Chapter 14:
Not A Helmet But A Crown. Not A Crown But A Watermelon. Not A Watermelon But An Excuse
The Girl From The Grocery Store Across The Street Is (NOT!) A Robot, She's Just Incredibly, Incredibly, Incredibly WEIRD!
After a couple of hours I finally finished not only stocking the new merchandise but also creating a real price list and labeling everything.
Never underestimate the mighty power of searching stuff on the internet.
“Done.” I said, placing the last labels on the mango sodas.
“Perfect.”
“You know, it’d be great if next time you gave me a hand.”
“If we divide tasks…” she said while adjusting the bread slice “…everything gets done faster.”
“That’s exactly why I’m saying it.”
“Me too.”
“So what tasks are we supposedly dividing?” I asked, stacking the empty boxes in a corner.
“Don’t you see?” she asked, snapping a couple photos of the cat—who, for some reason, seemed completely on board with being a test subject, or maybe he’d just given up.
“Putting bread slices on the cat while I label prices and stock shelves isn’t exactly ‘dividing tasks,’ you know?”
“Nyocery Store.” She said while reviewing the photos.
“Fine, Nyocery Store…”
“And stock manager.”
“Excuse me, what?”
“Stock manager, Tanaka.”
“Wasn't me the stock manager?”
“I never said that.” She answered, pocketing her phone. Sat back down and removed the bread slice from the cat.
“So what am I supposed to be?”
“Stock clerk.”
“That’s—Ah… forget it…” I muttered, exhaling and leaning on the counter. “Titles are just arbitrary anyway.”
Or at least that’s what I told myself while looking at the cat. Nyocery Store, we’re both subject to Kiri’s whims.
“Okay… I think I’m heading home, though I’ve got some things to do first.” I said, stretching my back. “Tomorrow I’ll leave the boxes on the street, don’t worry.”
“I’ll handle it.” She answered, opening the register and sliding some bills toward me. “Your pay.”
“Uhm…”
“What?”
I took 100 and left 200. “First let’s have income we can actually measure. This is enough for me.”
“You live almost like a homeless person, Tanaka.”
“The point is—”
“Really, like, very poor…”
“Kiri.”
“You can’t afford to give money back.” Though she said that, she put the bills back in the register. “See you tomorrow then.”
“Obviously. If I miss a day the ‘stock manager’ will probably report me, right?” I answered with a laugh as I headed for the door.
“Ah, one second.” She said, tossing me a pack of cigarettes. No, I wasn’t ready, so it hit me square in the back of the head.
“Hey! That hurt…” Though I still bent down to pick it up for obvious reasons. “You should, you know, stop enabling my vice.”
“Uh-huh, whatever, just stay there a moment.” She said, grabbing her phone—clearly not listening to a word I said.
“Why…?” At least standing in the doorway kept the automatic sensor from triggering, so I wasn’t going to jam the mechanism.
“Your phone doesn’t have service… that means my messages…?”
“They don’t arrive if I don’t have internet.”
“Understood. Can you take a few steps outside?”
“Are you subtly kicking me out?”
“Out, out.” She said, making the same hand gesture you’d use to shoo a cat—but for some reason, since the cat was now, by some logic that only existed in her head, on a higher rank, she was using it on me.
Nyocery Store, our friendship hangs by an imperceptibly invisible thread.
“Okay, okay, good?” I asked, standing just outside the store but still in range of the automatic door sensor. I wonder how those things even work.
“Check if you have signal.”
“Uhm…” I pulled out my phone. Zero. “Nothing.”
“Perfect.” She ducked her head, typed something, and pocketed her phone. “See you later then.”
“What were you sup—”
“Stay there. Don’t take another step. You said you had things to do.” She said, extending her arm like some kind of barrier… from meters away… while I was... already outside…
“Yeah, but—”
“Sorry, I can’t hear you right now. I need a watermelon.” She said, practically ejecting herself from the chair to rummage through the vegetable refrigerator.
“That’s the least coherent sentence I’ve heard you say so far…” I muttered to myself while pocketing my phone. “See you later, Kiri.”
I needed to restock a few things at the apartment (the fridge, I mean the fridge), and frankly after spending the whole day stocking shelves and gondolas at the store, I wasn’t about to take anything from there—besides, Kiri would probably deduct it from my arbitrary salary anyway. So I just decided to walk to another store.
Never underestimate the mighty power of searching stuff on the internet.
On the other hand, this task would’ve been faster (or at least less boring) if I hadn’t had to do it completely alone because Kiri was very busy 'training Nyocery Store,' according to her words, of course.
“Done.” I said, placing the last labels on the mango sodas.
“Perfect.”
“You know, it’d be great if next time you gave me a hand.”
“If we divide tasks…” she said while adjusting the bread slice “…everything gets done faster.”
