Dropping his bags, Kagami bowed his head and quickly extended his right arm forward in apology. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Nook! I should have known it was you!"
Tom Nook continued to chuckle. Taking Kagami's hand into his own and shaking it, he said, "No worries, no worries. After all, we've only made contact with one another over the phone. This is our first time meeting face-to-face, ho, ho!"
Removing his grasp from the much-too-long handshake, Kagami couldn't suppress the feeling of embarrassment as it washed over him. It began to visibly affect his speech. "S-so...y-you said something about having the key to my house?"
"That's right, that's right! Yes, yes, I have your key right here!" Tom Nook pulled a silver-plated key out of his apron pocket and handed it over to Kagami. "Be sure to take a good look around and let me know what you think!"
Kagami had been practically shoved forward by the enthusiastic raccoon. Scooting to a halt just a mere handful of inches in front of his door, he was forced to pull himself back a bit in order to unlock it. Surprisingly to him - being the type of person who usually fussed with keys - Kagami was able to twist the knob and enter his home with ease.
There were four walls. Four very close, very suffocating walls. What felt like two steps forward and Kagami was already standing at the back wall of his house. 'Is this a joke...?' The thought ran through his mind, but he didn't dare say it out loud, not with Tom Nook standing so close by.
Looking to his left, Kagami noted a dusty cassette player that looked as if it had been pulled straight out of the 80s. Curious, he bent over and popped open the top. "Huh, nothing," he muttered, coming back into a stand. To his right - not even his far right, but his right - was an unlit candle in a saucer, placed atop of a cardboard box.
"Make sure you check upstairs, ho, ho!" Tom Nook called from outside, and Kagami wasn't one to object. If upstairs was any better than the first floor, maybe there would be a glimmer of hope to living there.
Climbing the narrow staircase and entering the upper room, Kagami was happy to see a bed - a small bed - but a bed nonetheless. Walking over to it and sitting on the edge of the mattress, Kagami soon noticed the telephone that rested next to him on a nightstand table. He was tempted to play around with it, seeing as it looked so antique and interesting, but he decided it would be better to reunite with Tom Nook for the time being.
Kagami descended the stairs, rounded the corner, and exited the house. He saw Tom Nook standing there waiting for him, rocking to and fro on his heels.
"So, what do you think?" the raccoon inquired, a bit concerned that his "client" didn't come bursting from the building with joy, clicking his ankles and exclaiming his love for the home.
Rubbing the back of his neck, Kagami sighed and looked to Tom Nook with regretful eyes. "It's...honestly, it's pretty small," he stated rather bluntly.
Before he could feel guilty for saying something so hostile, a small paw had been pointed up at his nose. "Yes, yes!" Tom Nook agreed, further saying, "Very small, indeed. But you know, once you pay back your mortgage, you'll be able to do all kinds of fun things, such as house expansions and renovations, ho, ho!"
Suddenly intrigued - and maybe even a little bit excited - Kagami asked, "Really? I can really do those kinds of things?"
"Yes, yes! But like I said, you must pay back your mortgage first."
"Well, okay. How much is my mortgage payment?" Kagami couldn't imagine it being too high. After all, the place wasn't very...it wasn't that great. He'd probably be able to pay it off with the money he'd saved up over the past year.
A gleaming grin spread across Tom Nook's furry face. "Oh, I think you'll be pleased to hear this, Kagami. Your mortgage payment is the low, low price of only...19,800 bells! Isn't that fantastic?"
Stone-faced and frigid, Kagami momentarily forgot how to breathe. 19,800...bells? What in the world was a "bell"? Was it the foreign currency of Kiseki Village, or something? And how was Kagami going to get 19,800 of them?! "Uh..." he muttered, not knowing what else to say.
"It's great, isn't it?" Tom Nook placed three hardy pat-pat-pats on Kagami's upper leg - seeing as he wasn't tall enough to reach the boy's shoulder - before adding, "Now, of course, you don't have to pay it all off at once, but I would like a little compensation as of this moment. You do have money with you, yes?"
Kagami nodded and quickly searched through one of his bags. Taking out his wallet and pulling forth his money, he explained, "It's, um...they're called dollars. I don't know if you'll accept them, but they're all I have."
Tom Nook looked at said dollars with curiosity. They were interesting. They looked like little rectangles of stationary. "Hmm," he hummed, "they're quite nice, yes, yes, but I'm afraid I cannot accept them." He paused and waited for Kagami to solemnly put away his rejected payment. "Is that all you have? Are you telling me that you do not have any money that will be of use to me?"
Kagami gulped. Suddenly, the demeanor of the raccoon had changed. He seemed angry...menacing, even. "That's right..." he answered nervously.
Like the flip of a switch, Tom Nook was suddenly brimming with excitement. "Ho, ho, ho! No worries, my dear Kagami! I have just come up with a most brilliant idea! Yes, yes, most brilliant indeed!"
"You...have?" Kagami was beginning to fear what this "idea" would entail.
"I have!" Poking Kagami's leg with the tip of his paw, Tom Nook stated, "Starting bright and early tomorrow morning, you will be working for me, part-time, at my shop!"
"...Eh?" Kagami was appalled.
"Yes, yes, it's the perfect idea!"
"Eh...?" Kagami was still appalled.
"Well, I'll leave you to enjoy your house for now, Kagami! Please rest well this evening! You're going to need to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed if you're going to be working for me, ho, ho!"
Even after Tom Nook had scampered off down the road, Kagami was still appalled by what had just taken place. Somehow, in the expanse of three minutes, he had gone from stable, to penniless, to employed. Kagami thought that things like that only happened in movies or in manga, but maybe that was just what his life had come to.
Without a watch, cell phone, or even just your basic clock to give him the time, Kagami had to guess that the setting sun meant it was around 5 or 6 in the evening. 'I should probably start putting my stuff away,' Kagami thought, 'even if I don't really have any place to put it...'
Lugging his baggage inside and shutting the door behind him with a kick of his foot, Kagami sighed and ruffled his hair. Up until this moment, he had been so eager to live on his own. It wasn't as if his family life at home was bad or anything. In fact, he had two, loving and devoted parents that raised him very well and provided to his every need. It was merely Kagami's wanderlust that had him standing where he was right now.
'Mom is probably worried sick about me...'
Recalling the telephone from the bedroom upstairs, Kagami figured it would be a good idea to give his parents a quick call to let them know that everything was alright and that he had arrived safely. It was the least he could do. After all, their only son had left the nest at age sixteen.
Climbing the stairs with bags in either hand, Kagami heaved his luggage over into the room's corner before taking a seat on his bed. He hadn't noticed it before, but the mattress gave a loud squeak under the weight of his body. "Must be old, or something," Kagami muttered, reaching over to grab both the telephone and its base. He rested it in his lap. "Now...how do I even use one of these things?"
Spinning the dial round and round, trying to get a feel for what he was doing, Kagami finally understood the concept of the antique device and began to spin the number for his parents.
However, when he lifted the telephone to his ear, expectantly awaiting to hear a ringing signal on the other end, Kagami had been greeted by a monotonous, robotic voice instead.
"I'm sorry, but this option is currently unavailable. Please try again later."
Setting the phone back on its base, Kagami chuckled softly and said, "Sorry, Mom. Looks like I'll need to pay the phone bill, before I can call you."
Hi there! Chappy here! :D
With chapter 2 posted, the ball is now up and rolling with this story! I hope you're enjoying it thus far!
The GoM will be making their appearance in chapter 3. Please look forward to it!
Thank you very much for taking the time to read! (:
- Chappy