of bubble tea, sushi, lists, memories, and meetings

sasuke

.:sasuke:.

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bubble tea

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Sasuke Uchiha worked several odd jobs throughout his life.

He had seen lots of things working in various restaurants and retail shops. The elderly couple on a sweet date, the teenage lovers' spat leading to their break up (the girl immediately hit on him afterwards), the wedding anniversaries, birthdays, blind dates, consolations, and reunions.

Sasuke had seen it all.

This latest job at a bubble tea cafe was a break. The owner was a friend of his mom's and was more than willing to pick him up from school and take him to work. She let him use his breaks as time to do his homework, sometimes extending it when he wasn't paying attention to the clock, too engrossed in writing his midterm paper to realize he needed to stop.

His older brother Itachi thought it was hilarious that Sasuke, the most anti-social, not-people-friendly person in existence, worked a job that required he interact with people on a regular basis. His mother immediately chastised Itachi, telling her youngest child he needed the social interaction his work provided him with since he insisted on earning money for himself in his free time.

Despite his parents' comfortable life style, he knew the move from Japan to the United States ten years ago was a bit of a strain on their carefully kept finances. He worked simply to save up for a car, to save up for his tuition at the University of Michigan, to save up for a bit of money in his pocket.

So on a day like any other day—working to carve his own place in the world—he saw her for the first time.

And for the next three years, she became a regular fixture in his life.

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The door chimes.

Ding!

The shade of the cafe is a welcome relief on his eyes after being in the bright spring sun. The owner ushers her young son and daughter in after him. Shouldering his backpack higher on his shoulder, Sasuke's gaze sweeps over the tables.

There is a middle aged, unshaven man slowly eating a dish of Pad Thai by the window. A pile of papers lies under his elbow. He looks like he hadn't slept in days.

There is an old woman and her younger daughter glaring at each other over a plate of lo mien in the back corner.

There are two high school students and an older woman (Mother? Sister? Aunt?) sitting at the table behind the low wall that separated the seating area from the ordering line. Each person has a cup of different flavored bubble tea while three forks rest at the edge of a plate of fried banana crepes. One glance at their uniforms tells Sasuke they are students at Bishop's, the private Catholic high school in the city.

At sight of the last table, Sasuke's thoughts take a bitter turn. They were lucky to have everything and not have to work so hard to get what they wanted.

If they had stayed in Japan...

He couldn't think like that. Staying in Japan was out of the question.