A Knock In The Night

After a normal day of work, Inori had returned home, cleaned her house a bit, watered her houseplants, cooked a bit of dinner (kabocha miso soup), and began watching the news on her laptop while she ate. Work at the flower shop wasn't very labor intensive, but it was something Inori loved having grown much more accustomed to nature from her time in her Isekai and it allowed her to retain most of her energy after she arrived home. That night, she had planned to head back out and traverse the city to her favorite snack bar where she could socialize with some of her favorite people and very specific person she had come to know on a personal level, but as she finished her soup and the news boasted a headline about a tragedy on a train, a knock came thudding on her door.

She looked at the clock; 23:04. Much later than would be acceptable for someone to come knocking. Inori grabbed her phone, no messages from the group. As such, it probably wasn't any of them deciding to come over. Though the area was generally safe, she crept to the window next to the front door. And just as she was about to peek out, the thudding knock came again. It was as if they were pounding on the door. She pulled the blind back slowly, peering out and she was immediately met with Ichiro's face inches away on the other side of the glass. Spooked she let out a slight yelp, and so did Ichiro in response to hers.

"Good evening. I'm sorry to have scared you." Ichiro was basically yelling as he wasn't completely sure how the windows worked. "I was wondering if you could help me." He was overly emphasizing his words thinking she either couldn't hear him at all and was forced to read his lips, or she could barely hear him.

Inori let out a sigh of relief and cool, calm, collected judgment. She reached over and unlocked the door for him.

As she opened the door, she greeted Ichiro. "Hey Ichiro, hows it going?"

"Good evening. I'm sorry to have scared you. I was wondering if you could help me." He stated again, still not sure how windows work.

"Yea, I heard you the first time. Of course I can help you. Come on in and grab a seat and tell big sis Inori all your woes and troubles." She belted out in a boisterous and bubbly manner.

She shut the door behind him and the two moved over to sit at the table where she had been eating dinner.

"Are you hungry? I have a bit of soup left over that I can offer you, or a drink, or really anything." She sat down next to him and tried to be as attentive as possible.

"I wouldn't mind a drink." he responded.

"Yea! That's what I like to hear!" she cheered as she got up and went to make some tea for the two.

"Truthfully, I'm here because I don't know where I should go to buy things and where I could set things up." he said as she began to boil some water.

"Oh, well, what all do you need to buy?" She wondered.

"Well, I was talking to the inspector today." He said and was then interrupted.

"OH! Yuki's brother! I love him. He's so cute and sweet and fun." She seemed even more giddy.

"Uh, yea, he's very nice and helpful. He told me that there aren't any blacksmiths around here anymore." Ichiro said.

"Oh, well, this world doesn't have many uses for blacksmithing anymore. I'm not going to say there aren't any, but there definitely aren't any close to here." She said, placing her finger on her chin as if she was considering his predicament.

"So the thing is that I wanted help buying was the materials to make my own forge." he said.

"Ahhh, I see, but you'll need more than just the materials. You'll need a place near here that will let you build it and operate it." she explained. "That'll be the harder part."

"Oh?" Ichiro uttered.

"YEP!" she began to explain with a very upbeat tone. "The people of this world are very particular about what you can and can't do. I feel like setting up a forge inside the city isn't allowed, but I'm sure we can try to figure it out."

"Fantastic!" Ichiro exclaimed. "Thank you so much! I wasn't sure who I should go to so I was feeling a bit lost."

"Haruki said there aren't any more blacksmiths, but there might be a few left around if you're willing to travel a bit to find one." Inori continued thinking of possible solutions to the problem at hand. "We might have a hard time finding one that can do what you want, but we can at least ask around."

"Even if I could find an active one that would let me use their shop and tools for several days, I think a lot of the problems will sort themselves out." Ichiro said, reinvigorated with the prospects of being able to make his gear again.

Absolutely glowing that Ichiro thought to go to her first, she hopped over and hugged him, "YEA! I'll definitely help you figure all of this out! Just keep coming to me any time you need help and we'll call it even!"

