Disclaimer: I do not own Outlaw Star or any related characters. But I do own any original characters not from the series, duh lol.
A Promise is Never Forgotten
It was quiet in the house, besides the slight tapping noise of Jim typing away on his computer; Aisha's snoring from the couch, and the boiling water from the kitchen. Jim was working all day on finding a new job for him and Gene. Gene wasn't very much help when it came to looking for a job. He liked to do things on the spur of the moment, while Jim liked to be prepared and think things through. Gene was supposedly out looking for a job, but Jim figured he was out having a good time or getting drunk as usual.
Jim sighed as he sat back on his chair and put his arms behind his head. They were running short of money and needed a job, things would be bad if he couldn't find one soon. He took a deep breath and he could smell the aroma of something good coming from the kitchen. Melfina was fixing dinner. He wondered how much food they would have after this meal or the next. They fed the mouths of Gene, himself, Melfina, Aisha, and Suzuka. The food went fast in this house, especially with a beastly Ctarl-Ctarl like Aisha.
He looked over at the clock. "It's past six already? Gene should be home soon, dinner's almost ready." After making that remark, Jim thought a bit and then jumped out of his seat suddenly.
"Aisha," He yelled and ran over to the sleeping Ctarl-Ctarl.
She was so surprised, she fell off the couch and screamed with her high pitched voice. "Ouhwa, Jim why did you scare me like that," the beast girl yelled and pounced on the young boy.
Jim struggled to get her off of him, but unfortunate for him, Ctarl-Ctarls are extremely strong. They rolled on the ground for a few moments and knocked over the coffee table.
"Aisha Jim. What's going on in here," asked an alarmed Melfina as she emerged from the kitchen. She ran over to the two and tried to get Aisha off the younger boy.
"Aisha, you're late for work! It's pasted six," Jim managed to say between gasps of breaths. Aisha suddenly froze and jumped off of him.
Melfina dropped down beside Jim and examined him. "Are you okay Jim," She asked concerned. He stood up and fixed himself. He smiled at Melfina. The bio android was so nice and caring, especially towards Jim. It was because he was a kid and he knew it.
"Yea, I'm fine Mel, thanks," He said. Then he turned back to the panicking beast.
"I'm late! I'm late! I'm late," She repeated running around the house gathering her stuff for work.
"Aisha, maybe if you act your age and started acting a little more responsible you wouldn't be late for work like this all the time! I can't always wake you up! You gotta be able to get yourself ready for work, without relying on other people to help you out. You can't be late anymore Aisha! You could loose your job, and if you do that, we all loose money. And then we can't pay the bills, maintenance for the Outlaw Star, food-" Jim continued lecturing the Ctarl-Ctarl, but she wasn't paying much attention to him.
"Yea, okay Jimmy. I'll see ya later. Save me some supper. Bye," She yelled as she leaped out the door.
Jim sighed and let himself fall down on the couch. Melfina stared at him and sat down. "Don't worry Jim, she'll come around," she said trying to comfort him. At that moment Gene came whistling in the door.
"Hey Jim, Mel, what's up," he asked and plopped onto the couch and stretched out.
"So Gene, did you find a job?" He knew the answer was no, but he figured he'd try anyway.
Gene turned to his younger partner. "A job? Umm, no. Sorry, I didn't find one," he laughed.
Jim's blood boiled. He jumped up off the couch and stood in front of Gene.
"You think it's funny? We don't have jobs and you're laughing at the fact we have no money! Gene what's wrong with you? We're practically broke, and Aisha's about to loose her job! Why do I put up with you! How could you not find one job? There must have been at least one job out there that one of us could've done!"
Jim finally collapsed back on the couch in frustration. Gene turned to the young blonde haired boy next to him and cocked an eyebrow. 'The kid worries too much.' He was about to tell Jim that, but decided not to since it would cause him to exploded again. Melfina sat quietly and uncomfortably in her seat. Then she jumped up.
"Oh my, I forgot about dinner." She ran towards the kitchen to tend to their food.
Gene watched Melfina disappear into the kitchen. Then he stood up and stretched. "Where's Suzuka?"
