She kicked the alarm off the bedside table before it even managed to set off. It fell with a klunk and the tiny bell was dislodged. She was awake and she had been awake. She just did not know how long she had been staring off into space. An hour? Two hours? She pulled the sheets over her head again. She can hear the tiny hammer of her alarm hitting nothing. It sounded like her cell on vibrate.

She shifted positions. She tucked her head under her arm. She lay on her belly. She tossed the pillows aside. She smothered herself in her own blanket. She just wanted to go to sleep again and wake up later than she should have.

It took her a while before she realized that her alarm stopped ringing minutes ago.

She rolled off her mattress and found herself on the floor. She pulled herself up and swept the stray strands of hair from her face. She decided that it was the best time to get dressed and ready for work. She was always late for the past few days anyway, perhaps it wouldn't matter now.

"Akiyama, is that you?" a voice piped up from behind one of the cubicles. She had just stepped into the office, holding a cold waffle she had bought earlier. "Sir Yamada wants to see you."

"Oh."

She shuffled towards her desk and lay down her bag and her waffle. She peeped at the cubicle opposite of hers. "Is he mad, Tanaka?" she asked.

Her officemate looked up from his computer and replied with a shrug. Mio slumped back and sighed. He should be, she thought, the frequencies of her being late had escalated since the previous month and she didn't have enough reasons for them to be valid.

"Why are you late this time anyway?"

"My alarm broke."

"Again? You should really get a new one," he said with his eyebrows raised.

"I'll think about it," she muttered while she walked towards her boss's office.

Mio felt that feeling people usually had when they were nervous. Not the good kind of nervous, the one where your heart felt as if it were pressed hard into your chest and then dropped unkindly towards your stomach kind of nervous. She had every right to be because losing this job would probably mean months of living on her savings. Again.

She had been working in this office for two years already. Her job wasn't that important to the company but she did do the inventory and the paperwork that came along with it. The previous company she worked for suffered an economic set-back and had to downsize. Mio was sadly one of the employees who had to look for a new line of work. She remembered the months of job hunting and living on the small allowance her family supplied for her. She had to sell her Jazz Bass to get by. It was a difficult life.

Lucky for her there was an opening in a small trade shop. The office wasn't that big but it was enough for her to make a living. Her current employer simply sold supplies to other companies. They were just small-time traders but they earn good money.

Mio pressed her palm against the door handle and took in a deep breath. She hesitantly let go and decided to knock first instead.

"Come in," said the muffled voice from the other side of the door.

"Good morning, Mr. Yamada."

"Well, good morning to you too, Akiyama," Yamada replied without taking his eyes away from the monitor. "I'm glad I didn't have to say 'good evening'," He chuckled.

"I'm sorry, sir."

"Take a seat," he turned his attention to Mio. Yamada was a thin man; he wasn't one of those imposing boss-type characters that Mio was used to seeing on TV. If anything else, Yamada was known to be a very laid-back person. He cleaned his spectacles and set them down on his desk. Mio relaxed her shoulders. "How many times have you been late this week, Akiyama?"

"Four, sir."

"That's four out of five," Yamada rested his palms on his desk. "That's a lot of lates for a week. Now, I am a good man, Akiyama, I know it's also my fault for failing to send you memos but that's not entirely the case. Is it? I'm sure you're aware how companies handle employees who are constantly late."

Mio lowered her head. If he asked for a reason for her coming in to work late she wouldn't have any.

"I'm paying for a worker, Akiyama. I know there's not a lot of stuff to do here but I am paying for your presence too. I was so certain I hired a gem when you applied," Yamada mentioned with a very disappointed tone. " I don't know what brought this tardiness upon you, and your work ethics have been failing me as of late as well. You do know that Tanaka has been covering most of your morning duties by now. Well, one thing is for sure, Akiyama, I will not delve into your private life and ask why you're late most of the time but I do hope you change your ways. I miss the efficient and noteworthy Akiyama who was working for me for two years."

"Thank you, Mr. Yamada," Mio replied softly. She also wished that she knew the reason for her lackluster behavior.

"I know that you know this. A lot of people would want your job, and knowing how hard it is to get by these days you have to consider yourself lucky that you're working for me. I will not always be this benevolent; I can always send you back home unemployed. And perhaps I'd hire someone more suited to this line of work," Yamada put his glasses back on and returned to his computer screen. "I'm giving you this day to think about your performance, Akiyama. Meanwhile, I'm cutting your pay to make up for your tardiness and putting you on probation," he hit the enter key and turned to look at Mio again. "Go."

Mio got up and bowed her head. She left his office without another word. She could feel the veins in her neck pulse with anxiety. She thought about life without a steady job; she was sure that she did not want to go through it once more.

She caught Tanaka looking at her from his station; she smiled at him and headed to her desk.

"Did he give you the boot?" he asked.

"No, just a day's suspension. And probation."

"Well, that's better than the boot," he nodded to himself and continued to document the previous shipment of supplies.

"I don't think they can fire me for being too late."

Tanaka gave her his usual shrug. "Do you want to go out for dinner next week?" he added coolly.

"I dunno. I'll think about it," Mio slung her bag over her shoulder. "Hey, do you want my waffle? I-I lost my appetite."

"Yeah, actually I've been eyeing it since you've gone into his office."

People usually spend their day without work relaxing. Some people shop, watch movies, go on dates, or hang out with friends. Mio couldn't do any of these; she had to budget the rest of her month to suit her cut payroll. Going out would simply make it more difficult for her to divide her money and she needed to save up for a new bass. She decided that the best course of action was to sleep the day away. Until she got her month's pay she'd have to live on noodles again. At least this time she had electricity.

She fished out the keys to her apartment from her coat and was about to push it into the lock when she spotted someone slumped near her door. She backed away, slightly panicked at the thought of having a homeless person residing near her apartment. She thrust her hands into her coat pockets and looked for her cell to call the police. Her heart leapt up into her throat the moment she noticed that she did not have her phone with her.

Mio remembered stories from officemates how there were groups of homeless people who would rob innocent bystanders of their belongings. Sometimes it escalated to murder. Or rape.

A cold chill ran down her spine when she realized that she left her phone in her apartment.

The slumped person moved and Mio stifled a scream.

"Mio?" the person mumbled as he lifted his head groggily.

Mio held up her key in self-defense. If she was quick she thought she could aim for the person's jugular vein and make a run for it. She eyed the slumped person carefully, noticing the clean leather jacket and the number of accessories on his body. She realized that homeless people weren't this nicely dressed but she was still on edge. Crimes don't limit themselves to the homeless anyway.

The person stood up and stretched his limbs. "What? Just because I don't have my trademark band you don't recognize me already?" he grinned at her. Mio was taken aback. This was no homeless person. This wasn't even a man.

"R-ritsu?" Mio stammered and dropped her keys in the process.

A/N: Edited all the punctuation and capitalization errors.