Unsolicited School

First Chapter

Mullet

Day 6

It's Saturday., the day where all students free to decide about what they should do in these 2 days off. You can hibernate, slack off, procrastinate, or do worthwhile things. The aesthetic morning green flags everyone from their sleep, Including Mullet, who actually wants to hibernate like a squirrel. But his alarm clock won't allow him to do so. The irritating buzz from the alarm clock coffee'd Mullet instantly.

"Yeah, I know. I know, buddy! Darn…" said Mullet to the faceless alarm clock.

Mullet do his morning chores before he exercises. He cleaned up his room in less than 5 minutes, followed by 20 Push-ups, 10 Sit-ups, and 10 times 3kg weights. The weekends are the only day for Mullet to take a shower. The warm water from the shower refreshed that 17-year-old boy as new. The water came out from drenches Mullet like rain.

Mullet came out of the bathroom after the refreshing shower. His big brother, Hiro, has waited for him to take a shower too. He holds the towel and sits down at the plastic stool like the thinker statue.

"Wanna breakfast?" Mullet asked as he will cook the breakfast again this morning.

"Yeah,"

The bathroom door closed once again as his big brother takes a shower. Mullet moved back to his bedroom to open his closet. Due to today is Saturday, he wears a red t-shirt with GAME OVER written in front of it. And he wears black track pants with three white stripes on the side. His clothes smell like lavender perfume.

He walked down to the kitchen to wear his black-brown apron. And thus, he starts cooking. He walked to the fridge to bring out the raw food and vegetables to cook. He chose the groceries carefully as he doesn't want to cook some rotten ones. Today, he will cook the Roundy Breakfast Set, which is rice, deep-fried salmon, slices of tomato, crispy enokitake, and 4 slices of apples. All the foods were formed into one circle like a pie chart, and a glass of milk separated from the round set.

After taking out the ingredients, Mullet prepared the utensils and heating the pan. First, he heats up the cooking oil and dips the salmon and the enokitake in one pan as it heated up. While the salmon and the mushroom are still diving in the hot oil, Mullet rinsed two tomatoes and two apples altogether and sliced them into four slices each.

After 10 minutes of waiting, the rice and the deep-fried foods are cooked well. He turned off the stove and prepared the salmon, enokitake, and the rice to the plate where the tomatoes and the apples are already waiting for their friends.

"Makoto, breakfast ready yet?" Hiro asked.

"Yeah," Mullet replied while taking off his apron.

After Mullet took off his apron, he carried the breakfast with a tray. He meets with his big brother as he walked downstairs. His big brother wears a grey t-shirt with a mountain logo on the front and sand cargo shorts. His fresh appearance made him 3 years younger, even he's a 20-years-old college student.

The brothers sit down on the chair, facing each other. The circle arranged breakfast tantalized and forced them to eat while it's hot.

The savory taste from the crispy enokitake and the salmon kicked inside their mouth as they mixed with the rice. Hiro can't thank his little brother enough. He picked the right choice to let Mullet cook because his cooking is tastier than their mom's cooking.

After they finished eating, Hiro decides to wash the dishes as a return for Mullet's cooking. Meanwhile, Mullet walked to the living room to watch TV. He picked the remote located in front of it and press the power button designated with red. The indicator of the TV flickers as it switched on. Then, the TV shows the current channel showing the anime channel that is on a commercial break.

Mullet lazed out on the couch while he watches the commercials. 30 seconds later, the show aired back. The anime that is airing is Correct Social Box, the comedy-social genre that popular on this channel. At first, Mullet planned to change to the music channel. But he canceled it as the show is interesting. Man, this is better than that debate matters.

"Hey, Makoto. What're you watching?"

Hiro's question made Mullet's head shifted to him. But Mullet didn't answer as his brother looked at the TV.

"Oh... CSB huh? By the way..." Hiro takes a seat next to Mullet before he continues, "Ranko-chan wants to meet us today. So we're going out at 10 AM,"

"Why?"

