Horimiyakuza

Chapter 1

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Izumi was already awake by the time his alarm sounded. Blinking wearily, he twisted beneath the warm comfort of his blankets towards the alarm clock that kept a constant vigil on his nightstand. It beeped at him incessantly until he finally reached a hand over to silence it with a light tap. The glowing green numbers of the digital display stared back at him.

6:31 a.m.

With a big yawn, he stretched and let out a pleased sigh as his body tingled nicely from the movement. Then he rolled onto his back and returned to staring at the ceiling. Something he had been doing for the past few hours, unable to sleep.

Today was an important day. One that had been marked on his calendar for some time now. The first day of high school. Normally, most kids his age were excited by the prospect of entering high school, but not Izumi. No, he was not overly excited about it or anything like that.

Worried? Yes. Nervous? Definitely. Dreadfully so, in fact.

How could he not be? He was going to a new school in a completely different area where he would spend the next three years of his life. Three years that would dramatically determine his future. Everything was going to be new. Everything was going to be different. But would things be any better this time around?

His phone suddenly rang, startling him from his thoughts as the vibrations echoed in the otherwise silent darkness of his room. There were only two people in the whole world who had his phone number, and he did not need to look to know exactly who it was that was calling him at this hour.

When he finally answered his phone—one of those older models that you still had to flip open—he pressed it up to his ear before abruptly moving the phone as far away from it as he could as a voice practically screamed from the other end of the call.

"Miyamuraaaaa!" The voice of his best friend sounded excited, like he was hopped up on caffeine—which he probably was.

Izumi glared at his phone, not that the other boy could see it, and then finally yelled back, "Shindo, would you shut up already! Do you know what time it is? It's too early in the morning for this crap, so cut it out!"

"But Miyamuraaa…" Shindo whined like a chastised puppy.

"I swear, Shindo. I'm going to smack you the next time I see you. Hard."

"You're so mean sometimes, you know that?"

Izumi let out a snort. "You deserve it. Especially when you yell through the phone at six-thirty in the morning. I mean, was that really necessary? Can't you just talk like a normal person?"

Shindo continued to pout. "But I was excited," he said as if that made everything okay. "And I wanted to make sure you were awake. Today's a really big day, after all. Wouldn't want you to oversleep or anything and miss out on the first day of high school."

"That's what my alarm clock is for," Izumi grumbled. "I bet you didn't even sleep, did you?"

"Not a wink!" Shindo admitted without remorse. "I mean, how could I? We're starting high school today! I couldn't stop thinking about how cute all these high school girls are gonna be. Even better, they'll be filled out, if you know what I mean. And we'll get to see them every day. Every. Day. And talk to them, and make out with them, and—"

"You know, Shindo," Izumi interrupted him, "It almost sounds like the only reason you're going to high school is for the girls."

There was utter silence on the other end.

"There are… other reasons to go to high school?" asked Shindo, sounding almost serious for a few seconds before he burst into a fit of laughter.

"Don't let your parents hear you say that," Izumi warned, though his lips twisted into a smile.

Shindo's laugh died down pretty quickly after that, and his voice took on a more subdued tone. "Yeah, yeah… don't remind me… they spent the last few days telling me what's expected of me once I start school this year. As if I needed to be any more anxious about the whole thing."

"Well, they are paying quite a lot of money for you to go to Yasaka High, so I can't exactly blame them for that. Especially with your personality… and priorities."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean? I have a stellar personality and have my priorities straight, thank you very much. Just ask any of my other friends."

Izumi rolled his eyes. "Baka! As your best friend, I'm confident that I know you better than anyone else, and you definitely aren't a model student or anything like that."

"And as your only friend," Shindo retorted, "I urge you to reconsider that opinion of me or else we might not be friends anymore." The threat was a hollow one, of course. There was almost nothing that Izumi could think of that could break their friendship, and he knew Shindo felt the same.

"Okay, wow. Talk about a low blow."

With a chuckle, Shindo said, "Yeah, I guess that was a bit much. Sorry, Miyamura."

