Chapter 4: First day at work.
The day started off with the alarm set on Rukawa's mobile for 8:30. Making a huge effort to get out of bed, he fell over in a tangle of arms, legs and sheets, accidentally knocking his head against the wall, which really woke him up. "Itai..." he winced, nursing a little bump forming to about the size of a bun on his forehead.
Scrambling to the bathroom, he took a quick shower and grabbed something to munch; heading straight out the door. He glanced at his mobile phone again. 10 minutes to get to his destination. Jogging at a steady pace, he barely made it to the restaurant in time, and entered from the back, to find Yukio nowhere in sight.
He stepped further into the restaurant, and saw the bartenders busy doing opening duties for the bar. He recognised one of them to be Skye, and headed straight for him. "Hey," Rukawa called out.
Skye looked up momentarily, and hands still moving, he smiled cheerily. "Hey Kaede. Starting work today, huh?"
"Yes. Do you know where Yukio is?"
"Oh. He's the manager, and he always comes in late. Don't worry; your trainer should be here soon. Anyway, it won't take long for you to do the opening duties. Your trainer's real efficient at it." Skye reassured him. His gaze shifted behind Rukawa, and nodded at him, "There she is. The girl with the blue hair."
Rukawa turned around to see a girl of about 170-175 cm in height with a lean build saunter towards him, her blue shoulder length hair tied up in a high ponytail to the back of her head. A shorter mop of cerulean hair lay covering the left side of her forehead down to her chin, shading one of her sapphire blue eyes from view. Her right eyebrow was pierced with two rings, and she wore light makeup. From where he was standing, which was facing her right, her ear was dangling with too many hoops and little chains to count. He almost recoiled from her when she handed him his uniform.
"You look like a Christmas tree," he commented, taking the uniform from her.
She laughed, a sound not unlike tinkling of bells, and he was surprised by it. It certainly did not suit her image. "Kobayashi Shizue." She stuck one hand out to shake his, and the other pointing at the name tag hanging from a lanyard around her neck. Rukawa opened his mouth to introduce himself, but she raised a hand, stopping him. "Rukawa Kaede. So I heard. Well, get changed. We've got quite a bit to do around here today," she directed him to the male restroom and waited outside while he changed.
They spent the morning with her showing him the ropes, what to do for opening duties which was one hell of a long list; and then sat down and made him look through the menu, explaining the different types of meat and ingredients in the dishes.
"Well, this is an American restaurant and it's mostly gaijins that visit this restaurant. Though we have some locals too," Shizue explained. "Therefore, we have to follow their customs and greet them accordingly, like a 'hey, how're you doing' or just a simple 'hi' would do. There'll be no 'Irrashaimase' or Japanese greetings in here. You speak English well?"
"Not too bad. That's the only subject I can guarantee a pass in." He replied in English. Shizue's lips quirked upwards.
"You don't have to show off. Anyway, today, you'll follow me wherever I go. Be it to the stewarding area where we put the dirty plates or to the tables where I take orders, I want you beside me at all times. Is that clear?"
"Crystal."
"Right. Usually, we have more than 2 staff for opening duties, but seems like Mia will be late. She called earlier to say that she'd overslept, and that's what you should do if you were running late too." Glancing at the clock which read 11 am, she cocked her head, motioning for Rukawa to get up. "We usually would have a pre-shift meeting at around 1045, but since Yukio is still not here, I guess we'll go for an early lunch. The restaurant opens at 11, and closes at 3 in the morning. It's a restaurant by day and a pub by night. You do know that, right?"
"No."
Shizue sighed. "How old are you by the way?"
"17 this year."
A pause. Rukawa could literally see a volcano erupting. "Whaat?! I'm so gonna kill Yukio! He was supposed to hire someone above 18! We need staff at night, not in the mornings!" she screeched and took several breaths to calm herself down. Flushing at her sudden outburst, she tucked her hair behind her ear trying to hide her embarrassment. "You know what? Screw him. How do you feel about working during pub hours?"
"I don't care," he said truthfully.
Shizue's face lit up. "Really? That's great! ThankyouThankyouThankyouThankyouThankyou!" she laughed, holding his hands and dancing around manically.
Rukawa had to pry her hands off him. She just wants a piece of me like all the other girls, he thought scornfully, wiping his hands on his uniform. Although her laugh is kinda nice.
Just as they both went to the staff room to go have their lunch, a short, brown haired girl bounded in, carrying a handbag and a pair of white shoes. "I'm so sorry I'm late, Kobayashi-san!" she bowed several times in apology, while trying to put on her shoes at the same time.
