Saturday Summer Quarter 2016 Week 5

I parked on the street and checked my phone. Was I in the wrong place? I peered around but discovered no matching addresses. Ah crap, why was Kisai’s house so hard to find?

“Hey Yuki, you look lost!” Jacque greeted me from the car that pulled up behind mine.

“Yeah, I definitely am. Where the hell is Kisai’s house?” I raised my phone into the air.  

“It’s kinda confusing. I got lost when I came here the first time too.” Shigetzu pointed at a nearby driveway.

“It’s down there. Jin’s house is behind all these other houses,” Ichaival revealed.

After a minute walk, the hero’s house came into view. Kisai, in a T-shirt and shorts, retrieved a basketball from the ground and made a perfect shot. On his second attempt, the basketball bounced off the rim and he finally noticed us.

“Tess isn’t here yet. Wanna play some basketball?” he grinned.

“Thought Long was already here,” Jacque said, sitting on the front porch.

“Haven’t seen him.” Kisai shook his head, dribbling the basketball.

“Feng’s giving him a ride. That’s why he didn’t tag along with us.” Shigetzu looked at his phone.

“Darryl, let’s go. I know you want to play.” Kisai tossed the basketball at him.

“You know I can’t! Need to take it easy for a few days,” Ichaival declined, pointing at his leg.

“That is not optimal, Darryl. Be more cautious when you’re working out. While your dedication is commendable, please show more restraint in the future.” Tess exited from the garage.

“Wait, didn’t you say Tess wasn’t here yet?” Jacque asked.

“She wasn’t here when I started playing,” Kisai replied.  

Jacque remained confused since his answer didn’t clear up how Tess arrived without anyone noticing. It was just one of those things I knew not to question anymore.

“Ah, I regret to inform everyone that Long will not be here today. Since the minimum attendance has not been met yet, continue on,” Tess informed us, heading back inside Kisai’s house.

Kisai grinned and hurled the basketball at Ichaival again. The false archer dodged and Shigetzu retrieved the ball. Jacque attempted ten shots but missed all of them. He sighed and passed the ball back to Kisai.

“Tess already told you about Long, huh?” Kyoi arrived ten minutes later.

“Yeah. Did you see anyone else?” I asked.

“No. I expect everyone will be here soon.” She shook her head.

Kisai messed around, adjusting the way he shot the ball each time. The others sat around, just chatting. Half an hour later, everyone else arrived and Tess exited from the garage again.

“Everyone is accounted for. Let’s talk in the usual location,” Tess announced.

Kisai led us inside through the garage door and pointed at the door in front of us. Tess opened the door to reveal a large living room full of cardboard boxes. There was a medium-sized work desk in the left corner of the room. Wires and other assorted electronic equipment were scattered across it.

“What is this room?” I questioned.

“It’s pretty much storage for parts. My dad used to work on things here,” Kisai answered.

“Does he repair stuff?” I guessed.

“Yeah, you see that brand over there? He works for that company and does a lot of house calls.” Kisai pointed at a television.

Before delving into specifics, Tess called Kisai over for assistance. They pulled out a projector from one of the boxes and placed it on the coffee table. Shan, the tallest out of everyone, stuck a rectangular rod near the ceiling and tapped it.

“Jin, there’s no one renting the downstairs currently, correct?” Tess asked for confirmation.

“No, they moved out a month ago,” Kisai replied.

“Perfect, let’s proceed.” Tess pulled out a clicker from her pocket.

The initial slides provided a rough outline for our summer break training. She then updated us on Lilith and her team’s progress of retrieving Artifacts. I zoned out for a few minutes near the end of the meeting. It was just one of those days that despite getting enough sleep, my attention span wasn’t all there.

When the Gatekeeper went through the last few slides, I checked in on everyone else. En and Shui were nodding off, their eyes glazed over. Shan looked like he was paying attention. Kisai whispered something to Ichaival. A piece of chalk flew into Kisai’s forehead and Tess gave them a piercing look. Kisai, still grinning, apologized while Ichaival glared at his friend. Kyoi, as Tess wrapped up her presentation, walked up to her. Kuan’s eyes were closed. Wait, did he actually fall asleep? Jen shook the man but there was no response. However, Tess chose not to discipline him.

“Yuki, pretty unfair Tess picked me when Kuan was obviously sleeping.” Kisai rubbed his forehead.

