Lost and Found
Chapter 1
7:00 AM, Monday
The witching hour, the damn shitty time in the morning where you have to wait for a metal deathtrap that squeezes you inbetween a few dozen of people in order to shove you into the no-man's land known as work.
Yeah a bit melodramatic, but you woke up late and you couldnt even get a cup of coffee, and now the damn train is delayed.
You sigh, resigned, as you bite into a granola bar. Your boss wont fire you or anything, but he's sure gonna bust your balls over it. As you absently munch the sugary treat, you scan the station. Aside from other wageslaves like you, there's a bunch of highschool kids, probably cursing their luck, and some other people. As you take another bite, your eyes lock into something in the floor, next to the bench you are resting in.
A colorful wallet, filled with a bunch of stickers and a charm sticking out. You raise your eyebrow and look around, triying to see if someone is looking for it. Nope, not a single soul notices. You snag it out of the floor and open it.
There's a bit of cash (not a lot really), something that looks like a folded letter and a picture of three girls, hugging each other and laughing. The short girl in the middle of the frame is familiar, and you feel like you've seen her somehwere
You open up the ''pockets'' and fish for an ID.
Yup, there it is. Hakos Baelz, 3rd year of Highschool and the daugther of that nice couple that lives in the top floor of your apartment. You close the wallet and start looking around. You vaguely remember seeing her in the Mithos uniform, so you start looking on the small clusters of high school students.
As you are starting to lose hope, you turn a corner and find her. Talking on her phone, wearing her white shirt and pleated skirt, sulking as she mumbles in the phone.
''Excuse me, Baelz?'' You close the distance and she looks up to you, you flashing the wallet instantly makes her expression lighten up
''I FOUND IT! ILL CALL YOU LATER MOM!'' She takes the wallet and jumps in delight as she opens it, probably excited to find everything there.
''Thankyouthankyouthankyou!'' you flinch as she envelops you in a tight hug, her face barely reaching your chest, but her...ahem...generous chest smothering against your lower abdomen.
What do High schoolers eat nowadays?
Once she stops squeezing you, she takes a step back and takes a look at you, lifting a finger in surprise
''Ah!'' you nod, smiling ''You are the ojisan of the floor below!''
''Oji-san?!'' your smile evaporates, your eyebrows meeting in the middle of your face ''Im not that old!''
Before you can chastise her for treating like an old man, the speakers announce the arrival of the train. You hug your briefcase and make a run to the front of the line, Baelz running ahead, as you both fight the horde of people triying the same.
No way you are missing the train.
6:40 AM, Tuesday
You yawn, as you wait for the elevator to arrive. Sure you COULD walk down the three stairs that separate the bottom floor from the third floor, but its way too early to try. As the door opens, you are greeted with the sight of a VERY sleepy rat, almost dozing off standing.
''Good morning Baelz'' You say, still annoyed at the implication you are an old man.
''Wazzupp'' she absently says, yawning for the second time ''Thanks again for the wallet Mr...''
She trails off, and then brings her hand to her mouth, deep in thought. As the elevator Dings in the bottom floor, she snaps her fingers and points at you
''Mr John!''
''Anon'' you sigh, walking at a relaxed pace as she follows you ''My name is Anon, not John''
''Whooopsie'' she makes a gesture straigh out of an anime, as she sticks her tongue and closes one of her eyes ''Sorry Mr John''
You roll your eyes, as she giggles softly, letting her have her fun. Its clear she means no harm.
''I cant believe i've been going to school for two months and we never crossed paths old man'' she chirps, clearly awake now that she has someone to talk.
''First of all, im not an old man'' you point at her ''and until friday, i was going to the office at around 3pm, but they shifted my hours'' Both of you cross the street, Baelz Yawning and you following shortly after.
''It sucks but i cant say no'' you add, Baelz humming along
''I wish i could go to school in the middle of the day, im no good at waking up early'' she sighs, before adding ''Anyway, im getting sidetracked. May i ask you a question?''
''Uuuh'' both of you turn the corner, the station in sight ''sure?''
She skips forward, then turning around and walking backwards, looking you in the eye
''What do you usually have for lunch?''
''Huh?''
She makes an exaggerated hand gesture, signaling you to answer
''Huh... sandwiches?''
''Huuuuh'' she fakes another ''deep in thought'' gesture ''did you fight with your waifu?''
Both of you arrive to the station
''Is it laugh at anon day? of course there is no wife'' you sigh, as she giggles softly, her fingers morph into finger guns
''Well no worries! Tomorrow im cooking your lunch! as a thanks of course!'' she crosses her arms, smugly.
You give her a dumbfounded look
''You...you can cook?'' you ask, confused. Her expression instantly sours
''Of course i can!'' she barks at you ''And im very good at it!''
You raise your arms in defeat, over the years you've learned to just go with the flow.
''Very well...ill take your offer''
''hehehe'' her smugness returns, you cant help but wonder how is she this energetic despite being ''bad at mornings''.
''Is there anything you cant eat gramps?'' You raise your eyebrow, the thoughtfull question filled with the fakest eyelash batting you've ever seen.
''Not really... And im not that old really, im not even 40''
She blinks, surprised
''Really? but you give such a mature aura'' Now its your time to smile a bit, fixing your tie.
''Well brat.. that's why you shouldnt underestim-''
''Ah! Your shoelaces are undone''
You freeze, and look below. Your work shoes, the ones without shoelaces, stare back.
The snickering of the Jk next to you induces a slight blush that you try and cover with a cough and a quick look at your watch
6:45. Please let that damn train arrive already
Wednesday 12:00 PM
You stretch your back,relishing the break as you start unpacking your lunchbox. Baelz...sorry... ''Bae'' as she insisted you should be calling her, gave it to you in the way to the station, and even with a healthy breakfast, you couldnt help but notice it smelled amazing.