"Not a problem," Shizue waved the apology off. "As long as you're here, we can go take our lunch. I need you to standby for lunch hour, is that alright? Have you eaten?"
"Well. I'll stand in until both of you finish eating I guess. And nope, haven't eaten anything." Mia said, patting her stomach tenderly.
"Well, we'll try to eat as quickly as we can and we'll relieve you yeah?" Shizue said. "What do you feel like eating?"
"I'd like some Mc Donald's." came the reply.
"Ok, see you later then." She walked off with Rukawa trailing behind her.
"Hmm... Is that the new trainee? He looks kinda cute..." Mia giggled to herself quietly, heaving the ice bucket filled with ice back to the expo.
Both of them walked down the busy streets of Tokyo not saying a word. Rukawa felt a little self conscious walking around in his uniform, but Shizue didn't seem to care at all. They stopped at Mac's, and there were several other eateries around.
"Get what you want and we'll meet back here in 10 alright?" without pausing for an answer, Shizue headed inside MacDonald's.
Rukawa looked at the money in his hand; 2000yen which Shizue had given him earlier as meal money. What could he get with it? Deciding on something light, he went off to get some ramen. He went back to the meeting place to find Shizue waiting for him.
"Hmm. Ramen, eh? That stall's pretty popular. Good choice." She said offhandedly, shuffling the things from one hand to the next.
Who asked you? Was the only remark that rang in Rukawa's mind, but he didn't say it out in front of Shizue. It was too disrespectful anyway.
After their meal, it was time to work. Things rolled down the hill from then; everything seemed to pass by in a blur, and it was nearly time to knock off already. Rukawa had followed Shizue in a daze the whole day as she jabbered bits of information for him to jot down in his notebook (also provided for by Shizue), trying to remember as many things as he can.
He took a look at his notebook and gave an inward groan. This was what he had learnt on his first day: (a/n: skip this if you wish, too technical anyway).
1. There's a hierarchy in this restaurant as follows for staff working on the floor, it is Managers, Captains, Seniors, juniors then Trainees. "Management is none of our business, just be nice to all of them," Shizue had said.
2. You could be as casual as you want when taking orders. Sit with the guests on the table, joke with them, basically do anything that isn't too inappropriate.
3. He had to go back and revise on the menu, because "In the food industry, you got to know the food you're serving; if you don't, you're fucked." That was her helpful suggestion.
4. Keep your station (tables your in charge of) as clean and tidy as possible. "Buzz the tables (clear 'em), sweep the floor when necessary, and never let your captains or seniors take the broom whenever possible.
5. We serve with our hands, not using trays. So you gotta practice holding 2 plates with a hand; or 3 glasses in a hand, and one on the other to minimise going back and forth from the expo. "Like this, see?" she held the tumblers in a palm. "Don't worry, you'll get it," she told him when he tried and dropped them all.
6. yadda...
7. vroooom...
101. Always smile and be polite. "If there's a problem with the food or whatever, do not for heaven's sake handle it by yourself, always go to a captain or the manager on duty, which is Yukio for today, and he still hasn't got his ass here," Shizue said while they were in the stewarding area and stuffed 5000yen into his shirt pocket. "Over here, we get tips too. So remember, service counts!" she winked.
It was 30 minutes to 6, which meant that he could go really soon. Just as he was about to release a huge breath in relief, 4 guys and 2 girls strode in and Rukawa wanted to die on the spot. It was the Shohoku basketball team with the manageress, Haruko and Ayako.
Mitsui spotted him first, waving frantically. "Rukawa!"
Rukawa sighed dramatically. He turned to Shizue, who was looking at the bunch as if they were from outer space. "Those are... my friends." He finished, not knowing what else to say.
Shizue nodded. "Well, go sit them down and hand them some menus from the bin over there," she pointed over at the brass menu bin by the entrance of the restaurant. "I'll leave you to it while I get some water for them," she said walked off.
Holding a stack of menus, he trudged over to where the gang was. "Where would you like to sit?"
"Hahaha! Kitsune! Never thought the day that you'll be serving us!" Sakuragi boomed, earning a few annoyed looks from the other diners.
"Do'ahou." He let out an agonizing breath.
"Why you-"
Before he could say anything else, Mitsui got him in a headlock and covered his mouth with his hands.
