2000, I'm 10, and I have 2 years to prep for the prep! Well, not so bad. But the housing question is pressing. In a million-person city—easy to get lost, but not so easy to find a place to live.
If I kill someone and take their apartment or house—maybe the first week it'll fly, but that someone surely has friends or family, and don't forget the nosy grannies next door. And that's ignoring basic utilities. They'll spot me quick... hm... in the forest? From a year to 2 years?
Mda. And I still need to set up a cultist hideout with a ritual circle—I'm already picturing dragging bodies to my temp house—and local cops will be on me in an hour. Fine, say it's a house with a garage! I could probably even hijack a van—along with the driver as my first victim. And use it to catch new victims. Damn, I feel like I'll be that maniac luring people with candy...
Nervous laughter hit me. Obstacles start even at the planning stage! Well, the car question is sorta solved for now; luckily I know how to drive—over 10 years of practice, true only from the old world, but I think I can manage. But the house—no.
Hmmmm. I'm 10, already in middle school, my classmates are 13-14. We're in grade 8. Fine, say I didn't exhibit myself as a damn genius and grade skip for nothing. High school starts at grade 10, average age there 15-16.
If I do nothing, in exactly 2 years at the start of planned prep, I should enter grade 10. At another school. High school. Hm, maybe through some scandal and hysterics I can convince them to send me to Fukuoka. That'll be 2003, a year of on-site prep, though more like half since school starts in summer here too.
Hm, or push harder and skip a whole grade to enter high school in 2002! 2 years on-site for prep, better than 1! And all this is great, but I need to explain why this city specifically.
Hm, interesting, any landmarks or elite schools there? Gotta look for books... nah, better guidebooks to the city. Yeah, that's what I'll do.
Found a guidebook in the local library and got hooked; stripping out the trash—like parks, museums, and stuff everywhere—leaves about 4 things: a freaking tall observation tower, ruins of a destroyed castle, a Shintoist shrine—which is Japan's official religion worshiping NEH—and suddenly the Buddhist temple Shōfuku-ji. Don't know who Shōfuku is, but didn't expect Buddhists here. Interestingly, it says the basics of tea ceremonies were born there. Probably lying, though maybe not.
The only thing that made me look closer at the photo was that this temple is on a mountain. Okay, I get it. Mostly in anime—and maybe my imagination filled in—the epic battles with the elf-wizard girl happened in a temple on a mountain! And yeah, the local teacher-killer lived there too.
Who and how let some random shady dude live in a temple—interesting question. And it gives a rough search radius for where Caster might appear: big difference between "forest around the city" and "forest around the temple"! And yeah, I'm still hoping to snag an elf for myself!
Well, this is starting to look like a plan! Now just execute it! For some reason, an image flashed in my head of a guy with the caption—Die or Perish!
*Half a year later.*
I did it! I finished grade 8 and closed grade 9 externally! Who's a genius? I'm a genius! Early summer 2001 now, and I'm happily eating cake. But that was just from the outside; inside I wasn't so thrilled.
Simple reason: I looked at the situation unbiased and realized I've been mentally over 30 for a while, so it doesn't seem that surprising. Learning a year and a half of middle school in half a year isn't that hard, assuming no personal life and info starvation!
Back then I could hop on my phone anytime for fresh newsfeed, read interesting stuff, etc. Now the limit is the local paper: "Dog shat in the city and that's all the news!"
And TV in the evening—of which I'd weaned off in my past life. Seriously, who watched TV in 2030? Maybe on the kitchen while cooking or for background noise...
And I watch news specifically; local movies gave me... mixed feelings. And anime or some stoned crap like Teletubbies or Sailor Moon. No, at 8-10 it was fire! Now it doesn't click.
For the goal—I ditched all school clubs, and the computer with games that bugged me hasn't been imported to this world yet. Max is some console with Mario and a couple games. Fine for a couple evenings, but after my old abundance, it doesn't hook.
And I had tougher: closing a degree externally in a month with 3 years' backlog while moonlighting nights. That was hell, and I quit that job. So now this was a light stroll—for me. A normal kid would've caught plenty of psych damage. Thinking that calmed me: my "achievements" aren't that special.
But the plan must proceed, and now the hardest stage: broach wanting to study in Fukuoka again. Yeah again; over this half year I brought it up periodically, every 2-3 weeks, walking the fine line so the topic doesn't irritate but doesn't fade.
This time, surprisingly no protest or dissuasion from such "independent" life. Maybe because I'd hinted to parents I'm pretty goal-driven, stubborn, and smart, and I'll get my way. So they assured they've done recon and we'll visit the city in a month.
Of course "WE" tensed me, but expected—they wouldn't let me go alone. Well, hope it works, or I'll go extreme: runaway and solo survival.
*A month later, Fukuoka station.*
"Hey-hey, Yamagi! I'm here!" some unfamiliar girl yelled, waving a flag with our family name.
Which stunned me a bit, y'know, when you see ads or movies with the flag-or-sign gag, it's funny, but you know it's exaggerated half-humor. I glossed over her being red-haired then—blood's a lottery, happens.
The situation surprised me more. And not just me; passersby stared too. Wellll, what can I say—she's extremely positive and... bold? Initiative? Anyway, mda.
Under curious glances, we reached the girl; parents did the standard bow and praises. "Taiga-san, glad you offered to meet and help us."
"Um, yes. Nice to meet you, Taiga-san. I'm Akihiro Yamagi." Though I hate it, I bowed too.
"Ooooh, you're such a cutie Akihi-kun, call me sis Fuji." And she grabbed me in a hug, pressing to her chest.
"...." No words; my eye twitched.
The whole way to the "temp housing I rent to my charge," also "fabulous big house" and many other flattering epithets Taiga heaped on the place where I'd live with parents for a couple weeks while picking my permanent spot—she got only polite short replies. Inside, I got it: she wants to cash in renting her place.
Well, fine—though weird someone's already living there. On the other hand, 2-story suburban house with 6 bedrooms and 2 showers—not bad. Only see roommate morning/evening in kitchen, no overlap otherwise. Not ideal, but tolerable. Though I'd prefer solo, maybe a cheap studio.
Other hand: my plans include cult sacrifices—not smart where you live. Gotta find a hideout anyway. And I dreamed too big of no supervision. Weighing pros/cons, I half-resigned to Taiga's house. Which we approached—looks decent.
In the yard, some red-haired kid met us; Taiga declared: "Meet my charge Shirou Emiya! He's 15, in grade 9 now. Shiro, this is the Yamagi family, and Akihi-kun, your future SENPAI!"
And my eye twitched. An old Lord of the Rings joke surfaced.
"Know what the dwarf in Moria said when he dug to the Balrog?"
"No."
"He said—ovveeerrrrboooard."
Yeah, OVERBOARD echoed in my head. I overdid it.
***
Read the story months ahead of the public release — early chapters are available on my Patreon: patreon.com/Granulan