Housemate #1
5:01 A.M., his door burst open.
Startled, he almost screamed in alarm. But he took a better look at the intruder.
Right, the girl… Keno is staying here.
Before he could ask what she was doing, she threw an object at him. He could barely catch it. It was his alarm clock.
"Take it with you tonight. I was having a pleasant dream." The girl said while standing at his door, scowling at him.
That was rude.
Rising from his chair, he started stretching and yawning, getting the final bit of sleep out of him. His back felt stiff and his shoulder ached.
The chair was comfortable, but it wasn't a bed. It wouldn't turn into one no matter how much he slept on it.
Glancing at Keno, she was looking at him without even blinking. Her scowl was gone, but her face flushed red.
What was that about?
Following her gaze, he looked back at his body. It's normal, he thought. Besides the two vertical surgery scars on his chest, there was nothing wrong he could see.
So why was she staring at his bare chest?
Bare… chest…
The fact he was practically naked hit him like a sack of brick. He was wearing only his boxers and nothing else.
His face was as red as hers. He was about to explain that he had only a ceiling fan and his clothes were damp from sweat, so he undressed in the night.
Yet only a strangled, awkward noise left his mouth.
After that, neither said anything. He stared at her, and she stared back at him. The silence seemed to last forever. Only when Keno turned around and returned to the bedroom did he breathe out a sigh of relief.
It could have gone much worse, all things considered.
Back to the matter at hand. Before getting ready for work, he must first clean up his room.
He grabbed the suit, neatly folded, in the room's corner and collected his casual clothes scattered messily around the chair. He took them to the bathroom and placed them in the laundry basket with clothing from earlier days.
Before he could begin his daily routine, though, he felt something was missing. Then a thought hit him. He almost forgot to bring clothes to change into. It would be pretty embarrassing to leave the shower, only to walk around the apartment naked.
If that were to happen, his housemate might label him a pervert. He would die of embarrassment if she perceived him like that.
Knocking on his bedroom door, he asked her to bring him a pair of suit and pants. He also told her she could change into one of his spare clothing if she found anything that fit.
A muffled grumble was his only answer. He thought she might go back to sleeping and ignore his request. But upon hearing the closet door open and riffling sounds, he decided to just wait for her.
Minutes went by, and the door opened. She handed him his clothes, but she hadn't changed hers, still wearing the same ragged clothing as when she was found.
"Too big." She said.
"Well… Hmm… I think I still kept some of my old clothes somewhere. Can I come inside and look?"
"It's your place."
He began searching the pile inside of his closet. If he remembered correctly, the clothes should be inside of an airtight box somewhere.
After some searching, he found it, in the closet's corner, beneath his mother's old futon.
The futon!
He can't believe he forgot about it. If he brought it with him to the dry cleaner, tonight he could sleep comfortably! He almost cheered out loud.
Turning his attention back to the box, he opened it, Keno standing behind him, looking inside.
In it were his clothes from his teenage years. Hopefully, they would fit her, and even if they didn't, they would still be small enough to not be too much of a hassle to wear, if they were still intact that is.
Luckily, it seemed he wrapped them well, so despite being inside the closet for years, they weren't damaged.
Good work past Satoru.
He gave the box with its contents to the girl, "Here, these are from when I was still a teenager, so hopefully they will fit."
She gave back a weird look. "Teenager? How long have you been keeping them there?"
"I am… thirty-two right now… so fifteen, sixteen years maybe?"
"You have been keeping them… for sixteen years…" She stopped as if to digest what she had just heard. "Why?" She finally blurted out, as if not believing what she was hearing.
"Erm, I think I was planning to sell them online originally. That's why I packaged them so thoroughly. But then no one contacted me and I just… forgot."
"You forgot about them… for almost twenty years… twenty years… for twenty years you haven't cleaned out your closet…"
It only sounded bad if you worded it like that.
After a moment, she gave a long sigh. "Fine. At least I have something to wear." She sounded exasperated. "Go away. I need to change."
"When you're done, just leave your clothes and the futon outside. I will take them to the laundromat when I go to work." He told her and left.
