Junes
04/19 Tue
Daytime
Despite being the largest shopping center in Inaba, Junes is not always packed with customers. One of the reasons for such drawbacks is because Junes has attracted resentment from many store owners in the shopping district. Of course, if one considers the situation with impartial judgment and logical reasoning, it is absurd to blame Junes for stealing their customers since business is all about competition. But fate is not so kind, as Junes is forced to endure the hostile treatment from the local population.
The amount of revenue gained from selling their goods is enough to cover all the expenses, costs and taxes needed to run the business, but not enough to employ a large number of workers. As such, Junes is constantly suffering from the lack of personnel and was only able to employ small numbers of part-timers.
A certain white-haired boy, being its newest staff and worker, is busy swiping the floor in the food court area while also organizing the tables and chairs. Due to the recent homicide cases that struck Inaba, business in the small town is slower than expected. In fact, if Haruto is to work alone for that entire day, he would be more than enough to handle every customer by himself. However, despite the current situation, Haruto continued to work diligently through the day.
When Yosuke brought Haruto to his house, he also asked his parents for permission to let Haruto stay with them. Even though they barely know a thing about him, they granted the request and agreed to give him shelter at least until an associate or a member of the family comes to retrieve him. Thus, Haruto decided to help them out both at home and Junes. Repaying their kindness is a given, but for him who still has nothing else to do, there really isn't anything better to do.
That is, until he met a certain gray-haired police officer and a blue eyed girl.
Haruto sighed. He regretted not asking their name or whereabouts when they first met. It is fairly obvious that they know more about him, since he only learned his own name after hearing it from them. If he could find them again, he may be able to obtain more information about himself.
Just when the thought occurs to him, Haruto sees the very same girl he met yesterday. The one that had piqued his interest.
It was not because he was attracted to her charm, even though Haruto himself admitted she is indeed a very beautiful girl, but rather the fact that she looks familiar. He couldn't even remember anything about that police officer in spite of his obvious connection to Haruto, and yet he is able to somewhat recognize the girl almost immediately upon their first meeting.
The girl is wearing a long-sleeved cardigan which on top of a black dress with frilled skirt. She also wears a pair of thigh high socks which cover most of her slender legs along with a pair of dark colored shoes. On her shoulder is the exact same red handbag she wore yesterday.
She must have felt his stare as she turned to look at his direction before approaching him.
"Good afternoon, Haruto-kun. I didn't expect to meet you again so soon,"
Haruto responded to the greeting by withdrawing a small memo pad from his chest pocket. Yosuke gave it to him in case Haruto needed to express his thoughts with a more specific method. There are limits to how well he can communicate with simple gestures, and using sign language is no good since most people he meets are not familiar with it. Instead, Haruto had written various responses that might be useful in a regular conversation. He flipped his memo to show the girl three different pages he had prepared beforehand.
Good Afternoon.
Welcome to Junes.
May I help you?
The girl only smiled at his unique response before answering his question.
"Yes, please. I need to buy myself some new clothes. Can you show me around?"
Haruto nodded. He gestured at the girl to follow him deeper inside the building and into an elevator.
Junes' layout was made simple in order to ease navigation and reduce maintenance cost. The ground floor consists of three areas: The Food Court, the Electronic Department, and The Main Building. The Grocery Department and the Clothing Department are located on the 2nd and 3rd floor of the Main Building, respectively. All the floors are connected by the two elevators in the main building, along with a set of staircase.
When they arrived on the 3rd floor, Haruto could see a familiar figure talking to the cashier. It was Yusuke Hanamura, Yosuke's father and the manager of Junes.
"Oh Haruto-kun, thanks for your hard work today!" Yosuke's father waved his arm to call over Haruto. "Hm? Who is this? I didn't know you already got yourself a cute girlfriend."
Hearing his comment, Haruto shook his head while the girl chuckled to herself.
"Haruto-kun is an old friend of mine. I was hoping he could accompany me buying some clothes, "the girl explained to Yosuke's father.
So there is a connection between him and her… Asking her directly would be the fastest way to learn the truth, but for now he decided to play along with her request. He nodded his head in agreement with the girl so that Yosuke's father would allow him to accompany her.
"Well… It doesn't look like many people are coming today and Haruto-kun has been working hard for the past few days…" Yosuke's father is mumbling to himself. "Then how about this? If you promise you'll buy a lot from our store, I'll lend Haruto-kun to you for the rest of the day."
"Alright, we got a deal"
"Perfect! Then, Haruto-kun, I'll leave the rest to you!"
Yosuke's father patted him on the shoulder before leaving them alone.
"Well then, shall we continue our date then?"
Haruto withdraws his memo pad again, but instead of just showing certain words, he writes another sentence on a new page.
Sure. What type of clothes do you want, Ms. …?
"Naruko Uzumaki. That's my name" answered the girl. "Let's see… I'd usually prefer wearing modest clothes, ones that are not too revealing. As for the colors… I guess anything will do, although it would be nice if it's orange or black. Do you have something you can recommend, Haruto-kun?"
Haruto nodded his head. He now knows her name, all that is left is to inquire her directly. But for now, he got a job to do.