Hayato stood in front of a huge trashcan in an alley behind the ramen place he now worked at. He held a black trash bag with all sorts of things in it. Since they mostly used pork to make their ramen, the smell was way too strong. At this point, he was getting used to it, though.
'Two weeks ago I was lying on a trash can like this one here', he thought, feeling a strange sensation in his stomach as if he had eaten something rotten.
Every time he remembered this fact, he felt like a helpless idiot.
'Sincerely, I want so hard to go back in time and make things different. Maybe that cook was right, after all. I waited for too long for someone to help me get out of that mess. This cowardly attitude only made me sink into the dirt even more.'
The more he thought about that, the more pathetic he felt. He only had time to think about these things now that the busiest days at the ramen place were gone. He learned how to do most things besides cooking, most of which he had been doing in auto mode in the past few days. That's something that his sharp learning skills allowed him to do, even though only two weeks had passed since he started working there.
"Hayato! Come here already!"
"Yes, coming!" he quickly replied while throwing the trash bag inside the can once and for all.
'I need to stop rambling during my shift. This guy will kill me if he finds out that I was doing it when there is so much work to do.'
"What do you need, Mr. Satoshi?" Hayato hurried inside through the back door. He had his guard up and expected to see a line of hungry clients with copper coins in hand and not very gentle faces due to the long wait.
"Nothing. I was just making sure you were not sleeping there. Today is not a busy day, after all."
"Frankly... You know that I am not the type of person to do such a thing. I never slept in the middle of my shift."
"It's been only two weeks since you are working here, you know? I still cannot trust you. Nobody would with so little time together."
"Well, that makes sense. But, did you call me only for this?"
"No, I am bored too. This part of the month is always quite uneventful. Last week was the best, wasn't it?"
Hayato looked at that old cook with eyes of disbelief and shock.
"No. It wasn't. Last week I needed to run after a customer who didn't want to pay, a woman cursed our entire generation for having used the wrong type of noodle, and-"
"It was the type she wanted! That crazy woman herself asked to put it."
"And you traded punches with a customer."
"He was not a customer, but a jerk. There is a world of difference."
"You cannot fight every customer that badmouths your food in front of you."
"I have been doing it for thirty-five years now, buddy. Too late to give me this advice. I already beat the shit out of fifty-seven jerks, got beaten by twelve, and would have beat way more if I didn't go to prison once."
"You are the first ramen place owner I know that was arrested not for evading taxation or using very poor quality condiments, but for bodily injuring your customers."
"Hmph. What kind of irresponsible owner serves poor-quality food and evades taxes? Only jerks do that."
Apparently, it was okay for him to beat the shit out of his customers as long as his taxes were up to date and his food was delicious. Although strange, Hayato found it strangely fair on second thought, he just wouldn't admit it even under torture. He had common sense.
"Besides, miss Takiko of the sushi restaurant at the end of this street got arrested once, too. Legend has it that she stabbed her husband..."
"On the left side of his trunk?"
"Yeah, it nearly killed him since there is this organ that... by the way, who told it to you? You are good at searching for the details, huh?"
'It is because you have this scar on your left side... But it must be a coincidence, right?'
"Well, I have been knowing lots of people, you know?" he averted his eyes and scratched his neck.
The cook just shrugged. He didn't know much about what Hayato did outside of the ramen place, so he couldn't tell whether he said the truth or not.
"Well, since no customer is coming in a while, can I sleep or something?"
Mr. Satoshi passed his finger on the corner's surface, then inspected it carefully.
"No. Come here to clean the chairs, the corner, and the floor. Sweep the sidewalk, too."
"I did it, like, two hours ago."
"Since nobody is coming, it gets dusty real quick, you know?"
Hayato sighed, but accepted his fate and took a broom and a piece of cloth.
"Finish it quickly. I have a bit of sake and tobacco with me. I will teach you how to drink and smoke today."
"Erm... I am underaged, you know?"
"Under... Are you a fourteen-year-old or something?"
"Sixteen."
"You are not underaged when you are above fifteen. You can even get married or arrested, you know? What are you talking about?"
Hayato shook his head to himself.
'Dummy. That was obvious, wasn't it?' he scolded himself.
"Okay. Let's drink, then."
****
The night finally arrived. Hayato finished everything that Mr. Satoshi had told him to do. The ramen place was busier in the evenings, but since they were in a complicated part of the month, not everyone had the money or the will to go there.
"I think I will need to reduce your payment, after all..."
"C'mon, I work so hard, man", Hayato sighed. It was not the first time his boss threatened to lower his payment even more.
"You didn't even pay the ten coins a day you promised. You pay eight."
"Well, as wise of an old man as I am, I diminished your payment before I even needed to do it. That's called caution. The mind of a businessman should work like this", he seemed very proud of himself while affirming that he scammed a sixteen-year-old, homeless and purposeless boy. Meanwhile, he gently poured some sake into two cups.
"This, my boy, is the solution to all your problems", Mr. Satoshi took something out of a pocket in his apron.
"Erm... a smoking pipe?"
"No, it's not a smoking pipe. It's the very tool forged by the Gods. There is no way to name it. It just is. Got it?"
"No."
"Well, you will get it once you take a drag!"
Hayato was not sure if he should do it or not. He knew some people who had the habit of drinking and smoking (people who beat him every single day). Although he wanted to be strong like them, he didn't want to have the same personality or future liver or lung diseases.
Anyway, Mr. Satoshi wouldn't give him a break for the rest of the week if he didn't accept taking at least one drag. Hayato had enough of his mockery once he admitted not liking shoyo that much, which was something inconceivable for the old cook.
Mr. Satoshi put some strange herbs on the pipe, then lit it carefully.
"Now, you just need to drag. Do it gently, let the smoke invade your lungs for a while, then release it slowly. It's just like breathing normally, ok? The only difference is that it won't be oxygen.
"Yeah, got it", Hayato took the pipe carefully, staring at its content.
"Staring at the herb won't make you know what it does with your body, you know? Just drag it and find out, boy."
'Ok... We just live once, right? He wouldn't smoke it if it wasn't good in some way.'
Hayato put his mouth on the pipe and dragged it. Right after, his eyes teared up, his mouth went dry, and he coughed all the smoke.
'Damn it, I could feel it in my lungs... It caught me by surprise.'
"Hahahaha! That's it! Just hold the smoke a little more the next time. Otherwise, it won't have the same effect. The next time will be easier for you, I guarantee it. Now, take a sip of this sake", he offered the cup to Hayato, who was quick in grabbing it and drinking.
'At least, sake is cold and sweet. This much I know. My father once let me have a sip of it. He adored sake.'
Hayato took another sip as he looked at Mr. Satoshi. The man dragged the pipe, then gently released the smoke. His face was more peaceful than it ever was before. His mood became even softer after drinking his sake.
"What's it, boy?" he noticed Hayato looking.
"Ah... Nothing", he shook his head, but hesitantly reconsidered his words. "Well, it's just that it has been a while since I feel like this. I mean, having someone to teach me and make me go through new experiences. Of course, it's not what I had in mind when thinking about it, drinking sake and smoking... but it's good, regardless.
"You said you are not a selfless person, but, although you are dying to reduce my salary, you are a little gentle sometimes."
Hayato had a faint smile on his lips as he said it. He couldn't look Mr. Satoshi in the eyes, though. He was staring at his sake.
"Well, what I mean with it, Mr. Satoshi, is that I am very thankful for everyth-"
"I am not dying to reduce your salary. I did it. Your pay for today is only six copper", he casually took another drag on his pipe.
"N-Never mind what I said, then", Hayato sighed. "Come on, give me the pipe one more time."