Disclaimer: You know the drill. I own nothing. Blah. Blah. Blah.
Random Ramblings: Hmm. I've seem to have completely abandoned my other fics for now. From what I have in my head right now, this story will not be purely in Tsukasa's view. I think I'll be delving into the other characters' backgrounds and switching POV's frequently. I've gotten into that whole stream of consciousness type of style now. Trying to calculate yen is too hard for me. I'll be basing all amounts on US dollars to make my life easier. Remember I thrive off reviews!
Chapter 3: Initiation
Let's just recap what has happened in the last twenty-four hours. Woke up in a park bench reeking of my own filth. Went out looking for a job, instead met still questionably gay man Akira who offered me a job for some quick money. Find myself in a club surrounded by hot waitresses and singers, booze flowing into glasses like water, and one really bitchy boss. Drink massive quantities of booze to make horny old women happy. Rescue bitchy boss from being raped by pervert customer. Bitchy boss in return maces me for being the hero. Wake up in her apartment. Now she wants to be friends. Yep, that about sums it all up. My life is fucking perfect.
"Weed?" Tsukasa choked out in between laughs. He groaned grabbing onto my head as another mind splitting pain ripped through my skull
"Yeah, so what? It was my damn parents that picked the name," she snapped clearly annoyed by the fact he and probably the rest of the entire world always pointed out. Her knuckles turned white clenching onto the sheets. He really knew how to push her buttons.
"What a stupid name! It does match your look. Compared to the other girls you look just so."
"So what?!"
He couldn't resist it. It was his chance to get back at her for macing him. "Plain, annoying, short, homely, flat chested. I could go on." He cocked his head slightly up letting he rich brat in him come out. It was all too easy to fall back into his old patterns of superiority. No one ever dared treat him the way this girl did the night before. It was his way of payback.
Like I said earlier. I wasn't exactly the smartest person in the world. According to my therapist, I was confrontational and aggressive as an outlet to find the much needed positive attention I sought from my parents. Tsubaki just called it being an ass. She was right.
"I'm going to kill you!"
"Fuck! I think I'm going to be sick again!" he covered his mouth and ran towards the bathroom leaning over the porcelain god retching out what felt like along or some other vital organ. He knelt over the toilet until his knees gave out from near him. So, he leaned against the tub with his eyes closed wishing for the room to stop spinning. He looked up to see the woman towering over him looking like she was going to smash his face in for his earlier comments. "I had to get back at your for last night. My eyes are still burning. I surrender. Don't hurt a sick man!"
"Got yourself quite a hang over I see." Tsukushi dropped a damp towel over his head and began rummaging through the medicine cabinet for something. It was filled with bottles. She ran a finger across the shelf and sopped at one snatching it from its place. She popped the lid open and turned it upside down revealing nothing. In frustration, she tossed the bottle into the waste-basket and grabbed another pouring two pills into her hand. She filled a glass with water from the tap and handed the pills and glass to him. "This should help."
Hesitantly he accepted it and tossed the pills back washing it down his throat with the cool water. "Thanks."
"Oh, I think you will be regretting saying that."
"Why?"
She pulled out the bottle from behind her back and grinned like a Cheshire cat. "You'll see."
His eyes widened in shock reading the words on the bottle screaming clear as day. "EX LAX". Tsukushi had already scurried out the door with her maniacal laughter echoing through the house. It took only a matter of minutes for the ex lax to take effect. He was going to be spending a whole lot more time with the porcelain god than he thought.
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Tsukushi happily skipped her way to the kitchen humming to herself in victory while she opened up the cabinets pulling out various items for breakfast. As she poured some cereal into a bowl she peered over the counter seeing a head resting against the couch watching the colorful blobs squealing some unintelligible gibberish to one another. The head turned around and a face popped up staring directly at her.
"I'm hungry," the little girl whined.
Tsukushi only smiled back at the little angel and replied, "I'll have breakfast ready in a few minutes. Hurry up and get dressed. You don't want to be late for school."
"Okay," she whispered with a twinge of disappointment in her voice. The little girl shrugged her shoulders and stretched her chubby arms into the air yawning. She wiped away the sleepiness still in her eyes and trudged toward her bedroom listlessly swaying her arms to and fro.
Tsukushi continued preparing breakfast all while berating herself in her into for allowing a stranger into her home. She knew nothing about him except for the fact that Akira had recruited him. Akira did have a pretty good instinct when it came to people, but after that last guy she was beginning to think twice about his abilities to read people. For all she knew, Tsukasa was just another serial rapist running from the law getting his kicks from booze and pills when no women were to be found.
What's a girl to do?
"All ready!" the little girl screamed scrambling up onto the high stool of the counter grabbing the box of cereal to stare at cartoon on the back.
Tsukushi placed the bowl in front of the little girl and grabbed a brush running it through her long brown tresses. "So what will it be today? A simple ponytail? Braids? Mm."
With a mouth full of cereal and milk dripping from her mouth, she muffled, "I want it just like yours!"
She nodded her head and divided her hair into two pigtails. As she plaited her hair she carefully wove a simple pink ribbon into each braid allowing the ends to dangle freely at the bottom. "Finished." She pulled the hand mirror in front of the girl's face, which instantly lit up at the sight of her mother's handiwork.
"Pretty."
"Hurry up. We don't want to be late," she gently scolded her daughter tossing the dirty dished into the sink.
Tsukushi grabbed her purse from the counter and checked through Kaya's backpack one more time making sure everything was accounted for. As they walked through the door, she could hear the faint sound of the toilet flushing from one of the inner bedrooms. The sound of footsteps could be heard approaching the door to exit the room, but then there were hastened steps and the sound of the bathroom door being slammed shut again. All the while Tsukushi couldn't wipe the silly smirk on her face. He was going to be in there for a while.
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It had already been Tsukasa's tenth visit to the bathroom; and by this point, all the energy in his body was drained out of him. He collapsed on the bed feeling his stomach revolting in its churning. It seemed like there was nothing left to come out of his body. As he lay there praying for god to strike him down now as an act of mercy, he could hear a door slam shut and lock.
She left me alone here to die, didn't she? This woman is indescribable. She's coming a close second to my mother as the devil incarnate. When I get the chance I'll make sure she'll rue the day she ever messed with Doumyouji Tsukasa. Justice shall be served. My revenge shall be sweet.
He slowly opened the bedroom door and peaked a head out making sure he was the only one left in the place. Since she wasn't around he thought it would be no better time than the present to check her out. Tsukasa helped himself to a cup of coffee to calm his unsettled stomach and abate his pounding hangover. He strolled out into the living room settling himself into the soft leather couch stretching his legs up onto the coffee table.
It was rather surprising to see the drastic difference between Akira's home and Tsukushi's. While Akira was a slob living in a sub inhabitable dump, Tsukushi was living in a high rise in what appeared to be in a more affluent district. All of her furnishing were of the best quality, although they seemed to be older models from a few years back. That was besides the point because even these older models would set anyone back a few hundred thousand yen today. The club was quite profitable, but in no way could it provide a simple waitress to acquire all these assets. Something definitely wasn't right.
Another odd observation he made was the fact the walls were lined with bookcases filled with novels. Half expecting them to be trashy supermarket type soft porn kind of books, he picked one up rather ragged book pulled out amongst the stacks. His eyes scanned through the selection and widened with curiosity as he realized the expansive collection of works from Kant, Longfellow, Dickens, and Thoreau.
The plot thickens, he thought to himself. Tsuksuhi may not be the person she seems to be. From what I've seen of he s far, she's nothing or and nothing less ha a crude, uneducated waitress. She has no manners whatsoever and a mean streak in her tat could only come from the streets. This requires further analysis.
Taking a sip from he aimlessly wandered about the room trying to look for clues into this woman's history. Could this all be some sort of conspiracy on his mother's part to drag him back home? Yes, he was being paranoid, but with a woman like his mother like his anyone would be wary of strangers. Her spies could be anywhere, even this girl. He stopped in front of a set of photographs neatly lined up individual frames. The first one was nothing special, just a group shot from the club. Beside it was one of Tsukushi when she was probably 15 or so since she was wearing a high school uniform. There was a hint of mischief in her eyes as she cocked her head back and smiled right into the camera winking one eye. The other photographs were more random shots of Tsukushi with Soujiro and Akira or Tsukushi and Lolita.
Wait! What's this? Interesting. The last few photographs were much different from the others. What happened here?
There was something different in Tsukushi. That fiery exterior she played off was dismissed for a more submissive demeanor. She wasn't the confidant, haughty woman from the other photographs. It was even odder to see her leaning against a man at least a head taller than her. The sunlight shone down on his tan face framed by spiky tousled bleach blonde hair. He was of a medium build with taut muscles that peeked from under his shirt. His arm was wrapped around Tsukushi's shoulder pulling her closer to him. He grinned into the camera flashing one of those killer playboy smiles similar to the ones Tsukasa had seen Akira and Soujiro use the night before on all the female customers. Tsukushi appeared so tiny beside this man wearing a short white sundress that hung over her frail bone think body. Her hand was touching her face pushing back the hair blowing in her face that seemed untouched by any cosmetics. She was staring at Tsukasa with eyes that spoke volumes of innocence and virtue.
The next photograph was even more shocking. It was once again Tsukushi and that guy, but this time he was cradling something in his arms. Swaddled in a pale yellow blanket was a newborn baby with a wrinkled, scrunched up face. The man protectively held the child close to his chest looking down at the miracle of life probably whispering some sweet words o the new life. Tsukushi, dressed in a hospital gown, was leaning over his shoulder with her arm draped around him allowing a small smile to escape her lips.
Finally, the last photograph was only of Tsukushi , the man, and the baby now a toddler teetering on losing her balance while standing up. They were sitting on a blanket by a lake. The man was holding his hands underneath the chubby girl preparing to catch her the moment she fell. This might have appeared to be a happy family moment, but the look on Tsukushi's face marred it all. She was distant looking away towards the water not paying much attention to the people around her. There was a certain sadness in her eyes as if she were holding back some great pain. All the youthfulness in her face had vanished to be replaced by a newfound, jaded persona. It must have been the beginning of her transformation to the woman she was now.
