Chapter I : Lost job, girl from another world

"We're sorry, but the company no longer sees a need for your assistance."

Like some sick joke being played on me, my boss. . .well, my former boss was bowing his head down in front of me with little disappointment attached to his apologetic words. How funny, to be bowed down to in such an unpleasant way.

"I don't quite understand."

"We're letting you go, Okajima."

"Yeah. . .I get that, I'm just wanting to know why."

He looked at me with a glower, he didn't intend on spelling everything out for me, especially if it's to throw me out and replace me with some other unfortunate guy.

Perhaps I should just leave? No. . .the best choice would be to waste his time for what it matters. I've spent several years of my life slaving away behind my desk. So, I should be allowed a little bit of fun, right?

"And my severance pay?"

"Ergh. . ."

"You can't just let me go, we signed a contract that let me have severance pay at the least, right? Or did you think my five or so years working here would have let me forget that part?"

I noticed a slight sweat glisten amongst his balding head, it was definitely getting to him, hunched over behind his lavish and professional-style desk. Despite the desk being big enough to seat four to five people, my boss thought it would be suitable for just him.

"Okajima. I suggest you start clearing out your cubicle."

Tsk.

*

Losing your job and wheeling out your belongings on a small trolley. It was nothing more than an act set on me to humiliate and strike that final blow in my self-confidence. I wonder what direction I'm even supposed to walk in. No! Not the physical direction, but rather the direction of my future decisions.

Do I look for another programming job? Or do I just sit and wait for the rest of my life to crumble. At this point, the second decision doesn't seem too unappealing.

The bitterness of the air in my apartment was none too familiar. I rarely ever turned the lights on, mostly because it kept my bills down by just a bit. Most of my money went into drinking with colleagues and pachinko parlors. Despite my five years of doing so, I've never gotten good at pachinko.

But, it's a luck-based game, right? Right!?

It doesn't matter... either way, the only types of people who waste money on pachinko are idiots. I fit that quite well.

Lounging in my apartment, staring at the plain, cream-colored ceiling, not a care for myself or the world. I wish I could shut out reality and remain with my thoughts.

I wish I could be whisked away.

As though to interrupt my self-deprecating thoughts, an earthquake started to shake my small room. I showed not much interest, laying on my back under the small kotatsu that sat in the center of the room.

Unexpectedly the rumbling didn't stop, a minute went by, three minutes, five. Soon enough I sat up to look around my room, nothing seemed off. I looked through the balcony door and down to the street below, no one else seemed to mind the quake. It was like I was the only one noticing it. It was like my apartment had been singled out by a natural disaster.

Now even the world itself is against me!

I made haste to my bathroom and opened the door to cram myself in the doorway, the quake only seemed to grow more ferocious as minutes passed. If the building was to come down on me, I feel my the best place would be under a wall; just like they taught in primary school.

I must have stood there for another ten or so minutes before the room started shaking me out of my door frame. I ended up sitting with my legs pressed against the open door to keep me from falling over. I could hear most of the things in my room clattering and falling over.

Just when I was expecting things to never end, a large clash rang from my room and the small table I was previously lazing under came shooting down my hallway, amongst other small objects like stationery and textbooks. The kotatsu slamming against the metal door in the genkan boomed loud enough for the walls to give one final shake.

In that moment of chaos, the only thing I could think about was the fact I'd receive a good amount of noise complaints later today.

*

Stumbling over the objects in my hall, I made my way back into the main room. What met my eyes both mesmerized me as much as it confused me.

In the center of my room, where my kotatsu was meant to be, sat a girl. Slumped over with her head hanging down. Her body was held up with both of her arms. She was covered in bruises, scrapes, wounds. It was a lot to take in and I was lost for words.

She wore clothing that I could only draw a comparison to outfits you'd see in MMORPGs. Body plates, a thin cloth that ran the length of her figure, nothing was adorned to her head, nothing but more wounds.

"Ah, partishae!"

"Hah?"

I didn't understand the word she said, but either way, I was confused, more-so concerned. Concerned over the fact there was a weird cosplayer in my apartment, and also concerned for the girl's obviously fresh wounds.

Only after my confused groan did the girl notice my presence, and immediately did she jump back to the veranda door on the opposite side of the tiny room. She drew a stance and locked eyes with me.

"What are you doing here... if I may ask?" despite my worries, I managed to squeeze out a sentence.

"Hm... I can understand you, isn't that convenient?"

"I don't see what's 'convenient' about it..."

She didn't look too foreign other than the roundness of her eyes. Every other feature made her look Japanese. From her long black hair to the curves of her jaw, her eyes were colored oddly, I thought they might've been contact lenses. A crimson red, similar to the red of a spider lily.

