Wandering Stranger - Preparations I

As you might see, I changed the speech and thought system from dashes — to quotes "" and apostrophes ''. Sorry for the lack of chapters for almost two weeks, but I only write when I feel in the mood.

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Akihito had finally come back after a few hours outside, in which he took care of a few important things. The first thing he did was buy many sets of clothes to use throughout the year. Then he passed by Karasuno High, where he left the documents of his acceptance with his would-be homeroom teacher, a woman named Hiratsuka Shizuka. After doing that -and staring at his teacher for a while, Akihito went to the best gym in the area and payed for a full year membership. He could go whenever he wanted, which would be every other day if he joined Karasuno High's volleyball club -which wasn't even a doubt.

Once done with that, he just walked around for a bit, getting to know the layout of the city and all the main spots he might visit regularly. The usual for anyone living alone: malls if there were any, coffee shops, grocery stores, convenience stores, etc. Wherever he went, people stared at him. Some with curiosity, some with confusion and others with indifference; nobody knew who he was.

"Hmm... I don't have anything else to do right now, do I?" Akihito asked himself while walking back to his house. He remembered a small market relatively close by, so he decided to go and buy some ingredients to keep in the fridge and freezer and to cook his meal today. "Ah, here is it is!"

Entering the store, Akihito grabbed a shopping cart and began going through the aisles while searching for things to keep. It wasn't until he reached the vegetables part that something interesting happened.

"Huh... this tomato looks kinda green, and this other one looks like it is beginning to rot... too soft..." As Akihito went through the tomatoes, a screen popped up in front of him, startling him for a second. "Observe?"

[Due to the user's analytical observation, the skill "Observe" has been created. The Skills Tab has been unlocked. Does the user wish to see it now?

(YES) or (NO)]

Mentally selecting (YES), the Skills screen was brought up in Akihito's sight. The tab was divided in two sections: Active and Passive Skills. He didn't have any skills on the Active section besides Observe, but he did have some on the Passive one.

[Gamer's Mind (Lv. Max): <Keep calm and play the game.> Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through. Allows peaceful state of mind. Immunity to psychological Status Effects.]

[Gamer's Body (Lv. Max): Grants a body that allows the user to live the real world as if it was a game.]

Those two skills alone were already weird, but useful. Akihito could now tell that the reason why he was so calm about many things and didn't fall into desperation was because of Gamer's Mind, which allowed him to think logically. If anything, it worked like a suppressant for any kind of negative state of mind. As for Gamer's Body, he didn't quite understand what it exactly implied. That only he would have to experiment with it for a bit longer. Besides, they were already at "Max" level, which was a total boon for him.

'Oh, I've spent too much time with this, I should keep checking ingredients or else I'll look really sus.' Akihito thought while checking other veggies and different products with Observe. He didn't check the info on the skill, but he could pretty much deduce what it did based on the skill's name and the info he saw of the products he checked.

[Fresh Tomato (Common): A very fresh tomato, picked between May and October. It is of the highest quality a common tomato can reach.]

[H-E-B Pork Sausage (Common): Sausage made of high quality pork.]

"Well, I guess I have everything I need for now." Akihito said while heading towards the cashier. After paying for multiple packs of mineral water, a lot of chicken breasts, steaks, sausages, many kinds of fish and whole lot of vegetables, he left the store. Akihito thought that, since he would be going to the Gym, he should also eat healthy and balanced. That way, he would maximize his gains.

As he walked out through the automatic door, he saw a guy talking... scratch that, harassing a girl around his age. Taking his phone out to do something really stupid, Akihito began recording the scene. Once he got the film of the guy grabbing the girl's arm forecefuly, he decided it was time to intervene.

"Yoo, Mr. Harasser! You might want to stop doing that before I call the cops on you!" Akihito exclaimed with a smirk. "I have a very nice video of you harassing that girl. You don't want this being made public, right? I mean, everyone would recognize your ugly face!"

Akihito couldn't help but burst out laughing when he threatened the harasser, not because of the joke he made, but because he realized the guy was actually very ugly and had a repulsive aura to himself. The girl, while still being held by the guy, also burst out laughing, something that Akihito found weird yet strangely hot for some reason. He hadn't been able to see her face, but he could clearly see her well-developed body, hidden under her not-so-conservative clothes. She was wearing a pretty short plaid skirt, a burgundy sweater over a white shirt tucked into the skirt and a pair of casual white shoes, with thigh-high socks.

He began to walk towards them, and the closer he got, the more surprised he got by how beautiful she looked. On the contrary side to her straight, waist-lenght black hair –styled in a "hime-cut"–, he could see a very refined, healthy white skin, soft facial features carved in it, and decorated with a pair of beautiful rubies where her eyes were. It was almost entrancing how bright her red eyes were. Even more so was the weird smile she sported, clearly amused –excited even– by the situation she was in.

