Acting and deception
It had taken her years to become who she was now. She had learnt how to do her make-up from Kasuka, he had practically taught her everything. The one thing she had managed to perfect was her voice. As she grew up, she constantly changed her voice, when she was dressed as a girl. Singing songs by female singers helped, gradually her voice settled into a pitch she was happy with, she could now easily switch between the two voices.
Shizuka leaned against the bar, swirling her lollipop in her mouth. No one was here yet, surprisingly she was on her own. She bit down, breaking the candy and throwing the stick away. Reaching into her bag, she took another one out unwrapping it, this one was strawberry.
The door at the side of the bar opened and as expected her boss came out. "Hanejima Shizuka." She still said he was yakuza. She had her temper and strength, but the man in front of her scared her. Shiki was a stern looking man, wearing a dark grey shirt and a white suit jacket, with a gold chain around his neck.
He was polite to every one, she had heard him speak to, but the icy aura around him never disappeared, she could admit he was intimidating. Behind him stood his two bodyguards, that always seemed to follow him around. Which had made her think he wasn't normal. Even her brother didn't have any.
"Shiki-san." He was one of the ones,she made sure to be polite to. "Has Vorona's replacement been sorted?" Shiki gave her a peaceful smile, she was torn between relaxing and running. "Akabayashi, will bring her in shortly." She nodded, as he walked past her. Once he was gone, she relaxed.
Shizuka started to get ready for opening. She checked everything was stocked up, so there wouldn't be a rush when she started. Next, she checked all the glasses were clean and started to stack them, so they were easy to grab. Still she was the only one there. Getting slightly bored, she went to clean the tables, making sure everything was tidy.
An hour later, she was back to leaning against the bar, as Akabayashi finally walked in. He looked older than Shiki, a scar going vertically down his right eye. He moved like he didn't have a care in the world. As usual, he was wearing his black suit, with a red shirt. In his hand he held what she thought was a hand crafted cane.
Everyone that worked in Artic was completely different. Shiki was polite and intimidating, Akabayashi was relaxed and laid back. She was short tempered and hot headed and then there was Vorona. Vorona was Russian, as far as she knew. She was nice enough, but she had a habit of talking in robotic sounding sentences.
"Ah, Hanejima no nee-chan." Akayabashi smiled over the counter. "Miss Beautiful isn't in today?" Shizuka shook her head, he was asking about Vorona. "I brought some one to help." The blonde turned her attention to the teenage girl, standing beside him. She had short black hair, glasses and she was well endowed, a lot bigger than she was. She wore a pink dress, with a black vest over the top.
"This is Anri-chan." She could tell in his voice how much he cared about her. Which didn't make sense, this was a bar, where dangerous things happened and she looked under-age. The teen bowed slightly in front of her. "Pleased to meet you, Hanejima-san." Shizuka nodded, suddenly feeling awkward. "It's Shizuka."
"You stay here, Anri-chan." Shizuka watched as Akabayashi made his way to find Shiki. The teen stood there head lowered, staring at her shoes. Shizuka reached into her bag. "Lollipop?" Anri was silent, shaking her head. Hurry back Vorona.
"How old are you?" The teen finally looked up at her. "Sixteen." The same age as Ryugamine and Kida. "Since you're under-age, you can make sure the tables are cleared." While she would stay behind the bar, serving everyone. "Okay." She received a nod from the girl.
After showing the girl, where everything was and making sure she hadn't forgotten anything, she opened the door, flipping the sign to open. Artic was now open for the evening. Music blasted from the upper floor, before it went down in volume. Surprisingly Akabayashi was the one who dealt with the sound system.
The girl, what was her name? Ah, that was the biggest problem she had. She could disguise herself, change her attitude, but she couldn't do a thing about her terrible memory when it came to remembering names. Oh well, she would listen to someone else say it, she was sure it began with an A.
The first few customers came in, coming up to the bar. Shizuka looked them over. They were all middle aged, looking like they had just come from work. She drummed her nails against the bar, waiting for them to order. "Three Carlings." She nodded, reaching for the glasses. She held the first under the correct pump, pulling the lever. She did the same with the other two, placing them on the counter. They paid, going to one of the tables.
The more time that passed the busier they got. She pulled pints and made cocktails, while the girl went around collecting glasses and cleaning the tables. She relaxed into her focused state. She pulled another lollipop out of her bag, unwrapping it and popping it into her mouth. The girl passed the bar, holding an empty tray of glasses.
The door opened again, making her breath catch in her throat. Here we go. Kadota walked in first, then Mikado and Kida, followed by Erika and Walker. Kadota was the first to notice her, pausing to stare at her. She did nothing, drumming her nails on the counter. "Heiwajima-san?" Kida had noticed her. The younger blond stared at her, before shaking his head. "Ah, sorry. You look like someone we know."
Shizuka raised an eyebrow. "Oh, who?" Mikado looked up at her. "Our work collegue, Shizuo Heiwajima." The blonde stopped tapping, twirling the lollipop. "That's a man's name. Are you saying I'm a man?" Kida stepped back. "Of course not my princess, you are the most beautiful woman, I have ever seen." Shizuka grinned leaning forward. "And you're under-aged."
Erika was staring at her now. "What's your name?" The blond shrugged. "Shizuka Hanejima." The otaku nodded. "Another Shizu-chan. No. wait. You can be Shizu-Shizu." She squealed, throwing her arms around Walker. "You really look alike. You should meet Shizu-chan." Shizuka watched as she pulled a phone out, dialling Shizuo's number.
