Reality's Blade

Chapter 13: Hikage

"Today I have a special task for you two." The shopkeeper said with a secretive smile. She was an older lady by the name of Keiko, whose body was growing frail before her time, but she had a strong spirit, a discerning eye and was incredibly kind. Her dark grey hair was often twirled back into a clasp, and in a rebellion against old age she wore modern clothes. Although as her hands became more arthritic her style had subdued, practicality winning over.

She led Kazehiro and I around the back of the shop, pulling out a bundle of tinkling keys she opened up a front door. I had seen it many times, the door was a plastic white with a large frosted glass panel set in the top half, I had always wondered what the space above the shop had been used for.

She opened the door with a creak, stairs with a worn carpet rose to the upper floor, the carpet was a faded colour from the thick layer of dust. Keiko led the way up, as we reached the top the smell of stale air filled my nostrils, boxes were piled along walls and the corridors. She immediately set about throwing open curtains and opening the windows, causing dust to cloud the air as it was disturbed.

"Much better. Those stairs are such a pain, getting storage items from up here would be too difficult, and I can't live here because the stairs would be an increasing problem as I got older. So my wonderful son wants to rent this place out." She explained, her voice sarcastic for the final part. The rest of the meaning was implied, he wanted to rent this upper section out, but wasn't here to help get it into a habitable state.

I had met the son a few times, he was a busy man and had moved to the nearby city for work but would come back to visit his mother when he could. He seemed to have inherited his mum's kindness and humour. One day while waiting for Keiko in the shop with us he had told us funny stories of her from his childhood, for which she playfully scolded him, smacking him about the head, saying he shouldn't be saying such awful things about his mother, especially to her employees.

"He'll be down on the weekend to sort through the contents of these boxes, I would like you two to clean the place if you don't mind."

"That's fine by me." I chimed, being able to hide away up here instead of serving customers sounded like a nice break. I didn't mind cleaning when it wasn't too much like hard work, it was satisfying to see the product of your efforts, making a visible difference.

"I'm happy to do that." Kazehiro agreed.

"Wonderful." The shopkeeper beamed.

We collected up all the cleaning items we could find from the shop and moved them upstairs, preparing for our mission.

Kazehiro and I wandered around the flat as best we could, it had a joint kitchen dining room area, a bedroom, shower room and another tiny room that could at a stretch be a spare bedroom, but was currently filled with miscellaneous items. It looked ideal for a single person or perhaps a couple.

"What's our plan of attack?" I turned to Kazehiro.

"I think our greatest enemy is the dust, it'll be hard to fight at full strength with it clogging our lungs and vision." He stated seriously. After a moment he blushed, rubbing the back of his head. "Was that a bit too geeky?" He asked, looking embarrassed.

I looked him dead in the eye, and with as straight a face as I could manage, replied, "Yes."

Shock crossed his face, and my façade crumbled, I burst out laughing, he was too trusting.

"Of course not, and I agree the dust should be sorted first. Hoover the accessible floors then wipe over the surfaces?" I managed, trying to stop laughing as I replayed the way his face fell.