Chapter 55: True Feelings Arc - Roll with It

This chapter took me long enough, but this might be my updating speed for a while, until I get adjusted to the high school workload. I start it in seven days...sigh.

It's a little OC-centric, but the story has been moving in this direction for quite a while. And please note that I've never worked at a sushi restaurant before, so forgive me if I get some details wrong. With that being said, I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: What's mine is mine, and everything else belongs to their respectful owners.


Kaiya's POV

After school that Monday, I already knew that I was running late for my first day at work.

Of course, it was since I had to get the Akatsuki members home first before they caused any trouble. Initially, I had thought that Naoki had gone ahead to Hoshi no Sushi. However, I had scrapped this thought as soon as I saw him rush back home because he had accidentally slipped a grocery coupon into his lanyard instead of his ID.

Then again, it kind of was my fault for not bringing my work identification card to the restaurant. After all, every new employee needed it somewhere on them throughout the entire time, hopefully not for identifying troublemakers. So when I had dropped the five Akatsuki members and my schoolwork off back at home, I had simultaneously been able to retrieve my ID for work.

Much to my displeasure, Naoki and I had to show up by three o'clock sharp in order to be on time, or else we would be considered late. The restaurant was about half a mile away from where we were currently running, but it was already 2:45.

"Hurry, onee-chan!" shouted Naoki, running beside me with his ID card swaying from his necklace and bouncing from side to side with every step he took. "We're going to be late!"

"I know, otouto!" I replied just as loudly, trying my hardest not to let my legs give out beneath me. Around my shoulder, my handbag swayed around with every stride. "Just think of this as running the mile, but only half of it! It won't be so bad!"

"But I despise that stupid mile!" he growled back, narrowing his eyes at the mention of the dreaded physical exam. "Plus, I'm not as athletic as you!"

I shook my head at that statement. "Actually, I'm not athletic, either," I confessed, knowing that the last time that I had played a sport was the day Nagato had broken his necklace. "I do enjoy sports once in a while, but I very much prefer to read or play with you, Yukio-chan, and Kagami-chan."

For a second, he gave me a soft smile in gratitude, but it quickly ran away just as fast as we were currently sprinting. "Thanks, but we've got to speed up! What if the boss is scary and unforgiving?"

"Now, now, don't think of our boss like how one would act in your cartoons…"

"For the last time, they're not cartoons!"

"What about stuff such as Phineas and Ferb?"

"Oh wait...I guess that's one. Still, the rest are anime!"

Eventually, we wound up at the restaurant, which stood plain and tall in the middle of a flurry of other restaurants. There was a pizzeria, a fast food restaurant, and even a jeweler's shop, but it was quite obvious which building was supposed to be where we were going to start working.

Hoshi no Sushi was definitely the highlight of the food court, or at least that's what it seemingly proclaimed itself to be. A giant yellow star was squeezed in between the roof of the building, not yet lit because there was plenty of sunlight. It was the only restaurant with a sign made of neon lights, as well as a small fountain right next to the door. A fish statue in the middle spat out a thin stream of water, while on the opposite side, a deer-shaped topiary stares back at the fish. But since the statue was facing away from the inanimate shrub, it took no notice of its neighbor.

There usually was a small line of people that would be protruding from the door, but it was absent, mainly because the restaurant had not yet opened. Nodding our heads, we dashed towards the entrance of the restaurant, remembering that we still had to actually be present in there building and not standing in the parking lot, admiring the workplace like idiots.

Pushing open the double doors, we were greeted by the scent of seafood and a slightly stronger fragrance of rose incense. Naoki's face contorted slightly because of the strong scent, and he subsequently backed away from where the incense was sitting, right next to a small wreath of roses.

Just as we were about to look around, a boy, who looked as if he was in the middle of his college years, approached us, looking rather irritable. I mean, he wasn't smiling at all, and his blue eyes were narrowed coldly at us as if we were nuisances. A pad and pen was in his hands, as if he was reluctantly taking our order without bothering to give us a seat.

"Name?" he grumbled at me, standing right by the table with the incense. I was slightly surprised that he continued acting this way, even if he was right next to something so fragrant.

"I'm Kaiya, and that right there is my otouto, Naoki-chan," I explained, trying to resist the urge to tell the boy to lighten up a little. "It's our first day of work here, so do you know where we are supposed to head?"

