Umbrella.

First night.

Chapter was originally posted : 23/09/2023 on AO3 by 0Creativity0 (me).

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Saving his money for when he truly needs it, Gon decided to walk all the way from the airport to his new home. The night air of York Shin burnt his nose, unused to the smell of pollution of big cities. Gon had illegally left Whale Island. Now that he was across the ocean, if his parents didn't report him to the police (which he was positive wouldn't happen because of whatever funny business Kurapika had been down on for his job), nobody would ever know.

Since Gon came from another country, and even another continent, he had priority on his school's dorms, however, they remained too expensive for him, impossible to afford without financial help. Which didn't mean he had trouble finding a place to stay: it was much more than just easy to find a studio to rent, in some small city near York Shin. He'd have almost two hours of bus to do everyday, but he didn't mind. Not only that but the job he'd taken was supposedly just down the street.

The studio was... well, a studio. Only the bathroom was in a different room: the rest of the house was compacted in one. It was small, really small. Tiny. There were no furnitures, meaning no bed, and, at this point, Gon was just glad the previous tenant didn't take the kitchen counters with them. Situated in the heart of a huge (and old) apartment complex, his new home was surrounded, from every possible angle, with dozens of studios similar to his own, some provided with balconies, some, like Gon's, not. Across from the street another white (turned yellow) building stood tall (and slightly bent to the side), mirroring the one he'd be inhabiting. He guessed the residences were mostly filled with students, which he was very glad to know, since he would be able to follow them around and not get lost while taking the bus.

The moon shone bright through the tainted windows of Gon's home, and dirty air of York Shin city mixed with the sent of accumulated dust. Soon enough, Kurapika would be up, looking for him to go eat breakfast. He will find the letter Gon left, and he will start panicking. Gon had made clear, in his letter, that he'd refuse any contact with Leorio and Kurapika until the day after he left. He knew Leorio would be too emotional to speak or let Kurapika speak for now, so he wouldn't answer any calls if they even tried to disrespect his wishes (at the risk of being denied contact forever, so surely they wouldn't try). Scaring his parents, because he still considers them as so, is the only thing making Gon somewhat regret leaving so far; but maybe it's still too early to speak.

The cafe was a bit farther away than he'd expected but it was still close enough. He could easily walk there after doing his homework and walk back home in the morning to get some sleep. He'd just need to be very organized.

The coffee shop was a small one, poorly decorated with dubious picture of half naked people (mostly women, of course), old tables and metal chairs with destroyed faux leather cushions, as if cats had been making their nails on it for an eternity. The floor was made of white floor tiles, more often than not, broken, and the counter was of brown marble. The whole thing made Gon feel unwelcome and uncomfortable, kind of reminded him of his aunt's bar. But it was okay, it would have to do for now, if he wanted to have a roof over his head and food to put on the table for himself to eat at night - or actually even to have a table, since he didn't own one yet.

There were three weeks left until the end of summer break. Gon had decided he'd spend that time working extra hours and spending as much time at the cafe as he could, not only to win extra money and buy himself a bed, but also to gain his boss' trust. That way, he can miss work every once in a while to sleep or study and still keep his job.

Even if he considered them as secondary needs, Gon also knew he had to find people to befriend. He would despite being alone all of the time and having nobody to talk with, or about. It would take a while for him to make some actual friends and it would be hard to hold on until then, but he would try.

Laying on the floor of his house, looking through the window and holding tightly the blanket he'd brought with him from Whale Island, Gon organized the next few years of his life. Tomorrow, he will go to work for the first time. When he came back home at night, Leorio and Kurapika would be waking up again and probably about to call him. He'd have a chat with them, and everything would be okay. From then and on, he would work day and night at the coffee shop, try to accumulate enough money to buy some furniture for his home and for school. He'd try to chat with his neighbors if ever he came across any that seemed nice. Once summer break was over, he would start working only at night: he'd already talked about it with his boss, when he first applied for the job. He would get up early, study on the way to school, study at school, hopefully make some friends, study on the way back from school, go home an rest a bit, go to work, come home and rest some more... Before starting all over again. He even, mentally, added a new step: once he'd gathered enough money, if he ever did, he would move to the school dorms and find a job close to them, so that he could study and rest some more, perhaps have more social interactions.

And so, calm and quiet, Gon fell asleep for what was left of his first night in York Shin city.