Momentary.
That''s the word I''d use.
Short-lived.
Fleeting.
Really, it was.
The scene replayed in my head like a dream I never wanted to wake up from. The embarrassment? Yeah, still fresh. But above it all, rising like a champion, was satisfaction.
To most, it was just a name. But to me—
Ding!
That stupid door chime.
And like that—pop—there went my moment.
I looked up, already knowing who it was.
There are some people in life who just have perfect timing. The kind of timing that makes you question whether God personally assigned them to ruin your life.
Lorian.
Mr. <i>Why-Don''tcha</i>.
In the flesh.
Tall. Blonde. Smug. And twenty minutes late—again.
Yet, somehow, <i>I''m</i> the one getting compared to him?
Well, boss, to that, I say: I am deeply, profoundly, and spiritually disappointed in you.
Lorian walked in like he owned the place, throwing a lazy grin at the girls —who, by the way, we''re barely noticing my existence but suddenly turned into giggling messes at the sight of him.
Pathetic.
He strolled over, hands in his pockets, like he was about to bless me with his presence.
"Yo, my man!" he grinned.
My man?
Yeah, sure. Maybe back in elementary school, but ''my man'' now? Yeah, no way buddy.
The girls outside were still eyeing him like he was a sculpture that had wandered out of a museum, they had basically become one with the glass, which frankly I would have to clean later on.
"Those girls… need I say more?" he added, grinning as he gestured over his shoulder.
"You''re late," I said flatly.
He shrugged. "And?"
And?
AND?!
I had half a mind to grab this guy by the collar and shake him like a maraca.
But instead, I took a deep breath. I was better than this.
He smirked.
"So?" he asked.
"So, what?" I shot back.
He took a glance at the girls.
"So how''d it go?" His smirk widened.
A cold sweat ran down my back.
The flashback hit like a truck.
The stuttering. The voice crack.
The verbal trainwreck. The absolute disaster.
But he didn''t need to know that.
So I grinned.
"What can I say?"
"My guy!" Lorian clapped a hand on my shoulder, laughing like we were war veterans reminiscing about old times.
I should''ve shrugged him off, but—pathetically—he was the <i>only</i> person I could share this small joy with.
We weren''t exactly friends. More like… ex-friends.
I''d known him since childhood, but back then, everything was different.
Then puberty came along, decided to bless <i>him</i>, and left me in the dust. I moved to the States, while he stayed here, and somehow, fate decided to throw us back into the same minimum-wage hellhole.
We chatted, or rather, he just rambled on about his new girlfriend he got, or whatever and the shift dragged on.
By the time I glanced up at the clock, the small hand was on the 9.
Finally.
I did a little celebration dance, in my head, of course.
Lorian had, unsurprisingly, left twenty minutes ago.
Because of course he did.
So, there I was, closing the store alone, doing <i>his</i> job <i>on top of mine, wiping down the windows, I basically had to scrub the girls lollipop smears</i>. A little miserable, sure, but at least I had time to think about the important things in life.
Like what ring I should get for Lara. You know, the big things. How many bedrooms for the house, etc, etc.
With the shutters down and the doors locked, I stretched my back and started walking home.
I took one more glance at the convenience store, thought some bad thoughts, did some second-guessing, decided to do a double take and just make sure the store was really locked, and then decided to finally head home.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Kowaregachi.
Random, right?
Well, that was the name of my town.
I had no idea what the name meant, but I''d been born here, raised here for seven years, and then ultimately left.
Most nights, I would walk the same path home, never really the one to detour, as I had a lot of things to do at home, but tonight felt… different.
The moon was shining in a way that felt hopeful.
So, on a whim, I took a different route.
The first alleyway I saw, I stepped in. Crossed my fingers. Hoped it wasn''t a dead end.
And lucky me—it wasn''t.
Because of that fact, on my travels, I saw stray cats, a couple of rats, a dog here and a dog there, a bunch of interesting night critters, old apartment buildings, and an old unfinished skyline, on the path of decay.
But nearing the end of my fateful adventure, I found myself at a bridge.
The moon grinning down at me like it knew something I didn''t.
I wasn''t one to reminisce or anything, but if you were there, you would have done the same.
Standing, still, admiring nature at its finest.
I wish I could describe the scene to you, but this was one of those moments that <i>felt</i> more than words could really capture.
Truly, it was like the world was still, the world was silen—
CRASH!
The sharp sound of metal slamming against concrete shattered the moment.
Maybe not so much.
Annoyed, I furrowed my brows, and curiosity took control as I followed what I assumed was where the noise came from.
Searching like a detective, addicted to finding that one case, the trail led me to the underbelly of the bridge.
To be honest, I didn''t really do much detectiving—I kind of just wandered over there—but that''s beside the point.
Because under there, I noticed a faint orange glow.
Fire?
Maybe.
A homeless guy.
Probably.
But what drew me in wasn''t the glow.
It was a voice.
A familiar voice.
"HAHA, you''re so right! He really is like that, isn''t he?"
I froze.
Lorian.
Of course.
Now, listen, I <i>know</i> eavesdropping is bad.
But.
I had to.
So I peeked behind a pillar, and there they were—
Lorian.
The same group of girls from earlier.
Lara included.
And a couple of other guys I didn''t recognize, throwing rocks at metal sheets, doing God knows what, the source of the sound.
Well, well, well.
Not to be cliché, but this was rather interesting.
And not in a good way.
"He''s such a loser!" one of the girls snorted.
I blinked.
Not a great thing to say to said loser. But whatever. Could be anyone, right?
"Lorian, why do you even work with that guy?" another asked.
…
…
Okay.
Let''s be rational. It could be <i>any</i> ‘guy’, right?
