"What kind of bread would you like?" Kisame asked the last customer of his shift.
"Uh, I'll take an Italian."
"Want it toasted?" A NO START condition's been found on a vehicle with electronic fuel injection and an ignition without a distributor.
"Nah, I'll take it plain."
"Alright." Next is the ham and vegetables. "What kind of vegetables would you like on your sub, sir?"
The customer brought his fingers to his chin and stroked his beard. "Tomatoes, onions, lettuce and uh…"
Technician A tells you that you should only use a DMM (digital multimeter) to check voltage values on PCM (Powertrain Control Module).
"…ah what the hell. Throw some green peppers on there too."
"Okay." Technician B says you should use a tool to test for a spark at one of the spark plugs. Who is right? "Would you like anything else to go with your sub, sir?" Kisame asked.
"I'll take a bottled soda." He answered, nodding in the direction of the soda case.
"Will that be all?"
The customer, who had made his way over to the soda case, sat a bottle of cola on the counter and nodded. "That's it."
Kisame nodded in return and set to work slicing the sandwich in half and quickly wrapped it up to go. DMM to check voltage values on PCM or tool to test for a spark at one of the spark plugs… "That'll be $2.43 sir."
Once the man swiped his card and received his food, Kisame turned on his heel and began to pull off his apron. "Mangetsu! I'm leaving!" He called into the back room where his manager was checking inventory.
"You sure you don't want so stay for the rest of the night, Kisame?" He smirked.
Kisame sighed in mock-disappointment. "You know I would if I could, Mangetsu, but I've got a meeting with a lawyer in an hour."
Just then, Suigetsu appeared from around the corner donning an apron of his own. "A lawyer? What'd you do? Traffic ticket? Drug possession?"
"Suigetsu." His older brother warned.
"Caught with a prostitute?"
Mangetsu brought down his clipboard against the metal rack with a loud clang that echoed through the back room. "That's enough. Kisame's personal affairs are none of your business so stay out of it."
"What? I was just askin'. What's wrong with that?"
"It's none of your business so you shouldn't have been asking in the first place." Mangetsu said and resumed what he was doing.
Kisame wondered if Itachi and Sasuke ever bickered with each other like that. Maybe when they were younger. From what he could tell, Sasuke was much more mature than Suigetsu was even though they looked to be about the same age. Speaking of Sasuke, if Kisame was late to this meeting with a lawyer Sasuke personally recommended, he'd never hear the end of it. "Well I better get going. Don't wanna be late."
"Take care, Kisame." Mangetsu said on his way out.
Kisame raised a hand in acknowledgement.
Once he exited the restaurant, he walked straight onto the road until he was standing in line with the cars parked along the edge of the sidewalk, waiting to cross the street. It was half past five, a time when several businessmen and women were commuting home from work, resulting in heavy traffic coming in and out of town. There was so much traffic rushing by in fact, that Kisame didn't notice Miru standing at the bridge until he had crossed the street.
"Miru?"
"Kisame?" She gasped and hurriedly looked out over the glimmering water that stretched as far as the eye could see.
"What are you doing here?" They both asked in unison.
"I just got off work, what are you doing here?" Kisame answered and leaned on the heated guard rail, hot from absorbing the brunt of the sun's rays all day. The fact that it was a sweltering ninety degrees outside didn't help matters any.
"Just…thinking." She sniffed.
Something wasn't quite right, Kisame knew. Only once had Miru met Kisame's eyes and that was partly because she was startled by his sudden appearance by her side. And there was a rough edge in the tone of her voice that had suggested she'd been crying. "Thinking about what, exactly?"
"Everything. My career, the person I live with."
It wasn't long ago that Kisame was thinking about the very same thing in the very same spot that Miru was standing in. But the things Kisame was thinking of at the time was whether he should jump or continue to fight tooth and nail for a better outcome. "Is everything alright? You can talk to me about it you know that right? You used to talk to me about everything."
Miru sighed. "It's nothing, my boyfriend and I just aren't seeing eye to eye is all."
"Aren't seeing eye to eye about what?" He was scraping for answers here.
