Souji's story
Chapter 3-Inaba
Souji's POV
4/13/2011, Early Morning
"Hmmm? Wha…? Wait…Wha…Where am I? The hell?"
I groaned in annoyance as I heard a knock on the door of my room. I felt a faint pain in my left leg that I had gotten from last night's failed attempt at stealing. Last night, everything had changed.
"Oh right…I'm at the Dojima residence…at my…father's home…"
I slowly got up and realized that I was at the Dojima residence, not at Shinjiro's café like where I usually slept with my girls. The knocking got louder and I heard Nanako's voice. My little sister…
"Gonna take a while to get used to this…I'm used to sleeping outside on the ground." I muttered to myself.
"Breakfast is ready! Dad made something special for all of us! Wake up!" she yelled as I opened the door. She stared at me for a moment before telling me my daughters were already downstairs and then she laughed at my horrible bedhead.
"Your hair is all poofy, Souji! It's silly looking! Just like a cat when it's fur is all messed up! I'll go get you a brush!" she said in-between giggles. I yawned as and waited for her to calm down. As I walked downstairs, Nanako handed me a hairbrush. I thanked her and quickly fixed my short silver hair.
I walked downstairs with her and saw my two daughters sitting in front of the TV. I could smell something good and my nose turned me to where the kitchen was. My nose caught the scent of eggs and bacon along with some rice and milk for my daughters. I noticed that there was a glass of fruit milk for me.
I loved fruit milk to the point of obsession where it pissed off Shinjiro.
It was rather amusing to see Dojima wearing an apron considering he was a man in his 40's. Shinjiro would have been mad if I laughed at him when he was in an apron.
Dojima turned to see me and smiled,
"Hey, you're finally awake, Souji! Sleep well? You were awful tired last night. You fell asleep not too long after you got in your new room. Are you okay?" he said as I walked up to him in that usual half-asleep walk of mine. I looked at the food and licked my lips; it had been a long time since I had a decent breakfast and my stomach was very hungry this morning. He chuckled at my reaction and smiled at me,
"Hungry eh? Don't worry; breakfast will be done soon. Why don't you sit down with the girls? I put on a cartoon for them to watch as I make breakfast. The food won't take long. Relax." said Dojima with a smile as he turned to focus on not burning the food.
So, I went to go sit down on the couch where Nanako, Shiori and Minko were sitting watching an American cartoon. On screen, there was a cat chasing a mouse while being chased himself by a large dog with sharp teeth. I could see my daughters laughing very loudly as they were watching what they saw on TV.
"What's this?" I wondered.
"Yeah, get him! Get him! Go get him!" squealed Minko as she clapped her hands.
"They really have adjusted to this new situation already, haven't they? Makes me jealous in a way, I'm still not used to living in a house and I'm not used to having a parent. I miss sleeping outside." I thought, somewhat unhappy and bitter. I liked traveling.
My thoughts were soon interrupted when a plate of steaming food was put on the table near the kitchen.
"Food's ready, come and get it!" said Dojima as he and Nanako started to put food on the table. Shiori and Minko ran to the table before I could even stand up. Minko smiled when Dojima gave her a sippy cup full of milk.
"They woke me up this morning, asking me for some milk. They wouldn't take no for an answer!" chuckled Dojima as he sat down across Nanako and me. I smiled as I looked at Minko and Shiori drinking their milk. Thirsty myself, I took a big drink of fruit milk. As I was drinking, Dojima spoke up about school.
"Souji, I know you've just arrived here last night, but…" I stared at him, metal can still on my lips. "But you need to go to school starting today." he said with a heavy sigh as he picked up his fork and took a bite of eggs.
I stared at him in surprise; me going to school? The idea seemed like a fantasy to me. I had never been in school before. I learned all I know from Akihiko and Shinjiro. They taught me all I needed to know about life.
"School? You're sending me to school? B-but I…" I asked incredulously as I put down my now-empty can on the table, staring wide-eyed at him. He nodded firmly, "It's the law, Souji. Unless you want to be homeschooled that is…" he teased with a smile. I pouted and glared at him in annoyance.
"N-no, I…I'd like to go to school! I-it's okay!" I said, sounding like a child would when it wanted something. He smiled at me, "Then its settled." he said, eating another bite of food. I distantly heard the sound of Minko banging her empty sippy cup on the table.
"Here you go, sweetie. More milk for you." I said as I filled up her cup. She thanked me before proceeding to drink.
