Chapter 11: The Sales Associate Known as Kazuya

Kazuya didn't know what to expect when it finally came down to going into work. Résumés and orientations aside—he still had no idea what he was doing or how anything would turn out. All he knew was that Jun was the happiest she'd been in a long time and Kazuya didn't want to be the cause of such a mood disappearing.

He came in rather early just as she had suggested, but it was no use. It wasn't as if he had the key to the store. He'd have to wait until the manager arrived to even set foot inside and the manager wasn't exactly a punctual fellow. He was a hefty man whose gait continued to remind Kazuya of a penguin without fail. The manager, better known as Tsutomu Abe, took his sweet time. He had been a sales associate once upon a time. Apparently, his hard work and diligence was so exceptional that in a few years he was promoted to manager and it couldn't have come at a more precarious moment in his life. At home, he had been left with two kids to take care of along with a hospitalized aunt who was quickly gathering medical bills. With the kind of money he made now, he could afford to pay for his aunt and the wellbeing of his children. Even more, he had managed to find himself a stay at home wife. Kazuya supposed that a man with money would always look appealing. So it was with Abe—a regular success story. Kazuya only knew of it through the constant retellings, courtesy of his coworkers.

"Oh, Kazuya. Here early, huh. Maybe I should give you the keys to open up," Abe said with a hearty chuckle.

Kazuya wasn't sure if he should be amazed at a late manager making light of his tardiness or the fact that he was able to laugh at such a lame joke. "Maybe," he answered simply.

"It's good, though, for your first day," Abe continued as he still fumbled with his keys.

Kazuya was glad the other didn't look back to see his annoyed expression as he struggled with the keys. He began to wonder if the other had ever worked there in the first place. The first key Abe tried was wrong and so was the second.

"Ho, ho, these keys start looking all the same after a while."

Kazuya could say nothing back to him without it being a smart retort so he said nothing at all and waited as patiently as he could for the man to finally open the door. They came in through the back of the store. Kazuya might have waited in the front as any other employee would if he hadn't known that the manager always came this way instead. Wanting to go inside immediately, he had waited up for the manager. Needless to say, it was pitch black since they were the first two. Kazuya had no idea where the switch might be and apparently neither did Abe who nearly fell down after bumping into a desk. Kazuya, whose eyes were more adjusted to the dark on account of waiting outside, caught him before anything terrible occurred. He wondered how Abe ever got anything done in the morning.

"The new desk must have arrived. Completely threw me off," Abe declared.

Without further incident, he flicked on the lights and showed Kazuya to the front. The scent of fresh, crisp shoes hit his nose immediately and worked to sufficiently calm his nerves. He was so docile that even Paul Phoenix, his self-proclaimed rival, would have trouble antagonizing him. Such was the lure of new sneakers. It was quiet then. None of the other employees had even shown up. Kazuya would learn that everyone who worked there was habitually late. Of course, if the manager didn't demand punctuality or demonstrate it, why would the employees be any different? It was a pretty laid back environment compared to the Mishima Zaibatsu, something to get used to.

"Now don't scare off the customers," the manager warned him. "Standing there with your arms crossed isn't exactly welcoming, is it? They'll sooner think you're a bodyguard or something."

"Understood," Kazuya said back simply.

It was easy to hide his musculature under a suit. There were many layers to such an outfit that aided in this. Unfortunately, sales associates did not wear suits. They had a specific dress code. They had to wear a rather thin shirt that was black in color and had the store's name in the corner of it. Kazuya had opted for long sleeves, but his biceps were still quite visible. Along with the shirt, he wore khaki pants and sneakers. Kazuya was two inches shy of six feet and for the most part towered over his coworkers. There was a reason Abe had went out of his way to warn the other of not scaring away potential customers—Kazuya just seemed intimidating. He could do with more smiling, but the manager wasn't the type of person to enforce such rules. As long as he was accommodating, Abe could deal with it.

