"Hey," I muttered out a greeting to whoever else was working today. Today's hangover wasn't a total pain due to some prior instances, but it was a hangover nonetheless. "G'morning."
"Morning!" Tani greeted with a bright smile.
"Heyo," Tyler greeted with a smirk. "Had a fun time at Junior's last night?"
"Yes I did, Tyler." I answered, not fully awake yet. Thankfully, Tania came over with some coffee. "Thanks, Tania."
"No problem!" The young woman said. She was my age, with tan skin and braided brown hair. Her green eyes always seemed to shine with enthusiasm, no matter what time of day. Kids loved her. "How much did you even drink last night?"
"Enough to be in quite a bit of pain right now." I shrugged. To be honest, I took a lot of shots last night with… right. A small smile grew on my face as I sipped my coffee. "Ah, refreshing."
"How was Ice Cream Chick?" Tyler asked, leaning over his station. Glancing at the on my register, there was still some time before our little store actually opened and people would actually come in to buy something for a quick breakfast. "How'd the night go with her?"
"Can't say much, Tyler." I smirked, teasingly. "I don't kiss and tell."
"No, but that hickey on the side of your neck tells tons." Tania immediately replied, almost singing her response. My hand immediately clapped to the right side of my neck. "Oh sorry, hickeys on the sides of your neck."
"Tell meeeee!" Tyler's eyes brightened with curiosity "C'mon boss, you gotta spill!"
"How about no, Tyler." I pushed the boy away a bit. "And… boss?"
"Mr. X is out today," Tania explained. "So that means…"
"As senior worker, I'm the one in charge." I sighed. I opened my register's drawer and rummaged around until I found a small pin and put in on my shirt. This was my "Manager" pin, only worn when our real boss wasn't in for the day, which was quite often.
"We have half an hour until opening, you know." Tania said. "Why not tell us how your night went?"
"You can already see how it went, Tania." I said as I closed more buttons on my work shirt so my neck wouldn't be sore visible. I pointed at my neck for her to judge, which was given a thumbs up. "I'm not one to kiss and tell, I've said already."
"From what I know, I'm sure you've done more than kiss." She retorted, which got Tyler's attention.
"Wait," He butt in. "Were you two ever together?"
"No." I said immediately.
"Ouch, that was quick." Tania pouted, but turned to the youngest among us with a smile. "But yeah, we're not each other's types. So there won't be a chance for either of us."
"Bummer." I narrowed my eyes at Tyler when he said that. I took another quick sip of coffee before looking at the clock. My hangover still pounded at my head a bit. A greasy, fried lunch should help with that. For now, I was glad to have two other cashiers working with me today.
. . . . .
It was about thirty minutes before the shop had to close. Tyler left early, and Tania was off today. Wednesdays usually meant I was to "close" the store. And by "close" I meant clean, check stock, do a quick look over of the fridge aisle, then lock up the storefront. All of that resulted in getting home far later than anticipated. I was reading yet another book to pass the time, so that I could write another review for my blog.
"Excuse me, sir?" A sultry sounding voice drew my attention away from my reading material and towards the door. A young woman with crème-colored skin and raven black hair was leaning against the inner wall of the store. She wore a short, dark red dress with golden pattern along her arms and shoulders. Her eyes shone with a fiery gold that chilled me to the bone.
"Y-yes, miss?" I managed to stutter, secretly hoping she didn't think I was checking her out. "Can I help you?"
"I have a need for some medical supplies." She stated calmly. "If have gauze and painkillers, I'd quite appreciate it."
"Sure," I answered, getting out of my own stool and bringing it around to her. She had some sort of aura about her that caused my instincts to go crazy. There's something about this woman I should be wary about. "Please, have a seat while I get the gauze and Dustynol."