"Mmff!" Sakuragi struggled against Mitsui, who looked at Miyagi with a 'Why me?' expression and held him even tighter still. "Shut up, you idiot," he hissed. "Stop making a scene,"
After much difficulty and shuffling about, they finally sat in a corner, away from prying eyes. Shizue came shortly after they'd settled down, placing the glasses of water on the table for each of them.
"Hey guys," she started, watching in mute fascination while Sakuragi taunted Rukawa, growing more gleeful by the minute. Haruko was trying to stop him from irritating Rukawa further, and at the other end of the table, Miyagi was busy chatting up Ayako, who was trying to decide on what to order. Hiroshi was sipping his glass of water, explaining what 'guacamole' was to Mitsui, who had a crown of question marks on his head.
Pulling up a chair, Shizue sat down at the head of the table, and crossed her legs smoothly. The guys looked up in surprise and could only stare at her as she pulled at her short skirt and flipped the hair that was covering her eyes. "Now that I've got your attention..." she trailed off.
Ayako looked murderously at Shizue who pointedly ignored her, and then back at Miyagi whose mouth had fallen slightly open. Gritting her teeth, she snapped Miyagi's mouth shut and whacked his head with her paper fan. He glanced at her apologetically, rubbing his swollen head but Ayako wouldn't have it as she crossed her arms angrily and looked stubbornly away.
Rukawa looked at Shizue, slightly impressed. At least she wasn't the type to shout and add to the noise. He thought of the fangirls and shuddered. Following suit, he squeezed into the booth beside Haruko, who started blushing immediately.
"Kitsune! Get off her!" Sakuragi yelled in a fit of jealousy.
"Make me, do'ahou."
Sakuragi let out another animal howl. Shizue pulled Rukawa off his seat and exchanged places with him, cutting off his indignant look with a look of her own. "Let's get down to business, shall we?"
Hiroshi looked at Shizue in awe. Did she just shut Rukawa up with a look? He wondered, giving her a once over. She was much taller than most girls, and there was something striking about her face; like he'd seen her somewhere before.
"You guys need help ordering?"
"Yeah... what would you recommend as a starter? We're here just for a snack, to visit this guy over there," Hiroshi said, nodding at Rukawa, who flinched visibly. Agonize, you mean. Rukawa was beginning to think that they were stalkers.
"Oh. You might want to order The Jumbo Combo, comprising of most of our favourite starters. Plus a plate of nachos. They're really good." Shizue suggested.
"What do you think guys?" Hiroshi asked.
"Anything goes," Mitsui replied and the others nodded.
"I want the potato skins," Miyagi piped. Shizue nodded, scribbling in her notebook.
"Nachos please," Sakuragi added.
"And a Caesar salad," Mitsui said, and everyone looked at him incredulously.
"A salad." Rukawa reiterated.
Mitsui got a little defensive. "Yeah! A salad. You know, a dish with lots of lettuce and dressing in it? What's wrong with that?" a vein bulged on his forehead. They all looked away simultaneously, not saying anything.
"Anything else?"
"No. That'll do for now. Oh, and I'll have a beer on tap please," Mitsui rubbed his hands together, grinning.
"No way man. You gotta keep your health in check. Sorry Shizue, no beer please," Miyagi told her, and she nodded. Mitsui's grin was wiped clean from this face. "Sorry dude, but you can't drink," he shrugged helplessly. Mitsui only grunted in annoyance.
Shizue stood and put the chair back in place. "Ok then. Your food will just take a little while." She grabbed the menus and turned to leave when Hiroshi stopped her.
"Kobayashi-sempai?"
Shizue whipped her head around. "How'd you know my name?"
"I think we were from the same middle school," his smile grew as his recognition grew stronger. "You tutored me in Chemistry in my first year, remember?"
Shizue's eyes lit in realisation. "Kazuo-chan!" she grinned. "What have you been up to?"
"I'm in high school with these guys, and in basketball. How about you? Are you still studying? And playing basketball?" Hiroshi asked.
"Aw. I've dropped out of school, because of family problems and all. So now I'm working," she grinned and shook her head at his look of sympathy. "Don't look at me like that, Kazuo-chan, I'm really happy right now. As for basketball, I only play on the streets," she paused, taking a good look at Hiroshi. "Know what I think? You've grown up to be a really cute guy. Athletic looking and all. So, tell me, are the girls going after you in throngs?" she laughed.
Hiroshi blushed and shook his head. "Rukawa's the girl magnet. I'm just the shy guy," he joked, directing the attention to Rukawa, who looked indifferent.
