First Day on the Job

Somewhere else in Japan, because we are keeping it a secret for now, Yuki awoke expecting to be in a bed or somewhere private. That had been the circumstances before, but it seemed that Aya or the woman of this world had different ideas in mind. He blinked twice to make sure that he was seeing things correctly. ‘This is unexpected…’

It was initially measured because he still tried to process it. But before him stretched out to his whole vision books surrounding him. The immediate gut reaction was that he was in a library, since it seemed a little odd that he would just be in a bookstore. Yet that appeared to be the truth the longer he looked around, still frozen in place. A bookstore and not one that he recognized.

The name he found on one of the signs said Aoi Kame Bookstore with a surprisingly cute anime inspired teen girl with a blue turtle shell on her back and an open book in hand. ‘A local store, I guess? There’s plenty of small shops in town, but it’s possible this isn’t even near where I live…’

Yuki had quite a few more questions that he wanted to answer, but that had to wait as someone stood in front of him. A young man with a slightly stressed look that was trying to hide it. “Is there something that I can help you with?”

“I’m looking for a new release. So I found a manhole that led to another world and I became a hero, is the title.”

‘I don’t recognize it, though who knows if it is even real…’ Yuki looked around for the light novels section, taking only a moment to notice the colorful and sometimes provocative covers that were popular among certain light novels. He pointed out to the side shelf that carried new prints, a sign saying “New Releases” in Japanese clearly printed over it.

He slightly nodded his head as though attempting a very weak bow and then hurried along for his literature. It was then that Yuki realized that he had three books in his hand all the same, which seemed a little odd if he was buying. On his left was a small cart with even more books all neatly organized to be reshelved.

It was then that he looked down to see that he had a blue apron on with a matching turtle logo to the store. ‘I work here…’ He looked around at the bookstore again, putting everything together in his mind. ‘Though Aya said this was going to be challenging...though I guess that’s for Yumi… It probably matters little if it is for us.’

Finishing what he had apparently started, he found where the books belonged and placed them on the shelf before stepping away. There was one more thing that he needed to confirm, even if there remained more questions, this was the last immediate one to answer.

A little searching eventually produced what he sought, a mirror. ‘Aya or not?’ Seeing the truth gave him a bit of relief. ‘It’s me, though an adult it would seem.’ He wasn’t a stranger to the look that he saw, given his time with Yumi in Sumiko’s world, but that had been so long ago that he actually forgot until he was reminded what he looked like as an adult. Then a bit of nostalgia hit him. ‘I can work with this…’

Yuki turned around to look back at the cart he left and then the store once more. He jumped up a little, throwing up his arms in celebration. ‘I have books again!’

Chapter 555 - First Day on the Job

Across town or the prefecture, in yet another part of Japan, a bell loudly rang out snapping Seiji awake from this sleep. It seemed like sleep initially, the transition from the void to wherever he was. The bell gave him a really familiar feeling like he knew what it was and it felt oddly nostalgic to hear. He didn’t imagine that he would be hearing school bells ever again, given what happened to Japan.

In fact, why was he hearing bells? That would imply that they were in the real world, but that didn’t add up. Seiji knew that couldn‘t be the case since they were doing Yumi’s last personality. ‘Guess I shouldn’t get my hopes up for that. But why am I in school? Am I a student? Are we all teenagers again?’

Seiji looked around to see the classroom that he was in and students finding their seats. Though the more that he looked at things, something felt off about the situation. He turned around him to look at the blackboard with some leftover writing from the last teacher. ‘Can’t be…’

He looked down, noticing that there was something in his hand. A book along with a notebook, some spare sheets and a clipboard. These weren’t the usual things that he expected as a student. It was then that the last bell rang and all of the students were at their seats looking attentively at him.

His head slowly rolled back, knocking against the board as he sighed internally. ‘I’m not the one that’s supposed to be challenged?!’

Perhaps hearing the internal suffering of Seiji roaring up, Nerine snapped alert in a rather comfortable chair behind a desk. She looked around the room quickly trying to figure out what sort of world they were in this time. A bit of relief came to her that it was the modern world this time. It required less learning, even if she wasn’t familiar with Japan in the present day, she had a rough idea, better than any time in the past.

But she noticed quickly that there was no one else in the room and likely there were none of her friends that she came to trust with her. She stood up pressing her hand to the desk only to pause and stare. ‘I still have my arms...I’m going to miss this time....’ Nerine finished getting out from behind the desk to walk around the room.

Along the wall to the right of her desk were several pictures or framed documents. A couple of the pictures were of people that she didn’t recognize, though dressed professionally, she could only guess that they were important. Though she did find herself a stranger in most of them and for a strange reason children lined up. ‘It’s like a group picture for something....’

