Enjoy!


Rei walked out of the appartment building, looking around to see if there weren't any suspicious people hiding in the shadows. After checking the area multiple times to make sure he'd be safe, he decided that that was indeed the case, and began walking to the nearest subway station. Mariah had told him which one was the closest, and which line he had to take to get to the centre.

It wasn't hard to find. Walking down the stairs Rei looked at the walls full of graffiti, bubblegum and the steps which lay full of cigaret stubs. He was shocked at how the suburbs of Brussels looked, in comparison to the centre. How different the people were here. These were not the happy tourists who graced the main streets.

Soon he arrived at the centre of Brussels. The neko-jin stepped out of the vehicle, bumping into people while walking up the stairs, looking forward to some fresh air. Every subway station seemed to have a bad smell about it. Once ourtside he began to walk past the restaurants and pubs. He was searching for a pub with a card board asking for another waiter. He had walked past it yesterday. And there it was. Hesitating, he went inside and started to make his way trough the packed pub. Rei managed to get to the bar without too much problem; he opened his jacket and waited for somebody to notice him. He waited five minutes, which turned into ten, which turned into fifteen. Finally a girl with blonde hair in a loose ponytail, her ice blue eyes behind glasses, walked over. She had a friendly expression.

"Can I help you, Sir?" she asked ever so politely.
"Yes, I came to apply for the job."
His statement was met with silence. "Okay...Just a second," the waitress said, something clearly bothering her. She bit her lower lip when she walked trough a door with 'Private' on it. Not a minute later the girl came back.
"You can go trough that door. There's a small kitchen at the far and of the corridor, on your left," she said, with a slight tremble in her voice, and a strange look – Was it pitty? – in her eyes.
Rei nodded, his feelings a mixture of curiousity and uneasiness. He pushed the door open, walked trough the gray corridor and knocked on the last door on his left.

"Come in, come in!" a friendly voice answered his knock. Rei opened the door and behind a table stood a man with his back toward him, pouring himself a cup of coffee. He was standing upright, radiating confidence and pride. He turned around and faked a smile which didn't quite reach his eyes, and the neko-jin immediately realised that the friendly voice had been an illusion.
"Thanks, Sir," Rei muttered, very aware of the frostiness of this man.
"That's Steven for you. Now, make yourself comfortable," the man said, nodding towards a chair opposite of him.
"I'd rather remain standing, Sir. I mean Steven. If you don't mind, of course," Rei answered to what seemed to himself as some sort of question. But he was wrong. It was an order.
"Please sit down," Steven demanded icily. Rei quickly sat down.
Steven returned to his other manner, his faked manners. He sat down on the chair opposite of Rei, sipping his coffee and glancing at the younger man over the cup.
"Now listen, kid. I could tell you the job was already taken, but I'll be brutally honest with you. I don't just accept every person to work at my pub. I know we wouldn't be able to cooperate well and I don't want to frighten the costumers with... your looks. Besides, people like yourself are often concidered scum like thieves, murderers or junks. I can't have such people running my bar, or even inside my bar for that matter, so I would be grateful if you'd just leave as soon as possible. And please refrain from coming back as well." Steven said all of this in a strangely calm and polite tone, although the message was clear enough. He pushed his chair back and started to clean his cup in the sink.

"But Sir, I can prove you that -" Rei stammered, his sentence cut short before he could even start complaining.
"Bye, kid," Steven said in an even voice.

Rei felt anger rise in his chest, taking a hold of him, and lashed out at the man verbally.
"Well, thank you, Mister Fascism. I wouldn't even want to work for you, with you being such a racist who's so socially insecure that he puts up an image and has to pay women to date him! This is just disgusting!" he yelled out furiously. With a look of pure anger he walked with fast, intimidating steps out of the kitchen, out of the corridor, and out of the pub, receiving surprised and shocked looks of the tourists.


It seemed to Rei that he had searched for a job in about a hundred different places, though it had only been eleven. And the only person who had been brave enough to tell him that he hadn't wanted him in the bar because of his looks, had been Steven. It didn't once cross his mind him having no experience and diploma's could also have been a reason. Finally, at the eleventh try, which had been a cool dance-café/chill-out bar which was very popular with students, he found a job as a waiter. The owner had been a friendly man in his early twenties named Sean Peterson. He was Jamaican, had an exotic look, hair like Bob Marley and thousand of girls swooning over him. Not that he noticed it or ever went on dates with them. He claimed he didn't have the time to be with someone. Sean had told Rei he could start working this weekend.

The neko-jin entered a snackbar, and a fifteen minutes later he stood outside again, with a big pack of French Fries in his no-longer cold hands. French Fries from Belgium. Can't get them better anywhere. Or so he thought.
Once done eating Rei walked to the nearest subway station, when suddenly he saw a group of people about his age sitting and lying on the stairs. A word crossed his mind immediately.
"Junkies," he whispered.
He noticed the young man who had robbed him the other day. He felt pity shoot straight to his heart as he walked down the stairs, keeping an eye on the boy. He felt an urge to help this person, but for obvious reasons he resisted it. It was a complete irrational feeling.

And the guy? He couldn't care less. He was probably too far away in his little dream world to care. His little dream world that was tearing him apart.

Although Rei did care. What he didn't do, was complain about his money. He had already passed his thief and the money would already be gone by now anyway, not to mention he could get dangerous.

But at that moment Rei didn't know that he would go back there, giving into his urge, and do a very good thing.


And she who is covered in tomatoes has updated. Rejoice!

R+R Please!

Ja!