The Plan

Ichiro knocked on Inori's door before inserting his key, unlocking it, and entering. Sitting inside at the table, Haruki greeted Ichiro.

"Yo" Haruki waved and flashed a smile.

"Oh, hello Haruki." Ichiro was surprised. "I wasn't expecting to find you here too."

"Yea, Inori invited me. She said you and her often get together at night to eat and talk." Haruki explained, slightly embarrassed that he may be intruding.

"Fantastic!" Ichiro exclaimed. "We always make too much food for the two of us and I rather enjoy your company."

Relieved, Haruki replied, "Oh good, I was worried I would get in the way or interrupt things."

"Not at all!" Ichiro beamed. "You're always welcome to join me on my endeavors. I see you as a comrade and friend. Oh, speaking of, where is Inori?"

"Ah, she's using the toilet, she'll be back in a moment." Haruki noted.

"Well, do you like eel?" Ichiro questioned Haruki.

"Yes," Haruki responded quizzically.

"Good." Ichiro said as he moved toward the kitchen's counter.

Ichiro placed the bag of foods on the counter and began pulling everything out and sorting it on the counter. Once he pulled out the freshwater eel, Haruki understood why Ichiro asked.

With everything spread across the counter, Haruki said impressed, "That's a lot of food."

"I haven't figured out the portions for just two people which works in our favor tonight because we have you joining us." Ichiro happily quipped.

"Not just me either." Haruki said.

"Oh? Is someone else coming?" Ichiro pondered out loud.

"Yuki wanted to come and see what you and Inori do in your mini meetings so she should be here soon." Haruki chuckled knowing that his sister was getting jealous of how much time Inori and Ichiro were spending together.

Inori appeared from a small hallway saying, "Oh, Hey Ichiro!"

"Hey Gemmy!" Ichiro emphatically said.

"Gemmy?" Haruki asked as Inori sat next to him.

"Oh, he jokingly calls me that sometimes since I told him a bit about the world I went to." Inori said as she reached up and rubbed Haruki's back with one hand. "It's just a nickname to poke a little fun at us having gone to another world."

"Yea, she gathered gemstones and shot people with them." Ichiro added.

"I thought you said you used magic." Haruki wondered.

"Yep, that's the shooting part: magic rock laser beams." Inori chuckled and made finger guns at Haruki.

"I got more eel for dinner." Ichiro said hopefully. "I hope that's okay."

"Oh Haruki, you're in for a treat!" Inori cheered. "I don't know where he learned how to cook, but it's all amazing and I think the eel he makes is the best."

Ichiro began preparing the food in front of the hungry onlookers.

"Now I'm getting excited." Haruki said before leaning in to Inori and whispering, "Also, Yuki is on her way too so we can try to do what you were talking about."

Inori whispered back, "I don't think Ichiro looks at girls that way, but hopefully we can push them in the direction."

"Wait..." Haruki continued whispering. "You mean...he's attracted to...you know..."

Inori giggled, "No not like that. He's just preoccupied with other things."

As Ichiro finished preparing the food, there was a knock at the door. Inori stood gracefully while giving a look to Haruki, went to the door, and welcomed Yuki in.

"Hi everyone!" Yuki exclaimed. "Hi Ichiro!."

"Hey little sister." Haruki said.

"Hi there Yuki." Ichiro started as he began to cook. "I hope you like eel."

"Oh I love eel!" Yuki replied after catching a glimpse of the food spread across the counter.

"We were just settling in to watch Ichiro cook." Inori stated. "We saved you a place to sit." Inori gestured to the chair next to Ichiro.

After flashing a thankful look to Inori, Yuki sat down and watched alongside the others. Haruki and Inori noticed Yuki couldn't take her eyes off Ichiro and slowly zoned out the rest of the world around her.

"That was some crazy information we learned tonight Haruki." Inori said.

"Indeed," Ichiro agreed. "I wasn't really interested in what happened with the train, but now knowing there have been more situations makes it all more troublesome."

"I've been trying to find connections between the incidents." Haruki contributed, "but, the only connections I've found are the black-eyed people. "

"Statues." Inori tried to correct Haruki. "I really don't like boiling it down to the eye color."

