The Haven: Chapter One

SUBJECT TO CHANGE AND EDITS

The Haven

"Earlier this morning the Haven Psychiatric Hospital was placed under an emergency lockdown for unknown reasons, Police have been on standby since the incident had happened. Information on doctors and nurses whereabouts are still unknown. A regular jogger had passed by the hospital this morning at approximately 6:00am this morning when something had caught her attention...."

"I was just on my morning jog when I had noticed that there were people crawling on the ground out of the open gates of the building. Having been a resident of this city my entire life, I knew the history of the building and as soon as I saw the gates were open I called the police right away. Seeing all of the people crawling on the ground, I knew something was wrong."

"The some 200 patients at the century old, revised hospital had somehow escaped the hospital gates. Not only were they in bare minimum clothing, they were also terrified of whatever was inside of that building. Isn't that right?"

"That is correct. Due to the emergency lockdown, the entire 950,000 square foot, four floor building is completely inaccessible to police and reporters. The building is meant to keep patients in during a lockdown, the doors are made of ten inches of solid iron, there is no getting in there with a simple battering ram."

"We will be updating this situation within the next thirty minutes or once we have gathered anymore information on this sudden and surprising incident."

Lying on the floor face down, a man stirred awake to the sound of clicking; the clicking of slides in a projector machine was constant and rhythmic nothing could tell how long the projector had been running for, or how it got there for that matter. Groaning in pain, the man slapped his palms to the hard laminate spread over a concrete floor, pushing himself to his knees. Looking around the dimmed, pure white room, the man had seen the images on the wall from the projector which had been attached to an eye examiner machine above it as well as a white bed in the corner. The bottom of the bed had been on an angle as if pulled away in a violent struggle; the flat, dirty pillow and thin blanket were scattered on the floor as well in a child like manner whom had a temper tantrum. 

Crouching on the floor on his knees, the young man looked around the room only to see a camera in the top corner nearest the white, steel door. The red light was blinking, he knew that meant it was still recording; what purpose did it have to record him, he thought.

In a room three wards away of the far west wing, sat a man on a simple wooden chair, he was sleeping and immobile. The room was much more simple than that of the other man. Nothing occupied the room besides the man, the chair he sat upon and the same white sheeted bed. What had been strange about this room were the fibre wires scattered throughout, crossing over each other from wall to wall; the crossed wires seemed to web around the room to trap the man within. The man had stirred awake, lifting his heavy head with a struggle. In attempts to look around, the man had seen nothing but a foggy haze throughout the blinding white room. The foggy haze over his eyes prevented him from seeing these wires which trap him on the simple chair. Groaning and rubbing his head, the man slapped his hands over his eyes, making the blinding light around him a calming pitch black. Nothing of the room was noticed as of yet, the camera had been recording his estranged disorient as he sat on the provided chair from the hospital.

On the other side of the wing, two floors above the man surrounded by stretched fibre wire; a fully conscious man sat in the same simple white chair as he was surrounded by amplifiers, equalizers and many other stacks of sound equipment. The floor was covered in snake pits of black cords, each attached to their corresponding machinery. In the centre of the snake pit of cords sat the conscious man with over the head earphones over both ears. His focus seemed to be on nothing but what was blaring in his ears from the noise-cancelling earphones. He could not care less that the door he was behind was locked with five steel rods or that there was a camera with a microphone attached had been recording him. In the same corner as every other room sat that camera which was specially equipped with a microphone, above the door in the most obvious position. With all his attention on the sound in his ears, the man bobbed his head to the beat quietly and peacefully.

In the north wing of the building, isolated away from the other men; one man sat on the hard modern chair in his quarters with no option to be sleeping or not. With a small sense of class in his room, the man sat staring at the flower vase on the simple white table near his chair. It had not been long since the man had been woken up from the shivers running through his body. For him he did wonder how long the room had been freezing temperature, for the room must have been cold long enough for the water in the clear, triangular vase to freeze; as well as the water freezing, the petals of the flowers had formed a thin white frost and crystals of ice. The man only wore a simple dress shirt and blazer, it was definitely not warm enough to keep him alive very long if the temperature was to continue on like this. Clasping his palms over his mouth, he took a painful, deep breath and exhaled over his white skinned hands in attempts to warm them. The blinding white room was foggy; the air from many air-conditioners limited the visibility in the room, leaving it feel like an arctic tundra. Looking around the room for any possibility of raising the temperature, the man rose from his seat and walked around his bed in possibility of finding a switch of a sort to turn off the air-conditioners. Quickly after beginning his hunt for a switch, the man spotted the camera in the corner of the room, staring deeply at it in wonder as to who was watching its live feed. Seeing that the red light was blinking and the small hole in the front of the square black box indicating a microphone was enough for the man to know someone was watching him.

