Right then, Chapter 2...

Took me long enough, right? ^_^;;;

~~

"You like your coffee black or what?"

I glanced at Avery, quickly breaking through the mists of sleep, or what I considered to be sleep. It was really just a severe dulling of my peripheral perception. Even though I once had been a human (a topic which I preferred not remember) I wasn't exactly human anymore and so I had no real need for basic human functions.

One of them being eating breakfast.

"I don't drink coffee," I said. Somehow it never tasted right even though I had some fuzzy sense it was supposed to taste good.

"Orange juice?" she continued. "Or would you like milk or water?"

"...Water," I said absently. "Do all humans keep guns in the refridgerator?"

Avery looked at me dryly and put the gun down on the counter top. Then took out the egg carton. "No, actually. Just the ones who want to live past twenty-five in this part of town."

"Does that brat have one?"

"What stupid bitch would give a nine year old a gun?" Avery said, and pulled a box of instant oatmeal out of the cabinet. "Oatmeal's okay, right?"

I shrugged irritably, I was still feeling some of the ingrained desire to end her miserable existence.

"Do you like sugar in yours or not?"

"I don't care," I said.

"Good, because there ain't any."

Niether of us said a word for the next few minutes as the rain came down in listless sheets and Avery went about putting a saucepan on the stove. The sky wasn't dark but not even a backwards human child would have been outside without an umbrella.

It occured to me that a certain fixture of Avery's household was absent but Avery had set a bowl out for him anyway. "Where's that kid?"

"Asleep," Avery said and stirred her saucepan with a distracted, blunt inflection to her voice. "He'll stay in bed until the afternoon."

My eyes narrowed. In five hours of talking with the human, I'd discovered that Avery was the last human to prod when she didn't want to be. But that didn't detract one little bit from my satisfaction in her discomfiture. "Most people wouldn't put up with the little shit."

"That's why I said I'd take him in," Avery said quietly, voice neutral. "And he's not a little shit."

I abandoned the topic in favor of the .45mm gun within arm's reach of Avery. It wouldn't do to have her discover me for what I was; I wasn't exactly in a position to get off scotch free for murder anymore. People here knew my face, if they didn't know my reputation, and I didn't need any hint of my prolonged existence leaking to a certain super Saiyan bastard. "What time is it?"

"There's a clock," Avery said grimly. But she told me anyway. "Eight twenty-five. What time does work start for you?"

Her voice was strained, and she made no pretense that she was at all appreciative of my opinion of David.

"Getting rid of me so soon? And you begged so hard to get me to stay," I sneered whimsically, just to see how she'd react.

She flinched but didn't falter. "I'm not trying to get rid of you Juunanagou," she said, turning and leaning easily against the countertop, crossing her arms with a halfway relaxed smile. "You're decent conversation. A little vicious, but still decent. Well, you're up early today." Our heads turned.

"I couldn't sleep last night," the boy said, ignored me and slid into the chair across from me at the table. He glanced at me and said a grudging, "Hi."

"That's strange, you're usually asleep from sunset until midafternoon," Avery said. "Just don't go the opposite way and turn into an insomniac."

David didn't smile but nodded. It was then I really noticed how sickly the brat was. Skin and bones he wasn't quite, but that pallor wasn't natural.

"Have you taken your medicines?" Avery asked, fiddling with the orange juice container.

"Yes."

"The Viledum too?"

"Yes."

"Here's the Provacil. Take it after you eat something." She put a little orange bottle on the table in front of David.

David looked mutinous. "I know that, you're not my mom."

"As you never fail to remind me," Avery said rather coolly, if not airily, "But I promised to look after you whether you like it or not. And go clean up your mess."

David huffed and ran off to clean up the chinese takeout that was still lying on the coffee table.

Avery glanced back at me and I blinked boredly. "So where do you work, Juunanagou?"

"Joe's. What about you?" I asked though any idiot could tell I wasn't really interested. Avery was no idiot, for a human, but she obliged me though I knew she knew I didn't care.

"Nuremburg's," Avery said.

"Uptown?" I sneered. "Where does all the money go?"

Avery didn't flinch under the comment and I stood up. "Sorry, but I've got to go."

Avery turned and David came to a stop in the doorframe, carrying a trashbag. "Aren't you going to stay for breakfast?" Avery said.

"I have to be at Joe's at eight forty-five. I open."

Avery shrugged with a dull frown. "Better hurry, then."

