Chapter 19

The first tinge of suffering was when Izumi realized for the first time in her little child's mind that the woman who lives with her is not her mother, even though they share the same surname. The first touch of pain held her tightly in her tiny heart, forcing her to take a step back and realize how cruel the world was.

"What do you mean?" she asks in a scared whisper.

She was barely four. Barely a blooming flower. She knew nothing of the cruelty of the world, she was just a child but from today, she was no more.

"I am not your mum," the older woman pointed out as she blew a lungful of cancerous smoke out. "I mean I had you, but I ain't going to be all sappy and say that you're my kid. I want you to treat me like I'm your friend. Ain't that good?"

"But why -"

"Just get on with it, kid."

She was stunned beyond reason. Her little hands didn't know what to do, and her eyes were tearing up. Her heart hurts. Her mind hurts. Everything on her body hurt and she wanted to run away, wanted to hide somewhere.

She thinks why did it have to happen to her?

Why was God cruel to her?

…

"Izumi, Nishigawa-senpai is looking for you!"

Hajime-san has gotten the weird habit of visiting me in the classroom whenever he has breaks. It seemed that he'd usually ask the kid sitting by the back door and he's gotten into the habit of asking for me. He started the visits whenever he found a book for me to read or a CD for me to listen to.

Only because I told him I had started reading books and was interested to read more.

He only drops by the classroom whenever he has no time after school since he's a regular in the volleyball team and they were practicing hard every day for their summer tournament. I would usually wait for him after my shift ends, but sometimes he'll be too tired and head home directly with his childhood friend Iwaizumi-san.

This only happened because we had changed class seats, I was now over to the extreme end of the classroom so he couldn't lean over by the opened window to talk as usual. For some reason, he has now guessed my break times because he seemed to come whenever I was on break.

Hearing that annoyed call from my classmate, I got up from my seat to see him standing by the back door looking at me with a serene smile on his face.

"Hajime-san, you are early," I said, surprised. This was the first-morning break. He has never come to class at this time before.

"I just wanted to let you know that I won't be in school after this," he said with a wide grin as if he was excited about something. "I have a match today, and I'm going to win this match. If my match ends early, I can drop by the shop. And if we win, we'll celebrate."

Oh, I just realized he's in his volleyball jersey.

He appeared strikingly handsome and poised in that uniform. It was my preferred look for him, without a doubt. However, whenever he wore his volleyball uniform, it inevitably sparked whispers among others. The girls often initiated their chatter whenever he was around, but they had learned not to gather around him when I was present.

"Good luck Hajime-san," I said earnestly and grinned before giving him a hug, squeezing him tightly as I looked up at him. "I'll look forward to your arrival

His face had turned red and I couldn't help seeing him being so cute that I let out a laugh.

"Go and win the game, okay?"

"O-okay."

I let him go and gave him a slight push at the back. He began to walk away, then turned behind to look as if he couldn't believe what had happened. I think he was in shock, so I simply stood there to wave. His face reddened again and he immediately fled down the corridor. Laughing, I returned to my seat.

…

Rumors seemed to race across the school grounds at lightning speed. Suddenly, my existence within this school became common knowledge to everyone. Frankly, I hadn't anticipated it. I never imagined that my mere association with a few popular individuals would provoke some to develop disdain toward me.

Someone must have been desperate and had nothing better to do.

I was making my way across buildings; from the classroom building to the laboratory building, so I could attend my lab class. I was on my own and made a detour so I could get my hands on a drink. I was minding my own business, and I found myself surrounded by a group of delinquents.

"Let's bring this somewhere else," I said as I bent down to pick up my drink.

So, here we are, in a secluded corner of the laboratory building with a wall on my left and a ring of thick trees on my right. Nobody will know what will happen. I was blocked off, and surrounded by a bunch of boys. I had opened my can drink and sipped it rather calmly despite being outnumbered.

Natsu has always said to appear calm in inconvenient situations, even though you're feeling the exact opposite.

"Were you paid?" I asked as I sipped.

"Yeah, she was desperate," one of them, probably the one with the loose mouth.

"I see."

I put the can down, and cracked my knuckles, loosening the tension in my neck. This fight will be done within five minutes, and so I leaped towards them. They were an easy bunch, easily riled up and underestimating me. As per my estimation, they were all down when five minutes was up and I went to pick up my can on the ground, before leaving.

I turned a corner and bumped into Hajime-san.

He was surprised to see me appearing there, and then his eyes caught sight of my knuckles. His surprise turned to curiosity and then full-blown anger. The range of emotions flitting across his face alarmed me and he grabbed my wrist before pulling me away from the place.

"What the fuck are you doing?" I exclaimed. "Where are you bringing me? Hajime-san, listen to me!"

He wouldn't listen to me, and I had no idea what he was about to do. We were about to leave the building corner and towards the middle yard so I quickly twisted my arm around so I could grab onto his bicep. Holding it, I yanked him backward towards me and backed him against a wall.

"What were you trying to do, Hajime-san?" I demanded.

