22 There's no such thing as a free lunch

With the appearance of his first quest, Axel forcefully calmed himself down and began to think. A full 5 minutes want by and yet, nothing came up.

Suddenly, a couple of light slaps landed on his face, shaking him from his thoughts. Axel covered his cheeks as he looked at Iwai and growled, "What was that for!?!"

Iwai shrugged his shoulders and said, "Kid, you've been standing there for 5 minutes and said nothing." He paused to sit down before he continued, "What's up? You look like you've got something on your mind. I might be able to help if you tell me."

Axel shot a questioning gaze at him and said, "Why? We've only known each other for a day."

Iwai said nothing as he gave Axel a look that said, 'It's up to you to talk about it.'

Sighing, Axel said, "Well… I want to enroll in Shujin Academy. Hopefully, before April 10th." Iwai was about to talk but Axel cut him off as he said, "However, I don't exactly 'exist'. And before you go calling me an idiot, I mean I don't exist in this countries legal system. I'm a… hmmm… Illegal immigrant, I guess."

With a short sign, Iwai slouched into his chair as he muttered, "I see… well, while this may seem difficult, If I use my connections I should be able to get the paperwork done fairly easily.."

Axel found light at the end of the tunnel and was about to ask Iwai for help when a cold hand dragged him back to the darkness as Iwai said, "But, Why should I use my connections to help you. Like you said, We only met yesterday."

The light was snuffed out as Axel wryly smiled. He looked at Iwai and said, "I'm guessing that if I want your help, I'm gonna have help you with something, right?"

Iwai's face curled into a smile as he said, "That's right. I need your help with something."

Axel sighed and muttered, "Of course… Well, what is it? What do you need from me?"

"Don't worry, kid. It's nothing illegal, I just need you to watch out for the cops for the next week or so." Said Iwai.

Using all his willpower to hold back from shouting, 'LIES!!!', Axel composed himself and asked, "Why and how?"

Seeing that Axel didn't leave, Iwai smirked and said, "It's because of an order. I make and sell airsoft guns and models. However, the order is for a more… realistic gun. And before you get the wrong idea, it's not a real gun, just a realistic model."

Axel tilted his head and said, "Then why would you need to watch out for the cops?"

Iwai rubbed his forehead as he sighed and said, "I'm being set up. Some guys I knew from my… younger days ordered these gun models so they can pin me with supplying fire arms."

Slacked jaw, Axel failed to form a sentence as Iwai sat in silence. After a couple seconds, Axel muttered, "Why?"

With a shallow laugh, Iwai said, "The reason? Heh, It's because I left."

Axel really wanted to ask what he left but he also felt that it was something Iwai didn't want to talk about.

Afterwards, Axel and Iwai came up with a plan. Using 1,500,000 yen of the money Axel just got, Iwai would organise for Axel to become a 'legal' resident and sort out his enrollment while Axel would wait on the street just outside the alley.

To avoid suspicion, Axel would use all his talents to act as a street magician. Whenever the cops approach, Axel was to ring Iwai. No talking, he only needed to ring Iwai's phone to let him know they were coming.

Once they were finished organizing, Axel left to buy himself a phone. Luckily, Iwai said that he would be getting the shipment in the afternoon and didn't need his help yet.

After asking where the best place to buy a phone from, Axel started walking to a place called, 'Electric town'. Softly patting his left arm, Axel whispered, "Stella, you doing okay?"

A couple seconds later, Axel felt a small amount of movement as Stella replied, "I'm fine, just bored."

With a sigh of relief, Axel whispered, "I'm sorry, Stella. Once we get home, let's play some games or something."

Suddenly, Axel crashed into someone. He rubbed his head and looked up. To his surprise, it was the suave old man from yesterday. He bowed his head and said, "I'm sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going… again."

"Again?" The old man looked at Axel in confusion for a couple seconds before he clapped his fist against his palm and said, "Ah, your that kid from yesterday. The same one that ran into me. Now, didn't I say to pay attention to where your going?"

Axel smiled in embarrassment as he stuttered, "S-Sorry. I'm not from here so everything is… kinda full-on."

The old man slightly smiled as he said, "Tourist?"

Shaking his head, Axel corrected him as he said, "No, I moved here from overseas."

Chuckling, the old man looked around and said, "What about your parents? Where are they?"

The smiling silhouettes of his parents from his old world and his mother from the new one appeared in his mind as he sadly muttered, "Gone… they… I…"

The old man could see he touched a sensitive nerve and decided to change the topic as he said, "Where are you going? Do you need help?"

Axel bitterly smiled as he thought, 'I guess leaving my parents hit me harder than I thought.'

Shaking his head, he looked at the old man and said, "Electric town. You?"

A stunned expression appeared on the old man's face before he started chuckling and said, "Same, I'm going to Electric town to pick up a couple things."

Axel started laughing at the coincidence, successfully forgeting the previous mood. The two made their way to the trains. Unexpectedly, the train wasn't that full as both Axel and the old man managed to snag a seat.

The two began talking and started to bond. Suddenly, Axel exclaimed, "No way!?! You own a cafe!?!"

The old man, who's name was Sojiro, chuckled as he said, "Shhh… not so loud. Yeah, it's a cafe called Leblanc. You should visit sometime."

After a couple minutes, the train reached their stop. Both Axel and Sojiro walked to a small area just outside the station. Sojiro looked at Axel and said, "Well, I'm heading to that figure store. What about you?"

"I'm buying a phone, sooo… the electronics store?" Said Axel.

Sojiro was about to say something when an alarm sounded from his phone. He looked over at the new message and said, "Sorry, Axel. I have to go."

Axel said goodbye to Sojiro and walked into the electronics store. After a long lecture on random stuff about phones from the shop employee, Axel bought a slightly new model. He also used his money to purchase a 12 month unlimited calls, texts and data plan.

He wryly smiled as he thought, 'The only reason I bought this plan was because it was cheap. Plus, I get unlimited calls, texts AND data.'

Since he had the time, Axel went around Electric town and purchased daily necessities and items that were… not so necessary. After a very long and gruelling shopping spree, the sun began to set as Axel decided to head home.

As he walked, Axel smiled while humming as he thought, 'Tomorrow, I better be ready. I'll be watching out for cops while disguised as a street magician.'