Chapter 4: Splash
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any other trademarked things included in this chapter. I probably don't even own the plot. So please don't sue me, I have a enough of a hard time trying to get enough money to buy the 5th volume of DNAngel.
A/N: I raised the rating on this, because this chapter does have a lot of suggestive stuff. The genre might be changed too.
Note to Reader: I think you'll get more out of this if you read each sentence carefully.
-
Burger County was the closest food place to the high tower of Kaiba Corp. It was about as big as a normal shop, and had three stories plus a nice, dark basement. As the name suggests, Burger County serves burgers and fast food. Running this fast food place required a staff of about twenty people. One of those people just happened to be Masaki Anzu, a second-level waitress working part-time without consent from her school.
There were two levels of waitress-ness. One of them was the first level, in which the waitress would never be thought of getting kicked out. The other was the level all the other people were shoved in, mainly because they didn't have any "special" relationship to the restaurant owner. Anzu had worked there in five months, working very hard but still haven't reached the first-level waitress-ness. This was probably because Anzu was that kind of girl who did not wish to have a "special" relationship with the owner. She was just there for money.
It had been Anzu's life-long dream to become a dancer. Obviously for a girl, her favorite was ballet. The restaurant pay was enough for her dancing classes, or almost enough… She still had to stay in at the week-ends sometimes when there wasn't anything urgent such as a Duel Monsters event.
However, the poor girl wouldn't have too much luck in a lightly windy day as that day.
-
"More coffee for table 5!" Anzu's manager yelled at her as she tried to flip a hamburger while using the other hand to fill up a cup of hot coffee.
"A Ham-Meal Complete for table 6," Anzu's fake chirp was a few octaves higher than usual when she delivered the meal, probably because of all the stress this day.
Today had to be one of these bad luck days… It simply had to! The day had started off with lateness, as Jou was unable to take care of himself home after a fight. The manager had yelled at her before the big boss came, and that just made the whole thing worse. After five coffee spills as the thought of a huge homework waiting to be done at 10 PM grew bigger and bigger, Anzu was reduced to flipping hamburgers. Serving people came in second hand, as her mood grew worse and worse with the boss throwing glances at the quite revealing uniform. She was close to thwacking the old man with the saucepan, but Anzu controlled herself and was lucky to just get a second-degree burn which had to be treated immediately. Another hour wasted, homework would begin at 11 PM instead. Drat! The sixth spill…
"This is the last time! No more spilling!" the manager yelled at Anzu as he secretly set fire on her. He enjoyed every moment and made sure that small, innocent flame would be a big, nice one.
"Chicken Burger for table 2!" Anzu's voice made a new record pitch as she drowned in the unbearable sweaty sea of stress and confusion.
"Pretty chic…" one of the older men began, but Anzu's cold glare made him stop straight away. Did they always have to make such lame jokes? This was a food place, not a bar, and those people should've gone to a bar if they needed this kind of… company. The thought made Anzu mentally take yet another sharp knife and slowly cut her uniform to a thousand pieces.
There were another ten, twelve orders to make until the break, so she made them. Her burns were bad, but she didn't have time to tend them and neither did anyone else. The whole peaceful day with the brisk wind and the sun's smile were fading quickly as her inner being was tortured in flames. Blackness was looming over her to complete everything, to follow orders… She wanted to scream.
"Like you asked sir, a Meal Complete," Anzu muttered her argument to the old guy who was picking on his food for the eighth time and suppressed her desire to throw the tray in his face with everything on it.
"Break time," the boss reminded her as his lips unconsciously drew themselves to a sadist's smile. Apparently he wouldn't let go of that stupid idea yet.
She was saved by the manager, who decided to be on her side this time, but her inner temperature jumped quite a bit as she looked at this man with the smirk. She knew what he wanted, and he was not going to get it, even if she had to sacrifice the first-level waitress position for that.
