When Marin heard a little about what David went through as a child, she had to look down while they were walking to hide her tears.
[Marin] 'I wish he'd open up to me about it in person so I could comfort him, but he doesn't even know that I can hear him... Dammit, this is unfair~!'
David noticed that Marin was crying and realized why, but he couldn't say anything about it because he didn't want to force her to lie this time.
Instead, they just continued walking.
During their walk, David got some odd looks before he remembered that the Sovereign's Seal was still visible on his forehead.
While the seal on the girls he bonds with will hide itself automatically, David's seal doesn't.
He quickly hid it, returning his forehead to normal.
When they finally arrived at the Mori Building where COSPA is located, Marin had calmed herself down and put on her usual joyful smile.
"You ready to buy me a bunch of stuff~?"
"Haha, I am indeed. Instead of just buying a few things, I'll pay for everything. After all, I'd prefer to get more than what you initially planned for in case you don't know exactly what to get yet."
Marin smiled and nodded happily like a child, "Okay~! You can't go back on your words! We're gonna clean this store out~!"
David chuckled and grabbed Marin's hand again while they walked in.
"Alrighty~! To the fifth floor we go~!"
Marin excitedly pulled David to the elevator and spammed the '5' button.
"Alright, Marin, calm down. We'll get there when we get there, no need to rush."
Marin turned and smiled widely at David, inching closer to him.
"Eheheh~, but the sooner we get there, the sooner we can buy stuff!"
David nodded with a serious face.
"Mm, that is correct. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can buy stuff indeed. I applaud your quick thinking."
Marin pinched David's waist for his comment.
"Don't be like that~. I'm very excited to get materials for my project!"
"I know, I was just joking. Don't take it to heart."
The elevator stopped and the doors opened, allowing them to roam around the store.
"I'm going to look around for stuff really quickly first to see if I can find what I'm looking for," Marin said excitedly.
"Sounds good, I'll just follow behind you."
"Heheh~!"
David let go of Marin's hand and followed behind her while she looked around like a kid in a candy store.
[Do you even know what COSPA is supposed to have, David?]
'Not really, why do you ask?'
[I think the fact that your version of COSPA looks like this just goes to show how different this world is from your original one...]
'...? Explain, I'm not sure what you mean.'
[In your world, COSPA doesn't sell all these fabrics and crafter's stuff, it usually just sells merch and pre-made outfits. It's also not supposed to be this big.]
'Huh... Well, I'm not complaining. Just means more stuff is centralized and I don't have to run to other stores.'
[Eh, I suppose so.]
⟪ I should buy stuff as well that could be used for making her cosplay. While I could create it with magic, it would take a while for me to create the spell for it. Plus, I feel like it would have more meaning behind it if it's created by hand. I'll have to see if Marin will let me make it for her so I can make it absolutely perfect. ⟫
[Marin] 'Ahh~, he's so sweet~!'
"Marin, I'm going to take a look around for a few things. If you need me, just message me on LINE if you can't find me and I'll find you."
"Mm! Have fun~!" Marin ran back to David and gave him a quick kiss before blushing and running away to continue her tour, ignoring the envious gazes she was getting from some of the women.
David also received envious gazes, but he reveled in it, enjoying every last tidbit of jealousy.
The first thing David looked for was a sewing machine as well as any other small handheld tools for sewing. After he found something that looked good, he got carried away and went on to buy multiple types and colors of fabrics, threads, pins, zippers, fasteners, scissors, measuring tapes, mannequin torsos, and many other things he thought would be useful.
It only took him about 15 minutes to buy everything and he spent around 120,000 yen altogether.
He gathered all of the bags and boxes he purchased and threw them into his inventory before quickly erasing the memories of the people in the store that saw his items disappear.
⟪ Ah, this isn't good. I'm getting addicted to erasing people's memories. I should limit how much I use my powers in public so I don't have to mess with anyone's heads. I'm a good, upstanding citizen. I shouldn't use powers on innocent people unless I'm healing their bodies or their souls. ⟫
⟪ Hmm, I should actually work on some healing spells while waiting for Marin. ⟫
And David did just that.
He expanded a thin layer of his Reiatsu to detect the Reiryoku he implanted in Marin earlier and found her location instantly.
