Chapter 12: Against a Wall (Hayabusa)

Omg, I'm so sorry about not updating sooner! I would've, but the first version of this chapter was short and terrible, so I decided to fix it.

Enjoy!

Working at a strip club isn't as bad as most people think it is – well, the one Hayabusa works at isn't bad. He works at a place called Dark Intoxication, where drinks are made exactly as they're ordered and everyone is treated with respect. It's not shady like most strip clubs and Sarah made sure to make it look classy while offering the best entertainment to her customers. There were both male and female strippers walking around and giving lap dances while the bright lights flashed to the beat of the loud music that was playing in the background.

Tonight Hayabusa was wearing a pair of dark gray Bermuda shorts and black shoes since the only thing he was going to do was serve drinks to people. He wanted to have a slow night since he had to wake up early tomorrow in order to make sure that he had everything organized for his upcoming art show. There was never a slow night though, so he's been walking back and forth from the bar to different tables for most of the night. He adjusted his aviators and smoothly stepped away from a woman who was trying to touch his chest while he accepted a generous amount of money from her friend. Women have been basically throwing money at him all night, but he wasn't going to complain since he didn't have to really do anything for it.

As he approached the bar, his eyes landed on Lisa, who was a tall woman with short brown hair and brown eyes. She was a nice woman and beautiful enough to gain anyone's attention without having to try too hard. She was the first person to befriend Hayabusa when he came to Dark Intoxication – they've been friends ever since. Surprisingly, she was behind the bar making drinks instead of dancing for a random guy. When he was close enough for her to notice him, she smiled and winked at him. "Hey, handsome. Shouldn't you be doing more than serving drinks tonight?"

"No. I don't feel like doing much," he answered, leaning against the counter. It was easy for him to act casual although pretending to not notice all of the stares was slightly difficult. I enjoy the attention a little bit too much sometimes, he thought. "I think you should be working the middle of the floor, though."

"Not tonight," she replied. She passed a glass to one of the women Hayabusa was standing next to then continued. "Besides, I think the other ladies and guys are enjoying the extra attention. I saw Zack drag a guy out a few minutes ago because he wouldn't keep his hands to himself. I wouldn't be surprised if it happens again tonight."

"It wouldn't be a regular night if he didn't make someone leave," Hayabusa responded, smiling at a woman. It was fake though – there was no way in hell he was going to genuinely smile at a woman who was too busy focusing on his body. He's seen other strippers do it, but the thought of even trying to do it was too uncomfortable and personal for him. How can they do it so easily?

He ignored the women who were whispering about him and trying to get his attention while he watched Lisa put two beers in front of him. She quickly told him that the drinks were for a table that was closer to the back of the room before she moved to the other end of the counter. I have never noticed this spot before, Hayabusa thought as he made his way through the crowd and towards the back. A man was sitting at the table though, staring at the woman who was currently on the stage. Hayabusa walked around to stand near the wall then placed the beers on the table. "There are your drinks. Enjoy them."

"Thank you," the man drawled while he handed Hayabusa some cash. Hayabusa nodded and was going to leave until the man's right hand lightly wrapped around his right wrist. "W-Wait! I…I want a lap dance."

"Okay, I'll send a woman over here as soon as possible," he declared. The man was still holding his wrist, so Hayabusa frowned and reached to remove the hand. The man suddenly grabbed his other hand then turned Hayabusa around and pushed him against the wall. His left arm was pinned slightly above his head while his right was pinned behind his back. The grips on his wrists were too damn tight and he was still slightly stunned from harshly hitting the wall.

'What the hell?' was the only thought in his mind at the moment.

"Let me go," Hayabusa demanded. He barely heard himself over the music, so there was a slim chance of anyone hearing him while the left side of his face was against the wall. The man stepped closer and hummed before he started to gently rub a finger against Hayabusa's skin without releasing his hold.

