Hello everyone! Happy Saturday :) I'm excited for this chapter^^ It was revised a few times after it was initially written so i hope this final draft is good enough. By the way, i wonder if anyone has thought about the title "JACKROSE" ;P there is a reason for it hehe
My friend and i have realized that the other college students don't talk to us until they know that we speak english. We mess with them now xP
Disclaimer: Chapter 1
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So this…. Is where we're working? Is it behind the high-rise?
When Kai told us to meet him at Jinnan in Shibuya, I wandered in a circle three times before running into Max and Tyson in front of this…. building. It can't possibly be this building! It's huge! It is essentially two buildings stuck together. I can't even guess at how many floors in holds. A large crane is ascending the side of the skinnier building on the left where a couple of workers in hard-hats are draping a long sign down the front of it. Another sign on the top of the building reads "109-2". I'm guessing that's the name of this monster. The building on the right looks more like a business building, if you ignore the giant Panasonic screen covering the front of it.
Why are the construction workers wearing hard-hats? There really is no point to them when you get right down to it. If you fall… well, I highly doubt that a hard-hat will stop you from, you know, dying.
"You will all be on the fifth floor." Kai, you make it sound like we're working here. Why are you heading to this building? Why are you leading us to this building? Why are we following you to this building? This doesn't seem like any business Kai would run. "You now all work under the company name Silver Bullet." This isn't some corporate building. I was expecting cubicles and stuck-up men in business suits. But there are stores and young people and stores! This is a…
"A SHOPPING MALL? KAI! YOU OPENED A SHOPPING MALL?"
What's that ringing noise? Oh, that's just my ear. Thanks Tyson. I didn't want to hear on that side anyway.
"No Tyson. I didn't open a shopping mall." Ah…. Kai's voice is like silk being gently massaged onto my eardrums after the tsunami that is Tyson's bellowing. Right now, and I'm just guessing from that sign that says "1st Floor," we are on the 1st floor. The sidewalk outside and the floor inside are essentially on the same level. The ceiling isn't much higher either. What were these architects smoking? There is barely enough room to stand straight. The fact that there are a couple stores and, you guessed it, a museum doesn't help either. Needless to say, it is very cramped. My feng shui senses would be driving me up the wall right now, if there was enough wall to be driven up on.
We follow Kai to the elevators located right next to the entrance. If the first floor is this small then I don't have high expectations for the elevator. And I was right. I think I've bought packs of gum bigger than this elevator. Wait, small elevator with Kai? This may not be so bad. I just need to maneuver myself to stand near him. Good thing there is only four of us. I hope he enjoys my backside up against him. God knows I do.
"So Kai," Max's light voice seems so loud in the cramped space. "What exactly are we doing?" From the windows in the elevator Tyson and I examine each floor as they pass. The good thing is that the 1st floor seems to be the only one built by gnomes. We can't see much but this mall doesn't look very different from any other shopping center. Well, I haven't really been to any other shopping center besides Tokyu. The only difference I can see are the customers. They are, for lack of a better term, scary! Tall, tan, and pierced. Their girlfriends aren't much better either. I can't tell if what they are wearing is supposed to be attractive. Yeah, it's been a while since I've gone to a store to buy clothes.
"I'll explain more when we get there." Max nods in understanding, but his eyes are still observing the sun baked people shopping. You can tell the little guy is intimidated. Sure, he was part of a tag team with big and tan Rick, but that was just one guy. Max would rather be back at Disney Sea hugging a felon in a mouse costume.
Kai steps between me and Tyson as we near the fifth floor. Once the doors open, Kai steps out and we have to follow at a brisk pace to keep up. Unlike the other floors, this floor is pretty much dead. The only people walking around are workers in orange vests. Kai's leading us somewhere to the right of the elevator… Where exactly? I have no idea because guess whose ass is in sight. Kai walks very stiffly. His hips don't swing or anything. But that just adds to his masculinity. I snap out of my trance when I realize that Kai's ass wasn't growing but instead getting closer. He has stopped walking and I have to stop abruptly as to not run into his back. Hope no one saw that.
Kai turns to us and I now see that he has stopped in front of a store. My eyes turn up near the ceiling to find an unlit sign overhead.
JACKROSE.
"Kai?" Whoa was that my voice? It sounds so girlie. "Are we… working here?" I am wishing upon a star that he says no. By now I have a pretty good idea of what kind of jobs are associated with a clothing store. Working at a clothing store requires being around clothes, helping people find clothes, and knowing clothes! And in case you haven't noticed, Rei Kon does not know clothes! Wow… I'm a sad excuse for a gay guy.
Standing in front of the store, Kai looks like one of the mannequins. No, he looks better! The mannequins are all flat and don't have hair or faces so of course Kai looks better. It's more like his outfit is similar to the small amount of clothes on display. In fact, if my fashion-challenged mind is correct, Kai is wearing clothes from this store.
