雪代 零華

The phrase actually brought a pang of nausea to the boy’s malnourished chest. Debt was hardly a reality for the vast majority of Kairos’ teenaged population, but for Squall Leonhart, it was a horrible, painful reality. From the moment he’d stepped forth from his parents’ house in Paralia and took the train to the city, never again to return to their wretched abode, Squall’s life had been a neverending string of "you owe me this", or "I’m putting it on your bill".There was no visible trace of this train of thought, but for a split second, a fraction of a moment, Squall looked Reika dead in those blue eyes and believed she was entirely serious.

Then common sense filled in the gaps. Last time he checked, this city wasn’t filled to the brim with millionaires. And those were the only kinds of people who could, who would be insane enough to buy a meager meal for ten thousand dollars. Besides, the bread and cappucino were delicious, but hardly worth such an extravagant price. Quickly realizing she was pulling his leg, eyes narrowed and filled with a subtle sort of suspicion. What sort of game was she playing at…? Of course, the idea of her employing him in a roundabout sort of way didn’t immediately cross his mind. This city relished in his suffering. It missed no opportunity to kick him to the dust and spit in his face. So how could it be that he was finding himself hired by a woman the same day he’d been fired from another job and thrust into a pit of despair? It just didn’t make sense.

The youth crossed his arms over his chest and cast his gaze to wooden floorboards. “Sorry if this isn’t what you want to hear,” Squall announced after a lengthy pause to mull over what had just been offered… no, thrust upon him, “But this is too good to be true.” He exhaled. Everything about him could be described as heavy. Squall stood like heavy weights were constantly stacked upon his broad shoulders. His face was permanently heavy with fatigue and weariness. Even his breathing was heavy, as if he inhaled each breath and kept them in his lungs as long as he possibly could, in fear of that air being the last he’d ever taste upon his tongue. The brunet lifted his eyes, casting hollowed eyes upon the young cafe manager.

At first, she'd assumed that Squall was going to turn down her offer. That thought in and of itself was disheartening. However, when he continued on, Reika was pleased to discover that that wasn't the case. If Squall could be described as heavy, then Reika Kuze could be described as light. She moved as if nothing could hold her down, spoke as if no one could bring her down, and even acted in a way that would lift the spirits of those around her. Nowhere more was that evident than now, as she sat across from a man who had clearly taken a beating at every turn. Reika only smiled as he spoke - airing out all of his concerns and thoughts. Only when he was finished did Reika speak once more. "I guess it could seem like things are too good to be true for someone like you. Life bullies you too much and then when someone offers you a hand, it would be only natural not to place much trust or value in that person. However..."

And here, Reika paused to draw a breath. "As I said before, I think it's the duty of people to help one another. I can't promise you that you'll be paid a fabulous sum of money for your work, but it's better than nothing." The way he looked at her hurt her - that dead look in his eyes caused Reika no small amount of pain. The female sighed softly. "It's not really about your talents as a worker or what your abilities are. But it's also not about pity." She had the feeling that would have been the conclusion he'd jump to had she not added in that particular little part. "I have a duty to help people who need help. You look physically capable enough to me. You're not stupid, either, so anything you needed to do you would be able to learn with relative ease." The young woman leaned back in her hair, gazing out the window. "And your presence is comforting." Another pause. She should probably expand on that. "I employ mostly females. Kairos isn't a bad city, exactly, but can be a little stressful."

Reika's eyes closed. "We were robbed three weeks ago, actually. I was in the store alone, thankfully, so no one was harmed. But still, it was frightening." Reopening her eyes, she looked to Squall with a soft smile. "The way you look would probably ward off a few potential thieves and bring in a larger female clientele. But beyond all of that, there's one main reason why I'm hiring you." And here her smile brightened considerably. "I'd like to reverse what the world has done to you. All that pain, all that suffering. I'd like to take it away from you. This is just the only way I know how."

Obviously, it’s hurt and needs to be carried, but her first instinct is to open the door and make it walk on its injured paw. In a lot of ways, that could be a ridiculously deep metaphor for human resilience, but this is a dog. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, and Zuko is just about to crouch down and scoop the thing up so he can get on with his life when Reika flits down at the sound of a whimper and starts to look like a well with all the water in her eyes.

