Akiko’s dreams were of dark, polluting creatures chasing her, and of her money running out completely, leaving her living on the streets and begging from passers-by. Despite that, she woke up feeling refreshed. Stressed, but refreshed. Getting out of bed, she took another shower while planning her day.

At first, she kept going over and over her encounters with the contamination creatures, shuddering involuntarily as she recalled how she had felt afterwards. For all her thinking, however, she had no idea what they were, where they came from, or how to deal with them. This did not make her feel any better, but in the end she looked at herself in the mirror, and told herself to stop worrying about the things she could do nothing about.

It didn’t work. It did, however, let her worry about her lack of money as well, and on that topic she was able to come up with some more plans. Obviously, she had to keep looking for a proper job, but she needed to get some income as soon as possible, and keep her expenditure down. <em>What if one of those things injures me? I need some savings,</em> she thought as she dried her hair. She needed to find a part-time job, one that would leave her time to hunt for a real job but provide enough money for her to live. She frowned. That wasn’t going to be easy. She couldn’t afford to keep staying in love hotels, that was for sure.

“Are you looking for staff at the moment?â€ Akiko had gone to one of the cafes near the station, one that she remembered having a recruiting poster in the window.

“Not right now, sorry. If you leave your contact details, we’ll get back to you if we have anything.â€ Akiko nodded, and started filling the forms in.

“Do you have any idea when you might be hiring again?â€

“No, sorry. It depends on when someone quits, you see.â€ Akiko nodded in understanding, handed over the form, and moved on to the next place.

“Do you have any food preparation qualifications?â€ The question surprised her.

“Er, no…â€

“I’m sorry, then, but we have all the serving staff we need right now. All the vacancies are in the kitchens.â€

“Can I leave my contact details?â€

“You could, but there are already more than twenty people on the waiting list. We have good staff retention.â€

“Oh, I see. Thank you.â€ On to the next candidate.

“Can you put a kimono on?â€

“What?â€ That was a very unexpected question. “Well, not by myself.â€

“Oh, I see. We have a couple of vacancies in the kimono department, but you have to wear a kimono if you work there. There’s nothing else at the moment, I’m afraid.â€

“Can I leave my contact details?â€

“Of course.â€

Working down the list, she moved on.

“I’m really sorry, but I’m afraid not.â€

“But you have a poster in the window!â€

“I know. I meant to take that down, which is why I’m really sorry. A whole bunch of high school girls came in this morning and all signed up together. Strength in numbers, perhaps. Anyway, I had to push things to take them all on as it is, so I’m afraid we really have no vacancies at all just now.â€

“I see.â€ Akiko was quite despondent.

“You could leave your contact details, though.â€

“No, that’s all right. I’ll call back.â€

Not even McDonalds would hire her.