To build character (Ken Prologue)

The streets are buzzing with people back and forth. As the day passes, more and more citizens blend into the crowd of this soup of living beings, scattered across the surface of the city. It would be impossible to catch anything interesting from the crowd, and one cannot follow every single person to find out what is exciting and what is boring of their lives and write a story about it.

That is, if this city was situated on Earth where interesting events only happen in a full moon and not to every single being on the planet.

It's not the city that is interesting, is the fact that none of its citizens lives a boring life. Every one of them has their own exciting story that authors would die for just to sell even one.

At least, that's what this man believes.

Despite his suspicious long coat and shades, this man seemingly blends in with the crowd. In this jungle of people, he circulates trough the streets like a snake trough the leaves and bumps of the roots. He is more than used to this kind of scenario. But what is most impressive is the fact that he does this while carrying what looks like a circular shield, used by the police forces on large riots. Sure, it doesn't stick out much and he carries it effortlessly on his back, but nonetheless, the feat is still fascinating.

Today, he is supposed to meet someone at near the road crossing, in front of the traffic lights. As he arrives to his destination he notices the other man whom he is supposed to meet, waiting for the light to turn green, just like the crowd around him.

"You are early." He says as he approaches this man.

"And you are late, informant."

The man in shades chucked.

"Man, you are so tense! Just call me Ken already!"

The other man did not reply. Ken insisted.

"Z, you are so boring. Relax, relax!"

"Don't call me that."

"Oh? Then what you wanted me to call you? Zero Z? The one who does his jobs at super-duper speed?"

Z sighed. "Why did I agree to meet with you here anyway?"

"Because nobody notices us anyway. That's why."

"You might think so, but that shield..."

Ken Went silent for a few seconds. The light turned to green and the crowd began to flow again. Lowering his head, Ken did not say anything until the two of them were alone at the sidewalk.

He raised his right hand to his left shoulder and made a circular movement in front of him with the same hand.

Z recognized these movements. They are part of a ritual here, in Existence where unwritten laws forbid you from revealing some details about yourself. Using this movement a mysterious armband appears at Ken's left arm, it is red and white with a simple design and marked with the letters "OOC", standing for "Out of Character". Which means that Ken is about to say something that he is not allowed to say and that the circumstances force him to.

"If I tell you why, will you stop asking?"

The other man considered the weight of Ken's words. He is not a curious man, and on top of that, he doesn't even care about the other people's business. It is already weird for Ken to do this but he did have a point that Z mocks him due to that shield every now and then. "You know what. Just forget it. Give me what I need and I will get going. I don't need to know your dirty secrets."

Ken smiled. He touched the imaginary armband and it disappeared without a trace. Then, he pulled up a small object from his pocket.

"You will find what you want in this data drive. That is, if you use drives anyway. You are so old-fashioned that I bet you are still in the diskette era!"

Z snatched the data drive from Ken's hands without so much as a 'thank you' and turned around.

"You will find your payment in your account tomorrow. Oh and please... try to avoid doing something stupid like this again." With that being said, he crossed the road, seconds before the light turned back to red.

What kind of exit is that, I wonder? Does he believe that he is in some sort of movie from the 60's or something? Then again, he does have a point. I made a fool of myself back there. I should have been more careful.

Ken was so absorbed in his own train of thought that he didn't notice the shadow sneaking behind him and blinding his vision.

"Guess who!" Said a familiar female voice.

The man in shades wondered why was that necessary, especially with his sunglasses on, but he didn't question as the person owning that voice does not care for these things.

"You have got to stop doing this Miku. It's not necessary you know."

His sight was clear once more and he turned behind to see the bouncy girl in some sort of japanese schoolgirl outfit wearing a jacket that does not match her cosplay. She adjusted the glasses by the bridge of her nose.

"Man, you are no fun. You always get it right every time!" She grins. "But maybe that's what I like about you."

Ken noticed he plastic and paper bags resting around Miku, all of them decorated with flashy and colorful portraits of animation characters, and stuffed to the brim with various items.

"Out shopping I see. Why here of all places?"

His reply was a giggle from Miku, she reached down from one of the bags and took out a rolled poster. "You can't find items like these where I live. I have to get out to get them you know?"

"Right. Not that I know about that. But sure."

Miku made a mischievous look on her eyes. "Oh really?" She said. "Then you would never know where to find the limited edition figurine of the 'Man of the Sigma' with the Dynamo bonus right?"

"Those would get out in the market next Tuesday in..." Ken started replying before he could help it.

This girl... she always knows how to get me doesn't she?

Miku giggled at Ken's over-the-top reaction. "Hm-hm! Right. I will get going Mr.I-know-nothing. Oh and please do me a favor and look up on the convention, see if you can find any works from my favorite series. You know what I am talking about."

"You are only trying to see if I get interested in your BL fantasies, Miku. Let me tell you, it's not going to work."

"But you will look anyway, right?" She winked as she picked up her bags.

Ken sighed. "Yes. I will."