Herokii

When I woke up Satan was curled underneath the covers, his head resting on my leg. For the past week he's been so over excited that he actually passed out on several occasions. The fact that Grii has visited almost every single day hasn't helped. The dog was a lot like me… He didn't like Grii either. Every time the man tried to pet him, he'd growl or even make to bite him. Good boy.

Beryl has been pretty busy trying to set up a date for with the poet but I have thwarted all. I didn't want to be anywhere near the man besides, I already have a boyfriend. Just because the jerk says that Soul will cheat on me doesn't me he will. Soul is Soul. I know he's keeping his promise. Grii's just jealous.

Thank god today is the last day that I have to suffer on this ship. After this, Grii will never mess with me again. Just a couple more hours and I'd be off this ship, in Soul's arms again. Just the thought of being with him can bring a smile to my face. Most of the time I've spent with Grii he'd assumed I was smiling for him. Idiot.

The cruise itself had taken us to three different countries. I didn't bother memorizing them because I didn't like any of them all that much. I couldn't say the same for Satan though. He marked his own territory in all three countries. Funny.

Satan yawned and crawled out from under the covers, his nose inches from my face. He knew it wouldn't be much longer now. The puppy was ready to step foot on our homeland.

There was a knock on our door and Satan and me knew immediately who it was. The puppy growled and barked frantically, trying to scare him away but he just knocked again. I really hate that man.

Beryl unlocked the door and Grii stepped through with another present. Something he probably bought from the last country we were in. He's given two other ones, one each from the other two countries. He handed me the present and stood there, waiting patiently for me to open it. I just sat it on the bed and turned around to get back to sleep.

Beryl wouldn't have that. "Herokii, it's morning. You need to eat something. Come on, up you go." I love Beryl. She's my best friend. But lately, I've started hating her. I blame Grii. It's all his fault. "I'm pretty sure they have rolls and hash browns again." When didn't they?

I got up and shoved past Grii to get to the bathroom. I decided that now would be a good time to take a shower because I wouldn't be able to take one later until I got home. It was a long drive home. My clean clothes were already in the bathroom; I put them in there last night because I knew that Grii would visit this morning.

I didn't take very long in the shower because halfway through it my stomach started to growl. I quickly dried myself and slipped on my favorite outfit: dark blue short-sleeved shirt over a white long sleeved sweatshirt and a pair of light-blue baggy jeans. I stepped out of the bathroom while brushing my hair to find that Grii had taken it upon himself to make up my bed for me. Like I couldn't do it myself when I got out, sheesh!

"I'll take Satan out for a walk," Grii suggested to me. I knew he didn't want to because of the way Satan treated him and I didn't want him to because Satan didn't like him but the thought of Grii having to do something he wouldn't like- I couldn't pass up the chance. I handed him the leash and he left, the dog with it's tail between it's legs. He was scared of Grii. I felt bad for letting Grii taking him on a walk but Grii was already gone when I finally changed my mind.

"Come on, let's go upstairs and eat." Beryl took me by the arm and lead me out the door. I knew Grii would meet us up their with Satan in tow. We took the glass elevator up and I watched as we passed the ballroom, the one place I never got to enjoy because Grii was there. He pestered me throughout that night, asking for me to dance with me. First off, I didn't know how to dance and second, if anyone asked me to dance other than Soul, I would refuse each time.

When we got to the dining floor all the restaurants were packed. Our usual buffet was so full that we had to stand outside of it just to wait for a seat to become available. I didn't feel like standing outside when the weather looked like it would turn on us in a second. I complained to Beryl about it and she agreed. We chose a different restaurant this time. We at least got to sit down inside while we waited.

A few minutes passed by and there was a knock on the window behind my head. I turned to see Grii and Satan. Grii was waving at me and Satan looked scared to death. When Grii finally got in through the door Satan yanked on the leash so hard that Grii's grip on it was loosened. The dog sped towards me with delight.

"He wasn't very hostile towards me this time." Grii said as he sat down next to me, much to my dismay. "Not a single bark."

"That's a relief," Beryl said to him. "I thought he would give you a hard time."

The man shook his head. "He's probably used to me now."

"Or just scared of you." Grii looked at me like I had slapped him again.

