Bookstop

When he went to the bookstore, that hadn't been the book he had been planning on buying. To be honest, he never expected to even see that book, let alone in a bookstore.

Kouichi K & Kouji M

'How long are you going to take?'

'Till I find a good book. I don't want to waste it.' He paused for a moment to reconsider. 'Or books.'

Kouji groaned. He really should have known better than to join his brother on a bookstore expedition. Of course, that was partially his own fault; he had een planning on surprising his brother with a...well, a surprise visit. He however had forgotten to consider that the other might have plans of his own.

It turned out Kouichi had made plans of his own. Namely the grocery shopping, plus an endeavour of his own to use a book voucher he had won in a recent competition. So Kouji, seeing as groceries were a necessity and he could tell his brother was excited about the prospect of a new book (he did love to read), he volunteered to accompany the other.

They agreed to tackle the bookstore first in lieu of dragging the groceries there, but Kouji was beginning to wonder if that had really been the better idea. If they came at the end, his twin would have been pressed for time since the store closed at two on Sundays...the one day of the week people could visit early.

But then again, that was his brother's hard earned prize, from a school writing competition, ad it would have been somewhat dampened if he was pressed for time and couldn't make a good choice.

And they had only been there for about five minutes tops. He just hated standing around. He was leaning against a bookcase as his brother was leafing through a book, before putting it back on the shelf with a slight grimace.

'Vampire,' he said in explanation, running his finger along the titles before drawing out another. This seemed to fare better, as the buoy dug into his pocket and withdrew the voucher, apparently calculating in his head. It passed evidently as the book went under his arm and the search continued. The book must have also been relatively inexpensive if there was a possibility of squeezing in a second one.

Kouji half grinned and closed his eyes, before they shot open upon an excited exclamation.

'Kouji! Come here!' Kouichi had said it quietly enough to not incur anyone else's wrath though.

Kouji was almost alarmed. Almost, because the excitement had registered in his brain. Kouichi had evidently found another book which he immediately trust into the other's hands, half shocked, half smiling.

Kouji took it curiously, looking at the cover. The writing wasn't Japanese, but it was a series of shapes that looked extremely familiar. Only, he couldn't read it.

'It looks like Bokomon's book of knowledge,' he said bluntly, flicking through the book...until he bumped into an image of Susanoomon. 'What? No way!'

Kouichi laughed a little, turning the book back to the cover. 'It's not Bokomon's book of knowledge.'

'How can you tell?' The younger twin raised an eyebrow. 'Don't tell me you can read this?'

The boy nodded, eyes shining. 'Cherubimon sent me to school,' he reminded, a point that had become a pinpoint of amusement in the Duskmon era. 'I think this is the book you guys told me about. The one Bokomon promised to write.'

'How the heck did it wind up here?'

The elder twin shrugged, before checking the price. or trying to anyway. There wasn't a barcode, or a price tag. 'Umm...'

There aren't any more copies,' Kouji pointed out, checking the shelves far more efficiently than his brother, seeing as he was looking for a specific title.

After another futile search, Kouichi took it to the desk, along with the other one he had selected. The young man at the desk didn't recognise the book either, nor did it show up on the system. In the end, he took the voucher to cover both books, leaving the balance from the first as the price of the second. Considering the thickness, it was actually quite a bargain, as he had been expecting only a thin junior novel to fit into the price range left.

Kouji hung back as his brother finished up his purchase, and then they left together.
'They would do something like that,' he muttered, causing his twin to laugh at the tone. 'Seriously, pitting it in a bookstore where one of us might come across it?'

'I doubt it was that generalised Kouji.' After all, you're the one who said it must have been destiny...