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writetomyheart2025-03-04 04:50 pm
elindar.livejournal.com) wrote in writetomyheart2025-03-04 04:50 pm
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[team two] Kusoinaka, part 2
Juri's life is hard in inaka, ~1,300 words, G
“The car is also in need of fixing,” Juri’s great-aunt tells him over breakfast. “I haven’t driven it much since Kenjiro passed away… If you could take a look at it at some point and possibly take it to a repair shop? There’s one run by the Arais and it’s not that far from here...”
“Sure, grandma,” Juri cuts her off.
She’s been listing off different tasks she expects him to do and the longer the list goes, the more desperate Juri feels. He thinks he can handle fixing the roof and the door of the shed outside, but the tatami floor upstairs? The leaking pipe in the kitchen? The old ass bucking car? The vegetable and flower garden?
Luckily and unluckily, he’ll be stuck here the whole summer so he should have time to figure stuff out. And thankfully, great-aunt Hisako doesn’t seem to share his mother’s enthusiasm of waking Juri up at the crack of dawn so she can start pestering him. This morning, he slept soundly until eight thirty and walked downstairs to a delicious looking breakfast that he’s now finishing up. Apparently Hisako’s leg doesn’t hinder her in the kitchen, or so she keeps telling him.
“Thank you,” Juri tells her when he starts getting up from the table.
His knees crack a bit when he stands up; he isn’t used to sitting on the floor for so long. The low dining table is in the big tatami room in the middle of the house, which also serves as a living room. There’s an old TV on one corner and an altar for his great-uncle and Hisako’s parents on another.
When Juri’s leaving, his great-aunt comes out of the kitchen and places a new plate of white rice on the altar and lights up incense. The scent mixes with her strong perfume that she’s probably used since the 90s. It brings childhood to mind.
“I’ll go check the car for now and then drop by the conbini quickly,” Juri tells his great-aunt. “Can you manage for a while? Do you need something from the store?”
“Oh no, thank you, dear. You should take my old bike, it’s by the shed outside. You can get around faster with that.”
“Uh, thanks.” Juri doesn’t remember when was the last time he rode a bicycle but accepts the offer. And once the car is hopefully fixed, he can at least drive around.
Juri’s just about to leave when he remembers something. He turns around. “By the way, grandma, how’s the wifi around here?”
“The what?”
“Wifi? Where’s your router?”
His great-aunt turns to look at him, a confused expression on her face. “What?”
“Uh, internet? You do have internet here? And a computer?”
“Oh no, I don’t! If I need to use a computer, I go to the Takedas next door. They have two computers and I can always borrow the other. I use the one with a bigger screen.”
“Oh... I—I see.”
Unbelievable.
—
Juri quickly checks the car like promised, and as he’s suspected, he has no idea what’s wrong with it or what to do. If his father or oldest brother were here, they could probably be of use, but Juri himself is just a useless freeter whose main knowledge consists of gaming and computers.
So, Juri closes the hood of the car and heads to the conbini, which he hopes will now be open at 10am. Upon his great-aunt’s suggestion, he takes the bicycle. The tires could use some air and the pedals squeak as Juri curves out of the yard and on along the deserted road.
The convenience store is open.
It’s not a Family Mart in downtown Tokyo but it’s better than nothing. Juri weaves his way between the shelves, stocking up some snacks, energy drinks and the newest weekly manga magazine. When he’s done, he steps in the line for the cashier. There’s only one customer before him so he thinks it’ll be quick. He couldn’t be more wrong.
The customer is apparently an acquaintance, judging by the familiar way he keeps chatting with the older lady behind the counter.
“Our cow gave birth last night,” Juri hears him telling. “We got a healthy calf. I was helping my mom with it so I’ve barely slept.”
“Oh, but that’s great, Shin-chan! Give your mother my greetings. I have those seeds for her that she was asking for.”
And so on.
Juri stands there, waiting, and heaves a deep sigh as the cow guy just keeps on blabbering with the lady. Juri eyes his getup while he’s at it, all judgemental: muddy rubber boots, blue overalls with a white (dusty) tee and a towel wrapped around his head like a real country pumpkin. Also... There’s this weird, kind of bad smell coming from somewhere. It’s like a mixture of dung, dirt and hay.
Once the guy finally moves out of the way and Juri promptly steps to the counter after him, he quickly locates the origin of the smell and kind of wants to gag. He resists, though, and pulls out his wallet and card while the cashier lady packs his stuff.
“That would be 2,240 yen,” the lady says as she hands Juri the bag. Her face falls when Juri offers her the card, though.