There, hand half outreached, Zuko hears himself laugh as she feebly tries to heave it up onto her tiny frame. Ha. Weak people. Before she can even finish her request, he’s knelt down and hefted it up like a baby (he really doesn’t know how to treat dogs. Something tells him he’s eaten more than a few in a past life).

"I got it," he says, sounding half dismissive, but he stops in the middle of the door way. The bell above the hinge is tilted over the top, one centimeter from a ring.

"…Anything?" That sounds like exactly the kind of deal he wants to strike. "How about a few things? Uncle has an…" A what? Endless pit in his stomach? The gut of Santa Claus? "…Appetite." He sighs a bit and takes slow, heavy steps into the brightly lit cafe, waiting for the door to shut before continuing. "He really likes the food you’ve got here—" There’s some sort of baffled hitch in his voice, a sound no more than half a second long. "He says it tastes like there’s love in it."

Zuko adds “Creep,” as an afterthought. He doesn’t need to say it for Reika to hear it.

"Oh! Is he your uncle?" Apparently Reika recognized the older male from the sparse description she was given. Laughing softly as she pulled out the items she would need, the female brushed back her hair with a soft smile. "Sometimes when he comes in we talk about tea. He's quite knowledgable. That must make you his nephew, then." Carrying the first aid kit over to the table, she scratched beneath the dog's chin before looking up at Zuko once more. "He talks about you sometimes, too. I think he's tried to get me to date you once or twice! You'll have to forgive my rejections." Bowing to him briefly, Reika turned her full attention to the dog. Kneeling down to examine the bleeding paw, the female drew a deep breath when she caught sight of the damage. A glass shard. "Okay. I'm sorry, buddy. Here we go..." Picking up tweezers, she carefully extracted the piece of glass - grimacing as the dog whimpered loudly.

Once the glass was removed, Reika began to gently clean the wound. "What a brave boy you are. Good dog." A long pause followed before she spoke again. "I'd be thankful to have an uncle like your's. My family is no longer around. He's quite kind." Reaching for the bandages, Reika began to wrap the dog's paw with practiced fingers. "It was thanks to them, though, that I was able to open this cafe. And it is thanks to you that I now have a new friend." Giving the dog one last pat, Reika Kuze turned to gaze at Zuko with a gentle smile. "Now then, what can I get you?"

This daily trek to the cafe literally two blocks down from their own is another thing that puts Zuko’s follicles in danger. Zuko isn’t scouting or doing reconnaissance or anything even remotely useful in the grand scheme of things. He’s getting snacks. He’s getting pastries so that Uncle Iroh can eat them. Inside of his own cafe. Down the street. While selling his own pastries.

Zuko groans and tries to keep his cool, closing his eyes and exhaling hotly through his nose. When he squints his eyes open again, the clerk from that very cafe is crouched down by a dog with its paw in her hands. It is obviously bleeding, and she looks up, as if genuinely bewildered— her words bring Zuko to a gentle stop beside the whole scene and his face comes into its resting state (which looks like a ridiculously angry glare).

She asks him if he knows anything about dogs or animals.

"I guess I could take him inside. After all, the owner wouldn't object." A brief but bright smile showed itself on her lips. Perhaps he got the joke. Perhaps not. Placing the dog's paw back down, she pulled herself to her full height and sighed. "Okay. Come on, boy. Let's go inside." Opening the door to allow the dog in, she waited patiently for the animal to budge. However, when it tried to put pressure on it's foot, the poor thing yelped in pain. At once, Reika was at it's side again - stroking it's fur soothingly while whispering teary apologies. All it had taken was one sound of pain from the dog to bring tears to the young woman's eyes. "I-I'll just be a moment. I need to get this dog inside before I can help you."

Circling her arms around the dog's midsection, Reika strained to lift it. The scene was pathetic - all these grunts of effort and the dog's paws didn't even lift off the ground. Ruffling her hair, Reika glanced up at Zuko sheepishly. "Ah, would you mind picking him up and carrying him inside? I'll give you whatever you want for free. Anything in the whole store, really!"