Of course, using his power of deduction Tsukasa formed his impression of Tsukushi. It must have been the same old story that you've heard a thousand times. Young impressionable girl goes out searching for some kind of affection or love tat she couldn't get from her parents and finds it in an older man. Older, wealthier man seduces young girl, strings her along for a while until she gets pregnant. Man tells her he will stay with her for the baby all the while trying to balance all the other women he has on the side. Girl has baby and hopes man will settle down with her and start family. Man buys her silence of their relationship by getting her an expensive apartment with furnishing promising they will be together only to run away leaving a jilted woman and a bastard child. Girl now a woman with nothing left find job in night club and dignity to raise child, but leaves everything man ever gave her intact in hopes he will one day return. Yep, it was the same old story. However, as most people would know the mind's imaginations can get the best of us luring you into fantasies of fictional truths.
He turned his gaze away from the smiling faces wondering what other clues he could find to back up his tale. He was beginning to be disgusted by this woman. She embodied part of what he hated most in this world. She was just another whore like the others his father fucked senseless and his mother "disposed" of. Perhaps she did deserve the life she got. The only victim of the situation would be the kid. She probably would have been better off if she was given up for adoption or disposed of as a fetus. He wandered back into the bedroom he was in earlier assuming that it must have been hers and headed straight for the dresser drawers. It wasn't a huge shock when each drawer revealed men's clothing ranging from Ralph Lauren to Armani. The closet was half filled with suits while the other half with women's clothing. This room must be their bedroom. Something on the nightstand caught his eye, though. It was a man's watch, a Rolex at that. He picked it up inspecting the finely engraved letters on the inside. "Shinimori".
Shinimori. That name sounds vaguely familiar. Where have I heard that name before. Think, Tsukasa. It's on the tip of my tongue where I've heard that name. Shinimori..oil! That's it! I remember mother going on and on about that company. It was one of the oldest established families alongside mine. I remember hearing a lot about them back when I was in high school, but then it just seemed to disappear into oblivion. I know I read somewhere about what happened. I just can't damn remember now.
As he was about to sift through her lingerie letting his perversions get the better of him, the sound of keys clinking in the lock brought his attention to the compromising position he did not want to be caught in. He quickly slammed all the drawers and doors, and dove back out into the living room jumping onto the couch and pretending to be reading one of the magazines scattered on the coffee table.
Tsukushi kicked the door open with her foot while dragging bags of groceries from behind. Her heavy load slowed down her steps and it was quite comical to watch her kicking one bag in front of her while lugging another behind. She glanced up to see him engrossed in one of her Victoria's Secrets catalogues. He caught a look at her glaring right at him and focused his attention on what was in front of him realizing it was a lingerie catalogue and dropping it like it was on fire.
"Let me help you," he politely suggested as he grabbed one of her bags.
"Thanks," she muttered as she rifled through the stack of mail in her hands.
As he watched her silently put things away, shifted from one foot to the other not knowing what to do. Were they enemies or friends? He would not be able to handle another Ex Lax fiasco.
Tsukushi placed the last carton of orange juice into the now well stocked refrigerator and sat down at the kitchen table. She neatly folded her hands in her lap. "Sit down," she coldly ordered.
Tuskasa took a deep breath and did as she requested taking the empty seat across from her.
"Give me your wallet, first."
For some odd reason, Tsukasa obeyed against his better judgment. The woman had already tried to kill him once and the dread of disobeying was too overwhelming for him to fight her.
She opened up his beat up old wallet and took out all the money he had earned the night before and stuck it into her purse. "That'll be juts enough to pay for the cleaning of my car's interior. You made quite a mess last night. I hope they get rid of that god awful smell."
He fell backwards slightly briefly recalling vomiting all over her shirt and her car. He deserved it to have his money taken for that ungodly mess.
Her face was utterly expressionless only worsening the tension in the room. The slight tapping of her nails against the glass table was driving him insane. After the earlier incidents, the cool bitch attitude had returned. "I called Akira earlier to discuss what we would be doing about you. You did okay for your first night." She leaned back against her chair and looked past him. It's been awhile since we've had some new blood in the club. The last guy Akira picked up was a total wreck. So you still want the job?"
IT was one of those moments where Tsukasa had to grip onto the seat of his chair for support before he fell out of it. "Well the pay is good, so yeah." He smugly smiled to himself in satisfaction that he had proved her wrong about his skills.
The tapping of her nails ceased. "Fine. Just to let you know this is all temporary. The second you screw up, you're gone. This is a huge offer I'm giving you and it doesn't come without a price. You have to be inducted into the family. Trust is a big issue for us. Right now I trust you as much as Hitler. Trust has to be earned and you have to prove yourself worthy of our trust. Once you're in you are in for life. We have a certain unspoken codes we adhere to. We're not yakuza or anything like that. You can choose to leave on your own free will. Though if you choose to leave, you choose to forget everyone and everything you have seen or met at the club. We won't acknowledge you and we respectfully ask you do not acknowledge us."
"Fine."
"Okay then. First things first. You need to know the basics about working at Last Resort. No smoking. No drinking, No drugs. And lastly what happens within those walls stay within those walls. What goes on in Last Resort stays in Last Resort. Anything you do, say or hear never leaves the building. We have a binding confidentiality agreement with our customers and employees of don't ask don't tell. Got it?"
"Uh huh."
"Now I just need a few personal questions answered and none of this will ever leave this room. How old are you anyway?"
"23."
"What were you doing living on the street?"
Think fast Tsukasa. She wants answers and you have to be ready to spit them back out without a second thought. I just have to remember to give her enough of the truth to not reveal too much. "I ran out of money and my landlord kicked me out."
"Drugs?"
"Nope."
"Booze?"
"Once in awhile, but not excessively."
"Jail?"
"Almost." That was actually true. He thought back to those wild days back in high school when he would beat the crap out of anyone who gave him the slightest look that displeased him. It was a pretty good idea until his thirst for bloodshed landed a fellow student in a coma for three days. Hose three days he waited to see whether his victim would make it through the ordeal.
"Women or men?"
I nearly choked on my own saliva when I heard that one. Was there something written on my head that made people question my sexual preference? "Women."
"Fetishes?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary I think."
"Good. We don't need another wanton sex driven freak like Ivy."
"Are you running from somebody?"
"No."
Her eyes narrowed, and her face twisted into a deeper scowl. "Bullshit."
"Des this mean I've lost the job?" he ruefully asked.
"I don't care if it's the cops, yakuza, or an angry wife. The second they come for you, you're gone. We don't need people looking into our business."
He breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
She opened her mouth about to fire another question only to be interrupted by the melodious tune of her cell phone. She hastily yanked it out of her purse and brought eh phone to her ear. "Hello. Uh huh." She sat up and began pacing the kitchen apparently becoming more and more agitated by the minute. "God damnnit, Akira! I told them to make the delivery at 4! Fine. I'll be right there!" She tossed the phone back into her bag and glanced down at her watch. "Shit!" Tsukushi grabbed her keys from the table beside the door ad called out to Tsukasa, who was composing himself after the strange interrogation. "Come with me. There's another crisis at the club as usual. First we need to make a quick stop, though."
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Tsukasa kept a few steps behind his new employer watching her back from behind. She had a certain poise and walk about her that demanded respect and seemed unwilling to back down As they meandered trough the sprawling neighborhood of residential manors enclosed by high stone walls blocking the views of leering outsiders, he noticed their destination. She stopped in front of the gates of an elementary school and got up on her tiptoes to look over the crowds of parents, grandparents, and nannies eagerly waiting to pick up their charge. The cold blank expression she had fixed upon her face warred only upon the appearance of a little girl, the mirror image of her mother. Her entire outfit and hair had been done in a way to resemble a tiny replica of her mother. Although there was something about the child's eyes, that seemed so vaguely familiar. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, though. They were just so unsettling to him.
"Kaya!" Tsukushi yelled waving a hand. She rushed p towards the little girl and swept her up into her arms twirling them in circles until they were dizzy.
The girl's face remained sullen and she dropped to the ground like dead weight. "Sensei wants to talk to you," she guiltily admitted lowering her head in shame.
Her mother glanced up to see a very irate teacher with her arms folded looking their direction. Another woman holding the hand of a little boy with what was becoming a black eye on his face. "Oh god!" she gasped. "You! I want to know what happened!" She picked up the little girl and walked a few feet away to kneel down at eye level for what was a very heated discussion.
Tsukasa leaned back against the high stonewall waiting for mother and daughter to finish talking. He couldn't quite hear what they were whispering, and frankly he could care less. In a daze, he watched Tsukushi trying to pry the information out of her unwilling daughter. From the looks of whatever it was that got the little girl provoked it caused her mother to be agitated ten fold. He muttered under his breath, "Like mother, like daughter."
"Hey, Tsukasa! Watch her for a minute while I take care of this."
He was knocked out of his thoughts and to his surprise found the little girl grabbing onto his hand. "Hey, I don't know anything about kids!"
"You'll be fine. Kaya, be good," she sternly warned waving a finger.
"My name is Makino Kaya. What's your name?" she inquisitively asked tugging on his sleeve.
"Tsukasa," he grumbled back. He tried to avoid eye contact, so that he wouldn't have to deal with the kid any longer. There was just something about kids that freaked him out. They were like little midgets that asked too many damn questions.
"Oye! Mr. Pineapple!"
"What did you just call me?!"
"Mr. Pineapple." She brought a hand up covering her mouth before bursting into hysterical laughter. "Your head looks like a pineapple."
"Look brat." He was about to lay out some colorful language for the little girl, but his train of thought was disrupted by people's screams.
"I want that child expelled for hurting my poor Akito."
"I don't care what you have to say! My daughter told me what your little brat said to her. Her actions were completely provoked. I apologize for my Kaya using physical force to solve the problem, but he got what he deserved. I pay a fucking large amount of money to send her to this school. I'm not going to stand here and listen to this shit. My daughter did nothing wrong. All she did was stand up for herself to avoid any further abuse from this child, who was taught to be a bastard by his parents. Mrs. Nakamura, if you find it so entertaining to spread hateful lies about my own personal business, why don't I enlighten the entire PTA about your husband's own indiscretions? I'm sure they would love to hear about all the details."
The other woman slunk back at her words and bit her bottom lip. Her eyes narrowed into two tiny slits and a venomous tone spit out of her mouth. She covered her son's ears. "My husband would never. He's loyal to his family."
"Oh really, is he? I happen to recall a funny little incident involving chains and a whip if I do recall correctly. Ichiro is one of our best customers."
