Chapter 3 Planning a Future
Keitaro woke up to an early morning sun. After moving around for a moment he realized that he was exhausted but not as bad as yesterday. Keitaro lay in bed for a moment enjoying the rest. I guess I never knew how tired I was. Keitaro raised his arm and it moved unsteadily as if he had been weight training.
Motoko stirred at his side and Urashima turned to see she was closer to him than she usually slept. Keitaro wondered about that. They had always been good about keeping personal space when they slept in the same mattress. His lips thinned at the thought of their relationship. Well, the lack there of. Keitaro knew he couldn't beat around the bush with the two of them for much longer. It was by some miracle that neither one had brought it up despite the times they walked hand in hand.
The Urashima broke out of his thoughts as Motoko moved a little closer to him before returning to her sleep. Deciding he should get going, he started moving down the edge of the futon and got some spare clothes to bathe and dress. The rest of the morning was listless with creaking wood and silent conversations while he went through the morning routine. Keitaro was glad to see Motoko was able to manage everything the previous day. He scratched his cheek thinking he should thank her the next time they talked.
Keitaro was glad the girls were still asleep when he placed the receiver down. The young Urashima had just been told soundly by his cousin-not-aunt Haruka that he was on his own. It was one little snag in his plans when the summer shift ended. Haruka explicitly told him that if they tried what he suggested, then he would have to be on his own. She did not have the resources to help him. After questioning him about his college plans, Haruka finally hung up. Keitaro thought about it and knew he had to find a place to live and a new building before the end of summer. He hmm'ed for a moment then finally settled to try and solve the problem on Monday.
It was near ten in the morning when the girls were up and about. Keitaro was manning the morning café crowd while the girls were outside learning self defense. When they all went up stairs to bathe, Keitaro was reading his study guide. Several quick playful stomps from the stairs announced someone's arrival. Keitaro just waved at who ever they were.
"Morning Keitaro."
Keitaro turned the page and yawned. He closed his book thinking now was a good time for a break. "Morning Hana, how was everything last night?"
Hana grinned impishly. "Got two numbers, and the cute one got a free drink."
Keitaro looked at her. Hana smiled back. Keitaro gave a slight chuckle. "Very funny. The place looks great. Who counted out the tills?"
Hana raised her hand. "I volunteered; Angelo should be coming in at noon. He needed some rest between last night and the morning shift."
"Thanks." Keitaro stretched.
Hana looked at the young man while he was off in his own world. "You alright Kei?"
Keitaro snapped back from his thoughts. He looked at her knowing that he likely worried them all. "Yeah, I am fine. Just not used to working so much. It's not so bad. We are two weeks away from having the full crew Haruka hired replace us for the end of summer."
Hana raised her eyebrows while silently biting her tongue. After debating on talking to him now about the group or not, she left it as is while he readied the kitchen. Several pots of water were set to be boiled and Hana put on her apron and opened the front door. Hana looked back a few times to see Keitaro reading his study book and waiting for people to arrive to place orders. An hour passed before Haruhi finally came down. Keitaro smiled at the woman stating his surprise that there was still hot water left for Motoko. Haruhi waved him a good morning before walking outside to do a few errands before her shift.
Keitaro finally set down the book and moved to another.
Motoko steps rang into the room. She glossed over her khaki shorts and top, pleased it fit. She marched up to Keitaro and looked over to Hana. Hana nodded and flipped the sign at the front closed with a message already written stating they would be opening back up in half an hour.
Keitaro was oblivious of what was occurring around him, and casually flipped through his book making notes in the side columns. He looked up when the back door opened showing both Hana and Angelo walking in. "I thought you said that Angelo was going to be working later today Hana."
Keitaro looked around and noticed he was surrounded. Motoko sat on his left, Haruhi sat on his right, and Hana and Angelo sat across from him. Motoko received a nod from the group in reassurance. "Keitaro, we need you to take the day off."
Keitaro looked at the group. "What do you mean?" As soon as he asked he realized their reason. Keitaro scratched the back of his head. "Never mind I know what you mean. Would you be willing to cover tomorrow for me then Motoko? We can't afford to have me not here today."
Motoko smiled suddenly. Keitaro felt worried when everyone matched her grin. "It's not just that Keitaro, we got some demands too."
Keitaro sighed before propping his elbows on the table and folded them in front of his face. His eyes were still cheerful, but his demeanor showed he was in business mode now. "And they are?"
Motoko saw the look leveled completely on her. Suddenly she wondered why she was the one who was supposed to be telling this to him. Then remembered her earlier assertion as assistant manager and internally grimaced. "We would like the shop to close on days and times with the least amount of business, it's not productive with how much the staff is getting paid over time, and to be frank we are all a little tired. We need more than just a day or two off."