Wanting to stay on topic, I asked if there was a pre-school in Inaba. Dojima nodded,
"Yes, Nanako went there when she was younger. And Shiori is old enough to go, but Minko is too young. But I can't stay home all the time, I need to make money for the family." he said as he finished his eggs. He sighed again as he stared at me as I brought up the idea of bringing Minko with me to school,
"…You want to bring her with you? Souji…they won't allow little girls at a high school." he said as he stood up and put on his tie. I pouted; I can't just leave her alone at home. She's still too young to go to a school of her own, so I figured I'd take her with me until she was old enough for pre-school.
Apparently, that's illegal for some reason. I call bullshit on that.
Before Dojima could say anything more, Nanako told us it was time to go to school. Dojima stared at the clock, "Whoa, didn't realize what time it was! Thanks Nanako!" he said as he got up and walked over to Shiori. He kneeled down and told her it was time to go to school. As he was talking to her, I went over to go get Minko. Nanako was waiting at the door, all ready to go.
"Come one, let's go!" she said in a cheerful manner. "Off to school!"
Minko raised some fuss about Dojima turning the TV off, but a cup of milk made her forget. We all walked out the door, ready to start the day. I looked around as we walked to the pre-school, taking in all of the sights that were foreign to me. A few people came up to us-mostly older adults and congratulated him for finding me after all those years.
One such woman in a brown blouse came up to me, holding the hand of her son. She smiled at Minko and Shiori, "Are these your daughters? They're adorable." she asked in a quiet voice. I nodded. I heard Nanako giggle behind me.
The woman chuckled, "They're beautiful…" she said and that was the last thing she said to me before Dojima ushered me and the girls along down the road again. I looked at the river…it seemed it would never end. I was so distracted at looking at the river that I bumped into someone.
"Ah!" came a feminine gasp as I heard books fall down to the ground.
"I'm so sorry, let me help you!" my voice came out in a panic as I tried to help her pick up her books. "Thanks." came her light voice as I handed her the last book. I looked her in the eye and smiled, "It was nothing."
She chuckled, "Looking at the river? It's easy to get distracted by it sometimes." she asked. I sheepishly nodded as I stood up. Her black hair had flown in front of her eyes in a messy manner. I helped her brush it back behind her ears and she thanked me. This was the first time I got a really good look at her. She was a lot smaller than me.
Before I could ask her if she was okay, she looked at her watch and panicked, running in the direction of the road ahead of me.
I blinked in confusion before I noticed Dojima, Nanako, Shiori and Minko weren't with me. I heard her nearby and turned around to see the four picking flowers.
Eventually, they came back up and we kept walking until we got to an intersection that led in three different directions.
"The grade school is over that way, Souji. I can take Shiori and Nanako from here. You and Minko be careful, okay? I'll come try to pick you up if I can, but if I'm not able to pick you up, ask someone to walk you to my place. See you later, Souji." said Dojima with a smile. Shiori protested as she clung to my leg, so I knelt down on my knee and patted her on the head. I re-assured her that Dojima was a good man and she let go. Nanako hugged her and held her hand.
"Buh bye, sissy!" cheered Minko as the three walked off. I smiled and picked up Minko to walk the rest of the way to Yasogami High school.
I remembered from a conversation with Yosuke that he went here along with his ex-girlfriend, Saki Konishi. Part of me wondered what he was up to. Before my thoughts could go far, I heard some yelling from behind me.
"SOUJI! GET OUT OF THE WAY!"
I whirled around to see the very person I was thinking of, pedaling way too fast in rainy weather and unable to stop. I jumped far enough away from Yosuke and watched him skid and crash into a metal pole, the handles shoved right into his crotch. He cried out in pain and leaned against the metal pole, trying to get rid of the pain.
"Ouch." was all I could say, but Minko seemed to be amused by poor Yosuke's pain and giggled loudly before I corrected her.
No one else seemed to bother looking at the poor guy struggling to even ask if he was okay. Without thinking, I went over to him and asked if he was okay. He looked up at me and tried to laugh the pain off, but I could tell he was trying to distract me from worrying about him.
I waited for a few moments before he spoke, sounding like he was in a lot less pain than he was a few moments ago.
"Hey Souji, nice to see you and Minko again! Didn't think I'd see the two of you again so soon!" he said as we were walking past the school gates. Minko begged me to let her hold his hand and I couldn't help but let her do so. Yosuke seemed too happy to hold her hand.