He walked up to her and said, "I just bought all of the materials you'll need for your Shizuku Kuroe cosplay. If you want to keep looking around, I'll walk around with you, but you don't need to worry about the materials I already bought."
Marin squealed, "Eeeek~! You're the best~! I'll pay you back for it later for sure!"
David just shook his head. "No, you're my woman now. This is the least I can do. I know you wouldn't just use me as a wallet and would genuinely try to pay me back, but I'm telling you right now that you don't need to do that."
He wrapped his arms around her waist, "C'mon, just let me spoil you, alright?"
Marin smiled sweetly and gave him a hug.
"Fine... But at least let me spoil you back sometime in the future."
"Haha, alright, I think I'd very much like to be spoiled by a beautiful girl like yourself," David replied with a smile.
⟪ Shit, she hasn't told me what her cosplay is yet, right? And I just blurted it out... ⟫
Marin, not wanting David to wonder why she isn't curious how he knew about it, decided to go back into acting-mode.
"Eh? Wait a second, how did you know I was going to do a Shizuku-tan cosplay?" Marin asked while tilting her head.
"Ah, I just assumed that was who you'd be cosplaying since you have a ton of her stuff in your room."
"Hmm~. That makes sense, luckily you didn't waste your money on materials for another cosplay, heheh~."
⟪ Phew, safe... ⟫
[Seriously, just don't slip up like that and you both wouldn't have to go through this little charade.]
'Shut up, it's fun. I'm fine with making more slip-ups if it means I can watch Marin do her best at acting. She's so cute when she thinks I'm gonna find out she can hear my inner voice.'
[I feel like you're starting to gain a strange hobby...]
'Tch, keep quiet. You're just jealous that you can't talk to my cutie Marin and are stuck talking to me all the time.'
[I won't deny that.]
'... Wow, I was just kidding, but I could hear how serious you were. I'm hurt, Chaos-chan...'
"Wanna keep looking around or are you done for the day?"
Marin grabbed David's right arm and hugged herself close to his side.
"Since you already bought everything, I'm ready to go whenever you are~."
David nodded his head and started walking back to the elevator, "Sounds good to me. I looked up a place on my phone that's nearby. Wanna eat at a maid cafe? We can compare my omurice to theirs, heheh."
"Oooh~, yes please! I'm sure theirs is better, after all, you only made it once and they make it every day. Plus, they can draw cute pictures and you can only write words~."
⟪ I swear, it feels like Marin is inside my head today. First Chaos-chan picks on me and now Marin is picking on me. My fragile heart can't take it~! ⟫
"Keep talking smack and I'll keep your materials in my inventory forever and ever, only teasing you with what the final product could look like."
Marin squeezed David's arm, "Nooo~! I'm sorry, I was totally kidding! Yours is probably way better than theirs!"
"Haha, I'm just teasing you. Besides, my omurice will taste different because I didn't do the 'Moe-moe-kyuuun~!' spell on your omurice, but I'm sure the maids at this place definitely will."
"Kyahahaha~! I can't believe you just did that!"
Marin burst out laughing when she heard David say 'moe-moe-kyuuun~!' in a cutesy voice.
The two lovebirds continued to chat and joke around for a few more minutes until they arrived at Cure Maid Cafe.
When they stepped out of the elevator, they were greeted by three cute girls dressed in maid uniforms that simultaneously said, "Welcome Home, Master and Milady!"
⟪ Ahh, my soul is already being healed from my encounter with Katsuragi earlier... ⟫
David smiled and ignored the jealous squeeze from Marin.
⟪ Heheh~, I can tell Marin is jealous. She's so cute when she makes that pouting face. How can I not want to tease her even more? This is already the best date I've been on in both of my lives. I'm with Marin, we're in a maid cafe, and the maids are super cute! But... Why does this place look kinda familiar? ⟫
David shrugged off the weird feeling he was getting and let a black-haired twin-tailed maid guide him and Marin to a table against a wall.
"Master, Milady, would you like to place an order for how you're called?"
⟪ Okay, I'm getting total deja vu right now... ⟫
David shook his head with a smile and said, "You can pick for me, Maid-chan."
Marin smiled and said, "I wanna be called Onee-chan~!"