"It's fine."

Shindo let out an annoyed sigh. "Why couldn't you have just gone to Yasaka too? We could have been classmates again! That would have been so much better." Before Izumi could say anything there was a sudden gasp from the other end. "You did want to be classmates again, right? Please tell me you at least wanted to be classmates. Or are you trying to tell me…"

"We've been over this already," Izumi said with his own sigh of annoyance. "Yasaka is way too expensive for my family. We're barely scraping by as it is. Besides, even if we could afford it, I doubt I could have gotten in. My middle school grades were mediocre at best. I'm just not as smart as you, Shindo."

"You're right. You're not as smart as me…"

Izumi winced. "Ouch."

"… Because you're definitely smarter than me. You get mediocre grades while barely studying. Imagine if you only applied yourself more and, you know, actually studied. Speaking of priorities…"

"I do study!" Izumi at least tried to sound indignant. His friend was right though, studying just was not high on Izumi's priority list.

Izumi was not sure yet about his future career plans, but most likely he would be following in his mother's footsteps and running their bakery. He did not need good grades to do that, so why bother? Besides, there were other factors that contributed to his severe dislike of school.

"Right. Of course, you do, Miyamura." Shindo's words were practically dripping with sarcasm.

Izumi rubbed his face with his free hand and sighed. "Well, I need to wash up and get started on breakfast. Was there anything important and not at all annoying you actually wanted to tell me, or can this phone call be over now?"

"Ah, yeah. Right. I guess we should get ready for school and all. Alright. Well, good luck today, Miyamura. Even though we're not going to the same school anymore, you and I will still be best friends. Got that? There's no getting rid of me, just so you know. Oh, and I hope we both end up in a class with plenty of cute and sexy—"

Izumi simply hung up by flipping his phone shut with a satisfying clack before Shindo could finish that sentence. Despite that, Izumi's lips formed into a rare smile as he stared at his phone for a moment. Leave it to Shindo to settle his nerves down and lighten the mood a little.

After one more good stretch that had his body tingling again, he threw off the covers and swung his legs around. His bare feet pressed against the cool linoleum floor as he stood up and padded quietly over to the bathroom.

Staring into his own deep blue eyes in the mirror as he brushed his teeth, Izumi allowed himself to think that maybe this time things really would be better.

-=H=-

The kitchen was unsurprisingly empty when Izumi strolled in at a few minutes before seven in the morning and began to prepare breakfast for two. He worked in silence, completely focused on his task as he made sure to cook the bacon and eggs just the way his mom liked them. He also toasted some bread, laid out butter and marmalade, and set down two bananas.

By the time his mom walked in dressed for work, Izumi had already brewed her a cup of coffee to go along with her meal. It sat steaming and waiting for her at her place at the small dining table to one side of the living room.

"Good morning, Ikkun," greeted the still very much young-looking mother with a smile.

Iori Miyamura looked more like Izumi's older sister than his mother, something that the woman enjoyed hearing from other people who made such remarks when they saw the two of them out and about. She had a slim figure and the same long dark hair. Although, instead of Izumi's deep blue eyes—which he got from his father—hers were a dark green.

"Good morning, mom," he greeted her back with a small smile of his own as he sat down across from her and began to dig in.

She picked up the mug of coffee and immediately took a sip, letting out a small and satisfied sigh after.

"Thank you for cooking breakfast as always. And for the coffee."

Izumi swallowed some of the food he had been chewing and glanced at her. "You're welcome. Although, you know you don't need to thank me every time, mom."

"It's good manners to show gratitude to those who deserve it," she reminded him pointedly and took another sip of her coffee. "Excited for today?"

Izumi shrugged and pushed his glasses up from where they had slid down a little. "I guess."

"I think this is the first time I'm seeing you in your new school's uniform." She looked him over with a critical eye before giving an approving nod. "You look good, Ikkun."

"Thanks, mom." Izumi ducked his head with slight embarrassment. Truthfully, he felt a little strange wearing it. He was not used to it yet. It almost felt like he was wearing a disguise, like he was simply pretending to be a high schooler.