In the farthest ward of the east wing was the last patient whom still resided in The Haven Psychiatric Hospital; he sat on the white chair provided by the Hospital with his feet hanging over the edge, his eyes fixed on one of many objects in his room. Through the blinding white room, it was surprising that the man could even focus on one of the objects. With a great sense of confusion, the man was unsure as to whether he was awake or asleep. Even those with a basic knowledge of physics, one would know that if a Newton's Cradle was not in use, the balls would sit in a neutral position; this is what baffled this man whom considered himself to be over-average intelligent, these Newton Steel Balls were not attached to a magnet of any sort, yet one remained hovered in the air. The man sat, pondering over how this was possible, his mind bending at the idea that it was magic or perhaps it was just a broken Cradle. Though considering that the Cradle could possibly broken or perhaps a trick object, his mind remained focused on the strangeness of that particular object. If the man were to ponder around the room for even a moment, he would notice that the Newton's Cradle was not the only suspicion around his room. 

"As an update on the sudden and unauthorized lockdown of The Haven Psychiatric Hospital, we have gained information that there are still five male patients inside. The status of their safety is still unknown. Detectives and Rescue crews have used thermal radar to find these patients which at this moment we are going to call victims, in locating the victims, rescue crews had discovered a strange field within the north wing of the building; the entire wing had the internal temperatures of -80°C. Within this room there is a figure of a man whom is still alive with a core temperature of 36°C, only one degree lower than average body temperature. With this knowledge, we are grateful to report that he is surprisingly not in harms way of hypothermia as of this moment. 

In addition, specialists have reported to us that on one end of the west wing, there was a surprising amount electrical flow. They were not sure if there was special equipment consuming a large amount of electricity or if there was something influence to that specific wing.

More updates to come after these messages..."

Shhh 死 ~ CHI ni Oborete: Chapter Three

◊ “Haha-oya?” Kazuko called out softly, shaking her mother’s hand that rest gently on her stomach. “Haha-oya.” She called out again, trying to wake her mother whom looked very pale.

Placing a firm, caring hand on his daughter’s shoulder, the Head of the House shook his head sincerely.

“You should let her rest Kazuko, she needs all the strength she can get.” He knew, deep down inside that his wife and the loving mother of his dearest child would not live through whatever illness had fallen upon her. Rising to his feet, the Head of the House peered down at his daughter for a moment with his hands neatly folded against his stomach. Saying no more to his dearest daughter, the Head of House closed the sliding paper door, returning to his daily business in the hall.

Stroking the back of her mother’s hand, Kazuko knelt over her with worry and pain in her eyes. Her mother was her life and she had so much yet to teach her about being a woman and being a wife.

“Haha-oya, please get well.” She pleads for her mother’s well being quietly. There was nothing more that she felt she could do for her mother but plead. “You have not yet made tea from the herbs I picked for you.” Sounds of last words, though she had no idea if or when her mother was to die.

Seconds, minutes, hours, days; Kazuko had no idea how much time had past, but the moment she felt movement in her hand from her mother’s she jolted awake and knelt at attention at her mother’s side. Leering down to her mother, Kazuko’s eyes were wide with surprise.

With no memory of the past few days, Kazuyo looked up to her distraught daughter with fuzzy, confused eyes. Immediately she sat up at the sight of the tears in her daughter’s eyes.

“Kazuko, what is the matter?” Her voice was strong, just as it was before she fell ill. “Why are you crying my dear?” It was clear as day that she had no memory of collapsing in the sunroom.

“Haha-oya!” Kazuko dove at her mother, wrapping her arms around her neck tightly in a terrified hug, which she thought she was never going to speak with her mother again. “You are all right.” Kazuko held onto her mother tightly, pulling herself on to her lap. She than broke down in a hysteric fit, crying loudly at the top of her lungs.

Hugging her distraught daughter in return, Kazuyo patted her head softly stroking her soft, black hair gently.