The woman's face paled at the sound of her husband's name. "You slut!" She raised a hand releasing a hard slap across Tukushi's face.
Tsukushi's head jerked to the side, but she quickly turned back to face her attacker. "I think we are even now. Kaya hit your Akito and now you have returned the same favor to me. The matter is settled unless you would like me to call the police to charge you with assault. We have witnesses here."
Once again the woman fumed as she looked around her and realized the audience they had attracted. She violently grabbed her son's arm and pulled him towards the car. "This is far from over!" she idly threatened. "I will take this up with the superintendent if I have to."
"Go ahead, bitch! You're not the first one who tried to kick us out!" she derisively spit back. Tsukushi calmly walked away and gabbed Kaya's hand leading them away from the audience of parents, students, and teachers. She kept her head proudly held up high as the throng of people parted making an empty path. "Don't look down for a minute Kaya. The second you look down, they'll think they have won. Remember that,' she whispered.
Tsukasa ran to catch up to them and kept his comments to himself. This was all a matter between mother and daughter. The rest of the walk was kept in silence.
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Akira leaned back in the cushy leather executive chair behind the desk of the back office. While everyone else worked endlessly to clean up the last night's mess, he would generally find some way out of doing any manual labor by making some lame excuse about needing to take care of some paperwork or administrative things. In reality, he would sit with his legs propped up on the desk watching TV catching up on the latest soaps. It was his guilty little secret.
"Akira!"
"Shit! The bitch is back!" Akira yelped as he stumbled backwards out of his chair and onto the floor. He scrambled for the remote turning the TV off and grabbed a pen and some papers pretending he was making orders for new supplies.
"Didn't you check over the order before you placed it?! I specifically remember telling you to order five cases of Cristal, not fifty! I've spent the last twenty minutes trying to persuade the delivery guy to take it back." Tsukushi slammed her hand down onto the paper he was writing on. She glared down at him waiting for his answer.
Akira knew what to do in situations like this. Akira rule #45: When you find yourself in deep shit by Tsukushi change topic immediately to avoid wrath. He scanned the room and found the perfect scapegoat. "Look who's here?! Kaya!"
"Akira!" she screamed jumping into his inviting arms.
"How's my girl doing today?" He gently let her slide off of his shoulders and knelt down to talk eye to eye. "Wow! You're very pretty today. You must be making all the boys in your class fall madly in love with you."
"Ewww. Boys have cooties!"
"But I'm a boy, too. So I must have cooties."
"No you're not.'
"Then what am I?"
"Mama says you're a donkey."
"Donkey?!" he screamed bug eyed. "Tsukushi, what are you teaching this innocent child?" he gasped holding his hand to his heart in horror.
"I'm only telling the truth. You are an ass," she nonchalantly replied as she scribbled some numbers into the club's ledgers.
"Ha ha ha. Very funny," he sarcastically replied. "We should get going anyway. It's almost time for our meeting."
"I'll be right there. Just give me a few minutes to finish up the books for last night's takings."
Akira pulled Kaya into his arms and began twirling in circles making her cry out in sheer joy. "Let's go!" he started for the door before and patted Tsukasa on the shoulder. "Hey, Tsukasa! Congratulations are in order, I see."
He emerged from the corner he had hidden himself in order to observe the scene before him. "For what?"
"Welcome to the family," he grinned. "I knew you would be perfect for the job," he winked.
Tsukasa inwardly groaned. Then why do I feel like I've entered a nut house then. He sighed and put on a weak smile. "Thanks."
He followed Akira and Kaya back into the main room taking a seat at the round table conference that was about to begin. He chose a seat beside Soujiro who shot him a smile before turning his attention back to his cell making plans with some woman later that night.
"Jiro! Why don't we go see a movie later tonight," Lolita cheerily suggested as she wrapped her arms around Soujioro and leaned over his shoulder.
"Shh!" he loudly whispered holding his hand over the phone. 'I've already got plans tonight. Maybe another time." He averted his attentions back to his date for the night. "Baby, there wasn't another girl with me. It was just one of my co-workers bugging me about something. About tonight."
"Ooohh! That was a burn!" Akira chuckled to himself.
"What are you looking at!" she yelled at Tsukasa who was just a helpless bystander. "And you Akira! Mind your own fucking business!"
"Hey! Don't use such language in front of the children." He covered Kaya's ears and glared back at her.
"Yuki, why are you so mad at Soujiro?" Kaya asked tugging on Yuki's hand.
"It's nothing, sweetie," she replied laying a gentle hand on the little girl's head. She bent down and put on a brave face shielding the disappointment in it. "I just remembered that I made a fresh batch of cookies this morning."
"Cookies?!" she squealed.
"Come with me. I think I left them somewhere behind the counter."
The two walked away in search of baked goods towards the bar counter where Ivy was busy chatting up Junpei and some of the guys in the band.
Soujiro flipped his phone closed and let out a restless sigh. "Where's Tsukuhsi already? I have some big plans later."
"Which one is it tonight?" Akira nosily inquired. He surreptitiously leaned over to his comrade playboy grinning from ear to ear. 'Is it the one with the huge." He stretched his arms out from his chest motioning a part of the female anatomy. "Double D."
"That's the one."
"Man! You're so lucky. You gotta tell me how she was later!"
"No way! I don't share that kind of stuff like Ivy."
"Dude! You gotta share with your buddy." He put on the face of a wounded puppy and nudged his friend while trying to annoy him to death with his whiny voice.
"Get the hell away from me! It's not like it's show and tell."
"Fine! If you won't tell me some juicy details then I'll get some from Tsukasa. I heard you spent the night at Tsukushi's. He he he."
Tsukasa looked in disbelief at Akira's lecherous eyes. "What are you thinking?! Of course nothing happened!" he screamed in defense. "Get your head out of the gutter."
"Come on. I know something had to have happened. Maybe a little bit of you know what."
"Hell no! Not with that wench!"
"Aaaww. You're no fun," Akira pouted. He scraped the tip of his finger against the table sulking to himself.
"Don't mind him," Soujior whispered to Tsukasa. "He's just desperate to hear something cause he hasn't been laid in a week."
"No! It's only been three days!" He banged his head against the table with a thud. "God, do I need to get laid! I've become so desperate I've been thinking about going to Ivy to relieve my pressure." "Don't do it man! She'll tie you up in chains and beat your ass with a paddle. Who knows what kind of kinky games she's into lately!" Soujiro playfully shook him out of his stupor.
"What the hell are you two yakking about!" Ivy yelled as she grabbed a chair out from the table. She draped herself in a straddle position onto the chair leaning her ample bosom against the back.
This brought an immediate silence.
"Nothing," they all replied in unison acting oblivious to the earlier suggestion. Soujiro held his hand to his mouth trying to suppress his laughter.
"Okay everybody! Are we ready to start?" Tsukuhsi shouted as she walked out carrying a large planner in front of her. "Kaya, I left your coloring books and markers behind the counter. You play quietly while Mama works, okay?"
"Okay!" Kaya yelled back with a spurt of cookie coming out at the same time. She returned to the plate of cookies in front of her picking up another two and stuffing them into her mouth.
"Let's start the meeting then, shall we?" Tsukushi flipped open her large binder to a page with random scrawls all over it. "Where are Rui and Shizuka?"
"They called earlier and said hey couldn't make it," Akira quietly spoke up.
A heavy resentful sigh came out of her. "I should have known," she muttered under her breath. "Let's get the first matter of business over with then. As you know must realize, Tsukasa is our newest addition to the family. I thought we might have a little orientation since we're all pretty much here. I think formal introductions and a short explanation of our positions are in order. You've already met our bouncer, Junpei."
"Nice to see you back here!" Junpei waved.
"Akira is our newly promoted manager. Soujiro is the head bartender. The weird, quiet piano player from yesterday is Rui. The other band mates include Thomas, Kin, and Tsuyoshi."
"Yo!" a set of manly voices yelled out in unison.
"Next we move onto the waitresses/entertainers. When we are in the club working we go strictly by our stage names. Never call us by our real names. A ton of shit can happen when our customers find out our real names. Anonymity is the key here, so remember that. On my right, we have Lolita or Yuuki."
"Hi!"
"The slut on her right is Ivy better known as Sakurako."
"I am not a slut! It's not my fault guys can't seem to keep their hands off of me. Look at this package!"
"Whatever. Our other performer is Starr who you saw last night. You can just call her Shizuka. And finally there is me, Tsukushi aka Mona. Any questions?"
All eyes directed towards Tsukasa who was still trying to get all the names straight. "How did you all get your stage names?"
"We each chose our own names, but I'll let them explain for themselves why they chose them."
"I'll go first!" Yuuki volunteered raising a hand in the air waving it frantically. She stood up as if she were n a classroom holding a piece of hair between her fingers twirling it. "I chose my name because of my little school girl image. I do the whole high school girl act on stage for the old pervs looking for some underage action. Ya know what I'm saying- the whole Lolita complex kind of thing." She sat down and snapped her gum.
"My mother named me Sakurako after the flower. I chose Ivy because while I may look beautiful I'm dangerous like poison Ivy. My act revolves the whole Moulin Rouge type brothel thing. I cater to basically old and young satisfying their prostitute fantasies."
Tsukushi broke in. Since Starr isn't here I'll explain for her. She has some stupid fixation on becoming a star. A dumb play on words I must say. Sounds more like a porn name if you ask me,' she sneered. "Her act is basically more a laid back act. She draws in the more sophisticated crowds looking for a pretty face and a decent voice to be seduced by."
"What about you?'
"I don't have an act. The origin of my name is a secret, though. You can try to figure it out though. None of the others here have yet to figure that one out."
"Why don't you just tell us already!" Akira yelled in exasperation. "You make it sound like if you told us you'd have to kill us."
"Shut up, will you? Onto the rest of our orientation. Our work schedule goes like this. Monday through Wednesday we're closed, but you are still expected to show up here to help out with cleaning, maintenance and receiving supplies. We rotate schedules giving each of us two days off in the week. Since you are new Tsukasa you will be coming everyday for training. Soujiro and Akira will show you the ropes to bartend. When neither of them are here, you will have to clean or move supplies. Junpei, I want you to train him to act as security too. He's a pretty good fighter from what I've seen. He's got the muscle to watch the door. As for the girls they come here on the off days to practice their acts with the band, so no matter what there will always be someone in the building with you. You are required to work Thursday through Sunday, our busiest nights."