The twin-tailed maid smiled brightly and said in a cheerful voice, "Then I'll call you Onii-chan! Onee-chan!"
⟪ Who cares about deja vu, this is too cute~! Maid cafes are amazing! I'm so glad I was reincarnated in Japan! ⟫
"Onii-chan, Onee-chan, what would you like to eat?"
David and Marin looked at each other, smiled, and nodded at the same time.
""Omurice!"" They said in unison.
"All right! We can write a message on it in ketchup, if you'd like?"
David held his chin in contemplation before saying, "I'll leave it up to you!"
Marin agreed, "Yes~! Me too, me too~!"
"All right!" The twin tailed maid said.
She held her round tray and walked away.
"I've gotta say, I don't care if they can cook a better omurice than me. They 100% defeated me already. I'm not a cute maid, so I can't heal someone's soul in five seconds like she just did. Maid outfits are too legendary..."
Marin smiled and placed her hands under her chin, holding her head up on the table.
"Ehh~? So you're saying you want to see me cosplay as a maid~?"
David widened his eyes, "Marin... If you're already at the point in our relationship where you want to do that, I will not turn you down whatsoever."
⟪ If Marin cosplays as a maid, I think it would have to be at night because even if we hadn't had sex yet before that time, I would be insane not to take her then and there. ⟫
⟪ Nope, bad David. I've gotta wait for her to come on to me, that way I know she wants to have sex. Best to know for sure before making assumptions. ⟫
[Marin] 'Wasn't I clear enough in the shower??'
When David was about to pull his phone out to look up maid cosplay ideas, he heard a group of girls laughing with each other at a big table.
David looked around the cafe out of curiosity… and then froze when he spotted them.
Three girls in particular caught his eye.
An orange-haired girl in a blue sweater vest with sunglasses on her head, a tall grey-haired girl in a green plaid shirt with thick anime glasses hiding her eyes, and a super dark blue-haired short girl with red eyes, a beauty mark under her left eye, and a black and white dress with a rose in the middle of her chest as well as on each side of her headband.
⟪ You've gotta be shittin' me... After this date, I'm hiding inside either my potential new apartment or Marin's apartment. It's only been a couple of hours and I've encountered yet another damn franchise... Oh well, at least these girls aren't a pain in the ass and I can just ignore them for now, but I'm certain I'll see them in the future. ⟫
Marin was looking around the room like a curious child, trying to see who David was talking about.
⟪ First, there's the orange-haired Kirino Kousaka, the tsundere who is in love with her brother. There's a route in the visual novel where Kirino and her brother Kyousuke get married, but in the anime, manga, and light novels, they just confess their love to each other and it's implied that they get together. While Kirino is super cute, she's too much of a bro-con for me. ⟫
[Marin] 'Bro-cons are real?!'
⟪ Then, there's the grey-haired Saori Makishima. Hidden behind her otaku appearance, she's actually incredibly beautiful. Well, I suppose she's going by Saori Bajeena since she's in otaku mode. Even though she's from a wealthy family, she's not spoiled and is actually rather shy and super sweet. There was also a route in the visual novel where she and Kyousuke got married. ⟫
[Kirino] 'This girl did what?!'
⟪ Lastly, my absolute favorite. The little chuuni Ruri Gokou, AKA The Queen of Nightmares. She has been in so many fanfics that I knew about her from those fanfics before I even watched the anime called 'Oreimo'. Ruri may act snobbish and overly confident, but that's just a mask to hide her social insecurities. Ugh, Ruri was another heroine I was in love with because I understood her social anxiety. Plus, she's a really good older sister and that's something I valued a lot, even if she was just a fictional character. ⟫
[Ruri] '...'
David accidentally started staring at Ruri intensely and didn't even notice her looking over at him every once in a while, wondering if he was the guy whose voice she'd been hearing.
⟪ Ruri would definitely make a great mom. Her relationship with the protagonist Kyousuke pissed me off so bad. He obviously had a thing for his sister, but he strung Ruri along for so long, only to break up with her and get with Kirino. Haaa, I'll have to keep that retard away from Ruri in the future so she doesn't go through that heartbreak. ⟫
⟪ Hmm, should I try to woo her? I could help her with her social anxiety, probably... Actually no, Marin would be the best person to help with that. Even though Marin is a loud and energetic gyaru, she's an absolute sweetheart and I have a feeling Ruri would really like her, though she'd probably be a little bit of a tsundere at first. ⟫
[Marin] 'Yes! I'll warm her up to me in no time!'
