Work Text:
Renji leaned on the wall of his apartment building, lit a cigarette and buttoned his jacket. The wind came in gusts and threw drizzle on his face. Windy, rainy, shitty summer, he thought, feeling more than a touch of self-pity. The summer vacation was just about to end and the summer itself had gone by almost unnoticed.
Renji finished the cigarette and threw the butt in a bin. He was running low on smokes – his previous attempt to buy more had ended in a slight embarrassment when the cashier, an ancient bat-faced hag who had sold him both smokes and/or beer tens if not hundreds times before, had suddenly wanted to make sure he was of age.
He had walked home without cigarettes, but with a backpack and two shopping bags full of heavy groceries.
After the fact, he might have smoked one or five extras to maintain his relatively calm composure, which didn’t help the cigarette situation.
Renji didn’t plan walking back to the market in the near future, but had figured that the student union’s convenience store was worth a shot. The place had opened not long ago, and the union was running it to see whether the sales merited setting up a second permanent store on School Island. Renji shopped there rarely and was unsure if they sold cigarettes, but the place wasn’t too far from where he lived.
When he was about half-way through, the drizzle transformed to real rain and the wind gained in strength. Renji hadn’t brought an umbrella with him, but thanks to some sprinting and his jacket, only his feet were wet when he entered the store.
The place was small, didn’t have many brands of anything to select from, and even the personnel were mostly unpaid student union members. This time the cashier was Rangiku, who only bothered to look up from her phone and give a small nod as hi when a small bell dinged to announce a new customer.
She looked unusually busy with her phone and didn’t even react when Renji skipped most of the store and walked right to her to choose a pack of cigarettes. He was the only customer as far he could tell, although he supposed someone could have been somewhere unseen, between the shelves full of breakfast cereals and just-add-water noodle soups.
“A quiet day, huh?” Renji asked, but didn’t get any answer before Rangiku finished with the text.
“Yeah, must be the rain.”
Her phone let out a small pling. She whispered a quick curse and started to type another message.
“Some kind of crisis on?” Renji asked with minimal interest. Rangiku didn’t seem to have any interest in filling her role in the transaction.
“An emergency”, she said, her bored, slightly irritated tone clearly indicating that no actual emergency was taking place. She then gave her full attention to the phone again.
Renji waited until the message was sent.
“My uncle called a while ago,” Rangiku explained. “He’s coming here later this evening.”
“I thought you were in good terms with him. Do you want to ca-ching the register or not?”
Technically speaking Rangiku couldn’t ‘ca-ching’ the cash register even if she wanted to. The sold items were written down with pen and paper and the money was kept in a metal box with a key firmly in its lock.
“Sorry, just a sec.”
Rangiku finished and sent the message, took the money and marked the cigarettes sold.
“It’s not that I don’t want to see him. I just wish he’d told me earlier, the apartment is kinda messy. Say, Renji, you still a union slave?”
Renji nodded. “Until the semester starts and we’ll get the new blood to fill the position. Why?”
“I’m trying to find someone to fill in for me,” Rangiku waved her phone as if it explained the whole situation, “but seems like no one can be fucking bothered to come and help me out. I’ll owe you a few beers?”
“How many hours?”
“Four and a half.” Rangiku didn’t even have to check the clock. “Then it’s just closing the door, locking the box, putting the key in its place and going back home. Remember to lock the door when you go.”
“Make it a few beers and two school cafeteria lunches.”
Rangiku ok’d the deal. Renji sat behind the desk and started to browse on his phone. Rangiku disappeared into the rain.
After the first hour or so, Renji didn’t wonder that no one could fucking be bothered to come and sell beer, cheap soon-to-be-expired bread and frozen pizza to the students. The three were the most commonly sold, but only barely after them came milk and different microwave meals.
The shift was quiet and hold an almost strange sense of peace. The customers came in evenly, sometimes alone and sometimes in small groups, and discussions were hushed. Rarely more than two groups were at present at the same time, and it was common that there was no customer in the store between the groups.