-
"And now we declare this conference to be ended," a middle-aged man with a serious suit with an even more serious face declared after at least ten coughs to attract to the sleeping table's attention.
Another man recited the contract with a bored voice as Kaiba looked out of the window. They all tried to hide it so well, but they were all at the boring place beyond boredom.
"How about some food? I saw a place on the way here…" the declarer suggested. He was quickly stuffing everything in his black, elegant briefcase until he had a better idea and took out a few notes.
"Why not?" The young one who had read the contract five times didn't try to pretend anything.
"But what about the new Kaiba Land?" a fat man whined and glared at Kaiba. Kaiba wasn't too happy at the declarer suggesting food first, but this fat man wasn't too good either.
"Gentlemen, we could talk over it over a nice dinner," Kaiba ensured in his diplomatic voice and made sure everyone knew who was in charge. It wasn't a suggestion, it was an order.
They understood immediately. The middle-aged man quickly gave his okay and the youngster not long after. The only real enemy was the plump man, but thoughts of food swayed him and he agreed.
"So…" the middle-aged man stopped himself as the unsaid question hang in the air. Where would they eat?
There were good restaurants in Domino of course, but the tenth time having escargot in a week wasn't too appealing to any of them. Kaiba had his thoughts on another French food, which was his favorite. He didn't say anything though.
"No…" the "enemy" muttered as he put another lengthy argument on why they should eat those refined foods, for the dignity and all other businessmen of the country. The youngster had enough of these ridiculous notions about patriotism and went his own way instead.
"Why not fast food?" he asked. It was shocking. Any dignified businessman knows that that kind of food is the low among low, and none should eat such. Yet this odd but new thought was welcomed into several brains.
"It's okay for me," the experienced but fair businessman agreed as his overweight companion drooled at the thought of those delicious golden sticks. The only one who wasn't taking this so well was Kaiba.
Fast food? The thought was so ridiculous Kaiba poked it into another gray mist of his mind as he silently accepted it. That was the ways of the world of business, and he wasn't about to miss out on the greatest land offer, even if it was over a humiliating meal of hamburgers and French fries.
The youngster was the most enthusiastic of them all, and he made himself the trouble of calling the restaurant they would arrive to in fifteen minutes. After all, he had learned some rules. One of them was to not surprise in situations such as this. Unknown to him, he had surprised at lot.
Though the biggest surprise would wait in the restaurant he had called, Burger County.
-
"Hurry up! A business team is coming over here!" the manager shouted excitedly as he waved the phone order in the air. Having worked years in a fast food place, this was the first time some important people came to a fast food restaurant. Emphasis on the "fast food" part.
"Number Five, faster!" he yelled at the poor girl who was already scared to death and flipping burgers so fast you couldn't see if it was two or twenty. Anzu was Number Seven, so soon she'd probably receive a yell from the hyperventilating man.
The staff rushed to get things ready for the prestigious business team on the third floor while Anzu and two other poor girls were left to serve the men who stared so hungrily at them. Number Five and Number Six were two mild girls. They stared on the floor from all the confusion, having been offered work only four days ago. The boss had a tendency to fire those who went against his wishes. Against her better knowledge, Anzu began giving orders to these girls. After all, taking initiative is supposed to be a good thing.
A group of four fine-dressed businessmen in black suits were arriving. These had to be the guests who made the phone call that had made this evening even more stressful, topping it off with a 10-point manager versus boss yelling contest.
She was running up the stairs to inform the manager when she made a mistake. The boss was walking against her with his intentions clearly written on his face. Behind him was the manager yelling at a row of confused first-level waitresses to hurry up for the fifth time. Anzu was just stepping on the last stair when the boss loomed in front of her. Uh-oh.
Without thinking, Anzu pushed her boss away and strode towards her manager. The irritation of the whole day that was bottled finally unleashed on the boss. Sadly, it had a domino effect. The boss fell on the manager; the manager fell on the waitresses and so on. The last waitress fell over a table and crashed straight into a big, saw-jawed plant.
