A slurp. A noise that sounded just as distressed as the man making it felt. Vardos was supposed to be an island of new opportunities (and maybe just a bit of parental pressure as they were tired of him laying about at home in his spare time), but Rintarou was very much missing the good old Akihabara area of Tokyo where he had grown up and spent his entire life. Sure there was a lot of things that you would find in Akiba that Kairos had as well, but where were the maid cafés? Where was his favourite gyuudon restaurent? The small convenience stores selling karaage and instant ramen?
But of course he wasn’t feeling home sick. No, never. This was not a hurdle he couldn’t overcome. He just had to recharge a bit that was all. So here he was sitting in a McDonalds, sucking on the straw of a milkshake, pondering over how sad it was that his home country had been so Americanised that the only way he could feel content was inside a symbol of globalisation.
That was when something caught his attention - or rather someone. A familiar face of a person he had never before actually met; an upstanding idol, Kujikawa Rise, a girl who lived worlds above the shoddy would-be scientist life he himself led. She was adored and loved by the masses, and it would be a lie to say that he hadn’t admired her cuteness once in a while when she appeared on the TV in his favourite maid café. But why on earth was she here?
“You’re--!!“ he stood up and blurted out, pointing a finger at her, but then realised that he was causing a scene. Feeling the embarrassment he first grit his teeth, but then changed tactics. “Fwahaha! So our paths have crossed at last! Sonic Starlight, it was fate that brought you here today!“ Entering a pose by swishing both arms in front of his chest and face so his lab coat was fluttering behind him in a cool manner - he had practised this move a lot to perfect it - a dark expression fell on his visage. “Never has our paths crossed, but I knew from the moment I laid eyes on you that we were fated rivals. I am the insane Mad Scientist, Hououin...“ pause for effect “Kyouma!!“
