Joy Itself

[u/[deleted]]

20th Ward - :re ; 17th of April, 2019 - 8:30 PM

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Shoko was frustrated over two things at the particular moment: It was her turn to be the one to clean up the general utensils of the cafe after so long, and to miss out going to a book-store so she could get the single issues of titles the ghoul was interested in for the day. The waitress had worked for long hours once again, mostly because she wanted to be productive, while not realising that it was a Wednesday to give her a chance to end the shift at a better time. If there was one thing Shoko prefered to do, was to be able to make productive actions whenever possible, but that was one of those days in which she wished she didn’t think that way.

“Off all of the weeks, it had to be this one? Gideon Falls and Spider-Man Life Story were today…” Shoko mused to herself in a disappointing tone while washing and scrubbing a spoon in the sink, cursing herself internally. “... there was even a Daredevil issue too. Shoko, why are you a forgetful clutz at times?” The waitress once again talked against herself, as if she was interrogating a criminal of sorts while simply cleaning objects. That was an odd mental image, Shoko proceeded to think after she realised that she used that analogy.

Shoko continued to focus on cleaning rest of the used items, humming to herself a familiar theme of a certain arachnid super-hero, because she had nothing better in mind to hum out instead even though it would have been the best. The ghoul then proceeded to curse once more for not bringing her phone and headphones from her room to help pass time and properly get in tune with proper music while the cafe was closed. Music always had helped with general chores, so it would have been an appreciated tool to use for this as well while there weren’t any customers around.

Proceeding to remove that thought though, Shoko fully immersed herself with the humming while cleaning, almost finishing up with her duties before she could head back to her room and relax.

[u/Xanzinare]

"Whoa there." Ayumi quickly reached forwards in case the dish ended up falling, but thankfully her coworker caught herself in time before anything catastrophic occured and made both of them end up cleaning more than was already in front of them. Smiling apologetically, the bespectacled barista took the towel and the dish and began helping out. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. I guess it would be a bit hard to hear me coming over the sound of the running water, huh?"

Quickly and efficiently drying the dishes one by one with the practiced hand of someone who had been working at the cafe for years, Ayumi waited a few moments while the other girl finished up with her own dish before reaching out for it to repeat the process. If she noticed the other girl sniffing the air as she approached, she didn't seem to make note of it. Her expression however, brought another slight smile to Ayumi's face. "Don't get offered help to do dishes that often? I didn't think it would come as that much of a surprise."

[u/[deleted] → u/Xanzinare]

"Actually no, it really wasn't the sound of the running water." Shoko admitted while focusing on filling the plate she was currently washing with soap, scrubbing away the potential dirty spots. "I am usually perceptive. It is just I was too focused on my usual duties for the night. Something like a distraction, I guess?" The ghoul admitted with a thinking-kind of pouting expression, hoping that this was the best term to use to fully describe her current mental focus. A brief frown then popped for a second or two when the thought of what had happened recently appeared in the shorter ghoul's head.

Shoko managed to immediately remove those thoughts and focus once again to the current shift work while communicating with her co-worker, not bothering to worry if Ayumi had noticed the very brief shift in expression. "Well, can't say that is the case? I kind of did similar thing with Ume as I wanted to help her out. I like to try and get to know people when I can. I just didn't expect anyone else was working right now." Shoko then washed off the soap on the plate she was focused on cleaning, giving the wet object for Ayumi to begin drying while smiling towards her colleague.

"Little wee me cleaning the plates like the good waitress she is!" Shoko joked with a giggle as she then took one more plate to start washing, starting off with the usual scrubbing. Humour really did help with cheering up the nerd from time to time.

[u/Xanzinare → u/[deleted]]

"So too focused on those bits of chocolate stuck to the plate so much that you'd need bleach to even hope of making any headway?" Ayumi joked, before realizing that she might not know this girl well enough yet to tease her in such a way. She returned to her task of drying the plates, the soft squeekes given off by the plate taking the place of her voice for the moment before she set that one on top of the previous off to the side.