“Oh, I’m sorry, we only accept cash…”
“What?” Juri must’ve heard wrong.
“Yes, no cards here, I’m afraid.”
Juri can only gape there for a couple of seconds. Only cash? In the 21st century, in a post-Covid world?
“Um, I don’t have any cash...” He’s only got like a couple of ten yen coins that have been lying on the bottom of his purse since probably 2019.
“Excuse me? I can lend some?”
The annoying, blabbering cow guy is still there, and apparently he’s heard the exchange as he approaches Juri with a wallet in hand. Juri shakes his head.
“No, no, I can’t accept that...”
“Come on, it’s fine. You can pay me back later.” The guy gives the lady 3000 yen and accepts the change. He smiles at Juri and waves off his bow and thanks. Now that Juri sees him better, he realizes the dude is younger than he first thought. Around his age, perhaps.
“You were here yesterday, with the suitcase,” the guy says as they walk out together.
“How do you—” Juri starts to ask, then connects the dots. “Oh, it was you.”
The guy nods and gestures towards the very same white van Juri saw here yesterday.
“So, now you know how conbinis work around here. Close at 8, only accept cash.” The guy grins; he grins a lot.
Juri sighs, just to be dramatic. “What a nightmare.”
“You’ll get used to it,” the guy says and shrugs. “You’re here for summer holiday? Or for an onsen weekend?”
”I wish,” Juri utters a dry laugh. ”I’m staying at my great-aunt Hisako’s nearby. Helping her out for a while.”
“Oh, at Mrs. Tanaka’s?” The guy’s eyes widen comically. ”You’re the young relative from Tokyo!”
“Chiba, actually,” Juri corrects and suddenly feels a bit awkward under the guy’s exploratory gaze. He wonders if the whole village knows about him already. “But yeah, that’s me. News travels fast here, apparently.”
“You have no idea.” The guy’s smiling again. He has a nice smile, Juri finds himself thinking. Actually, he’s not bad looking either, once you look past the countryside getup and smell.
”But, welcome here, I hope you have a nice time.” The guy nods his head and starts walking towards his car. ”And don’t forget to pay me back at some point!”
Juri snorts. ”Sure.”
He looks at how the guy throws his shopping bag on the shotgun seat before rounding the car. Juri suddenly has an idea; the guy seems friendly and he already helped Juri once.
”Hey!” he calls. ”Do you happen to know how to fix cars?”
you're up,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tokyoskater!
“The car is also in need of fixing,” Juri’s great-aunt tells him over breakfast. “I haven’t driven it much since Kenjiro passed away… If you could take a look at it at some point and possibly take it to a repair shop? There’s one run by the Arais and it’s not that far from here...”
“Sure, grandma,” Juri cuts her off.
She’s been listing off different tasks she expects him to do and the longer the list goes, the more desperate Juri feels. He thinks he can handle fixing the roof and the door of the shed outside, but the tatami floor upstairs? The leaking pipe in the kitchen? The old ass bucking car? The vegetable and flower garden?
Luckily and unluckily, he’ll be stuck here the whole summer so he should have time to figure stuff out. And thankfully, great-aunt Hisako doesn’t seem to share his mother’s enthusiasm of waking Juri up at the crack of dawn so she can start pestering him. This morning, he slept soundly until eight thirty and walked downstairs to a delicious looking breakfast that he’s now finishing up. Apparently Hisako’s leg doesn’t hinder her in the kitchen, or so she keeps telling him.
“Thank you,” Juri tells her when he starts getting up from the table.
His knees crack a bit when he stands up; he isn’t used to sitting on the floor for so long. The low dining table is in the big tatami room in the middle of the house, which also serves as a living room. There’s an old TV on one corner and an altar for his great-uncle and Hisako’s parents on another.
When Juri’s leaving, his great-aunt comes out of the kitchen and places a new plate of white rice on the altar and lights up incense. The scent mixes with her strong perfume that she’s probably used since the 90s. It brings childhood to mind.
“I’ll go check the car for now and then drop by the conbini quickly,” Juri tells his great-aunt. “Can you manage for a while? Do you need something from the store?”
“Oh no, thank you, dear. You should take my old bike, it’s by the shed outside. You can get around faster with that.”
“Uh, thanks.” Juri doesn’t remember when was the last time he rode a bicycle but accepts the offer. And once the car is hopefully fixed, he can at least drive around.
Juri’s just about to leave when he remembers something. He turns around. “By the way, grandma, how’s the wifi around here?”
“The what?”
“Wifi? Where’s your router?”
His great-aunt turns to look at him, a confused expression on her face. “What?”