Kazuya took the first few hours going over all the shoes. No one had so much as stepped into the store besides two of his coworkers. It was a small store located in the mall. Really, only three people needed to be there to take care of things—there usually weren't any high traffic in the store. Kazuya wasn't surprised—the prices still horrified him to no end. What kind of person in their right minds would spend so much for a pair of shoes when one could go somewhere else and get something similar for a lot cheaper? But Kazuya had to stop himself. He was supposed to be supporting this store not complaining about it. He had to appear willing and accommodating—those were the two things that had gotten drilled into his head from orientation.

"Hey, Kazuya," one of his coworkers known as Yamamoto Taro said slapping him on the back as if they were the best of friends.

Under normal circumstances, Kazuya would not have taken kindly to such a thing, but as was said before, he was quite docile and at the moment involved with a particular shoe that had caught his eye. Taro was completely ignored.

"What time did you get here?" Taro asked louder. "Earth to Kazuya, did you hear me?"

"Huh?"

"I said: when did you get here?"

"A few hours ago."

"Woh, really, man? You're the new guy so I feel it's my duty to inform you—you don't have to come in so early. Abe doesn't care either way. That lazy son of a bitch wouldn't even blink an eye if we came in ten hours late."

"The store says it opens up at a certain time. How do you think the customer feels when they come at the time it's supposed to be open and it's not?"

"Oooh, you're one of those guys."

"Those guys?"

"The do-the-right-thing guy. I guess looks can be deceiving."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Hey, forget I said anything, man."

Kazuya had already grown bored with the other and returned to his studying. "This store is so tardy that even the customers don't come in the morning. Speaking of making a sale, we've already lost the morning crowd." Then he placed the shoe back on the rack.

Taro grinned at this. "Preaching to the choir. Might as well make the best of it."

"Might as well."

Taro was more sticks and bones than anything else. For someone who was short for a man, he appeared to be gangly with his longer limbs. He wore his hair in a ponytail and he was quick to smiling. Kazuya watched as he greeted the customers walking in readily. If anything, he knew how to do his job well. Customers didn't come to him, he came to the customers.

People tended to avoid Kazuya. Whenever someone had a question, they would levitate over to Taro. It wasn't as if Kazuya didn't clearly have a nametag or the attire of an employee. Kazuya noticed this silently. For about half the day, the situation didn't change. In his free time, he simply browsed over the shoes on display over and over again. On his sixth examination, Taro approached him once again.

"I feel like I'm doing all the work," Taro said in low tones to the other, "What gives? You've been looking around at the display like you've lost something. I've already gotten a complaint from one of the customers."

"Complaints?" Kazuya asked in a tone that was as interested as he could muster. "If someone has something to say, just say it."

Taro shook his head. "This is your first day, I'll let it slide. We're supposed to be working here."

Kazuya replaced the shoe he was holding on the shelf and finally turned to the other. "This is beginning to sound like a threat. What is it you're trying to say?"

"A threat, man? Geez, lighten up. I'm just saying you haven't helped any customer and you know they have cameras in here. I was just looking out for you."

"I…understand," Kazuya replied awkwardly. He didn't really know what to say to the other. More and more, he found he just wanted to be left alone and…but, wait, he was working where he would have to interact with other people. Why had he agreed to do any of this?

Just then a couple walked in and, in a second, Taro made his way over to them to "help" them. Kazuya looked on critically as Taro said a few things, the man answered back, and Taro led them to the children's section where he began discussing thing with them. Fine…I'll just copy him. An older man walked in two minutes later and this time Kazuya approached him.

"Excuse me, sir," Kazuya said using his rare pleasant tone, "are you…looking for a pair of shoes?"

"Of course I am!" the man said back loudly clearly in a bad mood. "What is the world coming to? I can't even walk into a store in peace. Let me have a look around first."

Unperturbed, Kazuya continued. "Um…was there a…specific kind you were looking for?"

"I said, let me have a look around already, Jesus!"

