Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger - Alternate Universe Oneshot

Bartender:Bartending - JoexAhim

When Joe walks into the Galleon Bar, he doesn't know what he wants. Marvelous, the Chief Bartender, sends over Ahim to serve him. Maybe Ahim can help Joe out. Slight Pairing. Oneshot.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger... I pirated it ;D as well, all drinks mentioned in this Oneshot are real, and I own none of them. Much of this Oneshot was influenced by the Seinen Manga, Bartender by Joh Araki, in particular Chapters 1, 9, 15, and 60.

It had been a long time since Joe Gibken had walked into the Galleon Bar. Nothing had changed about the bar's environment. The patrons were still rowdy, the bartenders were still flashily serving their drinks with their usual air of slight cockiness and rousing jazz music was still being played. Joe breathed in, and visibly relaxed in the bar's dim lighting. It had been a long time since he had been here, ever since...

No, he didn't want to remember back then. Joe shook his head, getting out of his reverie.

"Joe!" one of the bartenders from behind the bar counter called him over. It was Marvelous, the chief bartender. Why he called himself Marvelous, no one knew, but that was how everyone described his drinks. Back in the old days, Joe had been one of Marvelous' regulars.

Joe smiled and walked over to the seat where Marvelous was standing in front of. Marvelous extended his hand in a familiar way, in which Joe took it in as a bro-hug.

"It's been a while," Marvelous said with a small smirk, while adding large cubes of ice to his stainless steel shaker. "Haven't seen you around in a while."

"Yeah, well, I've been busy," Joe offered lamely, while watching Marvelous add rye whiskey, dry vermouth and Campari into the shaker. "How's business been?"

"Same old, same old," Marvelous capped the shaker and began to shake in a practiced motion, until he knew the flavours had melded together perfectly. He poured out the contents into a waiting chilled cocktail glass, and garnished it with a lemon peel. "Here you go. This is Old Pal. Fitting for a man who I haven't seen in a while."
"Thanks," Joe sipped the cocktail, allowing the spiciness of the rye whiskey to tease his palate.

"Excuse me," a delicate looking female bartender appeared at the side. "Marvelous-san, Iwaguma-san is asking for you."
"Well then," Marvelous threw down his wiping cloth. As he walked past the other bartender, he whispered into her ear, "Take care of him. He's been my regular for a long time." Then he clapped her shoulder and went over to the waiting customer.

The woman looked at Marvelous, confused at what he said. She shrugged and placed herself in front of Joe.

Joe looked at the woman in front of him. He couldn't recognize her from his old days at the Galleon. This girl couldn't have been more than 23, but she was already working at the counter? That was strange. She wasn't like the other girl who worked at the Galleon, Luka, who had an air of confidence surrounding her. Instead, she was like delicate porcelain compared to Luka's sturdy ceramic.

"Are you new here?" Joe asked her.

"Yes," she replied, "I am Ahim. I will be your bartender for the rest of your stay here."

"You don't have to be so polite with me," Joe commented. "I'm Joe."

"Please excuse me, Joe-san," Ahim bowed, "I am more accustomed to this way of service." she placed a new bar coaster in front of Joe. "Would you like another cocktail?"

"No thanks, I'm not one for cocktails," Joe replied. "Just a scotch whiskey for now."

"Of course," Ahim bowed and took a lowball glass from under the counter. She placed a ball-shaped piece of ice into the glass and withdrew a bottle from the display. "Will this be suitable?"

"I leave it up to you," Joe said, crossing his arms.

Ahim bowed once more, and unscrewed the bottle of whiskey, and poured it into the chilling glass. "Whiskey on the rocks," she announced as she pushed the drink towards Joe. "Please enjoy."

"Thank you," Joe raised the glass to Ahim in a mock salute, "Kanpai."

Joe downed a quarter of the glass before returning the glass to the table. "Have you been working here long?"
"I just started recently," Ahim took out a polishing cloth and took down one of the bottles from the display.

"Have you been taught much?" Joe asked her.

"I have learned a lot," Ahim offered as an answer. "Marvelous-san will give me a riddle whenever one of my cocktails does not meet the requirement, but it is Luka-san who will help me out with the answer. However, most of the time I learn by observing."

To prove her point, she pointed over to where Marvelous was serving another batch of customers. The bar was accented with another round of laughter that layered over the noisy buzz. Ahim drooped her head slightly, "I am no good with making customers laugh like that. Thus, I don't really have regulars."

Joe shrugged, "Maybe in time, you'll get better at it."

Ahim nodded, grateful for the encouragement. "Marvelous said that you were his regular for a long time."

"I was," Joe said with a hint of a sad smile on his face. "Back then, I was on the National Kendo Team. I spent a lot of time training here in Tokyo, before I was allowed to compete internationally."

"I see," Ahim reached for the same bottle of scotch, "Would you like a refill?"

