The idea for this was to be a rewrite of the high school story I never finished, but then it turned into something different. Story is basically the character introductions and then random happenings I come up with using word prompts.

One

Growing up, Jigen found that his life had become routine and rather boring.

Every morning during the school year he was woken up by his dad, whose method of getting his kids up was to yank the blankets off and get in their faces, screaming "Get your ass out of bed" to them until they did so.

Then it was down the stairs for the usual bowls of overly sugary cereals and morning television.

After the healthy breakfast, clothes were thrown on and books collected, Jigen and his siblings walking to the bus stop a block away and waiting for the overly crowded and noisy vehicle to take them to school.

Six and a half hours of torturous misery later was another equally noisy bus trip back home, where Jigen would close himself in his room and finish his homework before the sun set.

Finishing his homework early meant he had more time to spend at the arcade down the street, the nearest location that had a pool table and that was open to kids.

At six o'clock he would head home, to where he would sit with his family to a mediocre meal, usually something concocted into a casserole, as his mom wasn't much of a cook.

Throwing various cans of meats and vegetables into a dish and tossing it into the oven was about as gourmet as she got.

It was food, though, and with enough salt it could pass as being edible.

After dinner was a couple of hours of television and then everyone was once again screamed at to go to bed.

Jigen's father was not someone you could call overly compassionate.

The weekends and summer days weren't all that much different.

Jigen was still yelled at to get up, something he did but didn't really know why, and he still ate sugary cereals and watched television to pass the morning hours by.

The hours he would usually spend at school were spent hanging around the local market, bumming cigarettes off anyone who was nice enough to spare one and smoking them out front until the owner would storm out the front doors and chase him away with a broom while screaming in his native Russian about ingrate kids scaring away customers.

From that time until six in the evening he hung out at the arcade, hogging the pool table or playing video games until the pool table opened up.

From the ages of eleven to fourteen this was Jigen's typical routine.

And then on his second day of summer vacation after having just barely passed the ninth grade, his life became more interesting.

...

Jigen was lining up a shot, playing 9 ball pool alone as he usually did every afternoon.

He was known by the other customers at the arcade and they all knew not to bother him while he played, Jigen never one to play against someone else, as he didn't see it as much of a challenge for him.

He took the shot, cursing under his breath as the five ball missed the corner pocket by a centimeter.

"You must suck to miss that shot," a boy's voice said from behind him.

Jigen straightened himself and looked over his right shoulder, narrowing his eyes at the boy who stood and watched him play.

He was about five feet tall and very thin, his hair a few inches long and left to do what it wanted. He was wearing a white dress shirt and black slacks, looking as though he had just walked out of a private school.

"I'll play you," the boy said. "Fifty bucks says I can beat you in less than ten shots."

"Piss off, stupid brat," Jigen said as he turned back towards the table.

"Scared you'll lose?" the boy laughed. He then proceeded to make chicken noises.

Jigen tensed, spinning around and pressing the tip of the pool stick to the boy's throat. "I play alone, okay? Now get the fuck out of here."

The boy smirked and shrugged.

Jigen turned to the table and was thinking about his next shot when he sensed someone staring at him. He turned and looked at the boy, who stood leaning against a pinball machine and watching him.

"What, I can't watch now?" the boy asked as he rolled his eyes.

Tensing with anger, Jigen leaned over the table and eyed his next move, doing his best to try and ignore the boy.

He hit the cue ball and watched as the five ball completely missed the side pocket.

The boy tried his best to hold in his laughter.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Jigen said loudly as he turned towards the boy.

"Nothing," the boy laughed.

"You probably can't even fucking play," Jigen muttered. "Just here to piss me off..."

"You swear a lot, you know that?"

Jigen ignored him as he walked to the other side of the table.

"And you're very angry, too."

"Gosh, thanks for letting me know that," Jigen said sarcastically. "And all this time I was wondering what was wrong with me."

The boy laughed. "You're weird."

"Yeah," Jigen sighed in frustration. "Listen, kid, just leave me th-"

"My name isn't 'kid'," the boy said as he glared at Jigen. "It's Lupin, all right? I hate it when people call me 'kid'. My whole life people have been calling me that. It's like I'm just some random person. Like I'm a nobody."

Jigen gave Lupin a confused stare. "Hate to break it to you, but you are just some random person."

"No I'm not. And one day I'll prove to you and to everybody else out there that I am somebody."