"I'm surprised you're actually going through with the whole glasses look. They don't even look fake. Though I have to admit, wearing them does make you look different."

"Different?" Izumi looked at her quizzically. Did she mean that in a good way or a bad way?

"More mature. Smarter, even. If only it actually made you smarter too." She gave him a wry grin that she quickly hid behind another sip of coffee.

Izumi's cheeks flushed as he sunk his head, unable to look his mother in the eye. "I promise I'll study harder this time around, okay?"

"You better if you want to go to university, let alone a good one."

Izumi remained silent, unsure of what to say. That decision was something he definitely did not need to make anytime soon, but he knew that she was right. He needed to study harder and get better grades than his academic record showed thus far if he wanted to even have the chance to go to a decent university.

But did he actually want to go? Should he?

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you to school today?" his mother asked, leaning forward to rest her elbows on the table, the mug of coffee steaming as she held it close to her mouth and took another sip.

"Yeah. It's fine. Please don't trouble yourself, mom," he replied with a bow of his head. "I know it's a busy week at the bakery, so it would be better if you didn't take time off for something trivial like this."

She stared him down for what seemed like an eternity before eventually nodding, albeit reluctantly. She placed her coffee back down on the table.

"I guess you're right. Not that I agree with this being a trivial matter, but… we are really swamped at the bakery lately so it would be tough to take today off. Besides, I'm sure you wouldn't want me to embarrass you in front of all your new classmates either."

"Wh-What?! That's not—"

"Because I totally would," she grinned at him mischievously.

With a groan, Izumi buried his face in his hands.

"I'm only joking, Ikkun," she teased him, then sighed as her shoulders drooped. She stared at her half empty cup of coffee. "I just… Sometimes I still can't believe you've already grown up so much." She placed a hand on her cheek and looked at him with wistful eyes. "It feels like only yesterday that you were on your way to school for the very first time. You were so very little then. So excited. So cute and adorable too. Plus, you were still calling me 'mama.' What happened to my sweet little boy?"

Izumi rubbed the back of his neck. "Umm… you know I'm too old to be calling you that anymore, right?"

"If you ask me, you can never be too old to call me mama. After all, to me you'll always be my sweet little Ikkun," she said with another sigh. Her voice was so sweet that Izumi groaned and thought that he might contract diabetes all of a sudden.

"Mom, could you please give it a rest…"

"I know! How about a compromise? You can call me mama again when it's just us here at home," she suggested eagerly, clapping her hands together excitedly. "Yes, that's what we'll do then. Right, Ikkun?"

"You really should eat your food before it gets cold," he said, ignoring her suggestion and eliciting a laugh from his mother at his apparent discomfort.

-=H=-

It was beautiful out. The kind of day that made you feel blessed to be alive.

The sky was a brilliant blue with only a few wisps of white clouds streaking across the sky, leaving the morning sun to blaze unimpeded overhead. More than a few sakura trees were already in full bloom, their beautiful flowers on display and adding some vibrant color to the world. The air was cool and crisp, and a gentle breeze blew in from the east, rustling leaves and swaying branches as birds chirped and flew between them.

Izumi was moving slowly down the sidewalk with his school bag slung over his shoulder. His house was close enough to school that he could get there on foot without much trouble, which was partly why he had chosen to attend Katagiri Senior High School in the first place.

The other, and arguably more important, reason was that his choices were quite limited. Katagiri was technically the best school he could get into with his mediocre grades. If only his past self could have studied a little harder, among many other things he wished he could have changed.

Unfortunately, he did not possess the ability to travel back in time, so he would have to make do with what he had.

Excited chattering ahead caused him to look up from staring at the pavement as he neared a major intersection. Several high school students were waiting for the crosswalk signal. All of them were wearing the same Katagiri High uniform as him. He recognized none of their faces, unsurprisingly. How many of them were first years?

The way Izumi saw it, his best chance at making new friends was to find people who did not already have established connections with anyone at school. Those were the students who were starting completely fresh, just like him. Theoretically, picking them out should be easy enough since they were likely to be alone and keeping to themselves for the first few days of school.

