My name is Yamamoto Katsumi.
I know, it's such a stereotypical Japanese name. Yet, it serves its purpose - it's so common that nobody bats an eye when they hear this name. Now you see, people like me - the ones lurking in the shadow - we need these names, for as they say the best hiding place is in plain sight.
Funnily enough, my name is probably the only normal thing about me. The first thing people notice is my blood-red hair, which no matter how I tried cannot be died any other color. It's quite bold, compared to the traditional black hair of the Japanese people.
My choice of clothes is probably not helping the case either, as during the time I spent traveling in Europe, I grew fond of wearing sunglasses. Honestly, it's fun seeing people - especially older people - giving me weird looks, because the majority of them still believe that only Yakuza members wear sunglasses, and while there is some truth to this, I just don't like the feeling of being blinded by the sun.
Of course, my eyesight is better than your average human sight, but I will get to that later.
My daily routine is pretty common too. I wake up early - it's a habit I couldn't break after all the time spent here - then go for a jog. It's not so thrilling, however, in a crowded place like Tokyo, it's the most you can get. Then I come home, take a shower, and have breakfast while watching some TV. If it's a good day, my roommate/best friend crawls out of his cave before noon, usually with a massive hangover.
With his indigo hair and lilac eyes, Daisuke, was in a way just like me - sticking out from the crowd. Yet, while I tried to blend in, he was set on making people recognize him. While I tried to remain hidden, he was seeking out ways to shine. Looking back, we were so different that even after all this time, I have absolutely no idea how we managed to remain friends. Maybe it was the fact that we were the only ones of our people. Of course, we weren't really the only ones, we knew there were people like us, we just haven't met any. Or maybe we have, but haven't realized it…
Anyway! Here he is, crawling down the stairs, while his nighttime guest is still sleeping upstairs. He crawls to the sofa, mumbles something that I assume to be a good morning, and spreads out on the floor.
"Morning to you, too. I see that you had a good time yesterday," I said smiling
Just like me, he has a high alcohol tolerance - I shudder to think how much he must have had to look like this.
"Not so good now…" he mumbled grouchily
"Well, when you decide to get your ass off the floor, there is a painkiller and a bottle of carrot juice on the kitchen table," I said nonchalantly
He mumbled something again and I turned back to my TV show. It was your casual 'Good Morning Japan!' talk show where they invite celebrities, artists, musicians, scientist and so on for an interview, game, or whatever they come up with. Today's guest was a historian, who was working on his new book - which some might consider boring, however, it actually grabbed my attention.
"Rumor has it that Shiroma-san is working together with Inoue Ichiro-san in this project, is that right?" asked the host, a smiling black haired woman
"Yes, yes. It's the first time we work together," said the historian, an older man with short gray hair
"Haa, is that so? How would you describe working with him? Some people believe that he is quite young to be working on such a big project," said the other host, a handsome man in his thirties
"He may be young, but he is very knowledgeable regarding our history," said Shiroma-san wisely, "Not only that, but he actually showed me a portrait he recovered during one of his travels,"
The screen showed a picture, and I felt my heartbeat quicken.
I told myself that it was just an ordinary picture. There are thousands of pictures just like this one, displayed in museums all over the country.
Yet, this one was different.
It showed a large village at the foot of a mountain, while a figure of a huge white dog could be seen between the clouds.
"You see, the people on the West believed that there was this great dog demon protecting the land. They believed that he, yes it was a he, lived in the clouds keeping a protecting hand over them, saying that 'It is the duty of the strong to protect the weak.' Inoue-san has gathered quite a collection of artifacts pointing to this belief, which is fascinating," explained Shiroma-san
"How amazing! We take it that your new book is going to be centered around the medieval myths then?" asked the woman
"Yes; it's going to be called Seeing the unseen: Japanese demons and their lives,"
"You realize that some might discard it as fiction, right?" asked the host
"Fiction or not, myths are part of the culture and history. We all know the old Greek myths, so it's only expected that we know our own myths too," smiled the historian
"Are you okay? You look like you have seen a ghost," said Dai emerging from the kitchen, snapping me out of thoughts
"No! No, I'm fine!" I said quickly
He just raised a brow in disbelief but knew better than to ask.
"I see you got your second wind,"
"Yeah; thanks by the way. You always know what to do," smiled Dai as he jumped on the sofa next to me
"I work in a bar - I know a thing or two," I said winking
"Are you sure you are alright? Your pendant is acting kind of weird," he said after a while pointing to the pendant on my neck
It was a pretty basic pendant - a deep purple stone framed with gold, hanging on a golden chain. On the back, there was a cherry blossom flower crest.
