For Your Convenience | Open 24/7

On the outer rim of the downtown area, cramped between the street corner and a department store, was a small grocery. Named 'For Your Convenience' for obvious reasons, the place had been open for the last few years. The owner was a elderly widow whose children had become too busy with college or their own families to help out. The situation had caused the woman to recently she hire a part timer. Before she had worked the mornings, then had some help or a child come in for the afternoon before making it back down for the nights. Lately, however, the hours were to much for her, especially without the support of her offspring. So far, it was still working out though. Every day the new hiree would come in, normally around ten or so, and stay until six in the morning, sometimes later if she needed. He was just decent in math and money, but mostly the high school graduate was very laid back, which was good since all the weirdos came in during the night shift.

Finishing placing the last or the new merchandise on the shelves, the lady stepped back for a moment to admire the different foods. She had just added several new types of ramen, some foreign cookies, candy and miscellaneous sweets. In the refrigerators were new drinks, frozen meals and ice cream treats. As always next to the counter were the unsold bentos and riceballs of the morning, all on sale.

Right on time, a knock came to the locked doors, and the owner hobbled over to let her employee in.

"Good evening Nakamura-mochinushi." Rai said as his boss opened the doors. He looked around the store for a moment before his eyes fell back on her, "Wow. You already finished, congratulations."

"Thank you. The new list of items is on the counter. I suggest you have it memorized." She yawned, turning on her heel, "Anyways, I will see you in the morning."

The fighter nodded, setting up automatic doors and turning on all the lights. He sat down at the register when he was finished, propping up his head with one hand and taking the inventory list in the other. The thoughts of his disappearing sacrifice were still lingering, but at least work should distract him for awhile.

Nao walked through the sliding door and looked around. He was hungry, so decided that ramen would be nice. Walking to the area where the ramen was, he looked around.
"Ah, good. This place has sweets.." He thought. After taking one of his iPod headphones out, Nao looked over the different ramen.
"I guess anything'll do.. It's not like I'm doing anything tonight.." He mumbled to himself. He picked up a lolly and a couple of other sweets and walked to the counter. Reaching into his pocket, Nao yawned then pulled out his wallet. "Hey," He said, placing everything in his hands on the counter.

Engulfed in his reading material, the fighter almost didn't notice when the customer walked in. It wasn't until the male - who looked just about the same age as him - was halfway down an aisle before Rai was fully aware of the new body and not just pouring over the prices of specialty ramen. He watched as the teen doubled back at some of the new sweets, picking a few and heading back to the register.

Rai settled in his chair as the guy approached, "Hello, how are you doing?" he replied in an exaggerated, but not fake, happiness. He glanced over the price reference before ringing the kid up, "It's going to be 290 yen..." The brown haired boy looked tentatively down at the pile of money, then back up at it's owner. He twitched his ears, realizing that the male in from of him was also 'not yet an adult.' It was rather comforting.

((Oh, sorry. >__<;; I can't think of anything interesting to do!))

[Ehe. It's fine. ^w^ Writers block? I get it all the time. >.< Like now..]

After Nao placed the money on the counter, he smiled.
"Fine thanks, and how about you?" He asked, doing what he normally did when people asked him the same question. Most of the time it was a lie after he came from his house, but right now he was pretty happy now that he had found his fighter after a long time.

((Sort of. It's just, they're in a grocery, Rai's supposed to be working, I can't think of something interesting to happen!))

The employee was asked this question about a million times a night. Normally he would robotically answer with something generic, but this time he didn't, "Well. Very well, in fact... I met someone." It was a more personal statement, though still vague enough to stay true to himself. He, just like the male across from him, had met up with his other half earlier that day. The lingering happiness still surrounded him, holding back the fears he would never see his sacrifice again.

Rai scooped the mess of coins towards his side of the counter, pulling them off the table and into his hand. He counted them quickly as they fell, adding the amount up to just something under 400 yen. Sliding some of the larger coins back, the fighter rang the other unit up with 300 yen, dropping the 10 yen coin change in with the rest of the money when he was finished. He looked over the items as he did so, spying some of his favorite candy in the customers pile.

