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The next day I bought a Koronese-Wawaqi dictionary at the bookstore down the street from the inn. I used it to search for certain keywords, a few phrases, and core vocabulary. While reading it in the morning at my suite’s table, I chuckled a bit. What she said was right, the grammar wasn’t too hard to grasp. 

Arbitrator D’Émori and I went our separate ways after that incident yesterday. Too much to process. I didn’t know if I’d been seeing things that day, a doppelgänger of someone I despised. Now that I had a fresh mind I could comprehend some of what transpired. 

A knock sounded on my door. Particles of sawdust trickled down the ceiling as I shut the open window. Closing the dictionary I stood up to twist the doorknob open. 

Sorah dressed for the occasion. “Today’s the day. I’ve let the others know.”

“Alright. But it’s in the afternoon, Sorah…” I knew he was eager. I felt that too. This country had the highest chance that we could find one of his family members here. We never saw them for around nine months, and here we were now. “Gariyuchi Terrace. Let’s skip breakfast and go there early then.”

Once everyone gathered up at the inn’s entrance we left for the place in question. Not that I knew where Gariyuchi Terrace was. I asked around using the few Koronese phrases I’d learned, and… had a hard time understanding. 

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“It should be around this area.” Ruri guided us as she held a map. We made shortcuts through the varying alleys of brick, walking along the bizarre pathways having no end. Trekking looping arches and stone stairwells, the maze-like pattern of streets similar to rat tunnels finally  came to an end. 

We came across a public area void of any people. Crowded buildings towered over the narrow street as I glanced upward. A sign read ‘Gariyuchi Terrace’ in a large overhead. Vases of flowers decorated the wide space. Hanging gardens covered tables and cushioned seats from the sun in viridescent green. And in the midst sitting there in the natural spectacle, two people; a man in a black suit, a demihuman woman in a red coat. 

I gulped my saliva. There couldn’t be any way the tall guy was the person I had in my head. I approached them with hesitant steps. 

“Ah, good day to you!” The demihuman stood up and clasped her hands together. Sorah bowed before stepping onto the terrace. “You all must be eager to come prematurely.”

As soon as I got to the table my eyes widened. I clenched my teeth at the tall man sitting before me. “You…”

“Kawari… so you were brought here to this world too,” said Kaizenji Yodomi. a salaryman’s suit, his hair grown out, with a clothed katana behind him. 

I looked away with a scowl. I remembered my mother and how much she compared me to him. He was my successful counterpart. She always yelled at me for not being like him. I balled my fists. Why was he here?  

Ruri watched on with a worried face. “Kawari…” 

“We’re going.” I stomped my foot on the ground and pivoted to leave. “We don't need their help.”

“What’re you doing? Weren’t we going to receive some information?...” Yuanyuan called out to me as I prepared to head down the steps. Sorah stared at the ground in silence. 

I grinded my teeth harder until it felt like they would snap. How did he get here in the first place? Why was he here? I thought he rid himself of his presence, showed no remorse when father and mother split, and went on his separate way, convinced of his superior prowess. His so lofty, condescending attitude… I didn’t want anything to do with my brother. 

“Running away from your responsibilities. Same old, same old.” Yodomi got up from his seat and walked around the table. His arms raised, his annoying footsteps clanking to my ears. My muscles tensed up. “If you are here, then who is taking care of mom back in the real world?”

“...”

“Answer me, Kawari.”

“Sorah, Ruri, Yuanyuan! We’re getting as far away from this bastard as possible!” 

“Do you know this person?” Ruri ran up to me but soon stopped. My back faced everyone else. I didn’t want to see their reactions. Everyone became quiet. 

“Yodomi… How on earth are you here?!” 

He raised his hand and gestured. “Same to you. I merely walked through a sliding door and found myself in this world. I suppose you had the same fate. Now answer my first question.” 

From the start he worried about our mother and himself. In this world, I thought I rid myself of my brother who never paid attention to our father and I. He didn’t care about us, nor even consider how father felt. I despised him. Yet the one I hated the most was myself. 

“Tch. Little brother has learned nothing. You left mom back in the apartment, didn’t you? And you, who was transported here, have you even found a way back?”

“...I have a way to go back.” 

“I see… so let me get this straight. You could’ve gone back this entire time, yet you choose to stay in this world—are you out of your mind?”

“Yodomi, I have a reason—”

“There are no excuses!” He slammed his hand on the table like our mother would. “I have been stuck here for months with no way out. Just how many days of my job I missed? How many days has mom been worried? And you have the ability to return, yet has never bothered to return…”

I turned around to him and spat on the ground. Step by step I raised a finger. Soon Yodomi and I could punch at close range. “Shut up. You don't know anything about what has happened these past months. Mom never worried about me, dad, or anyone else besides you! When has she grieved for my disappearance? When has she said to me, ‘you can do it’? None. What this world offered to me was something better than what mom could do.” 

“Kawari, she raised you. There is a duty to pay back what is due. If you were this worthless, then maybe you shouldn’t have been bo—”

“Stop it, you two!” Sorah and the demihuman broke their silence. Both stood as a barrier between Yodomi and I, pushing us two away from each other.  We breathed harshly in anger. Sorah shook his head. “We’ve only met for less than one day, and lashing out at each other like this… this isn’t how it’s supposed to be.”