"…That's weird," I said as I touched the pendant
It was sending vibrations through my hand. After a minute it stopped. Sharing a look f bewilderment with Dai, we just shrugged and classified it as just another weird occurrence.
"You work today?" asked Dai as he took a sip of the carrot juice
"Yeah, Ren is doing some business in the bar tonight, so I have to make sure that everything goes smoothly,"
"You know, I could lend you a job in the office,"
"And make me your assistant to clean up your mess? No thanks,"
"Yeah, sure, because working as a bartender in a bar owned by a Yakuza member at the red light district is so much better," rolled his eyes Dai
"It's definitely more interesting," I said sticking out my tongue and Dai just sighed
We have had this argument countless times and truth be told, it was getting tiring.
"Working together would be too much - we see each other enough at home," I said trying to break the tension
"No, it's okay, you don't want to work with me. Fine," said Dai and I just rolled my eyes
"If you want someone to pay attention to you 24/7 get a wife," I said colder than I intended, but Dai just laughed dryly
"I would, but sadly you are not looking for marriage," he said before he got up and walked up the stairs, "thanks again," he added before I heard the door to his room open and close
With a sigh, I laid over the sofa. Looking at the ceiling I kept wondering what to do.
According to my ID, I'm 26. Now, 26 is not that old, yet the old idea according to which it's best to have children young, still lives on. No matter where I lived, what job I worked, after a while everyone kept asking about when I'm going to get married and have kids and yadda yadda yadda. I guess that's also a reason why I love my current job - there are no questions asked as long as you do your job.
Speaking of my job; it's interesting how much Dai hates the idea of me working there when it was the very place we first met. If it weren't for it, we might have never met. It was ten years ago, but I still remember it as if it was yesterday. Then again my perception of time is different…
Anyway, I was already working at Blast! when one night he came in with a couple of colleagues. They already had a couple of drinks before coming here, and it was evident. Slowly, but surely they ordered a private room with six hostesses, while Dai kept trying to flirt with me. It was an everyday occurrence, so I thought nothing of it. The next day he came again and continued to flirt with me through another month. Then we started to date. He was funny, flirty and fun-loving, so why not. Not gonna lie, we had a lot of fun together, however, I just had the feeling that we had different plans for the future. So, I broke it off.
That's how we live now. He, me, and our one-night stands. We are both adults with needs, of course, we are not going to pretend that we are not seeing others.
I was still laying on the sofa when Dai and his lady friend walked down the stairs.
"I had so much fun yesterday," said the girl, and from her tone, I assumed that she was smiling coyly at him
"Yeah, me too," said Dai sweetly
"Can't you reschedule your photo-shot?" asked the girl pouting
"Naaah, I tried. But I will call you later, okay?"
'Now you are just being cute,' I thought, rolling my eyes
After a really cringy goodbye the girl finally left, and Dai walked in the living room. He took hold of my legs, sat down, and laid my legs across his lap.
"I thought you had the day off," I said offhandedly
"Yeah, I do," smiled Dai
"Oh, was Akiko giving you difficulties?"
"Ooh! So her name was Akiko!" shouted Dai with an enlightened expression on his face
"No idea, but she sounded like an Akiko,"
"Why? How does an Akiko sound?" asked Dai entertained
I just shrugged before I said, "Annoying. Trying to act all cute, but she is just plain annoying,"
"Yeah, she could be an Akiko," nodded Dai, before he asked, "What are your plans for the day?"
"I have a shift from four o'clock,"
"Hmm, we still have a lot of time till then. What should we do?" he asked with a sly smile as his hand crawled up my leg
I just shot him a look.
"Are you ever satisfied?" I asked amused
He just laughed, before he said, "Oh please, Akiko still has a lot to learn,"
"You want me to teach her?" I asked with a grin and Dai's eyes went wide
"Yes!" he replied without a second thought, "Damn, that would be so hot…" he said with a dreamy expression
I just laughed, before I got up and walked to the kitchen. Dai just followed me like a lost puppy.
"Can we try it?" he kept asking
"Maybe," I said offhandedly as I opened the fridge
"Oh boy, we should definitely do that!" he said excitedly as he sat down on a chair and kept talking about how much fun it would be
I just smiled, as I started to prepare lunch.