"Right," Jigen said with a roll of his eyes.

Lupin pushed himself away from the pinball machine and walked towards Jigen. "Give me that," he said as he swiped the stick from Jigen's hands, not even bothering to take time with the shot as he quickly hit the cue ball and knocked the five ball into the far corner pocket.

Jigen watched, angry that Lupin had interfered with his game, but shocked he had made the shot so easily.

"There," Lupin said, handing Jigen the stick back. "Now you can try and get the six ball in and finish your game so I can play."

Jigen just stared at Lupin as the boy walked back to the pinball machine and leaned against it, crossing his arms over his chest and staring in anger at the table.

...

"Where'd you used to live?" Jigen asked as he handed a half spent cigarette back to Lupin.

Lupin hadn't left Jigen alone, Jigen realizing that aside from being annoying and opinionated, Lupin wasn't that horrible of a person.

He had watched Lupin play a game of pool and was shocked at how good he was. Lupin then invited Jigen to wander around town with him, Jigen having nothing else to do and agreeing to tag along.

"Madrid," Lupin said as he took a drag of the cigarette.

"Spain?" Jigen wondered.

"Mmhmm. Started out living in Paris. And then we moved to Hong Kong. And then from there we went to Tokyo. And then for some reason we lived in this small dump outside of Athens."

"So, you've pretty much been everywhere, then?"

"Mainly around Europe and Asia. I'd really love to go to Rio. I hear the women there are great in every way possible." He giggled and handed the cigarette back to Jigen.

"Huh? Aren't you like ten or something?"

"Eleven, but what does age matter? I mean, I'm a guy, right?"

Jigen gave him an unsure look. "I guess," he mumbled.

"And guys have needs, right?"

"Sure, whatever," Jigen said, not the least bit interested in the topic.

"You're... still a virgin, aren't you?" Lupin grinned.

Jigen stared off in annoyance. "Is it my fault I'm not interested in girls?"

"Oh, so you're gay?"

"What? No!"

Lupin laughed at Jigen's response. "So, why aren't you? Interested in girls, I mean."

Jigen shrugged. "They're all lying bitches."

"Bad break-up?"

"No."

"Then how would you know?"

"My idiot brother. He dates the most unintelligent broads and then breaks up with them after he finds they've been lying and cheating on him."

"Oh. Sounds like he has bad luck. How old is he?"

"Seventeen. And no, he's not a virgin. Had to listen to that shit, too."

Lupin laughed. "Well, I wouldn't let his poor choices turn you away. There's a lot of great women out there. Your mom is pretty great, isn't she?"

Jigen looked at Lupin in disgust. "She's my mom. What are you talking about?"

"My mom's a great woman."

"Oh my god, do not tell me you slept with your mom."

"Ugh, no. I wasn't even talking about that. I meant great as in she doesn't lie or cheat on your dad."

"Well, be more clear next time, please." Jigen sighed and shook his head. "And no, my mom hasn't done any of that to my dad, that I know of."

"See? So not all women are terrible people."

"I guess you have a point," Jigen said with a sigh of defeat.

"Hey, you wanna go sneak into that strip club on Fourth Street?" Lupin asked excitedly.

Jigen gave Lupin a blank stare. "Not really. Besides, I need to get home. My dad will kill me if I'm late for dinner."

"Yeah, dads are weird like that," Lupin laughed. "So, you gonna be at the arcade again tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'm usually there everyday."

"Great. I'll see you then, okay? But let's do something other than play pool all day. I wanna do something fun."

Jigen smiled and nodded. "Sure."

"Bye bye, Jigen," Lupin said in a child-like manner as he waved before running off down the sidewalk.

"See ya," Jigen sighed as he watched his new friend get farther away.

...

The two did meet at the arcade the next day, as well as every day for the next two years, both becoming very close friends and getting into trouble together.

This was frustrating for Jigen's dad, having to go to the police station more than once to pick up his son.

Jigen's mom chalked it up to her son growing older and entering the rebellious stage of his teenage years.

Jigen's brother knew it was because of Lupin, telling his brother more than once to dump his new friend, these altercations leading to physical fights.

The fighting only happened throughout one year, his brother leaving for the Army when Jigen was fifteen.

Neither his dad's or his brother's objections kept Jigen away from Lupin, though. And no amount of their yelling kept him from being chased down by the police.