Has anyone else noticed that on FFN today, more and more fanfictions are purposely spelling Hojo's name incorrectly? Is anyone else fed up with the misspelling? Yep; me too.
Disclaimer: I let you know when it's mine.
Hobo
Kagome trudged down the city sidewalk, opening her mouth wide in a poorly-hidden yawn. Classes at college that day had been killer, though the amount of studying she'd need to do that evening to keep her GPA up would be absolutely murderous. Factor in a mild case of narcolepsy, her short attention span when it came to the periodic table, and an irritable hanyou tapping on her apartment window trying to persuade her to hop down a well ten miles away, and Kagome knew she wouldn't last the night.
Perhaps the only plus side to (finally!) graduating from secondary school was that she was now free of wearing that wretched sailor suit. At the present moment, Kagome was clad in a pair of tight jeans, and for a good reason; the homeless people draped across the sidewalk would have without question gotten quite a view had she stepped over them in a skirt.
The girl sighed, picking her way through the destitute part of the city's population. Honestly, didn't those people have the ambition—much less, the sense—to get off their rears and get a job? It was obscene that so many students dropped out of school and ruined their lives by sitting in the middle of the road in rags, begging for…
"Higurashi!"
Kagome blinked, glancing down toward where she assumed the voice had come from. There, a homeless man stared back up at her, blue eyes twinkling from behind evenly-cut yet unruly bangs. The college student's first reaction was, naturally, oh no; the bum knows my name… but then… after a moment's recollection… she realized she actually knew the guy…
"H… Hojo-kun!"
"That's me!" Kagome's old schoolmate smiled toothily at her, and she couldn't help but notice that his once-bright teeth had been reduced to a scuzzy yellow. "What brings you here, Higurashi?"
"I could ask the same of you. What… what happened?" Of all the students that had gone to Kagome's high school, it was pretty much agreed among its attendants that Hojo had had the most potential out of all of them. He was bright, had a natural charisma, and had a knack for negotiations, three things that could get him far in life. So why did he… he…
"I became a hobo."
He'd said the words simply enough, in an offhanded, "eh, whatever" tone. That, of course, left Kagome to blink at him, utterly befuddled. "W… what?"
"It seemed like the right thing to do at the time," he said, smiling resignedly. "It was just sort of… expected of me, I guess. After all, 'Hojo' and 'hobo' sound so alike. It's almost… like destiny."
Had she wanted to be clichéd and anime-like at that moment, Kagome would have face-planted into the ground without even thinking. He's actually accepting this? He thinks it's his fate to sleep in a cardboard box at night just because the letters "j" and "b" are so close to each other on a computer keyboard? While Kagome had heard of kismet-inspired meetings with friends long forgotten, she'd never quite had this in mind. "So…" she mumbled, still uncertain whether she was asleep with her nose buried into her chemistry book, "…you're a hobo?"
"I'm a hobo."
"And… you're happy?"
"Very much so."
"Er… is it… enjoyable?"
"Oh, yes. Life as a derelict is treating me well. Can you believe that, the other day, as I was rooting through a trash can, I came across a half-used package of herbal tea bags? They were exactly like the ones I used to give you. It's just like the good old days, huh, Higurashi?"
Kagome was hardly aware of her jaw unhinging itself. The only things she noticed were her pounding headache, inflicted upon her as she tried to process this chance encounter, and Hojo's eyes. They had shone so brightly as he'd talked, lit up as he spoke of his lowly existence. Could it be… he really was content to have stooped to such a low point?
"That's…" She tried a smile. It only served to make her feel as though an elephant had just flattened her skull. "…it's… it's lovely, Hojo. I'm… happy for you."
"Thanks, Higurashi!" Hojo grinned as well, revealing that ghastly set of teeth again. Kagome laughed nervously and began to turn away—her position had started to attract a number of stares—when: "Higurashi?"
"Uh-huh?"
After a beat of locked eyes and waning patiences, Hojo reached beneath him and produced a WacDonald's cup, shaking it in a way that made its contents rattle.
"Spare change?"
End fic. Before anyone asks, yes, the references to the English language are intended. I incorporated the "keyboard" tidbit to reach out to the dub-watching fans, who, more likely than not, pioneered the Hojo-hobo confusion.
Reviews are very much appreciated, particularly constructive ones. I'm pretty much indifferent to flames; Hojo-bashers, take your best shot at me. Have a nice day. :D