“Tess has given up on me,” Kuan said.

“Isn’t it more like you’ll get punished later?” I pointed out.

“I guess that’s true,” Kuan admitted, giving a sheepish smile.

Kyoi, finished speaking with Tess, smiled at me. Not sure if I should feel scared or relieved.

“Hey Tess, you want to work on my grimoire now or later?” I asked her.

“Let me finish things here before performing any modifications,” Tess answered.

“Sounds good.” I nodded.

I chatted with everyone and learned about their summer plans. Shan was interning at the university lab. Kisai was quitting his job once school started in the fall to focus on other things. En, well, I worked at the same place as him. Shui was going on a family vacation in a couple of weeks. Ichaival was just hired at a store close by his house.

Tess finished her preparations and requested use of the space for an hour. Kisai agreed and closed the door behind him. Before leaving, I handed my grimoire over to her.

“This will take awhile. I suggest socializing with everyone upstairs,” Tess suggested.

I met Kisai’s parents before but they were nowhere in sight. His little sister wasn’t home either. Kyoi, Jen, Shui, and En already left. Shan, Jacque, Ichaival, and Kuan were still here. Jacque was chatting with Shan in the living room. The other two must be in Kisai’s room.

“Yuki, I have a question for you. Actually, it was Jacque who brought it up first,” Shan replied.

“Is it a weird question?” I stared at him in suspicion.

“’Course not,” Shan replied. “How about this? Jacque will ask it.”

“Fine.” I sighed.

“What the fuck, Shigetzu? So we were talking about Long. It sucks he isn’t here. Anyways, we were wondering what kind of training Kyoi puts him through,” Jacque revealed.

“Seriously? Shan, shouldn’t you know better than I do?” I asked.

“Nah, Zhang’s the only other person that’s survived her training. We should ask him later. Thanks, Yuki.” Shan grinned.

“You did this on purpose!” I glared at him and headed over to Kisai’s room.  

Ichaival, sitting in an office chair, stared at a computer screen and rapidly clicked a mouse. The blinds in the room were closed and the main light source originated from the computer screen. Oh, a first person shooter.

“Yuki, interested in playing? I’m pretty sure you’ll be better than Darryl,” Kisai offered.

“There’s no way you can be as bad as Darryl. He sucks,” Kuan added.

“Shut up! I haven’t played this in a long time. I’ve been busy doing other stuff so I don’t have time to play this anymore,” Ichaival retorted.

“That’s a shit excuse, Darryl. What the fuck?” Kisai stared at his friend in surprise.

Darryl sighed and continued playing. Ichizen dabbled in these types of games but was more interested in brawlers and fighting games. I continued watching him play until a chart came up, listing scores. He was on the losing team.

“Damn it! I haven’t played this in awhile but it’s still frustrating.” Darryl pushed himself away from the computer desk.

“Perfect, play with me tonight and redeem yourself.” Kisai gave his friend an encouraging pat on the shoulder.

“I’m busy tonight. I have practice,” Ichaival responded.

“Kuan, you free tonight to join me and Kristoph?” Kisai asked.

“I’m down.” Kuan nodded.

“Oh yeah, I gotta a bunch of board games. Tai brought some over too. Want to play, Yuki?” Kisai reached underneath his bed.

 I glanced over at his bookshelf and a chess piece caught my eye. The figure was a blonde woman wielding a glowing sword. Oh, the Excalibur sword. There were other small figurines of the same person too. Kisai didn’t seem like the type to buy those things so it probably was a gift from someone.

“What should we play?” Kisai brought out a variety of board games.

“That’s an interesting chess piece,” I remarked.

“Yeah, it was a gift from Long. You wanna buy it from me?” Kisai joked.

“Not really, I was just curious about who gave it to you.” I shook my head.

“Long got me a cute figure too. Kud is the best!” Kuan exclaimed.

Interesting. I didn’t think of Zhuyu as the type to give gifts, much less ones that people actually appreciated. Ichaival picked out a board game and we ended up playing three different ones. Shan and Jacque joined us once we started our fourth board game.

“Too bad Kristoph and Shui aren’t here,” Shan commented.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“That’s a story for another time. Kristoph gets really mad when it comes to certain games,” Shan replied.

“Isn’t that for every game he plays?” Ichaival quipped.

