The Coffee Shop (OPEN TO EVERYONE)

[Axel]

"That'll be $7.50 ma'am. Alright out of $8.00..."

The woman handed her change to the man as he put it in the till. Axel smiled and leaned on the counter.

"You know Ms. Amawa you come here an awful lot. What, are you drawn to my charm and good looks?"

Hibiki Amawa laughed nervously. "Sorry Axel I'm afraid not. You guys just have really good coffee and happen to have some of the best baked goods in town as well as the cheapest prices."

Axel continued to smile. "Yeah you're right, we have Tohru to thank for that. She makes the best food around." He chuckled and gave the woman her change. "Be sure to come back now!"

He waved as she took a seat at a table in the far end of the shop. Axel sighed and slumped his shoulders.

"Man...what a long day. When will something interesting happen?"

Axel sighed again. Suddenly his head perked up as he looked around the room.

"...Is something burning? Why do I smell smoke?"

A yell from the back caught his ears as he spun around.

"What the hell?!" He thought to himself as he jogged to the kitchen.

As he entered the kitchen the smell of smoke grew stronger.

"Okay, the smoke is coming from the stove over there...but who left it open?"

Axel saw a young girl in the corner trying to put out the fire on the apron of her maid's outfit. "AH! HELP!! HELP!!! Axel thank God you're here. My apron's on fire, help me put it out!!!!"

"Yeah yeah fine just hold still!" Axel stretched out his arm towards the smoldering apron. The girl's eyes widened as the sparks and flames shot from the apron to Axel's hand and danced their like puppets on strings until he closed his hand in a fist.

"U-Um thank you Axel..." The girl managed to stammer as she looked at her burned apron. "B-But...what did you DO? I've never seen anything like that!"

Axel looked at his hand and shrugged. "To put it simply I can control fire. That means that if there is a fire somewhere, I can bring it to me and make it do whatever I want...even extinguish itself. Now are you all right Tohru?"

Tohru nodded and blushed. "Y-Yes thank you. I...I promise I won't tell anyone about your power okay? It's my fault anyway. I should have been more careful with the oven."

Axel walked to the oven and crouched down. "This thing doesn't look broken...and I don't sense any form of heat or fire coming from it either. What were you trying to cook anyway? I don't think I've ever seen you have an accident with the stove."

Axel smiled at her and stood up before leaning on the oven. Tohru glanced at her apron.

"The boss told me that we should start making things like meat pies and stuff. He said that the other stuff I was making wasn't selling very well...and he wanted me on cooking duty for it too. I-I'm great at cooking baked goods and pies and things but...I wasn't given any recipies for these and he never gave me time to look up any."

Axel's eyes narrowed as he snorted. "Not selling well? What the hell is he talking about? They're selling like hot cakes, no pun intended. We can barely keep them in stock. Just listen to me Tohru, don't listen to anything to boss says. If you want any input on anything just ask me, I'd be glad to help. I think that guy's had it in for you since you started working here really. He always seems to ask more of you than he does of any of the rest of us that work here."

Tohru looked up at Axel and smiled. "Thank you Axel. I'm really glad that you work here. I think you're the only friend I have here at the coffee shop so it's nice. The smoke's cleared so I'll just clean up back here okay? You go back up front and make sure that no one's worried."

Axel nodded and walked out the door to the front of the shop, waving over his shoulder. He walked to the front of the counter and sat back down on his stool.

"Well this is kinda odd...it doesn't even look like anyone knew anything was going on." Axel sighed and rested his head in his hands.

"Well...now I wonder if anything else exciting is going to happen today?"

[Yusuke Urameshi]

Yusuke continued to grow more pissed as he walked along. "Oh this is just GREAT! First time I got hit by a car, I died, but NOO...NOW I GET HIT AND END UP IN SOME RANDOM-ASS PLACE IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE! DAMMIT!"

As he yelled, people stopped and looked at him. This only pissed him off even more. "And just what the hell do you think you're LOOKING AT!" he screamed. They ran away from him fast, causing him to scowl at the ground.

"Ok, calm down Yusuke...Kayko will wait for you...it'll all be fine. Let's just get something to drink, and figure out what the hell is going on."

He walked into the coffee shop, and looked around. He saw a guy with long red spiky hair at the counter. Geez...is this guy trying to look like a punk version of Kurama? He started to sit down at a table, when the leg of the chair tripped him, causing him to fall to the floor face-first. His eyes twitching with rage, Yusuke jumped up. "THAT'S IT, I'VE HAD IT!" he screamed, and kicked the chair into the wall with such force that it broke into about twenty different pieces.