I nodded and turned to leave.

*+*

The door shut behind me with a sharp slam and I entered with the plebian traffic on the street.

"Hey, Juunanagou!"

I turned, my lip curled up in utter distaste. But I forced myself to keep up pretences. "Good morning, Louis."

The man was taller than I was and had only one eye, but most of the time you couldn't tell because his hair fell in the way of the missing one.

"So have you talked to Raymond about that raise, eh?"

"No," I replied bluntly, hoping that he would catch my drift and drop the subject. Not that I kept it from the bastard because I hated Louis, that was a given, but because I didn't want to waste my time bothering with it. There was a zero chance Raymond would even consider it. Even I, his own manager and (he wished) protege, couldn't get a one zeni raise out of him.

"Aw come on, Juunana!! Ain't ya even asked him?"

"No."

"Jesus, Juunana! You're fuckin' useless you know that? I've got a life to live! I have beer to buy!"

"And I care?"

Louis sighed dramatically. "Hey what'cha say you and me go out tonight?"

I glared at some stupid child on the side of the street who had the gall to ask me if I wanted to buy...whatever he was selling. I didn't even care enough to notice that. "I'd rather bite my tongue and drown on my own blood," I sneered.

"You and me, a couple of beers and some hot chicks, huh?"

"I already said no," I snapped. It made me ill to think of it.

Louis didn't say anything for a few moments, but then he piped up again, "You mind if I say something?"

"I don't care," I said impatiently. I'm ignoring you anyway.

"Off the record, I mean, you can't fire me if I say it."

"Go ahead," I snapped rudely. "You can fix a car and that's all I care about."

"You're a real fucking asshole."

I smirked and looked up at something in the sky. "I know. I try."

"Hey, boss."

"What?" Louis should have been famous; he held the record for the only human to push me so far and remain intact. Avery was

almost a different kind of conversation. Avery held the record for the longest conversation.

"You think it'll rain today?"

"Most likely," I said tersely, already knowing that it would. The clouds were right for it and I could smell it coming on.

We were almost at the dingy little one-time house that I and six other ningens called our workplace. It probably dated several decades before my existence and had seen at least one go around with my sister and I, and it came off as pretty well despite that. Old cars and car parts littered the vacant lot that it sat on between buildings.

"Yo, Louis!"

The red haired man broke off whatever drivel he was bothering me with and perked up, focusing on Omar who was standing in the doorway.

"Get yo' ass in here! Raymon' wants to talk to ya's!"

"Right! Tell him I'm coming!"

I stepped up under the overhang and leaned on the side of the building, staring at the street.

"S'gonna be a busy day, man."

I nodded.

"Got a light?"

I shook my head, and shoved my hands into the pockets of my jeans.

This is what I'd been reduced to? Living with humans, scrounging in the dirt of their society?

It was almost enough to make me sick.

"Hey, Juunanagou."

I looked up, the grave looking black man who had at least three scars on his face and was one of the few ningens who warranted a scrap of respect, and tilted my head in acknowledgement.

"Somethin' on yo' mind?"

"Nothing," I said bluntly.

"Yo' sure?"

I nodded coldly and walked off.

The 'day' I'd woken up it had been raining too, only much harder and with purple lightning slashing through the should-have-been midday sky.

I remember sitting up in a pile of dirt and rubble, thinking to myself, 'what the hell just happened?!'

I remember looking around and seeing a city full of wet and broken flowers; I'd learned later for myself that Bridge City or wherever it was that I'd been 'killed' had been turned into some sort of a memorial Mecca, especially the crater that supposedly contained my body but wouldn't anymore.

And I remember staggering out of that city in a daze, not quite right in the head, and falling facefirst into a gas station not too far outside of the city, and I starkly remember the chilliness of the linoleum on my face before blacking out. I think that was the first time I'd actually ever felt real hate towards anything, lying on that floor with barely anything on me; I'd always felt a general hate towards humans, but then my hatred was brought sharply into focus, on one single half human bastard. He'd done this to me, brought me to my knees like that. To top it off I innately knew my sister was really dead.

Bastard...

"Hey, Juunana!"

I turned suddenly, and Vincent was walking towards me, cigarette perched precariously at the side of his mouth. "That blonde chicks' Mizera's got some shit wrong with it I can't figure out. You wanna take a crack at it?"

I shrugged. "What have you looked at?" I demanded briefly.