Keitaro thought for a second but conceded to himself that they were right. It was unfair to ask so much from these people. They were not friends volunteering to work for free, and Angelo was here because he volunteered to help with security for the girls. Keitaro closed his eyes before nodding to Motoko's demands. "You're right off course. How about… I'll set up Monday and Tuesday to be closed. The Bar does not need to be open on Sunday and Wednesday afternoon." There was a round of agreement. Keitaro looked at the groups' at ease faces. The Urashima thought about the new schedule and then let his hands go to the table. The moment where he was a business man passed and Motoko sighed in relief. "Any more suggestions?" Keitaro smiled at the group.
Hana and Haruhi exchanged looks. Haruhi was the one who spoke. "We really think you need a day off after yesterday-"
Keitaro was about to protest when Motoko interrupted Haruhi. "Don't you dare argue about this Kei, we were worried about you!" The outburst ended in silence. Keitaro looked at Motoko, not the just to hear her, but to really look at the girl. Keitaro saw Motoko's eyebrows furrow, her cheeks were red and her voice was slightly higher than normal, the corner of her mouth quivered. In one of those rare insightful moments, he realized she was going to cry.
"Alright, I will take the day off."
The look on Motoko's face disappeared, replaced by a look that exuded the joy of her accomplishment. One look from Keitaro, and Motoko answered his question. "Yes I can cover you for tonight. I am used to the kitchen, especially after last nights crash course." Keitaro nodded in relief.
"Alright! Now that the soap opera crap is out of the way, what do we do for scheduling?" All three girls glared at Angelo for his crass comment, but Keitaro laughed. For the next twenty minutes the staff remade their schedule to fit around the new work hours.
When the café opened again, Keitaro began to wonder if it was really a good idea. Keitaro went to his room to sleep and found himself out like a light for another three hours. It was mid afternoon when Keitaro found himself out the front door and hands in his pockets. He was in shin length shorts and a short sleeve light blue shirt. With a final look at the café, he headed out into town. For the first time in what seemed like ages, he ate food that he did not make, and watched a summer movie. He took a few booth pictures and it was close to seven in the evening when he sighed.
Keitaro had a long day and it was barely going to reach rush hour evening at the café. He noticed a café half way down the block and sat down. He looked around and gave a slight smile. It was like the one he ran. He chuckled to himself wondering what his customers would think. After a few seconds of trying to not think, he felt his frustration catch up with him. The café and the people in it had become his life. He had no idea until now how much time and effort he placed into it. And he knew it would be out of his hands in a few weeks until the next summer assuming Granny Hina allowed him to come back. Not realizing it, Keitaro added aloud. "And I'll be back to being by myself."
"What's with the depressed look?"
Keitaro looked up startled to find a girl he vaguely recognized smiling at him. "Sorry, just musing to myself… I am sorry miss, do I know you? You look familiar."
The girl pouted in an audible huff. "I guess I shouldn't be hurt, I am one of your regular customers. But I am surprised you weren't working yesterday or today. Mind if I sit?"
Keitaro nodded and gestured to the seat next to his at the small table. "Mah, that is the reason why I am out here, I actually collapsed from over working yesterday, Motoko kicked me out of the café for the day. I guess I been a little too oblivious to my staff. They were looking over worked too, we reorganized the work hours and are closing the shop on our slow days. There is just not enough staff or customers' warranting the café to be open like it has been."
The still unnamed girl nodded at the news. "Well, the young girl, Motoko right?" Keitaro gave a fond smile and nodded. "She had done well with our food last night."
"That is good to know, I'll pass it on miss…"
"Sorry. Call me Suki."
Keitaro's eyes shot up. "That's right, Mitsu Suki. On vacation from your business classes."
Suki grinned. "I am surprised you remembered that and not my face." Suki accepted her drink from the waitress and drank for a moment.
"I just need a memory jogger, if we were at the café I am sure I would have remembered you right away."
Suki set her drink down. "I think I understand, not in that frame of mind to recall names when you are not at work." Keitaro nodded while he wondered exactly what he should talk to the woman about. Suki was obviously close to his age, but knew very little people his own age did for fun. He squashed his initial panic and just looked at the young lady. The girl looked outside and noticed the shade of sky. She turned back to ask, "So Cook-san, what had you planned to do for the end of the day?"
Keitaro stifled a laugh. "Call me Keitaro. But about your question, I am not sure. Before talking to you I was just thinking that this café has consumed my life, with this day off I had just been wondering around town."
Suki looked at Keitaro under her sandy brown bangs. "Would you like to come with me for a drink of something a little harder, Keitaro-san?"
The Urashima nodded with out hesitation.
-o-
Motoko moved four more plates out while waiting for the new oil to heat. The girl thanked Keitaro to high heavens for already cutting all the meats, vegetables and fruit this morning. The prep for all the dishes saved minutes off her cooking time just by taking a small measuring cup and adding it to what ever she made at that time. She also realized how helpful it was that they limited their cooking menu daily to only a few dishes at a time… especially with just her cooking.
