Nothing really happened for a while, as he just sat at the counter, tapping his fingers and daydreaming. Not about anything particular, just not being in here. He absently ignored the faint buzzing of the water cooler.
*Ding*
Looking up, he almost does a double take as someone walks in. She wore a pink sweater with a red bow and a skirt so short it barely passed as uniform—clearly some kind of Japanese school outfit. Her reddish eyes darted around the shop, flickering over him multiple times as she tilted her head, brown hair falling neatly down her shoulder.
"Hey! You weren't here yesterday, right?" She bluntly calls out, standing cautiously in the doorway.
"Uh, no?" He answers back confused, before shooting out of his chair. "Wait! Keep the door open!" He shouts, bolting off of the stool and leaping over the counter.
Only for the door to be shut before he can get halfway across.
"Dammit!" He muttered, glaring at frosted glass. "Probably scared her. Note to self, don't freak out at the first sign of freedom." He walks back behind the counter, settling back on his stool.
"Hopefully I didn't freak her out too much. That'd be unfortunate."
He quickly found himself dazing off again, not much to do besides wait for the next person to hopefully keep the door open-
*Ding*
Calmly looking at the door this time, he notes it's the same girl as before, holding her hands out to him with a serious look as some boy with messy black hair stood next to her. He wore a school uniform too, buttons going up the shirt he was wearing with some decent pants, his brown eyes looking warily at the man behind the counter.
"Stay right there!" The girl demanded, clearly seeing him as a threat. "Who are you?"
"Uh, Miss Ayase, I don't know if we should have entered. This could be another extradimensional space." The kid told the now named Momo Ayase, recognition hitting the man in an instant.
'How didn't I realize that's who she was?' He asked himself as Okarun continued to talk to Momo. Of course, who expects to see a fictional character come to life?
"Hey-" He started, holding his hands up as both kids' laser focused on him. "Look, I'm sorry about earlier. Didn't mean to freak you out, just wanted to leave this place." He explained himself a bit.
"Leave?" Momo questioned, hands lowering a second, quickly going right back up. "What do you mean? The door's right here, you can leave whenever!" She accused.
"Nope, I can't." He easily denied, lowering his hands down and relaxing a bit against the counter. "Woke up here a few hours ago. Door's locked tight, no matter what I try. You two are the first people I've seen, so I might've freaked a bit when I saw daylight." He admits, a bit embarrassed.
"I-I think he's telling the truth." Okarun came to his defense, shocking Momo.
"Hey, who's side are you on!" She shouted, though clearly not actually angry.
"I-I'm just saying! He hasn't tried anything since we got here, plus his behavior earlier would make sense too. Wouldn't you want to leave?"
With a groan, Momo relented and dropped her hands, giving the man an 'I'm watching you' gesture with her fingers as Okarun approached.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Ken Takakura." He held out his hand, the man shaking it as Momo made a weird sound.
"Names Alex, nice to meet you." He lets go, looking over at Momo who was sporting a blush, arms crossed and leaning against the door. "I think I'm gonna call you Okarun though to spare Momo's feelings."
"Hey!" She shouted from across the room, the counter shaking a bit from an invisible force. "Don't talk about me or my feelings, you got that?"
"Ok, ok. Relax alright?" Alex states, trying to calm her down. "Look, I just want to leave, so if one of you could just open the door, it'd be appreciated."
"Oh, sure!" Okarun readily agreed with a smile, adjusting his glasses as he went over. "Do I need to do anything special or..."
"Nah, you should be able to open it just fine." He waves away his concerns, a small smile growing as Okarun opens the door. "Thanks kid, I appreciate it." He gives a thumbs up, walking straight out the door to-
-BAM-
Only to run face first into air, a solid thump ringing out through the shop as he reeled back, holding his nose with tears in his eyes.
"Ah! A-are you ok?" Okarun quickly goes to Alex, hovering around him but uncertain what to do. Momo goes to the door in an instant, hesitantly pushing her hand out to touch the barrier, only to pass right through like nothing's there.
"So weird..." She whispers, fascinated with it. "So, you really can't leave?" She asks, her tone a mixture between awe and pity.
"Yep, apparently." Alex responds, pain dying down a bit. "Ugh, that's gonna sting for a while." He mutters, before sighing and going back behind the counter.
"Anyway, I guess since I can't leave, you all wanna buy anything?" He calmly asks, the objective the system gave him clearly being his only option. "I don't have much, just some food and water, maybe something hiding but I don't know. Look around if you want, if you find anything let me know."
"Are you sure you're, ok?" Okarun asks, Momo beside him with some worry in her eyes too. "Do you want us to try and, uh, push you out maybe?"
"Nah, I appreciate the offer though." He waves off their concern. "I got a bedroom to sleep in and plenty of food and water, I'll live." He downplays his situation. "Just see me as the stand in for whoever owned this place before, I guess."
"If you're sure..." Okarun trails off, clearly not happy about the situation, before Momo snatches him away.
"Over here, maybe he has a good magazine!" She excitedly begins exploring the mystery shop with him.
'Huh, I have magazines?'