"Oy brat! Give me that phone before I fuck you up!" The harasser threatened, clearly wanting to avoid possible issues that might arise. Akihito almost wanted to laugh because of how obvious it was that he didn't really want to attack him, probably because it would only bring more trouble. Looking at the harasser straight in the face, Akihito's smirk only grew. "And if I don't want to, pig-face?"

Clearly loosing what little grey matter he had left thanks to Akihito's taunting, the pig-faced harasser threw himself at Akihito, trying to pummel him. Alas, Akihito managed to easily dodge the clumsy attempt at attacking him, tripping the man with his foot and effectively making him fall on his face. Both Akihito and the unknown girl laughed at the guys misfortune.

Embarrassed and with a bloody nose, the guy simply ran off while shouting threats. Akihito didn't take any of them seriously, as he could've easily thrashed the guy if he had wanted, and with a bag full of groceries on his hand, at that. The stats were simply too far apart, after all.

[Name: Random Mob Level: 1

HP: 50/50 MP: 0/0

STR: 11 VIT: 10

AGI: 8 INT: 7

WIS: 10 LUCK: 2]

[Skill Observe Level UP]

'Hum, interesting.' Akihito thought, seeing that his skill had leveled up after using it on a piece of trash mob that didn't even have a name. 'I'll make sure to check this skill later on.'

"Quite pathetic, isn't he?" Akihito hears a feminine voice ask beside him, taking him away from his own thoughts. Turning his head towards the girl he had just "saved", Akihito looks at her in wonder.

"Yeah, he is... after all, he couldn't even manage to scare you at all." He stated while uploading the video on YouTube so everyone would see it. He had just realized he still hadn't set-up his social media accounts, so he would get to that once he got back home. "Ah, sorry for my lack of manners. I'm Endo Akihito."

"Endo Akihito... I'll be sure to remember it." The girl said with an honest smile on her face. She hadn't seen him ever before around town, so she was sure he was new here. Taking into consideration how he looked, he was probably around her age, surely a transfer student that would be attending Karasuno High. As such, her plan to make things more interesting began. "I'm just a wandering stranger, moving to a new town. You can call me Jane Doe."

"Ha-ha. How funny of you... fine, don't tell me your name." Akihito said sardonically. Of course, he had a surefire way to know her name, and he had no issues using it. "I'll find out in about a month if I don't do so earlier, anyways."

[Name: Jabami Yumeko Level: 1

HP: 150/150 MP: 0/0

STR: 12 VIT: 14

AGI: 18 INT: 25

WIS: 20 LUCK: 10]

The mysterious Jane Doe –now labelled Yumeko Jabami– only laughed at his words, before showing a borderline sadistic smile on her face and asking one, simple question to him. "Didn't you find it entertaining? Exciting?"

"I don't know if I would call it that... it wasn't enough to make me pump adrenaline." Akihito honestly answered, Gamer's Mind allowing him to calmly assess the situation and act with his mental capacity intact. "I assume you did, given your stance throughout the entire situation?"

Yumeko just nodded excitedly while pursing her lips, as if supressing a moan. Once she managed to calm down, she looked at him straight in the eyes and decided to explain the situation a bit. "I made a bet with him. I said someone would help me. Not knowing if I was right or wrong, the thrill of the gamble... it just makes my heart pump so much faster!"

Akihito opened his eyes, rather surprised at her confession of her gambling obsession. Of course she hadn't said that, but her behaviour spoke of what her mouth omitted. Still, he didn't judge her. That would just be hypocritical, considering he could've been called a thrill-seeker himself in his previous life.

"If that makes you happy." Akihito said while shrugging, clearly showing how little he cared for her weird fetish. Yumeko was clearly surprised at his lack of disapproval. Every person she had talked about it with would try to deter her from feeding her weird obsession. Yet he didn't. Hence, she decided to do something bold. Not bold for her, perhaps. But for any other girl her age? Definitely.

"Would you mind giving me your number, Akihito-kun?" Yumeko asked. Of course it was a bold thing to do, after all, they had just met. Even if he had indeed saved her of a possibly awful event, they had just met. Not only asking for his number, but calling him by his first name? That was on a whole other level. Still, Akihito just nodded lackadaisically and grabbed her phone.

"There you go, Jane~." Akihito said, making sure to call her by her fake name and without honorifics as he gave her phone back to her. Looking at his own phone to check the time, he realized it was quite late already. "I would love to stay and chat with you, but unfortunately I have to go back so I can prepare dinner for myself."

"What a bummer." Yumeko said with a fake pout on her face, making her look pretty cute in Akihito's opinion. She then smiled again, this time showing a normal, beautiful smile, flaunting her refined lips and the peachy lip balm covering them. "Well, I guess I'll see you around, Akihito-kun. I'll talk to you sometime... soon."

"Whenever you want, Jane~. See you around." Akihito said before walking away with his groceries in hand, while thinking about this sudden encounter and chuckling to himself. 'A wandering stranger... what an interesting person you are, Jabami Yumeko.'