"Umu." She hummed in response.
With his suit and pants, he was ready to start the day like.
He went back to the bathroom, back to routine. Brushing his teeth, and flossing, carefully. The days he was addicted to sugar still haunt him vividly.
After dental hygiene was the shower.
The water was chilly, but with the weather being extremely hot lately, it was a heaven-sent. Though, even if the weather wasn't hot, he would still shower cold. Heating water every day would be a nightmare for his budget. The same as spending too much time showering. The landlord charged the water bill extravagantly. So two minutes under the shower, no more, no less. Then he dried himself off with a towel, put on his work clothes, and then headed for the kitchen.
Inside, he found Keno already changed and seated at the table.
"I thought you would go back to sleep."
"I felt hungry, so I thought I might find something to eat here."
"Then would you like some nutrient pastes?"
"Sure, why not?" Then she muttered softly, "Not like there's anything else to eat."
If she didn't want him to hear her, then she didn't do a good job at it. Still, after what had happened to her, he really couldn't fault her for being grumpy from time to time, so he let it slide.
"Do the clothes fit?" He asked as he took out two tubes of paste from the fridge.
"A little baggy, but it's quite comfortable, actually. And the design was nice."
Design?
He turned to look at her, paying close attention to what she was wearing.
Now that he finally had a good look, she didn't look like a typical Japanese. Golden hair and reddish-brown eyes. She must have some Western blood in her, but it's not his place to care, so he brushed it off.
She was a head shorter than him, and much skinnier to boot. While he did not exactly have "meat on his bones", the bones beneath his body were not as pronounced as hers, making her seem even smaller than she actually was.
The clothes she wore were intact, with no holes or torn pieces, but looked well worn, just like everything else he owned. They were nothing special, just a T-shirt and a pair of jeans.
The "decorations" on them, however…
The shirt has a large white skull printed smack dab in the middle. Spikes, chains, and zippers were placed on it haphazardly, with no rhyme or reason as to their placement scheme. He cringed while looking at it. The jeans were no better. A pair of black ripped jeans with leather patches as back pockets and leather kneepads that had spikes on them.
THAT HAD SPIKES ON THEM!
Everything screamed Chuuni and screamed it loud. And he knew for a fact that the rest of the clothes inside the box were not much better.
What seemed like the most fashionable piece of clothing to him all those years ago now makes him want to pour bleach on his eyes.
Before he could tell her to take them off and get rid of them once and for all, a grumbling sound rang out.
Was that… was that hers?
She was covering her face in embarrassment, so it must have been.
Deciding that it was best to not comment on that, he handed her the tube of paste and started slurping his down.
"You eat it just like that?" She asked.
"Yeah, I just eat it straight from the tube. Less time consuming that way."
"And you didn't even heat it first?"
"I don't need to, a waste of electricity."
She sighed, shook her head, and went to the microwave on the kitchen counter.
Before she placed the tube in, "The microwave's broken," he warned.
She looked at him, full of disbelief. Her brows crunched up, judging him. She was looking at him like he was some kind of alien.
What? Appliances broke down all the time. He just didn't have the time to get it fixed. And it was only broken for what? A month?
No, maybe it was two…
When was the last time he used it again?
Uh…
Let's change the subject.
"I… uh… I think the kettle still works. I could make cup-ramen for you."
She stared at him some more. After a short while, she sighed and said, "Sure. Please and thank you… I guess."
It only took a couple of minutes for her to have her food, and then they sat and ate in silence.
But during the meal, he heard her say quietly, "I miss eating rice…"
Rice… huh…
Rice…
"Mom! Mom! I want to eat curry rice! I want to eat curry rice!"
"Sure thing, sweetie, but maybe tomorrow I'm tired right now."
"But Mom, I wanna eat it right now."
"Tomorrow, dear."
"But Mooooooooom."
"Fine, fine, you'll behave and watch the apartment for me, okay? I'll go buy some."
"You are the BEST, Mom!"
The sound of coughing brought him back to the present.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"I think so. My throat just felt itchy suddenly." Her voice sounded hoarse.
