Only five more minutes left. That was running through Hakuta Yamamoto's mind as he impatiently sat at his desk. All he could think of was going home so he could get away from boredom and find entertainment in playing some video games. It was pretty much all he had going for him as a first year in high school. There was still plenty of youth left for him to enjoy and the boy intended on doing so from the comforts of his own home.
Not that the situation at home was all that great. His dad was hopeless. Things had been that way every since his mom passed away just a couple years ago. So their finances were in dire straits and the Hakuta knew things were hitting the edge for a while now. So video games had become a bit of his solace in attempting to escape from the worry.
School would've been another way to do just that were it not for one certain person.
"Oh my gosh, are you guys busy after classes?" That would be Shiuka Otari. Though to put the all of the blame on her would be unfair. It was more that he disliked her kind, gyarus. Those type of girls were the absolute worst. They're have no care on how loud they were, which is why despite sitting across the classroom from her he was able to hear their conversation. Not only that, but the way they dressed was just so revealing. Again, at his distance there should be no chance of getting a view of their panties, but that was something he was more than capable of getting.
"Of course I am." One of her friends answered. "You know I've got a new boy toy."
"Shucks, ever since you got together. It's like we never hang out anymore." The other one said. With school over, they held nothing back in their conversation. Just the way they acted annoyed him to no end, which is why the boy quickly got his things in his bag and bolted out of the classroom. There was no way he'd allow them to dampen his mood.
Not with all the things to look forward to with his games. There was a new one out that got everyone hyped. It was called Virtualpunk 2077 and he hadn't even bothered to check reviews on it. Not that he ever did. Hakuta believed it best to experience things for himself, it didn't matter if it ended up good or bad. As long as he got to say it was something he did for himself, it was good enough for him.
Back to the problem at hand, he was hoping to just stop by his locker to get out of his school shoes and ready to head home. The issue being that despite being able to gain some distance from the gyaru group in the classroom. The boy wasn't afforded such luxury when it came to their locker placement. It was bad enough they were in the same aisle, but did hers have to be next to his? It was as if whoever controlled the universe wanted him to suffer to the fullest extent.
"If she can't hang out, then how about the two of us go sing karaoke?" They continued their conversation, though now that he was stuck next to them. The volume had turned up to the max from their annoying voices.
"That sounds like tons of fun." Shiuka had that attitude that he disliked. There was just something about that bubbly personality that came off as stupid to him. Normally, he'd say someone acting like that was fake, but coming from her seemed to be genuine.
As he placed his shoes away for the day, there was another issue that arose as a result of getting closer to this pack. As stated before, they were careless about the way they appeared in public. Which meant the problems of him seeing their intimate spots were exacerbated now that the distances became close. Someone like him glanced a bit to the side, and of course was able to catch a view of one of their undergarments. Something that didn't go unnoticed by one of them as they peered his way. This prompted him to turn his head away quickly.
"My." The one with the boyfriend took note of his actions. "Are you trying to sneak a look?" He could've sworn they only dressed and acted this way so they could tease a bunch of losers. Him sadly being included in that manner.
"It's just Yamamoto." Shiuka definitely took part in trying to make fun of him. "There's never any girls around him, so of course he gets a little lonely."
"I have friends, you know." Of course, he was never one to take things lying down as the boy stood up. "And I have better things to do than give any of you girls the time of day." Him and Shiuka stared at one another. He had a strict gaze, while hers was of one mischief.
Since she was preparing to leave school, she had less care on the appearance of her uniform. Her girly pink hair flew about messily, which got a bit into his eyes. Were it not for his glasses, then he'd certainly lose in this staring contest.
"And that would be playing all those video games?" She asked.
"You know it." There was one thing he'd never be ashamed to admit. Sure, plenty thought the amount he played was a bit unhealthy, but it's not as if he'd be doing anything else better with his time. "Now if you'd kindly step aside. I've planned myself a good few hours on my Toystation." They giggled at him from what could be viewed as some misguided actions. Not that he cared about what they thought.
Sadly, his attempted plans were going to have to be placed on hold as he got a message from his dad. The man told him to meet at a cafe nearby their house instead of going home. He sighed upon getting the news. This was just another thing to delay him on getting some happiness. What could possibly be so important that they couldn't talk about this at home?
"All right, what do you need?" He asked with displeasure in his voice. Instead of answering, his father seemed to want to beat around the bush. Which apparently didn't involve ordering drinks.
"Nothing wrong with hanging out with my son, right?" He laughed in a manner that was evidently fake to anyone watching. "Don't you like going here?"
"We've literally never been here before." He responded. They usually had money issues, so going out to eat or even for a cheap drink was out of the question. "How about we cut to the chase and you tell me why you wanted me here? I really want to go home so I can change out of this uniform and play some Toystation."
