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Chapter Text

"Hey, does that job pay you enough?"

After Neil heard that he was confused, wait, who was this guy talking to? he looked around and found no one else, he was taking care of a winged fox at that moment so he tried to respond as he could.

"U-uhhh.. No.. But I enjoy it!" Neil said, looking a bit confused, he wanted to stay here for longer taking care of the animals, but the Shop was about to close soon.

That was... A bit weird, but the man didn't ask any more questions, thinking that the conversation was over he focused on his work, and when he looked around for the fox he saw them walk away.

"Ahhh! Come back here!" he said playfully running towards it with a smile on his face. When he got a hold of the fox he hugged them softly, they flopped their wings and scratched him in an attempt to escape, looking very annoyed.

Neil pouted. "Hey! Don't be like that!" he said sounding sad but still trying to calm the struggling animal.

"Aww, you just want food, right?" the fox looked even more annoyed, he had just been fed minutes ago! they shook their head profusely, pointing their paw to the exit door.

Neil stared at them, taking some seconds to decipher the message. "No sir!, you're not going outside again! last time you caused a rocuss," he remembered briefly the time they escaped.

The fox pouted, wait can foxes pout? Neil shook his head and arranged the fox in his arms as if they were a child. "You're going to bed, good sir!" he heard them sigh. Heading to the cages he carefully put them in theirs.

That was the last one! He thought proudly, grabbing his phone to check the hour, "8:20 pm, just in time!" with a big smile on his face he went to say goodbye to his boss, running toward him for a big hug.

"Bye, Mr Panda! Gonna miss you!" Neil said rubbing his face in his fur.

"Take care, kid," he said.

Neil let go and headed out but froze at the door. "W-what if I stay with them?" he asked the panda, unwilling to exit.

"You'll see them tomorrow," the panda said, used to his antics.

"O-okay, Bye!" Neil waved his hand as he exited, walking towards the apartment.

The walk was dark and a bit cold, he wore a sweater but still buried his head in his scarf, and all he could hear were the thumps of his feet against the concrete sidewalk and the wind, it was a long walk, about 20 minutes, but he enjoyed the calm, he could think about the day.

Well, mostly the animals, he just wanted to think about them but besides that, it was a good time to think about the future, he wished he could spend more time with Lilly, but he needed to work to even go on a short trip to eat ice cream. That's a bit sad...

But still! He was grateful for all he had, his room, his friends, his work. He huffed feeling content, humming a little song while walking back home.

Thump thump thump

He paused, quickly turning his head to the sound scared out of his mind. "W-who's there?.." he asked.

He then saw a man, the same one he saw earlier, they were lifting their arms. "Relax!, I mean no harm"

Neil glanced at him carefully, he had a red cap and looked in his mid-20s, he looked harmless so he sighed in relief.

"A-ah, you scared me," Neil said putting a hand on his chest, sounding shaky.

"So. About what I asked earlier" he started, a bit informally. "I'm sure that job doesn't pay you enough," he said confidently.

Neil immediately waved him off. "W-well, don't worry about me!" he laughed awkwardly "I'm doing just fine"

The man hummed, thinking. "I can give you a job that'll pay plenty," he told him while making a money gesture with his hand. "It's a simple, you know."

Neil looked conflicted, so he took his time to think about it, well, he could appreciate extra money. He imagined all the fancy dates he could have with Lilly. 'Nini! You're the best!" 'You're so cool!' he kept thinking in her voice.

He said it was simple, but what if he isn't made for it? What am I thinking He doesn't even know what the job is about!

"So? What's your answer?" the man said kindly.

"Uhm.. S-sorry, what is it about? T-the job, I mean" Neil said unsure.

He chuckled. "Oh, you'll see, don't worry about that, I'm sure you're a bright kid" he had a smile on his face.

Neil was embarrassed at the compliment. "Uhmm.. Sure! B-but I want to go home, it's late'" he said scratching the back of his head.

"That's fine! I apologize for the late talk, it doesn't need to be right now." he searched for something in his pocket "Here's my card, call me when you need to."

