Mother Lavender Saves The Day

“Here comes the Side Kick!” He lifts his right leg high, up to his torso, and slashes into the metal plate of the metallic armored dude’s stomach, who looked like a samurai.

“Take this axe kick too as an upfront paycheck!”He raises his leg again and quickly strikes the samurai’s helmet. “Ouch! Y’know that last one really did hurt. Balls Kick!”He powerfully swings his left leg, trying to hit the crotch of that armored samurai.

“Aw damnit, my gorgeous leg! You son of a gun, are your balls made of steel or what!? Wait a second...” His left leg immediately started throbbing in pain. He leaned over immediately, groaning as he wrapped both hands tightly around his throbbing thigh. The pain was consuming, but then a realization hit him hard enough to raise his eyebrows. He glanced over his shoulder. “Just now, was that a Jojo’s reference?!”

[Aw hell naw! Not this one! Wrong timeline. Let’s rewind a bit more. REWIND: 3 hours and 3 minutes ago. Those extra 3 minutes? Don't ask about the three minutes; I don't know either.]

"Haruki! It’s almost time for your part-time job at Mother Lavender Cafe, and it’s your first day so don’t be late," his mom called out.

Haruki came downstairs. "Here, it’s not much, but if you make any friends with your coworkers, then it can be helpful. Also, never hesitate to help others and give your best, Haruki-chan." She handed him 12,000 yen. "I’m going back to take care of the shop; you take care of yourself too, dear."

"Mom, don't make silly jokes again."

"Ufu!fu! Okay, I’ll stop," she said, gently patting his head. "But remember to not panic during your shift. Stay calm and take everything at your own pace. It’s fine if you make any tiny mistake, just apologize and move on, 'cause it’s your first day."

"Stop, Mom, don't embarrass me like that”

"Ufu!fu! Be sure to not get into any trouble," his mom said in a sweet and caring tone.

"Mom, you’re such a worrywart. Okay, I’ll take care of myself. Now, can I go?"

"Be careful, dear, my heart goes with you." His mom wished him her goodbye and went back to her florist shop.

"See you later, Mom.”

Haruki left the house, pulled out his phone and earbuds, and started his favorite playlist before heading toward Kyoto Station.

After a while, he reached the station, taps his IC card on the reader of the ticket gate, and headed toward the platform. He waited for the passengers to exit, then quickly boarded the train.

Inside the train, he spent the first ten minutes watching a tutorial on how to serve customers as a waiter. [Now that I think about it, it was actually the training video on the proper way to hold a sugar packet. Spoiler: It was so wrong.]

Soon, he arrived at his destination, tapped his IC card again at the exit gate of Osaka Station, and headed straight toward the Horie district. The cafe was situated on a side street just off Orange Street. He saw the board of the café.

—Hope Mother Lavender treats me well— he thought, chuckling softly to himself.

He then entered the cafe. "Good evening, Manager," he said in a calm and polite manner. "Good evening, Haruki," the manager replied in a formal tone. Quickly Haruki headed to the staff room, put on his uniform, left the staff room, and shut its door from outside.

The moment he turned his back he saw a customer—an office worker in a suit—leaning back in his chair. The waitress, whose name tag read 'Natsumi,' was bent down to serve the table next to him. The office worker casually stretched his leg out and, with the tip of his shoe, tried to flip the bottom of her skirt. Haruki saw all of that happening while standing outside of the staff room’s door and immediately felt enraged.

Natsumi flinched, noticing the touch. She straightened up immediately, maintaining her composure, and turned back to face the customer. "Sir, please mind your behavior," she requested. Her voice was still professionally polite, carefully neutral, and a bit tight. The man smirked. His breath smelled of whiskey and bad intentions. "Hey, doll. Are you free after your shift?" he asked in a drunk and slim, oscillating voice. He suddenly stood up, and before she could retreat, he started wrapping his thick arm around her shoulder and pulling her close. "Come on, let's go have some fun after your shift. I'm a very good tipper."

That was it. Seeing all of that happen, Haruki instantly snapped; the line was crossed. The sugar-packet video was forgotten. He didn’t think anything anymore and rushed towards Natsumi.

"Get your arm off her," Haruki said in an enraged tone. The new uniform suddenly felt too tight.

The customer in the office worker's uniform barely glanced at Haruki. "Buzz off, waiter. This is grown-up business," the customer replied with a hiccup.

Haruki, with a speed that definitely did not come from a ten-minute sugar packet training video, took two steps toward the customer and closed the distance. He grabbed the drunk customer by his white collar and slammed him back down into his seat. The customer hit his back with the hand rest of that bistro chair he fell on. As the customer stood up, the chair scraped backward. He narrowed his eyes, clenched his right hand as tightly as he could, and screamed in fury, "Like I said, it’s a grown-up business, don't mess with me, you part-timer!" He directed his fist to hit Haruki right in the face.

The moment the customer threw that furious punch, Haruki stepped aside and used an outward deflection, catching the customer’s extended forearm and immediately grasping the fist tight to seize control. "The only business you're having is a meeting with the floor of this cafe,"—he used the customer’s own forward velocity and quickly spun his body, pulling him and driving down on the captured arm while sweeping his leg behind the customer’s knees. He leveraged the fury and speed of the incoming blow, sending the customer flying up and over in a violent, mid-air arc, slamming him hard onto the floor behind. That customer was oblivious to the fact that Haruki was Shodan— in other words, a black belt in Karate.

Haruki’s loud voice reached the manager.

The manager, a nervous man named Fujimoto, rushed over with a pale face. "Sir, please calm down! Mr. Haruki, what are you doing? Let him go! Both of you, follow me!" he ordered to both of them.