Throughout Reika’s speech, Squall did little more than offer her a blank stare. Freebies and kindness didn’t help anyone get far in this city… that much Squall knew first-hand. To him, it was a true miracle a woman with such a soft heart had made it in Kairos. If he— the indifferent, hard-working individual lived such a struggle to stay afloat financially, how the hell did she have her own business and living quarters in what appeared to be such a comfortable building? It was utterly mind-boggling, and had Squall not learned to keep a tight leash on his thoughts, he easily could’ve made that known to her as he sat across the table.

"Thanks…" He muttered, "But I don’t need anyone’s help." Turning his gaze back to that appetizing meal, Squall heaved a quiet sigh before reaching into the pocket of his fur-collared jacket. Withdrawing a thin wallet, he fumbled for all the change he had left within its threadbare confines. And once he had a satisfactory amount in hand, he leaned forward and placed a fistful of coins in front of Reika. "If you won’t take that, I’m gonna work for the food. I’m not having it for nothing." Glancing around the cafe, he took note of all the things that needed to be tidied up and cleaned. Then, with great reluctance, Squall took the bread in hand and took a bite.

"Do as you wish." Her words were murmured softly to him as he took a bite from the bread. Even someone with the strongest sense of pride could not ignore starvation. He devoured the bread in a way that didn't shock Reika in the least. If anything, it reaffirmed her assumption that this person was in dire need. He ate the way a stray dog or cat did when offered food from a stranger - quickly, as if it would be pulled away from them at any second in some cruel sort of joke. "You can take some of the bread home with you if you'd like. I'll put it in a bag for you. Otherwise it will be thrown out. You'd actually be doing me quite the favor." She hadn't expected him to pull himself up to stand as soon as he finished eating. It was strange, honestly. The young woman had the oddest sensation of deja vu, as if she'd spoken to someone as foolishly stubborn as this stranger seemed to be. Shaking off the feeling once he spoke, Reika took a deep breath and pulled herself to stand as well. He was only a few inches taller than she was, but his mere presence made him seem like he stood an entire foot taller than her.

Reika took a deep breath, fixing him with the most stubborn and intent gaze she could muster. He wasn't going to take help willingly. Especially not from her. So there was one thing to do. "Well, you see, you can't afford it and you can't really work it off in one night..." Folding her hands behind her back, Reika smiled brightly. "That slice of bread was made from particularly rare ingredients and the cappuccino was also made from the best ingredients money could buy. So, actually, you owe me..." And here she paused, tilting her head to the side as if doing the sums in her head. "At least ten thousand dollars. So you'll be working off that amount of debt. Because you won't take it for free, that's how much you currently owe me. But having you work gratis is probably quite illegal. So I will pay you for your time and take a cut from each paycheck until you have made enough to pay me back." Despite the happy smile on her lips, Reika had made her point quite clear: Squall Leonhart was her employee now. Whether he liked it or not.

     “I’m glad you’re alright, then.”

Aqua tried not to embarrass the other any further and decided to help her in getting the books back in order to the right shelves instead of simply standing there uselessly, staring at her as the books refused to stay in her arms. With a quick mumble of “let me help”, Aqua crouched down and began gathering up some of the many books lying about. Once she got a decent amount, she stood up and began placing them next to each other on the shelves—was there a certain order this bookshop went by? With the way it looked when she first stepped in, she highly doubt it. Trying to find that out now was probably going to make cleaning this mess take way longer than it should.

The azure haired woman looked at the other when she spoke—a main chef? Wow, that was really impressive! Aqua nodded at her first question before another question sprung up. Looking at the Thai book in mention as she returned another book, Aqua chuckled and waved her now free hand dismissively.

     “Spicy is a bit too much for me.”

Aqua tried only one spicy dish of her own making and she steered clear of them for good after that. It was probably her fault, with the amount she put, but she never really thought about trying again after that burning mistake.

She listened to the woman talk as she bent down to pick up some more books from the floor and her smile from earlier returned. It didn’t bother her and Aqua preferred conversations over dead silence. Organizing books didn’t really need that much of her attention to stop her from hearing anyone. When Aqua realized that the dark haired woman was actually trying to help her find a cookbook, modesty got the better of Aqua and she almost dropped the books she held trying to free one of her hands.

      “T-that’s very kind of you but there’s no need—“

Oh, too late, the other was already looking. Aqua didn’t have the heart to stop her when she seemed willing to help. She returned to her earlier task, her eyes skimming through the contents on the back cover of some of the books she returned until the other stood up and offered her hand to shake alongside a brief introduction. Aqua returned the smile and shook her hand.