"O-okay.. Goodnight sir!" Neil said while walking away from the man and towards his apartment, walking faster than normal from the excitement, holding the card dearly.

It just had a name and a number.

"John, huh he's from somewhere else, his Chinese is pretty good though!" He said out loud, happily moving his tail and ears.

"Oh, I see the building!" he beamed and put the card in his pocket, hurrying to get home.

Quickly going up the stairs and opening the door with his key.

"I'm back!" Neil said as he entered.

"Hi." Lynn said while cleaning up the floor.

"Ahh, so bright Nini!" Ira covered his face jokingly, walking up to him "Welcome back, how did it go?" 

"Pretty good!" Neil said proudly while taking his shoes off. "It was a calm day"

"Ah yeah? Lucky you! It was a mess over here" he angrily gestured to the cushion which was torn apart, there was fur in it. "Because a 'Certain Someone' decided it was a good idea to treat the poor cushion as a rat!"

Neil chuckled, amused by the whole situation.

"I've told you to put Damao on a leash," Lynn said nonchalantly, not shifting his sight from the floor.

"at this point, it's not my fault! You gotta talk to him!" Ira snarled, sounding tired, annoyed, and a bit sad. "My limited edition Dracula cushion... That idiot is gonna pay for this" he quietly said biting his lip.

Lynn didn't respond, choosing to not put more wood to the fire, ending the conversation there.

Neil went upstairs to his room and changed into his pajamas, putting the card on his bedstand. Yawning he decided he should sleep, so he plopped himself into the bed and sighed.

He tiredly hid in the sheets like a worm, falling asleep quickly.

the fox has such fluffy fur... He dreamt, petting the animal in his dreams

---

Neil woke up early preparing for work.

"Wahhh" he yawned while stretching out of his bed, the floor was very cold, putting on slippers he headed to the kitchen downstairs, still half asleep.

He didn't enjoy it when he had a morning shift, he liked to sleep till 9 a.m., but he wasn't that discontent, the animals in the shop were calmer at that hour, so he guessed it was a fair trade, besides, he had the rest of the day for himself!.

Neil arrived at the kitchen and opened the fridge.

"Let's see, half-eaten blood lasagna... No thanks, Ramen? Hmmm" he paused for a second, looking around. "W-wait what is Dog food doing in the fridge?!" he hissed to himself, looking disappointed. "Ahhh.. Guess I'll have to make my food" he sighed.

Guhhh, if only he had enough money to eat whatever he wanted. He tried to ignore the thought.

Neil glanced at the clock, he didn't have much time to spare so he quickly got to making the instant ramen. "I hope Ira won't mind it.."

After he put the hot water in the cup he ran back to his room to change into his uniform. Then waited for the food to be ready to swiftly eat it, barely tasting it.

Brushing his teeth and tidying his hair he was ready to go. The others were probably just waking up or in their rooms, so he didn't bother to say goodbye.

Today was going to be a great day!

,

...He was wrong!

Neil fell asleep in the middle of the job, so not only did he get into trouble, but a Kitty escaped while he didn't notice.

So now he was looking for them while someone else substituted him, Ahhh he's in so much trouble

"Kitty kitty! Pss pss pss!" he said frustrated while dangling a cat toy, he's been looking for the cat for 15 minutes now,  walking and searching in every corner for that damned floof.

Looking around the shop didn't work, so Neil chose to open the perimeter farther from the pet shop. His legs started to ache, he,'s never been the fittest of demons but he needed to catch the kitten, maybe his nerves were getting to him.

The Black kitty could make unlucky things happen if something annoyed them, but he thinks he had done a good job so far, maybe he just felt like going on an adventure.

He would feel bad if someone got cursed because of him, Neil winced at the thought, he'd caused so much trouble already.

"Kitty! Come back!" He dangled the toy and then heard a meow "There you are!" he smiled running towards the sound.

He was disappointed by the sight.

Meow

Wrong cat... This one was white with spots.

Thag went on and on until he heard a hiss and a scream, oh god oh god oh god, his mind screamed at him.

He was sweating bullets from running around, but he made it just in time. Neil was panting when he got there, he glanced at the angry cat full of relief.

