This is the story of the night I met Ran's katana. On a deeper level, this
is a story about the night I learned that you can only drink away common
sense, not your conscience.
Chapter 5 The Night I Got Drunk And Lost My Keys and My Mind
"Hey, Omi! When's this shift over?" I called to him from across the shop. I had the closing shift again, but this time with Omi. I was anxious to finish because I've had this craving all day for a night out. All the costumers have filed out already so I figured we must be closing soon. A clock around here would be helpful.
"We have about ten more minutes until we close, but if you're in a hurry to go somewhere, I can finish up for you."
"Thanks, kid!" You can always count on Omi. "I hope it's not too much trouble," I said as I walked over to him.
"I think I can handle ten minutes by myself, Yohji-kun," he laughed.
"That's my Omi!" I ruffled his hair, grabbed my keys and practically disappeared out the door. I wasn't planning on going to any clubs, or I would've dressed up. Just felt like getting out, anywhere, preferably somewhere with lots of alcohol. I look good no matter what I wear anyway, ne?
I slid into Seven's driver's seat and pulled out onto the road. Now this is freedom. There is no responsibility when I go out like this; no Weiss. Don't get me wrong, Weiss is my life, but sometimes I just have to get away; to go somewhere where I don't need to think.
I drove like that for about an hour before I decided to pull over. I found this bar, nothing fancy, but the alcohol's there and so are the women so I'm not complaining. I walked inside to find two men in the middle of a brawl, one passed out on the ground (rather it was from the fight or the beer, I don't know). Two others were sitting around the bar, looking as if life's answers were swimming somewhere inside their glasses. Yea, this place was a real dump, but I didn't expect any more.
I looked around to see if I could spot any ladies worth spending the night with. The bartender was a woman, but that was questionable so I decided to just stay away from that. Across the room, there were two women dancing to some crappy jukebox music, with each other. I wasn't particularly in the mood for a challenge. Then someone caught my eye. She was sitting by herself at a small table in the darkest corner of the bar, looking completely out of place. Perfect.
I walked over to her table and pulled a chair out. "Mind if I join you? Everyone else here is giving me the creeps." That was actually partially true.
She looked up at me with that 'where did you fall from?' look. "I guess.." she answered and looked down.
I sat down backwards on the chair, facing her. "Come here often?" I asked and laughed.
She looked up at me and smiled a bit. "Do I really look that out of place?"
"Take that as a compliment." She looked nice when she smiled; more genuine than most people. She had deep brown eyes and smooth black hair. Nothing unusual, but it worked on her. "Care for a drink?"
"No, I don't really drink."
I couldn't help myself, that was just too funny. "What are you doing in a bar, then?"
She looked down as if she didn't want to answer. "That's none of your concern."
Heard that somewhere before. "Alright, how about a soda, then?"
"That'd be nice."
I got up and went over to the bar. "Hey," I said, calling the bartender over. She looked over at me and pulled out a glass.
"What will it be?"
"A beer and a soda."
"What kind of beer?"
I scrunched my eyebrows at her. "Do I look like a person who would care? The kind with alcohol in it."
She frowned at me but didn't say anything. She poured some beer into one glass and pulled out a soda from underneath the counter. She handed me both and I walked back to our table.
"Thank you," said the woman I just met as she took the soda. What manners.
"I just realized, we haven't been properly acquainted." I extended my hand. "Kudou Yohji."
"Mayako," she said, leaving out her last name. Hey, if I were her, talking to me, I'd leave out my last name, too.
"Lovely name," I commented, taking a drink.
"You don't look like you belong here, either," she said, trying to sound daring.
"Me?" I laughed. "I don't belong anywhere, sweetheart."
She seemed surprised by that answer, but then her eyes softened and she looked contemplative. "That's what I want. I want to not belong anywhere."
"That's an odd thing to want."
She nodded. "Well, I don't like where I do belong so I want to get away."
"And where is that?"
She paused for a moment. "With my husband."
Damn. "Why wouldn't you want to belong there?"
"I don't think he loves me anymore."
I briefly wondered if the bartender put something in that soda because five minutes ago, Mayako absolutely refused to tell me anything about herself, and now I'm getting her life's story. "Is that why you're here?"
"In a way," she said, taking another sip of her soda. "He cheats on me, and I'm here for payback."
I finished off my beer in one swing. "Give me a second, would you?" I asked and went over to the bar. I ordered two more beers; I'd be needing them. If there's one thing I don't do it's cheat on someone I'm in a serious relationship with, and I wasn't sure if I would allow her to either.
"I'm not scaring you this much, am I?" She laughed, noting the beers.
"No," I lied and added, "please continue." So, she did. She talked about her family and how unhappy she's been lately, and I downed beer after beer just because I knew I wouldn't be able to get into bed with her sober. Yes, I, Kudou Yohji, have a conscience.
