New Beginnings

"You deserve to feel the same love that you give." I still dream about that day and I will never ever forget it.

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Flashback.....

7:00 a. m. Saturday, May 2011. A kid with a blonde, slick back and spiky hairstyle was sleeping soundly on a futon. The boy also wore an earring in his left ear.

This boy is Uesugi Fuutarou and he is 11 years old. He has a 3 year old sister named Raiha and a dad named Isanari who is 28 years old. Unfortunately, Fuutarou's mother passed away when he was just six.

"Ugh....." Fuutarou's eyes fluttered for a few seconds before opening them fully. He slowly sat up and looked to his left, seeing Raiha sleeping soundly in her own small futon beside him.

Raiha is a slim young girl with long black hair. She was as tall as a three year old can be and wore a simple butterfly-shaped ribbon, holding up her hair in a high cowlick.

Raiha slept with him because Fuutarou's father wanted her to have a room of her own until she turned 6.

Fuutarou looked at the bedroom around him. There was a bookcase that had little to no books shelved in it. There was also an electrical fan plugged into an outlet right beside the futons.

There was also a rectangular coffee table right in the middle of the room. The last piece of furniture in the bedroom was a big drawer that had clothes stacked neatly in them.

On top of the drawer was a picture of Fuutarou and Raiha's late mother. Fuutarou looked at the picture for a while before silently walking out of the room, making sure to not wake up Raiha in the process.

He arrived at the living room and looked around his surroundings once more. The living room and the kitchen were one. It was basic as a living room and kitchen can be.

There was basic cooking equipment, a stove and pots and pans. The living had a small round coffee table in the middle and a couch that had some tears on it.

There was also an outdated rectangular television that somehow still works. Despite these poor living conditions, Fuutarou was content in living like this.

Fuutarou then looked at the person sleeping soundly on the couch. That was his dad, Isanari.

He has distinctive golden, spiky hair with a bulked up and muscled body. Fuutarou was a literal carbon copy of him, sharing similar facial traits and wild personalities together.

He is always seen wearing sunglasses on his forehead, even when he is sleeping. They are a memento of his deceased wife, who had bad eyesight while she was alive.

Fuutarou looked at the beer bottles on the coffee table and sighed. 'Dad likes to drink. He drank moderately since he became of age. And ever since mom passed, it hasn't worsened but it's still enough to make me worried.' Fuutarou mused in his mind. He sighed and looked at his dad's face.

Isanari had drool flowing down his mouth while he slept. "You should be going to work now. Weren't you the one who said that you will work your ass off and pay off the debt? " Fuutarou grumbled.

" How long are you gonna stare at me, son? " Isanari asked Fuutarou who looked at him with a surprised expression.

" How'd you know I was here? I didn't even make a sound." Fuutarou asked him. Isanari laughed as he sat up straight.

"Your old man is pretty awesome. It's all about instinct." Isanari's explanation made Fuutarou roll his eyes.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready to go to work? You have a bakery to run remember?" Fuutarou asked his dad.

"Shouldn't you be doing your homework right now, kid? I let you rest yesterday because you were dead tired from going to school." Isanari asked back with a smirk on his face. Fuutarou groaned.

" Ugh, homework. Why the hell do some of the kids in my class like this kind of crap?" Fuutarou grumbled as he walked towards his average looking school bag.

"Hey, kids can get bored too ya know. They need to find something to do." Isanari added as he threw away the beer bottles on the small table.

"But seriously, homework out of all things? Don't they know what going outside is?" Fuutarou asked. Isanari shrugged.

"Dunno. Some parents are strict as hell. I'm speaking from experience." Isanari mumbled.

" You wish you were strict like that huh? " Fuutarou grinned at him. Isanari snorted and shook his head.

" Hell no! I will not let my son and daughter turn into a shut in. Life is more than just studying and going to school." Isanari replied while opening the refrigerator and taking out two small juice boxes.

" Listen up, Fuutarou. You should enjoy life while you're still young. Live your life with no regrets. But don't enjoy it too much or you'll be living in an apartment just like this in the future. " Isanari advised while closing the refrigerator.

"Yeah yeah...." Fuutarou mumbled while taking out several workbooks and a few pieces of papers from his school bags.

