Translator: Reizenchuu
Editor: Kenny Stryker
It was early in the morning, when I was feeling hungry. The Chinese restaurant by the name of Menmen was bustling from many visitors from all over the town, and conversations were happening inside and outside of the kitchen.
“Thank you for waiting. Roasted Pork Ramen, Soy Ramen and your Gyoza set dinner is ready.”
“Oh, it’s here!”
The old man exclaimed as if he were waiting for those meals. As he promised, the old man took me to eat ramen outside. I tried to stay silent and wait until the case had settled, but I knew that he would start playing dumb to avoid treating me. That’s why I told him to go with me on the last day of our school break. Rather, I forced him to do so and as I expected, he tried to feign ignorance at first.
“Alright then, The food is ready and all, shall we eat? Hm, what’s wrong?”
“… No, it’s nothing, really.”
That’s a rather pretty cheerful attitude for someone who was making a grim face all this while. Is it that unpleasant to treat me to a single meal? I kept silent towards his sudden change of mood, but the old man didn’t mind my silence and dug in.
“SUSUSU!! Ah, just like the rumors, this ramen is delicious!”
“ZUZUZU!! You’re right, this is good.”
As to be expected from something that airs on TV and appears frequently in various magazines. The perfectly boiled noodles, the transparent soup, everything in this ramen tasted great.
Okay now, next is the Gyoza. I moved my chopsticks over, picked one up and carried it to my mouth. Yep, this food is delicious. That’s Menmen ramen for you. I can’t find a single flaw in their meals.
“But still, you got quite the unfortunate luck to encounter a terrorist organization right after you finished your second day since your school began.”
The old man spoke while he eating his ramen.
“I know. But hey, I owe that to you that I’m now eating such a good meal. Not that bad of a deal if you ask me.”
“Terrorists subjugated for the sake of ramen…”
A bitter smile reached the old man’s face as he muttered. Well, regardless of the motive, it wasn’t mine but the terrorist’s bad luck. They chose the only school where someone harboring the skills of a different world like me out of ten thousands of schools, after all.
“Well, either way, glad you’re fine.”
“There’s no way I’d be done at the place you know.”
“Hahaha!! Yeah, you got a point.”
A short while after he chuckled, the old man uttered while making a nostalgic expression.
“Come to think of it, you were like this the first time.”
“First time?”
“The first day we met.”
“Ah… That day you mean.”
Unlike the old man who thought back about that time with an emotional mood, I didn’t care the least about it.
“I was seriously startled at that time, you know. Who knew that someone who could do such stuff actually existed.”
The old man closed his eyes to recall the event of that day.
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
“Damn it, what did he mean by ‘do your job diligently’ ?! How about you take it seriously too, you ignorant prick!!”
At that day, after I got unreasonably rebuked by my boss, I was complaining on my way back from a bar to my place. Since I was drunk, my steps were dizzy. But suddenly, as I was unsteady walking my way through a dark path—
GYAAAH!!
A shriek from the surroundings reached my ears. What was this scream? Is it from the construction site nearby? Despite being a bit drunk, I came back to my sense and immediately rushed to the building. After looking up inside the building, I found someone laying on the ground. I ran up to where he was, but I naturally halted my steps half way. The reason I stopped was because I glanced at the figure of a single boy surrounded by several delinquents holding knives.
Whoa whoa, what’s going on in here? I need to save him.
I made my resolve and prepared to dash in, however, what I witnessed in front of me was something that no one could predict. A mass of wind in the shape of a sphere appeared out of nowhere and started to attack the delinquents.
“Gyaaaah!!”
“H-Help me!!”
“My bad!! I’m sorry!! Please forgive… Gyaah!!”
They begged the boy with all their might, but he didn’t show a sign of stopping that wind ball. The wind ball remained blowing off the delinquents and the pillar inside the building crashed into the ground resulting in an awful sound.
What the heck is this? What is going on in here?
I lost for words to the spectacle in front of my eyes. My drunkenness had completely disappeared due to the extreme shock and I remained standing still while gazing at that scene. It didn’t take too long for the boy to realize my presence; he glanced at me, a vigilant look in his eye. Okay, I knew the situation wasn’t good.. At the rate it was going, I would face the same fate as those delinquents. I thought of saying something.
“Ah- What is this? A magic trick?”
“… Ha?”
A few seconds of silence followed my words before the boy showed he was perplexed. Uh? Did I say something weird?
“A… No, wait. I’m not a suspicious person. I’m a cop.”
“Cop?”
The boy opened his eyes wide after I said the word, ‘cop’.
“What is an officer doing in such a place?”
