Sojiro Sakura

He was the one I was told would be taking care of me for the year. This meant I needed to get a second train in Shibuya Station to get to Yongen-Jaya. I arrived at Yongen-Jaya Station without any issues and shortly after, I went up the escalators to the Yongen-Jaya backstreets. The walk thing I noticed upon my arrival was how quiet it was. It was a welcome change of pace after spending so much time in a noisy and crowded environment like Shibuya. I 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 but there things had been arranged without my say and I was told nothing by anyone other than to do as I was told. From what I was told, his house would be on the backstreets of the residential area. I finally arrived at the address of Sojiro Sakura. I took a moment to check the nameplate to the left of the doorbell.

I rang the doorbell the instant I saw "Sakura" engraved onto the nameplate but it didn't look like anyone was gonna answer it.

Maybe Sojiro had gone out. It seemed like I wasn't the only person who had business with Sojiro. A parcel deliveryman approached the house, carrying a package in one arm.

"It looks like no one's home," he muttered before it suddenly hit him. "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..."

It looked like a had a cafe to find.

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

This looked like the place. I opened the door and stepped inside as a small bell rang to signal by entrance. It was a series of booths that lined the wall with a simple wooden bar opposite them. 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, who looked to be about in his fifties, 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, putting his newspaper down. "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?" the manager said, caught by surprise by the comment.

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

"It's none of my concern." the manager said, nonchalantly as his eyes quickly glanced over to me.

The old man only chuckled, "We'll see you next time."

The old couple took their leave and it was only after the door shut that Sojiro sighed loudly in exasperation.

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

"That's me, Sakura-san." 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?" the manager commented.

"Um, yeah."

"Have you been told?" he asked me. "A customer of mine and your parents know each other and... Well, not that that matters. Follow me."

Sojiro pushed himself off the stood and waved me over. I followed him to the back and up a narrow staircase to a cluttered, dusty, messy attic, or more accurately, a storage room from the look of it, that was unpleasant to look at. Why is he showing me this? There was a heavy looking box in the centre with my name on it.

"This is your room," he simply told me.

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

"I'll at least give you sheets for your bed."

I really didn't know what to say, only looking around the room with a blank expression. So I get a dirty storage room to live in?

"You look like you want to say something?" Sojiro prompted, raising an eyebrow.

I jumped slightly and turned back to.

"Oh, um, it's spacious. I mean if you take out all the boxes and clutter, it could be a big bedroom." I remarked before going silent.

"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."

I blinked at his bluntness.

"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?"

There was no response from me, I just averted my gaze and stayed quiet.

"That's what you get for sticking your nose in a matter between other people,"

Sojiro's words were like a slap to my face.

"Yes, sir." I slowly nodded.

"You did injure him, yeah?" Sojiro continued.

"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."

I could only nod my head.

"Cause any problems and you'll be sent straight to juvie," Sojiro's tone was harsh and assertive.

"I understand." I sighed.

"Good. We'll be going to Shujin tomorrow."

"Shujin?" I repeated.

"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."

"I know." I said.

"What a waste of my Sunday," Sojiro couldn't keep himself from complaining before motioning to my box. "Your luggage arrived a little while ago. I brought it up here for you. Girls always seem to have a lot, huh."

I looked at the large box behind Sojiro.

"Oh, it was only the necessities but thank you." I replied.

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. I made my way over to the cardboard box in the centre of the room. I opened it up and saw that I was full of clothes and daily necessities like disinfectant and a feather duster. This was my room so I just had to make do, so I decided that it would be best to start cleaning now. 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. By the time evening fell, the place was organised and liveable to a degree that I could be happy with. There was no real room to put my clothes so I had to use my box.

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 up the stairs wearing a slick white jacket and fedora. He looked over the room with a surprised look and focused on me in the centre.

"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. A woman's touch to the place got it clean. 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?"

All he received as a response was a loud yawn from me. 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 walked over to the cardboard box containing my clothes. I pulled it out and opened it up to get my sleepwear out. I changed into my PJs and went to sleep. Laying on my bed, I thought about my arrest, the trial, the criminal record. I got in so much trouble for helping someone out. Still, I couldn't just let that go. I did the right thing. I couldn't leave with that drunk.