“Kazuko. It is all right. You do not need to cry.” She did not know why she was crying at all, but Kazuyo knew that if her daughter was crying, there was definitely a reason for it. “I am fine. See?” She pulled out of her daughters death-grip hug and smiled to her warmly. With gentle, caressing fingers, Kazuyo brushed the moist bangs off of her daughter’s smooth cheeks for they became tangled in the streams of tears that flowed down her face.

Sniffing to stop the liquid flowing from her nose, Kazuko looked up to her beaming mother with wet eyes. Lowering her gaze for only a moment, Kazuko nodded once, telling her mother that she believed her.
“I will go retrieve Chichi-ue to tell him the good news.” Rubbing her nose with the sleeve of her kimono, Kazuko chuckled forcefully, trying to push away her tears.

Her mother sent her a nod, giving the green light for Kazuko to be able to run and find her father to tell him that her mother was all right. With knowledge of his location this time, Kazuko was able to find him easily; still running around the corridors in her white Tabi, Kazuko was set to need a new pair soon.

“Chichi-ue!” Running into the hall, interrupting his small meeting, Kazuko ran up onto the tatami floors, kneeling down next to her father. “Haha-oya woke up! She is all right.”

It was too good to believe, the Head of the House needed to go see for himself. Only hours before his wife was barely breathing as she rests on her back in their sleeping quarters, just strong enough to keep her chest moving. Bowing to his samurais, the Head of House departed from the hall to follow Kazuko down the dark, wooden corridors back to his sleeping quarters.

Kazuko was well ahead of him, arriving at the open sliding doors before him. As the Head of House arrived at the small step up to the tatami flooring, he was faced with a petrified daughter, staring silently into the room from her knees on the edge of the tatami floor. Taking slow steps as he panted to catch his breath, the Head of House’s gaze slowly scanned over the flooring to meet the sight of his wife, lying in a pool of her own blood upon her futon.

From the time that Kazuko had run to fetch her father and the time it took them to return, Kazuyo had relapsed from her sudden appearance of gaining health again. Her episode of appearing well was only the moment before her death. As a samurai would know, one is strongest just before they are faced with death.

Kazuki, the Head of House had pushed his daughter to the side as he dashed through the paper door; having been followed closely by his loyal samurais, Kazuki was joined by Nakamura and Tanaka to possibly assist with Kazuyo.

Kazuko on the other hand had dropped to her knees on the tatami floor at the entrance of the sleeping quarters, mortified in seeing her mother’s lifeless body lying face down on her futon which was soaked and stained in an enormous amount of blood. The white that resembled white, fluffy clouds on a spring morning were now crimson with the sign of death.

Kazuko gripped the tanned tatami flooring with white knuckled fingers, her small arms shook in terror as she stared at the panic on the three men surrounding her mother. In pure shock, the young ten-year-old girl had not even noticed the sharp pain coming from her nails as they began to peel from her skin as she dug them into the stringed bamboo of the floors. Everything seemed to have stopped; time, air, sound, Kazuko was frozen in fright. Watching her father and his two samurais frantically pulling at her mother and resting her on her back on the flat tatami flooring away from her stained futon; Kazuko’s eyes seemed to have been playing tricks on her; everything moved slowly, rippling away from the original form, everything moved as a virtual echo, creating images that she had never seen before.

In a soundless world, Kazuko was finally able to take a deep breath, making her head dizzy. Filling her lungs with as much air that could fit, the young ten-year-old had let out a mighty shriek; screaming at the top of her lungs before losing consciousness herself, collapsing on the tatami flooring.

Had it been minutes since that moment? Had it been hours since that moment? Had it been days since that moment? Whichever it may have been, Kazuko had woken quickly, shooting up from her bed in her own room. At some point, her father or one of their loyal servants had carried her to her room and placed her gently under the covers. Kazuko jumped up from her bed, throwing the covers off of her and ran down out of the room as fast as she could towards her father’s room.

“Chichi-ue!” Sliding the door open as fast as she could and with all her strength, Kazuko was met with eye to eye with an empty room and a neatly made futon in the middle. The young mistress called out again as her gaze jumped down one hall and the next. Kazuko ran down the hall that lead to the rest of the house, if her father was not in his room, than he must have been in the only other room she had ever seen him in when it was not meal time.

In the meeting hall where her father would have meetings and private talks with his samurais, Kazuko had finally found her father, dressed in the darkest kimono he had owned, Kazuki was kneeling respectfully, facing the door wearing his Mofuku, awaiting Kazuko. With a pile of clothing next to him, the terrified young girl could only imagine that the pile of clothing was for her.

