Work Text:
“For the love of… Kasumi, send Kashuu over here! I need him to work the counter!”
The sound of his name made Kashuu look up from his needlework. He knew that it had been a hectic day at Kiyomitsu Leatherworks. First, there were the four pairs of ancient riding boots that were brought in by some rich family or another; Kashuu didn’t particularly care which family, just that his father was swearing about them. Then there was the order he had helped with, the fancy wallets ordered by yet another rich family; Kashuu thought he heard mention of the Kyoto Kanesadas but for them to come all the way out to Shusei seemed like a bit of a trip, even for the best leatherwork. Between that and the standard individual orders of things like belts, wallets for normal people, and normal shoe repairs, it seemed like a miracle that his father was still alive.
“Kashuu, go help your father; I know it’s busy here too, but you’re better off there.”
He recoiled, not from a dislike of working with leather so much as receiving this order again. Kaga was still too young to be allowed to do more than bring things into each side; that left only his mother and two grandmothers to do everything for the busier side of the shop and his father and his father’s father to run the leatherworks. Usually he was needed more on his mother’s side because of the sheer number and variety of requests, but his parents and grandparents were beginning to push him toward the “manly” side of the shop. He liked it well enough and saw it as a chance to learn more for when he pursued clothing design for a living, but he would have much rather been sewing beads to a dress or monogramming a shirt. Nonetheless, that didn’t matter, so he answered, “Yes, Mother.” He got up and slipped through the door to the other side. “I’m here.”
“Good. Watch the register, because the Kanesadas are coming and your fool of a brother lost one of the wallets. It has to be here somewhere, but I can’t watch the counter while looking and your grandpa is busy fixing those damned boots.”
“Of course.” Hearing his father describe Kaga so poorly left a bad taste in his mouth, but Kashuu said nothing further as he took his place behind the counter. Hopefully the wallet would be found, Kaga wouldn’t hear anything more about it, and he could go back to the other side of the shop.
An hour passed before anything eventful occurred, but when it did, it did with a shout.
“Son of a bitch!” The sound of a hammer hitting the table could be heard.
“What is it, Father?” Kashuu’s father asked.
“Stabbed myself in the hand with this needle!”
Kashuu cringed at the thought; those needles were hollow and sharp, all the better to get through leather with. Having one of those go through skin would punch a bigger hole than a standard sewing needle, that was for sure.
His father sighed. “Nothing to be done for it now. I’ll take over from here; please get yourself cleaned up.”
His grandfather chuckled. “Ah, Kai, for someone who’s usually so rough you’re a damn good son.” The door to the back room swung open and then shut. “Anything, Kashuu?”
“Nothing.”
“No clue when those rich guys will be here, so stay sharp. Good thing your daddy found that wallet, or Kaga wouldn’t have heard the end of it.”
That seemed like a nice way of putting it. “Father wrote down that they should be here around three.”
“It’s two now; anything important that’ll happen had best happen in the next half hour.”
He nodded.
“Off to go bandage this. Good luck.”
He nodded again but his grandfather had retreated to the middle of the building, surely heading to the bathroom and the first aid kit. Ascertaining that no blood had dripped on the floor, he went back to waiting.
Working the counter of his father’s side of the shop was his least favorite chore. His mother, at least, allowed him to bring some sewing to the front with him; his father didn’t dare let a project leave his sight until it was complete, for better or for worse. Even if he was mostly given simple tasks when he was in the back, at least he was doing something and there were others around. Here he had no one to talk to and nothing to do; all he could do was sit around and hope someone would come in.
Ten minutes later, he got something close to his wish: the phone rang. He picked up, thankful for some contact with another human being despite it being a business conversation. “Kiyomitsu Leatherworks.”
“Hello. My name is Kikkou Sadamune. I recently started a shop and I’d like to inquire about a business collaboration.”