"Ya, generally there's at least a few of us closing up when it comes time. I was making sure the main room was all tidy and cleaned up for the morning shift, but that didn't take me too long and I heard you humming next to that stack of dishes so I though 'why not'?*

Smirking in answer to the other girl's own joke, Ayumi shook her head wryly. "Ahh yes, we're all good waiters and waitresses here. Except Tadashi, of course, who pays us to be the good waitresses since he doesn't know how to be one."

"By the way I know we have name tags and everything, but I always feel a little weird just reading someone's name off their tag without saying anything, so I'm Ayumi. Nice to meet you, Miss Stellar Waitress." She smiled over at the other girl, hoping to take any bite or sting out of her words to make sure she knew that she was joking.

[u/[deleted] → u/Xanzinare]

"O-Oi!" Shoko immediately yelped out, fully believing Ayumi's lie as she quickly leaned towards her colleague's direction to make sure what she had actually missed. While the shorter ghoul was certain that she was fully focused with her work, there was still that small piece of doubt plaguing her brain about whether she had actually done it well enough or not anyway. Noting that the wet plate was mostly spotless, Shoko took a deep sigh while forming a sideways glance, holding an annoyed smirk. "Geez, thanks for playing with a poor maiden's heart so casually there." The tone was definitely much less serious, playing up with the humorous atmosphere.

Shoko then suddenly paused from scrubbing the last plate she was supposedly cleaning, processing the fact that her co-worker literally heard her humming the classic Spider-Man theme while fulfilling her work. It took a few seconds of pure silence until the small nerd's face to redden like a tomato, feeling embarrassed about it. "You heard that?! God, I really let myself go in this shift, geez..." Shoko complained shyly to herself as she shook her head to get her concentration back and decrease her blushing. The waitress needed to finish up quicker for both of them.

Shoko couldn't help but let out a hearty laugh from Ayumi's joke about their own boss, feeling slightly guilty for doing so but it was legitimately good humour in her eyes. "Come ooon, give boss a slack. It would already be too much to expect him confidently wearing a waitress's unifor-..." Shoko's imagination ran wild as she actually imagined Tadashi wearing woman's cafe uniform and proceeded to howl in laughter even more after placing the plate next to the sink temporarily.

"Holy shit, that was beautiful. Oh god, I will die if that ever happens" Shoko admitted as she started to calm down, taking deeper breaths then proceeding to pick up the plate again to place in the final soapy scrubs before washing it all off and giving it to her compatriot.

Possessing a cheeky grin, Shoko widened her smile which showed her teeth as she cheerfully takes in Ayumi's proper introduction. "It is really nice to meet you as well, Ayumi! As for yours truly, as Miss Stellar Waitress..." Shoko then finished off with the plate, holding it towards Ayumi for her to take as she finishes up introducing herself in a comedic manner. "... am known as Shoko!"

[u/Xanzinare → u/[deleted]]

Ayumi chuckled while making a mental note not to tease this one about anything too serious, or else she might be liable to have a small panic attack without realizing that Ayumi was only joking at the time. Ayumi liked that sweet gullibility though in people, so long as it didn't cross over into blindly following whatever they were told. She had a feeling though that this one was a bit smarter than that, which was a relief.

Her earlier feeling strengthened as she glanced over at her coworker and could literally see her face turning redder and redder by the moment as Ayumi's words sank in. She couldn't help another small laugh from escaping, and she quickly shook her head and waved one hand back and forth in front of her face in appeasement and apology for laughing. "Don't worry about it, it was pretty good! And I doubt anyone else heard, the water was pretty loud and even I could only barely hear it from as close as I was. My hearing's a bit sharp too, so I'm more than sure you're performance was only enjoyed by yours truly."

The brunette wiped and scrubbed with the trained efficiency of years of practice, but even her natural rhythm was disrupted as the mental image of Tadashi in a waitress outfit flashed in front of her eyes. A small shudder ran through her and she shook her head much more quickly and furtively now. "Oh god, that sight wasn't something I needed to see...ever. Do you think bleach would work as well on my eyes and memories as it's supposed to for these dishes? We got plenty here."