"Orders up!" Motoko announced clearly to Hana. The older girl quickly took the plates and scanned them before heading to the table. Motoko was thankful she had not made a mistake yet for the number of plates she had to make.
"Motoko" Angelo entered the kitchen and pulled on a shirt and put on a new apron. "It's your break time. I'll take over get some food."
Motoko nodded at him. "I am already ahead of you. That plate is mine." Motoko gestured to a plate that was covered in tinfoil but was still steaming. "The girls already ate, so when I come back you can take yours Angelo."
The man nodded before quickly looking over orders. Motoko thoughtfully approved of how the man thought. He was not an experienced cook, and only knew a few recipes he tried out himself after Keitaro showed him how. But he knew enough recipes that the café was able to make a full menu with out sacrificing anything for having Angelo replace Motoko for a few hours for rest.
Motoko ate quickly and used the forty minutes she had left to take a nap in her room. When she entered the kitchen she felt refreshed and thanked Angelo for covering for her. He grinned and said he messed up an order. Motoko patted his back while he took off his apron. "Do not worry Angelo, I am sure I will make a mistake before the night it out. Was the customer upset?"
"Naw, Hana thought it would be funny for Serra to peek into the kitchen to see who made her dinner." Angelo smiled impishly at Motoko. "Apparently I am popular enough to be forgiven for messing up an order. But I did remake their plate."
Motoko smiled and pushed the man out of the kitchen with his dinner in hand.
-o-
Keitaro and Suki talked the entire time about their personal plans while walking to the dive bar down the road. Suki said it was one of her favorites since Café Hinata is always full. Keitaro grinned and steered the conversation away from the café. Keitaro told her he was a little down about his failure at the Todai entrance exams. Suki told her story that her father had wanted a son to pass the family business onto, but they got her. Keitaro didn't know what to say to that until Suki started laughing as they rounded the corner.
"It's fine! Daddy really loves the idea that I will take over the family business, I am really good at managing money."
Keitaro laughed at that. "My family has wanted me to take over the candy shop at home. Personally, I am horrible at making chocolate. So when they heard I was suckered into taking care of the café, they were worried that I would kill the little business we got last year."
Suki giggled. "Parents are like that. Pleased one second. Terrified the next. Well, this is it." Keitaro and Suki squeezed passed the group that was loitering at the front and found a table for themselves just off the bar. Moments passed until they got their drinks and Keitaro got a good look around the bar. "This is great, I never been to a themed bar before."
Suki gave an indulgent smile. "The owner, Washi, is my dads' friend. I used to work here when I was younger to show I could handle a short range business."
Keitaro smiled and imagined his own café. "This makes me wish what I will be like in a few years when I return to the beach café hina. I had a side project planned while I was waiting to get into Todai. But to be honest I don't even know what I was planning to study last year if I had actually passed. They don't have a business degree there, but they do have an Art and Science department."
Suki stirred her drink thinking about that. "You only need a degree if you plan on working under another company. I am sure if your parents already own a business they can loan out money to make you start on one now. Or you could easily stay at the beach café."
Keitaro shook his head no. "My parents have little confidence that I am able to do anything on my own. Asking for a business loan even with my current success will be a hard fought battle that I am not sure I will even be able to win. Aside from the money issue, I made a promise a while ago about getting into Todai. I feel I should try and complete it."
Suki nodded. She understood the feeling. "What about everyone in your staff? They have plans when they are done?"
Keitaro gave her a far away look and smile. "It's funny you should mention that…"
Urashima and Mitsu talked for another hour of what Keitaro had been planning and how to actually tell his staff. It was a big leap in faith with what he had. Suki pointed out that an uncertain future is never a good selling point for a business venture and started helping him with how he talked to various representatives and sales associates about his side project. After both had covered what he had done and exhausted their resources Suki slumped in a huff.
"I told you it was that bad. I don't know how I can get the money and even if I was credible, none of the work I have been doing is under my name. It's under my grandmothers."
Suki played with the straw in her drink before a slim man in black slacks walked up to the table. "Suki, it's always good to see you down here."
"Hello Washi." Suki stood and gave the man a hug. She pulled away and gestured to Keitaro. "This is Urashima Keitaro."
Washi looked at the young man with an appraising eye. "Urashima from the Hina Beach Café?"
Keitaro stood and nodded. "I am the manager at the café this summer." The older man whistled. "I always thought you were older. I heard good things from there. Well done."
Keitaro gave a smile and bow of gratitude. Suki elbowed him gently to make him stop. "We are trying to solve a few financial problems he's having with the business he's starting. He has been having a hard time acquiring initial capitol." The owner set down his rag on the table and took a seat. Suki and Keitaro took their seats and quickly filled in the gaps of the issue at hand.
Washi gave the two an exasperated look. "Suki, what is rule number three?"
Keitaro looked to Suki for clarification. Suki, for her part, simply looked blank before saying, "Use any resources you have available." Washi gave the girl an expectant look. "Ooooh, right… Talk to my dad."
