Disclaimer: I don't own anything, so you've got nothing to take away.
Chapter 5: Salvation
"Papa! Come with me. I want to show you the drawing I did in school." Kaya clung to Rui for dear life while dragging him away form the other adults.
Rui stopped in front of the kitchen for a moment to stare at Akira. "Nice apron."
"Thanks," Akira grumbled as he feasted on whatever remains of breakfast that was foolishly left behind.
Tsukushi slowly closed the front door and leaned her back against it bracing herself to remain calm. She shut her eyes and took a few deep breaths before finding the courage to open them again. Her ears rang with the sounds of Kaya's laughter drifting from the bedroom.
Tsukasa knew he should have walked away, but for some odd reason his feet seemed to have rooted themselves to the ground. He watched as her eyes fluttered open. She nervously bit her bottom lip.
"He's her father?"
"Looks like you're little story about me isn't coming true. I'm so sorry to disappoint you. For future reference Rui picks up Kaya every Tuesday to spend the entire day with her, so don't be surprised if he's here." She brushed past him knocking into his shoulders sending him flailing backwards.
Their brief confrontation ended like that. Tsukasa's mind swam with questions as to how Rui could be the little girl's father. Then who was that man in all the pictures? Not once had he seen any indication of Rui having the remotest connection to them. It was all starting to slowly dawn on him. It was in front of him the entire time, and he just didn't see it. It was her eyes. They had that exact same iciness that could cut through steel. That unnerving feeling he got when Kaya stared at him was an inheritance from her father. It was all in the eyes.
She was right. I did make an ass out of myself by assuming things, but then who the hell is that guy? Why does she have Shinimori's watch? Could it be that she tried to pass that kid as his and left her for her deceit? From the way she talked about pride, I don't think that's a possible scenario. There's much more to this.
His brain was beginning to overload with thoughts making him suddenly lightheaded. He stumbled back into the living room plopping onto the couch to lie down. All he needed now was some peace and quiet to clear his head.
Tsukushi walked out of her bedroom clutching a large packet under her arm. "Kaya, Mama's leaving now.
Kaya burst out of her room almost stumbling over her own legs. Moments before she fell completely face first onto the ground, her mother grabbed her by the arms saving her from a messy fall. She picked her up and placed her firmly back onto the ground before getting on her knees to give her a hug.
"I love you!"
" I love you, too. Remember to be a good girl for Papa. I don't want to hear a single word about you giving him a hard time, okay. I'll be back in time to tuck you in before bed." She turned her attention towards Rui who stood aback. She pulled herself off the ground with a little bit of trouble since Kaya still clung to her neck like a monkey. "Remember to have her back here by 9, okay? Having her request answered with a nod of his head, she gave one last bear hug to the little monkey girl before Rui took the girl from her mother's arms. Tsuksuhi gave one last wave and headed out the door. "Remember you have your first lesson at three today, Tsukasa! And Akira, don't forget to mail out the checks today. We don't want to have another blackout incident," she yelled over her shoulder.
Kaya quickly got over her disappointment at losing parent and opted for the other. "Where are we going to go today?" she eagerly inquired tugging at Rui's arm.
Rui's usually cold deadpan face was instantly changed the moment he laid on his little girl. He was more relaxed and even lighthearted. It was as if the burden on his shoulders was suddenly lifted and there was some reason to live in this world. It wasn't the same passion he showed when Shizuka was around. That side of him was yearning to be loved never really certain if his feelings were ever apparent enough. Kaya incited something deep inside of him he never thought he would feel for another person. He truly cared for her unconditionally, and there was absolutely no doubt that she didn't see him as nothing less than the center of her world.
He swung her up into the air earning squeals of laughter from the little girl. "Well, I've got to get you to school now, but later how about we go to the park this week?"
"Can we go on the merry-go-round?"
"Anything you want." He picked up her book bag form the ground in the hall and took her hand. "Come on, let's get you to school."
"Okay, Papa!" she replied looking at him with only adoration in her eyes.
The door slammed quietly behind them. Then there were two.
Akira slunk out of one of the bedrooms now fully dressed. He patted his stomach in satisfaction. This was soon followed by a low groan as the after effects of his gluttony kicked in. "That kid looks up at him as if her were a fucking god," he sighed. "I still amazes me that they can remain civil after all they've gone through. We were so young and stupid back then thinking nothing could ever touch us. Tsukushi grew up a lot faster than most of us having to learn to raise a kid on her own while owning a club. I can still remember the look on his face when he found out she was pregnant. He wanted to kill Rui."
"Who wanted to kill Rui?" Tsukasa nonchalantly asked masking his intense interest in the tidbit of information given out to him.
Akira's usual carefree disposition erased from his face, but he quickly put on his happy go lucky face in an attempt to cover up his faux pas. "I've said too much already." He scratched the back of his head, a nervous habit, and changed topics. "Don't listen to me. I sometimes let my mouth go off without thinking. You won't tell Tsukushi, will you?"
There was really nothing to tell her. "Fine."