"Just think about it! It would be the highlight of her life," said Dai and I turned around with a raised brow, "I mean I would definitely enjoy it too; but you know, we are doing it mostly for her,"
"For her, is it? Now that I think about it it sounds like a lot of work and no fun," I said sighing, turning back to the vegetables I was slicing
"Oh come on," moaned Dai as he got up and hugged me from behind, "It will be fun… and if you do this for me, we could have fun with that new guy you mentioned earlier," he whispered to me
"The new bouncer?"
"If that's what you want," he said kissing my neck
"Okay, but arrange it quickly, I want to get over and done with it so that I can enjoy both you and the new bouncer," I said putting down the knife and turning around to face him
He had a big smile on his face.
"You are the best," he said kissing my cheek
"I know,"
"You know… we still have time…" he said with a shit eating grin on his face
I looked at the clock.
"A quickie, now? Fine, but you will do the cleanup,"
"Deal," he said and the next moment my arms were around his neck, my legs were around his hips, and we were busy making out
"I'm leaving!" I shouted as I put on my sneakers, and took one last look in the mirror making sure that my messy bun was messy in just the right way
Seeing that I had to change clothes at work, I decided to just wear tight black jeans, with a low-cut black blouse.
"Take care!" shouted back Dai from the kitchen
With that, I put on my headphones, turned on my Walkman, and walked to the station.
While I was nodding to my music walking down the street I felt something that I haven't felt in a long time. It was a weird scent.
Inu. Hanyou.
Before I knew it my head was high, and I was looking around for the intruder.
The downside of living in Tokyo was that it was awfully crowded all the damn time. However, thanks to my amazing sense of smell I could easily point out the intruder within seconds.
It was a young boy with long white hair, wearing a red kimono and a … baseball hat? What the hell? I know that fashion on Tokyo's streets can get weird, but this was just a big no.
Most importantly, why wasn't his youki concealed? Did he forget to take his potion? He was drawing attention to himself like a giant Christmas tree in the middle of a street in fucking August. What was he thinking?
I was so shocked, that I didn't realize that the traffic light turned green. I just continued to watch the boy with a confused expression. He was crossing the street and it seemed like he was listening to the girl next to him.
Wait, is that?
'Leave it to the Higurashis to find trouble…' I thought annoyed
Next to the boy was a young girl of fifteen in her school uniform. The eldest Higurashi child, Kagome.
You might be thinking: Katsu, there are millions living in Tokyo. Do you know everyone?
Fuck no.
But when there is only one demon-friendly shrine, you will quickly learn to get along with them.
As they crossed the street, I watched as they neared me. There was a strange thought in my head. I can't explain, I just had to talk to him.
So, I took a step slightly to left, just enough so that Kagome would run into me when passing.
"Oh, sumimazen," she said absentmindedly
"Careful, girl," I said with a smile, and she looked up at me
Her eyes went wide, and a smile grew on her face.
"Katsumi-san!"
"Hey, kid. Going home from school?"
She just nodded. My eyes strayed over the boy. He was tall, muscular, yet his face was still boyishly cute. He had long white hair - most hanyous have - and deep gold eyes.
Kagome saw that I was looking at her boy because she spoke up.
"Um, Katsumi-san, that's my friend, Inuyasha. Inuyasha, that's Yamamoto Katsumi-san, a family friend,"
The boy just nodded.
That name struck a chord in me. There was something about him that I couldn't put a finger on.
"You eerily remind me of someone…" I said absentmindedly
The two just shared a look, before Kagome said, "You - you must have the wrong person,"
I just shook my head.
"Yes, probably. I'm must be overworked. Anyway, I must be going. It was nice seeing you. Give your family my regards," I said smiling
She said goodbye, and we went our way.
Only then did I realize that my pendant was softly vibrating again.
Half an hour later, when I arrived to work, my mind was still busy thinking about that boy. I know that I have heard about him - or saw him, but I cannot point out exactly when or where.
"Earth to Katsumi!" shouted my manager, Kai, "You okay? We can't have you spacing out tonight," he said seriously
Kai was a man in his mid-thirties, with long black hair and brown eyes. He was quite handsome but too serious for my taste.
"Yes, sure, what do you need?" I asked
"There has been a slight change - Ren wants you to pose as one of the girls,"
"What? I'm not a hostess! I'm just a bartender! They will know!"
"You know what?! I have been having nightmares about this evening! Here is the phone, call him," he said angrily as he stormed out of the staff room
I just rolled my eyes as I dialed Ren's number.
"What?"
"Hey, Ren. It's Katsu from the bar. Listen, Kai is telling me that there is supposed to be some kind of change?"