“Uh, internet? You do have internet here? And a computer?”
“Oh no, I don’t! If I need to use a computer, I go to the Takedas next door. They have two computers and I can always borrow the other. I use the one with a bigger screen.”
“Oh... I—I see.”
Unbelievable.
—
Juri quickly checks the car like promised, and as he’s suspected, he has no idea what’s wrong with it or what to do. If his father or oldest brother were here, they could probably be of use, but Juri himself is just a useless freeter whose main knowledge consists of gaming and computers.
So, Juri closes the hood of the car and heads to the conbini, which he hopes will now be open at 10am. Upon his great-aunt’s suggestion, he takes the bicycle. The tires could use some air and the pedals squeak as Juri curves out of the yard and on along the deserted road.
The convenience store is open.
It’s not a Family Mart in downtown Tokyo but it’s better than nothing. Juri weaves his way between the shelves, stocking up some snacks, energy drinks and the newest weekly manga magazine. When he’s done, he steps in the line for the cashier. There’s only one customer before him so he thinks it’ll be quick. He couldn’t be more wrong.
The customer is apparently an acquaintance, judging by the familiar way he keeps chatting with the older lady behind the counter.
“Our cow gave birth last night,” Juri hears him telling. “We got a healthy calf. I was helping my mom with it so I’ve barely slept.”
“Oh, but that’s great, Shin-chan! Give your mother my greetings. I have those seeds for her that she was asking for.”
And so on.
Juri stands there, waiting, and heaves a deep sigh as the cow guy just keeps on blabbering with the lady. Juri eyes his getup while he’s at it, all judgemental: muddy rubber boots, blue overalls with a white (dusty) tee and a towel wrapped around his head like a real country pumpkin. Also... There’s this weird, kind of bad smell coming from somewhere. It’s like a mixture of dung, dirt and hay.
Once the guy finally moves out of the way and Juri promptly steps to the counter after him, he quickly locates the origin of the smell and kind of wants to gag. He resists, though, and pulls out his wallet and card while the cashier lady packs his stuff.
“That would be 2,240 yen,” the lady says as she hands Juri the bag. Her face falls when Juri offers her the card, though.
“Oh, I’m sorry, we only accept cash…”
“What?” Juri must’ve heard wrong.
“Yes, no cards here, I’m afraid.”
Juri can only gape there for a couple of seconds. Only cash? In the 21st century, in a post-Covid world?
“Um, I don’t have any cash...” He’s only got like a couple of ten yen coins that have been lying on the bottom of his purse since probably 2019.
“Excuse me? I can lend some?”
The annoying, blabbering cow guy is still there, and apparently he’s heard the exchange as he approaches Juri with a wallet in hand. Juri shakes his head.
“No, no, I can’t accept that...”
“Come on, it’s fine. You can pay me back later.” The guy gives the lady 3000 yen and accepts the change. He smiles at Juri and waves off his bow and thanks. Now that Juri sees him better, he realizes the dude is younger than he first thought. Around his age, perhaps.
“You were here yesterday, with the suitcase,” the guy says as they walk out together.
“How do you—” Juri starts to ask, then connects the dots. “Oh, it was you.”
The guy nods and gestures towards the very same white van Juri saw here yesterday.
“So, now you know how conbinis work around here. Close at 8, only accept cash.” The guy grins; he grins a lot.
Juri sighs, just to be dramatic. “What a nightmare.”
“You’ll get used to it,” the guy says and shrugs. “You’re here for summer holiday? Or for an onsen weekend?”
”I wish,” Juri utters a dry laugh. ”I’m staying at my great-aunt Hisako’s nearby. Helping her out for a while.”
“Oh, at Mrs. Tanaka’s?” The guy’s eyes widen comically. ”You’re the young relative from Tokyo!”
“Chiba, actually,” Juri corrects and suddenly feels a bit awkward under the guy’s exploratory gaze. He wonders if the whole village knows about him already. “But yeah, that’s me. News travels fast here, apparently.”
“You have no idea.” The guy’s smiling again. He has a nice smile, Juri finds himself thinking. Actually, he’s not bad looking either, once you look past the countryside getup and smell.
”But, welcome here, I hope you have a nice time.” The guy nods his head and starts walking towards his car. ”And don’t forget to pay me back at some point!”
Juri snorts. ”Sure.”
He looks at how the guy throws his shopping bag on the shotgun seat before rounding the car. Juri suddenly has an idea; the guy seems friendly and he already helped Juri once.
”Hey!” he calls. ”Do you happen to know how to fix cars?”
you're up,
tokyoskater!