Ange: Another update! This time it's not yet a random new story. I will finish that random new story though (hopefully). Anyways this is the next installment of t"The Laundromat". Forgive any ooc's that may have slipped in this chapter
Disclaimer:…
The Laundromat
Step 5: Wait
Kaidoh was soaked smelling strongly of detergent. The place was spotless now but he was a mess. A clean mess however that worked out, but still a mess. Absently wiping the few stray soap suds from his face he raised his tired eyes towards the clock. It was past dinner and he was still stuck here. Looking around he didn't spot Inui.
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A sense of dread passed over him.
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Had he dipped out while he was busy cleaning up his mess? That didn't seem like Inui though, although recently Kaidoh didn't quite know what to classify Inui as anymore. Kaidoh gave up looking for him, convinced that he had left him alone to fix up his mistakes.
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He looked over at the still broken machines. He would go grab something to eat, that's what he'll do. He would sit down and fill his stomach before he lost his hold on his gradually escaping temper. Then when he feels that he could look at this place without seeing red he'll clean up the remaining evidence of his sempai's error.
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But first dinner called.
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Leaving the store Kaidoh didn't hear the faint sounds of someone tinkering away on one of the broken machines and her cetaintly didn't see that same sameone grabbing a set of tools that lay ready beside him.
Kaidoh returned to the Laundromat, his dinner of sushi putting him in better spirits. Usually he didn't splurge on something so pricey but he deserved it after all he had to go through today. Returning to the Laundromat he noticed that the lights were on, lights that he knew he turned off before leaving. Keeping his guard up he unlocked the door, quietly walking in.
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"Hello," he called out in a gruff tone his eyes wary of any intruders. "I know you're in here so you better show yourselves."
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Kaidoh walked between the aisles of machines looking for anything out of place. Who would want to break into a Laundromat is beyond him. While thinking about that he stumbled across something. Looking beneath him he realized that something was a someone and that someone was a sempai.
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Inui sempai to be exact.
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Kaidoh stepped back in surprise. There were machine parts littered around him and a toolbox was close by. Had he been here the whole time working on the broken washing machines? Inui was asleep now, passed out cold on the floor still clutching a screwdriver in his hand. Kaidoh bent down to remove it and his glasses, now feeling the guilt for even thinking that Inui abandoned him.
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Turning away from his sempai he picked up where Inui left off, determined to make up for the slight he gave to his now fellow employee.
Inui woke up to a sore back and an empty stomache, it was the hunger that had brought him out of his sleep. The last thing he remembered was trying to fix the washing machines seeing that he couldn't find Kaidoh anywhere. Inui stretched without moving, a skill he picked up over time. Opening his eyes a blurry ceiling greeted him. He turned his head but his blurry vision prevented him from being able to find his glasses which weren't on his face like he expected.
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"They're on top of the microwave in the back, along with your dinner," Kaidoh's voice absently greeted him as it echoed from the confines of one of the washing machines, "make sure you eat it before it gets cold."
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Knowing Kaidoh couldn't see him he thanked him with a froggy murmur, his throat still recovering from his long nap. Just how long had he been out? He stumbled his way towards the microwave using the machines around him for balance. After putting his thick lenses back on he went to the bathroom to freshen up and awake his still foggy brain.
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His stomach grumbled again reminding him of Kaidoh's promise of dinner. Sure enough once he opened the microwave there was a bowl of fresh noodles with steam still wafting from the top. Inui inhaled the aroma recognizing the noodles being the ones they served at the high class soba shop at the edge of town. It was at least 2 miles just to get there and the place is pretty expensive for a noodle restaurant too. Had Kaidoh went through all that trouble just for him?
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Inui returned to Kaidoh, for once at a lost at what to say or even think. He found him still working on the same machine this time having gravitated towards the rear of it.
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"Thank you," Inui said to Kaidoh somewhat contrite that he had him cleaning up his mess, "And sorry for all the trouble I caused today."
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Kaidoh only grunted in response his attention focused entirely on the work at hand.
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That didn't bother Inui in the least though, already use to his behavior. The famished boy jumped up to sit on top of one of the machines intent on his dinner. And so Inui slurped up his noodles eyeing Kaidoh as he worked and Kaidoh repaired yet another machine both not minding the other's company.
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And in the back of Inui's mind he had to admit he didn't really mind working here with Kaidoh.
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And the same thing could be said for Kaidoh…
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Now if only Inui would just stop calling him sempai.
A/N: Ahhh, um so I don't know how I feel about this one. It took on a life of its own and I'm not sure whether I like the end product or not. Hopefully everyone who reads it does though. The title chapters are so lame I might start fresh with them too. They went from corny to pathetic. Anyways, don't forget to review and hopefully I'll be updating my other stories soon now that I'm on break.
Quick Laundry Fact: A single load of laundry, from wash to dry, takes an average of one hour and twenty seven minutes to complete.