"Ah those are good..." The fighter muttered, feeling friendlier then normal.

The sacrifice smiled.
"Haha, I met someone today too. A very special person to me.." After saying the sentence he noticed the employee looking at one of his sweets and mumbling. "You can have it if you want," He said, pushing the sweet towards him. "I've had about 2 dozen sweets today, so it's not like I need it." He blinked a couple of times and looked around, seeing all the variety of supplies in the shop. It was interesting. He was probably trying to make conversation because he didn't want to go to that place. He hated it there. Always has and always will. "If only I had a normal life." he had frequently thought to himself. But now he had made more friends and finally met his other half, he never thought that anymore. There was no reason to. He was happy. Finally.

Pointing out the sweet in order to obtain it had not been Rai's intention. On another day, he probably would have declined, but the taste of pizza was lingering in his mouth. It was becoming pretty unpleasant too. "Really? Thank you!" Rai said, a little shocked at the customer's kindness. Not yet taking the piece of candy, he dug into his pocket, reaching for some change. "Of course, I'll pay you for it." He added, pulling out a 50 yen coin and sliding it across the counter, "You have saved me the trouble of going over there myself." This particular sweet was one of the stores new items. While the owner was ordering products, this one had caught her employee's eye and he's wanted to try it ever since. He would have gotten one to try eventually, but the fighter was allowed to leave his post during his shift.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, who is it you met?" The brown haired boy asked, unwrapping his treat. He certainly was interested, it was quite a coincidence both of them had met someone important today.

Nao scratched his arm where his name was. Because it was itchy, he was obviously a unit. "Well, it seems you are a unit, so you know about fighters and sacrifices. I met my fighter today." He said gleefully. Nao didn't bother to pick up the 50 yen because he didn't have any need for it. He was just happy giving people something. "And how about you?" He asked, being unintentionally nosey.

Nao unwrapped the lolly and put it in his mouth. Strawberry, his favourite flavour. He happily sucked on it while putting everything in his bag. "Ramen later~" He was singing to himself in his head.

It was a good thing Rai hadn't put the piece of candy in his mouth yet, because it would have fallen out. The fighter hadn't heard any ringing, but that made sense, considering this guy had just introduced him as a sacrifice. His shock passed though, especially with the boy smiling as he was. The employee popped his gift candy into his mouth; caramel flavor, one of his favorites.

"Wow, congratulations." The male said, rolling the sweet in his mouth, "As a matter of fact, it happens I found my sacrifice." He smiled as he spoke, pleased to talk about it with someone. He had been dying to, but it was a bit unnerving, conversing with what could be part of an enemy unit. Even though the sacrifice couldn't attack him, there was nothing to stop him from calling other half to do so. Spell battles were definitely something Rai enjoyed, but not worth possibly loosing his job over if the fight broke out in store. Still, the man in front of him looked friendly enough. However, he didn't recognize the the kid, 'Is he from Seven Moons and we just never met?' The fighter wondered. It was probably better not to ask.

"I guess I should introduce myself then, since I maybe seeing more of you." Rai said, looking up at the person across from him, "I'm Rai Nevin, a fighter."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Naoki Irie. Nao for short." He smiled brightly. "So you must be the fighter of your unit then?" Makins assumptions, he twisted his bag back around so it was behind him again.
After tightening up his scarf, he put his wallet back in his pocket, making sure there was no chance of it falling out. ".. Where to go after this." Nao thought. Going home was not an option. Maybe it was time for him to get a part-time job and move out of the wretched place. He knew he was hated, it was obvious.
He covered the bruise on him arm with his coat after his sleeve was riding up. Obviously, his coat was getting too small for him.

[[i'm going a little out of order to get Aya out of the house]]

Today was a day of firsts, a new beginning. And to start off such a curious day, Aya took great priveledge in sleeping in the morning accompanied by a lazy stroll to the local cafe. There was no need to wake up early and sputter about the kitchen to fix the family breakfast. If Izzie would be so willing, he'd even purchase him a cup of coffee and oh~ if they had Irish cream, it would be heaven!

