As his head rattles on the glass in time to the trains' trundles, Kichiro awakes. 3.55pm. He’s been asleep for 15 minutes. He’s surprised he slept that long on a train. He hasn’t missed his stop. Good.

He scans his surroundings. The cats gone. The old woman remains. The businessman remains. Kichiro feels a wave of regret take over his mind. Why? He was never going to speak to her anyway.

He checks his phone. He should arrive at his stop in 10 minutes. Tokyo Central station, the busiest station in Japan’s capital. After a long day at school, he’s hoping it won’t be as busy as usual.

At school Kichiro has friends but is lonely. People know him but he’s not popular. If this was an anime, he would be a silhouette character that appears in a crowd once or twice. He is an enigma to many, but an enigma that no one cares to figure out. He is irrelevant.

Although Kichiro knows all of this, he feels eyes on him. He feels people care about what he does or looks like even when he knows they don’t care. What is this barrier that holds him back, but is created by himself? He asks himself why this happens, although he never takes action to stop it. He accepts it and moves on.

One place he excels at however, is in possibly the least relevant area for an 18-year-old about to enter the world of work. Kichiro is an insane gamer. He thrives when playing games, alone, in his room. He is at his happiest. He is at peace with the world. No judgements. No eyes. No shyness.

He is the main character when gaming.

Nothing beats the satisfaction of reaching his apartment and turning on his Xbox after a long day of being around people, noise and greyness.

The train stops and triggers the awakening of Kichiro’s senses. He prepares himself for the upcoming Olympic event of “make it home in Tokyo's rush hour whilst also avoiding every single person he encounters”. A tough event but luckily, Kichiro has been here before. Composure, Kichiro, composure.

The doors let out a warning alarm that they are about to open. Kichiro stuffs his earphones in his jacket pocket and swings his backpack onto his tired back. He shoots up from his seat, tapping his black school trousers pockets to feel for a phone. Okay, it's there. A half second of silence. Then it begins. 

“And its lights out and away we go! Kichiro hits a smooth left round a screaming kid who’s just wet himself and into a less crowded alleyway, he has more room to put his foot down now! Past the vending machine and the group of boys trying to hop the ticket gate, his mind is fully focused on this race, no stopping for drinks or entertainment today! He takes a right and bombs it up the stairs, avoiding the drunk homeless man taking up half a stair, and here he is, approaching the final straight! Just one more stair section to go aaaannddddd.....across the line! The sunlight shines on Kichiro as he is the victor once again! A one-man race, for sure, but a victory nonetheless!”

Kichiro tiredly steps out of the stairwell that leads from the metro into an army of sunken faces hustling and bustling past each other. He enters the soldiers ranks of Tokyo to march on home.

He puts his bag on his front to make the process of getting his key out the front pocket easier. He misses the first attempt at the entry of his key. The collision of bronze key and keyhole makes a sound. Kichiro is oddly satisfied, as he stands there in silent satisfaction, just standing in front of his door. Attempt number 2 is a success, with Kichiro gaining access to his apartment.

Kichiro lives with his brother in a small-ish apartment in Tokyo. His older brother Yuichi is 21 and is the starboy of the family. He has a different girlfriend for each month of the year and lives his life like he’s in Tokyo Drift – a big lover of cars. He is tall enough, attractive, popular, and to be honest, a bit full of himself. Kichiro isn’t exactly jealous, but he couldn’t be less interested in having a life like his brother... according to Kichiro.

Kichiro’s parents run a small family hotel in the countryside where they hope to settle down and kick back for the rest of their days. Of course, they are slightly interested in what Kichiro becomes but Yuichi is the real hope of the family. After securing a job for Apple, Yuichi is destined to be successful. On the other hand, Kichiro has no plans whatsoever for his future. All he wants to think about is playing Xbox and eating food. He’s sure some job will come around when the time comes... probably... hopefully... right?

Kichiro chucks his bags over his shoulder into the void which he calls the rest of the apartment and retires to his gaming chair. It's that time again.

AFTER A STRONG 5 HOUR SESSION, KICHIRO FELL INTO A DEEP SLEEP.

THIS IS WHERE OUR STORY REALLY BEGINS SO GRAB A CHOCCY MILK AND A COOKIE AND STRAP YOURSELF IN.