Mayumi was working one afternoon when she heard a noise from inside her boss's office. It was something falling down from the table, and as curious as Mayumi was, she walked over to the room and knocked, as she was concerned. "Sir, are you okay?" She asked, her voice a little shaky. Her boss, Dai, was a little scary. He was a tall man, with a large oval face, with a mole on his right eyebrow. He was strict but he never picked on his employees.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine! Get back to work!" He snapped and Mayumi felt depressed and nodded. She walked back to the counter and sighed. After her day, Mayumi waved to the few other girls who worked with her, and Mayumi exited the café and walked home. She was still depressed with how her boss snapped at her, but he might have had frustrations which he couldn't share, and that didn't mean he was mad at her particularly.
"Oh well, I hope grandpa's home and I hope he's got groceries." Mayumi sighed. Her grandfather was as lazy as a sloth. He never had the right groceries and he barely moved out of the house.
Mayumi turned to a corner and she came face to face with Shizuo Heiwajima. "Oh." She gasped and the male stared at her. "Uh, hello." She waved at him and Shizuo ignored her. Mayumi stood there for roughly forty five seconds and sighed once more, the male in front of her not saying a word. She bowed to him and said, "Good night." And walked away from him. Her heart was beating faster than normal, and she was sure the male could hear it as well. 'He doesn't even care that I exist.' Mayumi thought to herself, tears stinging her eyes.
"Wait." She heard a voice and the woman gasped. She turned slowly and saw the man advancing toward her. The tears in her eyes fell down her cheek and Shizuo cocked his eyebrow. "Are you crying?" Mayumi wiped the tears off her face and shook her head. "It's nothing." She said, her voice breaking.
Shizuo groaned and said, "Is…is something bothering you?" Mayumi wanted to nod and tell him that he was the one indirectly bothering her since he didn't return her feelings. 'But he's Shizuo Heiwajima. He can't like a girl like me.' Mayumi thought sadly.
"You work at Dai's Den right?" Mayumi was caught off guard. "Y-Yes." She said, and Shizuo nodded. "How's the boss?" Mayumi's eyes widened. Was he concerned about her? "Well?" Shizuo pressed, impatience in his voice. "He's a good man, I mean, he doesn't treat his employees badly." Mayumi said, the events of that day replaying in her head.
She looked to the ground and sighed. "What's wrong now?" Shizuo asked, frowning. It was as if everything in life was bothering this woman in front of him. She was so…soft, and gentle, a total opposite from what he was. "Today, he was…weird. Well, he snapped at me for something. He never was that angry before." Mayumi said, and Shizuo nodded. The woman put her hands in front of her face defensively and said, "But, something must've been bothering him, people have their reasons to be angry don't they?"
Shizuo watched this woman carefully. "Yeah." He said, and sighed. "You should get home, let me walk you. It's late." Mayumi shook her head and said, "I-I don't want to t-trouble-"Shizuo placed his hand on her shoulder and pushed her forward making her walk beside him.
Mayumi blushed intensely. 'He's touching me!' She thought to herself, and walked slowly. "Is your grandfather treating you alright?" Shizuo asked and Mayumi blushed and nodded. "He's my grandpa, of course he'll treat me well." "You've got a point there." Shizuo took his hand off of Mayumi and the girl felt saddened by the fact.
"S-Shizuo?" She said, and the male was quiet. Mayumi didn't say anything, waiting for his answer. A minute later Shizuo said, "What is it? You want my permission to talk or something?" Mayumi smiled slightly and said, "I…there well…I was wondering something." "Okay, what is it?" Shizuo said, and Mayumi gulped. "Is there a reason why you hate Izaya so much?" Shizuo stopped walking and Mayumi stopped with him and turned to him. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I brought it up. I just…I'm sorry-""Quit apologizing. You did nothing wrong." Mayumi sighed and Shizuo started to walk again. "His existence annoys me." Mayumi gulped and nodded.
"The other day…I mean, the day I got here, you were furious. I was wondering what he-""About that, I'm sorry about the trash can." He said, scratching his head. Mayumi giggled and said, "You did nothing wrong, quit apologizing." Shizuo smiled slightly and said, "There's your house." Mayumi turned to the male and smiled widely. "Thank you." She said, and Shizuo nodded. "Good night, Shizuo." She said, and the blonde man nodded once more.
'She's nothing like that flea.' Shizuo thought and walked away.
Mayumi was glad Shizuo questioned her so much about her boss and about her grandfather. 'Maybe he is concerned about me?' Mayumi thought, blushing. She smiled and closed her eyes as she walked inside her house, her grandfather yelling at the TV, watching some game.
The next day, as Mayumi entered her store, she saw her boss talking over the phone, and as soon as he saw her, he walked over to her, and stuffed the phone inside his pocket. "Listen, Matsumoto, t-there will be two very important…uh…guests that will come today, I uh want you tend to them better than any other customer! And, uh…one more thing, do not tell them about my location. Got it?" Mayumi was scared all of a sudden, but she didn't know what else to do.
"I…""Good, I'll…double your salary if you do this right, Mayumi. And if you don't, you're fired." He smiled a toothy smile and exited the store, Mayumi stood there, her heart throbbing. 'He'll fire me?' She thought and the door to her store opened and she saw Shizuo and another tan skinned man at the entrance. Mayumi's eyes widened and the tan skinned man smiled at her. "Hi there, is your boss here?"
