Chapter 9

After arriving at his station, he started to walk towards where his home was. It took a while, but he arrived at the apartment complex where his family lives. In front of the complex was a security guard, he was watching news on his portable TV, with a bud of cigarette in his mouth.

"Kichirou-san, I see you're working hard today as well!"

"Oh Sho-kun! How was the first day at school?"

"It was so-so, how's Miyako-san, shouldn't she be starting highschool today too?"

"She's still sleeping in her room, she was partying a bit too hard this afternoon."

"Is that so? Anyhow, I'll head up now, please send her my regards."

"All right then."

Haku entered the elevator, and went up to the 17th floor, the top floor of the building. Right at the end of the hallway was their apartment. He punched in the code on the padlock, then he heard a jingle, indicating that the door had been unlocked. Haku opened the door very lightly, not making a single sound. Inside the apartment were 4 people, with hair as white as snow. The mother was cooking in the kitchen, the father was watching a replay of the football match last night, the younger brother was drawing in his picture book, while the sister was scrolling through her phone.

"I'm home…"

"Ah! You're finally here Shousuke! Dinner's ready!"

"I'll eat later, just go ahead without me, Morioka-san."

The mother nodded her head, and continued on with preparing dinner. The father turned back, seemingly only noticed Haku after hearing them.

"How was the first day of school?"

"It was so-so, Norio-san, nothing special."

"Any new friends?"

"I managed make some, but Kuroki's still bugging me."

The younger brother looked up from the living room table with somewhat saddened eyes.

"Nii-san, you're not eating with us again?"

"Not today Shigeo, I'm quite worn out from today."

"Shou-san, how was Hizuru?"

The voice came from the sister, finally looking away from her phone.

"It's nice, the school's a bit too big for me. You're aiming for it next year, right,Hiromi?"

"Yeah, though it's a bit too hard for me"

"You'll make it, trust me. Anyhow, I'll be in my room if you need me"

Haku walked towards his room at the end of the hallway, and locked the door. He collapsed onto his bed, finally taking off his mask and smiled.

"Naomi Tomori, huh? Looks like my highschool years will be better than I'd expected."

He pulled out his phone, scrolled through his Lemon contacts, and started texting Tomori.

{Hello? Did you get home safely?}

{I'm home safe and sound! (ｏ'ｖ｀ｂ)ｂ}

{That's nice to hear. Anyhow, thank you for walking back with me today, walking alone would've been quite lonely.}

{No prob! I'm sorry if you have a sore back though ¯\_(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)_/¯}

{I'll be fine lol. I'm quite tired}

{Good night! (´つз-)｡O.ﾟ｡*Zzz}

As Haku fell asleep, on the other side was a frantic Tomori, scrambling through her phone and blushing the entire conversation.

"He actually texted me! Am I dreaming? Is today even real?!? Ok, Ok calm down, he's probably just being nice. But still, I can't believe THE Shousuke Haku texted me! I want to brag about this so much."

She then hopped off her bed, and walked to her study desk. On it was a pile of fashion magazines, all of which had Haku on the cover.

"Seems like my highschool years will be quite eventful."

She jumped back onto her bed, still blushing and hugging her pillow, then fell asleep.