I was Thrown into an Unfamiliar Manga

Apparently, the President wasn’t lying when she said she had often been to Asakusa. Even without checking a map, she had a perfect grasp of the entire geography of the Asakusa shopping district.

Thanks to that, all I had to do was follow behind her like a duckling.
After browsing colorful umbrellas and various flower-patterned temari balls at a shop specializing in paper crafts, the second place we headed to was a store selling all kinds of sculptures.
According to the shop owner, it seemed that many foreign tourists visiting Asakusa often bought the small sculptures sold here as souvenirs.

The President looked around the shop, then pointed her fan at a certain Buddha statue.
“How about this statue of Bishamonten? It’s big and flashy, so it wouldn’t be bad as a decoration at home.”
“Well… it’s definitely cool, but isn’t that one a bit too big?”

I looked at the Bishamonten statue, which was nearly the size of a person, and made a troubled expression.
It seemed to be made of bronze. When I subtly checked the price tag with my eyes, I saw it had about six digits.
Sure, with the President’s wealth, it probably wasn’t expensive to her. But wouldn’t the recipient just feel burdened instead?

But to the shop owner with his boisterous appearance, the President’s choice seemed to impress him.
“Hwahahaha! Young lady! You’ve got an eye for Buddha statues! That one’s one of the best pieces in our shop!”
“Fufufu. I, Saionji Kumiko, have had a refined aesthetic sense ever since I was little. When it comes to these kinds of artworks, my eye for beauty is second to none.”

“Then how about looking at this piece over here too!”
“Oh my, this is also a beautifully shaped Buddha statue.”
The shop owner eagerly began showing off other Buddha statues, and the President, feeling proud, played along.

It was the usual pattern, so I decided to kill time by looking at my phone out of boredom.
Just then, as she was chatting enthusiastically with the shop owner, the President suddenly straightened her back and said with a stiff expression:
“O-Oh my. Look at me, I had something else to do, but I got too caught up in the conversation.”

“What’s this? You leaving already, young lady? I was gonna show you my secret collection—what a shame.”
“I shall visit again next time.”
With a noblewoman’s refined tone, the President gave her farewell and exited the store immediately.
“……?”

What was that about? Normally, she’d have talked for at least fifteen more minutes.
After giving the shop owner a polite nod, I followed the President out of the store.
She was crouching in front of the shop, hand to her ear, mumbling something to herself.

“President? Are you feeling unwell?”
When I asked with concern, the President shrieked, “Hiiik!” and sprang up.
“No! It’s nothing! I just suddenly felt the urge to use the restroom!”

“Oh, then let’s head to the tourist information center nearby.”
“Then I’ll ask you to guide me. I’ve never been there before.”
“Yes. Just trust and follow me.”

As requested, I began walking toward the tourist information center in the central area of the Asakusa shopping district.
***
[Young lady, this is not the time for that kind of talk.]

Just as she was enthusiastically discussing Buddha statues with the shop owner, Saionji Kumiko stiffened up, startled by the sudden voice whispering in her ear.
“Young lady, what’s wrong all of a sudden? Are you sick?”
“N-No. I just felt a sudden chill.”

She brushed it off and discreetly touched her earring-shaped Bluetooth earphone, speaking in ventriloquism:
‘Minami, please lower your voice a little.’
But Kumiko also had something to say to Akagi Minami on the other end.

[Young lady, you came to Asakusa for a date, not to look at Buddha statues. Please look behind you. Kim Yu-seong is staring at his phone expressionlessly, isn't he? Not boring your partner is one of the absolute basics of dating skills.]
“……!”
Only after hearing Minami’s rebuke did Saionji Kumiko realize how unfitting her behavior was for a date. She quickly wrapped up her conversation with the shop owner.

“O-Oh my. Look at me, I had something else to do, but I got too caught up in the conversation.”
“What’s this? You leaving already, young lady? I was gonna show you my secret collection—what a shame.”
“I shall visit again next time.”

She made a graceful excuse and hurried out of the sculpture shop.
Right after, Kumiko crouched down and asked Minami,
‘So, where do we go next?’

