This is a story I'm working on

An isekia, the length of the chapters might change depending on how much time I have.

I will need feedback before I Post anymore

CHAPTER 1: Summer Rain

Our story begins on a normal day, at least in regard to our protagonist. Our hero is known by the name Asaki Tanaka. Asaki finds himself awakening to the sharp, and metronomic sound of his alarm clock. He sleepily rubbed his eyes and looked out the window. Rain. Many people hated the rain, but to Asaki there was nothing better than a summer rainstorm in Japan.

He looked at the time next, surveying his surroundings. It was 3:42 A.M. He had time, but not enough to delay. He pulled off his sheets and headed to the kitchen of his small, cluttered, apartment. He almost slipped. Twice. Asaki flipped on the light. The entire apartment was chalk full of various types of anime. Manga, Light novels, Dvds, and various types of games. Most were of the fantasy Genre, as he loved immersing himself in beautiful worlds created by the extensive effort of some, or many people, that so greatly differ from his own. His breakfast consisted of caffeinated instant ramen. It was gross at first, but easy enough to get used too. He only had the ramen so the caffeine wouldn't give him jitters, he had other food at work, but he needed the caffeine to function this early. Also ramen was cheap. He hastily got dressed, grabbed a raincoat and headed out the door. He flew down the dingy staircase, and headed down the 4 floors to leave.

He resided in an older building so the steps were small, but the landings were close enough together to jump down. He got to the first floor with a thud and entered the lobby. Waiting on one of the couches was a 22 year old man, Asaki's age, smoking. As soon as Asaki saw him he grabbed him and pulled him up by the arm.

"Oi, Kitsuhe, you know that's bad for you right?"

"Ok, Boss~"

"Oh put a sock in it."

The two of them laughed playfully as they walked to work. Kitsuhe Kemuri was a childhood friend that he had lost contact with but found recently that they worked the same job. They got to the bus stop and not a moment too soon, as the bus came immediately. Kistuhe noticed that Asaki was thinking about something as he stared out the window. Small stores with neon signs, and great big complexes with offices passed the bus by. The rain was still falling, running down the bus's windows and pooling in the street.

"It looks like something is bothering you, Mind talking about it?"

"I love the fact that we work in the cafe, but to have to get up so absurdly early?"

"Well we do work the all day shift, it pays better hourly and we have nothing better to be doing…"

"Yeah I guess. Maybe I just hate waking up."

"Don't we all."

Asaki put on a smile.

"I know I said it before, but I'm really glad I ran into you again Kitsuhe, you're a great friend."

"You too buddy, you too."

"Oh Asaki! You still dating Niji - chan?"

"Yeah, I don't know how to tell her how I really feel though."

Kitsuhe Gave a wry smile.

"Well two things to keep in mind,"

"And they are?"

"If you had let me fini- you know what? Whatever. What you need to keep in mind, If you tell her how you feel too soon or at the wrong time, when you aren't ready too, or she isn't ready to accept it, it will come out wrong or blow over badly. But if you keep it in too long or when you should tell her, she'll never truly understand how you feel. Basically it boils down to being observant and considerate."

"Huh."

"What?"

"I just never took you for a dating expert."

"Asaki…"

"Kidding, Kidding. Hey, come on, it's our stop."

"Oh, shit, thanks man."

"Be careful how much you swear…"

The short bus ride ended and the two of them got off and walked the short distance to the coffee shop. Arriving inside, they quickly dried off, then put on the apron and hat that were considered uniform, and began to open up shop.

The building had a low ceiling. Fans in the ceiling blew cold air in the summer, and hot air in the winter. The room had a pleasant aesthetic, countertops, tables, a fake fireplace that was always burning. It had the appearance of what westerns would call a 'lodge'. Red and white carpet and brown wood paneling. It always had the aroma of coffee and cinnamon. A very homey establishment. Seating was to the left, with a section of tables in the back and a section of countertops with views of a bay window on the left side of the store.

On the right was a counter where Asaki and Kitsuhe worked, housing brewing machines and display cases full of sweets. In the back there was an entrance to a back room for storage. Asaki reached into the sweets case to satiate his sweet tooth and unhappy stomach.

Kitsuhe was getting out the basket of stirs and napkins to put on the counter, when, while he was scarfing down a cinnamon roll, Asaki saw a strange group of men in the parking lot across the street. There were five of them, all putting on masks and holding guns. He finished the roll and started to go outside, Kitsune saw what he was doing, then noticed the five men.

"Idiot! Do you want to die?"

"No but I have to do something," Asaki said in vain.

"There's five of them, with guns, and two of us without guns. What are you going to do?"

"Um…"

"Yeah, I told you."

"I'll listen in on them to see where they're going, then go there and warn the people."

"This is dangerous."

"I know, but I can't stand idly by and do nothing!"

Asaki exited quietly, making sure not to ring the bell on the door as to alert the people. The smell of exhaust wafted through the rain, contrasting it's sweet smell as He snuck from car to car, until he was basically standing right next to the van. He kneeled down behind a car to stay out of sight. One of the men was angrily and loudly whispering to another, so as not to draw attention. He slid on his ski mask.

"You need to shoot the tellers first, or at least incapacitate them. They have those god-damn emergency buttons that call the police automatically now. This is why your plan sucks!"

"Ugh, stop being such a hypocrite."

"What?"

The man was clearly angry and almost yelled, he quickly corrected himself.

"The way you wanted to do it, we would've had to kill two hostages before we got to the vault. And now you get mad and almost blow our cover!"

"Shut up!"

Asaki having heard everything he needed to, snuck back to the store. He ducked inside as the men were about to see him. They just missed him. Kitsune looked at him warily.

"You lucky dumbass, you fucking did it!"

Asaki frowned.

"One - stop swearing. Two - yes, and they plan to rob the bank."

"You mean the one next door?"

There was a bank next door. Many of the employees at the bank actually frequented the shop on breaks, but today that was beside the point.

"Most likely, yes. We need a way to get there without being suspicious of the men to warn the bank employees. What do you suggest we do?"

"Bring them coffee."

Asaki was shaking shook from how dumbfounded he was, water flew off his hair and apron.

Kitsune held his hands in front of his face.

"Asaki, keep the rain outside please."

"This is not the time to be joking around! People's lives are at stake! Don't you care?"

"Asaki I do care, so stop losing your head, you don't seem like yourself. And I'm not joking so stop being so dense, bring coffee to the bank so the robbers think nothing of us when we enter. Now calm down!"

"Sorry, I don't think I got enough sleep last night, I shouldn't have snapped at you."

"We all have those days, so don't think you're alone. Now, let's go save some lives!"

They grabbed 2 cups of plain dark coffee each, it didn't need to be anything special, after all, it only needed to be cups with coffee, it didn't matter which kind.

"Make sure not to look at them, as not to make ourselves known."

"Sure thing."

The pair pushed open the doors and stepped into the rain.

End of chapter 1