“That’s exactly why I’m saying it.”
“Me too.”
“So what tasks are we supposedly dividing?” I asked, stacking the empty boxes in a corner.
“Don’t you see?” she asked, snapping a couple photos of the cat—who, for some reason, seemed completely on board with being a test subject, or maybe he’d just given up.
“Putting bread slices on the cat while I label prices and stock shelves isn’t exactly ‘dividing tasks,’ you know?”
“Nyocery Store.” She said while reviewing the photos.
“Fine, Nyocery Store…”
“And stock manager.”
“Excuse me, what?”
“Stock manager, Tanaka.”
“Wasn't me the stock manager?”
“I never said that.” She answered, pocketing her phone. Sat back down and removed the bread slice from the cat.
“So what am I supposed to be?”
“Stock clerk.”
“That’s—Ah… forget it…” I muttered, exhaling and leaning on the counter. “Titles are just arbitrary anyway.”
Or at least that’s what I told myself while looking at the cat. Nyocery Store, we’re both subject to Kiri’s whims.
“Okay… I think I’m heading home, though I’ve got some things to do first.” I said, stretching my back. “Tomorrow I’ll leave the boxes on the street, don’t worry.”
“I’ll handle it.” She answered, opening the register and sliding some bills toward me. “Your pay.”
“Uhm…”
“What?”
I took 100 and left 200. “First let’s have income we can actually measure. This is enough for me.”
“You live almost like a homeless person, Tanaka.”
“The point is—”
“Really, like, very poor…”
“Kiri.”
“You can’t afford to give money back.” Though she said that, she put the bills back in the register. “See you tomorrow then.”
“Obviously. If I miss a day the ‘stock manager’ will probably report me, right?” I answered with a laugh as I headed for the door.
“Ah, one second.” She said, tossing me a pack of cigarettes. No, I wasn’t ready, so it hit me square in the back of the head.
“Hey! That hurt…” Though I still bent down to pick it up for obvious reasons. “You should, you know, stop enabling my vice.”
“Uh-huh, whatever, just stay there a moment.” She said, grabbing her phone—clearly not listening to a word I said.
“Why…?” At least standing in the doorway kept the automatic sensor from triggering, so I wasn’t going to jam the mechanism.
“Your phone doesn’t have service… that means my messages…?”
“They don’t arrive if I don’t have internet.”
“Understood. Can you take a few steps outside?”
“Are you subtly kicking me out?”
“Out, out.” She said, making the same hand gesture you’d use to shoo a cat—but for some reason, since the cat was now, by some logic that only existed in her head, on a higher rank, she was using it on me.
Nyocery Store, our friendship hangs by an imperceptibly invisible thread.
“Okay, okay, good?” I asked, standing just outside the store but still in range of the automatic door sensor. I wonder how those things even work.
“Check if you have signal.”
“Uhm…” I pulled out my phone. Zero. “Nothing.”
“Perfect.” She ducked her head, typed something, and pocketed her phone. “See you later then.”
“What were you sup—”
“Stay there. Don’t take another step. You said you had things to do.” She said, extending her arm like some kind of barrier… from meters away… while I was... already outside…
“Yeah, but—”
“Sorry, I can’t hear you right now. I need a watermelon.” She said, practically ejecting herself from the chair to rummage through the vegetable refrigerator.
“That’s the least coherent sentence I’ve heard you say so far…” I muttered to myself while pocketing my phone. “See you later, Kiri.”
I needed to restock a few things at the apartment (the fridge, I mean the fridge), and frankly after spending the whole day stocking shelves and gondolas at the store, I wasn’t about to take anything from there—besides, Kiri would probably deduct it from my arbitrary salary anyway. So I just decided to walk to another store.
To clarify: this isn’t betrayal of local commerce. I just wanted to walk a little. I didn’t miss wandering the city, but it had been a while.
Of course: Friday night. Even though it wasn’t late, the streets were already full of people going every which way—some coming back from work, others heading somewhere.
Lots of couples. In fact, way too many to be accurate (or perceptive, or jealous, or whatever.)
I couldn’t help wondering if I could have something like that with Kiri—you know, walking together, going places. I mean, we’re not a couple, and it’s not something I was planning to suggest. I was just letting my thoughts wander wherever they wanted.
Though the answer to that was probably a resounding 'no,' and I don’t mean rejection. I mean that even though I can’t deny I love spending time with her and never knowing what she’s going to do in the next two minutes… I also can’t deny that 'something' is going on with her.
I’ve said it before, Kiri is… well, strange, and I don’t think she’s the kind of 'strange' that can 'un-strange' itself. Which made me wonder what was going to happen to us—or would have made me wonder if there was an explicit 'us.' It also made me wonder whether the difference between spending time with her in the store or going out somewhere really mattered.