"Well I should get going. Aaahh, the curse of being upper management is a heavy burden I carry. I gotta get down to the club and take care of a couple of things. I'll see you later." He hurriedly picked ran out the door. However, he briefly paused at the doorway. "Tsukushi's an enigma, isn't she? Take my advice. Her life is like pandora's box. Don't go looking into things that aren't you business."
Whew. That was close. I should really learn to keep my moth shut. Tuskushi would have killed me if I leaked out some vital information about her life. Then again, it's not like any of us who have known her for so long know the truth of what happened between them. All we have is bits and pieces of the story.
He waved a goodbye to the doorman before stepping out of the large glass doors to be greeted by the calm morning breeze. He raised his hand over his eyes to block out the blinding light of the sun.
Something tell me the shit's gonna hit the fan soon.
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Tsukushi jolted awake once again while she sat on the bus streaking past the busy streets of Tokyo. Her head bobbed up and down before finally repositioning itself to look straight ahead. She shot out a small apologetic smile at the gentleman sitting beside her whose shoulder she had accidentally leaned against in her short slumber. The man just politely nodded and returned to reading his newspaper. She glanced down at her watch sigh in relief that he still had a good twenty minutes before she was due to be there. She peered over the people standing in front of her attempting to regain her orientation of the area she was now in. Something was definitely not right.
"Shit! Stop the bus!" She tugged on the cord signaling the bus to stop. The bus jolted to a stop, and she practically climbed over people to get out. She jumped out onto the curb and turned to her left and right before choosing the right. Not wasting any time, she bolted down the street racing against time while muttering a few obscenities that surprised fellow pedestrians.
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Akira strolled down the empty alleyway towards the back door of the club after dropping his car off at the shop. At this time of day, the neighborhood was pretty much dead. Oddly enough, the club was not to be found in an upscale part of town, but rather the seedier part of it all. For one of the city's most popular nightspots, you would expect the décor of club's outer surroundings to be more aesthetically pleasing, but that wasn't the image of Last Resort. You could say it was a diamond in the rough.
How many times have I walked down this alleyway? Hundreds? Thousands? No matter how many times I make the trip down here I can't seem to forget that first time I came here. I was young, stupid, and an arrogant bastard. I thought that if the world turned its back on me, I would fucking show them all who I was. I was too blinded to see myself falling.
With a load groan from the door, it was pushed open to reveal a darkened path ahead. He stepped inside and pulled the door closed enveloping himself in the darkness. Grasping the wall, he instinctively found the light control and turned on each light one at a time With a heavy sigh, he took a quick scan around the barren building before heading to the solitude of the back office. He threw himself into the soft, leather executive chair and pulled open the bottom drawer pulling out a bundle of envelopes. He splayed them out in front of him and pulled out the checks inside making sure the correct amounts were put in along with signature. It was pretty mindless administrative work he was forced to endure. Tsukushi always took care of everything; therefore, everything was always done with the utmost precision and care. There was never one mistake in anything she did. It was questionable as to why Tsukushi even chose him to be manager of the club knowing that she could fully handle the burden alone and that his appointment would make him merely a figurehead of management.
Why me? Any of the others would have been a better choice than me. Yuuki would have been an obvious choice. Tsukushi trusts her more than any of us. Jiro would have been even better. Out of everyone she chose me. I know the others don't really care about my promotion seeing as how I pretty much do the same things I was responsible for before, but now she's always pushing me to do more, to be more. I just don't understand.
He leaned back in his chair and stared up at the club's motto nailed up to the door. "Last Resort, home for fallen angels". It was a well-known fact amongst the workers that Last Resort really was what it was. It was the last place left in the world where no one looked down at them for the crimes against society they had committed. It was place where they weren't considered freaks, delinquents or just plain outcasts. Akira carefully studied the words on the wall and smiled to himself. He picked up the envelopes and tucked them under his arm before heading out the door to the post office.
He would have laughed knowing that she made me manager.
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Tsukasa stalked down the narrow alleyway towards the back door of the club. He still had a few minutes to kill before his first training lesson. With a full stomach and a clear head, he made his way into the club where the sounds of chairs scratching against the floor and bottles being clinked greeted him.
Junpei and his crew were busy rearranging chairs and tables when he arrived. The floor had been cleared for what looked like a good mopping and buffing. Sakurako sat on the stage stretching her hands to her toes warming up for what appeared to be practice. Thomas, Kin, and Tsuyoshi fiddled with their instruments making sound checks on the speaker system. Finally, Soujiro stood behind the bar wiping down glasses and carefully stacking them up behind the counter.
"Tsukusa, over here!"
He turned his head in the direction of Soujiro waving him over. Obediently he wandered towards the bar and hopped onto one of the stools. "So, what am I supposed to be doing today?" he inquired.
Soujiro ducked underneath the counter and proceeded to pull out an old dusty book and a few random bottles containing various colored liquids. He neatly lined them up in a row. "Welcome to Soujiro's school of mixology. Today you will have your very first introduction to my very good friends. Meet gin, vodka, rum, and whiskey."
Tsukasa grinned to himself thinking this was going to be a piece of cake. All those years of attending those required business functions had made him quite the connoisseur of liquor. His favorite was always gin and tonic.