“Coincidence. I heard some screams and came rushing to find you beating those guys down.”
Despite hearing out my explanation, the boy’s gaze seemed to still hold some doubt. I knew there would be no progress if we kept standing like this.
“Tell me, who are you? Was that a magic trick just now?”
“No, such magic tricks doesn’t exist in the world.”
I guess he is right after all.
“Well, how about a change of scenery. Right, want to go for some ramen?”
“Ha, ramen?”
“Yeah, there’s a ramen stall nearby. How about it?”
At that moment, I had turned my back to him and slowly started walking, but the boy had urged me to stop.
“Wait. Shouldn’t we do something about these guys first?”
The boy pointed at the delinquents who were collapsed on the ground.
“Ah, yeah… Just leave them be.”
“You’re gonna leave them?!!”
“It’s not that they’re dead or anything. So yeah, let’s just leave them there. My shift has already ended today and this would just give me unnecessary work.”
“… Are you really a cop?”
“Yes, I am a splendid officer. So let’s go. Somehow, tonight I’m in the mood for some ramen.”
The boy followed after me, his expression still filled with puzzlement. We arrived at the ramen stall and then, started a conversation as the both of us atel.
“ZUZUZU!!… Hoo, summoning to another world…”
“ZUZUZU!! You believe me?”
“Well, after what I saw earlier, what can I say…?”
Honestly, it wasn’t a credible story as he said it, but for me, it didn’t sound like a lie.
“A different world… Hey, can you check my stats to see if I have some of those skills?”
“Wait a second.”
The boy said as he deliberately gazed at me.
“You got two martial art skills.”
“Seriously? But isn’t that because I did Judo and Karate?”
“Probably.”
Doesn’t that mean that I have no substantial skills? This makes me sad.
“Well, the fact that you have a skill is impressive. Not everyone has a skill, after all.”
Maybe because it seemed that I was slightly dispirited, the boy made a quick follow up to cheer me up. Had he been concerned about me? What was this, he’s a better person than what I initially thought.
“Thanks.”
“About what?”
I had faintly smiled at the boy who was feigning ignorance; he then turned to his bowl again and resumed eating.
“Come to think of it, what were you doing at that place?”
“Hm? Ah, I was intending to test some new magic skills but soon enough found myself involved with those delinquents. So I decided to beat them at their own game.”
The boy casually declared, not seeming to feel bad about it at all. Well, those delinquents didn’t have the best of luck this time around. But, for some reason, I had felt a little sorry for them in that moment.
“But still, those skills are pretty convenient, aren’t they? Can you do anything you want with them?”
“Not anything I want. But yeah, they’re indeed convenient.”
“I see… alright! I’ve made my decision!”
I had roughly put my chopsticks on top of my bowl and turned to look at the boy.
“If something happens from now on, just come to me for help. I’m a police officer, after all. Pretty sure I can be useful for you one day.”
“Ha? What are you talking about suddenly? Do you get any advantage from doing this?”
“In some cases, I may rely on you to help me out with my job. Don’t worry, it should be an easy work for you. Of course, I won’t talk to anyone about your skills. What do you think? Wanna team up with me?”
After finishing the ramen, I extended my hand to the boy. His gaze went between between my arm and my face for while, only finally did he grab hold.
“I will be merciless if you betray me.”
“Same here.”
Like that, we exchanged our cordial handshake.
“I know it’s late to ask this, but…what’s your name?”
“It is late indeed…I’m Kamiya Yato.”
“I’m Ijida Tetsuji “
“Ah, old man.”
“Old man!? Could you at least call me Mr. Ijida?”
“An old man is and old man. let’s get along from now one!”
“Listen!! Well, whatever.”
And thus, Kamiya Yato and my give and take relationship was born.
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
Yato’s Point of View
“~That’s how our first encounter went, right?”
Such a long reflection. Well, our encounter went like that indeed. At that time, I still didn’t have the【Teleportation Magic】 so I was forced to choose the construction grounds since I couldn’t go anywhere far. Although, I didn’t expect to meet with those delinquents.
However, when I think back about it now, I wonder why I didn’t erase his memories immediately. If something like that happened to me now, I would have definitely knocked him down first.
… Who knows why?
“Welp, many things happened until now, but I’m still relying on you, partner.”
“Who’s your partner?”
Stop arbitrarily change me into your partner just like that.
“Don’t be like that. Give me that Gyoza!”
“Ah, wai-! That’s the last one!”
“A real man doesn’t let these small matters upset him.”
The old man said before bursting out in laughter. This guy is getting too full of himself. After that, we enjoyed our time as we ate. Guess this is what we’d call as the inevitable.