As the bedlam was slowly returning to the usual routine exercise for honored guests, Anzu thought of the ultimate bad luck thing. Now she'd get fired for sure. For a second it seemed so, with the manager taking a tomato's face and all the girls trying to catch the boss's attention.
His attention, however, wasn't on all of those pretty girls. It was on her. He slowly walked forward to her on unsteady legs. One of them seemed somewhat broken because he was limping.
"Finally used violence, didn't you…" he gave her a wide grin full of blackened teeth, straightened up himself and began to convince the manager to not fire her.
Anzu was somewhat happy over that last waitress falling into the plant. She had never liked her. It was one of those slimy women who always tried to seduce the men at work and never doing anything properly. To Anzu's luck, the waitress wouldn't be able to move in two weeks, it seemed like.
"They're down there!" a waitress squealed of delight as she saw the businessmen entering the restaurant. In an instant, every soul rushed to take care of these important customers. Anzu sighed, then followed after them while still thanking whatever power that had made her keep her job.
The staff made sure these elegant people knew they were being adored. Girls made little dances when they presented the meals and their radiant faces. The manager used a ridiculous loud voice when he read the menu. Even the other customers were casting curious glances at these new guests. However, the boss wasn't too happy. His face darkened at the waitresses' admiration of these younger men. His eyes turned to agates when they moved closer, and he seemed like a young child desperately clutching to all his dolls, only to lose them one by one. His eye stopped at Anzu, for she didn't seem as excited as the other girls.
She saw him looking at her, and once again she knew she was in serious trouble. To make herself less available, Anzu pretended to be so completely absorbed by these new customers. To her they made no difference, customers were customers, money was money, and dance was dance.
The boss moved closer.
Now she had to do something. The first thing on her mind was to run, the initial "fight-or-flight" reaction built inside every human. She suppressed her fear and walked nonchalantly towards the boss, asking if she could serve and swerved in the last second to be touched by that old thing.
He was disappointed, but he was sure there would be more opportunities to get her.
Anzu's heart beat faster at her nearly-failed attempt to rescue herself. The only thing she could do was to indulge herself in these businessmen's order, and she happily did so.
She placed four cokes and another four cups of coffee on the best tray they had, and brought them to the table. The squealing girls were too busy scrutinizing the men to notice her. A voice told her to put the cups down, and she put them where the voice was leading to, without thought. Her brain was tired to death, and the girls were training their high pitches. Suddenly that feeling of throwing up made her panic and set the tray randomly. It was the ultimate mistake.
Splash.
All the liquid the eight cups contained splashed over the businessman sitting beside the window. In a haze, Anzu apologized again and again as all those girls got a perfect chance to yell at her.
"You're going to get fired and never showing your face again!" the angry man snarled at her. She looked down at her feet in shame. Tears leaked from her eyes as she twisted her hurt hands; they were on fire.
"You're fired!" the manager yelled. It was superfluous, of course. Anzu was out of the door and her skin was peeling itself off by her brutal contact. She felt like her hand, helpless and dying.
Her feet knew the way to her destination. She unlocked the door and threw herself on her bed, crying and wailing. It didn't serve any purpose, but it made her feel better.
When Anzu got control of herself again, her first rational thought was about a job. Now that she had gotten fired, she had to find a new job. It would be very hard, since the schools had forbidden jobs and she could not go to where she was before. The stores her, the restaurants knew her, the shops knew her.
She twisted her hands again in despair. The dying fire returned with small ants biting into her skin. Anzu repeated this action several times, and sank to a pool of sadness on her floor as the windows opened by the cold wind.
The night breeze was cold and refreshing; it stilled her aching pain physically, but not inside. A photo fell in front of her, and she looked at it. It was a photo of two girls, smiling at the camera and dressed in kimonos. One was brown-haired and had blue eyes while the other one was blonde and shone with energy. Suddenly she knew who she'd call to still her heart.