"Tyson, Max." Said two straighten like a couple of privates in the military. Hehe, straighten, privates, I crack myself up! "Since you both are majoring in technology, I need you both to be in charge of tech in the store. You will only need to work on the displays during seasonal changes and shows so you will be on the sales floor most of the time." You can tell Tyson and Max's eyes lit up like Christmas trees at the mention of tech, but I wouldn't trust these two in advising anyone about anything besides beyblading. Especially clothes. Even I'm not that desperate.
Kai turns and waves his hand signaling us to follow him again. He leads us through the different displays and informs us of the overall "feel" of the merchandise. I really don't want to "feel" anything that has to do with clothes. Man, what ever happened to my sense of challenge? My survival instinct? Adapt and overcome! I should just plunge myself into a fashion magazine and become everything that I need to be to survive…. You know….When I feel like it.
We follow Kai further into the store near the back by the registers. "You both will be trained in handling sales and maintaining the upkeep of the store." Wait, both? Is he still talking about those two? What about me? Maybe the gods are finally taking pity on me! "During shows or display changes, however, I do not want to see you two talking to a single customer. Your attention needs to be focused on the visual appeal alone. Understood?" They both nod quickly. They kind of remind me of toddlers in pre-school. I still don't think the shock of it all has set in just yet. He still hasn't said anything to me so maybe I don't have to worry about anything.
"Rei," shit. "I believe you are majoring in International Affairs," you know so much about me! I'm flattered really. "For now you will be on the sales floor with the others." Double shit, "When your skills improve," skills? What skills? "you will be given a larger responsibility." Three shits, you're out Kon. I give a single hesitant nod. Are you following along at home? Good. So you should know where this is all going. That's right…
"Welcome to JACKROSE."
Straight down the crapper.
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BANG!
Ouch… that was my head… making-out… with the wall. Pulling off your shoes while standing after an exhausting day at the shopping center proves to be a difficult task. Ah my welcoming, comfy apartment! Oh how I want to just sit in the bath for an hour, change into my jammies and curl up under the covers! That was a beautiful plan for this evening... Until my eyes fell onto my laptop.
Damn. Damn it all to hell. Damn it all to hell and let the demon dog Cerberus maim it to pieces and take a giant demon dog dump on it.
During my long day of shopping mall exploring (Kai suggested we familiarize ourselves before we got lost) I neglected my three essays and presentation due tomorrow! Remember those? Yeah, I didn't.
I walk into the small kitchen to the left of the entrance and flip on the small coffee maker. Lord knows that I was going to need it. While waiting for the coffee, I plopped into my chair in front of my laptop, my legs and feet popping the whole way over. The essays I could bullshit. The presentation, however, required facts. I can't bullshit facts. My professor knows facts.
Today… was crazy to say the least. I've been told by my ex-teammate that I will be working in a store called JACKROSE which specializes in men's apparel and accessories. Kai opened the business, I'm assuming, on his own. Besides Tyson, Max, and myself I didn't see anyone else there except a couple people setting up displays. Kai informed us that the fifth floor was being completely re-designed for the grand-opening of his men's wear franchise. Turns out we are working in one of his stores! He opened up two more stores: one on the seventh floor called Silver Bullet and the other one next to our store called RHYDEAL by Silver Bullet (my baby is very creative with names).
Apparently, Kai is loaded! Not from his grandfather, oh no. Voltaire had invested most of his wealth into the Biovolt project. The little that was left over, around 50 million yen (500,000 dollars), was given to Kai. The majority of Kai's wealth comes from, well, his business. He became the most successful name in fashion throughout Russia in the little time after our last tournament. Now, he is trusting us to keep the business moving in Japan. On top of this I still have classes and my other…
Damn. Damn. Damn! I forgot about my job at Tokyu Department Store! I love that job! It pays well and the ladies are so nice to me! It's what I use to burn off steam after a hard day at Tokyo U. There's no way I could let that job go. Plus, I know food! I don't know shit-diddly about clothes. I grew up in a mountain village in deserted China for god's sake! I wear whatever is comfortable, clean and hasn't been mauled by mountain cats. No one who really cared about their appearance would ever approach me for fashion advice. Well, I'll just have to talk to Kai about this.
I get up when the coffee maker beeps. Ah coffee, you shall keep me company for tonight. My mistress of caffeine~ I fill my favorite kitty mug and slump back into my chair. I allow my body to relax for a couple seconds before the dreaded all-nighter that was sure to come.
While opening the writing program I snap my eyes shut. Do I dare look at the time? Slowly, I turn my head in the direction of the digital clock, opening only my right eye.
23:05
This… is going to be a long night. In exasperation my eyes wander to the full-length mirror next to my bed. I can feel the frown on my face that is being shown in my reflection. What I see is nothing compared to the mannequins at the store, and absolutely nothing compared to Kai. Just a Chinese boy in plain clothes. My current outfit, for example, is about four years old. A white shirt and a pair of grey slacks. I own about five complete outfits all together. I have my pair of Chinese slippers and a pair of sneakers. I can't remember the last time I actually went shopping for something other than living essentials. I turn back to my laptop.