Kazuya frowned almost subconsciously before he knew it. It didn't take much to ruin his forced good mood. "Listen, old man, I was just trying to assist you. Take your bitchy mood out on someone else, not me."

The man was taken aback by Kazuya's remark. "What a pleasant surprise. I thought you were one of those brainwashed workers. Well, actually I was looking for a specific type. It's for my niece's birthday in a few days. I want to buy her some shoes that'll blow her away. She's the girly type."

It took Kazuya a full five seconds to realize that he hadn't instigated an argument and was actually being asked for help. "The girly type, huh. I think I know a pair that she might enjoy."

"Really? You mean you don't want to run down a list of shoes first?"

"Oh, well…if you want options…"

"No, no, you're fine. I'm really bad when it comes to choices."

"Well, three shoes came to mind, I just picked the best one—the cheapest and most relevant."

"That's perfect."

Kazuya showed him the pair he was referring to. They were beautiful in Kazuya's opinion. He described it so thoroughly and lovingly that the man was sold on it. There was no way he could have decided on something different.

"Thank you, young man. You know, I like you. I can tell you have a bright future ahead of you."

Kazuya was a bit mystified by such a comment. How could anyone tell someone's future? He simply chalked it up to the man being in a good mood. "Thank you, sir."

He watched as the old man went off to the check-out counter. One customer down. He had actually done it and it had went smoother than he had imagined in the first place. Kazuya turned when he felt yet another slap on his back from someone who he rightly assumed was Taro.

"See, that wasn't so bad," Taro said with a smile.

"Not at all," Kazuya answered back.

"Then just keep doing that and you'll be fine."

But then Kazuya didn't expect anything at this point to be "so bad". He could think of dozens of worse situations to be in. People could frown or be upset with him, that was fine. Mostly, he would not be bothered at all by this fact unless they felt the need to get a little more physical and that was quite unlikely.

One of the more busy hours was underway ironically near the time when the store closed. Customer after customer filled into the store and Kazuya found himself helping more and more people. The awkwardness from before was still there, but he was slowly getting used to it. On his own, how often would he ask to help another person? He realized at that moment, that he was often far too engrossed in his own problems to think of others. Jun could probably do this job well while Kazuya was completely out of his element. He wondered if others could tell how inexperienced he was. Every once and a while, he'd look over at Taro and watch as he easily engaged in conversation with the next customer. What exactly could that man be saying? For the most part, Taro drew smiles from people immediately. Kazuya experienced something a little different. Most people were a little confused every time he tried to help them. It was as if they knew it wasn't in his immediate nature to help someone so readily.

Kazuya had just finished convincing a couple to buy the shiny blue tennis shoes for their son, when there was a commotion in the back. All he knew was that there was a lot of yelling and cursing. Taro had already rushed off to the scene. Kazuya, curious of what could be happening went as well. Shoes were strewn everywhere out of their boxes. The woman was screaming and pulling them off the discount shelves. Kazuya wasn't too concerned about the condition of the shoes—he knew them to be quite durable. Taro was having quite a time even getting close to the woman. She'd swing her arms wildly as if in a tantrum and Taro would move back obviously afraid of getting hit. Then Taro looked over at Kazuya.

"What are you doing? Help me out, man!" Taro said frantically upon seeing the other.

Kazuya observed the strange behavior of the woman a little while longer before stepping in. As far as he could see, there was nothing that could have gotten her to this level anger. It didn't even appear as if she had been arguing with anyone. The woman tried to swing at him, but he caught the woman's arms easily in his hands. Just as quickly as it had started, it ended. Taro, for a moment, was too shocked to do anything. Then he went back into action.

"Keep holding her like that—I'll call the police," Taro proclaimed. He was already taking out his cellphone.

The woman looked up at Kazuya fearfully. "Don't hurt me—please don't hurt me!" the woman shouted struggling to no avail to escape his grasp.

"I won't hurt you if you stand still," Kazuya said back. She ceased immediately. There was something…manic about her.

"I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry!"

"Tell me, what did you think you were doing?"

"I didn't mean to! I really didn't."

