"The clothes really suit you, dear Customer!"

Ibaraki stood before Kai in the new clothes she chose after looking around for a few minutes.

A loose dark red turtleneck sweater took her interest, and she was adamant that it was perfect for her. That was why she changed into it and was now dressed in it.

"How is it, Kai?" She asked as she spun around. "This is comfortable, and I can move easily. I like this."

The sweater was backless, so she could still see her back, with an LV alphabet written in golden letters near the turtleneck.

The sleeves were long, reaching her hands, and as it was a one-piece, it also hid her thighs perfectly well. Of course, she still wore her leotard bodysuit and shorts underneath the sweater.

Ibaraki Douji's long legs, which were covered in tights, made her look good in the sweater, and she managed to captivate Kai.

"You look really good in that." He praised her honestly. "Are you sure you like it?"

"Un. You praised me too, so I decided. I will take this one."

"That's great, dear Customer!" The cat-eared employee clasped her hands. "That black sweater can also be paired with these shoes! Of course, you can get the shoes for free! It's a bonus for us!"

"Really?" Ibaraki asked as she looked at the employee, who held a pair of brown shoes. She received the shoes with both hands and closed the curtains once again. "I will try them."

These shoes looked rather expensive. Kai looked at the employee suspiciously as he thought, 'Is she really giving them for free? Why?'

The employee seemed to be able to read his thoughts as she smiled widely at him.

"It is a token of our appreciation for visiting our establishment. Just by letting this lady wear our brand's clothes, so many nobles Vampires and Devils will visit our establishment." She explained.

Kai nodded slightly. He understood the reasoning. In that case, there would be no problem accepting her generosity.

"Would you be alright, though?"

"Hmm? Are you worried about my position, mister?" The employee asked curiously. She then let out a low giggle as she put her hand in front of her mouth.

"Please don't worry about me. I am the manager in this place, and my boss will understand what I did. It was already natural for us to give an important person a gift or two."

"Is that so?"

"That is so." The manager nodded, still smiling.

At that moment, the curtain was pushed open once again, and Ibaraki showed up wearing the shoes from before.

The manager's attitude changed once again as she clasped her hands, "Dear Customer, you look really beautiful!"

"R-Really?" The Oni girl asked shyly and glanced at Kai.

"Yes, you're really beautiful."

"T-Thank you."

***

Both of them left the store afterward. Ibaraki looked happy with her new clothes and held onto Kai's arm.

The manager told them that she would send the kimono Ibaraki previously wore to his home when they paid for the clothes. When they paid, though.. Kai felt like he had made a wrong decision. It was because of the cost.

The sweater alone without the shoes cost a whopping $2000. It was just one sweater, but it cost him 2 grand.

'Thankfully, I choose not to buy anything. I will buy my suit in the usual place.' He thought as they walked in the main street of New York, near Time Square.

Ibaraki was humming happily as she leaned her head against Kai carefully, so her horns didn't stab him.

'Well, as long as she's happy. It's worth it, I guess?'

"So, Ibaraki. What do you want for lunch?" He asked as he looked at her.

She raised her head and looked around. Many stalls were spread around the main street. With people walking around and some doing some entertainment, this place was lovely and looked similar to a festival.

He remembered she gasped when she visited Time Square for the first time. They had just returned from buying groceries at that time.

As she looked around, her gaze stopped at a certain stall with a long queue. A mouth-watering smell came from that stall, and Ibaraki's nose moved slightly.

"Umm, I want to try that. Can I?"

Kai looked at where her gaze stopped.

"A hotdog?" He asked, to which she replied with a small, shy nod. "Alright. Let's buy one."

They then queued at the stall that sold the hotdog. Ibaraki looked rather excited, and Kai only smiled at her. Before long, the queue shortened, and they got their hotdogs.

After taking it, Kai looked around for a place to sit. He quickly found a bench and pulled Ibaraki's hand softly, guiding her. They sat on it, nibbling their food quietly.

"This is good." Kai praised the food as it was unexpectedly better than he thought.

"Yes, this is really good." Even Ibaraki liked it. She took a small bite and munched the hotdog in her mouth, hiding it behind her hand.

"We should visit again in the future." He said, taking a big bite of the hotdog.

They enjoyed the hotdogs while chatting casually. The main topic of their conversation was the people passing by. Ibaraki asked about every new thing she saw, including the content creators who ran everywhere.

It was Sunday, so they were out to make the content as much as they could. However, for some reason, there was no one approaching them.

The situation was strange. They looked like a couple from the other's perspective. Ibaraki was also wearing Luis Vitan's clothes.

At least there should be one or two content creators that asked, 'What did you do for a living?' or something like, 'How much rent did you pay in New York?' or similar things.

Kai looked around and narrowed his eyes. No one actually looked at them, even though many people had looked at them previously.

"It's strange."

"Hmm?" Ibaraki hummed as she licked her lips. "What's strange?"

"This situation is strange." He replied with a serious tone as he stood up, looking around. Turning to Ibaraki as he felt nothing strange, he asked. "Did you feel anything strange?"

Ibaraki narrowed her eyes slightly, noticing Kai's seriousness. She also looked around and concentrated. Her senses spread as black Spirit Power leaked from her body a bit.

It spread everywhere before it retracted to her body. She shook her head and then looked at Kai.

"I feel nothing strange."

"Hmm.."

This situation was eerily similar to when he walked alone in the dark a few days ago. However, the sky was still bright, and people were still out. They were the only ones that seemingly got excluded from something.historical

Suddenly, the sound of breaking glass rang loudly.

Crash!

The sky suddenly turned purple, and the people disappeared.

"What happened?!" Kai shouted loudly as he looked at the sky. His eyes widened at the sight. The sky cracked like a broken glass. "The sky is cracking?"

Ibaraki also looked up and frowned.

Even when the Tear appeared, the sky only turned dark and didn't crack. But this.. the sky was cracking as ominous fog seeped out from the crack.

"Do you know what happened, Ibaraki?"

"I am sorry, Master. But I don't know anything." The Oni replied faster than he had ever hoped with bad news.

They were trapped in the strange barrier with no information. Hope seemed to be lost if they couldn't escape the barrier.

Thankfully, or unluckily, the clue of what happened showed up next.

"Graaaa! PRrRrROOOoMMMooOTEeeEEEEee!!"

"SpooRrTSsss! TTtOOoouuuCHHDoownn!"

"NuUUmmBEErr OnnEEE!!"

"SSeeeGGGgSSssss!!"

A black liquid began appearing from the crack as strange voices echoed. They dropped to the ground like snot and then gathered together, creating a big black gooey monster that stood on two legs. It was easily as big as a small house.

Countless half-transparent white tentacles spurted out from its back. Two more similar black creatures were born before the crack in the sky disappeared, closing like time was reversed.

As expected, Kai already had this premonition when he saw content creators running around the street. There was one thing he was sure about.

"They bring bad luck."