X Summary: You meet all sorts of people when you stand behind a cash register.
X The Mart X
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1. The Cashier
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Like many other kids his age, Sawada Tsunayoshi said that he had to help collect money for his future academic life. Like many other kids he chose to work at the closest most available place possible - the local store. Unlike other kids, he knew his parents had the money to afford his college fee but simply threw him out of the house with the money excuse because he was too lazy and had no life whatsoever and primarily because his mother feared that her 'baby' would turn into a meatball by nineteen if he just kept sitting in front of the TV 24/7 like he used to.
Tsuna was just a regular kid. Not very regular because he knew his father was actually rich but because his mother was a lover of a simple life and came from a simple family, she had them settled in an average locality with just your boring average people. Just that kind of regular. Tsuna was pretty much a nobody. Sometimes he wondered if he had gone invisible which wasn't too unlikely if you observed how he was ignored. Tsuna had no life. He sat in front of the TV with his legs dangling off the sofa at odd angles and when his mother forced him off, he just went to his room and turned on the internet in his laptop. No life at all. Tsuna was a loser, but that's simply because nobody knew he was rich.
Tsuna was miserable. He had no friends at school and he was pretty sure the neighbours hated him for one odd reason or the other. His classmates called him 'dame-Tsuna' even though he wasn't really 'no good' but just because he dozed off in class every time and couldn't talk to a girl with a straight face. Tsuna had no social life. Well duh! He had no friends! He had no private life either but at least he passed with normal grades. He sometimes wondered if he was insane because the weirdo infant next door –named 'Reborn' for some odd reason- talked, he swore the kid talked to him but when ever someone else entered the room the kid would start with googoo-gaagaa's.
His life had only taken a somewhat relieving turn after he managed to live through a week while doing his new job. The job at The Mart which was supposedly supposed to destroy his existence once and for all actually proved to be a blessing in disguise. Not only did his own hard earned cash make him eager to work and earn more but he also met people who actually payed attention to him! Yeah, we're talking about the people who stand in line to get their items cashed. Well, another one or two employees also talked to him and one of them actually called him a friend!
That was until a juvenile delinquent got hired in the store.
. . .
"I know dad has the money to send me to college so please quit lying to me." Tsuna groaned. "Honestly, why do I go to work?"
His mother smiled as she took away his dinner plate. "So you can learn the value of money." She put in more food and passed it back to him. He hated peas. "It will feel different when you buy something useless with your own well earned money." She patted his head as she passed by. "You'll understand better how I feel when you buy yourself those junk boxes"
He snorted. Tsuna knew it was just an excuse to force him out of the house. "Mom, I might get fat just sitting here if you keep feeding me like this." She stuffed him like a turkey. Thank God he had inherited his mother's lean figure otherwise he was pretty sure he'd be a flap of walking talking meat by now.
"No, vegetables are good for you."
The bell rang.
The instant his mother was out of sight, he poured the peas back in the dish and placed his plate in the sink, proceeding to escape from the room. 'Thank you God.'
When the woman came back, she was being followed by his older cousin. "Yo, kiddo." The blond waved his hand at the younger Sawada.
"Hey Giotto." Tsuna acknowledged. He was pretty sure Giotto's hair wasn't natural blond, it was dyed blond. But then again, that might be his jealousy talking because most of his cousins had bright hair and bright eyes and he was the only one that went to get looks from his mother –honey brown eyes and dark hair.
The older teen placed his helmet on the table and politely refused his mother's invitation to dinner. 'Wise choice. Hate her peas.' He went over to Tsuna and leaned on the counter beside him. "Heard you've been getting in trouble at work." 'Mom' -mental hiss- His cousin was the new store manager because his father owned The Mart and decided to 'gift' it to him on his birthday. He was pretty sure something was illegal here, but no one was bothered by it because Giotto had a pretty charming and influential family. Tsuna's father was also influential, but everyone mistook the boy to be from the useless side of the clan or to coincidently have had the same surname.