The boy clicked his pen and placed it to the pad before saying, "Late." Sighing, he pointed towards what I assumed to be the kitchen before turning around and walking away in the opposite direction, not even bothering to give us guidance.

Beside me, my brother clenched his fists, glaring angrily at the boy who had spoken so rudely to us. "What's his deal?" he muttered under his breath. "It's not even three o'clock yet! Did somebody shove something up his a—"

I immediately placed a finger to his lips, silencing him. "Let's not assume," I whispered back, beginning to head to the kitchen. "Yes, that was rather rude, but perhaps he had a bad day or something. And don't say things like that, alright? Now let's go meet our boss...hopefully, it's not him."

We bounded off towards the kitchen, passing by the red tables and weaving our way around the conveyor belt. The belt was empty, and I stared in fascination, since I had never seen it when it had stopped moving before. However, before I got too distracted, Naoki tugged my hand impatiently, and began leading me over to the kitchen, where the lengthy belt was connected to.

Hesitantly, I pushed open the metal doors to the kitchen, only to be greeted by a very familiar face that I immediately gasped upon seeing.

"Harumi-san?" Naoki and I both nearly shouted in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

The woman laughed, then readjusted the strap of her long red apron before guiding us into the back of the kitchen. "Ah, I'm assuming that you thought that I was Yuna Harumi, the notorious babysitter, pet shop owner, and jeweler?"

That made me shoot her a look, and I did a double take as I took in how different she actually was to Harumi-san. Unlike her, this woman had hazel eyes, while Harumi-san's eyes were dark brown. Her hair was also cut shorter than it usually was, though it was tied into a small ponytail behind her. "Oh, sorry! You...er, looked a lot like her. Please forgive me."

"It's alright," she reassured me, then held out a hand to me. At first, I was about to shake it, but she interrupted this action by saying, "Could you please show me your ID cards? Don't worry, you aren't late at all. And neither are you...Naoki-san."

My brother had already shown her his card, even though we had no idea if she was our boss or not. Reaching into the pocket of my handbag, I fished out my card, handing it to the lady. She examined it for a second, then handed it back to me.

"I look forward to working with you two," she said, before dipping her head politely to us. "I'm the owner of this restaurant, also known as Harumi-san. However, if you wish to differentiate me from my imouto better, then feel free to call me Minami or Minami-san."

"Your imouto?" I questioned, then mentally slapped myself. Of course...the similar physical appearance and kindly behavior...it's making much more sense now!

"Yuna-chan and I are twins," she explained to me, "though she's notorious for being a great babysitter, while I own this sushi restaurant. Have you eaten here before, by any chance?"

"Many times," I informed her, recalling the countless times my mother and father had taken me and my brothers out to this place. However, the employees had probably been different back then. "How come I've never seen you before, though?"

"I'm a cook," she told me, "so I hardly ever leave the kitchen. Plus, my workers are much better at taking orders than me...my memory isn't exactly the best, and I do not wish to mess up on someone's order."

"On another note," cut in Naoki, crossing his arms, "who in the world was that rude college-age employee that was standing at the front? I mean, he just told us that we were late before pointing to the kitchen and leaving!"

Minami shook her head, sighing and mumbling something incoherent to herself. "Forgive Arashi-san for his behavior. I don't know him too well, even though I'm his boss, but I'm assuming that college work and exams are currently stressing him out. I'm sure he means well, but he has always had little patience and spoke only when he needed to. However, he was a lot kinder to everybody in the past, but this month, he changed drastically. When I tried to ask him what the matter was after receiving many complaints from our customers, he just walked away with a scowl."

"Why don't you just fire him, then?" Naoki suggested bluntly, sighing. "Isn't that something you can do to easily solve the problem?"

She shook her head dejectedly. "Arashi-san is one of our best cooks, even better than me. And plus, it's very easy for him to memorize orders, even though he writes them on a pad and paper anyway. Yes, I strongly dislike his rudeness towards almost everybody nowadays, but the restaurant will suffer without him."

Oof, I thought to myself, shuddering as I imagined the thought of Hoshi no Sushi closing down if Arashi left. "Anyway, what are my otouto and I going to do? It's been a while since I've last made sushi…"

"Don't worry," she soothed me, "I would never expect you to be good at cooking on the first day. For now, are you okay with delivering and taking orders, as well as restocking the conveyor belt?"