Peering through the store window, it seemed sweetly quiet; the bell chiming on the door as it opened was oh-so-charming. It was cute. Cute was good, cute was happy, he needed to be happy, he was on the search for it.

Seeing the employee busy with another customer, Aya was a bit cautious, walking slower to the counter. Taking his seat, he simply nodded and smiled to the employee. He was willing to wait.

What to eat? He kept his eyes busy by gazing at the menu.

"Nice to meet you Nao-san." Rai replied, still sucking on his candy, "Yeah, I'm the fighter and I am assuming you are a sacrifice?" The fighter looked the other unit over, watching him fiddle with his jacket. There wasn't much sound besides the two of them. A few hours after dark the traffic always died down, leaving the streets silent besides from the occasional passerby. This was pretty normal, the only time the night shift got busy was after 2 AM when all the bars let out. Beside from that there was just a steady flow of nocturnal people and overtime workers. Or just those looking for something to eat this late.

"Are you leaving?" Rai asked, referring to the way the boy was messing with his coat, "You can stay as long as you want. It is pretty cold out there." The streets were covered in ice, probably part of the reason there were no cars out.

Nao smiled.
"Haha, yeah. I am a sacrifice." Still sucking on his lolly. He looked up after the last question.
"I'm not going to leave just yet," He answered. "not back to that hell-hole." He mumbled, not wanting the fighter, Rai, to hear. Nao was happy he had made another new friend.
"I'm on a roll, I guess." Nao thought.

When he heard the chime of the bell, Nao immediatly turned around. He didn't like bells much, because his Uncle always rang the door-bell to tell his "beloved wife" he was home. He hated any type of bell there was. His arm started to itch again, even more this time.
"Ah. Another unit.." Nao looked at the person who had just come and sat down.
"If you want to buy something, go ahead. I'm just having a chat." He smiled brightyly and moved a step to the right, leaving a space for the customer to step into once he was ready to buy.
Scince Nao had already bought everything, there was no reason for him to be right infront of the counter.
He had almost finished his lolly, and it had fallen of of it's stick. He pulled it out and left the little lolly-ball in his mouth to carry on sucking on. With the tip of his toungue, he always found the little hole where the stick had been.

Nao shook the mans hand, chuckling a little in a girlish way.
"Ah, that's good. I recommend anything strawberry flavoured." He put his thumb up. He got another sweet out his bag and unwrapped it, popping it into his mouth. After pushing his bag back around him, he pulled his sleeve down again. "Time to change coats soon, I guess." He smiled, once again.

[Smiles a lot? xD]

"My sister loves strawberries. I think . . . or maybe not, I don't remember! My memory can be quite foggy." He shrugged, smiling as well. "Hmmm. . . I wonder if they have anything Irish Cream flavoured, it's my personal favorite. Sadly, I haven't been able to find much of it around here. See, I'm from Derry, in Northern Ireland, so it's a childhood treasure. I moved here almost nine years ago, and I haven't had much luck." Aya babbled away to the boy, pointing to himself as he told his story, suggestively hinting to the cashier to pipe in and answer the question.

[[eh, it's okay, he's a happy boy!~]]

After hearing this, Nao walked down one of the isles where all the cold stuff was, picked up a pot and walked back.
"Here!" He said, holding out a pot of Irish Cream flavoured ice-cream. He hadn't been here long, but after scanning everything, he was able to memorize it. He smiled brightly again, glad to help.
"Irish Cream flavoured things are nice. It has a very.. Different flavour to other things."

Aya fought the urge to hug the boy, "Iontach!* Thank you so much!" He was indeed shocked, after so long, it had been so close! He bowed to this almighty creature before him, such a nice kid.