Washi leveled a look at Keitaro. "With what you are wearing better make it a conference call instead of meeting in person if you want it done today." Keitaro looked at his clothes and agreed they were not clothes to meet someone in a business setting. Washi turned to look at Suki. She thought about it for a moment and finally nodded in agreement with Washi's suggestion.
"Suki, Urashima-san, I will give him a call, follow me when you two are ready. I will be in my office so you two can talk to him in peace. I'll be sure to pass on all the good things I have heard of you Urashima-san, good luck." Keitaro nodded before being pulled in by Suki's hand into a two person huddle. She talked in quick hushed tones coaching Keitaro in how to respond to her father.
-o-
Keitaro listened to Suki play up his accomplishments and felt himself become embarrassed by all the praise. Suki's father finally asked, "Keitaro, I have only heard from Suki about your accomplishments. What is it you feel most accomplished about this business venture you have at the Hina Beach Café?"
Keitaro immediately replied, "I have built friendships with hundreds of people during my time as the manager." Keitaro smiled at Suki. "I am mature enough to accept praise from a friend, but the employees and the customers have made the café successful. I have no special skills that I can teach someone else to make sure their restaurant is successful."
Keitaro would have gone on, but he felt a slight laugh filter through the speaker. The teen felt panic that he may have answered wrong and felt himself flinch. "Sorry, I did not mean to laugh in disrespect to your answer. From what I heard, you do have a skill Urashima-san. You have the ability to invest your time in people and get your returns in loyalty. I have heard enough." There was a pause. And both Saki and Keitaro silently opened their mouths in voiceless cheers.
"Saki!" the daughter piped out a meek yes, "What is the Beach Café Hina's advertisement scheme?"
Saki paled and looked at Keitaro. He helplessly shrugged, but answered for her. "We do not have a detailed plan in place. Our only form of advertisement is word of mouth and a waiter at the door."
Saki's father was silent for a long period of time. "I am very interested in expanding my own businesses out of the region Urashima-san. But in order for me to sit with you and make a deal about your future business, I need some kind of reassurance that you do have the ability to generate your own money…"
-o-
Keitaro exchanged the café number for Suki's cellphones' a while after their conversation was over. The Urashima walked in through the front entrance as the bar was starting to open up and the kitchen closed. Kietaro was called over by a few customers who recognized him with out his apron on and he talked to them before finally excusing himself to get to the back. Motoko had long ago finished the kitchen cleaning and Hana and Angelo were working till close.
Keitaro walked upstairs and found the other two girls were playing cards on Keitaro's and Motoko's futon. "Hey girls." He announced himself with a knock on the door frame.
Both girls waved him to sit with them. Keitaro took a seat and was dealt a hand. Keitaro looked up seeing a pair of expectant gazes. He laughed easily. "I had a very good day out of the café. I even got a few things I had been worrying about done. How was everything here?"
Haruhi smiled indulgently. "Oh, it was nice and quiet. We had an early rush and the bar was busy all till about an hour ago. I told Angelo to call us if it got busy again-"
Motoko smirked before interrupting, "What Haruhi did not mention was she has a date with Angelo for Sunday morning."
Keitaro chuckled at Haruhi's flustered look before standing. "I actually just wanted to see if you were awake Haruhi. I need to speak to you and Hana and what your plans will be when the summer work is over. I wanted to see if you could come down when we close up." Haruhi nodded. When Keitaro was leaving the room he turned to Motoko, "I expect you down there assistant manager. This concerns you too."
Keitaro was down the stairs and out into the front. He smiled at guests who were still there and was glad people were leaving early. He talked to several customers and finally it was midnight. He waved over Haruhi who had walked down twenty minutes ago with Motoko in tow. Keitaro was finished cleaning the tables not being used, and Hana was handling the last of the customers.
"Are you feeling better boss?"
Kietaro chuckled at the name. "I am fine Angelo, but when you said boss I felt like I should be looking around for my aunt Haruka." The large man laughed. He took off his apron and looked over to the girls, "Hey boss, I did want to ask you something. Actually I probably should have asked permission before it happened."
Keitaro looked up at the man. "What is it Angelo?"
"I know you set down rules with fraternizing with the women in the café, but Haruhi and I were talking and one thing led to another and we are going to go on a date Sunday."
Keitaro snorted. He had forgotten that rule when Motoko made the comment hours ago. "I am not going to deny you two an ounce of happiness, go on your date. I doubt it will interfere with your work here with the time we have left. From what I have seen, you two are both reasonable adults." Keitaro resumed cleaning and Angelo wandered off to Haruhi. Keitaro gave a side glance and spotted that Haruhi seemed to be happy. When no tears of distress or pleads for help were forth coming, Keitaro proceeded to ignore the two in favor of closing early. The last group was a large group who were on their way out. They had been talking to the new 'Hina' couple the whole time, but Keitaro didn't see anything wrong with it, both Hina staff workers were already off work, and the store was closed.