"Yes, yes! A birdie told me that Diego is planning something, so I want you in that damned room with us! If things go wrong, it's better to have you on the team,"
"But I'm not a hostess, you know that, right? Diego's men have been here before, what if they recognize me?"
"Don't worry, I have it all thought out. Just put on that dress and makeup, and prepare the room for us,"
"But-"
"No buts! I want your ass ready when we arrive!"
I just rolled my eyes. There was evidently no room for disagreement.
"Fine! But don't blame me if you end up with a room full of corpses," I mumbled, but Rei just laughed
"Oh, I'm counting on you - if they try something you are permitted to kill them without a second thought,"
Now, that actually brightened my mood.
After ending the call, I walked up to the closet, which contained the costumes. Now say whatever you want, but I really like how much Ren invested into the bar. The short kimono dresses were all high quality, and they were all gorgeous. There were a lot of different colors, but I only cared about one. It took me fifteen minutes but I finally found a black one. It was black with white and red cherry blossoms. Nice. I was standing in front of the mirror, when one of the hostesses, Haruhi, came in.
She was a slender girl of nineteen with middle length brown hair and brown eyes. She was a pleasant and intelligent girl. Her only fault was that she was born in a poor family. She needed the money for university, so she was around quite a lot.
"Katsumi-san! Oh my! I almost didn't recognize you! But… why are you wearing that?"
"The boss wants me to fill in tonight," I mumbled
"Oh, is that so! Then we have to doll you up! Come, come, sit down I'll do your make up and hair!" she said excitedly
"No, thanks. I can -" I started, but there was no way to get out of her grasp
So, I just sat down and let her do how she pleased.
"Aand we are done!" said Haruhi after an hour
I finally opened my eyes, and she showed a mirror in my hands.
"Take a look! Oh, Katsumi-san you look so beautiful."
And I was. She curled my hair with a curler, so now my long hair went down in curls on my shoulders and back. She used a black eye shadow so that it would match my dress, and my lipstick was a dark red color.
"You could be a model!"
"Good job," I said smiling
"Should we take a picture?"
"Sure," I said as I took out my mobile
After we took a photo together, I sent one to Dai saying "You better watch out, or I might steal your spot in Jidaigeki ;)"
The poor guy tried to call me, but it was just about time for Ren and his business partners to arrive, so I turned off my phone and locked it in my locker. It was just then that Ren arrived.
"I see you actually clean up very well," he said smiling
He was a well-built man, in his thirties, with short brown hair and light brown eyes.
"Remind me again; why are you working behind the bar?" he asked, but the next moment there was a knife at his throat
"Because I don't take kindly to creeps trying to chat me up," I spat annoyed, but he just laughed
"Ah, that's why I love you," he said grinning, "keep that knife on you, but here, take these. I don't care where you hide them, but I want them on you," he said giving me two handguns.
"If one of them tries something, I want you to blow out his fucking brains. I have no patience for Diego's bullshit anymore," spat Ren and I just shrugged
"Okay,"
I placed the guns inside my dress, right under my obi, so it would hold them in place. I also pulled the dress a bit lower and made sure that there was just enough of my cleavage showing, so they wouldn't even think of checking me for weapons.
While Ren made sure that the room Kai prepared was up to his standard, I walked out and stood beside the bar.
"It's so weird to stand there," I said to Itsuki, who was filling in for me
"I bet it is," he said smiling
He wanted to say something, but then a long time customer, Hansuke Haito, the CEO of a publishing company walked in. He was in his fifties, but he came every day to have a jug of beer, which he sips for four hours while talking about this and that. He was a pleasant man, save for the countless cases of sexual
"Ah, my eyes have been blessed!" he cried as he saw me, "Why, I had no idea that Katsumi-san is also a hostess!"
I just smiled as I replied, "Ah, I'm a special case - only for VIP guest,"
"Aah, I see, well, I will make sure to talk to Kaito-kun and arrange something," he said winking
I just smiled, "Please do,"
Thankfully just then Diego and his men arrived. Now, Diego Ferraro was an Italian 'businessmen', who was interested in opening a new business in Tokyo. Just one look at him was enough to know that he was the embodiment of the typical arrogant white men, who believe that money solves everything. He was tall, but slender, with tanned skin, black hair and a light scar across his left eye.
'You have come far from home, dude,' I thought, as I put on a smile and walked up to him, making sure to sway my hips
"Good evening, gentlemen. Kisaragi-san is expecting you; please follow me," I said in perfect English
The men just looked me up and down, taking extra care to check out my boobs and legs, probably just to make sure that I wasn't hiding a knife between my breasts.