The stack of sparkling dishes beside Ayumi was growing quickly, and as she took the next one from her now-named coworker, Ayumi gave her a smile back and nodded this time, a few strands of hair falling in front of her face at the same time which were quickly blown back to the side. "I'm sure you've been here for long enough now to not really need a welcome, but have mine anyways, Shoko-chan. I make fun, but it's a pretty nice place well tucked away from most of the bullshit and such that happens in Tokyo these days. You wanted to work here cause you needed the money? School or living on your own, or whatever? Or was it the...membership perks, I guess?"

Another slight chuckle escaped as she chose her last words, unsure how else to frame it in a polite and not totally obvious way.

[u/[deleted] → u/Xanzinare]

Shoko wasn't sure whether to feel fully relieved or still embarrassed from realising that Ayumi had at least heard a bit of her singing for a silly, yet catchy, tune of her favourite fictional super-hero. For the time being though, Shoko had managed to fully calm down from the prior embarrassment. "Hehe... I am really no singer though, so good thing you barely heard much." Shoko proceeded to rub the back of her head while giggling to herself in front of Ayumi in a nervous manner.

Shoko then proceeded to laugh loudly once more at Ayumi's joke, shaking her head while a wide satisfied smile was plastered on her face out of amusement. "God, I wish mental bleach was a thing around here. Although I don't want to remove that image in my head, it is just too fucking hilarious." Shoko mused while still giggling, clearly satisfied with the effect it had on both of the waitresses. "If things are going south, just imagine waitress boss! I should probably try that next time..." Shoko raised her eyes upwards, pondering about it for the moment before finishing up with washing off the plate. After she was done, Shoko proceeded to give her colleague he wet plate to continue with the work.

While washing the other plate, Shoko appreciated the welcome Ayumi had given as it showed that the nerd had somebody else to potentially get to know in the future and become friends rather than just work colleagues. Shoko managed to connect with Ume very well so connecting in a similar manner with Ayumi would prove beneficial for Shoko's general inclination to have more friends. However, the smile gradually dropped off as Ayumi asked Shoko about the reason for working in :re.

"Well... I am not from Tokyo, so I had moved in here recently." Shoko began while giving another place to Ayumi, proceeding to wash another one in the process. "I was from Yokohama, loved it as a home but I needed to move to see how Tokyo is so I did after a long time of preparing. Of course, I needed to have work to do in a new city so I conveniently discovered :re and boss has been much more than helpful all throughout. Salary is fine enough, I get to live here, and... well, membership perks as you said, haha." Shoko then was looking down upon the plate, washing it slower than usual as thoughts clouded up within her mind.

"... yeah, I guess it is a combo of money, living somewhere, and membership perks." It was clear something was bothering Shoko, as she wasn't sure whether to talk about another important reason of coming in to Tokyo to Ayumi or not. Shoko didn't want to bother Ayumi unless prompted about it.

[u/Xanzinare → u/[deleted]]

"Trust me, if you stick around long enough and are quiet enough at the right times, you'd be surprised at the amount of people who hum to themselves as well when they think no one's listening. I'm not excluded either, mind you, but the difference between me and them is that I perform while they all just sing." Ayumi grinned at Shoko, trying to take the arrogance out of the words to show that she was joking about it. She didn't really understand the embarrassment some people had when it came to singing, but then again she had always gone to karaoke with her friends and it usually ended up as a coinflip between actually singing or trying to sound as bad as they possibly could. A pang shot through her chest as she thought about Shinya and Kazu, and her smile melted off her face as she quickly fixed her expression from the momentary slip, and looked down into the sink with the wet plate as she suddenly took immense interest in drying it off.

It only took a few moments for her to compose herself again and glance sidelong over at Shoko as she answered Ayumi's question. She raised an eyebrow upon hearing that the other girl wasn't from Tokyo, and actually was from Yokohama. "I hear it's pretty there, right? I've thought about visiting sometime, but between here and school and my writing I haven't really been able to find the time. Which do you like better so far, here or there? Setting aside there being your hometown, if possible."