"C'mon. She hasn't met us for more than 2 months. At least we can pay a visit,"

Hiro's reason made Mullet confused and made a thought if he was lying. The awkwardness filled the living room as they both didn't talk to each other except the TV still remains on.

"Alright, you're lying. Tell me the truth now," said Mullet with a poker face.

"Fine… Ranko-chan wants us to renovate her room," Hiro sighed.

"Oh… okay. You don't have to lie to me about that," Mullet relieves him.

"Sorry,"

They both continue to watch the TV as the time's still 7:50, Three hours and ten minutes before going to their cousin's house. The show still goes on until the time reaches 8 AM. And the credits rolled in with some names written on the TV like a list. Then followed by the next anime titled My Brother, My Life.

"Change the channel, dude,"

Mullet pressed the number 1 and number 5. Changing the channel to channel number 15 before pressing the OK button. The screen went black before another channel shows up. Both Mullet and Hiro felt disgusted to watch that anime due to its edgy i****t romance comedy genre.

"Darn… that edgy crap again," Mullet sighed as he glanced at that anime before.

The channel they watched this time is TheLoudTV, the music channel that originated from the US. The current show is The oldskool, where it shows classics songs from the world. When Mullet was about to press the button again, they halted by the music that currently playing. The 2003 song Devour You from the nu-metal band, Maggots Inc.

"I can't believe this song played again," Hiro smiled.

"Yeah, what a nostalgia,"

The time finally shows 9:45 AM. Time to get ready to move. Before they walk away from the couch, Hiro messaged Mullet.

"We will stay at her house today. So bring spare clothes, okay?"

"Yeah. Let's get changed,"

"Oh yeah, don't turn off the TV," Hiro still wants to listen to the songs while changing.

They walked upstairs to change their clothes while the TV remains on. The audio from the TV muffled as they walked away.

Mullet walked into his room and changed his pants with the clean khakis. The fragrant smell from the khakis came from the laundry perfume that he chose precisely. He took out and wears the army-green bomber jacket with white star knitted on the left chest.

After Mullet changed clothes, he took out his second backpack. His second backpack is similar to his school backpack, but with a woodland leaf camouflage pattern. He unzipped the backpack and put his clothes and his underwear inside, then followed by his laptop, chargers, and books. Mullet put his small notebook, pen, pencil, and an eraser in the front pocket.

After he finished packing up his stuff, Mullet closed his curtains and the doors, then he walked downstairs and wait for his big brother, who still upstairs. One minute later, his brother came while carrying his backpack on his back, make him like a turtle with a thick shell.

"What're you waiting for? Let's go" said Hiro.

Mullet nodded, then he turned off the TV. The quick beep from the tv sounds like a laser g*n. The brothers walked to the shoe rack, and wear their shoes. Mullet chose his black skater shoes and a pair of white medium thick socks. The white socks comfort Mullet with its softness.

Mullet is the first who put his shoes on. He opened the door and waited outside of the house. After a few moments, Hiro came out and locked the doors to keep the house secured as they staying at their cousin's.

"Wanna ride?" Hiro offered while hands the helmet to Mullet.

"Nah, you ride the bike" Mullet refused.

They both wear their helmet, and Hiro starts the engine. The sound from the bike's exhaust sounded exactly like a WWII motorbike. The roaring engine signaled the rider that the bike is ready for 30 miles of driving. Hiro finally hits the gas, and they speed away from the neighborhood.

The first 10 minutes in Mullet's eyes were the suburbs. There's nothing to see here as it just houses, convenience stores, and parks. Then, followed by some apartments. Mullet knows those apartments as he visited before. He also remembers where the rainbow apartments are located. And yep… Here are the rainbow flats and hippies.

"Have you visited these apartments yet? It's wonderful" Hiro asked while he riding the bike.

"Yeah! Once!" Mullet answered.

After 10 minutes of passing the suburbs. They finally reached downtown, where The Glory Mall is located. Again, Hiro asked his little brother with the same questions.

"Makoto. You visited this mall, right?"

"Yeah"

The buildings that stand tall greet the brothers as they passed by. The crowds that Mullet saw changes as they riding down that six-lane road. The shiny weather emits the building and leaves some shadows on the street. The asphalt and the sidewalk are completely dry as there's no rain last night.

