Stress Me Out
Chapter 3
Week 1: A Tuesday
(In the back room of a department store)

Retail – some people were made for it. Others, not so much. Nao slashed another box open with a cutter, working quickly as she sorted the new merchandise to be put on the shelves. She worked in stock, and it was a good thing too, because she doubted she could deal with anyone outside of her subordinates.

Hell, even they pissed her off, sometimes.

With her headphones in, she was in her own little world. Nao was okay with that; just doing her job and letting the shift pass her by. That was how she liked it, to be left blissfully alone. She kept half an eye on the door, expecting some new girl today. Nao didn't like it, but she was in charge of training all newcomers to stock.

It was the middle of the afternoon before the woman showed up, a part-timer, no doubt.

Nao yanked her ear buds out of her ears when she noticed the new arrival. Fawn hair, crimson eyes, tall and beautiful. "You the new transfer?"

"Shizuru Fujino." She bowed deeply. "I'm looking for a…" she looked down to the sloppily written name on the paper work. "…a Miss Nao?"

"Just Nao. My first name, not last." The red head said as she clipped and pocketed the box cutter, and took off her safety gloves. "Don't get weird on me." She didn't bother to extend her hand as she shoved them in her jean pockets. She gave Shizuru a once over and laughed. "Skirt huh, your funeral then."

Shizuru looked down at herself, and then looked to Nao, who dressed in work boots, carpenter jeans, and an unflattering black polo shirt with the company logo. The neon yellow apron also wasn't winning any points for good looks. "I suppose I am improperly dressed, aren't I?"

Nao shrugged, grabbing a cigarette out of her back pocket. "That's why you filled out that crap." She made a motion for the papers, and pulled the one at the back. Walking to the back desk, she unlocked it, and grabbed a shirt and jeans in Shizuru's size. "Go to the locker room and change, I'll get you the boots and apron in your size." Nao explained, lighting up. "Then we can blow through all of that there, and that over there…" Nao said pointing to all of the unpacked boxes.

Shizuru did as she was told, coming back feeling very out of sorts as she tied her apron on. "There, now how do I look?"

"Like crap…" Nao muttered with a grin. "Means you're one of the team."

"So, where should I start?" Shizuru asked.

"Know what a GOT is?" Nao asked as she went back to cutting open boxes and sorting through all of the inventory.

"I'm afraid not. This is my first time working in the back room." Shizuru admitted a bit quietly. "I'm normally near the front as a cashier."

Nao sent her green eyed gaze to those of clearly confused crimson. That glazed over look was one she had seen many times before. "Don't they teach you anything? Alright then, new chick…start slow." She handed her a box cutter and gloves. "Slice those open, slide 'em to me. Get that done, then break down those…" Nao said pointing to the boxes in the corner. "Trash goes out every night at the end of shift, you leave it, you get written up. Three write ups, you get docked pay. Another three, you're fired."

"Yes ma'am."

"Cut the crap…" Nao muttered. "Just Nao."

Shizuru kept her eyes on the box cutter. It was a sharp blade, thin, dangerous. The gloves were rough feeling, and thick, it would be hard to cut herself so long as she had them on. She focused on doing exactly what Nao told her, though she was a bit shocked by the woman's conduct.

"Something wrong, scrub?" Nao gruffly asked.

"No." Shizuru said softly.

"Haul butt then, we're behind." Nao ordered. "Get a grove, don't break it, or you'll find out what concrete tastes like."

Shizuru nodded, trying her best. She gave Nao a sideways glance. "I was merely wondering, have you been doing this for very long?"

"Wouldn't be a manager otherwise." Nao shrugged. "That a problem?"

Crimson eyes lifted to Nao. "No at all, it was merely a passing curiosity…"

"Again with the bull…" Nao grumbled as she flipped through all of the various packaging, sorting merchandise from bubble wrap. "Been working here since I was a teen. Really sticks in the craw of scrubs like you, too. I bet you're the kind of person that lasts a year or two…finds a better job. Me? I don't need that crap, I'm happy where I am. The boss respects loyalty."

Shizuru nodded, there was nothing more she could say to that. She finished cutting the row of boxes. The next part she had been told to do was breakdown. As she began to rip open and fold down boxes, Nao gave her a sideways glance. Shizuru paused. "Yes?"