⟪ Heheh, Kuroneko is too cute... Ah, that's Ruri's nickname, Kuroneko. I remember when I tried finding out what franchise she was from, I always searched for 'Kuroneko anime' because the fanfic authors never used her name aside from when they'd introduce her the first time. It makes sense though, she's always referred to as Kuroneko. She's definitely cute like a little cat. ⟫
⟪ ...Eh? Is she staring at me? Ehhh? Why does she look so surprised now? Gosh, that's a cute expression. Also, why is their table so quiet? Kirino, Ruri, and Saori are looking a little weird. Kirino and Ruri I can understand because this is most likely their first time meeting, meaning it's the beginning of the Oreimo franchise, but why does Saori look weird? ⟫
⟪ Did they suddenly get paranoid? They keep looking all over the place... Pffft, hahaha! Now Ruri is blushing for some reason and it's so cute~! Ah, I need to stop staring so I can pay attention to Marin. ⟫
[Marin] 'Eh? With how they're acting, does that mean that they hear him, too?'
⟪ Damn Oreimo girls, distracting me with your cute looks and whatnot. Whatever, I have nothing to do with them. Kirino is a bro-con, Ruri would probably dislike my appearance, and Saori... Well, I'm not actually too sure. Still, at least it wasn't an annoying franchise with a lot of action. Action is for later when I don't have as much stuff to do. Now, it's date time. ⟫
"Ahem! Sorry, Marin. I got distracted because I thought I saw somebody I used to know."
Marin leaned forward with a playful look on her face and asked in a teasing tone, "Ohh~? Who was it?"
Marin turned around and pretended to look around.
"Was it maybe that little girl in the black and white dress?"
David pretended to be stunned, "...Eh? How'd you know?"
She just chuckled and waved her hand, "Don't worry about it. You have your magic and I have mine, heheh~."
Of course, the magic she was referring to was her ability to hear David's inner voice.
Curious about whether those girls could actually hear David's voice as well, Marin decided to just ask and find out.
"She looks so cute~! I'm gonna go see if she likes cosplay while we wait for our food, maybe we'll have something in common~!"
Without waiting for a response from David, Marin got up from the table and walked over to the 'Otaku Girls Unite!' group meeting.
⟪ Marin, Ruri does indeed like cosplay, but... I don't think she'd know about some of your interests. You're a bit perverted while Ruri is sweet and innocent. Err, at least I think so...? Anyway, she hates magical girl anime, okay? Her and Kirino had a big argument over it when Saori invited the two of them out together after the meeting because they didn't talk to anybody. Kirino couldn't find a topic of conversation while Ruri was just on her phone. ⟫
⟪ Oh well, I'll just watch from here. I'll lower my senses so I can't eavesdrop on them as well, don't want to be overbearing. ⟫
...
Marin arrived at the table where the group of girls were sitting and tapped Kuroneko on the shoulder.
"I'm sorry to bother you~! Is your name Kuroneko?"
Kuroneko turned around and looked at Marin with a calm and composed face, though she still had a slight blush on her cheeks.
"Yes, may I be of assistance?"
Marin crouched down and cupped her hands to Kuroneko's ear, getting straight to the point. "Can you hear the voice, too?"
Kuroneko jumped and jerked her head to look at Marin again.
"Are you Marin?"
Marin smiled and nodded her head like a chicken pecking rice, "That's right~! I take it the answer to my question is yes~?"
Kuroneko nodded, "Yes. I have a question I really need an answer to."
"Ask away~!"
Kuroneko leaned in closer so the other girls couldn't hear.
"Does David really have supernatural powers?"
Marin giggled and covered her mouth with her hand before taking out her smartphone.
She unlocked it and went to her photo gallery, swiping through a few before getting to some photos and videos she took a couple of hours prior.
She played a video and handed the phone to Kuroneko.
