Chips and Soda

Chapter Two

Gonna be late, gonna be late, gonna be late. The words repeated themselves like an anthem in Kirishima's head as he ran down the sidewalk, his work shoes proving themselves to be not made for running. He glanced down at his watch, it was a cheap one albeit but it still did the job. It read five till eleven. He had five minutes to sprint to the store, clock in, and get to work before his boss chewed Kirishima a new one.

Kirishima dropped his arms to his sides and ran faster, not bothering to check his surroundings. When he left his house that morning the sun had already been blazing, its rays hot enough to deem it a good day for swimming or outdoor parties. While Kirishima would love to be doing any of those things, he couldn't. Instead, he was stuck in the cold, boring place he called work. Though he did have to admit, he wouldn't quit his job just because he wanted a day off. If he wanted to be able to pay bills he'd just have to deal with it and keep his mouth shut.

By the time he burst through the doors of the store Kirishima's face was slick with sweat and his breaths were coming out in pants. Looking around, Kirishima noticed Sero with an armful of packages, his hand paused halfway to the shelf as he stared at Kirishima.

"What the fuck dude," Sero questioned in a tone that Kirishima couldn't place.

Kirishima rested his hands on his knees, taking his time to glance at his watch as he struggled to catch his breath. "I made it," he heaved, standing up straight.

Sero laughed at Kirishima's demeanor, neatly tucking a bag of skittles onto a shelf, "Okay man, help me with stocking the shelves when you get your crap together." Kirishima nodded his agreement and crossed over to where Sero had left a box of goods. The box looked nearly full, the sides of it bowing out under the stress of having one to many packets of sweets in it.

"I'm going to stock drinks," Kirishima said slowly, eyeing the haphazard box. If that thing collapsed there was no way he was going to clean up that big of a mess. Besides, with a day as hot as it was, teenagers would be piling in soon to get whatever cold drinks they could get their hands on. He briefly wished he could be one of those kids, instead of sitting at work restocking drinks he would be at the lake, swinging from ropes that hung on dangerously high branches into freezing cold water. Hell, he wouldn't mind just hanging out with his friends at the public pool and flying down the water slides.

He sighed, a longing expression crossing his face as he grabbed the drinks that needed to be restocked. The drinks mainly ranged from the common sodas to teas with brand names that Kirishima had never even heard of. He never paid much attention to the things the store ordered, instead, he focused on putting things in the right place as quickly as possible. He wasn't getting paid to know what type of food so and so was eating.

~~~

Kirishima had just finished stocking waters when the door chimed behind him. Out of sheer human curiosity, he turned to see who had come through the doors, a welcoming smile crossing his face. The sounds of their conversation reached Kirishima before he registered the small group making their way into the store. There were three of them in total but by the way Sero rushed across the store, keen on getting to the register before the doors could even swing shut, told Kirishima that they were still trouble, even with their numbers.

Kirishima's smile faltered for a split second before he recovered and gave a friendly greeting, "Good evening, you guys looking for something?" All three of them seemed to ignore Kirishima except for one, who turned to give Kirishima an insulted look. The one who gave him the look was peculiar looking to say the least. His shoulders were hunched forward and he walked with movements that seemed to say that he didn't care for the company of the others following him. Kirishima took in his features too; greyish blue hair with varying lengths with the longest clumps reaching to his shoulders, chapped lips and a few scars that were very noticeable against his deathly pale skin. He seemed to be a few years older than Kirishima just at first glance. Kirishima couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at him. Had the man ever heard of chapstick, or I don't know, the sun?