"Faster if you punch it in…" Nao emptied the one she had in hand and lifted it. "Do it like this, they're flimsy, and you'll be fine." She plowed through the bottom with her fist, folding the whole thing down in a matter of seconds. "Get those done. Then I'll show you how to price."

A knock came at the back door, and Nao cursed. "Just a sec, my buddy is here with lunch." She lifted the large metal delivery door, were Mai stood on the other side. "The hell were you an hour ago, Mai?"

"I was stuck at home with the repair man. I called and told Midori I'd be late." Mai smirked in apology as she came in and put the bags down. From across the storage room, she could see Shizuru fussing with the build-up of Nao's previous mess. "What is she doing?"

"Newbie..." Nao shrugged as she pulled out the beef burger and fries. " You know how scrubs are. They aren't worth shit."

"I'm going to go say hi while I'm here…" Mai said with grin.

Nao gave her a dumbfounded look. "What the hell for?"

"Just eat your lunch Nao." Mai said as she ignored her friend, brushing her off entirely. She made her way across the concrete floor and bent down to pick up a few of the boxes from the back. "Need a hand?"

Shizuru visibly jumped. "Mai?"

"Yours truly." Mai said with a smirk. "Nao's a mess every second. You're not her gopher, don't let her turn you into one."

"I'll keep that in mind." Shizuru said quietly as she noticed a set of keys on Mai's belt. They were not unlike Nao's own. "Do you work here too, or did you happen to pilfer the manager's keys?"

Lavender eyes fell to the storage keys, and then a blush crept onto her cheeks. "Oh these, they're mine. I'm covering for a part-timer. A while back, I used to work here, and I'm friends with the owner. Sometimes, though, they get a little shorthanded and I fill in. The extra spending money comes in handy."

"Mai get your tight ass over here and leave my scrub alone!" Nao bellowed.

Mai had her back to Nao, and took the time to slap her butt cheekily. "Kiss it, Nao."

"Bitch…" Nao grumbled.

"Technically, she's my scrub too since I'm on the clock." Mai shot back, sticking out her tongue, before turning back to Shizuru. "I apologize in advanced. She's a little abrasive, but once you get to know her, she's really easy to work for."

…
(Mai, Natsuki, and Nao's home.)

It was nice to having a working dishwasher again, Mai decided as she loaded it up and clicked it on after her evening meal. The house was quiet. Nao was asleep, Natsuki was at work. With the solitude, Mai had easily lost track of the hours before she knew it. A knock came at the door, robust enough to be an acquaintance, and yet, gentle enough that she knew it wasn't Tate or Takeda.

"Door's open." She said absently, as she noticed the tall male outside.

At her invitation, he opened and stepped inside. "I brought coffee."

She sighed closing her book. It was already late, but Reito never did know the meaning of early to bed, early to rise. "Thanks." She said softly, moving over to offer him a place to sit. She took the offered drink. "Can't sleep again, I take it."

"Marry me." He said with a smirk, but he saw the woman shake her head as soon as he said it.

"For the last time, no." She smiled either way. "Insanity means to keep trying for something expecting a different outcome."

"Then perhaps I am fit to be tied, but, it was worth a try." Reito murmured as he sipped on his coffee. "One of these days, I keep thinking you'll make a fortuitous mistake and actually agree to it. A man can dream."

"Only if I was really drunk." Mai shrugged. "Then maybe, and even then it wouldn't hold up. You know that too. Now come on, marital vows were not the reason for you to show up at this time of night."

Of course he knew. It's what made them fairly good friends. "Work was murder to be honest. Sometimes I think you had the right idea getting out while you could, sales are murder."

Mai wasn't quite sure. "I was in retail." She said quietly. "You take on far more than I ever did. I'm amazed that you can keep yourself together. The hours are killer for you, I know that much at least."

The shipping of foods and goods from one place to another, while lucrative, was also a lot of work. Undertaking that kind of company wasn't a simple thing. Reito was being groomed for the role by his uncle, much to the young man's displeasure. Still, he valued his family, and the trade, so he hadn't turned down the offer. She'd be lying though, if she said she didn't worry about him.

"Paper pushing is really getting to you, isn't it?" She asked from behind her disposable cup.