That got me excited for sure. "Of course! But could you still teach us the basics, just to make sure that we're doing this right?"

"Sure," she said, nodding. "However, since this restaurant opens in about twenty minutes, I'm going to have to run you both through the basics rather quickly. This should be easy for you two, since you've been here multiple times already."

Naoki shrugged. "I'm not sure, Minami-san...to be honest, my memory isn't as great as onee-chan's."

I expected Minami to shoot him a look at that comment, but to my surprise, she just giggled. "Don't sweat it! You'll do fine, even if you are going to be our youngest workers here today. The reason why I allow kids older than fourteen to work here is that young teens almost always seem to have a keen memory as opposed to adults, and they constantly try to perform some sort of community service. Also, it's a nice thing to educate kids about careers and jobs at an early age."

"But if you wanted young teens," I asked, "then why did you cut it off at fourteen instead of thirteen?"

She sighed. "I want teens to be able to get a grip of their new teenage life before they begin branching out and searching for jobs like this. Plus, I doubt that parents would want their kids working so early, either. However, according to a recent survey, most fourteen-year-olds don't seem to mind working jobs early."

Before she could ramble any further, Arashi rushed into the kitchen, his eyes narrowing at both of us again as he approached our new boss.

"Minami," he grumbled, not bothering to use any honorifics to address his boss, "the restaurant opens in fifteen minutes. Five other employees have arrived, and they're all setting up the tables outside and turning the conveyor belt on. A total of seven employees are in the kitchen already, making the sushi. Hurry up and tell the new employees what to do."

Her eyes widened owlishly as she glanced up at the clock on the wall in surprise. To be honest, even I had not noticed those employees walk by us and start cooking. Actually, I hadn't even noticed the employees that had been here before us, who had already been searing the fish and making the sushi. "Oh my! Thanks for warning me in advance, Arashi-san."

Arashi scowled, then began to walk in the opposite direction, most likely to start cooking. "Whatever."

Okay, at that point, it was safe to say that based on his first impression, I did not like him. Sure, maybe Arashi had a reason for acting this way if he had acted differently in the past, but still, talking to his own boss so rudely was definitely presumptuous. Turning to my side, I could tell that my brother was harboring a similar, yet worse feeling towards the black-haired college student, based on his clenched fists and teeth.

But like before, Minami just brushed him off and dipped her head apologetically. "I hope you don't mind, but please try and put up with Arashi-can for the time being. But before I forget, let me show you where everything is before the restaurant opens."

Beckoning us to follow her, she led us over to the kitchen, where several employees were indeed placing plates of fresh sushi onto the conveyor belt. Two others were still chopping at vegetables, while another was carefully cutting seaweed.

"You'll learn how to do those in time," Minami explained to the both of us. "If you're needed in kitchen work, they'll be sure to instruct you on what to do. I was planning on teaching you how to restock the conveyor belt, but we no longer have enough time for that."

"Actually," I piped up, "I think that we might be able to manage that. "It's just matching sushi dishes to the picture on the sign next to their plates, right?" I questioned, motioning to the signs that the employees were beginning to place beside each plate.

"It's not just that," she explained, beginning to drag us off toward the various kitchen drawers. "You also have to be aware of how fresh the sushi on the belt is, so that we don't have one dish sitting there for three hours straight before somebody picks it up. Unlike the other employees, I have not yet taught you how to do such a thing."

"Still," I continued, "maybe you don't have to have us take items off of the conveyor belt just yet, but can we at least help with putting dishes back on? I want to make myself a bit more useful around here."

Deep down in my head, I was considering the possibility of receiving an early raise if I completed extra work. However, it wasn't just for the money, really: I wanted to contribute something to one of my favorite restaurants, especially if one of its best employees was losing it.

"That's an excellent idea," Minami responded with a gentle smile. "You definitely have a sharp mind, Kaiya-san. Naoki-san, is there something that you want to do in particular?"

He shrugged. "I'll just start slow, and deliver drinks and orders to everybody. Plus, I'm not staying in the kitchen with that...that guy." He spat out the last sentence as if it were nothing but venom constricting his throat.