     “I’m Aqua, owner of…way too many beginner cookbooks.” She said, almost embarrassed at the fact. “But that sounds pretty amazing. Are you here for your café, then?”

Glancing up to Aqua with gentle blue eyes, Reika smiled once more. Indeed, it seemed that this particular person was all smiles and kindness. One had to wonder if it was all genuine. "It's nice to meet you, Aqua. And you're correct! I am here for my café. I wanted to see if there was anything here that would catch my eye. Since I own it and operate it myself, I need to ensure that we continue to bring in money. That means making our menu more interesting than our competition. Not only do I have to change it up often, but I need to find new and interesting things to try out." After a moment, Reika laughed once more and shook her head quickly. Gathering up the rest of the books around her feet, she set about placing them on the shelves with a gentleness that could be considered reverence. What a strange young woman. "Listen to me, talking business. You know, my staff actually forced me out today. Apparently it's all I ever think about!"

But…

    …she really needed to expand on her culinary knowledge.

She, thankfully, now knew how to cook and yet the only times her taste buds ever got the chance to try something new was whenever she went out to eat (and that didn’t happen too often) or invited over to dinner at a friend’s house. Eating the same foods almost every day became a dreadful routine her taste buds cried out against. So here she was, at a bookstore she found on her way home to teach herself something new. It didn’t seem too busy so Aqua stepped inside. Even with the mess and books stacked on top of each other like small mountains, the place seemed to have a welcoming atmosphere to it that brought a smile to Aqua’s lips. Carefully walking between bookshelves as to not disrupt the stacks of books sitting on top of them, blue hues skimmed over the titles printed on the visible book spines, some colorful and some bland. Fiction, non-fiction, sciences, history, art, cooking—-wait, there it was!

Aqua examined the assortment of cooking books arranged on the shelf while musing over what kind of recipes she was looking for. She pulled a book from the collection and flicked through the pages…ah, she was still going to need so much more cooking experience before she could make any of the dishes in this book. Aqua returned the book to its original space and looked for something else until she noticed a girl stretching for a book placed higher than what her fingers could reach. Aqua was about to ask if the girl needed any help but instead her expression turned into one of shock once the girl was greeted with a batch of books falling over instead of one.

Ouch.

Even with the confirmation the girl let out that she was fine, Aqua couldn’t help but furrow her eyebrows worriedly. She looked at the books now scattered on the floor and then back at the girl.

     “That looked like it hurt—are you sure?”

Placing her selected book on the shelf, Reika bent to pick up it's fallen comerades. She'd managed to pull a few off the ground when one of the books popped out of her arms and fell onto the ground. By the time Reika reached for that one, another fell. This pattern went on for a few minutes before finally (with a defeated sigh), she began picking the books up one by one. "Are you looking for recipes to try out?" Reika asked the question brightly, trying to play off the embarrassing incident as best she could. "If you're a beginner, I can help you find something. I manage a café a few blocks away from here and I'm the main chef there, too." She'd just been in the process of putting a book back when she stopped and looked down at it. A Thai cookbook. "Do you like spicy food? This might be of interest to you!" Placing it on the shelf next to her own, Reika knelt down and began the task of looking through the various cookbooks - with or without Aqua's help or input. Perhaps it was pushy, but it was at least pushy in an almost motherly way. It seemed that Reika Kuze truly wanted to help the other.

"Oh! Here's another one on things you can leave on the stove for a few hours. But you shouldn't keep the stove on if you leave the house. Perhaps that isn't the best idea. If you're more advanced at cooking, though, I think I saw a few books that fell which housed more difficult recipes. One even landed on my face before it hit the ground. It's here somewhere. I remember it because it looked like it had some interesting things in it..." Frowning to herself as she searched for the mysterious book, Reika glanced up at the other once more before blinking. Oh right. She should probably introduce herself, seeing as this woman had been concerned enough to ask if she was okay. Popping back up onto her feet, Reika smiled brightly and held out a hand to the other woman. "My name is Reika Kuze. I'm the owner of The Confluence Café."