His father was sure to be furious at this distraction, but this was a rare call that he couldn’t handle. Besides, this “business collaboration” could help improve the family’s income; maybe those windows could be fixed and his parents wouldn’t have to worry so much about affording to send two children to school. “Of course. Just a moment.” He took the phone with him and called into the back room, “Father? You have a phone call.”
He came out of the back room and took the phone. “Kiyomitsu Leatherworks, Kai speaking.” He took the phone back with him; Kashuu did his best to listen in. “What shop?” After a moment he continued, “What did you just say? I could swear you said, ‘Kinbaku-ji.’”
He broke into a cold sweat. “Kinbaku-ji” was a pun on a famous temple, he knew that much, and there was no way his weirdly Buddhist father would take that pun well. However, it took him a moment to pin down what sounded familiar about the term “kinbaku”: he and two of his friends had gone into the red-light district on a whim, poorly-made fake IDs in hand so they could explore the sex shops and giggle at what was inside. Kinbaku was… a fetish. His father would be out for blood.
“What sort of person names a shop ‘Kinbaku-ji?’ No, I will not work with you! Goodbye!” He stormed out with the phone. “If Sadamune calls back tell him that no, I will not listen to his perverted mouth.” Slamming the phone on the counter, he stormed back to his work.
Did the phone even work anymore? Kashuu had no way of knowing, but he took it back anyway. He didn’t know when he’d find out if it worked, but he’d just have to wait; making a personal call while on the job would require a death wish.
His grandpa came back through, his hand bandaged. “What did I just hear your daddy screaming about?”
“He got a call about a business collaboration.”
“Why was he screaming?”
“It was for… uh…” How did one even tell their grandpa that the caller was from a sex shop?
“What?”
“Uh… a bondage shop, called ‘Kinbaku-ji.’”
He started laughing. “He was screaming over that? He’s so uptight, I swear…” He paused to catch his breath. “Shops like that are supposed to have provocative names, and that shop could get us constant business. I’m going to go change his mind right now.” He took the phone, pressed a button to make sure it worked, and walked off to the back room.
The ringing of the bell above the door heralded the Kanesadas’ arrival at three o’clock sharp. Four members of the fancy-looking group were squirming, seemingly uncomfortable with the thought of being in Midori-ku in the first place, let alone a slum like Midoriguchi; only the youngest, from the looks of it a college student, seemed unbothered, merely looking at the pictures on the walls, all showing pieces produced by the last two generations that had run the family business.
“These pieces are lovely. Mother, Father, wouldn’t you agree?” the student asked.
His parents nodded, neither of them saying a thing.
“My… gold on leather is an unusual sight. Elegant.” The student frowned upon seeing his family members’ reactions. “What, don’t you know a good thing when you see it?” Sighing, he went to the counter. “Kasen Kanesada. We’re here for five wallets ordered by the Kyoto branch of the Kanesada family.”
Hadn’t he engraved that strange name on the wallet he had made on his own? “Of course. Let me get my father.”
“Thank you very much.”
Rich people alarmed Kashuu every time he met them, although this “Kasen” guy was more confusing than anything. Putting the thought out of his mind, he opened the door to the back room and shouted, “The Kanesada family is here!”
“Come give me a hand with the boxes then!”
Kashuu turned his attention back to the quintet. “Please wait a moment.” He went into the back room to find the five boxes stacked in a formation one box short of a pyramid. “Two or three?”
“Get two and the door.” His gruff voice was always commanding enough to snap Kashuu into line, but it was twice as commanding when business was on the line; Kashuu took two of the boxes and hurried to the door, holding it open as his father came through, the three boxes stacked into a tiny pyramid in his arms. “I apologize for the wait. Here are your wallets.” He set the boxes on the counter; Kashuu followed suit with the ones he was holding.
Kasen approached and started opening the boxes, examining each one. “Just as we heard: these are stunning.”
