Japan. Central Park.
Sunday. 5:00 PM.
It was a very quiet night. Quiet even by city standards. A bad feeling haunted him, but he was faster. When he arrived at the place, the protagonist relaxed — there was no one around.
He could have calmly bought his favourite soda and left as usual, but today was different. Sitting down on a bench, he began to count his money...
"He" is Dodge. Of course, that's his nickname. His real name is hard to remember. Dodge got that nickname from a boxer who tried to beat him up for stealing. The crafty boy wasn't stealing: he just happened to walk into a building that looked like some kind of martial arts school, saw an interesting bottle with green liquid in it, and took a sip. It didn't taste very good. But the local instructor didn't appreciate his antics:
"You're too young to be drinking that, kid. Didn't your mummy tell you that grabbing everything you can get your hands on is, at the very least, rude? Never mind, I'll teach you a lesson.
A five-minute fight. Just like all the others. Dodge lazily dodges hooks, taking small steps. Lunges, combinations, tricks — there's only one response to everything. Dodge. Simple, but sometimes stylish. Effective, but requiring skill. After the fight, the boxer admitted defeat and called the protagonist "Dodger."
It seemed like an endless journey. After so much wandering, it was hard to be surprised by anything. The only thing that kept him going was the question:
"Why do I exist?" he whispered to himself.
Age was a problem because of the large number that didn't fit in his head. On his next birthday, Dodge gave himself a present: he freed himself from the heavy burden of counting his age.
"My head feels so much clearer now..."
However, regardless of his travels and longevity, he always remained at the same level of school education. He was not interested in education. The trickster had seen too much to be taught anything. History, maths, geography. It all seemed like useless nonsense to him.
In his entire life, he had never felt pain. And that was boring. Never feeling what others feel. Insensitivity is one of his main qualities. Dodge just travelled, sometimes making notes in his old notebook, trying different things, even inedible ones. At one point, he even had a full conversation with a person...
"Boy, where are you from?" — it was France, around the 18th century. The trickster was admiring the sunset, sitting on a lonely bench in the middle of the street.
"...
"Are you lost? Me too.
Realising that she was talking to him, he turned his attention to her. She was a girl of his age. After the war, many had lost their loved ones.
"...
"Are you mute? I know people like that. They say they can't speak, no matter how much they want to.
"I can speak.
He rarely spoke. Dodge simply didn't understand why people talked so much. Don't they like silence? In any case, the protagonist never wastes words. Sometimes he is forced to open his mouth, and he does so very reluctantly.
"Oh, so you can talk! My name is Alena, what's yours?"
This question caught him off guard. He had been asked his name before, but he had a habit of not talking to strangers. This girl was more persistent than he had expected.
"I don't have a name," he said, staring at the girl with a stony gaze.
"You don't remember? Never mind, it happened to me once too...
This conversation was the longest he had had in centuries. For about half an hour, she told him about her life. About the war. About her family. She just wanted to talk, regardless of how "accommodating" her companion was. Finally, at some point, she looked at the sun and said it was time for her to go back. Dodge remained sitting on that bench until nightfall, when he felt like having a drink.
Drinking was his passion. It was God in heaven and Satan in hell. He drank wine in Athens, drank his first Coca-Cola in England, drank everything there was to drink. But lately, he was only interested in sparkling water. Litres of sparkling water.
And that led to a problem. Money. He would never work. Why earn money when you can just take it? Dodge was sure that no one would mind if he took a couple of coins from a muscular athlete. To his surprise, the bodybuilder got angry. Really angry. Dodge's Greek was poor at the time, and the athlete didn't talk much. Fists started flying. A couple of minutes later, the jock was lying in a ditch, having "accidentally" slipped. The fight attracted the attention of the police. Realising that this kind of life would lead to nothing good, he gave up crime. Along with the theft, his supply of drinks ran out. He had to get money. Oh, what he didn't do for another can of fruit juice... but he didn't work. The crafty guy tried to earn money legally, but without putting in too much effort. It's worth noting that this was sometimes difficult for him.At some point, Dodge discovered another interesting ability. The ability to move through space. He can't explain it, but he can do it whenever he wants. A flash, and he is carried away to a random world, at a random time, in a random place. If he likes the local fauna, he stays, and most likely for a long time. If not, he moves on. Simple and carefree.
So when he ended up in 21st-century Japan, he knew right away that he would stay there for a long time. It was his first time in the modern world. Surprisingly, in a week, the guy only managed to try one drink. But no, it wasn't because of money, it was because of the drink. Mazer is a fizzy drink sold exclusively in branded vending machines. It's the best thing he's ever tasted. The perfect combination of flavour, sugar, all kinds of E104 and natural colourings. It's pure poison. But it's damn tasty poison. Especially since Dodge's stomach has been through a series of serious tests, such as acid, soapy water, a silver coin that looked like a chocolate bar, headache pills that vaguely resembled caramels... all at the same time.