At some point during her confessions, I leaned in and kissed her. If she didn't stop talking about her husband, I'd never have the nerve to sleep with her. Tell you the truth, the rest of that night was pretty much a blur. I was drunk, after all. I remember that she kissed me back, but I kept thinking that she has a family to go to. So, it nagged me that she has kids somewhere waiting for their mom to come home. Then it nagged me that if she tried, she could probably salvage her relationship with her husband, but instead she's doing the same horrible thing to him that she hates him for doing to her. And what drove me completely insane is that she probably has some pretty house somewhere filled with people who love her, and here she is throwing it away. That's what I thought about the whole time I was kissing her.
I pulled away, told her to go home and left. I was cursing myself the whole way back to the car. The drive home was pretty much a big blur, too. That's actually a scary thought now that I think about it. By some miracle, I got home safely with myself and Seven in one piece.
I used the stairs on the outside of the building because I knew the flower shop would be closed and I didn't have the key to get in. I pulled the keys to my apartment out of my pocket and tossed them up and down as I made my way up the stairs. Bad idea, seeing as it was very dark, I was very drunk and my coordination went to hell. Just as I was approaching my door, I dropped my keys and they fell over the edge of the balcony.
"Sonuvbitch," I cursed in a slur. I looked over the edge where my keys dropped only to find myself getting very dizzy. I pulled back and leaned against the wall. "Damn it." I hit it with my fist and slid down to the ground. Well, I could either stumble back down the stairs and look for the key, or I could break down the door.
I got up and looked over the edge of the balcony again. It was dark as hell. Break down the door, it is. I pretty much just ran into it, and it hurt a lot. I sank back down to the ground, holding my bruised arm, and groaned. This sucks. I wasn't about to give up, though. Kudou Yohji didn't get where he is today by giving up. So, drunk as I was, I rammed into it again and yelled some sort of profanity I can't recall right now. When the world stopped spinning, my attention focused on the scowling redhead frowning at me from outside his room.
"You're making too much noise. If you're trying to kill yourself, just jump off and let everyone sleep."
I pulled myself off the ground and limped towards him. "Oi Aya, you know you weren't asleep anyway."
He glared at me, but we both knew I was right. "You're drunk."
"Yes, I am," I laughed.
More glares. "So why is it that you're ramming yourself into the door?"
"I lost my keys, you see," I explained and pointed to the ground two stories down, "somewhere in that dark abyss down there."
"You're an idiot."
"Yea, I know."
"Well..." he said after a moment of silence.
"Well what?"
"Well, aren't you going to keep throwing yourself at the door?"
"Aya, you're heartless," I sighed. "You really came out here just to watch me make an ass out of myself?"
"No, I can do that anytime. I came out here to tell you to shut up, but since you're already making an ass of yourself, I figure I'll get some entertainment out of it."
"You know what?" I said, angry at the world. "I'd rather sleep out here than ask for any help from you!" And so I proceeded to lie down on the ground like the incredible idiot I am.
Ran just watched me with a mocking look in his eyes. "No you wouldn't," he finally concluded and walked back into his room, leaving the door open behind him.
"Yea, well if you think I'm just gonna take that from you and crawl after you like that, you're wrong!" I called to him, pretty much crawling after him anyway, in my state of unbalance.
"Take your shoes off," Ran reminded me as I walked into the room which was dark enough to rival the night outside. If I didn't know any better, I'd say Ran was a vampire.
"Aya?" I pulled my shoes off and threw my jacket on the floor.
"What?" He responded as he laid down on his bed.
"Did I really wake you up?"
"No," he said and turned so his back was facing me.
I sat down on the bed next to him and looked over to see him trying to scoot as far away from me as possible. "Nightmares?"
"Hn."
I laid down on the bed and looked up at the ceiling. "Funny how we always end up sleeping together, ne Aya?"
"You touch me and I'll kill you."
"Oh, you can't possibly mean that, darling," I smirked and leaned over him. I was drunk, remember?
He glared his best 'freeze hell over' glare as a response.
"It's ok, you can glare at me all you want," I grinned and ran my fingers along his face. "You're pretty when you're pissed anyway, which is all the time, so maybe you're just pretty all the time." I'm very much aware that I was making very little sense.
Ran then reached around me and pulled something off his nightstand. I realized it was the cold, shiny blade of his katana as it pressed against my neck. "You keep that damned thing on your nightstand?" I asked, quickly pulling away from the near vicinity of the weapon.
"Yes."
"Why?"
A short pause followed by a quiet answer. "Protection."
I sighed. Yea, Ran doesn't joke. I fell asleep a few minutes after that, and I'm guessing he did, too. Did I overstep my boundaries? Was it too much? What worries me even more is the fact that that's just the part I can remember.
