"All by yourself on New Year's Eve, are we?" the convenience store clerk commented as she scanned the items the customer placed upon the counter. "Well, just barely at least. It's about 13 minutes before it's 2022."
The customer glanced up towards the clerk who donned a dark blue dress shirt as well as a celebratory NYE hat. "...You're the same though, working at a Family Mart all by yourself at night. Does that not scare you at all…?"
The clerk let out a lighthearted laugh as she picked up a box of Tylenol and scanned it. "Well ma'am, a college girl has gotta pay her bills one way or another. I'm quite the night owl too so I don't mind holding down graveyard shifts. Plus, while it may not look like it, I can defend both myself and this store if the situation ever calls for it."
"Wearing that hat?" the customer stated monotonically as she rummaged through her purse.
"Yep." The clerk paused from her scanning and confidently placed her hands on her hips. "Who says I can't look cute while dishing it out to a few would-be shoplifters?"
The customer hummed while getting her wallet out. "Looking cute would be the least of my concerns if I was put in the same situation..."
"No need to be concerned when you're already as cute as you are right now."
"Wh-what?" the customer blushed heavily at the sudden comment, nearly dropping her wallet on the ground.
"I mean I think so. You really make that blue coat work, especially when paired with that white scarf. Oh, and I really love your hair, it really compliments your pink purse well. You've gotta tell me how you're able to make a perfect bun with your hair ma'am."
"Uhh…" the pink-haired girl paused for a moment to take in the flurry of compliments she just received before taking a deep breath. "T-thank you. That's umm… very nice of you to say."
"Don't mention it, ma'am." The clerk continued scanning the items that remained on the customer side of the counter, this time an energy drink. "You look around my age. Do you happen to attend college too?"
"Ah… well, yes. I'm a college student..."
"Oh really? Do you attend Sophia University?"
"N-no no. I'm taking some online courses at the University of Tokyo, but in all honesty, I don't even know what I'm doing with my life right now…"
The clerk hummed nonchalantly."I feel ya. I made some efforts to get into Kunitachi College with my piano skills, but they rejected me sadly. I was depressed for weeks when it happened, but I managed to recover and land a spot at the Musashino Academy. It wasn't easy by any means, and I'll admit a few of my classes have exhausted me, but I still wanna believe it'll be worth it in the end."
"Piano…? Do you plan on becoming a performer or something?"
The clerk picked up the last item left on the counter that remained unscanned. It was a CD album of some kind, leading the clerk to flip the album around and see who the artist was, only to giggle to herself and grin. "You mean like Setsuna Yuki ? Nah, I'd much rather just compose and write music than perform. I gotta say though, her music is really amazing. I hope you give the entire album a listen, because it never fails to make me happy on a gloomy day."
The pink-haired girl blinked slowly as the clerk scanned that last item. "That so…?"
" Mochiron! Oh, my apologies for my ramblings ma'am. Let me get these properly bagged for you."
"Oh ah… I don't mind, don't worry…" the customer waved her credit card above the reader as it accepted her payment.
"Glad you understand ma'am. We gotta have something in our lives to keep our spirits high after all."
The pink-haired girl only nodded in response as she put her card away in her wallet.
"Tell me, do you have anything like that in yours?"
The customer paused as she put away her wallet. "I'm... no."
"No problem in that. We're all just trying to survive everything life throws at us in our own way, y'know?"
The pink-haired girl tensed up before letting out a smile. "Y-yeah."
"Well," the clerk handed a bag over the counter to the customer. "I guess this is where we depart on this soon-to-be new day, ma'am."
"New day…" the pink-haired girl muttered to herself, taking one hand to grab the bag but not picking it up from off the counter, glancing at the clerk's nametag.
"Umm, ma'am? You go-?"
"Can I say something..., Yu-chan? "
"...By all means."
"Doesn't New Years seem a little sad to you?"
"Mmm? What do you mean by that?"
"I mean like…, despite all the festive lights from Christmas, the winter cold outside, and the people gathered outside, it doesn't even feel like a new year to me. This time of year is supposed to be happy, uplifting, and optimistic. And yet… all I feel… is misery… and loneliness… and fear…"
Yu didn't entirely know how to assess the situation, but it was clear that the customer had a lot on her mind. Well, maybe that was an understatement. The pink-haired girl on the other side of the counter of the clerk was hurting in some way.
"A-are you okay ma'am?"
"Does it sound like I'm okay!?" There was a brief silence following the sudden outburst from the quiet girl, with the clerk taking a step back from the counter and instinctively holding up her hands. The pink-haired girl immediately tried to remedy the situation. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out like that. I'm just…"
"Do you wanna sit down and talk about it ma'am?"
"I…" the customer couldn't properly get a response out, breathing heavily as the clerk got up from behind the counter and grabbed the hand of the customer.
"C'mon, we can talk for just a few minutes if you have somewhere to go." Yu smiled as she guided the pink-haired girl to the chairs and table counter alongside the store's windows.
