City Q."Whose ancestors I"ve offended now? d.a.m.n it!"
Akashi cursed, his mood turned sour. He unbuckled his seat belt and getting off the car. He bent down and saw that one of the front tires got punctured. Slapping his forehead, he sighed dramatically. He had forgot to bring his spare tire!
It was early in the morning when he arrived in City Q, specifically in one of the suburbs. After driving for seven hours with just a short break in between, he would really appreciate it if the world didn"t turn against him by having his car broke down or his tire flat. Apparently, it was not the case.
Akashi turned his head around and tried to take in his surroundings. He was in a long road with little trace of human civilisation. All he could see around him was crops of various kind of vegetables. There were only a few older men and women working in the fields since noon had arrived.
These aunties and uncles should know how to help me, right?
Akashi gathered his personal belongings before locked his car door. He wanted to ask them if they knew any workshop from where he could get help from. Before he could jump over the narrow trench, he was distracted with the continuous sound of honking. He turned his head, seeing a young woman waving her hand from the inside of a jeep.
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"Hey, boy! Do you need any help?" The woman shouted, clearly eager to offer her help.
Boy?
Akashi frowned. He could clearly see that the woman in casual clothes was obviously a few years younger than him. She called me a boy?
Not that it was important at this moment.
"Do you know any workshop here?"
"Why?"
The woman in ponytail jumped on the ground. She wore a white T-shirt paired with a pair of denim overall. Her sun-kissed face glowed under the sun. The woman walked to Akashi"s car. She looked at the punctured tire before whistling. She turned around and looked at Akashi"s face.
"Get in. I"ll bring you to the workshop." She nodded to her jeep, signaling him to follow her.
"It"s not dangerous? Leaving my car here?" Akashi looked doubtful.
The woman laughed. She got inside the jeep. Smirking, she looked mockingly at Akashi. "You think these old folks would steal your car?"
Akashi didn"t say anything yet his silence confirmed her question. She laughed again. Looking out to the field, she yelled for attention. "Gramps! Here!"
The elders stopped doing their works. They turned to the sound of her voice. Smiles broke on their face. "Oi! Suzu! Just came back?"
"Ya! Going to Old Hiroshi for a sec! Please look over this car!" The woman called Suzu pointed to Akashi"s car.
"Okay! Okay! Just go!"
"Thanks!"
Suzu winked at Akashi. "Come! Your car won"t be stolen. You better solve this quickly."
Akashi nodded. Without standing on courtesy anymore, he got inside the jeep. Suzu immediately drove once she saw Akashi buckled the seat belt. She glanced at him for a moment before asking, "You"re a city boy, right? What are you doing coming to this small town?"
"First of all, I don"t want to be rude but I think you"re younger than me, no?" Akashi peered at her small face.
Suzu scoffed, she felt funny hearing his remark. "I don"t think you"d be too c.o.c.ky. Do you want my help or not?"
"... yes."
"Okay, it"s my fault too. Sorry, sorry. I won"t call you a boy. You can call me Suzu, as the old folks called me. What"s your name? Do you have any important business here? Need my help?"
Akashi stared at Suzu, he didn"t expect this woman to be quite a chatterbox. Did she want to be his match?
"Akashi is my name. I just come here for sightseeing. That"s all," Akashi replied briefly. He didn"t have any intention to share the details of his journey to her. After all, it was an extremely private job.
"Do you expect me to believe you has come here for sightseeing?" Suzu snorted. "I won"t probe any longer. It might be something private for you."
Akashi didn"t answer her. For once, he felt like he was at a loss of words. Or maybe his tiredness had caught up to him. Their conversation cut short. Almost 10 minutes later, Suzu pulled over outside a small workshop.
"This is my uncle"s workshop." She looked around at the empty workshop. Akashi stood beside her, observing the surrounding. "He might be inside. Come."
Without saying anything, Akashi followed her lead. Both of them enter the workshop. He could see equipment laying on the floor or hanging on the wall. A car with its bonnet opened was left under the garage.
"Uncle! Are you there?" Suzu ventured to a room where she could hear faint noises coming from.
"Oh, Suzu! What are you doing here?"
A man yelled from inside the room. Suzu leaned sideways against the door, seeing her uncle holding a lunch box and a bottle of water in his hands. Apparently he just finished his lunch. She recognised the box. Her aunt always packed her husband"s food using the blue lunch box.
"I met someone, looks like he needs a spare tire." Suzu smiled. She reached out her hand, taking the lunch box from her uncle. "I"ll help with this. He"s waiting outside."
"Alright, alright." A man in his fifties came out from inside the room. He looked at Akashi who was admiring his works. "Young man, you need my help?"
Akashi was startled. He turned around, facing the older man. He smiled, nodded in respect. "My tire got punctured. I forgot to bring a spare one. I could change it myself, I just need the tire."
"Ah, an easy one. Come here."
Old Hiroshi brought Akashi to a section. Various types of tires were organised in the section. They talked for a bit before the older man brought out a tire for him. Suzu who was done washing the lunch box came to join them.
"Are you done?"
"Yes."
As the small workshop didn"t accept credit card transaction, Akashi was forced to use almost his cash just to buy the tire. Old Hiroshi wrote him a receipt, he would use it to claim the money back from Ren. Akashi opened his wallet, wanting to keep it inside. The older man"s eyes flickered in recognition when he caught a sight of a picture inside the wallet.
"Do you know Genzo?"
Akashi was dumbfounded. He was startled when he realised the picture of Yagi Takashi was exposed when he opened his wallet. But, Old Hiroshi"s question caught his attention.
"You mean... Yagi Takashi?"