Initially, Renji spent the dead time reading the news, but after he finished with his typical pages he noticed a Harlequin Blaze novel left behind, he assumed, by Rangiku. Passion Between Claudia and Ethan wasn’t what he usually read, but his phone had only so much battery left and reading the novel was more amusing than staring at the walls and shelves, or the rainy weather outside. It wasn’t even that late, but the dark clouds and rain made it look almost like twilight hours.
The bell announced a new customer. Renji heard it but didn’t even look up from the book. The relationship between Claudia and Ethan had developed to the point where rigorous testing of sofa springs took place.
“Renji?”
The speaker was familiar. Renji looked up from the book.
“Shuhei,” he greeted back only slightly less surprised.
“What are you doing here?” Shuhei asked. “Do you sell umbrellas? I have zero desire to get soaked getting home.”
“I’m filling in for Rangiku. I don’t think we do but I don’t know. You coming straight from work?”
Shuhei nodded. “It’s been one hellish week. The whole faculty whines about some change in lecture timetables and guess who’s doing the real work. Fuck if it wasn’t Friday finally.”
“I take it you have plans?”
“I’m meeting a lady,” Shuhei said, his mood getting visibly better. Then he lifted his groceries (two frozen pizzas, a twelve-pack of beer and a packet of condoms) on the counter.
“Good old Dot Avi,” Renji teased and tried to find the condoms on the sales list. Other items he could already place with ease.
Shuhei laughed quietly. “Who wears the rubber with Dot Avi? Nah, we’re having a romantic movie night and a seven-course dinner.”
The twelve-pack and pizzas explained the dinner. Renji guessed that romantic movie night meant some superhero movie streamed from Netflix. For starters, there was no movie theater on School Island, and even if there was, who in their right mind would walk a date to one when it was pouring outside?
Renji filled the sales list, told Shuhei the cost and took the money. Then he asked if Shuhei had time to watch the shop so he could take a smoke.
Shuhei agreed, although he suspected that it was technically against the rules. Renji pointed out that he trusted Shuhei and didn’t see any surveillance cameras so it didn’t matter anyway.
It really was pouring outside. The smoking area was under a canopy so Renji didn’t get wet but water ran in streams on the asphalt and carried loose cigarette butts towards the sewer. Even the street lights were on. The automatic system was fooled by the rain and clouds to think it was twilight hours already, Renji figured.
“Disgusting weather,” he said when returning.
Shuhei nodded and raised Rangiku’s book he clearly had flipped through. “Quality reading you have here.”
“Yeah, they really missed this one for the Nobel Prize for Literature this year.”
“Is it ok if I take your umbrella? I didn’t find any here.”
“Wasn’t raining when I left home. I don’t have one.”
Shuhei took the beers, pizzas and condoms and embraced his destiny in the rain.
High school kids bought frozen pizzas and sugar-free cola.
Ethan and Claudia had an intense fight.
Renji bought a sandwich and a cold coffee. He ate the sandwich and drank the coffee.
Claudia and Ethan made peace and made sure that the springs in Claudia’s mattress knew it.
The next familiar face Renji saw belonged to Izuru, who had rushed in so hastily he barely had time to close the umbrella before he stood next to the cashier’s stand. His face was flushed despite the weather and he was slightly out of breath.
“What’s the hurry?” Renji asked and placed the book down.
“Momo’s baking peach cobbler as we speak,” Izuru explained in one breath, without wasting time to say hello. “We’re out of milk and… Damn I can’t remember what the other thing was. I have to call her.”
Izuru fished out his phone. Water dripped from the umbrella and his shoes had left wet footprints on the floor, which was spotted with dirt already. The thought occurred to Renji that maybe he was supposed to clean the store too. Rangiku hadn’t said anything about it, but she had been selling the hours and maybe such a minute detail had just slipped her mind, apologies for inconvenience to all involved.
“What on earth is peach cobbler?” Renji asked with genuine interest while Izuru held the phone and waited for Momo to pick up.
“No idea, beyond it being something to eat and having peaches in it. And milk.”
Apparently Momo answered because Izuru continued: “Hi. I forgot what the other thing was. Milk and the other thing.”
“Baking powder”, Renji heard Momo’s voice through the call. The shop was quiet, one could hear only the rain and the low hum of refrigerators.
“Renji, baking powder?”
Momo, of course, heard Izuru’s words and continued: “Is Renji there?”
