If the afternoon had been any hotter the world was just going to straight up end. At least that was Ziggy's point-of-view. His co-workers were zombies. Not literally, but close enough, except for one. He'd been friends with Yui Tanaka since kindergarten. She'd come to Seattle from Tokyo and he was pretty sure her family had just though he was a girl until middle school. By then he was as good as a member of the family. By then it was just too late.

He loved her family. He really did. Yui had been the center of his world since before he'd started calling her parents Mama and Papa. He'd also been taking the blame for her since they figured out that Ziggy was short for Siegfried. Her family was pretty traditional and if someone came up with the idea to graffiti the department of motor vehicles for general governmental injustice, it definitely wasn't their sweet little girl.

If she'd wanted to permanent marker a moustache on the president, he'd have followed her into it. She never just stood by and let him take the blame, no matter that her parents were sure it was him. They never stopped loving him. They were always kind. They had, however, made him sit down and talk with an army recruiter after the DMV incident.

Yui had lost her mind after that and they had run away from home. For the last six months, she'd refused to speak to her parents. Her parents had been utterly distraught when he'd secretly told them that they were living in a studio apartment - together. When Papa had asked him, in clear unvarnished language, if he was sleeping with his daughter, Ziggy had given the first plausible and comforting response that he came to his mind. He told his Papa that he was gay, which he didn't really think was true, but he wasn't for sure either. He was absolutely sure he was not going to tell the man who had saved his life, given him the only fatherly love he'd ever had, that he was in love with his only daughter.

That was a secret he'd take with him to his grave. Though anyone who spent time with her was probably in love with her. She was kind, eloquent, poetic, brave, strong, stubborn, and clever. She was loyal and always thinking about something. Short, petite with dark brown hair and light brown eyes, she looked like the Japanese princess she was. A kendo and aikido champion, she could take care of herself, while still walking into a room like the most delicate of flowers. She was the last one that Ziggy would ever confess his love to. She was the moon and he was barely the tide reaching out to her.

He had followed her to this call center, and there they were, in desks that faced each other. Her hair was pulled up into puffs on the side of her head and her bright blue summer dress seemed like it was the only color in the room. Everyone else was washed out and bleached by the unusual heat. Even the glaze of sweat on her throat and face seemed to just make her more beautiful. It was one thing to love her and follow her anywhere, but another entirely to think that she might love him back. Even when she looked up and turned that adorable smile in his direction, all he could think of was how sweet she was.

He knew who he was. The son of criminals, aged out of the foster care system, with mouse brown hair and weird purple eyes. His last name had been picked for him by a social worker, and his first name was the last thing his mother had said. He could handle himself in a fight, but he was on the slender side. His grades were okay, but not dean's list. He was the kind of guy who stayed working in a call center, while Yui would make up with her parents and go on to university, then medical school. He might as well be gay because he was never going to be worth Yui's time and that her time was all he wanted.

Speaking of time, it had been a long time since the last call came in. He caught Yui's eye and asked, "Are you getting calls?"

She shook her head. "It's so hot, maybe the server went down."

"Wanna see a poem?"

"Is it about how hot it is today," she asked, distaste in her mouth.

"No," Ziggy said, pushing his battered notebook in her direction and she scanned it even before she had her hands on it.

"What are you reading?" Baxter, the main IT guy for the center asked, leaning against the half cubicle wall that separated their aisle from the main thoroughfare in the south side of the center.

Yui turned Ziggy's notebook over and shrugged.

"Well, the heat has shut the server down and I thought maybe you and I could go get an iced coffee, talk a little bit?"

Baxter was maybe ten years older than they were. He was Ziggy's future, single, shabby, but definitely less assholish than Baxter, hopefully. The older guy didn't seem to get the idea that Yui wasn't in his future, no matter how politely or how often she told him.

"When will the server be back up," she asked him, her eyes cold.

"When we get back from coffee," his smile was predatory, not like a noble lion, but more like a hyena that wasn't willing to wait anymore.

She stood. He smiled brighter.

"I don't drink coffee. Ziggy, let's go see if the balcony is cooler."