“Kazuko, you must prepare.” Sliding the pile of clothes towards the door, Kazuko’s father spoke tonelessly, as if everything was drained out of him, starting with his will to continue.

With her thin, pink lips parted slightly, the young girl’s jaw quivered as she held back her urge to scream and cry again; that was not a dream as she had hoped, what had happened was surely true. Pressing her lips together and closing her eyes gently, Kazuko bowed her head to her father and crawled into the large, empty room, gathering her clothes to change.

Though a time with little resources, there was still a great deal of manpower and respect for those who have lost their lives. In a large wooden box had been placed the clean, well dressed body of Kazuyo, Kazuko’s mother; with her arms neatly folded on her stomach and a peaceful expression on her motionless face, the cover was placed atop the box. With assistance of ten of Kazuki’s strongest men was the box guided into a deep hole in the ground by ropes wrapped around the bottom of the box. In a large, clear field underneath a large willow tree had the location been chosen for the burial ground for Kazuyo Kanzaki, wife and mother of the House of Shi.

After the small gathering of samurais and townspeople for the farewell of her mother, Kazuko had retreated to her bedroom again, throwing herself down on her bed not paying any attention to her Mofuku. Though she was young, her Mofuku was detailed just as greatly as her father’s. Solid black in colour, trim in a satin-like material against the silk of the body; the fitted kimono trailed down to the young mistress’ toes and covered them perfectly. The fitted sleeves had draped down revealing the white fabric of the undergarment. The black satin obi stretched from her small hips, over her ribs. The many layers of each piece fit together perfectly, even after throwing herself to the floor roughly as she had done.

Reaching for her pillow and pulling it to rest her cheek on, Kazuko cuddled her pillow tightly and closed her eyes quietly. Sprawled out on her single futon with her feet hanging off on to the tatami, Kazuko quickly fell asleep once again. There was no explanation as to how long she had been asleep since her mother had died so suddenly, and the ceremony was not long at all, yet Kazuko found that she was drained of all her energy and motivation to do anything. ◊

Shhh 死 ~ CHI ni Oborete: Chapter Two

The light that came in through the window was bright; it was too early to deal with the neighbourhood kids running down the street to get to their morning commute to school. The sleep-deprived man raised his head only to grab his pillow and cover his face from the light and sound.

“Doushite.” He grumbled into his pillow quietly, biting it as he did. Just as he began to fall asleep again with the pillow over his face, the alarm clock on the bedside table began to scream and holler loudly causing the man to sit up in a fright. With the pillow resting on his lap as he held it with one arm, the other reached out as he toppled on his side to turn it off. “Mendoukusai na.” Collapsed over his pillow, almost falling off the bed, the man snaked himself off the edge of the bed with a surprise that he somehow ended on his feet. Smacking his lips repetitively, the man stood at the side of his bed with a distraught look over his face; looking around, the man rubbed the mess atop his head of which he got from tossing and turning all night.

Dragging the concrete blocks of which were his feet across the floor, the man returned to his en suite bathroom, undressing himself as he did. Tossing his white t-shirt on the floor in the doorway of the bathroom, he walked slowly to the shower and turned on the tap, starting the rain of water coming from the showerhead.

Only five minutes had past and the male had showered, brushed his teeth and gotten dressed, ready to face the day with his daily schedule. Working late the night before and having to work early in the morning to open the convenience store, the young man was not looking forward to have another eight-hour shift; today the cashier that did not show up the night before for their shift was supposed to work the morning as well with the young man.

Arriving at the store, the young man had arrived just moments after the manager whom was still unlocking the gate. Giving the manager a bow, the young man waited to enter the doors to start his shift. Bowing back at the young man, the manager slipped the keys back into the pocket of his work apron.

“Ah, Kanzaki san, ohayo.” The man let off a weak chuckle for a warm, morning greeting. “I hope everything went well last night.” Kazuko was one of his newer employees, as he was a hard worker and did not fuss to him about any tasks about the job; the manager knew he was a good man to keep around.

Politely picking up the to-go cup of coffee that steamed profusely through the small sipping hole, Kazuko held the managers coffee as he held the door open for him. Once again as he bowed the young man slipped in through the door; rubbing the back of his head sheepishly as he faced the manager.
“Well about that.” The young man drifted off quietly; was in short, was being a tattletale about his senior employee a good decision? Kazuko was unfortunately still within his probation period and could be fired at any moment with no given excuse.

