"the usual price obviously, snake."
"right...stop fucking smoking you're gonna fucking suffocate me before i can give you the money." he waves his hand in front of his nose, attempting to clear out the smoke.
"urusai...youngsters like you should just shut up and i don't know...watch cartoons? hahahahaha." the old man gave her sadistic laugh as he snatches the money off him.
he turns and put his hand deep into his pocket, feeling the packet of white powder in it too.
"oh~looks who's here again~! it's snake~!" a lady swayed her hips side to side and walked towards iguro flirtily, her bra strap on her shoulder on the edge of falling.
"fuck off." he puts his hand directly on her face and pushes her to side. but to his surprise, she grabbed his hand.
"you're never fun." she slowly guides his hand down to her own cleavage to see what he would do.
"ew. stop it." he snatches his hand away and flings it around a little to show his disgust of what she just did.
"oi. fucker. this is kabukicho district. fucking remember that we're all here to make some not-so-pure money. scram." the lady's attitude instantly changed as she takes out a cigarette and lights it up as she talks.
"how ironic." he mutters under his breath ss he continues to walk out the dark alley, avoiding the spit she attempted to stain on his shoes.
"you're wasting your pretty face~with the mask of course." her voice distant as he sees the streetlights shining down on him.
should i go hone today?
nah fuck that. i don't have a home. that hell is not a home.
but fuck i still have what the old man wants.
"YOU SON OF A BITCH! WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?" he clenches his fist as he lets his father hit him in the cheek as he snatches the packet of powder from his palm.
"wear that stupid fucking mask everyday for what? in the end you're still a fucking monster."
he watches silently as his father hastily pours the white powder in his mouth, some of the remains falling out and formed a little circle on the floor.
"pft. you call me fucking pathetic when you're eating cocaine off the floor that has never been cleaned for months? give me a fucking break." he scoffs as he watches him desparately tries to pick up the little remains of the powder.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY YOU BASTARD?!" he dodges as his father tries to punch him in the face, making him stumble and fall to the ground.
"im going out for a week old man. there's extra white powder under those disgusting porn magazines you were looking at. manage yourself." he turns around and waves as he slow jogs until he sees his favourite spot.
train stations are the best man. why do they even abandon it?
it's cold though. hah. nothing i can do about it. that hell is colder with that old man of mine.
---
wait.
i probably shouldnt take this train.
i didn't meet her again for the past few days on the opposite train. i should take it.
he walks towards the opposite train, whistling a little bit.
now...who am i going to steal from today..?
he blinks slowly.
eyelids are so useful to hide contacts.
he puts on his black hat as he steps into the train, feeling the sudden cold breeze hit his skin. he got a little goosebumps but it went away as he finds a seat to sit down on.
i'll nap a little i guess...6:30...yeah i'll steal by 7.
"ah! i got lucky today!" iguro feels as the sit beside him suddenly felt a presence. his scrunches his trademark eyebrow and glares at the person who disrupted his sleep.
ohhhh fuck no. why is she doing here on this train?
he met those sparkling eyes that were staring
straight back at his.
pink and green...must be my unlucky color.
"i knew you'll go to the opposite train! your-"
"no." he replied instantly and looked the other way and tried to fall asleep on his other shoulder.
"you pinky promised!"
shut up.
"come onnn it's just your name! i'm not asking for your number..yet!" she starts tugging at his sleeve.
i'm trying to sleep. just magically go away or whatever. i don't wanna yell at a girl.
"or are you shy? it's okay~ you can say it to me quietly, i won't-"
"SHUT UP! gosh! i'm trying to fucking sleep woman!" he whipped his head and shouted at her, gaining everyone's attention as they whisper and mumur about his impoliteness shouting in the train.
she didn't say anything. but just a sad look on her face, she seat properly again, straightening herself.
he could see her nose getting redder and redder by second.
oh fuck. i just made a girl cry. a rich one too. they'll probably start judging me and point at me again if i don't do something now.
obanai or iguro?
"iguro." he whispered a little and went back to sleep again, lowering his hat even lower.
immediately, her face brightened as she faced him again. he could see her pinkish eyes in the corner of his eyes.
is that really something to cry over? getting yelled at by a stranger?
actually no that might be worse.
why do i care anyways? i didn't manage to steal anything today because of this...kid beside me.
"i'm mitsuri!" she says brightly with a wide smile at him, her face get closer and closer each second.
i usually takes the furthest seats so i could rest my head on the side pane but in this situation...
she's getting too close.
"you're too close." without any warning, he places his whole palm on her face and gently pushes her away, not wanting to hurt her by using too much force.