The staff sat around the table the same way they did when they kicked Keitaro out of the café. Keitaro knew if they did not want to participate in his plan it would not be the end of the world. But he felt he would loose something if he did not try and keep the group together. "Haruhi, Hana, have you two started looking for alternate jobs for when the seasons over?"
Both girls gave a guilty look. Keitaro repressed a smile. "I see." Keitaro pulled out a folder from the book bag at his side and set the folder carefully on the table. Inside the folder were several pictures of a small hut like house. It had seen better days, but it had a large front yard. "When I was a child I was told if I wanted to do something, I should follow it and never doubt myself. Managing this café has been a blessing and I think this is something I really want to do. What you are looking at are my future plans. Thanks to a new friend and Aunt Haruka, I plan on opening a full time café and evening bar."
Keitaro looked at the two girls expressions. Both looked at the picture of the building they first thought was a house. At a closer look they realized the front lawn was actually a fenced mini court yard and flower garden. The old house was likely a small boarding house with the bottom floor the lounge. The girls touched the pictures to try and see it better. Keitaro interrupted the groups' thoughts.
"The café and bar is actually located in the center of the dorms of the three Universities. It is two blocks away from the station and the area has so much traffic of students that the house was an actual cram school before it was abandoned… and I wanted to know if you two were up to being hired as staff."
Motoko listened intently and then thought about what he just said. "Keitaro, what about Todai?"
Keitaro gave her a grateful smile. "Fates willing, I'll be a Todai student by next spring. That is why I am looking for staff now, so I can train a manager or two since I will no longer be able to maintain the store when I start school."
Hana and Haruhi looked at each other before simultaneously saying. "I'm in." Keitaro looked at the two and blinked a few moments.
"Really? You don't need to think about it?" The girls shook their heads. Keitaro scratched his head. He honestly didn't think they would decide so soon. He looked over to Motoko who let out a small giggle at his face.
Keitaro thought about something before finally saying. "There is one catch. Thanks from the help from one of our customers; I am able to flat out buy the land. But before I get the endorsement, the backer wants to us to demonstrate that we can run this place. That means, starting next Sunday to the following Saturday, I am documenting every single expense. Food, inventory, orders, pay wages, miscellaneous expenses, and bills. On a normal week we spend about twenty six million yen a week and get roughly a gross profit of sixty million including slow and fast days. He wanted to issue a challenge of me to try and make a profit of 80,000,000 yen for this next week. I explained him our recent changes to our time of work and he stated we should still be able to try and aim for the target of 80 million yen gross profit. The backer will give us more leeway if we are just under our target. But he also wants us to start advertising through the week, Saki made a few suggestions that we can try."
Angelo whistled. "That's a tall order boss. Think we can do it?"
Keitaro gave a confident smile. "I believe we can. Actually I think we can make more than that if we really try. We have been relying only on word of mouth. I think if we really start advertising and get some ideas of what we can do for the week, we can easily break that mark." The group gave a returning smile in appreciation. Finally Keitaro exhaled. His eyes showed his excitement and he couldn't help but grin. "Anyone got any questions?"
Haruhi asked for everyone. "Who is the backer?" Keitaro pulled out a card and placed it on the table. "Mitsu Takano, Suki's father. He owns two strips of land in town, and had been interested for some time to expand his property ownership. Suki and I have talked to him for about an hour before I got back. We have talked him into setting a deal with Suki being the representative of his company. Mitsu-san has agreed to pay half of the land for the new business provided we give him rights as a partner in the business. Suki is willing to run interference for this for when I will eventually be able to buy back his half of the café. I think it could work."
Keitaro turned to Motoko while she hummed at the information. "Motoko I'll need you to let the girls rotate jobs so they can do everything. That means you are bar tending once in a while." Motoko felt her shoulder drop at the idea of serving alcohol.
"That's why you wanted me down here?"
"Actually the café is with in walking distance of the Hina Inn, I was curious if you wanted a job for the weekends."
Motoko smiled at him. "I'll think about it." Angelo coughed out a laugh before clearing his throat.
-o-
The seven days moved far too quickly for the staff. Keitaro was quietly helping Motoko finish learning how to cook morning meals and how to manage the bar. The other two girls swapped job positions around with Angelo until all five learned each position the best they could. When Keitaro was not busy with the café, he was in town speaking to the various utilities to have them document the amount of energy and water they were using for a single week starting the next Sunday.
Suki showed each day at noon to speak with Keitaro. No one had any illusion of it being anything other than business. The woman wore stiff reading classes and a dress suit. Her briefcase would always be open at the bar where she would hammer out the details with Keitaro about the new property. They had no doubt that they would get the funding for the new café.
Finally the Sunday arrived. All lights not used for the business were shut off and cooling was regulated only to the kitchen and the enclosed portion of the café. Everyone agreed that even though they lived at the café, it was no excuse for them to not make their goal. It was unanimous that they would not use water and electricity unless they absolutely had to when not on shift.
