Strange Comforts

It was just another day like the last one for me. There were at least a few things that I learned since I was dropping into this world. I didn’t get dropped into a life as an accountant as I worried I might be, or something equally technical that I couldn’t do. Downside was that it turned out to be equally as boring as that. Perhaps punching numbers into a computer mindlessly would have been better.

I worked for a large company that sounded like it had been invented for this world. Given how large of a company it was, or more accurately a corporation, I probably would have heard of it if it was real. They were all over Japan and even in parts of South Korea, Thailand and Singapore. But honestly, none of that really mattered in the long run.

Yumi or whatever made the picks put me behind a desk job in support. Which I guess is a pretty vague title. I didn’t answer phones, which might be more interesting? Two days into this the vote remained out still. But no, I worked internally and not for IT, which also would have been better, though probably not possible since I didn’t know enough to get by doing that. I could turn a computer on and navigate it, but network and admin work was out of my league. So thankfully it wasn’t that either, though interesting that would have been.

No, I was sort of a mailman, but not really. I didn’t deliver mail. I just answered and fulfilled requests from employees. So I was an errand boy. I guess I kept active most times since with hundreds of people working in the building there was always someone that needed help, but that meant I had to run around constantly dealing with people the whole day. And it was very often pretty small things, stuff that they really should be getting on there own.

I learned on the second day that every floor had a supply office. That’s right, if people needed paper, tissues, pens, anything for their desk they could just walk over and get it, but nope they forget that it exists. So they called me and I have to deliver it for them, but that’s my job. Is there really even a job? Did they just make something up to taunt me?

Honestly I didn’t know anymore.

Imagining that I had to do this for however long it takes for Yumi to solve the world made me a little depressed. For good or bad, the past worlds killed me and pretty easily. I had to live through that pain, which I would rather avoid, but I didn’t really even have a good option here. It’s just a city. I mean I could just jump out in front of a car or off a building, but I didn’t like the idea of killing myself. Plus it sort of felt like I would be losing something doing that.

Chapter 559 - Strange Comforts

Which was a long way of saying that I’m stuck in a dead end job with little to do. It’s the middle of the week still, so I can’t really just go off on my own to try to figure anything out. And I still haven’t even decided what I’m going to do about that. It’s still a lingering thought in my mind that never leaves. With such an unfulfilling job, my thoughts unfortunately were the only thing that I had. However, it’s pretty unhealthy to be focusing solely on that. I’d tried to find other things to occupy me, like what would I do when I leave this place. But that still went back to my other dilemma and I ended up not resolving anything.

I really needed to find something better to think about that I can use to get my mind off that and not get lost in a spiral. But it’s only day two, I don’t have a lot going on. There’s nothing for me to really think about right now. The immediate issues were sorted out quickly and now I was just left being mindless the whole day waiting for a break or lunch

Lunch came as my only time to just leave and do something on my own, but in a city I didn’t know it was hard to really do anything. As I found out, I was on the west side of Japan in Okayama, which I had never been to in the real world. I had seen some pictures and videos of it on the internet or news, but that was about it. It was otherwise a completely foreign city to me.

It was rather tempting to just go walking around the city to get a lay of the land, but I didn’t really have the energy for it. Probably a lack of motivation for not knowing what I wanted to do. This was a really strange situation to be in. In any of the other worlds I had a degree of freedom, but I didn’t here. I was going to need money to be able to do anything here for whenever something does happen. And this job didn’t really pay very well to start.

Despite that fact, I let myself get dragged along with my co-workers to go out and have lunch. We seemed to know each other to some degree the way that they grabbed, but I didn’t really know how well yet. I mostly tried to watch them and get a read of the situation and not make too many blunders.

It was three men from the supply room like myself. The team itself was larger, but we were stationed on the eighth to twelfth floors so we interacted more than the rest. You had the oldest at something like late twenties, Naoki Nataga the leader of the group and the one with the most confidence. The rest of the guys really seemed to look up to him and hang on what he said. When he said we were going to lunch, we all did. For two days, he seemed like a pretty decent guy, but I guess time will tell.

Then there was Akira Matano and Arata Nakane, who were the followers. What I’d seen from either of them so far was that they didn’t really have too much of their own opinions, not without checking with Naoki first. A real bad habit of not wanting to rock the boat, so they left their personalities and thoughts at the door. Which I guess in a business setting wasn’t too surprising. It was safe and preferred probably. But it also made it difficult to really know who they were.

‘I really hope this lunch exposes at least something about them.’ Though does it really matter? Why did I even care about finding out about them? Turmoil still boiled within my head that I couldn’t resolve.

I sighed.

Maybe if I saw my sister something would change. Something probably would, but nothing positive that’s for sure. We haven’t had a good conversation since this all began really. I sort of forgot which one of us started it at this point. It was just baked into my mind that we didn’t get along, even though that wasn’t the case before.

My head hurt thinking about it.

“You watch the show last night?”

“Yeah, I still can’t believe they actually killed them.”

“I know, so many dramas don't have the guts these days to just do it.”

‘Some TV drama huh?’ I looked up ahead and it seemed that we arrived at our destination. Naoki turned and grabbed the door for us as we closed in. ‘The Forgotten Crab? This a seafood place?’ It had a rustic look from the outside with wood paneling placed over the brick and mortar. The windows were all covered with curtains making it hard to tell if it was busy or not.

Inside, I was surprised to find that the place was nearly completely filled. ‘I guess it’s pretty popular…’ One of the waitresses guided us to an open table and we sat down trying to not be drowned out by the general murmurs throughout the interior.