Jim sat with his eyes closed and his arms folded, "How should I know?"
"Well, whatever she's doing she's most likely making money."
"She's making money for herself, Gene, which you have failed to accomplish, again."
"Jim don't worry about it. Something big will come alone, you'll see."
"But until that something big gets here, we're gonna hav'ta settle with something smaller. We are running low on cash Gene. But you decided to go out and party when you should be looking for a job."
"Jim I-"
"Forget it Gene," Jim interrupted and hoped off the couch. "I'm just going to finish looking for a job. Hopefully, I can find one to fit your standards."
Jim walked back over to the computer and started typing again. Gene made him so angry
sometimes, well most of the time. He began to type furiously. Gene stared at him and scratched the back of his head. 'Man what's bugging him?'
He turned quickly, "Melfina, is dinner ready," he called as he walked into the kitchen.
"Almost. It'll be done in five minutes."
Suzuka arrived just in time for dinner. They ate in silence since Jim wouldn't talk to Gene and Suzuka doesn't speak much anyway. One other good reason for the quite was the fact that Aisha was still at work. Melfina would try to get a conversation started here and there, but would always lead to a dead end.
"So how's the job search coming alone Jim," Melfina asked politely, desperately trying to start another conversation. Gene eyed Jim while taking a bite out of his food.
"It's going okay I guess, but it would be a lot better if someone would help out on his part instead of partying all the time," Jim said playing with his food and glancing up at Gene who pounded his fist on the table.
"That's enough of your whining baby," Gene yelled.
"Ah grow up Gene," Jim yelled as they both jumped out of their seats and stood there staring and growling at each other for a couple of seconds. Finally they both stopped and left the table. Melfina didn't know what to say, but she wanted to do something to help. She sighed and began to clear the table in spite of herself.
Suzuka took a sip of her tea, but not before saying, "Such children."
It was later in the evening, and most the crew were sleeping. Aisha had returned home and ate the left-overs from dinner before retiring for the night. Melfina had woken up to get herself something to drink, but on her way back to her room she noticed a dim blue glow from downstairs. It was Jim, he had apparently fallen asleep at the computer while searching for a job. Melfina crept up behind him and put her hand on his shoulder. She was about to wake him, but then pulled away. She didn't want to disturb his sleep. He was working himself too hard, so she put a blanket over his back.
"Good night," She said and with that she left to go back to sleep.
Jim woke up early the nextmorning. He stretched out and rubbed his neck. The computer desk isn't the most comfortable place to sleep. He figured since it was early and he was up that he would make breakfast. He left his seat and made his way to the kitchen. Just as he was about to open the cabinet, the video phone rang. It surprised him at first, then he answered it.
"Hello, Starwind and Hawking Enterprises. We fix everything from machines to relationships. How may I help you," Jim yawned.
"Hi, sorry to call so early, but I have a job for you," said a female voice on the other side.
Jim yawned again. "Don't worry about it. What is it you need help with?" He had high hopes that what ever the task was it was well paying.
"I need a tow," she answered politely. Jim dropped his head and lost his hopes for making money. He collected all the information he needed about this woman's location and decided breakfast could wait.
As Jim was leaving, Gene came stomping lazily down the stairs. He stretched his arms over his head and yawned, it was then when he noticed the younger boy. "Hey, what's for breakfast?"
"Make it yourself, I gotta go," Jim answered as he through on his coat.
Gene frowned. "Go where?"
Jim turned to face him. "Gotta job to take care of."
Gene cocked an eyebrow, "Really? Well, what is it? How much does it pay? Oh wait never mind, you'll take any job. Its probably just chump change huh?" Jim glared at him before turning and stomping out the door.
Gene snorted and let himself fall on the couch. Melfina would be up soon and she could cook breakfast. Gene heard Jim start his car and drive off. The red head glanced at the door and sighed. He heard a loud grumbling noise coming from his abdomen and he looked down. "Looks like I'm making breakfast," he sighed covering his stomach with his arms. He sighed and pushed himself up trudged into the kitchen.