"No, everyone's really very helpful." Tsuna smiled. "I really like that place. It'll be good to have you as the new manager." He found Giotto creepy because the male was one of the few people who could see through his miserable but well spoken lies.
"Okay…" Silence. "So how did your arm get the sling, and who bust your eye?" No matter whom he lied to about how great his day went, he couldn't hide his arm that was hanging in a sling because of his dislocated shoulder –now back in its place again- and his eye that was nearly blinded in today's uneventful beating so it had to be covered by an eye patch.
"Oh, this?" He winced as he held out his arm as if nothing was wrong. "I just fell down the stairs." He shrugged and then winced again. "Happens all the time." If only he could laugh it off instead of looking like an idiot in front of his super rich and mutli times cooler and hotter cousin. "Then something came into my eye. I'm pretty sure it was just a fly." From a unique breed of rock maybe.
Giotto nodded in the don't-believe-a-word kind of way. "Listen," he turned fully towards Tsuna "if you ever run into problems at the store, anybody picking on you or anything, you just come to me, okay?" Tsuna nodded. "We're brothers, right?" He gave the brunet's back a light thump. "Gotta have each other's back."
"Yea sure, but seriously, I don't have anything to complain about. It's a really nice environment to work in." If you enjoy working in hell. Going out of his room's safety and stepping into the streets where everyone can see him, that's torture enough but having to go to his place behind a cash register where a silver haired newbie glares at him day and night and beat the crap out of him simply because he told him that smoking was prohibited in the store, that's just insane! Then the dude also threatened to cut off his you-know-what if anyone got word of this.
This was the last time he was sharing anything with his mom.
He was sixteen for Christ's sake! He could handle himself. If anyone beat him up to a bloody mess, so what? He knew who's fault it was; his mom's! And he sure as heck was not going to name the kid who nearly blinded him because he might loose the prospect of children in the future. Better safe than sorry. And what was with his mom telling everything to her nephew! So when Dino went of out of city, she started talking about him with Giotto. What the heck? Dino was twenty-two. It was abnormal for twenty-two year olds to take care of sixteen year olds. Not that he minded though. Dino was his favourite cousin (he was from his mother's side of the family). But why Giotto? The male was nineteen and now he didn't want people thinking he was gay for older blond guys. Apart from that he was kind of uncomfortable around Giotto.
"Well, I'll be going now." Giotto announced. What? He just came here for this? "Thank you for the cake, Nana." Cake? What cake? Why didn't Tsuna know anything about a cake? His cousin leaned down to give his mother a quick kiss before winking at her son. "Later cutie. See you after the weekend." And he left.
"See why I hate him!" Tsuna pointed a shaking finger at the male's disappeared back. "He calls you by your name and he treats me like a brat!"
Not like his mother ever listened to him.
And now his least favourite cousin was his boss too. The least he could have done is give him a week off for his hurting arm and poor injured eye. Rich people were complete bastards! … But he was rich too… and he wasn't a bastard. Okay, rephrase: Rich people whom everyone knows are rich are complete bastards –with the exception of Dino.
It didn't seem like the weekend wanted anything to do with him, judging by how fast it went by. He spent the entire Saturday snoozing and Sunday was spent completing the weeks worth home work. Though school seems to stretch on Mondays, even school threw him out so he could go to his dreaded job. He didn't normally hate his job this much but with the addition of a probable murderer –namely Hayato Gokudera- as a stock loader and his playboy cousin Giotto as the new owner and manager, things were going to get God awful.
So, here Tsuna was, wearing The Mart apron over his normal clothes two hours after school had ended. When he had entered through the doors, he ran straight for the cash register so he could get to work ASAP without meeting anyone's eyes. He could feel something wrong about today. Was it payday already and he was going to get mugged on the way back? Did he spill out Hayato's name and the male was going to castrate him? Did he finally explode on his mother and she sent him packing abroad to his father? Did Dino get back without his bodyguard and die in a car accident – that was likely… but he hoped not. He didn't want Giotto to be the one to listen to how lame and lazy he was.
