“It's already late, where are we going to stay?”
“Well this is an inn, we can just stay here.”
“Wait, guys, how are we going to pay for the meal and for a place to stay for tonight?” Calbi brought up a valid question, they had no money at all, only their credit cards.
“Well let’s hope Zakin can take labor as payment then.”
If Zakin would take their labor, then they could even get a job here, which would give them a place to stay and put food on the table. However, if Zakin’s words were true regarding the grand spellcasters who could help them, then they would need to split up for more efficiency. One party would need to visit the library of Eisene, while another would need to build status somehow, and the rest of them would need to generate income for everyone. Much like a multilayered party quest.
Mmm, not everyone would be comfortable traveling in an unknown world, I should volunteer myself to travel to Eisene and see what this world truly has to offer.
“It's all we can offer for now.”
“But look at this place, it looks run down and without a single customer, would he even be able to hire us on such terms?”
“Schnee said her father was a great merchant, this probably just serves as their home for now.”
Zakin came back carrying a large pot along with a few bowls.
“Sorry for the wait folks, I didn't have much food left for the night, hope a hearty helping of potato soup will suffice.”
The soup he served was clear in color, with some simple green vegetables, chunks of potato, and a strong chicken aroma. It wasn’t the dinner Kichirou was expecting after going out to Oma, but it would have to do.
It was quite a disappointment, the ingredients in the soup were all normal ones. Being in a fantasy-like realm, he was expecting something extraordinary, like dragon meat or some kind of crazy vegetable with a unique flavour.
However, that didn't imply that the soup was of poor taste. Simple hearty soups like these were among Kichirou's favorites. The delicate taste of the chicken broth, seasoned perfectly with salt and basil, embodied a soup to warm the soul.
There was no need for words, after the exhausting walk to town took its toll, the soup brought a look of delightful satisfaction on everyone's faces.
“Glad you folks like it. Anyhow, since you folks need a place to stay, how about staying here for the night?”
“Umm, about that, we don't have any money…”
Zakin nodded and smiled: “ It's only to be expected, if you folks were telling the truth then you wouldn't have any money. Ever since my wife passed away this place has gone with the wind, I could use some extra hands around this place. How about it, I’ll give you folks two meals a day and a place to stay if you work for me, and of course, there will still be fair wage compensation.”
The group all nodded to the notion.
“Sounds good to me.”
“Yep.”
“Anyhow, in terms of the rooms, if we’re going to turn this place around I need to save most of them for the guests, meaning you folks would have to share three rooms.”
“That’ll be plenty, thank you, sir.”
“There's no need for sir, just call me Zakin.”
“Thank you Zakin,” the group said as they bowed in unison.
It was the first time they had even properly thanked the man, after all he had done for them.
“Oh come on now, there's no need for that. Here, I’ll do the dishes, then show you folks to your rooms.”
“Let me and Aoi take care of it. We used to work at a family restaurant, we’re familiar with this type of work.”
“Alright then, I'll show the rest of you to your rooms.”
The group followed Zakin up a set of dark and enclosed stairs that were in just as sad of a state as the rest of the place. There were many stains and broken wood along its entirety, and with each step followed a creak so loud that the wood underneath was likely rotten and needed replacement as well.
They were staying in three adjacent rooms upstairs at the end of the hall, with a single window lighting up the hall slightly with just enough moonlight shining through for them to see the doors. The only other source of light was a lantern at the start of the hall.
“It would be these three rooms here. Well, I’ll let you folks sort it out. I'm going to check on Schnee. I’d advise for an early retirement for the night, we have a lot to do tomorrow. Good night.”
“Thanks again.”
Sharing rooms with these guys shouldn't be so bad. He could share a room with any of them, Calbi, Furuya, Ryuta, or Akira. The guys could take two rooms, pick their roommates, and the girls would have their room. It was a very clear-cut choice, but Calbi’s proposition exploded like a nuclear strike.
“There are two bigger rooms, so I’ll share a room with Furuya and Ryuta. Aoi, Akira, and Karin can share the other one, so I guess Kichirou and Miku will share the smaller room.”
What the hell did he just say?!?!
“That will be fine. I'm sure the twins wouldn't have a problem sharing a room with me. Then if there are no problems, it's settled.”
No this isn't fine! This is far from being fine! Sharing a room with her!?!? What the hell is going on? First, she just shows up at the party, and now all this is happening!?
