Terra Sequoia

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Chapter 2

"Hello, may I take your order please?" Maki asked for what may
have been the 200th time for the day, but it felt more like 2
millionth.

"Yeah, I'd like a Kids meal, a Double cheese Burger, and a large
coke."

Maki listened to the voice in his earpiece, as he punched in the
codes on the register.

Dimly in his brain he noticed that the customer sitting out in the
drive through, talking to a statue of Fatso McBurger holding a sign,
hadn't mentioned fries.

"May I please offer you like fries with that?"

"No fries."

Maki hit the total button. "Thankyou for your order. That'll be
1200. If you could please drive down to the second window."

He switched the headset over, and called the order through and took
a moment to yawn.

Maki had being on shift since 6AM, and the lunch rush was only just
finishing. Grabbing the freshly heated burgers, packing them into
distinguished paper bags and filling the cups with ice and cola.

At the serving window, a father and son sat in a car waiting for
the taste of a burger cooked in animal fats, and a drink that could
scour mould off tiles.

"Thank you and come again," Maki said after passing the food across.

He turned to find Yurika waving to him. She maintained the other
half of the Drive through team

"You can have the next one when it comes," she said.

Maki looked at the back and white video monitor, and found the
drive through empty. Officially the lunch rush finished at 2PM, but
they always considered it finished when the back log of cars waiting
were finally gone.

"It's about time, my feet are killing me," he said, resting against
a bench.

"Thank you, and come again!" Yurika waved to the family in the car
with a big smile on her face.

She closed the window when the car drove off, and sighed heavily as
she pressed her fingers on her face. "That's it. No more smiles
today. My face feels like it's going to split open."

"Awe gee, I thought you were always happy."

"Don't push your luck Maki, or you can do the rest of the shift by
yourself," she said.

She peeked out at the restaurant, seeing they were still busy. It
wouldn't be fair if she bugged out 20 minutes early.

Maki's head spun about when the driveway bell notified them of
another car.

Yurika sighed. "No rest yet."

On the video monitor, a car rolled into view. One they both
dreaded.

"No way, not them," Maki said in horror.

"They're all yours," she told him, as she stared at the screen.

Maki blinked, wishing he wasn't there. Loud music blared through
the headset suddenly, causing Maki to cringe as he pulled the ear
piece away from his head.

Yurika could only frown in sympathy, having already pulled the jack
of her headset from the transmitter. She looked up at the screen
showing the Mustang stopped in front of the Fatso McBurger figure.
Even though the statute with the intercom was positioned 20 metres
away, with several walls between them, she could still hear the loud
heavy beat of music coming from outside, keeping perfect rhythm with
the bouncing car in the video monitor.

The same music came from Maki's headset for almost a minute before
it dampened down. Maki slid the ear piece back into his ear

"...come on dude! We want to order something! What the fuck you
doing in there?"

Maki took a breath, trying to remember he had a job. "Hello... may
I take your order please?"

"Yeah, we want some food, now man!" echoed another voice over the
headset.

"We want a dozen chicken wings and two serves curry rice.

"Hey! Don't forget the big macs and Joy-cola!" called the other
occupant of the Mustang.

"I'm sorry sir, but..." Maki started to say, but was forced to rip
the headset off again, the loud music issuing forth. He spun about,
rubbing his ear. "... we don't serve that here," he mumbled.

Maki realised the headset was silent, and scrambled to get it on
his head again, hearing the last part of something been said.

"... hold the pickles, and a large fries."

Maki sighed, sure he'd missed most of the order. "Sir, could you
please repeat your order from the start," he asked as calmly as he
could.

The response from the statue wasn't as calm. "What the fuck do you
mean you want me to repeat that? Are you fucking stupid? I get
better service from a whore than you, and she has the decency to
clean up afterwards. You know what..."

Maki started to tune out, trying to ignore the string of
profanities that flowed one after another. After hearing the lavish
descriptions of him fornicating with animals, he decided to interrupt.