Business always started out slow because no one really left the house in such a hot time of the day but customers always grew in number as the day started to change to night. There was, however, one certain person who appeared at the oddest times in the day –particularly when the whole city was napping after lunch- and that was
"Hai, Hibari? Uh-I-I mean, sir?"
The head of the student council of the Namimori High School & Inter College a.k.a Kyoya Hibari. Anyone who used his first name never lived to see another day. No one dared do anything against his orders either because 1. He beat the crap out of them and 2. His parents were people with contacts. Everyone feared the Hibari clan because they sent you straight to hell, no second thoughts, no regrets … ever.
No matter what everyone said or did, Tsuna still had some form of respect hidden for the blood thirsty prefect –who also happened to control the Namimori law and order. He would never forget how this very teen had saved his face from being disfigured around two times. And he also vividly remembered the time when he was new in city and had lost his way home back from school. Even though he was eleven years old he simply sat down on the side of a pavement and started bawling until a certain someone –whom was class monitor at the time- came and walked him home as he cried the entire way back. Of course, Hibari was one year older than him and thus one grade higher than he was.
"You're still alive?" Hibari smirked as Tsuna turned shades of red at the tease. The ebony haired male placed his things on the counter and watched as Tsuna ran a check on all his items.
"H-How have you been doing Hibari? I mean, I mean-n, that you must be really busy all the time because you're the student council president after all, hahaha." Great. Look like an idiot in front of the guy whose family is buried in politics and he himself saved your ass multiple times whilst you went ahead and made his team loose in the Sports Gala simply because you were too damn useless. "Your assembly speech was really interesting last week. You have so much confident in yourself –heh. I wish I was just as confident as you, ahaha. Sometimes I wonder where you-"
"Herbivore…" Tsuna instantly shut up. "You're talking too much." And Hibari left with his handful of items leaving behind a grand note and an embarrassed teen.
There went his chance of impressing the person who had always impressed him.
The male grumbled to himself and then realized the extra amount that the head prefect had left behind. "W-Wait! Hibari!" The brunet quickly picked out the change and ran after the older male whom was already out the doors and briskly crossing the street to disappear. Tsuna quickly ran out the store and slipped right in front of the 'Wet Floor' warning. Howling laughter emitted from inside The Mart as Hayato doubled over with amusement which was followed by a few concerned voices. He didn't let that stop him, though he could feel his eyes watering. When he looked back up his target was gone. Eternal mortification …
After standing idiotically and staring disbelievingly at the spot where Hibari was supposed to be, the male retreated inside the air conditioned store where Hayato was grinning from ear and ear whilst his self proclaimed best friend –Takeshi Yamamoto- had concern plastered all over his face. Even the dark haired shy clerk with an eye patch was peeking at him from behind one of the shelves.
"Epic!" Hayato hooted and burst into laughter again.
"Are you alright, Tsuna?"
The teen shrugged off the other's helping hand and tried to keep his cool. "He's in my school, I'll just … return it then …"
"Good idea." Hayato's mood soured. "Let's let him take the money so he can keep it as a tip in his piggy bank."
"I would never do that!" Tsuna defended himself in a weak voice. It's not like he really would do that. His month's allowance was five times more than what this job would probably pay, but he couldn't really use any of it because his mother always kept his money in chains.
"Now, now" Takeshi moved a hand in front of the silver haired delinquent to keep him from pouncing on Tsuna. He was probably the only person in the store who could keep the green eyed monster under control. "Tsuna and I go to the same school and I totally trust him with any amount of money." Gokudera redirected his glare to the tanned teen now. "We can both go and give the head prefect his money back." He grinned.
"Yea right! You're just going to split it between yourselves!"
"Y-You can just add it …" the three directed their attention towards the small girl that came tugging her work apron "… in the … funds?"
