Shizuo quickly followed Dai into the vacant laundromat. The faint smell of detergent and bleach clung to every single one of the machines. Shizuo walked up to one of the shiny machines and opened the circular hatch.
He took his clothes from the bag and loaded them into the machine one by one. "Isn't the color going to leech onto the white clothes?" asked Dai sitting on one of the benches across the room.
"I don't have white clothes," replied Shizuo, sliding two five-hundred-yen coins into the slot and closing the hatch.
The machine rumbled as he walked over to Dai and sat next to him on the bench. Dai was lost in thought staring at a humming fluorescent lamp. "Hey Shizuo," Dai broke the silence. "I've heard rumors… about you and Nomura… some kids saw you guys running around school after class the other day… and your question earlier," he paused taking a moment to swallow.
"ARE YOU GUYS DATING!?" he roared out of nowhere.
Shizuo recoiled at Dai's sudden aggressiveness before he started uncontrollably laughing. "Come on man… I've been trying to connect the dots all morning and this is the only thing I can think of… but why would you not tell me?" Shizuo held his stomach and wiped the tears off his face.
Once he had calmed down, he began talking. "Listen, Dai… we're not dating and if we were you'd be the first one to hear about it… but these feelings… it's like a new world… so I don't even know what's going on myself," replied Shizuo, tracing circles on the wooden bench. Dai sighed.
"Don't worry… I'll be here when you finished sorting your feelings out," he said, as the machine stopped rumbling. Shizuo walked over to it, his face flustered. He collected his clothes and turned back to Dai. "I'm all done now, let's leave."
As they wondered the morning streets, Shizuo felt a sudden urge. He snapped his head towards Dai. "Hey Dai, have you eaten anything yet?" he hurriedly asked. "Nope… I left before anyone woke up," he replied, confused by the sudden question.
"Perfect, let's stop by the convenience store then," Shizuo replied, walking faster. Shizuo stopped as he got to the door of the convenience store. He took a deep breath before heading inside with Dai.
As the automatic doors slid open, he heard a familiar voice greet them. "Welcome, hope you find what you're looking for," exclaimed the cashier cheerfully. As the cashier raised her head from the bow, she immediately realized who was standing in front of her.
Her face went pale as her lips quivered. Shizuo nodded coldly, as Dai greeted the cashier back. Shizuo grabbed a shopping basket and walked over to Dai. "Be useful for once," said Shizuo as he handed him the basket.
"Whatever you say sir," sighed Dai. They slowly walked around the quiet convenience store, Shizuo occasionally inspecting items before throwing them into the basket.
"Shizuo… why are you buying all of this?" "I'm going to make Okonomiyaki," he murmured, as the box of eggs rustled in his hands. "Shizuo… you're going to spoil me early in the morning… you're so cool!" Dai celebrated.
"It's not just for you, dumbass." "But since when could you make Okonomiyaki?" "I picked it up a few years ago," reminisced Shizuo, with sadness in his eyes. "So don't expect anything crazy," he smiled.
"THIS IS SO AWESOME!" exclaimed Dai as they walked towards the register. Dai put the basket on the counter and watched as the cashier scanned the items. Shizuo noticed that she was timid and her hands were sweating.
Once she finished scanning, she raised her head and faced Shizuo. "Y-Your total is 1,200 Yen, p-please," she stammered. Shizuo took out his wallet and counted up the money before putting it on the counter.
As he picked up his bag of items and got ready to leave, he felt a gentle touch on his shoulder. "S-SIR!" He turned to see the cashier standing a couple of feet away. She bowed her head deep as she spoke.
"I'm really sorry for the other day… I was out of line for saying that." Her voice shook as she spoke. Shizuo stood frozen, before collecting himself up. "There is no need for you to apologize, I was the one being insufferable." He smiled awkwardly.
"Even so… It's been eating away at me for so long… so please forgive me!" she pleaded. "Come on, it really fine… Please stop bowing, I forgive you," he awkwardly reaffirmed her. When she finally raised her head, he truly saw her face for the first time.
Her skin was tanned, her features were soft, and looked around his age. She extended her right hand towards him. "I'm Hasegawa Kiyomi, nice to meet you," she softly smiled. "Well, I'm Amaya Shizuo, nice to meet you too," he shook her soft hand, as sweat trickled down his forehead.