"oh! oh! sorry sorry! but i'm mitsuri!" she says again, still smiling.
"yes i know your name already...mitsuri..-san." he side glance at her when he says her name, trying to make sure he called her by the correct honorific.
"mhmm! just mitsuri is okay!" she whispers to him again, her face even closer as she tries to whisper directly in his ear.
does she know what's personal space?
"i don't even know you. i'm not going to call you by your name without honorifics." his sentence cane out a little muffles due to his mask, but mitsuri was able to hear him clearly.
"but i can call you iguro right!" she states.
is she making a statement or a question? how the fuck am i suppose to respond?
"don't know. don't care. you do you." he crosses his arms as he takes out his phone from his pocket, attempting to ignore her from now on.
"oh!! i know how to do that!! i can help you!!" she bends her head down and looks over his phone as he does a quiz on english language.
"you do you. right?" just as he was about to protest, she fires back his own statement earlier at him, leaving him a little speechless.
she takes out a little piece of paper and started to scribble something.
she then put it away and looks at him, waiting for an answer. not being able to do anything, he nods. she smiles and started to teach him.
" when the word after starts with a e i o u, the word to use is 'an'! for example..mhm..i have an apple! but not i have a apple! sounds weird right?? fun fact, the word 'unicorn' is an exception! it uses 'a' instead of 'an'!" she points a little at his phone.
iguro's a little surprised. she's quite a good teacher. she didn't miss out any important points and didn't tall about unecessary points to confuse him.
"why do you wanna learn english anyways?" she looked up to him, curious.
"i wanna leave this hell hole of a country." he says quietly with a grumble, not looking at her despite her being right in his face.
"same! we can leave together someday!" she smiles again, this time her tone a little sad.
what the fuck? you want to pack your bags and leave this country that treats you well with some guy you met a day ago that you don't even how his face looks like?
what is this? rich kid fantasy?
"you're rich. you don't have to leave." he locks his phone as he places it back into his pocket, adjusting the way he sits.
"mhmm...is that a reason why i can't leave?" she puts her index finger to her mouth, thinking.
come to think of it, did you purposely miss school just to see me? she's not even wearing her school uniform.
"hey. how dumb are you? why are you not wearing your school uniform?" he asks, a little angry.
his whole life, he has never been so blessed to be granted the opportunity to go to school. since young, he works part time at every place he can do survive and at the same time please that hell of a father. growing up, discovering the kabukicho district did make things a little better, but his life was constantly on the line has the people give glares and stares at him whenever he swings by.
ever since he got a phone, he learnt japanese all by himself everyday to the point where he could write a little. now, he decided that this country is a shit hole and wants to fly somewhere further. the USA maybe. some english foreign speaking country where people accept odd and not so fortunate people like him.
"...people in school...are not so nice." she says quietly, noticing his tone.
"i hate people like you. having the chance to go to school and learn stuff and you choose to throw it all away for some lowlifes in school. does reputation matter that much to you, miss rich kid?" he angrily says so, looking straight her at her, his eyes show his anger.
"stop calling me that...i want to go to school...but people there fake being nice to me..." she fidgets with her finger on her lap, confessing a little.
"huh? how so? tell me about it? they suck up to you because you're rich and all, right? so what if they're fake being nice? go out there and slap them or some shit." he takes out a gum and looks the other way, lowering his masks and throw his gum in, then looks back at her.
"...seems like i found the wrong person...i thought you could be a friend..." she takes her bag and places it on her lap, her grip tightening.
"i never told you to come to me for help. if anything, you need a therapist for your little high school problems." iguro swallows a little. he admits that it was a little harsh, but he had no money today, and he's practically starving since last night, he has to steal something soon if he wants to survive.
"i dont need a therapist! i'm not that sick!" suddenly, she raises her voice out of no where. iguro could tell something was strange, her tone was so desperate.
then, the train door open. she angrily walks out of the train door. iguro's eyes widen a little.
her legs are abnormally skinny. it looks like i could break it in half.
as the train door closes once again, a little note slipped out of her bag.
iguro picked it up, still not leaving from his seat.
what's this? it's so wrinkly.
he opens the paper out of curiousity.
oh fuck. i think i just got myself in deep trouble.
things i wanna do before i die!❤️
go to a bar!
eat 50 takoyaki!
make a friend! ✔️
she ticked that. wait, is this the paper she was scribbling on?
friend...huh?
he looks further down at the list.
go on a date!
fall in love!
get married!
her dreams weren't unachievable, it was rather normal high school girl's dream. what made iguro swallow hard was what she wrote at the end of the list.
countdown 30 days.
29 days.
28 days.
27 days.
26 days.
25 days.