Hakuta woke up the next morning exhausted. Having to change his sleeping location during the night did not help things at all. Fortunately, the hotel room he was sharing with Shiuka had two beds. Her dad really spared no expense during their short stay here.
It also seemed from the knocking on their door, their parents spared no time wasted at all. The kids had slept in to nearly 11, while it seemed that their dads had already gone shopping. Surprising, seeing as those two men had spent so long on an island with little to eat, drink, and poor comfort in their sleeping conditions.
“Look at what we got for you.” Said Touko, tossing bags onto their beds. Their dads had already gone shopping for the morning and picked up some clothes for their children to wear.
“Thanks.” Hakuta went into the bathroom first to get changed. As expected from his request last night, his clothing were a bunch of dusty rags picked from a nearby thrift store. They felt a little uncomfortable, but hopefully by the end of the weekend. He’d be in the comforts of home once more.
“I got those on a bargain.” His dad bragged as Hakuta exited the bathroom and switched spots with Shiuka. “All of that, just for under 1000 yen.”
Heheh, I told him he didn’t have to be that frugal.” Said Kankichi. Hakuta would have to agree. All he was worried was that he dad would go crazy and buy way more than a few sets of clothes. After a while waiting, Shiuka finally came out to show them what she got from her dad.
“Whoa…” Hakuta jaw dropped when he saw her new outfit. Unlike with what he got, her dad went to a much nicer store to grab clothes for his daughter. She looked so cute in that frilly pink shirt which matched her hair and light blue blouse to round things out. All this and she still hadn’t put on makeup for the day.
“I think you’re staring.” His dad teased him, which prompted the boy to react by crossing his arms and looking away in arrogant fashion. “Anyway, I bet the two of you are hungry. So we’re going to grab some hotel food.”
“Aww, no restaurant?” Shiuka groaned in disappointment.
“Well I gotta save money somewhere.” Apparently their source of food was the line this man drew when it came to expenses. “Besides, we can have something nice for dinner later tonight anyway.”
“Makes sense to me.” Said Hakuta as his stomach growled. “I just want something in my belly right about now.”
“Great, then let’s head on to the sushi bar together.” Toukou wrapped his arm around his son’s neck and dragged the boy along. It was completely unnecessary, but he wanted to be alone with him so that they could discuss important things. Plus, it would be nice if Kankichi was able to also spend some alone time with his daughter.
“Well, This better be worth it.” He said as they share a couple of rolls. “I’m guessing you wanted to talk to me about the housing situation.”
“Yeah, while we were out shopping. I was checking some listings on this booklet the hotel has.” The man dropped down a massive book in front of them. With it’s size, Hakuta was surprised he didn’t notice his father holding it. Where was he keeping it this entire time? “I’ve seen a few that look interesting, but there’s one that I just fell in love with.”
“Well? Don’t keep me waiting.” He commanded him to open up the book as the crowd around them got larger and larger. It was the lunch hour rush, so people were getting off on break to relax and grab a bite.
“It’s this one right here.” He pointed to a listing that was already circled by him.
“Wow.” As he peered over the listings, Hakuta couldn’t help but be impressed by all the amenities it offered over their old house. Full kitchen, two large bedrooms, and a spot for him to be able to set up a place to play video games. All of that at a great price. “Wait a minute.” However, there was one important detail that caught his eye and gave the boy pause. “This isn’t in town.”
“I know.” That was the part he was most worried for. “It’s just the next town over, but if I pick that house… Well.” It was obvious what that meant for the both of them. Not only would they leave the town they had grown to love, but Hakuta would also have to say goodbye to all his friends. He wouldn’t be able to see Shiuka anymore…
“So what do you think?” He had to ask out of concern. Was this really the option his dad favored the most?
“I was hoping to take your feedback.” Out of all the places, it was Toukou’s favorite. But he understood it would put more stress onto his son. And after all the things that had happened to this point, he wished he wouldn’t have to continuing putting more onto his own child.
“You…” He wanted to say no. Hakuta wanted to tell his dad to go search and find something here. But, he just didn’t have it in his heart to reject the offer outright. “You should be the one making the decision.” After all, that was still his father. And it was also thanks to that man’s risk taking that they finally came into enough money to find a place like this. “I’ll support you either way.”
“If that’s what you want.” He picked up the booklet and hid it away. The mood of their conversation dimmed after the revelation to the young teen. The idea of having to uproot the life he had known for years here was frightening. As he peered over to where Shiuka was sitting and eating with her dad, he wondered how she would take the news.
After the two pairs were finished with lunch. There was some time to kill as they waited on the new on when they’d be able to return to the Otari residence. As nice as this hotel was, they were missing on many of the important factors of joy for entertainment. Such as Hakuta’s prized possession in his Toystation.
“Are you all right?” Shiuka asked him as he laid on his bed. The TV in the room was the only source of anything to help keep his mind off the possible bad news. “You’ve been quiet ever since lunch.”
“It’s just that…” He debated internally on whether he should tell her. After all, this girl had to have known he was about to move out now that his dad had returned with tons of cash. However, even she was most likely not prepared to no longer see him at all in her life. No more times together in class or during school events. “I think my dad and I… We’ll be moving away soon.”
“What?” That caught her attention as she sat straight up on her bed. He explained to her about the listing his dad had found. How the man was so excited to be able to move into this one place that was a town away.
“It looks like I’m going to be leaving the school soon too.”
“Well, how come you didn’t try to stop him?” The two had different ideas on how to approach the problem. “I’m sure there’s plenty of places you can move in around here.”
“I wanted to, but…” It was difficult to explain on why he couldn’t say no. The reasoning was mixed with not feeling it was his place to tell his dad what to do when he was finally making good choices. And another was he couldn’t confront on why he wanted to stay. “It doesn’t matter, I was going to move out anyway.” That much should’ve been obvious to all of them the second he moved in.
“Then, what are we doing just sitting in here?” She jumped out of bed and starting to pull him out too.
“Hey, what are-” He attempted to ask her a question, but was cut off as she yanked him down. The boy fell hard onto the ground with a loud thud. “Okay, maybe you might want to explain what you’re doing before I get real angry.”
“We don’t have that much time before you have to leave, right?” She asked. “So, we should try to make the most of it.”
“I did say it was only a possibility.” It was true that he could simply be overthinking things. Just because he said his dad had the final say didn’t mean that man would just go straight for it. After all, Toukou had even asked for his feedback before just going for it. Maybe that concern for his son would change his mind.
“Great, you’re still in here.” And it seemed they’d be getting his answer right now. “We’ve got some great news.” Hakuta’s dad opened the door and behind him was also Kankichi.
“The first big news is this is our last night here at the hotel.” Shiuka’s dad explained to them that the people he hired to take care of their mystical bug problem was nearly complete in their job. It was truly amazing news, even if they didn’t understand how those people were able to do it.
“And I took what you said earlier to heart.” Said Toukou directly for Hakuta. “We’ll go for the house I picked out for us. I already called them and they’re willing to let us move in immediately.”
“R-really?” The young boy responded. A part of him wanted to congratulate his dad and celebrate on getting a new home for themselves. This should be considered good news, but he wasn’t expecting it to come so soon. Hakuta thought he’d have more time even if the man went with that option. “Um, that’s great to hear.” He finally answered, a bit less enthusiastic than he wanted to sound.
“It is.” His dad hugged him around the neck. “We finally have a home again. And I know it’ll be hard to leave behind your friends, but we’ll try to make the best of it.”
“Yeah… We will.”
