CHAPTER 2: A Not-so-Trendy café
Denji was bent over catching his breath in front of the door of the café the girl in the phone booth had said she worked at. He still didn't know what had possessed him to make a mad dash for the café as soon as she had disappeared round the corner, true, he would never pass up on something free, especially when offered by a girl that cute…
He was also curious about what a proper coffee would taste like, he supposed it wouldn't be like the grainy shit he'd made for himself when he had just moved into the Hayakawa place. He was also baffled at why a cute girl had asked him to visit her at work out of the blue.'Yeah, what's up with that…?', shrugging his worries away he quickly examined the outside of the coffee shop, it was a quaint little shop that looked pretty quiet from the outside. All-in-all it couldn't, by any stretch of the imagination, be described as one of those trendy coffee houses featured in those tourist magazines, with its old bay windows being framed by a couple of plants and shrubbery.
Denji lets out one last deep breath and pushes open the door of the café, instantly noting that the interior was very similar to the exterior, with it being similarly outdated and quite bland in its style. With the staff inside being nowhere in sight, he saunters over to the most appealing spot available, a booth seat by the window with plenty of natural light and a smattering of decorations on the window ledge behind it.
After sitting there zoned-out for some time Denji hears a door click open from behind the counter, looking up from the table he sees a stern-looking man in an apron, who must have been around his forties or fifties, approaching the table. "Sorry about that kid, was just out back for a smoke, we usually don't have any customers around this hour", he spoke with the gruff nearly gravely tone of a chain smoker, "Anyway, what brings you to my humble little shop at a time like this kid?".
"Oh nah, I'm not here for any particular reason, just meeting someone here, I think I'm early though" he responds, resting his head in his hand gruff man suddenly laughed, "Meeting with a girl then huh? Ahhh… to be young again", Denji froze, some red coming to his cheeks, "ah… umm…" he stutters.
"I'm just joshing ya kid, it's not my job to pry anyways. So what can I get you, a coffee, something to eat?", recovering from his brief spell of embarrassment Denji replied, "uh, just a water would be cool".
"No problem, coming right up kid, I'll go see if that part-timer has shown her face yet, she should have been in here ages ago", the manager started walking back towards the counter.
"Thanks, old man!", Denji exclaims as he walks away, the manager stops for a moment before continuing on his way sighing. 'Geez… Between him and that girl, kids have no respect these days…'
XXXX
As Reze turned round the corner and into the alleyway the casual smile slowly left her face, becoming an eerily neutral expression, 'well that seems to have gone without a hitch, he's gullible for someone with a background like his, other than that everything seems to be going as planned' she thought, climbing the steps leading out to the main street, 'though I wasn't expecting a magic trick…', a small amused smile came to her face unbeknownst to her as she reached into her pocket where the flower that was subjected to Denji's 'magic trick' was wrapped in her handkerchief.
'I wonder if I should throw this away, though I suppose it might be better to keep hold of it for now, no sense in getting rid of it straight away…', with that thought she removed her hand from her pocket and continued down the main road, smile now gone from her face.
She ran through her cover story in her head again, a habit she picked up over many similar missions, 'orphaned from a young age, currently working part-time to support herself during her studies at the local high school', that was the backstory she had crafted and spread piecemeal among regulars at the café, the few other staff members and that miser of a manager.
Her internal mantra was soon interrupted by her arrival at the café, she slips in through the back door and into the staff room, throwing the apron over her head and tying it in a practised bow behind her back.
'Living this life has been kinda… fun', a wave of melancholy suddenly rushes through her.
Working here, studying schoolwork, her rapport with the customers and manager, it was all manufactured and false. Studying for tests she didn't even have, working a job she didn't need and forming empty relationships.
"Reze! Are you in there!?", the manager's voice carried from the other room, she checked her watch, 'five minutes late, damn'.
"Yes," she intones back to him, stepping out of the staffroom and walking towards her irate boss.
