Chapter 2 : Lucky Day
The Lucky Cat Café. A place in downtown San Fransokyo for everyone to relax and enjoy theirselves. A girl wearing a long sleeved shirt with a faded-print of a cupcake and ripped floral jeans stared at the said building infront of her. Crumpling up the paper she had in hand, the teenage girl sighed in anxiousness. Her bangs was to the left side of her head to hide an ugly scar of a disastrous memory. She tucked a few loose strands of her bangs from her middle-length black-hair behind her ears as she gulped and eyed the customers going in and out of the café. This is her last resort if she wanted to do things right. After all, she can't stay in the wretched house of her greedy uncle and her stupid cousins.
"F-Fuck, I'm gonna regret this." She stuttered as she headed for the door, the aroma of mouth-watering coffee hit her senses and she was tempted to buy some for herself. If only I had my money back, she gingerly thought.
"Good morning, miss! Take a seat, I'll be right back!" A middle aged woman with brown hair greeted her with such cheer that the girl was taken aback. How easy it is for this stranger to share happiness.
"I-I. . . C-Can I. . W-Where can I. . Uhm. . Uhh, see Miss. . C-Cassie Takachiho?" The ravennette meekly followed the 'who-seemed-to-be-a-café-employee', stuttering as she asked the question.
"Oh! That's me, my dear. I'm Cassie Takachiho, you can call me Aunt Cass, or Cass, if you like." The woman said happily, her smile never fading, "Do you need anything?" The woman, who said she was Cassie, looked at the counter of the shop and mouthed something to her employee – the girl too restless with her own pessimistic thoughts to notice. Her gaze was downward, avoiding eye contact.
Gulping once again, the teen could feel her hands cold as ice as she tried to hide the nervousness of what she was about to do, "I-I was wondering i-if. . I can g-get a job h-here."
"What?" Cass blinked in surprise as the girl blushed red in embarrassment. "Oh dear, how old are you?" Miss Takachiho asked gently.
"I'm f-fourteen." She fiddled with the crumpled paper, bit by bit tearing it apart. So this place is where she worked. The girl thought, must've been fun.
"You must be eighteen to be able to work here, Miss. Would you like to talk about why you are looking for a job?" The woman said, patting the girl's shoulder but she quickly jerked away from the exchange.
"I-I'm sorry. I just r-really need to find a p-place to s-stay and a j-job to support m-myself." She tried to make eye contact with Cass but she failed miserably, looking at everything except the shop owner. A lump on her throat formed as thoughts of her sister working at the same shop became unbearable.
The woman put her hands on her hips and stayed silent for a second, the girl knew that Cass was eyeing her. After a few seconds of thought, Cass said, "Would you like to talk about this on the second floor?"
"S-Second. . f-floor?" The teen looked up at Cass with wide eyes. Is she serious. . .?
Ms. Takachiho smiled at her warmly and nodded, "Yes, that's where my house is." She walked towards the stairs, "C'mon, don't worry, the tea is free."
Not knowing what to do, the girl followed. Her body was rigid and stiff of fear. She looked around, seeing pictures of the shop owner with two boys who looked like it was her children. The older one of the boys, she recognizes as Tadashi Hamada. Biting her lower lip because of a sudden influx of memories, she forced the tears back and feigned a yawn in order for the woman not to be suspicious of why she was there.
Once they've went upstairs, Cass pulled her to the nearest chair and went to get food. She came back with a tray of cookies and tea, settling it down the coffee table. "So, tell me about your life and your reasons of asking for a job here."
"Bye, Junko! See you tomorrow!" Cass waved at the black-haired girl, who hesitantly waved back. She was suddenly accepted to work on the Lucky Cat Café because Ms. Takachiho had pried her open of why she asked for work at the age of fourteen. Junko was cautious to share her story so she left a few details that aren't of importance to Cass.
She proceeded to walk back to her uncle's rundown apartment just a few blocks away from the said café. Junko decided to sit by the nearby park before really going home. It's just three in the afternoon anyway, she thought to herself. The park had been one of her favorites in the attractions of the town as it was somewhere her sister and her boyfriend would always bring her for a cheer-up. She sat down the bench, seeing herself being dragged by a rather slightly muscular tall guy and a petite long-haired girl.
"Stop it, Junko. You're imagining shit again." She scolded herself as she looked down her sleeves. Pulling her sleeves up a bit showed a parallel of freshly lacerated skin and horrid scars that decorated the pale membrane. By then, her feet were itching to go to the nearest 'bot fight circle' and just drown her depression in lust of the money and fame she's getting in the illegal underworld of robot fights. "Okay, stop. Just fucking stop!" She slapped herself in attempt to break the delusional thoughts of having herself once again going to the place where her brother—
Junko finally snapped from her train of thoughts when a girl was shoved into her direction and crashed into her. "WHAT THE HELL, FRED!" The said girl stood up and punched the guy who, Junko guessed, pushed the girl towards her. The ravenette was shocked to see a group of strangers being all cheerful infront of her.
"Whoops, sorry for that! My friends are just really rowdy!" A tall slender blonde told her in apology. Junko looked down her lap and nodded, murmuring words in the line of 'she's okay'.
She became conscious when the girl, who was pushed towards her, eyed her like dead meat. Junko tried to peek at her and she was menacing. Her eyes were narrowed and calculating. The said girl, surprisingly, offered her gum. Junko was taken aback and she also heard the group gasp in horror.
"GOGO JUST OFFERED THE GIRL GUM!" 'Fred', as Junko may recall he was called, screamed in complete and utter amazement.
A tall burly man commented proudly, "Well, I'll say that it's her lucky day!"
"Shut up, you guys. Woman up, and take these. I won't say no for an answer." The girl, 'GoGo', told her sharply and Junko rigidly accepted the gum with a soft 'thank you'. The group left after that and Junko was left, once again, with gum in hand and a lot of questions as to why she had terrible feelings towards the girl.
And yes, she knows that it has something to do with Tadashi.
A thanks to those who reviewed, followed and favorite-d my story! I'm happy that you guys appreciate what I've done even if it's just the first chapter.
PS. I don't really know what Aunt Cass' surname is so I used "Takachiho", Hiro's original surname from the 'comics' so no flames on that matter, please.
PPS. On the other parts of my story, yes, you can flame it if you really don't like it. But I think I'd prefer a much more 'civilized constructive criticism' would sound better, no?
PPPS. A little review might not hurt, too. Tell me what you think so I know what the direction of this story is, whether it's pleasing you guys or it's just a blot in your life!