He didn't take to Japan very well. The thing is, everything is too loud for him here. In just a couple of days, he managed to miss the silence of the forest. And the people... the people in Japan are a complete mystery. They talk in a way that is incomprehensible. And he doesn't understand the "san" and "kun" at all, nor does he intend to.
"I should remember how much this can of soda costs, and now there are these kuns."
So when someone accidentally called him "Chiro-kun," he thought it was a serious insult. As it turned out, a girl had lost her boyfriend in the crowd and was looking for him.
It's worth noting that the last place he was in was the 18th century. Accordingly, his clothes weren't exactly fashionable:
"Psycho.
"Cosplayer.
"Cute.
"I'm not a history teacher, but this outfit was definitely worn by peasants several hundred years ago!"
After all these incomprehensible words heard from random passers-by on the pavement, Dodge decided to change his "outfit". Fortunately, he spoke Japanese quite well, even if he didn't understand many of the subtleties. He stole a wallet from a suspicious-looking guy (because Dodge had sworn to stop stealing from good people) and bought himself some clothes. Or rather, what the young saleswoman recommended.
"Listen, I work here after school, but I can tell you for sure that I've never met such a sucker as you!"
After that, she gave him an interesting set of clothes. As she said, "This is what's in fashion now." The jeans were apparently not of the best quality, as they were worn at the knees, and there was a simple white T-shirt and some kind of scarf. The trainers turned out to be quite good quality.
"The scarf says 'I'm cool!'. And no, it's fashionable now! You just don't understand anything, so give me my money and you can go hit on schoolgirls! But I'm not giving it to you, I'm telling you right now! But if you need anything, come back.
When Dodge found himself on the street in his new "role," the first thing he did was throw his old clothes in the trash. Now he was a free man with no money and no place to live!"
After all that, he decided to find a place to bathe. Dodge didn't wash often; it didn't bother him until his eyes were sticky with dirt. And the only place in town where you could wash properly was the beach.
When he came out of the water, he heard loud laughter:
"Didn't you forget to take your clothes off?" the older students mocked him.
"At least I'm wearing clothes and not showing off my belly," the newcomer thought to himself with a smirk, shaking himself off. He didn't have six-pack abs, and he despised excessive nudity.
Sitting down on the sand, he began to watch the people. Dodge often did this when he was bored.
"They cover their breasts with these rags? They hardly cover anything," he shrugged as he looked curiously at the fairer sex.
"Hey, scum, who are you staring at?" he heard a voice say.
Tearing his gaze away from a particularly provocative bikini, Dodge noticed a man slightly to his right.
"I'm talking to you, pervert!" A man of average build walked confidently towards Dodge.
"I hope they've learned something in the last few centuries."
Standing up, the man in the scarf slowly dusted himself off. The thug approached Dodge, almost touching him.
"You're not old enough to be looking at people like that, understand?" he said.
His words only made Dojo smile. The male decided to show off his masculinity.
"I think..." The protagonist wanted to start a constructive dialogue, but he was interrupted by a rude shove from the ignorant man. Instantly stepping aside, he lazily took up a fighting stance.
A fighting stance is a time-tested stance that allows you to fully demonstrate your agility. Basically, you need to crouch down a little, put your hands in your pockets or, if you don't have pockets, at least behind your back. In reality, this won't help you demonstrate your fighting skills in the slightest, but Lovkach had somehow gotten used to fighting with only his feet, with his hands in his pockets.
"What, scared already? Come here, I'll teach you some manners.
"Ashiro! Stop it! What did he do to you?" — a girl approached the fighting boys.
"Him? You know him?"
Realising that they weren't going to hit him, Dodge sighed with some disappointment.
"What? What are you talking about...
However, the "male" suddenly showed himself from a slightly different side. Bydlan turned out to be very jealous. And stupid.
"Slut!" the guy shouted, swinging at the girl. The slap would be hard.
"No way," whispered Dodge, pushing the bully hard, causing him to lose his balance.
Dodge only uses violence in extreme cases. As a rule, only in response to a threat.
"Bastard!" the offender roared in anger, getting up from the sand.
"That hurts, you know," the protagonist taunted, watching his opponent.
People started to pay attention to them. Too much attention. The young man calmed down, slowing his pace and looking around. He chickened out, in short.
"Let's get out of here," he mumbled, not wanting to get into trouble.
After these words, he began to walk away, gently taking his girlfriend by the hand. She hurried after him, but...
"Thanks," Dodge said sarcastically, taking the open can of soda from the girl. Fortunately, she hadn't drunk any of it yet.