[You've already seen the examples we talked about earlier—paper umbrellas, temari balls, Buddha statues, and Ebisu statues—so now it’s time to look at kimonos and yukatas.]
Kimonos! Yukatas!
Even for Saionji Kumiko, who was utterly clueless about romance, this sounded like the perfect chance to show off her charm.

[If you can stall just a little bit, we’ll get there ahead of you and prep the kimono shop owner. All you have to do is follow along.]
‘Stall? But how exactly am I supposed to—’
“President? Are you feeling unwell?”

Kim Yu-seong’s voice suddenly rang out from behind, making Saionji Kumiko jump and stand up.
“No! It’s nothing! I just suddenly felt the urge to use the restroom!”
It was a random excuse, but on second thought, it was the perfect one.

She could just stay in the restroom for a bit to buy time.
Of course, Kim Yu-seong had no way of knowing that. Perhaps out of concern, he offered:
“Oh, then let’s head to the tourist information center nearby.”

Kumiko felt a small pang of guilt, but she closed her eyes and stuck to the lie.
“Then I’ll ask you to guide me. I’ve never been there before.”
“Yes. Just trust and follow me.”

[Five minutes. Just hold out for five minutes.]
***
“Oppa, stay right here.”

Akagi Minami took off her headset as she spoke.
“Huh?”
Akagi Shinjiro turned to her, puzzled, but before he could say more, Minami had already changed into sneakers and kicked open the limo door, dashing out at a terrifying speed.

“Minami!”
Shinjiro hastily stuck his head out the door.
But Minami was already sprinting at full force toward the kimono shop about two kilometers away from the parked car.

It was the first day of Golden Week, and Asakusa was packed with families out for the weekend.
Running in a place like that was a recipe for disaster, but for Minami—trained as a kunoichi under the brutal discipline of the Kōga-ryu—it wasn’t even an obstacle.
“Hup!”

She used small standing signs outside shops as stepping stones to leap lightly through the crowded walkway like a game of hopscotch.
When she twisted mid-air and landed on the sidewalk with a flourish, the passing tourists clapped.
“Oooh!”

“Amazing! Young lady!”
“Is this part of some event?”
But Minami didn’t have the time to react to ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) their attention.

‘One hundred meters on the straight path, then turn right for another three hundred meters.’
Pow!
The moment her feet touched the ground, she accelerated explosively again.

Following the map in her head, she bolted at breakneck speed.
Wearing a neat office outfit yet sprinting faster than most track athletes, she caught everyone’s attention.
“Wow! A butterfly!”

Just then, from a blind spot along her path, a small child suddenly dashed out.
“……!”
It was too late to brake. Minami narrowly avoided the child—and the child’s mother—by tumbling overhead in a somersault.

She gestured to the bewildered mother that everything was fine, then resumed her run.
‘Three minutes left.’
By now, the young lady who had gone with Kim Yu-seong to the tourist center must be starting to get nervous.

Minami scanned the surroundings for a shortcut to the kimono shop, then spotted a calico cat walking along the wall of a densely packed residential neighborhood.
Without hesitation, she stepped onto a mailbox and launched herself upward.
“Nyaaaao!”

Startled by her sudden appearance, the calico cat darted away.
Minami, who liked animals, apologized silently in her heart, then began sprinting across the wall.
‘Two minutes left.’

With the wall ending midway, she had no choice but to jump onto a house roof.
Light footwork was the basic skill of a kunoichi.
Silent yet swift.

Jumping from rooftop to rooftop with nearly no sound, Minami finally reached the side alley that connected to the arcade shopping street where the kimono shop was located.
‘One minute left!’
Suddenly, a girl in a black suit dropped down from a residential rooftop, startling the pedestrians into scattering.

But Minami, unfazed, launched into her final sprint.
She ran straight, then turned left sharply.
Skrrrk!

She covered roughly 2 kilometers in just five minutes. Gasping for breath, she handed a black credit card to the astonished owner of the kimono shop and said:
“I’m renting this shop for one hour!”