Chapter 5 The Night I Got Drunk And Lost My Keys and My Mind
"Hey, Omi! When's this shift over?" I called to him from across the shop. I had the closing shift again, but this time with Omi. I was anxious to finish because I've had this craving all day for a night out. All the costumers have filed out already so I figured we must be closing soon. A clock around here would be helpful.
"We have about ten more minutes until we close, but if you're in a hurry to go somewhere, I can finish up for you."
"Thanks, kid!" You can always count on Omi. "I hope it's not too much trouble," I said as I walked over to him.
"I think I can handle ten minutes by myself, Yohji-kun," he laughed.
"That's my Omi!" I ruffled his hair, grabbed my keys and practically disappeared out the door. I wasn't planning on going to any clubs, or I would've dressed up. Just felt like getting out, anywhere, preferably somewhere with lots of alcohol. I look good no matter what I wear anyway, ne?
I slid into Seven's driver's seat and pulled out onto the road. Now this is freedom. There is no responsibility when I go out like this; no Weiss. Don't get me wrong, Weiss is my life, but sometimes I just have to get away; to go somewhere where I don't need to think.
I drove like that for about an hour before I decided to pull over. I found this bar, nothing fancy, but the alcohol's there and so are the women so I'm not complaining. I walked inside to find two men in the middle of a brawl, one passed out on the ground (rather it was from the fight or the beer, I don't know). Two others were sitting around the bar, looking as if life's answers were swimming somewhere inside their glasses. Yea, this place was a real dump, but I didn't expect any more.
I looked around to see if I could spot any ladies worth spending the night with. The bartender was a woman, but that was questionable so I decided to just stay away from that. Across the room, there were two women dancing to some crappy jukebox music, with each other. I wasn't particularly in the mood for a challenge. Then someone caught my eye. She was sitting by herself at a small table in the darkest corner of the bar, looking completely out of place. Perfect.
I walked over to her table and pulled a chair out. "Mind if I join you? Everyone else here is giving me the creeps." That was actually partially true.
She looked up at me with that 'where did you fall from?' look. "I guess.." she answered and looked down.
I sat down backwards on the chair, facing her. "Come here often?" I asked and laughed.
She looked up at me and smiled a bit. "Do I really look that out of place?"
"Take that as a compliment." She looked nice when she smiled; more genuine than most people. She had deep brown eyes and smooth black hair. Nothing unusual, but it worked on her. "Care for a drink?"
"No, I don't really drink."
I couldn't help myself, that was just too funny. "What are you doing in a bar, then?"
She looked down as if she didn't want to answer. "That's none of your concern."
Heard that somewhere before. "Alright, how about a soda, then?"
"That'd be nice."
I got up and went over to the bar. "Hey," I said, calling the bartender over. She looked over at me and pulled out a glass.
"What will it be?"
"A beer and a soda."
"What kind of beer?"
I scrunched my eyebrows at her. "Do I look like a person who would care? The kind with alcohol in it."
She frowned at me but didn't say anything. She poured some beer into one glass and pulled out a soda from underneath the counter. She handed me both and I walked back to our table.
"Thank you," said the woman I just met as she took the soda. What manners.
"I just realized, we haven't been properly acquainted." I extended my hand. "Kudou Yohji."
"Mayako," she said, leaving out her last name. Hey, if I were her, talking to me, I'd leave out my last name, too.
"Lovely name," I commented, taking a drink.
"You don't look like you belong here, either," she said, trying to sound daring.
"Me?" I laughed. "I don't belong anywhere, sweetheart."
She seemed surprised by that answer, but then her eyes softened and she looked contemplative. "That's what I want. I want to not belong anywhere."
"That's an odd thing to want."
She nodded. "Well, I don't like where I do belong so I want to get away."
"And where is that?"
She paused for a moment. "With my husband."
Damn. "Why wouldn't you want to belong there?"
"I don't think he loves me anymore."
I briefly wondered if the bartender put something in that soda because five minutes ago, Mayako absolutely refused to tell me anything about herself, and now I'm getting her life's story. "Is that why you're here?"
"In a way," she said, taking another sip of her soda. "He cheats on me, and I'm here for payback."
I finished off my beer in one swing. "Give me a second, would you?" I asked and went over to the bar. I ordered two more beers; I'd be needing them. If there's one thing I don't do it's cheat on someone I'm in a serious relationship with, and I wasn't sure if I would allow her to either.
"I'm not scaring you this much, am I?" She laughed, noting the beers.
"No," I lied and added, "please continue." So, she did. She talked about her family and how unhappy she's been lately, and I downed beer after beer just because I knew I wouldn't be able to get into bed with her sober. Yes, I, Kudou Yohji, have a conscience.