How hard could it be to make them? I've tried almost every drink known to man.
He climbed over the counter to the back and began picking up bottles inspecting the labels. "This is going to be fun."
Soujiro picked up one bottle in each hand twirling them with a flick of his wrist. He skillfully flipped them over sending two streams flowing into some shakers. Without even looking, he grabbed some other bottles from the wall and started pouring splashes of this and that into different shakers before capping it and flipping one over his back catching it from behind. He grabbed a second shaker and began juggling the two in the air with great dexterity. Finally he caught the two mid air, gave one last hearty shake, and uncapped the tops with a flick of his thumb pouring the contents into four glasses. "Before this is over, I'll have you doing this like you've been doing it all your life."
Tsukasa looked up at him like he was Dionysus himself. He was truly a master of libations. He jokingly bowed low before his master awestruck at the opportunity to be taught by such a man. "Teach me, Yoda."
"That will I do," he grinned.
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Tsukushi wearily dragged her feet across the floor into the club. It had been one of those days where everything seemed to be against you. First, she had missed her stop on the bus that morning. Next, she barely made it to the room in time to hand in her work. Then, she had to deal with that annoying guy that always seemed to follow her around like a lost puppy. Being in a place that was a tad out of her element, she was forced to politely put on her mask and act like a proper member of society, not the tempestuous bitch everyone else knew her to be. It was just one of those days.
God, it took me longer than I expected to get rid of that guy. What the hell is his problem? All I did was point out a mistake on one of his papers and he seemed to see that as an invitation to latch himself onto me for dear life. I'm a little too nice for my own good, I think. I can tell he has a crush on me. He really is a nice guy sometimes when he's not getting on my nerves. He's a sweet person from a nice family. In another place and time I might have gone for him.
The sound of glass shattering onto the floor awakened her from her daze. "What the hell is that?!" She ran towards the bar to see Soujiro on his hands and knees picking up shards of broken glass.
The mere sight of half filled glasses scattered across the counter, half empty bottles, and a basket full of broken glass was enough to explain what had been going on. "How many?"
"10," Soujiro sighed as he dumped the broken glass into the trash bin.
"Not bad. It's better than Sakurako's record 30," she laughed.
"Why don't you dump out all this broken glass into the bin outside?"
"I'll go do that," Tsukasa eagerly agreed. At all means possible he wanted to stay as far away from that psychotic woman as possible.
Tsukushi turned her attention back to Soujiro. "So how's he really doing?"
"Better than I expected. He's got an amazing skill for tasting. His mixing is a little sloppy and his hand eye coordination is going to need a ton of work. All in all, he should do just fine within a couple of weeks. I say we just stick him with filling orders from the tap."
"Mhmm."
"Bad day, huh?" He poured her a soda from the tap and placed tit on the counter plopping a cherry into the glass.
She absentmindedly twirled the straw between her fingers. A heavy sigh fell from her lips. "More like bad life. Sometimes I just get so damn frustrated with it all. There's that guilt that always seems to loom over my head that by doing this I'm being selfish."
"You know you love every single moment being there. You were always meant for better things than the rest of us."
"But what about Akira? Looking at the way he's handling things, I don't think he'll ever be ready. Sometimes I think he just slacks off on purpose hoping I'll change my mind."
"Akira will always be Akira. HE might not act like he cares about it, but he does. You can't expect him to do things exactly the same way you do. He'll get it together in his own way."
"Sometimes I think should have left it to you."
"Me?" he incredulously gasped feigning shock. "I've never been cut out for upper management."
She stifled a giggle. "I could just imagine all the sexual harassment suits. It's enough to have most of our female patrons throwing themselves all over you distracting you from work."
Soujiro slapped her with the towel draped over his shoulder. "You're right," he smirked. He leaned over the counter a few inches from her face feeling satisfied from the blush slowly creeping up over her cheeks. "I've seen you stealing glances at me while I work."
In turn, she leaned closer to him letting her warm breath tickle against his lips. She slowly licked her lips. The dullness in her eyes was replaced with a glint of mischief tempting him to get lost in them. Her eyelashes fluttered against his cheek as she ever so softy whispered into his ear, "Ya know what? Not every girl is dying for you to fuck them." She grabbed the towel from him and threw it into his face sending him stumbling backwards.
Soujiro peeled the damp towel from his face and burst out in laughter soon followed by Tsukushi. "Touche."
Tuskasa unconsciously entered in the middle of their insane laughter, which immediately halted the second his presence was recognized. "Did I miss something?"
"Not at all. Jiro was just trying to show off another one of his skilled arts."
"Skilled arts?"
"The art of seduction. Pay attention and you'll have women throwing themselves at you," she chuckled. She downed the rest of the cold soda down her throat and threw her head back in relief.
"Hey! Who's getting dinner? I'm starving here!" Sakurako bellowed as she hopped off the platform of the stage.
With impeccable timing, Akira stumbled in carrying two bags of takeout from the Chinese restaurant around the corner. "Who's hungry?!"
"God! I fucking love you right now Akira!" Sakurako lunged at Akira like a wild animal snatching the bags away from his hands and pouring out all the contents onto a large table.