"May I take your order... please?" He asked firmly, grinding his
teeth.

"We've been trying to give you order man, but you ain't been
listening. All's we want are two burgers..."

"No, we want the dinner special!"

"Onions, potatoes..."

"And coke!"

Yurika looked on as Maki remained silent. The headset remained
silent also, the conversation between to the two guys in the Mustang
having finished.

"Thankyou for your... order." Maki said, breathing deeply as if
were about to suffer a heart attack. "If you could please drive down
to the second window."

"What are you doing?" Yurika called, as Maki wandered around to the
burger assembly area, and picked up two squeeze bottles.

The young people working there looked up in surprise, as Maki
walked out again with a set expression on his face.

"Maki?" She pleaded.

He didn't stop to reply. He slid open the serving window as the
blue Mustang pulled up.

Suza was at the wheel. "You got us some burgers kid?"

"I've got your order right here. You wanted extra tomato sauce on
that didn't you?"

"Yeah, give it here, give it here," Beni said eagerly, leaning over
his friend in the driver seat.

Maki leaned forward, then produced the two squeeze bottles. He
aimed them at both of the occupants as he squeezed hard.

Yurika's mouth dropped open as she watched him spray tomato sauce
over the two occupants of the Mustang.

"Have a nice day," Maki said, and slammed the window closed.

He turned around to find Yurika and the Manager, Negiri, standing
there looking at him.

The feeling of righteousness that had come over him, suddenly
washed away under that stare. He felt guilty, having being caught
red handed with the weapons still in his hands.

"Mr Kozakura, what do you have to say for yourself?" Negiri asked.

"I... I..." he stammered, trying to find something to say. "I
find that I no longer enjoy working here."

"You show this by attacking our customers?" She asked sternly.

"But Negiri, you don't know these two," Yurika said.

"Yurika, I suggest you concentrate on serving our customers." She
pointed to the video monitor as another car pulled up to be served.

Yurika looked up, surprised. She fumbled with the switch on the
transceiver. "Ah, Hello can I take your order."

"Mr Kozakura?"

"Whilst I understand the company policy, I do not regret my actions
under the circumstances," he said calmly under her glare.

He carefully put both squeeze bottles down. They felt a lot
lighter than before.

"Your employment at this McBurger restaurant is terminated as of
this minute. You are to vacate the premises herewith. Any and all
McBurger property remaining in your possession, are to be returned in
a clean state via the customer area within a week. Final pay will be
sent to your account at the end of the pay period."

When Maki didn't reply immediately, Negiri asked. "Do you
understand?"

"I understand fully."

He sighed, as he pulled the green hat off his head.

"You can have this now," he said as he tossed it to her.

Negiri was surprised, and fumbled for the hat, almost dropping it
once. She watched his back as he walked out. "It's a shame."

"Of course it's a shame," Yurika said. "He was the only cute guy
working here. And you've fired him!"

"I know. He was also one of our best workers. But it's still
policy. If I hadn't have done it, then later when management finds
out, it'd be my job too. Now I have to wait for some customer to
come in, so I can offer an apology and cleaning services."

==={ ~~~~ }===

Maki pulled the last of his private possession from the locker, and
closed it. He thought for a moment that maybe he should slam it, but
he didn't feel like opening it again, just to vent his frustration.

Instead he sat down and changed his shoes, pulling on his training
joggers that he walked to work in each day. He tied the laces of the
shoes together carefully, so he could untie them later, and threw
them over one shoulder.

He took one last look around, making sure he had everything.

It was the last time he'd see this place. His heart felt a little
anguish, but not as much as he expected at losing a job. Perhaps
because he didn't want to work there any more?

Maki had being considering it for a short while, about moving on.
The hospitality industry wasn't exactly what he wanted to do all his
life. Serving customers, smelling of food every day. He wanted to
do something important with his life, make a profound discovery, and
put his name in the annuals of history.

He sighed, looking around to find no one saying good bye. They
were all still busy, working hard.

Maki was about to turn the handle, and open the back door. "Maki?"

