#3 New Neighbors

Right after eating his dinner, Yuichi went to buy some flowers as his mother asked of him and then he went back into his room.

'I probably should go study for a bit...however *yawn* I am too exhausted to do that.' Yuichi thought and in the end, he went straight into his bed.

'I wonder what kind of neighbor will arrive tomorrow...Maybe it will be someone who can join me and my friends at playing soccer.' Yuichi thought while lying on the bed and looking at the ceiling above him before his eyes started slowly closing.

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The next morning he went to the school where he showed just average achievements due to him skipping on his studies a lot of time. He could be glad that he found some time to complete his assignments, and after he started training under that old man while playing with other kids to keep image in front of his parents, he had absolutely no time for studying. Instead of studying till late at night, he chose to sleep well and be very attentive at school to make up for the loss of time for studying.

Of course, it only got him to around average or slightly above-average level at his studies. However, when it came to PE lessons, he was the best in the class with a few of his friends right behind him. Yuichi was also quite talented in Art classes, especially in Drawing with pencil, he had right hands and eyes for the details and even as a 9 years old kid, he could draw much better than some middle schoolers who were also interested in Drawing in general.

When he arrived home from the school, he immediately went to greet his parents. Today was the day both of his parents were home which was quite rare but Yuichi's father had a good job and he could also work from home but he didn't like that due to many distractions.

"Yu-chan, the new neighbors have already arrived and we already greeted them with your father while you were still at school. I hope you can go greet them too since it would be rude of us, especially after telling them that we have a son" Yuichi's mother said with a small smile while preparing a small snack after lunch.

"Eh? Do I have to go alone?" Yuichi asked with an uncomfortable expression.

"Don't worry Yu-chan! They are a young couple with a small girl around your age. They actually moved here for work. Both of them seem to be Chinese, however, don't worry, both of them can speak fluently Japanese, even their small daughter is proficient in both Chinese and Japanese." His mother reassured him with a bright smile while ruffling his hair.

'Hah? How is this supposed to reassure me?' Yuichi thought when he heard about his neighbors.

"Alright, I guess I will go right now so I have it done early" Yuichi nodded his head and started straightening his clothes before turning around, ready to leave.

"Wait! Here, we have left you one flower, it would be rude to introduce yourself and then just leave." His mother stopped him and handed him the last flower from the entire bouquet he brought yesterday.

Yuichi looked down at the beautiful violet flower before looking at his mother with a bit confused expression while she just nodded at him with a bright smile and closed eyes, urging him to go.

Yuichi went to next-door house where he saw a sign name Yu Wang.

'What is the surname? If I remember correctly, a woman's surname remains after marriage but...ugh! I have no idea...' Yuichi thought while standing in front of the door, holding his head before he shook his head and just shrugged it off, ready to ring the bell.

*ring* *ring*

The bell resounded in the house behind the doors a few times and Yuichi soon enough heard steps.

*Creak*

"Hello...?" The one who opened the door was a young woman and soon enough, a young man appeared next to her.

"Good afternoon, my name is Iwamura Yuichi and I am living in the house next door. It is nice to meet you, um, Wang-San?" Yuichi said in an awkward tone and bowed down.

"Oh! I see you are their son! We have already met your parents and they are very nice people, no need to be so polite." The young man said with a big smile while urging a small girl hiding behind him to squeeze in between him and his wife.

Her parents first introduced themselves before introducing her.

"And this is Mei-Yu Wang, our daughter, please take care of her. She will be attending the same school as you." Mei's mother said with a friendly smile and Mei herself didn't say anything and just lightly bowed to Yuichi. She had pink-violet eyes and a violet hair slightly over her shoulders tied up in twintails.

Yuichi just realized what he still had in his hand.

"Um, hello" Yuichi said awkwardly while offering the flower to Mei with a slightly forced smile and closed eyes.

While he had his eyes closed, he noticed that his arm was extended for a good few seconds before someone took the flower to which he finally opened his eyes to see Mei holding the flower while nodding to him and looking down in embarrassment.

'What a quiet girl...well, I guess she won't be joining us on our soccer sessions.' Yuichi thought and asked out of consideration if they don't need help with moving in.

"Oh, you are really sweet but we are almost done, however, thank you for your generous offer, Yu-chan, oh! I hope you don't mind me calling you that, your own mother told me that we can call you that." Mei's mother replied to Yuichi's offer.

Yuichi felt a bit awkward being called that by practically the strangers but he still said that he doesn't mind at all.

After very small talk he excused himself and went back home where he dropped on the sofa face first.

"Hm? What is wrong, Yu-chan?" His mother asked with his father lending his ear to their conversation.

"It's nothing...just-" Yuichi stopped to think for a bit.

'I guess I should stop putting it off for later...' Yuichi thought and sat down with a serious expression which garnered his parents' attention.