"You can't see the monsters because you need... I forgot what he called it, but he needed to put some type of energy into me for me to see them, but you can see him running through the air, swinging his sword, and shooting those blue balls, heheh~. That's just one part of his power. His magic is the coolest stuff by far from what I've seen and heard. He's going to teach me how to use it sometime and I'm so excited~!"
Kuroneko was half listening to Marin and half absorbed in the video. She lost herself in Marin's gallery and kept swiping through, looking for more examples of his supernatural powers.
She swiped a little bit too far and saw a picture taken from a doorway. In the picture, David's naked body in the shower was clearly visible and Kuroneko's entire head turned red from embarrassment.
Marin saw what happened and was too late to react.
"Ahhh!"
She quickly reached for the phone and blushed, looking away from Kuroneko.
"Um... Don't tell him I have this picture of him..."
Kuroneko nodded, "Mm... I doubt I would ever have the opportunity to meet with him anyway so I don't think you have anything to worry about."
Marin just waved her hand, "Pfft, you heard what he said. He's definitely going to make contact with you eventually, I just don't know when. Anyway, I just wanted to see if anyone other than me could hear it and now I know! My food just arrived so I'll head back now. See you sometime in the future~!"
She stood up and dusted off her knees before walking back to the table with David.
"So? How'd it go? Find any common ground?"
Marin blushed and nodded her head, "Mm, definitely~. She's a sweet girl, I think it would be fun to hang out with her in the future."
"Haha, that's good. Now then, eat up and tell me which omurice is better."
David pointed his spoon at Marin's plate where an omurice was laying with the words "I luv my Onee-chan! ♥" written on it and on David's, it had the words "I luv my Onii-chan! ♥" written on it.
It goes without saying that even though the environment is cuter, David's omurice is without a doubt the better tasting one.
They happily finished their meal and David paid for it, giving a final glance at the girls at the table and making eye contact with Kuroneko.
When their eyes met, she subconsciously looked down at David's crotch and blushed furiously before turning her head back around and looking at her phone.
⟪ Yeah, Ruri is a cutie. She would make a cute wife as well. Anyway, this was a pleasant date despite the distractions, but now it's time to go to the administrative office and see about renting an apartment. Now that I have more magic, this should be a walk in the park, heheh... ⟫
And so, David and Marin left Akihabara, hand-in-hand, and headed to the apartment complex's administrative office.
...
Rangiku and Isane had just gathered everything they might need and were ready to leave.
Rangiku went to the 4th Division barracks to find Isane as she had some questions for her.
"Isane, are you sure you want to come down with me? I know the old man told you to, but if you don't feel comfortable with it, I can go by myself."
Isane shook her head and absent-mindedly replied, "No, it's alright. I'd like to speak to David and ask him some things."
Rangiku widened her eyes, "Huh? How'd you know his name is David?"
Realizing her mistake, Isane shut her mouth and looked away from Rangiku.
"Um... It was just a guess."
"Isane... I'm just guessing, but can you hear his voice, too?"
"Eh?! You can, too, Rangiku?!"
Rangiku wrapped her arm around Isane's shoulders and let out a laugh.
"Hahaha~! This is great! I wonder who else can hear it! I tried talking to Hitsugaya about it, but I couldn't speak about it. I'll try asking David about it when we go down heheh~. This mission just got a whole lot more interesting~!"
Isane nodded. "I agree, but we still need to be careful. I don't think he's hostile, but we still need to follow protocol. And, I don't want to get on his bad side. If what he said about Captain Unohana is true, I want to see if he can help her."
Rangiku took her arm away from Isane and sighed. "Haaa... Yeah, I'd like to ask about what he said about Gin and Aizen, too. If he's telling the truth, I'm not sure what to do."
Unohana, who was listening while hidden, had a gentle smile on her beautiful face.
[Unohana] 'So I'm not the only one, as expected. Isane's facial expressions give it away whenever David's voice is heard. Now I feel the need to see what he's like... He's no more than a boy, but he apparently holds so much power and so many secrets. I'll have to make a trip to the Human World soon...'
Everyone was making their own plans and conjectures, but the man in question had no idea and was only focusing on what to do about the apartment...
---
(A/N: I tried a new styling for the girls' thoughts to make it easier to know who's talking when. Let me know if it works or not.
Thanks.)