H I S
L A X I T Y

"Where is your homework, Shinatobe?"

In an abrupt halt, Mel ceased pressing buttons on her phone. She turned her gaze upwards feigning innocence as her golden irises lock with her sensei’s green ones. Quickly, the clog in her minds worked themselves out and an excuse was already at the tip of her tongue.

"I don’t have siblings, sensei," she faked a shy expression, "and since the assigned task was to list down the psychological effects of having a sibling based on experience, I couldn’t have possibly answered anything anecdotic."

The teacher on Health sighed visibly, before narrowing her eyes on Mel, "This is the last time I’m letting you off the hook, Shinatobe."

Yes, and she’d said that for some time now.

"Thank you so much, sensei. It won’t happen again."

She’d said that for some time now too.

Now devoid of worry, Mel leaned back on her armchair with a faint exterior of relief adorning her aristocratic features. Passing a subtle glance to her left, she saw Aomine with his face pressed down his desk. How he wasn’t ostracized by their sensei, she had no idea.

Like almost every subject available in the morning period, the cobalt haired classmate and neighbor of hers, no, she’s not going to say walkmate still, was having the time of his life wandering around the land of dreams. Mel was no greater, playing games all the while, but at least she was conscious and that should count.

With a shrug, she pressed the ‘resume’ button and continued the paused game.

- - -

Hypothetically speaking, if one tried to take over the world with a whole package full of chocolate milk, what would happen?

Mel thought it would work.

To her, that is. Who didn’t want a supply of chocomilk to themselves? Probably dogs, since they can’t handle chocolate. But who wouldn’t die for chocolate? She totally would. Maybe not definitely go deceased, but close enough. At least in it she can partially drown the noise out of her surroundings.

"... ilk. Banana milk. Oi, honey. Buy me banana milk."

Mel stared at the owner of the voice for awhile, took the spare chocomilk beside her and shoved it into the chocolate-dream wrecker’s face, "Pipe down a bit and just drink this."

"Does this," Aomine raised the carton and shook it, "look like banana to you?"

She shrugged, "Looks like milk to me."

"Not banana."

"You’re acting like three-year old deprived of his favorite candy."

"It’s not candy, it’s milk."

"The one you’re currently holding, genius, is chocolate — listen well — milk."

Aomine looked positively affronted but before he could bite back a retort, Mel brushed her skirt off as she got up, silencing him, "Save it, I’m going. Goodbye, Sakurai."

The aforementioned boy blinked a few times before it registered that he was called out, "Oh, sorry, I didn’t hear.. ah, goodbye, Shinatobe-san. But lunch isn’t even over yet?"

Mel nodded and crushed the carton before pocketing it, "Gonna cut. Also, stop with the formalities. It’s just Shinatobe. If that’s a mouthful, then just Shina. Or Shi, that’s no proble — "

Aomine scoffed, "Yeah or you can call her honey."

Sakurai evidently looked flustered at the suggestion, taking it the wrong way. The grey haired individual almost choked at how nonplussed his expression was. If only he knew, but she wasn’t hoping for that.

"Aomine’s full of crap," With a strech, Mel waved the two of them goodbye after fixing the fit of her gloves. A less bewildered Sakurai nodded after her while a more torpid Aomine shooed her away.

- - -

Mel’s shift at Koko’s Crew starts at exactly four in the afternoon. But still, it doesn’t hurt to come by early once in a while. Even if that early referred to coming almost five hours early than the designated time. So, she didn’t really understand what all the disapproving looks from her fellow co-workers meant.

"You skipped off your afternoon class again, didn’t you?"

"I’m more comfortable with the term ‘did not attend’ instead of ‘skipped’, Tenshi-san."

A chuckle rumbled from the masculine guard and waved her off, "Just wait until Manager hears about this. You’ve done it countless times this year, he might even consider taking off the job."

From an outsider’s point of view, it was a very likely thought that Mel would be relieved from her duties as a civilian guard for Koko’s especially when she preferred to go to work than attend her classes. It was a farfetched theory, though, since with or without the job, they knew Mel would skip nonetheless.

