Chapter 2_Back Alley Meeting

 It was the next day. School went by just like any other. Tomiko was only a little more distracted than usual. She kept pondering who may have posted the quest. It had to be someone at the school; anyone else would have a hard time finding the quest board. It was most likely not a teacher, as most of the staff were against the idea and some are still actively looking for the board to have it removed again. It was possible a teacher could have posted the request. The idea of diving with a teacher made her a little uncomfortable. Maybe more uncomfortable than spending time with some low life shut-in though. She thought it over. No, a perv her age would be bad.

Some of the popular boys could be the least desirable. Based on in school interactions, nerds knew to keep their distance and understood flirting was something they shouldn’t try. A handful of the guys constantly eyed Tomiko and the other girls. She was more weary of it today.

“What a waste,” Tomiko thought to herself. “School was a place to get ahead, and she found people spent unnecessary amounts of time fawning over each other”. She found giving glares and ignoring questions made the boys avoid her.

Tomiko wouldn’t have minded having a boyfriend a while back, but after everything she had been through in the past year, it was difficult to see the appeal.

There was no practice that evening, as the school was preparing for a festival over the weekend. She didn’t mind this time since she wanted to get to the meeting spot as soon as possible. She figured whoever posted the quest would go immediately after school, and Tomiko didn’t know how patient they would be.

The spot was only a short walk away from school. After looking around, she didn’t see anyone. It was a small loading area for the store, but the other buildings around it had been reconstructed to box in the space, meaning it was useless for actually getting supplies in. Normally such an arrangement would be illegal, but building codes and standards had been very lax recently due to all of the portals. People needed to build around the portals so they could be easily seen, accessed, or avoided.

This once again made Tomiko think of the unfortunate state of the world. How policy makers had lifted building codes in the interest of safety, but have been slow to implement new ones. Probably because some interest groups were profiting too much, or the government was really just too slow to fix active problems. Not that she was well learned on the issue. Just enough material to complain.

The building job was so rushed that the construction had even trapped a dumpster into the small area. There wasn’t enough space in the walkway to move it out. With the large bin being the only thing behind the candy shop, it would be rare for anyone to have a reason to be in the secluded area.

Tomiko recognized the danger of being in such a back alley area with no visibility to passersby to meet a stranger. She had a general feeling that what she was doing was wrong before, but never gave it too much thought. Tomiko was not used to being responsible, and only recently took on the task of getting money for rent because relying on her father was becoming too stressful.

She had come too far to back out now. She readied her hand on the grip of her decorative katana, and waited for the still unknown client.

Tomiko positioned herself in the unoccupied corner of the back alley. From that spot, she had full visibility of both the alley entrance from the street and the back door of the candy shop. The trash collector was a bit out of view, but easy enough to make quick head checks for. It was best to prepare for the worst.

She stood there in the corner for about three minutes, slowly drowning out the hum of the city. It was footsteps that she was listening for, but instead found a different sound that did not seem to belong. It was a tapping. An irregular tapping that she couldn’t place. It was familiar in a way, something she must have heard in passing but never up close. If she had to describe it, it was most like… typing.

Having identified that the sound was mechanical in nature, she spent some effort to find its location. It was coming from the trash bin. She initially wrote it off as unimportant when she first arrived in the alley, as no one seemed to be able to use it for its intended purpose. However, that is what made it useful, in that it could now be assigned a different purpose.

Tomiko, still being cautious, hit the side of the bin with the hilt of her katana. She decided this was the best course of action; despite alerting the individual inside of her presence, she could maintain a readied position.

The hit made a loud metal clank that echoed through the alley. Probable tapped it too hard, but whatever. Tomiko took a short hop back from the bin to keep a full view of the container.

The clicking stopped, and a panicked groan followed the echo. A few more shuffled thuds, and the bin lid flew open. A few seconds passed before a head timidly made its way into Tomuko's line of sight. Her fears were confirmed, it was a pudgy nerd.

After seeing the attack stanced individual before him, the trash dwelling boy threw his hands in the air in a sign of surrender. This revealed the source of the tapping sound that tipped Tomiko off on his location. The boy held a portable console in his right hand. She wasn't familiar enough with the device to know its name, but was sure it was used solely for entertainment.

