Old Habits Die Hard
The clock on the nightstand read 6:33.
"All I want to do is train." The first thought of the day rushed through Ichiro's head as he woke up in his tiny apartment. "Hearing Ichiro's story sounded fantastical. He had magic?"
Ichiro, sat up from where he slept, the floor was hard but he was used to sleeping on the ground next to a campfire. The night before had been daunting on his nerves. So many new things to consider swam through his head.
"In my world, magic was just a fantasy. I wonder if there's magic in this world too." he thought. "I shouldn't really focus on such trivial things. I need to find a place that I can exercise. I don't even really know what this body is capable of yet."
Ichiro took a deep breath, climbed to his feet rather quickly, and let the breath out. He had a surprising amount of energy for having slept as little as he did and it being as early in the morning as it was. Ignoring most of the apartment, Ichiro moved for the door without taking care of any personal hygiene. Walking out into the world he resided himself to explore the area around his home for the day. His plans were to find a place he could do some of the training he was accustomed to and experience the city more on his own.
As he was walking, he paused momentarily, smelled the air, and made a sudden left. Within only a few minutes he found himself at Yoyogi Park. The sun rising behind him began to poke out over the buildings. Its reflection off the small pond sparkled beautifully against the backdrop of trees. Even for this early in the morning, the park was packed with people all around. After a few moments of taking in the scenery, Ichiro began to strip his clothes off. Shocking all the onlookers, he waded out into the pond and began washing himself.
Before long, several police officers had arrived and began watching in amazement and talking to each other and on their radios. Ichiro, thinking nothing of it, continued bathing until he had finished. As he swam back out of the pond to where his clothes were, a familiar face had arrived. Inspector Haruki Hanma, upon seeing who the man was in the pond, informed the other officers that it wasn't a serious problem and that he would handle it. The other officers had already begun filtering out of the area when the two began to chat.
"Yo, Ichiro." Inspector Haruki Hanma said with a wave.
Ichiro, surprised to see the man who helped him when he arrived back in this world, "Oh, good morning Mr. Haruki Hanma."
"You can just call me Haruki. You don't need to call me Mr. or anything." the mild mannered inspector replied.
Standing, naked on the shore, Ichiro continued to talk to the inspector. "You have distinguished yourself in a position of leadership. I feel like I shouldn't give you any less than you deserve, sir. Regardless though, it's nice to see you. What are you doing this morning?"
"Well, you see, I was called about a man bathing in a park." Inspector Haruki said. "I figured it was either someone I knew or someone I should know so I came over."
"Am I not allowed to bathe?" Ichiro asked with a genuine tone.
"Of course you're allowed to bathe, but it's one of those things that we do in private in this society." the ever protective inspector explained. "There should be a place to bathe inside of your home."
"Oh!" Ichiro exclaimed. "I had no idea. I'm so very sorry." he expressed as he began to dress.
"I guess the group didn't explain a lot of the basics to you. How about, once you get dressed, we go back to your house and I show you the miracles of modern convenience?" Haruki offered.
Excitedly, Ichiro agreed, "That sounds fantastic. I feel like you would also be able to answer some questions that I've been, so far, ignorant to."
The inspector belted out a laugh "HAHA, Questions that you can't ask the rest of the support group. This sounds interesting! I look forward to any questions you may have and I'll do my best to help."
Once he was fully dressed again, and only slightly damp, the two returned to Ichiro's home. It was then that Ichiro learned about a bathroom, toothbrush, refrigerator, stove, microwave, and all of the modern conveniences he had been missing out on since he returned, as well as the more than three thousand years he was away.
"So, there is ready food here, and even a pad for me to sleep on?" Ichiro said amazed.
"Of course!" Haruki exclaimed. "You will, of course, have to buy more food to replenish what you eat, but this is a good place to store it making it harder to spoil."
"And I can cook and bathe inside. You have created so many things in this world that I didn't have in my other." Ichiro said starting in a very excited to which shifted to lament.
Noticing the mood change in Ichiro's voice, Haruki tried to change the subject with, "You said you had some questions you were afraid to ask the others?"
Snapping back to the present moment realized he did have questions. "I was wondering where I could go to train my body."
"Uhhh, I'm not sure what you mean by train your body." Haruki said quizzically.
"I would like to find a place where I can lift heavy things, run, exercise my body to make it stronger." Ichiro said with a stark determination on his face. "Yuki said Asuka had found a place for me, but both neglected to tell or show me where."
"OH, I get it. You want a gym. Okay, well I'm not sure where one is in the area, but give me a few moments." Inspector Haruki said as he pulled out his phone and tapped away on it. "We...passed it? I didn't even notice it. It looks like there is one near the community center."
"And I can train there?" Ichiro asked.
"Yes, that's basically the place to train." Haruki responded.
Hopefully, Ichiro asked, "Could you show me where it is? I hate to impose after you've helped me so much already."
"Of course, I'll take you over there and we'll get you all set up and then I'll leave you to it. You just have to promise that you won't bathe in the park anymore." Haruki said with a chuckle.
Seemingly not getting the quip, Ichiro responded in a very serious tone with, "Of course, if that is your wish."
Putting his hands up defensively and smiling big, Haruki said "You really don't have to be so cordial with me. You're my sister's friend and you need help so I'll help you the best that I can. It's really not that serious or that big of a deal."
"I would like to see that place as soon as we can, but maybe I should ask any other questions first." Ichiro said.
"Well, what do you want to know?" Haruki wondered.
"Where could I find the nearest blacksmith?" Ichiro asked letting Haruki know that he was, at least mentally, still preparing as he would in his isekai.
"There aren't really blacksmiths anymore. A few hundred years ago there were definitely some, but now they are very few and far between anymore." Haruki apologetically said and then jokingly continued with, "If you want a blacksmith shop, you might have to build you own. Haha"
Ichiro didn't know why that never occurred to him. The other members of the group said he was rich so why not just buy all the things he wants. It was a brilliant idea that the inspector had accidentally placed in the red eyed young man's mind.
"I never really thought about that, but I think I'll do that then." Ichiro said with new determination.
"Wait, what?" Haruki said not realizing what his minor quip had done. "I didn't actually mean that."
Ichiro, sure of what he was to do next, responded, "It was a good idea anyway. I will have to start doing that. I must find this gym you spoke up and then I will try to build my own forge."
"Okay, well, I guess we should go to the gym then so I can head back to work." Haruki said.
The two left the apartment, walked a mere five minutes past the community center, and arrived at the gym. After explaining everything about the twenty four hour gym to Ichiro, they purchased a membership and Haruki left Ichiro in the care of himself so he could work out at the gym. With a cordial wave, Inspector Haruki Hanma said goodbye and returned to the streets of Tokyo. Ichiro, on the other hand, entered the gym and began testing the capabilities of the body he was in, and worked to strengthen it.