"Oh, welcome!"

Shion looked up from the tray of buns he was putting on display behind the counter. When he glanced over his shoulder, he realized why she hadn't greeted the customer by name. He had never seen this… person before in his life.

The individual was completely swaddled in a ripped-up maroon parka, jeans shredded at the knees. There were long, greasy locks of hair protruding from a woolly cap with a bobble on it, but the person's face was hidden by snow goggles. He or she was even shorter than Karan, but looked around with a fierce, nervous energy that left Shion feeling faintly worried about this strange person.

"Do you do sandwiches?" The voice was high and grating and gave no clues as to whether this was a man or a woman.

"Um, yes, we do," Karan said, smiling hesitantly. "What would you like?"

"Twenty ham."

"What?"

"With cheese. Maybe. Is it extra for cheese?"

"I'm sorry, twenty?" Karan blinked.

"Yeah. Kinda fast. The boys are getting pissy."

"The… boys? Is this a catered event? Are there twenty people in your party?"

The person finally lifted their goggles and squinted at Karan. "The hell're you talkin about?"

Shion walked over to stand behind his mother. "Sorry, but… I don't think we've met you before. Who are you?"

The person looked him up and down. "Who are you? Jeez, did the snow bleach you?"

"Shion," he said, and stepped around Karan to hold out a hand. "I'm Karan's son. I help her out with the bakery."

The person snorted, staring at his hand with faint confusion. "Right. I'm Inukashi and I still need twenty ham sandwiches. With cheese, so long as it's not more expensive with cheese."

"It isn't," Shion said, taking his hand back and smiling. "What kind of cheese?"

Inukashi stared at him blankly. "The orange kind."

"Right," Shion said. His mother smiled at him gratefully as he turned to start making sandwiches.

"D'you have potato chips?" Inukashi called after him. "And d'you deliver? Cuz I gotta go make sure they're not tearing my office apart."

"Yes," Karan stepped in, "we do have potato chips. Where would you like us to deliver?"

"Out along the road a ways." Inukashi gestured vaguely. "It's the big sign. Snow Dogs."

"Like the movie?" Shion asked, poking his head around the corner as he spread mustard on a slice of rye.

Inukashi's eyes narrowed. "What movie?"

Karan shook her head quickly at her son. "We don't talk about that movie up here, Shion. It never happened."

Shion blushed and ducked back to work. "Right, sorry."

"I'll drive them over when they're done," Karan said as she rang up Inukashi. "It might take me a little while, especially with snow like this. I hope that's not a problem."

Inukashi shrugged. "The boys've waited this long, they can wait a bit longer. At least now they know something's coming for em."

Karan smiled and nodded. The cash register pinged. "That will be—"

Shion popped around the corner again. "Mom, you shouldn't be driving when it's this snowy. I can do it."

Karan looked at him, frowning slightly. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Shion said. "The car always behaves better for me, you know that."

His mother glanced out the window. The snow was drifting like they were in a snowglobe, peacefully settling to earth. It looked like a Christmas card outside. "Okay, Shion, but you be careful."

Shion smiled. "I will be. We have chains on it, in any case. I'll be there in fifteen minutes or so," he added to Inukashi.

"Good," Inukashi muttered, handing over some crumpled, torn bills that Karan accepted with a smile. "Don't be late or else they're likely to eat you." The bell above the door clanged as Inukashi banged out.