"I hate girls," was his only answer, causing the girls at the table including Shizue herself to choke with mirth.
"You can't be serious," Shizue eyed him sceptically.
"I'm afraid he is. I've seen how he pushes girls off his back in packs," Ayako said, muffling her giggles.
"Yeah, who knows, he might swing the other way," Sakuragi mocked, looking at Rukawa for a challenge.
"Shut up, do'ahou." Rukawa crossed his arms impetuously, almost pouting.
The group burst out laughing at his expression. Mitsui and Miyagi were doubled over in gales of laughter, slapping the table loudly. Haruko looked even more infatuated at the fact that he looked too cute pouting, if that's possible. Rukawa cleared his throat, hoping that this moment would end already.
Shizue excused herself and told Rukawa that he could stay if he wanted, as she got to give the orders to the kitchen. Rukawa followed after her hastily, glad for the chance to escape.
Mia saw them coming and ran up to them, bombarding them with questions. "Who's that guy? He's cute," and "can I serve them later?" and "Are they attached?"
"Shut up, Mia," Shizue rolled her eyes. "Yes, you can go over to that table and flirt all you want, but I don't think they're interested. Besides, they're too young for you,"
Mia pouted. "Hmph," and walked away.
Another server with light brown hair and blonde highlights who came around the 12 o'clock shift, came up to them; Rukawa, mainly, and stuck her hand out. "Don't think I've introduced myself yet. I'm Aizawa Keiko, a junior. Nice to meet you."
"Rukawa Kaede." They shook hands.
"I'm going to the expo for a while. You guys stay on the floor and keep an eye on the guests," Shizue instructed, and strode away.
"So, Kaede, planning on working just during the holidays or are you taking this as a permanent job?" Keiko asked, walking around the restaurant with him.
"I'm just here for 3 months," he replied, and followed Keiko around, not sure what to do.
Sensing his awkwardness, she explained, "When we're not busy taking orders and stuff, we walk around instead of gathering around the expo like decoration pieces, in case a guest needs something. Also, we periodically check back on our tables to see if they're doing ok," she smiled. "It seems weird to walk around not doing anything huh. But it's our way of skiving off," she winked.
Rukawa nodded, looking around when one of the guests raised his hand, asking him to come over. "Hey Keiko, that Gaijin's calling us over."
"Go to him and ask him what he wants," she nudged Rukawa in that guy's direction.
"Yes sir, how may I help you?" Rukawa rolled the English out of his tongue smoothly.
"I need more barbeque sauce and some napkins," he said.
"Sure thing, just gimme a sec," Walking briskly back to the expo, he got a ramekin bowl and scooped out more sauce on it, grabbing some serviettes on his way out and returned to the table. "There you go. Anything else I can get you?"
"Yeah. Another glass of beer please, thanks."
"Ok." He strode over to Skye. "Can I get a beer please?"
Skye pointed at the monitor just inches away from the bar. "Not until you key in that system and the order comes out through here," he gestured at the printer.
"And how do I do that?"
"Let me help you," Shizue came to the rescue, standing beside him and taught Rukawa the basic functions of the POS. The order came out through the printer, and Skye gave him the glass of beer.
"Here you go," Skye said, taking the order chit and spiking it. "Remember to spike the order chit through this needle here so we wouldn't do a double order."
Rukawa nodded. "Arigato."
"Not a problem,"
After giving the guest the glass of beer, he went back to Shizue, who was in the expo taking the nachos and the potato skins that Miyagi and gang ordered. "Take the salad from the fridge over there and bring the pepper mill along," she told him, already walking towards their table. He complied, keeping in pace with her.
"Hey guys, your food's here." Shizue announced, placing the huge plate of chips in front of Miyagi, whose mouth watered instantly.
"Stop drooling!" Ayako cried out, snapping her paper fan at him.
"Owww..."
"Is there anything else I can do for you?" Shizue smiled at Miyagi's antics.
"Nope, thanks a lot." Mitsui gave a sincere smile. Shizue couldn't help but grin back.
"Ok then. Enjoy your food." She turned to Rukawa after checking her mobile. "Guess what? Shift's over! You're free to go,"
"Finally... can I join them then?" he nodded towards the gang devouring the food like there was no tomorrow.
"Sure, but you've got to change out of your uniform. Go on,"
"Thanks for everything today, Shizue-san," he bowed slightly, and jogged off to the staff room.