"That reminds me. I need to double-check our act schedules. Sakurako, you've got Thursday night. Lolita has Friday. Starr has got Sunday. Finally, Sunday will be Sakurako half the night and then we'll switch to DJ music the rest of the night giving you a break. Any problems?"
"Nope," they answered in unison.
"Well I think that's about it for now. I'll end the meeting early since Jiro has got what Akira would refer to as "hot ass" waiting for him. Meeting adjourned." She slammed the book closed ending the meeting. "Junpei, I want to talk to you about last night for a moment."
"Sure," he replied as his face turned solemn. "I heard about the attack. Are you okay?"
"Not bad except for a few minor scrapes and cuts."
Everyone else at the table grabbed their things and began to scurry out in search of their nightly kicks.
"Tomorrow we start training Tsukasa! Be here by three. Ja ne!"
"See ya tomorrow!" Yuuki waved as she stormed out running after Soujiro. "Hey wait up!"
Akira elbowed Tsukasa in his side. "Tsukushi forgot one part of the orientation."
"Tsukasa quizzically raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"She didn't fill you in on the dynamics of our relationships. You have to know how things are between us to understand how we work. It'll keep you out of trouble in case you bring up a sore topic."
"That girl, Yuuki, has got some huge thing for Jiro. Too bad he would never look at her like that."
"Why?"
"It's very complicated. Jiro has a certain reputation as a ladies man. The longest relationship he ever had lasted a week. He changes women like he changes underwear. Yuuki seems to be a little sex kitten and all, but deep down it's all just talk. She's too much of a goody goody to go far with any man." He raised his hands up in despair. "I guess she sees him as her knight in shining armor. It's sort of sad how she's got that fixation on being the one to change him, Jiro was the one who brought her here, but as to her background I won't reveal that. It's up to each of us to tell you our background story. That's the rule here. We tell our story to who we want to. Thomas over there has a thing for Sakurako. They have some sort of weird friendship going on there. Sakurako asks him to do something and he does it. It doesn't matter what it is. He'll do it as long as she asks him to. I feel sorry for the poor gaijin. Rui hired him here to DJ and play the band. I personally recruited Sakurako, too."
"What about you? How did you end up here?"
"Ah, onto me. I'm one of the oldest here next to Jiro who was recruited right after me. I was one of the original hires under the first owner. I was once like you living a shitty life getting kicked out onto the street here and there. Originally Last Resort was only made up of the owner, Rui, Shizuka, and Tsukushi. They were here for the founding of this club. Rui and Shizuka hooked up a couple of years back. Sometimes I think it's a one sided relationship. Rui is head over heels in love with Shizuka, but she would rather focus on her career than Rui. Poor schmuck."
"What about Tsukushi? What's her deal? She doesn't seem to like Shizuka much. It almost seems as if she is jealous or something." Tsukasa prodded wanting to investigate her background some more."
Akira faltered for a moment. "Umm. I won't even go into that. There's a lot of shit behind them that none of us dare bring up. The most I can tell you is that Tsukushi's been running the place as owner for the last few years after our old owner left."
"She owns the place?" Tsukasa's jaw dropped wondering how that was possible. "How old can she be? 17?"
Akira chuckled to himself. "Tsukushi's 21 this year. She sort of I guess inherited the place after the old owner split."
"Is he the same guy who knocked her up with the kid and split?"
"That's not my place to talk about. If I were you I wouldn't pry too much into Tsukushi's past. She can be pretty scary.'
"I know I've already seen her in action. She almost killed me this morning."
"Aaahhh.the ex lax test."
"Ex lax test?! She does that to everyone?!"
"Yeah. We all went through it. It's a good sign. She usually does that with ones she plans on keeping around. It's sort of a. I dunno, a purification ritual to purge you. Those who stick around long enough after going through that hell prove that they can survive this."
"That bitch!" Tsukasa fumed.
"Shit! Look at the time. I've got to go and pick up my lady friend. Her husband's out of town on a business trip tonight."
"Yo, Akira! I need you to drop me off back at home to get ready for my date."
"I don't have time for that Sakurako. I need to pick up Celine!"
"Come on you man whore! If you leave now you can make it to meet your sugar momma."
"Later Tsukasa," Akira nodded as he ran out the door.
"Hey what about me?!"
"Go find a ride with someone else!"
Tsukasa stood alone glancing from his left and right seeing that no one was left except a very angry Sakurako. Kaya was alone, unattended by the bar. He thought about leaving, but after that incident he saw last night the club wasn't the safest place to be for a little girl. He hopped onto the stool beside her and looked down at her drawing.
"What do you have there?" he peered down to see what resembled a stick man with a pineapple head.
"You," she mumbled in deep concentration
Sakurako took the other seat beside Kaya and picked up the drawing. "Pretty good one kid! Looks just like him."
"Hey kid! Shouldn't you show a little more respect for your elders. You shouldn't go around calling us, adults by our first names."
Kaya responded with a confused look before returning to her drawing.
Sakurako pulled out a thin cigarette from a silver holder. She lit it up and took a long puff. "Don't bother. She calls all of us by our first names. Tsukushi is into that new age shit parenting where she treats her kid like an equal. If I ever did that when I was her age I would have had the shit beat out of me for being disrespectful. That new parenting thing is all bullshit. You gotta smack these kids around once in awhile to get them to fly straight."
"Sakurako, need a ride?"
"Sure darling," she sweetly replied laying on the niceness thickly for Thomas. "See you later, Tsukasa," she waved as she put out her cigarette.
Now man and child were left completely alone. Tsukasa stared up at the wall trying ot think of where he would stay the night. A hotel perhaps? With what money? She took all of it earlier. I guess it's back to the bench then.
He turned to the little girl wondering what had made such a sweet looking girl resort to violence on her classmate.
"What's that?" he asked pointing to a blob with a black and blue face.
"That's Akito."
"Wasn't he that kid you hit today?"
"Yes. It's his fault that Mama is mad at me," she grumbled.
"Why did you hit him anyway?"
"He told me Mama was a bad person. He wouldn't play with me because his mother wouldn't let him. He used to play with me before. I told him Mama wasn't a bad person, but he wouldn't listen. I said I wanted to grow up to be just like Mama, but he told me his mother said I should hope to god I don't end up like her."
"End up like what?"
"A whore."
"Hey, what are you doing here still?'
"Huh? What?" He snapped out of his worrying to see a weary Tsukushi approaching. "Go home already!"
"I don't have a home," he mumbled in return.
"You've got money. Go to a hotel then."
"What money? You took it all this morning."
"Well there is a shelter four blocks down the street."
"Thanks," he replied with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. He picked up his bag and began to trudge out the door.
"Hey wait a minute!" She looked down at the floor fighting some inner turmoil on whether or not to suggest what she was thinking. "I've got an extra bedroom. You could stay with us for now if you like until you get yourself back on your feet."
"Are you serious?' he asked in disbelief.
"It's not like I'm letting you stay for free. The rent will be $500 a month. Utilities and food are included. I'll take it out of your next paycheck."
"I don't think that's a good idea."
"You have nowhere else to stay. Fine, if you prefer the shelter then go ahead."
Should I go or not? What if she's some psycho looking to kill me and lock my rotting carcass in her closet for weeks until the neighbors complain of the smell and the cops find my dead body. Damn! What a dilemma. One: get raped by homeless men in shower at the shelter. Two: sleep with one eye open in fear of psycho bitch. I guess I know where I'll take my chances.
"I'll take the room."
"Fine. Let's go home then."
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Tsukushi emerged from a bedroom wearing a pale silk robe hat clung to her body. She silently crept over to Tsukasa's room to check up on him after he had moved all her clothing from the closets into her bedroom.
"How's it going in here?" she asked holding two cups of coffee.
Tsukasa stepped out from the walk in closet holding a hanger and shirt in hand. "Almost done." He thankfully took the cup of coffee offered to him and was about to sip it before he remembered the morning's incident opting not to drink it.
She gracefully sauntered over to the closet and eyed the tiny amount of space he had taken up with his clothes. It only made her pity the poor guy more.
What is it with me and this guy? First I can't stand his guts and am ready to toss him back on the street. Okay, so he saved me from that bastard last night. I owed him enough to give him a job for that. But offering him to live in my home?! What the hell was I thinking?! I hate to admit it, but some gut instinct is telling me that this guy is okay. If he saved me last night, he probably won't try anything with me. Rapists don't stop fellow rapists, I guess. He would have done the same thing for this guy. Look at me taking him just like he took me in all those years ago. God, do I miss him. He left his family, Kaya and me all alone. I hate that bastard for leaving us, but at the same time I can't stop loving him. Why else would I have kept all his stuff intact perfectly the way he left it. Maybe it's time I let go.
"Umm. Is that all the clothes you have?" she asked pointing to the scarce number of shirts and slacks hanging in the closet.
"Yeah."
"You might need better clothes for work. You look about the same size as him. You can use some of the clothes in the drawers and closet if you like."
What the hell is she suggesting? There's no way I would ever wear that guy's clothes. They probably reek with the stains of sex, women and booze. I don't want anything associated to her lover's things.
"No thank you. Why would you offer me the clothes of the man who left you with a kid to work in some sleazy nightclub prostituting yourself every night? I do have my pride."
Her lips tightened into two thin lines. She was just trying to be nice and he threw it back in her face.
Good one, Tsukasa. Offend your landlady's secret lover. I'm on a roll today. I bet she's going to kick me out now. Why did I even bother unpacking? Me and my stupid mouth.
Tsukushi sat picked up a photograph on the nightstand of her "happy family".
"Pride. I have pride. Why else would I work my ass off every night to support Kaya? I could care less what you think of me, but you have no idea what my life is like. My baby is fed, has a roof over her head, and has everything that she has ever needed. Don't make an ass out of yourself with your accusations. I'll see you tomorrow morning." She clutched her precious photograph to her chest and sullenly walked out the door.
"Why are you letting me stay?' he asked still confused as to her leniency on him.
"I don't judge people based on appearances," she curtly replied. "I'm used to people assuming things about me. I know who I am and I can hold my head up proudly knowing who I am."
"Aren't you afraid I'm some sorta of psycho who will kill you and your child in your sleep?"
"No. I have this." She pulled out a bottle of mace from under her sleeve. "Sweet dreams."
That night Tsukasa slept with the door locked.
