[Ugh... how did I even end up like this...] is what Tabi thought as he was entering his own house through a window.
Tabi is a man with short blonde hair, brown eyes, and pierced ears. Basically, he looks like a punk.
A few hours ago...
[I arrived back to my hometown by train. It's a small city located in Japan by the name of Akihara, and it's the type of city where everyone knows everyone.]
Tabi expected people to recognize him as he was walking down the road towards his old house, but no one remembered him.
[I suppose it's to be expected. It's been a few years since I moved away from here to Tokyo.]
As Tabi was walking down the road, his childhood memories were going through his head.
[I didn't have a happy childhood. My parents didn't love each other and only got married due to society urging them because they were getting older.]
[All they cared about were my grades, even though a child is supposed to be loved unconditionally. I didn't mind, though. I was smart, so all I needed to do was study sometimes to feel loved.]
[Expectations from teachers and everyone around me were just becoming bigger and bigger. I didn't know how to keep up with them, but I had to.]
[Around that time, I was starting high school. I met a guy by the name of Itou who was a delinquent, and despite us living different lifestyles, we hit it off. Itou got me involved with that kind of people. I really liked them but couldn't focus on both my grades and my friends.]
[I saw a TV show about a teacher who wasn't pretending to be something he's not. He was unserious, funny, and he put his bad habits on full display for everyone to see. He was real with everyone. I thought to myself, "What a great man," and in my mind, I wished I could be like him.]
[The next day, I gathered my courage and went to get my hair bleached and ears pierced as a first step toward becoming a real man.]
[My parents and teachers were in shock. I turned into a troublemaker and didn't care about my grades. Soon after that, my father picked up his stuff and left, leaving me and my mother alone.]
[The poor woman had to take care of the kid she didn't love, doing the job she hates. Eventually, it became too painful, and she took her own life.]
[I was sad, obviously, but that sadness pushed me toward being better. I promised myself that I'm going to be a better person than the adults around me were and be an actual role model to kids who felt lost just like me.]
[Itou, the man who pushed me to obtain my freedom, graduated along with me, and the two of us moved to Tokyo to pursue our dreams.]
[Itou opened a motorbike shop where he truly enjoyed spending his time. Me and Itou enjoyed spending our high school days in Itou's garage, fixing old motorbikes.]
[I, on the other hand, became a teacher. I myself had no idea how I landed this job considering the way I looked and acted these past few years. However, I was excited to start.]
[Unexpectedly, I found my new job boring. Back in my high school days, kids had all sorts of problems, but these kids seemed normal to me. There's nothing wrong with being a teacher; it's just that I wanted to help people in the same situation as me.]
He decided to stick with it for a few years, hoping it'd get better, but it didn't, so he had to quit.
[I, who planned out my whole life around this job, felt lost after quitting it. I decided to go back to my hometown to think about what I want to do now.]
And now, as he's walking the streets he used to fight and cause trouble on, he's thinking about the past.
[How free I used to be. Sure, we were just dumb kids causing trouble for adults, but it had a nice feeling to it. All of us messed up kids gathered together, even though we insulted each other. Deep down, we knew that this place felt like a home to us.]
Deep down, Tabi wished to go back to that time. He and his friends don't talk as much anymore, and sometimes it feels lonely. However, Tabi knows that they have his back and they'd all help him in his time of need if he ever asked for it. That thought turned the emotion of loneliness into solitude.
Tabi arrived at his old house. As he put in the key to unlock the door, the key broke somehow. Fortunately, Tabi remembered that one of the windows couldn't close properly, so he opened it from outside and went inside the house.
It was dirty, as expected, since no one had lived there for years. Tabi's old comics, games, videos, and clothes were all over the floor. He liked seeing that stuff. His thoughts and reactions in certain situations, like if a fight broke out, changed, but deep down he was still the same person. Around his friends, he acted the same, unserious all the time, and he loved seeing all these things from his past that made him into who he is.
[Oh right, I should tell Itou that I arrived.]
Tabi calls Itou on the phone, and after a few rings, he answers.
"Hey Tabi, where were you the entire day? I haven't seen you."
"Well... I quit teaching, and I'm back in Akihara."
"What!? You just quit your job and went back there!?" Itou was screaming over the phone out of shock, but he wasn't mad at his friend. He knows best how much his friend wants to be free.
"I didn't feel like teaching was my thing, at least in that school. I'm thinking about going on a journey for a couple of months to figure out what I want to do. We'll stay in contact though, and I'll be back in Tokyo before you know it," Tabi said to reassure Itou.
"Okay... I suppose you know what's best for you, just make sure to call sometimes and don't get caught up in some problems." Itou was visibly worried about his friend, but he trusts him.
"Got it. I'm going to sleep now, and tomorrow I'll just be going around Akihara to see if the city changed."
"Alright, good luck on your journey," Itou said and hung up the phone.
Tabi somewhat cleaned his room to show that he's trying to change and become a better person who helps people, but still stay true to his roots, leaving some of the stuff on the floor. After he finished cleaning, he went to sleep.
The next day, Tabi woke up and remembered that he had nothing to eat as he had brought nothing of his stuff back to Akihara except a little part of the money he saved up from working as a teacher. He quickly gets dressed and goes to a nearby yakiniku place to eat. He loved going there when he was a student.
As Tabi is walking towards the yakiniku place, he is crossing over a bridge, and he opens his wallet to see how much money he brought.
[Damn... only 20000 yen. The rest of my savings should be locked up at Itou's place back in Tokyo, so it should be fine.]
As Tabi pulled out the money, one 10000 yen bill slipped through his fingers and fell into the water.
[Great... what am I going to do now...]
Tabi gets to the yakiniku place and sits at a table. It's not too crowded but not empty either, just like how it used to be.
Tabi is looking around and reminiscing about his student days, the amount of food he ate there, and the amount of laughs he had in that place with his friends.
As Tabi is reminiscing, a woman walks up to him to take his order. He knew her well; she was the owner of the place.
"Tabi... is that you?" she asked him.
"Yeah, been travelling around and just thinking about life."
"I see. We all missed you and Itou, but it's nice that you decided to come here. How is Itou?"
"He's well, he's working in Tokyo right now, and I'll be back with him after I'm done with my travels."
"I see. Take this paper. It has our phone number on it. We'd like you to call sometimes. I'll get you the best meal we have on the house!" Tabi felt happy hearing this. He had bad parents and teachers his whole life, but now that he's thinking about it, he realized that all the adults in this town that helped him through tough times felt like a family to him.
[Thank God the meal is on the house... I really feel nostalgic here. These are some of the people that showed so much kindness to me when I was nothing but trouble.]
The doors open, and a guy walks in with hands in his pockets.
He's young, looks like a student, has bleached messy hair, and a little scar on his neck. As he's passing by, he accidentally hits Tabi's head with an elbow. Tabi looks up at him.
"Something the matter, old man?" the young punk said.