『 Bad Habits 』

〖Chapter Two〗

I roll out of bed, brushing my dark purple hair and pulling it up in a ponytail. That done, I get dressed in a black cropped t-shirt and a zip-up hoodie to match, zipping it up halfway. I then slide on a pair of skinny jeans and some almost worn-out black Vans.

Walking around the house, I make sure to grab my headphones, pocket my phone, grab a mini box-cutter, my wallet, and a generic black face mask. Plopping the neon green headphones on my head, I head to my front door, grabbing the house keys on the small entryway table. With that, I throw the door open and walk into the sunlight. Pulling the door behind me, I lock it and put the keys in my hoodie pocket.

I retrieve my phone to put on a random playlist, before making my way to Dope Sketch. My order should have come in today.

No sooner than the skate shop is in sight, the Red Hot Chili Pepper's 'Snow' starts playing. I yawn, the melody of the song makes me wish I was still laying in bed.

"Ichi, skip please."

And just like that, the song changes to a more upbeat punk tune. Bobbing my head along to the beat, I approach the store. Throwing the door open, I walk in, making sure to adjust my headphones so that I have an ear free.

But it's dead. Completely empty. Which means Kichi is probably in the back. And so, I wait. Pacing around the shop, looking at all the shoes, shirts, and other merch. Two stickers catch my eye, and I'm quick to snatch them up. One is Hatsune Miku with her middle finger up. The other, a cute frog with a knife.

"Sorry! I didn't realize anyone walked in – is there anything I can help you with?"

Jumping, I look over at the familiar voice. Shit. Now I'm especially glad I decided to wear the mask. Reki. This kid again. I guess it would make sense. He always seems like he'd rather be somewhere else when in class, and always skates around the building. I've lost track of how many detentions I've had to give him.

I shake my head, running my hair through my bangs. It's ok, Kei. You're wearing a mask, and he's probably just a tad too oblivious to recognize you. If he does, you're picking something up for a family member.

I look at the boy whilst tapping a beat on my thigh, "is Kichi here?"

The man in question walks through the back door right at that moment, "someone say my name" the boxes in his hands wobbling as he walks.

I shake my head at the brunette man, walking up to the counter as he places the three boxes atop it, "it came in today, right?"

"Ah, Kei" he says, finally looking at me, "it's here – give me one moment and I'll bring 'er out" then he turns to Reki, "Reki, I want these boxes empty by the end of the day."

The kid groans, muttering about how he'd rather be building boards or skating. Shokichi just shakes his head before heading back to the back room. I just stand at the counter, waiting patiently for him to retrieve my latest purchase. Reki shuffles around behind me before grabbing the three boxes and heading to the floor to open them.

"Here you go. Still boxed up and everything. I know how you like to open these things yourself." He looks down at the box in his hands, "but I can't help but want to see it too."

I sigh, slapping the stickers on the counter, "you're an idiot if you think I'm just going to walk out of here carrying a box in my hands."

I can't help but notice his slight chuckle and the shake of his head as he looks at my stickers. As he rings me up, I focus my attention on the box, pulling the mini box cutter out of my pocket. I pull out the blade before swiftly cutting the box open.

"You always carry one of those with you?" there's a chuckle in his voice.

I shake my head, smiling, "well, I do when I'm planning to be opening boxes."

"Fair point" he concedes, before coming over to peer into the open box, "that's a nice board."

Inside, laying bottom-up is my newest skateboard. It's black, with a grey, hand-painted, cyber-themed oni face smack in the center. Smoke swirls around it, tinged with neon pink, purple and green.

"Very nice indeed."

"So, did you break that board you were hyping up? The one you paid an insane amount for."

I look at him, putting a hand over my chest, "me? Break a board?"

He rolls his eyes, "seriously though, what's the plan for this one?"

"Daily rider."

He nods, and I can't help but feel a presence over my shoulder. Turning my head, I look at the boy who should be stocking shelves. I raise an eyebrow, which startles him.

"I-It's a really neat board" he stutters, "those are pretty solid RGB wheels, decent trucks as well. The custom deck is cool too. Definitely looks like a solid daily rider for sure. But why have more than one board?"

I shrug, "I've only got three now. Makes it easy if one ever breaks, plus if I have one dedicated for learning, my other two don't get nearly as scuffed."

"That's fair I guess" and with that, he goes back to work.

"So, you've got three boards now" Kichi sighs, "sounds like you're building up quite the collection. Pretty soon you're just going to have expensive decorations."

I shake my head, "nah, I just like having different boards for different things. This one for daily use, a sticker bomb for practice and then my expensive baby for competition."

"You compete? What, are you like professional?" Reki pipes up, excitedly inserting himself into the conversation.

Kichi and I make the joint decision to leave his questions unanswered, as Kichi gives me my total. I grab my wallet from my hoodie pocket and pull my card out to put it in the reader. While that's doing its thing, I pull the board from its box. Setting the board on the floor, I head to the card reader. Once it dings, I pull my card out and pocket it. With that, I hop on the board, quickly balancing myself.

"Oh" I say, looking over my shoulder, "Kichi, expect another order. Been meaning to try a wave board. Maybe a longboard too - haven't had one of those in a while. Possibly completely custom. Haven't decided yet."

He just sighs, shaking his head, "you're really going wild with this, aren't you? I'll see what I can do to get whatever you want in early for you, but you owe me."

I nod, before pushing off and slowly skating around the store, before jumping off, stomping on the end of it, and catching it. I then open the door and make my exit.

Before it fully can close, I hear a, "so, are they professional-professional or did they mean they compete at S?"

Sighing, I once again drop the board and hop on. Kichi, if you tell Reki about me I swear. I don't know what I'll do. But I'll have to do something. I mean, he's a student who could potentially talk to the wrong person and cost me my job. Besides, I don't know him well enough to know if he'd help me keep up my disguise at S or if he'd completely blow my cover. I mean, I know he usually means well. But he also seems like the type to accidentally blurt something like that out loud, in public. 

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A/N: Updates at first will be pretty reliable, as I'm kind of just copy-pasting from a google doc, they'll get slower as I actually have to start writing again. 

I think I'm also going to release chapters 1-3 all at once, so there's that. Maybe try a chapter or two a week after that (even though stuff is pre-written for some things).