-
"But Mr. Kaiba…" the manager tried to convince the great Kaiba Seto not to leave Burger County. He was failing, and Kaiba just moved him out of his way while getting out with his fellow gentlemen.
"Let's get out of here." That was enough of a command, and the fat man unwillingly obeyed as he gave the burgers a last look while the drool practically ran out of his mouth and on the floor.
There were no other restaurants nearby, and the sudden dark clouds warned of a nasty downfall. The men retreated to Kaiba Corp's high tower as small icy balls fell by the window.
"I suppose that was nothing done," the middle-aged man exclaimed sadly as he looked out of the window.
"At least we got to see a restaurant," the youngster cheerfully pointed out.
Kaiba wasn't too happy at that. He had gotten the restaurant on his best shirt. The light blue shirt would have to be thoroughly washed before it could be used again. The stain of the coke and the coffee wouldn't fade in a while. But they'd fade before his memory did. The pride in his soul did not allow that foolish waitress to live. Just wait… He'd get her for this humiliating evening.
"Too bad we weren't able to eat…" the overweight man sighed sadly as he drooled one last time at the lost burgers and those girls.
"Well, we'll just have to get over it. Right, gentlemen?" the youngster's optimism was beginning to irritate Kaiba.
"That might take awhile," the middle-aged man muttered quietly. Kaiba heard him and agreed mentally.
"But what about Kaiba Land?" the chubby man whined.
It was going to be a very long evening.
-
"Christine, I swear, it all happened!" Anzu was finishing her vivid explanation to her blonde friend on the phone. She had recalled that memory of this awful accident and described it perfectly to her exchange friend.
"Yes…" Christine Wood imagined the scene and made a few sympathetic noises.
Christine Wood was one of the rare and lucky Americans who got to come over to Japan as an exchange student. It wasn't a normal school exchange; it was a dance school exchange. Both Anzu and Christine were excellent dancers and they got to live in each other's place for one month. Christine had been there just when the Duel Monsters mania had spread to Japan. They quickly became good friends and even now they still kept in touch with an occasional phone call or two each month.
"You know the dance class..." Anzu was ashamed to have to mention this, but she needed help.
"Yes."
"I told you about that… It's true… So now I don't have a job…" Anzu's voice shrunk to a small whisper.
"Yes, but I think…" Christine racked her brain for the answer. She remembered Anzu having a different part-time job there. That one…. The one with the gun thing and that little guy who was so interested in Anzu. Now, who did she work for again? Oh yes… Christine searched her memory banks and finally found the answer. At that time, Anzu was hired by Kaiba Corp.
"Christine?" Anzu's voice sounded worried.
"I'm here. Anyway, didn't you work for that Kaiba guy?" Christine asked, knowing that Anzu would probably remember as she was such an organized person.
"Yes…" Anzu remembered that well. The obnoxious guy had made her work with that annoying little brat and ordered her to kill her friends! As if she'd go back there again!
"I remember they said that you didn't really complete your job and then they wanted compensation…" Christine was making a good guess now.
"Yes…" Anzu's face darkened as she remembered. In a way, she was still bound to Kaiba Corp.
"I think you'd better work it off before they sue you. They'll probably pay you…" Christine's voice drifted off as she worked hard to remember.
"Yes, Christine. They did want compensation. Thanks for the help."
"You're welcome. Bye Anzu!" Christine couldn't help but notice that Anzu didn't sound too happy.
"Bye."
Click.
The last time was awful, an unfair fight and it was close that her friends got killed. This time it would probably get worse. Oh well, what other options did she have? Anzu's head landed softly on the pillow as her eyelids drooped. Kaiba would have to wait until another day. Sleep washed over the tired girl as she sank into a worried slumber.
