A Day Out

Ichiro and Yuki were the last to leave his apartment and venture out into the world. Yuki had plotted out a decent plan for the day. The first stop was to be a grocery store where they could stock Ichiro up with food and supplies while he figured out what to do with his new life.

"So, this is where I live?" Ichiro questioned.

"Yep, come back to this place when you're tired if you want to sleep." Yuki explained, "You have a nice kitchen so you can cook food for yourself or any company you have. If you're really lucky, I'll come over and cook for you!" she said with a flirty tone.

Ichiro, picking up on the mood, smiled a little.

"So, first I want to take you someplace we can buy you food." Yuki said. "Then I figure we should go to your school and workplace so you can know where those are."

Ichiro confirmed and the two set off into the city. The grocery store was only a few city blocks away and once they got there, Ichiro was amazed.

"All of this is food?" he questioned.

Yuki replied, "Well, not all of it, but most of it. This world has money and you can trade it for the goods here."

"Not much changes then." He said as he picked up a jar of mayonnaise. "What is this?"

"That's mayonnaise. It goes on food to make it taste even better." Yuki explained.

"So, it's a spice" Ichiro said as if he understood.

Yuki paused for a moment before responding, "Well, not really."

Ichiro slowly placed it back onto the shelf before continuing to walk through the aisles of the store.

"We don't have to buy anything right now. I just wanted you to know this place for when you do want to buy some food." Yuki said leaning toward him.

"I see. So what am I to use to pay for these things?" Ichiro wondered.

"Well," Yuki struck a slight pose pointing toward the air, "Our next stop is the bank!"

The two left the grocery store and Yuki pulled out her phone. A quick search of the internet pointed toward Ichiro's bank. They took a short bus ride to the bank and, after arriving, Ichiro went in with Yuki bounding along.

"So, you should probably get some money out to live on for how." She said guiding him through it all.

"How much should I get?" He asked.

After thinking for a quick second, she responded, "Probably not a lot. You can always come back here and get some more."

The teller was helpful and Ichiro withdrew twenty thousand yen to tide him over for a short while. They were all surprised when he asked for two million yen at first, but once Yuki explained that was too much, he quickly understood and corrected himself.

"Next up on our list of places to go is your work and your school!" Yuki cheered as they left the bank.

"You seem very excited about all of this" Ichiro cautiously questioned.

"I just like the idea of learning more about you and the life you had before you went!" She emphatically boasted.

The two continued on to the small family convenience store Ichiro worked at. Having looked at the schedule she found in his apartment from before they left, Yuki knew that he didn't work for a couple days. The store was quaint, clean, and well stocked. The employee that was working immediately recognized Ichiro. The middle aged woman seemed surprised to see Ichiro come in.

"Younger brother!" she said as the pair walked in. "What are you doing here today?" she questioned.

After she noticed their eyes, her gleeful smile went stagnant.

"Wait" she stuttered. "What happened?"

Ichiro's mind went blank and he didn't know how to respond.

Yuki, noticing the situation, chimed in with "This happened last night."

The middle aged worker went speechless taking a step back.

"It happened to me a few months ago" Yuki said.

The middle aged woman, looking down and away, went silent. There was an awkward pause between the three of them for a long time.

"I'm sorry, but I don't remember you" Ichiro said, breaking the silence. "I've been away for a very long time."

The middle aged woman fought to hold back tears. Another person entered the convenience store and began to pick out things to buy. Yuki reached over and lightly tugged on Ichiro's sleeve while slightly hiding behind him.

"Maybe I should go." Ichiro said trying to diffuse the situation.

The middle aged woman took her hands away from her face for a moment and began to reach out, but then pulled her hands back to her face as if trying to apologize.

"I can tell you're a very nice woman and, though I don't remember, I'm sure you were kind to me." Ichiro said consolingly. "Thank you, for being so kind and caring."

The pair turned to leave the store and the middle aged woman began sobbing uncontrollably. Ichiro, seemly unaffected with the situation, walked casually down the road. Yuki, on the other hand, was walking along side him staring at the ground as they walked.

"I'm sorry Ichiro." Yuki whispered through her own tears.

"What are you sorry for?" Ichiro questioned.

"I thought it would be nice for you to try to get back into your old life and maybe see some people that you knew from before and the place that you worked." Yuki cried. "I didn't want you to have to see the worse side of things for us just yet."

"It's okay Yuki," Ichiro consoled her. "Truthfully, I had been thinking all day about my life here. The life you all talk about. I don't think I can go back to it. I'm not the person that anyone of these people knew. I wasn't sure how to talk about this, but I don't plan on going back to a job or school that I don't even remember."

Yuki's tears slowed as she processed what Ichiro said.

"Really, I would like your help letting them know that I can't go back without upsetting anyone like that woman." Ichiro said blankly.

Yuki, while walking slightly behind Ichiro, looked up at him to see that he was actually unaffected by the situation and instantly started feeling better.

Wiping tears from her face, Yuki took a deep breath and said, "Okay, I can definitely help with that. Later, once all of that is done, we can talk about what you want to do instead."

"Train" Ichiro said.

Surprised at the sudden response, Yuki questioned, "train?"

"I need to start training again. This body isn't able to do the things I was able to before. I want to get back to that place." Ichiro said.

The two continued walking down the street together, both with a new sense of purpose for the foreseeable future.

"Where are we going next?" Ichiro asked with a pleasant smile on his face.

Yuki, face red from crying, looked back and responded, "Maybe we just go to the community center and get ready for the meeting."

"Are you sure there's nothing else to do?" He questioned further.

"Not unless there's something specific that you would like to do." Yuki said with a smile that pushed through the puffy face.

"If you wouldn't mind, would you find me some place where I could train?" He asked somewhat bashfully.

"Of course!" she said excitedly. "What kind of training do you do?"

"Hmmmm," he thought for a moment before continuing. "All of the training I did before was on Lenora's farm, so anywhere I can do heavy lifting, manual labor, running...the usual kind of training."

Yuki pulled out her phone, sent a text message to Asuka, and continued to walk with Ichiro. A moment later, the notifications on her phone started going crazy.

"I might not be the best at finding something like that, but we're in a party now. Where one of us lacks a skill or ability, another can easily pick up the slack." Yuki said praising Asuka.

"You've already found a place?" Ichiro asked surprised.

Yuki cheered, "Not me, Asuka! She's amazing! I can't wait until you really get to know everyone else in the party!"

"If you're excited for me to get to know them, then I'm pretty excited as well." Ichiro said chuckling slightly.

"For now, let's go to the community center! We'll set up your training tomorrow!" Yuki gleamed.

"Fantastic!" Ichiro showed the most emotion he had since returning from the isekai.

The pair decided to walk all the way back to the community center together. It took just over an hour, but along the way, Yuki pointed out notable places around the city. Ichiro was amazed at the size of everything in the city and the different sights to see. As the day grew closer to its end and the sun began to drop in the sky, the pair finally reached the community center. Inori, Shingo, and Asuka were already inside waiting for them. Inori had already set up the room.