Closing and locking the door behind them, the manager turned to him, looking at him with a sense of impatience.

“Ah, iya.” Kazuko looked off to the side nervously for a moment before continuing; the manager would find out as soon as he logged on the computer as it was by seeing when he had clocked out. “Ishimoto san had never showed up last night for his shift. I took care of the stock as well as the customers.” Kazuko was not trying to appear the better worker by saying he had worked two positions at the same time it was only the truth.

Taking his coffee from his employee, the manager looked to him silently for a moment before walking passed him towards his office.

“I thank you for that Kanzaki san.” It could have created some issues if Kazuko had closed the store rather than work both positions like he had done. “But next time this happens please call me or another employee to fill a position. I do not want you to wear yourself out by filling in for someone who decides not to show up.” The manager tried his hardest to appeal to all of his staffs’ needs and schedules outside of work, but if their personal life had got in the way of their duties at work, then it would start to cause problems for everyone else.

“I will speak with him when he arrives all right Kanzaki san?”

Kazuko bowed his head a ways to hide his smug grin. “Shitsureishimasu.” Turning away he lead off towards the staff room to grab his work apron to start his morning shift with the little energy he had.

8:00am had come, the doors had to be opened, and yet, the cashier was nowhere to be found, again. Standing innocently with a box in his hands, Kazuko stared at the door where there were already customers waiting to come in. Releasing a frustrated sigh, Kazuko placed the box he held on the floor off to the side where no one would trip over it and made his way to open the doors. Stepping aside to allow the few customers to enter and browse around, the young man bit his bottom lip to restrain himself from reacting to the comments the customers whispered to themselves as they walked passed him; it was not his fault the designated cashier had not showed up again for the doors to be opened on time.

The few customers that had entered were handled and taken care of with courtesy and a smile, despite how rude they were when they had walked in. After small morning rush had gone, Kazuko picked up the store phone and called the office where the manager sat doing his paperwork for the day.

“Hi, its me. Ishimoto is not here again. Do you just want me to manage the till for the morning until he arrives, I'm sure he is just running late.” It took most of his will power to not want to scream and shout about his incompetent coworker.

“If you please Kanzaki san. I will look for someone to relieve your duties as stock for the time being.”

Having to stand behind the counter again? The young man just wanted to do his job that he was hired for, stock.

“That would be wonderful, thank you sir.” With a smile in his voice, Kazuko placed the phone down and faced forward again waiting for the next customer to enter the store. Kazuko stared off blankly into the store, properly greeting each customer as they entered, though he made no eye contact nor used a smile in his angered voice.

Hours had passed and still no sign of Ishimoto. Not long after the manager had mentioned that he would have someone relieve him of his duties as stock, another coworker had walked through the door, looking just as ready as he was to work.

Having been stuck behind that small, cramped counter for his entire shift with no break, not even to use the restroom, Kazuko was almost at his limit for the day.

“Well would you look at that Jun-P, who is that handsome man at the counter?” Chuckling evilly to himself as he playfully pat his friend’s shoulder, one of the customers that had walked in instantly embarrassed the poor man behind the counter. “Is he new?” The man who spoke removed his solid black, subtly sparkled Trillby styled hat as he stepped into the store with his friend.

With an equally playful smile on his lips, the taller, more slender man slipped his ringed middle finger between his teeth, biting it gently.

“New or not, he sure is handsome.” He let out a single chuckle, leaning himself over the glass top of the counter.

Running his tongue across his bottom lip nervously as a few customers’ gazes scanned over him in slight disgust, Kazuko pushed the man leaning over the counter away.
“What are you two doing?”  Kazuko looked around for his stock worker or the manager. “If my manager sees me talking to you two he might kick you out.” Kazuko looked from one man to the other repetitively.

“Relax Ka-chan, we are just here to pick you up.” The man holding the hat leaned an arm on his friend’s shoulder. “You are supposed to be off at four are you not?” He tilted his head slightly onto the other man’s shoulder, tossing his dark brown, semi long hair gently.

“And I was curious to see if your man was working so I could chew off his ear making you work so hard for so little pay.” The man pushed himself away from his friend, looking around the store for the incompetent employee. “But from the looks of it he's not here.”

