Tsubaki | Fushiguro Toji Fanfiction

Chapter Three

Satoru won't stop admiring his new uniform. After getting his things from his new school, he made it his business to wash, dry, and press his uniform for the day he goes to school. His mother said that he was going to start in a week, giving him some time to adjust to their new home, which he appreciated but the longer he waited and the more he saw the other students walking around wearing the black gakuran uniform he wanted to go to school now. This says a lot considering the boy hated school.

Four more days before he started school, and during those days all Satoru did was accompany his mother on her job searches or shop for some kitchen appliances they needed, and his school supplies. He would get an occasional call from his cousin, Yuuta, who grew fond of him and begged him to come and play but the Okkotsus lived quite far from their apartment and he wasn't sure if his aunt would be comfortable if he would just barge into their home. Also, he wasn't sure if his attention span with playing with a toddler would last that long.

During the boring days, he was left at home while his mother went on job interviews to get part-time jobs while her application to the college to be an instructor has yet to reply, he would go on with his usual routine back when they were still in Fukuoka. His grandfather was quite strict when it came to disciplining the mind and body and would have him do exercises. He did his routine of push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, and handstands on the balcony, then he did the postures for his martial arts training.

Every Gojo needs to be a master in martial arts, and before they left he was getting Jujustu lessons as well as swordsmanship. He has yet to hold an actual katana but he has a sparring katana – which he left back at Fukuoka. If only he knew that they were staying in Tokyo indefinitely, he would have packed more stuff. But no point in sulking about it now.

He was finished with his training routine and it was just noon, he realized. Sighing, Satoru decided to get a bath before stepping out of the house and meet some people or get familiar with the town. As soon as he stepped out of the shower, he heard the door of their home open. It was his mother, she just got back from a job interview – which job, he wasn't so sure. She's been applying to any kind of job there was, it disappointed him a little to see her ask around the shops for a job when she was more than capable and more than qualified to be teaching in that college or run a company! Yet here she was begging for a job as a florist or a waitress or a storekeeper.

Do they even know who his mother was? Who they were?

"Hey, sweetie, did you go for a run?" Kyouko asked.

"No, I was – I did my training then I took a shower. What about you, how's the job hunt?" Satoru went to his room to get dressed, but he still listened to his mother as she told him about her morning.

"Not so well, but there's this nice bookstore that was looking for some help, and the owner and I hit it off pretty well. I hope that leads to something."

A bookstore? Satoru thought as he put on his shirt. Is that what she sees herself now?

"What about the Arts Instructor job? Did you hear anything from them yet?" Hope was in Satorus's tone, and he had been praying that his mother would get that job.

"Not yet, but I'm not getting my hopes up on that. I haven't had any teaching experience for a while and I haven't painted either."

When she meant she hadn't had any teaching experience, Satoru knew she stopped working when she had him. But painting... his mother used to paint a lot when he was a kid.

"I think it's time that we be realistic about these things and appreciate whatever comes in first," his mother said.

Coming from his room, Satoru was about to tell his mother off for her choice of occupations but decided to hold his tongue when he saw her sitting on the tatami with her back against the wall. Her shirt's sleeves were pulled up to her elbows and her hair was tied in a loose bun. She was sweating from the heat and the turtleneck didn't help. Seeing her tired state, he went to their refrigerator and handed her a cold glass of water.