She took the stool I offered and, with my help, took a seat. Her left leg appeared to be in severe pain. I ran over the other register station and took another stool and let her raise her leg onto it. With her in a somewhat more comfortable position, I took haste to the First Aid box under my station. The woman looked to me with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm not about to take the supplies off the shelf, you know." I said, hoping to lighten the air with a bit of a jest.
"Of course." She replied with a curt nod and a smile that disappeared quickly to be replaced by a grimace upon an attempt to move her injured leg a little. I approached her with a large round of gauze, a glass of water, and two Dustynol pills. She held her hand out to receive the items, but I shook my head.
"I feel it would be better if I dealt with it." I said.
"I'm a huntress," She glared at me with her scorching gold eyes. "I think I can handle wrapping my own injury."
"Not when the person healing you is certified to heal others," I retorted with an even tone as I passed her the Dustynol and the water. She received my statement of certification with a slightly surprised look.
"Certified?" She repeated after taking swallowing the pills with the water. I took the glass back and put it on my station. I nodded. "A civilian certified for medical care is rare to come by."
"Seeing as we live in a rather dangerous place, it doesn't hurt to learn how to help people in need." I shrugged as I began to press her raised leg. Upon reaching the middle of her shin, she winced harshly and cursed under her breath. After pressing it again, I identified it as just some badly bruised muscles, which should heal quickly enough with rest. I wrapped her entire shin area quickly and cleanly. "Your Aura saved you from a broken shin. Just rest your leg for a while, keep up the pain meds, and you'll be ok soon."
"Thank you." She took her time to stand up, holding her hand up to my face in a successful attempt to rise on her own. "How did you learn provide even basic medical care for a Hunter?"
"Why didn't you go to the hospital for help instead of a small grocery store?" I retorted immediately.
"Fair point." She gave small smile at that, which I responded with a smile and nod. "I do hope you'll be someone I can rely on in similar cases of emergency."
"I wouldn't rely on it," I answered. "But, if there really are no other alternatives, just let me know."
"I should compensate, shouldn't I?"
"Excuse me?" I felt my compensation should at least be not being killed by this undoubtedly skilled huntress.
"That First Aid Kit was supposed to be saved for personal emergencies, was it not?" She asked.
"No," I corrected. "It's for any general medical emergency that occurs within the store. Seeing as it can be seen as an in-store incident, it does not need compensation."
"What about a more… personal compensation?" She asked, her head tilted in a way that hid one side of her face. It was rather alluring in a seductive way. This way, I could only see her right eye.
"I… don't know what you could possibly mean." I tried to feign my innocence, but was caught off guard by a business card being procured out of nowhere. It read: Ember Autumn, Dust Trade Consultant. Her cell phone number was circled in pen.
"I tend to get rather stressed from time to time, and it must be rather stressful working in this little store as well," she proposed. "I think a few nights aiding each other in stress relief would suffice, wouldn't it?"
"I… uh," I instinctively put the card in my pocket, which caused her right eye to shine with something close to mild excitement. "I'll have to think about it."
"I'll make sure to contact you for either service." With that, I heard a car come to rest at the storefront. "Thank you again. It's not often that I meet a skilled civilian. Who are you?"
"I'm…" I looked at the massive black SUV that picked her up. "I'm nobody, really."
"How unfortunate," She said, getting into the vehicle. I was resisting the urge to stare at her legs and climb upwards as she did so. "I was hoping to get to know my new acquaintance better."
"Maybe another night, miss." I said with smile as she closed the door and the car pulled away. I could feel the chills leave my very being as the car turned the corner.
I turned back to the store and sighed. I still had a lot to do before I could head home. I had a new contact to add to my Scroll, and a book to finish and review before I sleep tonight. I didn't know what I was getting into; she seemed to be from a much questionable line of work as a Huntress. I walked back into the store and grabbed a broom from the closet and began sweeping around.
. . . . .
