Crossover Fan Fiction ❯ Enjoy The Silence ❯ Enjoy The Silence: 1 ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter 1

“No Dad, I’m happy for you. It’s great you found love. I just need some space in my life. I’m at that age, I guess. Two attractive young women in the house is just too much for me. I need to study for exams. I’ll call you once I get settled in,” I insisted.

Dad looked broken hearted, but I finished stacking up my boxes of personal stuff and pushed my bicycle out to the curb. The delivery truck quickly stacked my stuff inside and I signed their receipt. They closed a moment later and pulled away with all my earthly possessions, headed for my new home. I’d found another high school, near mount Fuji, somewhere I could be far away from this emotional time-bomb. I suppose writing teen drama novels had done me some good. I know better than to try and live through obvious trouble.

I arrived at Chiba station soon and looked at my home town, busy even on a Saturday, and said an internal goodbye to the place. I would return someday. Probably holidays to visit Dad and his new family.

I began what is going to be a fairly long journey. There are passenger trains which allow bicycles, thankfully, and I used one to work my way to Kai-Tokiwa station and my rented apartment in Minobu. Fuji got closer, bigger, and eventually dominates the horizon. The stratovolcano cone climbs up to 3,776 meters with snow on the top quarter. It is fall and there are red and yellow trees everywhere.

Exiting the train with my bike and a knapsack of travel essentials I shivered in the cold late-afternoon air. The air was sharp, and I could smell the snow in the area. The sun was making long sharp shadows, turning those into patches of nothing. The town center had shops lining the main street, with cars parked along both sides, probably tourists. Closer to the edge of town there were the larger stores that catered to those who actually lived here. I noted the hardware store, the grocery store, a laundromat, and various other essentials. I also spotted the high school on a nearby hill, with a sign pointing from the station.

A short bike ride with my phone acting as GPS eventually led me to my apartment building, down a north slope with a steep driveway and mostly below a busy road, with the upper story facing the traffic. I’d picked the upper story apartment thinking it would be quieter. The building was one of those two-story apartment buildings you see everywhere in Japan. Small, simple, cheap, and close to where I needed to be. I chained up my bike under the covered rack area, noting all the cars had spiked tires for winter use. Snow hadn’t fallen yet, but it will pretty soon.

The landlady answered her door on the second ring and showed me the place I’d be staying. It was like in the online photos. Very small, with a tiny kitchen and tiny bathroom with a shower stall. It smelled of cleaning products and the tatami mats were worn and needed replacing. My share of mom’s life insurance would pay the rent for the school year. I needed to be here that long before I could take my exams and go off to college. Hopefully my creative writing degree would teach me enough about publishing for money I wouldn’t have to work part time in restaurants or shops anymore. Or go back to a home where my utter failure as a man would be rubbed in my face.

My boxes were stacked up in the main room, delivered earlier that day. The truck had gotten here faster than the three trains I’d been forced to take from Chiba to Tokyo, and Tokyo to the slower passenger train for tourists and bicyclists, and the long waits between. But I was here. I messaged Dad my safe arrival along with a picture of my stuff and some shots of the small apartment. It should satisfy him. I unpacked various things, eventually finding my minimal kitchen stuff and suffered with ramen for dinner. Tomorrow I would go shopping for food.

Awakening on Sunday morning it was considerably colder and there was frost on the roofs I could see. I suffered with some microwave food for breakfast and dressed warmly. It was quickly apparent that part of the reason this apartment had been available was the frost-covered steps, the wet road, and the totally impossible options for getting around on a bicycle once winter actually came. But this was my choice so I was going to live with it.

I walked briskly in the bitter cold air until I reached the dry section of the sidewalk in the morning sun and walked along towards a nearby market, two kilometers away. I took in the sights, noting the homes with heaters and even fireplaces running, the smell of wood smoke on the air. It was early so the market’s parking lot was mostly empty but once inside I found it was stocked well enough and bought four bags of essentials and carefully got them home. In the intervening time the sidewalk was drying off and easier to walk at least. I found the steps were dry now too and toddled up to my apartment where I put things away. I would need another trip to the store, so I would ride there this time.

It was splashy and wet on the road but acceptable grip for the second trip to the town grocery store. Being a Sunday the market was busy. I picked up the rest of what I needed for my apartment, including some cleaning supplies and frozen food I hadn’t dared on the previous trip. I returned more quickly and got things put away, then cooked a real meal for lunch from actual food, not ramen again. I unpacked my boxes and researched local shopping options before setting out on my bicycle to see them in person, and tour their interiors to get some idea of what was available for both survival and comfort. And possibly some cheap used furniture as bookshelves, and a table to hold my TV, and a desk for my computer so I could write. I had to make sure it was light enough I could move it by myself. I don’t have any friends here. I can’t count on others. I sent photos to my Dad to reassure him I am fine here.

A warm breeze floated up the valley, Fall teasing me with incentive for a real bike ride. If I was less responsible I would probably bike up the road to where there’s a lake and a really nice view of Fuji-san. But I’m tired and I don’t have a light for my bike so I could get home safely, and so I didn’t do that.

Sunday eventually ended and I made a decent dinner, with a bit of meat in it, and a sauce to keep it tasty. I packed up the leftover into clear bento boxes for tomorrow’s breakfast and lunch and read a book until bed. Lights from passing cars kept flashing around my walls through the gap in the curtains. I sighed.