Sitting down, the clerk cracked open a can of Boss Coffee and drank it slowly. She gestured to the customer if she wanted one, only to be answered with a headshake. "So, what's got you down?"
There was yet another moment of silence between the two girls, with the only sounds being the sipping of the clerk's coffee, the heater on the roof, and the ambience of Tokyo beyond the glass windows.
"Do…" Yu perked up and listened closely to the customer's words. "Do you know how it feels to be surrounded by so many people yet feel so alone? To feel like you're loved one day and feel completely abandoned the next? To feel like the entire world is against you when it doesn't even know you exist?"
The clerk sipped her coffee and placed it down on the counter before rubbing her chin. "I can't speak based on the experiences you've had in your own life ma'am, but I'd like to think I know how you feel."
"...The worst part about it is how everyone tells me how lucky and special I am. The fact that I graduated high school at the top of my class, live all by myself with two pets, own a car; that I can go anywhere I want or do anything I want with nothing holding me back."
"And? Do you think they have a point…?"
"Everything they say about me… is true. I do have all those things in my life and I'm fortunate enough to seek out whatever my heart desires without the fear of having nothing to fall back on if I fail. But…"
"But…?"
"I'm still an emotional mess… who overthinks everything and doesn't know what they want from life."
"...Do you really think that just because you have it better off than others that you can't be emotional or sad?"
"Not when everyone tells me how much they envy my life when many of them know... fully well, the pain and suffering I went through to get this far..."
"Well…" Yu picked her words carefully before clearing her throat. "Again, I don't know what you've been through ma'am, and I can't expect you to tell me everything that happened in your life seeing as I'm just a clerk you didn't even know an hour ago."
The pink-haired customer looked out past the window to her right to see a light snowfall gather along the wet sidewalks of Tokyo.
"What I will tell you though is" the clerk intertwined her hands with that of the customer "no amount of good fortune in your life can invalidate your emotions. So what if others are envious of your life? If you feel depressed or lost regardless of the things you've been blessed by, no one can tell you're wrong for being so."
"..." The girl continued looking out the window towards the snow.
"After all ma'am, you're only human, just like the rest of us."
"..." A small shudder, but the girl still averted her gaze from Yu.
"T-too corny? My apologies, I'm not really the best at saying thes-"
"You can call me Ayumu." The customer spoke up, finally returning her line of sight to the clerk in front of her.
"Ayumu…?"
The pink-haired girl gently nodded. "Mhm. That's my name."
"It's a very pretty name." the clerk smiled. "Fitting for a very pretty girl like yourself."
Ayumu blushed before smiling herself. With some hesitation, she escaped Yu's grasp around her hands before shuffling, adjusting her hair, and slowly opening her arms for what seemed like an invitation for a hug.
Before Yu could accept the offer, the pink-haired girl took matters into her own arms and embraced the girl, burying her head between the clerk's neck and shoulder.
"I… don't know why I decided to say all this to you…, or why you bothered to hear me out, but… thank you for doing so… Your words… they helped me when I most needed them..."
Yu had a lot of thoughts go through her head, especially as she remembered some of the items Ayumu had just purchased minutes earlier. It didn't take long though for the clerk to return the hug tightly, patting the back of the girl's head and stroking her soft hair.
"I don't really know what to say but... you're welcome, Ayumu."
The two stayed like this for about two more minutes before mutually ending the hug. Yu adjusted the collar to her uniform as Ayumu stood up and placed the bag on the counter, only taking out the Setsuna Yuki CD and putting it in her purse.
"You can keep these. I… no, I don't need them anymore."
"Oh, alright. Let me get you a refund for yo-"
"That's not necessary, Yu-chan."
"Really? I think it's only right to give b-"
"I'd…" Ayumu paused for a second, expressing an apologetic face for interrupting the clerk again. "I'd rather have your-no, umm…"
"My number?" Yu held back a laugh and smiled. "You want my number?"
"I…" Ayumu paused for a moment. "I-if it isn't any trouble…"
Yu once again smiled before walking towards the cashier's counter to grab a pen and sticky note. Less than 15 seconds later, she returned to where Ayumu was standing, gently grabbed her arm, and placed the sticky note in her hand.
"It's not any trouble at all, Ayumu."
The two smiled softly at each other in silence before the sound of fireworks could be heard outside, startling the two of them.
"S-seems like it's already a new year." Yu chuckled to herself as she rubbed the back of her head.
Ayumu let out a small giggle. "Mmm. It's… January now."
The two girls looked out the window as the sky above beyond the glass erupted in every color imaginable. Whether intentional or instinctively, Yu put an arm around the customer, resting her head against Ayumu's shoulder.
"January… and I've already made a new friend."
Ayumu glanced at Yu who appeared euphoric as her face lit up with colors of blue and pink. Putting an arm around the clerk, she rested her head upon the shorter girl's and returned her gaze towards the world outside, tears building up and flowing down her eyes.
"M-mhm. So have I..."