"Well the distributor cap's fine and the filter's new."

"The spark plugs?"

"Ain't checked them yet. Joe said for me to go and get you."

"How nice of Joe," I sneered sarcastically and Vincent let out a muffled laugh.

"Well you know the most about cars around here, that's for sure. Hey, where'd you learn all that shit you know? I bet you could work on Harry Feldman's car if he paid you enough and it'd go faster than it already does."

Harry Feldman was Vincent's favorite driver on the Rawley racing circuit. Why he liked him I'd never know, and I'd never ask.

I shrugged. "I've always known how."

"Lucky bastard," Vincent said, grinding the cigarette into the dirt with the toe of his boot as he followed me into the garage. A pretty little silver sports car, the Mizera, was in the middle of the room, a human man halfway gone inside its hool.

"What the hell are you doing?" I demanded snappishly, causing the human to jump and promptly almost break his head on the hood of the car.

I smirked self-indulgently and let out a harsh laugh.

"Dammit, Juunana!" Joe complained and nursed his head while I peered into the engine. It was a sixteen cylinder engine, expensive as hell and probably hot. The ningen who brought it in looked like the type who couldn't legally afford one of these cars on whatever the red light district paid these days.

Not like I cared, as long as she footed the bill for Raymond, who in turn would pay me.

"So you went to the Why Not last night, huh?"

"What do you care?" I sneered rudely as I leaned over. "Somebody get in there and fire this thing up."

Joe hurried to oblige and the car roared to life, but I could hear something was definitely wrong with it.

"Tim said he saw you have a drink with a chick last night at the bar. Pretty little thing from what he said," Vincent said, leaning over beside me and staring down into the growling engine.

"Really," I muttered dryly, not wanting to talk about it.

"She still free?"

"What?"

"You and her aint...you know..."

"No," I snapped emphatically.

"Sweet, then you wouldn't mind me, uh, moving in would you?"

I glanced at Vincent harshly, eyes narrowing. "What?"

Vincent backed off, smiling nervously. Most ningens I'd ever come into contact with thought me a particularly dangerous ningen. I had never made much of a pretense of being anything less than dangerous.

"Whoah, man, sorry," Vincent said, "Didn't mean to start anything."

"You didn't start anything," I snapped. "You think I'd want anything to do with that bitch?"

"What's she look like?" Joe asked from the front seat. He revved the engine out of boredom.

I glared out of the corner of my eye at Vincent, hoping he wouldn't keep this ridiculous conversation going. I'd just escaped from the bitch and I didn't want to think about her. Not now or ever again.

"Tall. Dark brown hair and eyes," I said tersely. "Almost as tall as I am. No glasses. Looks like a bird."

"Is she really pale and doesn't wear a lot of makeup or clothes?"

"...I didn't notice what she was wearing," I sniffed irritably. "But she wore no makeup."

"Is her name Avery?"

"How did you know?" I asked boredly, albeit a little angrilly.

"She's got that little half-dead shit who follows her around, right?"

"David?"

"Yeah, that's the one. Little shit if you ask me, I'd like to beat his ass but I think that bitch'd shoot off my head before I got anywhere near 'im. Like to beat her ass sometime, too, but not like that," Joe said flippantly, grinning.

"And how do you know her?" I demanded silkily. Anyone who had known me for a while and cared to notice my quirks would have known to just come up with an excuse not to continue the conversation.

"Louis tried to hit on her once or twice before but she wouldn't go for it," Joe said. "Wouldn't have a damn thing to do with him."

"If I didn't work with the bastard niether would I," I said cruelly and turned away from them. "If this car isn't fixed in an hour I'll inform Raymond that the lot of you were lazing around again."

"What the--?!" Joe spluttered as I turned to walk away.

Vincent's and my eyes crossed paths for a fraction of a second and he looked away.

The stupid bastard was laughing at me without saying a fucking word.

When I left the garage I wandered out front and into the main office, if you could call it that. It was really just a room with a desk in it and some stuff on the desk, and a door that led out back to the garages.

Omar glanced back at me for a moment and continued tacking things up on the wall. "Hey, Juunana, do me a favor'n bring me those papers on'a table."

I picked them up for him and petulantly shoved them towards him. "Here."

"Man, you're touchy," Louis said, leaning out. His hair was slicked back from his head with water from the dispenser inside Raymond's office and I could clearly see what had been his left eye, but what was now a fleshy lump infused with tiny red viens that could be seen if you peered hard enough at the tinted scar tissue. "We're just teasin' you." He was grinning. "She must really be a babe to get that out of you."