He stopped and turned to find Yurika Aizawa standing there.

"Not leaving without saying goodbye are you?"

"Well, I sort of figured you were still on shift..." He scratched
his head.

"I got you something to go," she said, holding up a brown paper bag
with the icon on it.

"An Aizawa special?" He asked.

"Of course."

He felt a little awkward accepting it from her.

"Can I walk with you?" She asked, hopeful.

"Well, I guess."

"Give me a moment to change," she said.

Quickly she changed her shoes, and pulled on a jacket over the
green shirt as she made it to the door.

Maki pointed to his head, "The hat."

"Oh," she said, pulling it off and stuffing it in a pocket.

He turned the handle, pushing the door open. He had it open a
foot, when Yurika grabbed his hands and yanked it closed again.

"What?" He called.

"Ah... the car's out there."

He frowned for a moment. "Shit!" He said backing away from the
door.

"I'm dead meat. They're waiting for me to just step out and..."

"We could go out the front door, they can't be coving both..."

"There's two of them," Maki said.

"Oh... Um." She thought for a moment. "I can try and distract
them, whilst you run, okay?"

"Well, I guess."

"I know, I'll take the trash out," Yurika said as she grabbed a big
bag of garbage.

She put a hand on the handle. "You ready?"

He nodded.

She pushed the door open, stepping out into the small car park
behind the restaurant. She looked left then right, but didn't see
anyone except for the Mustang parked right there.

She thought for a moment that maybe they had left the back
unguarded as she made a few steps towards the dumpster.

"I've got you!" A large form leapt out from behind the car, making
her jump in surprise.

"What are you doing back there?" She asked, getting her composure
back.

"Oh, sorry Miss. We're waiting on a friend to finish work," the
man said.

She noticed the red smudged stains on his clothes. It was one of
them for sure. She looked around the other.

"Who are we?" She asked.

"Oh, Suza and me. I'm Beni. Suza is waiting in the front, in case
he goes that way. We want to surprise him."

Maki heard every word from the doorway. As Yurika got Beni's
attention, he carefully snuck out of the door. Using the car itself
as cover, he headed in the other direction, moving as quickly and
quietly as possible.

Yurika tossed the bag into the dumpster, and closed it again as she
kept one eye on Beni and the other on Maki's retreating form.

"If you tell me who you're waiting for, I could help you find out
which way he goes out," she said.

"Naw, that's okay. We can wait patiently. I only have to watch
the door," he said as he turned about, and noticed Maki halfway out
of the car park.

"Shit!" He called, as he ran for the car.

Leaning over the door, he hit the horn, pressing it several times
at he watched Maki break into a run.

Yurika watched as the other man, Suza run out of the front. Beni
pointed at the disappearing figure before he jumped into the car and
started it up.

Instead of running for the car, Suza turned and started after Maki
on foot.

Squealing tires accompanied the car as it backed up, then the roar
of the engine as it was gunned forward out of the car park.

Yurika put her hands together and prayed. "I did my best Maki.
Please stay safe."

==={ ~~~~ }===

Maki heard the car horn, clear and loud as he rounded the corner,
and ran down the street.

"Come back here you punk!" Suza yelled.

Maki took the chance to glance behind him, as the larger of the two
guys, Suza rounded the corner. He pushed harder, unsure if he could
outpace him on foot.

When the Mustang roared past, he was a little shocked. It slowed
and turned the corner in front of him, stopping right in his path.

The intention was clear. They intended to sandwich him. Instantly
he jumped the small guard rail onto the road, dodging a few cars as
they went by, bounding over the next guard rail onto the other path
before rounding the corner.

Maki knew the Mustang was going to be trouble. He had to lose it
in one of the narrow back alleys.

There was a small network of them ahead, but he had to cross the
road again through the busy afternoon traffic.

Turning left into the alleyway, Maki took one quick look to see
that his pursuers were still following as an increasing distance.
Though the Mustang had turned around, it was stuck at red lights at
the intersection.

