Ryotaro Dojima

Arriving at Yasoinaba Station, I heard a gruff voice call out to me, "Hey! Over here!"

There wasn't a lot of people waiting outside Yasoinaba Station, so I pretty much figured out the middle aged man with a young girl my own age hiding behind him, likely his daughter, was my uncle. I began walking towards the duo I saw.

"Well, you're more handsome in person than in your photo," he said.

Is he hitting on me?

"Welcome to Inaba. I'm Ryotaro Dojima. I'll be looking after you. Let's see, I'm your mother's younger brother and that about sums it up."

"It's been a long time." I said, my respond coming out quite than I wanted it to.

"I'll say. You've really grown. I still remember when you were in diapers."

I raised an eyebrow. He's seen me naked, as baby? Is he some kinda perv?

"This here's my daughter. Come on, Nanako, introduce yourself to your cousin."

"'lo." Nanako muttered a greeting I could barely hear, before retreating behind her daddy, trying to hide herself as much as physically possible.

Dojima chuckled, "What're you so shy for?"

Nanako slapped her father on the butt. Is she also a perv?

"Ow," Dojima continued laughing warmly, "Well then, let's get going. My car's over there."

I nodded and my uncle and Nanako headed to the car but before I could join them a feminine voice called out from behind me, "Hey."

I turned to see a rather unfriendly looking girl wearing an outfit that baffled me.

"Hey, you dropped this." she said, holding out a note I made for myself with Dojima's address with a look of complete disinterest.

"Thank you." I said, taking the note from her.

The girl waved her hand, "Whatever. All I did was pick it up."

If all the girls in Inaba look anything like her, then I think I'm in for an entertaining year.

"What's wrong?" Dojima questioned, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I climbed into the car and joined my family. Uncle Dojima needed to fill up his car and Nanako needed the restroom, so we stopped at the gas station at the corner of Inaba's central shopping district.

"Hi, welcome to Moel!" the attendant said.

"Can you go to the bathroom by yourself?" Dojima questioned.

"Uh-huh." said Nanako.

"It's in the back, to your left," the attendant said. "You know which way's left? The side that you don't hold your chopsticks in."

"I know, geez."

I stepped out the car.

"Are you taking a trip?" the attendant questioned.

"No, we just went to pick him up," Dojima stated. "He just moved here from the big city."

"The city, huh?"

"Fill up my car while you're at it. Regular's fine."

"Right away, sir!"

"Good a time as any for a smoke." Dojima said.

"Are you in high school? Does it surprise a city boy to see how little there is out here?" the attendant questioned. "There's so little to do, I'm sure you'll get bored fast. You'll either be hanging out with your friends or doing part time jobs. Speaking of which, we're actually looking for part-time help right now."

I shook my head. A bit early in my stay to start looking for work.

"Oh, I should get back to work." the attendant said.

Right at that moment, I was stricken by the worst headache of my life. Nanako was looking at me.

"Are you okay? Did you get carsick?" she questioned. "You don't look too good."

Could it be exhaustion from the long trip? Now that she mentions, I did feel a little ditzy.

"What's wrong? You okay?" Dojima questioned.

My uncle and cousin both looked me over, cleanly concerned I might be falling ill with something but the headache subsided pretty quickly.

"I just felt lightheaded." I said.

"That's understandable. It must have been a long trip for you. Why not take a little walk, get some fresh air? Just let me know when you're ready to go. I'll wait here. The shopping district is near the house, so you should get to know where all the stores are."

I took a walk and came back.

"How're you feeling? Ready to get back in the car?" Dojima questioned.

"I'm ready." I said.

"Alright, let's hit the road then."

It was almost sunset when we arrived at the Dojima residence. For the next year, this place will be my home.

"Alright, let's have a toast," said Dojima. "So, you're mom and dad are busy as always. They're working overseas, was it? I know it's only a year but getting stuck in a place like this because of your parents... It's rough. Well, it's just me and Nanako here, so it'll be nice having someone like you around. So long as you're here, you're part of the family, so make yourself at home."

"Yes, sir!" I said.

"Uh, right. Are you into military stuff?" Dojima questioned. "Well, anyway, let's eat."

After about five seconds, Dojima's phone rang.

"Ugh, who's calling at this hour?" Dojima groaned as he took out his phone, "Dojima speaking. Yeah? I see. So where is it? Alright, I'm on my way."

Dojima blipped her phone shut after hanging up.

"Looks like I made the right choice to skip the booze," he muttered before looking at me and Nanako. "Sorry but I gotta go take care of some business. Go ahead and eat without me. I don't know how late I'll be. Nanako, you help him out, okay?"

He's leaving this late for work? What kind of job drags him out of the house at dinner?

"Okay." said Nanako.

"Nanako, it's raining out. What did you do with the laundry!?" Dojima called out as he was about to head out the door.

"I already brought it in!" Nanako said with a small sense of pride but with a frown on her face.

"Alright, well, I'm off!" Dojima closed the front door, leaving the two of us to sit and eat in silence.

After a few minutes of neither ro us saying anything, Nanako turned the TV on, which was talking about this week's weather.

"...for this week. Next, let's take a look at the hourly breakdown of tomorrow's weather. With storm clouds moving in from the west, expect rain throughout the day tomorrow in most areas."

"Let's eat." said Nanako.

I found myself alone with Nanako. I might want to strike up a conversation.

"It must be tough." I said.

"It's always like this. My dad's a detective." Nanako head, turning back to the TV.

"And now for the local news. City council secretary, Taro Namatame, is under fire for an alleged relationship with a female reporter. His wife, enka ballad sensation Misuzu Hiiragi, revealed to this station that she will likely pursues damages. In response, Eye Television has decided to cancel all of announcer Mayumi Yamano's televised appearances. Until allegations of an affair with Mr. Namatame are resolved, she'll remain off the air and out of the public eye."

"This is boring." Nanako said as she changed channels until reaching the one thing that gave her solace, the annoyingly catchy jingle of the Junes department store.

"At Junes, everyday is Customer Appreciation Day. Come see for yourself and get in touch with our products! Everyday's great at your Junes!"

"Everyday's great at your Junes!" Nanako sang along happily and adorably to an ode of mass commercialism so that she wouldn't feel lonely at home, seemingly uplifting her gloomy mood. "Aren't you going to eat?"

With my energy reserves largely depleted, I went upstairs to the room I'd be borrowing from Dojima.

I'll be living in this for one year, starting today. I wondered if everything would be alright. School starts tomorrow so I hurried to bed.