[Axel]

Axel knew as soon as the kid had walked in the door to the coffee shop that he was trouble.

"What the hell is THAT look for?" He thought to himself as the kid tripped on the chair leg.

Axel cringed. "Ooh...that had to hurt." He muttered to himself. Suddenly the chair collided with the wall and broke into tiny pieces.

"What...the...HELL?!" Axel's eye twitched. His fists clenched behind the counter and before he knew it his chakrams appeared in a small burst of flame.

Axel glanced down at his weapons. "Oh this is great...I can't use these here. As much as I'd like to throw that asshole out of the shop I can't exactly show anyone my abilities either. Shit...calm down Axel..."

Axel clenched his fists and his chakrams disappeared in a burst of sparks. He looked towards the kid and plastered on an obviously fake smile.

"Excuse me sir...you're going to have to leave."

[Yusuke Urameshi]

Yusuke was about to flip the table in rage too, when the red-haired man from behind the counter looked at him. "Excuse me sir...you're going to have to leave."

Normally, Yusuke would have apologized and paid for the table, he wasn't a huge punk anymore. Hell, had he just been in a normal bad mood, he'd just scream again and walk out, slamming the door. But today, Yusuke was PISSED.

He walked over to the counter and grabbed the man by his shirt collar. "Look, I'm in a really bad mood right now buddy, so you'd better not mess with me. Or else, you'll end up just like that chair."

Catching himself, Yusuke let go of the shirt collar and turned around. "Aw hell, what am I doing. I'm not like this anymore, and you certainly aren't worth it, some lanky guy like you."

[Axel]

Axel couldn't believe it...the kid had lifted him up by the shirt collar then set him down and appologized as if it was nothing.

"Lanky? What the...LANKY?! Well...he did apologize, I can give him THAT much...but that still doesn't help the fact that now I'm pissed." Axel dusted of the front of his black T-Shirt and slammed his fist on the counter.

"Listen here you punk, you did apologize and I can give you that...but you broke a chair AND you've assaulted me. You're seriously pissing me off kid." Axel glared at him.

"I'd watch what you say...you wouldn't want to get burned kid." With that Axel flicked his fingers towards the ceiling and the sprinklers overhead. A few of the customers yelled as the sprinklers in the store came on apparently on their own.

[Yusuke Urameshi]

When the man snapped his fingers toward the ceilings, Yusuke felt some kind of energy. It wasn't like any Spirit or Demon energy he'd ever sensed before. He frowned for a moment, and then turned back around and smiled at the man.

"Well, not bad. You've definitely got something going on, don't you? You're not a normal human, are you. Don't suppose you'd just fess up to whatever it is you've got? No? I didn't think so."

Yusuke never would have done this either had he been in a normal mood, but being dragged from his world into this bizarre place was having an adverse effect on his temperment. He raised his finger up and pointed it right at the man's head. "Bang!" he said, and fired a Spirit Gun.

[Axel]

Axel sensed the build up of energy around the man in front of him.

"What the hell does this asshole think he's doing? Does he not realize that there are people in here!?"

Axel saw the glow at the end of the man's finger and barely had time to dodge before an energy blast soared past him and into the kitchen doorway. He heard a whooshing noise and a loud ripping as the energy tore through the stove.

Axel blinked. "Well...I suppose we can blame all the damage on the stove. Wait a second! Tohru was..."

Axel stood up and let out a growl as he glared at the man. "THERE'S AN INNOCENT GIRL BACK THERE YOU ASSHOLE!!!!"

Axel lept over the count as those customers still in the shop ran for their lives. Axel's hands twitched as his chakrams appeared in a flurry of flames.

"I don't care if you insult me! I don't care if you break a chair or a table...HELL I don't even care if you pick me up by my collar but you just crossed the line you bastard! Tohru's back there and you'd BETTER hope that she's unharmed!"

Axel rushed towards Yusuke as flames surrounded him.

[Yusuke Urameshi]

"The hell!?" Yusuke said, just barely dodging the first assault by the red-headed man. Yusuke threw a punch at the man's head, but the red-head dodged it as easily as he had the Spirit Gun. "Not bad...BUT TRY THIS ONE ON FOR SIZE!" he screamed, and put as much force into a punch as he could.

He was stunned when the man blocked it with his own fist, surrounded by flames and a wierd weapon. Yusuke just smiled. "Not bad. I wouldn't mind knowing the name of a guy like you. Me, I'm Yusuke Urameshi. And...I'm afraid I'm gonna have to kick your ass."

