Local Support

Tokyo in the morning had a nostalgic sort of charm to it. Even with the heating up days of summer approaching and the bumper to bumper traffic, none of that really mattered. Just being able to see a normal looking city felt good to Yumi. It made all of the worries that she had melt away. There was even the temptation to just stay here. The feeling passed quickly, but she missed this view.

Truth to be told, she had only been to Tokyo a few times, her family took a couple of trips there when they were all still together. But she had never really seen it from this view. But even if she hadn’t seen it, it looked familiar to her. People walking on the sidewalk going to shop or running off to a job. The chirping of birds or people on the side advertising shops. Bright lights and large advertisements, this was the part of the civilization that she didn’t know that she missed, but found comforting.

The new world that she lived in still had all of it, but it was all run over like it was some sort of horror movie or an apocalypse. Which in a way, it did feel like the end of the world. Though even that sort of world was just a distant memory for her. She could barely remember it. So maybe when she returned even that would feel nostalgic. Yumi knew what it was like even though amongst all of her memories it only took up a month of time compared to the literal decades of other worlds and the pre-ruin world she knew.

So seeing a normal Tokyo felt comforting to see. Living in the past and strange timelines, just having something normal and familiar was more than welcoming. It was like a siren call to her. Yumi didn’t expect to feel such a thing by just seeing Tokyo. It made her excitedly curious to see Hino and just walk around. She was happy that she picked talking to people.

“I’m surprised how happy you look, Mizuno, considering all the stress of this job.” Kasuse had been her navigator for the trip and company, keeping her more focused on the road rather than the city. She might have run into another car had she been alone.

‘Oops, I guess I’m not getting myself in check as much as I should be…’ Yumi tried to wipe away the expression that he was picking up and tighten her hold on the steering wheel. “I guess I got good sleep.”

“Well I slept like shit last night. Fell asleep at my desk amongst a beer and instant ramen.” He moved around in the car seat trying to find another comfortable position. “I really messed up my back.”

“What are you talking about, you’re still young and healthy.”

“This job will suck that out of you fast. Don’t know how you do it.”

She laughed a little keeping the spirits up for his sake as it seemed to be putting him in a good mood. “I just focus on the aspects that make me excited and use that to drive me through the rough parts.”

“Maybe I’ll have to try that. Though first I’ll need to find a nice bed. Turn left at the next intersection.”

“Gotacha. No sleeping yet, we’ve got a big day ahead of ourselves and we’re on the company check too.”

He yawned a little as he tapped through the GPS built in the car to confirm their destination. “Damn, did you sleep all night? You’re so buzzed.”

“What, I got like four hours sleep I think? I sort of lost track of time preparing last night.”

“Ugh…” Kasuse kept poking at the GPS hoping that they were closer to their goal. “What are you made of? That’s not human…”

Yumi giggled a little and smiled back at him. She couldn’t tell him that for forty years she learned to adapt to little or no sleep depending on if she was in a battle or not. While she knew when to get sleep, her mind had learned how to work on less and keep functioning. It made her more productive, though she had no idea what it might be doing to her body. “A woman’s got to have a mystery or two.”

He dropped his head back against the rest trying to melt into the seat. “You’re really not the same.”

“I’m Yumi Mizuno, the same as you remember.”

“Whatever, I’m too tired to think about it. We’ve got another thirty minutes if the GPS is right before we get. I’m taking a nap.”

“Alright, I’ll get us there safely.”

“You’d better,” he answered jokingly.

She couldn’t tell that she didn’t have a driver’s license, this Yumi did as she learned. But the reality was she was a teenager, who had a few driving lessons and moved around a few lifts in Sumiko’s world. Yumi was thankful that cars weren’t that hard to drive. It just felt a little weird being in a paradoxical state of being allowed to drive and not at the same time. All that really mattered though was the reality of this world and she passed in this one.

Chapter 561 - Local Support

The parking garage that she found put them more than a ten minute walk away from the bookstore. It had the benefit of at least being able to see the city and scout around the location. She grabbed her purse and brief case out of the car as Kasuse stretched next to the car. Taking in the air, there wasn’t really any difference from Tokyo, but it still seemed new to her. Though also not as clean as feudal Japan, but something natural about it.

Making a few sounds while he stretched, Kasuse acted like he was still sleepy, but seemed more alert than before. “At least that was better than my desk chair. I really need to look to buying a better chair.”

“With the bonus you get from this job you can afford whatever chair you want,” she teased.

“There’s the confidence again.”

She grinned and tossed the briefcase over the car to him. “We’re making this success remember?”

“Yep, let’s go check this place out!”

“That’s what I want to hear!” She gave a little bit of a thrust with her fist into the air to get him pumped with her as they made their way to the elevator. ‘It’s a weird feeling, but I feel young again. I know my body is, but my mind's sort of felt old after everything from Aya’s. Maybe seeing Tokyo and something that feels like my home is making me feel that way?’

Yumi couldn’t really explain the feeling well, but she didn’t want it to stop. So many of the worlds had left her more drained than the last. Everything was constant stress and she felt like they were trying to break her. Whether Miki was the one or not, she just wanted to enjoy the pause for now. This was oddly relaxing even if she could tell that Kasuse was stressed out for the both of them.