Sunday was a quick day with few people making an appearance at the café. Keitaro worked out the average budget for each day, and knew with the two missing days, they would have to have successful Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Motoko offered they should have an event. Especially since they had only two and a half weeks before they were going to close for the summer. Keitaro agreed, and the three girls started tossing ideas back and forth.
Keitaro was finally informed on what they decided that Wednesday. Keitaro scratched his head but agreed. "Out door BBQ it is." The girls cheered before they split. Motoko went to do her shift, Hana went to the back to schedule the orders and pull an extra bit of funds for the event, and Haruhi went to the patio to clean the old fire pit they found in the garage out back.
Keitaro gave a light laugh. The manager had looked over to the front and saw Angelo watching the girls with interest. Aloud he commented, "They work fast, don't they."
"I would think they wanted to do something for a while. This seems like the first fun thing for them since the festival at the beginning of the summer."
Angelo gave a thoughtful nod before going back to work.
Keitaro found himself the next morning placing flyers on fences and bulletin boards along the beach. It was early morning, but the sun was already making the air hot. Finally getting tired of the long sleeve shirt had put it on in the morning to keep warm he tugged it off and jogged shirtless from one spot to the next. The young manager spoke to a few other shop owners who welcomed the advertising posters, some with promises of showing up to the party that Saturday.
It was close to noon when he got back to the café. Angelo quickly spoke to him of the morning business before Keitaro went outside and through the back. He grabbed his small basket and went three blocks to the public baths. Fully dressed and back at the café's kitchen, Keitaro sat and studied while waiting for his shift to come on at three.
-o-
"You two look like you need a break from the sun. Come in and take a rest. We have three new refreshing drinks for the final weeks of summer!" Keitaro gently gestured the couple in to the café before side stepping a new group who had followed his voice. He gently smiled at them. "Welcome to Beach Café Hina."
Haruhi was at the door and looked at the tables before asking the first group if they would like a seat at the deck or indoors. Haruhi quickly set the group to their tables and moved the salt and pepper apart. The mark allowed Hana to know the table was just seated and were waiting to be waited on. The girl quickly bowed to the couple and excitedly explained the three new drinks and placed the table calendar for the couple to see what would be happening over the next three days at the café.
When Hana took their orders she stopped herself from colliding into another customer and then side stepped a group of five who had left their check and a small wad of cash for a tip on a table.
Haruhi took the tab and the tip and moved to the bar and passed both the money and the order to Motoko.
Motoko smiled at both girls at the sharing the rare moment where they were together in one spot. Immediately the three parted. Motoko walked the length of the bar and opened the small refrigerator with the ingredients for the fruit drinks she would need to make. She chatted easily with the three patrons at the bar while explaining to them how Hana had come up with all three drinks.
-o-
Keitaro sat that night tallying up the total. He had stopped cooking dinner early with Motoko covering for him so he could start counting out the day's earnings. They had reached total earnings of 38 million yen and spent 10 million for the first four days. This was the first real spending and earning day.
The room filled with the sounds of clicking of the calculator buttons and the buzzing of a long tape print out receipt. Occasionally Motoko would enter to give him additional numbers to crunch. Finally the store was closed and the group slowly entered one by one into the cramped back room where Keitaro went over the final numbers of the night. Motoko was the last to enter the room. She still had a drying towel in her hand and was still sweaty from the long night in the kitchen. The tak tak sounds of the calculator and scribbles of Keitaro's crisp penmanship were the only sounds until finally Keitaro leaned back and nodded satisfied with his completed work. He looked at the group. He had felt them watching him for the past half an hour but was able to block out the nervousness he felt and focused. He could not make a mistake with these numbers.
"Good news. We cleared the fifty million yen mark and are standing over fifty seven million. And we still have ten million left for our budget." There were rounds of cheers. The girls hugged each other excitedly.
"Alright everyone, go get some rest. You all earned it." The group quickly broke up. Keitaro remained in his chair and allowed himself a congratulatory laugh. "We are doing it."
-o-
Friday was a bigger day thanks to the opening of the out door grill for the Barbeque for that day and Saturday. Angelo and Keitaro had moved three portable refrigerating units from under the bar and the kitchen to the shade of the out door patio that morning and an hour before the lunch menu was open, people along the beach could smell the smoky wood fire and sweet slow roasting meats. Angelo had taken control of the BBQ after Motoko pointed out all three girls were too short to reach the back end of the grill to make full use of the cooking surface. Keitaro showed Angelo what to look for in tendered thoroughly cooked meat and the two did three practice dishes before Keitaro felt confident to leave the man alone to his work.
Keitaro was constantly on his feet for the Friday. It was a dance avoiding the larger crowds that came from the beach. The patio seating effectively doubled their capacity. Keitaro was thankful they had not attempted to open the patio for the actual dinning until now. This week the group has only now become a well tuned team.
