Shinji was running as fast as his legs would allow to the bakery, checking his watch after crossing every street. New Years at home was a quiet affair his mother often spent on the phone with his father in America. The two would recount what they had done with their lives for hours on end before ever discussing Shinji, so he'd taken it upon himself to go to a public celebration in one of Fukushima's many parks. It'd been a fun idea. Until Ryu and his friends showed up.

[i]Three minutes fast,[/i] Shinji reminded himself while waiting for the traffic light to shift. His watch was three minutes fast. That put him at less than 2 minutes until he had to clock in. 

The last time he was late, Lila-sama had shrunk him a whole foot for every minute just as a joke. It was hard to wash dishes when one was only four feet tall.

As the light changed, Shinji barreled through the clump of pedestrians on the crosswalk, only to trip and land on the pavement of the road- right in front of a truck that was screeching to a stop. The tires stopped close enough where Shinji could smell the hot rubber.

The driver leaned out the window to shout at Shinji, calling him an idiot for not waiting to cross, but he was already gone- running down the block toward the bakery at full speed.

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Shinji arrived four minutes late to his shift at the bakery, screeching to a halt as he came through the door. His arms were dirty from the fall on the pavement and his clean white shirt and jeans were no longer up to regulation cleanliness, but most noticable was the shiner over his right eye. He'd taken a hit to the face recently, and he guessed that- combined with his appearance- would leave him in the kitchen today either baking or washing dishes. 

Either way he took a moment to formally bow to Lila, saying "My sincerest apologies, Lila-sama. I was delayed from arriving by traffic. I promise it won't happen again!"