"You really are an amazing person, you know that right?" Ichiro whispered to her as she hugged him tight.

"I know." she joked with fake arrogance. "OH, speaking of. I was about to go out. Why don't you come with me? I think you'll be surprised at my super fancy, bubbly, fun, and social night life!"

"I would love to accompany you on you outing." He said.

"Maybe you'll learn my big secret too! You just have to promise not to tell anyone." she said before puffing out her cheeks and smiling.

"You trust me with your secrets?" He questioned.

"Of course! I've been wanting to tell someone and it's been killing me and you seem like a really trustworthy guy from right up stairs!" she pronounced putting her fists on her hips in a superhero pose. "And maybe we'll get so see someone you know and maybe we'll get you to meet some new people!"

"That sounds great!" Ichiro seemed happy as he sipped on the tea.

"So, what do you need the blacksmith for?" Inori inquired.

"Oh, I want to remake my weapon, or at least something similar." Ichiro shyly replied. "I feel naked without it around."

"Hmmm," Inori uttered in slight dismay before continuing. "Well, it's not very commonplace to have a sword. Some people do, but it's highly restricted and licensed by the government."

"Well, that shouldn't be a problem." Ichiro retorted. "I could never get the hang of a sword and in my world, unless you were fighting other people, swords just weren't as useful."

"Huh?" She pondered for a moment before continuing. "Then what do you need the blacksmith for?"

"My hammer." Ichiro responded noticing the confusion on Inori's face. "I was called Ichiro the Breaker. I didn't slice things. I broke things. Lots of monsters and beasts were armored or had really thick skin that swords couldn't get through. My teacher showed me that basically everything that would want to hurt me or others was weak to being smashed in the face with a hammer. Even if you couldn't get through the skin, shattering bones on the inside of them would do the damage for you."

"A hammer eh?" Inori smiled at the adaptability of people from his world. "That should be easy enough to do, plus I doubt there's any regulation on hammers. This is a great turn. I was thinking we were going to have to get some special custom sword made and then get you registered but then break the news that you wouldn't be able to carry it in public but this all works out. I'll tell you what, when we see Haruki I'll explain it to him and we'll get right on that. Plus, I don't know why my mind went straight to a sword. I should have known it would be something unique since you're a pretty unique guy. Did everyone use hammers instead of swords?"

"Of course not." Ichiro seemed almost confused but it passed when he realized how different his world was from this one. "I can only think of a hand-full of people who used hammers. All different types of weapons were used, but our hammers were what made Lenora and I very successful in our adventuring."

"Lenora?" Inori asked but then continued talking without giving Ichiro a chance to respond. "She must have been your mentor. I bet she was awesome. If you survived so long in your world and she taught you then she must have been really strong. That's exciting. I'd love to hear more about her and your world, you know, when you feel comfortable talking about it. She must have been older than you and well revered. It's always that motherly energy that carries us through. I had a lady take care of me for the first little while that I was in my world. I think you would have liked her, she was pretty cool too."

The sound of Ichiro sipping on his tea unintentionally snapped Inori out of her rant to which she said, "Sorry! I have a tendency to just keep talking."

Inori, now embarrassed slightly, went silent until Ichiro replied, "No, it's okay. I like hearing you talk."

Inori smiled a small, quaint smile and sipped on her own tea.

"Well, they're probably waiting on me, so let's finish our tea and head out." Inori cheerfully concluded. "Oh, how well do you handle alcohol?"

"You mean like mead or beer?" Ichiro questioned.

"Exactly that!" Inori cheered.

"I have no idea how this body will handle it, but I'm excited to find out!" Ichiro exclaimed. "Also, who are we going to meet?"

"Oh, that's my secret as well as a surprise!" Inori grinned mischievously.

"Well, if they're as nice as you, I'm excited to meet them." Ichiro looked down into his cup, half filled with tea.

With that, the two finished their tea and chatted about what the plan was to achieve Ichiro's goals before they went out together.