Mayumi didn't know what to say. Shizuo stood behind the man, and watched her carefully for any signs of a lie. Mayumi took a deep breath and said softly, "H-He's not here." She didn't know whether to listen to her boss, or tell these men the truth. Why were they here in the first place? What did they need?
The tan skinned man sighed and said, "My name is Tom Tanaka, and that man Dai Io, owes me some…no a lotta money. He's been skipping out of days and now he's under a lot of debt. So, please understand. Did the man scare you into making you lie?" Mayumi didn't move a muscle. 'So this is why Shizuo was asking me about Dai last night, he wasn't concerned about me. This was just…about business! He…used me as means to get information.' "Please, he isn't here." Mayumi said, her bangs covering her eyes. "Shizuo, your girlfriend here sure is stubborn." Tom muttered to the blonde male and Shizuo groaned. Mayumi, luckily didn't hear him.
"Mayumi." Shizuo spoke and Mayumi finally said, "This is the only job I have. He…told me he'll fire me if I don't…do it right…" Tom stared at the girl dolefully and he sighed. "Listen, miss, he's…gah, talk to her Shizuo." Tom said, and Mayumi continued, "I don't know where he is, that much is true. He told me to send you away as soon as you got here." Mayumi wanted to cry, and she was sure she was going to. She was going to lose this job, and there was no way she was going to get another.
She had to drop out of school, and her grandfather had to speak and convince Dai to give her a job. There was no way she'd be hired by anybody else now.
"Mayumi listen, he's scaring you." Shizuo spoke and he frowned as he did. "I can't afford to get fired." Tom sighed. "But, I need my money! I'm a debt collector, I-"The door opened all of a sudden and Dai came in, and grabbed Mayumi by the neck, the woman gasped.
Dai turned to Tom and Shizuo and said darkly, "One more step, and this girl's head goes boom!" Dai had a gun. Mayumi gasped and tears fell down her eyes. She shut her eyes as tightly as she could and her head spun.
Shizuo hated the situation he was in. With one instant movement, he grabbed Dai and the gun went off. Shizuo was shot in the shoulder and Mayumi fell to her knees. Shizuo groaned in pain and punched Dai on his face. Mayumi sobbed quietly, and Tom went to her and knelt beside her, "You'll be fine." She pointed to Shizuo and stammered, "H-He got shot…b-because of me." Tom chuckled and said, "That's nothing. He can take it." Mayumi didn't believe it.
In the end, Dai was forced to pay the money back, by selling his store away and Mayumi took Shizuo home. She insisted, and since she was crying, Tom agreed to it. "Man, she was crying for you Shizuo!" Shizuo groaned and went to the girl's apartment.
Her grandfather stood up and his eyes were wide. "Sh-Shizuo Heiwajima!" He stammered and Tom chuckled. "And Tom, don't forget me, Mr. Matsumoto, I didn't know Mayumi was your granddaughter." Mayumi made Shizuo lie down on his back on the couch and she forced him to take his shirt off.
And what shocked Shizuo was, Mayumi tended to his wounds, like a doctor with loads of experience. "Are you a doctor Miss Mayumi?" Mayumi was quiet. She didn't want to talk about how she knew what she knew. "I'm not." She said, and Tom didn't press the subject.
She took the bullet out of Shizuo's shoulder and covered the wound with bandages. Shizuo was shocked at how soft her hands were, and how carefully she tended to his wound. It was as if she had done this plenty of times before and what shocked him more was, that, she was even almost better than Shinra was.
"Please, don't remove those bandages for at least three hours. Considering how fast you heal three hours is accurate." Shizuo nodded and said, "Thank you." Mayumi shook her head and led the two men outside. "Thanks again." Shizuo said, and Mayumi stared at the ground, and cried. Tom chuckled and whispered to Shizuo, "She's all yours." Shizuo groaned and saw Tom walk away, leaving the two of them alone. "Mayumi, why are you crying?" "It's my fault you got hurt. If I had told you sooner-""Quit apologizing. You're unemployed now. I'm the one to blame." She shook her head and said, "You were doing your job, I don't blame you." Shizuo was shocked.
Was Mayumi always this forgiving?
"You took a bullet!" She said, weeping. She pressed her hands to her face and cried. Shizuo groaned and said, "I've taken a whole lot worse before." Mayumi hugged the male with one sudden movement, and Shizuo stood there, shocked. "I'm sorry." Mayumi repeated over and over again and Shizuo sighed.
He placed his right hand around her waist and pressed his forehead to the top of her head. He noticed Mayumi was a whole lot shorter than him. He was 6 feet and 1 inch while she came around to be 5 feet and 6 inches. "Don't be." He said, and pulled her closer. "Don't cry, damnit." He groaned and Mayumi sniffed.
She pulled away and gulped. "See you around." Shizuo said, and walked away.
Mayumi blushed when she recalled the feeling of his forehead on her head. It felt good, that much she was sure.
A/N: Aw, Shizu-chan is so cute in this!
And, for those who are wondering, Mayumi does have a past.
You'll find out, soon. *wink wink*
Read and review, loves! :)