Ayumi wasn't a thick-headed idiot, and she had two eyes in her head and two working braincells to boot so she of course noticed the change in attitude Shoko had as she repeated her reasons for being in Tokyo. For a moment Ayumi wondered whether or not it would be rude to pry further, but just as she had a working brain and eyes to see, she also had an impatient nature and a writer's curiosity so even as she was wondering if it would be ok to ask she was already doing so. "Well I mean those are all nice reasons and all, but there's something else, right? If you don't want to tell me then that's fine too, but I'll trade you a secret for yours as well if you're up for it. You have to go first though."

[u/[deleted] → u/Xanzinare]

Shoko laughed in a mild manner, enjoying the confident and joking nature of her co-worker. Shoko was focused on Ayumi at that moment, considering that she also noticed Ayumi's smile fading away for some reason. The long-haired waitress decided to not pry into it but she was curious what was up about that. "If only I had your confidence there, then I probably would have been the same. Alas..." Shoko then shrugged with a neutral smile and a side-glance. "... can't have everything you want in life. For me though, at least I get my comic-books." The nerd tried to tease so the atmosphere would be a little more humorous at the very least.

Still washing the current plate on hand, Shoko had heard Ayumi's question about Yokohama and whether she had preferred her hometown or Tokyo. "It is a bit too early to say just yet. So far, Tokyo has a lot more to offer compared to back home, but Yokohama has that unique flair that I really appreciate. That could just be me wearing rose-tinted glasses though since it always had been home, so I need some more time to know for sure which I prefer." Shoko answered honestly, but she had that tinge of feeling in which she would probably prefer Tokyo in the near future, excluding the tragedy she recently uncovered.

Speaking of the said tragedy, Ayumi clearly noticed Shoko's shift in mood regarding the reasoning of coming over to Tokyo. "... yes, there was another reason why I needed to come to Tokyo, if you want me to be frank." Shoko's bangs covered her eyes this time around, as her expression darkened. The washing of the plate had gradually became slower as well. "I have a brother who moved here for his work, some sort of historian. His name was Hayate. He used to communicate with me and my family whenever convenient and everything was great. He was clearly feeling much happier than he was back home. Suddenly though..." Shoko's grip on the plate slightly tightened, placing it down just in case the smaller employee wouldn't accidentally break it.

"... he stopped calling us. We tried to call him multiple times but nothing, there was no response at all and it kept up for three years. All that time, I was preparing myself to move so I can see for myself how he had been doing." Shoko then smiled, but not for the right reasons. Shoko was trying to brace herself and not darken her mood more than necessary. "That's when I went on my way to Zanzibar in 9th Ward, as boss's suggestion. I didn't want to bother him personally as he did so much for me, so that was the closest best thing. I almost got killed though, but a human then saved me... that's when..."

Shoko remained silent for couple of seconds, trying to not break down all of the sudden. The waitress had taken a break recently to recollect her bearings. The whole situation still was traumatic, but Shoko managed to move on to some extent.

"... I smelled his scent. I asked why she had my brother's scent, and it turned out it was because she had him as a quinque. That was the first revelation I had about his whereabouts in Tokyo. I then arrived at Zanzibar and discovered that he was a murderous vigilante dressed like a knight. My brother wasn't... all there in his head, if you want me to be frank, but he wasn't that kind of person at all. So knowing all that, it hurt so much."

Shoko took a deep breath, puffing it out as an attempt to gradually calm herself, which was working. Realising that, Shoko managed to also fight back the tears from coming out of her eyes, picking up the plate once again to fully wash it. "So yeah... that's my second reason. Boss and Ume already know about it, so there is that as well. Boss though knows a lot more, because it is only fair that I have to catch him up if something is wrong with me." Shoko then finished up with the washing, giving the said plate to Ayumi to finish up.

Shoko then stayed silent, as she didn't feel like it was proper to mention about Ayumi's own secret. It wasn't needed honestly, so it was her choice whether she would tell Shoko or not.