HOW RUKAWA GOT HIS PINK BICYCLE (a speculative short fic)

The bell above the door of Kanagawa Bikes Inc. tinkled, the signal for Kanzaki Yuichiro that this was hopefully going to be another good business transaction.

He rubbed his hands in anticipation as he walked out of his private office. What was it going to be? Another one of those mountain bikes? An extra tire? Maybe a few repairs? Or maybe a paint job? Already he could see the yen signs dancing in front of his eyes and he grinned broadly.

"Irasshaimase!" he bleated, eager to start the transaction when the greeting stopped in his throat as he gawked at the tall teenager who was leaning against the door with his eyes closed, light snores coming from him.

"Ah...y-young man, are you feeling alright?" He stuttered, blinking his eyes rapidly in wonder. Was it just him or was the youth actually SLEEPING?

He hesitated a bit and wondered if he should go ahead and wake this weird one up, weighing the possibilities of a) a successful business transaction with a hopefully pleasant customer, b) perhaps a successful transaction but with shattered kneecaps for waking him up, c) waking him up only to find out that this one is just looking around or d) waking him up only to find out that Sleeping Beauty was actually a hoodlum and was about to rob the cash register

"Ah...Ano...that is...young man, are you here to look at some bicycles or here to sleep?" Kanzaki very nearly whispered as he sidled over to the still-sleeping, still-standing teen.

For what seemed like an eternity, the boy snoozed and Kanzaki swallowed, wondering if he should go ahead and poke him gently when all of a sudden, he was nearly crushed as the boy towered over him, walking down the aisle of the shop, still dozing.

"Kya! Wait! Chotto matte! It's dangerous to sleepwalk! Young man! Wake up!" Kanzaki nearly jumped out of his skin when the teen's hand brushed against the row of bicycles, creating a domino effect as - one right after the other - they started falling down. Yet in spite of the loud noise, Sleeping Beauty was undisturbed from his slumber. His legs moved mechanically as Kanzaki ran in front of him to try and stop any more of the bicycles from falling.

As if by some unseen force, the boy kept moving forward, snoring as chaos erupted behind him. Kanzaki was on the verge of tears when he noticed that the teenager had grabbed the bicycle at the very end of the row and was now moving towards the cash register, still off in La-La Land.

"Oh no! No! Young man, you can't take that! A girl already reserved that!" The thoroughly harassed old man dashed behind the counter, waving his hands wildly to stop the boy. "No! No! That's a pink bicycle! It won't do your complexion any good! Young man!"

Without even opening his eyes, the teen lumbered past the counter, placing a wad of bills in front of Kanzaki before walking out the store, dragging the bicycle along with him as he snored.

In the aftermath of what just happened, Kanzaki whimpered at the sight of all the beautiful bicycles in disarray, strewn all over his shop. He looked back at the door.

"Thank you for doing business with us!" he called out weakly before bursting into tears.

'My beautiful bicycle display!'

And that, ladies and gentlemen is how Rukawa got his pink bicycle. :P

THE END