Seven in morning of the following day, the shop owner went out of the backdoor and went in front of his store. He removed the locks then raised the roll up panels so that the inviting morning sunshine would penetrate the glass panels and lit up the inside. He unlocked the doors and together with the other two employees they arranged the aisles, wiped clean the counter, swept the floor and refreshed the stocks. When the early preparations were completed, they put on their uniforms and welcomed the day with optimism.

"Kaito's Supershack is now open for business!"

He turned to face the green haired employee. "Now, before our great customers starts to come, Gumi please check her at the room upstairs. Maybe she's awake by now."

"Yes sir." she replied, then head upstairs.

Emerging from the counter, the other employee was holding some signage of their store. She then went at the store entrance and placed the signs on each side.

"I wonder why she ended up in our backdoor last night..." Kaito said, inspecting the power lines of the machines.

Upstairs, Gumi went to the room where the drunk woman was to check whether she was up. She slowly opened the door, avoiding to make any loud noise, but the rusty hinges were creating faint screeching sounds as the door was further pushed in.

Sticking her head first, Gumi saw that the woman was still asleep and barely moved, lying sideways facing the wall. She sighed in relief.

"Oh well," said she, looking at the drunk woman. "Maybe I could make her some coffee while we have some time.."

She then goes to the kitchen carefully, leaving the door open.

When the coffee was ready, she returned to the room, holding a platter with a hot coffee on it while her sight were fixed at the woman as she approached into the side of the bed .

"I hope that you'll like-"

Gumi wasn't aware of the power cord laid across the room, making her accidentally tripped. She had flung the coffee in to the air and spilled most of its content at the drunk woman's face and torso, making herself fall, following a crash.

The series of events left Gumi in panic and quickly stood up to get a cloth nearby and wipe the spilled coffee immediately to reduce the burning sensation it could create to the woman.

She pulled a small fabric at the cabinet adjacent to her and crawled her way up to the drunk woman, but the moment before Gumi could even wipe the spilled coffee, she heard faint sobbing from her.

Down below, the crash was also heard and they wandered what happened.

The customer that was lined up in the counter while waiting for her change looked up as she heard the crash asking, "What was that?"

"I'll go check it out," Kaito said looking at his other employee, before making his way upstairs. "Akiko please assist the customers for a while..."

Akiko nodded in response to Kaito, then she gave the receipt together with the change to the customer.

"Thank you ma'am and have a good day! Thanks for shopping here!" she said in a lively voice as the customer was walking out the store with her purchase.

Upstairs, Kaito saw a platter flipped outside the doorstep, the next thing he saw inside the room was Gumi wiping the arms of the woman, her clothes soaking wet.

"What happened here Gumi?" Kaito asked, walking in closer to see the woman.

"I tripped and spilled the coffee on her." she sadly replied, still wiping the arms of the woman.

The girl suddenly stopped sobbing and turned herself flat on the bed. Her blood red eyes were staring coldly at the ceiling. She held Gumi's arm and placed it slowly away from her.

Then, the woman spoke coldly to the two. "They called me a failure. Nothing favors in me. My mother that guides me in this life, had gone from me. I'm all alone in dealing with this useless life of mine. I'm a drunkard that has no hope and a losing soul. A stranger that lurks in any place with a bottle of saké as a companion. And yet, why'd you three especially you, you blue headed snowman, saved me without even considering that I can do harm? You don't even know who am I."

"Well, I can't say that you can harm or not. Yes, there is the matter of doubt at our minds about you, but doubt can never be justified until you proven it wrong or right. Secondly, I've seen you sleeping outside the alley and I can't ignore you or someone, seeing anyone that sleeps outside and unprotected by the elements. I just really can't stand looking at such lonely souls..." Kaito gravely said.

The woman gone up and sat at the edge of the bed being her hands braced at the side, her legs dropped. The woman then looked at him.

"Yeah, you can say that mister but... do you do really feel it? This pain I carry, the loneliness that covered my life? Just like the coffee this little lad spilled at me. I know it's hot and painful but I only ignored it, same as their stupid faces and their dirty mouth cursing me, wanting me to die. And this... the stickiness I feel, this disgusting feelings I had from their humiliation to me. I-"

Gumi cried while sitting next to the woman. "Don't say that things to us and don't say that to yourself. You don't deserve to be locked up in sadness."

