This story has been my main focus for over a year. I've put so many hours into making it a great piece of writing and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it! I really look forward to hearing your thoughts on how I've formed the characters.
I noticed there weren't any completed high school stories with the Sound Three so I decided to create my own. And here it is! It's very different to most of the ones I've read, with different themes and plot twists, but I hope the differences don't put you off.
Anyway, please enjoy and let me know what you think of my Zaku-centric high school fic!
Chichi – father
Hahaoya - mother
o.O.o
Prologue
The day that Zaku Abumi's hahaoya left started out like any other.
He woke up at seven o'clock and rolled out of bed, dressing quickly. It was Saturday and there was plenty of work to be done even though it was the weekend. He stuck his head out the bedroom door and peered around, noting hahaoya's slumbering form on the worn leather couch.
Their apartment was very small. The floor was primarily grey carpet, with white tiles in the kitchen area and the bathroom. When Zaku stood at the front door, there were two yellowed doors to his left. The first led to the bathroom and the second to the only bedroom. In the bathroom, the glass-panelled shower was directly opposite the door. The outdated toilet was to the left of the shower, and the polished sink with peeling wooden drawers sat to the left of the door with the washing basket beside that. It was a small bathroom.
The living room was bare except for the couch resting on the right side. It was an old and worn couch made of leather and it always stank of deodorant and perfume.
Their kitchen was in the far left corner, resting in the corner of the bedroom and the outer wall. It was small with the wooden pantry in the corner, the white fridge beside that and the rusty stove/oven beside that. All three appliances rested on the wall of the bedroom. Just across from them were three brown wooden benches and the middle bench had a set-in silver sink. All three benches were hollow. Two padded stools leant against the benches, as that was where hahaoya and Zaku ate.
Directly left of the stove was the door to the bedroom. Upon entering, the heavy wardrobe sat in the right corner and the crisply-made bed was in the far right corner with a bedside table beside it. Bags filled with hahaoya's things laid against the left wall.
Sure, their home was small and bare, but it was home.
Hahaoya slept peacefully and her make-up was smudged. Zaku padded across the carpet and to the kitchen, where he retrieved a gleaming silver pot from the cupboard and filled it with water before setting it on the stove and turning the heat all the way up. The ten-year-old then grabbed a chipped mug and a teabag and set them on the bench for hahaoya when she woke, though he had no idea when that might be. She woke whenever she wanted and often complained of aches all over, so he gave her tea.
At least she'd been awake enough to take off her pretty dress. Zaku picked it up from the ground and moved quietly to the bathroom, dropping it into the washing basket before clasping the basket handles and sneaking out of the apartment. Once outside he was able to breathe easily.
His body relaxed as he strolled down the apartment corridor and down two flights of stairs to the basement, where three washing machines were set up. He separated the light and dark washing into separate machines and watched in fascination as washing crystals seeped out from the detergent box and pooled into the creases of the multi-coloured washing. The smell caused his nostrils to flare in disgust. Then he turned both machines on and set the basket down, leaving the basement as the washing had thirty minutes before it was completed.
He went back upstairs and slowly eased open his apartment door. Hahaoya was still sleeping and he tip-toed right past her to the stove, where he turned the knob down and poured some boiling hot water into the mug. The water quickly turned green and he carried the mug over to hahaoya, placing it on the ground next to the couch. She didn't stir. He slipped back into his room and pulled on socks and his only pair of shoes, grabbing his empty schoolbag before moving to the kitchen and pulling a piece of paper from underneath the only magnet on the fridge (a freebie from the University of Kohona).
Then he all but ran from the apartment and his sleeping hahaoya. The morning sun was warm on his face and the wind whistled through his thick brown hair invitingly. Black eyes sparkled with delight as skinny arms and legs pumped enthusiastically. Feet pounded against the uneven footpath as Zaku ran and ran and ran… all the way to the shops.
These shops were spread out over two blocks and all the locals went there. A single road separated the blocks and five colourful shops lined either side of the road: grocery, bakery, butchers, clothing, general items, coffee, music … all the essentials were there. It was just unfortunate that the locals had to go to the other side of town for things like doctors and haircuts. Kohona was quite the spread-out town and was the biggest town on the small Japanese island of Shikoku.
