aqua's silly stuff!

bonus chapter #8 - "makin' ends meet"

Sweep, sweep, sweep...

That's all Kyle ever knew these days. Ever since he took the night shift at this dumb children's play place, it felt like his life was never gonna be anything but cleaning up after stupid little kids. But if this was what it took to help support his parents and keep the bills paid, then so be it. So long as they didn't have to go hungry.

Kyle wiped some sweat from his forehead as he set the broom aside on a wall somewhere. If he had known a job like this would be so tiring, he would've settled for something easier for a fourteen year old, like a cashier at some fast food joint or maybe even a customer service representative at a convenience store.

But whatever. As long as there was some money being made, there was no harm in a little hard labor.

"Hey, Ky!" A familiar feminine voice interrupted his thoughts. Kyle looked over to where his little cousin Yuri stood by the entrance of the theater, still in her costume she wore for the stage play she was in. "On cleaning duty again, huh? Wow, you really need to get some rest. You always stay up past your bedtime when you do this stuff..."

"Bedtime isn't a concept for teens, Yu." Kyle quipped back sarcastically, going back to sweeping the floors despite there not being that much dust on them to begin with. Yuri pouted at her cousin's tone before rolling her eyes and flapping her hand to mimic Kyle talking. Kyle only chuckled as he continued to sweep the floor.

Yuri played one of the child characters in that stage play based off the TV show, 'The Rainbow Funtime Friends'. Kyle always thought it was dumb, but the money that Yuri's family made off it certainly wasn't. Kyle somewhat envied her for being able to get paid so much more than him at such an easy job, especially at only eleven years old.

"Do you always have to work yourself silly like this...? I mean, I know you want to help out your dad and stuff, but... you should take care of yourself too sometimes." Yuri fidgeted with her hands a little as she said this. That's what got Kyle to stop cleaning up and turn around towards her. He could see how worried she was for him.

Kyle just sighed and walked over to Yuri, kneeling down to meet her eye level. "Don't worry about me, alright? I don't mind doing this for my pops. Besides, I'm not exactly an irresponsible teenager." He ruffled her hair before walking back over to the broom. "You should probably head home now, Yu. Your mom should be waiting for you outside."

Yuri frowned a little, but nodded anyway. She adjusted her backpack on her shoulders and waved goodbye to Kyle before heading for the exit. But before she left, she quickly ran up to Kyle and gave him a big hug. "Promise me you'll come to my performance tomorrow? I'm gonna be the main focus!" She giggled excitedly.

Kyle smiled warmly as he patted her on the head gently. "Sure thing, Yuri. You know I'd never miss out on one of your performances. And maybe after, we can watch that anime you like with my girlfriend Nadia, okay?" He suggested. Yuri's face lit up in excitement at hearing that. "Yay! Thanks, Ky! Love you!" With that, she turned around and rushed out of the room.

"Love you too, little cuz." Kyle muttered fondly as he watched her disappear into the distance, soon going back to his job. He was alright with cleaning for a living, but sometimes, he wished he could be as carefree as Yuri. But alas, that was just not possible for someone who was barely scraping by...

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Kyle arrived home in the early morning, around 6:00 AM. He was exhausted out of his mind, having been cleaning for most of the entire night. His legs ached so badly that he couldn't keep them moving as he stumbled into the house through the front door, letting it slam shut behind himself as he hung up his work vest onto its hook next to the door.