"Heheh, about that…" His dad had a really nervous laugh going on as he went about explaining the situation. "We don't live there anymore."
"What do you mean we don't live there anymore!?" Hakuta spoke with little regard on whether anyone could hear them. That was how upset he was to hear this.
"Well you see, I ended up accruing a bit too much debt." By a bit too much, he meant they had been sinking in debt. Especially to some people you don't want to be in debt to. So in order to keep the two of them safe, he ended up selling the house and all their stuff along with it.
"You sold my Toystation?" The boy hung his head down in disappointment. That was the only thing he really cared for in life and now it was taken away from him just like that. He wished he at least had the chance to say goodbye to it. "Wait…" After a moment to grieve over his lost console. There was another issue that arose in his mind. "If we don't have a house, where are we going to live?" Of all the things to be hit with, that probably should've been the first thing he thought about. Which clearly showed what his priorities were.
"You mean, where are you going to live." His father corrected him. "That's the other thing I wanted to talk to you." Fortunately, all was not lost for the pair in trying to survive with little cash. His dad was able to get into contact with an old high school friend who had an interesting job offer to give him. The details were vague when given to the man, so it made less sense for the boy when it was told to him. "And apparently we're going to be checking out an abandoned island."
"And it looks like you're going to have an abandoned son at the same time."
"Don't worry about." His dad gave a hearty pat on his son's back. "My friend's kind enough to let you live at his house for the time being." According to the plan, once his dad got back on his feet, they'd be able to get back to their normal lives.
"Joy." The enthusiasm for the boy was lacking. Not a surprise for someone who was just told he had lost everything he held dear, which was only one thing. "Now I'm going to be stuck with a family I don't know a thing about."
"Well, I wouldn't say family." His dad explained that only one person really lived at the house. His friend was gone most of the time, and unfortunately the mother of the family had passed away a long time ago. "So it's only their daughter you have to worry about. She should be your age if I recall correctly."
"That's even worse." How could his dad's friend be fine with a boy living alone with his only daughter?
"What's wrong? It's not like you're going to do anything bad." His father countered. "Besides, isn't this a great chance to get yourself a girlfriend?" He laughed, making fun of his own son's lack of experience. Also somehow he missed the point on why he made the first statement in the first place.
"If I wanted one, I'd have no trouble getting one." Hakuta believed the only reason he was still single was due to the fact that he never even bothered to try and get a date. Why should he when they were better things to do? Though in reality he'd probably end up becoming a bumbling mess were he to actually give it any effort. "Whatever, it's not like I'm getting any say in the matter." The boy resigned himself to his fate and followed his dad to where he was going to be spending his life for the foreseeable future.
When they arrived to the location, he had to admit, it looked a lot better than he was expecting. Hakuta had assumed he was going to be living in a normal Japanese house, but this was more like a mansion. At least by his standards. That said, this placed was larger than an average family home, perhaps a bit too large considering that only two people had called this place their home for the past decade.
If this was where these people lived, it made him wonder just what this girl was like. With them being this well off, perhaps she was a proper lady. Even if she ended up being a bit snooty, he could live with that situation. Those kind of girls were even his type, so perhaps his dad was right all along…
No, he shook the thought out of his head. He was here because of his father's inability to manage debt. The boy had even lost his prized possession in his Toystation, so it wasn't like he could even ignore his living circumstances by playing video games. So that meant he needed to be careful on how he was going to act while here.
"Ah, there you are." There was a man waiting for them at the entrance. Clearly this was the person his dad was going to work with to get back on his feet. Whatever that entailed was apparently leaving the country to explore some lead on some thing that he didn't really pay attention to. "It's also nice meeting your son, Toukou." They seemed to be close enough to also refer to each other by first name.
"Yeah, he definitely won't cause any trouble while he's here." His dad replied. The men exchanged handshakes and Hakuta properly introduced himself to the man. "So, Kankichi, where's your daughter?"
"She wasn't aware of this until I just called her up. Unfortunately she had some plans after classes, but she should be here soon." That didn't bode well to Hakuta. If he was her, then he'd be a little upset with the idea of someone he didn't know suddenly living here. Not to mention that in her case, she really didn't know the kind of person he was. So despite being aware of that he was no leech, she was certainly going to be standoffish to him.
"Ugh…" Speaking of the girl, it sounded that she was about to get to them. Despite being around the corner, so that he couldn't see her. They certainly could all hear her complaints about the situation as she loudly spoke to herself. "I can't believe I had to cancel the karaoke trip. What does papa have that's so important…" Finally, she took a step around the corner, allowing Hakuta to see who it was. Unfortunately for the both of them, this was not a sight either of them were hoping for.