"That's putting it mildly." He murmured after he loosened his tie, and unbuttoning the first two notches in his shirt. "My thoughts on the subject are things I would never say in the presence of a lady. Especially not one with whom I'm trying to curry favor."

"I'm a woman Reito." She said to him with a tiny smirk. "And might I remind you who I live with. What flies out of a person's mouth has nothing to do with gender."

"That is a point." He conceded as he did the same to his sleeves, rolling them up to behind his elbow. "Allow me to put it this way then. I keep telling myself that I won't put in more than twelve hour days. Then thirteen hours later I'm blaspheming the clock because I'm still behind. It's like it never ends, and needless to say, I didn't feel like going home to my empty room tonight."

"So you show up here instead. I understand. Well, keep it up, you'll retire young." Mai said to him brightly, but she could tell it fell on deaf ears. "It's better than living paycheck to paycheck, and you do like what you do…most of the time."

"Yes, well, family obligations aside, I'm considering against the company take-over." Reito mentioned as he set his cup on the slanted table. "I've been thinking, I don't need all that much to get by…less than you three do, at any rate. I don't have to work these insane hours."

"Reito…" Mai sighed licking her lips. "You're stressed out over nothing, and, you're lonely. You really do need to find a wife."

"I've found a wife…" He said, looking at her. "She refuses to say yes."

Mai rolled her eyes. "And I'll keep refusing to say yes until kingdom come. Contrary to popular belief, I don't need a man constantly in my life. I'm happy the way things are, honestly, and so are you." She turned to him then. "Besides, if I was your wife, you'd run fleeing from your own home even more than you do."

"Maybe your right…" He sighed with a shake of his head. "We weren't exactly harmonious when we dated."

With a shake of her head, she maneuvered behind him, and began to rub at his stiff shoulders. He was tense, depressed, and lonely…she understood lonely. They were close friends, with a history that she really appreciated as she grew older, but she did miss him on an intimate level. Reito was the first man that she had ever been with, and they had both been young and unbelievably stupid at the time.

His shoulders slumped as he began to relax, and ever so softly, a question fell from his lips. "Have Natsuki and Nao patched things up yet? After their drinking binge last week, I knew things between them were pretty bad."

That was a loaded question. "I honestly don't know, Reito. Those two…well, they don't talk about it. I think they're in denial." What that meant for her two friends though, Mai wasn't sure, and she sighed at great length. "I did a lot of experimenting when I was younger. Between you and Natsuki, I found myself…what I liked…what I didn't…what I wanted out of my future…Nao's still trying to find herself, but she's so guarded."

"And you aren't?" Reito bit out between a laugh and a hiss as she found a tender spot.

Mai nipped her tongue, she was guarded, and she wouldn't deny that. It was a deeply rooted problem. She took a breath. It was a hard thing to explain, and frankly, she didn't want to try. "We aren't having this discussion." She kissed him gently on his shoulder, and hugged him tightly. "I love you as a friend, Reito…really, I do…but that's where it stops. You have problems putting that separation up."

"I want more than that." His words were simple, but direct and clear.

"You want a nice well-mannered wife and a home maker, and I don't fit that bill." Mai told him softly. "I need more in my life. I want more too, need more, than to wait for my husband to come home and kiss me on the cheek, and then crack a beer. You're a good man, Reito Kanzaki, but you'll need a woman who challenges you in more ways than I could. Trust me. I'm just not it."

…
(Maruyama)

Shizuru was sure that Nao was following her home, though the redhead said nothing as she walked along with hands in her pockets, listening to some sort of music that was loud enough to drown out the world around her. In fact, she seemed to be going at her own pace. It just so happened that her pace included raunchy singing and a six pack of cold beer.

Shizuru tried to ignore it, recalling what Mai said. Nao was a housemate, so she lived nearby for sure, but then, Shizuru turned down her own street where the share-house was, and Nao did the same.

"Panties in a twist?" Nao grumbled as she pulled her earphones out. "You keep giving me this pissy-ass look."

Shizuru shook her head. If she was indeed angry, Nao would most certainly be aware of it. "I was merely wondering if Mai asked you to escort me, since it's so late."

Nao laughed, the word 'shit' slipping in-between the air between them. "Listen, Mai walks these streets at night all the time. Can't take care of yourself, you have no reason to be working late shifts."