"I did tell you, I am about to do something dramatic –"

"Yeah, but I told you not to, didn't I?" I demanded. "I can handle this on my own!"

He grew furious. "But I don't want to see you being bullied!" he exclaimed. "This is my fault! I want to stop this bullying once and for all! It's not fair to you!"

"Then what the fuck were you planning to do?" I demanded angrily as I shoved him hard against the wall. "You know you can't change this! I know where I fucking stand! And they know too! That's why they're doing these childish acts!"

He looked like he was in pain and he grabbed my arms, jostling me hard as he spoke, "But I can't not do anything! I don't want to be a bystander and watch you suffer!"

I know where I stand.

I took a deep breath to calm my racing heart. "I need you to trust me," I said. "I am happy that you are my friend, and the rest of the volleyball players have accepted me like I'm their younger sister. I have been alone for a long time and am happy, so I don't want you to feel guilty about it."

He gave me a sad smile and pulled me to a hug. I let out a sigh as I patted his back, knowing that he needed to hear it. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let him feel guilty or regret his guts.

"We'll be fine," I said firmly.

…

Coaching Natsu was not easy, to say the least.

Knowing him, he was such a ticking time bomb that I immediately suggested for him to work in the kitchens first before letting him out to the floor to handle the customers. I knew from experience that it takes time to get used to talking to customers and with a fiery character like Natsu, it would not be easy.

Firstly, he must abandon his baggy and bad boy clothes to a formal outfit which accentuates his broad shoulders and muscular back, including his lean legs. I had to convince him to wear them, telling him sternly that I would not tolerate seeing him wear anything other than the outfit given to him.

It was not easy, but he did listen after a round of yelling and cursing.

Secondly, he must be able to work together with the rest of the staff without getting into unnecessary fights due to his implosive character and bad-mannered replies. It took a while and a lot of clarifications and intimidation, that he was finally able to have a decent conversation with everyone else. Natsu tends to be that way to people he doesn't know.

It was maddening, to say the least.

A loud crash, then swearing followed by a squabble.

I sighed deeply when the bickering didn't end, so I set down the cup I was preparing on the marble counter before heading towards the open counter behind me where it met with the large open kitchen. Inside it, I saw Natsu and the other part-time staff; Reisi-san arguing their heads off with a broken plate in between them.

"NATSU!" I raised my voice over their din. I felt anger coursing through my veins and I had to hold it back. "Quit arguing and continue with your job!"

"But Izumi, Reisi was the one who bumped into me –"

"I was not!" Reisi-san injected.

"Come on boys, stop fighting like a bunch of aunties on a supermarket sale," I said wearily and let out a long sigh, as I was not in the mood to deal with them right now. "It's embarrassing me."

I turned away to deal with the drink I was making, as I had no time to settle their quarrel. Today of all days, the restaurant was booming and I had an extensive list of drinks to make as we were short on staff. It was due to the influenza season; more and more of our staff were getting sick due to the change in seasons and climates, so we had to make do with what we had.

Setagawa-san was busy in the kitchen cooking up his delicious meals and to have Natsu and Reisi-san fighting in there would not be good for his mood either way. Shrugging to myself, I went to make a cup of coffee with fresh beans Setagawa-san had ordered from an old friend of his and I resumed my fast pace; my mind focusing on one straight path again.

While I was busy running the floor and making drinks, Natsu and Reisi-san somehow made up and resumed their work as per normal. Since we were short on staff, my focus wasn't that great as I was covering more work than usual and due to that, some of the orders were going up slower than usual which annoyed some of the customers.

As I handed their food and drinks to them, some commented on the slowness so I explained as gently and apologetically as I could that we were short on staff, and hoped to have their understanding and patience in dealing with it. Hearing that explanation, some sobered up but others didn't take it too easily and felt the need to lash out.

Years of working in this kind of environment have equipped me with the patience in dealing with difficult customers but I do still have a tough time dealing with rude and arrogant ones, especially when I am under a highly stressful situation like today. I could feel my temper soaring; and I put on a forced smile as I looked at the family whose father had started spouting nonsense, complaining about our "lousy" service.

"Sir, I understand that you've been waiting for quite some time," I explained jovially, despite the stress that was piling up. "As you can see, I'm the only one running the floor so if you could spare a bit of your undying patience, that would be marvelous."

I flashed him a grin which unnerved him, and I quickly went about my way. He didn't try to create chaos when I returned to their table to hand their drinks, and food over as I knew that he finally noticed how I looked. With that, the rest of the hours went by without more trouble. The rush lasted for a while, all the way to dinner time and it only slowed down when dinner was finally over.

Hours later, I had my back to the counter, seated on the stool as I rested while Reisi-san went about to cover the floor for me as the crowd had gotten smaller and Natsu could handle the flow by himself.

"Izumi-chan! You did great today! What do you want to have for dinner?" Setagawa-san asked from within the depths of the kitchen. "I'll make something for you!"

I looked up and noticed him leaning over from his stove to look at me. "Anything's fine!" I exclaimed. "Thanks, Setagawa-san!"

"Okay."

I smiled.