"Highly doubt it, really," she brought her bag over the counter to be taken care of and strolled casually to one of the shelves to begin her shift, "Tell Manager I’m expecting a raise for extra hours."

And so with a glimmer of hope that she’d get the dubious raise anytime soon, she stalked off towards the shelves. Her gloved hand brushed over the spines of the books, humming a faint tune as she did so. She did not find herself around romance or thriller books this time, seeming as she stumbled in a mixed section of sorts. None, both fortunately and unfortunately, caught her interest. Not that she exerted effort on taking out one book out of the shelf and looking at its cover, anyways. That meant she’d be tempted to buy whatever did catch her eye and contradictorily also sadly, that she didn’t find a book worth her money. Maybe this shelf wasn’t her best shelf.

Actually, money wasn’t that much of a problem, considering Mel’s background. To why she’s even working when she should’ve been laying back on one of her parents’ expensive chairs listening to a melody from the music player that sat by the antique table, was partially a mystery to her. She knew some of it had to do with not being dependent on her parents’ earnings, and having savings of her own. Maybe she just really liked being around a bookstore. She did wonder what the future would hold for her though, what job she’s going to take once she’s all grown up.

Peering down at her wrist watch, she decided she’d worry about it when the time comes.

- - -

The sun dropped down quickly. The clouds stirred and the sky turned the hue of fiery red. Mel observed this by the translucent window of Koko’s, reminded that her shift would soon end by roughly three minutes. Granted, the entire afternoon was uneventful. No one caused enough trouble for her to step in, shoplifters came as often as the rain in a desert. Perhaps she was exaggerating quite a bit, but her statement wasn’t that far from the truth. So far, she had yet to encounter a real crime happening around the bookstore. The worst she’d seen was probably a student ripping a page off a book.

She did see Aomine though, but she didn’t pay him any mind. He dropped by approximately thirty minutes ago, and Mel had no clue if he was still around. If he was, well she was just hoping he spent his time at Koko’s more productively than stealing glances at gravure models from magazines. Honestly, it was also for him. He’d very much well look like a creep from a passerby’s view.

To sum it all up, her day was as ordinary as it could’ve been. But then it rained.

The sudden rain wasn’t something she foreshadowed, recalling the time she looked out the window and saw no signs of a cloudy, gloomy sky preparing for an abrupt shower. She liked the rain, she did, really. Even if her glasses ended up stained with droplets everytime it happened. But couldn’t it have picked the day to come by when she actually brought an umbrella? Most of her co-workers had none and if they did, she hardly had a chance to borrow them since they would, of course, also need it when they come home.

And that’s how she got stuck under the shed of Koko’s Crew, watching the pitter patter of the rain. People constantly passed her by, all in their raincoated glory and some under an umbrella’s protection from the droplets. Then some just needed to remind her that it wasn’t her day, happily splashing over puddles the nearest to her — soaking her socks and dampening her skirt.

Her ears pulled her out of her thoughts upon hearing the chime. The world was out for her temper, she thought, seeing as her neighbor walked out of the store, eyes drooping naturally. A spark of hope lit up in her, and even if it was unlikely, she asked Aomine if he brought an umbrella.

Of course, Mel shouldn’t have even thought of it, he had brought none.

"Nah, really don’t care ‘bout the rain," he explained, "I’m just gonna walk home without one."

She cocked an eyebrow, "You’re going to soak yourself?"

"Well, yeah, I said that didn't I?"

Mel thought about her options. If she waited for the rain to stop, she’d stay here for hours, and it would be unsafe to walk home by that time. If she did ignore that it was raining and just walk home without a care, she’ll... get wet.

She blinked. If you thought about it, it wasn’t that bad. And atleast she was going through the rain with someone. Plus, they were... walkmates, weren’t they?

"You gonna stare at the puddles there until the rain’s gone or are you gonna start walking?"

Mel snapped her head up and found Aomine already out of the shed, the rain drenching his hair, and gradually his face and clothes.

Shaking her head slightly, she stepped out.

"Let’s go."

Just as she said, the rain really wasn’t that bad.