She tilted her head up and gazed out onto the horizon. "He thinks I should spend less time 'playing with my children' and more time grading papers so I don't have to stay late or bring so much home with me every night but he doesn't understand what I do at all." She said. "I don't just play with children all day, I teach them. And since I'm so busy teaching them how to add and subtract and how to read, I can't grade papers at the same time. And I have to plan out my lessons and run copies during my planning period and grade papers on top of that. I'm not a preschool teacher; I don't spend all day playing with my students, I spend all day teaching them. Preparing them for the next step in their education, but all he's concerned about is me watching him play video games or cooking dinner for him when he gets home. I'm sorry but that's not how it works."
Kisame nodded every few seconds, taking all of it in so he could find the right words to comfort his long-time friend. "It sounds like a lot of work. What you do, that is."
"It can be." She laughed. "And I'm still kinda new to this teaching thing! I don't have a whole lot of experience like some of the other teachers do, and I don't have all of the same materials as some of the other teachers either! I'm just trying to keep up and give my students the best, you know?"
Kisame nodded even though he didn't fully understand. He didn't need to. Miru was new to her job and had a lot on her plate. The least her boyfriend could do was be supportive, even if it just meant listening to her talk about her frustrations. "Have you told him any of this?"
She nodded, appearing as though she'd cry any second. "Several times. This isn't the first time we've had this argument either."
He sounds like an ass who's not worth your time and energy. Is what Kisame wanted to say to her but unlike her boyfriend, he was trying to be considerate of her feelings. It was bad enough that she was already stressed out to the point of tears. It wasn't his place to make things worse for her. But as her friend, it was his job to be honest with her, right?
"I know what you're gonna say. You're gonna tell me that he's a jerk and that I should dump him but I don't want to be like those couples." She explained. "I don't want to be the girl who breaks things off with a guy when things get hard; my parents didn't raise me that way."
"Can I ask you a question? Would your parents want you to try to make things work out with a guy who doesn't understand what you do for a living? Who doesn't understand that you love what you do or why you wake up every day to do it?"
With that, Miru's lips quivered as her eyes began to brim over with tears. "No." She whispered.
"As your friend, I wouldn't want that for you either, Miru. Now I may not know the guy, but you're right, I do think that he's an insensitive asshole who doesn't have the right to make you feel the way you're feeling right now. Does he even know that you're here?"
She shook her head. "We had this argument over the phone before I left. So instead of preparing tomorrow's morning work and preparing the afternoon science lesson, I'm crying on the other side of town."
Kisame looked her over. He hated to see the girl he'd been friends with for almost two years like this. Shoulders shaking as she tries to hold back tears. And all because of some douche bag who only cares about himself. If I was your boyfriend, you wouldn't have to worry about coming home late. I'd understand.
"Does your school allow visitors after hours?" He asked her.
"What do you mean?"
He scratched the back of his head. "Well I was going to offer to help you get your stuff done at the school. That is, if I'm allowed to."
She wiped her eyes. "You'd do that for me?"
Kisame smiled. "Any time. You know that."
"You don't have anywhere to be tonight? I thought you worked a couple of jobs."
Shoot. That meeting's in an hour. I wonder if I can cancel…I'll just text Sasuke saying that something came up and that I can't make it. "I'm free all night." He assured her.
"You're the best, Kisame." She said, and pulled her car keys from out of her purse.
"I try to be."
So um...everyone who thinks Sasuke will be pissed off say "Aye." *raises hand* And that is what to expect in the next chapter which will be a Kisame chapter (as far as I'm concerned).
Added bonus: I might update that chapter relatively quickly since I have a clear idea of what I want to happen next! (or I may not update so quickly as I have a busy week ahead of me this week...)
****To the Guest who left a review for the last chapter on April 24: Thank you thank you thank you! The emotions are kinda easy to write (if you know what I mean - doubting Kisame, angry Sasuke, I'm-fine-I-don't-need-any-help-Itachi), and the characterization just sorta follows and the pacing...I'm glad you like it! I actually have an electronic calendar that I mark with when every chapter occurs so I have an idea of how fast things are going ((mild spoiler: It's currently July 31st and Kisame's test is set to take place on August 23rd~ ;) ) But any who, the review made me super happy and I was so ready to respond to it when I realized I couldn't because you're a guest but hopefully this little shout-out remedies the fact!
****To AbsoluteAnarchy AND The Secret Sal: Does Kisame's advice to Miru sound a wee bit familiar to either of you~? *shifty eyes*
Until next time~!
Sasori33-001
PS: I did look up an online practice test and slightly rephrased one of the actual questions I found on it. I also took a 14 question practice test about engine repair and received a 57% on it! :D Don't let me fix any of your cars any time soon!