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Paradigm Shift
Chapter 2: For the Lady?

Thirteen years, two weeks, and two days. That was the exact length of time he and Megumi had been together. Tai thought Megumi was the world's most heartless bitch to dump him just a couple weeks after their anniversary, but Matt didn't care about that. She could have dumped him on the day of or his birthday for all that mattered. He just wanted to know why. He grew obsessed with it, analysing every detail of their relationship, searching for the reason she would leave him. It couldn't have just been for a job. It just couldn't. Couples who dated for a few months would do that, but not couples like them. Not couples who dated for thirteen years, two weeks, and two days.

He didn't get it. They bickered often but rarely fought. They had fought a lot when they were teenagers, but once they hit their twenties, they averaged maybe one or two massive arguments per year. It wasn't that bad. They differed on trivial things but agreed on fundamental values, providing a sturdy foundation for their relationship. The only major difference they had ever had was marriage. She wanted it; he didn't. Still, it was something they had known about each other from a young age which hadn't come up in a long time. He didn't think she'd just leave without another attempt to convince him into it.

So what could it have been?

In his darkest moment, he thought she had found another man, one who was better than him in every way. In his craziest, he gave her a terminal disease, and she had left to save him the pain of facing it with her.

He wanted anything else. Job relocation was an excuse. He knew it was. It just had to be. They were stronger than that, and he wanted her to prove it to him.

Otherwise, he would have to admit that she wanted a career more than she wanted him. He wasn't sure he could accept that.

He heard feminine giggling from the other side of his front door, indicating Tai had returned home. The giggling came from their neighbour, an annoyingly loud and annoyingly rich recent uni graduate who liked to bother them from time to time, no thanks to Tai's encouragement. She had moved in earlier that year, and Tai and Matt had both agreed they hated her until she crashed Tai's 27th birthday party afterparty. Tai went to kick her out and came back with lip gloss on his face and a new smart TV. He started to be really nice to her after that, insisting they keep her around at least until Christmas.

Knowing his flatmate's entrance was imminent, Matt sluggishly reached over to put out his cigarette. Tai had passive-aggressively put his new ashtray on the balcony this morning, and Matt had passive-aggressively placed it back in its original spot at the coffee table once he found it. He had opened a window, but that was the extent of his compromise.

The door opened slowly, though judging by the fact that Tai was still looking in the direction of their neighbour's flat, he was still stuck in conversation with her. Matt didn't have to listen to know what they were talking about. She was inviting them out with her friends or asking what they were doing over the weekend. Tai, not wanting to hang out with a bunch of young uni graduates, was lying.

Tai started to back into the flat, smiling fakely as he said in his this-is-me-being-nice-but-I-want-you-to-leave-me-alone-now voice, "All right. I'll let you know if anything changes. Have a nice weekend." He shut the door and let out an annoyed sigh, then instantly crinkled his nose from the cigarette scent still in the air.

Predictably, however, he did not say anything about it. A week ago, he would have gotten an earful, but lately Tai let him get away with a lot more things.

"Don't you ever work?" he asked instead.

Matt reached for his bottle of gin and refilled his empty glass. "I went to work today. You saw me leave this morning."

For three days following his breakup, he hadn't found the will to go to work or let anyone know why. By Thursday, Tai had literally dragged him out the door and into his car, driving the thirty-minute commute to Chofu for him and saving him from getting fired. He had felt bad about that, especially since Tai's office was in Chiyoda, the opposite direction of Chofu from their Shibuya flat. He had spent a grand total of an hour and twenty minutes driving that morning, which was four times as long as it usually took. He had not been happy about that.

Tai tossed his suit jacket and tie on the chair adjacent to the couch and disappeared into the kitchen, coming back out a moment later with a glass of ice. He took a seat, then reached for the bottle that Matt did not necessarily want to share.

"At least dilute the stuff," Tai nagged, putting some of his ice into Matt's glass, purposely letting the alcohol overflow. "What the hell are you doing drinking straight gin by yourself? You look pathetic."

He had started out with ice. He just got lazy after they melted.

"Calm down. I only had one," he lied. In actuality, he had had three, but it was still not enough to get him drunk, just buzzed.

"I'm sure you did," Tai said sarcastically, pouring himself a generous helping as well. "Anyway, what are you doing tonight?"

Matt grunted.

"So nothing," Tai concluded. "Let's go out."

"No," he said automatically.

