Waking up in an actual room with for the first time in two days is a refreshing feeling. While the beauty of nature is great be in for a short amount of time, I can personally guarantee that a room of any size is better to sleep in.

Sometime before I woke up, Akira had come into my room and given me a new cold compress. I brought my hands up to my eyes and removed the still damp rag groggily as I slowly woke up.

Wow… I barely even know this girl and yet she has done all of this for me… Maybe this is when my life finally turns around…

My first task of the day was to get some new clothes. I still want to find my suit, and the person who took it from me for that matter. Before that a replacement set is necessary though.

I guess I could just alter everybody’s thoughts on my outfit to make it seem normal… For that matter I could just make everybody walk around naked. Huh… The world’s first rapidly developing nudist community… NO. Rejected. Stay away from the evil thoughts, brain! Even if I did alter the thoughts and feelings of everybody here to be accepting of that, what would the rest of the world think? I have to remember that I actually work for a company. I’m not just here to play around!

As I make a mental vow to myself, I walk out the already slightly open door to the apartment and look out at the farm land. Green shoots come out of the ground all the way until the foot of the mountain that borders this valley. The sun is shining and the day is new…

Time to actually start some city management!

Before leaving I knock on Akira’s door.

…No answer. She must be at school now? Compared to her I’m basically a bum on the side of the road. Actually. I was on the side of the road. And in these clothes I definitely look like a bum. I FINALLY GET A JOB AND YET I’M STILL A LOSER!

I slap my face with my palms and refresh my head. This isn’t this time to focus on that, my employment has just begun!

Thinking back, I realize I really only know the residential district of the city. That, and the old man at the convenience store.

New goal for the day! Assess the town economy!

With that thought in mind I went out to find the local businesses, while also altering people’s perception of what I was wearing. Just until I found a suit of course.

“My years as a university student has prepared me for this. Tens of classes and seminars, multiple internships, hundreds of hours spent studying trends and models. This is it! Time to finally put my skills to use!”

At least… that’s what I would say if there was any economy to asses.

After about 2 hours of walking around the town I have come to two conclusions.

First, this “city” was much smaller than I thought it was. I had walked the entire scope of it at least three times. Looking at small buildings, houses, and farmland. Lots and lots of farmland. At the rate of normal city development, it would take a life time to grow this 3,000 person city into anything remotely similar to the city I grew up in.  

In fact, it wouldn’t be inaccurate to say that the school here is the largest single building in the entire area. And even that looked more like an abandoned wooden school building used in tests of courage by wealthy schools than an actual building with a decent structural layout.

The second thing I realized is that the taiyaki stand Akira and I went to in the residential area accounts for twenty percent of the actual businesses in this town. Meaning there are only four other businesses here. Everything else is strictly agriculturally based. From speaking to a few elderly townspeople in the fields, I was able to find out where the crops were taken and sold to be sent to market in a different city. It seems like almost all of the food here is grown by local residents, including all livestock. I saw a farm farther down the river that any of the other plots of land that held some livestock. It was likely placed there to keep the upstream water free of waste coming from the farm.

Ah… just another thing to do… I have to move this city from mainly producer to consumer. Doing that will require a complete overhaul of the city infrastructure and local economy. In the real world this would push people out and leave many without jobs. But in this city… maybe you could even call it my world… I am sure that I can keep that from happening in some way. Humans take time to change. It’s a fact of life. Especially as they age and become set in their habits. I however have the ability to change their habits in any way I like. So, in truth it’s not the people I need to worry about as much in regard to change…

It’s the money. Money makes the world go round. The people in power have it, the people who serve them want it. And now I need to find a way to make it. Not our own currency of course. I need to find a way to produce a lucrative item out of this little city.

As to what that item is…. I have no idea.

Mentally adding that to the list of things I needed to do, I continued walking down the main residential road towards the convenience store on the opposite side of the city from where I started.

Lost in thought, I found myself at the store after a short span of time. Looking to the left I see the City Management building that is a part of this worn-down shopping center.

Well, I would go in but if they saw me like this on only my third day here… I might actually get fired.

Dodging a bullet, I instead walk into the convenience store to give the old man a visit. A small bell above me rings as I push the door open, and I look around at the store that was exactly as I had left it. Complete with the old man reading his paper.

“Hey gramps, I’m back.”

“Ouu! If it isn’t the business man! Still looking like you’re from the city I see!”

I laughed dryly to myself in my head.

If only he could see what I really look like right now… It’s amazing how he can’t even smell me and I am right across the counter from him.

“You should be careful looking like that, there have been a few robberies reported around the neighborhood recently. Not like there’s really any real police to report them to though.”

“Really? This town is so small though?”

You couldn’t have told me that when I first arrived old man!?

“It’s a shame… probably just some of the kids in town playing pranks on people. Nothing important has been taken really.”

Nothing important!? They literally took the clothes off my back! Come back! The last bit of my saved up cash!

“Ah… That’s a relief…”

Now that I am here… maybe just a little payback for not giving me a warning when I got here.

“Hey gramps, you wouldn’t happen to have an old suit laying around would you?”

