This fic is based loosely on Legendary Adventurers, Futuristic Saviors by Stone-Man85, and A Legend of the Past, a Savior of the Future by N'jata. It is, in no way, meant as a criticism of either fic, though I do have my opinions about both respectively. This fic is simply my take on the premise of "modern kid goes to the past," and happens to be inspired by two fics I've read that try their hand at it themselves. If any similarities to either fic are present, it is unintentional.

Fun fact: "Yusō" is one of many ways to say "transport" in Japanese. Whether it's the correct way in this instance, well, I'm sure I'll find out sooner or later. I figured it was fitting, given the premise of the fic.


Chapter One - The Eranns


"Dad's on a business trip in Japan for how long?" Noah asked, incredulous at the news. As was typical for him, he was somehow the last to hear, even if he wasn't trying to be.

"Only a couple of weeks. But that means we get the house to ourselves, and - bonus! - We'll probably get like a samurai sword or something as a souvenir, and then we can brag to all our classmates later!" Emma, one of Noah's three older sisters, wriggled about in excitement at the thought.

Noah laid on the couch, blinking silently.

"...What?" Emma asked.

"Pretty sure they don't sell samurai swords as tourist attractions," Noah replied.

"Hey, you don't know, they might," Emma rebutted.

"You just go ahead and keep thinking that," Noah said, unconvinced.

As Noah had just learned, the four siblings' father - Rick Eranns, a self-made entrepreneur - had been called to a business meeting with his partners in Japan. He was the only parent the kids had, as their mother, Alice Eranns, passed away from pancreatic cancer early into their lives, and Rick never sought to remarry. It wasn't that Noah was never told about the business trip to Japan, because Rick had said it ten times over the course of a month - it was that Noah had his headphones on every single time and never heard it. And as Emma had clarified, this also meant that the four of them now had the house to themselves, with Marina left in charge, given that she was the oldest.

Noah feared for the neighbors' sanity. They behaved themselves, to be sure... but they were prone to pranking each other. And without Rick to reign them in, it was bound to explode into madness.

Marina came downstairs with her laptop balanced on one hand, the other tapping at the mouse pad. She was looking intently at the screen over the top of her glasses, which had managed to slide down to the tip of her nose without her noticing.

"Got an email from dad. He says his flight's about to head out to... Narita International," she reported.

"Where's that in Japan?" Emma asked.

"Tokyo, probably," Noah replied.

"Not every airport in Japan goes to Tokyo, buddy," Marina chuckled.

"No, but I'm more than a little sure Narita does, if it's international," Noah clarified.

"Isn't Daddy supposed to be going to Fukushima?" Claire, youngest of the three sisters, called from the kitchen.

"He'll probably take a train there from Tokyo or something," Emma replied.

"If he takes a train, he won't survive the ride," Marina snickered.

"So I'm not the only one who's had Mr. Bassel tell his horror stories about Japanese trains," Noah remarked.

Mr. Bassel, the World History teacher of the local high school the Eranns children attended, had earned a reputation for his... "entertaining" stories of adventures around the globe, and his recanting of how he almost died on a Tokyo train was among the most popular.

"They pack you in tighter than sardines in a can, and you can't breathe, can't move, and whatever position you're in when you get slammed up against the window is how you're stuck for the entire ride!" the man had exclaimed with exaggerated terror. "It's hot and stuffy and cramped, and I mean, I'm not a claustrophobic man but you don't even know how glad I was when I finally found freedom at my stop in Hakata! Boy, I tell you, I'm not sure which is worse: getting run over by psycho taxi drivers in France, or having my face stuck in a fat Japanese guy's butt for five hours!"

Noah had choked when he heard that last part.

"Oh, we've all heard that story, kid," Claire said, pushing her chair away from her desk in the kitchen and rolling into the living room. "I think I remember Emma squeaking because she was laughing so hard!"

"It wasn't a squeak, I was suffocating," Emma corrected.

"From laughing so hard," Claire insisted.

"Well, yeah," Emma agreed.

Noah looked up at the ceiling. "When was dad's flight supposed to leave, again?"

"Actually, three hours ago. He got delayed," Marina replied.

"So, if dad's flying out from LAX now, and Japan is... a timezone behind us, I think, but don't quote me on that... does that mean he's ahead of schedule, or late?" Noah wondered. "Because, I mean, he'll technically be arriving there yesterday. I think. I might be wrong, there."

"You know, I hadn't even thought about it," Marina admitted, shrugging.

"All this talk about dad in Japan is making me want Chinese, weirdly enough," Claire stated.

"Yeah, same. Hey, Noah, you want to drive?" Marina asked.

"Learner's permit," Noah reminded her.

"That's why I offered, I'm coming with you," Marina responded.

Noah shrugged and sat up. "I mean, I still don't really feel comfortable in the driver's seat..."