Tai frowned, even though he should have expected that answer. "Come on, don't be lame! It's a Friday night, and you're telling me that instead of going out and celebrating your new single status, you're going to sit at home and feel sorry for yourself?"

"You can go out if you want," Matt responded curtly.

Tai sighed. "Matt, I hate to play this card, but you owe me."

He held his bandaged hand up towards him. Evidently, last Sunday after a very hungover Tai mopped the kitchen, sanitised the living room, and cried over his ruined whisky, he had gone into the bathroom to clean it. The idiot slipped on spilled body wash and grabbed a handful of broken mirror during his fall, consequently cutting up his hand. Because Matt was in a near comatose state, he had to bandage it himself before finishing the cleanup one-handed.

He knew the only reason he was still alive was because Tai felt guilty on account of him being heartbroken and therefore didn't have it in him to murder him ruthlessly. He knew he owed him, but he couldn't help but think his friend was being a little insensitive about the whole ordeal.

"I don't want to go," Matt repeated. "I'm not like you. I don't want to go out and hit on girls."

"I know that. You want a girlfriend, right?"

"No, I want Megumi."

"How do you get a girlfriend if you sit at home feeling depressed all the time?" Tai continued, ignoring him completely. "Come on, I'll be your wingman. I'm really good at being one."

Matt's annoyance rose. "I dated Meg for thirteen years. I can't get over her in a week."

Tai feigned a whimper, holding his bandaged hand to his chest. "Ow, my hand…"

He reached over and hit it just for good measure. "Shut up. I know you. You probably only still have that on to try to guilt me into going out with you."

"Come on!" Tai snapped impatiently. "For six days you've been crying over that bitch—"

"She's not a bitch," he corrected, now almost reflexively. He wasn't sure if Tai really thought Megumi was one or if he was just thought it was his duty as his mate to call her that, but it was starting to get on his nerves.

"She dumped you for a job. She's a bitch," Tai declared haughtily, looking frustrated. "For all you know, she's having the time of her life in the UK with her legs around some other guy. Are you going to sit here and let her do that to you?"

He couldn't help himself. The imaginary scenario flashed in his mind and filled his head with a jealous rage.

"I hate you," Matt hissed, now unable to get the image out of his mind. "You're the fucking worst."

"No, if I were the worst, I'd tell you to sit at home and feel sorry for yourself all night. She's not ringing you. She's not even in the damn country anymore. Get over it, put on some decent clothes, and let's go."

"I'm not going."

"You're single, Matt!" Tai reminded him, continuing to make it worse. "Do you not realise what this means? You're no longer bound to another person! You can do whatever you want, when you want, how you want, where you want, for any reason! You're not obligated to tell somebody else where you are all the time. You can talk to whoever you want to and live life the way you see fit. Take it from me, being single is the greatest freedom in the world, and you're wasting it by sitting at home! Don't you want to see what being single is like? For crying out loud, you've practically been married to her since you were fourteen!"

He glared at him angrily. "Why the fuck would you compare this to a divorce?"

"Exactly, you hate divorce. Now get up! We're going out, even if I have to drag you there myself."

He didn't budge. "Whatever, I'm not going anywhere with you."

"You're going," Tai growled authoritatively, plucking Matt up from the couch with his good hand. "You owe me for Sunday, asshole. It took me three fucking hours to clean. You owe me three hours, or so help me God I will burn everything that reminds you of Meg when you leave for work Monday, even if it's everything in your goddamn room."

Tai was such a douchebag.

Matt watched his friend's eyes flicker as they walked into the bar, and he became unsure whether Tai had brought him here because he truly wanted to help him get over his failed relationship or because he just wanted some ass.

"Right there," Tai said, nudging him not even ten seconds after entering. "Redhead at the bar. She's by herself. It's perfect."

He didn't bother to look over, feet still glued to the threshold of the bar. "I don't want to do this."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I really don't."

Tai turned to look at him irritably, no trace of sympathy or pity in his expression. "Fine, have sex with yourself for the rest of your life then."

He scowled hatefully at Tai as he began walking away but reluctantly followed him, knowing he would probably not let him leave until he cooperated just a little bit.

Upon approaching the main bar area, he noticed right away that the girl Tai had picked out was not nearly as beautiful as Megumi. She had copper hair and slightly tanned skin, and that was all he distinguished about her before losing interest entirely. As Tai introduced himself, he checked his mobile.