10 minutes later, they finally left the city and reached the city outskirts, but they didn't leave the city yet. There are no houses here. Only a few small buildings can be seen amongst the beautiful forest of the city outskirts, resembling a beautiful rural town. There are only a few people here, such as the workers and the campers who want to leisure after their long-time employment time.

Mullet flashbacks as they drive through the forest, he remembered when he visited this forest with his family. He was still a 3-years old toddler playing with Hiro and his mother, while his dad setting out the grill for the barbeque.

"Makoto! grab the ball!" said Hiro cheerfully.

Young Makoto (who hasn't been nicknamed Mullet like now) catches the ball. He didn't fall and able to hold the recoil of the thrown ball, Hiro and his mom cheered him.

"Good job, Mako-kun! I know you can do it!" his mother cheered.

"Yaay!" Hiro jumped while clapping his hands like an energetic monkey.

Mullet smiled as he recalled that sweet moment. What a good old day, I wish we can do it again.

Mullet' focus broke as his eyeballs automatically tracked to the sign reads:

CITY LIMITS

Finally, they're out of town. The road that he and Hiro went is accompanied only by the street lights, which haven't turned on until the night comes. They both keep silent due to the boredom on the road since they ride here is a motorcycle. Of course, there's no CD/DVD like a car. Unless they put the sidecar for the motorbike.

Mullet realized if a car followed them behind. A 70s muscle car drives behind him with a paint scheme of top banana. Mullet glanced at the rearview mirror to look at it. Even though he was a little bit annoyed. But he never looks at such a car before. Who's driving that banana?

The car followed them for 30 minutes straight as they drove down the road at 45 miles per hour. It's still common for Mullet and Hiro to ride the bike at such speed. But, the car that tailed them forced Mullet to speak up.

"Dude, can we go faster?" asked Mullet.

"Wha? Of course!"

Hiro shifted the gear and hit the gas deeper. Now the motorbike reached 50 miles per hour. The wind against their motorbike speed hit Mullet like a hurricane. Thanks to their full-face helmet, the wind sliced by it. But speeding didn't work as the car speeds up at 50 miles per hour. There's nothing for him to do except just look forward and think positively that the vehicle is driven by a good person.

Mullet looked to the right, where a gas station sign was marked with 100M written underneath.

"Yo, Makoto. We stop for gas, and you'll ride the bike," signed Hiro.

They finally pulled over to the gas station. There are only cars juicing up here and some people going in and out of the store. That banana car also pulled over and refueling at the gas station next to him.

"Makoto, I'll buy some food, okay?" Hiro walked in while Mullet is about to refuel.

Mullet pressed the combination of the button and moved the nozzle out of its slot into the gas tank.

"Ryou, drive the car, okay? I want to buy some foods for Ruri,"

The man's voice made Mullet's eyeballs tracked to him, who leaves the car to buy some stuff. He looked again at that car. Which he got surprised by the boy who also came out. It's Robbie.

Robbie?!

A coincidence meets him to see that guy again. He was confused because Robbie is also going to the same place as him.

Robbie accidentally looked at Mullet, who was stunned by his existence. He was confused with Mullet's clueless pose.

"Uh… hi?" Robbie greets.

"Yeah… hello," Mullet replied awkwardly.

The awkward situation made the duo petrified like medusa, who stared at herself in the mirror, even after the nozzle has stopped refueling. A few moments later, Robbie looked away and pulled out the nozzle back. Then he entered the driver's seat and waiting for his dad to come.

"Yo, Makoto. What's the holdup? Come on!" Hiro's alarmed him and broke his awkward focus. He came out of the store with a grocery bag filled with instant ramen, microwave omurice with some eggs, and soda drinks.

"Huh?! Yeah, sorry," Mullet pulled the nozzle back to the fuel dispenser and glanced at Robbie, who already started the car and drove back to the road. That banana car is still in Mullet's sight.