Tomiko rolled her eyes at the sad display of weakness, but was also fairly relieved it was not the worst scenario of being a predatory trap.

She loosened her posture and asked "Are you the client?" in as aggressive a tone as she felt was appropriate for a professional diver.

The boy's expression went from fearful to excited. He scurried out of the trash collector and briefly patted off some pastry crumbs from his clothes. Tomiko found the whole display fairly pathetic. She decided to set expectations before he got any weird ideas.

"Look" she said commandingly before he had a chance to reply. This got the boy to stiffen up "I'm just here to meet the terms of your request, collect my money, and leave. Got that!"

The boy squirmed a bit. It was very uncomfortable to watch. The body language was a mix of having something he needed to say but being afraid to say it.

Feeling that the boy would never get the nerve to speak up, she barked "If you have something to say then speak!"

"Well" he started with a voice that was already starting to make Tomuko's skin crawl "you don't get paid fully with money, most of your pay will be received in drops, and that is something you will need to take to a trader to receive cash for."

Being called out on a technicality to undermine her message was infuriating, especially since it was revealing a fact she was unaware of due to lack of diving experience.

Her brow furrowed as she tried to display her annoyance, as she didn’t have a comeback to reassert herself as the dominant person in the discussion.

Fortunately, it was enough, as the boy moved his hands back above his head and scrunched himself sheepishly. His knowledge was not the icebreaker he had hoped for.

“Um!” he spat out “You look like you have the skills to help me out, so Um… I would really appreciate it if you would take up my quest with me!” He tried bowing really low, but he did so too forcefully and had flung himself forward and into the ground with an excellent display of incoordination.

Tomiko was starting to get nervous, but in a way that she couldn’t explain. If anyone else could see what was happening she would feel very embarrassed. Being associated with this guy could set her as weak in other people's minds. She didn’t think she valued something as useless and arbitrary as social standing, but this encounter was making her re-evaluate.

After the boy stood up, he looked back at Tomiko with a face that desperately wanted an answer.

She sighed, and hopped to a perpendicular power stance. One hand on hip, and the other pointing at the trash boy. “I will take up your quest, as long as the pay stays good”. She felt that made herself look commanding, while also inviting.

Apparently, this only brought attention to her… femininity, as she noticed the boy's gaze slowly shift down to her chest. Tomiko didn’t want to bring attention to his new line of sight, but wanted it to stop. She heard others say ‘my eyes are up here’ but that seemed rude after just saying she would take the job. She wanted to move the conversation forward but was stumbling. Regaining her nerves, she commanded him to get his things ready to leave.

She shifted away a little and crossed her arms as the stranger climbed back into the bin to retrieve his bag, now feeling uncomfortably self conscious. She half expected whoever it was to be a perv, but now that she was confronted with it in person she wasn’t sure how to act.

The boy stumbled out of the dumpster again. Reading Tomiko’s body language, he felt tension as he moved to introductions. “Um, my name is Chimon. What is yours?” He blushed and looked away like his name was some very private secret, or like it was rare for him to ask a girl's name.

“Tomiko,” She answered. “Now where is this portal you want help in?”

“Oh right.” Chimon looked around as though he forgot where he was. Then, he moved to the back side of the bin and pointed behind it. From the entrance of the alley, the trash collector did not seem to be too far angled away from the wall, but after moving closer to the back corner where it was positioned, there was about a two foot gap between it and the building. And in that space was a portal.

“This one” Chimon reaffirmed once Tomiko got into view of it.

“And you agree that I will get all of the drops as well as the posted pay as reward?”

“Yep. Now, there are a few important things to note about the world this portal leads to. So be sure to listen carefully and ask questions if you have any…”

However, the warning fell on overconfident ears.

Tomiko made her way to the portal, tag already in hand.

She knew that if she stopped and stared at the tear in reality for too long, she may not dive.

As she stepped through the portal, the tag fell from her hand to stay fixated on the tear itself. A tether to reality. She closed her eyes as a spectrum of colors washed over and away from her. She could feel her tangible body sift away into the void. The only feeling she had was a slight sense of progression forward through the nothingness. Then she could feel herself being formed back together again. But before she could fully perceive herself again, matter around her came into existence in a rush.

She had made it to the other side.