On the ground floor, the streets were packed with morning traffic. Cars filled the main street and pedestrians clustered together in a wave motion. They looked around, sharing thoughts and pointing out locations for advertising. Budget was something important to keep in mind, so they still had to look into the costs. Kasuse had primarily estimates already that helped to guide them.

It had a warm inviting feel, though Yumi had to admit she could have been projecting her nostalgia again. It didn’t feel as deep in the city like Tokyo being a suburb, but it still felt busy and lively. There was a bit more of a personal sort of touch that she felt from a lot of what she saw.

Arriving at one of the main shopping hubs of the area, Yumi split with Kasuse as he went to keep scouting out locations. It wasn’t until the afternoon that they would be speaking with the owner of the bookstore. They had given very short notice, but she had been very agreeable to listening to what they had to say.

Yumi went into a cafe first that she had seen on the map. It looked like it was run by a family. Ordering a drink, she sat down and watched for a little bit the sort of business that they got through. It wasn’t super popular, but she could see from the way that several of the customers interacted with the owner that they were regulars. There was a very inviting and personal touch to the place.

Once she finished her tea, she walked back up the counter. “Thank you for the wonderful tea. May I ask you a question?”

The middle aged man was in the process of wiping down the counter as he waited for another customer. “Oh young miss, what is it?”

“Do you know a man by the name of Seiji Soseki?”

A light brightened up in the man’s eyes as he looked up as Yumi. “Do I know him? Why he was a regular here. Came here every day after school, always getting one of my muffins.”

This was info Yumi already knew as she found an interview that Soseki gave after winning the contest. “I had heard this was his hometown.”

“Bright kid, always writing stuff.” The old man pointed over at a far corner. He had a bit of a distant look in his eye as though he could see a phantom of the kid that kept scrawling things out in notepads while drinking soda. “Wild imagination, but you could just tell he was going to be someone.”

She nodded listening to him for minutes recalling tales about the youth of Soseki and other places that he visited. For being so bad at hitting a deadline, he had quite the reputation in Hino. Yumi felt better about the decision. “Did you know that his first book is going to be released soon?”

“What? He went and did it?” There was a little bit of a twinkle in the man’s eye as though he was proud to hear that he had succeeded. “I’ll have to go down to the bookstore and buy it. Thanks, young lady!”

“I was wondering if you’d be interested in doing a little more?”

“Who are you?” A few minutes passed as Yumi gave her the details of her job and what she was doing down in Hino. “I’ll be damned! He’s got such a passionate team helping him.”

“Here’s my business card. We’re still working out all the details, but I’d like to call you to arrange things once everything is signed.”

“I’ll make the poster myself if it’ll help!”

Yumi smiled and handed over the card to him. “I’m sure he’ll be pleased to know that you remembered him.”

“You’ll want to see the old lady Kamachi. She owns most of the property around here. She’d be the one to organize anything here.”

“Thank you very much! I’ll see if I can get a meeting with her.” Yumi walked out of the cafe with one success down and several more visits to make along with another name to the list. ‘Things are starting out well. Hopefully I can keep this momentum going. Soseki sounds like a popular man with a good reputation, so that’ll help.’

By lunch time, she met back up with Kasuse. He looked a little tired, though surprisingly full of energy. Something that he lacked when she left him. “How’d it go with the scouting?” Yumi pointed him over to a place where they could sit.

Pulling out a large notepad from the briefcase, he flipped through pages to get to his note. “It’s a good location, though there’s not a lot of great places that do major advertisements. It’s going to have to be more small-scale stuff, probably hitting it off with local shops and maybe the stations if we can sneak a couple of yen that way.”

She agreed with him pulling out a couple of sealed sandwiches she bought from a convenience shop. Handing one over to him, Yumi motioned over to a couple of the places that she looked at. “They all know him very well. Though he didn’t seem to keep up with them after he left to be a writer.”

“He did leave to go to university before dropping out when he won the writing contest. Probably hasn’t been back since.”

“They’ve all been pretty open to helping. So getting a grassroots campaign going shouldn’t be too hard. I’ve got a meeting with Kyoko Kamachi after our meeting with the bookstore owner.”

He bit into the sandwich quickly eating half of it. “Who’s that?”

“Basically the head of the whole shopping area. If you want anything to happen, she’s the one to make it. Once I get her, it should be pretty easy to get this whole place to work with us.”

“Already convinced huh?”

“I can’t take no, so of course she’s going to help us.”

Kasuse laughed a little hearing how sure Yumi was. “Damn, I really wouldn’t want to be against you. I don’t think I’d stand a chance.”

She smiled as he had no clue what she had been through. They continued to chat over the details of what she learned. Lunch passed quickly and they came to the bookstore about fifteen minutes before the scheduled meeting.

Yumi looked around the place casually scouting out where they could set things up. Her mind already accepted that things were all just going to work out for her. ‘If it’s anything like the others, they should know him.’

Behind her a voice came that seemed oddly familiar, but not one that she had heard in years. “Are you looking for anything today, Miss?”

‘It can’t be…’ She turned part way around looking to who had snuck up behind her and it was exactly what her heart that started pounding said it was. ‘Yuki?! In all of the places, he’s right here!’