Everyday I ask myself, 'What will happen today, that will make it so…great?' The reason I ask myself this, is because two years ago, I moved out of the dull and mundane country side I had once called my home, in order to experience more exciting things. Through the three years I was here, I had thought it would be as dull as back then, with only the occasional store robbery in a nearby neighborhood, or a gang fight in a back ally to perk me up.
I first got the idea in a chat room four years ago, one year after I had graduated, but it wasn't really my idea. Online, his screen name was Nakura, and he first invited me out there after I told him about my life. To which he said it was dull and mundane, further insulting my little home in the country. So, after a few minutes of calling him every name in the book and threatening to hang him by his toes, I politely apologized for my rude behavior after I hit a pressure point on my ear to calm me down, and declined his offer, saying I was content where I was.
But of course, when an idea is planted in your head, it tends to grow into a beautiful dream, and pretty soon, that dream became reality. After, of course, continuous pleading and begging my parents. They had soon consented, provided that I can provide for myself in my new life. And so, after two years of saving and endless shifts, day and night, I had earned enough to rent a small apartment for a couple months.
All that was left was packing, traveling, unpacking, and finally, finding a job. Of course, as soon as your done packing the few possessions you have and then taking a train to the bustling city, and then unpacking, it all seems easy when it is done. It's the job hunt that is terrifying. After the first couple interview busts, I thought, 'I can get a job, no worries!' After a few days went by with no success, I thought, 'I can come back from this, I still have time,' And after the first two weeks go by, I thought, 'All hope is lost, why did I come here?'
By the third week, I was depressed, no job offerings had opened up, and I was lonely. "It'd be embarrassing to just go back to mom and dad. 'See? You're not ready for the outside world,'" I said, pulling my hat lower over my eyes. I thought back to the day I first got this hat. The day before I left for Ikebukuro, my big brother had given me his lucky hat, a red fedora, so that I could have some luck here. But, so far it hadn't brought me any luck.
It was, on that day, I chanced upon a bakery that was on my route back to my apartment. The outside looked worse for wear, from what I could see over the rim of my red fedora, but at that point, I didn't care, I wanted something sweet, something to make me feel better. I opened the door, that squeaked and walked inside. There were a some people inside this ratty place. Four of them looked beyond scary, like pee-your-pants scary, all of whom were wearing blue. And behind the counter, was a grandmotherly old woman, who looked a little scared herself.
When they saw that it was just me, a regular, skinny, 'weak' girl, they went back to hassling the old women. "Listen granny, why not just pay us to…make sure nothing happens to this shop, alright?" said one of the guys, leaning against the counter.
"Yeah, wouldn't want anything to happen here, would ya?" said another one, taking out a bat and hitting a lamp, causing the bulb to shatter, and the shade to bend and snap.
There it was again, the familiar tingle that came with the urge to hurt a bad guy that was causing trouble, but I controlled it, grabbing my earlobe and pinching it between my fingers, feeling the calmness wash over me.
"I-I-I'm sorry, but I d-don't have problems with others," said the old woman, shaking from the previous lamp breaking. One of the guys, who had been stuffing his face with the desserts from the display case, through a cookie on the ground and stomped on it repeatedly.
"I'm surprised you don't! These desserts suck!" he said, laughing as the old woman looked on the verge of tears.
I picked up one of the cookies from the display case closest to me, and took a bite. The sweetness rushing over my tongue, and overwhelming my senses. Whatever cookie the guy had eaten, must have been in the case too long, or, he was simply a dumb ass who didn't appreciate sweets.
"You must be really stupid, not to have taste buds that don't work right," I said, quietly, taking a second bite.
"What did you say? You little runt?" said the guy who had crushed the cookie.
"I said, that you are pretty stupid. These are delicious," I said, taking a third bite, the cookie almost gone.
"You dare say that to the Blue Squares?" he said, smacking the cookie out of my hand. Making it land on the floor.
"Who are the Blue Squares?" I asked, trying to keep my cool, my hand holding only air, where the dessert had once been.
"You don't know us?!" said the one with the bat.
"We're the ones that rule the streets, and call the shots, you little bitch!" said the leader of the small group, the one who had swiped my cookie. I didn't answer, instead reaching for another cookie. He saw that I was ignoring him, and he turned violent, slapping me across the face, causing my to crash to the ground with a thud, my hat landing at his feet.
"If you don't do what we say, we can kill you!" he said, stomping on the fedora. My eyes, widened. The hat, that my precious older brother had given me for good luck before I had left, was being stepped upon by his dirty shoes. That was when he crossed the, when I snapped, and lunged for legs, tripping him and sitting on his chest while I repeatedly hit him, causing his blood to run from his nose and several other places.
I got off his chest, knowing he wouldn't get up any time soon, and grabbed my fedora of the ground, dusting it off, and reshaping it, placing it back on my head. The guy who had originally broken the lamp, swing his bat at me, but I dodged it at the last second, and grabbed the rod of the broken lamp, swinging my own make-shift bat at him, hitting him square in the jaw.