"You're lucky I remembered it was time for your six o'clock feeding."
The smell of egg rolls, pot stickers, lo mein, and other MSG laced goodies lured everyone away from their duties to settle down for a family dinner. Soujiro gave a reassuring pat on Tsukushi's shoulder before taking a seat next to Tsukasa and the others, who had already begun eating.
She spun around on her stool and hopped off to join in the revelry not being able to fight the protests of her empty stomach. "Hey, save me some!"
"I can only hold her back for so long," Akira laughed as he picked up a take out container and dangled it over Sakurako's head.
"Quit hogging the fried rice!" she protested while swatting at him trying to make him drop it.
"I don't understand why we all split the bill evenly. I really think that Sakurako should pay more since she eats most of everything," Junpei nodded.
"I agree. I almost get my hand eaten off whenever I try to reach for something," Thomas whispered back.
"Hey, whose side are you on!" Sakurako pouted folding her arms over her chest.
"You know I love you, dear. However, I know better than to get in between you and your food." Thomas draped an arm over her shoulder trying to pacify her anger. "How about I take you out for ice cream tomorrow?"
"Fine. I forgive you then,' she reluctantly replied before beginning to inhale more food.
"Are you guys coming?"
"Yeah," Junpei, Thomas, Kin, and Tsuyoshi replied getting up out of their seats.
"Where are you guys going?"
"Thomas found some new bad playing at Inferno. We thought we would go check out the competition."
"Don't forget about…"
Thomas waved a hand in the air. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ice cream tomorrow." He continued walking out the door muttering to himself, "The only time she ever pays any attention to me is when I mention food."
"Who told you to fall for that bottomless pit?" Junpei laughed patting his disheartened friend.
Tsukushi picked up a pair of chopsticks and a take out box to slump down into a chair away from the ravenous bunch. Lazily she picked up a single noodle up to her lips before slurping it up.
Akira leaned back in his chair feeling fully satisfied to have his stomach filled. "So how was class, Tsukushi?"
"The same as always. I almost didn't make it in time to hand in my paper. I've really gotta stop pulling those all nighters. Those thirty pages almost killed me."
"I don't understand why you waste your time on continuing school. High school was hell. I mean, we had to go there, but college? You're insane for wanting to take classes. I would prefer to spend my money buying a cute dress than on books." Sakurako heavily sighed as she gulped down the rest of her water.
"Unlike some of us, Tsukushi actually did well in school," Soujiro interjected. "If it weren't for her, you wouldn't even have your high school diploma. Who else would take the time to make your lazy ass get up in the morning for school, correct your homework, and help you study?"
"Well you weren't exactly Mr. Intellectual yourself," she huffily grunted. "You were two years ahead of Tsukushi and needed her help to graduate."
"To be young again. I kind of miss the days of high school. I remember all those afternoons spent with Mrs. Urisaka. Hana will always have a special place in my heart," Akira grinned.
"You didn't!" Tsukushi's eyes widened at the thought of her 40-something math teacher in the throes of passion with an eighteen year old Akira.
"Why do you think I always got A's in math?"
"Oh god, she was old enough to be your mother."
"Well, I was a naughty boy."
Tsukushi covered her ears in horror. "I don't want to hear anymore."
"Hmm… Mrs. Murakami, was also a favorite of mine."
"Not the librarian, too!"
"I can't pick up a book without feeling aroused."
Soujiro gladly obliged by placing hand over Akira's mouth muffling the last few words that came out of his mouth. "I always preferred the sight of young girls wearing short skirts. Whoever designed those uniforms was a genius."
Sakurako "You guys always had it lucky. I hated those cold winter mornings when the breeze would go under your skirt. I nearly froze my ass off every morning walking to school."
"Maybe you wouldn't have if you wore panties underneath." Tsukushi tossed her empty carton onto the table and began cleaning up the debris.
Akira pushed Soujiro's hand away and blurted out, "So what was high school like for you, Tsukasa?"
Instantly everyone turned their attention towards him expecting to get some insight on their newest recruit. All eyes were now on him. The first thought hat hit him was to direct the attention away from him.
"I didn't love or hate high school. School is school. I wasn't a genius, and I wasn't a complete moron. I did ok, I guess. So, you all went to high school together?"
"Yeah. It was Jiro, Sakurako, Yuuki, Tsukushi, Rui, and me in Queen's. It was the closest public school for all of us to go. The others were already out of school a long time ago when we all came together."
Sakurako stood up and waved to the man standing in the doorway. She grabbed her coat from behind her chair flipping it over her shoulder. "It was nice reminiscing and all, but I've got a date waiting. Later." She dashed out of the club looping her arm through her date's as he escorted them out.
Akira tossed the rest of the garbage into the trash bin. He propped his foot up on Sakurako's empty chair and leaned back lazily. "So what are we doing tonight?"
"We could go to Inferno to catch up with the others?" Soujiro suggested.
"Naw, there aren't enough hot girls there. Why don't we go to Exit?"
"Sounds good to me. You wanna come along Tsukasa? It'll be fun. There's good music, drinks, and did I forget to mention hot girls."