"Are you sure?" I asked him dubiously, unsure if he could remember all of that in such a short time, especially with his borderline-failing math grade. "Do you know where everything is?"

"Sort of," he bit back, his mind still obviously on Arashi. "I've been here almost as many times as you, onee-chan. I have a grip of where and what number each table is, and I can somewhat differentiate the various orders. The only big problem is figuring out when the orders are placed and when they're needed."

"Very well," agreed our boss. "However, keep in mind that this assignment isn't too needed as restocking the sushi, unless we're serving drinks. The customers normally find what they want on the conveyor belt beforehand."

"I don't mind the low pay," Naoki stated bluntly, crossing his arms. "I just want to help the restaurant and onee-chan."

She gently smiled at him, her expression brightening. "You've been taught well, Naoki-san. Your manners are greatly appreciated in my restaurant. I'll have one of my employees instruct you on that in just a second...hey, Erika-san! Can you please show our new employee how to serve drinks properly and take orders?"

A short girl who looked to be around Arashi's age, who I assumed to be Erika, turned around and dipped her head toward her boss. "Understood, Minami-san." Approaching us, she grabbed two empty trays and handed one to my brother. "Come with me, and I'll help you with your new job."

After Naoki and Erika left the kitchen, I returned my attention to Minami. "With that being said, can you show me all of the various sushi dishes, please? Also, I am a bit curious about how the whole Sashimi Express thing works and how customers get it so quickly. Would you mind showing me that, as well?"

"Of course!" she exclaimed, ushering me back over to the part of the kitchen that the conveyor belt swirled around. As we entered that area, for the first time, I noticed a small computer situated in the back corner. Taking a closer look at it, I noticed that the screen displayed two-dimensional models of what looked to be all of the tables, with bold numbers on top of them.

"Wow," I mused, staring at the screen for what seemed like an hour. "This one computer tracks down whenever somebody pushes a button to call Sashimi Express?"

"That is correct," she said, subsequently pointing towards the flashing red lights on top of each table. "See those little red lights? They will flash violently like that and make a squealing noise whenever somebody pushes their button to place a specific order. When that happens, a waiter or waitress will immediately push the flashing light on the screen to return it to normal, then rush to that table in order to take the customers' orders."

My eyes continued sparkling with interest. "I see. I think that I may be able to handle that job as well, just as long as I'm the waitress who pushes the button, right?"

"Yes," she confirmed, heading over to where the other employees were frantically placing various sushi dishes on the conveyor belt. "Two minutes left…"

"Actually," I cut in, then mentally reprimanded myself for interrupting my boss, "I think that I can figure out how to restock the dishes on my own, and then I'll ask another waiter or waitress for help if I need it. If the restaurant opens in two minutes, I don't want you to rush your cooking job."

She looked at me with a slight frown for a moment, making me swallow nervously. Did I say something wrong? I thought, placing my hands over my mouth instinctively. To my surprise, her expression quickly smoothed back into a smile, forcing me to breathe a small sigh of relief. "Now you're a kind one, aren't you, Kaiya-san? Very well, then. I think we'll work extremely well together, but just make sure you ask for help when needed, alright?"

I nodded, just as she prepared to head back towards the cooking area. "Yes, Minami-san."

Walking over to where the employees were trying to place the dishes on the belt after taking them from what appeared to be a massive yellow tray, I silently tried to recall what sushi dish was what. The words ran through my brain as if it was another conveyor belt: nigiri, maki, sashimi, uramaki, temaki, sesame balls, takoyaki…

Okay, maybe the last two weren't sushi dishes. But of course, not every revolving sushi restaurant focused entirely on its trademark namesake. Hoshi no Sushi also served ramen, dumplings, takoyaki, and even mochi, though they were not as popular as the sushi.

"Hello," I greeted them, dipping my head politely. "Um...I'm new here. Is there anything I could help you with?"

I made a note to slap myself for saying something so stupid.

Still, I guess that wasn't as necessary, since these employees did not seem to act like Arashi. The girl closest to me instantly smiled as soon as she heard "new", stopping her panicking to bounce up and down excitedly. She began to reach out with her gloved hand to shake mine, but remembered what she had on it and quickly pulled it back with a sheepish smile. "I'm Riku! It's a pleasure to meet you...um, Kaiya-san!"

