Chapter 7

Six days have passed since Tsukiko arrived at the shop. Six days since she found out that her grandfather had sold the store. Six days since Kenji reunited with her.

“Why do you look so worried? Did my brother begin making moves on you?” Amaya asked, bringing her hand over her wide-open mouth.

“I did not!” Kenji retorted. Kenji glanced at Tsukiko, and Tsukiko looked away.

Amaya gasped. “Tsukiko! You want my brother to make moves on you?”

Tsukiko turned back, shaking her hands. “I didn’t mean that!” She then turned towards the door. The shop is still closed. It wouldn’t be long before opening time, however.

“I mean… You said Saturdays are… busy.”

While the shop has a decent number of customers throughout the week, most of its customers arrive on Saturday. 

Amaya had warned her before, telling her to be prepared. As someone new to the job, Tsukiko must have feared messing up. Kenji wanted to ease her worries, but he didn't know what to say. He certainly didn't think Saturdays were all that frightening, but how could he convey that to someone who had just started? One thing he knew, Amaya must have said something to scare Tsukiko.

“Just what did you say to her?” Kenji glared at his sister, who proceeded as if he didn’t exist.

“Relax, you’ll be fine. Brother is here to back you up, right?” Amaya threw a wink at her brother. The same brother she had ignored a second earlier.

“That did not look cute. Not one bit.”

“Who’s trying to act cute, you weirdo!? That’s a secret code! I’m asking you to back me up! Idiot! Stupid!” Amaya folded her arms and swung her head away with a huff. “Fine, if you don’t want to help, I’ll help. You handle the kitchen. We’ll bankrupt this place.”

“Ba- Bankrupt!?” Tsukiko panicked. 

“My brother can’t cook even if his life depended on it. Someone might end up dying if we let him cook, but that’s fine, right?”

“It's that bad!?” Tsukiko shouted. 

"Of course-"

"Yes, it's that bad." Amaya nodded, arms folded. “Well, just a couple of court cases. Nothing we can't handle.”

“I- I don't want to go to prison!”

“Of course not! She's lying, Tsukiko! I'm not that bad! ... I think.”

The way Amaya said it didn’t sound like a joke; no wonder Tsukiko panicked. Still, surely he wasn't that terrible... Right? 

Regardless, Kenji would be a much better help in the dining area than in the kitchen. “I never said I wouldn’t help in the first place!”

“Be- Besides, didn’t you have to watch over the shop, Kenji?”

“Oh? Don’t worry. The number of customers the shop has rarely changes.”

Unlike the cafe, which had a large fluctuation of visitors, the antique shop rarely had more than two.

Even when they had two people, the two came from the same family. Sometimes a parent and child, other times a married couple. Yesterday, a kind, older couple visited. Kenji and Tsukiko helped them carry their purchases to their car. They seemed fond of the old clock they bought.

“What if someone came in while you’re here?”

Kenji pointed to his chest pocket.

“Your bo-”

Kenji covered Amaya’s mouth before she could say anything.

“I have a small alarm here that vibrates when someone enters. It’s a little gadget I made myself,” he said, not hiding how proud he was.

Amaya wrestled herself free, glared at him, and moved into the kitchen.

“Can I see?”

He took it out. The device was in the shape of a small red cylinder. It had two lights, one on the top and one on the bottom.

“The top blue light means that the device is active and working. If the device is active but disconnected, it will flash. The bottom means it detected someone inside the shop.”

“... That sounded very science-fiction-ish.”

“Well, it’s just a bunch of sensors working together.”

Detect something moving and warn him, a rather simple device.

“I used rumble motors from a damaged controller, used the casing from one of Amaya's empty beauty products, and made the rest myself.”

“Yeah, you can call him the trashman around here," Amaya said, leaning from the kitchen's pass-through window. 

“I’m not.”

An alarm on top of the bar table rang, the clock showing eleven in the morning. A new day began.

“Ready?” Kenji asked with a grin.

Tsukiko nodded, steeling her nerves. She took a deep breath and said, “Ready.”

“Here we go!” Amaya shouted. "Time for war."

The three waited for half an hour before their first customer arrived.

•••

“So, people come here for the beach?” Tsukiko asked while glancing at the view outside.

The front side of the antique shop faced the main road to the west, while the cafe faced the beach to the east. Many of their current patrons enjoyed their food along with the view that comes with it.

Some even went to the second-floor balcony to enjoy the cool breeze. When it was just the two of them, Kenji would deal with everything up there. Now, he had Tsukiko to help him. The second floor had a different atmosphere. The first floor had a cozy, calm atmosphere. The second floor, on the other hand, felt much more adventurous with the smell of the sea, the sound of the beach, the calm breeze, and the seagulls flying high above.

They didn’t recommend eating outside, though. They had chairs and tables, but the second-floor balcony was mostly for chit-chat. Wouldn’t want anyone’s food to be taken by a hungry bird.

“You can say that, I guess,” Kenji said while cleaning the table next to hers.

Tsukiko took all the dirty plates and brought them back to the kitchen, Kenji following behind her. Amaya had taught Tsukiko how to clean the dishes. Luckily, even during peak hours, the cafe wasn’t that busy, perhaps due to its small size.

“I can’t believe you used to do this alone,” she said while her hands sorted the various plates, cups, and silverware in her bus tub.

“Oh, it was tough,” Amaya said while frying some fried rice.

"I doubt it," Kenji said. 

"You want to come here?" Amaya asked in a threatening tone. 

“Re- Really? I’m surprised you took this long to find someone.”

“That’s kind of the thing. I mean… You do know that we pay lower than the average pay here, right?”

“Yes.”

They didn't advertise a job opening. If anything, the opening existed solely for someone like Tsukiko.

They had discussed pay after Tsukiko agreed. Even after knowing how much they offered, Tsukiko was still willing to take the job. Kenji and Amaya did offer food and lodging, so she wouldn’t need to spend money on that.

A momentary job, in a way. One until she could find a better-paying one. Even back then, Kenji knew she wouldn’t always be around.

Still… It’s fun having her around…

Having Tsukiko here brought back old memories. His childhood years were the best years of his life, and part of it was thanks to Tsukiko. Tsukiko had always been a great friend. But, as much as Kenji wanted to continue having her here, he knew she would eventually move on. They couldn’t offer competitive pay, and she had her own dreams and future to chase. He had no right to keep her here.

Hence why, while he still has the chance, he would enjoy their time together as much as possible.

“But I don’t work that much. Certainly nowhere near compared to my old job.”

“Is it bad?” Kenji asked, bringing over some dirty plates.

“Very. The worst in the world.” Tsukiko let out a laugh. “You didn’t ask me to pay for food and lodging, and I didn’t need to have any specific skills or equipment. I would argue the pay makes sense.”

"No raise, then," Amaya said, as if she had any plans of that in the first place. “Well, if you’re ever concerned about it, just know I paid my brother even less than you. Down with the patriarchy!”

“How did it get to that!?”

“Amaya! If you have enough time to talk, best get those hands moving!” Kenji shouted, about to head back out. “Tsukiko, sorry, but can I let you handle these?”

“Boo, girls are dishwashers boo…” Amaya said. “Anyway, table eight is done. Get to it, Boy!”

“You’re the one bossing me around here!” Kenji complained as he took a tray, jogging to the front.

He heard Tsukiko chuckle before he left.

“You two sure are close.”

“My brother is a huge fan of mine,” Amaya said, ignoring her brother's sharp stare from the other side.