No customers in sight.
The blonde bartender sighed.
His name tag read 'Sanji'.
This was actually a great place in town for a bar like his; well attended, sometimes a little too well even maybe, considering the crime rate...

Usually, he had lots to do at this hour and might even need a help to serve all these thirsty and hungry bastards all over the dining area.
But not tonight.
He'd started to wipe the table tops just to keep his hands busy.

It wasn't really closing time yet; there might still be folk out there craving a drink.
So he waited.
And while doing so, he let his eyes wander up and down the street.
Something just across the street caught his attention.
Someone gesturing and shouting.
A fight?
Wouldn't be too uncommon.
He stopped his cleaning and stepped out the door to have a better look.
Right opposite to his cafe was a bookshop, a small Marimo Books branch.
And obviously, some people were thrown out of it at that very moment.
He frowned at the scene; realizing he was outside, he fumbled in his pockets and found a crumpled pack of cigarettes, fingered one out of it and lit it between his lips.

"Now get lost!," the shop assistant growled, shoving the two troublemakers onto the sidewalk.
Sanji watched with interest.

That guy seemed to be new in the bookshop.
Bothering to throw out two rather harmless delinquents?
Sanji chuckled, inhaling smoke.
The shop had been broken into recently.
And one of the assistants was hurt pretty bad.
That's probably why the new guy was hired;
he was rather tall, looked muscly and had that kind of vibe that made you stay away if you didn't want annoy that hulk.
And to top all that he had freaky green hair.
Sanji shook his head, grinning.
That's why they hired him?
Marimo Books has its own Marimo now, huh?
He laughed about his own joke.

Definitely not your typical bookseller.
But probably just the right guy to keep things in order, after all the shopliftings.
Sanji dropped his cig and went back inside.
But he couldn't resist to look back over his shoulder.
The bookshop guy met his eyes.
He looked still stern, but no longer like a rabid beast.
He even managed a semi-friendly nod, and locked the shop's door.
Weird guy, Sanji thought.