinct while dropping everything you had in your hands in the process. You looked up to confront the stranger but saw Masaomi. Realizing what you had done, you bowed at him. "M-Masaomi! I'm so sorry! I didn't know it was you!" You apologized quickly.

"It's okay," he shrugged. "I scared you. I also made you drop everything you had in your hands. Let me help you."

Masaomi bent down and the both of you picked up the brochures and maps that you had dropped. Masaomi handed over his share to you. "Just to let you know, you look a lot like a tourist when you are holding these and reading them all at once." Masaomi noticed.

"S-Sorry..." you stammered, blushing darkly. "That wasn't my intent. I was just curious about what they had around here."

Masaomi laughed. It was a strangely satisfying sound for you to hear, and you found yourself weirded out that you enjoyed it so much. "I was just teasing you again!" He snorted. "Besides, you look cute when you're trying to read them all at once."

Oh, you will never get used to Masaomi's flirty comments and teasing. You ignored the flirt as you stuffed the papers into your organized bag. "S-So, where do you wanna start?" You asked.

"I don't know," Masaomi shrugged. "Where do you wanna start?"

"Eh? I thought you were my tour guide!"

"Well, I guess since we're here, we can explore Nishiguchi park and other streets nearby."

"Sounds good to me," you slung your bag over your shoulder.

"And now...let the grand tour began!" Boomed Masaomi, causing several people passing by to stop at stare at him. You couldn't help but laugh at his playful nature.

*~*~*~*~*~

"A-Are you sure we should be out this late?" You asked Masaomi nervously. The two of you were exploring the streets of Ikebukuro, occasionally window shopping at stores you thought looked interesting.

"Hm...it's only 6 in the evening," Masaomi pulled out his orange flip phone to check the time. "Why?"

"I've heard rumors of color gangs that tend to go out when it's late..."

"(Y/n), it's still pretty early in the evening. The color gangs won't be coming out at this time, I can guarantee that."

"That's a relief."

"Besides, there aren't as many color gangs anymore. There were a lot of showy ones last year, but they picked a fight with gangs from the Saitama area, and a bunch got arrested. Ever since then, if a bunch of people wearing the same colored clothes gather in one place, the police are on 'em in a second."

"So...is Ikebukuro safe now that the color gangs died out?"

"Um...I'm not so sure. I haven't heard much lately so I don't know the details of what's going on in the shadows, but I know for sure that there still some dangerous people lurking in the gutters, so be careful, since you are a little cutie!"

You laughed at his jokes. "Oh, I almost forgot!" Masaomi gasped. "As your tour guide, I was supposed to be showing you the streets we're passing!" He turned around and walked backwards while facing the opposite direction. "Tch...we must of passed several streets and intersections by now. Sorry, (Y/n)."

"It's okay," you while scratching your cheek nervously. "I was kinda reading the street signs we passed while you were talking."

"Anyways, this is Sixty Story Street. There's another street called Sunshine Street, which is by there." He pointed to the direction to the street he was talking about.

You turned your head, stood on your tip toes, and craned your neck to see where he was pointing. "I see," you nodded.

You were still walking while looking and you were unfortunately not paying attention and you bumped into something. Looking up quickly, you saw it was a person. You bowed. "I'm sorry!" You apologized. You looked up at the person but realized it was a 2-D cardboard figure of a brown-haired cat girl.

Two young adults peeked out behind the cardboard statue. One was a girl with fair skin and dark brown eyes, brown hair, dressed entirely in black. Even the hat she wore on her head was black. The other one was a male with dirty-blonde hair and he was wearing a light blue hoodie with dark pants and a backpack. His eyes were closed as well. "Oh, it's Masaomi," the girl told the boy.

"Hey," the closed-eye young male adult greeted the two.

"Oh! Hey, Erika. Howdy Walker," Masaomi grinned at the two.

"How've you been?" Walker asked Masaomi.

Before he could reply, someone else greeted Masaomi. "Yo!" A voice cut through the air.

Masaomi turned around and you did as well to see two more adults by a van. Both were male and looked to be adults. One had a dark blue, tea jacket, grey pants, and a black beanie as he stood outside the van. The other male, who was sitting in one of the seats in the van, had a white-button down, a brown vest, and light grey pants. He had brown hair that reached to his shoulders. "How's it hangin', Kida?" The beanie man smiled.

"Long time no see!" Masaomi waved, greeting the two.

"Who's this new kid? Are they a friend of yours, like Ryugamie?" Erika asked.

"No, they're a transfer student from (home country)," Masaomi explained. "I was giving them a tour of Ikebukuro since she hasn't done it yet."

"Ah, cool," Erika nodded.

"Anyways, this young lady is Erika," he pointed to the young woman. "And this is Walker," his hand drifted over to the hoodie man. He pointed two fingers at the two males by the van. "And these two are Kyohei and Saburo."

You bowed at the four of them. "It's a pleasure to meet you all," you greeted. "M-My name is (Y/n) (L/n)."