"Right, show the way," mumbled Diego and his men followed
"This place has a good vibe… Too bad every girl here look fucking underage," said Diego in Italian
Good thing I picked up some during my travels in Europe. Sadly my knowledge was limited, as I could understand something, but couldn't say anything to save my life.
"This one is not that bad…" said one of his men and I could feel their eyes on me
"Not bad at all... After we kill that motherfucker, we should have some fun with her, what do you say?" said Diego, and judging from his tone he was probably grinning
'We will see about that, buddy…'
I led them into one of the backrooms, which had two sofas, a coffee table, and a bar at the back. We thought that the foreigners would prefer to have furniture they are used to. Ren was already sitting on the sofa opposite the door, while Kai dressed in a bartender uniform stood behind the bar.
"Diego Ferraro-san and his men," I said in English as I motioned to the men, before walking up to the bar for their sake
"Ah, Ren!" shouted Diego as he threw open his arms
"Diego," Ren just nodded but didn't get up, "Come sit. We have much to discuss, but first, we should have a drink,"
I was already getting their drinks. I placed the tray on the table, placed the cups in front of them and poured some sake from the tokkuri.
"That's what I like! To our friendship!" said Diego raising his cup
"Yes, to our friendship," smiled Ren, before both of them drank the sake
"Say, friend, you got quite a beauty here. How much would it cost to buy her for a night?" asked Diego with a grin
"This is not a brothel - try the big red building down the street,"
"Ah, come on! Surely we could arrange something. Just say a number, and we have a deal,"
"These girls are hostesses, not prostitutes," said Ren sharply
"Oh please, we all know what kind of girls work in places like this,"
Ren just sighed, "If you are so keen on the thought ask her,"
Diego just looked at me and with a smile on my face I replied, "There is not enough money in the world,"
Upon hearing my answer the grin on his face vanished, and one of his men took hold of his gun, "How dare you!"
While some might find it concerning, it didn't even faze me. It was not the first time someone pointed a gun at me.
"Would you like to change your answer? You see Rodrigo here is quite impatient," smiled Diego
"You should call back your man," advised him Ren
"Oh come on, we are just playing with her,"
"Playtime is over! Let's discuss business," cut it short Ren, "I know what you are doing, and it stops now,"
"What? What are you talking about? We talked about my businesses," said Diego, but it was evident that he was getting scared
"I don't care about your businesses! I'm talking about the shit you are selling on the streets! 'PleasurePills' you call them!" shouted Ren enraged, as he pulled a small bag from his jacket and threw it on the table
Diego's face lost all colors.
"I - I have nothing to do with that!"
"Nothing? Is that so? Interesting how it only showed up a couple of weeks after you arrived! It's the same shit that was found in Yokohama! It caused the death of fifty people!"
"They - they were just drug addicts! Why does it matter? It's not like they will be missed!" tried to reason Diego
"I don't care. GET. THAT. SHIT. OUT. OF. MY. COUNTRY." Said Ren standing up
Diego just sighted, "Sorry, man, I can't do that. My benefactors wouldn't like it,"
"Your benefactors?" asked Ren surprised
"Yeah, too bad I can't tell you anything. Say what; the drugs stay, and in exchange for that red-haired beauty I will forget about this meeting," smiled Diego
There was a moment of silence before Ren spoke up, "You are something else. Fine, I see that there is no other way,"
He looked back at me and Kai and give us a nod. We knew what to do.
Diego's men had no time to react. We took out our guns and blew out their brains. One by one.
"OH MY GOD! STOP IT!" shouted Diego terrified
"You have two days. If you don't clean up the mess you have made you will end up just like this - dead in a pool of your own blood and shit," said Ren, before he left the room leaving the petrified Diego behind
After that Kai offered Diego a drink, and I was sent home, since it was practically my day off. It was two o'clock in the morning and the streets were finally deserted. Walking home, I kept thinking about Diego and his associates. I would have killed him too, to send a message to other foreigners trying to sell their drugs here. But Ren is the boss. It was his choice to make. Let's hope that it will not come around to bite him.
"How disappointing. After all this time you are doing the same work, just for a different master," said a cynical voice
I turned around trying to locate the stranger.
The street was dead.
There was no one.
Just me.
So where?
I sighed, "I seriously need to relax. First, hanyous walking in plain sight, and now I'm hearing voices…"
Little did I know that it wasn't me.