Millie Hayes's Story

Millie was early for their meeting. She was quite surprised at being so early really. She had been sketching in a park nearby, one way to clear her mind when she was troubled, and had only looked at her watch a short while ago. She had, obviously wrongly, thought that everyone was meeting now . Or perhaps she was in the wrong place?
Millie glanced across the street, there sat the Black Cat Cafe. It was one of the hottest little cafes in the city and, if the rumours were true, had some of the best looking men working there. Not that Millie had seen them before, but plenty of her other friends had been and they raved about the place. It was outside the cafe that the group had agreed to meet.
"Definitely the right spot." Millie thought to herself. She waited slightly nervously for her friends to come. She leaned back against the building behind her and glanced up and down the street, searching for her friends. She hoped they wouldn't be long.

They had all seen the theft last night, the painting stolen by two men. Millie almost hadn't believed her eyes, someone was actually stealing their university's painting. It felt almost personal, Millie was an Art student and she hated the idea of that painting being in the clutches of some greedy art thief.

Her stomach grumbled and Millie returned her attention to scanning the streets for her friends. Hopefully the sooner they arrived the sooner she would be able to eat. She had been sketching all morning and hadn't had any food since breakfast. Plus, the smells of food drifting over from the cafe were very tempting.
Millie folded her arms across her chest, her impatience beginning to show. Something poked into her arm and Millie glanced down to see a short stick stuck to her dress. The dress and leggings she was wearing had pieces of grass stuck to it, another side effect of her morning sketching. While she waited for her fellow students she began to brush her clothes clean.

---

Chie rubbed her eyes after letting a big yawn. She had stayed up a bit too late last night engrossed in one of her games, not to mention the uneasiness she felt after being witness to the thievery that night. Even now, sitting on the bus heading towards the spot she had agreed to meet with her friends she had a game in her hands. She had her bag placed in the seat next to her so that no one would sit there, it may have been a bit rude but Chie really didn't care, she didn't want some stranger sitting next to her.

Finally the bus arrived at the desired stop. It was a pretty short walk to the Black Cat Cafe from there but Chie took her time getting there, walking slowly with her eyes fixed on the small screen in her hands. Once she finally felt that she was getting close to the aforementioned cafe she peeked up from her screen. After a bit of time scanning the area she picked out someone familiar to her, Millie. With a small smile and a more lively pace she made her way towards her friend, chuckling a bit as she began to pick little bits of nature from herself.

"Yo." She raised her hand up and waved alongside her casual greeting. "You're here pretty early." Chie struggled to hold back another big yawn, but her efforts were in vain. "Ugh, didn't get much sleep last night." This was a fairly common complaint for Chie thanks to her gaming habit. With a small sigh she began to look around. Doesn't look like anyone else is here yet... Chie then joined Millie in leaning against the nearby building and turned her attention back to the handheld gaming console.

---

Millie found, thankfully, that she didn't have long to wait.

"Yo." The voice made Millie glance up to find her friend Chie waving her a greeting. Millie smiled at the girl, straightening and giving up on clearing her clothes of small pieces of grass.
""You're here pretty early... Ugh, didn't get much sleep last night." Chie said, covering up a yawn. Millie wasn't surprised. Firstly because they had both been up late when they witnessed the burglary and secondly because Chie had a habit of staying up late gaming.

Millie had tried playing Chie's games, figuring that if her friend found it so fun than she should at least try it. She had given it a go and found, to her annoyance, that she had no talent whatsoever. So she had stopped, she would happily leave the gaming to Chie.

"I though I was late so I rushed over..." Millie started explaining. She stopped as she spotted a blonde head bobbing through the crowd towards them.
"Hey..." Came Minato's greeting before he pulled out his inhaler. Millie hid a smile behind her hand, her friend had obviously ran at least part of the way here.
"Great, now we just have to wait for Akito..." Millie gave a sigh and flicked her hair behind her back. Of course Akito was the last to arrive, "He's probably still sleeping." She remarked, shaking her head. That boy loved sleeping, almost more than he loved eating. Millie tried to remember if they had told Akito that they would have lunch at their meeting. That would have been sure to make sure he didn't sleep through their meeting.

Millie's thoughts seemed to drift away as two figures standing in the Black Cat Cafe across the street caught her eye. There seemed to be something familiar about the two but perhaps it was just the distance playing with her sight...

Akito slammed his hand down onto the alarm clock with a grumble. It was getting on his nerves, and he wasn't willing to try and sleep in with that... that monstrous object, ringing all day long. First time he brought his hand down, it was too light, so the alarm kept on ringing, non stop, and got even more onto his nerves. He opened his eyes finally, well, one eye to be exact, and this time, it hit, 'Thank the gods....' He thought, though he was still annoyed.

Then, something went off in his head, like he suddenly had an epiphany or something, though it was more like he remembered something, "Right.... We're meeting today... or something.... right? What a pain... I can't sleep in..." He sighed and kicked the sheets off, all of them falling onto the ground, messily, which he never bothered to fix.

