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“Excuse me,” says the bigger of the two guys at the table by the window, loudly, staring right at Kazuki.
Kazuki sighs and slumps a little deeper where he’s leaning on the counter.
“Shouldn’t you go check what he wants?” asks Rei. He’s still getting used to this whole running a restaurant thing, but he’s learning. Last week, the middle-aged woman who’d been clearing her throat for nearly five minutes straight declined the cough drop that Rei offered, and instead asked for more coffee.
“I can’t believe you’re giving me customer service advice,” grumbles Kazuki, but he pushes himself upright and pastes on a smile before going over to check on their customers.
Rei misses how simple things used to be. He usually got to shoot anyone who annoyed him. Kyuutarou makes restaurants look easy, and Rei is beginning to suspect that’s all an act.
“Rei!” yells Kazuki from across the room.
Maybe Kyuutarou is good enough at making drinks that his customers don’t complain. Without hurrying, Rei makes his way over to present a united front alongside Kazuki.
“This isn’t cooked properly,” says the customer. He holds up his plate and presses his pancakes with the back of his fork. Soft, yellowish batter oozes sluggishly from the place where a wedge of pancake has been cut out.
Rei suppresses his first reaction – to leave, and let Kazuki talk to the guy – and then struggles for the appropriate response. Polite. He’s supposed to be polite to customers.
“Thank you for the feedback,” says Rei, and bows.
The guy and Kazuki both make odd choking noises, while the other customer, the slimmer one with long hair, snorts.
Apparently that wasn’t the right response. Rei straightens up, ignoring Kazuki’s sputtered apologies next to him as he racks his brain for what the guy could be angling for.
“Do you … want a refund?”
The big guy looks baffled, and the guy with long hair starts to laugh quietly, covering his mouth with one hand.
Kazuki speaks up, a note of apprehension in his voice, just like when he found out about Rei putting cereal and candy in onigiri. “I don’t know how to do a refund on the credit card machine. I’d have to – shoot, where did I put the manual?” He looks back at the counter, as though preparing to run over and start ransacking every drawer in the building.
Kazuki is good at that, quickly searching a place for a specific target. They both are.
“May I remind you that trying out this restaurant was your idea, Kojiro,” says the long-haired guy. He takes off his glasses to clean them on his shirt, still smirking.
“Yeah, whatever, this is a blemish on my record. Look, you can’t serve uncooked food to people,” says Kojiro, turning back to Rei.
“Unless it’s sashimi, of course,” puts in the other guy.
“Kaoru, shut up for a second.”
“I will not shut up when you’re being factually incorrect–“
Rei is tempted to sneak off while the two of them bicker, but his curiosity has been piqued, and he interrupts before it can escalate. “What are you, restaurant cops?”
Kojiro puts his head in his heads. Kaoru calmly picks up his coffee and says, “Yes. Undercooked pancakes are a felony in Okinawa. It’s one of our island traditions.”
Kazuki obligingly laughs. He’s better by far at getting them out of awkward situations.
“Bad coffee is a felony, too,” mutters Kojiro.
“It’s perfectly fine. You’re just a snob.” Kaoru takes another sip from his cup, as if to prove it.
Kazuki grumbles, “Those beans are expensive enough it’d better be all right.”
“Okay, we won’t serve undercooked food. What else?” asks Rei.
Kojiro lifts his head and blinks at him. “What?”
“What other restaurant rules are there?” Rei elaborates.
“You two run this place, right?” Kojiro keeps staring, looking between the two of them.
“Yes,” says Kazuki, and Rei nods.
“And you just opened up?”
“Almost two weeks ago,” Kazuki confirms.
Kojiro’s stare turns narrow-eyed and suspicious. “Have either of you ever worked in a restaurant before?”
“It’s been a while,” lies Kazuki.
Rei doesn’t bother saying anything. He and Kazuki have no customer service skills and minimal cooking ability, and clearly have no idea what they’re doing.
“How dare you discourage these men from following their dreams, Kojiro.”
Kojiro ignores him. “You’re doing the cooking?” he asks Rei.
“Kazuki is better at it,” protests Rei.
Instead of preening at the compliment, Kazuki scowls at him. “You can’t wait tables with your arm.”
“Sounds like you could use a server,” puts in Kojiro.
“Too expensive,” say Rei and Kazuki in unison.
Kojiro frowns at them. “It’s worth investing a little up front, if it’ll pay off. It takes a while for most restaurants to make money – anything you can do to get a steady customer base as fast as possible is worth it.”
