CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN;
convenience store

hell's kitchen

11:01 PM

mio
hey

mio
i thought ya'll said
mr. itobe has lightened
up

mio
WHY THE HELL IS HE
INCLUDING ALL LESSONS
FROM THE START OF
MIDTERMS UNTIL FINALS
FOR THE FINAL EXAM

mio
i'd be fine with it if it was
like english or some other
NON-SCIENCE OR MATH
RELATED SUBJECT

mio
but CHEMISTRY?

final nail on the coffin
i think

amari
he's got no conscience

kaori
did he never experience

these troubles as a high
school student?

he was probably a
diligent learner

like

the kids who remind the
teacher they have homework

kaori
LMFAAOOOO

kaori
should we really be
talking about our teacher
like this

mio
SERVES HIM RIGHT

i might pass out

i've been studying since
i got home from school

i already ate dinner just
a few hours ago

but who knew studying
could starve you this much??

kaori
i'm just watching anime

kaori
LOLZZZ

amari
are you not afraid of
failing

kaori
i am

kaori
but i also don't care
enough to study

amari

i'll come over rn just to
smack you in the head

kaori
AHAHAHAHAHAHAH
don't worry about me

kaori
i hired a tutor 🤜😎 ☝️😎

wtf is that emoji
combo LMFAO

kaori
he's bumping his chest
with his fist

kaori
and then he's pointing
to the heavens

amari
i cant believe you really
explained

why is there nothing to
eat in this ingredients
only household

i'm craving convenience
store food

amari
same

amari
but the gate's already
locked

amari
my mom's gonna beat

my ass for not eating
the snacks we have
at home

amari
wtf am i going to do
with plain crackers??

kaori
drink it with coffee

amari
i'm acidic dumbass

i might go outside

amari
this late at night?

our neighborhood's pretty
safe

and the convenience
store is just a five minute
walk away

also

i haven't seen rumi
chat in a while

you think she fell asleep?
LOL

amari
i guess so

amari
her last message was
like

amari
four hours ago

amari
their training really
did a number on her
today

kaori
yeah she looked like a
zombie earlier

You put your hair up into a ponytail and take your wallet from your study desk. Your mother was already asleep, while your father was in the living room watching TV.

"Dad, I'm going to the convenience store to buy food." you tell him.

"Sure," he turns his head over the couch, then he flinches "Are you even wearing shorts?" his voice was stern and strict.

"Of course I am!" you tell him, lifting your shirt up.

"Doesn't look like you are! Go and change, or else I'm not letting you go outside." he quips.

You groan at him and walked up the stairs, each step louder than the last to show how annoyed you were.

The outfit you wore was quite simple, the oversized jersey of your favorite Haikyuu character (you thought it'd be nice to buy it in a size larger than what you usually wore, to pretend it's actually owned by the character) and your pajama shorts.

(Sorry if you don't watch Haikyuu, but you can pretend it's something else, like an oversized t-shirt with Gojo's face printed on it <(⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴗ⁠ꈍ⁠)> )

GRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Your stomach was rumbling, and it felt like a tight knot was forming, it was uncomfortable and painful in a way.

You reached out for your bright pink pajamas with white hearts, "This will do," you tell yourself, slipping your legs into the clothing.

"I'm off!" you skip towards the door, giving your dad only a second to check if you really did change into clothes he approved of.

Thankfully your dad asked you to, because it was cold outside. "It's Summer soon, why is it so cold?" you whine, having second thoughts on whether or not you should come back home to get a jacket.

But you were already near the store, so you decide to continue on with your journey.

"Huh, Itoshi?" you stop in your tracks, the automatic door spreads open.

He was sitting at one of the tables outside the convenience store, with a few of his learning materials and a bottle of water.

"Seriously..." he sighed.

"What? I can't come to the store now?" you question, flipping your head away from him.

You stride into the store, greeting the cashier. Spicy beef ramen, spam musubi, and an energy drink. You knew the exact things you wanted.

"I'll get these ready for you, you may wait at a table outside." the cashier says, turning the microwave on.

You weren't planning on eating here, but...