(What…?) Squall blinked. After the events of the day, to say he was shocked by her sudden kindness would be an understatement. Though there was no way of telling it by his expression alone; his eyes were dull and his lips were parted ever so slightly… the equivalent of a mouth agape for someone like him. Uncertainly, he reached for the cup. Fingers hovered above it until Reika spoke. (Are you serious?) He couldn’t help but think, (You’re… giving this to me for free…?)

Instead of taking what was given to him, Squall chose to adopt a deer-in-headlights look, caught completely off-guard by the turn his day had taken. It definitely wasn’t enough to cancel out the verbal beating he’d taken at the cash register, and couldn’t even begin to remedy his lack of employment, but it was still something. Moving his hands to his lap, Squall glanced down at the plate and observed it like it were separated by a glass wall. He felt so miserable, and this was probably the best food he’d been in the proximity of since he’d begun living in Kairos. It took all of his willpower to leave it untouched. (I don’t need handouts.) He told himself, stomach growling at the scent of bread and cappuccino.

Reika’s presence was beyond awkward for the leather-clad boy. Conversation was hardly something he was talented at; wasn’t that the reason he’d been fired in the first place? And besides, he had no desire to share his sob story with anyone but himself, let alone the owner of a coffee shop he’d never crossed paths with until now. Squall’s gaze trailed from the plate to the young woman herself. His look held a fraction of its normal intensity as he examined her, as if gauging how genuine her intentions were. “It doesn’t matter.” He finally announced, “I just… haven’t gotten much sleep lately.”

It wasn’t a lie to withhold part of the truth, right? Squall drew in a ragged breath and leaned back in his seat. He threw a look towards the window of the shop to watch the busy passer-bys outside… where Reika had been looking mere minutes earlier. Silence hung in the air. What else was he supposed to tell her? Without turning back, he added, “No offense, but… talking isn’t going to help at all.” It suddenly occurred to him that he’d yet to remove his nametag from the store that had just cast him away. Squall reached beneath his jacket to unclip the tag. He held it in his hands for a moment, then placed it on the table beside the plate face-down. Kneading his temple, he quickly said, “If you want me out, just tell me and I’ll go.”

"I don't think that's true." Reika lay her hands flat on the table once he was finished, her expression serious. "I think talking helps a great deal. So I'd like you to talk to me about it. We can even start with introductions. My name is Reika Kuze. And you are Squall." A brief, playful smile. Thanks to the nametag, she at least knew his name. But the way he scrambled to take it off and the way he put it face down - combined with how tired and beaten down he looked - told Reika more than one would have assumed. Still, she didn't speak her assumptions out loud. Instead, a look of surprise crossed her features. Wanted him out? "You may stay as long as you like. I don't mind. I live above the store, so you aren't troubling me in the least. Please, stay. The remaining bread has to be thrown away and I have to clean a little bit, but that can wait. If you'd like, you're welcome to take anything you want." Still-fresh loaves dotted the shelves behind the main counter. It gave the impression that in the morning, those same shelves were stocked to bursting. Reika certainly didn't seem to be hurting for business.

Once more, she turned her head to look out the window. "It's supposed to sleet tonight, I believe. Do you live far from here? If so, I can walk you home. I would say drive, but I don't own a car. Or if it's very far, you could always stay over." It seemed like such a length to go to for a stranger. Reika smiled all the same, though. Squall looked as if he hadn't come across much kindness in his life if his scar was anything to go by. Reika Kuze wished to fix that. "If neither sounds good, then at least take my umbrella with you when you leave. I get the feeling you won't stick around much longer." A pause. "It probably seems strange to you, someone offering a complete stranger their home or food. I get that a lot. A few of the girls here tell me that it's a bad habit to have." And here Reika laughed sheepishly - ruffling her hair before fixing Squall with that same serious gaze. "But please trust me when I say that I have no motive other than to help you. I feel like if I don't say that, you'll think I'll expect something out of you." Offering him a kind smile, Reika looked down to her hands. "People are meant to take care of one another. I'm just fulfilling that philosophy."

"…excuse me, young man?"

A nasally inquiry stirred him from a light slumber. Squall roused from the counter, inhaling sharply as he opened his eyes to the sight of a customer and the basket of clothes that accompanied her. Everything from her furrowed brow to her lips pursed into a fine line screamed utter displeasure, which begged Squall to ask himself the question, (…how long have I been out?) 