It was another normal Friday. No visits from Ember nor Neo, though the latter usually did like to double up on her ice cream load to start her weekends. Tania was currently in the break room, changing clothes to get ready for her shift. I had just returned from fully restocking the cleaning supplies section when yet another young woman entered the store. She wore a black and white ensemble, topping it all off with a black bow on top of her head. Her golden eyes seemed to scan the area cautiously before approaching me.
"Hello," She greeted with a soft voice. "Where can I find canned tuna?"
"Last aisle, opposite of the milk fridge." I pointed to the rear right corner of the store. She nodded in thanks before heading over. "Let me know if you need anything else!" I called after her.
After a few minutes, she returned to my station with about eight small cans of tuna. Her bow appeared to twitch, but it was probably the wind; my station was rather close to the open door of the store. As I scanned her goods, I saw her eyes wander around my station before landing on my choice of literature, another book called Food Wars: A Knife's Edge. Her eyes perked up before narrowing at me with suspicion.
"C-can I help you, ma'am?" I withered on the inside from the stare, but kept up a calm, confused façade.
"Are you 'TheBookClerk'?" She asked out of nowhere. "From the Below Beacon Book Review site?"
"Uh, yes." I admitted. No sense in lying to someone who could be a potential fan. "How did you know?"
"You always announce what book you're going to read at the end of a review."
"True." I nodded, finishing up on her tuna. "So, that'll be—"
"What do you have against true literary art?" She suddenly asked, venom in her voice.
"E-excuse me?" I was taken slightly aback. I know not all fans agreed with my reviews, but I wasn't used to being verbally accosted in person with this attitude.
"I'm talking about Ninjas of Love!" She practically shouted. I sighed and narrowed my eyes. "That novel is a glorified work of art, and your entire review slandered it as though it was nothing more than garbage! How could you?"
"Because it is garbage!" I answered immediately, thought inwardly regretting watching the girl recoil a bit with another barely noticeable twitch of her bow. "It's nothing more than a glorified fanfiction of Bushido Tales: A Maiden's Sorrow! I've actually read fanfiction with better grammar and plot than Ninjas of Love! Smutty, plotless one-shots are more interesting than that waste of tree!"
"How dare you!" She gasped. "It is not just a fanfiction, it's a loving fan's rendition—"
"Fanfiction," I corrected.
"Rendition," She repeated. "That had a lot of time, effort, and love put into it. The imagery conveyed in Ninjas of Love is second to none in literotica."
"I beg to differ." I said, arms crossed. Before she could respond, I spoke up. "Listen BlackBell," She flinched at my use of her username. "I know your tastes and mine are quite varying. However, I'm willing to have a much more tame debate on the site rather than my place of occupation. So if you don't mind, you owe sixteen Lien."
She stepped back, taken a bit off guard. She then brought out her wallet and gave me the exact amount of Lien. She took the bags with a huff, nodded in thanks and departed with a brisk pace. I sighed as Tania walked to her station.
"I'm here now," She announced cheerily as always. "You can take off now."
"Thank Dust," I said, going to the staff break room to change into my clothes. "I need an early end for today."
"Whatcha gonna do now?" I heard Tania ask as I pulled up my Scroll as a buzz declared a new message. It read:
I'm in need of some stress relief, tonight. I hope you don't mind picking up some wine on the way here.
-Ember
Um, that. I thought. I'm definitely gonna do that. I sighed and turned to Tania before closing the door to say, "I'm gonna go out and unwind."
"Sounds hot," She smiled knowingly before sticking her tongue out. "Have fun out there, tiger!"
Heyo, BleachCadelina here with another chapter. I'm still not too confident about writing lemon yet, so I'll get back to y'all about that. Either way, I hope those who requested to see Blake and Cinder are happy with how this turned out, with a little backgronud on our protag himself!
Have any requests that you'd like to see in a future chapter? Let me know in the reviews!
(Food Wars: A Knife's Edge is another one of my OC-centric fanfics on here, for the Shokugeki no Soma fandom, check it out if you'd like).