For a very odd and unexplained reason, he and Aki soon found themselves being moved from the dilapidated shack the government had thrown them at to a dormitory near Iwatodai Station that was occupied by only a single resident. The thing about the move was that it was certainly not unexpected, for it was a given they would be transferred to another orphanage from the hands of the police, but the actual location they were moving to. It was so different to the place he and Aki had been staying at ever since the fire happened, the place was alright if it was meant for just existing. It had no pests whatsoever but it just wasn't right, which was also expected for a temporary housing for those under the jurisdiction of the police.
Something about the place being a 'safe house' for those under the 'witness protection program'. It didn't bother Shinjiro and Aki a bit, except for the fact it was situated at a place Matron once regarded as a 'raunchy' part of their neighborhood.
Whatever that meant.
The dormitory they were moved to by some people belonging to the Kirijo Group was a 4-storey building with a rooftop that could be used as a place to hang laundry or place plants for a small garden. It was very large for just three people, which made Aki remark that it was meant to occupy more than them. Both of them had lost almost all of their belongings except the ones they had on their persons that day, so the luggage the two brothers in all but blood brought was minimal at best. All in all, it was nice to have an appropriate place to stay at though there was something pestering Shinjiro's mind on that afternoon.
They haven't met that single resident the people who helped them moved said to lived at the dormitory ever since they moved in. All Shinjiro knew that the resident was a female, she was a student just like them and that she would want to live independently to a certain extent. Though unlike Aki, who sometimes forgot meat isn't something one must live off on and had to be removed physically from the table when anything meat was being served, a subtle indication of his attention span, Shinjiro had a feeling he knew who was their secret dorm mate. Their new place of residence had all the clues for him to piece it all up.
Apparently, the moment Aki and him successfully gained the scholarships, they were automatically 'wards' of the Kirijo Group; the man who helped them move in said they were and according to him, they were their scholars and their scholarships had a clause for technical orphans. The dormitory was also paid and supplied by the same conglomerate. It also had several security cameras, which were almost like the ones he saw at Paulownia Mall and, strangely enough, parts of Tatsumi Port Island streets, making both of the boys feel confident that the Kirijo Group employee was being serious in his words of them being their 'wards'.
Suspiciously, Shinjiro could help but notice there was some sort of hard technology on the fourth floor, giving him an idea there was some sort of reason why the two of them were moved into that specific dormitory. There were tons of dormitories owned by the school and the Kirijo Group, ranging from co-ed, girl and boy only dorms, to semi-apartment-styled buildings. Why them and why at that specific place? The machinery at the fourth floor looked like something out of a science-fiction movie, giving Shinjiro some very disturbing thoughts of them being tested while asleep.
Their school had some pretty fucked-up rumors that originated way back the time it was established. About how they were experiments being done at the basements of the school, recruiting unsuspecting students with the lies of them getting a easy way into college, only to never see the break of dawn; it made Shinjiro laugh at first because how would the rumors be real if the no one survived but with the Dark Hour happening every night since the fire, he began to doubt.
Well, Shinjiro had doubts that the machinery he discovered on the fourth floor had no involvement in some sci-fi bullshit. In fact, he was sure it was used for real sci-fi bullshit. It was a fact that the graduates and employees of the Kirijo Group were one of the greatest contributors in modern technology and life, the man-made island where their Academy was situated at was a blatant proof of that fact.
With all of the 'evidence' he had found, their mysterious dorm-mate was someone important; someone that would need some sort of protection despite the person's qualms of being protected, someone that would have connections that an organization that could supply the hard technology at the fourth floor, someone that is important to the Kirijo Group, and it all pointed to one Mitsuru Kirijo.
The first indication was the actual presence of a person living on the 2nd floor of the dormitory and according to the floor plans at the lounge's front desk, the 2nd floor was the Girl's Floor. The second indication was the innumerable rumors surrounding Mitsuru Kirijo.
The daughter of the current CEO of the Kirijo Group and the current President of Gekkou-kan Gakuen Middle School Student Government. Which was a wonder for everyone, including Shinjiro, that a young girl had that enough charisma to pull it off at 1st year. It was said that for some reason, Mitsuru-san was involved in something important that she had to get out of her home and had to move somewhere else. Permanently.
Rumors went out that she was being disinherited, which was laughable because she's an only child, gender be damned; being replaced with someone else was also up in the air, which was very unlikely because as far as he knew, the current CEO had no relatives to nominate; or she had eloped with someone she loved, though the last one broke hearts and caused his best friend an aghast expression when he heard it. He took a shot of that for future purposes, blackmail was the highest competitor for the things he had to get currently. Only if the picture had captions, for his reaction was absolutely priceless.
"Wouldn't she get hungry from that? That thing costs a lot of money!" Typical Aki. Completely missing the point though Shinjiro wondered how in the world did Aki got the idea of getting married costs a lot of money. Probably from the evening news. The stuff being showed at the 7 pm news was weird. Something about a platypus was the last thing he remembered watching before switching to reading cooking magazines that night.
