Chapter 5: Peaceful Days are Disappearing….

Since Celia had nothing to do, she decided to take up a part-time job for fun. She had enough money to spend on daily necessities, but earning some to save wouldn't hurt much. People do say that you can always earn money in two ways—making more, or spending less.

Seeing a cafe that was hiring workers for quite a reasonable amount of pay, she decided to contact them and go for a small interview. The other interviewees kept shooting her glares the entire time, and it was simply because Celia was stealing their job when she doesn't even seem to need a job at all. Not that she cared, she ruled her own life, she didn't need others to be implicated in it.

At least she wasn't the type of person to slack off during work. Her job was pretty simple and thanks to her great memory, it wasn't an arduous task having to remember how to make the different drinks the cafe offered. Celia only had to take care of the orders and drinks. The serving was left to her co-workers, not there were a lot of them.

—>

Celia let out a sigh, stretching herself when there were no customers around.

"Ding!"The doorbell rang. Well, there goes my little break. There usually aren't many people during lunch time though?

She peered at the door curiously. "Kenchin! This is the new cafe I was talking about!" Celia froze. THE HEAVENS MUST LIKE TOYING WITH MY FREAKING LIFE! It's ok, they don't know you, and they don't recognize you.

Mikey and Draken strode in, and the instant their eyes landed on Celia, they recognized that she was the girl they had seen during the underground match. Noticing their eyes on her, she sweatdropped.

"Hello, what would you like?" She chirped, trying to sound cheerful.

Celia did not dare meet their eyes, staring straight through them instead. "A slice of chocolate cake and strawberry cake each. No drinks." Nodding, she taped on the monitor to make their payment.

"You were at the underground match, weren't you?" Draken asked, his pissed-off face irritating Celia. He really looked mad 24/7.

Celia's eyes twinkled, "Nope. I don't know what you're talking about."

"What's your name?"Mikey asked, though his eyes didn't leave the cake. An irk mark appeared on Celia's face, as she replied, "No obligation to tell you."

The expression on her face finally reminded Mikey who she was. She was a witness in the "incident". Although it had been a few years ago, she should still remember, right? He didn't recognize her instantly, since Celia had dyed silver highlights and had a change of hairstyle. In fact, it evoked the memories of Baji saying to him once, "If that girl wasn't there that day, Shinichiro-kun might not be alive."

"You were there when my brother got hit on the head." Mikey's eyes stared right into her soul.

An impish look spread across Celia's face. "Perhaps."

Draken didn't know what was happening, so he was at a loss for words. Mikey spoke, "I wanted to thank you. If it wasn't for you, I heard…that my brother might have died. At least, there's a chance he'll wake up " The innocent expression on his face caused Celia to be guilt-tripped. What was she to say now? She didn't want to get involved with the plotline and rather lived a simple life, but apparently, she had changed everything by deciding to enter the workshop that day. [Ooh, now she's kind of regretting it, but of course, I'm not going to let her regret it. MWAHAHAH, I'm sorry Celia.]

"Uh. Who are you anyway?" Celia was snickering at herself on the inside, the awkwardness.

"I'm Mikey, this is Draken."

"I'm Celia Fukuda, but just call me Celia."Since the Heavens wanted to play this game, she'll play along. "Go take a seat, I'll bring over the food soon."

Her boss—who was quite young to open a business by herself—waltzed in, gushing, "Ah, Celia! Are those two boys your friends? Go hang out with them, I'll get another co-worker to help! Take the opportunity to talk with them, I rarely see you with anyone!"

Celia stood aghast, almost eye-rolling from disgust. What was her crazy boss thinking? She guessed she'll just serve the orders of those two first. Celia sauntered over and placed the two plates on the table.

"You guys…are in a gang right?''She initiated a conversation, ignoring the glare Draken shot her. Celia looked back at him with a "bro! it's literally written on your freaking jacket!" look. Mikey nodded, a beam on his face, Celia didn't actually seem like a bad person, just…socially awkward.

"Toman Manji Gang?" She read out.

Mikey started asking her random questions, but the question "Why are you wearing a mask?" made Celia stiffen. Honestly, she didn't know why she had to wear it outside too. Perhaps she had gotten used to it?

The thing was, she really looked like her father, so she abhorred the face she had. For her, it wasn't pretty at all, it was like a curse that had befallen her. Every single time, after her mother had divorced her father, she would start to tear up whenever she saw Celia's face. Celia loathed the man, it was his fault that her mother was in a miserable state right now. And now she had to deal with it? These thoughts aggrieved her, and there was one point of time in this life where her mother had broken down, and almost tried to take her own life.

Celia thanked the gods she reached home in time before her mother did anything foolish. Guess it's true that money can't buy people love and happiness. She convinced her mother to go to a therapist and take a bit of time off work. That's why her mother has been more stable recently, well, mentally and emotionally.

Sensing how quiet Celia suddenly was, Draken guessed it was something sensitive and asked Mikey to shut up. [Bro kept repeating his qn while Celia was blanked out.] Letting out a chuckle, Celia commented, "You two sure have a close relationship."

This elicited a series of grumbles from both sides.

"It's alright, I was just stunned by the question. I wear a mask, because of my mom. Maybe I should take it off someday though, I wear it everywhere I go [except for the bathroom, duh]."

Mikey wondered what Celia looked like without the mask, and he didn't know how he felt about her either. It was a warm feeling, one that he had never felt before, at least not with those close to him. Celia noticed his gaze, knowing what he was thinking [the mask!]. "Another day," she mumbled, getting up to leave the table. She had to hurry back home soon, her mother was back early today.

Seeing her ride arrive at the entrance of the cafe, Celia bid her goodbyes."I need to go, see you two around? Actually, that sounds like a bad idea."Mikey pouted, causing her to snicker. She froze when two arms wrapped around her, and a red hue spread across her cheeks in embarrassment.

"If…" his lips brushed against her ear, "we meet again, will you show me what you look like?" Taken aback by the question, Celia blinked, but replied, "It must be a coincidence then." Too close! Feeling her cheeks heat up again, she quickly took her leave.

Watching the back of Celia walk away, Mikey spoke up, "Kenchin, she…Celia…makes me feel weird and tingly."

"HAH?!"Draken felt like smacking his head, he supposed Mikey could "like"someone. However, he wasn't blind enough to know what Mikey just did was inappropriate. "How can you just hug her out of nowhere?! It's an invasion of privacy, especially for a girl!" Mikey's face schooled to neutrality, Draken's words falling on deaf ears. He couldn't wait to see her again.

—>

A certain driver had a dispirited look on his face.

"A-xi, what's wrong?" Celia, although not a dense person about feelings, had no clue what was wrong with him [but we all know~]. In return, a cold and lonely silence was returned, much to her confusion.

He would not even look at her! Now she understood the pain of trying to interact with introverted people. Feeling the chilling atmosphere beside her, Celia hugged herself tighter and kept her lips shut. How wronged she felt.