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Contrary to what people think, he really liked to meddle in other people's affairs, especially Shin's, particularly this week when Shin was quite anxious; he had been sweeping in front of the shop for almost three hours.
Even this morning when he arrived in the kitchen the blond boy had a ghostly face, he hadn't eaten anything, so when he saw him going through the waste she decided to go and see him.
“Are you okay, Shin?” Shin asked kindly. Shin turned around; he looked as bad as when Heisuke had broken his skateboard five months ago.
“Yes, I think I’ve caught the flu,” said Shin, grabbing the broom, heading back to the store to put it away, and after all that, he ran a hand through his hair. “I had trouble sleeping.”
“You should go see Madame Aoi, she’ll give you treatment!” said Lu, seeing his friend at the end of his life.
Shin stretches and sighs before answering her.
“You’re probably right. I’ll be back,” said Shin, leaving the store again to go see Aoi who was preparing the dishes.
Lu returned to her seat and looked behind the counter. She found Shin's phone lying there defenseless. Lu picked it up and turned it on. The wallpaper was an old photo of Asakura and Shin. Little Lu smiled.
Luckily, Shin had a fake code as her password, so she checks her notifications.
He had dozens of them, half of them Heisuke, who replied to all his stories and also sent him funny videos.
“message asakura 11:05 PM last night
Take care and don't hesitate to drop by the lab, I'd love to see you again.
“Instagram notification from Kei-Hesuke to like your story”
“Insta notification: Kei-Heisuke replied: slayyyyyy on your Insta story”
“Message from Akira Akao at 11:15 PM last night”
I'm going to Tokyo tomorrow, we can see each other!!!
“Notif Center Corp will publish a new post today”
“Apple Music notification: xxxxx's latest album is available on our platform” yesterday
“Notification from Sakamoto Store: New order at 9 AM”
“Instagram notification: akiraakao sent you a message”
Insta notification akiraakao replied to your message “8:45 am
“He might be sick,” I thought at first glance
All the messages are usual, but she remains curious about Akira's message, who never comes to Tokyo.
Shin arrives just as Lu turns off the phone, he goes to the counter, grabs his phone, turns it on and seems to be writing a message.
He had regained his smile.
“Is it getting better?” Lu asked.
“Yes, I’m going to deliver an order, Heisuke will be here in five minutes to help you, it’ll be fine,” said Shin, clearly more smiling than this morning.
“No problem, I’m not employee of the month for nothing,” she said.
“If you say so,” Shin said before taking the order and leaving the store, leaving Lu all alone until Heisuke arrived.
“Wow, not even a comeback,” she said.
20 minutes passed, customers came and went, and Madame Aoi had gone down to the shop to help and provide food for the shop.
She looks around and doesn't see Shin... nor Heisuke.
“Where are the boys?” Aoi asked.
“Shin is delivering an order and Heisuke is due to arrive,” Lu said simply.
Heisuke arrives at that moment with Pitsuke and an order bag which he gives to Madame Aoi, she opens it and sees a delivery slip, Heisuke sits down on a chair out of breath from his run.
“I’m sorry for the delay, the order was on the other side of town…” he said.
“My poor fellow, why didn’t you take the bike?” said Aoi upon receiving the order form.
“I’m training,” said Heisuke, pouring himself a bottle of water.
“You’re going to take a break, Heisuke,” Aoi said, putting her hand on his shoulder.
“If that suits you, I’d like to go and get some ingredients for my brioche,” said Lu, setting up the empty brioche stand.
“Can it wait…Shin hasn’t come back and I have to meet Taro at school for a school meeting.
Lu hesitates but finally accepts, Aoi smiles before continuing to fill out the order forms while Heisuke remains seated, half out of breath from his run, and Lu manages the food stand.
“Don’t you find Shin strange?” Heisuke asked.
“Not especially,” said Heisuke in a monotone voice.
She looks at the bunny park calendar; it was Thursday, which means the two young men will go out tonight as usual.
“Do you still go to the riding school on Thursdays?”
“There are no rides, but maybe we’ll go see a car show,” said Heisuke.
“Okay…” said Lu
“We haven’t thought about it yet, but it’s being prepared,” said Heisuke.
“OK,” he replied, looking at the clock.
Almost a quarter of an hour later, Shin returns as cheerful as when he left. He takes the order form and puts it in the notebook before taking off his heavy jacket.
“Yo man, so what’s your order?” Heisuke asked.
“It’s okay, it wasn’t very far,” said Shin, looking at the notebook.
“Lucky you, I was on the other side of town,” said Heisuke, who sat down next to his friend who was now writing down the order form.
“But why are you sticking to me like that?” said Shin, annoyed.
“We’re buddies,” said Heisuke
“I know, but don’t get on my nerves like that. By the way, did Mrs. Sakamoto fill out your order form?” Shin asked.
