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There were two more groups of customers before Ban-san and Yuki-san showed up at the shop, one consisting of two boys poking and prodding in every corner of the shop while the third talked Momo’s ear off about Mahou Shoujo Magical Cocona until his companions all but dragged him away; the second group was a duo of teenagers who bickered without end about cameras and eventually bought a secondhand Polaroid and about thirty different small animal keychains. Both groups had arrived after Ryo got bored and left, thank God; Momo did not want to have to wait out a fight between normal, well-meaning customers and Tsukumo Ryo, and he did not want to have to put on a balancing act between customer service and handling Ryo’s moods. He was already exhausted.
But as the sun set, marking two and a half hours until the end of his shift, the bell above the door jingled and Ban-san and Yuki-san walked in, just like normal. Yuki-san neither gave a greeting nor waited for Momo to say anything; he made a beeline straight for the counter and began looking Momo over so intently Momo found himself blushing harder than he had all day.
“Good evening, Momo-kun,” Ban-san called, smiling at him just the same as ever. “I’ve missed you. How are you doing?”
“I’m doing well!” Momo chirped, and the words almost weren’t a lie, and the smile almost wasn’t fake. “I just had some, uh, family stuff, so I had to take a couple days off work. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to tell you guys.”
Yuki-san looked extremely displeased, and for a moment, a deep sadness flashed across Ban-san’s face, and then, approaching the counter next to Yuki-san, he said, “That’s alright. It wasn’t your fault.”
Except it totally, completely was, for getting involved with Tsukumo Ryo in the first place, for accepting this job, for staying even as all of his coworkers quit and were never replaced; Momo had asked for this, for all of this, and he was only bearing the consequences of his own actions. Ban-san didn’t know anything—but it was kind of him to say nonetheless.
“Thanks, Ban-san,” Momo said with a smile. “So what have you two been up to?”
“Yuki’s been making progress in bonding with his mentor’s son,” Ban-san said, grinning proudly at his partner. “Yuki, why don’t you tell Momo-kun about it?”
Yuki-san did not look particularly enthused about the new connection he had made. “He’s a good kid,” he said. “He likes Ban better, though.”
“Yuki.”
“It’s true. Most people do.”
Ban-san rolled his eyes. “I’m sorry about him, he’s in a bad mood.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
“He didn’t invite me to do the fingerprint-testing kit with him.”
“Fingerprint-testing kit?” Momo echoed. “What’s that all about?”
Yuki jumped, looking suddenly guilty.
“Some of my boys are chasing down a criminal,” Ban-san explained. “Yuki’s mentor’s son is one of their group. They set up in my room for it earlier, and Yuki’s been jealous ever since—”
“You’ll let them in, but not me ,” Yuki muttered. “It’s not fair.”
“Well, you shouldn’t have made bad choices, then.”
“I sent that creep Kujo away! What more do you want from me?!”
“Play stupid games, win stupid prizes,” said Ban-san. “I like my new place and I’m not moving back in.”
“Is this still about the Just Dance thing?” Momo said, raising his eyebrows. “I thought you guys were over it by now, since you’re speaking again.”
“We’re over it, don’t worry,” Ban-san said, smiling at him. “This is just—the aftereffects.”
“Ban’s still mad at me,” said Yuki-san.
Ban-san rolled his eyes. “Yuki can’t get over the fact that sometimes things change,” he said.
“So you’re still fighting over it,” Momo summed up. “That’s great, you two.”
“It’s Ban’s fault in the first place for—!” Yuki-san cut himself off, grit his teeth, swallowed his words. His eyes went blank for a moment, and then he continued speaking. “That doesn’t matter. That’s not important. Anyway I’ve almost made friends with the kid, I think.”
“That’s great!” said Momo. “But—um—what exactly was it that Ban-san did?”
“Huh?”
“You just said that it was Ban-san’s fault for something,” Momo said. “What was it?”
“I…I don’t know,” Yuki-san said, his brow furrowing. “Ban, did I…?”
“Did you what?”
“I don’t know.” Momo watched as the strange blankness settled behind Ban-san and Yuki-san’s eyes again, and then they picked up bickering once more—Ban-san had moved out, Yuki-san was lonely, Ban-san was looking after teenagers, well wasn’t Yuki-san making friends with those teenagers?, so on and so forth. It was comforting, even, and in a way that Momo didn’t quite understand—both that they were here, and not angry with him, and wanting to be around him, and that they were here, and on poor terms with each other, and still fighting over a game of Just Dance from five years ago.
—Five years ago?
Momo’s head blurred; he blinked, and his vision cleared, and he was alone in the shop, Ban-san and Yuki-san nowhere to be seen. He must have been daydreaming, or something; he had been alone for hours. There had only been Ryo and the seven strange customers today, no Ban-san, no Yuki-san. That was actually a good thing—in the daydream, they hadn’t noticed his new uniform, but in reality he was sure that they would. And then things wouldn’t be so nice, because he would have to come up with some kind of explanation, and lie about a whole lot more than just how he was feeling, and of course the fact that he couldn’t at present use one of his arms. It would worry them. They would ask questions. They might attract Ryo’s attention. It would be better if they didn’t come back until he could hide it again…
The bell over the door rang. Just like always, Ban-san and Yuki-san came in. Yuki-san made a beeline for the counter; Ban-san smiled and said, “Good evening, Momo-kun. I’ve missed you. How are you doing?”
Or maybe it would be better if they never came back again. Better for them, safer for them. They wouldn’t piss off Ryo that way—Momo wouldn’t piss off Ryo either by way of having other friends. They could all be safe and happy in their own ways.
The door swang shut. It was a false alarm. Nobody had entered through it, nobody had smiled warmly at him, nobody had come up to the counter, nobody had greeted Momo there.
Nobody ever would again.