Not feeling the least bit tired, Tsukasa nodded his head in assent. "Sure."
"I don't know about you, but I'm going home to pass out. I need some sleep." Tsukushi forced herself out of the comfortable chair and pulled out a set of keys from her pocket. "Time to lock up the place. I don't know where you're all going, but you've got to get the hell out of here."
"Come on, Tsukushi. It's been so long since you came out to play with us." Akira tugged on Tsukushi's weary arm while she tried to swat him away like a pesky fly.
"Get off of me. You've got Jiro and Tsukasa to keep you company tonight."
"But it's not the same without you," he whined. "You know what they say, 'All work and no play'."
"If you don't let go of me right now, I swear to god I'll bitch slap you into next year," she growled.
"Mama!"
Tsukushi's sour disposition quickly faded at the sound of her daughter's voice. She spun around to gather up the little girl in her arms. "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to see you, and Papa said we could come to pick you up."
Rui followed from behind and put a hand on Kaya's head. "She refused to go home until we came her to pick you up. I figured you would need a lift anyway since your car is in the shop."
"Thanks," she muttered.
"Hey Rui! Why don't you come to Exit with us. It's been awhile since we all hung out together." Akira popped his head up from the small huddle he was in with Soujiro.
"I don't think so. Shizuka's waiting for me."
"You are so whipped, man. Come on. It's been awhile since we've had a boy's night."
"Maybe you should go along. I don't want to wake up to another naked Akira like this morning, Please, just go with them," Tsukushi pleaded. .
Rui was always weak when it came to Tsukushi. For once there weren't daggers in her voice. It was probably all due to the fact that she was dead tired, but that was besides the point.
"Fine."
"Then it's settled. Just drop Kaya and me off at home, and then you can catch up with the guys. "
Rui winced at the thought of passing up finishing what he had started with Shizuka that morning, but then again he knew better than to try to defy Tsukushi's wishes. Shizuka was right. He was whipped, but not only by her alone.
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Akira wove through the crowds holding onto his beer swaying his body to the beat of the music. The club was pretty crowded considering it was a weekday, but it was summer. Those hot sultry nights were always better spent in the comfort of company, which everyone sought out that night. The music was thumping. Drinks were being poured left and right. There were women as far as the eyes could see. What else could make this night more perfect?
He plopped himself into the booth they had managed to dominate. Wherever the three went they were always given the best treatment. Before it was just the three of them, but with the added addition of Tsukasa they were now invincible to women. Drinks were coming from admirers at the bar, which Akira gratefully accepted. It was to his delight that he would flirtatiously play with his admirers picking up the drink they sent and ever so softly slipping his tongue out to taste the sweet liquor splashing against his lips. He loved to see them get hot for him. Rui sulked to his right staring blankly at nothing. Every once in awhile some brave or very insipid woman would make her way towards him to be brutally rebuffed by his cold demeanor. Tsukasa leaned back in his seat absorbing all the people around him. While he seemed to be comfortable in such an atmosphere he surely didn't show it by the way he tended to scare any waiter or waitress who approached shitless. He acted as if he owned the club or something barking orders about how god-awful the drink he was served was. In a way, women were drawn to his command of power. Akira raised his glass and an eyebrow towards Soujiro who was now grinding between two very young, endowed women on the dance floor.
I see Jiro will be getting laid tonight. He must have broken it off with Double D's this morning. From the looks of what he's got going I can see a ménage trois in his near future.
"Hey, handsome. Wanna dance?" a raspy voice whispered into Tsukasa's ear.
He turned around expecting to see a sultry woman beside him, but jumped back in horror. Beside him stood a six foot Amazon with something that definitely shouldn't have been protruding from underneath her sequined blue dress. His eyes bulged out in disbelief. "Get the hell away from me, you freak!"
Akira stifled a laugh as a rather angry drag queen stormed off. "Why so angry? All he wanted was a little dance?"
"Shut the fuck up!"
"My, my, my," Akira feigned dismay. "That temper of yours will not get you laid tonight."
"I don't see you taking up any offers, either."
"Patience comes to those who wait, my boy. The young ones aren't my thing. They're too inexperienced and vulgar for my tastes. I prefer a woman with a little culture and sophistication."
"You mean old."
"Mature is a better word for it."
Tsukasa did have something about him that just screamed homosexual. Maybe it was the fact that he repelled any woman that made the slightest advance on him like they had the plague? He had to be. Who would pass a woman looking for a good fuck? That's what we do. We fuck them senseless and toss them aside. It's the playboy's code. Wait what have we got here?
From across the room, his gaze focused on one exceptionally beautiful woman leaning throwing quick glances in his direction. She folded and unfolded her legs revealed that she had definitely opted to go without panties tonight. Her lips formed into a small pout as she raised her cigarette to her mouth sucking on it before expelling a stream of smoke from the side of her mouth. The way her bosom spilled out of her overly tight top beckoned him forth drawing him like am moth to a flame. As he stalked towards her with smooth panther like movements, he watched her back arch in anticipation.
She's mine.
"How much?" a slightly drunken voice slurred from a nearby table.
"$150 an hour."