"I don't think you understood what I said. Maybe you should stay right here and figure it out," the man stated. Hayabusa felt the man's breath, which only smelled like beer, against his ear and tried to hold himself together. This situation was escalating quickly and Hayabusa's mind was struggling to catch-the-fuck-up with it. The man started to mumble vulgar things after he adjusted the tight grips on Hayabusa's wrists. Fear was quickly invading his mind, and a part of Hayabusa had to make sure that he didn't stop breathing. I know there's a way I can get this creep away from me. Don't panic, just figure it out, he told himself.

The man shifted closer, one of his feet bumping into the wall. After a moment of trying to get a sense of how close the man was, Hayabusa stomped on the man's foot then slammed an elbow into his face when his wrists were released. The man stumbled into the table and fell along with it – making enough noise to get the attention of everyone in the strip club. Hayabusa quickly stepped over to the man then kicked him in his stomach before he could get up and cause a scene. Someone tried to grab his arm, but he pushed the hand away and stepped back. He ignored the worried stares and the lack of music while he crossed the large stage to go to the back rooms.

The adrenaline that was pumping through his veins was beginning to fade and the weight of the kind of situation Hayabusa just got away from was settling in. It didn't seem real, but there he was, standing in the middle of the room after getting away from a potential rapist. The pain also became noticeable, so he sat down in a chair then lifted his shaking hands. He saw the bruises form visible handprints and felt a bruise somewhere on the left side of his face. He couldn't erase the memory of the stuff the man had said and still felt the guy's body too close to his. All of it was making him sick – he just wanted to leave and peel off a layer of his skin in order to get rid of the bad feeling.

When did I let my guard down?

"I can't stay here," he said to himself after he went to get his stuff. He hated the fact that the guy managed to force him into that kind of situation, hated the fact that it felt like his life was ruined now, and hated the fact that Hayate said he could get hurt and it actually happened. There were a lot of things he hated, but the one thing that he was grateful for at the moment was the ability to protect himself. That's the only good thing. A couple of other male strippers tried to ask him about what happened when he entered the lounge; they were only answered by cold silence. He knew they were aware of what happened, so instead of telling them anything, he grabbed his backpack then went into the closest changing room. He threw on a T-shirt and sweatpants then put his aviators back on despite the left lens being cracked. When he emerged, Hayabusa came face-to-face with Zack.

"What happened to you? Are you okay?" Zack asked. He took a stepped forward, but stopped when Hayabusa moved to sit down across the room.

"That guy requested a lap dance before I told him that I would send a woman over there," Hayabusa began, eyes glued to his wrists. "He suddenly pinned me against the wall and said some stuff that I'm really trying to not think about. I know everyone saw what happened afterwards. My wrists hurt like hell and I feel like emptying my stomach of everything I ate today."

He didn't realize Zack was sitting next to him until he lifted his head. Zack's eyes were focused on the bruises before they shifted up to Hayabusa's face. "That wouldn't have happened if I was keeping an eye on him. Something didn't seem right about him sitting at that table, yet I got distracted by someone and forgot about him. I'm sorry. At least you know how to defend yourself."

"Don't apologize, it wasn't your fault," he responded. The door to the lounge was suddenly pushed open by Sarah, who was being followed by Lisa. She looked angry and ready to yell at someone as she moved to stand in front of Hayabusa and Zack. There was a tense moment of silence while Hayabusa bravely returned her glare with a blank stare.

I'm not dealing with anything else tonight.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Nearly beating the sense out of one of my customers because he asked for a lap dance," she shouted. "You could've just handled that a different way. Hell, you could've swallowed your freaking pride like the other guys and gave that man the lap dance. Now women think their favorite stripper is violent and that man might report this to the police. The police might have to investigate this place thanks to you –"

"Look at my wrists," Hayabusa interrupted, standing up. He lifted his arms then continued. "Do you think I had another way to get out of that situation? He wouldn't let go of me when I told him to! Therefore, I did what I had to do. You don't even care about what he did to me before I reacted. I bet you would still blame the wrong person if that happened to someone else. Also, I'll never be 'like the other guys,' so you can shut the hell up with that idea."