“He is,” Izuru said on the phone. “I thought you didn’t have anything to do with this mess?”
“I’m filling in for Rangiku,” Renji explained for the second time this evening. Izuru echoed his words to Momo.
Renji didn’t know if there was baking powder on the store. Izuru repeated that, too, to the phone.
The store focused on items students usually bought, instead of baking supplies, and despite combing through the shelves together Renji and Izuru couldn't find the desired item. After they finished Renji searched through the list he marked items sold but didn’t find it from there either.
“I have it at home and that’s practically on the way home for you”, Renji said after giving up. “Do you have the key?”
Izuru didn’t have it with him. He had one in home, in case Renji accidentally locked himself out some day, but it didn’t do much good in the current situation.
“What if I give you my key? I’m free at eight, I’ll come to your place to get it and see what that cobbler thingy is.”
That suited Izuru. Renji loosened his apartment key and handed it away.
Izuru was already at door, opening his umbrella, when Renji realized he was forgetting something.
“Weren’t you supposed to buy milk?”
“Uh, thanks.” Izuru closed the umbrella, rushed to the milk shelf and then back to Renji. He was in hurry again.
“Would’ve been real embarrassing to forget it again,” he said with small smile and a touch of laughter.
Renji nodded and took the money. Izuru saw himself out and opened the umbrella before heading into the rain.
The door hardly had time to close before being opened again by three tipsy girls from a lower class. They bought cider. Renji knew the brand and the taste, which was way too sweet and artificial, but vaguely resembled pears, last of which being what the can promised.
The early twilight hours started to creep in.
When the evening grew older the store grew busier. The groceries tended more and more toward beer and microwave meals.
Microwave meal sales exceeded those of soon-to-be-expired bread.
Ethan proposed to Claudia at the beginning of the last chapter.
Nanao, whom Renji knew from school but didn’t interact with much, bought ice cream and tampons for heavy flow.
It wasn’t until the last page when Claudia said yes to Ethan.
Renji kept eying the clock, but he had finished the book just a bit too early. The store was supposed to stay open almost half an hour longer, and he was starting to feel hungry again. Good thing Momo and Izuru lived nearby.
Perhaps there was a mop somewhere. The customers had carried in so much water and sand that the floor was starting to look downright filthy.
He didn’t find a mop, and figured that even if he had, he didn’t have any place to wash it, aside from out in the rain.
It was 7:55 PM when Renji locked the metal box.
Almost simultaneously the door opened. Renji found that he knew the person who came in. It was Tetsuzaemon, one of the PhD students who oftentimes hung with Shuhei.
“Evening,” Tetsuzaemon greeted. “Are you closing, or can I still buy something?”
“Just don’t take too long.”
Tetsuzaemon nodded and Renji re-opened the cashier’s box. He noted that Tetsuzaemon was dry, but didn’t carry an umbrella, and he could still hear the rain falling.
“It’s still raining, right?”
“Yeah”, Tetsuzaemon half yelled and disappeared around a corner when walking towards the milk case. “It’s pouring like crazy.”
“Did you come from work?”
“No, my neighbor loaned me his car. Asked if I’d buy some baby food for his kid as thanks.”
Before Izuru had visited Renji, couldn’t have said if the store sold any kind of baby food. Afterward, he could have pointed the exact location of fruit puree and baby porridge. Tetsuzaemon, however, didn’t need help, and loaded prune puree into his basket, next to protein pudding and canned pineapple.
“I can give you a lift,” Tetsuzaemon said while he paid, “if you can leave more or less now. I can’t keep the car too long, the neighbor will start to wonder.”
“Hey, thanks,” Renji answered and gave a honest smile. “I can come right now,but I’m going to Momo’s and Izuru’s place, they have my keys, but it’d be great if you’d take me.”
Tetsuzaemon didn’t mind. It was only a short distance, after all.
Renji locked the cashier’s box and placed its key where it belonged. He switched the lights off, not caring that Rangiku hadn’t said anything about the lights, and made sure the door locked when he closed it after him.
At Izuru’s and Momo’s apartment, he learned that peach cobbler was a sweet dessert that tasted great with vanilla ice cream.