The wind blew through Jim's blonde hair as he drove down the highway to the meeting spot with his client. The cool morning breeze felt almost soothing and the brisk air hitting his face woke him up. He was now awake and relaxed, and had forgotten about Gene's comment earlier this morning. The boy loved taking his car for rides like this, but now with all the bills they needed to pay, he rarely had time.
He was a good half hour away from home when he reached his destination. He pulled up to find the woman he spoke to earlier sitting in her car. She stepped out to meet him, "Hi, you must be Jim," she extended her hand and smiled. Jim hopped out of his car and felt as if her beauty had just slapped him across the face. She was much prettier in person, he thought. She had long brown hair that was tied back in a low ponytail. Her face was delicate and she was younger than he had expected.
"Yeah, and you're Mai Kohichi," Jim took her hand and greeted her. Mai smiled and nodded. "Yes. Thank you for coming out so early. I'm afraid I know nothing about cars; I'm not sure what's wrong. My friend gave me your name a while back, he said you work well and give tows."
"Yep that's us. Starwind and Hawking can help fix any problem," the boy replied to her sounding as if he was an advertisement. Mai led him over to the car and he lifted the hood. "Now, let's just take a quick look and see what the problem is," Jim said as he peered into the front of the car. Mai stood behind him watching as he looked to see if anything was out of the norm.
"I think the problem is with the car-" He never got a chance to finish. At that moment he felt a splitting pain in the back of his head. The car parts in front of him became fuzzy and he turned around to see a blurry figure standing above him. The boy fell against the car and his distorted vision became black, and he lost consciousness of everything around him.
It was late in the afternoon. Aisha had the morning shift at work and was just returning home. "I hate my job," she growled and dropped her coat on the floor. The cat woman dragged herself over to the couch and nearly fell into it. "Why do they give me the morning shifts on the weekends? Why! Do they hate me? Do they want Aisha to not get her beauty sleep," the Ctarl-Ctarl complained.
Melfina peeked her head in the room, "Oh Aisha you're home."
Gene was lazily watching television. He had nothing to do today, so after breakfast he decided he was going to stay home. With Jim gone, no one was going to stop him.
"Yeah," Aisha moaned. "Hey Mel, what's for dinner," she asked suddenly getting excited.
Gene laughed. "Aisha you never cease to amaze me." The beast girl turned to her lazy captain a little surprised, but also with a sense of pride. "Of course I do. I'm a Ctarl-Ctarl, we are remarkable beings. A gifted race"
This caused the red head to laugh even more. "No. First you come in all worn-out, then jus the thought of food gives you more energy than a puppy with ADD. Then you eat like a pig and manage to stay so thin."
"GENE STARWIND ARE YOU CALLING ME A PIG?"
"No, no," Gene said waving his hands in defense. "It was a compliment, I said you were thin didn't you hear?"
Suzuka choose that moment to come home. "Gene, I have a job for you."
"Not now Suzuka, I'm busy"
The ex-assassin took a moment to observe the scene. Gene looked like he had been home all day on that couch, and at the moment he was fighting off Aisha. "Busy doing what, may I ask?"
Gene starred at Suzuka and then looked around and he got up and picked up Aisha's coat that she dropped on the floor earlier. "I'm helping Mel and the house. Right Mel," He turned to Melfina for help, silently asking her to confirm what he had just said.
Before Melfina could answer the video phone rang. "Well,-" she started. "I'll get it." She raced over to the phone before Gene could ask her to lie for him again. Gene sighed and stood watching her with one hand on his hip. "Hello Starwind and Hawking Enterprises. Oh yes, hold on please." The android turned to Gene. "Gene, there's a woman on the phone who'd like to speak with you."
Gene's expression changed. "A woman," he said with a slight smirked and dropped Aisha's coat on the floor and took the phone from Melfina. "Hello. Gene Starwind speaking, how can I help you?" Aisha rolled her eyes.
On the other side of the video phone was an attractive young girl. "Gene Starwind, my name is Mai Kohichi. I'd like to meet with you to discuss some business."
Yep that's it! I'm ending it there? So what did you think? My first Outlaw Star fic. Did you like it? I hope it wasn't too boring. There will be more explanations in the next chapter. I'll try to get it up as soon as possible!