Sorting Out Life

The six members of the Tokyo Isekai Support Group sat around in a circle while Ichiro sat on the floor next to Shingo and they all tried to figure things out.

"Well, we know your name is Ichiro, but we don't know much more about you" Inori said. "What's your family name? How much do you remember of the world before leaving? Where were you coming from and going when you left here? How old are you? You're kind of cute so do you have a girlfriend? Where are your family? Do you have a job? What..."

"Let's take it a bit slower Inori" Takamasa interrupted.

Yuki chimed in with "We should start off with some basic parts and then see how he responds."

"So, what is your full name then?" Konomi asked.

"Ichiro" he replied quizzically.

"I mean, what's your family name too?" Konomi asked to delve deeper into who he was.

Ichiro, still puzzled, replied "I don't know what you mean. I'm just Ichiro. I've been called Ichiro the Breaker if that helps."

Shingo whispered, "It doesn't really."

"Do you have an ID or anything like that?" Inori asked.

Ichiro answered with a simple question, "What's an ID?"

"Hmmm, okay. How old are you then?" Takamasa questioned.

"I lost track so many years ago. It seemed like a pointless thing to remember." Ichiro replied.

"How are we supposed to figure any of this out with no information?" Konomi wondered.

Everyone paused silently for a moment as they contemplated their position before Asuka, speaking for the first time, said "Ichiro Hatake, twenty two years old, student at United Nations University, part time employee at Family Mart convenience store, 175 cm tall, 65.2 kg. According to his ID, he lives three blocks away from here."

Shingo pat Asuka on the head lightly and followed up with a "good job."

"That's our tech master coming through again!" Inori exclaimed. "Great job!"

"It was pretty easy once I cracked the Drivers License Center's database. Then I filtered the name Ichiro and our location and narrowed it down from there." Asuka said continually tapping on her phone.

"Well, now you at least know more about you" Yuki said to Ichiro. "I guess the next step is to go to your house so we can figure even more out about you and try to make a plan."

"I have a house?" Ichiro asked himself.

"It looks more like an apartment in a complex. Not a big one. Probably since you're a college student and working part time." Asuka said. "I'm checking his bank account and other stuff next."

Takamasa said, "I don't think we need to check that kind of personal stuff, do we?"

"Well, I don't know if we need to, but I'm glad we did. He's loaded." Asuka said surprised. "I don't know why he's working part time while he's got this kind of money. Looking back, he had all that deposited into his account last year. Searching for what happened around that time and...Oh."

"What is it?" Takamasa asked.

"You were right. We don't need to look into that kind of personal stuff." Asuka said as she stopped tapping on her phone. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you."

After a few moments of silent pause, Shingo looked over at Asuka's phone, then whispered "It's okay. You didn't know."

Yuki and Konomi looked over at Shingo who simply closed his eyes and shook his head slightly.

"Well, you said his home is only a couple blocks away from here, so why don't we start there?" Yuki said.

The group all agreed and began packing up their things to leave the community center. Yuki turned off the coffee maker and put plastic wrap over the cookies. They left the chairs out and as they left, Yuki made sure to turn off the lights and lock the doors behind them. With the time nearing three in the morning, the seven began winding their way through the streets. As they walked, Shingo, Asuka, and Yuki walked together behind the rest of the group. Ichiro noticed Shingo whisper something to Yuki and her face went much less cheerful. The streets were much less busy than earlier and much more of what Ichiro had grown used to. The night air was cool but still humid and after only a short walk, the group arrived at Ichiro's apartment complex.

"Wait, you live here?" Inori asked. "I live here. How have I never noticed you around?"

"His room is on the fourth floor, room 403" Asuka said.

"My room is 207!" That's crazy. I don't think I've ever seen you before tonight." Inori exclaimed.

The group looked up at the apartment complex wondering what they could find out about Ichiro that would help. Ichiro looked up at the apartment complex wondering why he was there at all. The building was a bunch of separate rooms accessible from a catwalk that ran along the side of the building. Stairs and one elevator gave access to the inhabitants to their rooms. The group got on the elevator and rode it up to the fourth floor. As they reached room 407, Yuki tried the door. It was locked.

Turning around to Ichiro, Yuki asked "You wouldn't happen to have a key would you?"

The group looked at Ichiro for a moment before Shingo whispered "check your pockets for some metal things."

Ichiro reached into his pockets and pulled everything he had out to display to the group: four one hundred yen coins, a small notebook, a mechanical pencil, a phone, and a key ring with five keys on it.

Shingo, slowly reached over, picked up the keys and whispered "Thank you" before moving to the door and unlocking it with the second key he tried. Shingo pushed the door open and was the first one into the apartment. He walked down a small hallway as the others filtered in behind. The apartment was pitch black so Yuki, being the second in, flipped the light switch turning the hall light on. At the end of the short entry hall was a clean, well kept living room with a kitchen attached to it.

Konomi said, "So, this is where you live. It's quite nice and cozy." as she plopped down on a couch.

"Well, we're here to help him remember who he was so we need to look around and find what we can. Maybe a schedule or something like that." Yuki said to the group.

Ichiro walked over to a desk in the corner of the room that had a laptop, some papers, and a framed picture of an older couple on it.

Yuki walked over to Ichiro, placed her hand on his shoulder, and, while looking at the picture, said "The thing that Asuka found out is that about a year ago, your parents both died in a car accident. I'm sorry."

Ichiro, continued to look at the photograph and asked, "So these are supposed to be my parents?"

"I guess so" Yuki said sympathetically.

"It's strange really." Ichiro said with only slight frustration in his voice. "I don't know these people at all. I can tell you feel sorry for telling me, but I don't know these people. I don't know this world. You all say I'm from here, but I don't remember this place at all. This place isn't my home. These things aren't mine. I don't know any of what's going on."

Yuki looked up at him, then tucked her head in and hugged him.

Shingo walked over to him and whispered, "What are you willing to tell us about your life in the other world? How long were you there?"

"I'm a warrior and adventurer. I was trained by the greatest adventurer before me. From all I know, I spent more than a million days and nights under that sky. I've fought against the world itself." Ichiro was saying.

"A million days and nights?" shocked, Shingo interrupted and questioned before whispering to himself, "That's almost three thousand years!"

A look of dismay rolled over the faces of the group as the looked back and forth at each other.

"At some point in my life, I stopped aging and just continued on." Ichiro said, turning to look at the group.

Noticing everyone's reaction, he continued and questioned, "What?"

Konomi stood up from the couch and began to speak apologetically "Ichiro, none of us have been in one of the other worlds that long. Shingo was in his for ten years, but that's the most out of any of us. I was only in my world for two years."

"It's...it's no wonder you forgot....you don't remember this world at all." Takamasa stumbled over his words for once in his life. "If I had only spent twenty two years here and three thousand in my world. This place...this life wouldn't even be a memory anymore."

"This life or this place or these things" Ichiro started, "I don't want any of them. I just want to go back to my home."

After a short silence, Inori, who had usually been the most talkative, meekly said, "I'm sorry."

Shingo continued, "For better or worse, my friend. I don't think there's a way back to that life for you. I think you're trapped back in this world."

As the full understanding of what Ichiro had just told them sank in, Yuki began to cry ever so slightly and hugged Ichiro even tighter.