-
A/N: What did you think of this chapter? Please review! You know the deal. Three reviews and chapter five gets posted. If not, I'll go and find a nice grilling place after two weeks or so.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any other trademarked things included in this chapter. I probably don't even own the plot. So please don't sue me, I have a enough of a hard time trying to get enough money to buy the 5th volume of DNAngel.
A/N: I raised the rating on this, because this chapter does have a lot of suggestive stuff. The genre might be changed too.
Note to Reader: I think you'll get more out of this if you read each sentence carefully.
-
Burger County was the closest food place to the high tower of Kaiba Corp. It was about as big as a normal shop, and had three stories plus a nice, dark basement. As the name suggests, Burger County serves burgers and fast food. Running this fast food place required a staff of about twenty people. One of those people just happened to be Masaki Anzu, a second-level waitress working part-time without consent from her school.
There were two levels of waitress-ness. One of them was the first level, in which the waitress would never be thought of getting kicked out. The other was the level all the other people were shoved in, mainly because they didn't have any "special" relationship to the restaurant owner. Anzu had worked there in five months, working very hard but still haven't reached the first-level waitress-ness. This was probably because Anzu was that kind of girl who did not wish to have a "special" relationship with the owner. She was just there for money.
It had been Anzu's life-long dream to become a dancer. Obviously for a girl, her favorite was ballet. The restaurant pay was enough for her dancing classes, or almost enough… She still had to stay in at the week-ends sometimes when there wasn't anything urgent such as a Duel Monsters event.
However, the poor girl wouldn't have too much luck in a lightly windy day as that day.
-
"More coffee for table 5!" Anzu's manager yelled at her as she tried to flip a hamburger while using the other hand to fill up a cup of hot coffee.
"A Ham-Meal Complete for table 6," Anzu's fake chirp was a few octaves higher than usual when she delivered the meal, probably because of all the stress this day.
Today had to be one of these bad luck days… It simply had to! The day had started off with lateness, as Jou was unable to take care of himself home after a fight. The manager had yelled at her before the big boss came, and that just made the whole thing worse. After five coffee spills as the thought of a huge homework waiting to be done at 10 PM grew bigger and bigger, Anzu was reduced to flipping hamburgers. Serving people came in second hand, as her mood grew worse and worse with the boss throwing glances at the quite revealing uniform. She was close to thwacking the old man with the saucepan, but Anzu controlled herself and was lucky to just get a second-degree burn which had to be treated immediately. Another hour wasted, homework would begin at 11 PM instead. Drat! The sixth spill…
"This is the last time! No more spilling!" the manager yelled at Anzu as he secretly set fire on her. He enjoyed every moment and made sure that small, innocent flame would be a big, nice one.
"Chicken Burger for table 2!" Anzu's voice made a new record pitch as she drowned in the unbearable sweaty sea of stress and confusion.
"Pretty chic…" one of the older men began, but Anzu's cold glare made him stop straight away. Did they always have to make such lame jokes? This was a food place, not a bar, and those people should've gone to a bar if they needed this kind of… company. The thought made Anzu mentally take yet another sharp knife and slowly cut her uniform to a thousand pieces.
There were another ten, twelve orders to make until the break, so she made them. Her burns were bad, but she didn't have time to tend them and neither did anyone else. The whole peaceful day with the brisk wind and the sun's smile were fading quickly as her inner being was tortured in flames. Blackness was looming over her to complete everything, to follow orders… She wanted to scream.
"Like you asked sir, a Meal Complete," Anzu muttered her argument to the old guy who was picking on his food for the eighth time and suppressed her desire to throw the tray in his face with everything on it.
"Break time," the boss reminded her as his lips unconsciously drew themselves to a sadist's smile. Apparently he wouldn't let go of that stupid idea yet.
She was saved by the manager, who decided to be on her side this time, but her inner temperature jumped quite a bit as she looked at this man with the smirk. She knew what he wanted, and he was not going to get it, even if she had to sacrifice the first-level waitress position for that.