He was disgusted and hurt by the fact that Sarah was blaming him for the problem and only cared about her business. He thought she was better than that, but tonight's been showing him that he was wrong about nearly every damn thing. Hayabusa put on his backpack then walked to the door. "I'm leaving and I don't plan on coming back."

He didn't respond to Sarah's shouts of anger while he rushed past the group of people in the hallway. The idea of quitting has been weighing on his mind for a long time although he never thought that he would make that decision so quickly. It was going to happen sooner or later. I don't regret my decision, he thought. Hayabusa stopped a few steps away from the back door and took a deep breath. The cool air was helping him think clearly and he was content to stand in the parking lot for a while. Despite the pain and frustration that tonight has caused him, Hayabusa felt better than he has in a while and it was amazing. He turned around when he heard the door open and quietly watched as Lisa and Zack walked over to him.

"Are you going to work at a different strip club?" Lisa asked.

"No. I'm not going to strip anymore," Hayabusa clarified. Lisa frowned while Zack tilted his head then asked his own question.

"Why are you quitting?"

Hayabusa closed his eyes and thought for a moment. "What happened to me tonight could've been worse than it actually was; I don't want to end up in that kind of situation again. Sarah only seems to care about her club, so I think it would lead to more problems if I were to stay here. I was going to give up stripping sooner or later anyway."

"Sarah does care! She was just worried about the wrong thing at the time," Lisa argued. Hayabusa thought that the way she was defending Sarah was cute, but he didn't want to hear it from someone who has never been on the receiving end of one of her outbursts. Before he could voice that thought, Lisa continued. "Besides, what about all of the women who only come here to see you?"

"They'll have to find someone else to be obsessed with," Hayabusa snorted. He chuckled then returned his attention to the conversation. "You said that like it was going to make me change my mind."

A couple of seconds passed before Zack spoke again. "Since you're done stripping, what are you going to do now? Will we see you again?"

"I have to organize a few things before I go on my trip," Hayabusa informed. "I'll still be in Seattle, so I might be able to visit you two when I get a chance. Until then, make sure no one else gets hurt, okay?"

"Don't worry. We will," Zack assured. Hayabusa waved goodbye then walked over to his Mercedes. The drive home didn't seem as long as it usually was, but maybe that was due to Hayabusa's distracted mind. As soon as he entered his home, he went to his kitchen and took a couple of painkillers. He leaned against the counter then took a deep breath. The silence made him remember things and feelings that he thought he'll never experience – the anger from the fight he had with his father, the pain from when he was shot in his shoulder, and the fear from when he was pinned against the wall tonight. They were terrible experiences, but I won't let them keep me from doing better.

He left the kitchen and dropped his keys on the coffee table before he headed towards the stairs. Something caught his attention though, so Hayabusa stopped and turned around. Hayate was sitting, in the dark, on the loveseat that was furthest from the door with his forearms on his knees and staring at Hayabusa. Hayate looked creepy as hell with his blank expression, but Hayabusa was more worried about how long he's been sitting there. "How long have you been there and what are you doing, Hayate?"

"That doesn't matter," Hayate claimed. "We need to discuss something."

Despite not wanting to deal with Hayate at the moment, Hayabusa walked over and stood behind the other loveseat. "What do you want to discuss?"

Hayate leaned back then asked, "You don't lie to me all the time, do you?"

Hayabusa raised an eyebrow at the question, yet shook his head to answer the question anyway. "I'll only lie to you when I want to screw with your head. Otherwise, I'll tell you the truth."

He was curious about where his friend was going with this conversation. He didn't have to wait a long time to find out, though. Hayate put his phone on the table then continued. "Well, I think you were screwing with my head about a week ago."

"What?" So much stuff happened over the course of a week that Hayabusa had no idea what Hayate was referring to. My mind might be too slow to figure it out right now, he considered. Hayate held up a finger while he pulled something out of his pocket. He suddenly tossed the object onto the table; when it stopped spinning, Hayabusa realized it was a ring.

An engagement ring.

Damn. It all makes sense now.

"Do you recognize that ring?" Hayate questioned, studying Hayabusa's face. He's been serious ever since Hayabusa asked him what he was doing, but now he seems even more serious.