"Just Kaiya is alright," I told her, still attempting to correct my slip-up, even though I knew that Riku had not caught it. "Really, you don't have to be so formal, especially since I'm only a teen..."

"Don't worry," the man right next to Riku responded as he placed a dish of salmon on the rotating mat. "It's proper to be polite to other employees, especially if they're new. It leaves a good, lasting impression on them and makes them feel more comfortable in their working environment. I may be twenty-six, but under this roof, every one of us is the same age."

"Chiko-san is right," Riku added, before proceeding to place more sushi dishes on. "It was Minami-san's suggestion, since she wanted her employees to feel safe and...you know, looked out for. In her eyes, care and trust were what built a working business, not power and brute force. She didn't want to be to strict on us, so in return, we were never to be too harsh and condescending on others."

The boy, Chiko, handed me a pair of plastic gloves, which I quickly slipped on before I could instinctively touch any of the sushi. "I see," I answered, but my mind still flickered to a certain employee that was nothing of the sort that he had just described. "So...all I have to do is restock the sushi whenever the spot where it's supposed to be is empty?"

"Sort of," Riku mused. "Still, they must go in a specific order by category, but after that, you can place them almost anywhere you like. For example, all nigiri dishes must stay with the other nigiri, and the same goes with a maki roll. However, the nigiri dish can be placed wherever as long as it is adjacent to another nigiri dish, and identical dishes must stay next to each other at all times so that the customers don't get confused. Um...you got that, right? I'm not very good at explaining things…"

"It's alright!" I stammered, giggling slightly. "I understand what you're saying, Riku-san. A tuna can be placed next to an octopus dish, but cannot be in between two California rolls, since the latter is a type of uramaki, not nigiri. And if there is more than one tuna dish, they must be placed side-by-side, right?"

"Precisely," agreed Riku, nodding her head as she set down two dishes of seared mackerel next to each other. "I think you explained it better than I did, to be honest."

I waved my hands frantically, trying to dust off the flattery. "Seriously, I didn't! But still, thanks a bunch. May I try placing some things on right now, actually? I've been wanting to try out this work for a while."

"Be our guest," said Chiko, dipping his head and stepping out of the way. As I approached the whirling mat full of sushi, I carefully observed the type that Riku and Chiko were currently placing on the conveyor belt.

Nigiri, I quickly decided, noticing how there was rice tied underneath each slab of meat with a band of seaweed. Rice on the bottom, dish on top, for those whose balance will never stop.

Yeah, I had made up my own rhymes to remember the five different kinds of sushi. They were actually much easier to differentiate, now that I was older and more mature.

Grabbing two scallop dishes from the giant tray and confirming that there was rice underneath, I gently set them down next to each other, quickly releasing my hands so that the other two employees could place down more sushi.

Suddenly, a bell chime resounded throughout the entire restaurant, followed my the closing of a door. And just as quickly, Naoki and Erika rushed back into the kitchen, albeit my brother seemed a little bit more panicked than the lady that had assisted him.

"The first family has arrived!" he hissed to all of us lowly enough so that the customers wouldn't hear. In response, the employees began quickening their pace, even though the massive yellow tray was pretty close to empty at that point.

"Pass me the albacore," Riku asked me, and I silently obliged, though before I could hand them to her, a strong hand grasped my wrist, almost making me drop the sushi plate on the floor.

Arashi's hard gaze bore into mine, but I did not flinched, having been used to being stared at like that for months by the akatsuki, mainly Sasori, Kakuzu, and Pein, before he became Nagato again. Still, his icy blue eyes were definitely filled with cold intent as he made me set the dish back down on the tray.

"She asked for albacore," he growled at me, snatched up another dish and handing it to the shivering girl standing next to me, who took it at once, "not yellowfin. Know the difference, kid."

And with that, he was gone, storming back towards the stove area to begin slamming a knife on top of more vegetables. Riku shrank back again, her eyes slightly welling up with tears despite not being the one getting yelled at.

"A-Arashi-san scares me," she whimpered, and I patted her back in reassurance, even though she was the older woman. "He never used to be that cold, but that's the rudest I've seen him act yet!"

"Don't worry about him," I said, helping her back on her feet. "I'm sure he'll behave better, once he gets through whatever he's going through. Perhaps he's just stressed about college work, especially since it's nearing February already. Third quarter is pretty harsh, and it only gets harsher from then on."

