04/09 Sat
I awoke on a train, after a dreamless nap. Looking around, I see the train car I’m in hasn’t lost many, if any, passengers during this trip, so I guess most will get off at my stop. After checking that my belongings weren’t touched in my sleep, I look out of the window to see the city of Tokyo, where I will be spending about a year, which leads me to sigh, as I hear some conversation out some sort of shutdowns. Seeing nothing of interest right now, I lay back and wait for the train to arrive.
When the train arrived, I lined up near the door and got off like everyone else. Looking around, I decided to leave the station, and head towards where I’m supposed to be staying. As I walked, I felt my phone vibrate, so I pulled it out to check it. By the looks of things, a weird app has downloaded itself. I don’t know what it is so I delete it and head to Yongen-Jaya.
When I follow the directions, I arrive at what appear to be backstreets. Heading down the lane, I notice a cafe to my right but keep walking, as well as a used item store on my left. Since it’s not clear where to go, I decide to talk to the officer nearby.
“Um, excuse me sir, do you know where a mister…” I look down at the letter. “Spicy Roast lives?” I ask, as the officer appears annoyed but thinks about it anyway.
“It should be a bit further down, turn right past the apartment with a staircase.” I nod and head off down passed the apartment. I take a look around, noticing that this area seems a bit more, I guess closed off. Like there isn’t much space between buildings, enough for a group of people to move between with ease, but not any vehicles.
I turn the corner and head down the street, finding the front yard of a home, that has the name of my guardian on the mailbox. There appears to be a mailman nearby. I shrug as I walk over and ring the doorbell. After waiting for two or three minutes, I decide to ask the mailman if he may know where my guardian is.
“Well, if the time on my watch is right, he should still be at his cafe, ‘Dark and Spicy’. It’s back the way you came, near the train station.” I nod and head back the way I came, looking for the entrance to this cafe. After finding the cafe I noticed before, I see that the name is on the awning, ‘Dark and Spicy’. I walk up to the door, and after a moment of thought, I walk in.
When I walk in, I notice an old couple most likely, in a booth together, and another adult who is wearing an apron, over his plain, dark pink button-up shirt, along with his beige pants. He appears to be working on a puzzle in the paper. I end up hearing what sounds like the end of a new story from the nearby TV.
“Recently, a public transit bus was driven down the opposing lane, while it was still carrying customers. The general public is starting to become concerned because of all the accidents, or near accidents, happening recently, and a sizeable group of people are most likely feeling unsafe walking the streets.” I look over at the TV, curious about these incidents, but stay quiet and decide to think about it later.
“These are definitely frightening times we live in” The older man in the booth states, while looking over at the older woman.
“I do wonder why all these incidents keep happening, didn’t something similar happen just the other day?” The woman questions.
“Hmm….vertical is...the name of the Egyptian god of the dead…” The man with the apron mutters to himself. He looks up after a moment and seems to notice me. “Oh right, the did mention that it was today.” He says while placing the paper on the counter. The old couple gets up.
“Well, we better be going. The payments on the table.” The older man says.
“Thanks for visiting” The owner, or manager I guess, says to the couple.
“Well, this place is in the back alley, so there is little chance a car or bus will come through the window.” The older man states.
“A what coming though the window?” The manger questions.
“The seems to have been a string of rampage accidents you know, I hope none happen around here.” The older man replies.
“It’s not any of my concern.” The manger states.
“Well, see you next time.” And with that, the couple walk out. When they are gone, the manager sighs.
“Four hours for a single cup of joe.” He says, sounding a little tired. After a second, he looks up. “So, I guess your Hexan?” He asks, while I adjust my grip on my bag.
“You wouldn’t happen to be Roast-san, would you?” I ask, to make sure I know who I’m talking to.
“I’m Spicy Roast, so that would be me. You’ll be in my custody for around a year. So your the trouble maker, are you? You look just like some ordinary kid, nothing like I thought a kid with a record would be like.” He says, probably trying to decide his opinion on me. “Have you been told, a customer of mine knows you parents… but I guess that doesn’t matter, follow me.” After that, he heads up the stairs in the back, as I follow behind.
When we get upstairs, I notice the place must have been a storage room. A pile of junk against one wall, while a work desk is covered in books and junk. There appears to be a sofa up here and a shelf overflowing with books. Roast-San has stopped in front of a large box.
“Well, this’ll be your room for the next year. I’ll at least give you sheets for your bed.” He says, focusing on me. “Hmm? You look like you have something on your mind.” He states.
“It’s bigger than I was expecting, and will probably have more space when I get this place cleaned up.” I say, placing all my focus on him for now.
“Well, yeah, probably. Now, so you know, I close up for the night, so you’ll be alone, so try not to do anything stupid. Cause any trouble and your out on the curb.” He harshly explains. To that I just nod.
“Good. Now, I got the jist of your situation. You tried to stop a man from forcing himself on some woman, and he got injured during the process and sued you. Right?” He explains. “That what you get when you try to step into a matter between two adults. You did injure him, yeah?” And he continues on.
“And now that you have a criminal record, you got expelled from your previous high school. And on top of that, the courts ordered you to be transferred and moved out here. Which your parents also approved. In other words, they got rid of you for being a pain in the ass.” He says the last line with a slight smirk, adjusting his glasses.
“Now, it’s best if you don’t talk about anything that could upset a customer or be deemed unnecessary. I am in the restaurant business after all.” He states, pulling a cloth out of his apron to clean his glasses. “If you can behave yourself for a year, your probation will likely be lifted, and you can return home.”
“I’ll try the best I can, I get the idea of what I need to do.” I say, placing my bag on the table by the stairs.
“If I got my dates right, you should be here until the coming spring, so you’ll be here for a large portion of the school year, so behave yourself there.” He says. “Cause any problems, and you’ll likely be hauled off to juvie.”
“We’ll be going to Shujin tomorrow. It’s the school you’ll be attending.” He explains as I nod. “You know, there’s rarely a place that’ll accept someone with a record, so count yourself lucky.” He sighs. “What a waste of my Sunday…” He looks back at the box.
“Your ‘luggage’ arrived earlier, so put it away, and keep yourself occupied for the afternoon.” He says, before heading back to the actual cafe.
I look around the room for a moment. ‘I guess I’ll be living here, starting today.’ I go into the large box and change out of the uniform I was given, sliding a plain purple shirt on, while stepping into a pair of dull orange pants. Once changed, I decide to start some cleaning.
I begin with the floors, mopping the floor to clear it of dust. After that I do the windows, and move my box into a shelf near the stairs. After that, I clear off the table near the sofa, and look around. Only to notice it is now night. That’s when Roast-san comes back up to check on me.
“What the heck. I heard a bunch of noise up here, but I didn’t expect that it was you cleaning.” He says, a little surprised. He looks around, nodding in approval as he strokes his goatee. “Hmm, actually, you did a good job so far. Though I guess you’d want to keep your room tidy.”
“Why don’t you head to bed for tonight, not much else you could be doing, right?” He suggests. “I’m about to close up shop, and head out. And just a word of warning, I won’t be the one looking after you if you stay up late and end up sick.” He say, heading out soon after.
Once he is gone, I change into my pajama shirt and pants, and lays under the blanket, on the bed by the window, thinking about my day, and after a bit, I end up thinking about the reason I’m even here, and the day it happened.