Down the alleyway, Maki dodged a few garbage bins. Once he almost
lost his shoes as he ran, and he had to slow so he wouldn't lose them.

He passed one, then two cross alleys but kept running straight
ahead. He knew he could lose the one behind him if he could put
enough distance between them. The end of the alleyway was ahead, and
Maki knew it.

Meanwhile, Beni had driven the Mustang right around the block to
the other end where he'd expected their quarry to come out. He
parked the car and ran into the lane, spotting Maki immediately.

"I've got you now!" Beni called, excited by his good fortune.

Maki saw Beni, realising he'd being out manoeuvred.

He looked back quickly at the last cross alley he'd passed, and saw
a chance to still get away. He ran back turning left, barely missing
Suza's out stretched hands.

"Heh! Almost got ya," Suza called.

The distance Maki had gained before was all gone now, with his
pursuer right on his heals, the sound of their feet echoing loudly
off the walls.

The main road ahead seemed to be his only chance of losing them as
he ran as fast as he could towards only way out.

==={ ~~~~ }===

A couple of street kids were walking along a back alley, taking
turns at kicking a can along the narrow road. It clattered across
from one side to the other as they kicked it back and forth.

"Have you seen the new single by Keiichi Okada yet?"

"Naw, my radio's being busted for a while," the other said as he
kicked the can far down the alley. It span about, and rolled up
against some litter by the kerbside.

"Need to buy a new one."

"Ouch, that's going to cost," the first said as he stopped to kick
the can around an obstacle.

"Yeah. Problem is, I'm out of cash. Know where I can get some?"
The other asked as he walked along.

He'd taken several steps when he turned to find his friend wasn't
beside him. He was standing near where the can had stopped, staring
at something on the ground.

"It's just a can," he called back.

"Naw man, there's something here."

The other walked back to his friend to look at what he'd found. An
inert body lay at the edge of the pavement near some piles of
rubbish, as if it had being dumped there. Fresh blood covered the
face from unseen wounds.

"It's a body."

"Yeah," said the other, feeling strange to mention it.

"Hey what are those?" said one, seeing something reflecting
sunlight from the body's clothes..

Bending down he found he looked closer at something pinned to the
front. "These look like military badges. Could be worth something."

He began trying to pick them off.

"Ain't like any military uniform I've ever seen."

Finding the badges harder to remove then he originally though, put
a hand down on the body to use as leverage. He pressed down, finding
it soft.

"Hey," he said withdrawing his hand as if he'd being bitten.

"Waz wrong?"

"It's... It's a girl," he stammered.

"Yah sure?"

"That ain't no wallet I felt."

They stared at one another for a moment.

"Hey, you wanna... you know?"

"It's not like we're going to do anything," said the other as he
started pulling at the clips on the jacket.

After working out how to open the strange clips, they eventually
got the jacket open, and stared down at the skimpy grey singlet that
showed the well defined shapes beneath.

One grabbed for the bottom edge, hesitating.

"What cha waiting for?" the other asked him.

But she's dead, he was thinking to himself. "Nothing," he replied.

There was a squeal from behind them, as they both looked up. The
source of the sound was an old shopping trolley, brown with rust and
wheels that were beyond needing oil. The trolley was being pushed
along by a figure wearing old rag like clothes that looked as if they
hadn't seen clean water for decades. The woman wearing them looked
older still.

"Damn, it's the bag lady," one of them said, as they both got up.

"What are you two brats doing?" The lady called out.

"Run!" One called, and they both sprinted down the alley and out
of sight round the corner.

==={ ~~~~ }===

"Trying to steal my cans," the Kaori mumbled to herself when she
saw the aluminium can lying by the side of the kerb.

She pushed her trolley in that direction, intending to pick it up
when she saw the figure lying there.

"Oh God!" She murmured, before dashing forward, letting the trolley
rolled to a stop by itself.

As Kaori bent down over the figure, she picked up one of the limp
hands, feeling for a pulse.