He took the tub of ice cream and set it on the counter, "I'll take this please! Ice cream for breakfast, I feel like a child! 'You're only young once, but you're never too old to be immature!' That's what my boss always tells me, she's a kooky old lady! Very sweet though." With his hand on his wallet, he waited for his total; in the meantime Aya continued to chat with the other customer. "I'm Aya by the way, nice to meet you!"

*iontach: wow, amazing

"Haha, nice to meet you, Aya-san~ I'm Nao." Nao chuckled at Aya's happy-go-lucky attitude. It was refreshing from what he usually encountered. "And I agree with your bosses statement. It's ture." Nao had a warm look on his face, then shook his head. "So, Aya-san, where do you work?" He said. When he found out, Nao was probably gonna drop by some time in the distant future. Maybe near. It's not like he had anything better to do. Except go home. And that wasn't any fun for him at all.

"Nao, is it? I always thought that was a cute name! Oh, not to make you feel awkward or anything, I just like the name! I work at the floral shoppe two blocks down. I make saikei displays, I recently finished one based off a Himalayan river valley, I'm quite proud! You should stop down sometime!" Aya nodded, he enjoyed this socializing. He felt as though he was making a new friend. The light noise of a conversation was so soothing in comparison to the loud banter and deafening silence he had started to grow accustomed too.

"People tell me my name is cute all the time. Also, that sounds awesome. I'll come check it out soon~" Nao had a pleased look on his face because this was the 3rd friend he had made today. He wasn't very sociable at university, except when he was with Yuu. Nao laughed a little. Almost near another chuckle.

[~"fufufu"]

"You should! And if you wanted, I could give you a few lessons, as well! Typically we don't tell people how to make them, but for customers we like, we're willing to share a few tips!" He winked. "So, do you work Nao, or are you in school still?"

"That would be great. And no, I'm not working at the moment. I'm still in University, studying to become a doctor. Though, I'm gonna go look for a part-time job soon so I can move out of the hell-hole I have to call home. The sacrifice replied. He hated his house, his Aunt and his Uncle. Nao brushed his arm a little to get some dust off of it, then looked back up. "So do you work full-time at the shop, or just part-time?" He asked joyfully.

[color=lightseagreen]"I'm full time, I used to work part time when I was still at University, but I dropped to take care of my sister. I wanted to teach harpischord to kids, but . . ." [/color]Aya's voice trailed, "But a doctor, you say? Maybe you could help me out then! I'm getting old, and I need a good doctor." He smiled, making light remarks and cheery puns over slightly dismal matters. "Anyway, we could use a few extra hands at the shoppe, it's only the two of us. Why don't you come down and ask for a job there?"

Ayane leaned a bit on the counter, the could weather made his joints stiff.

[[xD I just went to the Park by accident and was like, 'WTF did the thread go?!']]

Rai watched silently as the new customer came in, still listening to Nao. To be perfectly honest, he got slightly distracted looking at the way the sacrifice in front of him fiddled with his coat. Every so often, the sleeves would slide back up, revealing some discoloration. 'Hell hole?' He thought momentarily, before his concentration was broken when the boy left on a item search. Once snapped from his daze, the fighter felt extremely embarrassed he hadn't even acknowledged the man who had just walked in. If the store owner was here, she'd wouldn't be impressed.

Luckily, the men returned to the register quickly, "Hey, Aya-san." Rai said, taking the older customer's money in order to ring him up. He had gotten excited upon the Irish comment, though was less enthusiastic when he heard the man say he was from the north. Rai's parents were from Inishsheer - traditionally called Inis Oirthir - in the south. Still, it wasn't every day he met anyone from his heritage's homeland, hopefully they'd get to talk.

"Thanks for getting this Nao-san. I am sorry I didn't help you guys out more. If you are interested, we do have some sweet coffee with a similar flavor to Irish cream... and some sponge cake, now that I think about it." He said, before pointing to his name tag, "My name is Rai, by the way, it's nice to meet you." Rai refrained from making any comments about the younger customer's arms. Maybe he was just seeing things.

(Oh, I am sorry I didn't see your first post La! I just wrote mine quickly, hit enter and left for work without looking at the thread.)