Life in Retail

Old Habits

I shouldn't have said anything.

As I drag my feet into work, Mom's voice continues screaming in my ears. And the whole point of this job was to get away from her on Saturdays. Sigh...

*Ding-a-ling*

"Morning, Nagisa." Taki frowns. "Are you ready to work?"

"Yeah..." I mutter, grabbing an apron and clocking in with my card.

Taki furrows his brows and points towards the back. "Well, I'll be doing my thing." He pauses. "Let me know if you need something."

I wave him off and after a few minutes of no customers, I lean on the counter and let out another long sigh.

I decided to remind Mom that I was going to be cutting my hair after midterms and even though she knew it was coming, it started a whole argument. I slammed the door in her face as I left, realizing just how screwed I'd be when I got home because of it. I pull out a blue lock and stare at it.

But it's my hair. Will she ever see me as an individual? As a person? Will I ever get to make my own decisions?

I let it slide through my fingers.

*Ding-a-ling*

"Welcome to Convenience, the store for all your needs and necessities..." I mumble without any enthusiasm.

They ignore me.

A few more customers trickle in and I realize that I probably shouldn't be neglecting my duties. Right. I'm here to get away from Mom. I need to snap out of it. I shake it off and put on my best smile for the first person to check out.

No one notices that I'm holding it in, and while that's the whole point of putting on a smile and pretending everything's alright, that's not how I feel.

I feel like I'm letting Korosensei down.

And someone needs to help me find my way before I lose it.

I told him what I was going to do. I told him it was my plan, my choice, and that I wasn't going to let her control me anymore, but...

Old habits die hard.

A group of four guys a little older than me leaves without checking out. At first glance, it seems they didn't get anything, but I spot the edge of a canned coffee sticking out of their pocket.

"Hey!" I call out, hurrying over to them before they can leave. "Would you like me to ring that up for you?"

The guy grins confidently. "What, this?" He pulls it out and shakes it once. "I had this when I came in. You saying I didn't?"

He waits for me to respond and I recall Yukito-senpai explaining how we aren't supposed to confront them directly, so I say nothing. The guy sees this, opens it in front of me, and leaves the store while laughing with his friends.

I clench my fists and kick at the ground. Dang it! Running to where the coffees are, I find they need to be restocked. Liars! I have to catch them next time.

After my run-in with the thieves, it gets easier to fall into the motions of work, albeit a little aggravated. I stock products, assist customers, all the usual things. There are some things that are becoming normal that are starting to get on my nerves though.

*Beep*

*Err-err*

I frown, unfolding the wrapping so the bar code is more exposed.