Chapter Text
Going college hadn’t originally been a goal of his. When he was a kid—says the eighteen year-old—he figured that school was just a necessary evil, the job of the child in the modern industrialized society. Maybe he was right in some ways. He certainly hadn’t put a lot of effort into it initially, just enough to get by, pass a test, and make it to the next step.
Such was the lackluster academic career of Yosuke Hanamura.
But as he somehow moved from compulsory education into high school, Yosuke had the time to reevaluate. The possibility of college was on the horizon. More tests sat before him, higher standards, the possibility of cram school—none of it seemed appealing, at least not initially. Reevaluation stopped dead in its tracks as he turned his attention back to the daily crisis of staying awake during lecture. He worked part-time at the department store that his father managed and he slipped through his first year without incident.
Thoughts of his future were fleeting. He spent most of his time concentrating on doing the minimal at school and the maximum at work, earning enough money to spend on electronics and the dream of being a rock star. (Really, he knew that it was an impossibility from the start, but working towards “something” felt like enough. Or maybe it was just an excuse to look cool with a guitar he could half-play.)
Life was busy, but simple. School, work, hanging out with peers, trying to impress a girl that he knew would never call back. There was comfort in the rhythm of things and Yosuke knew what to expect. He looked forward to each paycheck and his next big purchase. It wasn’t easy, but it was familiar.
And that was good enough, wasn’t it?
The future was far enough away, time after school. He figured he would just pick up more hours at the store and go from there. To be honest, thinking about it was more difficult than making plans.
During his second year, he met another boy named Yuuta Katsuragi who became as close as anyone could to being his friend. Yosuke had a fairly decent reputation, if somewhat superficial relationships with most of his peers. That was always how it went, though, and High School was a time to work hard and impress your age group. But more than jokes and the occasional packet of ramen, Yuuta planted a very important idea in Yosuke’s head: escape.
His life wasn’t bad, so what was there to escape from? Stagnation, he realized. He loved his mother, he loved his father, school was tolerable and he wasn’t necessarily hated, nor was he over-liked. It was all right.
But it wasn’t anything special.
The thought that he could make it special, more than the daydreams he never counted on in the first place was new. Escape didn’t mean dropping everything to start over, it didn’t mean fleeing the country or creating a new identity. Escape meant hard work because escape meant getting into college, or as Yuuta put, “your four year spring break”.
Yosuke felt like he could use a break in how unimpressed he was with his life.
So he did something he didn’t usually do with school—he applied himself. He took up cram school, much to the surprise of his parents, and he even stayed late and studied during lunches. It meant less time for his friends, but he found that they didn’t miss him as much as he might have liked. He said he was okay with it, he had something else to look forward to, after all. That was enough motivation.
Somehow, he managed to pass his achievement test. And somehow, he managed to pass one of the three university entrance exams he took. He didn’t need more than a minute to accept.
In the August of 2013, Yosuke Hanamura was going to Jisshi University. He would move out of his parent’s house, meet new people who were just as excited to get away as he was, and finally find the direction his life should be taking, if the compass of fate was willing.
He just had no idea how horribly unprepared he was.