"Sorry..." Haruki apologized.

"That reminds me." Ichiro cut in. "I know you call them statues because they stand still and resemble statues, but I never asked what you call us."

"Oh, we're the survivors." Inori responded. "We made it back. I wish everyone was as lucky."

"It wasn't luck." Haruki responded. "You worked hard and that's why you made it back."

"What do you think of it all Yuki?" Ichiro asked.

Yuki, snapping back to the situation, replied, "Oh my mind was wandering. What did you ask?"

"I was wondering what you thought of the different incidents." Ichiro restated.

"I think I wasn't very concerned about the train." Yuki revealed. "But since there's more situations where some strange and unprecedented things have happened, it really is much more concerning."

"So she thinks just like you Ichiro." Haruki beamed, embarrassing his sister slightly.

"To me, the most worrisome one was the restaurant." Inori said.

"I agree completely." Yuki responded. "Up until now it's always seemed random who gets taken and it's been rather spread out time-wise. Now we learn that everyone in an area can be taken altogether."

"How often do people get taken?" Ichiro asked as he finished up the cooking.

"We don't know how many exactly." Haruki paused before continuing, "World-wide, we have no idea, we just know that in Japan there used to be eight or nine a week."

After a few moments of thinking as he was plating the food, Ichiro asked, "What do you mean when you say 'used to be'?"

"I'm not supposed to mention this." Haruki said before glancing at Yuki and Inori. "The number used to be steady, but it seems like it's been quickly increasing over the last month."

"Increased by how much?" Ichiro pondered as he sat the plates of food down in front of each of them.

"Not including the stand out incidents that I mentioned before?" Haruki pondered before continuing. "Almost forty a week now."

Ichiro, sat on his chair next to Yuki as Haruki delivered that surprising news to the group. Yuki and Inori seemed astonished at even more strange news related to what they went through while Ichiro, stoically, nodded slightly while he considered the information and the meal they were about to have.

"How many survivors have there been?" Inori asked.

"Old numbers were about one in fifty or so." Haruki explained. "Now, from the information we've gathered, Ichiro is the most recent."

"Haruki," his sister said before continuing. "Are you saying that everything started happening when Ichiro got back?"

"It's hard to pin down exactly when it started increasing." Haruki answered. "I don't know if it started at the same time or relatively close to then. I also can't tell if this is isolated to Japan so things might be increasing in other countries as well."

"Since Ichiro's experience is so different," Yuki contributed. "Maybe they are connected in some way."

Ichiro perked up a bit and paid particular attention when Haruki said "I don't like coincidences and there's still too much that we don't know so there's no point in dwelling on it now. I, personally, want to enjoy this amazing looking meal that Ichiro prepared for us."

Inori chimed in again, "Oh, this is exciting. You two haven't ever eaten Ichiro's cooking so this is going to be mind blowing."

"I hope you all like it." Ichiro said as everyone began eating.

"This is amazing!" Yuki praised. "It's light and flaky and so well balanced!"

Haruki's eyes widened as he started eating faster and faster.

"I don't want to eat it so quickly because I want to savor it, but it's so good that I can't help myself." Haruki cheered between bites.

"I told you it was going to be amazing!" Inori reinforced. "He's like a professional chef!"

"It's just things I learned to cook while traveling around in my world." Ichiro responded. I guess I just had a lot more time to figure out how to cook what I wanted."

"You said you were an adventurer during the meeting?" Haruki wondered. "I'm surprised you had time to find a kitchen."

"Kitchen?" Ichiro pondered. "I didn't learn to cook in a kitchen. Most cooking was done over campfires or in fireplaces. Only big places like castles or the ridiculously rich could afford to have kitchens in their homes. Inori actually taught me how to use most of these things."

"Learning to cook all of this over a campfire is impressive." Haruki reinforced.

"I'm glad you all like my cooking." Ichiro bashfully said.

"Like it?" Yuki gushed. "This is one of the best meals I've ever had! I wish you would cook for me all the time!"

"I can do that if you'd like." Ichiro smiled quaintly.

Yuki, realized what that would mean, got embarrassed, and started turning red.