You look through the glass walls of the store, seeing that Rin was still sitting there. "Sure, thanks."

The cashier smiled at you, then you walked outside.

"I thought you'd leave," you muse, taking a seat next to him.

"I might right now," he throws back, not taking his eyes off the textbook he was reading.

"Why are you studying outside?" you ask him, resting your chin on the table.

"It's none of your business,"

Talking to this guy was like talking to a brick wall.

"Have you played the game I bought you yet?" you suddenly ask.

"What game?" his brows furrow as he tried to remember, "Oh," Last Breath, "Not yet."

"Whaaatt! Why not? I expected you would since you wanted to buy the game,"

"I have a lot to do," he shuts down, "Why don't you play it? Seems to me you have a lot of time on your hands."

Your eyebrow twitches, "Unfortunately, I am busy preparing for our finals. And I hate horror games!" you press on.

"Why do you hate horror games?"

"Why don't you?" your eyes narrow.

"They're fun."

"Crazy weirdo..."

"Miss, here's your food." the cashier from earlier was carrying a tray, your eyes lit up at the smell.

"Thank you so much!"

Rin didn't plan to study at the convenience store at all.

But he needed to take a breather, somehow his house felt suffocating, especially after what happened prior to leaving.

"Rin, dear, come downstairs please." his mom called out to him.

He stopped his note taking and went outside of his room, making his way towards the living room.

"What is it, Mo-"

"Is that Rin?" a voice from his Mom's laptop spoke.

Rin's face fell in an instant, he was the last person he wanted to talk to.

"Yes," his mom sweetly replied while moving the laptop slightly to the side, showing half of Rin's body. "He's busy studying for his finals,"

He stood still, staring at his older brother's face through the screen.

"That's good, he should focus and work more on getting good grades to get into a good college. Rather than wasting his time on sports," The words rolled out of his tongue effortlessly.

It irked Rin.

It was as if it's easy for Sae to say things that could potentially be insensitive.

In this case, they were.

"Don't say that," Rin's mother sweats, her face contorting into a worried- but angry expression, "Let him have his own hobbies,"

For Sae it was his career.

But for Rin, it was a hobby?

Was that how far apart their skills were?

"Mom, I'm going out." he says.

He couldn't get upset with his mom. He knew she meant well. But staying inside this house would only trouble him more.

"Why are you going outside? Isn't it really late there?" Sae questions.

Rin doesn't answer and comes back to his room to take a few of his stuff with him. "I'll be right back in a bit, Mom."

"You shouldn't go outside this late, dear. It's dangerous," her lips drop and her brows clash upwards in worry.

"I'm staying at the convenience store, you don't need to worry, Mom. I'll text you," he insists.

Though he's convinced he got himself into an even more uncomfortable situation.

"Arr yu shur yur not goring to eat? (Are you sure you're not going to eat?)" you ask, your mouth stuffed with noodles.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," his face contorted with disgust, "I don't eat anything after 9PM."

"Because?"

"Your body doesn't get to digest the food properly," he answers with a straight face, "It disrupts the digestive process, and can impact your sleep schedule."

You blink at him, "Okay, nerd." you mindlessly comment.

He flinches in his seat, "The hell you mean 'nerd'?"

You shrug at him.

He lets out an exasperated sigh before fixing his things up.

"How are you going to spend your summer vacation? Still football?"

"What else do you think?" he deadpans.

You roll your eyes at him and slightly kick his leg, "Don't talk to me like that."

His brows furrowed once more, he looked mad, "This is how I talk, if you have a problem with it, then don't talk to me at all." he argues back.

"I might just put a tape on your mouth!" you grit your teeth, opening the spam musubi wrapper.

"Insane..." he whispers under his breath, standing up from his chair.

"Are you seriously not going to eat anything?" you ask, "It's important to reward yourself when you finish studying, otherwise you'd get burned out!"

He wasn't about to ruin his perfectly maintained and healthy diet, is he?

Spoiler alert: he did.

He exits the convenience store with a spicy salmon onigiri and orange juice. "Oh..." you give him a small smirk.

"Shut up."

"I'm not even saying anything!"