The brunet blinked once, then twice, before the gears in his head began to spin. He reached forward to scan the customer’s purchases, every motion mechanized from routine and practice. Eartips burnt red with embarrassment. There was no excuse for him to drift off on the job. Sure, he’d spent the last few weeks running back and forth from school to work to home only to repeat the cycle after a lackluster sleep, but there was still no excuse. Squall could feel the woman’s condescending gaze sweep across his features as loud 'beep’s signaled each clothing article being registered into the system. Tallying up the purchase as quickly as he could to make up for the time he’d spent dozing, Squall soon announced, “That’s sixty-four dollars… and twenty-two cents.”

The woman shook her head, pulled out a thick wallet from her purse and searched inside for the appropriate funds. Squall watched in silence, eyeing her abundance of money with the slightest twinge of envy. Or at least he watched until she quipped, “You know, if I had a lick of sense, I would report you to your manager right now.” Squall hastily diverted his blue gaze to move the clothes into plastic bags, but she continued: “I don’t know why an establishment like this would hire someone so careless. You children think you can just sleep wherever you want… save it for home, why don’t you?”

(…alright. I get it.) Squall’s lips tugged into a scowl. Above the rustle of plastic bags, he could hear the brushing of bills as the customer pulled them from her wallet and laid them atop the counter. Today, fatigue bogged him down too much to breathe a single word in response to the berating. Unfortunately, this woman was the type to be spurred on by silence, as he would immediately discover. “Honestly…! If I owned this place, I would do a much better job in selecting my employees. Lazy, discourteous, and ragged-looking…” Squall glanced upward. Eyes pulled into narrowed slits. The woman had finished withdrawing her payment, but clearly she hadn’t finished her business here. Staring him dead in the eye, she gestured across the bridge of her nose where a scar would’ve sat had she been Squall. “I can only imagine what you did to get that awful thing. And look at that piercing… I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re one of those cutthroat thugs that are always prowling around town like wild animals…”

If she was purposefully trying to provoke a reaction, she had chosen the wrong person to insult. Squall offered little more than a tired shrug, took her money and offered her the bags in exchange. (…are you done now?) He wondered, before promptly receiving his answer.

"Don’t give me attitude, young man. I’m only trying to help you out and offer you some advice… the least you could do is thank me," she huffed, shooting him a glare in return for his blank stare. "Do yourself a favor and use the money you earn here to clean yourself up, instead of using it for… whatever it is you do." It was lucky that the customer chose to cut it short there. She turned and strutted away, barely missing the twinge of irritation that flashed across Squall’s face. Every cent he scraped together went towards his bills. Every dollar he made was barely enough to keep him from losing everything. Not that she would understand… that woman likely had life offered to her on a silver platter.

Resentment and frustration churned in Squall’s gut. He leaned forward against the counter, resting his forehead in his hand. Fortunately, he had not long to dwell on the woman’s judgmental commentary. There was a tap on his shoulder mere minutes later; Squall straightened himself out and snapped to attention… or at least, as much attention as one in his fatigued state could muster. The question, "…can I help you?" was on the tip of his tongue, but Squall hadn’t the chance to speak. His coworker gave him a curt nod, then said, “The boss wants you.”

Four words, yet they were enough to open a gaping pit in his stomach and extinguish the rising flames of anger within him in an instant. Squall’s face betrayed no hint of his inner emotions, however, and he simply gave them a nod in return. Stepping away from the counter to make the short journey from the cash registers to the manager’s office, Squall had nary an idea of what awaited him. Little did he know, it would be the icing on the cake of his day.

Unlike the store proper, his boss’ office was dimly lit. Shelves of books and little knick-knacks to spruce up the room rested against one wall. In the corner sat the manager’s desk, wooden surface clean and pristine as the man who sat behind it. Squall knew little about him: his name was Thomas, he always arrived at work in a crisp suit and tie… and most importantly, had a hair-trigger temper. Suppressing his nerves with a thick swallow, the youth came to a halt in front of the desk. Thomas looked at him but made no invitation to sit in the chair across from him; therefore Squall continued to stand, breathing naught a word until his manager spoke first.

