Chapter 4
He hated the abacus school.
Originally, he did not enter the school voluntarily, and because the school was held on Saturdays and Sundays, nearly half of his precious days off were wasted.
However, he liked the environment outside the school very much.
The area around the cram school was like a vacant lot where children played, and there were many candy stores nearby, and Ryosaku often bought and ate sweets there.
With an allowance of 1,000 yen a month, he wasn't able to eat so many sweets every week, but even just looking at the variety of sweets and water guns and other toys on display at a cheap candy store,it was enough to nourish his soul.
The back of the cram school is a community center, and on the long benches set up there, children who have finished their abacus "quota" sit and eat sweets while enjoying the TV programs they watched last night and their favorites and idol singers.
Ryosaku, who was only allowed to watch NHK educational programs at home, got valuable information about idols, hit songs, trendy goods and subcultures here.
Of course, he didn't have any friends, including senior and junior students, and even if he wanted to participate in the conversation, he couldn't.
So he enjoyed gathering information by hanging around the talking group and listening implicitly.
Ryosaku cautiously entered the small game arcades across the street from the candy stores.
At that time, those who entered and exited game arcades were considered so-called "delinquents", and children were strictly prohibited from entering and exiting schools.
In fact, it was a gathering place for ill-behaved middle and high school students and suspicious-looking adults, and the inside was filled with cigarette smoke.
...Not good for education.
Ryosaku entered the store out of curiosity, but once he entered the store, he hated himself.
He also felt disgust for the "races" that were there, and he couldn't stand the strange atmosphere and stuffiness in the narrow store.
He was able to physically understand that this was not the place he should be, as the school teachers said.
He never entered here again.