"Still alive, that's good," she said. "And breathing too."

"I'm going to have to move you. Can't have you lying amongst the
rubbish," she said as the struggled with her limited strength to pull
the limp form into a sitting position against the wall.

Blood covered the face, making it difficult to distinguish any
features. "But what have they done to you?"

Kaori took a wad of clean napkins from a pocket in her coat and
started cleaning away the blood.

"Those brats did this to you, didn't they," she continued talking
as she worked, not caring if no one was listening. "I thought they
were always bad trouble those two, but who would ever listen to and
old woman like me? It doesn't seem to matter that I was married
once, with children, living in a comfortable home. But now..."

She stopped a moment, to wipe a small tear from her face with the
edge of the napkin. Looking at it thoughtfully, she put it away and
got out another.

"My husband died and my children left me long ago. Now I live as
best I can."

Kaori stopped and sat back for a moment to look at the cleaned
face, finding a worn but still beautiful face beneath. "That's
looking better," she said.

She looked down on the forehead where blood still welled from a
deep cut.

"That looks deep though. It might leave a scar on that sweet young
face. Lucky I've got some of this,"

Kaori said as she pulled a small metal flask of distilled alcohol
from another pocket in her coat.

Carefully dabbing a small portion on a clean napkin, she started
cleaning the wound.

"I used to be a nurse, but you couldn't tell by looking at me,
would you? Life is full of strange things."

When her patient began to groan, Kaori sat back. "Starting to wake
now? This is a good sign."

==={ ~~~~ }===

The first thing Scarlett saw was a blurred figure sitting in front
of her. She sat forward, and felt a pain arc through her head.
Holding one hand to the back of her head, she looked around as
everything slowly came into focus.

An old woman sat in front of her, smiling and talking to her, but
she couldn't make sense of anything she said.

The pain in her head throbbed every time she moved it, making her
wince. Her forehead felt sticky as she touched, discovering the
wound. The old woman kept talking incessantly at her, though she
couldn't understand any of it.

In the back of her mind, her military training told her to get
moving. She had no idea how friendly the indigenous people were.
The woman in front of her looked particularly filthy, and could have
being preparing to eat her for all she knew.

Another voice drew the attention of the woman. Scarlett turned her
head sharply and regretted it as pain swum through her head, blurring
her eyes for a moment.

==={ ~~~~ }===

"What are you doing there Kaori?"

Kaori turned to find the local police officer, Daniel Sisk walking
towards her.

"Helping an innocent soul," she replied.

"Would that be yourself then would it?" He asked. "Two local boys
told me of a body they found down here."

"They did, did they?"

Kaori slowly got to her feet and peered down the street. She saw
two heads sticking around the corner at the main street. When they
saw her looking at them, they disappeared. "There is no dead body
here, only this poor woman I found unconscious."

Daniel could see well enough that she was saying the truth, as the
odd woman stared up at him.

"I saw both of those brats pawing all over her, as if they were
trying to rob her. I wouldn't be surprised that they'd knocked her
out themselves."

Daniel squatted down. "Is that true Miss?"

"She hasn't said a word since she woke," Kaori said.

He stood up again when there wasn't any answer.

"She might be a foreigner. I've never seen her around here before."

"I'd like to question those two kids some more," Daniel said,
looking down the street.

"You should. I'm ashamed of you, taking the word of some kids over
mine. I've known you since you were born."

"You are right. But you should reconsider my offer about a place
to stay. It's not right that you stay out on the streets."

"I might be old, but I still have my family's honour to uphold.
Those children of mine will..."

Daniel turned around, suddenly finding the woman missing. "Where'd
she go?" He said, interrupting Kaori.

She turned about.

"She must have a good reason," she said to herself, as Daniel ran
down the street, to the intersection.

He looked left and right. There were many people on the street,
but he couldn't see the strange woman at all. Intending to do a
through search, he turned left thinking she may have gone towards the
main intersection, and started checking doorways, and windows as he
went.

Kaori was left by herself, looking down the empty alley and sighed.

