AN: I'm posting a story here, copied and pasted from a current one I'm writing over on Wattpad (Yes I'm a little bit freaky). This is chapter one, and I'll be posting the chapters here as I publish each one of them over on Watt.

If you want to see the description for the story I'll post the link to the story with each post as well.

Here's the Wattpad version of the story

One

Ryu didn't have the most entertaining life. At least right now since he was living out on his own, working a 9-5, 5 days a week. Everyday seemed to be the same day, but Ryu was used to it. He lived in a rather small house with a separate garage, though he couldn't afford a car just yet. He didn't have very many friends either, if co-workers could even be considered friends. Ryu chalked it up to him having the appearance and voice of a woman, but what was in his pants would say otherwise.

Ryu was used to the misgendering, but there were a few blessed souls in his co-worker group who surprisingly believed him. He was actually grateful for their hospitality, since the likelihood of Ryu being a male with female hormones was just as likely as someone being born intersex. So Ryu's co-workers probably assumed as such, though Ryu only had one set of genitals.

Ryu was awoken by his alarm going off, flashing 7:00AM in neon red directly in Ryu's eyes. With a push of a button, the irritation would subside. Ryu now had an hour and a half to get ready for yet another 8 hour shift.

He flicked on his lamp and forced himself out of bed, and made his way over to the bathroom next door. Ryu turned on the shower water, and as the steady stream of hot water slowly filled the room with steam, he was undressing. But when he put a foot in and it touched the water, he recoiled back in pain and let out a yelp at the scalding hot water. Normally there was always a certain position to set the shower handle in when someone wanted the perfect temperature of water, and knew how to set it. And that was no different with Ryu.

Ryu glanced at the shower handle and saw that it was set to its usual position, he might've thought that it was a centimeter off from its usual position. The house he stayed in wasn't the best, the water pressure was low since all of the other complexes would be watering their grass in the late Spring, and other people had to bathe, wash dishes, clean their cars, and drink water too. Ryu only stayed because it was a cheap complex of homes on country roads.

Ryu reached over, avoiding the near boiling water and set the handle back just a touch. Soon, the water was now at the right temperature. So he climbed in. Just a slight inconvenience because of a shitty, cheap neighborhood.

Ryu stepped out of the metro station, walking up the stairs he was once again greeted by the city. The tall buildings and bustling traffic was quite the contrast from the dirt roads that Ryu resided at. But the city was just as messy with trash, overflowing dumpsters, and rusty pipes that scoured up the buildings like vines. Ryu was at least lucky he didn't have to risk getting run over by cars, since his journey to the small diner didn't involve cross walks.

Ryu walked in, putting his apron on as we went behind the counter. The smell of fresh pizza, burgers, and ramen didn't phase him, but it was still a pleasant greeting. Ryu could see there only 3 out of his 4 coworkers were there: Lisa, Mia, and Oliver. Oliver was cooking while Mia and Lisa were serving people, with Lisa going back there occasionally when she had the chance to put some of the ingredients together for Oliver.

"Hello, dear Ryu." Mia smiled warmly. Mia was the youngest, 17 and a senior in high school. She had deep red hair to match her deep colored eyes, always wore a few hair clips everyday, most recently had a small bandage on her left cheek, and was a real sweetheart and always chipper.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, tired like usual..." Ryu sighed softly, "And you...?"

"Good!" Mia smiled, "We're gonna have you get started on some dishes and throw pizzas in the oven when Oliver's ready."

Ryu smiled softly, and went off to do as he was told. Luckily there wasn't a lot to do, unlike some previous rushes.

When Ryu was almost done with the dishes, Oliver turned to him to say something.

"I don't think I'm supposed to be telling you this, but Alex wanted to go out on a date with you."

Alex was the coworker who wasn't working the current shift, Ryu saw him as nothing more than a coworker and didn't know much about him besides some of the stories he would tell about his life. Alex was seemingly a bit shy, and more of an "emo" than the rest of the crew.

"When and where does he want to meet up...?"

"He wants to meet you during this upcoming weekend, Saturday, at that little vintage cafe." Oliver spoke, "He was hoping you'll be there at 6pm, since he told me that in case you didn't show up, he would get the hint."

Ryu went back to doing dishes, trying to think about it. He never really had a big focus on dating, he was more focused on trying to live a sustainable life. As long as Ryu was able to pay bills on time and eat, he was content.

Saturday was four days away, leaving Ryu with plenty of time to decide. It might be a big mistake, as Ryu was somewhat socially awkward and an introvert. But he could also see that in Alex.

Things died down and so that left the staff to finally clean up everything. Ryu and Lisa were left to clean up the lobby area, while Oliver and Mia cleaned up behind the counter.

Ryu was in the middle of wiping down and then squidgy the windows. There were a bunch of window banners that obscured Ryu's view of the streets, but he got a glimpse of everything as he passed a gap in the banners. Ryu was working from right to left, cleaning the far left end of the last window he was able to see into the broad windows of the apartments a little to the left. The man couldn't help but just take a quick gander as he was cleaning.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, a window showed someone was watching TV, and another window towards the top showed someone standing at the window. They were just standing there, all the lights in the home were off, and Ryu could only see their pale, skinny body. Typical crackhead.

Cleaning some more, and serving a few customers, it was now dead again with almost nothing to do.

Mia turned to Ryu, "Soo... I heard you like someone?" she asked in a teasing and mocking tone.

Ryu wasn't sure how to react at first, especially with that smug look on Mia's face, "And...?"

"Oliver told me about the date you're going to go on!"

"Maybe!" Oliver interjected.

"Ya, I still have to think about it before making a choice..." Ryu explained, "He seems like a nice guy, just a little shy... like me..."

Mia still had a cocky expression, "So what do you think gonna happen when you two do start dating?"

"I don't know, the usual affection I guess..." Ryu said softly, tapping his fingers on the counter, "Though, a cup of tea or coffee doesn't sound that bad... now that I'm thinking about it..."

"Oh, you both are going to Central Perk? They got really good pancakes." Mia beamed.

"Well... we're supposed to be meeting there at 6pm, so it'd seem a little odd to order pancakes at that time..." Ryu sighed softly.

"Nothing is stopping you, if you're hungry." Mia spoke.

"True..."

That's the end of chapter one, I'll be taking some criticism as well so I can work on improving story writing, world building, and consistency in logic.