Random Ramblings: Hmm. I've seem to have completely abandoned my other fics for now. From what I have in my head right now, this story will not be purely in Tsukasa's view. I think I'll be delving into the other characters' backgrounds and switching POV's frequently. I've gotten into that whole stream of consciousness type of style now. Trying to calculate yen is too hard for me. I'll be basing all amounts on US dollars to make my life easier. Remember I thrive off reviews!
Chapter 3: Initiation
Let's just recap what has happened in the last twenty-four hours. Woke up in a park bench reeking of my own filth. Went out looking for a job, instead met still questionably gay man Akira who offered me a job for some quick money. Find myself in a club surrounded by hot waitresses and singers, booze flowing into glasses like water, and one really bitchy boss. Drink massive quantities of booze to make horny old women happy. Rescue bitchy boss from being raped by pervert customer. Bitchy boss in return maces me for being the hero. Wake up in her apartment. Now she wants to be friends. Yep, that about sums it all up. My life is fucking perfect.
"Weed?" Tsukasa choked out in between laughs. He groaned grabbing onto my head as another mind splitting pain ripped through my skull
"Yeah, so what? It was my damn parents that picked the name," she snapped clearly annoyed by the fact he and probably the rest of the entire world always pointed out. Her knuckles turned white clenching onto the sheets. He really knew how to push her buttons.
"What a stupid name! It does match your look. Compared to the other girls you look just so."
"So what?!"
He couldn't resist it. It was his chance to get back at her for macing him. "Plain, annoying, short, homely, flat chested. I could go on." He cocked his head slightly up letting he rich brat in him come out. It was all too easy to fall back into his old patterns of superiority. No one ever dared treat him the way this girl did the night before. It was his way of payback.
Like I said earlier. I wasn't exactly the smartest person in the world. According to my therapist, I was confrontational and aggressive as an outlet to find the much needed positive attention I sought from my parents. Tsubaki just called it being an ass. She was right.
"I'm going to kill you!"
"Fuck! I think I'm going to be sick again!" he covered his mouth and ran towards the bathroom leaning over the porcelain god retching out what felt like along or some other vital organ. He knelt over the toilet until his knees gave out from near him. So, he leaned against the tub with his eyes closed wishing for the room to stop spinning. He looked up to see the woman towering over him looking like she was going to smash his face in for his earlier comments. "I had to get back at your for last night. My eyes are still burning. I surrender. Don't hurt a sick man!"
"Got yourself quite a hang over I see." Tsukushi dropped a damp towel over his head and began rummaging through the medicine cabinet for something. It was filled with bottles. She ran a finger across the shelf and sopped at one snatching it from its place. She popped the lid open and turned it upside down revealing nothing. In frustration, she tossed the bottle into the waste-basket and grabbed another pouring two pills into her hand. She filled a glass with water from the tap and handed the pills and glass to him. "This should help."
Hesitantly he accepted it and tossed the pills back washing it down his throat with the cool water. "Thanks."
"Oh, I think you will be regretting saying that."
"Why?"
She pulled out the bottle from behind her back and grinned like a Cheshire cat. "You'll see."
His eyes widened in shock reading the words on the bottle screaming clear as day. "EX LAX". Tsukushi had already scurried out the door with her maniacal laughter echoing through the house. It took only a matter of minutes for the ex lax to take effect. He was going to be spending a whole lot more time with the porcelain god than he thought.
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Tsukushi happily skipped her way to the kitchen humming to herself in victory while she opened up the cabinets pulling out various items for breakfast. As she poured some cereal into a bowl she peered over the counter seeing a head resting against the couch watching the colorful blobs squealing some unintelligible gibberish to one another. The head turned around and a face popped up staring directly at her.
"I'm hungry," the little girl whined.
Tsukushi only smiled back at the little angel and replied, "I'll have breakfast ready in a few minutes. Hurry up and get dressed. You don't want to be late for school."
"Okay," she whispered with a twinge of disappointment in her voice. The little girl shrugged her shoulders and stretched her chubby arms into the air yawning. She wiped away the sleepiness still in her eyes and trudged toward her bedroom listlessly swaying her arms to and fro.
Tsukushi continued preparing breakfast all while berating herself in her into for allowing a stranger into her home. She knew nothing about him except for the fact that Akira had recruited him. Akira did have a pretty good instinct when it came to people, but after that last guy she was beginning to think twice about his abilities to read people. For all she knew, Tsukasa was just another serial rapist running from the law getting his kicks from booze and pills when no women were to be found.
What's a girl to do?
"All ready!" the little girl screamed scrambling up onto the high stool of the counter grabbing the box of cereal to stare at cartoon on the back.
Tsukushi placed the bowl in front of the little girl and grabbed a brush running it through her long brown tresses. "So what will it be today? A simple ponytail? Braids? Mm."
With a mouth full of cereal and milk dripping from her mouth, she muffled, "I want it just like yours!"
She nodded her head and divided her hair into two pigtails. As she plaited her hair she carefully wove a simple pink ribbon into each braid allowing the ends to dangle freely at the bottom. "Finished." She pulled the hand mirror in front of the girl's face, which instantly lit up at the sight of her mother's handiwork.
"Pretty."
"Hurry up. We don't want to be late," she gently scolded her daughter tossing the dirty dished into the sink.
Tsukushi grabbed her purse from the counter and checked through Kaya's backpack one more time making sure everything was accounted for. As they walked through the door, she could hear the faint sound of the toilet flushing from one of the inner bedrooms. The sound of footsteps could be heard approaching the door to exit the room, but then there were hastened steps and the sound of the bathroom door being slammed shut again. All the while Tsukushi couldn't wipe the silly smirk on her face. He was going to be in there for a while.
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It had already been Tsukasa's tenth visit to the bathroom; and by this point, all the energy in his body was drained out of him. He collapsed on the bed feeling his stomach revolting in its churning. It seemed like there was nothing left to come out of his body. As he lay there praying for god to strike him down now as an act of mercy, he could hear a door slam shut and lock.
She left me alone here to die, didn't she? This woman is indescribable. She's coming a close second to my mother as the devil incarnate. When I get the chance I'll make sure she'll rue the day she ever messed with Doumyouji Tsukasa. Justice shall be served. My revenge shall be sweet.
He slowly opened the bedroom door and peaked a head out making sure he was the only one left in the place. Since she wasn't around he thought it would be no better time than the present to check her out. Tsukasa helped himself to a cup of coffee to calm his unsettled stomach and abate his pounding hangover. He strolled out into the living room settling himself into the soft leather couch stretching his legs up onto the coffee table.
It was rather surprising to see the drastic difference between Akira's home and Tsukushi's. While Akira was a slob living in a sub inhabitable dump, Tsukushi was living in a high rise in what appeared to be in a more affluent district. All of her furnishing were of the best quality, although they seemed to be older models from a few years back. That was besides the point because even these older models would set anyone back a few hundred thousand yen today. The club was quite profitable, but in no way could it provide a simple waitress to acquire all these assets. Something definitely wasn't right.
Another odd observation he made was the fact the walls were lined with bookcases filled with novels. Half expecting them to be trashy supermarket type soft porn kind of books, he picked one up rather ragged book pulled out amongst the stacks. His eyes scanned through the selection and widened with curiosity as he realized the expansive collection of works from Kant, Longfellow, Dickens, and Thoreau.
The plot thickens, he thought to himself. Tsuksuhi may not be the person she seems to be. From what I've seen of he s far, she's nothing or and nothing less ha a crude, uneducated waitress. She has no manners whatsoever and a mean streak in her tat could only come from the streets. This requires further analysis.
Taking a sip from he aimlessly wandered about the room trying to look for clues into this woman's history. Could this all be some sort of conspiracy on his mother's part to drag him back home? Yes, he was being paranoid, but with a woman like his mother like his anyone would be wary of strangers. Her spies could be anywhere, even this girl. He stopped in front of a set of photographs neatly lined up individual frames. The first one was nothing special, just a group shot from the club. Beside it was one of Tsukushi when she was probably 15 or so since she was wearing a high school uniform. There was a hint of mischief in her eyes as she cocked her head back and smiled right into the camera winking one eye. The other photographs were more random shots of Tsukushi with Soujiro and Akira or Tsukushi and Lolita.
Wait! What's this? Interesting. The last few photographs were much different from the others. What happened here?
There was something different in Tsukushi. That fiery exterior she played off was dismissed for a more submissive demeanor. She wasn't the confidant, haughty woman from the other photographs. It was even odder to see her leaning against a man at least a head taller than her. The sunlight shone down on his tan face framed by spiky tousled bleach blonde hair. He was of a medium build with taut muscles that peeked from under his shirt. His arm was wrapped around Tsukushi's shoulder pulling her closer to him. He grinned into the camera flashing one of those killer playboy smiles similar to the ones Tsukasa had seen Akira and Soujiro use the night before on all the female customers. Tsukushi appeared so tiny beside this man wearing a short white sundress that hung over her frail bone think body. Her hand was touching her face pushing back the hair blowing in her face that seemed untouched by any cosmetics. She was staring at Tsukasa with eyes that spoke volumes of innocence and virtue.
The next photograph was even more shocking. It was once again Tsukushi and that guy, but this time he was cradling something in his arms. Swaddled in a pale yellow blanket was a newborn baby with a wrinkled, scrunched up face. The man protectively held the child close to his chest looking down at the miracle of life probably whispering some sweet words o the new life. Tsukushi, dressed in a hospital gown, was leaning over his shoulder with her arm draped around him allowing a small smile to escape her lips.
Finally, the last photograph was only of Tsukushi , the man, and the baby now a toddler teetering on losing her balance while standing up. They were sitting on a blanket by a lake. The man was holding his hands underneath the chubby girl preparing to catch her the moment she fell. This might have appeared to be a happy family moment, but the look on Tsukushi's face marred it all. She was distant looking away towards the water not paying much attention to the people around her. There was a certain sadness in her eyes as if she were holding back some great pain. All the youthfulness in her face had vanished to be replaced by a newfound, jaded persona. It must have been the beginning of her transformation to the woman she was now.