No missed calls.

He had no way of contacting Megumi, as she had never given him her new number. She had his memorised though, so all he had to do was wait for her to ring him.

She would cave in soon. He knew it. Any moment now, she would ring.

He felt a hard elbow to his side. He glared at Tai, who was glaring back.

"I said," Tai said with a warning look before smiling at the girl, "this is my friend, Matt. Matt, this is Sora."

"Nice to meet you," she said warmly, extending her hand.

"You too," he muttered irritably, still annoyed that he was even here. Tai gave him another hostile nudge, so he took her hand and shook it.

She didn't seem to think anything of his rudeness, allowing them to still talk to her, even removing a small handbag from the stool beside her to make room for them to sit. Tai forcefully pushed him onto the seat, while he stood between them.

"So what are you doing here by yourself?" Tai asked her when Matt made no attempt to start a conversation.

Since Tai was the one who had asked the question, she looked at him as she answered. Matt drowned them out, already knowing what was going to happen. Tai was going to bullshit his way into getting this girl to like him, and she would fall for it because Tai was the king of bullshitting.

He turned his focus back on his mobile instead.

It indicated it had full signal, but was it even working properly? Come to think of it, he'd had it for almost a year now, and he had never made any special effort to keep it from getting damaged. There was a chance it was broken. What if she was ringing him right this moment, but it wasn't going through?

Just as he concluded that his mobile was the problem, he heard Tai mention his name.

"You know, Matt here has a car," Tai suggested suddenly, grabbing Matt by the arm and bringing him into the conversation. Matt, not having heard a word, looked at Tai blankly, waiting for him to give him a hint. "You can drive Sora back."

He felt fury as it hit him that Tai had volunteered him to take this girl home, but not wanting to cause a scene, only furrowed his brows at him. He didn't know what was wrong with Tai, as surely he couldn't have forgotten that they had walked here.

Tai nonchalantly moved behind Sora and made hand signals to Matt indicating he would walk home, pick up Matt's car and drive it back to the bar for him.

Tai was mad, Matt concluded. Mad and desperate.

"Oh, no, you don't have to do that," Sora said hurriedly, shaking her hands at him. "I'm just hoping my friend doesn't drink more than she said she would, but I've got my car here too."

"Matt can drive it for you," Tai offered as he walked back to his original position between them. Matt kicked his shin, though Tai's face showed no pain.

"No, don't worry about it," she insisted. "I don't even know if she's drinking or not. I just lost her for a second, but she's bound to come by here eventually. I'm just a little worried. I hope she's all right."

Sora turned around to scan the area, giving Tai the opportunity to stomp on his foot in revenge.

I'm not driving her home, Matt mouthed silently to him.

Tai glared back. Yeah, you are, so don't drink.

Even if he didn't drink a single thing at this bar, it didn't erase the fact that he had four glasses of gin in his system from earlier that night.

She turned back around, and Tai instantly put on that smile of his that he always bragged won girls over. He remembered when Megumi admitted that she thought Tai had a charming smile. He hadn't been thrilled about that.

"Your friend will be fine," Tai assured. "She's probably just having fun. So should you."

She returned his smile with one of her own. "Some of us can have fun without drinking, you know."

"Hey, so can we," he countered lightly, showing her his empty hands. "But this is a bar. A fairly nice one at that. I take it you've been here before? This is our first time."

This had been done on purpose. He most likely chose to go here to avoid going anywhere that would remind Matt of Megumi.

Tai began to warningly kick Matt's leg to tell him to at least make an effort to talk to her, though his friendly expression remained unchanged as he listened to her response. "Well, I don't really go to bars that often, but I like this place. It doesn't get too crazy, and it has good music."

"Music?" Tai scoped out, hitting Matt's back stiffly. "What a coincidence! Matt here loves music! He writes his own stuff. It's really good. Tell her, Matt."

This was the first time Tai had ever said a positive thing about his music.

Sora, who had mostly been keeping eye contact with Tai, finally turned to look at him, looking genuinely interested. "Wow, that's incredible! You know, they have live bands here on Fridays and Saturdays. They usually play upstairs. Do you guys want to check it out?"

"Sure, we'd love to," Tai agreed eagerly as he ushered Matt out of his chair.

Matt didn't react, his attention back on his mobile. He could have sworn he heard it beep. He turned the screen on, only to confirm he had imagined it.