-
"And now we declare this conference to be ended," a middle-aged man with a serious suit with an even more serious face declared after at least ten coughs to attract to the sleeping table's attention.
Another man recited the contract with a bored voice as Kaiba looked out of the window. They all tried to hide it so well, but they were all at the boring place beyond boredom.
"How about some food? I saw a place on the way here…" the declarer suggested. He was quickly stuffing everything in his black, elegant briefcase until he had a better idea and took out a few notes.
"Why not?" The young one who had read the contract five times didn't try to pretend anything.
"But what about the new Kaiba Land?" a fat man whined and glared at Kaiba. Kaiba wasn't too happy at the declarer suggesting food first, but this fat man wasn't too good either.
"Gentlemen, we could talk over it over a nice dinner," Kaiba ensured in his diplomatic voice and made sure everyone knew who was in charge. It wasn't a suggestion, it was an order.
They understood immediately. The middle-aged man quickly gave his okay and the youngster not long after. The only real enemy was the plump man, but thoughts of food swayed him and he agreed.
"So…" the middle-aged man stopped himself as the unsaid question hang in the air. Where would they eat?
There were good restaurants in Domino of course, but the tenth time having escargot in a week wasn't too appealing to any of them. Kaiba had his thoughts on another French food, which was his favorite. He didn't say anything though.
"No…" the "enemy" muttered as he put another lengthy argument on why they should eat those refined foods, for the dignity and all other businessmen of the country. The youngster had enough of these ridiculous notions about patriotism and went his own way instead.
"Why not fast food?" he asked. It was shocking. Any dignified businessman knows that that kind of food is the low among low, and none should eat such. Yet this odd but new thought was welcomed into several brains.
"It's okay for me," the experienced but fair businessman agreed as his overweight companion drooled at the thought of those delicious golden sticks. The only one who wasn't taking this so well was Kaiba.
Fast food? The thought was so ridiculous Kaiba poked it into another gray mist of his mind as he silently accepted it. That was the ways of the world of business, and he wasn't about to miss out on the greatest land offer, even if it was over a humiliating meal of hamburgers and French fries.
The youngster was the most enthusiastic of them all, and he made himself the trouble of calling the restaurant they would arrive to in fifteen minutes. After all, he had learned some rules. One of them was to not surprise in situations such as this. Unknown to him, he had surprised at lot.
Though the biggest surprise would wait in the restaurant he had called, Burger County.
-
"Hurry up! A business team is coming over here!" the manager shouted excitedly as he waved the phone order in the air. Having worked years in a fast food place, this was the first time some important people came to a fast food restaurant. Emphasis on the "fast food" part.
"Number Five, faster!" he yelled at the poor girl who was already scared to death and flipping burgers so fast you couldn't see if it was two or twenty. Anzu was Number Seven, so soon she'd probably receive a yell from the hyperventilating man.
The staff rushed to get things ready for the prestigious business team on the third floor while Anzu and two other poor girls were left to serve the men who stared so hungrily at them. Number Five and Number Six were two mild girls. They stared on the floor from all the confusion, having been offered work only four days ago. The boss had a tendency to fire those who went against his wishes. Against her better knowledge, Anzu began giving orders to these girls. After all, taking initiative is supposed to be a good thing.
A group of four fine-dressed businessmen in black suits were arriving. These had to be the guests who made the phone call that had made this evening even more stressful, topping it off with a 10-point manager versus boss yelling contest.
She was running up the stairs to inform the manager when she made a mistake. The boss was walking against her with his intentions clearly written on his face. Behind him was the manager yelling at a row of confused first-level waitresses to hurry up for the fifth time. Anzu was just stepping on the last stair when the boss loomed in front of her. Uh-oh.
Without thinking, Anzu pushed her boss away and strode towards her manager. The irritation of the whole day that was bottled finally unleashed on the boss. Sadly, it had a domino effect. The boss fell on the manager; the manager fell on the waitresses and so on. The last waitress fell over a table and crashed straight into a big, saw-jawed plant.