Grabbing his notebook, Ziggy followed after her, just giving Baxter the cold shoulder. He really wanted to tell the guy to leave Yui alone! She was his! Except, well, she wasn't and it wasn't right for people to own or control other people like that anyway. And Yui could take care of herself.

It was cooler on the balcony anyway and his emotions calmed down. It would be worth it to see Yui deck the big IT guy anyway. That would be a sight worth seeing! Management would never believe that 6'1" guy got laid out by 5'2" girl who weighed maybe 125. The world just wasn't fair, most of the time.

"I love your poem," she said, leaning on the railing.

The city stretched out around them. The Space Needle wasn't melting so it couldn't really be that hot. "Thanks." Ziggy leaned on the railing next to her, closing his eyes as a breeze lifted away some of the heat. "I hope it cools down tomorrow."

"Me too."

Neither of them thought much about it when they heard the door open behind them. A couple hundred people worked in the call center and with the server down they wouldn't have the balcony to themselves for much longer.

"We should look for new jobs. We can do better than this."

"Yeah," Ziggy agreed.

Baxter's voice was deep, angry. "Why won't you give me a chance, Yui?"

The heat was getting to everyone, but they needed work from home jobs. Some kinds of stupid just couldn't be vaccinated again.

Yui turned, her lips tight. "You may address me as Ms. Tanaka, Mr. Baxter."

"He calls you Yui," Baxter pointed out.

"He is my friend." Yui's body tensed, ready to fight.

"You're an uppity little chink," Baxter growled. "I'm trying to be nice to you. You should be grateful. Maybe I'm not queer enough for you? Are you a fag hag?"

"I'm a person with the number to HR," she pointed out. "Leave me alone, Mr. Baxter."

It was the heat, maybe or pandemic stress, or just stupidity, but he shifted his body like he was going to throw hands. Without even thinking about it, Ziggy stepped in front of Yui. The punch hit him in the throat and he staggered back. The second punch hit his face and blood splattered.

Time moved so fast and not at all in the same moment. Ziggy heard the crack of Yui's bo staff extending and wished he were more able to watch what she was going to do to Baxter, who totally deserved what he was going to get, but the railing cracked and he was falling backwards.

Yui screamed.

They were fifteen floors up and he'd never managed to learn that air walking kung fu that he'd bought the book about when he was ten. At least he wasn't really going to age into being Baxter.

Yui's hand caught his and held. Hanging in mid-air, her hand holding him, her saving him... that was how his life had always been. They weren't children anymore though and he was too heavy for her to pull up without some place to brace herself. Already she was sliding down the broken balcony to the gaping hole, slowly, but she was losing ground.

"Let me go, Yui. It's okay."

"I will," she growled, teeth gritted, as she tried to find something to brace her feet against, some way to pull them both back up, "NEVER, let you go. I'm going to swing you, and you have to grab hold of the other side of the rail, then I can get you back up!"

"I don't want you to fall, Yui! Just let me go."

"If you don't do as I tell you, you're going to pull me over the edge because I am not going to let you go, Ziggy! Do you understand me? Now grab the rail!"

<><>

"Welcome to the test of hearts," an elegant woman said. "It's a very simple system. You will choose your avatars and enter the maze where you will need to solve puzzles to advance to the next level. It is a test of your hearts. Those that can complete the maze will be given a second chance at life. Those that fail will simply cease to exist. Alternatively, if you do not wish to take this chance, you can proceed to the afterlife of your faith."

Yui and Ziggy looked at each other "This isn't what I thought falling was going to feel like," Ziggy said.

"We haven't fallen yet," Yui said, turning to the woman. "Isn't that right? We solve the puzzle, and then Ziggy makes the grab and we both live."

"That is nearly correct. However, while you can work the puzzle together the assessment is individual. Those that pass return to life, those that do not pass, do not."

"Ziggy?"

"You know I'm cautious. Reincarnation isn't the worst."

"But you don't believe in that. I'm not ready to die yet. Are you, Zigs?"

"No, I'm not ready," he sighed. A life where he got to be Yui's friend was better than any life or afterlife he could imagine.

"We'll take the test," Yui stated for them both.

"Excellent. Welcome to the Three Match Heart Test. Just enter the door on your left. Good luck.