Kieran’s first customer

Out in somewhere in Japan, a shop, or a small and cozy house more like. This shop has a dirt path leading to the highway but the way is quite long, about a kilometer or more. So, the place wasn't ideal at all for a shop. It has small amount of customer and sometimes, it doesn't even have any at all. But, the shopkeepers, an old man by the name of Kieran

He doesn't have any identifications regarding himself or has any legitimacy over the land he's in. The land doesn't belong to anyone in particular since it's way in the woods but how the shop was established is also a mystery. It just has a door one day and then a whole house after a month

The old man doesn't seem like capable of building since he look frail and his hands were shriveled like dry grapes. The old man clean the shop, sometimes because of the dirt and dust it gathers while he waits for what seem like ages. The shop has two open windows at the front, allowing people to look into the shop

Outside, it looked nothing special aside of some cracks on the walls. Some moss was growing on the cracks as well. The door looked beautifully craved with an antique look to it. The roof look old and some of the tiles even have multiple chipping and cracks

However, on a fated day, a car with a man who's depressed with his life was driving through the highway when he saw the sign leading into the dirt road. He thinks, 'Why don't I cheer myself up with buying something nice?'

He turn into the dirt road and went in for a kilometer before he sees a house. He thinks that it was strange, but, he didn't see the dirt road continuing anymore so he thought that the house was the shop. He pull up near the house and get out, looking around the forest

'Why did the person build a shop deep into a forest like this?'

He approach and knock on the door, the windows were opened but he didn't want to look like a perv looking into someone's house. A voice of someone old and weary sounded out

"Come in, Yujiro-san."

'What?'

His name was spoken inside the house. He take a step back and look at the door. The voice inside laughed

"Hahaha, no need to back away in fear, young man. Come in, I haven't had any customers in so long."

Yujiro calm himself down and just think that he heard wrong. He reach for the door knob and open the door, a bell ring above him as he opens it

"Welcome, I've been waiting, Yujiro."

"…who are you?"

Now, he was definitely correct that he wasn't hearing wrong. The man somehow know him, did they meet before? Was he a long lost distant relative? Who was he? A name was on the desk he's standing at, Kieran, it reads

"Kieran. How do you know my name?"

"Ah, long story, you have. One of misery, rejection, harassment, deathly thoughts. However, you've came to the right place, Yujiro-san."

The old man, Kieran, said some of the strangest words. It felt like he'd known Yujiro for all his life. Yujiro's reaction was that of utter shock and confusion

'How did an old man know about me so detailed. Who is this old man?'

"Come, I've got just the thing for you, young Yujiro."

The old man move from the desk and approaches one of the three tables that's sprawled with items of unknown and mysterious origin. The item he grabbed was a box with an insignia of a demon with a flame in it's mouth. He approaches Yujiro with the box in both hands and gave it to Yujiro

"Here, this box contains the thing that'll help with your life until you die. Until that inevitable stop, you're granted with this box, when you reach that inevitable stop, I will take the item back."

"…who are you?"

Yujiro was a little hesitant to take the scary-looking box. The old man has the aura of a saint, it felt like the sun was warming him with it's presence alone and Kieran, he felt like his late grandfather. Tears begin to surface in his eyes as the image of his late grandfather surface in his mind, the only person who treated him like himself, not imposing any sort of objective on him, didn't mistreat him in any way nor exploited him. His late grandfather was more of a parent than his own parents

Kieran take Yujiro's hand and place the box on it with a smile

"I hope you live well, Yujiro-san."

"…who-"

"I'm closing shop now, I hope your life goes on blissfully."

Then, the old man raise his hand up and snap it. Yujiro blinked as a light suddenly exploded in front of him and when he opened them, the shop disappeared. Yujiro look around but to only see his car, not even the dirt road was there. But, what's strange is that he still has the box Kieran gave him. He look at it before belatedly thinking about what he said before he snapped his fingers

'I hope your life goes on blissfully.'

Those words gave him hope for his pointless life. He smiled, in such a long time he smiled. He went to his car and place the box next to him on the passenger seat. He drove off back to the highway and off to his apartment. The reason he's on the highway the first place was because he attended his late grandfather's funeral that's far away

He used one of his precious days off to visit, something he wouldn't even do for his ex-girlfriend. But, his grandfather was someone he has respect to and to repay his kindness, he went to his funeral

This was where his life turn to an even more of a mess than when it was, but this time, he welcomed it with open arms