"Freshly cleaned lung implant can get you like that sometimes. Something with the chemicals they used, I think."
"Chemicals?"
"Yeah. Nothing toxic though, just very uncomfortable if you're not used to it. It will be gone on its own in a few days, though."
"Thank goodness for that."
Poor girl, she must not have had the chance to have her lungs cleaned until now.
His were cleaned just a couple of weeks ago and he felt nothing afterwards. He only cleans them once a year, due to him working inside an office with filtered air. But people who worked mainly out in the open would need to clean them frequently, no matter how good their gas masks were.
But some were luckier than others. Those living inside the dome didn't have the same problem. He had never been into one, but even he could tell the air inside the dome was remarkably cleaner than outside of it.
Then were also those with worse luck than most, like the girl in front of him.
No doubt that she had a hard life until now if she didn't know she had to clean her implants once in a while. No wonder the doctor said she needed to have some parts replaced.
"Wait here. I think I have some cough medicine. It can't get rid of the itch completely, but your throat would feel less hoarse and it can get rid of the phlegm, too."
And before he could forget, she needed to take her supplements too, as the doctor ordered.
He took out a few bottles from a nearby cabinet. One of them was cough syrup, others were supplements pills.
Lucky for him, the doctor only prescribed over-the-counter types of vitamin supplements he usually takes, so he didn't need to buy them.
"Once you're done with your breakfast, take the cough syrup and the vitamin supplements. The doctor said to take one of these every three days for the next two months."
She nodded.
"There are others you need, but I didn't have them on hand so I ordered them online last night. They should be delivered either this afternoon or tomorrow morning, so watch out for those." He continued.
"Anything more?" She asked.
"Well, I guess that's everything. So… I guess will leave for work now."
"Take care." She gave a curt goodbye.
Leaving the kitchen, he looked at the clock on the wall. 6:12 A.M. He really needed to hurry if he didn't want to be late.
As the door shrieked itself open, he heard a voice shouted from the kitchen.
"Will you fix that door soon?"
"Maybe!" He shouted back, "Oh, and if I can ask for a day off tomorrow, I will take you to have your chip replaced!"
"Sure!"
He almost locked the door on instinct when he left. He wasn't sure what she would do to him when he locked her in his home like some caged beast, but he was sure she would kill him for it. Or maybe she would just call the police and he would be arrested for kidnapping.
Neither was a pleasant prospect to return home to, so he just left the keys on the table in the main hallway and told her to lock the door after she was done eating. After that, he took the laundry to the laundromat on the bottom floor of his apartment complex.
"What a weird morning." He thought as he left for work.
Work was more exhausting than normal. Since his department was one person short, things had been piling up considerably. It also didn't help that his boss, the lazy bum, didn't handle the extra work himself or even split it evenly between employees. Instead, he put it in an automatic system and let the built-in AI do everything.
Normally, nothing would have come out of it since most jobs that involved paperwork were done by AI and the only input the human operator needed was to double-check it to make sure nothing was wrong, like a misplaced decimal point, a mixed up order number, or a missing invoice that the other department forgot to send over, things like that.
Such work required patience, which unluckily, his boss severely lacked.
Instead of checking what the AI was doing like he was supposed to, his boss spent the entire day yesterday berating poor Kenji for getting hit by a car. And now the entire department needed to pour through an entire month's worth of paperwork because their client refused to accept the order. It was missing an invoice, so during delivery, one shipment was mixed up, and a misplaced decimal point forced the client to pay much more than was agreed upon.
And besides the extra work, their year-end bonus was also cut because the company needed to pay reparation.
Just fantastic.
And the man who was responsible? In another one of his tantrums, the victim this time was none other than Suzuki Satoru.
"The hell you mean you want a day off? Can't you see what mess we are in?" Spittles sprayed everywhere.
His boss, the manager of the department, Mr. Wazaki, was a fat man. Well, more fat than man. He took up more space inside the office than the furniture themselves.
Plump-cheeked and red-faced even when not angry, and he was rarely not angry, he looked like an ogre. He had the temper of an ogre, too. There was never a day that went by where Wazaki wasn't screaming or yelling at someone. Satoru's boss was also lazy and incompetent, never once took matters into his own hands, preferring to slave away his employees regardless of their wants and needs.
