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Children and adolescents are often said to have almost infinite energy stores. They romp around, rarely sit still and yet seem to know no fatigue. In theory, that is.
Since Kou had started working his shifts, these supposedly infinite energy stores seemed to be used up much more quickly. And at the very latest, ever since he first got involved in Asuka Hiiragi's daredevil Eclipse adventures, he rarely felt like he was properly rested. For a normalstudent who only went to class, met some friends and (if at all) took care of little tasks for his parents every now and then, the energy calculation might add up. Kou's own workload, on the other hand, was constantly throwing him into the red.
Today had actually started as usual: Sleep as long as possible, get ready in a hurry, rush to class (and receive Shiori's lunch package – how did she always know whenever he hadn't had time for breakfast?), support the student council, and help Hiiragi in the Eclipse.
Hiiragi was still not thrilled when he urged her to take him. Again and again, she cautioned him to be careful, reminding him that he was only a civilian and an amateur. But in the end, she did seem glad to have some backup.
They had hunted down an Elder Greed that day, which had taken a toll on them both, even with the support of Sora and Yuuki. Accordingly, Kou and his friends felt absolutely whacked when they stepped out of the gate and back into the real world. He said goodbye to the others and was looking forward to his soft bed, when he remembered something important: He had a shift at the Café bar today!
With new adrenaline shooting through his veins, he hurried straight to Horaichou.
There were quiet days and hectic days at the Café Bar. Unfortunately, this day was not a quiet day.
Not only did the bar attract an unusually large number of customers that evening, but it was also delivery day for the kitchen ingredients. And as if that wasn't enough, his boss Mr. Hama had decided that ironically on this day, he wanted to carry out the old furniture for the bulky waste. For Kou, that meant heavy lifting, lots of running back and forth, and practically no breaks.
He hadn't had a chance to eat anything or sit down for a few minutes since eating Shiori's lunch at school. This definitely had an impact on him now. He kept getting dizzy, his head feeling strangely foggy and weightless. He paused briefly in the doorway each time he carried a box of vegetables in or a piece of furniture out. But with an iron will and longing for his shift to end soon, he pulled himself together. Before stepping behind the counter next to his boss or taking an order from a customer, he reminded himself to persevere and put on a neutral, friendly expression.
His shift was supposed to last another hour or so (and an hour felt like a whole day to him that night), when one customer appeared who capped it all: Wearing a wry smile and with an overall relaxed demeanor, his teacher Mr. Gorou Saeki entered the restaurant.
Although there were hardly any customers left and many tables were empty, Gorou sat down at the counter. Kou winced inwardly, but gathered the last of his energy and stepped behind the bar with the tray of empty dishes he had just collected from the tables.
"Sensei, good evening. What can I get you?" he asked politely, smiling on the outside, shouting on the inside.
"A beer will do for today," his teacher replied, slowly removing his glasses in his typically dignified manner and running his hands over his face. Weird – although the man was usually seen wearing glasses, he looked much more natural to Kou without them. As if he had never worn any.
While Kou took a glass and stepped up to the beer tap, Gorou added, "What a day... Though, knowing you, I'm sure yours was even more exhausting – huh, Tokisaka-kun?"
Thinking about today's exertions in both the Eclipse and the real world, Kou felt dizzy, but he didn't let on and just shrugged. As the glass filled with pale ale (topped with a proud head of foam), Kou turned around a little too quickly and for a moment, the world around him blurred. His hand missed the counter, which should have been only half a meter in front of him. A loud clatter filled the room. His body landed awkwardly on hard ground.
Even before he realized what exactly had happened, he felt exposed. Shame and fear welled up inside him.
"Tokisaka-kun!" someone shouted.
"Tokisaka-kun? What-"
In the next moment, his teacher was crouching beside him and Mr. Hama was rushing over from the next room.
"Hey, are you all right? Careful, the shards," he heard Mr. Gorou's speaking gently.
"Ugh, yeah, I'm fine, I was just a little dizzy. I just... didn't get around to eating much today. That must be it," Kou explained, not telling a lie – just not the whole truth.
His boss stood indecisively by, hands nervously hovering over him to offer assistance if necessary.
"Don't worry, Mr. Hama, everything's okay. Sorry about the glass."
His gaze wandered to the floor, where the once-pretty beer glass was now drowning in a growing pool of beer, splintered into a hundred shards. Fortunately, the floor was sealed and could be mopped. Just another item on Kou's To Do list for the evening...
"I'll get the mop right away," Kou said, but his boss was quicker.
"No, no, you sit down first, I'll do it," Mr. Hama replied, then addressing Gorou, "Could you..."
Gorou nodded and with a surprisingly strong grip, he pulled Kou to his feet and a few feet away to the nearest table. Still feeling a little wobbly on his feet, Kou let the special treatment wash over him, but his mind seemed to clear up a bit. The other guests had politely continued their interrupted conversations, but were still following the scene curiously out of the corner of their eyes.
So – that happened.
Kou sighed and propped his head on the table. He felt his teacher's watchful gaze pierce him from the side. Meanwhile, behind the counter, his boss was removing the traces of his failure – doing the job Kou should have done. Could this evening get any worse?
"Whew, I think I'll be all right. I still have work to do at the storage room-"
"Ho! Hold your horses now. Take a deep breath first and have some water," Gorou interrupted him and stood up from his chair. Behind the counter, Mr. Hama handed him a glass, which he filled with tap water.
Kou would have liked the ground to open up and swallow him whole facing this special treatment. He did not meet his teacher’s gaze as he sipped the water. When asked if there was anything else that could be done for him, Kou replied in the negative. He took some more time and endured the awkward silence before it became too much for him. His eyes fell on the clock on the wall.