"Finally!" He ran to grab them they didn't struggle, instead, they were giving a masty look to a short woman beside him.

She pointed at the cag. "That devil! It bit me!" she screamed then held her hand tightly, which was barely scratched.

Neil didn't know what to do, his mind gave him thousands of unwanted opinions. 'Oh god, I'm getting fired!' 'it's over for me!' 'I can't even do a simple job right..' he was dazzled.

The snapping of fingers made him flinch.

"Do something!" the woman yelled in his face. "Get me to your manager, young man! Kids these days are so careless" she tsk'd.

Neil was shaking "Y-yes ma'am!" he could only agree, his voice watery, almost crying from the pressure.

"I'm so sorry I let this happen!" Neil pleaded, bowing while holding the cat.

"Keep the excuses to yourself" she responded looking annoyed.

The woman scolded him as they made their way to the shop, Neil felt like a grounded dog with his tail and ears down.

At the door, he gulped before opening it. Neil saw the boss pacing in a circle, clearly anxious.

After the panda noticed him they hurriedly walked towards him to grab his shoulders.

"Neil! Where were you? You took 34 minutes looking for just a cat?" they sounded disappointed.

"i-..." He started to try and defend himself, but he found no justification to revoke it. "I'm sorry" he looked down, and he heard a sigh.

"what am I going to do with you" he hardly heard from the panda.

The woman behind him tapped her shoes impatiently. "So?! Who is going to fix this? I need compensation for the damage!" she grumbled pointing at her hand.

"What?.." the panda responded alerted.

"I'm not repeating myself, you can't keep such an unresponsible boy!" she said.

Neil lifted his head, mind racing. No no no, he looked at his boss desperately.

"Neil..." the panda frowned "...we'll have a chat later," he concluded, heading to the woman.

"I'm sorry for what happened, I'll discuss this with my employee and make sure it never happens again, as for the compensation, I'll arrange it as best as I can." they professionally said.

Neil didn't listen to the rest of the conversation, he was tired, he stank of sweat, and was covered in scratches and cuts from the previous days, he wanted to go home and rest.

After what felt like seconds, the woman left the store looking satisfied.

...

"Neil" his boss called firmly.

"Y-yes?" he chirped.

"After you put the cat in their bed, please sit down"

"Got it.."

Neil did as he was told, petting the cat unenthusiastically, then walked up to a chair and sat beside the panda.

"I'm. Fed up, I'm sorry kid, but it's apparent all the missteps you've made" a pause. "You've worked for some months here already, and I can no longer ignore the mistakes you keep making."

"E-eh?..." he swallowed the incoming tears.

"You're a good kid, I'm sure there are better jobs out there, maybe this one was too much for you." the panda patted him on the back trying to give comfort.

Neil didn't say anything.

"You can come here to look at the animals from time to time, but you can't work here anymore." they bitterly said. "I can't give a salary to a worker who doesn't do their job right, you know money's tight" his no-longer-boss said.

"I.. Get it, h-have a nice day." Neil said suddenly getting up and speedily exiting the store.

He ran to his apartment, frustrated, crying, out of air, he wasn't in the right mood to think about the situation, he might have pushed his boss into letting him stay.

When he got home he heard familiar voices welcoming him, but the ringing in his ears didn't let him pay attention to them, so he went upstairs to his room, almost tripping up in the process.

He sobbed loudly and lay in his bed without changing his dirty clothes.

He didn't want to think about anything or anyone.

He ignored the knocks on the door and the concerned voices behind it.

Chapter Text

Neil woke up to the light of his window, the warm sunlight lit up his room, in a way, it was cinematic, the beautiful sight made him smile, and he stayed in bed a little longer.

He smelled around and winced, but he didn't smell the best, it didn't bother him enough to get up and take a shower. Though he was hungry, he had forgotten to eat two nights in a row so it wasn't unexpected.

"I don't wanna get up" he wined to himself, rolling around on his bed, his stomach rumbled but he just curled into himself, well, this happened every day, but at least today he worked a bit later-

"Wait-" it hit him.