"You're late. I'm not paying for the time you aren't working" he states bluntly, she returns with a dead stare "Cheapskate" she pouts, all of this may be fake, but her rent and food bill were still very real dammit!
"Here, water for table four", taking the drink from him she walks towards the seating area, cursing her penny-pinching manager as she went, before deciding to focus on her shift. After all, this normal life of hers will be over once she fulfils the aims of her mission and retrieves the chainsaw devil from the target, 'I should probably start thinking about my game plan for when the target comes around, though I suppose I'll have a decent amount of prep time this shift', she briefly wonders how to handle the next interaction with the target, only to freeze as she turns the corner upon the sight of a familiar shock of unruly blond hair.
"Already!?"
Reze stared at the boy, mouth agape in shock for a moment, before blinking away her surprise, "Wait, what the heck! You got here before me!". At this Denji shifted slightly in his seat, "Now that you mention it, I guess I did", he replied nonchalantly as he lifted the glass of water to his lips, "I'm only here to get my thank you".
'Hook, line aaand sinker', with that thought Reze's expression turned into a smug, teasing smile.
"Oh reeeally?", she walked around to the other side of the booth, suddenly plopping herself down right next to Denji, causing him to jolt and lean away from the girl, "Want some company?", she asks belatedly, as if proving that her question was rhetorical. She shuffles even closer to him, causing Denji to eye her up warily 'I can't figure this chick out at all…'.
"Hey, Boss! Coffee over here for me and him!", she calls, waving gleefully over to the manager, eager for some petty revenge over her docked wages. He returns the call with his trademark scowl "You're here to serve coffee, not drink it!".
"Awww c'mon, why not?", Reze whines "It's not like we get any customers after morning anyways!". He stares at her for a second before he breaks, giving her a crestfallen look, "Unbelievable…" he sighs, moving to grab two coffee cups from under the counter, quickly making up a simple black coffee for each of them, bringing them over and setting them in front of the two teens before slinking back off to behind the counter.
"Ta-daa! The thank-you was coffee!", the girl exclaimed theatrically, gesturing grandly to the piping-hot drink in front of Denji. "Do you like coffee?".
Denji stared at the cup hesitantly, he was still scarred from his last encounter with the bitter beverage, but surely proper coffee from a shop would taste much better…
"Sure," he said, shrugging and lifting the drink and taking a sip.
'Nope, still shit'. He instantly recoiled, putting down the drink, his face scrunched up due to the bitter taste. In contrast to this reaction, the girl next to him was struggling to hide her amusement. "You totally don't like coffee!", she exclaimed, a small laugh escaping her mouth, "oh my God, the look on your face!".
"Come on! Coffee is gross! It tastes like mud!", he griped in response, embarrassed at her reaction. At this point, the girl had descended into a full-blown fit of laughter. "You're such a kid!" She giggled, playfully pushing his shoulder in-between peals of laughter.
'Wait'
Denji looks at the hand on his shoulder and freezes, 'she's touching me a lot, and smiling at me too. Could it be that this girl actually… LIKES me!?'.
Denji's revelation was interrupted as the girl turned to him again, having finally recovered from her laughing fit, she was now looking at him with a small smile on her face.
"My name's Reze, what's yours?"
"Denji", he replied instantly, he had been that distracted he had completely forgotten to even introduce himself, never mind ask her name!
"Denji… Denji…", Reze mulled over the name softly, making sure that he overheard.
"I've never met anyone as funny as you… Denji", Reze tilted her head, looking up at him with a soft smile and rosy cheeks.
"Oh-h yeah?", he stutters back, his mind in complete disarray. 'She TOTALLY likes me!', He thinks in complete shock, his heart beating rapidly as if reminding him of its presence, he then comes to another realisation…
'Wait… I like people who like me!'
As Reze fixed him with a fond gaze he could think of only one thing in his shellshocked state.