Satoru was sure that if Wazaki could get away with it, he would force everyone in the department to eat and sleep in the office, doing his job for him all day every day, never able to go home.
"I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Wazaki, but this is beyond my control. I need to fix my ID. I can't do anything for the company if I can't leave the district. If one day is not possible, then I ask for half a day off to get it fixed."
Wazaki would never accept the notion that helping someone else was a valid excuse, so Satoru had to make it his problem.
The bloated mess before him rumbled, ready to spew out another round of verbal abuse. And he did. By the end, Wazaki's face was even more red than thought possible. But Satoru still got his half day.
Not even this sack of flesh in front of him could deny something as important as an ID.
"But your pay will be deducted by one full day." The spiteful tub of lard said.
"Thank you for your consideration, manager." Satoru hesitated for a second but asked just to make sure. "And about the one I mentioned…"
"Bring her for the interview as soon as possible."
"I understand," Satoru said and quickly left the room and returned to his desk before he got himself into more trouble.
Things went as well as he expected. Losing a day's pay wouldn't leave him starving. Though, usually, asking for a day off would harm his chance for a year-end bonus, but he had lost it already so there's no harm in asking now.
And he had just secured Keno's ticket to employment, so at least one thing good happened today.
He returned to his work, with so much to do and so little time. He chipped at the enormous amount of work until half-past eleven.
"All right! What do you guys want to have for lunch today?" One of his coworkers called out.
Company policy states that lunch breaks start at 12 sharp, and last for one hour. But that would just barely be enough time to buy food and eat them. So the entire office, including the manager, agreed that one person was allowed an additional half hour to order food and bring it back for everyone.
"Takoyaki!", "Soba!", "Udon!", one by one, everyone inside the office said as the one whose turn to order food today noted down everything on a notepad. Satoru himself doesn't have any preference, so he usually just picks the last thing he hears. Udon, then.
The food arrived just in time for the break. His bowl of udon was still steaming when it was served. He ordered it as plain as he could, to be economical, so it's just noodles, broth, imitation shrimp tempura, and aburaage. Even then, it still cost twice the cost of a tube of nutrient paste, and one tube could feed him for multiple days. Still, people would look at him weird if he was the only one not ordering food.
Around him, everyone was enjoying their meals. Some settled into their groups and ate together. They joked and argued and gossiped and talked and laughed about nothing and everything. He was content to just watch since he wasn't familiar with the things they talked about. The scene reminded him of his guildmates and the things they talked about. He wished the weekend would come sooner.
Others he saw, like him, eat on their lonesome, and a few even work while they eat.
Wazaki ate in his office and preferred to stay away from the 'riff-raff', as Satoru heard him say from time to time. Wazaki liked no one, and no one liked Wazaki. His eating alone was best for all involved.
After lunch time was over, everyone went back to their desk and back to work, and the rest of the day went by without trouble.
It seemed Wazaki was content with just the morning tirade. Maybe he was busy with his work and didn't have the time for any more tantrums. Satoru doubted that was the case. Or maybe the old windbag was happy that he could fill the vacant spot without effort on his part. That seemed more likely.
He shouldn't think about that now that the day was over. It would just put him in a bad mood, anyway.
The smog was finally back to normal. He could actually see where he was going instead of relying on intuition to move forward.
He walked past shop after shop, restaurant after food stall. It was night already and their neon signs lighted the sidewalk in colourful patches of multi-coloured lights, brighter than the street lamps.
Normally, he would ignore them, since he never really cared about what they sell. But today, suddenly one place caught his attention.
"Curry… rice…" he read the brightly lit sign on the side of the store.
There were dozens of other dishes and drinks on the sign, but only one item caught his attention. Would he buy it? Should he buy it?
Maybe not. He shouldn't waste money like that.
But how long had it been since he had eaten curry rice? How long had it been since he had actual food for dinner?
No, let's not waste money.
"I miss eating rice…"
"Mom! Mom! I want to eat curry rice! I want to eat curry rice!"