Silence could not reign forever. Eventually, Thomas’ head drifted to the side. He leaned back in his seat, running his fingers across a clean-shaven chin. “Squall Leonhart… that’s your name, right?” Without waiting for an answer, he asked, “How long’ve you been working here, now? Two, three months?” Squall opened his mouth to state that, actually, he’d been here for about half a year now. Once again he was cut off. “You do realize that, as a cashier, you’re the face of the company… right? And I’m sorry to say, but… you haven’t been putting on the best face lately, Squall.”

He had no argument for that. The moment those words slipped from Thomas’ lips, he knew exactly why he’d been called to this office. Squall’s stomach sank lower and lower as the seconds dragged past. A mixture of horror and exhaustion brought his world to a halt. Half of his boss’ words went in one pierced ear and out the other— only the bare point of his long, drawn-out charade was ultimately received. Squall had been fired. Or as Thomas would put it, “released for the greater good of the store’s future”. One moment, he found himself standing in that dimly office. And in the next, he was out on the streets after finishing up his last shift, deadened to the bustling evening around him.

He was barely clinging to his cramped apartment as it was. Even after working himself to the very bone to keep up school appearances and pay for his housing, Squall was barely there. One slip up and he would find himself on the streets… or even worse, crawling back to Paralia to face the music of his parents. No… no, returning to Paralia wasn’t even an option. He would rather wither away and die on the streets of this city than attempt to seek the help of the people he was forced to call his mother and father. Turning to cast a final glance at the clothing store that once paid his bills and put food on his table, Squall exhaled a heavy sigh. Then, without a second thought, he took off down the pavement, opposite of the direction he usually went after work. It was Tuesday night. But Squall was not heading home to prepare for another day. Actually, he had no idea where he was going. Perhaps it was he simply didn’t care anymore.

Dusk faded into early night. Squall continued to walk, hands thrust into the pockets of the leather coat he could only afford from employee discounts. Discounts which he no longer possessed. Cars whipped past him along the roads. People crossed his path and rushed by as they hurried to reach wherever destination they were heading to for the night. It was a long, long time before Squall came to a halt. And even then, it was only because the cold of night had finally gotten to him. The brunet caught notice of an open facility; he had no idea what it was, nor did he check to see. He simply nudged the door open with a shoulder and entered inside, acknowledging after a moment of examination that he had, in fact, stepped into a café.

Squall paid no attention to his surroundings. A miserable atmosphere clung to his figure. He dragged himself to the nearest empty seat. It took all of his willpower not to lay his head down on the table and lament his situation. The only thing that prevented him from doing so was the presence of so many other people. Squall had to be strong. He could not afford to show these strangers how weak he felt, how hopeless and bleak his situation seemed. But Squall was tired. So, so, tired. He was tired of the nonstop stream of work. He was tired of fighting tooth and claw to live. He was tired of combating his parents by living in Kairos, and yet he was incapable of stopping. The energy had been sapped from his body. Physical exertion was growing more and more of a challenge with each passing day. Pale blue eyes radiated fatigue… and so, Squall could not help but put his vulnerabilities on display, if only in the form of a resigned hanging of his head in his hands.

The young woman had just finished taking an order for a birthday cake over the phone when Squall pushed his way through the door. If it had been someone else, she might have greeted him with a happy 'welcome to The Confluence Cafe'. However, as it was, her blue gaze grew concerned. A cloud of despair seemed to hang over him. One of her employees - a college girl three years her senior - seemed to catch sight of the concern slowly forming in her boss' eyes. "Miss Kuze, we're supposed to close now. You should just kick him out..." "It's fine. You go on ahead. I can close the store by myself tonight." Flashing a winning smile to the other female, Reika turned to the cappuccino machine. By the time she'd finished making the drink and slicing a thick slab of bread for the stranger, it was just the two of them left in the store.

Reika said nothing as she slid the plate in front of Squall - the cup nestled next to the bread in such a way that it was a miracle both were balanced on the tiny little plate. She'd even managed to make what appeared to be a flower in the foam of the drink. "Don't worry about paying, okay? If you try, I won't accept it anyway." Smilng softly, she turned from him briefly to ensure that the sign in the window now read 'closed'. Then, the young woman did something that she was unsure of - she slid down into the seat across from him. "Take as long as you need." After a moment, she turned her head to gaze out the window as a few people rushed by. Truth be told, it was a little awkward to sit like this with a stranger. Reika folded her hands in front of her on the table before looking back toward him with a smile.