“Yes, I think so,” said Heisuke, looking at the list.
“You’re impossible,” said Lu, taking the notebook from Shin’s hand. She noticed that the address given was indeed not far from here and that it was delivered quite quickly.
“Wait, Shin, why did it take you forty-five minutes to come back when the delivery is so close to home?” said Lu
“Wow bro, but you’re slow,” said Heisuke, moving away from Shin.
Shin gets angry and goes to him to take the notebook and put it back on the table.
“I went to get some cigarettes and then I went for a walk,” said Shin, taking a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket.
“You’re still slow,” said Heisuke
“I thought you’d stopped smoking since you moved here,” he said.
“I smoke occasionally, what’s with this interrogation?” said Shin
“I’m just checking that the orders are delivered and that everything is normal in the absence of the boss,” he said, reading aloud to appear credible to the boys.
“We’re going out tonight,” Heisuke asks, trying to ease the tension between the two.
“Yes, if you want,” said Shin, continuing his work with orders while Lu pretended to redo the counter presentation.
"So Shin... do you have any news about Akira?" he asked.
Shin knew that she and he were friends, so for the redhead this question was credible and innocuous.
heisuke regarde shin
“Why don’t you ask him?” said Shin
“You’re his friend,” he retorted.
“No connection whatsoever, you can just ask him in a message,” said Shin, taking out his phone to do some calculations.
“The last time I saw him was when we went to Osaka for his birthday. Unless you two are still talking,” Lu asked.
“She’s doing well, she’s living with her grandparents,” Shin finally said.
Later, after a good meal and a break, Lu finally went to get his ingredients for his plan. Shin is at the shop with Aoi and Taro while Heisuke is upstairs in the store delivering orders.
Everything was fine, she was still on a mission but she was taking a break…
It took her an hour to gather everything and she took a short break near a snack bar to eat. She checked the time on her phone; she still had some time before Aoi went to pick up Hana, but then Hana received a message.
“Message from Aoi Sakamoto at 3:16 PM”
Lu, can you come back to the shop? Shin has gone on a delivery and someone needs to keep an eye on Heisuke.
Thank you, my darling.
She replies "I'm coming" and then runs to the shop; twenty minutes later she arrives at the shop.
“Thank you Lu,” said Aoi, kissing him on the cheek before leaving to pick up Hana with the bike.
“But why did Shin go on a delivery? I thought Heisuke was the one who did it,” said Lu
“It’s an urgent order from a private individual,” said Aoi.
She puts her things down in the break room before going back behind the counter to sort the mail that Aoi had started to do.
“Oh, hi Lu! I just finished delivering the last order. Do you need any help?” Heisuke asked after appearing at the store door.
“Would you mind taking over at the till for me? I’ll reheat the food,” said Lu, pointing to the now cold dishes.
Heisuke nods then Lu moves to go towards the food stand, she turns on the hotplate then goes to turn over the sign, the food stand was one of the biggest profits of the shop, after delivery.
“Tell you and Shin, you’re not angry?” Heisuke asked.
“No, don’t worry, I’m just worried about him…” he said.
“Yeah, his dad broke his arm conducting an experiment, so he has to take care of him,” Heisuke said after a pause.
She had no idea that Shin had family problems...
“Since when?” he asked.
“Last week,” said Heisuke
“I’ll go see his father after work to bring him some pastries,” he said.
Now it's starting to rain... Taro, having seen this, leaves with the car to pick up Aoi and Hana from school. Customers arrive to order food, and Heisuke prepares the orders and the till, and gives them the reheated dishes.
“Could I have some broth? Yours was delicious,” said an old lady.
“Well, I ask you to go see Heisuke so that you can have your order from home,” said Lu, putting curry into a box.
“Received,” said Heisuke, handing a ticket to a lady.
Shin arrives at that moment, he had almost slipped because of the rain, he throws down his bag and coat then stands next to Heisuke.
“Everything is fine,” said Shin
“Can you prepare the order bags?” Heisuke asks, pointing to the break room.
"ok" it's shin
He heads to the break room and starts preparing bags with order forms and materials to send them, Lu continues to make the dishes and Heisuke to make tickets.
He boxes the packages and puts them on the tray in order to send them upwards using a machine invented by Sakamoto.
The Sakamoto family arrives at the shop; Hana goes to the break room to see Shin and give him a hug.
“Did you have a good day, Hana?” Shin asked, smiling.
“Yes, we learned the (t) sound today!” said Hana happily.
“That’s great, you’ll soon be able to read,” said Shin.
“Yes, Mommy says that before Daddy’s birthday I’ll be able to read my little fish book,” said Hana happily, even taking out her little cardboard book.
“I can’t wait for you to read me the story,” said Shin.