Yodomi tried to move forward as the demihuman kept him at bay. “Outsider, you know nothing. Kawari and I—”

“Actually, your father, Makoto Kaizenji, told me about you.” The Wawaqi man let his hands fall to the side and faced him. “Like you, I was trapped in your world for months. And right now, I’m trying to get my family back together. Seeing you two scolding each other… shouldn’t you be happy to meet each other again?”

“Impossible. Our dad has a warped perception of this world. How could you—”

The demihuman pressed her hand on my brother’s forehead. “You have a warped perception too, you know. Soyuimisu.”

“Kahokayo…”

Her chart manifested before her, selecting a skill. “In silent whispers of the breeze, let turmoil ebb and troubles cease—State of Calmness.”

A faint glow of luminescent light surrounded her. Soon it spread over Gariyuchi Terrace like mist, marching outwards in all directions. Surrounded in an ocean of warmth I felt my muscles loosen. Everyone’s shoulders perked down, and Yodomi set down his arm. All the anger dissipated within me like the ocean waves splashing over me. 

That woman… just what power did she possess?

She removed her hand and turned to us with a smile. “May we settle down and discuss what we came here for? My name is Kahokayo Biyu. And this gentleman with me is Kaizenji Yodomi, who I’ve learned is the sibling of you, Kaizenji Kawari.” 

“Biyu? That’s…” Sorah instantly kowtowed to his knees along with Ruri and Yuanyuan, and I did the same but confused. “We apologize for the disruption.”

“Oh, there’s no need for formalities. The House of Biyu only has two heirs left, so I don’t bother with any of that.” Kahokayo made us lift our heads and stand. We found ourselves seated amongst the long table of the terrace. After introducing ourselves our group on one side, with Kahokayo and Yodomi on the other. My brother and I kept quiet and never bothered acknowledging each other. “My deepest apologies, Mister Totshigui. It seems that you hastily require this information.” 

“No, no, I know that brothers get into fights…” Sorah put up his hands before returning them to his lap. “The two people you saw might have been my family. If you two have anything regarding their whereabouts, please tell us.” 

Kahokayo put her hand to her chin. “Hm, a man and his child with silver hair, was it? We saw them in the Nuovasperanza Steppe weeks before, and later they were in Mogumogu when we visited a local store.”

“When was that? And what store?” Sorah tried to stand but backed his waist on the table. 

“Some pastry shop. It doesn’t matter anyway, since aliens like them scurry for money with multiple jobs.” Yodomi folded his arms and gave his two cents. Ruri opened her mouth. 

“Then we’ll ask around all the stores. Mogumogu seems pretty small for a city. And if we split up we can speed up the search faster.” 

“Let’s say you do that and find them. What is your plan from there?”

“Well, uh…”

“Kawari will bring them back to your world,” spoke Sorah loud and clear. Ruri twisted her head, her eyes wide. “And you, Mister Yodomi, can finally return.” 

“I request that Kawari uses his ‘ability’ so I can go back to the real world. That would be the better solution.”

The demihuman backed him up. “While this is derailing from the topic at hand, Yodomi has been searching for a way back for quite some time. Although I don’t quite understand how everything works…”

“Let’s make a deal,” Sorah proposed, “If you guys help us out to search for them, Kawari will send Mister Yodomi back.”

Kahokayo raised a brow with a sideways glance. “Already adjusting to this country’s culture, I see? Given these circumstances regarding your family, I accept your terms. As for Yodomi…”

“...Tch. Very well. Longer I wait the more I dread.”

Like the exchange I had with arbitrator Rosentine d’Émori, they understood and accepted the conditions pretty easily. Was this country built on favors or something? I felt as if more debts could cripple us. I shook my head. As long as we got closer to our goal then it shouldn’t matter. 

“Hah, that’s the deal? Though I think it could use some more preparation. More probing, more possibility, more proposals and partnership.”

We all turned our heads to the sudden voice in the corner. A man came from the shadows without notice. In nothing but plain clothes he nonchalantly sauntered to the table and over Kahokayo. His dog ears matched hers as he placed his hand on her chair’s top. She lifted her head.

“Suppose it would be polite not to intrude on our little discussion?” 

“Why, I don’t see how I can’t join in on this conversation. It intrigues me… just a tiny bit.” The man smiled and pinched two fingers  tight. I had no recollection nor any idea who he was. He appeared from nowhere and now bothered us… something told me to be wary. “Besides I believe this concerns me. I wish to volunteer searching for family too, you know! As an older brother.”

My eyes widened. “Older brother?”

“Ah, that was rude of me. Kahokayo and I are one of the last heirs to our House, and Kaizenji Yodomi is an honorary guest to the residence.” His smile contrasted to his eyes narrowing at all of us. “So what do you say, Totshigui Sorah, Qawasumi Ruri, Kang Yuanyuan, and Kaizenji Kawari? I’ll do anything to help out my sister, and in turn I’ll help you fellows.”