Kayo wiped his hands on his apron, already stained with grease and mystery sauces he hadn't been able to identify since noon.
The room was filled with the sound of sizzling of the flat-top burners while the heavy aroma of meat, fried vegetables, and burning oil lingered in the air.
His legs were already aching, and that wasn't even the dinner rush yet.
"Order up, two burgers! One no tomato, one extra mayo!" he shouted into the crowd, passing two plates down the line.
Jeremi, the new guy, was burning onions again. Kayo reached over, killed the heat, and stirred the pan before they could turn bitter.
"You're not making incense, pay attention to the food!" he snapped at Jeremi. He didn't even mean to sound harsh, it was a reflex, a combination of the late hours, stress, and the boss' pestering he's had to endure for the past month nonstop.
• • •
The Friday rush bled deep into overtime, much to the dismay of everyone involved. By the time the last customer staggered out, Meal Ticket looked like an actual disaster.
Kayo slipped out the back door with a plastic bag of leftover fries he absolutely wasn't supposed to take, but everyone did and the manager didn't care as long as the drawer balanced.
It was 01:43 a.m.
Cold enough for his breath to fog, but he was used to it by now. His hoodie still smelled faintly of fryer oil even after washing it twice, but the scent never bothered him much. Burger grease meant customers, customers meant shifts, shifts meant rent. He'd learned that lesson young.
He always liked the night urban atmosphere. The streetlamps stretching into the distance in perfect rows, being one's only source of light. And the silence, enough to pretend the world was peaceful for once.
Kayo walked the same route as always, headphones around his neck, quietly practicing a monologue under his breath: "And who among you dares claim the crown when-"
He froze mid-line, staring into the depths of a dimly lit alleyway in front of him. He contemplated.
I could cut my journey in half through here.
He knew it was a shortcut, he'd used it many times before, but always during the day. It scared him at night, and it was probably full of rats.
He would often walk home with his older sister, Teresa, who wouldn't allow him to walk through the city at night alone, and especially cut through dark alleys. The worried, almost paranoid sort. Unfortunately, she seemed to have caught some virus recently. Nothing serious, but enough to keep her home for a while.
Nah, I think I'd rather be chewed out by Terry than risk getting stabbed by a junkie.
Weighing his options, Kayo took the scenic route, as Terry would often call it when complaining about Kayo being late again.
Instead of taking in his surroundings, Kayo pulled out his phone after it buzzed with a message from a contact labeled 'Teriyaki':
u off yet
i left pasta in the fridge
do NOT eat it all again
He grinned.
"Love you too Terry," he muttered aloud as he typed a reply:
im omw, boss kept us bit longrr 2nite
After putting his phone back in his pocket, Kayo picked up the pace. But there was something wrong. Behind him was a second pair of footsteps, matching his pace but not his rhythm. The faster he walked, the faster the footsteps behind him got. And so he ran, full sprint.
For a second he felt like he escaped as the footsteps faded into the distance.
First, there was a brief silence.
A click.
Then a bang.
Sharp pain spread from the back of his head as Kayo's vision flashed from yellow to red in an instant. Then, the world went dark as his body and his bag hit the pavement, blood pooling beneath his head.