Five minutes later, Haruki was stuffing his one set of lavender café uniform he wasn't wearing into his locker. Fujimoto sighed while running a hand over his receding hairline and tried to say, "Mr. Haruki, I understand your intentions, but we cannot have violence. The customer is always—"

"A perverted piece of human waste who thinks an employee is public property? Got it," Haruki finished, slamming his locker shut. Then he grabbed his backpack.

"Take your things and leave. Don't come back," Fujimoto said, looking utterly defeated.

Haruki didn't say another word. Still burning with rage, he didn’t care about changing his dirtied lavender café uniform. He just grabbed his bag and rushed out of the front door, which had the sign: ‘Mother Lavender Cafe: More Than A Meal. We Serve Heartfelt Warmth. OPEN’ hanging on it.

The dirty white shirt with a Mother Lavender Cafe tag on it felt like a screaming insult to him at this point. He was officially unemployed, still in a waiter’s uniform, consumed by grief, thinking what he would tell his mom when he got home.

For a loner like Haruki, this loss was a powerful blow to the guts. He had moved to Kyoto specifically to escape the misery of his first university year—the relentless bullying and the ultimate betrayal by the only person he’d ever called a friend. He’d decided that rebuilding his life was better than fighting a losing war in a toxic environment where betrayal was a winning strategy. But now, losing his part-time job felt like the universe kicking him in the back when he was already down. He still wore the ridiculous, dirty lavender uniform, a walking billboard of his failure and suffering.

He started walking towards Osaka Station, backpack on his back, leaving Orange Street behind. Haruki, usually a music enjoyer, didn’t even put on a playlist; his current despair was too heavy for music.

While passing two nearby convenience stores, his eyes stopped. A little girl looked terrified. Two men, looking like melted candles, probably in their 30s, had her cornered. One covered her mouth and bound her hands, while the other pulled something from her grasp, backing her against the wall.

Haruki wasn't in the mood to take any more fights, but he simply couldn't ignore the injustice. He approached them.

"So, care to explain who the hell you two are and what the hell is going on here?!?" he demanded. His voice was loud enough to startle the little girl further. One of the guys immediately pulled a dagger. "What is your problem, pal? Trying to be a hero?" Both men started laughing. Haruki immediately recognized all those leather and sharp angles that they were some yakuza degenerates.

"Pause!" Haruki announced, his tone now completely dry. He continued, "Look, I'm not here to be any hero. I was just here to offer you two distinguished gentlemen some free samples. See my uniform? I'm a waiter promoting new lavender rice crackers. So, if you tell me what you're doing, I'll probably just leave. With free samples, of course."

"Do we look like a joke to you, huh?!?!?!" the gangster snarled, lunging with the dagger toward Haruki's chest.

Haruki reacted instantly. He quickly stepped aside and used his left forearm to strike the inside of one gangster’s wrist, forcing the dagger’s trajectory away from his body. Immediately, he delivered a sharp, focused right-hand strike to the gangster’s neck, incapacitating him, and then slammed his head into the wall, knocking him down cold.

Haruki closed the distance on the second gangster and delivered a powerful, focused strike to his knee. This sudden, painful attack caused him to instinctively flinch and let go of the child. The little girl began to sob.

The gangster was still conscious, clutching his knee. Haruki pulled her behind himself, securing her safety, then followed up with a powerful direct kick to the guts, utilizing the popular Inverse company’s shoe. The blow left the gangster partially unconscious.

Haruki quickly pulled a handkerchief from his bag and gave it to the girl. "Stop, you... you know what? Strong kids don't cry—they just get mad and write angry reviews on Yelp."

The little girl stopped sobbing, letting out a small, wobbly chuckle. "Thank you, Oniichan.” She hugged Haruki. Haruki gently pushed her away, patted her head and escorted her toward the nearby police station, leaving the gangsters immobilized there.

Just after Haruki left those two gangsters immobilized, another gangster rushed toward them and demanded, "How did this happen to you all?!?"

The partly unconscious gangster groaned, "That waiter is a monster..."

Haruki, standing outside the police station, told the little girl to contact her parents and not to leave the station. The little girl, holding onto the fabric of his shirt, replied, "Thank you, Oniichan. Can I ask you your name?"

—If I give her my name, I might get involved in this mess—

"See this 'Mother Lavender' tag on my shirt?" Haruki replied, pointing to the embroidered logo. "If anyone asks who brought you here, tell them it was Mother Lavender—she’s a registered agent of happiness who specializes in protecting kids and serving lukewarm Yuzu tea."

"But... Oniichan..." the girl began.

"Now, Kiddo, listen to your Oniichan and don’t leave the station until your parents come," Haruki instructed, trying to sound firm. "Don't forget to eat your greens, listen to your parents, be a good girl, and remember that sometimes the universe just decides your first day on the job needs a body count. Now go!"

Haruki did not wait to see her enter. The moment the girl turned her back toward the station's entrance, Haruki vanished. He then started heading toward the main street again, sighing to himself.

—What a day to be alive in, and if any writer names any of my tragic moments after a flower, especially lavender, I'm haunting their honeyfeed comments—

As he was walking, Haruki felt a sudden, freezing pressure. The world went cold, silent. He looked down and saw the glint of steel—a dagger, sunk deep into his neck.

—I jinxed my own life… just once… just once I wanted the good guy to win…—

The last thing he saw was a man in a hoodie running after stabbing him in the neck.

In a single, brutal moment, Ito Haruki's "worst day" became his last day.