Laina was excited to get to work. She pulled up to the address and found a log cabin. All she had to do was clean this place up and she would learn to fight for free. Seiji even gave her money for cleaning supplies. She didn't know what was already there so she bought everything she might need to clean a house from top to bottom.

The log cabin was farther away from the city than she thought, but it was in a nice secluded area. Trees were all around and there were no car horns or buses. She took a deep breath and added fresh air to the list of things she liked about this place. She grabbed the supplies and walked up the steps to find her shoes making a sticking noise. She frowned and stepped a couple more times to check, definitely sticky. Making a mental note to mop the front porch, she knocked on the wooden door.

"Just come in," someone grumbled from inside. Laina took a deep breath and turned the knob. What she wasn't expecting was the smell that hit her. She nearly gagged as she stepped into the pitch black room. Her shoes crunched on the ground and she seriously thought she made a mistake on this deal, she got screwed. Her hand searched the wall for a light switch and she found it.

When she turned around and looked at the living room her shoulders drooped. At least there wasn't anything dead… that she could see. However broken glass was everywhere, as well as puddles, blood, and she wasn't sure, but possibly vomit. The smell of stale beer and other things was the worst. She went to the windows and pulled the blinds back. Then she opened the windows, feeling the cool breeze and fresh air rush in. She took a deep breath before turning back to the mess of a living room.

"Hey, close those!" a man shouted. She figured he had to be Ryo.

"I told you guys to keep them shut!"

"I'm sorry, but I seriously can't even be in this room with that disgusting smell," she said, "You'll just have to deal with it while I clean."

He jumped on the couch sitting straight up, "Who the hell are you?"

"My name is Laina. Did Seiji call you?" she asked as she walked to the kitchen.

"No, why are you here? Get out," he said, still not turning to her. She was actually glad he didn't. She was afraid the bruises and swelling would freak him out.

Flipping on the light switch she groaned. The kitchen was even worse, with old milk and cereal pasted to the floor, plastic bowls in the sink and all over the counter, including some on the floor.

"I told you to go," he said. She turned and looked at the culprit for this cesspit of a house. How could one person be this messy and disgusting? He stood up next to the couch and was looking at the wall, his eyes unfocused, but she could swear she had seen his face before. She couldn't quite picture it. His hair was black and slightly long. His skin was tan and she couldn't figure out how he could have a six pack when he lived off of cereal and beer. (at least that was all she could see around) He wore only a pair of jeans as he stood there clenching and unclenching his fists.

"Must have a high metabolism," she mumbled.

"What?" he asked the wall. It dawned on her then, why he needed help. He couldn't see. He was blind, but then how did she know him? She was pretty sure she hadn't met any blind guys.

"Nothing… I'm just here to clean up your house. I made a deal with Date Seiji. I clean your house he teaches me to fight," she replied.

"Well, Seiji didn't ask my permission. So get out!" he growled.

"You know your stepping on glass?" she asked looking at his bare feet.

"I don't care!" he shouted.

"Listen, why don't you go take a shower, and I'll get this floor cleaned so you don't have to hurt your feet on the glass," Laina said picking the broom out of the bags she carried. She started sweeping up the glass from around him. He reached out and grabbed her arm.

"I said get out," he said with his jaw clenched. He raised an arm, pointing in the direction of the door.

"Look, Ryo, I really need this, okay," she said pleadingly, "You don't understand how badly I need this, so please… just let me do my job."

"Whatever," he said, letting go of her arm and stepping into the pile of glass she had just swept. He didn't even cringe as the glass crunched under his feet, but Laina did. Then he walked up the stairs leaving glass behind. She frowned and made a note to sweep and mop the stairs, too. She swept up the glass from the floor when she heard him call out. Seriously debating not answering she swept a little more.

"Hey girl!" he shouted again. Laina looked up and blushed. He stood at the banister of the upstairs completely naked. She quickly looked away.

"Laina," she said sweeping some more.

"Girl, get up here and turn on the shower," he said with his jaw clenched. The pity she felt before melted away at his spiteful tone. Suppressing the urge to tell him where to shove it, she walked up the stairs and was greeted with the bathroom. Dirty clothes were everywhere and there wasn't a clean towel in sight.

"When your friends come, do they clean at all?" she asked, turning to him.

"Well I yell at them for doing it, but yes, they do," Ryo replied.

"Do you even have a clean towel?" she asked. He shrugged.

"Of course," she said turning the water on, and purposely making it a little cold. Hey, she had to get him back somehow. She was sure he could turn the water on himself, blind or not. She swooped down and grabbed all the dirty clothes and took them down, opening doors to find the laundry room. When she opened the dryer there were some towels, jeans, and boxers. She grabbed them and went back up to the bathroom. He was in the water so she left them on the toilet for him, with the towel on top. With a quick sweep she pulled the dirty clothes from the rooms and sorted them out. Then she went back to sweeping the house.

She cringed as she turned on the hot water and filled up the mop bucket. Listening for a yell, she was surprised to not hear any. Her arms started hurting as she scrubbed the floor and mopped. Then she started scraping the hardened cereal from the kitchen floor and counters. Footsteps alerted her that he was done and she ran out of the kitchen to check the floor. Thankfully it was dry. He walked to what must be his bedroom and yelled again.

"Girl! What did you do to my room?" he shouted.

"My name is Laina and I'm just cleaning the sheets," she called back.

"You're robbing me! That's what you're doing!" he shouted.

With a sigh she started the laundry and went back to cleaning. After a few more hours she was exhausted, her arms hurt so bad. The front door opened and a man froze.

"Ryo?" he called. His voice was sweet with an accent, the kind of voice that drew you to it. Laina stepped out of the laundry room to see who it was.

"I think he's asleep," she said softly, "I'm Laina."

"Shin," he replied looking at her curiously.

She looked him over. His reddish-brown hair and blue-green eyes were very appealing. Feeling like she had to explain herself she added, "Seiji asked me to come clean the house?"

"Oh," he said as understanding crept over him, "And he gave you a nice shiner for it?"

Laina laughed having forgotten the bruises, "No, Seiji didn't hit me. It was someone else."

Shin nodded without saying anything and carried bags of food in. He froze again when he got to the kitchen. The dishwasher rumbled as it cleaned the bowls she had put in it. He looked impressed as he set the bags on the counter.

"How did you get the cereal off?" he asked in a whisper.

She smiled and held up a paint scraper, "I found it outside when I cleaned the porch."

Shin laughed and started putting the food away. Laina felt compelled to help. The slap of bare feet on the freshly cleaned hardwood floor came to the doorway.

"Shin she's robbing me! She's stealing glass and sheets!" Ryo complained. Laina looked at Shin and rolled her eyes.

Shin laughed, "Why would she steal broken glass and old cereal from your floors? The house looks great by the way."

Laina decided she liked Shin. He had a nice laugh and he was looking more attractive the more he talked.

"I told her to leave but she isn't listening," Ryo grumbled.

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" Shin asked looking at Laina.

"No, she doesn't want to stay for dinner," Ryo said crossing his arms. Laina looked at him and decided she bothered him enough.

"No thanks, I actually have to get back home. It was nice meeting you though, Shin," Laina replied. Shin nodded and smiled at her.

"So will you be back?" Shin asked casually.

"Next Monday," she replied nodding and pushing away from the counter. She touched Ryo's arm as she passed him.

"Bye, don't come back," he called.

"See you next week," she answered and heard him groan before she left the house. She wasn't able to get everything done but he couldn't cause too much of a mess in just one week, right?