A quick walk to the vending machine at the other side of the break room gets you a cold lemonade, and you prepare yourself for your feast.
''AH!'' you hear Axel, your coworker, quick up a fuss. ''Senpai brought lunch!''
Oh
Oh right.
Now not only is Axel the one quicking up a fuss, but also Kanata, Towa and Roberu
''Senpai! your cute side is finally showing!'' Kanata chirps, in her hands, the pink lunchbox filled with stickers betraying what the fuss is about
''Senpai! your gross side keeps showing!'' Towa adds, the small smile in her face betraying how little she means it
''Not fair! i want a homemade bento too!'' Roberu slams his hand on the table ''Senpai deserves one but i want one too''
''Yeah yeah, give it a rest already'' you sit, taking back the lunchbox Kanata offers you. As you open it, the delicious smell of veggies, fish and rice tickles your nose.
''So, who is the fortunate gal huh?'' Towa puts a sausage from her own lunch in your box and swiftly takes one of the stir fried veggies, her eyes opening in surprise ''Wha! so good!''
You open the lemonade and absently respond.
''Bae, is the highschooler that lives in my apartment complex'' You take a bite out of the lunch and humm. Not bad, not bad at all, she really knows how to use ginger.
Wait, why is everyone so silent?
''Hi...911? yeah i'd like to report-'' You snatch the phone from Axel's hand, turning to your other coworkers
''Waitwaitwaitwait, that came out wrong''
You dont miss how Towa is suddenly at the other side of the table
''Mr Anon...i huh, dont think we should be talking...''
Your eyes snap to Roberu, who is whistling and pretending to count the specs of dirt in the floor.
Suddenly your arm gets twisted, the pain forcing you to look to the sky.
''SAVE YOUR EXCUSES FOR HELL! DAMN OLD MAN!'' Kanata's righteous fury forces to snap your arm
''WAIT! OW!OW!OW! I CAN EXPLAIN!'' you are pretty sure you heard something pop ''SHE'S A THIRD YEAR! ITS NOT LIKE THAT! SHE'S NOT A MINOR!''
Suddenly Kanata lets go of your arm, and the atmosphere relaxes
''phew'' You dont miss how now Towa is back, sitting next to you. ''You gave us quite the scare huh senpai''
''Yeah, dont do that'' Kanata gives you a pat in the back and a smile, like she didnt try to snap your arm off
You sigh, as you massage your shoulder, you really have to think before speaking.
Before you can dig in your lunch, you hear Roberu
''Wait...IF she's on third year...shouldnt she be 17?
Silence
''YOU SHITTY OLD MAN!!'' You can barely form apologies and pleas as Kanata takes both of your arms and plants her foot on your back
Wednesday 9:40 PM
''Well.. they werent wrong'' Your annoyed look makes Bae snicker a bit ''Im 17 but in a month i will be 18''
You came to retrieve the clean lunchbox to the Hakos household, and after today's events, you were grateful that Bae was the one to open the door. Her casual wear just being a baggy shirt that probably belonged to her father, considering it reached all the way to her knees
''But did you like it?'' she say, leaning in a bit. Its clear she's waiting for your imput.
''It was delicious'' she claps a bit and jumps cutely in place. Well she earned it.
In fact, it was so delicious an idea popped up in your head as you were working today.
''Hey Bae...wanna make some money?''
Silence
Bae's face turns red, then her ears flatted on top of her head. she covers her chest with her arms and gets a step back
''Mom wa-wa-warned me this might happen..this is compensated dating r-r-right?''
OH SHIT
''WAIT!'' You lift your hands ''NO NO, THAT CAME OUT WRONG, SORRY!''
You can see her lower her guard just a bit, clearly willing to hear you.
''what i meant is... i can give you money and the ingredients... and you can cook my lunch every day'' you quickly explain, cold sweat running down your back ''I really liked the lunch and it made me realize how badly i needed a real lunch to function at work''
That seems to do the trick, as Bae relaxes and goes ''oooh''. You let out a breath you didnt knew you were holding.
''Well.. i do need money, and i really dont wanna go to starbucks'' she mentions, testing the waters ''Every day?''
''Oh no, just workdays yknow'' you add, a bit embarassed at getting caught twice in this situation ''I can cook for myself on weekends''
She humms a bit, looking at you. You take the chance to sweeten the deal
''Just tell me beforehand what do you need to cook and i will bring you all you need plus your money...is a 40 enough?''
She humms a bit more, and you can see this time that its just to mess with you, since she smiles
''Well... sure! Im in!'' you smile back, before she adds ''I have some leftover rice today, so im gonna make you some fried rice tomorrow''
She then takes a weird posture and speaks in a weird stereotypical accent
''haiyaaah, i will need to make rice for cousin''
''wh-what?'' she gasps likes you just told her you killed a person
''You dont know Uncle roger?!'' You shake your head confused
''Shou-Should i?'' She lifts a finger and runs into her house, a minute later she is back with a smarthphone
''We need to fix this! Quick, tell me your Hologram''
''Uuuh, Its Anon. Mooose'' you barely feel the words leave your mouth when you hear a soft ping coming from your phone.
''That's my account'' she says, flashing it the screen to you, a profile filled with colors and photos bombards your sight. ''Make sure to follow me back so i can send you the videos''
''Uuuh'' She then gasps, looking at the time in her phone.
''Ah! gotta go! i promised to play Valorant with Ollie!'' she goes back to the apartment and almost slams the door, before she catches herself and looks at you
''Ill send you my Line adrees over Hologram Old man! We'll talk later!'' The door closes and you are left standing there in the hallway
''Im not that old'' you grumble, as you make your way to your apartment.