Chapter 1

People wake up everyday for two things: work and school. Grown-ups have to work for their families and themselves while students go to school for their futures.

And it's no different for two 26-year-old adult men who are occupying two rooms on the second floor of the old-styled Sekino House in the area of Kanda, where the Sekino Restaurant is situated on the ground floor.

These men are freelancers.

The man occupying Room 1 is a careless odd jobs freelancer, who can do anything you offer for money: Allen Aono.

A beige-haired man who always wears a hibiscus-patterned Hawaiian shirt with a white sleeveless underneath, shorts and a pair of flip-flops.

His first name is anglicized because he is legally an American man who decided to live in Japan and founded the AonOdd Jobs. But the name "Allen" is not far off from the Japanese name "Aren".

As an odd jobs man, he works at any place. Including his so-called office. He chose the room with two balconies with the wider one at the facade of the building.

The other one occupying Room 2 is a skillful freelance photographer who came not long after Allen: Yuichi Okumura.

A black-haired four-eyed gentleman who always holds a camera for a living while wearing a polo shirt and turned his room into his own studio.

Because of his skills as a photographer, the number of his clients slowly rises each time passes and his name will be prominent at that rate.

As they wake up and get out of their beds, they prepare for their respective activities today.

They cook their breakfast using the available appliances and brush their teeth right after. Allen dresses up with his usual style from his wardrobe and gets some fresh air first. Meanwhile, Yuichi prepares his equipment for his clients' wedding day.

Both simultaneously get out of their rooms through sliding doors and see each other in the corridor.

Allen notices Yuichi wearing his tripod bag by his shoulder. He tries to lend his hand and tells him, "Need some help, Yui?"

Yuichi, accustomed to carrying his equipment, responds, "There's no need. I can carry it on my own, I'm used to it."

Allen is left with no choice but to smile away. They walk downstairs with Yuichi behind.

Even after getting out of the building lot, they seem to be heading in the same direction.

Allen faces back and asks Yuichi, "I know you're going to a wedding but are you really heading in this direction or stalking me?"

"I'm not a stalker and why would I care about that?!" Yuichi answers with a slightly angry face.

He is already annoyed in the morning, although he doesn't really think Allen meant what he said.

He also asks Allen, "Did you get another errand?"

"A doge—I mean a Shiba Inu pup -- is wandering around the city so I have to find it and return it to its owner. And now, I'm heading to my starting point."

"I see."

It's been ten seconds and no one spoke. Allen breaks the silence, "Are you not worried about me tiring around the city and not able to look for it?"

Yuichi just smiles and confidently says, "Oh, you'll be fine. Besides, it's not your first time accepting a similar errand and you succeeded, of course."

With his hands in his pocket, Allen looks up at the sky thinking after hearing his fellow tenant's words. "You really have that much faith in me, huh?"

They converse and walk through the busy streets of Tokyo more until they reach the crossroad where they have to part ways.

"I'll be crossing the road now."

"Okay, I'll be going this way. Hope you don't forget your flash."

"Idiot, I never forget my equipment!"

Such moments between two freelancers only happen once in a while when they happen to have jobs outside their room offices early in the day. Normally, Allen would ride on his jitensha for transport. But today he's on an animal hunting job so he does not need his bike today.

While walking, Allen remembers something and mumbles, "Hmm, I think it's been a year since I came here in Japan. Time sure flies."

Murmuring those words, he looks back some time ago.

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Allen put down the final box in the living section of Room 1.

He wiped his sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand and loudly reacted, "Phew, this is tiring! It's getting hot in here!"

There was already an Ozaki-branded air conditioner installed but he preferred fresh air. So he immediately opened the balcony doors and let the air come in.

He sat down on the floor with his palms pressed against it and inhaled the fresh air. Although, he knew the city's air pollution.

"Haaaaaa! I know there's air conditioning but this feels nice at the moment."

All of a sudden, as if she was in a stage play, a voice of a woman loudly whispered in his ear, "You like the room already…?"

Allen's whole body vibrated by the woman's voice. Shocked, his body also decided to flip over.

"Hahahaha! Are you shocked?!" The woman laughed loudly and teased the new occupant. Allen sensed barbaric vibes in her.

"U, Um… who are you?"

The woman, who appeared to be in her fifties, introduced herself to her, again loudly, "I'm the landlady of the Sekino House and the owner of the restaurant downstairs, Riho Sekino! But you can call me Ino. People think I'm wild so they call me that name!"

'Yes, I can see that.' Allen compared the woman to a wild boar and the comparison seemed to be reasonable. But for a wild boar to sneak into his ears is unheard of.

Ino reached her hand on Allen who was still on the floor. "This is how Westerners greet, right?"

With that sentence, Allen knew her new landlady was already aware of her of his American citizenship. Allen smirked and held hands with her.

After the greeting with the landlady, he stood up and wanted to confirm something. "So, how did you get in here?"

Ino answered, "Well, you were so busy with your packages that you didn't notice me walking in."

"Right…"

This time, with her loud voice again, formally welcomed Allen. "Anyway, welcome to my building! I hope you have a great living here! And make sure you pay rent on time…"

Allen sensed a dark aura surrounding Ino from that last remark. 'This woman is tough.'

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At the same time Allen looks back on his move to the apartment, Yuichi also recalls something while walking and carrying his equipment.

"Now that I think about it, it's only occasionally that we leave the apartment at the same time."

'That reminds me of when I moved here from Gunma.'

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It was not long after Allen's move when Yuichi did the same thing. He chose pretty much the only room left in Ino's apartment which, for some reason, was available all this time. It might be a wonder, even for Ino, if Allen felt sinister from the room for one month.

Yuichi came from Gunma and hoped for better opportunities in Tokyo. He could've thought of fixed-term employment as a photographer, but he resolved to become a freelancer even in the beginning.

Actually, he was already a great photographer back in Gunma and the natives were into his work, yet we wanted to improve his art, hence opting to do freelancing. Part of the reason he moved to Tokyo was because the pay rate is higher than in the prefecture.

This was, in fact, his best move so far in his photography career. And while doing so one afternoon, he was carrying boxes inside Room 2. Some of the boxes contained photography equipment.

As he was about to carry another one, he heard Room 1's shoji opening. His mind couldn't help but be curious of his new neighbor.

Never in Yuichi's life would he meet the person he pretended to forget a few years ago.

The other person seemed to have the same thought after looking at Yuichi's face.

They both shout.

"YOU?!!!"