Where am I!?

Chapter 1: Where am I!?

Heading outside the big corporate building, I stopped for a second, and a shiver ran down my spine.

Brrrrr.

“How cold it is today... I can even see my breath!... I mean, Christmas is just around the corner.”

Raising my hands to my face, I looked at them closer, my fingertips turning red just like my ears and nose.

Breathing out into my palms and rubbing them against each other, I tried warming myself up a little.

“Do we even have food at home, or do I need to stop for groceries?”

Taking a slow breath stung the inside of my nose, amplifying the chill.

“I should get going before I freeze my butt off entirely!”

With that, I shook off the icy weather one more time before heading home.

I’m Atsushi Taniguchi, 26 years old, and I currently work as a part-time assistant to a manga artist.

Rushing home through the dark and snowy streets isn’t the most fun thing.

Especially since my nose is burning now, but... it’s all worth it for the gorgeous winter scenery, and... the special something awaiting me at home!

The warm and soft feeling that will envelop my entire body... so comforting it can instantly relax my entire body and make me fall asleep.

Something we all long for, especially during the harsh winter months!

That’s when I arrived at the door to my small apartment, sweating and breathing heavily.

While most might look at me at first glance and say that I’m average or normal...

Swinging the door wide open, I entered into the pure darkness.

“I’m home!”

... I, on the other hand, consider myself absolutely weird! How? Good question... except it would actually be way easier to just name the things that make me normal.

“...”

No response? Must be sleeping.

Dropping my backpack on the floor, I took my shoes off and quickly escaped my jacket and scarf, hanging them up in the process.

Flicking the lights on, I rushed into the living room, overjoyed to finally be back with my awesome, special, and most important...

“Kotatsu!”

Shaking off the last icicles, I swiftly slid under the kotatsu, rubbing my blissful face against the table.

“Oh, how much have I missed you today...”

Gruuuumble.

Really? On the way home I didn’t feel hungry at all-

Gruuuuumble!

Another loud rumble from my stomach interrupted my thought.

“It’s already past 10 o’clock, though... I’ll get fat if I eat something this late...”

This time instead of rumbling, my stomach squeezed painfully, as if it were responding to me directly, not caring one bit about how late it is.

“Fine, fine! I’ll go and make something!”

Defeated, I got up and stumbled over to my kitchen as I held my rebellious stomach.

Freezer? Empty. Fridge? Empty. Cabinets? Empty.

Seriously? Who ate everything!? Didn’t I just buy groceries... Oh...

“I was looking forward to the kotatsu so much that I didn’t buy any...”

Protesting, my stomach squeezed even harder.

Only one thing left...

My eyes darted to a faraway drawer, seemingly just a normal drawer, with nothing special about it except for the bizarre aura radiating from it.

Gulp.

“I hoped... I wouldn’t have to use it so soon.”

Gripping the drawer tight, I prepared myself mentally.

My emergency drawer...

Meant for the extreme cases, when I have no other possible choice... only to be used for impending death situations...

At least that’s what my mom told me when she set it up for me.

Slowly pulling it out, a bright flash from inside blinded me, instinctively forcing my other hand to cover my face.

I continued until I hit the stopping point, and my eyes adjusted to the bright flash, allowing me to see the inside.

“Miso soup!? Really, Mom!?”

It’s better than nothing, I guess...

Quickly cooking up the miso soup, I poured myself a bowl and rushed back to my comfy kotatsu.

Snuggling back under my kotatsu, I clutched the hot bowl of miso soup in my hands and took in the nostalgic comforting smell it spread throughout the room.

“Mmmm, truly reminds me of home.”

Closing my eyes, I really focused on the smell, remembering how I used to eat with my parents, how lively it used to be, how cozy it felt, and how happy it made me.

“I miss it... so much...”

That memory made me happy but also stung quite a bit.

That’s what it means to grow up and live on your own, huh?

It hurt enough to make a tear roll down my face and drop right into the miso soup.

Suddenly, my entire room started violently shaking.

“An earthquake!? And it’s a massive one!”

Without hesitation, I hid underneath my precious kotatsu.

“Protect me, darling!”

Squeezing my eyes shut, I covered my head with my arms, hoping for the earthquake to pass quickly.

Thud, thud, thud.

Noooo! My manga!?

I heard one after another dropping to the ground, yet the earthquake seemed to be getting worse.

Clack-clatter.

This time something fell onto the table and broke apart, making me jolt, slamming my head against the underside of the table.

What even was that!? It sounded like plastic... breaking... My special limited Shindori figure from Crown of Guilt!?

It took me months of saving up to be able to afford her... months of barely eating like a human.

While I was completely lost in despair, the earthquake continued shaking my entire apartment, making even more things drop and potentially break.

Even watching animal videos was impossible... even animals ate better than me!

I’m not sure if I should be happy about it or not... but that did distract me so much that I didn’t even notice the earthquake ending.

“Eh? It stopped?”

Hesitantly, I opened my eyes and crawled out from underneath my kotatsu.

Scanning the room, I noticed no damage to the apartment itself, mostly just my manga, clothes, and some furniture that fell.

And of course... my precious, shattered figure lay among them.

Filled anew with despair at the devastating sight, I slowly gathered every single piece.

“At first glance I might have gotten lucky... it seems the pieces aren’t damaged... meaning, I could maybe glue them back together?”

I muttered with dead eyes as I inspected each piece under the sunlight, with just a faint, tiny glint of hope growing.

After collecting every piece, I placed them onto the table.

“Thank you for protecting me, darling.”

After showing my gratitude, I stood up and took a deep breath.

“Now is not the time for despair! I should go and make sure no one else is hurt or in need of help.”

With newfound strength and motivation... definitely not just me trying to distract myself... I headed for the front door and got dressed.

Fully clothed, I stood at the door, gripping the handle, starting to sweat quite a bit.

Is it just me... or is it a bit too warm? I did cook and use my kotatsu... but would that heat up my apartment that much?

Gulp.

It can’t be... is there a fire outside, or... maybe even one of my neighbors!?

Just the image of that made my heart race, I could feel my body pumping adrenaline nonstop.

I need to help them... now!

Without wasting another second, I slammed my door open, ready to face the devastating aftermath awaiting me behind it.

Or so I thought.

Opening the door, my body froze from head to toe, and my eyes widened.

Grass? Trees? Two suns? A massive, endless plain!?

I genuinely couldn’t believe my eyes, as the sun melted me.

“Did I die during the earthquake after all!?”

My breathing grew ragged from shock.

“Is this heaven!? Did my apartment door become the door to heaven!?”

Quickly, I pinched my cheeks to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.

Ouch, ouch, ouch.

I pinched them even harder, unable to believe that this wasn’t a dream.

“Really? Already? I had so much ahead of me... I never even got to fulfill my dreams!”

Now that I think about it... How did I not notice the sun shining this brightly at eleven o’clock!? Eh? Wait a second... Why is my watch still ticking in heaven?

Utterly confused, I stepped outside and took in the surroundings.

Something didn’t feel quite right, the air felt just a tad bit different, the suns were different, yet similar as well.

“So weird, it feels like my skin is getting hit by different sun rays at the same time.”

Trying to look at both suns was just as overwhelming on the eyes as trying to look at our sun, if not a little worse.

“Hmmm. From the glimpse I caught, it seems they might be smaller-”

Kyaaaaaaa!

“A girl screaming!?”

Out of nowhere, a screeching shriek echoed through the air.

Without wasting another second, I rushed toward the source.

Let me make it in time!