"So, well, I don't get off work until 10, so there's a lot to do before then," he said, rising from his chair.
Mr. Hama, who had just finished mopping up, joined them.
"Tokisaka-kun, you've really done more than enough today. Especially with the big number of guests and you carrying all that furniture on top. Please go home and get some rest. I will be fine," the older man assured him.
"B-But..."
"I insist. You'll get full pay, of course. But enough is enough. I don't want you to wear yourself out any more."
He looked apologetically at Mr. Gorou and bowed slightly.
"Thank you for your help. I assume that you live in a completely different area, but could I ask you for one more favor? Would you please escort the young man home? I'm worried about him getting there safely. I would go myself, but I can't leave yet."
Kou was perplexed and a bit indignant. He would have preferred them to talk to him, not about him while he was sitting right there. "Hey, there's no need for that. I can-"
"Yes, of course," Gorou assured over him, "I was going to offer anyway."
He gave the old barkeeper a friendly smile.
"Ready, Tokisaka-kun? Need anything else?"
Kou growled in frustration and shook his head. The whole situation was embarrassing, a single disaster. He felt patronized.
And so his teacher went to get his car while Mr. Hama brought Kou's jacket and bag from the next room. Kou apologized to his boss again, who, in spite of everything, gave him his pay and assured him that everything was fine. Kou was just supposed to have a good rest and then come back soon for another day of work.
Gorou drove up in the car and they said goodbye to Mr. Hama. Then he led Kou (with one hand on his shoulder like he was some invalid) to the passenger side and closed the door behind him. Kou immediately looked out of the window, his elbow propped against the glass. There was not much to see, but he could not and would not look his teacher in the eye. A thousand feelings raged inside him.
He briefly told his teacher his address and they drove in silence for a while. Gorou tried to start a conversation a few times, but Kou was not in the mood to talk. His head was buzzing and he could have fallen asleep that instant. But he didn't dare nod off here and make the situation even more uncomfortable.
He still must have been hovering somewhere between sleep and wakefulness though, because he jolted when he heard a door slam. He whirled around and saw that Mr. Gorou was no longer in the car. Kou was alone. Panicked, he looked outside and frowned in confusion. They were standing in a dimly lit parking lot... of some fast food chain.
He couldn't make sense of what was going on or why they were here. Anyway, he couldn't get a clear thought as it was. At that moment, the driver's side door opened again and Mr. Gorou dropped into the seat, groaning faintly. He reached into the paper bag in his arm and held something wrapped in front of Kou's nose – apparently a large burger. The smell of greasy food was spreading in the car.
"To the last bite, Tokisaka-kun," his teacher demanded in a firm tone.
Kou would have liked to counter that by saying Gorou could not order him to do anything. That he could very well decide for himself when and what he ate. But he was tired. So tired. And he just wanted to go to bed ASAP. Home. Out of this car, in which he was having a duel with his English teacher in the category ‘Who can stand silence the longest?’
And so he unwillingly took the burger, roughly unwrapped it, and ate it in an almost mechanical manner. Without much passion, without actually tasting it. Gorou's iron gaze softened a bit and he let a smile shine through.
"I'm sorry. It's not the most nutritious. But the priority is to get something into your stomach. I suspect you would have gone to sleep without food otherwise, wouldn't you?"
Caught. But Kou only grumbled. He realized that his teacher wanted to start a conversation. Something he himself wanted to avoid.
As he was done with the burger, he crumpled up the paper and looked at his driver expectantly. His look was supposed to say 'So, done. Are you going to drive me home now?’ But Gorou made no move to start the engine. Instead, he responded to Kou's silent demand with another sharp gaze.
"Kou... It can't go on like this," the teacher spoke, "I know we agreed to keep your various side jobs between us. But if I get the feeling that you're not up to the stress of this 'daily routine', I have no choice but to report it to someone. If not the school administration, then at least your legal guardian."
Kou's heart beat faster.
"That was just a stupid slip-up earlier. I usually get by very well," Kou quickly explained, hoping that would put an end to the conflict. Of course, it didn’t. The lecturing continued.
"I do notice how tired you are in class, Kou. The few times you're mentally present, it's accompanied by yawns at one-minute intervals. Teenagers your age need more sleep, that is essential. But if you're slaving away into the night almost every day – and that is on top of schoolwork – then for better or worse, you'll eventually feel the consequences. Like tonight."
Kou sighed. He didn't feel up to delivering a snappy, confident counter right now. So he decided to back down. Within acceptable limits, of course.
"Look, I appreciate your caring. But I know what I'm doing. I may have overdone it today. But I was planning on doing fewer shifts anyway. So please don't worry about it. And now... I'd really like to go to bed."
Gorou looked at him urgently, but Kou avoided his gaze again. What else was he supposed to say, with all the things gathering in his head that he absolutely could not tell his teacher? The Eclipse and all its monsters, dangerous gang fights, underground organizations... All the things he had to deal with the rest of the time besides lessons. If he told him that, his teacher would either think he hit his head somewhere in his fall or he'd declare him crazy and drop him off at the next psychiatric ward.
Finally, Gorou gave it up, started the engine, and drove towards the residential area. When the car came to a stop in front of the Tokisaka house, Kou only mumbled a thank you and an apology for the trouble before quickly getting out and hurrying up the stairs. The car was waiting behind him and he felt the gaze of his teacher lingering at his back until he (uncoordinatedly) unlocked the front door and let it slam shut behind him.
Thank God, it was over. He made it to the sofa, and immediately his exhausted mind and body shut down.