Fandom: Chobits / ちょびっツ
Title: The best time of the day.
Pairing: Hideki + Chii
Rating: G
Description: Hideki's had a hard time at work, but does it really matter when he has Chii? *smile*
Disclaimer: Chobits is by Clamp. "Every little thing she does is magic" is by the Police.
I sang along with the speakers of the store and smiled to myself,
"Though I've tried before to tell her
Of the feelings I have for her in my heart…"
The best time of the day.
By miyamoto yui
"Oi!" a customer shouted at me as I passed by him with a handful of clothing in my hands.
"Yes?" I asked politely as I looked at the guy in front of me.
He dropped the shirt onto the floor with his chin up in the air. "I'm not going to take this."
My eyebrow twitched. "Eh heh heh…"
Then, he asked me, "Don't you have another size for this green polo?"
Gosh, it was a disgusting shade. Not to mention the manners and no sense of taste to match.
I can't wait to get home to them…
He held out the polos out one by one. Dropping them into heaps on the dirty floor, I sighed heavily as I watched him act like a middle-aged woman who couldn't figure out something to wear for work that day.
I didn't say anything as I picked up the polos after him.
"You guys call yourselves a private clothing store? You don't even have proper sizes." Arrogantly, he looked down at me with his sunglasses showing his eyes from the light coming from the window behind him. "How can you not have my size?"
I blinked at him with my calm smile about to break in that hot, summer afternoon. Shaking my head, I replied, "I'm sorry, Sir. I advise that you should come to the next sale."
In my head, I wanted to grate my teeth and tell him, "If you had thought in advance while our representatives went to your company, then you wouldn't have had to come here now, would you?"
That's just how life was, wasn't it?
Sad as it may be, people treat you different because of money. Money has responsibility and power embedded within it, but it didn't particularly mean it was a right that came to its benefactor. It was actually quite the opposite.
As he threw another polo to the ground, he put up his hands on his head and shook it. "You need to provide better for your customers. That's my tip for you."
He then left me with his pile on the ground. My co-workers, well, only my supervisor was sympathetic to me. He glanced at me and shook his head.
I picked up all the polos and took a deep breath as my other co-workers were attending to other people. Folding them, I arranged them in the neat stacks that they were originally placed in.
I always wondered why these people from this rich neighborhood always had to look down on those who were working for pay in the world. Wasn't someone in their family doing the same?
Have they forgotten that? Or, haven't they been in my shoes?
It was then that I looked at my watch. The clock read 4:07 pm.
Only less than three hours to go!
I rolled my sleeves and smiled to myself. Only a few hours until I get home!
Forgetting about that customer, I attended to many other customers to distract my emotions. But as the day was ending and seven o'clock was approaching, we took in one more customer.
The woman immediately came to the counter, but was speaking to one of the female workers that regularly worked here. (I was only a temp. I needed extra money.)
"My shirt shrunk! I thought this was pre-shrunk."
"Ma'am, ma'am?" the girl tried to say as she pulled the tag from the shirt and showed the woman who had thrust the t-shirt into her face. "See? It says that it would shrink."
"I demand a refund!" the woman shouted in anger. "I wasn't informed about this!"
"We give a sheet of paper with every purchase and even explained it with the sale. Therefore, we cannot give you a refund." The girl sweatdropped while giving a sheepish smile.
"You can't even refund a shirt? I understand what the guidelines say because I read through them, but I had asked if this would shrink, and someone had told me it wouldn't! Are you listening to me, you stupid girl?!"
Dumbfounded, I stood there and blinked at the woman. Unable to take this, I calmly came up to the woman. "There is no need to call anyone names."
I looked at my co-worker Julie who was close to tears at the woman's outbursts.
"Are you saying I'm dumb, young man?" she asked me, obviously taking everything personally now.
"No, I did not say that. What she's trying to say is that we can't refund this due to regulations."
"I want your manager!" the woman started to shout with her child's shirt in her hand and shaking it in the air.
"He's stepped out for the moment," someone said, stepping through the back door and into the shop.
"Give me your names," she said in an icy tone, staring frigidly at Julie and me. I gave it proudly as I told her, "Motosuwa Hideki."
With that, she took the calling card, her bag, and slammed the glass door of the shop as soon as she left. Sighing, my head started to spin. I was so annoyed that I could have ripped one of the damn polos in my hands!
"The customer is always right, my ass!" I shouted inside of my head, but I understood what this meant.
As my manager took me into his office, he patted my shoulder. "That woman wasted no time to complain."
I nodded slowly without a word.
"Don't worry." He winked at me as he patted my shoulder again. "You're a good worker. I've not known you for too long, but I've liked how hard you've worked. So don't worry about it."
My eyes opened wide in surprise, grateful that he was so understanding. "Th-thank you!"
Getting up, I bowed with my hands to my sides. "Thank you so much!"
Then, I left his office and took my jacket. "Phew…"
After waving goodbye, I walked out the backdoor and looked up to the sky.
It was almost evening and I squinted at how dark it already was. Sticking my hand out, I could feel the moistness in the air.
As I turned to walk home, there she was standing under the lamppost.
"Chii?" I blinked at her as she brought up her umbrella.
Chii turned around slightly at the bundle on her back while grinning at me. "Adrian wanted to see his daddy. He kept on crying."
She then touched his nose with her own. "Isn't that right, baby?"
The baby giggled.
Seeing these warm actions, I smiled even brighter. I ran towards her and held her hand as I kissed our child on the forehead.
It took so long to realize that Chii was my "dake no hito" and it was even harder to find a child, but…
Through all these hardships, they melt away when I was beside her.
We fight and then we make up, but that's just how life is.
So, no matter how I feel about the world or how bad a day it's been, these little things don't mean anything to me by the end of the day.
For to me, this time of the day, I think that's the happiest time of the day.
Going home to someone who loved me so much that I could burst from just thinking about it. Everything would go into the background and wouldn't bother me as much as it should have.
We walked in the rain as Adrian gurgled in back of Chii's back.
"Yeah, everything you do is magic…" I whispered softly into her ear while recalling the song playing earlier.
"Hmm?" She innocently blinked at me.
I shook my head as I started to sing, "Every little thing she does is magic…"
Chii laughed, kissing me on the cheek.
I still melt whenever she touches me…
Owari.
-
Author's note: Heard the song when I got my new cd today of the Police. * laughs * I was looking for 'King of Pain' when I passed by this song (which reminds me of Duality, god, that woman's amazing. And Adri, my muse). I was thinking about what kind of fic could I make that is 'happy' to contrast all the stuff that I had done recently.
I couldn't resist doing this for one particular series…so here's a start of multiple ones! (Yes, I am sorry that I'm starting another one, and I promise to get back to the others once I finish AX, moving, and whatever needs to be done.)
Yes, from experience, I can say this has happened to me. Customers thought that they could do anything because I was 'help' just because they were rich. Not everyone, of course, is like that, but a lot of people treat you poorly just because of your money. Sad, sad world…
June 24th, 2003