Chapter 3: Michael Kaiser y Natsuki Subaru
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Pov Narrator.
—Hello.
Kaiser stuck his hand out just a little from the corner of the alley, making a vague greeting gesture, more out of caution than courtesy. As he observed him better, he began to notice small details.
The boy was wearing a short-sleeved black polo shirt, slightly stuck to his body from the humidity. On a nearby wooden box rested a tracksuit combined in white, black and orange. It was damp, as if it had been washed recently and left there to dry.
—(It's normal clothes).
When he said "normal", he meant normal for him.
Because, if he applied the logic of that world —if he took the mentality of a boy who had been born and raised there— then that clothing would be as strange as his own. From the medieval point of view that surrounded him, that outfit clashed completely.
But for someone from the era where artificial intelligences and smartphones already existed, that tracksuit was the most common thing in the world. It wasn't that Kaiser was better dressed or wearing something luxurious. He was middle class; he knew nothing about fine fabrics or exclusive brands. He simply wore everyday clothes. Just like that guy.
And that was the unsettling part. For his part, the other boy seemed to get excited when he saw him. Since Kaiser had not shown his full body, the teenager seemed to assume something completely different.
His eyes shone. He straightened his posture and extended his arms forward with renewed enthusiasm, as if he were finally in front of someone long awaited.
—Well… you're not the beautiful girl I thought summoned me, but it still works. You took quite a while, you know? That's not how you should receive the hero.
He spoke with absolute confidence, with that almost childish conviction of someone who believes his adventure has just begun exactly as it should. As if everything were following the perfect script.
And that, for some reason… made Kaiser feel like something didn't quite fit.
—Dude, if you can't handle it, don't smoke it. —Kaiser frowned, feeling inexplicably offended.
It was as if that guy had drastically lowered his expectations upon seeing him, as if he didn't meet the minimum standard of a "mysterious summoner".
He finished stepping out of the alley and stood at the threshold, letting the light fully reveal his appearance.
He wore a gray hoodie and, over it, a blue fabric jacket with the sleeves rolled up a little above his wrists. He combined it with black pants and shoes of the same color. Nothing luxurious. Nothing heroic. Simply normal clothes.
Modern clothes.
The other young man, upon seeing him completely, was left open-mouthed. His arms slowly fell to his sides, as if he had just witnessed something that did not fit into his calculations.
—Y-Y-Y-You…! —He pointed at him with his index finger, trembling, as if he had recognized something crucial in that clothing.
—"Y-y-y-you"… Speak properly, kid. It's not like you're five years old to be stuttering like that. —Kaiser snorted when he saw the shock stamped on his face.
The boy quickly shook his head, as if trying to reorganize his thoughts. And suddenly, his expression lit up again. The enthusiasm returned to his eyes.
He seemed to have reached a completely different conclusion: maybe it wasn't a mistake. Maybe this was a shared adventure. A joint beginning. That was why the beautiful princess who had summoned them hadn't appeared yet… because both heroes still had to meet.
Yes.
That had to be it.
Kaiser, of course, had no idea about the crazy theories the young man was building at high speed in his hikikomori gamer mind obsessed with manga.
—Hello, partner! So you also come from a parallel world?
Kaiser looked at him in silence for a second.
—(This guy talks with confidence as if he already had experience with this… as if he had lived it before. If it weren't for the environment and everything I've seen, I'd think he escaped from an asylum). —The naturalness with which the other spoke confused him more than the fantastic scenario itself. —If you're referring to the fact that I closed my eyes at night for a moment and, when I opened them, appeared in a plaza full of strange people… then yes.
The black-haired young man blinked a couple of times, surprised. Far from generating doubt, that only reinforced his theory.
He had also arrived in a ridiculously unepic way. Nothing of shining magic circles or mystical teleportations accompanied by solemn chants. No. He had simply left a convenience store after buying potato chips and instant ramen.
While walking back home, the space in front of him seemed to distort for a few seconds. He thought it was fatigue. He rubbed his eyes because of the itch, but the only thing he saw were black spots against a white light that flooded his field of vision.
And when he recovered his sight… He was no longer in his world. He was in a place very similar to the one Kaiser had just described. The shine in his eyes intensified.
—So you arrived the same way I did? That means we're colleagues. —He smiled widely, extending his hand with enthusiasm—. Nice to meet you, my name is Natsuki Subaru.
—Natsuki Subaru? Nice to meet you, I guess. My name is Michael Kaiser. I like soccer and drawing.
Kaiser said, revealing his full name and two of his hobbies while accepting the handshake.
—Hey, a second ago I heard you shout something about a protagonist role and Excalibur… What are you, an anime fan?
—Eh? Oh! —Subaru smiled, slightly embarrassed by his previous outburst—. You heard that? Well… I thought that, since I was transported to another world, maybe I was summoned by a cute girl.
—Wouldn't it be more like a princess or some kingdom in trouble because of a prophecy? —Kaiser asked casually, sitting on a step above him.
Subaru looked up.
When he noticed that Kaiser was not mocking him, but even contributing ideas to the scenario, the embarrassment disappeared from his face. In its place appeared a complicit smile, almost excited.
He had found someone who understood the code.
And he wasn't that wrong. Kaiser was also a fan of anime and manga; that was why he had written several stories of that genre in his previous world. In fact, he still had his phone with him —without signal, of course— but with all his texts stored intact.
It was like carrying a piece of his old world in his pocket.
—You're right. If someone summoned us, it should be a princess. —Subaru nodded convinced—. But my starting equipment sucks.
He looked with discouragement at the white plastic bag he held, where only some potato chips and a packet of instant ramen rested.
It was not exactly the legendary sacred sword.
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End of the chapter.