Keitaro stood shirtless with a pair of swimming trunks and a towel around his next while cleaning tables. Keitaro had only worked in the front shirtless twice before and never felt comfortable, but after being challenged by Motoko that morning, Keitaro traipsed around tables shirtless. A few cat calls from the more familiar patrons followed him. What ever nervousness he had left him when he cleaned three tables and happened to look up. A group of women were looking at him. He smiled brilliantly at them and then went back to work to their giggling laughter.
Music blared that night. The cool air from the ocean gently breezed over the patio while crowds of customers danced and drank. Angelo was giving a show of teaching Haruhi performing tricks while making a customer a drink. There was a sigh of disappointment followed by cheers when Haruhi didn't catch her empty bottle in mid air and it bounced off the floor padding on the bar floor.
Keitaro was at the door half smiling. His job for the night was carding incoming guests but they had closed the doors at midnight. The evening had slowed now that it was approaching one in the morning. Angelo had shouted last call just under five minutes ago and a group who had stayed to watch Haruhi learn tricks took shots in celebration at her new skill.
Keitaro saw two people walk up to the beach entrance. The dim light moved around the pair and Keitaro stood straighter now wishing he had put on a shirt when the patio closed. "Mitsu-san! Suki-san! Welcome to the café." Keitaro gave a polite bow to both Suki's father and then to Suki.
"I have heard great things about the café today, and wanted to come in today and see how you were doing. Unfortunately my train had come in late this evening. Aoyama-san was kind enough to inform me when I called that the café would still have customers until this time." Keitaro bowed making a note to thank Motoko later.
"It is a pleasure sir. Would you like to look around? I believe this is the first time you would be viewing the grounds." Keitaro waved to Angelo. There was just the three of them Haruhi, Angelo and Keitaro himself working this late.
"Angelo, would you be kind enough to show our guests around the area." Angelo raised an eyebrow at Keitaro but the taller man easily recognized Suki and surmised who the man standing next to her was. Their tour was brief. Keitaro had said good night to the crowd walking to their hotel. They had refused a taxi ride. Keitaro locked the doors and proceeded to clean the last of the tables of empty and full glasses of alcohol. Haruhi was smiling the whole time.
"I am glad to hear you and Angelo are doing so well after working all day together. I have seen my aunt bite her ex-boyfriend's head off after working together for a single day."
"The people and Angelo really made today fun. It feels good to be so busy."
Keitaro smiled before excusing himself to the kitchen where Angelo was explaining the problems they had with the current cooking equipment. Keitaro waited a moment before adding. "We actually found out that while the girls are trained to cook most of the dishes, they could not actually reach the back end of the fire pit grill that we used today. We adjusted the scheduling today so me or Angelo would be cooking along with Motoko who is very well versed with flipping a piece of grilled meat with the edge of a knife." Keitaro saw Anglo repress a laugh.
"If you would be willing to wait fifteen minutes I may give you a progress report for the week." Mitsu nodded and began to politely ask questions regarding the week. Keitaro responded quickly pointing out problems the café had encountered as well as how the team had handled them.
Keitaro paused by the door into the office. "Motoko? Why are you still awake?"
Motoko looked over at him hovering over a neatly organized till. She held her hand to hold of a question and proceeded to finish counting the bills in her hand. After she wrote them down she smiled. "Keitaro… I think you really need to come and help me double check this. I didn't realize it until I got off my shift."
Keitaro nodded politely at his guests to allow them to follow him. Motoko sat on the chair and Keitaro leaned over her shoulder. He looked at the numbers and placed a hand on Motoko's shoulder. He immediately looked up at Mitsu. "Excuse me Sir I should do this now. Ayaoma-san can you please explain to our business guests why we are so happy." He laughed at the end of the statement. He gave her shoulder one more squeeze before letting her stand to talk to the two adults.
Motoko bowed. "Pardon my lack of composure sir. My name is Ayaoma Motoko. I am the current assistant manager of this establishment. Please follow me to the front and we can talk and leave Urashima-san to his work." Keitaro and Motoko exchanged large smiles before Motoko walked on light feet to a table. She quickly offered the two drinks and had a table and chairs ready. "First I apologize for the abruptness of his departure. He wanted to double check my work before presenting anything."
Suki had an idea what was going on and asked immediately. "How busy was your day today?"
"Today's challenge was not so much the capacity of the café but what was sold." She looked to Mitsu, "Mr. Mitsu, we have had, for the past few weeks, been making a new drink for the evening almost every week. This week we planned on releasing a new drink every single evening the club was actually open. Two days ago the drink that premiered was a Kiwi schnapps that used frozen strawberries. After the initial release date, the price of the drink goes to the pre-established price." Motoko waited for the older man to nod before moving on.