Oh god, I don't have a job anymore! He clutched his head, I'm such an idiot! He was frustrated, but he understood what his boss had told him.

He took a big breath "At least I can go see the animals later..."

"W-wait-" it hit him again.

How am I going to pay for my apartment and food?! He hissed under his breath, he hurriedly looked around the room for his wallet, immediately opening it when he found it.

"three bills of 1000 yen, some coins- " He quickly counted. "I- I-" he desperately looked in every corner of his wallet but found no more.

3100 yen (19$), what could he even buy with that? He tried to make sense of the situation, his monthly pay was supposed to be in the next few days, but he wasn't sure if he would even get paid since he got fired.

This is bad, really bad, he walked in circles to steam off some of his nervousness.

He should- probably get going normally, he would go insane if this continued, he took a deep breath and headed downstairs.

"Nini!" He heard someone say from downstairs while he was in the middle of coming down.

Neil turned towards the noise "Hmm?" he said intelligently, slightly blinded by the light since he just woke up.

"Good morning!" Lilly greeted. Neil could see Lynn and Ira in the living room, the two who had turned their heads toward him when they heard his name.

"G-good morni-" he let out only to be interrupted.

"You worried us sick!" Ira said getting up. "What happened yesterday?" he asked sounding concerned.

At the mention of it, Neils's mood instantly plummeted, his tail fell with a thump while he collected his thoughts. "W-well" he began, avoiding eye contact. "I may or not have gotten fired.." his voice quieted with each word.

"What?! What for?! You loved that job!" Ira said dumbfounded, even Lynn looked stunned, pausing to drink his coffee thrown off by the sudden news.

Lilly didn't seem to care regardless. "That's a shame! can't you just look for another one?" Neil knew Lilly was very positive and easy-going, but the crude statement lowered his ears further.

"I've been getting in a lot of trouble and... It isn't that easy to look for a job." Neil replied while holding his elbow ashamed.

Lilly looked confused if anything, but she didn't push it. "Either way, I'm sure you'll do great in any job! Cheer up!" she held her fist in the air suddenly looking enthusiastic.

"Ehh.. Y-yeah!" Neil threw his shaking fist up in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Are you sure it's fine, Neil?" Lynn inquired unconvinced of the talk, his mug settled on the table.

"Y-yep! I'll figure it out for sure!" he said with a small smile on his face, looking better than some seconds ago.

Ira winced. "I mean- You know what date it is"

"Huh?"

"Ya know... Rent? It's due in 2 days."

Neil immediately passed out, falling to the floor.

"Nini!" "Neil"

,

-this student..."

Neil opened his eyes dizzy, eventually lifting himself to sit up on the sofa he just noticed he was on.

The first thing he saw was Lynn furiously correcting exams from his students, he didn't bother to greet him since that would distract him.

"Ahaha.." he nervously laughed, amazed at the speed he was doing his job.
Job, job, damn it.

His stomach rumbled Right, food.

"Sandwich, in the refrigerator" Neil jumped at the sudden voice, but he was grateful for the food, he thanked him soundlessly.

When he walked up to the kitchen he swiftly snatched the food and started eating it right away.

"Mmmmm" he delighted himself munching on it, food tastes better when you're hungry he thought nodding to himself.

After he finished the food and the hunger was no longer there the smell hit him like a brick, so before he could dwell on money and depress himself further he went to take a quick bath.

Shower thoughts didn't appear much later, about what he could've done right, about how grateful he is with his friends but worrying his energy out for all the unfortunate events.

he's too embarrased to ask someone for money, and there's no way he can find a job and make 70k yen in two days, Neil was in a really tough spot...

At this point he was resigned, he took income for granted, maybe he should go back home... He shook his head and scolded himself. No! he's gone so far just to give up here? No way! He's went through countless struggles, he isn't going down by this.

He was either very lucky or unlucky, it's a coincidence someone offered him a job the day before getting fired. The man didn't look that shady he convinced himself, he could give it a shot.

He had to.

He finished showering and fetched the card, dialing the number with his hands trembling, Neil hoped he wasn't annoying the man.

