Quantum Leap - Vol. 2 Exile Island (formerly Till Death Do Us Part)

C005 Probe

Time to put my Psychology to its fullest test. I placed my chopsticks to the side of the bento box and looked at Kagome while I opened up my initial move, "I am sorry Kagome, it seems that I had troubled you and your mother enough to prepare this extra bento box for me."

Kagome places her chopsticks on top of the bento box as she replied to me. "Not really Kenzo. My mother ensures that both you and I had a bento each every day at school. Furthermore, you are our tenant in our home and also happen to be classmates in the same school. So, of course, it would be normal for us to prepare you a bento box since you have no one else with you as you live alone as well." She replied nonchalantly and without knowing that she had pieced up some of the jigsaw puzzles in my head.

*Ding!*

*Ding!*

Two clear resonance sounded in my head as I scored favorability points with Kagome. Oops... This is not a DS game-related kind of fantasy. Please, Mr Director, do not avert away from the main storyline and confuse our new fans, alright?

"Today is Friday, do you need to run any errands before or after school later? Do you want me to accompany you later since I do not sense any juku (cram school) by the end of normal school hours?" I asked Kagome since I knew that I do not have any juku right after this and everyone is anticipating the end of school so we can paint the town red. Hahaha...!

With a slight blush on her high cheeks, she managed to reply me in a meek manner, "Yes, please. Please accompany me right after school to the supermarket and help me with groceries. Onegaishimasu, Kenzo-sama!" she immediately added the ending sentence and then ended up looking at her shoelaces instead. Gosh...! Must she be so coy and easily getting blushed?!

*Ding!*

*Ding!*

*Ding!*

Another 3 favorability points earned again. Sigh...Director...! Please stop changing the damn script...!!!

I knew that most of the students in the class are academically above average and there was no need to go for juku to enhance our status even though the exams are creeping near. Besides, spending time after school to shop for groceries with Kagome or taking a walk and divert our mind away from school would be an ideal ice breaker to learn more about this girl.

Furthermore, I learned that I am an orphan and living (most probably) renting a place in Kagome's residency. If her mother was running a boarding place, she must be a fat wallet after all...! I wondered how the place looked like and which district we were in.

My God...! I don't really know where I was staying and what our mode of transport would be since it would be normal for students like me to be walking to school if our boarding home was a few stops away. Other cheaper mode of transport would be a kick scooter or even a bicycle,

I was pondering on the mode of transport so I better do my own investigation if I have some sort of keys to determine whether I drive, ride, cycle or take the public transport to and from school. Most importantly I was wondering if I am tenanted on the same floor or the same building since I am a tenant of hers. This also means that Kagome was my landlady too...!

I can't wait to rummage through all the personal belongings of this original Kenzo to find out more about my past and present. Perhaps the future too...

We finished up our lunch promptly and I furnished her with the same packet of tissue that Kagome had given me back in class earlier and pointed towards my face on where she should dab it. She sheepishly took it and wiped at the area that I had pointed out. It seems that Japanese girls were so cute when they acted in this manner and even curled up their eyes to become crescents. Hahaha...! Is that a correct term or what?

After our lunch, I took her bento and stacked together with mine as I wrapped it back with the cloth that came as a bundle for it. We went to freshen our faces up and after finishing the drink while watching some of the seniors who were playing basketball during their recess time instead of having their meals and returned back to class together, We walked side by side and we nearly held our hands together as our fingers brushed ever so lightly together. Hahaha...! So cliche...!

As usual, some students preferred to stay indoors and enjoy the cool airconditioned breeze (Yup! All classrooms were fitted with airconditioners and heaters for both summer and winter classes) rather than outdoors in the stifling heat.

The students would clamour with each other bento box ending up with each other variety of food coming from other students through exchange et cetera as part of the norm of eating together... At least they could have a variety of dishes in their bento box as this would be part of a daily normal activity for them. What a fun activity the students were enjoying as part of their sharing of food among their peers.

"Look, Kagome...! Why not we have this type of bento box sharing with our friends and classmates? It looked pretty awesome since we get to taste each other's dishes...!" I highlighted to Kagome as she stared deep in my eyes and simply said, "I am the one who arranged the food inside the bento Kenzo-sama. My mother does the cooking for the things that I choose for you. You like them, am I right?"

I simply nodded my head and smiled at her as we walked back to our classroom and stuffed the empty bento boxes under my desk as I sat down on my chair and began to do my own probing on who this Kenzo was after all.

I reached around my school satchel bag and rummaged through the pockets and the insides. Fortunately, I managed to find what I was looking for. It was a bunch of keys with a fairly large tag on it. I studied it and it says, " House no.8, 1-Chome-5-Ote, Shimizu Ku, Shizuoka, 424-0808, Japan"

"Great...! At least I could finally locate a piece of the jigsaw puzzle in Kenzo's life at this moment." I thought to myself as I rummaged through the debris inside the satchel bag to find more things other than a bunch of keys.