As the bedlam was slowly returning to the usual routine exercise for honored guests, Anzu thought of the ultimate bad luck thing. Now she'd get fired for sure. For a second it seemed so, with the manager taking a tomato's face and all the girls trying to catch the boss's attention.
His attention, however, wasn't on all of those pretty girls. It was on her. He slowly walked forward to her on unsteady legs. One of them seemed somewhat broken because he was limping.
"Finally used violence, didn't you…" he gave her a wide grin full of blackened teeth, straightened up himself and began to convince the manager to not fire her.
Anzu was somewhat happy over that last waitress falling into the plant. She had never liked her. It was one of those slimy women who always tried to seduce the men at work and never doing anything properly. To Anzu's luck, the waitress wouldn't be able to move in two weeks, it seemed like.
"They're down there!" a waitress squealed of delight as she saw the businessmen entering the restaurant. In an instant, every soul rushed to take care of these important customers. Anzu sighed, then followed after them while still thanking whatever power that had made her keep her job.
The staff made sure these elegant people knew they were being adored. Girls made little dances when they presented the meals and their radiant faces. The manager used a ridiculous loud voice when he read the menu. Even the other customers were casting curious glances at these new guests. However, the boss wasn't too happy. His face darkened at the waitresses' admiration of these younger men. His eyes turned to agates when they moved closer, and he seemed like a young child desperately clutching to all his dolls, only to lose them one by one. His eye stopped at Anzu, for she didn't seem as excited as the other girls.
She saw him looking at her, and once again she knew she was in serious trouble. To make herself less available, Anzu pretended to be so completely absorbed by these new customers. To her they made no difference, customers were customers, money was money, and dance was dance.
The boss moved closer.
Now she had to do something. The first thing on her mind was to run, the initial "fight-or-flight" reaction built inside every human. She suppressed her fear and walked nonchalantly towards the boss, asking if she could serve and swerved in the last second to be touched by that old thing.
He was disappointed, but he was sure there would be more opportunities to get her.
Anzu's heart beat faster at her nearly-failed attempt to rescue herself. The only thing she could do was to indulge herself in these businessmen's order, and she happily did so.
She placed four cokes and another four cups of coffee on the best tray they had, and brought them to the table. The squealing girls were too busy scrutinizing the men to notice her. A voice told her to put the cups down, and she put them where the voice was leading to, without thought. Her brain was tired to death, and the girls were training their high pitches. Suddenly that feeling of throwing up made her panic and set the tray randomly. It was the ultimate mistake.
Splash.
All the liquid the eight cups contained splashed over the businessman sitting beside the window. In a haze, Anzu apologized again and again as all those girls got a perfect chance to yell at her.
"You're going to get fired and never showing your face again!" the angry man snarled at her. She looked down at her feet in shame. Tears leaked from her eyes as she twisted her hurt hands; they were on fire.
"You're fired!" the manager yelled. It was superfluous, of course. Anzu was out of the door and her skin was peeling itself off by her brutal contact. She felt like her hand, helpless and dying.
Her feet knew the way to her destination. She unlocked the door and threw herself on her bed, crying and wailing. It didn't serve any purpose, but it made her feel better.
When Anzu got control of herself again, her first rational thought was about a job. Now that she had gotten fired, she had to find a new job. It would be very hard, since the schools had forbidden jobs and she could not go to where she was before. The stores her, the restaurants knew her, the shops knew her.
She twisted her hands again in despair. The dying fire returned with small ants biting into her skin. Anzu repeated this action several times, and sank to a pool of sadness on her floor as the windows opened by the cold wind.
The night breeze was cold and refreshing; it stilled her aching pain physically, but not inside. A photo fell in front of her, and she looked at it. It was a photo of two girls, smiling at the camera and dressed in kimonos. One was brown-haired and had blue eyes while the other one was blonde and shone with energy. Suddenly she knew who she'd call to still her heart.
