Chapter Text
>> Monday, April 11th
That’s all I want! A son with good grades! So this better do you some good!
Akito doesn’t remember falling asleep on the train to Inaba, but he must have, since the last time he looked out the window he saw tall buildings and traffic-jammed roads. When he looked out now, however, the skyscrapers of the city had been replaced by empty, flat plains of the country and the dirt roads that intersect them. A muddy wash of fading yellow-orange light and dark blue colored the sky as the sun started to dip below the valley.
He blinked rapidly a few times, glancing around the train. It was pretty much empty except for an elderly couple on the far right of the train. They seemed to be asleep, too.
The duffel bag in his lap felt heavier once he remembered why he was on this stupid train in the first place. And whether he liked it or not, he remembered the argument he’d had with his father the week before this godforsaken trip.
Akito Shinonome was never good at studying. He wasn’t stupid, he just lost interest easily in school and stopped trying. But he was always good at staying afloat, always made sure his grades had been decent for when report cards were sent home. It was a careless mistake, he admitted, losing track of time and letting his assignments go unfinished for too long. It was too late to fix by the time he got home last Monday as he walked into the living room and watched his father tear open the envelope with his report card.
Thus, here he sat, groggy, upset, and embarrassed on a train to his uncle’s place in some neck of the country to stay for a year. His father told him it’d do him some good to “get off his high horse” and experience life as it was meant to be. If Akito was being honest, he didn’t give a shit about what his dad thought or said that day.
“ Yasoinaba Station, ladies and gentlemen! We are approaching Yasoinaba Station! ” the operator called over the loudspeakers on the train.
Hell, Akito didn’t even know this uncle of his. All his father had told him was he was his mother’s younger brother, and that he had a daughter.
There was a buzz from his phone and Akito lazily pulled it out.
Unknown (2)
Hey, this is your uncle, Ryotaro Dojima.
I’m here at the station already whenever your train comes by.
So that was his name. Akito added the contact to his list and replied quickly:
thanks, should be there soon
He shut his phone off again and shoved it back in his pocket, leaning his head against the glass of the window behind him. This year was going to be long as hell.
Soon, the plain fields gave way to hills and a small town. Akito guessed this was now Inaba. There were a few little houses and shops littered around the place, but Akito didn’t get to see much before the train pulled into the station. He slung his bag over his shoulder and stowed away his headphones which had been hooked around his neck. He didn’t want his uncle thinking he was some rude delinquent if he was going to be living here for a year.
When Akito got off the train, it was darker than before. The sun was almost gone, and he emerged from the station to the sight of a man probably in his 40’s with a little girl, no older than 10, clinging to his arm. The man waved and motioned him over and Akito obeyed, walking carefully down the steps to greet his uncle.
“Hey, name’s Ryotaro Dojima. I’ll be looking after you for the next year,” the man smiled politely. He extended his hand for a handshake, which Akito took, “Welcome to Inaba.”
Akito nodded, “Thanks, I’m Akito Shinonome.”
Dojima scratched the back of his head, huffing. “You don’t need to be so formal… I changed your diaper a few times, you know,” he chuckled.
Akito forced out a polite laugh, but he really just wanted to get back on the train and never come back. Now he had the mental image of his uncle seeing him naked, even if he was just a baby.
“Ah,” Dojima looked down to his hip, “This is my little girl, Nanako. Say hi, Nanako,”
Nanko let go of her father’s arm and bowed slightly before Akito.
“Hello….” she mumbled, eyes cast downwards with a flush of embarrassment on her face. Akito did his best to give her a comforting smile.
“She’s just pretending to be shy,” Dojima mused, ruffling his daughter’s hair. The action and comment earned him a slap on his flank by Nanako, whose face was redder. Dojima feigned pain and pinched her cheek.
On the car ride to the Dojimas’ house Akito and his uncle chatted about his transfer to Inaba. He made Akito swear he would keep his grades up and stay out of trouble, which Akito agreed to. It was his only way out of here, anyways. Dojima explained how he was pleased to have another person in their home, since it was just him and Nanako, and urged him to make himself comfortable and stressed how there was no need for formalities.
Nanako, however, was beginning to fidget in the front seat, squirming from side to side. Dojima glanced over at her and assured her there was no need to be nervous around her older cousin, but she insistently shook her head.
“Then what is it? Do you need to pee?”
The young girl punched her father’s arm but nodded, blushing in embarrassment again. Akito could only smile at his uncle and his cousin’s dynamic as Dojima rounded the corner and pulled into a gas station. Nanako nearly kicked the door open as soon as the car stopped and beelined for the restroom while Dojima and Akito chuckled lightly.
“How about you step out of the car for a while? Stretch your legs a bit,” Dojima offered, shutting the engine off, “I’m gonna pump some gas.”
Akito hopped out of the car and walked around a little to where his uncle spoke with the gas station clerk. The clerk was asking if they were heading out on a road trip, to which Dojima shook his head.
“Nah, we were just picking him up from the station. He’s moving here from the big city,” Dojima patted his shoulder, and Akito nodded to the clerk.
“The big city?”
“Yeah, but anyways, fill ‘er up regular,” Dojima took his hand off Akito’s shoulder and motioned to his car.
“Of course, sir.”
Dojima got back in his car while the clerk pumped gas into the car. The smell of gasoline stung Akito’s nose a little, but he stayed outside.
“Are you a highschooler?” the clerk asked.
Akito looked over at him.
“This place must seem like a dump to a city boy like you. Not much to do around here for kids your age, unfortunately. Most of ‘em just hang out with their friends by the river or get part-time jobs at places like these.”
Akito shrugged. “I like rural areas. They’re quieter and the air smells better.”
The clerk mused something to himself before stepping closer to Akito, wiping a hand on his pants. “Would it be weird of me to extend you a formal welcome to Inaba?” he offered his hand like Dojima had at the station.
“Sure,” Akito complied, taking the clerk’s hand and giving it a firm shake.
Nanako had finished up in the bathroom and Dojima called him over to get inside the car again. Akito waved the clerk goodbye and was just about to get back in the car when a sudden pain shot through his skull. He swayed a little, the only thing supporting him was his hand on the door handle.
“Are you okay?” came Nanako’s meek voice from behind. “Are you carsick? You look dizzy,”
Akito looked back at her, the pain gone as soon as it’d came. He gripped the handle with a little more force, yanking it open, “Yeah, I’m okay. Thanks.”
Later that night, once he had settled into his borrowed room from Dojima and fallen asleep, he had a strange dream. It was already foggy in his memory by the time he woke up, but he remembered a familiar voice asking if he sought to know the truth. He remembered chasing after the voice, and then suddenly lunging at it with a katana. All the while it taunted him, speaking nonsense of fog, of truth, and being deceived by what one wishes to see. And then, he woke up.
Today was his first day at school. It was the only highschool in Inaba, called Yasogami High, and their uniform was all black with some white stitching and a patterned collar. He wore it over a plain white button down and his school shoes.
“Good morning… breakfast is ready,” Nanako greeted him when he descended the stairs. Akito glanced around for Dojima, but his uncle seemed nowhere to be found.
“Nanako, where’s your dad?”
Nanako fixed her dress, “He got called to work. It happens a lot…” she murmured before looking up at Akito again, “but today is your first day at school, right? I’ll walk you there…. The high school is just down the road from my school. We’ll leave after breakfast.”
Akito couldn’t help the twinge of anxiety that had settled in his gut. He wondered just how his first day would go, hoping it was uneventful, just like how he expected the next year of his life to be here in Inaba.
He couldn’t have been further from the truth.