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As much as Kichirou wanted to speak up, he couldn't voice his own objections. There was no way in hell that he would let her see how much she still affected him, showing her any weakness was far worse than just tolerating her presence. Still, she must be feeling the same way, so why isn't she saying anything to object to this?
Calbi, that punk. They set me up.
What was there to gain for everyone else from this? Probably just a few laughs over how he would react, but if that was the case, he would simply not play along. That should devoid any satisfaction they would gain from his misery.
I can't let her get to me!
“Well you heard Zakin, we got a lot of work ahead of us. And look at this place, he’s right. It’s going to take forever just to clean everything, not to mention that we might have to replace a lot of the broken wood.”
“Wait, what about a shower?”
“Karin, we can figure that out later, it would be rude to impose any further.”
“Fine… Good night.”
And with that, everyone disappeared into their rooms.
With a sigh, Kichirou entered the room along with Miku.
The room was dark with no lighting in sight, but the small shreds of moonlight that shone in from the window were enough for Kichirou to make out the entire room. The room was old fashioned to say the least, the bare minimum was all it had to offer. There were two beds, one by the door and the other next to the window, separated by a small table stand in between the two.
With another sigh, Kichirou spoke: “I'll take the window side.”
Especially now that they were in an unknown world, sleeping by the door gave Kichirou the jitters. Even though it barely made a difference, it still felt important to him.
“But I wanted that side,” Miku retorted.
…
“Fine, you can have it.”
Kichirou wasn’t in the mood to argue, nor did he wish to have an extended conversation with Miku, so he simply laid down on his new bed and closed his eyes.
His bed wasn’t comfortable by any means, it was much harder even than the cheap worn out mattress he had back in his own apartment. Nothing else was much better, the pillows were almost like rocks, and the sheets were scratchy and irritating.
Are all the inns here this terrible, or is it just this place? It's no wonder that they don’t have any customers. But whatever the reason, it was gonna be a rough night. As if what he had on his mind wasn’t enough to keep him awake already.
The job they had just signed up for wasn’t specific at all, there was no telling how much work they would be required to do tomorrow. Even if it was just to clean up the place, looking at how badly the place had been maintained, there was quite a workload ahead of them. A well-rested body will be much required, however for Kichirou, it was likely that he wasn't going to get much sleep at all.
For light sleepers like Kichirou, it was already difficult enough to sleep in his own bed at home. He would normally twist and turn in his bed for hours before the sweet relief of sleep could finally take him away.
And today was no different, his efforts to fizzle away has yielded no fruit. The more he tried to keep things out of his mind, the more keenly aware he grew of what bothered him so much.
If only I had listened to myself and just stayed home…. None of this would have happened, I wouldn't have had to see her.
“Are you still awake?”
Kichirou opened his eyes, to his surprise yet again, she reached out to him.
After a brief pause, he answered: “Yea, I am.”
“So you can't help it either huh?”
What did she mean by that? Could she be referring to back then? No, that doesn't make any sense… or does it? No, she must be referring to falling asleep, why would it be anything else?
“Yea, this bed isn't very comfortable. I’m not really used to sleeping on anything other than my own.”
“Is that so? Well, I’m up too, so let’s talk for a bit.”
Let's talk huh? As if we have anything real we could even talk about anymore. There’s nothing but formalities and small talk just like at the party. It’s not like it once was, and it’ll never be like that ever again.
“How are Autumn, Jp, and Tops?”
They were the three cats Miku owned, three strays that she picked up off the streets. Jp was his favourite, Kichirou used to bring snacks for Jp every day. But unfortunately the feelings were not mutual, even when presented with gifts, Jp would just scratch up Kichirou’s hands and run away.
In the end, Autumn would be the one to eat it all, and since he was already being fed regularly, he put on a lot of extra weight. Then there was Tops, the troublemaker, his favourite thing to do was knock down Kichirou’s cup. It didn’t matter if there was water, soda, juice, or even nothing inside it; As soon as Tops came around before Kichirou even knew it, his cup had fallen.
They were a pain, but even still, he loved them all.
With a sigh, Miku replied softly: “I guess you wouldn't have known. Autumn and Tops passed away a year ago, then Jp went and joined his friends just a month ago...”
Tears rushed to his eyes as another unknown feeling rose from his heart, and Kichirou fought that feeling with all that he had.
