Walking out from the bathroom, I see a few customers starting to make their way in. The shop, or bar as I should call it, opens up later in the day, which is particularly helpful, for me anyway, due to my terrible sleeping patterns. A few regulars start to settle in, middle aged men who seemed to either have a soft spot for the owner, or just come here to drink all their problems away.

I walk behind the counter and toss the towel in the bin. I move to start arranging glasses and making sure everything is in order for the possible rush of people when it starts getting later. I see some items out on the counter off to the side with a book open to a page with pictures of an intricately decorated pastry of some type. The corners of my mouth turn slightly upwards at the sight. What a strange guy.

I turn and happen to overhear, "Haruki! Long time no see!"

So that's what boss's name was. I really need to get better at remembering names.

Someone I'd never seen before walked up to the counter and I could see Haruki's expression change into a look of sheer joy. They seemed to be around the same age, so if I had to guess, about 30, only a couple years older than myself.

"Akio!" He swiftly made his way around the counter and hugged the man.

They exchanged greetings and became swept up in conversation. Seems like they haven't seen each other in quite some time. I'll try and hold down the fort as best I can considering I've only been here a few days. Thankfully so far the few customers here have only asked for simple things, so I haven't had to bother Haruki yet.

Haruki and his friend, Akio, sit down at the counter.

"This here is my new hire, Takashi~!" Haruki sounds extremely proud of this fact for some reason, as I bow slightly and say hello to Akio.

Akio laughs at Haruki's enthusiasm, "You actually make enough in this dump to pay this poor man?" He slaps Haruki playfully on the back and continues to laugh.

"Hey!" Haruki protests and then punches Akio lightly on the arm. "This place isn't that bad! How disrespectful of your elders."

Haruki grumbles for a moment as Akio smiles and reminds him they are only about a month different in age.

"Oh, Takashi, how rude of me. This is my old college friend, Akio. He's a major pest so don't let him be mean to you, alright?"

"Nice to meet you" I nod toward Akio again.

"And don't let this forgetful bastard forget to pay you your salary!" Akio shot an insincere glance of annoyance at Haruki, who seemed to be totally oblivious.

"I won't, I swear!" Haruki laughed and protested. "Takashi, can you get this idiot a drink please so he will shut up at least for a moment." Haruki grumbled about his friend only using him for free drinks, but I could tell he wasn't being honest with his quibbling.

I slid Akio the drink he requested and he offered a thank you and downed it in one large gulp. The two friends continued to playfully gripe at each other as I tended to getting a few customers another round of drinks. There was a middle aged man over at one of the tables that seemed to be a crier. I bet that after 3 of these drinks, he'd be wanting to come cry on my shoulder and want sympathy and I pleaded with the gods that I would either be wrong or he would leave before that could happen.

The night continued to drag on, nothing much important happened other than Akio pestering Haruki about how long his hair had gotten. Haruki disagreed that his hair was too long, of course, as he admired his dark curls in the mirror behind the counter. The man sitting alone did eventually start sobbing, but he surprised me and just stood up and walked out into the night. Thank goodness, maybe this job isn't that bad, like all the other bar horror stories I've heard of.

About two hours later, the rush began. The bar began to bustle with activity and it was almost impossible for me to keep up, do to it just being me and Haruki and my inexperience. I spilled a few drinks, thankfully not on a customer, and I apologized more times than I could remember. Haruki somehow was able to juggle everything with ease and also was able to handle all my mishaps with a smile on his face. I wish I could have his optimism. This rush was stressing me out to the max.

I took more drinks to a table with a group of lively men, who were too intoxicated for their own good. As I set the drinks down, I felt a hand slide up behind me and grasp my butt firmly.

"Hey, you're not too bad. Wanna sit with us?" A very drunk middle aged man looked me up and down and started to pull me toward him. The others at the table snickered. Shocked, I wasn't able to react right away, having never been in this situation.

Right as I was about to pummel a customer on my third day, the bar door burst open and an extremely loud and boisterous man walks through the entryway. The sudden explosion of noise must have startled the frisky drunk customer, making him remove his hand. The man at the door was exceptionally muscular and commanding, wearing a black tank with a red cross on the back and black pants with a chain hanging across one side. An intricate dragon tattoo wound its way down one of his arms. He looked like someone I definitely did not want to mess with. Maybe this job is too much for me to handle.

As I thought this, my eyes drifted to the person he had his arm around. I couldn't see too clearly in the dim lighting with multiple people walking by, so I squinted slightly. This had to be my mind playing tricks on me. As the two of them and about five other men walked in with a suffocating dominating aura about them, I was able to get a better look and I gasped despite myself.

Oh shit, this is going to be a bad night.