"But you did or else you would not have done it."

The woman gasped at his statement.

"Are you going to answer my question? What did you think you were doing?"

"Oh dear. Oh…I think I forgot to take my pills. I'm sorry, I'm really, really sorry."

"Your pills? For what?"

Just then, Taro hung up his phone. "Kazuya, the police'll be here any minute. Just keep her still." Taro began cleaning up the mess that the woman had created on the ground.

Kazuya nodded to the other and then returned to the woman. "Well? Will you answer already?"

"It's…it's for my bipolar disorder."

Kazuya was quite unprepared for this answer and so was Taro who paused only momentarily. Strangely enough, however, things were beginning to make sense. "So you…"

"I'm really, really sorry," the woman began again.

"I don't understand. Why did you come in the first place?"

"For my brother…" she began hesitantly. "I wanted to…buy him something."

"Yes," Kazuya said becoming slightly impatient waiting for her to explain further.

"Well…then I saw the price…and I got really angry at it. Please don't hurt me…"

"I said I wouldn't," Kazuya snapped.

The woman flinched back involuntarily. "I'm sorry!"

"Are you really sorry?"

"Yes, truly."

"Then clean up your mess."

"Yes, sir."

"I'm going to unhand you. If you do anything other than what I tell you to do, you won't like the consequences."

"Yes, sir!"

As soon as she was free, the woman began immediately on the shoes and Taro looked on in amazement. She was so fervent that Taro was essentially moved out of the way.

"What in the world…" Taro began in surprise, "What are you doing?"

"If she wants to clean, then let her," Kazuya said before the other could stop the woman.

It wasn't too long before the police showed up and by then the woman had already neatly put away all the boxes she had haphazardly thrown onto the ground. Taro was almost guilty about the whole thing, but Kazuya was more or less indifferent. The situation ended just as quickly as it had begun, but it was perhaps the most excitement Kazuya would see that week.

Customers were customers and even after the first day, Kazuya was already beginning to see the monotony of the whole thing. He hadn't fully gotten the hang of it, people would still look at him awkwardly, but he understood how things worked. When he went home that day, he felt, for lack of a better word, enlightened. Never had he taken so much notice of other people before this day. One person was always so different from the next that he began to wonder why he hadn't seen such things before.

He officially went home around 9pm; after working two shifts and he couldn't remember feeling quite so tired in comparison to his work at the Mishima Zaibatsu. It was one thing to work in an isolated environment, it was quite another to constantly interact with others. It was far more mentally tiring than preparing for some corporate meeting. He had been in charge, people would listen to him regardless of if he was prepared or not. Now, however, he was in charge of nothing and people did not instantly respect him. He was judged over and over and over again in the eyes of each and every customer. He was simply someone who offered assistance to others, nothing more, and nothing less.

As soon as he stepped back into his apartment, he took a quick shower and crashed on his bed. He only slept, however, for two hours. It was perhaps the longest he'd slept in weeks. It was a start if nothing else. Little by little he was regaining his sense of normalcy—something he thought was a lost cause. For the longest time that night, he did nothing at all. Even if he wasn't really asleep, he still didn't feel like doing any extracurricular activities.

It was then that he felt that someone else besides himself was there in his room and he was not at all surprised when he discovered that it was Angel.

"How are you feeling, Kazuya?"

Kazuya looked over at Angel. It was certainly a question that he hadn't expected her to ask so arbitrarily, but eventually he returned to his relaxed position on the bed.

"Fine, I guess."

" 'Fine, I guess'," Angel repeated thoughtfully.

"Yes, parrot."

"You use that term a lot—'I guess'—especially when you're around Jun."

"Hm?"

"You're not certain of anything even of how you feel. You're being cautious, too cautious."

"Did you come here to lecture me? I think Jun beat you to the punch."

"No, I've come to inform you. Devil gave you your certainty. It gave you a purpose, a will, and even more, your personality. You are no longer you without Devil's presence."