I really need to talk to Kai.
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Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep CRASH
That's a very effective way of shutting off an alarm clock. When you're too sleep deprived to find the damn switch, knocking the whole thing to the floor is a very suitable solution. I lift my body off of my bed like Dracula out of his coffin. Has there always been bubble wrap in my bed? No, that noise was my back. I shlunk over to my closet and look at the "many" options of clothing I could choose from. Grey shirt. Black pants. Done. After my hair is shoved into it's wrap, I head over to the wash room.
Brush teeth. Wash face. Stare into the abyss. My eyes seem smaller today.
I fill my messenger bag with last nights fiasco. I completed the three essays easily. All full of bullshit information I could later blame on the "difficult to understand" Japanese sources. I slip the USB that holds my presentation into the side pocket. I should have finished the presentation before the essays. I was pretty much dead by the time I started it.
I wonder what I wrote about.
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"Hey, watch where you're going!" Was that your back I ran into?
"Sorry."
"Ouch that was my foot!" I thought it was the ground.
"Excuse me."
"Damn drug-using teens!" Oh, you're referring to me?
"My bad."
Almost. There. Tokyu is in sight. A few more steps until I'm wrapped in the arms of my middle-aged saviors. I need this comfort.
You can obviously assume that my presentation did not go over so well with my professor. In my semi-asleep state, I had managed to type half of the PowerPoint in Mandarin. On top of that, the parts that I had to translate had nothing to do with the overall topic of the presentation. My professor followed this up with a hard lecture about how I need to "appreciate" the "opportunities" that Japan has given me. He followed this up with a tirade on the Chinese government and how they refuse to let the Yuan float like the rest of the global currencies. Add this to about an hour and 30 minutes of sleep and what do you get? Zombie Rei.
Great. I just got passed by an old lady with a walker. Now I'm just depressed.
Well I made it to the entrance anyway. Push doors, come on! What's wrong with them? Why won't they open? Open! Maybe if I use all of my strength…
"It says 'pull'." I turn to see two housewives waiting behind me. They are offering me small smiles, but I can tell they just want me out of the way.
"Sorry." I let my Chinese accent leak through , and they seem to notice. I held open the door for them to enter first. As they pass, I can hear them comment about how there are too many Chinese in Japan now and how we're all on drugs. Do I really look that bad?
I make my way through the everyday crowd of Tokyu until I near the cafeteria. I can see my co-workers refilling the food platters and talking animatedly. They're upset over something. I wonder if the management did anything to cause this. As I pass them I slow down to try and catch what they are saying. However, they notice me right away and go silent. They are all just… staring at me. Like I'm a ghost or something.
"Rei-sweetheart! What are you doing here?" Yay! It's Sachiko here to give me a hug! Wait. What did she mean by that?
"What do you mean by that?" I know I look dead, but I still have work. I can pretend to be alive for a couple more hours before I return to my tomb.
"Oh sweetie! We were all so upset when we got the news! We couldn't believe it at first, but we weren't surprised that you would soon move on to bigger and better things. You're such a bright boy!" Wait, what is she talking about? Bigger and better things? If she didn't sound like my mother before, she is really starting to sound like my mother now.
"Rei-dear! Did you come to say good-bye?" What is Fujiyama talking about? Goodbye? I just got here! I'm not that lazy am I? And why is Masako crying? Someone clear some things up! By now the whole group has found it acceptable to crowd around me like I'm some kind of circus freak. That's funny, I don't remember being claustrophobic.
"What's going on?" The group goes silent for a bit, surprised that I actually spoke up. Sachiko gives me a sad smile. She steps closer and starts adjusting my bangs as she speaks.
"Sweetie, you probably didn't want all of us to know right away. But when someone resigns, word gets around fast. Especially when it's someone as sweet as you!" She ends this by cupping my cheeks in her palms and giving a squeeze. I feel like I'm five again. Wait, resign? Who's resigning?
"Oh Sachiko! He probably came by to work another day!" That was the goal when I came here. I try and turn my head against Sachiko's plump fingers to look at Fujiyama. "Don't worry sweetie! Your last check is in the mail I'm sure! No need to come in today!" Poor Masako just nods at this statement while crying into her handkerchief. Last check?
"Bwat ahh you ahl talhing abow?" It's rather hard to speak when my face is in Sachiko's grip.
It's Fujiyama's turn to give me a pitiful smile. "The head of Tokyu received your letter stating that you were resigning because of another job offer." What? "That is really great news! But we all are going to miss you around here." At the end of her explanation, Masako lets out a loud sob and throws her arms around my waist forcing Sachiko to release my cheeks. I pat her shoulder reassuringly, but really I'm the one in need of reassuring!
I resigned?
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Next Chapter: Rei stands up for himself, but he meets a couple old faces along the way.
Reviews are loved! I have also enabled anonymous reviews. See you again hopefully~