Though it was the documents that grabbed her attention more. ‘Masters in Education… Excellence in Teaching and so forth, they’re all accolades for teaching. I’m a teacher?’ That felt like a strange sort of thing in her mind for them to do to her seeing that she knew nothing about the Japanese education system. She didn’t even know Japanese, she had to use her powers to speak and understand Japanese. Though by the grace of Yumi’s mind granted her the ability to communicate with everyone while in her worlds. This couldn’t be more of a worse idea in her mind.

She looked around the room trying to find more clues and only finding it stranger. ‘Why am I in an office rather than a classroom, if I’m a teacher…’ It was then that she looked back at the desk to see her name on it. Though more so in front of her name surprised her, ‘Principal’. ‘I’m in charge of this school?!’

A low, but constant hum ran through my head as I woke to my sister’s last world. Murmurs of voices filled my ears and a slight pain of fluorescent lights baked me. An office, why was I in an office of all places? I guess it’s an improvement over dealing with sci-fi or fantasy settings. This was something familiar, in a way, but it’s not as though I’ve ever worked in an office job. Technically, I’m still a high school student, if that actually means anything these days. Not really sure if it does.

Certainly not at the moment, though I guess a more important question would be what I’m doing. It looked like another case of Aya’s world where we had pre-assigned roles to be filled. So we’re characters in a story again.

I looked around the small desk in front of me trying to find a name or identification. My luck, someone would call me and I wouldn’t be who I was. I had some forgiveness in the other world because I was a child to start, but an adult here. ‘Nothing that I can find, maybe a wallet.’ Digging around in my pockets I found a wallet eventually and surprised myself to see that I was just myself.

Letting that information sit for a moment, I looked behind me at the window to an unfamiliar city. ‘So I’m me, but an adult and with a job. Why? What’s the point to all of this? Am I alone or is one of the others around?’ It’s hard to say if any of Yumi’s friends will be with me. I don’t know if I was lucky last time and got Seiji and Nerine with me, until I died or what.

This was a new world and new rules, I was going to have to learn really fast what’s going on. I didn’t even know what to do here. Honestly, I didn’t even know if I could do the job. It’s really hard to say how much of an asshole Yumi’s personalities were going to be about this. I felt a little targeted given my history so far.

It was hard to say if there was a subconscious act on Yumi’s part to make it that way. They were her personalities, but in the end they were a part of her and not completely their own thing. At least that was my view on the matter, she seemed to think otherwise. I wasn’t convinced of that. They came from her, so I think even this world is something of her creation as well, just without her having control. I mean that is what this whole thing is about, her controlling her power and body.

But right now, she didn’t have that control. They might be running the show, but they’re just faucets of her subconscious. And we hadn’t exactly been on good terms for quite some time. She hadn’t been my little sister since Yuki screwed everything up. Though getting my little sister back was starting to look like a lost cause. I didn’t want to give up on getting her back, but at least in here I really didn’t have any control over anything.

Left at my sister’s whims, did she really stick me in an office job? Not sure I’d ever get an answer to that question. Probably didn’t need one since either way I couldn’t do anything.

Crossing my arms, I stared at the city longer hoping that maybe something seemed familiar. I wasn’t really sure what I was looking for out there. Would finding a building I recognized actually mean anything? If I was in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka or Okinawa, did it really matter for the situation? Until I know where the others were, not really…

But I stared still expecting something.

‘What am I going to do?’ I asked myself. Masa’s world was pointless and Sumiko’s world I died, a lot, apparently. Only in Aya’s could I do something and in the end, I never could beat that annoying woman and she just killed me even though I tried to save her.

I sighed.

So what do I do? What was I supposed to do? Did she dump me in an office because I wasn’t supposed to do anything? I was a noble before with a part in the story. I was myself and I was guessing we all were, so we’re not characters. Did they have something for me? Did I even want to do something?

I tried to ignore it all with Aya and she just steamrolled me until I gave in to her. Should I keep trying or give up? ‘I just don’t know what to do anymore…’

Arriving at the last location of Yumi’s friends, a warm inviting aroma greeted Saki before she even opened her eyes. It felt odd to find a place that didn’t have a threatening presence. She didn’t have to think about someone trying to kill her or there was someone to assassin. It was just relaxing.

Calm.

She got that all from just a smell and she almost felt like throwing up with how foreign of an idea it was. Saki looked around with a stoic expression to find herself in a bar or restaurant. Initial scan made it hard to determine immediately which it was as she stood at a counter that made her think it was a bar. ‘Modern times.’

Either way, the setup was completely unfamiliar to her and with where she was positioned made it pretty clear that she was not a customer. A modest amount of information came from her scans that gave her enough to come to similar conclusions that the rest did. Though working in a place like the one she stood in presented some complications. She had no doubt that she could learn how, but she was tossed into the middle. ‘Where’s Yumi?’

A noise came from behind her that she didn’t recognize and she immediately armed herself with the ice pick that was nearby and turned ready to strike. A young woman in an apron walked out from another room looking at her directly. “Good morning, Saki!”

Her breathing suddenly shot up when she realized what she had done. Saki put the ice pick down and pressed her hand to the counter. ‘I need to forget it all…’