Stopping a few steps behind the group of fellow students, he could not help but overhear snippets of their conversations.

A few of them were talking about their holidays and their families, while others talked about what they were looking forward to in the coming school year. Several gossiped about members of the opposite sex, with the words 'love' and 'romance' thrown in every now and again. There were a some who even talked about more sensual things, much to his embarrassment.

Izumi did his best not to make it seem like he was eavesdropping. Though it was difficult not to react to some of the things he was hearing, and his odd fidgeting and slightly flushed cheeks actually only served to make him seem even more suspicious. Or at the very least, it made him seem aloof and weird to the few people who glanced back at him.

Not that he really noticed. What he did notice was that he was the only one walking by himself so far. Everyone else appeared to have at least one person walking beside them already. Doubt began to gnaw at him, quickly followed by the fear that he would be just as friendless and miserable as he had been in middle school.

But then he shook his head and tried to clear away the pessimistic thoughts that normally plagued his mind when it came to socializing of any kind outside of the handful of people he knew.

Katagiri was a big school, and there were bound to be a few people he could make friends with. Besides, he did not have to make a friend right now while walking to school on the first day. There was a whole day of orientation ahead of him. And many more days of classes ahead.

Yes, that was it. There would be plenty of opportunities later. He needed to think positive. To think like Shindo! He suddenly imagined Shindo leering at some girls and ogling them, then he frowned and shook his head again. No, maybe not quite like Shindo.

"Um, excuse me?" said a timid voice nearby, startling Izumi out of his thoughts so much that he jumped away from the direction of the voice as his head snapped towards the person who had spoken to him.

"Ahh!" he cried just as he got a good look at the person who had somehow ended up next to him.

The girl was tall and slim, with long wavy chestnut-brown hair that went to down to her mid-back and beautiful golden-brown eyes that peered at him with a mixture of curiosity and amusement from behind delicate dark eyelashes. She was almost as tall as he was, shorter by only a hand-width if he had to guess. More importantly, she was wearing the Katagiri High uniform. And wearing it very well, he noticed.

"So pretty," he whispered softly enough that she thankfully did not hear, cheeks flushing.

"Sorry if I startled you, but…" The girl cocked her head to the side. "You were kinda just standing there like you were zoned out or something and… well… the crosswalk light is green now." She gestured towards the crosswalk in front of them.

Izumi turned to look and realized the group of students he had been waiting behind was already on the other side and getting farther and farther away. Sure enough, the crosswalk signal was telling him that he could cross now. But then it changed and started to blink yellow before turning red again.

Wow. Had he really been so lost in his own thoughts for that long?

"Are you okay?" the girl asked with genuine concern, leaning a little closer to get a better look at him.

Blinking, Izumi turned back to her and nodded vigorously, unconsciously taking a step back. "Y-Yeah! I'm fine, really. Sorry about that! I guess I was just lost in thought," he blurted out, laughing nervously and unable to meet her eyes.

She crooked a brow at him and then giggled. "So, you must be a first year at Katagiri too, huh?"

"Yeah…" His mind suddenly halted. Wait, did she just say 'too'? So that means…

"I'm also a little nervous about the first day, so I'm glad I'm not the only one."

Izumi snuck a glance at the girl again and forgot how to breathe for a second. The sun shone on her smooth skin and her hair danced across the wind as a sudden gust blew a few sakura petals around her, like a scene straight out of a manga or anime. He could have sworn she looked even prettier than when he first saw her. If that was even possible given that he had just met her a minute ago.

"It's such a beautiful day," she remarked softly, almost as if she were speaking to herself. She closed her eyes, feeling the wind on her skin. "So, I'm sure this day will turn out to be nothing short of amazing for all of us. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Yeah, beautiful…" he agreed just as softly, barely registering what she was saying.

She fixed her golden-brown eyes on him once more and smiled. "I'm Kyouko Hori, by the way. Fellow first year at Katagiri Senior High School. Pleased to meet you!"