"Yes," he answered. Hayate motioned for him to keep talking, and Hayabusa briefly wondered if it was too late to walk away from whatever this conversation was going to turn into. "That's Kasumi's engagement ring."

"I knew it looked familiar," Hayate informed. "Why did I find it behind this loveseat a couple of days ago? That's one thing I can't figure out."

His mind kept warning him that it was a trap, but Hayabusa already knew that Hayate had this conversation planned from the beginning. "She came here looking for you. I told her that I didn't know where you were then she left a few minutes later."

Hayate nodded and continued asking questions. "Is that all? I think there's something missing. Actually, a lot of things might be missing."

This was basically an interrogation, and Hayabusa knew it wasn't going to be long before Hayate stopped being patient. He placed his hands on the back of the loveseat and stared at the handprints that encircled his wrists. "I didn't say 'that was all', did I?"

"Then tell me what happened for this ring to be left here," Hayate demanded, standing up.

"She came back here drunk and told me that she wasn't engaged anymore before she took that ring off and threw it somewhere," Hayabusa explained. "She started talking about her ex-fiancé and random stuff before she decided that she wanted to have sex with me."

"Did you two have sex?" When Hayabusa only sighed, Hayate stepped closer. "Answer my question!"

"It wasn't the first time we did," Hayabusa answered. One of Hayate's fists swiftly collided with Hayabusa's nose, forcing him to cover it with a hand. He knew his nose was bleeding now, but he didn't have time to worry about it since Hayate was currently holding him by his shirt and glaring at him.

"Are you serious?"

Hayabusa didn't respond while he applied pressure to his nose. He was disturbed by how easily Hayate was pushing him against the wall while he was busy trying to keep the blood from flowing down his face. After a couple of minutes of the tense silence that Hayate used to stare expectantly at him, Hayabusa removed his hand and spoke. "Yes. The first time happened the night that I was hired for her bachelorette party. I just told you about the second time."

"Really? I called you the next morning, which turned out to be mere hours after you two – I don't even want to consider whatever you two could've been doing!"

"Hayate, I didn't –"

"I do not want to hear it. I can't believe you, Ryu! You're my best friend and I'm just finding out that you had sex with my sister, who recently fixed her relationship with her fiancé, by the way. What the hell?" Hayate shouted.

"What do you want me to say, Hayate? It sounds like you want me to beg for your forgiveness because you didn't know about what was going on between Kasumi and me. You should tell me why you're so angry about what your sister decided to do," Hayabusa suggested. Based on how Hayate has been reacting to the information, Hayabusa was pretty sure Kasumi didn't tell her brother a single thing. He had to put his detective skills to work.

Hayate released Hayabusa's shirt then turned around and replied. "I'm angry because all of this happened nearly two weeks after you moved here, a few days before I came here to visit, and – most importantly – the same day Kasumi and Rig started their break! She was also drunk, Ryu; you and I both know that she wouldn't have done any of that if she was sober. There was no fucking way that she was aware of the kind of decision she was making at the time!"

"There are some things you need to talk to Kasumi about because I'm not the person who initiated anything regardless of being drunk or sober," Hayabusa began. "I'm not apologizing for my actions although I do apologize for causing you so much distress, Hayate. Sometimes things aren't as easy as they should be. Either way, you can't tell me that you haven't noticed that there's something missing between Kasumi and her fiancé."

Hayate trudged over to the coffee table and picked up his phone then moved towards the door. Glancing back at Hayabusa, he threw out another question. "What made you change, Ryu?"

Hayabusa quietly let his back slide against the wall until he was sitting down before his eyes shifted to Hayate's. He was tired, but he had no idea what he was tired of. Without his usual straightforwardness, he said, "It's not time for you to find out."

…

This is one of the chapters I've been ready to write since the beginning and I hope you all enjoyed it. On another note, I can't believe Hayate is an inch taller than Hayabusa (according to the Wiki)! I thought Hayabusa would be taller…

Thanks for reading! Reviews would be nice.