"There's no reason for him to be scared of me." He stated. "Besides, I really do think he got used to me." Grii is so stupid. "I think you are the one who is afraid of me, Herokii."

"Damn right I am, and for a good reason too." I said. Beryl looked at me like she was about to inflict pain on me. I didn't care.

"For what reason are you scared of me?" He asked me. I shook my head at him. I didn't want to tell him I was getting; I believed they called it, bad vibes, from him.

"I just don't trust you, that's all. So get off my back and leave us alone already." Beryl responded to that by backhanding me. That's the first time she's ever used violence on me. What was her problem? Couldn't she tell that I didn't like him?

A table cleared and we were lead to one. Beryl sat next to me and Grii sat across from me like the first time. This time, however, Satan was sitting at my feet. The waiter brought out a dog bowl full of dog chow and sat it on the ground in front of Satan. The puppy happily lapped it up.

"What would you like to drink?" He asked me first.

"Water, no lemon." I told him.

He turned to Beryl. "I'll have a water as well."

"Milk, please." Grii told him. The waitor left us. Grii turned back to me and smiled at me. Thank god today was the last day I had to see him. "Of all the drinks in the world, why do you always ask for water… and without a lemon too?" He was teasing me.

"He's picky." Beryl answered for me. "He doesn't like very many drinks, including soda. But, I guess that's a good thing considering how unhealthy some of the foods he doesn't like are." She flipped through the menu rather quickly.

"That is good. I'm glad he's healthy because most picky eaters aren't." Grii told her and glanced at me. I gave him the evilest death glare I could muster up. It didn't do much. He's gotten used me doing that. He looked down at his menu.

"Please stop talking about me," I said. "I'm right here you know."

Beryl turned to me with an apologetic look on her face. "Sorry, Herokii. It's just that you never like to talk around Grii." She looked like she wanted to say more but stopped because the waiter came back with our drinks.

"Have you decided what you would want?" He asked us. He turned to me again.

"Do you have any oatmeal?" He did. I asked for brown sugar to go with it. He turned to the others and after they told him what they wanted he left.

"Anyways, Herokii, there was something I'd like to ask you." I stared at Grii for a couple of seconds, waiting for him to say something more.

"What?"

"I know you don't like me all that much but I really think you should give me a chance." I didn't like where this was going. "If you change your mind, I'll gladly be there for you. What do you say?" I didn't say anything and he sighed.

--

I quickly stuffed my bags on top of Satan's cage in the trunk of Beryl's van. This time he wasn't so scared. I smiled and waved at him before I closed the door on him.

The passenger's door was already open so I slipped in. Beryl had sat the unopened present on the dashboard that Grii gave to me earlier this morning. I closed the door and Beryl took off.

I looked out the window and watched all the buildings we passed by on our way to the cruise pass by me in reverse. My heart was pounding in my chest. I was almost home. I was almost with Soul again.

After maybe an hour we passed by that same store that I had been waiting outside for Beryl. A quick glance and I realized that the gang was still there, picking on another unfortunate victim.

When we finally arrived at my apartment, it was already noon. Beryl helped unload all of my stuff. My suitcase was a rolling type so I lifted up the handlebars and rolled them to the side, waiting for Beryl with Satan's cage in her hand. I struggled with the suitcase as I climbed the stairs but my friend had no trouble with Satan.

There was a box sitting in front of my door but I ignored it and instead rested the suitcase against the wall as I fished my keys out of my pocket. Sliding it into the keyhole and turning, there was a click and the door came open. I brought the suitcase in and laid it on the couch. Beryl closed the door behind us and let the puppy out.

The dog immediately rushed to my bedroom. I watched as he fell asleep on my bed. I wondered if there was something wrong with him because he was asleep the whole time we were on our way home.

"Well, I've got to get going." Beryl announced as she turned to leave. "Dante probably couldn't handle all those demons by his self. Oh, and Herokii…" I turned to see her toss the present to me. "Give Grii a chance. Just open it." I watched her leave.

I tossed the present onto the kitchen table without a second thought and went straight for my answering machine. There were two messages.