“Damn it, I’m losing. Why are you so damn good at this, Shigetzu?” Jacque sighed.

“Jin’s pretty close to me. I might lose soon.” Shan shook his head.

“He’s bluffing. Jin’s going to lose,” Kuan said.

“Kuan’s the most dangerous. He’s played this game more than anyone. Don’t let him trick you,” Kisai warned.

The game ended with Kuan as the victor. Kisai was the runner up and Shan placed third.

“Pretty fun, we need to do this again.” Kisai placed everything back into the box.

“And now you see why Tess picked Jin’s house,” Shan pointed out.

I noticed Tess standing outside. Shan, Ichaival, and Jacque left a couple of minutes later. Kuan stayed behind, chatting with Kisai about a game.

“The modifications are complete. Refer to this for more information.” Tess handed me a handwritten note.

Tess departed and reminded me I could always contact her if anything came up. I said goodbye to Kisai and Kuan and headed out. An SUV was parked in front of my car now. Kristoph and someone I didn’t know exited.

“Tomo, I didn’t expect to see you here,” Kristoph greeted.

“I needed a textbook from Kisai. You’re going to Kisai’s house, right?” I questioned.

“Yeah, gonna mess around and play some games. See you around.” Kristoph and his friend walked into the driveway.

I arrived back home and headed straight to my room. I scanned Tess’ note and was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information. She even included a section about features of the grimoire I didn’t even know about.

“Tess, you’re crazy. How the hell do you manage to find time with everything you do?” I mused, impressed by her dedication.

Sunday Summer Quarter 2016 Week 5

I finished working the register during the morning and was now assigned to the back. My task was to sort through the new packages.

“I can help you out, Tomo.” En walked through the door.

He walked over to the light panel and adjusted the brightness.

“It’s pretty hard to see so I always turn it up,” En explained.

“Has that always been there?” I stared at the light panel.

“Oh, I think some stuff was blocking it until recently. Here’s the checklist.” En handed me a clipboard.

En moved boxes to the side in silence. I tapped the clipboard and checked off the items on the list as he unpacked them.

“Tomo, can you get that box? You’re tall enough to reach it.” En pointed at a box with a green label.

“Sure, no problem.” I nodded.

I turned the box around and saw a label for disposable utensils. I did recall En restocking those one time.

“Do you do this often?” I asked him.

En didn’t respond immediately. He didn’t start work until the late afternoon so I didn’t get a chance to see him until my shift almost ended. However, he came in earlier today.

“Mostly just sort stuff here and restock the shelves. I don’t like working in the front too much. The manager’s nice enough to let me handle things back here like bringing in deliveries and stocking,” En revealed.

“The manager is a pretty nice person. Has she always like that?” I asked as we moved boxes.

“I guess. She’s been like that since I’ve been hired. Maybe because she owns the place?” En speculated.

“How did you figure out that they were hiring?” I questioned.

“A friend of mine recommended it to me. I was working at the restaurant before but really didn’t like it there. So, I came here and the manager gave me a chance,” En replied.

“Do you like it here? Kind of a weird question probably,” I questioned.

“It’s not bad, better than at the restaurant. I have more free time at least. Pretty nice.” En gave a small smile.

I heard a knock on the door and the manager strode in. She looked at the shelves and nodded in satisfaction.

“Good work, you two. Yuki, you’re off now. En can handle the rest,” the manager informed me, taking the clipboard from me.

I went to the staff room and grabbed my stuff. On my way out, I saw someone changing into her uniform. She gave me a slight nod before shutting her locker. I blanked on her name. I walked over to the whiteboard, checking the schedule for next week.

“Oh, she works primarily the same time as En does. She’s full time too.” I searched for their photo while checking my shifts for next week too.

Tess’ training was scheduled for this weekend and the manager accepted my request for those days off. En was off those days too. I would work for four days next week in exchange for the others taking over the weekend shift.

“Still haven’t left yet, Yuki?” the manager walked in and poured herself a cup of tea.

“Just checking the schedule. What’s her name again?” I pointed at the photo.

“Oh, you’re interested in Mana,” the manager answered.

“I noticed she works the same shifts as En,” I said.

“She specifically asked for those times. You might want to ask her about it if you’re curious,” the manager suggested.

“Yeah, I’ll bring it up the next time I see her,” I agreed.

Maybe I was just overthinking things with Mana. I would ask En about her next time.