At some point during her confessions, I leaned in and kissed her. If she didn't stop talking about her husband, I'd never have the nerve to sleep with her. Tell you the truth, the rest of that night was pretty much a blur. I was drunk, after all. I remember that she kissed me back, but I kept thinking that she has a family to go to. So, it nagged me that she has kids somewhere waiting for their mom to come home. Then it nagged me that if she tried, she could probably salvage her relationship with her husband, but instead she's doing the same horrible thing to him that she hates him for doing to her. And what drove me completely insane is that she probably has some pretty house somewhere filled with people who love her, and here she is throwing it away. That's what I thought about the whole time I was kissing her.
I pulled away, told her to go home and left. I was cursing myself the whole way back to the car. The drive home was pretty much a big blur, too. That's actually a scary thought now that I think about it. By some miracle, I got home safely with myself and Seven in one piece.
I used the stairs on the outside of the building because I knew the flower shop would be closed and I didn't have the key to get in. I pulled the keys to my apartment out of my pocket and tossed them up and down as I made my way up the stairs. Bad idea, seeing as it was very dark, I was very drunk and my coordination went to hell. Just as I was approaching my door, I dropped my keys and they fell over the edge of the balcony.
"Sonuvbitch," I cursed in a slur. I looked over the edge where my keys dropped only to find myself getting very dizzy. I pulled back and leaned against the wall. "Damn it." I hit it with my fist and slid down to the ground. Well, I could either stumble back down the stairs and look for the key, or I could break down the door.
I got up and looked over the edge of the balcony again. It was dark as hell. Break down the door, it is. I pretty much just ran into it, and it hurt a lot. I sank back down to the ground, holding my bruised arm, and groaned. This sucks. I wasn't about to give up, though. Kudou Yohji didn't get where he is today by giving up. So, drunk as I was, I rammed into it again and yelled some sort of profanity I can't recall right now. When the world stopped spinning, my attention focused on the scowling redhead frowning at me from outside his room.
"You're making too much noise. If you're trying to kill yourself, just jump off and let everyone sleep."
I pulled myself off the ground and limped towards him. "Oi Aya, you know you weren't asleep anyway."
He glared at me, but we both knew I was right. "You're drunk."
"Yes, I am," I laughed.
More glares. "So why is it that you're ramming yourself into the door?"
"I lost my keys, you see," I explained and pointed to the ground two stories down, "somewhere in that dark abyss down there."
"You're an idiot."
"Yea, I know."
"Well..." he said after a moment of silence.
"Well what?"
"Well, aren't you going to keep throwing yourself at the door?"
"Aya, you're heartless," I sighed. "You really came out here just to watch me make an ass out of myself?"
"No, I can do that anytime. I came out here to tell you to shut up, but since you're already making an ass of yourself, I figure I'll get some entertainment out of it."
"You know what?" I said, angry at the world. "I'd rather sleep out here than ask for any help from you!" And so I proceeded to lie down on the ground like the incredible idiot I am.
Ran just watched me with a mocking look in his eyes. "No you wouldn't," he finally concluded and walked back into his room, leaving the door open behind him.
"Yea, well if you think I'm just gonna take that from you and crawl after you like that, you're wrong!" I called to him, pretty much crawling after him anyway, in my state of unbalance.
"Take your shoes off," Ran reminded me as I walked into the room which was dark enough to rival the night outside. If I didn't know any better, I'd say Ran was a vampire.
"Aya?" I pulled my shoes off and threw my jacket on the floor.
"What?" He responded as he laid down on his bed.
"Did I really wake you up?"
"No," he said and turned so his back was facing me.
I sat down on the bed next to him and looked over to see him trying to scoot as far away from me as possible. "Nightmares?"
"Hn."
I laid down on the bed and looked up at the ceiling. "Funny how we always end up sleeping together, ne Aya?"
"You touch me and I'll kill you."
"Oh, you can't possibly mean that, darling," I smirked and leaned over him. I was drunk, remember?
He glared his best 'freeze hell over' glare as a response.
"It's ok, you can glare at me all you want," I grinned and ran my fingers along his face. "You're pretty when you're pissed anyway, which is all the time, so maybe you're just pretty all the time." I'm very much aware that I was making very little sense.
Ran then reached around me and pulled something off his nightstand. I realized it was the cold, shiny blade of his katana as it pressed against my neck. "You keep that damned thing on your nightstand?" I asked, quickly pulling away from the near vicinity of the weapon.
"Yes."
"Why?"
A short pause followed by a quiet answer. "Protection."
I sighed. Yea, Ran doesn't joke. I fell asleep a few minutes after that, and I'm guessing he did, too. Did I overstep my boundaries? Was it too much? What worries me even more is the fact that that's just the part I can remember.