One message was from Dante. He wanted to know what kind of job I had gotten from Guilty Pleasures. As to why he just didn't ask his uncle was beyond me… The other was from Soul. I smiled as I listened to his voice. "Herokii, once you get back we need you right away. There was a big fight here shortly after you left… I'll pay you money… and maybe the other- thing." He was very cautious of what he was saying. Vergil or someone else was probably there close by listening in on him. "Well, you should have already received your uniform… if you didn't then that's alright… I guess." He hung up without saying goodbye. Typical demon.

With a sigh I opened the front door again. The package was still there. I brought it inside and sat it on the table, opening it carefully; afraid to find out what kind of uniform Soul is going to make me wear. There was nothing to fear.

My uniform was a long-sleeved white dress shirt with a black and white pinstriped vest along with a pair of black dress pants. There was a note underneath the clothes. It read, Try to wear classy black shoes or boots with your uniform- love, Soul. Ah… he said love. How cute.

I shed my clothes and dressed into my uniform. They surprisingly fit because I never told Soul my size. But… then I remembered that Soul was Dante's uncle. Dante could've told him. I paused before I put the vest on. How old is Soul anyways? He's as old as Dante's father I know that much. I shook those thoughts out of my head and slipped on the vest.

When I was done I checked myself in the mirror of my bathroom. I stared at my reflection for some time and even turned around to see how I looked in it. For once, I looked like a responsible adult… not considering the fact that this uniform was for a strip club… heh.

The dog barked and I remembered that I was not wearing any shoes. That's right. I wasn't even sure if I had any black shoes at all. Let alone a pair of shoes that are classy. I ripped through my closet in search of any pair of shoes that would look good with my uniform. I found none. Not even black sneakers. Go figure.

Without even looking a pulled out the nearest pair of shoes and slipped them on. After tying the shoelaces together, I stood and looked down at my feet. I hoped Soul wouldn't be too mad at me for wearing a pair of shoes that didn't go with my outfit.

I took a deep breath and held it and quickly counted to ten. Then I let it out. I was really nervous. My first day on the job and I was already going to be sick. But then the thought of being with Soul again crossed my mind and calmed me down.

I was ready to go to work.

--

As I stepped into the nightclub, a blast of cold air washed over me. I quietly closed the door behind me, still nervous about my first day on the job. I gasped at the sight I saw.

Most of the tables were overturned or sliced clean in half. The chairs were in piles all over the place and splinters of wood had been scattered about. Then there was the large gap in the flooring almost under my feet. And I had to clean all of it.

I started with the chairs because I really couldn't do anything with the tables because the tables were so big and needed more room stand. Room they didn't have because the chairs were in the way. Every once in a while I would find a broken chair and would toss it into a pile on the stage. I'd ask Soul what to do with them after I finished cleaning up.

When I was done with the chairs, I flipped over the tables and tossed a few broken ones onto the stage. After that I immediately started wiping the tables and vacuuming up the splinters. When I was finished there was a large pile of wood on the stage but other than that the room was clean. Except for the giant gash in the floor; that, I didn't know what to do with. I had a feeling that I probably needed to fill it with something from a store like Lowes or something. And then I would need to replace the carpet. No. I'll just tell Soul how to handle it and he could do it himself. I'm not going to spend money on it when I'm going to get paid for it. That's like not getting paid at all.

The whole thing took less than half an hour to fix up. I would have to ask Soul what I should do with the broken tables and chairs.

I wiped the sweat off my forehead and made my to Soul's office. I stopped when I heard rustling behind the door. And then a moan… the memory of Grii pinning me to the bed came back. He said that I shouldn't trust Soul. Maybe I should have listened. But then I shook my head. He wouldn't do that.

Then I opened the door.

Soul and a young man were tangled together. Naked. Grii was right. "Herokii!" Soul shouted when he noticed that I was at the door. Without moving from his position on top of the other guy Soul slammed the door in my face. I was in pain. It's been only two weeks since we had gotten together but my first boyfriend was already cheating on me.

TBC…

Author's Note: Sorry if this chapter seems a little short. I was busy with other things and the fact that I hadn't updated to the tenth chapter until just maybe a week ago (after a whole year), I thought that you guys deserved another chapter. I hope it didn't come out to short for you.

Review please?