The lecture makes Kazuki shoot a miserable glance at Rei. They don’t have any other sources of income, besides the restaurant – just savings they’re rapidly burning through, between moving all the way down here and buying the building and everything else. By running a business, they’re able to keep their names out of the public record for the most part, but if they have to give up on this and work for other people, that could become a problem. They’ve both tracked down targets through publicly available information before, and know how to make that more difficult for anyone trying to find them.
Rei accidentally meets Kaoru’s eyes. He’s staring at the two of them with a thoughtful, assessing gaze. Neither Rei nor Kazuki have strong undercover skills, and Rei can tell they’re looking less trustworthy by the minute, even if he has no idea how to deflect that suspicion.
Kazuki has his hands on his hips, braced to pump Kojiro for information. “Okay, but aren’t there any ways to attract customers that don’t cost money?”
Kojiro’s brow creases, like he’s never met broke people or something. He opens his mouth, probably to tell them more about how they’re doing a terrible job, when the bell over the front door jingles, cutting him off.
“Papas! I’m home!”
“Welcome back,” Rei mumbles, while Kazuki darts across the room to pull the heavy glass door the rest of the way open. Miri’s little body is at a steep angle in order to get the leverage to push it ajar, leaving handprints on the glass.
When Rei remembers their customers and checks on them, the suspicion has completely vanished from their faces, which is even more unsettling. Kaoru looks faintly curious, and Kojiro is suddenly wearing a warm smile, both of them looking over towards the door.
Miri chatters to Kazuki about her day, resisting his attempts to herd her towards the stairs to their apartment and instead making a beeline for Rei.
“Rei-papa! What did I do today?” she asks as she wraps herself around his leg. This is a new game they’ve started playing, where Rei makes use of his limited knowledge of kindergarten to guess what activities Miri participated in.
“Drew a picture.”
Miri giggles and nods vigorously, and Rei is about to guess “Had a nap” before pivoting to something obviously wrong so that Miri can chide him for being silly, when Kazuki catches up to them.
“Miri! Don’t you want to put your backpack away upstairs?” He casts a quick glance at the two seated customers, in front of whose table this whole conversation is happening. Miri follows his gaze, and stares up at the two strange men.
Kojiro seems to have forgotten all about his raw pancakes. “Hi, Miri-chan! My name is Kojiro. Did you just get home from school?”
Miri lights up, proceeding to tell Kojiro all about her classmates, her teacher, the cat she sees on her walk to school who sunbathes on top of a fence and is too high up to pet. Kazuki is in an awkward half-crouch, ready to snatch her up if it seems like she’s annoying the other man, but Kojiro is as warm and friendly as any kindergarten teacher that Rei has met, and within moments Miri has climbed into his lap.
Across the table, Kaoru has crossed his legs and is holding his coffee cup with both hands, elbows and knees all deployed as discouraging obstacles. He’s watching the two across the table interact with a fond expression, though.
“You know, there’s an udon place down the road from you. They’re not open in the mornings, so they might be able to help you out with breakfast service,” suggests Kaoru. “And make sure to put up a flier at the tourism office. The staff there will be able to advise you on where to take out ads, and if there are any small business grants you can apply for.”
Rei exchanges a glance with Kazuki. Free help and free money both sound too good to be true, especially when they can’t offer anything in return. There’s no reason for anyone to help out two mainlanders whose primary skills are all to do with violence.
“What, do you guys hand out advice to every pair of idiots you run across?” Kazuki is hunching his shoulders, making his strong frame into a small and sullen shape.
Kaoru blinks at them, and then looks across the table at Kojiro – who’s deep in conversation with Miri, nodding seriously at something she’s said. He’s carefully holding out his hands for her to grasp for balance while she stands on his thighs. Rei should probably be horrified that his child is stepping on a customer, but Miri being happy was the whole point of uprooting their lives and coming here, wasn’t it?
“It’s possible that Kojiro and I are unusually helpful towards any … pairs of idiots who are determined to choose the more difficult option,” Kaoru says slowly. He takes a last sip of coffee, then sets down his mug. “Anyways, if municipal staff give you trouble about any paperwork – adoption, or partnership, or anything – I’d be delighted to shout at them until the problem goes away.”
Kazuki startles at “partnership,” casting an alarmed look at Rei and opening his mouth like he wants to protest, but then he has to swallow whatever he was going to say and accept a business card from Kaoru. Rei leans over to read it, too.
“What’s an AI calligrapher?” Rei asks, but his question is drowned out by Kazuki exclaiming, “Wait, you’re Sakurayashiki-sensei? From the newspaper?!”
Kaoru’s face twists. Across the table, Kojiro looks up from Miri, who’s moved on from talking to him to singing to herself and bouncing.