Of course everyone wants that, right? It’s what we see, what happens in movies, series, novels, anime, and so on. But is the 'what' more important, or the 'with whom'?
I’ll leave that question hanging.
I have a tendency to overthink—maybe because it helps me understand things a little better, or maybe because what I just said is a lie and retreating into my head is a way to look for logic or meaning in things.
That tendency to overthink is why things like walking too long happen, and why I snap back to reality only to realize all the stores have already closed.
Which left me with one option: go back to the apartment with one of those microwave frozen pizzas.
Defeat? Not at all. I’m someone who lives off a neighbor’s charity.
I went upstairs.
Crossed the hallway.
Picked up the bento box the old lady always leaves at my door, went inside, and decided the pizzas could wait until tomorrow.
After all, the old lady always goes out of her way to cook for me without even having spoken to me—leaving her food for 'later' gave me an uncomfortable feeling.
I barely noticed how my phone kept vibrating over and over.
Sixteen messages, ten of which were photos.
Of course at this point the question wasn’t 'from who' but 'now what,' and maybe there’s some social consensus or maybe I’m the weird one, but when messages come in a cascade I usually read them from last to first.
I guess I have something weird about me too.
[Okay, I got sleepy, rest (¬`‸´¬)]
[Tanaka, are you home yet?]
[Right, you don’t have service ( ˶°ㅁ°) !!]
[Forget the first message…]
A strange sequence, though it didn’t surprise me. She’d also sent ten photos of Nyocery Store wearing a helmet made from half a watermelon… seriously, she needs to update her meme library…
[Watermelon cat! ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝]
Does the 'what' matter more, or the 'with whom'?
Does 'what you’re supposed to do' matter more, or 'who makes you want to fall asleep as fast as possible so the night passes quickly'?
I wonder a lot of things. I wonder this because her first message
[Let’s have another date tomorrow (づ> v <)づ♡]
Had already given me an answer.
Of course: Friday night. Even though it wasn’t late, the streets were already full of people going every which way—some coming back from work, others heading somewhere.
Lots of couples. In fact, way too many to be accurate (or perceptive, or jealous, or whatever.)
I couldn’t help wondering if I could have something like that with Kiri—you know, walking together, going places. I mean, we’re not a couple, and it’s not something I was planning to suggest. I was just letting my thoughts wander wherever they wanted.
Though the answer to that was probably a resounding 'no,' and I don’t mean rejection. I mean that even though I can’t deny I love spending time with her and never knowing what she’s going to do in the next two minutes… I also can’t deny that 'something' is going on with her.
I’ve said it before, Kiri is… well, strange, and I don’t think she’s the kind of 'strange' that can 'un-strange' itself. Which made me wonder what was going to happen to us—or would have made me wonder if there was an explicit 'us.' It also made me wonder whether the difference between spending time with her in the store or going out somewhere really mattered.
Of course everyone wants that, right? It’s what we see, what happens in movies, series, novels, anime, and so on. But is the 'what' more important, or the 'with whom'?
I’ll leave that question hanging.
I have a tendency to overthink—maybe because it helps me understand things a little better, or maybe because what I just said is a lie and retreating into my head is a way to look for logic or meaning in things.
That tendency to overthink is why things like walking too long happen, and why I snap back to reality only to realize all the stores have already closed.
Which left me with one option: go back to the apartment with one of those microwave frozen pizzas.
Defeat? Not at all. I’m someone who lives off a neighbor’s charity.
I went upstairs.
Crossed the hallway.
Picked up the bento box the old lady always leaves at my door, went inside, and decided the pizzas could wait until tomorrow.
After all, the old lady always goes out of her way to cook for me without even having spoken to me—leaving her food for 'later' gave me an uncomfortable feeling.
I barely noticed how my phone kept vibrating over and over.
Sixteen messages, ten of which were photos.
Of course at this point the question wasn’t 'from who' but 'now what,' and maybe there’s some social consensus or maybe I’m the weird one, but when messages come in a cascade I usually read them from last to first.
I guess I have something weird about me too.
[Okay, I got sleepy, rest (¬`‸´¬)]
[Tanaka, are you home yet?]
[Right, you don’t have service ( ˶°ㅁ°) !!]
[Forget the first message…]
A strange sequence, though it didn’t surprise me. She’d also sent ten photos of Nyocery Store wearing a helmet made from half a watermelon… seriously, she needs to update her meme library…
[Watermelon cat! ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝]
Does the 'what' matter more, or the 'with whom'?
Does 'what you’re supposed to do' matter more, or 'who makes you want to fall asleep as fast as possible so the night passes quickly'?
I wonder a lot of things. I wonder this because her first message
[Let’s have another date tomorrow (づ> v <)づ♡]
Had already given me an answer.
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