"What we found today was that many of our patrons began ordering the drink that was featured two days ago. It went well with the dinner combinations we served and others took the drink as a desert after dinner. Once new customers started asking about our regulars always asking for this drink we had Hana run to Keitaro's computer to make a revised drink list of what we had available for the night." Motoko paused for a fraction of a second wondering if she should be revailing a short coming like this to an investor but realized she couldn't stop.
"It was an over sight that we did not update the drinking list for a week, since we had four new drinks to add to it. But we never recognized the problem since the regulars already knew about the drinks."
At this point Mitsu smiled briefly. "You were not prepared for a whole new group of people that never heard of the drinks you specialized for the café."
Motoko blushed in embarrassment but nodded. "We had to order some extra fruit for the night as we were quickly running out of the fruit for tomorrow. All of the dinning counts were done earlier this evening. Those sales seemed to have kept us on track with our projections, but the drinks for the day gave us a large burst of income."
Mitsu thought about how the events took place before stating, "You believe your café has come close to reaching your goal?" He sounded pleased. Mitsu looked meaningfully at his daughter.
Suki laughed and raised her hands in surrender. "Father told me before that he believed that your café would have received more attention had you advertised the ways I had suggested."
Motoko thought about the huge influx of new faces she saw the past few days and agreed with Suki. "I don't know how we would have coped before. Especially with us really learning how everything worked. We only now are able to work as a team." Motoko nodded smiled thoughtfully, "Maybe next year when we can get more staff members we can try to do that. This season has been pretty brutal as is."
Mitsu cleared his throat to gain the girls attention. "I believe if you started hiring a few weeks prior to the café opening you would have had more luck."
"I'll be sure to remind Haruka that. But to be fair, Keitaro did an amazing job repairing this place. Haruka-san said this building was falling apart before Keitaro did all the repairs. And we also have a new staff and manager replacing us for the autumn season starting a week from Monday."
Mitsu nodded. He had spoken to Urashima Haruka and Urashima Hina. Both women had been pleasantly surprised with the success Keitaro had with the small café. After a second, Mitsu noticed Urashima walk up from the office. Motoko was unaware of Keitaro standing behind her.
Keitaro reached out to her shoulder but stopped realizing spooking any kind of martial artists was not a good idea. Instead he announced his presence, "Motoko." Motoko looked behind her seat and Keitaro grinned at her. "You did a good job counting, not a single mistake." Unable to hold it in any more he gave Motoko the printed spreadsheet of the combined earnings. "We did it." Motoko looked at the last five numbers which was the daily earnings and the combined total. With no thought at all, Motoko stood up and hugged him. They both laughed and jumped. "We did it!" they both cheered.
Suki smiled at her father. Keitaro handed the sheet to Mitsu so he could see the income report. He noted it was far more detailed than he expected for a summary. Each item was color coded by type of expense, gross earnings, gross income and even included hours worked for each day. At the bottom of the sheet Mitsu smiled at the 'total week earnings' number in white and black.
Eighty three million, six hundred thousand yen.
Mitsu noted the entire number, but the eighty three jumped at him. He looked at his daughter.
Suki's smug grin was all he needed to see before nodding. "Congratulations. I think we shall depart now to allow you time to get some rest. I will call you on Monday with a realtor that I know well."
-o-
Keitaro smiled at Haruhi who started nodding off while cleaning a glass. "Go to sleep Haruhi. It's been exciting but you are exhausted."
Harhi just gave slight 'Hai' before setting down the glass before she had the chance to drop it and started trudging up the stairs. Motoko gave a giggle when Haruhi stumbled and hurt her toe on the steps going upstairs. "I guess after the excitement the day finally caught up with her."
Keitaro smiled. Angelo was still running at full power when he left for the night. The teen wondered how Angelo kept up energy. "We just have a few more things to do before we can get some sleep. Did you want to go ahead and head up to shower? This shouldn't take long."
Motoko smiled but shook her head. "No, this was too big of an accomplishment. I want to see it to the end." Keitaro blushed at the content look Motoko gave him. The two finished cleaning within twenty minutes of Angelo's sign off. With the lights off, and the buckets empty of water the pair washed their hands and went up stairs. The second floor was extremely hot.
Keitaro entered their room and immediately opened the window and sighed. The warm sea breeze hit him and he just leaned against the window sill looking at the dark ocean view. Motoko changed with him not even noticing she took of her close with him in the room. A second later Motoko gave his back a hug and giggled again. "We did it. I am so happy."
Keitaro placed a warm arm over hers. "So am I"
- - End Chapter 3 Planning a Future- -
A/N: I am back for another chapter! I hope it was enjoyable. To answer a few quick questions, yes the story will end likely at the next chapter with the close of the summer. I would like to pick up another short story following this group of people but it will likely not be any time soon. I am currently writing chapters for my other two stories with hopefully one of them wrapping up soon so I can focus on the one that I made a long term commitment to.
I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed my story as it is very helpful to hear what you all thought about the characters and the setting.