"Anyways, you two were out shopping?" Masaomi asked, changing the subject.

"Yup," Erika smiled.

"Dengeki Bunko just released their latest publishing run. I picked up thirty copies or so," Walker filled in the details.

"Dengeki Bunko puts out thirty copies a month?" You asked.

"No, of course not!" Erika laughed. "One each for him and me, and then, oh...ten more for other stuff."

Other stuff? You thought to yourself. What could they possibly mean by "other stuff"?

Erika and Walker picked up the cardboard statue up. "Well, we're gonna get going."

"See you guys soon!" Walker smiled, still having his eyes closed.

"Right. Peace," Masaomi waved goodbye at the two.

"See you," Kyohei gave a small goodbye wave and Saburo nodded.

You and him continued your way down Ikebukuro. In the background, you could hear Saburo yelling at Erika and Walker to be careful around his van. Masaomi laughed, "They're a bit odd, but if you treat them nicely, they'll treat you nicely."

"I didn't think you're the kind of person that would have friends like them," you laughed at your confession.

"I get involved in all kinds of things," Masaomi explained. "I know all the good shops, where to get good used clothes...well, if you know everything that's going on, it makes it easier to talk to girls."

You laughed, He's such a lady's man...

Masaomi flipped open his phone and gasped at the time. "It's that late already?!" He cried. "But I only covered about 5/400ths that I was going to show you! Oh, the 4/400ths are Erika and the others."

"It's okay," you laughed. "Take your time. I live alone, so I don't have parents nagging me about my curfew."

"Wait-you moved here all by yourself?"

"Yeah. It's just me. My family lives in (home country)."

"(Y/n), you have a pretty awesome family if they let you move from (home country) all the way to Ikebukuro."

"Haha, thanks."

Masaomi stopped and you stopped as well. The two of you stood in front of a sushi restaurant. A large, black man was handing out sushi flyers to various people passing by, possibly advertising the restaurant. "Hello, long time no see?" He smiled at you. He spoke with a Russian accent. He held out a flyer to the restaurant to you.

"O-Oh...?" You stammered, surprised at his sudden action as you took the flyer from him. "T-Thank you."

"Hey, Simon!" Masaomi yelled, getting his attention away from you. "Long time no see!"

"Oh, Kida," Simon greeted Masaomi. "Want sushi? It good. I give you a discount. Sushi good!"

"Nah, man," Masaomi laughed. "I'm broke, so not today. I'll eat once I get a job and some money, so how 'bout some sushi on the house?"

"I can't!" Simon cried. "I would disappear into seaweed of Russian tundra!"

Seaweed in the tundra...? You thought to yourself. "See you," Masaomi laughed as he waved goodbye to Simon.

Simon waved back, giving you two a closed eye smile. "Long time no see."

You caught up,to Masaomi. "You know him?" You asked. You assumed probably because he was a regular at the restaurant.

"Yeah," Masaomi explained. "His name is Simon. He's a black Russian. He pulls customers in for that Russian sushi place over there. His real name is Semyon, but everyone reads it like English and calls him Simon. I don't know the details, but his parents work at a asylum in Russia from America or something. Anyways, a Russian friend of his started a sushi place, so he started working there."

Masaomi took a couple steps ahead of you before turning around abruptly. "Don't piss him off," he warned you, a serious look in his eyes.

"Wh-What?" You asked him, a perplexed look on your face.

"It's like I said; don't piss him off," Masaomi repeated. "I once saw him stop a fight by picking up a man as big as him with one hand."

You jogged ahead to keep up with Masaomi. "Speaking of people you should piss off--" Masaomi started. Just as he spoke that, a vending machine went flying high above, through the air.

You gawked at it. "What's that?!" You cried.

"Speak of the devil," Masaomi laughed, pointing at the flying vending machine. "Just stay away from a guy named Shizuo Heiwajima. Just live a normal life and he'll never talk to you."

*~*~*~*~*~

"Um, are there other people I should avoid?" You asked Masaomi as you took a sip of (favorite drink). You and Masaomi were sitting at a bench outside a convenience store. He bought you both drinks, even though you insisted you could pay for yourself but he ignored your protest.

"Well..." Masaomi took a swig of his drink. "Stay away from the yakuza and gangs, obviously. Oh, and before I forget, a guy named Izaya Ohihara."

Izaya Ohihara? You thought. You noticed Masaomi had a serious glint in his eyes so you assumed he was really, really bad. "What does he look like?" You asked another question. "You know, so I can avoid him."

"He dresses pretty differently than from everyone, so I think you'll spot him pretty quickly." Masaomi shrugged. "But, he mostly lurks in Shinjuku, so you'll probably never see him. Also, stay away from the Dollars."

"The Dollars? Are they some sort of color gang like the others?"

"I don't know the details, but I know there are a lot of them, and they're all a little nuts. They seem like a color gang, but no one knows their color. But, with things like this around with other color gangs, they'll probably never meet up in public, so you don't have to worry about seeing them."