-
"But Mr. Kaiba…" the manager tried to convince the great Kaiba Seto not to leave Burger County. He was failing, and Kaiba just moved him out of his way while getting out with his fellow gentlemen.
"Let's get out of here." That was enough of a command, and the fat man unwillingly obeyed as he gave the burgers a last look while the drool practically ran out of his mouth and on the floor.
There were no other restaurants nearby, and the sudden dark clouds warned of a nasty downfall. The men retreated to Kaiba Corp's high tower as small icy balls fell by the window.
"I suppose that was nothing done," the middle-aged man exclaimed sadly as he looked out of the window.
"At least we got to see a restaurant," the youngster cheerfully pointed out.
Kaiba wasn't too happy at that. He had gotten the restaurant on his best shirt. The light blue shirt would have to be thoroughly washed before it could be used again. The stain of the coke and the coffee wouldn't fade in a while. But they'd fade before his memory did. The pride in his soul did not allow that foolish waitress to live. Just wait… He'd get her for this humiliating evening.
"Too bad we weren't able to eat…" the overweight man sighed sadly as he drooled one last time at the lost burgers and those girls.
"Well, we'll just have to get over it. Right, gentlemen?" the youngster's optimism was beginning to irritate Kaiba.
"That might take awhile," the middle-aged man muttered quietly. Kaiba heard him and agreed mentally.
"But what about Kaiba Land?" the chubby man whined.
It was going to be a very long evening.
-
"Christine, I swear, it all happened!" Anzu was finishing her vivid explanation to her blonde friend on the phone. She had recalled that memory of this awful accident and described it perfectly to her exchange friend.
"Yes…" Christine Wood imagined the scene and made a few sympathetic noises.
Christine Wood was one of the rare and lucky Americans who got to come over to Japan as an exchange student. It wasn't a normal school exchange; it was a dance school exchange. Both Anzu and Christine were excellent dancers and they got to live in each other's place for one month. Christine had been there just when the Duel Monsters mania had spread to Japan. They quickly became good friends and even now they still kept in touch with an occasional phone call or two each month.
"You know the dance class..." Anzu was ashamed to have to mention this, but she needed help.
"Yes."
"I told you about that… It's true… So now I don't have a job…" Anzu's voice shrunk to a small whisper.
"Yes, but I think…" Christine racked her brain for the answer. She remembered Anzu having a different part-time job there. That one…. The one with the gun thing and that little guy who was so interested in Anzu. Now, who did she work for again? Oh yes… Christine searched her memory banks and finally found the answer. At that time, Anzu was hired by Kaiba Corp.
"Christine?" Anzu's voice sounded worried.
"I'm here. Anyway, didn't you work for that Kaiba guy?" Christine asked, knowing that Anzu would probably remember as she was such an organized person.
"Yes…" Anzu remembered that well. The obnoxious guy had made her work with that annoying little brat and ordered her to kill her friends! As if she'd go back there again!
"I remember they said that you didn't really complete your job and then they wanted compensation…" Christine was making a good guess now.
"Yes…" Anzu's face darkened as she remembered. In a way, she was still bound to Kaiba Corp.
"I think you'd better work it off before they sue you. They'll probably pay you…" Christine's voice drifted off as she worked hard to remember.
"Yes, Christine. They did want compensation. Thanks for the help."
"You're welcome. Bye Anzu!" Christine couldn't help but notice that Anzu didn't sound too happy.
"Bye."
Click.
The last time was awful, an unfair fight and it was close that her friends got killed. This time it would probably get worse. Oh well, what other options did she have? Anzu's head landed softly on the pillow as her eyelids drooped. Kaiba would have to wait until another day. Sleep washed over the tired girl as she sank into a worried slumber.
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A/N: What did you think of this chapter? Please review! You know the deal. Three reviews and chapter five gets posted. If not, I'll go and find a nice grilling place after two weeks or so.