Zaku stopped outside the green-brick grocery and pressed his hands on his knees, panting. Several moments passed before he straightened and entered through the automatic glass door, holding the shopping list at the ready. The grocery was dimly-lit with several fluorescent lights set evenly along the ceiling, and thick wooden benches were arranged in rows like classroom desks, three long ones lined three walls. A tired-looking older woman stood behind the checkout counter, tapping away at a laptop with eyes glued to the screen. She glanced up as Zaku entered and smiled warmly as he made his way to the bench that had carrots.
His next stop after buying fruit, vegetables, noodles and rice was the red-brick butchers. This building also had automatic glass door and he was blasted by cold upon entry. It was brightly-lit inside and a lot smaller than the grocery with black-and-white checked tiles and white-washed walls. The display cabinet made an 'L' shape against one wall with the cold-room and meat machinery behind the L and there were already two butchers working behind the display, mincing meat and working on choice cuts. They called a greeting as the doorbell tinkled and Zaku waved cheerfully before moving to the chicken section.
Next door to the butchers was the yellow-brick bakery. After purchasing chicken breasts, ham, milk and cream Zaku pushed his way through the glass door as this one wasn't automatic. Another bell tinkled and he was blasted with the aroma of freshly-baked bread and the colour brown. Another glass display was set up but this one spanned directly across the shop with a two-way door tucked to one side. The glass display was perfectly clean and was filled with baked bread rolls, doughnuts, muffins and countless other delicious goods. Zaku smiled cheerily at the serving girl and she gave him his usual order of two multi-grain loaves.
He was grinning broadly when he crossed the deserted street to the blue-brick shop at the very end, bread loaves in hand. Oto Music also had a bell that rung when he entered the softly-lit, polished wooden-floored shop. Two rows of acoustic and electric guitars lined one wall with boxes of amplifiers and electronics. The other two electric-blue walls were laden with countless other pieces of equipment: drums, reed instruments, keyboards, cymbals, trumpets and a single grand piano tucked away in a corner. A large shelf of CD's, music albums, small speakers, earphones and iPods sat in the very centre of the shop like a large island. The serving counter was directly beside the door with a large poster depicting a water-colour guitar on the wall above. This shop was dark and pleasing to the eye unlike the sharply-lit butchers.
"Good morning Suigetsu!" Zaku grinned. A blue-haired man stirred from behind the counter. His name was Suigetsu Hozuki and he was the owner.
"Morning Zaku," he greeted neutrally. "How are you?"
"I'm good. I'm just shopping while hahaoya is sleeping." He dropped the bread on the counter and looked around at all the instruments. "Do you have the new guitar yet?"
"I do." Suigetsu went out back and returned with a huge guitar that was just smaller than the ten-year-old. Zaku gasped and accepted the polished brown guitar, holding it reverently.
"I love it! Do you think I could get it if I saved up?"
"You could."
As far as Zaku knew, his hahaoya had once worked at Oto Music, but she didn't anymore. Regardless, she and Suigetsu were friends and he was the only older man that Zaku really knew.
"I'm going to be a rock star one day," Zaku grinned. "I'll be the biggest star in all of Kohona!"
Suigetsu chuckled. "I'm sure you will."
Zaku allowed himself five minutes to play the new guitar clumsily, as he'd never actually learnt how to play. He reluctantly swapped it for the bread and smiled at the blue-haired man. "I'll see you later Suigetsu." With that, he was out the door and heading back home.
More people were out on the streets now and he kept his head down as he passed, not wanting to attract any attention. For some reason people would look at him pityingly when he passed but they never did it when hahaoya was with him.
He reached his apartment in fifteen minutes and lugged his heavy bag upstairs and dumped it on the kitchen bench, wincing at the loud thump. Hahaoya was still sleeping and her tea was cold, so he poured out half the cold water and refilled it with the warm water. He then put away all the shopping and went to the dimly-lit basement to collect the washing. It was heavier since it was wet but he managed to heave it all into the basket and drag it up a flight of stairs and outside to the washing line, where he opened the metal canister of pegs attached to the line and began to peg up the clothes, having to stand on his toes to reach.
