Takeda Hojo
Hojo hurriedly wiped the sweat from his brow as he stood over the open flame stir-frying a wok of fried rice. The people were getting impatient as more people fleeing the storm had taken shelter in the small restaurant. He and his uncle had been struggling to cover the large of influx of customers they had received. He was focused narrowly on the task at hand but his mind was wandering. He would be back at school again soon and it was important that he take it seriously this time, he couldn't keep making his sister worry over him forever.
“Hey man how much longer will this take?” A short--statured man said sheepishly.
Hojo snapped from his focus and turned to the man,
“HUH!? I’m sorry, I could’ve sworn you just said I’m doing a poor job.” Hojo sneered at him with an intimidating face
“N-no.. I-I was just wondering.” the man replied, his eyebrows knitted in fear as a bead of sweat ran down his temple.
“3 minutes” Hojo said, dropping the act and turning his attention back to the cooking.
Within an hour the majority of people had been fed and business began to die down again. Hojo took a deep breath as he wiped himself down with a dish towel. “My shifts done, old man, I’m goin’ out,” Hojo muttered to his uncle who stood at the front counter wiping it down. “Eh? It’s still rainin’ out, ya better take an umbrella” he called back to Hojo who was putting his coat on. “Yeah yeah, whatever”, Hojo replied as he picked up an umbrella and walked out into the rain.
In a few minutes Hojo left a convenience store with a plastic bag filled with snacks. He was about to start walking when he spotted a girl with a rolled-up magazine doing what appeared to be some sort of rain dance. After a few minutes of watching Hojo went back on his way, he felt like going to the net cafe today.
Takeda Takara
With a sigh, Takara leaned back in her chair as she rubbed her face. She had sent her younger brother a multitude of messages and had been returned with nothing. “He probably lost his phone again”, she muttered to herself as she got to her feet and pushed the curtains aside. The rain was still going strong, she had had plans of going out today but it would seem the weather had other plans for her.
Turning back towards her dimly lit room she let her almond brown hair down and laid down on the futon in the center of the room. She turned over on her side and wrote a final message on her phone to Hojo, Be home in time for dinner. She tossed the phone onto the tatami mat and stared up at the ceiling. Annoyed, she switched her neurolinker on and closed her eyes.
When she opened them she was greeted with the colorful online virtual world. She began to walk, her tall lion in a business suit not nearly as strange as the other shapes and sizes of others’ avatars.