Of course, using his power of deduction Tsukasa formed his impression of Tsukushi. It must have been the same old story that you've heard a thousand times. Young impressionable girl goes out searching for some kind of affection or love tat she couldn't get from her parents and finds it in an older man. Older, wealthier man seduces young girl, strings her along for a while until she gets pregnant. Man tells her he will stay with her for the baby all the while trying to balance all the other women he has on the side. Girl has baby and hopes man will settle down with her and start family. Man buys her silence of their relationship by getting her an expensive apartment with furnishing promising they will be together only to run away leaving a jilted woman and a bastard child. Girl now a woman with nothing left find job in night club and dignity to raise child, but leaves everything man ever gave her intact in hopes he will one day return. Yep, it was the same old story. However, as most people would know the mind's imaginations can get the best of us luring you into fantasies of fictional truths.
He turned his gaze away from the smiling faces wondering what other clues he could find to back up his tale. He was beginning to be disgusted by this woman. She embodied part of what he hated most in this world. She was just another whore like the others his father fucked senseless and his mother "disposed" of. Perhaps she did deserve the life she got. The only victim of the situation would be the kid. She probably would have been better off if she was given up for adoption or disposed of as a fetus. He wandered back into the bedroom he was in earlier assuming that it must have been hers and headed straight for the dresser drawers. It wasn't a huge shock when each drawer revealed men's clothing ranging from Ralph Lauren to Armani. The closet was half filled with suits while the other half with women's clothing. This room must be their bedroom. Something on the nightstand caught his eye, though. It was a man's watch, a Rolex at that. He picked it up inspecting the finely engraved letters on the inside. "Shinimori".
Shinimori. That name sounds vaguely familiar. Where have I heard that name before. Think, Tsukasa. It's on the tip of my tongue where I've heard that name. Shinimori..oil! That's it! I remember mother going on and on about that company. It was one of the oldest established families alongside mine. I remember hearing a lot about them back when I was in high school, but then it just seemed to disappear into oblivion. I know I read somewhere about what happened. I just can't damn remember now.
As he was about to sift through her lingerie letting his perversions get the better of him, the sound of keys clinking in the lock brought his attention to the compromising position he did not want to be caught in. He quickly slammed all the drawers and doors, and dove back out into the living room jumping onto the couch and pretending to be reading one of the magazines scattered on the coffee table.
Tsukushi kicked the door open with her foot while dragging bags of groceries from behind. Her heavy load slowed down her steps and it was quite comical to watch her kicking one bag in front of her while lugging another behind. She glanced up to see him engrossed in one of her Victoria's Secrets catalogues. He caught a look at her glaring right at him and focused his attention on what was in front of him realizing it was a lingerie catalogue and dropping it like it was on fire.
"Let me help you," he politely suggested as he grabbed one of her bags.
"Thanks," she muttered as she rifled through the stack of mail in her hands.
As he watched her silently put things away, shifted from one foot to the other not knowing what to do. Were they enemies or friends? He would not be able to handle another Ex Lax fiasco.
Tsukushi placed the last carton of orange juice into the now well stocked refrigerator and sat down at the kitchen table. She neatly folded her hands in her lap. "Sit down," she coldly ordered.
Tuskasa took a deep breath and did as she requested taking the empty seat across from her.
"Give me your wallet, first."
For some odd reason, Tsukasa obeyed against his better judgment. The woman had already tried to kill him once and the dread of disobeying was too overwhelming for him to fight her.
She opened up his beat up old wallet and took out all the money he had earned the night before and stuck it into her purse. "That'll be juts enough to pay for the cleaning of my car's interior. You made quite a mess last night. I hope they get rid of that god awful smell."
He fell backwards slightly briefly recalling vomiting all over her shirt and her car. He deserved it to have his money taken for that ungodly mess.
Her face was utterly expressionless only worsening the tension in the room. The slight tapping of her nails against the glass table was driving him insane. After the earlier incidents, the cool bitch attitude had returned. "I called Akira earlier to discuss what we would be doing about you. You did okay for your first night." She leaned back against her chair and looked past him. It's been awhile since we've had some new blood in the club. The last guy Akira picked up was a total wreck. So you still want the job?"
IT was one of those moments where Tsukasa had to grip onto the seat of his chair for support before he fell out of it. "Well the pay is good, so yeah." He smugly smiled to himself in satisfaction that he had proved her wrong about his skills.
The tapping of her nails ceased. "Fine. Just to let you know this is all temporary. The second you screw up, you're gone. This is a huge offer I'm giving you and it doesn't come without a price. You have to be inducted into the family. Trust is a big issue for us. Right now I trust you as much as Hitler. Trust has to be earned and you have to prove yourself worthy of our trust. Once you're in you are in for life. We have a certain unspoken codes we adhere to. We're not yakuza or anything like that. You can choose to leave on your own free will. Though if you choose to leave, you choose to forget everyone and everything you have seen or met at the club. We won't acknowledge you and we respectfully ask you do not acknowledge us."
"Fine."
"Okay then. First things first. You need to know the basics about working at Last Resort. No smoking. No drinking, No drugs. And lastly what happens within those walls stay within those walls. What goes on in Last Resort stays in Last Resort. Anything you do, say or hear never leaves the building. We have a binding confidentiality agreement with our customers and employees of don't ask don't tell. Got it?"
"Uh huh."
"Now I just need a few personal questions answered and none of this will ever leave this room. How old are you anyway?"
"23."
"What were you doing living on the street?"
Think fast Tsukasa. She wants answers and you have to be ready to spit them back out without a second thought. I just have to remember to give her enough of the truth to not reveal too much. "I ran out of money and my landlord kicked me out."
"Drugs?"
"Nope."
"Booze?"
"Once in awhile, but not excessively."
"Jail?"
"Almost." That was actually true. He thought back to those wild days back in high school when he would beat the crap out of anyone who gave him the slightest look that displeased him. It was a pretty good idea until his thirst for bloodshed landed a fellow student in a coma for three days. Hose three days he waited to see whether his victim would make it through the ordeal.
"Women or men?"
I nearly choked on my own saliva when I heard that one. Was there something written on my head that made people question my sexual preference? "Women."
"Fetishes?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary I think."
"Good. We don't need another wanton sex driven freak like Ivy."
"Are you running from somebody?"
"No."
Her eyes narrowed, and her face twisted into a deeper scowl. "Bullshit."
"Des this mean I've lost the job?" he ruefully asked.
"I don't care if it's the cops, yakuza, or an angry wife. The second they come for you, you're gone. We don't need people looking into our business."
He breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
She opened her mouth about to fire another question only to be interrupted by the melodious tune of her cell phone. She hastily yanked it out of her purse and brought eh phone to her ear. "Hello. Uh huh." She sat up and began pacing the kitchen apparently becoming more and more agitated by the minute. "God damnnit, Akira! I told them to make the delivery at 4! Fine. I'll be right there!" She tossed the phone back into her bag and glanced down at her watch. "Shit!" Tsukushi grabbed her keys from the table beside the door ad called out to Tsukasa, who was composing himself after the strange interrogation. "Come with me. There's another crisis at the club as usual. First we need to make a quick stop, though."
-------------------------------------
Tsukasa kept a few steps behind his new employer watching her back from behind. She had a certain poise and walk about her that demanded respect and seemed unwilling to back down As they meandered trough the sprawling neighborhood of residential manors enclosed by high stone walls blocking the views of leering outsiders, he noticed their destination. She stopped in front of the gates of an elementary school and got up on her tiptoes to look over the crowds of parents, grandparents, and nannies eagerly waiting to pick up their charge. The cold blank expression she had fixed upon her face warred only upon the appearance of a little girl, the mirror image of her mother. Her entire outfit and hair had been done in a way to resemble a tiny replica of her mother. Although there was something about the child's eyes, that seemed so vaguely familiar. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, though. They were just so unsettling to him.
"Kaya!" Tsukushi yelled waving a hand. She rushed p towards the little girl and swept her up into her arms twirling them in circles until they were dizzy.
The girl's face remained sullen and she dropped to the ground like dead weight. "Sensei wants to talk to you," she guiltily admitted lowering her head in shame.
Her mother glanced up to see a very irate teacher with her arms folded looking their direction. Another woman holding the hand of a little boy with what was becoming a black eye on his face. "Oh god!" she gasped. "You! I want to know what happened!" She picked up the little girl and walked a few feet away to kneel down at eye level for what was a very heated discussion.
Tsukasa leaned back against the high stonewall waiting for mother and daughter to finish talking. He couldn't quite hear what they were whispering, and frankly he could care less. In a daze, he watched Tsukushi trying to pry the information out of her unwilling daughter. From the looks of whatever it was that got the little girl provoked it caused her mother to be agitated ten fold. He muttered under his breath, "Like mother, like daughter."
"Hey, Tsukasa! Watch her for a minute while I take care of this."
He was knocked out of his thoughts and to his surprise found the little girl grabbing onto his hand. "Hey, I don't know anything about kids!"
"You'll be fine. Kaya, be good," she sternly warned waving a finger.
"My name is Makino Kaya. What's your name?" she inquisitively asked tugging on his sleeve.
"Tsukasa," he grumbled back. He tried to avoid eye contact, so that he wouldn't have to deal with the kid any longer. There was just something about kids that freaked him out. They were like little midgets that asked too many damn questions.
"Oye! Mr. Pineapple!"
"What did you just call me?!"
"Mr. Pineapple." She brought a hand up covering her mouth before bursting into hysterical laughter. "Your head looks like a pineapple."
"Look brat." He was about to lay out some colorful language for the little girl, but his train of thought was disrupted by people's screams.
"I want that child expelled for hurting my poor Akito."
"I don't care what you have to say! My daughter told me what your little brat said to her. Her actions were completely provoked. I apologize for my Kaya using physical force to solve the problem, but he got what he deserved. I pay a fucking large amount of money to send her to this school. I'm not going to stand here and listen to this shit. My daughter did nothing wrong. All she did was stand up for herself to avoid any further abuse from this child, who was taught to be a bastard by his parents. Mrs. Nakamura, if you find it so entertaining to spread hateful lies about my own personal business, why don't I enlighten the entire PTA about your husband's own indiscretions? I'm sure they would love to hear about all the details."
The other woman slunk back at her words and bit her bottom lip. Her eyes narrowed into two tiny slits and a venomous tone spit out of her mouth. She covered her son's ears. "My husband would never. He's loyal to his family."
"Oh really, is he? I happen to recall a funny little incident involving chains and a whip if I do recall correctly. Ichiro is one of our best customers."
The woman's face paled at the sound of her husband's name. "You slut!" She raised a hand releasing a hard slap across Tukushi's face.