I smiled,
"Yeah, with all that happened yesterday, I missed you, Yosuke. Nice to see you again." I said as he held the door open for Minko and me, going inside and closing the door behind us. He smiled and laughed, "It's been a while since I've had a new friend to talk to. And considering what you've been through, I want to help you any way I can, Souji." he said seriously with a straight face. Souji blinked in confusion before she thanked him again. Minko giggled with delight as she looked at Yosuke with a smile only a child could have. She tugged on Yosuke's hand and asked innocently, "Do you wike mommy?" she asked as Yosuke stared at her. I could see his face blush red at her question.
The question may have sounded innocent, but it had a much deeper meaning that both Yosuke and me quickly understood. I stammered as I attempted to correct Minko, but my words were too jumbled up for her to understand and she just laughed at Yosuke and me. After we calmed down, the three of us headed to the teacher's office.
"Wait here, I'll go get the principal." he reached into his pocket and got out a small toy frog.
"Here, it's for Minko." he said as Minko took the toy. He headed inside the office, leaving me alone with my daughter. There wasn't any place for either of us to sit down, so we both had to keep standing.
After a few moments, Yosuke called for us to come inside. Next to Yosuke, I saw a very old man with a long white beard.
"So this is Dojima's older daughter, eh?" he said as he looked at me with a gentle smile. He looked at Minko next, "And this must be your daughter, Minko?" he asked as we both sat down next to Yosuke. I nodded,
"Yes, she's my daughter." I answered. He nodded, "She's two years old right?" he asked. I nodded again. He stayed quiet for a moment before he made an offer.
"Why not let her stay here until we can find a place that she can stay, Souji? I'll find something to keep her occupied." he said, patting Minko on the head, smiling as she giggled at him, still holding on to her new toy. Yosuke seemed to be smiling as well and laughed, "She's seems happy." he said as he stood up and went to hold the door open for me. He turned to Minko and said,
"Your Mommy and I will pick you up soon, ok? Have fun!" he said as I gave her one last look. As soon as we stepped outside, Yosuke put a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see a reassuring look in his eyes. "Don't worry, he's worked here for years. He's good with kids." he said with a gentle smile. With him being so kind to me, I couldn't help but smile back at him.
"Thanks Yosuke. I've never been away from either of my daughters since the day both of them were born. It's…"
"A hard adjustment? I know what it feels like to have your whole world change in a instant." he said, putting his hands in his pockets as we began walking to our class, 2-2.
"When we moved here, it felt like I had lost almost everything…most of the shops began closing not too long after my family moved here. As you can probably figure out, a lot of people hate Junes. Saki was the first person to welcome me here and not long after that, we became a couple." it was his turn to sigh. I understood how he was feeling about his break-up.
"I know how you feel about breaking up with someone you gave your whole heart to…" He looked at me blank-faced and interrupted me,
"You're talking about Shiori and Minko's father, aren't you?" he asked with a sad look in his eyes. I was surprised by his question, but I kept going with what I wanted to say. After I took a deep breath, I began to go into a story that few of my friends knew.
"I met him at a dance that Shinjiro insisted on taking me there. He wanted me to get out more and make some friends. After that, he took off towards where the food was being made, leaving me alone. I stood there for a few moments before someone asked me to dance with them." I paused to take a breath. Yosuke took that time to ask me a question,
"What happened after that? Did he ask you out after the dance?" he asked as we stopped for a moment to rest our legs. I sighed,
"Yes, actually. He did ask me out on a date. Against my better judgment, I accepted his offer. After a week, we were a couple. Shinjiro was not pleased when he found out, needless to say. He tried to get me to reconsider, but I was too deep in love to even listen to him. I thought he was a nice person; the one in a million kind of guy. He seemed to know what I loved and used it to make me happy. Almost three months after we got together, our relationship…got really intense."
I blushed as I thought about those special nights with my ex.
Yosuke nodded in understanding as I was hesitating to speak of that fateful moment, "I see, the first time you had sex was…" he trailed off. I nodded and finished his sentence for him,
"…The time I got pregnant with Shiori. I…was really scared. I was only 15 years old, I was so scared, but he stuck by me throughout my pregnancy until I gave birth. When I first saw her…I fell in love at first sight. Shinjiro almost killed my ex when he found out he had knocked me up, but I managed to calm him down. He kept Shiori's existence a secret from Akihiko and Miki, but…Shinjiro got into a bad fight with someone…and a woman got caught in the crossfire. Her death was an accident, but he blamed himself and went into almost complete isolation for a while. He did keep in contact with me and Akihiko though…" I trailed off again.
