Renji flashed his mother a grin, his usual carefree demeanor still intact. "Got it, Mom. I'll be on my best behavior... for now," he teased, giving her a wink before rising to his feet. He turned to Yuki, who had remained unusually quiet throughout the exchange, his earlier shock lingering in his expression.
"Ready to go, pastry prince?" Renji asked, a playful lilt to his voice. "I promise I won't make you do anything embarrassing this time... unless you're into that kind of thing."
Yuki blinked, still processing everything he'd witnessed in the past few minutes. His face flushed once again, a mix of discomfort and curiosity. "Uh, yeah... sure. Let's go," he muttered, standing up and trying to shake off the lingering awkwardness.
As they stepped out of the office, Renji's mother called out after them, her voice a touch more serious than before. "Renji, if you get into trouble, don't expect me to bail you out. And no more jokes about the zipper."
Renji flashed her a thumbs-up over his shoulder as he ushered Yuki out the door. "Promise, Mom. I'll try to keep it zipped," he said with a wink, clearly enjoying the teasing banter more than anything.
Once they were out in the hallway, Yuki let out a quiet breath, feeling the tension finally ease a little. "Your mom... she's something else," he said, glancing at Renji.
Renji just chuckled, shrugging nonchalantly. "Yeah, she's a lot to handle, but she's my mom. You get used to her ways. And trust me, she knows how to deal with me. She's the only one who can."
Yuki raised an eyebrow, still unsure how to process the bizarre dynamics he had just witnessed. "I don't know if I could ever be that casual with my own mother," he admitted, his tone slightly incredulous.
"Yeah, I guess it takes a special kind of relationship to pull it off," Renji agreed, his voice softening slightly. "But honestly, despite all the teasing and jokes, she's always been there for me. Sometimes, that's all that matters. Since my dad left us when I was four years old, it has just me and my mom."
"She has been single for nineteen years?" Yuki blurted out in disbelief and quickly regretted it because Renji smugged face at his comment was nothing to write about. "I can't believe no man will want her---you know, she is pretty loaded."
"Stop lusting over my mother. She ain't, Miss Tanaka!" Renji flicked his finger against Yuki's forehead and continued. "A lot of men has been after her but then again, my mom just rejects them with 'I am busy and I don't care' attitude of hers. I am guessing she is either into women or none at all. She is depressed as fuck. One time I registered her for an unwinding party and guess what, she just got drunk and found her way back to her office untouched. No man went under her skirts!"
Yuki cringed hearing Renji say so much 'private' things about his mother so crude just like that. "Uh, wow... that's, uh, a lot," Yuki managed to say, his voice faltering slightly as he tried to process the mental image Renji had so casually painted.
Renji chuckled at Yuki's discomfort, clearly finding it amusing. "Yeah, well, I don't exactly sugarcoat things," he said, his tone light and teasing. "But seriously, I think my mom's just focused on her work. Men come and go, but her business? That's something she can rely on."
Yuki nodded, trying to push past the awkwardness. He wasn't sure how to feel about the whole situation—Renji's openness about his family dynamics, the playful way he talked about his mother. Subconsciously, Yuki was pulled to his watch on his wrist. " Five minutes past three? Jeez, I'm going to be late."
"Late for what?"
"I was planning on checking out a gaming pad in one of the gadget store downtown. From the time, it remains only twelve minutes before I can get there and they are gonna close. Can you do me a favor?"
"Prince pastry wants me to drop him off. Fine, just because we are roomies, I'd give you the honors. I just need to grab my Ferrari keys from the waiter downstairs. Wait for me here and don't go anywhere, got it?"
Yuki nodded, watching Renji run off to the exit of the hallway while he stood there expecting. He glanced at his wrist again, his nerves starting to twitch with the thought of being late. The gaming pad had been a rare find, and it was the last chance he'd had to check it out before the store closed for the day. If he didn't get there soon, it would be gone.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Renji returned, keys in hand, his face lit up with the kind of mischievous grin Yuki was quickly starting to associate with him.
"Alright, pastry prince," Renji called out as he approached. "Ready for the ride of your life?"
*******
Yuki stood in the middle of the gadget store, his eyes wide in disbelief as he stared at the price tag. The gaming pad in front of him was everything he'd wanted, but the price—eight hundred dollars—was enough to make his stomach drop.
He ran a hand through his hair in disappointment. This was the last model they had in stock, the very one he had been eyeing for weeks. But the price... it was far beyond what he had expected.
He glanced around the store, hoping to find something else that could fill the void. But no other gaming pads looked quite as good. This was the one. He had been saving for months, but now it seemed like it was all for nothing.
"Excuse me, young lad, Can I help you with something?"
"Mr. Riko! I can't believe what I'm seeing today. How the hell did the price skyrocket to $800 in just four days. It was $450 and to save this up took me weeks of not eating and surviving on bread my work gave me as gifts. That is like 108,000 Yen. It sure isn't fair."
The older store clerk, Mr. Riko, blinked behind his glasses and gave a sympathetic sigh. "I know, kid. It's the demand. Supply chain's been all over the place lately, especially for imported tech. We barely got these in, and as soon as they landed, the price tag climbed. Not my call—I just ring it up. And sad thing is that, it's almost out of stock. It might take another week or months to get it up this shelf. Why don't you pay what you have and then keep on paying later on?"
Yuki looked up at Riko who winked at him. Credit purchase was not in the terms and conditions of this gadget store but for him, Riko was willing to go miles to get him what he wanted.
Yuki blinked, momentarily stunned. "You'd really do that for me?" he asked, his voice hushed with surprise. His fingers trembled slightly as he looked back at the gaming pad, then at Mr. Riko.
The older man chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Don't go spreading it around, alright? You've been coming here for months. You ask questions, treat the gear like it's art, and you're not like those brats who think throwing money at something makes them cool. Reminds me of myself back in the day."
Yuki's heart swelled with gratitude. "I promise I won't say a word."
"Good." Mr. Riko reached under the counter and pulled out a receipt pad. "Give me what you've got, and we'll draft a little IOU. No interest, no nonsense—just make sure you pay me back when you can. A man's only as good as his word."
Yuki quickly dug into his pocket and pulled out the carefully folded stack of bills. "I have 450," he muttered, placing it on the counter with both hands, as though he were offering something sacred.
Mr. Riko smiled warmly and scribbled something on the slip before tearing it off and handing it to him. "Take care of it. That model's a beast."
Just as Yuki reached out to claim the pad, the soft jingle of the store doorbell chimed again. He turned to see Renji strolling in, sunglasses perched on his head, car keys spinning around his finger like he was walking into a music video.
"Yo, pastry prince!" Renji called out, strolling over with that trademark grin. "Don't tell me you actually found it, the Steam Vortex X-pro! Hey, Uncle, how about I double whatever Yuki paid and you give me the gaming pad?"
"Dude, what the actual fuck! Go get yours, I got this already."