She nodded apologetically before grabbing the yellowfin dish that Arashi had forced me to set down. "I guess that could be it, too. I'm twenty-eight, so I already know what it feels like to go through college and suffer under the intense workload. But still, Arashi-san doesn't look like he's been losing sleep."

"Let's just set that aside for now," I quickly said, changing the subject with a smile as soon as I heard the bell ring again. "For now, let's help some customers!"


Naoki's POV

Being a fourteen-year-old waiter had its ups and downs, as I found out within two hours of working.

For instance, I was definitely not used to adults calling me "precious". The word itself made me cringe, though I didn't mind at all if my family called me that. Unfortunately, it was worse when it came to the families that were accompanied by their children, who would try to pester me because I was the youngest employee present. Luckily, there were no girls that flirted with me, thank Kami. Initially, I had been quite terrified of that happening.

So what if I didn't want to date or get married? It wasn't like I was being forced to. Even Kaiya didn't seem too interested in marriage.

Erika had taught me the basics, such as talking politely to all customers and asking them to take their drink orders after at least a minute of being seated. It was a gesture to ensure that they did not feel bombarded or like I was impatiently breathing down their necks...which I obviously was not doing.

The pad that I had been supplied with had been scribbled with the names of various drinks, though I had thanked the heavens that most customers simply chose water. However, that did not mean that there weren't going to be some that preferred strawberry lemonade or chrysanthemum tea, though that wasn't too much of a problem.

To be honest, the only real problem was getting it to the correct tables. I had already screwed up twice, accidentally handing a little girl grape soda instead of apple juice. Thank goodness that we had managed to catch my mistake in time before she had put her lips to the straw.

Currently, I stood in front of another family of four, hastily writing down their requests as soon as they blurted them out. For some reason, they all were wearing hooded jackets, so I couldn't really see any of their faces.

"A mango iced tea for my wife," the father was asking, as I hid the fact that I had accidentally written taro milk tea instead and was frantically crossing it out. "Two waters for me and my daughter, and my son would like a Diet Pepsi."

"Coming right up," I assured them, my eyes wandering to the table's number as I left. As I made my way over to the kitchen, my fingers unconsciously moved the pen to draw a seven right next to the family's drink orders.

Once I made my way inside, Erika was already there, along with a couple other female employees to prepare the drinks. "What did they order?" she asked me.

"A Diet Pepsi, a mango iced tea, and two waters for table seven," I read, and they immediately got into action, Erika and the other women already grabbing mangoes to place into the juicer.

Sighing to myself, I watched as they worked, trying to remember everything that they were doing if I wanted a raise in the future. Suddenly, an idea came to my head, and I bounded toward the water cooler and icebox in the back of the kitchen.

At least I can fetch them water. Then again, that sounds too easy.

To my surprise, I was wrong.

The cooler was a giant glass container full of cold water, ice floating at the very top in order to maintain its freezing temperature. Near the bottom of it, a metal handle and nozzle poked out, the latter angled slightly so that the water wouldn't go straight down if the handle was pressed. Beside it was the icebox, which I opened after grabbing two cups for the family. Snatching the ice scooped inside, I poured a spoonful of ice into each before slamming the icebox shut again.

The ice had been easy, but the cooler...well, let's just say that I wasn't sure on which was the handle was supposed to be flipped. Before I even had the chance to think hard about it, in haste, I flipped the handle back instead of pressing it down.

Water came gushing out of the nozzle a bit faster than I had originally anticipated, and unfortunately, that was also when I realized that I had placed the cup in the wrong spot. Instead of placing it where the nozzle was aiming, I had placed it directly underneath the handle.

Big mistake.

I let out a rather girlish shriek as I was sprayed with a burst of water, like a little kid who was just squirted wit a water gun. Worse yet, since I flipped the handle backwards, water came spraying out until I regained my senses and flipped it back to normal, three seconds later.

By then, the front of my shirt was soaked, and before I knew it, Erika was rushing over to me with a napkin in her hands to dry me off.

"Are you alright?" she asked me, carefully dabbing at the wettest parts of my clothes. "Be more careful next time, alright?"