Still, with her being their dorm mate or not, it still doesn't change the fact that he and Aki were practically orphans, both in the literal and figurative sense. And with Aki being in the Boxing Club, he couldn't take a part-time job to boost their allowances. The stipend they got from being scholars of the Kirijo Group were enough to pay for their daily needs, though Shinjiro had questions whether he and Aki had to pay for their lodging, and he was certain it was closely being watched at. So it all fell to him to take up a part-time job to help his and Aki's situation. He had planned to take one the year after, with him still being a freshman and all, but with the way his cards were served, Shinjiro decided to do it earlier than he expected.
After signing out on the sign-in sheet at the dorm's lounge, he made his way to Iwatodai Strip Mall and ducked under the Hagakure Ramen shop's entrance curtain. The man who owned the shop saw him enter and greeted him, which he then countered with a wave. Godou-san knew him and Aki ever since they were 8, the first time they went here was with Miki and…
Shinjiro quickly dismissed the thought in his head. It wouldn't do if he got too distracted when he was starting his job. He thanked the gods that Godou-san allowed him to be his 'apprentice' at the Ramen shop. Years of cooking for his relatives had Shinjiro accustomed to the heat and flow of the kitchen area, and the short… time he had in the orphanage's kitchen with the staff gave him essential knowledge on what he should be doing in front of the stove. Although ramen is being sold in the shop, it didn't mean it was the only type of food being sold there. That was where Shinjiro comes in. He would handle the ramen while Godou-san would handle the other 'unique' dishes being offered in his establishment.
Some were even secret to the public, only available to those who were given a heads up by the owner, like him. The Special was the thing that persuaded Shinjiro to plea at Godou-san in teaching him to make it.
"Aragaki-kun, glad you came in time. I was worried." The man gave him wry smirk and tossed an apron at him. It was plain white and quite long, if Aki was the one to wear it or his 8 year-old-self. For the past 2 years, he had shot like a weed, all thanks to the nutrients his body had absorbed from the food at the orphanage. He knew he was being starved by his relatives but to fully understand its complete consequences was something else, much more to see that he wasn't supposed to be a short kid. Aki had been grumpy during those times when he was being stretched like a rubber band, only to realize that he was not returning to the short thin kid he used to be, all because he expected to be the taller kid than Shinjiro; he later had accepted it and sought a different avenue to 'overcome' him, which then led him to joining the Boxing Club.
Typical Aki.
He wore the handed apron and tied it around his waist. He didn't bother to remove his turtleneck sweater nor his beanie on his head, even with the steam coming from the boiling stock didn't made him sweat. It was… sentimental. And it also helps in protecting him from getting burned at parts where hot oil and water shouldn't get to.
It was also a very comfortable feeling to wear thick clothes for a change, given that he never got any new clothes before. When he did, it would be rags or super thin second hands by his cousin. The orphanage may have supplied them clothes to wear but it was a requirement, a necessity. Not a gift.
Besides, both Miki and Aki picked those clothes for him and he became partial to them ever since. It became his trademark, much like Aki's red vests, sweaters, scarves, gloves and shirts. And the beanie pretty much discourages any stupid punk who wants to have a fight with him. Not to mention, the turtleneck sweater felt amazing and the overcoat looked cool.
"Okay, so here we boil this… And then… Pass that here? Thanks. Oh, and you must…"
He followed Godou-san's instructions, allowing his body to follow the motions honed by years of daily kitchen duties, permitting his mind to focus on his current situation.
It was about a month since the fire, 3 weeks spent at some place that sometimes barely qualified as habitable. A couple of days and it would a month since she…
He shifted his attention to the pot and hasten stirring it with his ladle.
While Shinjiro focused his attention on getting a part-time job in order to sustain their allowances, Aki focused on his Boxing Club meetings and training his own body. Last he heard, Aki would be sent to the Prefectural Boxing Competition about a week later and he was busy training. Shinjiro doesn't know what to do with his best friend. Should he be proud of his best friend because he made to a competition where 2nd and 3rd year students were the common sight, and he's still a freshman, a 1st year greenhorn? Or to be worried sick for Aki, since it was blatantly obvious to anyone that he had thrown his whole mind and body to the club?
It was grating on his nerves that Aki found the gods-be-damned protein shakes one day during their weekly grocery shopping. Shinjiro had to resort in planting vitamins and other nutritional supplements to Aki's food whenever he cooked because Aki had the idea of eating only protein rich food was the fastest way to get strong. He was only 11, Shinjiro lamented, and in his honest opinion, Aki was taking the whole idea of becoming strong to protect others way too far or at a complete different direction.