"What's the meaning of you being here?" she demanded an answer.

"The meaning? This is my apartment..."

"Apartment?"

"Yeah. My home."

She began to bring down her fists, her expression only spoke of more confusion. Her eyes guided around the cluttered room, her arms dropped completely as her expression addressed her disgust.

"You're a slob," she spoke.

"Hah!?"

"How can you call this your living quarters if you let it get this cluttered!?"

"This is your doing! Barging into my apartment and questioning me!"

She was halfway through drawing her stance again before letting out a questioning moan, "hm? What do you mean? Is this not Azkarh?"

"Azu-what?"

She traced my room again with her eyes before slowly dropping to the floor.

"Oh no..."

"???"

"I've made a mistake."

*

After tidying up the once-destroyed room of mine, I sat on the opposing side of the kotatsu table from the eccentric and mysterious woman.

I didn't know what in the world she was talking about, so it was going to need some interrogation. After all, she's the one breaking and entering. Despite that, she still wasn't fond of being questioned by someone as "lowly as me."

"Listen, I don't know anything about this 'Azukaru' place you're talking about. What I do know is that this is my apartment in the middle of Bunkyo."

"Bunkyo? What is that, a type of bread?"

"No..."

Despite her teasing nature, it seemed more so she was making an effort to anger me. Instead it only drained me more of the little energy I had left to spare.

"Anyways, I want to ask you, where did you come from and why are you here?"

I didn't intend on wasting time, so I got straight to the point, unfortunately she was confused by my question entirely.

"Well... if this isn't Azkarh, then I made a mistake with my teleportation crystal."

"Teleportation?"

She was more of a chuunibyou than I initially anticipated, perhaps this would get harder to explain to the cops.

"Essentially when using the crystal we're to imagine the place we want to go to... unfortunately I didn't think hard enough and it spit me out here. So, essentially, I'm stranded."

"Stranded? In the middle of one of the biggest cities on the planet?"

"Is that what this place is then? No wonder it put me here then..."

"What do you mean?" I continued to question her.

"If there's so much diversity and matter condensed in this one spot, then of course it would put me here instead of it being the middle of some corn field."

"Corn fields, huh? Yeah, I don't think you'll find any here."

"You don't grow corn here?"

"We don't grow anything here, really. Not in Tokyo."

"Hah?"

She leaned forward on the table with an unpleasant expression, it was as if I had said something to offend her.

"What do you mean you don't grow anything here? How do you get your food? Are you some pesky noble?"

"A nobel? Nowhere near that... I don't even have a job anymore!"

"So you are a nobel?!"

"No, no! I'm unemployed."

"I don't understand... how do you aquire food if there's no farms near you?"

"???"

"Tell me."

This was going to be rough.

*

"Watch your step."

I stepped out onto the street from the small metal staircase that connected my second storey apartment to the rest of Japan. The neighborhood I lived in was nothing special, most of the time very quiet.

The woman behind me was traversing the staircase like it was a foreign object. My coat clung awkwardly to the metal plates of her outfit. I wore a light jacket, seeing as a small trip wouldn't require much, even in the colder nights of September.

"No commoner would have steel built into their abode."

The woman was following behind me, spouting unpleasantries. More-so she was huddled closer on my back, perhaps due to the late night, or the cold breeze facing us.

We soon arrived at the destination I had in mind, a small convenience store doning the white and blue colors that spread themselves across Japan. I quickly huddled us inside as the door gave its inviting chime. Instantly, I could hear the woman gasp.

She held any and all words, guiding herself to each shelf, picking them up and observing them, placing them back. I hadn't a clue as to what she was doing... my only guess is that she'd never been in a cinvenience store. But that's kind of ridiculous isn't it?

Eventually she came back with an item, wrapped in a clear film. I took it from her and guided us away from the front door to the counter, where the woman manning the counter quickly rang us up. I bought the item, for no real reason, but the entire time the woman next to me glared daggers. I could tell it was bothering the counterwoman.

Walking out and sitting on the front curb I took the snack she had selected and opened it. The smell seemed to surprise the girl, but she took her half of the biscuit and chocolate confection. She stared at it intensely until I took a bite out of mine.

Upon seeing it was safe to eat, she ate hers with a speed I had never seen from anyone else. To say she was hungry would be a safe guess.

I continued to eat my own half before feeling a hand grab onto my left shoulder. I looked over and met the glazed crimson eyes that peered back.

"I'm not from your world."

"Hah?"

"I, Selina Fotiapetra, have come from another world."