Akira stopped in mid stride. There was something familiar about that voice. He shuddered to think that it might be who he thought it was thinking twice before turning around. The goofy smile on his face quickly faded. All color drained from his face.
Not now. Not here. Of all the fucking places don't tell me she came here.
"Are you serious? I usually pay $100. What do you do? Shove a broom up your ass or something?"
"Listen, asshole. Either you pay me for the night or I'll go find another client. Dominic only sends the best girls on these special calls. I don't have the time to fuck around with you. So, are you gonna pay up or not?!" The girl leapt up from the man's lap and straightened out her short crumpled skirt. Her face contorted from a friendly inviting expression to one filled with rage and frustration. From her height and stature she couldn't have been more than 19.
"I'll pay then."
"The girl spun around to match the voice to the face propositioning her for her services. "Akira," she snorted with a slight tone of derision in her voice.
"It's been awhile, Reiko." Akira steeped up ignoring the seething customer aggravated by the prospect of losing his woman to another man. "$150 and hour, is it? Here's $1500. That's 10 hours. Go home." He tossed a thick wad of cash onto the table.
She pocketed the money into the front of her shirt and flipped her long auburn tresses over her shoulder laughing. "You always want to be the hero, don't you? The fucking almighty Akira comes to the rescue again. You think you're better than me or something? I remember a time when you used to turned tricks yourself."
Akira was starting to reach his breaking point. It was always her that did this to him. It would always be her. "That was a long time ago. I always worked solo. It was always my terms and my rules. Dominic is going to get you killed one of these days. He doesn't give a shit whether you live or die! I'm offering you a way out. Take it."
"Don't give me that load of crap. You can't do shit. What do you want from me? To save me? The same way you fucking saved Aya?" her voice rose a few decibels. Her anger was rising with each syllable uttered from her mouth as she pushed him away knocking his body against a table spilling the drinks on them.
He balanced himself and shoved his face into hers trying to veil his fury. "That wasn't my fault."
"Liar. You killed her."
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From a distance, Tsukasa peered through the crowds to see Akira engaged in heavy conversation with a young girl. He stood up to take a better look. His jaw dropped open the moment he saw the cash hit the table. He turned to Rui and Soujiro wondering if his companions had noticed this too, but they were too absorbed in their own things. Rui had closed his eyes a long time ago appearing as if he had slipped into a coma. Soujiro was obviously preoccupied by the two beauties by his side.
"I thought Akira didn't go for young girls."
Soujiro momentarily tore his attention away from his prey glancing up in Akira's direction. He jumped out of his seat and shook Rui out of his stupor. "Fuck! We've got a problem, Rui."
Rui aroused from his peaceful meditation. The perturbed look on his face was enough to convey what he was thinking at that moment. "I don't want to fucking get laid by one of your whores. Leave me the hell alone."
"Reiko."
At the mention of that name Rui stood upright and scanned the room for Akira. "Shit! She's here? We gotta get in there before it turns ugly."
Not wasting another moment observing the situation, Rui and Soujiro pushed their way through the crowds with a befuddled Tsukasa trailing behind. They came to a halt upon seeing Akira being shoved back against a table
"Wait!" Soujiro commanded extending an arm out to stop them. "We shouldn't get involved unless we need to. He needs to take care of his own shit."
Rui silently nodded his head in agreement. His eyes shifted back and forth from Akira to the girl carefully observing their every movement.
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"Don't have anything to say now, huh?"
"It wasn't like that. I never meant for Aya to get hurt."
"I don't need to hear your sorry ass explanation for what happened because we both know you're a fucking murderer. Now get the hell away from me so I can get back to work." She spun around and sat down on the lap of her original customer wrapping her arms around his neck. Playfully her mouth nibbled at his ear whispering dirty little details of what she would do to him that night.
The man gratefully accepted her advances smirking in victory at winning the girl in the end. He slipped a hand underneath her shirt fondling her breasts in full public view mocking his rival. "Get lost. This bitch is already taken," he snidely commented towards Akira.
"I'm taking you home, Reiko." Akira made a grab for her arm yanking her out of her one night stand's grasp.
She jerked away from his touch. "Fuck you."
By this time the man who had quietly stood on by the side was at the point where enough was enough. "Enough! I think you need to be taught the consequences of taking another man's property. I paid for a good time and that's what I'm going to get." He placed his arm around Reiko pulling her away from Akira, but Akira wouldn't let them go without a fight.
"Get your fucking hands off of her!" Akira lunged at him pushing the man to the ground pummeling him with his fists. Blow after blow the man groaned in pain, but nothing would make Akira stop. His face twisted in pure rage taking satisfaction in each grunt and moan coming out of his opponent's mouth. His eyes turned wild searching for blood. His knuckles cracked under each blow making blood drip from his hands. With his body hovering over the bloody mass he was pummeling, he resembled more of an animal tearing away at a fresh kill than the happy go lucky man he was known for.
