The excitement was over.
Okuyasu kicked the rocks at his feet towards the storefront. He looked up at the red banner of the Kame-Yu. He felt it loom over him menacingly.
Oh big bro, I'm glad you're not around to see me like this. Okuyasu thought to himself. Five years ago you told me I needed to decide what to do on my own, but in five years nothing has happened here! Okuyasu clenched his fists in frustration. Josuke is off at the Police Academy, learning to become a detective, and Mr. Jotaro sends Koichi all over the world.
Okuyasu, you can stay and defend Morioh while we're away! Koichi's voice rang in Okuyasu's memory.
"Defend Morioh? Defend Morioh from what? All I do is work at the Kame-Yu and take care of my Dad!" Okuyasu yelled out loud. He couldn't hold in his frustration any longer. "Now something truly bizarre is dropped right in front of me and I don't know what to do!"
Mr. Sato poked his head out of the door.
"Okuyasu! Why are you out here yelling? You're scaring customers away!"
"Huh?" Okuyasu was brought back to reality by the sound of the short, middle aged man's angry voice.
"Get back in here and finish stocking the shelves." Sato demanded.
"Yes Mr. Sato…" Okuyasu bowed and went back inside, defeated.
Morioh's public transportation was one of the best in Japan. Buses never ran late, all bus drivers were friendly and smiled as each passenger boarded and unboarded the bus. The elderly would ride buses to different locations around town when they were no longer able to safely drive.
In front of the Kame Yu was one of these bus stops. Every day, at 11:45 AM, the bus would pull up to the bus stop. The doors would open and a number of seniors would exit the bus, each smiling and thanking the bus driver. They would come into the Kame Yu and each one would buy a lunch and thank Okuyasu by name before going off to run their various errands.
Today, the bus pulled in front of the store at 11:46. Okuyasu didn't notice the bus was one minute late, nor did Sato or anyone on the bus. No one would notice a bus arriving one minute later than usual, and if anyone did, no one would think that was a bizarre occurrence. However, there was one bizarre person on that bus who had been late to the stop and chased the bus down, requiring the bus to stop and be a minute late.
"Get out of my way!" A greasy man in his early thirties pushed past the elderly people on the bus. The elders scolded the man as he bustled past the rows of seats. "What? What? Does it matter what order we get off the bus? Quit being miserable old shits!"
"Have a nice day sir." The bus driver said to the American man as he exited the bus.
"I'll have a better day now that I'm off your bus. You drive like you're the same age as your passengers!" The man yelled as he adjusted his dark, curly hair matted to his forehead.
Huh? Okuyasu heard the commotion outside. Who's yelling at the bus driver? None of our regulars would do something like that. He poked his head up from the aisle and looked outside at the angry man storming off the bus and into the store. He shuddered as he watched the man continue to scream at the bus driver.
I can't put my finger on it, but there's something about this guy that I don't like. As he tried harder to inspect the portly man from this distance, Okuyasu swore he saw a dark glint in his eye. At that moment, almost supernaturally, the man turned his head towards Okuyasu. Okuyasu dropped to the ground behind the deodorant aisle. I don't think he saw me.
"Okuyasu!" Sato called from the office. "Finish stocking the shelves, I'll deal with the lunch rush," Sato commanded as he left the small back room.
"Yes Mr. Sato." Okuyasu called, only half paying attention to his boss as the greasy man in the ripped, black leather jacket entered the store.
Okuyasu kept to himself as the unpleasant man browsed the shelves. The seniors tried to stay out of his way, often skipping whole aisles to not be near him. Over the aisles, Okuyasu watched him go in one aisle, down, then out the next, closer and closer to his aisle like a shark circling its prey. Okuyasu could feel the stranger's agitation from behind three shelves.
I don't want to deal with this guy, he's already shown himself to be a jerk. I hate customers like him. We almost never get people like this! Okuyasu sank a little lower behind the rows of deodorant. He still hasn't seen me. Maybe I can just hide back here and hope he doesn't see me.
The man entered the second to last aisle and stormed down it. He stopped just opposite of where Okuyasu was hiding.
"The second I stepped off that damn bus, I've felt like someone's watching me. I'm almost sure of it." The man grumbled. "Probably some other asshole trying to ruin my day."
Okuyasu caught a whiff of the man's smell through the shelves. The sickly sweet and sour smell made Okuyasu gag. Oi, it's a good thing I'm in the deodorant aisle! No way is this guy going to find me back here!
Okuyasu was right. The man grabbed a few more essentials from the aisle and went to the counter to check out without ever seeing Okuyasu. He impatiently stood in line behind the elderly customers, groaning loudly every time a friendly customer engaged in conversation with Mr. Sato rather than leaving immediately.
Finally, it was the man's turn to approach the counter.
"Did you find everything alright?" Sato asked.
The man grunted as Sato scanned his groceries. What a rude man. Sato thought to himself as he scanned the customer's items. Sato was no saint himself; he was impatient with his employees, focused only on the wellbeing of the store, and was the strictest Kame-Yu manager in Morioh. Even I, Jin Sato, cannot believe the brazen attitude this man takes while interacting with the elderly.
"Your total is 1,600 Yen," Sato informed the man. The man offered his debit card to Sato. Sato swiped the card as the screen flashed red in front of both him and the customer. "Sir, your card declined. It may have to do with it being an American card," Okuyasu saw the man shaking with rage. "Did you let your bank know th-"
"Shut up old man!" the customer snapped at Sato. "It's obviously your shitty machine!"
"Sir, you need to leave the store." Sato had had enough. From the customer's mistreatment of his regulars, to his offensive odor, Sato could no longer tolerate his presence. "You have been rude, unpleasant, and frankly, you need to work on your hygiene."
Okuyasu stifled a laugh upon hearing his boss tell the man he stunk. The man, however, did not find the comment as funny as Okuyasu did. The man slammed his items down on the counter. Okuyasu saw the same dark gleam from outside in the customer's eye as he stared furiously at Sato.
"You'll regret that."
The man seemed so full of anger, yet his words came out very plainly. Ominously. The man left the store without another word. Okuyasu watched him storm down the road with his old cell phone pressed against his ear.
Sato put his fingers on the bridge of his nose, What a jackass.