Kashuu’s father smiled. “We always do our best to please our customers.” He slid open the counter drawer, the one Kashuu knew was reserved for invoices, and pulled a piece of paper out. “Now, for the matter of the invoice. I discussed this with your father, of course, so he should likely be the one to look at this.” He looked at a middle-aged man in the group by the door. “My estimate was correct; getting that type of leather was more difficult than anticipated.”
The man sighed and stepped forward, Kasen moving aside. “These are as nice as our relatives here said.” He turned to his wife. “Hikaru, come over here and see for yourself.”
The middle-aged woman near the door approached, her eyebrows scrunched together. Her eyebrows shot up upon seeing the rose-pink wallet, stamped with the family crest and the kanji for her name. “My. Makoto chose well.”
“The card, please.”
She dug an old, ugly men’s wallet out of her purse and pulled a credit card from it, passing the card to her husband. The elderly pair near the door scowled in disgust.
Kashuu stood back and thought as he scanned the room, hearing the click of the card on the counter and the glide it took through the scanner; his father wouldn’t have wanted him to do more. It was nice to see Kasen’s parents grow more enthusiastic as they saw the completed work he, his father, and his grandfather had done, but it wasn’t surprising to see how they and their own parents had held back. The Kiyomitsu family was tainted, of course; descent from the eta and hinin didn’t fade over time, as proven by the reality of their living and working conditions. Why would the Kanesada family, wealthy and descended from samurai, want any contact? This only fueled his desire to make himself known for producing things so beautiful no one could stay away. If he had any other destiny, he’d defy it to the end in the name of his goals.
“What deep color,” Kasen mused. “Indigo looks beautiful on a wallet.” He smiled. “I wonder who did this…”
“All work here is a team effort,” Kashuu’s father answered, passing the credit card back to Kasen’s father. It was probably selfish, and he knew that, but Kashuu couldn’t help but purse his lips at his father’s answer; taking credit for another person’s work didn’t look good on anyone, much less his father. Wasn’t his father supposed to be proud of him?
Kasen’s eyes flicked to Kashuu, a half-smile on his face as he took the box containing his new wallet. “I see.”
Did Kasen see through that lie? Kashuu couldn’t tell and he wasn’t about to ask.
“Good doing business with you, Kiyomitsu,” Kasen’s father said, taking three of the boxes; his wife had already taken the box containing hers. “I’ll make sure to tell my friends of your skill.”
Kashuu’s father smiled. “Good doing business with you too. Be sure to call if you have any issues.”
He nodded and turned his attention back to his family. “Alright, let’s head back to the house and change before we go out to eat.” Upon seeing nods from his companions, he waved to Kashuu’s father and led his family out.
Kashuu thought he might have seen Kasen wave to him, but it seemed more likely that he was imagining things. What he was sure he wasn’t imagining, however, was the grin on his father’s face. “What is it?”
“Do you know how big that order was?”
“I knew it was a lot, but I wasn’t sure how much…”
“More than one-hundred-thousand yen.”
His jaw dropped. He knew the Kanesadas were rich, but to be wealthy enough to spend more than twenty thousand yen on a single wallet was beyond his comprehension. Even five thousand yen seemed extravagant.
“You can go back over to the other side now; your grandpa’s back and things have calmed down.” After Kashuu nodded, he continued, “Good work.”
Praise? He wasn’t used to hearing any from his father; he was more likely to express concern over his being too “feminine” for a young man about to start college, questions that merged with concern over his not having a girlfriend. It took effort to block the bitter shock from his face. “Thanks.”
He nodded once. “You’ll do a good job taking over the shop one day; I know it.”
More bitterness seeped into his gut; he thought it was obvious that he had no plans of taking over the family business, but apparently it wasn’t. Instead he nodded. “If you need me again, you know where I’ll be.”
“Mhm.”
The pair turned away and went back to where they had been to start with: Kashuu’s father to the back room of the Leatherworks and Kashuu to his mother and grandmothers’ side of the shop.