[b]Toma Tanaka - Warakuma Streets[/b]

Toma accepted all of Hamada's bag without a single complaint, mainly because, if anything, he [i]liked[/i] the extra weight. It made him work harder. With all the energy he had been spending today, it was a possibility that he'd pass out sooner than he usually did, meaning he'd get extra sleep. 

Hamada prompted them to start moving. Toma couldn't help but feel like he was sort of being made fun of, judging by the girl's mannerisms, but he didn't pay the thought much mind, instead happy to just be out-and-about with something to do. Besides, there seemed to be no malice behind her actions -- Toma felt that that was just the way she was. Sort of like how he spoke with his tired cheeriness and always threw in stupid, noncommittal phrases like 'I guess' at the end of every sentence. It was simply what they did, without realizing or thinking about it.

As they were walking, the girl spoke up, asking him why he had moved. It was a standard enough question, one he had been asked a dozen times in the past few days. Every time, he had given his default answer: his father's work. He'd then steer the conversation away from the topic as best he could. While it wasn't completely an outright lie, it [i]was[/i] very far from the truth. 

He almost reflexively gave this answer, but stopped himself short. He wasn't entirely sure why - maybe he still felt bad about insulting her, or maybe he just felt like talking - but he decided to give the girl a decent response.

"You'd be better off asking my parents -- they were the ones who decided to move," he began. "My father insisted that moving here would help him out with his job, but he works from home, and deals with all his clients over the internet, so I don't know what he was talking about. My best guess is that he and my mother just wanted a change of scenery. They were both born and raised in Osaka, so maybe they finally got tired of all the hustle-and-bustle of big cities."

He shrugged and looked away, worried that he was rambling on too much, but decided to finish his train of thought. "I wasn't thrilled to move at first, but I think it's done me some good. Warakuma, at the very least, fits my... 'pace' better, I guess. In Osaka, everyone's always speed walking everywhere, looking all busy-like. Here, people seem to enjoy just strolling around. It's nice," he finished with a smile. What he had said still wasn't entirely truthful, but it [i]was[/i] a lot closer.

"But what's this about cults?" he asked, amused. "I've heard about all the kids acting up, but I thought the cases were unrelated. I sort of just figured it was stupid people acting stupid."