The car reaches the Herrmann residence. A spacious house with a garden in front of it. Numerous categories of flowers have been planted in the garden. Benjamin's mother Noriko makes sure the flowers are taken care of every day. The Herrmann residence is in comparison with the other houses in the area more old-fashioned.

Frederic stops the car right in front of the house's entrance. Benjamin's irritation almost hits the roof of the vehicle. His foot had been tapping on the bottom for the entire ride home. With crossing arms, he stares out of the window towards the doorway. After some time, he kicks the car door open and slams it back behind him. Grinding his teeth and clenched fists, he stomps into his home.

He stands before the door and takes his keys out. However, Benjamin is so irritated that he forgets he doesn't need a key because his parents know he comes home at this hour. Benjamin puts his key into an unlocked door, which drives him further aggravated. Every little inconvenience drives Benjamin further nuts. Frederic glimpses out of the driver's window and can see Benjamin getting angrier and angrier by the minute.

"Yeah, he really didn't like the news."

"What the heck Mom?!" shouts Benjamin at his mother as they stand in the kitchen. She turns around wearing an apron and preparing dinner.

"Wow, you couldn't even start with a simple 'Good afternoon'?"

"Okay, let me rephrase then...Good afternoon. What the heck Mom?! You signed me up for some student exchange program? And you didn't even bother to tell me?"

"Look, this will be a good opportunity for you and your grades. Participating in this program will benefit you in the long term."

"Benefit me- or you?"

His mother stares at him with cold eyes, while holding a kitchen knife: "Don't be ridiculous. What would I gain from this stunt?"

Benjamin remembers with whom he is speaking at this precise moment. He quickly stops and attempts to talk his way out of the mess he just created: "I-I don't know. But I bet you're planning something...Please put the knife down, Mom."

Benjamin doesn't know what to do next. He tries to desperately save his circumstances, but he knows that there wouldn't be a way out of this. The fists he had made slowly released. With a deep sigh, he turns around and walks towards the door.

"Why don't you take a look at the high school? Start preparing and pack your things, you'll be leaving soon," says his mother before Benjamin leaves the kitchen. He comes to a stop and turns his head with a bewildered facial expression.

"How soon?" He questions.

"Tomorrow."

"WHAT?"

His mouth drops to the bottom of the floor. First, he had been left unknowingly out of the loop about this student exchange program, and now he has to prepare for a flight within the next few hours. Benjamin feels like the whole world is turning upside down. He runs out of the kitchen and up the stairs to his room. His mother, still in the kitchen and washing vegetables, raises a smile on her face.

"You used to be so different. Maybe it will come back..."

Benjamin runs back and forth in his room, trying to pack his things. He is panicking. A thousand different thoughts race through his head. They range from what to wear to how he should complete the checklist most efficiently. The entire room turns into a mess, with clothes and essentials lying left and right. He turns himself to his bookshelf and looks for books to take with him on the journey. Benjamin skims through the entire shelf searching for his favorite book, yet he can't find it. He decides to shift his focus to obtaining information about the new high school. With that in mind, Benjamin walks out of his room and yells downstairs:

"Frederic! Get up here now!"

Frederic sits in the lounge area of the Herrmann residence, reading a book. Quickly after hearing Benjamin calling for him, he throws his book to the side and runs the stairs up his room. He slams the door open whilst catching his breath.

"What is it you require, Benjamin?"

"I want you to find everything there's to know about this new high school I'm supposed to attend. Every teacher, every student, every little thing about it! We need to plan out this year how to get this damn checklist done quickly!"

"Very well, I shall begin researching right away!" Frederic goes back downstairs into his office. He plumbs into his chair and starts hammering down on the keyboard.

As for Benjamin, he finishes packing after some time. Dead-tired, he throws himself onto his bed.

"I already hate this..." he mumbles into his pillow. Slowly he rotates his body around to lie on his back. What's little left of the sunbeams that reach his room, fall onto his face. He extends his arm and reaches for the button to close the shutters. With a lazy attitude, he tries to find a way to close the shutters without sitting up. But to no avail, he sits up, presses the button, and lets himself fall back onto the bed. Benjamin gazes at the ceiling, again lost in his thoughts. With nothing more to do than wait until departure, he can't help but wonder what will happen during his year in Japan.

A whole year, huh? I haven't been there since I was 6 years old.

It is late afternoon, and the sun is barely observable on the horizon. Benjamin is still lying on his bed, drowning in his imagination. Arms stretched out and legs crossed, he almost falls asleep. The whole day has been nothing but a pain in his butt. The bed feels to him like quicksand, slowly dragging him into its center.

He hears a knock on his door.

"It's me," says his father. Benjamin's father Michael is a musician and often helps him when things don't go well. Whenever Benjamin felt clueless about how to move on, he'd go to his dad for guidance.

"Come in."

"So, you've heard the news?"

"Sure did, and I guess that you knew too?" he asks as he sits up straight on his bed.

"Actually, I haven't known about the program until this morning. Your mother sure keeps things to herself," he says as he taps Benjamin's back.

He narrows his eyes.

"So she kept you out of the loop too?"

"Yep guess that makes us two," says Michael with a smirk. Benjamin's bothered expression quickly turns into a smile. He can't help it.

"You'll be just fine over there. So quit stressing out, and live a little!"

"That's only a thing a hippie would say." Benjamin points at his father's hair.

His father threw his chin-length hair back in protest. "Huh, when I was your age. Having long hair was what we would call the modern era! Maybe you'd change your mind if you let yours grow for a few years, hehe," says his father.

"Tch, never even in a hundred years," he responds while shaking his head in disagreement. Both chuckle like preschoolers. Their relationship is mostly built on jokes and making jokes about the other.

"Have you thought about that idea I gave you?"

"Benjamin for the last time, my band and I are not making a song called 'Omlete'..."

"Come on, you know it's got potential!"

His father pats him on the head. A smile forms on his face. He looks at his wristwatch and stands up with his hands in his pockets.

"Gotta head out now. I need to rehearse with the band." His father leaves the room but stands outside looking back in.

"Try to be a bit more open-minded, okay? Maybe spending a year in a new environment will do you good."

Benjamin shakes his head, still not convinced about the idea of the program's potential.

"No, I really don't think it will. They are wasting their time by sending a guy like me over there."

"You never know what life has prepared for you. Only one way to find out!" His father takes his hand out of the pocket and creates a thumbs up.

Benjamin shrugs his shoulders. He crosses his arms and lets himself fall back onto his bed. While staring at the ceiling again, he says: "Sometimes I don't want to take a chance and find out. I mean, life's good right now. Why do things have to change."

"But life can be even better."

After hearing that, Benjamin sits up from his gloomy state, looking at his father with confusing eyes. He glances to the side.

"Yeah, I'll pass."

"Stubborn as always, huh? I think I know where you've got that from." With that, his father went downstairs. On his way outside he runs into Frederic.

"Good afternoon, Sir. Leaving for rehearsal again?"

"Yes, Frederic."

Benjamin's father notices the number of papers that he holds in his hands. He stares at them, intrigued he asks Frederic: "What are those for?"

"These are documents containing vital information about the new high school that Benjamin is supposed to attend."

"Did Benjamin ask you to do research?"

"Yes, Sir."

Benjamin's father grins and looks up the stairs.

"Good to see the kid still goes out of his way in some things." He looks at Frederic and says: "Try to watch out for him over there, okay?" Frederic stands upright and reassures Benjamin's father: "Of course, Sir. You needn't worry."

"And you also try to loosen up for a bit. You're family, not some stranger. There's no need for you to constanly call me Sir."

"Yes, Sir- I mean... Yes."