"Oops, that's for me," Tai piped up, plucking his mobile out of his hand. He looked apologetically at Sora. "I have to take this call really quickly, but I'll meet up with you two upstairs, okay?"

Tai gave him a warning jab in the rib and her a warm smile before he left the scene, leaving Matt to scowl angrily at his direction, wanting nothing more than to charge at him and kill him for sticking him in this situation. He couldn't believe he called that bastard his friend.

"Shall we go?" she asked him friendlily, also standing up from her barstool.

He looked at her blankly, watching as her pleasant expression turned uneasy from his lack of response. He didn't want to talk to this girl, and even if Tai would yell him for it later, he didn't want to lead her on.

"I should wait for my friend."

He had said it so hollowly that she seemed to immediately become aware of his disinterest, and things took an uncomfortable turn as she awkwardly sat back down.

"Oh, of course." She took a sip of her drink, clearly trying to think of something else to say. She went with the only thing she knew about him. "So, what kind of music do you like?"

He didn't respond to her right away, this mind too preoccupied. He couldn't believe Tai took his mobile. What if Megumi were to ring him now? He didn't want her to know he was at a bar, even if Tai had forced him here.

He hated him.

"Loads," he answered finally, though he had probably waited too long to answer.

She acknowledged him anyway, nodding stiffly. "Yeah, music's great…"

A cloud of awkwardness enveloped them. He didn't want to be the one to walk away, knowing Tai would harass him for it, but in spite of his obvious signs, she wasn't leaving either.

The bartender came as their saviour, choosing that moment to approach them. "Can I get you anything?"

He immediately ordered a gin and tonic for himself, then wrestled with the thought of buying Tai something too. Matt suspected that between his breakup, the mess he had made in their flat, and Tai's whisky, Tai was most upset about the loss of his treasured alcohol. Maybe if he bought him a glass of something expensive, he'd stop bitching about it.

"For the lady?"

"Oh, I'm not with him," she clarified, shaking her head as she glanced at him nervously. "Don't worry about me."

In spite of his foul mood, he decided he should at least perform basic manners.

That, and he would make Tai pay him back double later.

"No, order what you want," he insisted.

She looked unsure but eventually settled with ordering a cocktail. He added a top shelf whisky for Tai and, after a second's debate, decided to open a tab. She thanked him when the bartender had gone, and he merely nodded in response, making way for awkward silence to ensue. He reached to check his mobile again, forgetting that Tai had run off with it. Annoyed, he tapped a finger against the bar as she gradually finished her first drink, neither speaking or making eye contact with the other until the bartender came back with their order.

Unable to take it anymore, he took his drink in one hand and Tai's in the other, then stood up from his chair.

"I should go find my friend."

She smiled at him, and he wondered whether she was relieved to get rid of him. "Sure thing. It was nice to meet you, Matt."

It was when she said his name that he realised he had already forgotten hers. Though people often told him it was obvious when he was faking it, he tried to smile back, then went off in the direction Tai had gone.

He was intercepted by the stairs.

"What the hell!" Tai hissed, jumping out of nowhere. He hit his arm, making Matt spill a little of the drinks he was holding. "You were supposed to go watch that stupid band with her! Why did you walk away?!"

He handed Tai his whisky to shut him up, then snatched his mobile back out of his hand. "She isn't my type."

Tai rolled his eyes, not even thanking him as he accepted it. "And what is your type?"

"Megumi," they said at the same time.

Tai rolled his eyes again. "You're so annoying."

Matt ignored him, drinking some of his gin and tonic that he could have made at home for free.

"Where are you going?" he asked as Tai began to walk away.

Tai turned around for a second to glare at him. "To fix things, you arse."

Matt shrugged and let him go. Whatever. At least it'd get him off his back for a short while. He took a seat in a high top and turned his mobile back on to check for any messages. None. He checked the time in the UK next. It was still daytime there. Megumi was probably at work, but today was the day she'd finally give him a call. Staring at his mobile, he knew that, any moment now, it was going to ring.

He didn't understand what Matt's problem was. This Sora girl was hot and had actually seemed interested in him. That in itself was already a miracle given his pitiful state, so he couldn't think of a single reason as to why he wouldn't even make an attempt.

Megumi left him for something as materialistic as a job. He used to like her a lot, but if that was the kind of selfish person she really was, as far as Tai was concerned, she wasn't worth the amount of grief Matt was putting into her.

Spotting Sora where he had seen her last, he crossed over to the main bar.