Soujiro and Rui had seen enough to know that if they didn't step in sooner Akira would end up killing the man. Rui grabbed Akira from behind trying to drag him away, but was pulled down to the ground taking a few hits himself. Soujiro tried to intervene in the chaos of flailing limbs, but was brought down. If it weren't for Tsukasa's brute strength no one would have been able to contain Akira. Matters only turned worse when the man's buddies decided to join in the scuffle resulting in a complete riot. Everything just seemed to blend into one incredible mess as punches were being thrown left and right. The echoes of screaming women, grunting men, and breaking glass resounded the hall.
Tsukasa firmly held his grip around Akira pulling him away from the man he had brutally beaten. "Akira? Akira! Snap out of it!"
"Let me go! I'm going to fucking kill him if he lays a finger on her!"
Soujiro jumped to Akira's side helping Tsukasa's burden of holding him back alone. He lowered his voice trying to calm Akira out of his lapse of sanity. "He's not worth it, man. Let's go."
The sound of police sirens could be heard from the doorway.
"Shit the cops are coming!" Rui yelled as he sent a punch into an attacker's gut forcing the poor man to keel over in pain.
Akira fought to free himself from his friends' hold. "Let me go!"
"Come on, Akira. We gotta get out of here!"
It was too late. Akira slipped free breaking into a full sprint into the crowd. He pushed through the crowds of clubbers trying to flee the scene fighting against the current of people streaming in his direction "Reiko!" He managed to grab onto her shoulder pulling him towards her.
"Why couldn't you just let me be?" her voice softly whispered. All the hate in her voice subsided into a pitiful plea. Amidst the screams and ruckus around them, her quiet plea met his ears. Their faces were illuminated by the flashing of the strobe light above sending rays of vibrant colors across their faces in the dark confusion
"I can save you."
Her eyes hardened at the sound of his promise. Once again her walls were put back up. "Not everyone wants to be saved." The last word slipped from her lips as quickly as she vanished into the throng escaping from the authorities.
Akira frantically searched for the slightest glimpse of where she had gone, but turned up with nothing. Snapping back into reality, he bolted out the door leaving Rui, Tsukasa, and Soujiro to fend for themselves.
"Akira!"
"Leave him be! He'll get out on his own. I can see the cops coming!" Tsukasa screamed pulling Soujiro out of the club. "Run!"
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Rui, Soujiro, and Tsukasa stumbled towards the door leaving a stench of blood, sweat, and beer behind. They leaned against the walls gasping for air waiting for the door to open. From the other side they could hear the shuffling of feet followed by a slur of curses. The door swung open revealing a very irate Tsukushi. The moment she caught a glimpse of the messes in front of her, her arms dropped to her side.
"What the fuck happened to you?!" she sternly whispered pulling all three of them into the apartment. She turned around to check to hall making sure trouble had not followed them to their safe haven.
Tsukasa fell onto the couch with a groan. His hand cupped the side of his face where a large gash from where a bottle had slammed into his forehead spurted out another wave of blood. His knuckles dropped blood onto the hardwood floors in a trail from the door.
Rui limped over to a chair slowly lowering himself onto the soft cushion. He winced the second his rear made contact. He licked his lip, which had been split open tasting his own blood.
Soujiro, who was probably the sorriest of the bunch fell beside Tsukasa letting his head roll back onto the back of the couch, His left eye had suffered a heavy blow slowly forming into what would become a black eye. He struggled to try to open his eye, but failed realizing that it had swollen shut.
The blanket Tsukushi had draped over herself fell to the floor as she ran around in search of first aid supplies. "Shit!" she muttered to herself dropping the first aid kit to the ground next to Tsukasa. While running back and forth she barely slipped on Tsukasa's blood leaving her own bloody footsteps across the floor. She rolled him over placing a towel over his cut trying to staunch the bleeding. "Apply pressure to this until the bleeding stops," she barked. She grabbed the bowl of ice throwing a few cubes into a clean cloth and bundling it up. "Rui, use this on your lips. It'll stop the swelling." She pulled herself onto her knees and sat down beside Soujiro lifting a finger to gently poke at his eye.
"Stop it! It hurts like a mother fucker!"
Tsukushi ignored his protests and placed the last of the ice into another towel. Purposely she plopped the bundle down onto his eye. "It should." She sat with her hands in her lap smoothing out the wrinkles in her nightgown. "Who's going to tell me what happened?"
The three men glanced from one to the other not wanting to be the one to take the heat. Silence ensued.
Seeing as how she wasn't going to be getting any answered anytime soon she turned to Soujiro. "Jiro, you tell me what happened."
He shifted in his seat trying to clear the lump n his throat. He slowly took a few slow breaths before he began to speak. "One word. Reiko."
"Reiko?" Tsukushi gasped in shock. "God! I thought she wouldn't dare show her face around here after what happened."
"She was working when Akira found her. You know how she affects him. Like always one thing led to another and somehow we ended up starting a riot."
"Fuck," she sighed rubbing her temples trying to focus on the situation at hand. "Where is he?"
"We don't know. The cops came and he made a run for her. We barely got out before the cops started busting up the place.'
Tsukushi stood up and walked out of the room not wanting to hear anymore. She strode across the room and disappeared into her bedroom reappearing moments later fully dressed. She pulled her air back into a ponytail heading straight for the door. "Rui, lend me your car?"