Maybe just once in a while. After all, it had been a long time.
He bought two boxes. One for him and one for Keno. They were not expensive, but not exactly cheap either. Rice, while not a luxury food like fruits and vegetables, still costs a decent Yen when compared to other, more economical options.
The reason it cost the way it did was that Japan could not produce its own rice ever since the World War, and must rely solely on imports from South East Asia, one of the few places where the soil remained relatively untouched after the bombs fell, and the subsequent nuclear fallout.
The two boxes were small, contrary to their costs. The packages were simple enough. A black plastic box with a clear plastic lid, showing the white rice inside, steam beginning to fog up the cover. With the rice came two packages of curry, the list of ingredients inked on the package's front.
Synthetic meat, potatoes and carrots flavoured flour cakes, salt, soy sauce, and another dozen chemical names that he didn't know what they were. Nor did he care actually, most likely just preservatives.
The food was piping hot, so he hurried home before they turned cold. And he needed to pick up the laundry, too.
After picking up the futon and the clothes, he went up to his apartment door and rang the doorbell. It sounded muffled as if caked in dust. It might have been. That was the first time he actually heard his doorbell in a long while. He didn't have friends who would come over and he didn't tell anyone his address. And the landlord never really had any problem with him since he paid rent in person and on time, every month.
So it was no surprise that the doorbell was unused for so long.
"Who is it?" The voice from inside his home asked.
"Me… Suzuki Satoru, who else?"
"I asked to make sure, no need to be rude about it."
The door shrieked open. An annoyed-looking girl stood before him.
"It doesn't get any less annoying each time it opens and closes."
"Yeah, yeah, I'll replace the door when I have the time. Now scoot over. You're letting the smog in."
She scoffed but moved aside anyway. The door shrieked itself close.
"What's that?" Keno asked, pointing at the package in his hand.
He gave them to her, "Curry rice," he said, "clean the plates and set them up for me, please. I'll go change."
"Curry rice? …What?"
"This morning, I heard you said you wanted to eat some rice. I kinda want to eat some too, so I bought them."
She looked at him, squinted her eyes, and looked as if she wanted to say something. But it seemed she thought better of it, shook her head, and left for the kitchen.
After he finished wiping himself with a wet cloth in the bathroom. Water bill, and all that. He went to the kitchen with a fresh change of clothes.
Inside he saw Keno, the rice and curry were plated up and still hot.
"You could just eat without waiting for me."
"I could, but it would seem rude after you bought them for me."
"Like I said, I didn't buy them for you. I bought them for myself mostly… It had been a long time since I ate them." He said as a wave of nostalgia hit him. He had forgotten how long had it been since he had eaten curry rice.
The food tasted… good, even he must admit. And it seemed Keno agreed, too. She was beaming while eating it.
They ate in silence, but a comfortable one, unlike the awkwardness of this morning.
How long had it been since he ate dinner with another person?
Ever since… Mom…
He kept putting food into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed, despite no longer having an appetite. He shouldn't waste food.
Before long, they were both done with their meal.
"Did the pills arrive yet?" He asked.
"Yeah, they arrived just a couple of hours ago."
"That's good then. You should take them before going to sleep. I'll go to my room now. So… good night, … I guess."
"Yeah… good night."
And they parted ways. He headed back to the room at the end of the hallway, taking the futon with him, and she went to his bedroom and latched it.
In his room, he laid the futon down, preparing for his sleep tonight. But before that, he still had something important left to do.
He sat on the chair, plugged himself in, put on the helmet and before long, Satoru returned to the life that he chose instead of the life he was born with. Together with his truest friends, they went on another adventure.
AN: Sorry for being so late but college has been keeping me busy, so future updates would likely be as late, if not even more late than this one. But rest assured readers, the scene that I wanted to show you guys, the scene that I wrote this for has yet to come so I no need to worry about me abandoning this fic.
I have also started to refine my writing and actually think about how I write my sentences. If you guys like it, please tell me, your comment made my day all the better each time I saw one.
That's all I have to say for now, see you next chapter!