Sold Out

Chapter 2

“Here you go miss. Here is your bread and here’s your change. Do you need help carrying all of these? That is a lot of bread after all.”

“Thank you for the kind offer, but I can manage.”

Through the glass window, Saori waves to a girl waiting inside a car which is parked outside. The girl sees her waving and proceeds to exit the car towards the bakery.

“Shiro-chan!”

Saori jumps towards Shiro with her arms outstretched. But Shiro just dodges and Saori hits the door causing it to close.

“Ohh, Saori-chan, thank you for closing the door for me.”

“How mean! Shiro-chan, why did you dodge my hug attack?”

The bakery owner smiles awkwardly as he watches the scene. Shiro takes a glance at the counter, which was stacked to the brim with bread.

“Are those the bread you bought?”

“Yep, 187 loaves. I need your muscle strength, Shiro-chan!”

Saori goes on to do poses similar to how bodybuilders flex their muscles. Shiro just stares at her blankly for about 10 seconds before heading over to the counter to pick up a bag full of bread.

“Hey, where are you going? Wait for me!”

Saori picks up another bag and the two of them make their way towards their car.

Ohh right, I have to tell Shiro about our new client, maybe I'll get a surprised or excited reaction from her this time.

“Hey Shiro-chan, guess what… I received a call earlier and they informed me that… we have… a new client!"

Shiro kept a bland facial expression. But upon hearing about a new client her eyes slightly widened.

"Are you sure we should be talking about such things outside in a public area? "

" Ehh, well what about if I lower my voice and just… wh-i-s-per? "

Shiro blinks, probably trying to think whether Saori is being playful or serious. Knowing Saori, she's convinced it's the latter.

" I- think…"

"Oh right, if I talk in a whispering voice, you wouldn't be able to understand much of what I will say. Silly me!"

At this point, Shiro remembers why she doesn't bother socializing much.

After they finished getting all of the bread, they both got inside the car and Shiro started driving.

"At this speed, we will arrive at the orphanage at about 4:03 pm. Three minutes later than our usual arrival time."

Shiro takes a quick gaze at Saori and then her gaze shifts towards the dashboard where the GPS says that the estimated time of arrival would be 4:03 pm.

"Yep, exactly what the GPS says."

"Hmmm"

Saori leans forward over to the dashboard and places her hand on the GPS screen.

"Hey, what are you-"

"You already know the route towards the orphanage, we've driven there like three times already. So, step on the gas pedal and try increasing your speed to 55kph, just below the 60kph speed limit. We should arrive there by 3:59 pm."

Shiro sighs, and does as Saori told her to. Saori smiles and removes her hand from the GPS screen. The estimated arrival time printed on the GPS screen now reads… 3:59 pm."

"Okay, now you can start discussing the details regarding that new client."

~ A few minutes passed ~

A car drives by the bakery shop…

“Stop the car Kuro! This is the place!”

“Ohh this one? Roger that sir! Let’s park this car in style!”

“Wait, remember what happened last ti-”

Kuro swiftly spins the car’s steering wheel and steps on the brakes causing the car to drift. He barely manages to park it by the sidewalk by a hair's breadth.

“I did it, woah! Mr. Kyouya, did you see how perfect that drift was?!”

Kuro turns to face Kyouya and sees his right arm raised in the air. Kyouya then gives Kuro a karate chop to the head.

“Oww!”

“Idiot, don’t go doing accident prone stunts like that. I mean sure, I can easily replace this car, but getting involved in a car accident and registering a new car means paperwork. Lots of it.”

“Uhhh but didn’t you just get this car for free? By “winning” that raffle we attended in the mall?”

“Exactly what I just said, it’s replaceable, same thing as you. Now, unlock the doors and wait for me here. I’ll just go grab some bread for my midnight snack later.”

“Sure thing…wait- did you just say I am easily replaceable?-”

Kyouya steps outside the vehicle and makes his way towards the bakery shop’s entrance. The bakery owner is still punching numbers on the calculator when he notices him.

“Good afternoon, what can I get for y-...Ohh sir Kyouya, it’s you!”

“Pleasant afternoon, Mr. Kimura. I’d like two of the usual please.”

“Ohhh I’m terribly sorry but someone already bought all of my stocks just a few minutes ago. I didn’t think you’d come by this day so I did not bother saving any stock.”

“For real? Someone bought that much?”

“Yeah, some girl just came by and said she’ll buy everything. Even I was shocked, it’s also impressive how she was also like a human calculator hahahahaha.”

“Hmmm maybe she is planning to either monopolize the supply or maybe she’s giving them away in an act of humanitarian relief…”

Or maybe the baker is trying to sabotage the supplies so he can increase the prices because lower supply translates to higher prices.

“Huh??”

“Ohh sorry, I’m trying to think of any logical reason for this incident.”

“You know sir Kyouya, the girl also said something along those lines”

"Ohh, uhmm well I'll be taking my leave now. Thank you Mr. Kimura!"

Kyouya and Mr. Kimura wave each other goodbye.

"Where's the bread sir?

"Someone bought all of them. I mean every single stock. I'm not sure what their purpose is but I feel kinda irritated."

Kuro starts the engine.

"Chill out sir! Don't stress over such a minor issue, we can go get bread elsewhere."

"Well, that's true. You alone make my everyday day extremely stressful."

"How can you say such a thing to your partner and best buddy?"

"Assistant… anyway, did you get files about the client already?"

"It's inside the bag to your left sir."

Kyouya grabs the bag and opens it. Inside was a white folder…

×At the orphanage×

"3:58 pm… I can see the orphanage already. And some of the kids are already waiting by the gate."

"Fufufu, numbers never fail me. Aren't you gonna praise my greatness, Shiro-chan?"

Shiro just maintains the neutral look on her face while keeping her eyes on the road, not minding Saori.

"Shiro-chan?! Hey! Remember to avoid frowning around the children. They might imitate you!"

"It's alright, I'll be staying in the car."

"Ehhh?? But the kids are eager to meet you! They often blurt out questions like, "Who's the other kind sister that always helps you with carrying the bags, Saori-neechan?"

Saori says this while imitating how a little child would talk and act when they're trying to be cute.

*sigh* "Alright then, I know that no matter how hard I try to refuse, you'd still force me to go out there so- let's go."

"Yey! And one more request, remember to help me research later about the available information about our new client. "

"Of course, that's actually more related to my job as your assistant. What was the name of the client again?"

"Kyouya Nagamori"

~~~~~

Kyouya opens the folder.

"Saori Yoshino"