"Where are you going?" he pulled his keys form is pocket and tossed them to her.
"She caught them in mid air and spun around opening the door. "Make sure Kaya doesn't wake up. I'm going to find that idiot."
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I never meant for things to have happened the way they did. Do I really have a hero complex? Fuck. Look at me. I can barely take care of myself. Whatever possessed me to think I could take care of her? She came to me thinking I could help her get out of it, and I stupidly believed I could do it. I shouldn't have left her alone. I should have kept an eye out for her. In the end, all the help I intended on giving her lead to her own death.
"I'm an idiot," Akira whispered to himself. He took another swig of his now warm beer as he looked down at the flashing of traffic racing underneath him. His legs dangled over the edge of bridge extending over the heavily trafficked highway. His clouded mind eased a little at the blur of lights flying underneath him.
Tsukushi ran breathless stopping when she finally caught sight of him. She knew he would be there. He always came here for some weird reason. Slowly she crept up from behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Not thinking about jumping are we?" she laughed. She pulled herself up onto the railing and took a seat beside her forlorn friend. Her nose crinkled at the stench of beer coming from him with each heavy breath he took.
"You wanna come? I heard Hell is a nice place to be this time of year," he smiled turning to her.
"I would prefer Aruba, but whatever floats your boat." She turned her attention at the cars racing underneath them thinking about the speed they were going and the height at which they were seated. One false move and there would be one unsightly mess to clean up. She jolted out of her thoughts grabbing the beer from Akira's hand before it could touch his lips. She pulled it to her own mouth pouring the rest down her throat. "I heard you bumped into Reiko."
"Yeah."
"Yeah? Is that all you've got to say for yourself?"
His temper started to flare up again. "What do you want me to say?! You want to hear about how I paid her $1500 hoping she would take the money and go home? Or do you want to hear about how I caught her prostituting herself to some guy?! I put myself on the line offering her a way out and she threw it back in my face! Then she accuses me of killing Aya! Are you happy now?! Are you fucking happy now?!" He crumpled over rolling back onto the solid ground letting his back slide down against the stone wall sobbing.
Tsukushi carefully flipped herself back onto the safe side of the railing and sat down beside him. "You still feel guilty about Aya's death don't you?"
"I killed her," he barely whispered in between choked sobs.
"You really are a dumb ass." She rested her head against his shoulder and rubbed his back trying to sooth away the choked sobs. "It wasn't your fault what happened to Aya. You didn't know her pimp would come after her and you obviously didn't know she would ho out to meet him one last time. She chose to walk out that door. She agreed to meet him one last time without telling you."
"I could have stopped it if I kept an eye on her. I could have saved her."
"You can't save them all."
Akira slowly opened his eyes and wrapped his arms around Tsukushi in search of some comfort to his grief. All he could feel was anger, hurt, and pity. "I shouldn't be around people. I just end up hurting you all in the end. I'm a fucking coward."
At this point Tsukushi's patience was wearing thin at his pity and self-loathing. She pulled him away form her and slammed his back against the concrete wall. "You are a fucking coward! You'll obviously never be able to accept the reality of this all. Reiko is a big girl and she'll do whatever the fuck she wants. Let her make her own choices, screw up, live, die, whatever! Don't let her pin her own insecurities on you! You're better than you think you are, but you're just too damned scared to see that you aren't the same idiot you used to be."
"Why?" his hoarse voice asked. "Why did you choose me? Any one of them would have been better than me."
"Isn't it obvious?" She stood up extending a hand to him.
Akira took the hand offered to him and stumbled to get up. He watched her as she leaned against the railing letting the warm night breeze hit her face. A smile spread across her lips. She released a heavy sigh and stared into his questioning eyes.
"You have the one thing that the others don't. I see it. They all see it. You're the only one blind to it all. You care Akira when no one else does. As long as I've known you you've always searched for one thing. You want to be whole, a part of something, a family. You may not think it, but you make us a family. You keep us all together because you care. It's all in here." She put a hand over his chest. "You have heart." She dropped her hand away and turned back to look out into the night sky.
"That is the cheesiest thing I've ever heard," he laughed.
"It was all I could come up with," she smiled glancing over at the apparent blush over his face. Tsukushi leaned over resting her head on his shoulder.
In turn, Akira wrapped his arms around waist from behind feeling the warmth of her body spread through him. "Thank you," he whispered." Slowly, he bent down and brushed his lips over hers stealing a chaste kiss.
Her body shifted under his arms with each slow breath she took. She slipped out from his hold and placed a finger over his lips. "You're drunk."
"I know."
She slipped her hand into his entwining her fingers with his. She stopped to look into his face that had calmed a bit. "Let's go home."
Having her smiling beside me as we walked off the bridge together I could feel all the trepidation, all the anxiety, all the worry fade away. Only she could bring me back answering all the questions I had so desperately sought to answer. I'm Akira. I may seem like an idiot sometimes. I act like I don't care about much with a dumb smile on my face all the time. My mask will fall shattering into a thousand pieces, but she'll always help me put it all back together. It may be missing a few pieces, but I'll come out ok. I can't save them all and I know that. For now, I'll work on saving myself.