"Hmm, this is where I should be staying for the duration of my leap in this era, I guess. Nevertheless, I think this place shouldn't be too shabby unlike other pigeon holes type of dwelling in certain parts of Asia. Japanese homes would be considered as quaint and homely and furnished with tatami mats and other furnishings as well, especially the hot tub. Hahaha...That's where the action would normally take place...!

I found several old crumpled receipts that were in my bag and upon close study I find it to be the invoice for the rent that was paid on every 7th of the month and the latest one I had was dated last month for the sum of ¥12,000 or CNY766. "Well, I could consider it dirt cheap in the sense of today's currency if I am working but right now I am just a student."

After rummaging the rest of the contents inside the bag, I found a clip with a badge of a smiley face that states "Yan Ban Sports" along with my name etched below. "I guessed this is where I was working after school hours or even on weekends to sustain my survival in this world.

First I discovered from Kagome that I am an orphan and a worker in a sports store. Being a student with money would also bring some benefits like a lower rental and I wondered how is the room condition as I am paying at a lower rate than a normal tenant.

I rummaged further and found a flip-phone in the satchel bag that was placed in silent mode. I fiddled with it for a few minutes and found my working schedule in the calendar. How convenient it is. This Kenzo had already marked his working timing and hours and set to reminder mode daily so he would not forget the working schedule in the sports store.

"That's pretty good...! This means that I would be free the whole of Friday and working full hours from 10 am till 6 pm on both Saturdays and Sundays. I would then work from 6 pm to 10 pm making 16 hours from Monday to Thursdays and another 16 hours on both Saturdays and Sundays. "

"The timesheet program in the phone states I would be paid ¥960 an hour so I would make an approximately ¥23000 - ¥25000 on a single month, provided I do not miss a single working schedule at all. Not bad though, even it is considered as a paltry amount during that time, what more could a student asks at this moment, right? It's definitely better than nothing at all." 

I thought to myself as I noticed that I could spend some time with Kagome later as she would be going for her grocery shopping. I wondered what it would be like to shop in Japan and was wondering if my own apartment has the amenities to cook and prepare instant ramen for myself or not. A small cooker would do the trick and a conventional clothes iron could double up as a sandwich toaster...!

I fiddled around with the smartphone for some time more and discovered that I had a savings of over ¥255,369 balance in my NNTB when I accidentally accessed its online banking. NNTB was the Nippon National Trust Bank or just the Bank which we called for short. "Not bad...! For a student who works part-time and skimping on expensive clothes but indulges with sumptuous meals instead.

I deduced this because my clothes were from a discount store and even the brand of the shoes and bag I was holding on was not simply unheard of in this part of the world. I am sure that this Kenzo was a miser and the task for me right now was to spend every single Yen he got in his bank account. Hahahaha...!

I threw back all the contents that I had taken out from the satchel bag into it as I guessed that staying in the lower parts of Japan such as Shimizu would mean that I could save a lot of money as it is not as trendy and flashy like Tokyo and its neighbouring bustling towns. 

It's a bit laid back here with quite a number of districts and smaller shops unlike giant superstores and supermarkets around huge metropolitan cities. At least these shops sure serve the purpose for the rest of the community in the neighbourhood.

Alright... This is already Friday, and I won't be working in the store today since I could spend some precious time with Kagome and her family as well as dig up as much necessary information that I need to gather. Without the necessary information, I am sure I would be kept in the dark and I do hate being stuck in that kind of situation.

I kept wondering how busy was the Yan Ban Sports and how many of my classmates worked there. The workweek would be on this coming Saturday and Sunday and I would be working and mingling with the community instead of having to wake up late and snuggle in the warm covers at home. I guess this was a drastic change I have to face besides being a lazy and laid-back dude in the 1st series.

The next class started and another teacher walked in. I used to wonder about the Japanese education system, unlike some Asian classes where we need to rush around to our respective classes to fit our current streaming. I guess that here in Japan, it's totally different from being in other Asian countries as we all learned the same subjects by staying back on our own classrooms instead.

The day ended while the school bell rang three times in slow succession. The whole class or maybe the whole school turned rowdy once again as students that were assigned to sweep the floor picked their brooms and dustpan. Another group was assigned to clean the blackboard and the duster and they went to gather the cleaning equipment.

Another group was assigned with mops and would start on their works the moment the assigned students had finished sweeping the floor first. The whole class suddenly turned busy but were orderly as they cleaned the classroom for the weekend. They were chatting excitedly as they moved about the chores while I and the other male students arranged all the chairs on top of the tables and lined them up accordingly.