The Isekai I Didn't Ask For

Prologue

The place was cold, making me shiver and freezing my fingers. My teeth clattered against each other, which had begun to give me a headache. Leaning against an ice cold metal fencing by a house, I had no option left but to shiver and judge what was in front of me.

It was past morning, I felt so at least, and I was probably someplace in UK judging by the medieval looking houses; ones that we get to see on British TV shows. They had their addresses clearly inscribed in metal on the doors, but once again it occurred to me that I had no place to go to. Now and then a cab passed by and a few people walked past me, whose warm clothing I began to envy. I am not accustomed to such extreme temperatures, plus if I and a few other people were exiled on the Himalayas, I would probably be the first one to get frost bites.

I exhaled through my mouth instantly forming a cloud of fog. I drew my sweater closer, burying my fingers under my armpits, but my forehead was freezing anyways. I walked out of the alley and into a broader street, and getting my way across it slipped into what seemed like a diner.

The interior, to my relief, was warmer, yet I kept my sweater on. I took a seat near to the large glass window which looked out onto the street, but I was not looking out; I was searching the faces inside. They were all strangers, obviously, and some carried with them smartphones, but being a stranger myself, it would be plain rude to ask for any of their.

Yet within a few minutes, I found myself socializing with an old woman who was apparently sitting very lonely at a corner table. She talked about cats and how Marlin was the laziest cat on Earth. She asked me where I lived, but of course I dodged those questions and made a name up for myself. Finally I asked for her phone, claiming my own phone was out of charge and that I had to send an important email to my friend. Amazingly, she lent it to me easily saying, "Oh, I trust you ladies. Ladies like you are very nice and friendly," and then added with a smile and holding my left hand, "take as long as you want. I wouldn't mind having some company".

Her kindness warmed me and I decided I would spend some more time with her, after all it's good to have people in contact.

The next few minutes I took to get into the web and decided to get onto Facebook. I typed in my email address and password and waited, but the first time I got it wrong. I tried a second time and strangely even after a fifth try I was still getting nowhere. Troubled, I decided to try Gmail instead. I prayed that my account was not hacked, I had to get home but yet again, nothing. Surprised and frightened I gulped, but my mouth was dry. I got into Google and typed my sister's name. It usually showed an image result of her, but the name was not even recognized. I was stiff with fear now and my face had probably flushed red, because I could feel my ears getting hot, and once when the woman asked, "Are you okay, honey?" in her British accent, I just nodded and swiftly deleting the web history handed the phone back to her.

"Sent?" she asked cheerfully.

I nodded.

"You can call me Mrs. Norris by the way –"

"Mrs. Norris, I am sorry but this happens to me sometimes...what day is it today? I mean the date?" I inquired fearful of what I was to expect. If my hunch was right, then I am stuck here forever.

"Well, it is the 27th of November, dear," she smiled her warm smile again, but I was not looking at it any longer because I was now grappling the newspaper and as my eyes swam across it, they strained to look for evidence; evidence that would prove my hunch.

I could tell by Mrs. Norris', 'Mary dear', 'honey' and other soothing words she was trying to reduce the pressure on me but even a psychiatrist would not have been able to calm me down after what I read on one of the pages. Right before my eyes lay the reason of my horror, the evidence that was going to ruin my life and as I sat transfixed Mrs. Norris took a quick look at the article.

"Oh! I bet you missed out on that article before! I know right, how amazingly he solved that case. Believe me, I cried the day I came to know Sherlock Holmes was alive! Oh! God bless him!"

I quickly bid her good bye and started off towards Baker Street.

Isekai (: 異世界, transl. "different world" or "otherworld") is an "accidental travel" genre of light novels, manga, anime and video games that revolve around a normal person from Earth being transported to, reborn or otherwise trapped in a parallel universe or fantasy world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isekai