As the guy looked at him bewildered, Yusuke raised his knee up for the attack. "IF THERE'S AN INNOCENT GIRL BACK THERE, SHOULDN'T HER SAFETY BE YOUR FIRST PRIORITY, DUMBASS!" he screamed, and slammed his knee into the man's gut as hard as he could.

[Axel]

"IF THERE'S AN INNOCENT GIRL BACK THERE, SHOULDN'T HER SAFETY BE YOUR FIRST PRIORITY, DUMBASS!" he screamed, and slammed his knee into the man's gut as hard as he could.

Axel felt the full force of the knee hitting his solar plexis. He doubled over in pain as the flames weakened somewhat but did not disappear.

He groaned. "Oh fuck...that hurts about as bad as when I had to fight those damned brothers Loz and Yazoo."

Axel's eyes widened as he took in Yusuke's message. "...SHIT!!! TOHRU! TOHRU ARE YOU OKAY?!"

Axel jumped over the counter and ran back to the kitchen.

"TOHRU? TOHRU ARE YOU IN HERE?!"

Axel looked around the kitchen but could find Tohru nowhere. "Oh God...please don't tell me she..."

Before Axel could finish his thought Tohru stepped out of the pantry connecting to the far side of the kitchen.

"Oh hi Axel I was just...OH MY GOSH WHAT HAPPENED HERE?!" Tohru proceeded to run around the kitchen in a panic as Axel glanced at his chakrams and made them disappear before Tohru noticed them.

"It was nothing...are you all right Tohru?" Axel took a few steps towards her before she could start hyperventilating. Axel snapped his fingers and felt the energy of the flames outside in the shop disappear.

"Yes yes I'm fine, but what happened?!" Tohru wrung the fresh apron she was wearing in her hands as she stepped towards the smoking hole that was a doorway and the destroyed oven.

Axel stepped out of the kitchen and glanced at Yusuke aprehensively.

"Uh...it was a gas leak. It IS a really old stove after all. I bet the fire department will be here any minute. We should probably go out into the lobby...it may be a little wet but it's safe." With this last emphasized word Axel threw Yusuke a look that would peel paint off of a wall.

[Yusuke Urameshi]

Yusuke watched as the redhead came back out with the girl. "What the...Kayko?" he said, but looking closer, it was clear that it wasn't her. "Sorry...I mistook you for someone else."

He noticed the dirty look the redhead was giving him. He took it in stride, and just rubbed his index finger under his nose. "Yeah, yeah I know. Look I'm sorry, ok? But you really pissed me off, and well...let's just say today isn't the best day to piss me off. I dunno if you're like me or not, but this isn't anywhere near where I'm from."

Looking around at the damage their battle had caused, he couldn't help but start laughing out loud. "DAMN, that was fun. I haven't had that good of a fight in ages. You really know your stuff, we should fight again." Yusuke stuck his hands in his pockets. "Of course, we'll do that when your girlfriends nowhere near by. Say...what's your name anyway?"

[Axel]

"G-GIRLFRIEND!?!?" Axel's eyes widened and he looked from Tohru to Yusuke and back again a few times.

"WHAT THE HELL SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND! No offense Tohru..."

Tohru nodded and stared at Yusuke.

"Um, what was that about a fight? Are you guys in trouble?"

Axel threw Yusuke another look before shaking his head and dusting off his black T-Shirt. "No no, we aren't in any trouble. He was talking about ANOTHER fight somewhere ELSE that he heard about. Isn't that right Yusuke?" Axel threw a poisonous smirk Yusuke's direction as he walked up to the man.

Giving him the once over, Axel extended his hand. "Name's Axel. A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?" And with that Axel tapped the side of his forehead with his right index finger.

After this Axel leaned in close to Yusuke. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't let Tohru know about our little fight. She JUST found out about my ability with fire not even half an hour ago...so try not to mention anything else about it alright? If you REALLY want to discuss things we can always go to the library...at least it's quiet there."

Axel turned to Tohru. "Well...it looks like we won't have work for a few days Tohru. This means we'll get an extra paid vacation. Hope you enjoy it. You deserve it!"

Tohru blushed. "B-But we won't get fired? I-I mean, I was the one that burned that stuff earlier. Oh no! Maybe it was MY fault that the stove got a gas leak and exploaded!"

Axel watched as Tohru practically ran around the store in fret. "Uh Tohru? ...Tohru..it's not your fault. Like I said that stove is really old it was time for a new one anyway. Don't worry about it, the authorities won't blame either of us and they'll tell the boss everything that happened."