Beep Beep- They answered quickly.

"Hi- uh-" Neil checked the card again. "is this John?..." he asked sounding unsure.

The person behind the line didn't respond immediately. "Hello?" Neil asked pleading.

"Who is this?" a raspy voic responded, Neil gulped.

"W-well, you- told me to call you if i needed m-money.." He shyly spoke.

"Ah yes, yes" the person perked up in affirmation.

"I'm s-sorry if it's a bad time- i-i could call later" No! Stupid Nini! This is urgent! He screamed internally at the kind reflex.

"No, not at all" he heard them chuckle "What do you need money for, Boy?" Neill could almost hear them smirk.

"It's just... W-well, rent, i got fired and i c-can't pay it" he kept stuttering.

They hummed. "How much is it?" their voice turned serious.

"i-it's 70k yen.. I'm- very desperate, please.." Neil said wobbly.

"I see" They were deep in thought. "It can work, but this won't be a one time job, next time i can't pay you that much"

"Perfect!" Neil said a bit too loudly. "Sorry- thank you so much! You're my saviour!" he said flustered and full of excitement.

"Don't worry about it, What's your name?" He sounded like a salesman.

"I'm Neil! Neil bowman" his happiness could be heard from the other line.

"Nice to mt you, Neil, you're free today, no? we could start right away." Neil heard scribbling, wait wasn't that weirdly worded?..

He shook the thought off. "Y-Yup! where is it?" Neil said relieved.

'i'll send you the adress later, i expect you there later today." they concluded. "See you then, baby."

"S-see you then?..." Neil repeated before the call cut off.

'Baby'? That word caught him off guard, he hadn't been an infant in years, maybe it was just used as courtesy by humans.. He remained put off.

After the call ended he went downstairs and rested in the sofa feeling like jelly. God, i'm saved he clutched his chest, tears dwelling in his eyes.

"I'm glad ira found a good tenant." Neils heart jumped at the voice. Lynn was still there!

"Some leave a day before rent." Lynn ranted with his arms crossed.

"A-Ah... I see" He didn't feel like following that conversation, when Lynn got like this it was like talking to a wall.

Ding his phone ringed.

The adress and hour was displayed in recent mesages, in an hour?... At least it wasn't far away. Neil was already changed up and he had nothing else to do, so...

With a smile in his face he went to tidy up his hair and left the apartment with just his phone and wallet, heading to the train station.

,

After getting off the train, he checked his phone for directions, he walked for some minutes before he got to the meeting place, so there he was, just waiting in the middle of the street looking left, right, up and down for someone to walk toward him.

Is this really the place? Neil was not especially patient, but he had expected 'John' to be waiting for him.

His tail swayed anxiously and just as he was about to implode from nervousness he heard someone call out his name.

"Neil!" The man wore a hoodie and jeans, he's very tall.. He noted, the person towered over him.

The man wasn't bothered by his unconscious staring. "I'm sorry for being late, let's get going" Neil snapped out of his trance when the man put his arm around hia shoulder.

"U-Uh.. Where are we go-"

"To my place" He was cut off by the ambiguous answer.

Neil felt as if the walk to the 'place' was immediate, his mind raced all the way through the walk so when they got there he was sweating from the anxiety.

The man broke the awkward silence. "Don't worrt too much, it'll be fiiiine" 'John' extended the 'i' with a smirk.

Neil just hummed, giving no straight answer.

They entered the 'place'

His instincts told him to run away.

Oh god-

The man clearly sensed his thought, he then grabbed something from his pocket and handed it to him.

"I know you're nervous, but i promise it'll be fine.. Neil." He gave Neil a kind smile, the thing in his hand was candy. "Here, take it."

Oh Candy! A bit of his nerves faded away as he saw the sweet, grabbing and unrapping it his shaky hands he got to munching on it.

"T-thank-s u-uuh" he tried to get out with the fully eaten candy in his mouth.

Dizzy.. Dizzyness?

What?

W-what is happening?

Time seemed to slow down.

The touch of hands invaded him.

His body didn't respond.

He drifted off.

They didn't stop.

Oh god...