What could you expect? Everyone knew him well enough that he was a lazy and pig eater.

Akito didn't even bother to stand up, he simply rolled off his bed, hit the sheets, and used the nightstand to somewhat help him regain his balance, or something around that sort. With his ruffled hair and unbuttoned clothing - The buttons were in the wrong areas, and some weren't even buttons at all - he headed for the door and was about to open it up, planning on just going out like that since he didn't care what people thought of a teenager walking around in pajamas.

But he also recalled that his three other friends may scold him, so he let go of the knob, and with an even greater sigh, headed back to his closet, now struggling to get the buttons undone and take off his sweat pants without falling backwards. In his eyes, things looked blurry and the earth was spinning. Perhaps he had gotten up too fast? Nope, he was just sleepy.

Akito always got more sleep than the average person. Some people thought it was really strange and was nervous that it'd affect his health as he grew older. Obviously, nothing changed. Akito was still that lazy heavy eater that always tried to take in as much energy as possible, and keep it for himself. In fact, he'd even fallen asleep when someone was talking to him. It's how he got expelled from his first school since he did it various times to different teachers.

A few minutes later, and with a great yawn, Akito was fully dressed in loose and light clothing. He aways thought that places were hot, even during winter, and even in colder areas with snow. He always wore the least amount of clothing possible. He even went snowboaring one day without a shirt because it was too hot. He learned his lesson after he fell face forward into the snow though.

Finally, he went outside, the first glance of the bright sun seeming to blind him. His room was always dark, usually to help him sleep in more without disturbances. Akito even planned to go back inside and just say he forgot, but that wouldn't be right. As much as he didn't show it, he enjoyed being around his friends. But obviously, what sort of lazy pig would say that outloud? Definitely not him. That was for sure.

He began to walk, closing and locking the door behind him, but then wondered out loud, "Where were we meeting again...?" Akito glanced down at the watch on his hand. He never really switched the time so it'd be correct, so it claimed to be useless as he just shrugged and tried to remember.

While doing this, he also kept an eye out just in case he'd pass them. And just to his luck, he did, all three of them. Unlike most friends, who would probably wave, yell, jump up and down, or do idiotic things of that sort, Akito didn't want to waste any of his precious energy, so he simply walked up to them, with another yawn, as usual and said, once he was close enough, in a very low and quiet tone, "Morning...." He didn't really know what time it was anyways, "You guys wake up really early... Really... how do people like you get such little sleep..." Akito asked while he ran his hand through that messy hair of his, that he still didn't bother to comb, like always. He heard of people who slept for around 10 hours or 8 even, which surprised him greatly because he got 10 hours of sleep at the very least.

"Eh, ah.... what were we doing here again...?" He asked, letting out another obnoxious yawn, identifying he didn't get enough sleep for his body, since he needed more than usual people did.

An involuntary shudder went down the red head's spine when Leo placed his shoulder on him. "Mhmm." He looked up from his cooking to the now four students from the night before. "Milley Hayes, Chie Ansel, Minato, and Akito. " Raphael murmured as her placed the finished crepes onto a plate and placed the plate on a tray with an assortment of food. Illegally , he had hacked University records to get their student files. Apparently they were all art majors...."Table 13 Leo. Chop Chop." In his mind he was formulating a plan on what they should do. The best option was elimination of the witnesses.

However as Raphael was about to make his suggestion, a swarm of girls directly in front of him distracted him. "Leo, please go entertain your little fan club as well." The day was going to be another long one, but the gueasts must be happy. "Raphael, where's Arashi and Donatello?" A girl demanded. The painter gave a slow smile. "Apparently not here yet cherrie, please be patient." He pulled a pink rose from the multitude of flowers behind him that he cultivated for such a occasions and handed it to the girl. "Please accept this as an apology for my colleagues' tardiness." He put on an apologetic face, a crescendo of squeals following. The crowd was satisfied for now.

"Where are those two idiots." Raph went back to cooking at a much more forceful pace.

Akito arrived not too long after the others, looking like he had just woken up.

"Eh, ah.... what were we doing here again...?" Akito asked, yawning. Millie shook her head, she had always been impressed with Akito's ability to sleep and sleep and sleep. The boy slept as if he had been awake for weeks.

"We need to decide what to do about the robbery." Millie answered, speaking more for herself than for everyone. She wanted to reach some sort of concensus on what to do. They had seen the thieves, even though it had been dark and the two men had been in black. They were the first to witness one of the art robberies and undoubtedly their cooperation with the police would help them find the thieves much faster. They hadn't been very cooperative to the police last night but that might have been, for Millie at least, because she was tired. When Millie was tired she found it hard to find the energy to do anything much. Her talking was reduced to grunts, simple yes and no answers and the like. "The police didn't seem very happy when they questioned us."