"I will do my homework after I've cleaned the apartment," he told himself reluctantly. He didn't like school too much. At school he didn't really hang out with a specific group and generally ate in the music room when most other children were playing outside. He was in grade six at ANBU Primary School, which was one of the two primary schools in the town of Kohona. ANBU Primary was a long walk away but he managed it. Hahaoya spent a lot of money to keep Zaku in that school and he often wondered why he didn't go to Kohona Primary School, even though it was closer. Kohona Primary was the public school for average kids, while ANBU Primary was the private school for rich people. He wasn't rich. They didn't have a television or a computer or a phone. They didn't even have internet.
With the clothes finished, he set the basket beside the line (knowing no one would steal it) and went back to the apartment. Hahaoya was awake and drinking the tea groggily, rubbing her side. It was then that Zaku noticed dark bruises on her hips that looked suspiciously like fingerprints.
"Hahaoya, what happened?" he asked, rushing over.
"It's fine. I had an accident on the way home from work last night." She seemed to have a lot of accidents. "Don't think anything of it. Have you done the washing and shopping?"
"Hai."
"Good. I want the apartment clean and your homework done before I get back."
He nodded as hahaoya stood and limped to the only bedroom to get changed. The mug of tea was empty and he took it over to the small kitchen, setting it beside the sink.
"Suigetsu got the new guitar!" he called, opening the pantry and pulling out a box of muesli.
"That's great," hahaoya called back distractedly. His heart panged at her distant tone and he sadly poured himself a bowl of muesli and milk. It was tasteless against his tongue. Hahaoya dressed nicely, washed her face, reapplied her make-up and combed her hair before leaving without a goodbye. He knew she wouldn't come back until it was getting dark and she would dress nicely and do her hair prettily. Then she would leave without eating and Zaku would have the apartment to himself. It always happened, especially on weekends.
While hahaoya was away, Zaku cleaned the whole apartment. He scrubbed the floors and wiped down all the surfaces, as well as making the bed with the newly-washed sheets and sorting through everything in the kitchen and bathroom bench cupboards. They needed more washing detergent. The list was stuck to the fridge and he wrote it down quickly. Then he took the dry washing off the line, folded it, and placed it in the wardrobe. With the apartment clean, he started practicing his kata and bunkai.
Two years ago Zaku had started Chito-Ryu Karate-Do. He was orange belt now and had to learn Kihon Dosa San and Zenshin Kotai as well as Kihon Dosa Bunkai. Kata was basically a sequence of techniques, while bunkai was applying those techniques to a partner. Zaku never had a partner to practice with so he trained on his own. He did a class every Monday and Friday and every class cost ¥300, which was cheaper compared to the Jujitsu Dojo on the other side of town.
He practiced his kata and bunkai for two hours until he had had enough, then he grabbed his homework from the bottom of the wardrobe and spread it across the floor. Numeracy was a good subject for him but he was even better at Literacy. It was easy to write his spelling list and timetables and he was finished in an hour.
Hahaoya returned as it was getting dark. She ignored him and started getting ready for the night by putting on a pretty dress, fresh make-up and fluffing up her hair nicely. Zaku hurried to cook fried rice for dinner in the hopes that she would stay but she left before dinner was ready like she always did, so he ate by himself and put the leftovers in a container for breakfast the next morning. He dressed in his pyjamas and lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Hahaoya hadn't stayed for dinner much recently, preferring to go out with friends. She was always so distant. Zaku couldn't help but feel lonely as she often left him alone to handle things by himself. She said she was 'preparing him' but he didn't understand what that meant.
It was times like this when he wished his chichi was there. He'd never known his chichi and hahaoya never spoke about him so Zaku didn't ask questions. It didn't stop him from hoping and wishing. A male figure in his life would be wonderful but at the moment he was happy with hahaoya.
His happiness didn't last and he never saw hahaoya again. He woke up in the morning and all her things were gone from the bedroom and bathroom. All she left was a note taped to the fridge.
Zaku,
I'm sorry. I did my best to be a good hahaoya, but I just can't. I'm not equipped to raise you through your teenage years. You're a strong, independent boy and it's all I can do to make you self-sufficient. I've asked Suigetsu to give you a job at Oto Music so you can live comfortably. You can talk to him about it. He knows about my decision.
I'm not good for you. I can't raise you well. My habits are too bad to break and I don't want to expose you to the life I live. You'll do a better job raising yourself than I ever will.
I'm sorry,
Hahaoya.
That was when the ache started in Zaku's chest and the tears fell before he could stop them.
"Hahaoya…" he sobbed. "Hahaoya…"