Hiro handed the bike key to Mullet and started the bike. The handgrip of the motorbike still warm as it was recently grasped by his big brother. The roaring sound of the bike continues their halfway journey. Also made some people who were still at the gas station looked at him.

They finally back on the road after the gas station recess. The soda drunk by Mullet refreshed his throat. This time, he followed the banana car driven by Robbie after he changed his seat with his dad. They didn't get hit by the wind as Robbie covered him in his car.

Finally, I eat your wind, dude.

After 2 hours of riding from the home to his cousin's, they finally arrived at the rural area of Northwest city. Where the hills on here covered by the beautiful forest and only some small building lived here. The river and the small waterfall here made the view akin to a tiny paradise. Mullet knows if those rivers also lead to his hometown, the Northwest city, where the water flows together with the city's wide storm drain.

Mullet parked the motorbike on the front porch of Ranko's house. The wide porch of the house is enough to cover a car from the sunlight. He moved to the sidewalk of the road and saw the banana car parked at another front yard few houses away. He saw Robbie, who the last one left.

"Hey there, Ruri," Robbie's voice is audible from afar.

"Let's get inside, Onii-chan," she replied.

Siblings, eh?

"Hey, Makoto. Let's get in," Hiro's voice interrupts him.

"Yeah, just a minute,"

"What? Enjoying the view again? Okay. I'll be waiting inside," Hiro walked into the house and left the door open for him.

After Robbie went inside the house, Mullet walked back into the house. He looked at Hiro's shoes, where it placed on the top shelf.

He walks to the living room, where Hiro and Ranko sit on the couch with some paints placed behind them. Those paints were sealed securely and freshly bought from the local store as the fine dust can be seen on the lid. He looked at the plastic bag filled with some beautiful room wallpapers ready to be attached.

"Well, I guess it will be a whole operation here," Mullet sits on another couch.

"I know, right? That's why I ask you guys to help me," Ranko replied.

"By the way, did you already bring all your stuff out of your room?" Hiro asked.

"Sure. Only bed and, the closet left there,"

The silence filled the room as they're about to renovate that 14-year-old girl's room.

"So… shall we do it?" Mullet asked.

"Yeah. Let's do this,"

Mullet and Hiro took off their jacket and changed their pants with the track pants to move easier. Then they go into Ranko's room on the second floor, where it almost empty, except for the bedroom and the closet inside.

After they moved the spring bed and the closet to another room, Mullet opened one of the paints alone while his brother returned to cover the power outlet with the newspaper. He used the screwdriver to open the paint's seal that was made out of plastic.

As the seal was broken by the screwdriver, Mullet gently opened the lid. Suddenly, the paint that he opened is a bucket of blood. The stench of that eerie and disgusting liquid stung his nose like a rotten carcass.

Mullet jumped back and screamed in fear as he opened the paint. Mullet's screech made Hiro startled and quickly rushed to him.

"Makoto! Are you okay?"

Mullet nodded.

"You scared me, man. By the way, I already prepared the brush and the roller. Mix those paints with some water, okay?" Hiro requested.

After Hiro walked back into Ranko's room, Mullet slowly peek at the paint to make sure it's a bucket of paint, not blood. I hope it's a blue color. I hope it's a blue color.

He peeked at what inside of that paint. The color of the paint returned to blue, and the paint smell wafted back into his nose. Mullet let out a sigh as he was relieved from his horrific delusion.

3 hours later, they are finished renovating. All of the furniture and stuff was brought back inside. Ranko's room finally looks new, the blue paint meets with the white, and the room wallpaper is attached neatly on the front wall. Mullet looked at his watch. It's 15:00.

"This is awesome! Thanks for your help, guys!" Ranko thanked her cousins.

"Your welcome," Hiro and Mullet replied.

"Oh yeah," Mullet took a breath before continues, "I see you have that Arcadia Home System. When did you buy it, Ranko?"

"Oh, I bought it last week. You can play it if you want," she replied.

