WTAW 01

Chapter 1

 The Beginning

(1) Lost, Even Though I’m Almost an Adult

It was the end of the year.
I, Shunsuke Tanaka, was walking through the station on my way home from my part-time job.

I’d already secured a recommendation to a private university, so while my classmates—third-years at a prep high school—were busy preparing for entrance exams, I had no one to hang out with and no one to invite me either.
I’d quit my club activities after the summer and suddenly had too much free time. So, I got my mom to sign the permission slip for part-time work that school required, and I’d been earning pocket money every day since.

Today was Christmas Eve.
I wasn’t exactly uncool, but I didn’t have a girlfriend, no date, nothing. The store manager said he’d raise my hourly pay if I worked today, so I took the shift.
Now, after twelve long hours of standing—with only a few breaks in between—I was dragging my tired feet across the overpass that connected to the station.

There was no one walking ahead of me.
Well, of course not. It’s Christmas Eve. Everyone’s either out in the city having fun or at home relaxing.

This station used to be lively when it was first built, but now it was practically deserted. As I trudged along, I suddenly heard a familiar set of footsteps jogging up from behind.

“Shun-chan! Heading home now?”

“Mom? You too? You’re late as always.”

“Well, it’s the end of the year. But hey, it’s Christmas Eve, so I bought some cake and stuff. Let’s go home and eat together.”

My mom came running up with both hands full of shopping bags. She’s an industrial designer.
You’re carrying cake, aren’t you? It’s gonna get smashed if you keep running like that.

Even if I say it myself, my mom’s pretty beautiful.
I don’t remember what my dad looks like. I was told he’s still alive, but they separated ages ago, so by the time I was old enough to understand, Dad wasn’t part of our lives. I’ve seen a photo, though—black hair, black eyes, definitely Japanese.
He looked kind of handsome, I guess?

Mom raised me on her own. Her skin is pale, her eyes are light-colored—she’s apparently half-foreign. Even though she’s forty-five now, she doesn’t try hard to look young, yet people often mistake her for my older sister when we walk together.

Seriously, moms these days are something else.
She works late nights, but she says it’s fulfilling, and she always looks so alive. It’s nice, honestly. I hope I can find work that gives me that kind of purpose someday.
That’s probably why I’ve dabbled in all sorts of things—martial arts, cooking, even crafting and sewing.
(Not that I’d ever tell my classmates that.)

As for me—well, I don’t know if I take after Mom or Dad—but I’ve been told I’m pretty good-looking.
Still, in a world full of handsome guys on TV and online, I figure I’m just “above average.”

“That computer bag’s probably the heaviest, right? Let me carry it.”

“Thanks! Here, take this one too.”

She handed me her leather shoulder bag—the one with her laptop—and a plastic shopping bag.

“Ah, so this one’s got the chicken in it.”

“Yup, from the convenience store downstairs at work.”

“You could’ve bought that near home.”

“Hey, don’t say that. Remember last year? The nearby stores were sold out by midnight.”

“I should’ve texted you. I’ve got chicken too—my boss gave it to me at work. I cooked it myself, actually.”

“Really? What kind?”

She darted behind me, unzipped my backpack without asking, and pulled out the plastic bag.

“Hey! Can’t you wait until we get home?”

My hands were full with her bags, so I couldn’t stop her.

“Whoa, it smells amazing! Looks delicious. Let’s eat this one tonight!”

Mom, you’re more childish than I am.
She’s always been into anime, manga, and games—like an eternal teenager.
I guess I picked up a bit of that too. But hey, these days being a little nerdy isn’t weird anymore.

As we were goofing around on the empty overpass—

Whoosh.

A warm wind suddenly blew up from below, and in the next instant, everything was wrapped in a greenish light.

“Whoa—what the—?!”

“Shun-chan!”

Thwack.

“Ouch! What the heck?!”

For some reason, Mom chopped me on the head.
I couldn’t even dodge because both my hands were full with her stuff!
What’s her problem? I didn’t even do anything wrong!
Well, it didn’t hurt, but still.

Then, the light around us grew blindingly white.
Mom’s figure vanished completely.

The sound of the wind roared beneath me—and the next moment, it felt like I was on the drop of a roller coaster.
My whole body went weightless, then—

Thud.

“Ow… What the hell? Did the overpass collapse or something? Mom?!”

The quiet, run-down station area was gone.
Before my eyes spread a landscape I’d never seen before—hot, dry, and bright.

To my left was a forest.
Everywhere else stretched a grassland—or maybe more like a savanna—its soil scattered with big white rocks, like chunks of pumice.

“Mom?”

I looked around, but she was nowhere in sight.

“Mom!!”

For the first time in years, I shouted like a little kid again.

Huh?
My voice… what’s with this?
Did I just sound like a commercial jingle for miso soup?
No way—my voice actually sounds young.
I might’ve been a late bloomer, but my voice had already changed, hadn’t it?

“Mom?”

I tried calling out again, but it still came out high-pitched—like a child’s voice.

Blue sky. A blazing sun—or whatever that thing was. Birds chirping.
The air was clearer than Tokyo’s. That part was familiar.
But everything beneath my feet—this strange earth, this heat—wasn’t.

And there I was, standing in the middle of a strange land,
seventeen years old and completely lost.