"This.... Fuutarou...." Isanari was silent. His son had just revealed that he met his old friend, and apparently got accepted to work for him. He knew why his son had so brazenly asked for the job, there was no doubt about it.
"Just.... Are you sure you can handle both studying and working?" A normal parent would usually say no, but Isanari wasn't like that. He sees potential in his own son, he knows his son was mentally strong and Shinichiro is a trustworthy person.
And he can't help but relate to Fuutarou a little. When he was younger hus family wasn't well off either, causing Isanari to get a job at an early age. But as a father, he can't help but be worried.
"Yeah, I'll find a way. I always do." Fuutarou replied seriously. Isanari rubbed his head before sighing.
"Alright then... Let's have you learn how fill in a job application form."
"Dad, how close were you and Shinichiro?"
Isanari paused before smiling a little.
"We were very close. Like brothers even. We used to rule the world together..." He muttered, becoming nostalgic all of a sudden while Fuutarou was wondering what his father meant by that vague sentence. The father snapped out of it soon after, handing his son a pen.
"Anyways, sign this form right now!"
.....
"I could get used to this...." He muttered to himself, staring at his completely greasy and stained hands. Shinichiro had guided him through identifying the problem with a motorbike and fixing it. Fuutarou felt proud of himself handling all those tools and managing to solve the bike's problem.
'It's kinda like school. Apply the theory to practice, except it's more dirty than usual.' He correlated.
"How's it feel, fixing a bike?" Shinichiro asked him. Fuutarou looked up and grinned.
"Not bad. It's kinda fun." Shinichiro snorted at the boy's reply.
"Fun huh? Well with that mentality, I think you're going to adapt to this job well."
"Sure hope so. But I can see why it's exhausting too."
"That's why you gotta exercise. Build up your body and stamina. It does help with this line of work, not to mention the tons of benefits it'll give your body." Shinichiro then quickly wrote something on a piece of paper.
"Here's a workout routine you can follow. If you want to put in the effort or not, that's all up to you. Obviously it's gonna be tiring, but it's all going to be worth it in the end." Shinichi walked towards another motorbike.
"C'mon kid, we got bikes to fix. By 'we', I mean you."
...
A month passed, Fuutarou was tinkering with a motorbike on his own while Shinichiro was working on another one. A lot has changed. For one, Fuutarou has seen clear improvement in his grades. His homework is done on time, and his ability to solve questions has improved drastically. He even started reading ahead on the syllabus to have an easier time understanding what was going to be taught.
Fuutarou is also following the workout routine Shinichiro deliberately wrote for him. Hs found changes to his body. For one, he was leaner, faster and more endurant. He also started lifting weights a little. His father had a small home gym, so he didn't need to waste money unnecessarily to get a gym membership.
With his interest in motorbikes ever growing, Fuutarou had started researching on his own using his laptop, entering a new world. Learning a lot on the internet, he used the techniques in real time with the guidance of Shinichiro. With that, Fuutarou was deemed ready to fix a motorbike on his own.
'Can't believe this kid stayed. He learned all of that in record time too. He must some kind of learning genius.' Shinichiro thought to himself, a cigarette in his mouth.
'We're getting fixed motorbikes out there even faster. If this kid was more experienced, it could mean triple the productivity.' Shinichiro was already making a bunch of plans in his head for the future of his business.
'Other repair shops around here are closing down, meaning that I'm the only one left in this town. Means more business and more money for me.' Shinichiro smirked
Maybe the boy was a blessing after all.
.....
Fuutarou was walking back from work before he heard something weird in the alleyway, turning his head, he widened his eyes as he noticed a couple of delinquents, to which he guessed were most likely high school students, ganging up on a homeless man.
'What is wrong with them?" Fuutarou whispered as he looked at his fist, unsure what to do as his next course of action. His first thought was to pretend he didn't see anything. But that really didn't sit right with him.
There was no way Fuutarou was able to match three men older and stronger than him. He looked at the ground, noticing a metal pipe. Maybe that could give him an edge.
He clutched his chest, exhaling a little before narrowing his eyes. 'Screw it. Dad always helped people no matter his situation. So why can't I?' He rushed towards the metal pipe and picked it up, not stopping as he rsn towards one of the delinquents.
" Huh—" One of the delinquents turned around only to be met with a metal pipe to his face, sending him staggering back. Fuutarou gritted his teeth as he slammed the pipe on his back, sending him to the ground, groaning in pain.
"Shit! Get him!" Another delinquent shouted as his buddy charged at Fuutarou. Fuutarou swung the pipe, intending to hit the man's ribs. But the man reacted in time, grabbing the pipe as they entered a tug of war for the pipe. The man smirked, about to win before he widened his eyes and groaned as he was kicked in the solar plexus, accidentally letting go of the pipe.
A loud slam followed, the man was knocked out, eyes rolled back on the ground. Fuutarou looked at the last delinquent standing.
He took a step forward, causing the last man to flinch and stagger back. "You... You're gonna pay for this!" He shouted as he retreated, leaving his downed buddies alone.
Fuutarou exhaled, looking at the homeless man who was staring at him in shock. "Thank... thank you! How can I ever repay you?!" Fuutarou shrugged, picking his ear.
"I dunno... You repay me by finding a job I guess... Get ahold of your life. Be a postman or something. Earn enough so that you don't have to sleep in the streets anymore. See ya soon, mister. " He walked out of the alleyway, dropping the metal pipe while the man thanked him profusely.
"I was going to step in, you know." He stopped to look at a blonde kid, probably 5-8 centimeters shorter than him, staring at him.
Fuutarou scratched his head before smirking. "First come first serve, midget."
"Hey! I'm not a midget! I'm Mikey!" Mikey shouted at him. Fuutarou shrugged, walking away.
"Whatever, Mikey."
" And I'm average height for my age, bastard! If anything you're too tall for your age!" He shouted back, making Fuutarou laugh loudly at his excuses.
" Sure, sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night. See ya!" Fuutarou waved without looking back, continuing his way back home.
.....
Fuutarou had a relatively normal day in school today. Though he did receive praise from his teacher about his improving work ethic and understanding of the syllabus, which means he's doing good and should keep improving .
That was until he started walking home from school. He hummed as he saw a group of people running towards him.
"There he is! There's the guy who beat me and my friends up!!" Fuutarou turned to face the group of people. He looked at the guy pointing at him, remembering him as the person that ran away yesterday after his friends were defeated. He then looked at the group of people behind him. The were in high school by the looks of their uniforms and age.
"You'll pay, little bastard!!" The older brother of the guy that ran away shouted at him angrily. Fuutarou narrowed his eyes and stepped back a little.
'Fight or flight. I ain't stupid so I'm choosing flight. ' Fuutarou made his decision quickly, preparing to run away.
"Oi! Need some help?!" Fuutarou looked to his left and saw the midget he made fun of by his side, handing him a pipe. Fuutarou smirked at him.
"Well two is better than one. What's your name? Like your actual one? Mikey obviously can't be your name, you're Asian."
"Sano Manjiro. But you can just call me Mikey, my little sister and my friends call me that. And you should too! "
"Heh! Nice to meet you, Mikey! The name's Uesugi Fuutarou. Just call me Fuutarou. Now let's beat these guys up together!! "
" Hell yeah!! "
To be continued.....