"…About two years later after that bad accident, I got pregnant with Minko and that's when my…" I couldn't say anything else; I was shaking and about to cry,
"He…he left me…without even saying anything to me!" With that, I broke down crying. Yosuke quickly hugged me and said some comforting words to me and I calmed down and stopped crying.
He let out what sounded like a nervous laugh,
"Yeah, I felt the same way when Saki dumped me in front of everyone. I was and still am the laughing stock. Not many people are sympathetic to me except for my friend…" he said, rubbing the back of his head as he got out a tissue for me. I thanked him and wiped my face dry of tears. I hate crying in front of someone else; I feel weak when that happens. After I calmed down, I resumed talking.
"I was still pregnant with Minko when he left me. I had to take care of two-year old and myself with a kid on the way. Shinjiro did help me when he found out that I was pregnant again. He put me on a healthy food diet to make sure that Minko turned out okay and healthy. After about five months, he stopped contacting me and I got worried, so I went looking for him. Instead of finding him, I bumped into a crazy man and his lackey and he pulled out a gun. But thankfully, Shinjiro came to my rescue and chased them off. The rest of Shinjiro's friends were kinda shocked when they saw me."
"Did this Akihiko guy come help out too? He seems like a nice guy from the way you talk about him." asked Yosuke as he fuddled with the classroom door.
"Yes, he did and needless to say, he was rather shocked that I had a kid and was going to have a second one on the way. He wasn't angry about it. He offered, no, more like he demanded that Shiori and I come live at the dorm he and Shinjiro were staying at. Everything seemed peaceful for the time being but things got crazy again around December and January. On January 31st, Minko was born in the middle of one hectic night. I had to give birth all by myself in the dorm."
I paused, "…Can we talk about this later? I kinda want to go to class now." I asked him. He smiled and laughed,
"Sure, no problem Souji! I won't force you to talk about this any longer. Just tell me when you want to continue talking about this, ok?" he changed the subject and point out the classroom I was to go to. He talked about a friend of his named Chie Satonaka. From the way he described her, she sounded a lot like Akihiko, right down to their love of meat. I giggled and Yosuke smiled,
"That's the first time I've heard you laugh since I met you. You should laugh more; you'd be more happy." He said, opening the door and holding it for me. While it was a nice gesture, it was starting to annoy me a little. But I didn't say anything; I didn't want to hurt his feelings.
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
"What took you so damn long!?" yelled a man with dental work that needed attention badly. He was glaring at Yosuke and me with a raised eyebrow,
"Hanamura!" he yelled and pointed a finger at him in anger, making my new friend flinch. "Don't tell me you were flirting with her!? Are you that desperate for a girl?!" he accused him.
That annoyed me a little needless to say. But he wasn't done yet; he pointed the finger at me next, "And you!" he yelled at me, further annoying me.
"Obviously, you haven't had any parental guidance! Spreading your legs at such a young age and getting knocked up-!" I snapped, "The fuck's your damn problem, asshole! Just because you're a teacher doesn't give you the right to try and shame me for what I've done in the past! I don't care who told you! You don't get to shame people!" the room went silent as I kept going,
"My life's none of your business!" I panted as he glared at me before he told me to sit down next to a girl in a green jacket. He went to his desk on began taking roll call. "How did HE get a job here?! I'm surprised he hasn't been fired yet." I thought bitterly as I glanced around the classroom. Rather small for a classroom.
Yosuke sat behind me and sighed. The girl tapped me on the shoulder,
"That was awesome! No one's stood up to King Moron like that before! What's your name?" she asked with a cheerful smile that made her look like Miki in a way. Smiling, I told her my name. She seemed trustworthy enough.
She nodded and told me her name in response with an eager voice,
"My name's Chie Satonaka! Nice to meet you, Souji! Yosuke told me about you!" she shook my hand and pointed to a girl with long black hair in red clothing. She turned around when Chie went to get her attention,
"This is my friend Yukiko! She's the daughter of the inn here! She's been my friend for a long time!" said Chie as I went to introduce myself to Yukiko. She seemed to be rather shy as she held her hand out.
"It's nice to meet you, Souji-chan. You've been the talk of the town since yesterday. I've heard no end of stories about you!" she said with a smile I envied.
"Great, now everyone's gonna want to talk to me now…" I thought in resignation, dreading the exact moment when someone would most likely ask me out on a date. I hadn't been willing to date since my nasty break-up years ago.
"She has? My, rumors spread fast around Inaba…" muttered Yosuke in pain. We all turned to see him facedown on the desk, whimpering in pain. I felt sorry for him, getting hit in the nads like that. I rubbed his shoulder and asked if he wanted some pain pills. He groaned and said yes.