"I didn't even get her name."

==={ ~~~~ }===

Scarlett stared at the man who wore a uniform. A uniform usually
meant authority, and any authority was trouble for her.

As soon as both of them were looking away, she pulled herself to
her feet. Her head felt like it was spinning, but she forced herself
forward, keeping one hand on the wall so she wouldn't fall over.

The corner didn't look like far, but every step hurt her head, that
she had to force it.

Around the corner to the right, it was different. The narrow alley
turned into a street, with shops lining both sides.

She stumbled along, trying to follow the wall, until it suddenly
disappeared into an alcove. She almost fell into it head first.

A woman came out of a doorway, almost screaming at her as she
pushed herself off the wall and continued down the street, stumbling
a little as she went.

There was a break in the low railing at the side of the road.
Without thinking, she pushed off the wall and wandered across the
street.

Several of the strange conveyances that the natives used to get
around in, shrieked to a stop, then proceeded to blare loud noises at
her until she got out of their way.

She couldn't make sense of anything around her. It was so chaotic
and disruptive that she wanted to get herself as far away from these
people as possible.

Ahead, Scarlett saw an alleyway and headed for it, intending to
find a heaven to rest in until her head felt better.

==={ ~~~~ }===

Maki was surprised when a girl stumbled around the corner into the
alleyway. He lost his footing as he attempted to avoid hitting the
girl, scraping an arm against the wall as he lost his balance,
falling to the ground behind her.

Seemingly at once, a boy flew past Scarlett as another came right
at her. Though her brain was still dealing with what was going on
around her, her instincts and training were still sharp. He was
right open as he came at her, that it only took a slight step to the
right as she thrust a fist forward, knocking her antagonist over
backwards before he knew what hit him.

Maki looked up at the girl who'd just flattened Suza, finding
himself a little at loss for words.

"Thank you, who ever you are," he said to unknown benefactor.

Beni wasn't too far behind that he saw everything. He came to a
stop a small distance from the girl, glancing down at Suza who looked
like he was out cold.

"Who the hell are you?"

The girl looked at him blankly without replying.

Beni looked from the girl to Maki who was slowly getting to his
feet behind her.

"Doesn't matter either way," Beni said, drawing something from his
back pocket. "If you're protecting the kid, you're going down too."

"Oh gee," said Maki, as Beni slid a set of brass knuckles onto a
hand and flexed his fingers.

Scarlett could see the intent written all over the short guy's face.

On any normal day, she would have already rushed forward and taken
this guy down immediately, but after she dropped the first guy, she'd
become suddenly dizzy. It was an effort just to stay on her feet.

Fortunately she didn't have to move to her other attacker, as he
came to her, leading with his clumsy effort to hit her with the metal
device on his hand.

She caught his hand between hers, and twisted, letting him trip
over one of her feet, dragging her weight down on top of him. It
took only one hand to knock his head against the ground, and knock
him out cold.

Maki stared at the human pile as the girl struggled to lift herself
up.

Without really thinking, he came forward to help his saviour up.
"Let me help," he said.

Scarlett wasn't in any condition to refuse the strange help,
letting him pull her up.

When she was up on both her feet, Maki quickly let go.

Scarlett swayed, feeling helpless as pain suddenly swum through her
head.

All she could see was the face of the kid in front of her, staring
back.

"Help me," she asked as blackness welled up around her.

Maki was struck dumb as the girl collapsed.

He looked out at the street, thinking for a moment of going to call
an ambulance, but then remembered Suza and Beni lying there.

If he called an ambulance, then they'd probably call the police.
It would only take a few words from either of them to tell the police
that he'd vandalised their car.

Then again, he couldn't just leave her there. She'd just saved him
from his two worst enemies. But if they woke up before she did...

Maki could only consider that they wouldn't be kind to her.

He could take her to a hospital himself then, though the nearest
one was kilometres away.

"But she asked for help," he said to himself.

For a moment he considered just running away, then thought better
of it.