A peaceful silence fell between the two of you and you both finished your drinks. You took in the view of the bustling city, still alive even at night. It was a city that never sleeps, not matter what time of day it was. Amazing... You thought. A whole world that I've only seen in manga and on the internet stands before me. It's more amazing than Kamisakura-Machi-Ginza.

"You know, you're lucky," Masaomi commented.

"Huh?" You asked him, throwing your drink into the trash can as you gave Masaomi a look.

"Just today, his meet Kyohei and the gang, plus Simon," Masaomi smiled. "And you just witnessed a vending machine thrown by Shizuo."

"Would I call that good luck?" You replied.

"Oh, how did you like the tour?"

"I think it was great. It was so nice seeing the city up close with an amazing tour guide helping me through the town."

"Aw, stop it, you're embarrassing me!"

Masaomi and you laughed together. Masaomi crushed his drink before chucking into the nearest trash can. "You know, if you liked Ikebukuro so much, I'll take you to Shibuya some time. Or, if you like crowds, maybe you'd prefer the horse track." He offered.

"I'll keep those in mind," you nodded.

"Why did you move from (home country)?" Masaomi asked suddenly.

"Hm?" Your head perked up at Masaomi.

"(Home country) sounds like a nice place to live. Why did you leave it for Ikebukuro?"

"Well..." you fiddled with your fingers on your lap. "It's just the (town/city) I lived in when I was living in (home country) was...quiet, I guess. Nothing exciting really happened when I was living there. I guess I was drawn to here with the bustling and exciting nature."

Masaomi nodded in approval as the two of you sat once again in peaceful silence. "You know, you're the first person that I've flirted with I'd ever met to stay with me this long," Masaomi spoke out.

"Hm?!" You jerked, blushing madly.

"I mean, everyone I flirted with in I the past showed no interest in me or ignored me. You're the first to stay this long."

"Wh-What about Anri? You, her, and Mikado seemed to be friends for a long time. Probably a long time before I came here."

"I only knew her through Mikado, so she doesn't count."

"O-Oh..." you blushed and looked down at your hands on your lap again.

"Whelp, I probably embarrassed you," Masaomi sighed, putting his arms behind his head.

"N-No..." you stammered, assuring him. "It's just that...I'd never expected to make friends right away when I came here. I'd thought I would be living here for a while before somebody noticed me and wanted to be friends with me."

Masaomi opened his mouth to reply to you when you heard the sound of a horse neighing, echoing through the town. "Oh my god, did I hear that right?!" He cried, leaping from his spot on the bench.

"Huh?" You asked.

Masaomi grabbed your hand and yanked you up. "Come on, hurry!" Masaomi insisted.

"I-I am!" You gasped, trying to keep up with the fake blonde. You thought you were going to explode at the fact Masaomi was holding your hand. "Why are we in a rush?!" You panted.

"You're about to witness a living urban legend!" Masaomi enthusiastically replied, dragging you around until you both reached the sidewalk that was by a freeway entrance.

"Wh-What do you mean...'urban legend'?" You gasped like crazy, bending over and clutching your knees as you panted.

"The black bike! The Headless Rider!" Masaomi squealed like a fangirl. "Oh, here they are! (Y/n), look!"

You sat up and looked out into the street. Your eyes widened at the sight in front of you. A person, dressed in a black jumpsuit with a yellow cat-eared motorcycle helmet with a blue design on their head, rode pass you two on a motorcycle that was the color of midnight. It had no license plate nor headlights. A loud neigh of a horse echoed as they rode into a tunnel.

You was right all along about Ikebukuro. It really was exciting compared to the (city/town) you used to live in when you was living in (home country).

Why?

Because you just witnessed what was labeled as an "impossible reality" by many right in front of yours eyes.

As the Headless Rider passed, Masaomi looked back at you and gave me a closed-eye smile. You smiled back and giggled at him.

*~*~*~*~*~

"Thank you Masaomi for giving me an amazing tour of Ikebukuro," you bowed at him. The two of you stood in front of your apartment room in the small apartment complex.

"Hey, it wasn't a problem," Masaomi shrugged. He turned around and looked back, waving at you. "See you tomorrow at school."

You smiled and waved goodbye at Masaomi and he trekked down the stairs of the complex. Once he was gone, you let out a breath you were unknowingly holding. Why were you so nervous around Masaomi? You couldn't possibly have feelings for him. It's only been one day!

You opened the door of your apartment and your phone buzzed. You closed the door and locked it, fetching your phone from the messenger bag. Your phone beeped with an email and you pulled open your email. Your eyes widened as you read the message.

To: <(your nickname)@yahoo.com>
From: <[email protected]>

Hello (your nickname),

From recent observations of your actions, I have
decided you are perfectly qualified to join our
group.

It's a simple yes or no answer.

Would you like to join the Dollars?