Hayato just rolled his eyes and walked away from them, not wanting to do anything more with the bills. Takeshi thumped the girl's shoulder and her entire frame rattled. "Now that's a great idea!"
Meanwhile Tsuna tried to recall what her name was. He instantly checked the card hanging around her neck. 'Chrome'. Okay. Weird name.
"Chi-rome. That's a very cute name." He smiled at her. Better to make as many alliances as possible if he wanted to live through the month in this work store. He wondered whether the girl had applied a blusher to her cheeks or if they were naturally so pink.
"I-It's Chrome."
Tsuna looked around. "Where?"
The tall tanned teen burst out in a quick laugh. "Her name, it's pronounced 'Chrome'."
Oh.
He wondered why his name was useless-Tsuna and not unlucky-Tsuna or jinxed-Tsuna. His life was cursed and he was certain of that.
Evening came and it brought Giotto with it. The male claimed to have come straight back from his university though he looked as fresh as a daisy. Thank God the blond left soon. The evening also brought with it many customers, people from all walks of life and all sorts of minds.
"My, what beautiful colour eyes you have." Déjà vu. He wouldn't be surprised if this old lady suddenly jumped over the table and revealed herself to be a wolf.
"Thank you, ma'm."
"They are so full of innocence and life!" –cough- He had no life, that's why he was here in the first place.
"Thank you, ma'am." He quickly went through her stuff but her stack just wasn't ending and the guy behind her kept chuckling at the comments the cashier was receiving.
"You have wonderful skin. It looks just like cream!"
… "Thank you, ma'am. Here you go ma'am." 'Leave me alone already!' "Thank you for shopping here. Do come again."
"Oh, ah, thank you! You're such a beautiful little boy, you know that? I could just pinch your cheeks and kiss your baby face all the time but my back won't allow me to reach across to your face." She laughed and Tsuna mentally thanked the upper powers but the damage had already been done. As Takeshi was helping the old lady with her groceries he mouthed 'baby face' to Tsuna and left grinning.
The next customer leaned over the counter, folding his arms on the top and staring at Tsuna from under the boy's chin like a predator lurking in a field to take down its prey. "Is this all, sir?" Even though the customer was around his age, the protocol demanded him to address the customers as higher beings.
"Hm?" The male tilted his head to the side. "Yes, that will be all, son." GODDAMNIT! That was such an unfair mockery! As Tsuna was going through the items, the male suddenly reached out his hand and pulled the card around Tsuna's neck.
"HIEEEEE!" The boy was pulled forward as his customer stood up straight and inspected the card.
"Sawada Tsunayoshi." He announced then snickered. "Kind of like Tuna-boy, no?" He turned the card back and front a few times. "No contact number? Tch."
"Ex-excuse me, sir." The boy dipped his head and pulled it free from the cord that kept his ID around his neck. "Here are your purchased items. Your total is-" his body froze as he noticed something he hadn't before. His harasser had duel coloured eyes; one was a dark blue shade and the other shone an unnatural crimson with some dialect on it, or maybe it was a number. He quickly shook his head. "Um-sorry. Your total is-"
"I bought only three things Tuna-boy." He laughed in an unusual way that was somewhere between a whisper and gush of air, something that sounded like 'fufu'. "I know my grand total." He slammed the money down and picked his paper bag.
"Um… Thank you for shopping here. Do come again." Not like he really meant it. He'd be better off never seeing this freak's face ever again.
"Oh, I will." He tossed back his worker ID and was on his merry way. Tsuna was pretty sure he had seen this guy before somewhere but he couldn't put his finger on it. Only when the male detoured from the exit to talk to Chrome did he realize why the customer's face seemed familiar. The two could pass for twins! For some unknown reason, the twins simultaneously turned their heads to look at him. After a sudden 'eep!' Tsuna diverted his attention back to work wondering if the two were psychic.
And this wasn't even quarter as bad as how his day went in The Mart.
x End x