Heart of Stone (The Suzuhara Family 3) ✅

Chapter Five

October 27th, 2028

The door to the small break room opened and Kiminobu stuck in his head in. "Kiminiro-kun."

Itsuki looked up from his lunch. He was sitting with two other employees, Abhuraya and Tabata, who were both easily twenty-plus years older than him. He swallowed the sandwich he was chewing before he spoke. "Yes, Saitō-san?"

"Come here a second." Then Kiminobu left and closed the door sharply behind.

"What'd you do now, kid?" Tabata asked. His voice was gruff but not unkind.

"I don't know," Itsuki said. He set his sandwich down and got up to leave the break room.

"...Did Kiminiro-kun forget to clock out again?" Abhuraya asked.

Kiminobu was waiting in the hallway, his arms folded over his chest. Itsuki had come to learn in the last couple of days that this posture meant that Kiminobu wasn't pleased. "Yes, Saitō-san?" he asked again.

"You forgot to clock out yesterday, Kiminiro-kun," Kiminobu said.

"Oh. Sorry," Itsuki said, rubbing at his nape and bowing stiffly.

"This is the second time you've forgotten to clock out," Kiminobu said sharply. "I don't want this to become a habit, Kiminiro-kun. Especially since it reflects badly upon me since I asked my dad to hire you."

I haven't been late, have I? But Itsuki knew that it wasn't a mature or smart thing to say so he instead bowed again and apologized.

Kiminobu looked at him for a long moment of silence, frowning, before his posture relaxed. "Did you bring your own lunch again today, Kiminiro-kun?"

Eh? Itsuki stared at him in shock. "Y-Yes, Saitō-san." What kind of question is that?

"What did you bring?"

"An egg salad sandwich."

"...That's it?" Kiminobu asked him. 

"...Yes?" Itsuki responded, feeling more and more confused.

Kiminobu shook his head. "You're going to need to eat more for energy, Kiminiro-kun. Friday night is our busiest night of the week. We don't even allow breaks after 5pm during to the influx of patrons. Go and order something from the counter. Employees get a discount." Then he walked away.

Itsuki scoffed softly and pulled out his wallet. Well, I guess I could get inarizushi.

For his two weeks of employment at Shinku no Hana, Itsuki was given a schedule of 22 hours for the first week and 32 for the second week. He had worked five-hour shifts of 1pm-6pm on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and each five-hour shift had proved more difficult than he expected. Today was his first eight-hour shift of 12pm-8pm (with an hour lunch), and by the halfway mark his feet felt like they would fall off from standing around so much.

But the Saitō family had given him a chance. Kiminobu's father Osamu hadn't been happy to hear that Itsuki was serving a two-week suspension and promised Itsuki's parents to work him to the bone. Itsuki spent most of his time cleaning around the izakaya or taking orders from the tables. He was also shown how to do a few sushi rolls by both Kiminobu and Osamu, but no one was comfortable with Itsuki doing any chopping or cutting. They simply handed Itsuki the ingredients and he rolled them.

It certainly felt better being out of the house and away from Yukinaga. Working kept Itsuki's mind occupied, and being surrounded by strangers made it easier to maintain the coldness inside of him. To make his heart hard as a stone.