"I have been lying to you about something..." Yuichi said while looking down with a guilty expression to which both of his parents frowned hearing his words.

"I have been playing with Ren and other kids soccer but I have also been going somewhere every day..." Yuichi continued.

"Don't tell me you were indeed getting into fights!" His mother exclaimed, not believing that 9 years old kid would be getting into fights.

"No, but I have been practicing the martial arts under that old man who cooks in the restaurant a few blocks from here." Yuichi finally admitted while gripping his knees, hoping that his parents won't make him stop training.

"?! I am very disappointed Yuichi...not because of what you are doing in your free time but because you kept lying to me for the whole month!" His mother said sternly with her hands resting on her hips, looking down at Yuichi.

Hearing word disappointed, Yuichi's expression winced in pain as if something gripped his heart.

'I was ready to be yelled at however...those words hurt even more than anything else I can imagine.' Yuichi thought with closed eyes.

"Hey, you are his father, say something too! Why have you been so quiet all the time?" Yuichi's mother turned her attention to his father but he just released a relaxed smile before slowly opening his mouth to explain, however at the same time, something clicked inside Yuichi's mind as if he solved a puzzle.

"Mom!" Yuichi exclaimed before his father could say anything.

"Hm? You have something to say to your defense, young man?" His mother frowned at him and asked with folded arms.

"Dad knew about it and he also didn't tell you!" Yuichi said while pointing at his father which caused him to stare with wide-open eyes at his son for this betrayal however that wasn't entirely the reason why he was so shocked.

'How come he knows about it? The old man was the first who contacted me so there is no way he would say anything to him! Is it possible he found out just from my behavior? This is ridiculous...I mean, he is just 9 years old kid!' His father thought with wide-open mouth and eyes as he stared at his son, completely forgetting to start defending himself.

"WHAT?! Is that the reason why you are so calm?!" Yuichi's mother's wrath was immediately turned to his father.

"Wait a moment, love. I-I might have known about it but I never lied to you about it because you never asked..." Yuichi's father said while raising his hand up, trying to indirectly say that it was Yuichi who was the one lying without looking like he is selling his own son out.

"Yeah? Never lied to me? What about my question "Do you know what Yu-chan has been doing lately?" and your answer "Hm? Who knows..." Hmm? Do you remember now? And even if I never asked, you should say anything concerning our son to me right away!" Mother's onslaught continued.

"But-" His father tried to protest however he knew that he messed up by trying to redirect his wife's wrath back to his son. This time, the one whose karma returned was his for trying to sell his son out.

"That's it...Starting today, you are sleeping on the couch for the whole week." Yuichi's mother said finally before turning around, starting to wash dishes to distract herself.

"Wha-?! Wait! You can't do that!" His father immediately protested, confusing Yuichi since his father rarely disagreed with his mother so much.

"Or perhaps for 2 weeks?" Yuichi's mother muttered while glancing behind her and carefully, slowly washing a kitchen knife.

"Ha-ha, one week is fine...just perfect!" His father said with a bright smile and closed eyes while showing a thumb up to her.

"Hmph, I thought so." She threw with her hair, showing that she is upset.

"..." The kitchen was suddenly filled with a terrible silence.

"Um, I will go to the living room to, um, to watch TV!" Yuichi said with a low voice, trying not to disturb his mother too much and in response, she just nodded her head without looking at him. When he saw her nod her head, he sighed in relief before leaving the kitchen.

After a few minutes, his father arrived and joined him on the couch in front of the TV.

"..." Two of them sat there for a few minutes without saying anything.

"You know, dad...This couch is actually quite comfortable but if you really don't like it, we can switch places." Yuichi said with a small smile, filled with guilty.

This caused his father to stare absentmindedly a few seconds into empty space before looking at Yuichi with a confused expression.

"...You don't understand, Yuichi." His father said with a helpless smile while ruffling Yuichi's hair.

'Huh?' Yuichi was a bit confused by his father's words but he just shrugged it off, glad that he actually doesn't have to sleep on this "comfy" couch.

"How did you know that I was already aware?" His father asked with a curious expression.

Yuichi opened his mouth wanting to answer however he stopped, realizing that his answer was really lame. He wanted to say something cool so he looked at his father with a smirk and places his chin in the arch formed between his thumb and index finger.

"As you have always taught me in Shogi...Always be a few steps ahead of your opponent." Yuichi said with a mysterious smile.

'This kid...' His father looked at him with a surprised expression before he smiled with a defeated expression.

'Heh, nailed it!' Yuichi was very satisfied with his own answer.

While the boys were talking in the living room, Yuichi's mother was still washing the dishes.

"Foolish boys...Thinking that I wouldn't see through any of them after living with them for so long, the!" She muttered with a dissatisfied expression.