audiam   audiēmus
audiēs   audiētis
audiet   audient
 
Yuuko scrunched her eyes and stared at the conjugation table, not even thinking about it, but hoping she'd memorize the sight of it and that would be enough. There was going a quiz in class today, right after this shift, and she was straddling an A and a B and that could make the difference between being accepted in a master's program or not and she didn't have time to really study, not in the way that most people mean when they say they don't have time, but she kept a table of how she spends her time every day of the week and there literally wasn't any time she wasn't—
 
A loud "thunk" scattered her worries.
 
"Welcome to the Shanghai! May I...oh no, gosh. I'm sorry! Very sorry. Do you want to check these out?"
 
It was only after she apologized that she looked at her customer. He was wearing a scarf and the school uniform jacket. It was a hot August afternoon. He wore giant round glasses which obscured his face, and his hair was messy. Despite all this, he was still unimposing. She imagined him naked, how small he'd be. A blush rose in her cheeks. This wasn't the sort of thing she should be thinking about customers and he said "yes" at some point a moment ago and she's been staring at him the whole time. She started another wave of apologies and scanned the books. One was a heavy textbook on cryptography. She didn't think Yamaku offered any classes like that. The other was strangely bound. Its cover was like leather, with no markings, and something like a plastic bag seal went from cover to cover. It took her a moment to open it and find the label. She glanced up at the computer to read the title 'Japan Self-Defense Forces Field Guide for Operations in Extreme Conditions.'
 
She looked back at the small boy with bulky clothes. This time she managed to stop any strange thoughts and instead asked for his student ID. He pulled a wallet out of back pocket, checked it, frowned, and put it back.
 
"If you don't have it I can put these...um..."
 
He pulled another wallet out of his breast pocket, checked it, frowned deeper, and put it back.
 
"...aside, so no one else...um..."
 
He was now balancing on one foot, the other raised. He pawed through his sock and pulled out a third wallet.
 
"...um...you have three wallets?"
 
"Yes."
 
"Yes?"
 
"I have three wallets worth of cards. How would I keep them without three wallets? Put them in my socks unorganized?"
 
"That...that makes sense."
 
He was holding his student ID out. And he was smiling. She gingerly took it from him and scanned it.
 
"I'm glad someone understands. My hallmate last year told me to keep my loyalty cards in a drawer and only take them with me if I was going there. But what if I went somewhere without planning to?"
 
He paused for a moment and looked to the side.
 
"Why would I go somewhere without planning to?"
 
"Umm...an emergency?"
 
"A taco emergency? Maybe. You seem smart for a woman. Could you tell me when the library gets any new cryptography books? If you don't stay ahead of the game it's game over."
 
"Certainly. What game?"
 
She thought she could see his eyes widening behind those glasses but she couldn't be certain.
 
"Nevermind."
 
He grabbed his books and ran-walked to the exit. Yuuko wasn't sure what to make of what just happened. She looked back down at her Latin notes and started staring again, but she couldn't concentrate.