I entered the familiar convenience store, on my way to purchase everything from the list I received earlier. After doing so, I stood at the end of the short line towards the check-out. Fuck, even here I got stuck in the jam. Just my luck. The first person in line, either high as a kite, or drunk like a pirate, or maybe both, did his best to waste my time, while shouting at the girl behind the counter.

The said girl, a gloomy one, wearing a uniform three sizes too big for her, was past the point of panic and was about to completely shut down. Yeah, just my luck. Another supermarket was fifteen extra minutes from my home, and in an opposite direction from this one.

Soon, both people in front of me decided to leave, either tired of waiting, or not wanting to be dragged into the escalation. And it was close, indeed.

“Bitch, what do you mean by my card was declined?” I heard the slurred speech of the dude in front of me. “Stop ignoring me, slut. I’m talking to you!”

I made a quick once over of the guy. Asian, shaved head, nose broken a few times, cauliflower ears. Stocky figure, few faint scars on visible on his arms. His speech pattern, mannerism, and the gang affiliated tattoo on his hand told me that he was one of Akira’s goons. The last detail, that, for some reason, felt like a personal insult, was the fact he was wearing a flashy tracksuit with dragon kanji on his back.

“Oi, dickhead,” I called out. “Can you fucking stop already? Your slut of a mother must be regretting not aborting a mistake like you.”

This worked like a miracle. Dude completely lost himself and threw his fist at me. Which I caught and, deciding not to go overboard, gave him a tight slap. Well, not going overboard was relative since he lost a few teeth and his consciousness.

After checking his pulse, I took out my phone and dialed the saved number of the local police station. A certain cop who was dealing with things like this.

“Yes?” I heard a voice, whose name was completely forgotten by me long ago.

“There is an unconscious goon from Akira’s. He threw his hands first and there should be security footage.” I reported the situation.

“Really?” I could hear a disbelief in his tone.

“Yes?” Was it really hard to believe?

“Roah, you are telling me that someone decided to pick a fight with you?” Oh, that was a good question.

“Too high to think. Or just stupid.” I explained.

There was a deep sigh from the other side of the line.

“Fine, I will be there shortly.” He said after hearing the address. Not waiting for my response, he ended the call. Well, fuck you too. Whoever you are.

I turned my head to the still mostly unresponsive girl.

“Hey,” I called out to her. She blinked in surprise, and raised her eyes to look at me. “I apologize, but I’m in a bit of a hurry, so could you check my things out, please?”

She nodded and started canceling the dickhead’s purchase. After finishing with it, still at the same unhurried pace, the girl finished checking out the contents of my shopping cart. I paid, and was about to leave, when the store doors opened and another vaguely familiar dude walked in.

“I’ll be damned. Roah, you actually held yourself back for once?” The cop said this after glancing at the heap of trash on the floor.

“Didn’t want to traumatize the poor girl even more than she already is,” I nodded toward the still shell-shocked shop clerk.

“Do you think she will be pressing extra charges?” He asked me for some reason.

“Do I look like a fucking seer to you?” I asked back. “Hey, girl, will you press charges against this dumb fuck?”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

A shake of the head was her answer.

“She is saying she won’t,” I deadpanned toward the cop, who rolled his eyes.

“Ugh, fine, get the hell away from here, seeing your mug makes my head hurt,” he spat those words.

“Yes, officer. Good day to you, officer,” I clowned back.

Then I waved a farewell to the girl, and left.

***

For the whole duration of the short drive home, I couldn’t throw the face of the gloomy girl from the convenience store out of my head.

I opened the door to my apartment and walked inside. After taking off my shoes, I went to the kitchen to put the soda and ice cream in the fridge, and drop the rest on the table for later usage.

Ah, how annoying. Once more, I had that same feeling as if I knew her from somewhere, but nothing concrete. The most likely explanation was the simplest one, of course. Since she works there, I've just met her previously but never paid enough attention. Well, screw it. Let’s just wait until it bites me in the ass later on.

I walked inside the bedroom, while unbuttoning the shirt I had on. So, that’s why nobody welcomed my return, huh. Both girls were busy with Olivia’s homework. Claire was explaining something to my girlfriend, while the latter was listening to her attentively, writing down one thing or another from time to time.

“Well, this certainly is surprising,” I made my presence known.

“Not right now,” said the Counter Girl in a strict tone. Should I rename her to a Tutor Girl now?

“Welcome back, honey,” Olivia greeted me. “We are almost done, make yourself busy for now, please.”

“Ah, my poor fragile heart.” I smirked, and decided to do as I was told.

Ignoring Claire’s presence, I took off my current attire and chose something more home-friendly.

“Hey girls, I’m a bit hungry, want to order something?” I decided to distract them one more time.

“We already ate.” Claire replied, not bothering to even turn her head to me.

“We left your portion in the pan, honey,” Olivia responded, following her tutor’s lead.

“Thanks.” I voiced my gratitude and left the room.

My dinner was a generous serving of pasta carbonara. I put the kettle on the stove and reheated the pasta in the pan. I felt a bit regretful that my trip took me so long. The dish itself still tasted great, but as I was eating alone, my gaze involuntarily drifted to the empty windowsill.

Deciding to distract myself from the stupid thoughts, I checked my messenger’s backlog.

Helen still hasn’t graced my message with her attention.

Daily dose of Bella was already checked by me earlier, but it was a bit too fetish heavy. While I could, and did, appreciate the beauty of the entirety of the female body as a whole, feet pics were too much. Which I told her outright, and even received back assurance that it was just a joke and an experiment. Hm, should I call her? I wanted to hear Bella's voice, but my special woman was, most likely, too busy for a lengthy talk right now.

Both Kouzuki twins sent a single message each. What I received from them resembled more of an archaic greeting card rather than, well, a normal message. Once more, they wrote essentially the same thing, except wording it differently. I wrote a greeting back, coupled together with a request about not using so many flowery words in the personal correspondence.

Yin, and wasn’t it a surprise, also sent me a message, conveying gratitude. While reverting to that style of speech, which I already forbid her from using earlier. My response was a simple selfie with a very, and I must repeat, very disapproving and disappointing stare. Su’s first young lady followed with the flurry of messages, which I ignored. Will check tomorrow, maybe.

My finger froze over the restored contact of Nicole. Should I write something to her? Taking a moment to think it over, I decided not to.

I felt something warm and soft on my shoulders and the back of my head. I buried my head deeper into the warmth, inclining my head to look above. To no surprise at all, my gaze met with a mischievous one from Olivia.

“You’re done with homework? Or is Claire done with you?” I joked.

“Homework had fallen first,” my girlfriend played along.

“There were a few times it was a close call,” Claire joined into the conversation. “But we managed to pull through.”

“That’s good to hear.” I smiled. “So, are you girls ready to torture my soul with extreme boredom?”

“Hey, those movies aren’t that bad,” protested Olivia. She was still hugging me from behind, so I had a hard time arguing with her.

“I think they are quite entertaining, even if a little bad story wise.” Et tu, Claire!

“Fine, fine. But remember, my words when it ends up again in a nap pile.” With those words, I reluctantly extricated myself from the embrace of my silly girl.