Hotline {Soukoku}

{8}

"Thank you, come again!"

The brunette's voice echoed throughout the soon to be empty cafe, as the last customer that he had served walked towards the exit. The customer turned around to wave at the man, before they pushed open the door, and walked out. Dazai stood at the counter, watching as the customer walked, and walked, until they were out of sight. The smile on his face faded the moment the customer left, seeing as how he didn't have to be friendly to anyone anymore.

He sighed, turning around to face the wall of appliances, now having become the only person left in the building. There was only one more hour until the cafe closed, and Dazai was exhausted. Usually he only worked during the morning and afternoon shifts, but due to the fact that Atsushi couldn't make his closing shift that day, the brunette had to pull a double, working both opening and closing.

It was tough. He had been doing a pretty good job so far at getting to work every day and not taking a mental health day every other day. He hadn't called off once so far, which was quite impressive for a man of his caliber. Every time he woke up, and the sun shone a little too bright, and his covers were a little too heavy, and his legs couldn't find the strength to stand tall, he thought of his friends. His friend Atsushi who looked up to him, who was still stoked to be working with him. His best friend Oda, who had helped him so much, who he needed to return the favor to.

Even so, the thought of his friends wasn't always enough. It wasn't that he didn't care for them, it just wasn't always the way it worked out for him, but still, he found his ways. Money was a nice motivator, but it didn't always feel like enough of one. He'd oftentimes motivate himself with the promise of a drink from the cafe, and that seemed to work better than the money, but it still was hardly anything on his worst days.

But it had been a little while since he'd had a really bad day, a suspiciously long while, actually. The change in pace was likely to take the credit for it, as working at the cafe was still a new thing, and it was mostly routine that triggered those darker days. Routine itself wasn't to blame, rather, the things that came alongside routine were to be blamed instead. His routine tended to consist of boredom and nothingness, which both led to nothing but time to think, and what could possibly be worse, than being trapped, alone, with nobody to talk to but your own worst enemy?

So even during those days where his legs felt they'd begin to buckle trying to stand beside his own reflection, he stood. Standing is easier these days, but still not quite easy. Manageable, the most it had been in a while, but difficult.

Living was so many different things, but if the only other alternative is inevitable, might as well keep giving this a shot. At least, that's sometimes what Dazai thought.

Sometimes, the satisfaction of a job well done was enough motivation to get through a day or two. It was like the motivation stacked up, and his job was to find as much of it as possible. Underneath his exhaustion, his tired, partially sunken eyes, his slouched posture, and his consistent yawns, the barista had been feeling pretty satisfied with himself for the time being. He had almost successfully opened and closed the store by himself, he only had one more hour until he could call it a complete success. He longed for the comfort of his bed, especially as the weather continued its downward spiral.

He had never closed alone before, but he had been told that the cafe is pretty dead during its last hour open, so Dazai knew that he could begin shutting things down. He never had to worry about cleaning the kitchen, as the last baker cleans it before they leave for the day, which is usually a couple of hours before the entire cafe closed. That meant that the barista only needed to clean after his area, which often got super dirty due to his own style of making the drinks. The floor was a colorful mess of caramel, chocolate drizzle, melted whipped cream, and a few sprinkles, which didn't even make sense because those sprinkles wouldn't even be available for another week. The floor wasn't even terribly dirty, it was a normal amount of dirty, for a cafe.