Tsukushi's head jerked to the side, but she quickly turned back to face her attacker. "I think we are even now. Kaya hit your Akito and now you have returned the same favor to me. The matter is settled unless you would like me to call the police to charge you with assault. We have witnesses here."
Once again the woman fumed as she looked around her and realized the audience they had attracted. She violently grabbed her son's arm and pulled him towards the car. "This is far from over!" she idly threatened. "I will take this up with the superintendent if I have to."
"Go ahead, bitch! You're not the first one who tried to kick us out!" she derisively spit back. Tsukushi calmly walked away and gabbed Kaya's hand leading them away from the audience of parents, students, and teachers. She kept her head proudly held up high as the throng of people parted making an empty path. "Don't look down for a minute Kaya. The second you look down, they'll think they have won. Remember that,' she whispered.
Tsukasa ran to catch up to them and kept his comments to himself. This was all a matter between mother and daughter. The rest of the walk was kept in silence.
----------------------------------------------
Akira leaned back in the cushy leather executive chair behind the desk of the back office. While everyone else worked endlessly to clean up the last night's mess, he would generally find some way out of doing any manual labor by making some lame excuse about needing to take care of some paperwork or administrative things. In reality, he would sit with his legs propped up on the desk watching TV catching up on the latest soaps. It was his guilty little secret.
"Akira!"
"Shit! The bitch is back!" Akira yelped as he stumbled backwards out of his chair and onto the floor. He scrambled for the remote turning the TV off and grabbed a pen and some papers pretending he was making orders for new supplies.
"Didn't you check over the order before you placed it?! I specifically remember telling you to order five cases of Cristal, not fifty! I've spent the last twenty minutes trying to persuade the delivery guy to take it back." Tsukushi slammed her hand down onto the paper he was writing on. She glared down at him waiting for his answer.
Akira knew what to do in situations like this. Akira rule #45: When you find yourself in deep shit by Tsukushi change topic immediately to avoid wrath. He scanned the room and found the perfect scapegoat. "Look who's here?! Kaya!"
"Akira!" she screamed jumping into his inviting arms.
"How's my girl doing today?" He gently let her slide off of his shoulders and knelt down to talk eye to eye. "Wow! You're very pretty today. You must be making all the boys in your class fall madly in love with you."
"Ewww. Boys have cooties!"
"But I'm a boy, too. So I must have cooties."
"No you're not.'
"Then what am I?"
"Mama says you're a donkey."
"Donkey?!" he screamed bug eyed. "Tsukushi, what are you teaching this innocent child?" he gasped holding his hand to his heart in horror.
"I'm only telling the truth. You are an ass," she nonchalantly replied as she scribbled some numbers into the club's ledgers.
"Ha ha ha. Very funny," he sarcastically replied. "We should get going anyway. It's almost time for our meeting."
"I'll be right there. Just give me a few minutes to finish up the books for last night's takings."
Akira pulled Kaya into his arms and began twirling in circles making her cry out in sheer joy. "Let's go!" he started for the door before and patted Tsukasa on the shoulder. "Hey, Tsukasa! Congratulations are in order, I see."
He emerged from the corner he had hidden himself in order to observe the scene before him. "For what?"
"Welcome to the family," he grinned. "I knew you would be perfect for the job," he winked.
Tsukasa inwardly groaned. Then why do I feel like I've entered a nut house then. He sighed and put on a weak smile. "Thanks."
He followed Akira and Kaya back into the main room taking a seat at the round table conference that was about to begin. He chose a seat beside Soujiro who shot him a smile before turning his attention back to his cell making plans with some woman later that night.
"Jiro! Why don't we go see a movie later tonight," Lolita cheerily suggested as she wrapped her arms around Soujioro and leaned over his shoulder.
"Shh!" he loudly whispered holding his hand over the phone. 'I've already got plans tonight. Maybe another time." He averted his attentions back to his date for the night. "Baby, there wasn't another girl with me. It was just one of my co-workers bugging me about something. About tonight."
"Ooohh! That was a burn!" Akira chuckled to himself.
"What are you looking at!" she yelled at Tsukasa who was just a helpless bystander. "And you Akira! Mind your own fucking business!"
"Hey! Don't use such language in front of the children." He covered Kaya's ears and glared back at her.
"Yuki, why are you so mad at Soujiro?" Kaya asked tugging on Yuki's hand.
"It's nothing, sweetie," she replied laying a gentle hand on the little girl's head. She bent down and put on a brave face shielding the disappointment in it. "I just remembered that I made a fresh batch of cookies this morning."
"Cookies?!" she squealed.
"Come with me. I think I left them somewhere behind the counter."
The two walked away in search of baked goods towards the bar counter where Ivy was busy chatting up Junpei and some of the guys in the band.
Soujiro flipped his phone closed and let out a restless sigh. "Where's Tsukuhsi already? I have some big plans later."
"Which one is it tonight?" Akira nosily inquired. He surreptitiously leaned over to his comrade playboy grinning from ear to ear. 'Is it the one with the huge." He stretched his arms out from his chest motioning a part of the female anatomy. "Double D."
"That's the one."
"Man! You're so lucky. You gotta tell me how she was later!"
"No way! I don't share that kind of stuff like Ivy."
"Dude! You gotta share with your buddy." He put on the face of a wounded puppy and nudged his friend while trying to annoy him to death with his whiny voice.
"Get the hell away from me! It's not like it's show and tell."
"Fine! If you won't tell me some juicy details then I'll get some from Tsukasa. I heard you spent the night at Tsukushi's. He he he."
Tsukasa looked in disbelief at Akira's lecherous eyes. "What are you thinking?! Of course nothing happened!" he screamed in defense. "Get your head out of the gutter."
"Come on. I know something had to have happened. Maybe a little bit of you know what."
"Hell no! Not with that wench!"
"Aaaww. You're no fun," Akira pouted. He scraped the tip of his finger against the table sulking to himself.
"Don't mind him," Soujior whispered to Tsukasa. "He's just desperate to hear something cause he hasn't been laid in a week."
"No! It's only been three days!" He banged his head against the table with a thud. "God, do I need to get laid! I've become so desperate I've been thinking about going to Ivy to relieve my pressure." "Don't do it man! She'll tie you up in chains and beat your ass with a paddle. Who knows what kind of kinky games she's into lately!" Soujiro playfully shook him out of his stupor.
"What the hell are you two yakking about!" Ivy yelled as she grabbed a chair out from the table. She draped herself in a straddle position onto the chair leaning her ample bosom against the back.
This brought an immediate silence.
"Nothing," they all replied in unison acting oblivious to the earlier suggestion. Soujiro held his hand to his mouth trying to suppress his laughter.
"Okay everybody! Are we ready to start?" Tsukuhsi shouted as she walked out carrying a large planner in front of her. "Kaya, I left your coloring books and markers behind the counter. You play quietly while Mama works, okay?"
"Okay!" Kaya yelled back with a spurt of cookie coming out at the same time. She returned to the plate of cookies in front of her picking up another two and stuffing them into her mouth.
"Let's start the meeting then, shall we?" Tsukushi flipped open her large binder to a page with random scrawls all over it. "Where are Rui and Shizuka?"
"They called earlier and said hey couldn't make it," Akira quietly spoke up.
A heavy resentful sigh came out of her. "I should have known," she muttered under her breath. "Let's get the first matter of business over with then. As you know must realize, Tsukasa is our newest addition to the family. I thought we might have a little orientation since we're all pretty much here. I think formal introductions and a short explanation of our positions are in order. You've already met our bouncer, Junpei."
"Nice to see you back here!" Junpei waved.
"Akira is our newly promoted manager. Soujiro is the head bartender. The weird, quiet piano player from yesterday is Rui. The other band mates include Thomas, Kin, and Tsuyoshi."
"Yo!" a set of manly voices yelled out in unison.
"Next we move onto the waitresses/entertainers. When we are in the club working we go strictly by our stage names. Never call us by our real names. A ton of shit can happen when our customers find out our real names. Anonymity is the key here, so remember that. On my right, we have Lolita or Yuuki."
"Hi!"
"The slut on her right is Ivy better known as Sakurako."
"I am not a slut! It's not my fault guys can't seem to keep their hands off of me. Look at this package!"
"Whatever. Our other performer is Starr who you saw last night. You can just call her Shizuka. And finally there is me, Tsukushi aka Mona. Any questions?"
All eyes directed towards Tsukasa who was still trying to get all the names straight. "How did you all get your stage names?"
"We each chose our own names, but I'll let them explain for themselves why they chose them."
"I'll go first!" Yuuki volunteered raising a hand in the air waving it frantically. She stood up as if she were n a classroom holding a piece of hair between her fingers twirling it. "I chose my name because of my little school girl image. I do the whole high school girl act on stage for the old pervs looking for some underage action. Ya know what I'm saying- the whole Lolita complex kind of thing." She sat down and snapped her gum.
"My mother named me Sakurako after the flower. I chose Ivy because while I may look beautiful I'm dangerous like poison Ivy. My act revolves the whole Moulin Rouge type brothel thing. I cater to basically old and young satisfying their prostitute fantasies."
Tsukushi broke in. Since Starr isn't here I'll explain for her. She has some stupid fixation on becoming a star. A dumb play on words I must say. Sounds more like a porn name if you ask me,' she sneered. "Her act is basically more a laid back act. She draws in the more sophisticated crowds looking for a pretty face and a decent voice to be seduced by."
"What about you?'
"I don't have an act. The origin of my name is a secret, though. You can try to figure it out though. None of the others here have yet to figure that one out."
"Why don't you just tell us already!" Akira yelled in exasperation. "You make it sound like if you told us you'd have to kill us."
"Shut up, will you? Onto the rest of our orientation. Our work schedule goes like this. Monday through Wednesday we're closed, but you are still expected to show up here to help out with cleaning, maintenance and receiving supplies. We rotate schedules giving each of us two days off in the week. Since you are new Tsukasa you will be coming everyday for training. Soujiro and Akira will show you the ropes to bartend. When neither of them are here, you will have to clean or move supplies. Junpei, I want you to train him to act as security too. He's a pretty good fighter from what I've seen. He's got the muscle to watch the door. As for the girls they come here on the off days to practice their acts with the band, so no matter what there will always be someone in the building with you. You are required to work Thursday through Sunday, our busiest nights."