Kaito walked towards the closed window then he stopped, his hands at his back. "I know what you feel... and I know how hard to live like you. I've went through hardship and pain to go where I now become."

Opening the window, he continued. "Even Gumi and Akiko know the pain you've been going through..."

Then he tells the story of his two employees.

***

After the conversation between them, Kaito gone down to help Akiko at the store. Gumi remained until the afternoon with the woman in the room.

Gumi gave some clothes to wear in replacement for the stained clothes the woman had. Then, the woman with the new set of clothes at hand, went at the restroom to change.

"Thank you for helping me see a little light in my darkest moment of my life." she said while she was in the restroom.

"What is your name?" Gumi asked. "May I know?"

"I'm Haku, Yowane Haku," she replied. "And you?"

"I'm Gumi. We are glad to meet and help you."

"Same dear, I am thankful."

Gumi walked around the room looking at the hard wood door. "The guy you called a snowman is our boss and brother, Kaito and the other one downstairs on the shop is Akiko."

Haku then asked Gumi in a confused tone. "Can I really borrow this one from you?"

Gumi smiled. "Yes Miss Haku, since I accidentally stained your clothes when you were at bed. You can return them after when you got home."

Haku went out of the restroom and Gumi's eyes had sparkled the moment she had a look at her attire. "You're so cute in that dress!"

Haku looked at herself, finding what Gumi was pertaining to be 'cute' at the dress. "Am I?"

"So, here are your clothes." she said, giving a carrot plastic bag to Haku. "I'm really sorry if we couldn't clean them up. We're just really busy here most of the time.."

"I-It's fine Gumi," Haku said, accepting the bag. She looked down at her gray top that was stained brown near at its collar. "Its not that of a big deal than the trouble that I have caused here."

Gumi then held Haku's right arm and made a light tug while looking at her happily. "Let's go downstairs now!"

Unable to speak any word, she just let Gumi pull her down to the shop below.

Downstairs, Gumi approached Kaito, when at that time was at the doorstep, putting some posters at the glass panels outside. When Kaito looked at her, he noticed a bliss at Gumi face.

"What is it Gumi?" he asked, returning his sight at his work, pressing the poster carefully against the glass panel of the store.

"Just look, brother Kaito!" she said, then she shouted vividly to the back of the store. "Miss Haku-Chan! Come down here! Big Brother wants to see you!"

Looking at her current dress with uncertainty, Haku replied, "Okay, Okay. Coming down..."

Wearing a green and orange crop top and skirt paired with orange long boots, Haku descends from the steps. When he saw Haku on Gumi's dress, he halted on pressing the poster, he was astounded.

"That's your top and skirt, right?"

Gumi nodded. "Yep, brother." she confirmed, "And boots."

Haku, even though her face spells a bit of awkwardness, walked towards Kaito and bowed.

"Thank you for making me feel that my fight to be a better person isn't finished yet, even we were not related." Haku said, letting a small smile to Kaito.

"See? You look beautiful when you smile." Akiko said while wiping clean the counter top.

"Now, remember to smile and never give up," Kaito said. "and feel free to visit us here whenever you needed, okay?"

She lowered her body again and waved goodbye while walking away. Walking silently back home carrying the carrot plastic bag, she recalled what Kaito, Gumi and Akiko said to her at the shop. The words that she heard from them had somewhat opened up her senses and made her feel alive again once more.

***

Arriving home with some minutes to spare before the night crawls in, she opened up the lights and entered on her apartment unit that became a 'dump site' for months, finding herself staring at the sea of trash littered across the rooms.

She may be returning from her unit at least once in a month as far as her memory recalls, and yet the moment she returned for the first time in years with a sound mind, she felt quite different this time like something was pushing her to remember a lost thought.

She helplessly sighed and puts down the bag at the dirty wooden coffee table at the center of the room. She went to the right side of the room and picked up the broom, then cleared out a small portion of the flooring adjacent to the table spacious enough for her to sit down comfortably.