The Ludicrous Escapade Pt.2

Faulty Maps

"I'm glad you could make it this time." Yoshikage sat across from you in the booth of the quiet coffee shop. Morioh's radio station played quietly in the background, "I see you got your nails done."

"Yes, I did. Thanks for that, by the way." You took a sip of your drink, "How's work been going for you lately?"

"It's been fine. Nothing particularly interesting." He stared out the window as he continued thinking, "Would you like to come over for dinner sometime? I could help sharpen your culinary skills. Next Monday, perhaps?"

"Oh, sure. I don't see why not. I'll be looking forward to it, Yoshikage." The waiter walked over to hand you your card and the receipt as you had insisted on paying this time. In addition to that you were given a paper bag containing a few pastries and the like that you were bringing over for your housemates.

He gave a soft smile, "I'm glad that you are." Once both of you had finished your drinks and it was time for him to head to work again, the two of you split off to go your separate ways.

As you strolled past a 'you are here' sign, you heard a familiar voice calling out your name. You turned around, but didn't see anyone there. You shrugged it off and started to continue walking.

"Over here, (Y/N)." Rohan peaked his out from the other side of the sign, startling you.

You clutched the paper bag you were holding a bit tighter, "W-What?! Rohan Kishibe!"

He had a light smile on his face as he stepped closer to you, "Come on, now. You don't have to put up your guard like that. It's not like I'm going to harm you. Since I've spent so much time reading through you, I've come to admire you. I think we actually have a lot in common. Don't you think so?" He leaned his face closer to yours. Completely disregarding personal space.

You took a step backwards, "How'd you even know that I'd be here?"

He reached into his back pocket for a folded up piece of paper, "Oh, I simply remembered that today you were planning to catch Yoshikage during his morning coffee so you could repay him for the first time. Nothing much, really. But you see, there's something that I wanted to ask you." He started unfolding the light brown paper, "I lived here from when I was a baby up until I was about four. I wanted to find the place where I lived then for nostalgia's sake. It's also a manga artist's job to remember their childhood. But the memories would be from when I was three or four, I don't remember much."

"Okay...? I did live in Morioh then, but you should know as well as I do that I know nothing about your childhood."

"No, no." He slammed his hand on the map board, "What I wanted to ask you about was this town map. It's quite bizarre. Look. This is how the shops line up on the map and now see how they actually line up on the street." He placed a hand on your shoulder as he encouraged you to follow his line of sight.

"Huh. The road between Owson and the drugstore isn't on the map. I don't recall ever even seeing it there before. Could I really have missed that?" You tensed up as Rohan's hand moved down to your lower back.

"(Y/N), will you come with me for a bit? I'd be very grateful if you showed me around here"

You tried again to scoot away, "I'd really rather not..."

His green eyes turned icy as his hand settled on your waist, pulling you closer to his side, "Even after I, Rohan Kishibe, have asked so courteously? Do I, your favorite mangaka, really make you feel so uncomfortable that you want to try and run? I'm well aware that you still bought the latest issue mentioning my Hiatus. You probably even kept my autograph, too."

"Th-That's beside the point. Just because I think your manga is good doesn't mean I have to like you, too." You glanced at the various people passing by, none of them seeing concerned with you at all while also being the reason you couldn't have Kars simply 'take care' of Rohan.