After that, I was convinced that the other two members of the group, were all bark and no bite, after they dragged the other two people out of the shop, swearing revenge or some type of crap. I ignored them while they rushed out of the bakery. I walked over to the counter, setting down the iron rod that used to be a standing lamp. "Sorry about the lamp, I didn't mean to cause so much trouble," I said to the old woman who was still shacking a little. But she eventually calmed down, and asked,
"Do you really like my desserts?"
"Of course! Those guys were stupid, they probably don't have taste buds," I said, looking around the shop. The outside reflected the inside. The place was dusty and dirty, from the floor to the ceiling. There were some tables and chairs, but they looked like they hadn't been used in weeks. "Do you still get business here?" I asked, walking around the shop and trying to peer out of the wide window in the front.
"Yes, but they just order over the phone, or buy already made goods. Kids these days, don't have time for eating either I suppose," she said, scoffing at the thought.
"Maybe if the shop wasn't so in need of repair, they would come in more," I said, looking back over at her. She was a small woman, not as old as I had originally thought, maybe late 50's or so, and she almost came up to my nose. Her graying brown hair was tied into a bun, and she had on a pair of half-moon glasses, like what librarians have.
"I'm getting old, I cant do it by myself, and my kids have there own lives to live," she said, snorting, and walking around the front of the counter to stand in front of me. "I could use an employee around, especially one who can keep those nasty boys out of here." she said, winking at me. I immediately got the hint, but felt the need to ask anyway.
"You'll give me a job?" I asked, my depression being erased.
"If you like. The pay is good if there are costumers here everyday. You can start tomorrow if you like," she said, going back to the counter by the display case.
"Thank you! Thank you miss…" I trailed off when I realized I didn't know her name.
"Yuumi Sakura. But call me Yuumi," she said, smiling and handing me a cookie.
"Thank you Yuumi-san," I said, bowing repeatedly, and running out of the store, back to my apartment. Carefully remembering which direction the bakery was when I came back for work tomorrow. 'Yay a job! And it's working near desserts! Now I'm feeling lucky!' I thought, rushing into my apartment.
My apartment was small, there was one bedroom and closet, a small living room/dining room, a bathroom with a shower, and a kitchen with a refrigerator, an oven/stove, and a sink. Home was home, and I loved it. I was lucky, it had a few water leaks, but nothing serious, and no mice or rats.
I fixed dinner for myself, and got ready for bed; shower, pj's, you know the drill, and laid in my futon spread out on the floor. The next morning, I got up at quarter to eight, the excitement got me up, the alarm clock didn't. I knew I had a whole day of work to do, so I just decided to go there early. I just decided to dress simply, a t-shirt, a pair of worn out jeans, and a pair of sneakers. Slapping on my hat, I headed out the door to my new job an hour later.
It took an hour to find my way back to the bakery, and when I got to the bakery, I was a little more surprised, truthfully, in the dark, it didn't look that bad, but in the light, I'm surprised no one thought it was closed down. The windows were grimy and barely see through, the outside could use a good paint job too. I walked inside, and looked around the inside. The floor was covered in dust and flour, and there were cobwebs in the corners.
I looked around for Yuumi, but then I heard a lot of banging around in what I supposed was the kitchen. I walked around the counter and went through the door. "Miss Yuumi? Is that you?" I asked, looking around the kitchen. 'Kitchen could use a good clean too,' I thought, looking at the foot prints in the thin layer of flour on the floor, and the dirty ovens. I found her by one of the two ovens in the small kitchen, taking out a pan of biscuits.
"Oh, hello dear," she said, turning around and placing the tray on a wood counter top in the middle of the room.
"Hi Miss Yuumi, um, so, what job am I doing?" I asked, walking over to the hot biscuits.
"Hmm, a little bit of everything I suppose, I need help around the old place," she said, swatting my hand when I reached for a biscuit. "Uh uh, you can have a biscuit after you clean the window outside," she said, in a very grandmotherly tone. I smiled, rubbing my hand and walked over to where she pointed, picking up a bucket, a bottle of soap, and an old rag. "By the way, what's your name?" she asked while I was filling up the bucket with hot water, and soap.
"It's Amai Tachibana," I said, taking the bucket outside to wash the window.
Around like eleven or something, I had finished washing the window, and the door, and walked back inside, and into the kitchen. This time, I saw miss Yuumi decorating a cake. "Done?" she asked, looking up from writing something on the cake.
"Yup, what next?" I asked, setting the bucket and rag in the corner.
"Go in the closet over there and take out the broom and dustpan, go sweep the shop." I did as she said, and swept the floor, dumping the contents of the dustpan into the garbage, repeatedly, and going back for the bucket and rag to wash down the walls, and the cobwebs, and again for a mop to wash the floor.
"Place is looking better already," I said to myself, looking around the room, and leaning on the mop. The floors were shiny, the walls were cobweb and dust free. All that was left was the tables and chairs. She came out of the kitchen carrying the pan of now cool biscuits, setting it down on the counter.
"Good job, the place looks better already," she said.
"What next?" I asked, leaning the mop against the wall.