"That reminds me. I need to double-check our act schedules. Sakurako, you've got Thursday night. Lolita has Friday. Starr has got Sunday. Finally, Sunday will be Sakurako half the night and then we'll switch to DJ music the rest of the night giving you a break. Any problems?"
"Nope," they answered in unison.
"Well I think that's about it for now. I'll end the meeting early since Jiro has got what Akira would refer to as "hot ass" waiting for him. Meeting adjourned." She slammed the book closed ending the meeting. "Junpei, I want to talk to you about last night for a moment."
"Sure," he replied as his face turned solemn. "I heard about the attack. Are you okay?"
"Not bad except for a few minor scrapes and cuts."
Everyone else at the table grabbed their things and began to scurry out in search of their nightly kicks.
"Tomorrow we start training Tsukasa! Be here by three. Ja ne!"
"See ya tomorrow!" Yuuki waved as she stormed out running after Soujiro. "Hey wait up!"
Akira elbowed Tsukasa in his side. "Tsukushi forgot one part of the orientation."
"Tsukasa quizzically raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"She didn't fill you in on the dynamics of our relationships. You have to know how things are between us to understand how we work. It'll keep you out of trouble in case you bring up a sore topic."
"That girl, Yuuki, has got some huge thing for Jiro. Too bad he would never look at her like that."
"Why?"
"It's very complicated. Jiro has a certain reputation as a ladies man. The longest relationship he ever had lasted a week. He changes women like he changes underwear. Yuuki seems to be a little sex kitten and all, but deep down it's all just talk. She's too much of a goody goody to go far with any man." He raised his hands up in despair. "I guess she sees him as her knight in shining armor. It's sort of sad how she's got that fixation on being the one to change him, Jiro was the one who brought her here, but as to her background I won't reveal that. It's up to each of us to tell you our background story. That's the rule here. We tell our story to who we want to. Thomas over there has a thing for Sakurako. They have some sort of weird friendship going on there. Sakurako asks him to do something and he does it. It doesn't matter what it is. He'll do it as long as she asks him to. I feel sorry for the poor gaijin. Rui hired him here to DJ and play the band. I personally recruited Sakurako, too."
"What about you? How did you end up here?"
"Ah, onto me. I'm one of the oldest here next to Jiro who was recruited right after me. I was one of the original hires under the first owner. I was once like you living a shitty life getting kicked out onto the street here and there. Originally Last Resort was only made up of the owner, Rui, Shizuka, and Tsukushi. They were here for the founding of this club. Rui and Shizuka hooked up a couple of years back. Sometimes I think it's a one sided relationship. Rui is head over heels in love with Shizuka, but she would rather focus on her career than Rui. Poor schmuck."
"What about Tsukushi? What's her deal? She doesn't seem to like Shizuka much. It almost seems as if she is jealous or something." Tsukasa prodded wanting to investigate her background some more."
Akira faltered for a moment. "Umm. I won't even go into that. There's a lot of shit behind them that none of us dare bring up. The most I can tell you is that Tsukushi's been running the place as owner for the last few years after our old owner left."
"She owns the place?" Tsukasa's jaw dropped wondering how that was possible. "How old can she be? 17?"
Akira chuckled to himself. "Tsukushi's 21 this year. She sort of I guess inherited the place after the old owner split."
"Is he the same guy who knocked her up with the kid and split?"
"That's not my place to talk about. If I were you I wouldn't pry too much into Tsukushi's past. She can be pretty scary.'
"I know I've already seen her in action. She almost killed me this morning."
"Aaahhh.the ex lax test."
"Ex lax test?! She does that to everyone?!"
"Yeah. We all went through it. It's a good sign. She usually does that with ones she plans on keeping around. It's sort of a. I dunno, a purification ritual to purge you. Those who stick around long enough after going through that hell prove that they can survive this."
"That bitch!" Tsukasa fumed.
"Shit! Look at the time. I've got to go and pick up my lady friend. Her husband's out of town on a business trip tonight."
"Yo, Akira! I need you to drop me off back at home to get ready for my date."
"I don't have time for that Sakurako. I need to pick up Celine!"
"Come on you man whore! If you leave now you can make it to meet your sugar momma."
"Later Tsukasa," Akira nodded as he ran out the door.
"Hey what about me?!"
"Go find a ride with someone else!"
Tsukasa stood alone glancing from his left and right seeing that no one was left except a very angry Sakurako. Kaya was alone, unattended by the bar. He thought about leaving, but after that incident he saw last night the club wasn't the safest place to be for a little girl. He hopped onto the stool beside her and looked down at her drawing.
"What do you have there?" he peered down to see what resembled a stick man with a pineapple head.
"You," she mumbled in deep concentration
Sakurako took the other seat beside Kaya and picked up the drawing. "Pretty good one kid! Looks just like him."
"Hey kid! Shouldn't you show a little more respect for your elders. You shouldn't go around calling us, adults by our first names."
Kaya responded with a confused look before returning to her drawing.
Sakurako pulled out a thin cigarette from a silver holder. She lit it up and took a long puff. "Don't bother. She calls all of us by our first names. Tsukushi is into that new age shit parenting where she treats her kid like an equal. If I ever did that when I was her age I would have had the shit beat out of me for being disrespectful. That new parenting thing is all bullshit. You gotta smack these kids around once in awhile to get them to fly straight."
"Sakurako, need a ride?"
"Sure darling," she sweetly replied laying on the niceness thickly for Thomas. "See you later, Tsukasa," she waved as she put out her cigarette.
Now man and child were left completely alone. Tsukasa stared up at the wall trying ot think of where he would stay the night. A hotel perhaps? With what money? She took all of it earlier. I guess it's back to the bench then.
He turned to the little girl wondering what had made such a sweet looking girl resort to violence on her classmate.
"What's that?" he asked pointing to a blob with a black and blue face.
"That's Akito."
"Wasn't he that kid you hit today?"
"Yes. It's his fault that Mama is mad at me," she grumbled.
"Why did you hit him anyway?"
"He told me Mama was a bad person. He wouldn't play with me because his mother wouldn't let him. He used to play with me before. I told him Mama wasn't a bad person, but he wouldn't listen. I said I wanted to grow up to be just like Mama, but he told me his mother said I should hope to god I don't end up like her."
"End up like what?"
"A whore."
"Hey, what are you doing here still?'
"Huh? What?" He snapped out of his worrying to see a weary Tsukushi approaching. "Go home already!"
"I don't have a home," he mumbled in return.
"You've got money. Go to a hotel then."
"What money? You took it all this morning."
"Well there is a shelter four blocks down the street."
"Thanks," he replied with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. He picked up his bag and began to trudge out the door.
"Hey wait a minute!" She looked down at the floor fighting some inner turmoil on whether or not to suggest what she was thinking. "I've got an extra bedroom. You could stay with us for now if you like until you get yourself back on your feet."
"Are you serious?' he asked in disbelief.
"It's not like I'm letting you stay for free. The rent will be $500 a month. Utilities and food are included. I'll take it out of your next paycheck."
"I don't think that's a good idea."
"You have nowhere else to stay. Fine, if you prefer the shelter then go ahead."
Should I go or not? What if she's some psycho looking to kill me and lock my rotting carcass in her closet for weeks until the neighbors complain of the smell and the cops find my dead body. Damn! What a dilemma. One: get raped by homeless men in shower at the shelter. Two: sleep with one eye open in fear of psycho bitch. I guess I know where I'll take my chances.
"I'll take the room."
"Fine. Let's go home then."
---------------------------------------------
Tsukushi emerged from a bedroom wearing a pale silk robe hat clung to her body. She silently crept over to Tsukasa's room to check up on him after he had moved all her clothing from the closets into her bedroom.
"How's it going in here?" she asked holding two cups of coffee.
Tsukasa stepped out from the walk in closet holding a hanger and shirt in hand. "Almost done." He thankfully took the cup of coffee offered to him and was about to sip it before he remembered the morning's incident opting not to drink it.
She gracefully sauntered over to the closet and eyed the tiny amount of space he had taken up with his clothes. It only made her pity the poor guy more.
What is it with me and this guy? First I can't stand his guts and am ready to toss him back on the street. Okay, so he saved me from that bastard last night. I owed him enough to give him a job for that. But offering him to live in my home?! What the hell was I thinking?! I hate to admit it, but some gut instinct is telling me that this guy is okay. If he saved me last night, he probably won't try anything with me. Rapists don't stop fellow rapists, I guess. He would have done the same thing for this guy. Look at me taking him just like he took me in all those years ago. God, do I miss him. He left his family, Kaya and me all alone. I hate that bastard for leaving us, but at the same time I can't stop loving him. Why else would I have kept all his stuff intact perfectly the way he left it. Maybe it's time I let go.
"Umm. Is that all the clothes you have?" she asked pointing to the scarce number of shirts and slacks hanging in the closet.
"Yeah."
"You might need better clothes for work. You look about the same size as him. You can use some of the clothes in the drawers and closet if you like."
What the hell is she suggesting? There's no way I would ever wear that guy's clothes. They probably reek with the stains of sex, women and booze. I don't want anything associated to her lover's things.
"No thank you. Why would you offer me the clothes of the man who left you with a kid to work in some sleazy nightclub prostituting yourself every night? I do have my pride."
Her lips tightened into two thin lines. She was just trying to be nice and he threw it back in her face.
Good one, Tsukasa. Offend your landlady's secret lover. I'm on a roll today. I bet she's going to kick me out now. Why did I even bother unpacking? Me and my stupid mouth.
Tsukushi sat picked up a photograph on the nightstand of her "happy family".
"Pride. I have pride. Why else would I work my ass off every night to support Kaya? I could care less what you think of me, but you have no idea what my life is like. My baby is fed, has a roof over her head, and has everything that she has ever needed. Don't make an ass out of yourself with your accusations. I'll see you tomorrow morning." She clutched her precious photograph to her chest and sullenly walked out the door.
"Why are you letting me stay?' he asked still confused as to her leniency on him.
"I don't judge people based on appearances," she curtly replied. "I'm used to people assuming things about me. I know who I am and I can hold my head up proudly knowing who I am."
"Aren't you afraid I'm some sorta of psycho who will kill you and your child in your sleep?"
"No. I have this." She pulled out a bottle of mace from under her sleeve. "Sweet dreams."
That night Tsukasa slept with the door locked.