Kenzo slowly opened his eyes.
He was sitting at his desk, with his head tucked into his arms. The side of his mouth was wet, and so was the arm under it. As he lifted up his head, Kenzo noticed a cover had been placed over him. It was then he also realised light was shining from behind his curtains.
Kenzo reached for his phone on his desk and checked the time.
It was early in the morning.
Realising he had slept all night at his desk, Kenzo looked through his notifications but didn’t see any new messages. This prompted him to get up and check his mothers room.
When he opened the door, she was fast asleep—facing the other way. But he then saw that her cover was not completely covering her, so he walked up and grabbed it.
However before he pulled it up, there was a brief moment of silence as he looked at her. She then slightly moved which startled him—but remained asleep.
Eventually, he pulled the cover over the upper part of her body.
When Kenzo returned to his room, he checked his phone once more and began to scroll through old messages from his mother. He soon stopped at one she had sent awhile ago. It read:
Why don’t we spend some time downstairs and watch a movie?
It will be good for us to get out of our rooms once in awhile.
Kenzo remembered he never got around to putting on that movie as he was feeling too tired that day.
After staring at the message a little longer, he sat back on his computer chair and turned the monitor on. A few moments later he was online checking for movies to watch. After finding one that interested him, Kenzo got up and looked at his bag on the floor.
He decided that if he was going to put on a movie today, then he should probably buy some snacks to eat. It was early enough that not many people should be outside, which was perfect. So after putting on his bag, he left and headed to the store.
The first few minutes of his journey was a pleasant one, as there were few people walking in his area. But a minute later, Kenzo realised something.
It was Monday.
On the way there, he came across kids making their way to school and adults on their way to work. Since the days begun to meld together for him due to always being inside, It didn’t occur to him that Monday was the day after Sunday. With so many people being out already, Kenzo started to pick up the pace. He knew that if he didn’t hurry then even more people would begin to show up—which meant more people would be shopping at the store.
But to Kenzo’s surprise—once he arrived at the store—the only customer inside had just left.
When he walked in however, it seemed the girl from yesterday had been involved in another incident. She was staring down in front of her, at a broken alcohol bottle on the floor.
“Oh no, what do I do. Why am I like this. I’m going to get fired,” she said to herself.
The contents of the bottle were all over the floor—accompanied with shards of glass. With her attention focused on the scene and her back turned toward Kenzo, she did not notice he had entered the store.
Suddenly, the manager appeared from the door at the back of the room.
“Rachel! What was that noise?” he said, as he began to walk over to her. “Don’t tell me you’ve broken something else!”
The girl froze.
She got stiffer with each step taken by the manager. Eventually, the manager was in front of her—looking down at the broken bottle.
“Another one!?” he shouted. “That’s it. There’s no way I can continue to let you wor—”
But then, a shadow abruptly appeared over the man—causing him to pause his speech. When the girl looked behind her, Kenzo was standing right there.
No one said a word for a few seconds.
Kenzo then looked down at the bottle and then at the manager. “I accidentally knocked it over. I’ll pay for it,” he said.
Once again, no one said a word for a few seconds.
Initially, there was a look of surprise on both the girl and managers face. But soon, the managers surprised look turned into an unconvinced one. He looked at the girl and then back at Kenzo.
“It’s an expensive bottle. Are you sure you dropped it?” the manager asked.
With an annoyed look, Kenzo responded by not responding.
“Okay. I’ll be at the counter when you’re ready,” the manager said. “Rachel. Be careful and get rid of the larger pieces of glass. I’ll get the mop and help you with the rest after serving him.”
The girl nodded and the manager walked to the counter. When she checked behind her again, Kenzo had already walked away and was collecting the snacks he came for. Once he had gathered everything and was served, the manager walked into the back room.
Kenzo took his bag and headed toward the exit. However when he reached the door, he noticed the girl was approaching from behind him in it’s reflection. If he was fast enough, Kenzo knew he would be able to open the door and leave before she got to him.
But strangely, he did not.
“Sorry I didn’t say anything,” she said. “But thank you. I’m sure I was about to lose my job.”
There was a silence.
“It’s fine,” Kenzo replied.
The girl looked behind her at the room the manager walked in. She then looked back at Kenzo and leaned her head closer to him.
“So did she like them?” she whispered.
Kenzo gave a confused look.
“Sorry. The bath bombs I mean,” she said.
“Oh. Yeah she did,” Kenzo replied.
The girl smiled, and a brief silence followed.
Kenzo then reached for the door handle.
“I’m Rachel,” the girl said as he touched the handle. “What’s your name?”
Kenzo went silent for a second as he stared at her. “Kenzo,” he said.
“Thanks Kenzo. It’s lucky that you came on a Monday,” Rachel said. “I-I guess I’ll see you again on Sunday.”
Kenzo awkwardly nodded and left without looking back.
As he thought would happen, there were now more people walking to their destination. Normally, this situation would strengthen the frown he often carried when returning from shopping. But his previous encounter seemed to have caused a change in his usual expression.
While walking home, Kenzo wore a soft smile.
Later that day—in the evening, Kenzo and his mother were now watching a movie.
They were both downstairs—with his mother drinking soup from a cup and him eating a sweet bun he had bought from the store.
His mother looked over to him and stared for a short while. “Did something happen?” she asked.
Kenzo turn toward her as he wasn’t paying attention. “Hmm?” he replied.
“Don’t worry,” she said, as she then looked at the bun he was eating. “I didn’t know you liked those. Can I try?”
Kenzo pinched a piece off and gave it to her.
“Hmm, it’s sweet,” she said. “I might get you to buy some for me next time. It should be fine if I eat something different once in awhile.”
She then continued to watch the film. “Everyone’s always fighting in this. Who’s supposed to be the bad guy?”
“I’m not sure,” Kenzo replied, as he looked back at the TV.
He had chosen to put on a popular pirate movie that he never got around to watching. And as you’d expect from pirates, there was a lot of double crossing in the film.
Currently on the screen, was a pirate woman who had just taken over her ex partners ship. She was fierce, beautiful and intimidating—with an eye patch that enhanced those qualities. But as Kenzo watched her, he was filled with an odd feeling.
For some reason, it felt like he had forgotten about something very important.
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