"Who's side are you on anyways? Didn't you want to be rid of Devil—isn't that why you came to me in the first place?"

"I came to observe. Yes, I am certainly on your side. I am simply stating things that you know to be true. If you really want to move on, you must accept these facts—how can you fix the problems if you don't know what they are? You understand, don't you?"

"Yes, I suppose."

" 'I suppose'? Are you not sure?"

"…Yes, I'm sure."

"Right. You don't have to put up airs with me. In all reality, you have no real hope of finding yourself if you were to go it alone. You'd be lost for an eternity—you'd die a broken man. Accept Jun's help in any way that you can. She is your lifeline as she has always been."

"You certainly don't sugarcoat things."

"It is not my job to. I've come to inform you of something else, something far more dire."

"Well, as long as it has nothing to do with Devil—

"It has everything to do with Devil. Why do you think I'm still here? If Devil is truly gone, then my purpose here is defunct."

"I just supposed you were keeping tabs, seeing if the aftermath went smoothly."

"I'm not here for your sake, Kazuya—it is important that you know this. I am here because of your connection with Devil and because it has tipped the balance of good and evil. That is my reason. The balance is still tipped."

"Wait, don't tell me—

"Devil still exists. You weren't naïve enough to think Wang's little performance destroyed it, did you?"

"Well…"

"Wishful thinking, but a mere incantation can only slow down an entity such as Devil. It is immortal or a more accurate term, indestructible. The contract you made with Devil is still functional. Devil has control over it and no one else. If it is still dead set on using you for its plans, then there is nothing anyone could do to stop him. The only real way to get rid of him is to renegotiate the terms of that contract. Separating you from Devil does not do that. An invisible spiritual string that only I can see connects you to Devil. If I follow that string, on the other side will be Devil. It will come back for you. This is only a quick fix."

Kazuya was nearly speechless as he looked at Angel this time with a look of dread. "Then tell me. What am I supposed to do about this?"

"There is nothing you can do."

"What…?" Kazuya asked completely at a loss, "What are you saying?"

"I don't particularly like repeating myself."

And suddenly the look of fear turned to anger, "What the hell are you here for anyway? Just to tell me that it's all hopeless. You never have any solutions. The only thing you're good at doing is informing me of how fruitless it all is."

"If there was something more I could do, I would tell you, I certainly would. I thought it would be better if you knew what was going to happen instead of being caught off guard."

"Angel, I don't want to hear any more from you. I fail to see your usefulness. A mere human has done more for me than someone who claims to be an angel."

"Like it or not I'm here. You cannot get rid of me."

"But I can close my ears to you. I'm going to work tomorrow and I will pretend as if this entire conversation never happened."

"Kazuya, what is the point? There's no longer any need for you to 'change your life'. I've told you what will befall you; you should prepare yourself for it."

"I've heard you."

"Then why don't you act on it?"

"Because you annoy me."

"Kazuya—

"Didn't you say you hated to repeat yourself?"

"Fine, then I will leave you to your own devices."

Angel disappeared from his sight, but Kazuya knew that she was still there, always watching him, always observing. Try as he might, he could not simply ignore her presence knowing this fact though he pretended to. He pretended that he was looking forward to tomorrow just as he had a few moments ago. He pretended that he was worried about such mundane things as getting to work on time or figuring out how to better interact with people. He did all of this because he could not bear to think of the alternative. Even so, he was left with a deep sense of foreboding.

When would it come back? When?

/

AN: Okay, so I finally came out with another chapter. I'll admit writer's block, but more than that, college has once again started and I've switched my major. Not to mention that a lot of other "life" things have occurred during the summer. Things are just a lot different for me these days. One of the few things I can count on, is this laptop, a word processor, fanfiction, and an impatient audience. I make no promises of when the next chapter might be, but I'll certainly be working on its completion. I foresee quite a bit of drama in the future as the second Iron-Fist Tournament grows closer and closer (unbeknownst to the characters at this point). As always, stay tuned. Reviews are most appreciated.