“Yes,” she said.
Aoi arrives to help Shin prepare the orders while Taro and Hana go to the apartment to eat and warm up.
Three hours into the rush, the shop closes. The employees leave their aprons here and put on their jackets. She had a white package on her.
“What’s in this package?” Shin asked.
“I’m going to see your father… Heisuke told me he broke his arm,” he said.
“But you don’t know where he lives,” said Shin, putting something in his pocket.
“Heisuke gave me the address, I’ll go there before I go home,” said Lu with a small smile.
“There’s a problem, Shin,” asks Heisuke, who gives Pitsuke some small biscuits.
“No, not at all. Go ahead, Lu,” said Shin, shrugging his shoulders.
“I’m going to change, but I’ll meet you at the bar,” said Heisuke, heading towards the Sakamotos’ apartment.
Shin didn't have time to reply before Heisuke and Lu had already left, so he quickly headed to the apartment to change and grab a big jacket before leaving.
“I might be late getting home,” said Shin
“Okay. If you're not going out with Heisuke, let him know,” said Aoi.
Shin quickly descends the steps and heads briskly towards the town square. He sends a message from Heisuke to "postpone" their evening, claiming he isn't feeling well, and he sends a message to Lu to give him the lab code.
He doesn't even see people passing in front of him, and even worse, when someone taps him on the shoulder, he turns around to see Akira all smiles.
“You should be careful,” said Akira
“I’m sorry, I was writing a message… Did your train journey go well?” Shin asked.
“Yes, I just arrived… but you might not have seen my messages,” she said, taking out her phone.
Shin hugged Akira; she could smell Shin's cologne mixed with the scent of broth. She snuggled into his arms.
“Oh, I’m sorry… it was a rush at the shop today and I had to go see Asakura… I’m sorry,” said Shin
“Everything is fine,” said Akira
He moves away from Akira and takes a small bag out of his pocket, she opens it, it was cakes that Shin went to get this afternoon, she smiles before taking a piece.
“It’s delicious,” she said.
“We discovered this shop with Hana, if you want next time I can give you a selection of items,” said Shin
“Yes, if you want, but otherwise we could do it together!! Shin, how long do you plan to hide it for?” said Akira
“I don’t want him getting involved,” said Shin
“Exactly, if you don’t tell her, she’ll get involved until she finds out. She sent me a message asking if I was still in Osaka,” she said.
“I don’t want to ruin this… give me some time to get organized,” said Shin.
“My grandparents and Asakura know, and I think the Sakamotos should too; they’re your family,” Akira repeated, taking her hand.
“I know… I’ll do it, okay,” he said.
On the other side of the road, when she arrived at Asakura's house, she saw the man dressed as usual in a Hawaiian shirt and shorts. His right arm was in a cast, and he was getting annoyed because he couldn't light his cigarette.
Lu approaches him and lights it before placing a bag on the table.
“Are you well?” he said.
“Yes, what are you doing here, Lu? Shin asked you to come…” Asakura asked.
“No, but since I heard you have a cast on your arm, I came to keep you company,” she said, taking the food out of the bag.
“Shin has already given me enough food for eight weeks, and I’m old enough to feed myself,” said Asakura, pointing to the full bags.
“You can’t even light your cigarette. I understand Shin’s character now,” said Lu, who began to eat.
“Oh no, Shin… has all of his father’s character. All I gave him were powers. And even then, he has some of his mother’s traits,” said Asakura.
“I thought Shin never knew his mother,” said Lu
“His mother died when he was four years old. She was very beautiful and kind,” said Asakura, exhaling a puff of cigarette smoke. “Akira looks a lot like her.”
“Akira… like Akira Akao,” he asked.
“Yes, Shin’s girlfriend…” said Asakura, taking a burger.
Seeing his reaction, Asakura understood that the Sakamoto family was unaware of Shin's new relationship. The scientist then handed him a burger and gave it to him.
“You’re going to need it,” he said.
“Thank you,” he replied politely.
So Lu was right to get involved; Shin was dating a woman and hadn't told anyone…
“To tell you the truth, I’ve known for three weeks. I told him to tell you, but you know Shin… he’s reserved,” Asakura said to reassure her.
“Yes, that’s why today I tried to find out what was going on…” he said.
“What are you going to do now?” said Asakura
“I have to go, I promised Heisuke I would go with him to get a snack!! Take care and goodbye,” she said quickly, grabbed her purse, and left, slamming the door.
She slams the door and then runs to join Heisuke; thanks to her athletics lessons, she runs quite fast and in twenty minutes she arrives at her destination.
Heisuke, seeing her arrive, orders a beer and has her sit down.
“Everything is fine,” Heisuke asks.
“Oh yes, because now I have leverage against Shin!!” said Lu, all smiles… and downing her beer in one gulp.