That little punk passed away...
It was too late. Just like always, things just tend to slip right out of his grasp. So close yet so far. He never got along with Jp even till the end… Yet another disappointment in his exhausting life.
“…I’m sorry.”
“It's okay, I’m sorry too. I know how much you wanted to get on his good side.”
There was a soft sob, so faint that he could barely hear, or rather, he thought he had heard it.
What was the point in any of this anymore? All that awaits is death, no one is exempt from the natural laws of this world, for all life will walk down different roads to meet the same miserable and cruel end.
Did Jp’s life have any meaning? What about Autumn and Tops? A short fifteen-sixteen years was all they had, what was it all for? What was his own life for? These rhetorical life questions could never be answered truly, for everyone gave their own lives meaning. But after passing away, all the meaning built over the years would mean nothing, it was truly perplexing.
Why must all things come to an end? If only he had the power to stop the passage of time, the power to live in the moment forever.
“What about Wynter?”
Wynter…
The room fell into silence yet again. Kichirou took a moment and a few deep breaths to calm his heart and replied: “She's gone...”
The tears flowed freely as the dam collapsed, yet he didn’t make a single sound. He laid there facing the wall, for that side of him would never see the light of day again.
“I missed her you know.”
Sensing this dreadfully lingering air about, Miku was quick to change the topic: “Um, have you seen the Hollywood remake of The Train to Busan?”
It was a good change of pace, horror films were a go-to for Kichirou. He would always watch all the newly released horror films in theaters, and judge them on his own personal rating system, and if he was really interested he would probably watch it again after it's been released online. Needless to say, he was somewhat of an enthusiast.
“Yea, I went to watch it with a friend just last weekend. It was better than expected, almost as good as the original.”
“Oh, I bet it must be with someone special?”
“Hah, I wish it could have been.” Kichirou found that he replied without processing the thought entirely. This isn't good, the sarcastic way in which Kichirou had replied, could be taken very differently than what he had intended. Would she possibly view it as if he still harbored those feelings he once had for her? Surely there was no possibility of that, how could it be interpreted that way, he was only answering the question in a matter of fact way. But perhaps, Kichirou was only overthinking it, creating something that didn't even exist.
“Is that so… well, do you still play those MMOs?”
“That umm, I haven't played anything in quite a while.” All those sleepless nights spent during college with his closest online friends playing video games, they were some of the best times he’d ever had. But it was slowly taken away as he spent more and more time with her instead of his online crew until eventually, it stopped completely. Of course, she would have remembered this.
“So what do you do for fun these days?”
“Um, nothing, in particular, just busy slaving away at work…”
“You don't like it there?”
“Well I’d always keep my eyes open for new job opportunities.”
“Oh, if you’re still looking for opportunities why not come work with me? My company is trying to hire more sales managers in the Japanese branch. If you'd like I could put in a word for you. If we ever get back that is.”
…
What do you take me for, a fool? Spare me your pity, I don't need anything from you. Am I not good enough on my own? Just like back then, working together… No, there’s no future there anymore. Must you remind me of my own incompetence, that was a fool of a different time, he's dead and gone.
“No thanks. I’d prefer to do it on my own.”
“Accepting help is not a weakness you know? Oh never mind that, you never change.”
“What the hell do you mean by that?” Kichirou replied, not realizing his raise in tone.
“You know what I mean.”
“No, I don’t, just like all those times before. I didn't know what was wrong.”
Miku got up from her bed and shouted at Kichirou on the top of her lungs. Her expression twisted in anger: “Well maybe you should!”
The sheer volume of her voice shocked him, Kichirou was taken aback, that expression on her face. He had never seen it before, not even on that day.
Why is she so angry??
*KNOCK KNOCK*
A loud knock intruded upon the awkward silence.
“Hey! You two keep it down! Unlike you guys, some people are actually trying to sleep! And we got work first thing in the morning. Save whatever it is for tomorrow!”
Confronted with Calbi’s sudden interruption, the realization of her outburst dawned on her with a blush. She laid back down, facing the window as she muttered: “Sorry.”
“Um, good night.”
Then, as if waiting for Kichirou to finally say the words, she replied: “Good night.”
“Um by the w…” Before he could even ask her anything else, he was interrupted and shut down.
“I said good night.”
Why was she getting so worked up for, I should be the one that's angry here!
Sigh...