The old man gave me a strange look at first but then slowly relaxed his face.

Yes! It worked!

“Well, I do actually. Haven’t really worn it in a while. I’ve probably changed in size compared to what I used to be. Around the waist at least. Believe it or not, when I was young a had a physique that would make you cry!”

“Perfect! I was counting on that. Let me use it for the time being.”

Again, another moment of silence. The changes in these thoughts can almost be visibly seen as his face changes from a frown into a smile.

“Sure! Let me go get it for you. You can try it on in the back room.”

“Perfect! Thanks a lot gramps!”

I walk out of the store feeling refreshed. The old man really took great care of this suit. Business black, neatly pressed. He even gave me a fresh white undershirt, some gently used underwear, and a pair of dress shoes. Before that he even offered his shower to me. I have no clue why though. I never asked him to or made him think I needed one. It may still be some time before I really understand the full extent of my powers.

I look up at the sun that is now making its way down from its noon position with a refreshed feeling.

Thanks, old man. Three cheers for the old man. Even if I forced him he still gave me a lot of extra service. You will be remembered old man.

With a few hours left in the day I decided to head to the one place I had not visited today; the school.

With all three levels of education there, this was the one place in the entire city for students to learn. Understanding that this building could be a center for economic growth is essential to bringing this city to power. There are two types of students. The kind that stay and contribute to the local economy, or the kind that go off and contribute to another city’s economy. In a city like this, the kind that stay are normally not the kind that will contribute to much economic growth. They will maintain the status quo of the city and become farmers, or whatever else their parents might do here. The students that I want to stay are the ones that go to the larger cities to continue their education or find better employment opportunities. These students want change. That is exactly the kind that I want to stay in the city. In a real-world scenario, this would normally be achieved by providing an incentive for them to stay. A new company, a rising market; some source of lucrative income.

Looking at the city today, I realize I am working with very little in the terms of “lucrative income”. So, if I let the city go on like this it will consistently lose talent. However, there are two ways to overcome this.

One is to find a lucrative market in this tiny city. This will be much easier said than done, and it will take some time in the span of year for me to do so and grow it large enough to attract talent.

The second way, the way only I can go down, is by making them stay here. By making them want to stay and start their ideas here. As long as we have people in the city that want to change this city itself, it will grow at a rate not typically seen by rural cities.  

As I walk to the school, I realize that this will be the first time that I approach it without walking up the forested slope and passing out.

Go to school! Achievement: Get!

I walk down the road the leads back towards the residential area but instead take a left along the path and follow that road as it slowly winds up the hill to the front of the school.

The school building stands on the side of the mountain, overlooking the residential area and some of the farm lands.

The entrance is just a wide dirt space that encircles the entire building and complements the brown wood it is made of. Glass windows run along the entire front facing side, and a second story identical to the first from the outside is topped by a triangle roof. A simple layout, but likely effective for the population size.

As I walk to the front entrance, I get nervous.

Wait, what am I doing? A strange man in a business suit walking around outside… Don’t I totally look like somebody suspicious?! They aren’t even going to let me inside!

I open the front doors and expect to be spotted by somebody patrolling, however…

Nobody… Where is everybody? I know that it’s summer right now but there were students here just yesterday! I don’t have my days mixed up do I? It’s not an off day, right?!

I stop walking briefly and take off my shoes, then slip on a pair of inside shoes from somebody’s opened locker.

I hope they won’t be needing these soon… Thank you whoever you are!

After offering my silent thanks I walk down the hall on the right side of the school and hear muffled voices slowly getting louder.

I can’t be seen walking around like this so… let’s hope this works…

All I can do is continue walking and rely on the effect of the abilities I have been given.

I make it to the sliding wooden door and open it, shutting my eyes tightly and waiting…

For… nothing! They completely don’t see me! At all! They aren’t hearing me, they don’t pick up on anything I am doing… My entire existence in this is being overlooked!

Walking slowly into the room, I gently close the door behind me. The teacher pauses for a moment:

Oh no! This is it! Good bye new life. I promise mister police man, I’m not anybody suspicious!

And he continues on with his lecture. Clearing his throat to annunciate a particularly precise vowel.

Hahhh… This stress will be the end of me… I wish I was given at least an employee manual for all of this…

I turn around and begin to really look at the room. The class is a standard square room with windows on the far side looking out into a sea of trees on a steep uphill slope. There are 5 rows of desks, 4 seats deep, but there are only about 15 students in the room, leaving some of the back desks open.

The teacher is a writing on a chalk board with the words “Remedial Summer Lessons” written in the far-right upper corner.

The math that is being reviewed is pretty basic material, but I remember that when I first learned it, I had a hard time staying awake. As far as the consensus of the room goes… Yep, there are at least 4 people sleeping.

Sleep well my fellow companions, maybe one day you too can find yourself on the side of a mountain with only your underwear and a new city management job.

I gave them a quick thumbs up sign and started making my way towards the teacher.

I stood next to him. I stood behind him. I stood in front of him. Nothing.