"Don't just 'yeah yeah' me, son. I'm serious about this." Isanari replied while handing his son a juice box. Fuutarou muttered a small 'thank you' before inserting the straw and drinking the juice from it.

"I know you are, it's just I don't know how to reply." Fuutarou whispered as he stared at his workbooks and exercise papers he put down on the coffee table. English, Mathematics, Science. These subjects bored him, he just wanted to go out and play.

"You don't need to. These hard times, this pain, these lessons one day will be your strength, your awareness and your blessings." Isanari muttered while drinking from his own juice box.

"I don't get you, dad. One minute you're a gangster from the hood and the next minute your Socrates." Fuutarou deadpanned at his dad. Isanari laughed heartily.

"These are just the life lessons I learned while I was younger, Fuutarou. You should take them to heart, you never know when you need them. " Isanari replied mysteriously.

" You got any friends in school? " Isanari asked after a while of silence.

"Only one, a girl named Takebayashi." Fuutarou replied as he flipped open his English workbook. He smirked a little as he saw that he got most of the questions in the book wrong again.

"Ooh, a girl huh? Is she cute? Do you like her?" Isanari asked in a teasing tone. Fuutarou did not like that tone. He blushed a little while remembering an image of Takebayashi's face in his mind.

Takebayashi had black shoulder-length hair that had a pin holding up her hair on the left side of her head and bangs swept to the left side.

"She's cute I guess. But that doesn't mean I like her though!" Fuutarou glared at his dad's mischievous expression.

"Are you sure?" Isanari asked him.

"Yes, dad. I'm 100% sure. Now drop it and let me do my homework." Fuutarou grumbled back. Isanari laughed to himself while Fuutarou went back to doing his homework.

Fuutarou was half assing his assignments and Isanari noticed it. He sighed to himself and shook his head.

'I was like this once and I regret not taking it seriously. If I did, we wouldn't be living in this shitty apartment and I wouldn't be in debt.' Isanari mused somberly.

"Hey dad, what's with that look? You look like you're about to cry." Fuutarou asked him. Isanari shook his head.

"It's nothing, son. Just got sand in my eyes." Isanari whispered back before getting up to throw the empty juice boxes into the rubbish bin.

Fuutarou hummed before focusing back on his homework. After half assing it for a few more minutes, Fuutarou was done. He quickly put them back in his bag and went to take a shower.

After putting on some fresh clothes and putting the dirty ones in the laundry basket, Fuutarou put on his shoes and went to the front door.

"I'm going out, dad. I won't be back until lunchtime." Fuutarou explained. Isanari nodded while cracking his knuckles and scratching his stomach.

"Stay safe out there, Fuutarou. Bye bye now." Isanari waved goodbye to his son. Fuutarou did the same before exiting the apartment.

Fuutarou grinned as he started running on the streets. He loved this feeling, the wind blowing his face. It made him feel free with no burdens on his shoulder. He wished this feeling would last forever.

Eventually, Fuutarou got tired running and started walking on the side of the streets. He passed by a building and heard sounds of metal clanging loudly.

He looked to his left and saw a dojo. Curiosity got the better of him and Fuutarou decided to sneak into the dojo.

He arrived at the place where the sounds of metal clanging came from. He hid in a bush and peeked his head out a little.

"What the fuck...." Fuutarou cursed as he saw an old bald man with a long beard that reached his waist. The old man also had blue arrow tattoos on his bald head and hands and was wearing a monk outfit

The old man was kicking the metal pole standing in front of him. What got Fuutarou in disbelief was that the monk's kicks bent the metal pole like it was a piece of plastic.

"Hello there."

"Ahh! What The fuck!!!" Fuutarou shouted as he jumped out of his hiding spot to look at the same old man standing in front of him with a gentle smile on his face.

"Who are you and how are you able to do all of that?!" Fuutarou demanded answers while pointing at him.

" Me? I am Gyatsu. You can call me Master Gyatsu. And who are you, young one? "

" I'm Uesugi Fuutarou! Just call me Fuutarou. Can you answer my question now? "

" Sure sure, let's go inside and talk about it over some tea. "

To be continued...