When Rukawa joined the gang at the table, there was still a lot of food left. The portions seem to be pretty huge... He took a bite of the nachos. Not bad. Munching thoughtfully, Hiroshi nudged Rukawa on the shoulder with his own. He looked at him expectantly. "What?"
"So... what do you think of Kobayashi-sempai?"
"Huh? She's just a girl. My trainer," Rukawa replied, grabbing a piece of potato skin.
Sakuragi's ears perked up at this, and joined in the conversation. "She's really pretty,"
"Do'ahou. Who's talking to you?" a chip was sent flying his way but he dodged it, and it hit Mitsui in the face.
"Oy!"
"Oops..." Sakuragi looked skyward as if nothing happened.
"Who did that?!" Mitsui held the offensive chip, scrutinising each one of them before his gaze settled on Sakuragi. "Sakuragi..." he warned.
"What? I didn't do anything!"
Haruko spoke up. "It was Sakuragi," she giggled at his expression.
"Haruko-chan... how could you?" he acted devastated, clutching his fist to his chest.
Haruko giggled harder, and Mitsui grinned, shaking his fist at Sakuragi. "I'll let this go for now, but watch out,"
The table quieted after that, and Ayako voiced, "I don't really like that Shizue girl,"
Miyagi looked surprised. "Why not?"
"She just so..."
"Hot?" Mitsui piped.
"Sexy?" Hiroshi added, catching Mitsui's drift.
"Pretty?" Miyagi added last, and got a smack from Ayako.
"I didn't know you guys went for older girls, especially you, Hiro-chan," Ayako said.
"Eh?" Hiroshi felt the heat rising to his face. "No... It was just a childhood crush." He shook his head vehemently.
"Awww... how cute!" Ayako gushed, and Miyagi scowled. What if he had told her that his crush was her? He wondered if that was cute.
Rukawa drowned out the group's idle banter. He turned to look at Sakuragi, who was speaking to Haruko in hushed tones. At least they're finally getting it on... it's about time. He thought listlessly.
"Rukawa! Do you know of the place where street bball is played?" Hiroshi asked.
A sudden bout of irritation rose up to his chest. "No," he lied.
"Oh." Hiroshi sounded a little disappointed. Haha. Now you can't go looking for Shizue, can you? Rukawa shook his head. Where'd that thought come from?
"Worry not, my dear friend. We'll go look around tonight after dinner. We're bound to stumble upon it," Miyagi gave him a light pat on the back, and Hiroshi cheered slightly.
Shizue came by to check on the gang. "How's the food? Good?"
They nodded and Shizue smiled. "Hey Shizue," Hiroshi called out, "Where's this street bball that you speak of held at?"
"Oh. It's just around the corner of Takahashi Street. Haven't you guys come across it at all?"
"Takahashi Street? Isn't that near where we're staying at?" Mitsui scratched his head.
"Yeah it is. I think I know where it is. HAHA. This Tensai knows everything!" Sakuragi puffed his chest outwards in a gung-ho manner.
"Whatever. Shut your trap." Rukawa snapped.
"You guys should come down tonight. There's something huge going on there. A lot of teams would be gathered around tonight. Seems like some sort of initiation of a new team. Maybe you guys could be initiated too," Shizue mused, looking at Hiroshi.
"How about it, you guys?" Hiroshi turned back to ask the gang.
"Of course! We won't back down from a basketball challenge! Bring it on, man!" Sakuragi yelled.
"I'm getting off work around 10. They start around 8.30 though. Might wanna go down to have a look first," Shizue proposed.
"Ok then. We'll see you there, Kobayashi-sempai," Hiroshi grinned.
"Yep. Sure will," Shizue smiled, and looked at Rukawa. He looked away. Turning around, she jogged towards a couple who was ready to take their order, leaving them to their conversation once more.
a/n: sorry for the long ass chapter.
Emberlion: glad you think my fic's 'cool'! haha. I know you guys don't know much about my working experience at Hard Rock, and I really enjoyed that period of time working there, so I figured I might as well incorporate that into the fic. Hopefully it wasn't too boring yeh?
Anyway, next up would be the streetbball 'initiation'... I'm not too sure how I'm going about it, but yeah well, I'll check it up on the net or something. Till then. I really like writing this. It's like reliving old memories. Thanks for making me crazy over SD again, gin. grin
Oh. And I feel like I'm making Rukawa too PMS-y. feel free to drop any comments. If you don't, I'll just take it as you liked my story. Haha. I bet reviews would start pouring in like crazy now.