Axel threw Yusuke another look and smirked. "Right Yusuke?"

[Yusuke Urameshi]

"Uh...yeah sure, whatever." Yusuke said, sweat dropping. Geez...so there are actual normal people here too? I kinda figured she'd have some powers too.

Yusuke laughed at Axel's eccentric introduction. "I got it memorized. Hell, who forgets a goofy name like Axel?"

He walked forward and patted the Tohru girl on her shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm sure things will work out. Hell, blame it on me if you want." He had the strangest urge to peck her on the cheek. He laughed at the thought. "Sorry...you remind me an awful lot of my girlfriend. Something about your voice."

Yusuke then threw Axel a serious look. "So...you mentioned a library if we wanted to discuss things...why don't you show me the way. I think there's some serious shit going on we should talk about."

[Axel]

Axel noticed the way Yusuke looked at Tohru as he patted her on the shoulder.

"He better not hurt her the ass. ...Wait a sec, what am I worried so much for?! Damn it, it must be because she sort of reminds me of Kairi, Sora, Roxas, and all of them. ...Almost makes me feel like my old self. Where's Rude when you need him?

Axel shook his head and sighed. "Yeah, there is a library pretty close by. And we have a lot of things to discuss." Axel stared at Yusuke a moment before smiling and glancing back at Tohru.

"Will you be all right on your way home Tohru?"

Tohru nodded and smiled, oblivious to the odd tension surrounding her. "Yes I'll be fine. Thank you Axel! You two better head over to the library. I'll stay here for a while and tell the fire department what happened."

Axel nodded and stepped towards the door as he waved over his shoulder. He stopped in the doorway and turned back. "C'mon Yusuke, let's get going."

Axel opened the door and stepped out into the lobby of the mall. "Wait a second...goofy? My name isn't goofy! It's better than my old name I guess...at least I'm not named after a city or something." Axel chuckled and crammed his hands in his black pants pockets while he waited on Yusuke to follow him.

[Axel]

GRAND REOPENING!

Axel glanced at the sign above the newly renovated coffee shop. "Blue? Did they really have to pick blue? C'mon...red is so much better." Axel tugged on his red shirt before sighing and putting his earphones in his ears.

"Time for some Bee Gees!"

Axel pressed the play button on his MP3 player as the horns and synthesised piano of "Disco Inferno" started playing. What he didn't notice was the strange looks people gave him as he bounced into the store and behind the counter, all the while his head bopping to the music.

Axel saw that Tohru was serving customers while he was checking the supplies and the back room. "She works so hard...I wonder what it was like in her world? Did she have a family? Friends? She always seems so...lonely here even though she tries to hide it with a smile."

Axel made sure Tohru's baked goods weren't burning before he snatched a few freshly made chocolate chip cookies off a plate, shoving one into his mouth as he made sure that the buckets for mopping were full of soap and water. It was his daily routine to check on these things; in the morning he'd make sure everything was settled in and then he'd take Tohru's place and sit behind the counter for a good majority of the day. Tohru did mostly the baking and cleaning, as well as the occasional waitress duties.

"Still doesn't mean she has to work so hard..." Axel thought to himself as he stuck his last cookie into his mouth. "Man, her boyfriend's a lucky guy. ...Wait a second! BOYFRIEND!? What the hell? I shouldn't be thinking about things like that!"

Axel slapped his forehead and ran his hand down his face. "God...you do not like this girl Axel! You do not! I really don't need to start falling in love with Tohru...that'd just open up a whole other can of worms." Axel grumbled to himself as he scratched the back of his head. "Let's just...get through the day buddy. We'll sort all this mess out later."

Axel checked the oven one more time before grabbing another cookie and stuffing it in his mouth. As Disco Inferno finished playing his ears were greeted to the Metro Station's "Shake It" as he started singing.

"I'll take you home if you don't leave me at the front door. Your body's cold but girl we're gettin' so warm. And I was thinking of ways that I could get inside. Tonight you're fallin' in love, let me go now. This feeling's tearing me up, here we go now!"

Axel's head bopped to the music as he finished cleaning up the back room and made his way through the doorway singing and bopping his head to the music. "Now if she does it like this, will you do it like that? Now if she touches like this, will you touch her right back? Now if she moves like this, will you move her like that? Come on! Shake shake, shake shake, a-shake it!"

He waved to Tohru and greeted her a little more loudly than he really needed to but he was too focused on his MP3 player to really notice or care. Axel took his seat on the stool behind the counter and waited for some more customers to come in, all the while singing to the music on his MP3 player.