She glanced across at the Black Cat Cafe, "Why don't we talk about it over some lunch? I'm sure we can find a relatively quiet corner in the cafe." She nodded across the road. It was crowded with young people, women in particular, but she was sure there would be at least one table free and perhaps the amount of people in there would mean their conversation would be clocked by that of the noise around them?
Another reason to head towards the Black Cat cafe was the growing rumbling in Millie's belly. She hadn't eaten since breakfast and the smell floating over from the cafe was intoxicating.

Eyes opening, blinking a couple of times as the sun nearly blinded them with it's beaming light. Getting up and out of bed, he began stretching his arms out and trying to wake himself up. He didn't know what his mood would be today but, he hoped he'd be a bit happy going to work at the cafe. He absolutely enjoyed working at the cafe. Even if he didn't talk very much, and was distant to some of the new customers. As he was getting ready for work, he remembered those four students that had spotted him and Rafaello carrying a painting. Donatello thought they were scott free but, he was wrong. They still made it out with the painting, he didn't panic or anything, he was just a little surprised.

Letting that thought continue in his mind, he walked out of his room to his living room. He really enjoyed some of the modern stuff of today but, sometimes he finds himself questioning it. Donatello wasn't much of a morning eater so he decided that he'd eat something later. Looking around for a bit, he remembered that he had left the TV on maybe he forgot to turn it off. Walking towards the TV he turned it off.

Looking at the time, he was late. He wasn't always late but, sometimes keeping track of time was getting a little difficult. Donatello walked out the door and went to the cafe'. He took his sweet time not even caring to rush because, he was already late.Walking through the door, he kept it opened for a couple of people before letting it close.

Walking towards Rafaello and Leo he nodded at some of the girls who were regulars at the cafe. Donatello sighed in his head and beside the counter. Sometimes he was late and he sometimes tried to avoid conversation and say sorry. "I am truly sorry for being late." A group of girls ran up to him, Donatello smiled and said sorry to each of him. "Excuse me, I have to get to work now."

Donatello bowed slightly and walked into the kitchen, he started to wash his hands. "I'm sorry for being late, I might have lost track of time." Actually he did lose track of time, he nodded at Rafaello and walked towards a few people that just sat down. "What can I get for you today?" He smiled and took out a pen and a notepad out of his utility belt and wrote out what they had wanted.

Looking from the corner of his eye, he had noticed the students from last night. He looked back at his notepad and bowed before walking towards the kitchen. What a lovely coincidence, he thought. He was actually lying on the lovely part. Those kids could tell the police about their location and it could ruin everything they worked for. Donatello didn't like that one bit.

---

---

Her two other friends arrived not too long after she had, greeting them with a "Yo." or a nod as she focused on her game. Her attention however was pulled back to reality as Millie brought up the happenings of last night. The whole thing had unnerved her greatly, she had just wanted to leave and was really a lot less cooperative with the police than she should have been. Police, criminals, it all made her nervous as she often associated such things with violence. The idea of lunch however was a much happier thought to her. "Sure. Lunch sounds good."

She pocketed her game and looked across the street towards the Cafe. It looked kind of crowded, Chie preferred quieter places but this cafe was quite clearly the closest. With a short yawn and a stretch she began to walk towards the cafe, not really caring to continue simply standing around or even check if her friends were following her. She would however stop near the front door to the cafe, waiting for one of her friends to step in first as she was not quite comfortable just walking in on her own and talking to a waiter or something.

She really hoped the waiters weren't the overly friendly type. Those types always annoyed her (Then again, a lot of things annoyed her). A waiter's job is to wait, to take orders and deliver food, not to start up meaningless conversations in the hopes of garnering a larger tip. And so with a short sigh she waited for her friends to catch up.

The cafe was, as expected, busy. It seemed the vast majority of customers were girls who were fawning over the waiters. Millie, as she caught sight of one of the waiters, had another wave of recognition. She was almost certain that she had never met any of the waiters before but...

She shook her head as she and her friends looked around for a table. Millie eventually spotted one recently vacated table and walked over to nab it before someone else could. She pulled a free seat across from another table, smiling her thanks at the occupants as she did, before she took a seat.

She glanced around the cafe, interested in the decor. She had never been here before but she could immediately see that she would like the place. Apart from the groups of girls that were worshiping the waiters the whole place had a very nice vibe to it. Millie had to admit that the leagues of fans were getting on her nerves already. She hoped it wouldn't effect the waiters taking their orders. Her stomach gave another rumble and she eagerly looked at the menu, skimming through the list of food until she found something that caught her attention.

Millie turned back to her friends and continued the conversation from outside,
"So, one to forget about it. What do you guys think?" Millie asked nodding at Minato as he was the one who had already given his opinion on the robbery.Millie wanted her friends' opinions. The robbery and following police questioning had been irritating last night and Millie, tired and not in the best of moods, had not been very cooperative. But now, as she thought of it, she hoped she hadn't too rude. They were the police after all. And what would happen to them if the thieves decided they didn't need witnesses around? Millie bit her lip, hoping that her friends' opinions would help to ease her worries.