I gave an introduction. I sang a song. I wrote my name on the board. Nothing.

Every last thing I did was completely ignored by all of the students and the teacher. Not even the writing on the board was noticed.

That means that any physical change caused by me is also ignored.

Looking closely at the faces of the students from the front of the room to try to see if any of them showed a reaction, I recognized a familiar one; Akira.

She was sitting in the farthest row to the right against the window. There was a girl in front of her and behind her. As well as one to the side of her.

Ah, those must be some of her friends… Girls do tend to stay together.

I walked over to Akira and looked at the three girls positioned around her.

Well she is clearly the queen of the group. Better features, more confident appearance, and from her notes it looks like she actually understands the lessons.

I lean over and get closer to her face. Breathing in allows me to smell the slightly sweet scent coming off her. I unconsciously reach out my hand with an outstretched finger and…

*squish*

Ahhhhhh its so soft! Her skin is so soft!

Her flawless, white cheeks made a *squish* again as I poked her one more time. Nothing at all.

Not even a blink.

With this I could…

I looked down to her chest. Her summer uniform outlined her figure well, and the dark color of the uniform made her white skin stand out even more. The contrast between the two was stunning. Acting as an example of perfect posture, her thin legs stretching to her feet reached down to touch the floor lightly. Her straight back emphasized her modest chest. Thin white arms came out of her sleeves to rest on the desk, crossed over each other underneath the raised portion of her uniform. Her neck was turned slightly to the left and her hair just barely touched her shoulder as she looked into the sea of trees with abyssal black eyes.  

The desire to test my ability further was pressing on my mind.

No, I will endure, I will endure. That’s it! If I can endure, I promise to get myself an extra taiyaki today! You can do this, brain! Good thoughts! Pure thoughts! You are technically in work right now!

I was able to abstain.

Way to go, me! You did it. You are a master of the craft. An unbreakable wall. An unbendable will!

There is a management technique when handling conflict that I learned in my time during university. ‘Remove yourself from the situation’. That is exactly what I did.

To abstain I pulled away. Good job, me! I have used my management skills well today!

For the remainder of the class, partially because I really had nowhere else to go and partially because I hadn’t revived my regular eating schedule, I sat in one of the seats in the back of the class and enjoyed the lesson.

I really do enjoy school. In fact, if I didn’t get this job, my fall back was to go teach in the city my late relatives lived in. Of course, that is assuming I lived long enough without food to do so.

At the end of the lesson the teacher dismissed the students, and everyone began packing to leave. Everyone began to file out of the room until there were only a few people left, including Akira and her friends. The three girls packed their bags and left the room quickly, while Akira was slowly packing her things.

Oi, come back guys, the queen hasn’t finished packing yet. Have you not realized?

Akira finishes and walks out of the room carrying her bag and the small cooler she had when we first met.

Oi, where did the friends go? Are they waiting outside for her?

I follow her to the entrance and watch her put her back down to open her shoe locker.

Oi, where is everybody? Did the-

Farther down the hall I can see the three girls standing and talking with each other quietly. They obviously don’t see me, so they can’t know that I am able to see them or hear some of what they are saying.

“—a- f-- -akira---k—”

Ah, they are probably waiting to walk home together. Is there an exit on that side of the school?

Just as I think that, a small gasp and the sound of something falling on the ground fills the air and the girls down the hall get quiet.

I look at Akira and watch her take her shoes out from her shoe locker. As she pulls them out, things continue to fall to the ground. I move close to her and look at what fell.

Trash. Wet papers with various shades of staining. Small pieces of metal. Shards of glass. I move closer to look into her locker. It is filled with more trash, and juices are slowly dripping out. The summer heat has caused the trash to begin smelling as well. Her black shoes have some of the foul-smelling material stuck on them, and she turns them over to try to get it out of them. Along with her shoes she pulled out a small piece of paper, ripped off of a larger piece of paper. She reads it with black eyes that reflect nothing.

Acting as if the note is nothing as well, she tosses it aside and begins to clean the mess up.

Stop.

She stops.

Go home.

She puts on her dirtied shoes, and leaves.

I bend down to pick up the note. I take it in my hands and smooth it out to read. I hear something from behind me and look to the noise.

The three girls have walked from the far side of the hallway to the shoe lockers. They have sneers on their faces as they watch Akira walk home.

“Ah, look, she didn’t even clean it up today. Useless as usual.”

“We can tell teacher it was her fault!”

“Hah, she deserves it, after all she isn’t good for anything else besides picking up trash and she can’t even do that right anymore.”

I look back down at the note. Emotions I haven’t felt in a long time stir inside me as I look at the contents.

‘Trash. Raised by trash to clean trash. You should just die already and become trash.’

I rip the note into pieces and look back to the three girls. Anger, hurt, sadness; these feelings whirl around inside me.

The one person who has cared for me. Who picked up trash like me. This should not be her reality.

The eyes that reflect nothing. Perhaps they are like that because at one point, they reflected too much. At one point, they stopped reflecting.

 If I am to do anything in this city, I will make sure that her eyes can one day reflect something beautiful.