Author's Note: Hi, yes, I am publishing yet another story that's been in the drafts for 4749474 years. (Expect to see a lot of me on feed, lmao).
Anyways! Welcome to my newest story, We Could Change Again. I'm really excited to be publishing it, and I hope that everyone who decides to follow this! But, before I jump into the story, there are a few warnings I should get out the way first, so:
TW: This story will contain mild sexual content, internalized homophobia, and themes of depression, self-harm, and suicide. If you are triggered by any of these, I HIGHLY suggest you click away. Stay safe!
Now, onto the story!
New Pines wasn't a bad place to live, all things considered.
After all, it was a decently populated area, with a good number of restaurants, shopping centers, and other miscellaneous facilities scattered throughout, making it virtually impossible to get bored. Plus, the residents seemed pretty nice.
Key word: seemed". Shuichi couldn't determine the decency of the people who lived here quite yet—he'd have to experience that firsthand.
And that started with actually getting out of the house.
"Hey, is it okay if I go and check out the town for a bit?"
Dressed in casual clothing, Shuichi rested his hand on the doorknob of the front door as he awaited his uncle's response.
That response was a raised eyebrow. "You want to go out?"
"Eh?" Shuichi gave his uncle a look. "Is it really that surprising?"
His uncle awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry, I was just trying to make a joke." He then shook his head. "You know what? Nevermind. As long as you've got all of your stuff unpacked, you can go."
"Thanks." Shuichi began to turn the doorknob, then suddenly caught something out of the corner of his eye that made him turn around. "Uh, do you need any help unpacking?"
"Huh?" His uncle glanced at the various boxes piled around him on the couch. "Huh. Guess I have a lot more stuff than I thought. Oh well. I'll have all weekend to unpack. Don't worry about it, Shuichi."
Shuichi nodded and opened the door fully, allowing a gust of warm September air to rush into the house, before promptly closing it behind him as he stepped outside, adjusting his cap so that it blocked his eyes from the sun's rays.
New Pines, here I come...
Shuichi didn't know why he was standing in front of here. Really, he didn't.
There was still tons other places he could've gone to relax at, and he couldn't even say that he particularly enjoyed ice cream. Nonetheless, the ice cream shop was where he ended up.
It was a quaint little building—the smallest building in the town, in fact—decorated with mostly pastel colors that popped out at you no matter where you were standing in the immediate area. A tiny chalkboard sat out front, listing the day's specials.
Shuichi internally sighed. Well, he made it this far; he might as well celebrate, if nothing else.
And so, trying not to make himself look any weirder than he probably already had by randomly standing outside, Shuichi promptly pulled open the door to the shop, the bell above it chiming to alert his presence.
The inside of the shop was surprisingly sparse—Shuichi figured there'd be more people here due to the weather. It was also clean and pristine, with pastel pink chairs and white tables evenly spaced out on pink-and-white tile flooring.
He walked up to the counter and began to peruse the menu. There was a good selection of ice cream flavors to choose from—strawberry, rocky road, butter pecan—the possibilities were practically endless.
Eventually, he settled on a cup of chocolate chip ice cream, and as the worker began to work on his order, Shuichi turned around and studied the shop some more. The only other customers occupying the space were a group of teenagers around the same age as him sitting a table together in the far corner. They were all laughing and chatting amongst each other, and overall looked like they were having fun...
Shuichi decided to not dwell on that and turned back around at the same time the worker had finished his order. They pointed to the station where he could put toppings on it if he wanted. Shuichi thanked them and went over and flagged himself a table before glancing over at the topping station.
Should he get toppings? Sure, it wouldn't matter in the long run, but...
Admittedly, Shuichi wanted to start anew in this town. As in, try new things, new experiences—even if it was something as miniscule as an ice cream topping.
With that notion, Shuichi walked himself over to the toppings station and began surveying his options.
Sprinkles, chocolate syrup, cookie bits...
As he decided to help himself to a small serving of cookie dough bits, someone else had walked up to the station. Shuichi didn't think much of it until they spoke up, almost startling him out of his skin.
"Hey."
Shuichi nearly dropped his ice cream as he whipped around with wide eyes to see a guy—Shuichi recognized him as apart of the group of friends he'd spotted earlier. He was a few inches taller than Shuichi, with spiked-up violet hair and a tiny patch of stiff beard hair on his chin.
"Um," Shuichi started when he realized that the guy was waiting for a response. "Are... Are you talking to me?"
He internally face-palmed after the fact. Obviously, he was talking to you...
That didn't seem to faze the other guy, though, as an amused grin lifted his lips. "My bad, I didn't mean to scare ya. But I did wanted to ask you something."
Shuichi blinked. What could this guy possibly want to ask him? He was pretty sure they'd never met before. "Uh, sure... What is it?"
"Are you new around here? I don't think I've seen you around before."
Oh. "Oh... Yeah. How'd you guess?"
The other guy huffed a breath of air and grinned self-victoriously. "I'd like to think I know everyone in this tight-knit town of ours!"
"Really?" Given how long Shuichi's exploration took, the town wasn't exactly small, so the fact this guy could single him out as a newcomer was... "That's... impressive, actually."
The guy puffed out his chest and crossed his arms. "Hell yeah! I could even show you around and introduce you to some of the people here, if you want."
Shuichi awkwardly rubbed his arm. "Ah, yeah, maybe..."
"Great! Oh, I guess I should also ask... Are you going to that school across town? Westwood High?"
"Ah, now that I think about it..." Shuichi put a hand on his chin as he thought for a moment. "Yeah... Yeah, I am."
"Oh, sweet! Me and my friends also go there." The guy tilted his head towards the other teens chatting at their table. "Want me to introduce you to them?"
Against his better judgement, Shuichi ended up panicking at his offer. "Um... Well, actually, I can't really stay here much longer. My uncle is kinda waiting on me, so..."
The other guy simply nodded, much to Shuichi's slight surprise. "I get it. I'll let you go, then. See you around?"
Shuichi hesitated for a second. He was honestly still caught a little off-guard by this whole interaction. This guy... He sure had a lot of energy, but he ultimately seemed well-intentioned. "Y-Yeah... I'll see you around."
The other guy's grin seemed to grow wider, and he chuckled. "That's what I like to hear! I'll see you later, uh... What was your name, again?"
"Ah... It's Shuichi."
"Shuichi," the guy repeated as if he was trying it out for size. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Shuichi. I'm Kaito!"
Shuichi nodded. "It's nice to meet you, too..."
Kaito gave Shuichi a wink and a pat on the back before making his way back over to his friends. Shuichi, meanwhile, nearly bolted out of the shop as fast as he could and made it halfway down the block before stopping to berate himself.
Why did he do that?! He completely blew his chance to make some new friends...
At least he found an acquaintance in that guy back in the shop—Kaito.
A small smile tugged at Shuichi's lips as he began to walk again, a little pep in his step as he enjoyed his ice cream.
Even if that conversation hadn't amounted to as much as he'd hoped, Shuichi still found comfort in the fact that it had happened in the first place.
Maybe he'd even found his new beginning.
Author's Note: And that's the end of the first chapter. I hope you enjoyed.
I really don't have anything to say right now except to stay tuned for the next chapter. Thanks for reading, and if you're interested in chatting about the story, or talk to me in general, feel free to find me on Tumblr at strawberrymixt.