"Hey, Shizu-chan. We just met someone who looks like you. Call me back. Bye." She hung up. "It went to voice mail. "Can I take a picture?" Shizuka froze. What did she do now? Luckily their attention was diverted. Mikado and Kida, looked in shock at the girl who had returned from the kitchen. "Sonohara-san?" Oh? So they knew her. "What are you dong here, Anri-chan?"
Anri Sonohara, she needed to remember the girl's name. "Mikado-kun, Kida-kun." Erika's eyes lit up, her eyes running over the teen. "It's a love triangle. Ah, I need some paper and a pen." She squealed as she glanced over the three teens. Anri blushed, looking back down at her feet. Mikado knew what Erika was like, but blushed anyway. Kida put his hands behind his head. "You're embarrassing them, Karisawa-san."
The attention was now away from her, focused on the three teenagers. When she glanced up, she noticed Kadota staring at her again. Was it just her or was his face redder than usual. "What can I get you?" Kadota shook his head. "I'll have a pint." Shizuka smiled at him. "Of?" She had never seen him flustered before.
Unfortunately, instead of going to a separate table, the group had decided to sit on the stools in front of the bar. Mikado was conscious of Ari, was it? The teen's eyes following her around the room. Erika had found some paper and was writing furiously, Walker was next to her, offering suggestions. While Kida was hopelessly trying to flirt with every girl he saw, including her.
"Um, Hanejima-san." Shizuka turned to Mikado. "Yes?" He teen's face was full of worry. "I think, Sonohara-san is in trouble." She followed where he was looking, seeing the girl at one of the tables, silver tray, held against herself. By the looks of it, she was trying to collect the glasses from that table. Her eye twitched as one of the customers, touched the girl's butt. "I'll handle it."
She was the reason, they didn't have any bouncers. Both she and Vorona could handle themselves. She lifted the wooden panel up, stepping from behind the door. Shizuka stormed towards the table. One second the group were laughing, the next they were picked up, one by one and thrown through the open door. She didn't know how far she threw them and she didn't care.
"Are you okay?" She stared down at girl. "Thank you, Hanejima-san." Shizuka nodded. "Do you want to continue?" She didn't want to deal with Shiki and Akabayashi if anything happened. "I'll be fine." The blonde made her way back to the bar, ignoring the gawking customer. Erika was squealing again. "Just like Shizu-chan."
Mikado and Kida left their seats, staying with the teen. As long as someone was looking after her. Kadota narrowed his eyes. "Are you related to Shizuo?" He always was sharp. This grabbed the otaku's attention. "I'm Kasuka's sister." Kadota nodded slightly. "So, your name is Shizuka Heiwajima then?" Grudgingly she nodded. "I prefer Hanejima."
He watched Kadota visibly relax. "We're your brother's work mates." Shizuka cracked the candy between her teeth. "Nice to meet you, but me and my brother don't get along." She watched Kadota's expression flicker, before he was back to normal. "So, Shizu-Shizu has super strength as well?" She opened her mouth to answer, but was cut off by Erika's squealing.
She went back to serving drinks, watching Erika scribble over the sheet of paper, moving onto the next one. So far so good, she had fooled the people she had been with for years. "Do you want to be friends?" She glanced over at Kadota. Had he really said that? Things would be complicated. Her one rules, was to keep the two lives separate.
The group stayed for another hour, before they left. Shizuka had all their numbers on her phone and they had hers. She cared for them. Shoving another lolly in her mouth, she checked on Anri. She had finally remembered her name. Before the night was over, she would throw a few more people out.
"Hanejima Shizuka." She glanced up from the bar as her boss walked over to her. "You can leave for the evening, thank you for your work." Her gaze went to Anri. "Don't worry, she will be safe." It was weird how easy Shiki could read her. "I'll see you tomorrow, Shiki-san."
Shizuka waited outside of the club, sucking on her current lollipop. She never walked home on her own. Kasuka always came to pick her up. She smiled as his car pulled up. "Hello, nee-san." The blonde opened the door, climbing in. She rested her head on her brother's shoulder. Kasuka gently patted her head. "Did it go okay?"
Shizuka nodded, pulling herself away. "They believed I was a girl. We're now friends." She placed her hand over her mouth, as she yawned. "Go to sleep, nee-san. I'll wake you." Nodding, she closed her eyes, resting against the window.
Kasuka gently shook her, when the car stopped. "Nee-san. We're here." Shizuka stretched, following him to the apartment. "Do you want anything to eat?" She shook her head, all she wanted to do was sleep. The blonde, made her way to Kasuka's bedroom, sitting on the bed. She slipped the bag off her shoulder, waiting for him to come in.
Minutes later he came in, holding the facial wipes. His fingers brushed back her hair, as he cleared the make-up from her face. She closed her eyes letting him go over her eyelids. "It's done, nee-san." Shizuka opened her eyes, as Kasuka threw the wipe in the bin. She undid her bow tie, sleepily undoing the buttons on her shirt.
Kasuka helped her take her high heels off, as she took the skirt off. "Can we go somewhere tomorrow?" She only had one day, before he left for a while. "Where do you want to go?" She didn't care, as long as they spent time together. Kasuka rummaged through the draw, pulling out one of her nightdresses and throwing it at her.
Shizuka slipped it over her head, rolling her tights off. She yawned again, pulling back the covers to her brother's bed. Kasuka was watching her. He should have expected it, she stayed in his bed frequently. The blond stifled another yawn, smiling sleepily at him. "Night Kasuka." Minutes later, she felt the bed dip, as he climbed in. "Good night, nee-san."
Next:- Unexpected visitor