"You won't if you don't ever get out and practice, buddy," Claire said.

"Fair enough," Noah replied, getting up and retrieving his permit and the car keys.


"Easy on the left turns, now," Marina cautioned gently from the passenger seat as Noah slowly and nervously turned the wheel, guiding the car into a parking space as best he could. Unfortunately, it was crooked... but at least he wasn't straddling two spaces this time around.

"Well, I guess that's better than last time," Noah said.

"You'll get there. Like I said, it's just practice," Marina reassured him.

Noah shut the car off and undid his seatbelt.

"Hey, I just thought of something," Marina said.

"What's that?" Noah asked.

"Have you ever seen that movie by Studio Ghibli, I think the company is called? That movie Princess Mo- um. Mon... M-O-N-O-N-O-K-E?" Marina asked, unable to say the second word of the movie's title. It was a habit she had developed early on in life, verbally spelling out words she couldn't pronounce on her own.

"Oh, that? No, don't think I ever have," Noah replied. "Why?"

"Well, Studio Ghibli's pretty poplar in Japan, I'll bet, so I figure why not see what kind of stuff they make? I saw the movie at the rental shop once or twice before, figured it would be interesting," Marina explained.

"Well, alright, we'll stop by there before we go and get food," Noah decided.

"Cool! I think you'll enjoy the movie," Marina said.

"You've never watched it either," Noah remarked.

"Nope," Marina confirmed.

"Well, then it'll be an adventure for all of us, huh?" Noah said, getting out of the car.

"Think I'd know a thing or two about adventures."

Noah turned to address the new voice, as it was a familiar one. Sure enough, standing behind him was Finn McDaniel, one of Noah's friends from school. He stood just under six feet tall, had long brown hair, braided and pulled back into a ponytail, was lightly tanned and had a very fit physique. Finn was a Scottish transfer student who had something of an obsession with fantasy and adventuring, after learning that his family line traced back at least as far as a knight under British command. One visit to his house revealed that he had used just about every dollar of his job's weekly paychecks to buy all manner of medieval memorabilia off the internet. In fact, he was wearing an article of said memorabilia at that moment - a haubergeon. It was a chainmail shirt. Noah only knew this because he made the mistake of asking, and was amazed he hadn't heard Finn walking up behind him with how noisy it purportedly was.

"...What? Were we not talking about adventuring? Did I step in on something?" Finn asked, noting the confused stare Marina was giving him and the unfazed grimace Noah wore. His accent was light, but still had the robustness of a proper Scotsman.

"Hey Finn," Noah sighed. "I honestly wonder how you can show your face in public wearing Renaissance faire shit like that."

"Ironically enough, I just got back from a Renaissance faire," Finn remarked. "It was up in Hollister. Nice place."

"Of course you did," Noah muttered. "So what brings you here? Pretty sure you can't buy Zweihanders at a strip mall."

"I already have like five, why do I need another one?" Finn asked.

"Fi-? How do you afford all the shit you have?!" Noah demanded.

"I didn't say I bought it overnight," Finn said with a shrug. Then, addressing Noah's initial question, he replied, "No, I'm just here to pick up a few groceries. Mum says we're out of milk, I guess."

"Oh my God, you're buying something normal for once," Noah chuckled.

"Don't get used to it," Finn shot back.

"The 'adventure' thing you heard was us talking about that movie Princess Mononoke that I've been seeing here at the rental store," Marina interjected.

"Oh, that? Huh, I was just about to return it," Finn remarked, producing the movie case from his knapsack. Noah decided not to ask why he had a knapsack.

"What are the odds that you just happened to have this?" Noah asked.

"I've had it for a few days, actually. I saw it on my bed when I got home, realized I was about to go over my rent time, and I really didn't want to get charged for being late," Finn explained.

"Oh! Hey, do you think we could take that off your hands?" Marina asked.

"Uh, I kind of still have to return it first," Finn replied.

"Eh... yeah, right, my bad. We'll just follow you to the store, then," Marina decided.


Later on, the four Eranns kids enjoyed a night of Princess Mononoke, and an odd combination of boxes of Chinese munchies and spaghetti - Claire's treat. She had been teaching herself how to cook, and wanted to see how well she could do without instruction. The general consensus was positive.

After the movie was over, everybody unanimously decided that they were too tired to do any further binging and went to bed. It was a first for them, because usually they drove their father insane by staying up extremely late on weekends.

Noah laid in his bed, staring at the ceiling for a long while. For some reason, he was having trouble sleeping... he almost thought that something would happen if he closed his eyes. Something bad. But he didn't know what that bad thing was, or why he believed staying awake would stave it off, if it were to happen at all.

"Ah, I'm just being paranoid for no reason," Noah grumbled to himself. He put on his headphones and turned on some peaceful music, then gradually drifted off to sleep.