[Team Sonic] Have your cake and eat it too
Wouldn't it be funny if HSJ ran a supermarket called Super Deli?
Starting words from like paradise
“Eternal bliss is a lie,” Hikaru declared, “but this cake is pretty damn close.” He took another bite of the deluxe chocolate cake labeled Eternal Bliss and closed his eyes as he enjoyed the taste. The quiet music playing over the speakers of the Super Deli supermarket added a bit of ambiance to the moment.
“That’s terribly cynical of you,” Daiki remarked while he grabbed a spare fork to taste the cake himself. “Wow! That’s freaking delicious.” He leaned over the cake as if to shield it from any of their coworkers who might be passing through the bakery section of the store.
Suddenly, a short but ominous shadow was cast over them and the cake, and they looked up to see the manager, Yamada, glaring at them with his hands on his hips. “How many times have I told you not to eat the merchandise?” Sometimes Yamada was extra stern with all of them, mostly because he was bitter about being promoted to manager when all he really wanted to do was run the meat slicer all day. (He only got the manager position because he’d lost rock-paper-scissors a stunning fifty-seven times in a row. Chinen always liked to say that Yamada had all the luck of a black cat who lived under a ladder.)
“It’s okay,” Hikaru said through another mouthful of chocolately goodness. “I dropped this one on the floor.”
Daiki paused with his fork still in his mouth as his eyes widened to the size of grapefruits.
“It was still in the box!” Hikaru clarified as Yamada just sighed and shook his head.
“If that’s the case, then you should share with everyone,” Yamada said, rolling up his sleeves and grabbing a fork. “Hey everybody, free cake!” he shouted so that the rest of the grocery store employees could hear him.
“Did someone say cake?” Yuto asked, dashing over quickly from the deli section with Chinen trailing closely behind him.
Hikaru and Daiki both frowned now that they had to share, so both of them quickly shoveled as much cake as possible in their mouths before anyone else arrived. Chinen ducked under Hikaru’s elbow to cut his way to the front of the line.
“Don’t eat it. I dropped it on the floor,” Hikaru complained and tried to cut in front of Yuto.
“Want some cake, Yuya?” Yamada asked as Takaki walked by carrying a crate of potatoes.
“No thanks,” he shook his head. “Don’t really want cake at 7am.”
“I’ll pass too,” Keito said from where he was counting the change in his cash register. He didn’t really like sweets anyway.
“I want cake! Save some for meeeee!” Yabu’s voice called out from someone in the store, and then they could all hear the familiar sound of his mop bucket’s squeaky wheels, followed by a loud crash.
“Clean up on aisle five,” Inoo said over the speaker from his cash register. Everyone winced as he forgot to turn the mic off while he cackled loudly.
“I’m okay,” Yabu called out. But no one was that worried. Yabu crashed his mop bucket at least three times daily.
At this point, the cake was half gone and Chinen had somehow managed to smudge icing on half of Daiki’s face. Not long after, Yabu finally managed to make it to the bakery section (on foot instead of mop bucket) and he leaned over Yamada to snag himself a bite.
Inoo’s voice rang out over the speaker again. “Better finish up the cake. There’s only 2220 seconds left until the store opens.”
“How long is that-”
“Thirty seven minutes,” Daiki answered quickly with a shrug. He had managed to wipe most of the chocolate icing off of his face, but there was still a dark spot under his eye. Yabu tried to wipe it off himself but ended up making it look worse.
Yamada cleared his throat after he tossed his plastic fork in the trash. “Inoo has a point. We should all get back to work.” He started shooing everyone back to their tasks as he took the remnants of the Eternal Bliss cake away to store in the break room fridge for later.
“And Hikaru?” he paused and looked back over his shoulder. Hikaru looked up from the napkins he was gathering to throw away.
“Don’t you dare drop any more cakes on the floor today.”
Starting words from like paradise
“Eternal bliss is a lie,” Hikaru declared, “but this cake is pretty damn close.” He took another bite of the deluxe chocolate cake labeled Eternal Bliss and closed his eyes as he enjoyed the taste. The quiet music playing over the speakers of the Super Deli supermarket added a bit of ambiance to the moment.
“That’s terribly cynical of you,” Daiki remarked while he grabbed a spare fork to taste the cake himself. “Wow! That’s freaking delicious.” He leaned over the cake as if to shield it from any of their coworkers who might be passing through the bakery section of the store.
Suddenly, a short but ominous shadow was cast over them and the cake, and they looked up to see the manager, Yamada, glaring at them with his hands on his hips. “How many times have I told you not to eat the merchandise?” Sometimes Yamada was extra stern with all of them, mostly because he was bitter about being promoted to manager when all he really wanted to do was run the meat slicer all day. (He only got the manager position because he’d lost rock-paper-scissors a stunning fifty-seven times in a row. Chinen always liked to say that Yamada had all the luck of a black cat who lived under a ladder.)
“It’s okay,” Hikaru said through another mouthful of chocolately goodness. “I dropped this one on the floor.”
Daiki paused with his fork still in his mouth as his eyes widened to the size of grapefruits.
“It was still in the box!” Hikaru clarified as Yamada just sighed and shook his head.
“If that’s the case, then you should share with everyone,” Yamada said, rolling up his sleeves and grabbing a fork. “Hey everybody, free cake!” he shouted so that the rest of the grocery store employees could hear him.
“Did someone say cake?” Yuto asked, dashing over quickly from the deli section with Chinen trailing closely behind him.
Hikaru and Daiki both frowned now that they had to share, so both of them quickly shoveled as much cake as possible in their mouths before anyone else arrived. Chinen ducked under Hikaru’s elbow to cut his way to the front of the line.
“Don’t eat it. I dropped it on the floor,” Hikaru complained and tried to cut in front of Yuto.
“Want some cake, Yuya?” Yamada asked as Takaki walked by carrying a crate of potatoes.
“No thanks,” he shook his head. “Don’t really want cake at 7am.”
“I’ll pass too,” Keito said from where he was counting the change in his cash register. He didn’t really like sweets anyway.
“I want cake! Save some for meeeee!” Yabu’s voice called out from someone in the store, and then they could all hear the familiar sound of his mop bucket’s squeaky wheels, followed by a loud crash.
“Clean up on aisle five,” Inoo said over the speaker from his cash register. Everyone winced as he forgot to turn the mic off while he cackled loudly.
“I’m okay,” Yabu called out. But no one was that worried. Yabu crashed his mop bucket at least three times daily.
At this point, the cake was half gone and Chinen had somehow managed to smudge icing on half of Daiki’s face. Not long after, Yabu finally managed to make it to the bakery section (on foot instead of mop bucket) and he leaned over Yamada to snag himself a bite.
Inoo’s voice rang out over the speaker again. “Better finish up the cake. There’s only 2220 seconds left until the store opens.”
“How long is that-”
“Thirty seven minutes,” Daiki answered quickly with a shrug. He had managed to wipe most of the chocolate icing off of his face, but there was still a dark spot under his eye. Yabu tried to wipe it off himself but ended up making it look worse.
Yamada cleared his throat after he tossed his plastic fork in the trash. “Inoo has a point. We should all get back to work.” He started shooing everyone back to their tasks as he took the remnants of the Eternal Bliss cake away to store in the break room fridge for later.
“And Hikaru?” he paused and looked back over his shoulder. Hikaru looked up from the napkins he was gathering to throw away.
“Don’t you dare drop any more cakes on the floor today.”