"No," I said slowly, patronizingly, viciously, "I'm touchy because the thought makes me sick!"

"Right, whatever," Louis said, the lines beside his one gray blue eye creasing as he grinned.

Honestly. I had no idea how I'd put up with these morons for almost a whole year. And where the hell was Lee? That lazy prick, if he shows up to work again with a hangover...well...the day might just get a little better after all, I thought.

*+*

Work was absolutely uneventful, as usual. At nine I locked the doors to the garage where the Mizera refused to be cooperative.

The streets were unusually packed for this time of night and I knew why. It was coming up on the one year anniversary of mine and my sister's deaths...and the fucking humans were going to have a big parade to celebrate it. To add to this, it had begun raining in the first minutes that I walked home.

It was unbelievable how a society of people, reduced in numbers to the tens of thousands, could manage to converge on one place in such relatively large numbers. Especially the one place they weren't wanted, whether they knew it or not.

Earth was still in the throes of an economical rollercoaster that had begun at the advent of my 'reign' as the history classes were currently teaching their students, according to those fools who actually thought I cared. So it was also rather incredible that half of them could afford to waste time cheering on the streets, but then those were humans for you. Stupid.

Without anything mentionable happening on my way home, I slipped into the ground floor room of the Tang building, my current home.

I didn't even look at the guard, whose name I'd never learned because they usually managed to be replaced every few weeks or so, and stepped into the elevator.

No ningens shared the elevator with me as it went up to the fourth floor and opened the door, though I did pass the group of three boys who lived down the hall from me. They never said a word to me, I didn't care for them and the feeling was mutual.

My room number was 407.

I unlocked it and went in, flipping on the lights as I did so. My apartment in was an older building, dating to sometime early during my 'reign of terror,' which, by the way, I sorely missed.

The far wall was mostly bare brick and there were three windows in a row on that side, which faced the street. Various things I'd collected somehow were laying around my apartment; a couple of guns, the odd piece of clothing, car parts and/or magazines...really, whatever I particularly liked and decided I wanted.

The only things that really stood out were the (disused) kitchen in one corner and my couch and television in the other. One door led off to the bathroom and another door led off to my bedroom. The closet was inside my bedroom.

I sat down on my couch, picked up the remote control, and turned on my television. I plunked my feet on my table and leaned into my couch.

"Representatives from Capsule Corporation met today at Layta to discuss with CEO's of the Weiss Company--"

"That again? Why can't Weiss figure out that bastard's mother's never going to sell out?" I muttered, remembering my rare and far between encounters with the human bitch. For some reason I'd never been able to get a bead on her, and if I couldn't bring her down, nobody ever would.

I changed the channel.

"People continue to come to Halgrove City in astounding numbers; and hotel vacancies--"

"You haven't been able to shut up about that parade for months, Reba," I snapped, having watched the news enough when I was bored to learn at least a couple of their names. "They're going to keep coming in until it's over, and then they'll be coming for the after parties."

There was one thing I could definitely say for the predictability of the human race; they will always have boring channels on the television, and they will always be on when you needed them the least.

~~~

Well, there we go. ^_^ Chapter 2. I guess it wuz kind of boring but it will get better...honest I promise. Trunks will show up eventually and then things get a little dicey for our dear little andwoid...

Chapter 3 no come out until...I get 9 reviews (total!, which means you only have 5 to go...)

Ainohikari: Hehehe, lol. You think it's weird cuz you have no idea what's going on! I'll see ya tomorrow. :P Thanks for reviewing!

Bishi-Gojyo: Yup, 17 is a badass. XD Gotta luv the badassedness. I think 17's pov is mucho fun cuz you can do a lot with it...he's not a very major character so there's lotsa room to infer. Thanxies for reviewing!

Skyflame2: Yah I knew he's a cyborg. ^_^; I just don't really bring it out as a major point, ya know? Yes, Trunks is going to show up, eventually, and there will be fighting. Trunksy probably doesn't much like the idea that 17's alive...nonono...lol. Thank you for the review!

Seveninchsprockets: 17 can be a hard little bugger to write properly...but it's fun though. ^_^ I hope I'm doing well. Avery...well there's gonna be more of her, and David is a little shit sometimes. Thank you so much for reviewing!