After Mullet changed his clothes and put his paint-stained outfit in the laundry basket, he walked to the gaming room, where the room is clean with full of gaming consoles. Without opening the curtains and turning on the lamp, Mullet took the Arcadia Home System console - the classic gaming console announced back in 1980. The retro design of the console brings back the nostalgia of gaming. Where the game controller only has the directional button and the AB button.

Mullet put a game cartridge into the AHS console. The game is named Adventurer Man, the classic 8-bit adventure game released in 1987. Without waiting, he turned on the LCD tv, and the console. The game finally starts up. But the game warned the player with information. Which reads:

NOTICE

You're currently playing June 6 1986 Build. This game is far from complete.

Any bugs and glitches may occur, and there is no way to beat this game.

Press start to continue

Mullet confused with the notice. Not because the game cannot be beaten. But how Ranko managed to get the beta version of the game. According to the rules of AHS, owning a pirated copy or a beta is illegal. The repercussions may be severe, and Ranko will be jailed for this. Is she got this game from the black market?

But Mullet doesn't need to care about that this time. He pressed the start button, and the title screen welcomed him. There is only one player available due to the game is still beta. He pressed the start button again to begin. Mullet remembers the secret power-up location and the secret entrance of this game in the level 1-1. He finally finished the game less in 20 seconds as he played it with speedrun-style.

When the game entered the level 1-2, everything is weirded out. His number of lives was 4, and the level shown is 4-4. The score itself only shows 3 digits, in which the score is 444.

The level itself has no music. Just the sound of Adventurer Man itself walking and jumping. There were no enemies to be beaten or even NPCs to be talked with. The fear starts kicked into Mullet. But he has no idea that made him keep walking through the level. And then, Adventurer Man stopped abruptly while running.

Mullet pressed any button to make him move, but none of the buttons responded to him. He was standing still. Three seconds later, Adventurer Man desperately waves off to the screen. Mullet didn't understand his apprehensive behavior. Mullet stared at the tv as the game becomes weird.

3 seconds later, a text appeared on the screen above the Adventurer Man:

TURN OFF

THE GAME

The text warned Mullet to turn off the game console. Mullet obeyed the warning and pressed the on/off button. But when he switched off the game, the game does nothing. Mullet repeatedly tap the on/off button again, but nothing happened.

Suddenly, the tv starts to glitch. And the color of the tv desaturated slowly. Adventurer Man's wave-off became faster as he was about to face his death if he's not be saved. The text changed above him:

TURN IT OFF

NOW!

A black silhouette of a man rises behind him, the TV glitches more, and a creepy 8-bit sound horrifies the room. Mullet quickly pressed the power button on the TV, but nothing happened. He unplugged the game from the TV, but it failed. There is no other choice, except he had to unplug the TV and the game console from the power outlet.

A split second after he unplugged the TV and the game console, the TV became pitch black with TOO LATE written on the screen. The stuttering sound screeched out from the TV, and the light suddenly turned off. Only the brightness of the TV horrifies Mullet, who screamed desperately, like a dying rabbit.

Mullet ignored the TV as its glitches violently. Mullet frightened by what just happened right now. He realized that his brother and his cousin disappeared after the glitch. The door in the gaming room suddenly opened, and something urged Mullet to get out of the room.

He walked out of the room. The time moved to night quickly, and it's pitch black. Not even a single star can be seen from the window, only strange lights that lead him downstairs.

He followed the light and walked down. The gaming room disappeared behind him, along with the strange light he passed.

Mullet kept walking until he reached the living room. A shadow person with his black aura greets him warmly.

"Finally, you came here as I call,"

Mullet, who half-scared, asked him, "Where am I? Is this death?"

"What do you think?"

Mullet didn't answer. He remains silent as he doesn't know what is happened.

"It doesn't matter. However, we have met before,"

Mullet got confused as he didn't remember when he met with that person, "Have we met before?"

"You don't remember me? I give you a clue then. Did you still remember the third day of school?"

"Umm-"

"It doesn't matter," The shadow person cuts him, "That is the first day of our encounter. But I will tell you one thing,"

The silence filled the room before he asks him one simple yet crucial question.

"Do you want to know what will happen on day 8?"

To be continued…