"…1 special, 2 regulars…"
He paid the spoken order a miniscule thought and proceeded to scoop the appropriate portions for them. It was like dosing Aki's food with a huge chunk of powdered vitamins and supplements while watching out if he's looking. Except Aki wasn't there and he wasn't dosing the ramen with vitamins. Shinjiro then grabbed a tray, placed gently the steaming hot bowls of ramen and gave the customers a nod. He won't smile because apparently, they were weirded out by a tall teen with a beanie and a turtleneck sweater smiling at them and he preferred people not having more things to stare at him. He once did it at their school's cultural festival when he was stationed at their class' cafe and, boy, did it end into a failure.
Then there was the rumor he was supposed to be a delinquent who wrecked shops and stole merchandise just for the thrill.
Well... He once did, but Aki had caught him and gave him quite a beating for it. Though he employed his skills trained by years of sneaking out things for his own survival, the thievery Aki caught him in action had a sole purpose of pleasing his best friend's sister. Aki wasn't pleased with that so he and Aki had their first brawl, which was fun now that he thought about it. It wasn't like Aki had the idea of actually hurting him when he threw the punch at his face, it was to teach Shinjiro a lesson, show him a lesson, which was entirely different. Shinjiro still countered a punch for the sake of countering, though. It was natural and Aki had expected it. After the small brawl they had, both apologized to one another, with Aki towing him back to the store while Shinjiro was muttering 'sorry' all the way.
Sighing, he threw another batch of beef bones, some spices to taste and the secret ingredient Godou-san denied him the honor of knowing its name to an empty pot and filled it with water. Aki wasn't being his usual self recently. Shinjiro had thought it was the effect of the Boxing Club and the upcoming Prefectural Boxing Competition, but it wasn't, after he remembered the first fight they had. Aki was the one who always tries to drag him around and strives to have Shinjiro mingle with the other kids in the orphanage. He doesn't like to be with other people, an effect of the constant bullying of his cousin, which he had no plans nor notions of telling that to his best friend, and the still-going-strong fear of them leaving him in the end. It was his secret and he preferred Aki doesn't come across that any time in the future. Aki and Miki had accepted him without knowing what he's past before they met him and since then, they were the only ones he treasured dearly.
Aki was the worrywart of them two, though not much like Shinjiro's but close enough, that it would have Aki stepping on egg shells for a month if he came across his past. He would mull it over and accept it, but Aki would have the idea he was being insensitive, which was a joke on itself. Aki did that once to a girl one day at their elementary school and Shinjiro wondered how the two of them got home that evening from the laughter and teasing their classmates threw at them. What made it more disbelieving, to Shinjiro that is, was that Aki had no idea why they did so. No. Idea. At. All.
Typical Aki.
Nevertheless, Aki was all silent and it seemed someone tranquilized him in such heavy dosages.
Not that Shinjiro had thought about it once, though he certainly wanted to do so, but the act of getting one was such a hassle. Much harder than getting those industrial-strength, high-quality, super-expensive vitamins he kept on mixing in Aki's food from the pharmacy at the mall. Bribing the old man tending the store with his 'authentic' English food - which was something he discovered he had skill in when he cooked at the orphanage's kitchen but to his honest opinion was just a bunch of super oily food with a lot of carbohydrates and fat - allowed him to get the vitamins at a very low price, but getting tranquilizers was completely out of the question. No one would sell or give that to him.
It made Shinjiro wonder how did the upbeat, sugar-infused, saccharinely exciting Aki turned into the solemn, focused, eyebrows-scrunched Aki. In his mulling, he had placed his palm accidentally on the stove and the flames had reached his skin. The pain shocked his mind, bringing him back to the Hagakure ramen workstation. Shinjiro quickly ran to the nearby sink, his burned hand under running water to ease the burn and he realized, after the jolts of pain coming from his palm had subsided.
Matron and Miki weren't the only victims of the fire.
Shinjiro looked around and saw people coming in and out of the shop, Godou-san taking over his job while giving him a concerned look, the television at the corner blaring out the day's news and the windows of the shop being tinted with the afternoon's orange light. The people in the shop were all either busy eating or checking their phones while they're eating. Godou-san concentrated on the job Shinjiro should do, not even caring for the small piece of meat hanging on shoulder.
All of them were the perfect textbook description of 'being busy'.
Like Aki, he had thrown himself completely in getting a part-time job and being busy in taking care of Aki and himself. Aki had done the same by focusing his attention on the club.
Washing his hands with the nearby soap, he went into the motion of cleaning the burn area as his mind went back to his realization. Both them changed, for better or for worse. Shinjiro realized he wouldn't do this: getting a part-time job, fusing over Aki, the dormitory and their secret dorm mate, thinking of their grocery supplies and cooking before. Aki wouldn't be focused on learning different ways on how to punch a person without getting retaliated before and how to get muscles easy and fast.
Turning off the faucet, he grimaced and pinched his arm. He and Aki may have scars from the explosion and burns that have healed already but some things certainly didn't and both of them were clearly feeling the pain.