5 Months Before the Incident...
"Ugh, why does everything go south all the damn time?"
The young teen groaned after finding out his parents were going to extend his stay in Japan for ten whole months.
"Well, at least everything's slightly inexpensive. The snacks, that is... I hate this,"
he muttered, running a hand through his hair while mumbling about his parents' situation.
"...Why do you all have to be so hard on me... Well—"
Before he could finish, his brother yelled out:
"Yo, Jerry! You coming or what, bro?"
Jerry looked over and shouted back, annoyed but resigned to reality.
"...Yeah, I'm coming. Just hold on, I need to get my stuff together!"
His brother frowned.
"Well, you're too damn slow, bro! C'mon, let's go to the apartment. You're paying for it—and the rent!"
Jerry sighed, exhausted from stress.
"Gotcha, I'll go do it..."
He trudged toward the apartment complex, walked up to the front desk, and said,
"Hey, uh, receptionist or whatever... Can I rent an apartment or something?"
He tried to sound confident, but his voice wavered.
The receptionist gave him a look.
"Well, aren't you a little too young to be doing this by yourself, kid?"
Jerry's breath hitched as he looked down.
"Y-yeah, I am... so what? I just need a place to stay for a bit. My brother's with me, and... our parents need to get their act together."
The receptionist sighed, then handed him a keycard.
"It's going under your parents' names. Since you're a minor, keep quiet about this. I'm helping you out because I feel bad about your situation. Honestly, I hope your father learns his lesson after whatever they're doing."
Jerry frowned, visibly irritated.
"Hey, shut the hell up, man. I know your wife's busy getting treated better by someone else, and by your age, I bet you've got a dysfunction!"
The receptionist scowled.
"Well, at least I'm not the kind of lonely brat who stays up all night with a sock, you little asshole."
"HEY, FUCK YOU TOO! YOU BASEMENT-DWELLING FOSSIL!"
Jerry shouted, both of them glaring before turning away.
Jerry and his brother finally walked into their new apartment. Opening the fridge, Jerry groaned.
"I'm such a dumbass... I forgot we have to buy our own food."
(Jerry's POV)
I walked into the small room next to the bathroom. My brother was already asleep on a futon. I couldn't even remember the last time we had a gaming contest together.
As I lay down, staring at the ceiling, Mom's words echoed in my head—something about Grandma, and Dad's side of the family causing trouble.
All I could imagine was Grandma getting hit with a haymaker... but that's ridiculous.
I grabbed my phone and started searching for the nearest school, only to notice a missed message from Mom.
I opened it and froze.
Apparently, she'd made my aunt apply for both me and my brother to attend school here in Japan.
"Wait, what? No! I can't go to school here! I don't even understand Japanese!"
I panicked before realizing there was only one thing I could do.
Not even a minute later, I was on Duolingo, grinding Japanese lessons.
Hours passed, and before I knew it, I'd fallen asleep on my futon, while my brother slept like he was playing Twister.
The day ended quietly, with both of us out cold.
The Next Day — Still 5 Months Before the Incident
"Ugh, my head... Ter, did you hit me? It hurts like hell."
I groaned, half-asleep and cranky from staying up until 6 a.m.
"Calm down, dude," my brother replied sarcastically. "You're fifteen. Suck it up."
We both got up and started our daily routine — eating junk food like lazy idiots because we still hadn't gone grocery shopping.
But we needed to hurry; our aunt had already enrolled us in school, and it started today.
After brushing our teeth and washing our faces, we high-fived.
"So, Ter, how much yen do we have?" I asked.
He counted the coins in his hand, squinting.
"Well, I don't know, man. I'm used to CAD, not yen. I think we've got 200 yen... so yeah, we're broke."
"Yeah, no shit. We don't even know how yen works," I said, rolling my eyes.
Ter sighed dramatically.
"Well, we've got two months to pay rent. Guess we'll have to work fast food, put fries in the bag, and get underpaid!"
I groaned. "I wish I had your enthusiasm. I swear we're devolving back into apes because of you, Ter."
We walked through the streets and stopped in front of a small café.
"Hey, Ter... you thinking what I'm thinking?"
He grinned. "Yep. Exactly what you're thinking."
Two minutes later, we walked out with the cheapest coffees we could find.
"Nothing like saving money! Ah, I love being broke and resourceful," Ter said proudly.
"Yep. Masters of our craft," I said, deadpan.
The two of us, sharing one brain cell, finally reached the school — a huge building surrounded by brick walls, straight out of The Karate Kid.
We stared up at it in silence before saying in unison,
"We're screwed. We don't understand any Japanese."
Arc 0: The Homesick Arc
of "Cannot Stay in Another World: I Don't Belong Anywhere in Any World"
By: TobiWasNotHere
(This Jerry is different, I SWEAR! He's NOT FH Jerry!)