The bag containing Yurika's special burger had being flattened when
he fell. He left it on the ground as he threw his shoes over his
neck.

"I'll have to carry you. You don't look too heavy," he said as he
arranged her arms.

He leaned back into her, flipping her arms over his shoulders, and
leaned forward as he lifted her legs.

"Up we go."

She started to slide to the side, so he jumped a little to shift
her back, as her chin cracked down on his head.

"Ouch!"

He winced as he was unable to move his hands to rub the sort spot
without dropping the girl.

As the pain slowly when, he opened his eyes again. "That was a
smart move Maki."

He looked at Beni and Suza still lying on the ground. "Better move
before they wake up too," he said and headed out of the alley.

It took a moment to get his bearings before he turned left.

No choice, he thought to himself. I have to take you home. You
can rest there for a while, and then when you wake, well there is the
hospital at Kargura.

Occasional he got an odd stare from people as he headed home, but
he ignored them as he concentrated on keeping the girl balanced on
his back.

She's pretty soft back there, he thought.

It took a moment before understanding hit him. They're so soft!

His mind went into a slight frenzy, imaging what he could feel
pressed against his back.

He found himself starting to stoop as his burden began to slip
again. He jolted her up, trying to find a better grip for his aching
hands, and felt her chin his him again.

"Shit!" He yelled, feeling the smarting pain.

"Why couldn't you just leave her there, idiot. This was all your
fault, trying to do the right thing."

A couple of people were staring at him talking to himself. He
ignored them, as he made his way down several streets to a small
Chinese restaurant called the Golden Dragon.

On the second floor, laying directly over the front of the
restaurant was his home.

Out the front he was greeted by proprietor, Mrs Ling who was
sweeping the path out front, prior to opening the doors for the
evening.

"Hello young Maki," she called in her soft voice. "Who is that
with you, a young girl?"

Think quickly Maki!

"Ah, a friend. She's had a rough day," he explained hastily.

Up the narrow stairs he climbed with the girl, to what was rightly
called his home.

A quick look around at his messy place, told him there was no place
suitable for her to rest except on his bed.

So that is where he carefully laid her down. He stood there,
looking her over, noticing the fresh blood on her forehead from a
wound.

He fetched washer, and cleaned her face. There was some blood on
her clothes, but he couldn't do anything about them without taking
her clothes off.

Looking about his room, he wondered what the girl would think when
she woke up in a place like this. It looked worse than a rubbish
dump. There was litter on the floor, clean and dirty clothes piled
together, as well as papers and closed boxes.

He started on his room, picking up the clothes. He found his
favourite shirt which he hadn't seen for a month, hiding in the
corner with a strange stain. It went with the other clothes into a
basket to be cleaned.

The trash went into a bag, and then two bags, then three as it
filled the passageway.

The papers were mostly for Uni, though some was junk mail which he
trashed immediately, and a few bills which he'd being planning to pay.

"The last pay check should cover these, but I don't know about next
month," he said carefully filing them in the kitchen.

As soon as he looked at the kitchen, he lost his motivation.
Whilst he didn't do much cooking, there were dishes and pans stacked
up in gravity defying piles.

"How much trouble is this worth?" He asked himself.

Maki looked towards his bedroom and sighed. "For a girl, lots."

Immediately he got to work on them, washing and drying, cleaning
the kitchen entirely.

He took the garbage out before he started on the bathroom. It
wasn't exactly cluttered, but the walls had a stain uniquely yellow
green.

With a scrubbing brush in hand, Maki cleaned the walls and floor,
staining the McBurger uniform which he'd neglected to take off.

Still working away, Maki suddenly thought to look at the time.

"Shit, it's past 7!"

He ran to the dining area and grabbed his bag, running for the
stairs. He took one look back towards the doorway, and hoped the
girl would be okay.

He pulled the door closed and bounded down the stairs.

"Of all nights to bring a girl home, it has to be the single night
of the week that I have a late class," he admonished himself, as he
ran for the bus.

End Chapter 2

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