There''s a lot of ‘guys’ out there I''m sure.
"He''s a weirdo, a creep, and honestly just plain fugly." A lot of the girls agreed.
I stood there, rationalizing.
Our workplace is big; it''s got a lot of employees. Its vast—
...
Nope.
There were only three of us employees.
Me.
Lorian.
And Rena.
And Rena, last time I checked, was not a guy.
Which left one option.
I stood there, hidden behind the pillar, the cold of the street night suddenly feeling <i>a little too cold</i>.
"Well, what am I supposed to do? I''m not the boss." He retorted, throwing a pebble at the metal sheets.
"He''s such a loser though! I mean, did you see the way he was stuttering around you, Lara? And those pervert eyes of his! Yuck!"
They hadn''t mentioned my name yet; heck, they might not even know my name, but despite this, the comments found a little crack in my heart and lodged themselves. I mean, I''m a pretty strong guy, mentally, and I''ll be lying if I said physically too.
But what truly hurt the most, was-
"Yeah, he really is, the way he stuttered and that voice crack." Lara burst into a laugh.
"Oh, that voice crack, that was really entertaining." She wiped a fake tear from her eye.
"You gave him your name though, why?" One of the girls asked.
Lara pondered for a moment, then answered.
"Why not?" She shrugged.
"Give him a little bit of hope for his teenage fantasies." With that, they all came together in perfect harmony, laughing and mocking.
At this point I was ready to leave; I had heard enough and seen enough.
I just got divorced before even getting married.
And really, it was my fault for even being there; if I had just gone home the same way, my day would have ended on a high.
My body was already moving in the direction of home, and I was really ready to leave, when—
THUNK!
Another pebble was thrown at the metal sheets; it sounded quite heavy for a pebble though.
But what was it to me?
"OY! LOOK AT THIS!" One of the boys shouted, overly excited.
It seems the rock, not the pebble, shifted the metal sheets to reveal a little family of a mother cat and a couple of kittens, hissing excessively.
The boys started laughing, huddling around the cats.
The mother was frantically hissing and clawing at the group.
"Feisty, isn''t she?" One of the boys remarked.
"Hey, don''t cats sell for a lot?" Another boy asked.
"It depends on the breed; what do you think, Lorian? Do they look expensive?" Another boy answered.
Lorian, waltzing over like the main character he is, inspected the cat, and said.
"For the litter, maybe 500, give or take."
The boys started cheering, excited.
"WE''RE GOING TO BE RICH!" They all started laughing.
Lorian reached down, ignoring the mother cat''s frantic hissing.
With his usual smug grin, he made a grab for one of the kittens. The mother cat lashed out, claws raking across his wrist.
"Argh! You little—" His expression twisted in annoyance as he glanced at the trickle of red, dripping down his wrist, before morphing into something far uglier.
His leg swung back.
Then forward.
The dull <i>thud</i> of his boot striking the mother cat''s side rang out beneath the bridge.
A sharp yowl tore through the air as the cat tumbled across the ground, crashing into a pile of garbage bags.
The boys roared with laughter.
"Damn, that thing went flying!" one of them hooted.
"Nice one, Lorian!"
The girls giggled, watching the scene with mild amusement.
Then the real chaos began.
With the mother cat dazed, the boys lunged for the kittens. Tiny cries of distress filled the night as small bodies were snatched up by rough hands.
"Look at this one! It''s so small!"
"Dude, check this one out, it has markings and sh*t—think we can sell it for more?"
The kittens squirmed, mewling desperately, their tiny claws scratching at their captors. But the boys only laughed harder, holding them high like prizes at a carnival.
I saw red.
Before I even realized it, I was moving.
One second, I was behind the pillar.
The next—
<i>CRACK!</i>
My fist connected with Lorian''s jaw.
His head snapped to the side, his body stumbling back. Shock flickered across his face before rage took over.
Silence.
Everyone was overly confused on how I got there and why I was there, so we all just stared at each other for a bit.
Then—
"WTF? Who''s this guy?" One of the boys jeered.
"Yuki, you little—" Lorian wiped his mouth, eyes dark with fury. "You''re so f*cking dead!"
My breath was coming fast, my body tensed for another strike. My hands shook—not from fear, but from adrenaline.
I had training. Aikido. Nothing fancy, but I knew how to handle myself.
At least… I thought I did.
Because here''s the thing they don''t tell you about fights in real life:
Numbers matter.
A lot.
Lorian wasn''t alone.
I was.
A hand grabbed my collar. Another slammed into my gut, knocking the wind out of me.
I barely had time to register the pain before a fist cracked against my cheek. Then another. And another.
I stumbled, legs giving out beneath me as I hit the ground, the taste of blood filling my mouth.
But even as my vision blurred, I still curled protectively around the mother cat, shielding her with my body.
The kicks came next.
Blows rained down, laughter ringing in my ears as sneakers met ribs, shoulders, and legs.
I gritted my teeth, holding back any sound of pain.
I wouldn''t give them that satisfaction.
Heels clicked against the pavement.
The laughter quieted just enough for me to hear a familiar, disappointed sigh.
"Ugh," Lara muttered. "Look at him. Pathetic."
I shifted, lifting my head just slightly. Through swollen eyes, I saw her staring down at me, arms crossed, nose wrinkled in disgust.
"And he was actually thinking of confessing to you," one of the girls snickered.
Lara rolled her eyes. "Gross."
Lorian stood there, wiping his bleeding lip. "The hell is wrong with you?" He shouted.
Then, just like that, they all began to turn and walk away, the others trailing behind, still chuckling, still mocking.
The kittens were gone.
The mother cat trembled beneath my arm.
And I lay there patheticly, alone under the bridge, staring up at the grinning moon.
Truly pathetic.