'Save me Miss Makima! I'm gonna fall for this chick!'
XXXX
Denji and Reze talked for some time after his epiphany, with much of this time being filled by a flustered Denji making jokes and the ring of the two teens laughing, one nervously and the other with seemingly genuine mirth.
"Hahahahaha! Stop! Stop!", Reze was again doubled over with laughter as a result of the corny pun he had just made.
"Don't worry, I have plenty more where that came from!" Denji bragged, grinning proudly at her reaction, "Ow! Hey! Hahaha!", Denji laughs as Reze playfully hits his shoulder.
"You better not", she warns with a mock scowl on her face, before her face broke out into a grin.
Denji turns to look at the analogue clock mounted on the wall behind the counter, only to double-take at what time he saw.
"Ah sh-, sorry Reze I've gotta run, I was meant to be back home an hour ago!"
Reze yelped as Denji suddenly jumped out of his seat with a start, about to run for the door, his need for a home-cooked meal courtesy of Aki taking over his mind for a moment, after all, he didn't really know how to cook for himself all that well, and he sure as hell wasn't going to let Power handle dinner again, he wasn't picky but he drew the line at roadkill so raw it was still twitching!
"Is everything okay Denji?", he stopped, breaking out of his panic and turning back to see a surprised Reze half rising from the booth, looking at him with a concerned look.
"Oh, I uh… have to go now, Reze…" he says, scratching the back of his head, mildly embarrassed by his blind panic.
"Aw… really?" She whined, giving him a crestfallen look.
"Yeah, sorry… if I don't get back soon then they'll send someone out to find me, and knowing Aki he'll be a real hardass about it…"
At this Reze moves up from their table and approaches Denji at the door, stopping in front of him. "Ah well, guess it can't be helped then", she says with a slight shrug. She then smiles at him gently, "I work the same shift most days, so feel free to drop in anytime."
"Yeah, I definitely will!", he replies eagerly as they walk together towards the door, as he opens the door Reze stops him with a hand on his arm, "you really are the funniest person I've ever met, I haven't laughed that much in forever! So… thanks for the good time, Denji."
With that, she gave him a wink and half skipped back towards behind the counter, with the sound of the staffroom door clicking shut breaking him out of his stupor.
Denji walked out through the door and made his way down the street in the vague direction of the Hayakawa residence before he suddenly stopped.
"Hell yeah!", he shouts, punching the air in celebration, a victorious grin on his face.
'There's no way she doesn't like me!'
XXXX
The rest of Reze's shift went by in a blur, with the meagre amount of customers visiting the café during the evening shift meaning that the last hour of her shift was mostly spent staring into space and counting the cash in the register many more times than was strictly necessary, with the manager eventually giving up the ghost and allowing her to head home a bit early. She sighed as she turned the key to her flat and pushed open the door forcefully when it jammed, turning on the lights to reveal a small, two-room apartment. It was a utilitarian room, devoid of any personal touches, only a bed, drawer, desk and other necessities decorating the room.
Reze sighs again and flops down on the hard, comfortless bed, putting her arm over her eyes.
'I'm so tired of this'
This empty life was pointless and exhausting, though it was all that she knew, having been raised from birth to be the Politburos ace in the hole, the Soviet Union's answer to the Gun Devil and to Japan's organised devil hunters headed by that woman…
Denji… he was the same as her, a life of hardship, rewarded with a life of servitude to the state and expected to be happy to be given the bare necessities of life as a reward. She pulled a folded-up handkerchief out from her pocket, carefully unwrapping it to reveal the delicate flower nestled inside.
'Yet unlike me, he is so full of life…'
She folds the handkerchief back up and carefully places it on the small nightstand next to the bed before lying back on her bed and closing her eyes.
'You know… he really is… pretty funny…'
For the first time in years, Reze fell into a sound, dreamless sleep, unbeknownst to her, with a small smile on her face.