“He didn't show up again last night?” The taller, slender man’s gaze shot over the Kazuko behind the counter. “That's the second time isn’t it?” The taller man’s voice was comedic and childish; one that seemed like he could do many impressions with.

Biting his bottom lip firmly, Kazuko leaned over the counter to whisper.
“Third.” He looked around for any signs of his manager. “He didn't show up this morning, I am covering his position right now.”

Flipping his dark brown hair passed his double pierced ear, the young man tossed his had back atop his head with a slight tilt.

“Well, here or not, you are off in a couple of minutes.” The man folded his arms across his chest looking around the store for the relief cashier to close the store; none were around, but someone had caught his eye that walked into the store. Turning to look at the man who loudly spoke on his cell phone, laughing without a care in the world, the man with the hat glared coldly at him. “You.” Just as cold as his stare, the man spoke with certain coldness in his voice.

The man slowly lowered his cell phone, looking at the two men at the checkout counter and his coworker standing, staring at him a blank look of wonder in his eyes.
“What's your problem?” the man that walked in was the known Ishimoto whom of which had not shown up for the majority of his shifts for the week. Spotting Kazuko with a conscious gaze, the man pointed to him with a sense of happiness in his eyes. “You! You’re working the till now? That's great! When did they train you?” He pushed passed the two men who were significantly taller than him and slapped his hands down on the countertop with excite.

Kazuko took a slow, deep breath before speaking.

“They didn't, I had to show myself when you did not show up last night for your closing shift.” Kazuko’s voice held strain and anger; he felt like lashing out at the incompetent man and beating the ignorance out of him.

“Ah!” Ishimoto clapped his cell phone shut and slipped it into his pocket. “You covered for me? I cannot thank you enough Kazuko! I was out so late last night. I met this ‘really’ hot chick and her friend at a club.” He felt no remorse towards his actions and the feelings of others and it showed greatly over his smug face.

“Hey, as thanks, I’ll give you the girl’s friend’s number, you two could you know, hang out.” Ishimoto grabbed the pen from the counter and a strip of paper from the receipt printer.

03-549-

Ishimoto did not even get to finish writing down the woman’s phone number before the pen was snatched from his hands by Kazuko; he was then pulled to face his friends by the man in the hat. Without a second thought, the man in the hat had placed a hard punch on the man’s smug face, sending him towards the counter.

Kazuko jumped back, pressing his back to the wall behind him; it was obvious that he was not expecting an act of violence from his friend at all.

The few customers scattered throughout the small convenience store all stopped what they were doing, directing their attention to the checkout counter where it appeared there was a small fight going to break out.

The manager ran out of the office door, his gaze capturing Kazuko standing with his arms raised defensively, his back to the wall and shock in his feminine eyes; a young man in a hat standing over one of his employees who knelt on the floor against the counter with a bleeding lip; as well as shocked customers staring at the men around the counter.

“What in the world is going on here?” The manager darted to the scene, his overweight stomach jiggling as he did. “I will not have violence in my store!” His demand was directed at the man in the hat who stood with long legs, towering over the short, overweight manager.

“Ishimoto. What are you doing here? I had called you this morning telling you that you were no longer employed here.” Offering him a hand to stand up, he soon directed his attention to the, still shocked Kazuko. “Kanzaki, are these friends of yours?”

With a look of guilt and having been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, the tall, slender man backed away, shaking his head enthusiastically. The man in the hat sucked his lips between his teeth with a look of ‘oops’ wash over his face.

“Ah, iya.” Kazuko lowered his hands to his sides as the adrenaline rush had slowly dissipated. “No sir. I don't know these men.” A little white lie couldn't harm anyone; he would be lucky if the manager believed his lie.

Brushing off his former employees shoulder as he pat it, reassuring him that he would allow no more violence beyond this point.

“Well friends or not Kanzaki, I would like you to ask them to leave. This is a business and definitely no place for violence.” He looked to the two men at his side with disappointment in his eye. “Kids these days. Think violence solves anything.” He mumbled to himself, loud enough for the two men to hear.

“Well, Kanzaki. Mariko chan is here to relieve you. You may go home now.” Pushing Ishimoto away slightly towards the door, he looked to Kazuko while shaking his head slightly. “I will discuss your position here on your next shift.”

Discuss? That was the last thing Kazuko needed right now, the thought of possibly being unemployed and having to pay rent. Nodding, Kazuko bowed his head and slipped out of the small door towards the backroom where he kept his belongings. Standing at his locker, he pulled at the small string around his waist that held the apron on. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself and not have his mind on the fact that he may no longer have a job anymore.