"Could you go down to the hardware store and pick up some cans of paint? I want you to paint the outside of the store," she said, putting the biscuits in the see-trough case under the counter.
"Ok, how many cans? What colors?" I asked.
"Two cans of yellow paint, and one can of pink paint," she said, taking money out of the cash register. She handed me the money, and I headed outside. Problem was, I didn't have a clue where the nearest hardware store was, and I had already gotten myself lost. Oh, what I could do in ten minutes.
'Ok, it's not like I haven't been in this situation before since I got here, just ask directions,' I thought to myself, looking around. But, every time I tried to ask someone, they either ignored me completely, or gave me a look that said 'Get lost!'.
"Hello! You are new yes?" said a deep voice behind me. I turned and saw a huge guy standing behind me, carrying flyers. "You hungry? Come! Come in to Russia Sushi!" he said, smiling at me.
"Oh, um, I cant. Oh! Um, do you know where the hardware store is?" I asked, a little nervous of this large mans stature. It was a little intimidating.
"Yes, yes, is down street on corner. Now come eat sushi. Will not make you sick," he said, smiling.
"I'll come back after work, thanks mister…" I said, trailing off.
"Simon. See you later, miss…" he said, in turn trailing off, waiting for me to introduce myself.
"I'm Amai Tachibana. Thanks Simon," I said, waving and walking towards the direction he had pointed in.
I got the paint, and walked back the to Russia Sushi to ask the way back to the bakery. When I asked, he pointed down the street in front of me. Three blocks down I saw the faded pink sign of Sakura Bakery. 'Ah, crap, only I could get lost within one mile of my work place. At least I know where my apartment is,' I thought, waking back to the store. I put the cans down under the window and went inside to look for brushes. By the time I found them, and by the time I was done repainting the outside of the store, the sun was going down. I went back into the store, discarding the cans in the trash cans.
I didn't see miss Yuumi, so I assumed she was in the kitchen. I grabbed the broom in the corner, and started sweeping the floor. Although, before I could start, a couple people came in asking for the owner. "Miss Yuumi, some people are looking for you," I called.
"Yes, can I help you?" she asked, coming out of the kitchen and peering over her glasses.
"Yeah, we heard someone here kicked two of our guys asses. And we wanna teach him a lesson," he said, tapping a baseball bat against his shoulder.
"Now boys, I don't want any trouble," she said, holding up her hands defensively.
"Well you got trouble, now bring out the guy so we can trash him!" said a blond guy with slicked back blond hair, and a toothy smile. I couldn't believe this. First day of work and I have to deal with these guys again? And again with scaring the old lady. So, as I did back in the country and yesterday, I picked up a stick, and swung hard. You see, baseball was my favorite pass time, and the more I played, the better I was at hitting the target and hitting it hard. It eventually became second nature to me to hit what I didn't like with a stick or something.
So when I swung, and nailed that guy in the head with the broom, the familiar rush of dislike and being pissed off at someone, came back. "Don't talk like you own the place." I said, staring down at him while he sat, holding his bruised head.
"You little bitch! Do you know who we are?!" he yelled, looking up at me.
"No, so if you're not here to buy something, then get out, or I'm calling the cops," I said, putting a hand on my hip and holding the bat he was previously holding. He growled at me, but got up and ran out the door, his friend close on his heels.
"Don't think this is over!" he yelled.
"Tch, what ever," I said, going back to sweeping up the floor.
"That was dangerous, Amai! They could have hurt you!" she said, swatting my head with a rolled up newspaper like I was a dog.
"Well they didn't. Besides, I wasn't gonna let them yell at you like that," I said, rubbing my head, and dumping the contents of the dust pan.
"Just don't anything dangerous like that again," she said, letting me go home for the night. She was very contradictory to herself, but I liked the work all the same. Unfortunately, I couldn't keep that promise.
It didn't happen often, maybe once a month, or less, but they always tried to get the jump on me on my home from work at night. Since then, I always carried a collapsible metal bat on my person, you know, for defense. Other than the Blue Squares constant involvement in my private life, things were otherwise normal. Well, as normal as Ikebukuro gets anyway. Working at the bakery was a quiet lifestyle with the occasional dispute between customers about who-knows-whats that I, being the caring person that I am, would interrupt and throw the perpetrators out on the street. When my shift ended and I took the long route home however...that was when I put my guard up and sneaked around every suspicious corner in preparation of an impending attack. But, a year after I started working at the bakery, the attacks stopped altogether. I heard on the streets that the leader of the guys who attacked, the Blue Squares, got arrested, and they eventually fell apart. But, that didn't mean I was going to leave my bat at home. This was Ikebukuro. There are tons of creeps and weirdo's out there. So, after I had been here for two years, I started to hear about more gang activity. Like this new group I'd been hearing about, the Yellow Scarves and the Dollars. All I heard was that there would be more excitement. Yeah, I'm an adrenaline junkie, but, after my mundane life in the country, I wanted something exciting, unexpected. Like the vending machines I sometimes saw flying through the air.
Okay, first time writing for Shizuo. I hope I get his character right. Just give me your opinions on the story. Please. Like constructive criticism. But don't be harsh.