"Y-yeah," I stammered, sighing at how ridiculous it looked for a new employee to be doused with their customer's water. "Well, good thing that I served all of the tables already…"

"Actually," Erika cut in, "you still have to finish serving the family at table seven. It's part of the rules for the same waiter to finish the orders that they have been given, unless they suddenly fall ill or have a seizure, both of which has never happened before."

Grumbling to myself, I nodded and began to fill the cups with water again, but this time, I made sure to do it correctly. Once I finished pouring water into both cups, Erika handed me a tray, which already had the mango milk tea and Diet Pepsi on it. Placing both of the waters on the tray, I quickly shuffled out of the kitchen to meet my demise, pulling the tray close to my chest to hide the water stains that still remained.

At first, none of the tables seemed to notice my situation, let alone my presence. Most of them were busy grabbing dishes off of the belt or chatting with their families. However, I breathed a sigh of relief way too soon.

"Your shirt!" cried out the daughter of table seven, whose voice seemed so awfully familiar. "It's all wet!"

"Shh," I told her, twitching slightly as some of the other customers shot me odd glances. "You asked for drinks, and I got them. This is my first day as a waiter, alright?"

Her response was definitely one that surprised me and nearly made me drop my tray on the ground. "We know."

"Um…" I stammered, handing them drinks while my cheeks turned pink from embarrassment, "was I that obvious?"

At that, the entire family howled with laughter, which was also extremely familiar for some reason. "Oh, come on, Naoki!" chuckled the woman. "You still haven't recognized us, un."

Just as the thought finally surfaced inside of my mind, all four members of the family removed their hoods, revealing themselves to me and the public. And as soon as I saw their faces, I mentally slapped myself for being so oblivious, especially since I had also failed to notice Kagami's casts and crutches resting beside the table.

"Kagami-chan?" I whisper-yelled, staring at them with my mouth agape. "Yukio-chan? Masaru? Akihito? What are you guys doing here?"

"What do you mean, what are we doing here?" protested Yukio, his hands on his hips. "We wanted sushi, that's what! Also, we all wanted to know how your first day at work was going!"

I sighed, shaking my head. "You do realize that you're pretty much spending money worth our salary by going here to eat all-you-can-eat sushi, right? And if you wanted to check in on us, you could have called onee-chan. I left my phone at home. And Masaru, why are you pretending to be Akihito's wife?" Somehow, I still had enough sanity left after the shock to make sure to recall Sasori and Deidara's false names.

"It was danna's idea!" he growled, crossing his arms angrily at the puppet, who just looked indifferent. "How else were we going to blend in without looking like a family?"

"Besides," piped up Kagami happily, grabbing Deidara and Sasori's hands, "aren't we all like a family already? Lighten up!"

Sasori scowled slightly, but did not shake his hand away. Instead, he just sighed, reaching for a plate of bean curds and handing it to Kagami, who had been eying it eagerly. Although Yukio could eat raw fish just fine, Kagami, on the other hand, could not handle raw fish and therefore only ate cooked fish, vegetarian dishes, or rolls.

"Although," I began, diverting my attention to Sasori again, "what are you doing here if you can't eat food?"

He shrugged in response. "I was curious about what a revolving sushi restaurant looked like, since we don't have the luxury back in our world. Most of us don't have the time or money to dine at places like this, especially in the middle of villages, where we can easily be spotted."

Deidara nodded along with his partner's response. "Conveyor belt sushi restaurants do exist in our world, but they are difficult to locate. Plus, does it look like members of the Akatsuki can eat there?"

"Anyway," Kagami interrupted, "where's onee-chan? Can we see how he's doing?"

"She's doing perfectly fine," I answered, feeling a pang of envy for how nicely she was doing in the kitchen, restocking sushi with kind employees behind the scenes while I was struggling to not humiliate myself in front of the customers. "I could go get her for you, if you want."

"You don't have to!" exclaimed Kagami, pointing toward he red button. "You can just push this button instead!"

"Wait!" I shouted, thinking of Arashi. "Don't push that! There's no guarantee that she'll come out at that!"

But it was already too late, as my little sister had pressed the button. A squeal resounded from the kitchen, loud enough to reach our ears despite table seven being one of the furthest ones from the kitchen.

Please don't let it be him, I mentally begged, remembering the reactions of the family that had called for him an hour ago. I don't want him to make her cry, even though she's recovering nicely...