“Wow, Kaoru, you were in the newspaper?” He whistles.
“I’m going to slash your tires,” replies Kaoru calmly.
Rei wonders if “AI calligrapher” is a cover story, too, and this Kaoru guy has a violent past like his and Kazuki’s.
“You could probably simplify your menu, while you’re starting out,” puts in Kojiro, obviously having overheard Kaoru’s suggestions while talking to Miri. “You’re recovering from an injury, right? Stick to things you don’t have to fuss with all the time, like French toast or something.”
“Oh. That … that might help, actually.” Kazuki sounds surprised.
Musical interlude finished, Miri clambers down from Kojiro’s lap, one of his hands hovering between her head and the edge of the table until she’s safely on the floor. Then she goes running for the stairs, and Rei cocks his ear for the telltale skid-thump that means he’ll need to soothe a crying child while telling her for the hundredth time that it’s her own fault for running in the house. Rei should look up how old kids have to be before they start to learn from their mistakes.
Once Miri has safely disappeared up the stairs, Kaoru rises from the table, and Kojiro does the same.
“Thank you for a memorable meal,” says Kaoru, amusement flickering around his mouth. “If I may, what was your employment prior to opening a restaurant?”
“Hired thugs,” says Rei. Beside him, Kazuki squawks in protest, but he should be happy that at least Rei didn’t say “hitmen.”
Kaoru’s face lights up. “Oh, are you still working in the field? Would you consider taking a kidnapping job?”
Kojiro looks horrified. “You can’t have anyone kidnapped, Kaoru!”
“Excuse me, there’s one person who I have every right to kidnap in retaliation, and besides, he’d enjoy it. I was thinking of arranging it for his birthday,” adds Kaoru thoughtfully.
Since the other two just stare at Kaoru, Rei offers, “We’ll think about it.”
Kazuki clears the table while Rei sees their customers to the door. When he straightens up from his final bow, the door is swinging shut behind them. Through the glass door, Rei watches them walk away down the road, close enough for their arms to brush, until Kojiro faces Kaoru and gesticulates emphatically as he says something, and Kaoru bristles. They turn a corner and vanish out of sight while the argument is still escalating.
With the two of them departed, the diner is empty again. Rei drifts back to the kitchen, where Kazuki is industriously washing dishes.
“What a couple of weirdos, huh?” Kazuki’s tone is uncertain, like he’s trying to convince himself.
“Miri liked the big guy.”
“Miri likes us. She’s a terrible judge of character,” mutters Kazuki.
Rei watches Kazuki work while he does his physiotherapy exercises, and the familiar task of washing dishes makes the tension in Kazuki’s shoulders slowly ease. Kazuki hates being in the middle of a plan and not being able to control many of the variables, and has been fretting non-stop since they got to Okinawa. If the restaurant doesn’t work out, Rei will happily beg Kyuutarou for more money or different jobs, though.
Partway through composing a mental list of tips to follow up on, Rei remembers one of the things Kaoru had mentioned.
“When are you going to tell me about that partnership registration form in your sock drawer?” he asks.
Kazuki drops the plate he’d been washing back into the sink, sending warm soapy water everywhere. He yelps as his front gets splashed, while Rei dodges back.
They both stand still for a moment. The water on the countertop starts to drip onto the floor.
“What were you doing in my sock drawer?” yelps Kazuki.
“Looking for socks.” Laundry has never been one of Rei’s priorities, and getting undressed with only one fully functional arm is hard enough. Getting everything tossed in the hamper is often too much effort after that, so he runs out of clothes sometimes.
Kazuki sighs. He raises his hands like he wants to cover his face, but then realizes they’re still damp and sudsy with dishwater.
“I just thought it would be practical,” he grumbles. His ears are turning pink though, so he’s hiding something.
“It probably would be practical to be husbands,” Rei agrees.
At “husbands,” the pink spills down into Kazuki’s cheeks. An on-target hit.
Movement catches Rei’s attention, and he spots two people approaching the entrance. He likes the glass door, to be able to spot people coming and avoid surprises.
“Let me know when you’re ready for me to sign it,” says Rei, straightening up from where he’s leaning on the counter.
Kazuki gapes at him before blurting out, “Y-you want to?”
Rei is taken aback. He gestures at his injured arm, the building they’ve spent all their savings on, the upstairs where the three of them are living.
“I left my entire life behind to be a family with you and Miri. Why wouldn’t I marry you?”
Kazuki seems too dumbstruck to speak, so Rei heads out to the front to greet their customers. At least he knows to cook the pancakes for longer, if these new arrivals order them.