"If he had hit her, the drink would have spilled..." That was the only reason the smart guy would have pushed the bully.
The girl gave him a puzzled look, but that was all she did. Shaking himself off, Dodge walked away.
He was having fun here. These people were funny and energetic. Before, few people approached him to talk. And even if they did, they asked if he wanted to become a serf. Ah, those were the days... feudalism...
On the third day of his stay in Japan, he realised that sitting on the beach at night wasn't the best idea. He didn't need sleep, but sometimes he wanted to lie down on soft fabrics and relax his muscles. Everyone needs rest. And sometimes strange people would show up on the beach and throw parties. At night. How wild. Everyone sleeps at night.
Dodge went in search of something. But what he was looking for, no one knew. He knew a few of the most important places in town:
1. The vending machine by the beach.
2. The vending machine in the park by the fountain.
3. Two vending machines in the hypermarket.
4. Several dozen vending machines on streets throughout the city.
5. One broken vending machine. It was empty, but for some reason there was a price tag on it for a very large sum of money. Most likely, it was for some kind of special drink. It was located in a shop called "Everything for Small Businesses."
First, he decided to walk around the streets. But there was nothing interesting except for shelves full of soda, which he could never afford. He didn't pay any attention to people — he had more important things to do.
He stopped at some gates. Judging by the appearance, it was a school. There were some clubs, a main building, and what looked like a sports field. The fortress school he had visited out of curiosity had only a small room where a bad teacher explained and instilled incorrect things. He never went back to school.
Something else caught his attention. There was definitely magic in the air here.
Magic brings back bad memories for Dodge. Some priests tried to kill him with burning balls. As you might guess, they didn't succeed.
But he didn't dare go in. A premonition told him there was nothing to do there. With a grunt, he turned around and walked away...
And came face to face with some red-haired beast. Why a beast?"
"Intuition," he muttered to himself.
"Sorry," she apologised, stepping aside, accidentally bumping into Dodger.
Touching is the best way to get into a fight with a Dodger. It's not the end of the world, of course, but it annoys him greatly.
Sighing loudly, apparently out of anger, he quickly retreated.
"Hmm. Too empty eyes for a human. An angel? No. A demon?" thought the red-haired girl to herself.
"Rias, how long have you been apologising to strangers who blocked YOUR way?" asked the black-haired girl standing next to her.
"Akeno, stop being so clever. You know it's not that simple.
"Yes, yes, yes, random passers-by now deserve our apologies. Fine. How's Issei?
"He's fine. A couple more days and he'll be dead.
But no one was interested in the conversation between the two girls. The trickster stopped rummaging through his memories, opened his eyes and counted his money again:
"Ten coins at ten...," Dodge said sadly, counting his savings.
Leaning back against the bench, he sighed deeply.
"There's a discount on backpacks at the hypermarket. I'm just a little short," he thought.
He needed a backpack to keep his drinks cold. He had to make the pleasure last, otherwise he would drink it all in one go and it would be a fleeting pleasure. Unfortunately, a normal backpack cost 4,000 yen, and Dodge only had 130. He was a little short.
"Hey, man, cool scarf.
Looking up, Dodger saw a very interesting person. The man with the cool scarf could sometimes see right through people. Figuratively speaking.
So, this person turned out to be quite a twisted character and a student at the very school Dodge had visited a few days earlier. At least, that's what his intuition told him."He reminded me of that touch... oh, my shoulder was itching afterwards."
"Thanks," Dodge replied insensitively, counting his coins again in the hope of finding the 3,870 yen he had hidden.
"Hey, mate, have you seen a girl around here?"
"Do I have brothers?"
Dodge shook his head, still counting.
"I guess I came too early. I just have a date.
"Annoying and talkative are some of the worst qualities."
"I have a girlfriend now...
"101, 102, 103, 104..."
"Wow! How many coins do you have? I've never seen a one yen coin before!"
"105, 106, 107, 112..."
"What school do you go to?
"I don't go to school.
"Really? I go to a private school. It used to be a girls' school, but now, hoo-hoo-hoo!"
"103, 104, stop, I already counted that. Damn. I'll have to start all over again."
"How old are you? You look really young. When was the last time you got a haircut, dude?
"I'm, um... 16.
"That's how old I'd give you! Spot on.
"Too cheerful. And excited."
"What, you don't go to school or anything?"
Dodge raised his head. The smell of death. A girl was walking towards them in the distance. Seeing where the man with the funny scarf was looking, the chatty boy rushed towards her without saying goodbye.
"Magic again. I wish someone would make coins appear out of thin air for me..."
Scratching his head, Dodge began counting his money again. The lovers didn't make it to the fountain and stayed somewhere in the shadows.
"Okay, 100, 101, 102..."
***
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