"What happened to him? He looks dead…" asked Chie in confusion as she looked at me. I sighed,
"He got hit in the balls on his way here. That, and he nearly ran me over with his bike. And fell in the trashcan. I had to pull him out." I said as I stood up to stretch, almost instantly getting yelled at by the teacher. I shot him a glare and sat back down.
"Sheesh, King Moron just won't leave you alone, will he?" mused Chie as she smiled at me. I nodded and rolled my eyes. This teacher just had it out for me, didn't he? I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see the hand belonged to Yosuke. He flashed a smile at me,
"Don't worry, if he gives you hell, I'll complain to the principal about it for you." he said, finally sitting up though he still seemed to be in pain. I smiled back at him. "He really seems to be worried about me. I…kinda like it."
"Why are so nice to her, Yosuke?" asked Chie as she got up. "It's like you've got a crush on her or something." she said, making us both blush and look away from each other.
"But…weren't you with Saki-senpai, Yosuke-kun?" asked Yukiko who seemed eager to know more.
Class couldn't end soon enough for us both…
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
"Ah, class is finally over! Freedom at-!" Chie was cut off when a strange noise came up. Just where on earth is the noise coming from?
"The speaker? What on earth?" asked Yukiko as she came next to me. "Did something happen? It's usually never used much…" she added as the message continued, saying something about an accident near the school. King Moron told us to stay in the room and he left. Behind me, I could hear some students trying to look out the window. Sadly, they couldn't see past the rather thick fog outside.
"Souji, I think we should go get Minko…" muttered Yosuke in a whisper. I couldn't agree more with him. So we all went to the office and picked up my daughter and introduced her to Chie and Yukiko. From the squeals they made, they seemed to love her already…
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
"So…she's your daughter?" asked Chie in both shock and confusion as we left school. I nodded. She stared at her for a few moments before she nervously decided to change the topic of the conversation. "How about the three of us show you around Inaba? You know, since you're gonna live here after all with your two daughters…?
I couldn't help but let out a smile…
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
Chie insisted on showing me around every single corner of Inaba and practically dragged me along, not to mention Yosuke, Yukiko, and my daughter who I decided to carry after she started to get sleepy.
"Nice place, isn't it, Souji?" she asked as we stopped at a rice patty to rest. I had to admit it; Inaba was rather peaceful and laid-back. Not much seemed to happen here. Minko snored a little in my arms.
After thinking about my answer, I told Chie,
"Yeah, it is…" I said as I continued looking around the area we were sitting at. It seemed kinda small, but it seemed like a peaceful place to eat. I finished the last of my snack and was savoring the taste when…
WHOOSH!-Water was suddenly flying at me! "The hell!?" I yelled as I looked around for the guilty party that was responsible for getting me wet. My eyes soon spotted a black and white car with lights on top. I stood up and was going to go talk to the driver when Yukiko stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see that she was wet as well, looking quite miserable at that. Chie and Yosuke were just as bad as both of us. I could hear Yosuke cursing under his breath about his headphones being ruined.
Not to mention Minko started to cry loudly after being rudely woken up. My motherly instincts got the better of me and I chose to get up, give Minko to Yosuke, and run right over and give that asshole a piece of my mind.
Yukiko ignored them and told me, "That's a police car. It wouldn't be wise to attack a police officer, Souji-chan." she said, ringing out some of the water in her hair and clothes. I did the same before I replied,
"Police officer or not, he still owes us all an apology. That, and he needs to give Yosuke-san a new set of headphones. I'm sure that pair is ruined now from that water." I said, walking over to the police car to give them one hell of a scolding.
When I had approached the car against Yukiko's advice, the door opened and out came a male officer, looking rather angry and irritated for some reason.
"What are you four kids doing here? Didn't you get the memo at school?" he said in a rather superior tone of voice as he closed the door. He seemed rather annoyed that he had to come out all this way. He stared at me as if he was waiting for answer from me. When I didn't say anything, he seemed to get angry with me.
"Are you dense, lady? Didn't you hear what I just said?" he snorted as I heard my new friends come up behind me. I growled, "Yes and I don't care. What you did was rude and now my daughter's all wet and miserable!" I yelled at him.
"…Fine, I'll tell you if you're that dense." he said as my friends walked up next to me. Yosuke quickly handed me Minko, who had been somehow calmed down.
"Tell us what exactly?" said Yosuke in an irritated manner as he put his ruined headphones on his neck. The officer immediately replied with,
"Someone's been murdered."