"Please," Joe said before he continued his story. "Anyway, when I achieve the level of 3rd dan, I was finally able to compete on the international scale. I was so excited, and then... this happened."

Joe heaved his left hand onto the table while Ahim took in a small gasp of surprise. Joe's left hand had been heavily bandaged. Bloody and worn out strips of cloth surrounded the hand.

"The doctor says it won't heal in time for the next Annual International Competition. He told me that even when it heals, I need another two years before I can use it like I did in the past." Tears began to splatter onto the bar counter, but Joe persevered. "But I can't accept it!" he said in an anguished tone. "Kendo was my goal! It was the only thing I was comfortable with! Now, I have to wait while my teammates surpass me?!"

He stopped and took another swig of his drink. "Heh, look at me. I used to never drink until I was drunk, but here I am, drunk and ranting about my lost career." Joe looked up at Ahim, "You must think that I'm horrible right now."

"Not at all, sir," Ahim said before she took another lowball glass. "If I may so bold, may I mix you a cocktail?"

"Why not, I'm already drunk," Joe gave his consent with a wave of his hand.

Ahim placed the bottles needed for the cocktail on the bar counter. With her delicate grace, poured carefully measured liquor into her jigger. "One part whiskey," she said, as she poured it into the waiting container. "One part Drambuie, and stir," she explained as she took her bar spoon and began to stir in practiced motions.

"Once both of the spirits have combined, serve," she said as she poured out the cocktail into the lowball glass. "Please, enjoy, Joe-san."
Joe looked at the glass, slightly marveling at the golden colour. He took a sip, and his eyes widened in delight. "Delicious, the sweetness and the whiskey's aroma create a wonderful flavour," he looked at Ahim, "What's the name of this cocktail?"

"This is called "Rusty Nail"," Ahim declared with a quiet confidence.

Joe slammed the drink down, ignoring the commotion that he had started to cause. "A rusty nail? Are you calling me useless?!"

"No, Joe-san, I am not," Ahim shook her head in humbleness, "for even a rusty nail can be polished back to perfection and be made shiny once more."

Joe relaxed as he understood what the female bartender was telling him. "I'm... sorry for my outburst," he apologized as he downed the rest of the drink.

"It is quite alright," Ahim said. "Joe-san, do you know why this bar's light is always so dim?"

"Eh?" Joe looked surprised.

Ahim smiled knowingly, "It's to hide the tears of the customer," she explained in her soft tone. "This bar counter has been around for a long time, many different customers have cried on its surface for a long time, but no matter what, no one has ever seen the tears."

"Interesting," Joe was feeling good, better than he had in a long time.

"Joe-san, may I make you one last cocktail?" Ahim asked.

"Please do," Joe nodded his head in a slight bow.

Once more, Ahim lined the ingredients on the counter, "Start with Vermouth on the bottom," she said as she poured the alcohol into the mixing container. "Stack Chartereuse in the middle and Gin on top and you will get the French cocktail, "bijou"." She showed Joe the evenly stacked cocktail, with multiple colours representing gems on top of each other. "However, mix the contents together, and what you get are not the three gems, but..."

"An Amber Dream," she said as she slid the cocktail glass towards Joe. "A dream that takes a while to accomplish, but a dream that can still be done."

"It's delicious," Joe said as he drank the cocktail. "I can't believe how well the flavours melded together."

"One last riddle for you tonight, Joe-san," Ahim had a lovely smile on her face. "Do you know the meaning of the word, 'Bartender'?"

"What?"

"Bar, means a roost," Ahim stated. "Tend, to be kind. Bartender means a kind roost. Someone who you can go to with your sorrows." Ahim smiled mischievously, "The moment you walk through those doors, it is our job to ensure that you are happier when you go out, than when you came in."

"I see," Joe pulled out some banknotes to pay for his drinks. "You are certainly a different type of bartender than what is usually found at the Galleon.

"Your drinks are different, full of care for the customer." Joe bowed slightly, hiding the smile on his face. "I won't forget them."

With that, he turned and walked towards the door. As he was about to push through, Marvelous called out to him, "Joe! You'll be back again soon, right?!"

Joe turned and faced him, "Of course, I'll be back the next week," he shouted over the noise. "But I want Ahim's drinks!"

Ahim looked up, startled at Joe. Joe simply smiled and winked at her. "Next week. Don't forget."

Ahim bowed deeply in his direction, until she heard the door close. She exited from behind the bar and went into the bartender's lounge. Finding her purse, she opened her cell phone and wrote down a note.

October 6th, 2012. The day I got my first regular.

Wow, it's complete. I can't believe it. It's been a while since I've written something, so I wanna get back into the habit. Hence, all these oneshots that will be coming from me. An apology maybe? I don't know. Life's hard and such, but we get over it. Thanks to Lisa and Pearl for editing! Although we're kinda like... university students now. o.O" LOL, thanks for finding all those mistakes! I guess I've lost my touch over my loooooong hiatus ;P either that or I stayed up too late typing this.

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