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A little girl pointed to a small kitten in the window, her face lit up as she asked her mother repeatedly "Can we get him? Can we get him?!"
To her disappointment, her mother pulled her away from the shop window, and they headed down the street.
Sights like this weren't new for Chifuyu, in fact, sometimes he had the urge to laugh, as mean as it sounded. He had four kittens left and no owners so far. It's been two weeks, and he can't take care of them forever. He put his head in his hand, he'll have to think of something.
Suddenly he heard the shop doorbell go off.
Thinking it was a new costumer, or someone willing buy a kitten, he popped his head up. But he let out a breath when he realized it wasn't either of the two. Yet his eyes widened when he recognized the person in front of him.
"Kazutora.." Chifuyu's voice trailed off. There in front of him was his old friend, the fact alone that he was surprised to see him just proved how much they had to catch up on. What surprised Chifuyu even more, is how much kazutora changed. Visually and physically. His hair had changed, not drastically, but it fit him. Two yellow streaks in the front of his hair, and the rest black. The thing that changed the most about him was the look in his eyes.
Kazutora didn't look...insane.
In fact, he looked quite healthy, matured. It made Chifuyu smile.
"Hey, it's been a minute." When Kazutora spoke, his voice was soft, almost barely recognizable. He sounded like a new person but also the one he knew at the same time. He found it quite refreshing.
Chifuyu nodded, not knowing what to say for no reason in particular. Then the obvious subject quickly smacked him in the face.
"So, I heard you need a job?" Chifuyu motioned around his whole shop, smirking like an antagonist. Kazutora laughed, and nodded his head down for a moment. He was quiet but then he spoke up.
"Yes actually, I like your whole thing you got going on here." The yellow haired man let out a breath. Chifuyu narrowed his eyes at Kazutora, not liking what he heard.
"My pet shop is not a thing. And thank you, I suppose.." he mumbled the latter.
Kazutora rolled his eyes playfully at the young man pouting before him. And went closer to the counter he was behind, resting his chin in his two hands. He looked up at Chifuyu.
"So when do I start?" He mumbled, giving Chifuyu one of those classic overly dramatic American looks. He swayed his head lightly to make the act even cleaner.
Chifuyu looked down at him, clearly dissatisfied with this job interview. He blinked before questioning him.
"Do you know how to take care of a dog?"
Kazutora's eyebrow lifted at this. Taking care of a dog is easy. Is that all he had to do? Really? He didn't think his friend's standards were that low, at least give him a challenge on his first day.
"That's quite basic, Chifuyu. Anyone can take care of a dog. So yes." He answered swiftly.
"Great, then I suppose you know how to take care of every animal in this shop. Not to mention stocking the shelves with new items." Chifuyu's confidence skyrocketed with this smart remark. His win.
Kazutora looked dumbfounded. "Eh?"
"Just do as I say, tora."
"Sure thing, boss." Kazutora grumbled. He spun around and started to take a better look of things, for whatever reason, he wasn't clearly focused when he walked in.
"Do you need your apron?" He heard Chifuyu ask, so genuinely.
"Right, cause we're cooking them. Nice way to stereotype your own culture." Kazutora lazily said, putting his hands behind his head as he walked.
He giggled when he heard a "tch."from the other side of the room. If this is how he's gonna spend his days from now on, he didn't really think it mattered that he didn't even ask about the pay yet. -
The difference between these two, is how they worked. Chifuyu was serious about his job and everything had to be in the right place at the right time, while Kazutora was a tad bit more laid back, and a jokester (to Chifuyu's surprise) but he did what he had to. Just less efficiently.
The next morning, Chifuyu was fussing with a parrot. The bird didn't want to go back inside his cage, and he was flying around the shop freely. Chifuyu had been chasing the bird for a while now, and he was getting frustrated. His breath was heavy and his teeth were clenched, sweat dripped down his face as he groaned in annoyance. Kazutora on the other hand, had just stepped into the shop, and now witnessed this show in front of him.
"What the hell is going on here?" he said in a teasing tone. He walked closer to Chifuyu, and started laughing quietly. Chifuyu looked up at his new coworker, and hissed through his teeth. What part of him struggling was funny?
"I'd like to see you try and get the bird right in his cage." he spoke, low and angry.
Kazutora did not respond to this, instead he walked over to the self the bird was perched on and grabbed him with two hands. He swiftly put the bird back in his cage. He laughed before he spoke "What was it that you kept blabbering about yesterday? 'If you can take care of a bird you can take care of anything'? Yeah, I think I earned my spot here. You're just too gentle."
Chifuyu was now one-upped. And pissed. "First of all, it was a dog. I said, a dog, not a bird."
Kazutora just shrugged. This was another win for him. While there was practically smoke steaming out of Chifuyu's ears.
"And second of all, there is no need to earn a spot here. You have already been hired." The pet shop owner rolled his eyes, it was always so hard to get things through to kazutora. It's as if whatever he had said went through one ear and out the other.
"Oh really? Man, I was really hoping for a seven day trial." Kazutora snapped his fingers and clicked his tongue. He looked down at the ground dramatically. "Really just tryin to get the feel of the place, you know?"
Chifuyu scoffed at his antics.
"I'm sure if you know how to take care of a bird then a bunny is a problem for you." He picked up a bag of rabbit food and tossed it over to Kazutora to catch. "Get to work."
"Yes sir." Kazutora replied. He seemed content, so Chifuyu didn't want to push all of his buttons. He felt happy with the way things were now.