For a name like the Forgotten Crab, I couldn’t actually find a single crab on the side. In fact, I didn’t think even the sign outside had a crab, which seemed a little odd. It’s not like this was a themed restaurant to be sure, but there really wasn’t any sort of decor to fit with the name. There was a warm inviting feeling to the place that made it feel sort of like an old Japanese home out in a farming village. The tables were an old polished wood that looked handmade, even if they were probably mass produced.

The partitions between the tables were decorated with traditional ink paintings. From the ceiling were paper covered lanterns that gave off a glowing orange radiance that filled the whole interior almost like it was a hug. Even just sitting made me feel like the stress and boredom of the job melted away. ‘I see why he picked this place and its popularity...I wouldn’t mind coming here again on my own.’ Though I had to think about my money. I needed to cook for myself if I was going to save money.

Everything about the place gave a very personal touch that I couldn't really pin point to one thing. It was just a very caring vibe that I found myself welcoming and sort of wishing I had before. There was so much hostility that still remained bottled up inside me from dealing with everything that came before. I almost felt like I could release it all here and just forget everything.

I turned to focus on my co-workers conversation, not worrying too much about anything that was happening. Before long, I had actually lost track of time and our meal. I couldn’t even remember what I ordered. It felt like I had been in a time bubble the whole time and just skipped past everything. But no, I know I went through it. I was there with them chatting to the best of my ability in conversations I probably shouldn’t.

Did I smile? I wasn’t sure, that’d be weird. But there’s a strange feeling that I might have been laughing. I shook my head as though waking up from a dream and not remembering it. There was a slip in front of me for the meal that I had and I saw that I had ordered just a simple bento. I could’ve had anything, but no I just got a bento. It was good, right?

I think so.

Either way, lunch was over now and my heart sank a little with that thought. I’d have to leave this place and I already wanted to come back. It was a strange sensation. I couldn’t remember ever feeling like this before. Why did I feel like this? Why did I want to come back? This was so distracting. What’s becoming of me?

I had to snap myself out of the haze again and stand up. Following them over to the counter, they started to pay for their meals while I stared distantly at the walls not really looking at anything specific, just getting lost again. ‘What’s with this place? It’s like there’s some sort of magic spell on the place, which doesn’t make any sense. I gotta stop thinking that way. It’s too weird.’

“Hey Yori, you there man?”

“Oh, huh?” I looked back around to see that they were watching me with an odd look. Shaking my head again, I had to focus. “Sorry, I guess I’m a little tired.”

“Yeah, I think my lunch is getting to me too.”

I stepped forward to hear a rather coarse sounding woman’s voice speak to me. “May I see your order?”

“Right, sorry. Here it is.” I handed over the paper with what I bought and she started to punch keys on the register before asking for money. Giving her my card, she rang the meal up. Before I could lose myself once more, she called to me.

“Your card, sir.”

“Thanks…” Reaching out my hand to her, I looked up to give actual eye contact for the first time to try to be a little polite for how distant I was. But then I snapped awake like something dropped cold water on me. “Saki?! Is that you?”

The woman before me had a very stoic and nearly emotionless expression even if she was dressed nicely. She even had make-up putting in the effort for the job. I never actually saw her with makeup before, I mean the last time she would have access to that sort of thing we were teenagers. Not that I haven’t seen plenty of girls her age with make-up, but Saki wasn’t that sort. But it was more than a little weird since she was presenting this polite image, but for anyone that paid attention there was no real feeling behind it. Everything about what she was doing was just a front to make the customer happy and nothing.

It almost felt like she was dead inside. ‘I’ve never seen Saki like this before. She’s always been one of the serious ones in the group, but this is completely different. Is this really her? I mean it looks like what I’d imagine she would as an adult. So it is her right?’ I still just stood there staring at her waiting for her to answer back, but she didn’t. Was I wrong? Did she have a problem with me?

“Yori? You coming?”

“Yeah...I guess so. Perhaps I was mistaken…”

I made it back outside with the guys and we started walking back, but it wasn’t long before Naoki tried to subtly change our walking order to get me up front. I could see what he was doing, but I just let it happen since he wouldn’t take no for an answer. “What was that back there, Yori?”

“Nothing,” I answered hoping to drop it.

“That wasn’t nothing. You recognized her.”

Tilting my head back down the sidewalk, I thought about it. Was it really her? “I thought I did.” I couldn’t believe I answered honestly to him, but I got the feeling I wasn’t getting out of it. “But maybe I was wrong.”

“Ex?”

“No, nothing like that. I’d remember her more clearly if she was. No, she was someone that I knew from high school, if it’s the same person.”

“Girls change quite a bit.”

“Isn’t that the truth… It might not be her. She didn’t seem to recognize me.”

“What you going to do?”

“Nothing. I haven’t seen her in years and we didn’t know each other that way. Just spent some time together in the same after school clubs.” I looked back again trying to figure out if it was her or not. “Small world…”

The rest of the day passed at a glacial pace and I really started to dread what weeks or months of this was going to look like, let alone years. Oh please don’t let this go on for years. But after work, I decided to return to the Forgotten Crab. I had to know with certainty. Maybe she didn’t say anything because she was busy. Worst, I’ll get called a stalker.

Opening the door, I looked around trying to see if I could find Saki. She wasn’t at the counter like I saw her last time. I slowly walked in further with the place even busier than lunch time. She could have been in the back or waiting tables. I might have picked the wrong time to come see her.

“Yori Mizuno...you’re certainly the last one I expected to find.”

I turned around to find Saki behind me and somehow completely unnoticed. She made me jump back a couple steps. “So it is you!”