DOJOLAND (Elementary)

Chapter 12 - The Golden Queen

Hei drowsily opened an eye and stretched. The usual popping sounds from his joints would have made normal people concerned about his well being but experts like you could find anywhere at the Dojoland would have nodded in approval at the advanced development of this boy.

He stretched some more and began his morning calisthenics by putting on his heavier wristbands, ankle bands, weight-carrying belt, rock helmet and weighted backpack and decided to take it easy with only 3 marathons up the mountain and a few hundreds of burpees. His father, Aogami, well in the middle of his own practice before going to work on the fields for the day, looked at him with a bit of concern and asked on whether he was taking it easy out of overconfidence. Heiwa laughed it off and explained that he was a bit late for his part time work, rushed to the kitchen packed fruits and home-made cheese and bread and ran off. His father didn't have the time to explain that he didn't have to yet again. Aogami sighed.

On his way to the restaurant where he was meeting his 'employer', Hei raced a few trains and buses and made it with enough time in advance to do a few sets of handstand push ups. Just as he was wrapping it up with a sprint, he heard a light thud and saw a piece of toast on the ground, no doubt having just fallen off the gaping, and slightly drooling mouth of Bonnie Rabbit, who probably already had a list of tasks he could do for a little bit of pocket money. She was a bit red in the face and there were little puffs of steam coming out of her nose. She probably ran really hard to be on time, Hei very innocently thought.

"Morning, Bonnie!", he greeted friendly and wiped his torso before putting on his t-shirt again.

Startled, Bonnie looked below her nose and found her toast. She looked at Hei. "Hey! what's that!" she cried out as she pointed urgently ahead of her.

Hei turned to look and, after narrowing his eyes, he managed to see .... nothing. He turned to Bonnie, who was struggling to swallow something and was wiping crumbs off her chest. "Ahem... never mind, it was just a wall. Good Morning, Hei!"

It was a fun Summer Break for both of them. Hei was trying to make money and help around the house as a sibling was due to be born in a few months, but because he was only about to turn 13, he couldn't find a job even as delivery boy. Bonnie had told him she could find a number of people who would give them both tips for doing some chores and a little bit of manual labor. She skillfully managed to hide the fact she was keeping nearly all the profit. She thought it was worth it, too, since at barely 13 herself she had to organize and administer the finances of her really-bad-with-money parents, older siblings and grandparents.

"So what are we doing today, Bonnie?", Hei said and stretched a little bit more.

She ogled at the boy for just a little bit before she shook herself internally. "you know that junkyard by the southwestern river bend? if we can clear up the area in a few days, we can get 5 gold... I mean... they might manage to give us about 50 coppers each!"

Hei stared at Bonnie and slowly frowned at her. She began to sweat but kept a cool face. Even Hei wouldn't be able to catch her if she really put her heart into escaping... He wouldn't hit a girl, would he? She treacherously shooed away the image of Hei spanking her and calling her a bad girl. 'I gotta get away from my gutter-head family... I'm starting to think like them...',

"Wait just a darn minute, Bonnie...", Hei began.

Sigh... would he settle for a gold?

"What if I finish the job earlier? can we get a bonus time commission or something? Can you find more jobs for today if I get it done early?", he asked.

Her red pupils turned into little dots. A team of 5 very strong men would probably manage to clear up the tons and tons of rusted metals and old appliances in 3 days if they had trucks and cranes. She relaxed. 'sure, I can ask'