Nifuji wasn't sure why he did this, but when the dawn came, he left his Koyanagi and Narumi, who was still sleeping, walking toward a certain direction that he had never thought of. This was probably also the first beginning of how his life had changed, yet somehow, despite everything that had happened when he was still zero, he hadn't met the one who gave him a push on his back, so here he was, trying to check how this person was.
The best way for him was just to keep on with his life and forget about her, since he knew all too well that his body might not be able to support what he had done.
Or rather, his women were so many that it was hard for him to handle, yet a man had tried to reach something that was impossible, so here he came to the supermarket, where everything began.
Leaving the taxi, he walked for a while till he reached his destination, the supermarket where everything began.
The supermarket sits steeped in the cool, monochromatic blues of pre-dawn. A profound stillness hangs over the sprawling asphalt lot, a hush so deep that the hum of the refrigeration units on the roof sounds like distant thunder. The air is sharp and damp, smelling faintly of wet concrete and dead leaves.
This view is not of the bright, consumer-facing front, but the utilitarian back end. The entire rear perimeter is enclosed by a tall, severe chain-link fence, its metal mesh glistening with heavy morning dew and perhaps topped with a single, sullen strand of barbed wire. It defines a space of concrete ramps, scarred tarmac, and hulking dumpsters.
Dominated by the gray light, a massive delivery truck is backed up tight against one of the corrugated metal rolling doors of the loading bay. Its diesel engine is a low, rhythmic rumble that underpins the silence, sending rhythmic plumes of white vapor jetting into the chilly air. The rear doors of the trailer are swung wide open, revealing dark gaps where pallets have already been shifted.
She shouldn't be here, he thought.
After all, what time was it?
How could that woman, who had given him a push on his back, still work at dawn, right?
Yet, he saw her.
Near the churning truck, a solitary figure is revealed to be a young woman, perhaps twenty-four. Leaning against a towering, precarious stack of empty wooden pallets, she is bundled against the damp cold in a worn black leather jacket that hugs her full, womanly figure. A security light mounted above the bay door casts a sickly yellow pool of illumination upon her, catching the glint of multiple silver rings marching up the cartilage of her ears.
Her bright red hair is pulled back from her face in a messy, practical knot. Heavy, combat-style boots—like Doc Martens, scuffed with use—are planted firmly on the wet asphalt. She remains motionless, save for the hand bringing a cigarette to her lips. The tiny, intense orange ember burns brightly—a singular pinprick of warmth against the cool blues of the morning—before she exhales a cloud of smoke that rivals the truck's exhaust.
Naturally, as his figure stood there, towering and the only one within this quiet dawn, the woman quickly took notice of him, and the exhaustion on her face quickly transformed into shock.
Nifuji smiled at her while he asked, "Can I borrow a place to smoke?"
"Come here! Hurry up!"
Nifuji laughed at her words and came by her side, sitting beside her, pulling out his cigarette, and ready to light it up, but he found nothing. When he realized, he almost slapped his forehead, thinking that Koyanagi must have taken his cigarette away, as he knew that she was the only one who didn't like him to smoke, and often took it away, considering she wished for the best of his health.
Yet, sometimes, even if he tried to stop, he couldn't stop it.
"Here, you can have mine."
She, Tayama, noticed that Nifuji didn't have a cigarette, so she offered him one.
Yet, Nifuji was at a loss for words as the one that she offered him was the one that she had put on her lips and sucked previously. The red lipstick marks were still obvious on the filter, and it was also half sucked, leaving some ashes still stuck on the remaining just right behind the fire.
"What's wrong? Don't you guys like it when something is half used by a beautiful woman?"
Tayama leaned forward slightly, as her palm supported her chin, staring at him with a playful gaze.
"...what kind of a pervert do you think I am?" Nifuji let out a helpless sigh. "Don't you have a new one?"
"None. This is my last one. I have been smoking the entire package since earlier."
Nifuji had this strange expression on Tayama, but this time, he didn't refuse her and took her half-used cigarette, which he sucked, letting the smoke and nicotine seep deep into his lungs before he blew them out from his nose and mouth.
So, was there a difference in taste between the new one and the one that was used by a beautiful woman?
"How was it?"
The smirk on her face was clear, like an owner of a pet who waited for the pet's happy reaction, or simply a bored woman who wanted to see how a pervert reacted when he was given a half-smoked cigarette.
Still, he looked at her, staring at her fleshy, red lips, which had lost some of their color as her lipstick stuck on the filter of her cigarette or something else, regardless, as they were so close like this, a certain impulse was somehow born.
Tayama also noticed his unnatural gaze, and the redness quickly spread to her ears and neck.
As for her cheeks, it was impossible to see as she applied makeup on them.
Yet, as she thought of how Nifuji might release his beastly impulse, she closed her eyes, ready to accept his advance. While she wasn't sure why she did this, she thought that she was just exhausted, so if he really wanted to do it, then she didn't mind, and just made it quick, but unfortunately, Nifuji had no such idea at all.
Instead, he pulled the half-smoked cigarette from his lips and returned it to Tayama's lips, yet during that moment, his thumb lightly touched against her lips, making him able to feel their softness while thinking that, despite her rough appearance, she was cute.
"Thanks."
Nifuji returned to his position, but Tayama thought that this guy was a beast.