Of course, heaven did not hear my pleas, since the first person rushing to our table was the irate college boy with the icy stare.

"What do you want?" he grumbled impatiently, crossing his arms. As usual, he did not have a pen and pad with him, preferring to recall orders by memory. He always got them correct, but that wasn't what I was worried about.

"Oh," said Kagami disappointedly. "I was sure that I would get onee-chan."

Wrong thing to say, Kagami…

It all happened before Yukio or I could register what was happening. Next thing that we knew, Arashi's gaze had frozen solid, locked with that of Kagami's brown eyes. She shot him a confused glance, oblivious to his sudden death glare.

"Look here, kid," Arashi growled, spitting enough venom into that order that all five of us flinched. "Does this look like a daycare to you?"

"Um...no?" Kagami questioned, blinking at him.

"Then don't ask to see your dumb siblings," he retorted, turning his back on my little sister. "That button is for orders, and orders only. It is not a toy."

"I already know that." she replied meekly. "There's no need to be so upset. I just wanted to see how my older sister was doing—"

"Shut up," he interrupted harshly, making her flinch back again. "Stupid girl…"

Kagami had definitely heard that, and at once, tears began to well up in her eyes. Immediately, Deidara and Sasori moved to comfort her as Arashi began walking away with a huff, shooting glares after the man who had just insulted her.

I felt something inside me snap as soon as I saw my sister's eyes full of the salty liquid, and instinctively, I whirled back around to confront the moody waiter about it. However, my little brother had already beaten me to this.

Yukio yanked on Arashi's shirt repeatedly, untucking it until the black-haired man turned back around to narrow his eyes at my younger brother. "What the hell do you want?"

Before I could regain my senses and stop him, Yukio roughly pushed Arashi against the wall, causing other customers to sit up and watch the scene as it underwent.

"Look here, you jerk," he growled menacingly at the waiter who was twice his age, "whoever insults my imouto is really asking for it. How dare you make Kagami-chan cry for no reason."

At this point, I knew immediately that Yukio was taking it too far. "Yukio-chan!" I tried pleading with him, "Please stop! You'll get yourself into a lot of trouble! This is going way too far!"

My brother ignored me, continuing to penetrate his gaze into the icy blue slits that made up Arashi's eyes. Before I could stop him, Yukio swiftly kicked Arashi where the sun didn't shine, then ran back to his "family" before Arashi could react.

Instantly, the restaurant flew into a shambles, with other employees rushing out to help Arashi, even though he kept pushing them away. Although Kagami was still crying, Deidara and Sasori restrained the flailing Yukio, who was shouting, "Let me go! That jerk deserved it for insulting my imouto! Ouch!"

But by the time Kaiya had rushed out of the kitchen to see what was going on, Deidara had slammed a twenty-dollar bill on the table and rushed out of there with Sasori and my two younger siblings to avoid causing any further ruckus. The customers were shooting both me and Arashi dirty looks, and my older sister just shook her head.

The drinks that had gotten my shirt wet ten minutes prior had never been touched, not a single straw inside a drink yet. Kagami hadn't even bitten into her bean curds, both pieces laying forgotten on the now-empty table.

Furthermore, my shirt was still wet. And the sweat that was trailing down my forehead from the incident was not helping the situation one bit.

So much for a first day at my new job...


A/N: I deeply apologize for the month-long wait. However, thanks to all of your wonderful support, I have felt very happy throughout the last couple of weeks.

Yes, Arashi is supposed to be a jerk, but know that I am not stereotyping college students. There is a reason why he is acting this way, which will be revealed in the next chapter.

I won't post a question today, but I'll run you through a couple of sushi differences as Kaiya, Riku, and Chiko talked about in the middle of this chapter.

Nigiri: Sushi with rice at the bottom, and the meat on top, often tied together with seaweed. The most common and well-known type of sushi.

Sashimi: Nigiri without the rice or seaweed. Basically, the fish by itself, often raw.

Maki: Rolled sushi with a large piece of seaweed curled around rice and the meat.

Uramaki: Maki, but with rice on the outside and seaweed on this inside, often wrapped around the meat with sauce on top.

Temaki: A large maki rolled into the shape of a cone, often known as "handrolls".

That's all for today. I hope that you have a pleasant week, and may the sun smile upon all of you.

— Tenshi —