Sojiro Sakura

This meant I needed to get a second train in Shibuya Station to get to Yongen-Jaya. I got off the second train at Yongen station. I went up the escalators to the Yongen-Jaya backstreets and began to walking to where I would be living for the next year. All I knew about the man who would be taking me in for the year was that his name was Sojiro Sakura and that he lived in this area. I knew nothing about him.

He was not a friend or relative. I did not know why he accepted to take me into his home. From what I was told, his house would be on the backstreets of the residential area.

I walked over to a house that had "Sakura" engraved onto the plate besides the gate.

I assumed this must have been Sojiro Sakura's house. I rang the doorbell but it didn't look like anyone was gonna answer it. Maybe Sojiro had gone out.

"It looks like no one's home," muttered a parcel deliveryman behind me. "Oh yeah, Sakura-san's usually at his cafe around this time. Well, Leblanc's in the back alley., so I should make my other deliveries first. Mmm, next I need to take package to..."

I walked to a place that read "coffee & curry Leblanc".

This looked like the place. I opened the door and stepped inside. The news was on.

"A public transit bus was driven down an opposing lane with it's customers still in it! The citizens can't live in peace if this keeps up."

"How frightening." said an elderly male customer.

"What could be going on?" asked an elderly woman who I assumed is his wife. "Didn't something similar happen just the other day?"

The manager was just sat on his stood, looking at his newspaper. He was a middle aged man wearing a pink shirt beneath an ivory apron. His receding hair was black and he'd stylised his beard to a point. He didn't seem to notice me come in.

"And down is... the name of a shellfish used in pearl farming." he said before looking up to see me.

"Oh, right," he said gruffly. "They did say it was today."

The elderly couple stood up and turned towards the manager.

"We'll be going now." said the old man. "The payment's on the table."

"Thanks for coming."

"This place is in the back alley, so there's no worries of a car crashing in here."

"A what now?"

"There's been a string of those rampage accidents, you know. I just hope that none happen around here."

"It's none of my concern." the manager said, nonchalantly.

The old man laughed.

"We'll see you next time."

The old couple left.

"Four hours for just a single cup of Joe," said the manager. "So, you're John?"

"Uh, yes sir." I said.

"Uh-huh. I'm Sojiro Sakura. You'll be in my custody over the next year. I was wondering what kind of unruly kid would show up but you're the one, huh? Have you been told? A customer of mine and your parents know each other and... Well, not that that matters. Follow me."

Sojiro took me upstairs to a messy attic. There was a heavy looking box in the centre with my name on it.

"This is your room," he said.

I wasn't sure what I had been expecting but stuffed into what was essentially a large storage area wasn't it. It wasn't even a clean attic.

"I'll at least give you sheets for your bed. You look like you want to say something?"

"It's cluttered." I said.

"It's on you to clean up the rest," Sojiro said, gruffly. "I'll be leaving after I lock up each day. You'll be alone at night but don't do anything stupid. I'll throw you out if you cause any trouble. Now then, I got the gist of your situation. You protected some woman from a man forcing himself on her, he got injured, then sued you. Right?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"That's what you get for sticking your nose in a matter between other people. You did injure him, yeah?"

"Not really, you see-"

"And now that you've got a criminal record, you were expelled from your high school. The courts ordered you to transfer and move out here, which your parents also approved. In other words, they got rid of you for being a pain in the ass."

"It was more like **** approval."

"It's best you not talk about anything unnecessary. I am in the restaurant business, you know? Behave yourself for the year. If nothing happens, you're probation will be lifted."

"Probation?"

"Really now? It's the word that applies to you. Your sentence lasts until next spring, right? That's why you're gonna be here for the coming year. Cause any problems and you'll be sent straight to juvie. We'll be going to Shujin tomorrow."

"Shujin?"

"Shujin Academy, the school you'll be attending."

Shujin? The place is literally named Prison Academy? And given my situation, attending the place was god level irony.

"We'll introduce yourself properly to the staff there. There's rarely a place that'll accept someone like you, you know. What a waste of my Sunday," Sojiro sighed before motioning to my box. "Your luggage arrived a little while ago. I brought it up here for you."

I'll be living here starting today. I should check out what's in here. It was lit with bare lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling. I looked round to see a desk with a stack of books on top. No one can use this as a desk while it's like this. The sofa was covered in dust. It looked like I could still use it but I'd have to clean it first. The box containing my luggage was full of clothes and daily necessities like disinfectant and a feather duster. This was my room so I just had to make do and the first order of business was to creep downstairs to find a mop a bucket and start cleaning. It took the rest of the afternoon to get the attic in some sort of liveable state. I dusted the windows, disinfected the table and couch, cleaned the ceiling beams to the floor until the mop was grey with dust and restarted. I opened the box long enough to fish out a plain black shirt and a pant of sweatpants that were my PJs before moving it to one of the shelves. Before I knew it, it was evening. The work desk and bookshelf were still covered in dusty books and the corner with the plant was still filled with junk but I had done as much as I could for tonight. Hopefully, I'd be able to finish it up soon enough. Sojiro came back wearing a slick white jacket and fedora.

"What the heck?" he said. "I heard you making all sorts of noise up here but I didn't think you were cleaning. Actually, the place doesn't look too bad. Though, it's only natural you've want to keep you room tidy. Why don't you go to bed for tonight? You don't have anything better to be doing, right? I'm going to close up shop and get out of here myself. I won't be the one looking after you if you get sick from staying up too late, you got that?"

"Not a problem, Sakura-san," I said. "You have a good night."

Sojiro huffed before going downstairs. I was actually quite tired and looking forward to getting some sleep. Starting today, this is my room.

Tomorrow I'd see what my brand new school was like. I changed into my PJs and went to sleep. Laying on my bed, I thought about my arrest, the trial, the criminal record. Still, I couldn't just let that go. I did the right thing. I couldn't leave with that drunk.