"I have mace in my purse." The fawn haired woman admitted. "I'm not entirely defenseless, I assure you."

"Not enough if you get in a scrap." Nao said, but then eyed her cautiously. No one would want to scrap with Shizuru, she was too prim, too perfect. It was just too off putting over all. "Ah, most they'd want out of you is that purse of yours. They'd never scrap with the likes of you."

"Who says I might not with them?" Shizuru asked Nao honestly. "I'm not a person to mess with, though I don't look it."

"Really…" Nao sighed, giving Shizuru a pointed look. "You've got to work on that back-talk of yours. No employee of mine is going to be strutting around with her underwear half-way up her ass. It's degrading."

Dropping the matter, a silent truce, Shizuru changed the subject. "So, if you aren't following me deliberately, what brings you to the share-house?"

Nao grinned dirtily. "Got a boy-toy that lives here."

"Oh…" Shizuru left it at that as she unlocked the front door. She let Nao come in behind her, instead of pressing the buzzer. There was a kitchen near the front and they both walked into it, two young men sitting around the table.

"Nao…" Among the two men, it was the blond who spoke. "You're late, thought you might be skirt chasing. Heard that was your thing."

"And miss poker night? Fuck you too, Tate." Nao cackled.

He pulled a wrapped condom out of his pocket and waved it. "One with your name on it."

"Later, and it had better be ribbed." Nao shot back, cracking open a beer and sliding it across the table. She saw Shizuru trying to sneak out of the room with a glass of water, and grinned darkly. If Mai liked this girl, then she was sure to be fun. "Hey! Scrub, where the hell do you think you're going. You earned yourself a drink, and besides, any friend of Mai is a friend of mine."

"You know Mai?" This time it was the dark haired man who spoke, nursing his newly acquired beer.

"More than know her, way more." No muttered knowingly as she saw a fawn eyebrow raise in shock.

"Excuse me?" Shizuru reeled, unsure what to think of that venomous tone.

The boys were equally shocked by this information. "Nao…I don't think this is a good idea."

"Oh, come on, don't give me that look. Mai was like a dog in heat all over this chick today. Made me want to puke." Nao said before sauntering up to her, lowering her voice to a near silent register. "Listen close, scrub. I know she fucked you, so I'm going to do you a courtesy of getting to know our little tribe." Nao said quietly enough that only Shizuru heard her. "Sit your ass down, have a real drink. It's time to piss away our earnings, or make some bank. Show me what you've got."

She turned to Takeda "Deal her in and get the tunes on. It's time to lose our heads up our asses."

"As if you haven't already done that…" Tate said as he cut the cards.

Takeda gave Shizuru a strange sideways glance as he dealt. "Um, apologies in advanced."

It was a test, but Shizuru wasn't sure if she passed or not. They'd stayed up late, and even though she wasn't particularly a fan of compulsive gambling, Nao's colorful personality had proved to be a form of entertainment. Midway into the game, a dark haired man had joined them, and Shizuru had more than enjoyed his humor. It was more subtle, and it seemed to infuriate the redhead at her side.

That was the best karma.

Somehow, she managed to avoid getting drunker than a skunk, but the others, Reito included, didn't seem to be so lucky.

Shizuru retired late into the night, not thinking too deeply about the fact that the redhead had disappeared into the room across the hall from her, on the second level. "Boy-toy indeed…" Shizuru murmured to herself as she turned off the light.

Really, it wasn't any of her concern, as long as she didn't have to hear any of it, and by the sounds of the music, they were doing a very good job of drowning themselves out.

In the room across the hall, sex was never soft and sweet, it was rough, angry, and quick. It never lasted long, never needed to. Just something to take the edge off, that's all that either of them wanted. They were friends first, and left it at that.

"A fuck's, a fuck." Nao would say, if the man asked how she was feeling afterwards, as he always seemed to.

"You staying the night?" He asked when she finally caught her breath.

She watched him clean up, tying the used condom tightly and dumping it in the trash, along with a few antibacterial tissues. "Maybe…" she said, scanning the floor for her pink and white panties. "Don't really feel like walking home. You give a shit of I crash out?"

He just rolled his eyes and handed her a pillow. "Be my guest, but at least find my boxers."

She smacked him in the face with the plaid garments, rolled over, and went to sleep.