“I am so sorry everyone.” The manager made a small announcement to the few customers in his store. “As apology I would like to offer you all one free item from all of your purchased for all of this commotion in your days. I know it is not something you all like to see.”

Apologized to the manager once again as he left carrying his cell phone in his hand, Kazuko bowed to him a few times before leaving the store. Looking around the area for his friends, Kazuko spotted them a ways away, making a meeting point where the manager could not see him meeting up with them. Darting across the empty street, Kazuko darted right up to the man in the hat, leaving only inches between their noses.
“Why the hell did you do that!” Kazuko rose his hands, ready to scream and shout at his friend. “Thanks to you Jin I probably don't have a job anymore!” In a mere second, Kazuko’s expression had changed instantly, hugging his best friend tightly whom was only inches from him.
“On the other hand, he deserved it.” He pulled out of the one-sided hug and looked up to his slightly taller friend that wore the hat. “You looked pretty cool too.” He smiled brightly at his best friend and over at his taller friend.

Giving him a gentle punch on the shoulder Jun, the taller friend smiled to him whole-heartedly.

“Come on Kazuko. Let’s go get some food, you look hungry.” Jun reached across Kazuko’s shoulder and pulled him along, heading down the road to where they had parked the car. “So, what do you think is going to happen Kazuko? Do you think you'll still have a job there?”

Being forced to walk in the middle, the shortest of the three, Kazuko looked back over his shoulder and shrugged once, slowly.

“I’m not too sure. I sure as hell hope so though.” Glaring over his other shoulder, Kazuko hit Jin’s stomach with no warning. “But, at the moment I don't want to think about that.” He turned his head over the other shoulder again back at Jun.

In a small, quiet restaurant, the three friends had ate a hearty helping of Yakitori and Soba to their hearts content; having completely forgotten about the incident that happened at the convenience store, the three of them chatted and laughed about happenings in their daily lives as well. As well, they had made plans for another day that they were going to hang out again and drink together. With the thought of having split the bill evenly, or even paying for their own portions; Jin, the young little right boy had taken the entire bill and put it on his credit card. Jun had no problem with not having to pay his part of the bill, whereas Kazuko had put up a bit of an argument about it.

“Jin, I could pay you know.” Kazuko held his wallet innocently between his fingers, looking up at Jin with a worried furrow in his brows. “I'm not that…”

Jin had quickly cut him off with a finger pressing to Kazuko’s lips.

“It is merely a favour as an apology for having punched your coworker while you were still at work.” His cold, lazy tone was still apparent, yet held a sense of responsibility and maturity in it. “Just in case I ever need to ask you a favour, I’ll have my reason now.” He smiled slyly to his best friend with a childish tilt to his head.

Kazuko glared at him; he moved to bite Jin’s finger but was a second to slow. There was always a catch to Jin’s kindness.
“I knew it.” He pursed his lips, pouting as he grabbed his glass of water, downing it quickly.

Dropping Kazuko off at his small, homey apartment, Jin and Jun said good-bye for the night, telling Kazuko to text them the day after about his discussion with his manager.

Sending off his two friends with a wave as they drove off, Kazuko readied his keys to enter his small, yet secure eight-floor apartment building. Opening the lobby door with his building key, Kazuko opened it and closed it quickly behind him; entering the single elevator, he leaned himself in the corner, resting his head against the wall at his side.

Right off to the right of the elevator was the door to his apartment; he entered it quietly and threw his keys on the small table at the entrance. Just as he did that morning, Kazuko stripped off his clothes as he walked into the bedroom, leaving them scattered across the floor behind him. Just as quickly as he dropped his day clothes, he picked up his sleepwear and slipped them on, completely ignoring the fact that he should brush his teeth before bed. Dressing in his white t-shirt and grey sweat pants, Kazuko dragged himself to his bed and threw himself down face first; lying down quietly as his gaze stared out of his window, watching the darkening sky.

It was early, but considering that he had not slept well the night before and had a chaotic day, Kazuko fell asleep easily as he sprawled out across his bed lazily, not even slipping under the covers.

Falling asleep across his bed with his feet off the edge of the bed, Kazuko fell asleep with his cheek against the mattress and his arms hugging the blankets around him; Kazuko looked much like a newborn sleeping in a crib.