"Hello again."

She looked up to face him, looking slightly surprised. "Hi."

He sat down in the empty seat beside her, shaking his head in feigned disappointment. "You rejected my friend," he accused good-naturedly.

She laughed a little, moving her drink to make room for him to set his down. "I didn't. I don't think he was very interested in me."

"Nonsense, he's just shy," Tai lied. "He's been talking about how beautiful you are since we walked in."

She smirked knowingly, looking like she didn't believe him. "Is that so? I saw you two walk in. You guys hadn't even been here for a minute before you came over to me." She raised an eyebrow, challenging him to deny it.

"I guess he wanted to make his move before some other guy did," he covered quickly. He leaned in closer, lowering his voice as if telling her a secret. "He's got no game though. Go easy on him."

She put a hand over her mouth, laughing lightly. "Aw, well, that isn't a very nice thing to say about your friend."

He grinned as he sat up straight again, waving a hand. "Don't worry, we say that to each other's faces. I haven't got any game either, so it's fair game."

She stirred the drink that he had seen Matt buy her, then lifted the straw to her lips. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I think you're rather charming."

He flashed her a thankful smile, then glanced back at Matt's direction as she took a sip. He was sitting by himself, glass between his teeth, eyes glued on his mobile, his hand fishing through his pockets for those disgusting cigarettes of his no doubt.

He looked pathetic. It almost made him angry how pathetic he looked.

"Your friend is very handsome," Sora admitted, following his trail of sight.

Tai resisted the urge to roll his eyes. For as long as he had known Matt, he had had to deal with girls praising his attractiveness and probing him for his relationship status. Back when he was younger, it had made him incredibly jealous, and he had rather enjoyed watching girls' dreams be crushed as he let them know Matt had a serious girlfriend. He had since outgrown the petty jealousy, but he never did quite understand why girls always felt the need to tell him this piece of information.

She drank the last bit of her drink before setting the empty glass back on the bar, probably hoping she could get him to buy her a new one.

He obliged.

"Want another?" he asked her, already raising his hand to beckon the bartender over.

She reached out and covered his hand with her own, lowering it. "No, I'm fine. I've already had two. That's my limit."

"Two? Are you kidding me?" he asked incredulously. "Come on, play like a champion."

She winced, shaking her head to decline despite his teasing. "I can't. I told you. I can't count on my friend to stay sober, and one of us has to drive tonight."

"And I told you," he persisted, "Matt can take you home."

She looked over his shoulder, then raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you sure? He doesn't look like he'll be able to drive either."

He turned around in his chair. Matt was still by himself at his table, though a waitress had just brought him another drink along with a few shots. Matt hated shots.

"Or I could," he said quickly, cursing him in his mind.

She looked concerned, looking at Matt still. "Is he all right? He looks a little…" She didn't finish her sentence, at a loss for the correct word.

The word was "pathetic." She was probably just too polite to say it.

"Nah, he's fine," Tai dismissed with a wave of his hand. "Come on, order something. I don't like drinking by myself, so it's on me."

If this had been earlier in the week, he would have actively tried to stop Matt, but after receiving a painful punch to the jaw for not leaving him alone on Tuesday, Tai decided to leave him be for now.

Instead, he would bank on the hope that if Matt got drunk enough, maybe he'd forget about Megumi and hit on Sora instead. And if he could get Sora drunk too, maybe she'd hit on him back. Beautiful thing, alcohol.

This time, she complied, ordering herself a beer while he decided to cut himself off. Apparently, there was a chance he was driving this girl home tonight.

"So where do you live?" he asked casually, trying to determine whether he could just stick her in a cab instead.

"I live around here, but my friend and I just got back from Kyoto. That's why my car is here," Sora explained. "It has all our luggage inside, so I don't want to leave it here overnight."

And that ruled out the cab.

"Kyoto? What were you doing over there?" He tried to sound interested, even though he was mentally kicking himself for ever offering to drive her. He should have known Matt wouldn't stay sober. He hadn't had a sober night since Megumi.

"I'm from Kyoto. I went to visit family, and my friend tagged along just for fun."

He put on his best excited face. "Really? What a coincidence!" he exclaimed. "Matt's family is from Kyoto too!"

Okay, it was a lie, but it was just a little white one. In a city as cosmopolitan as Japan's capital, people loved meeting others from their hometown.

Indeed, she perked up, instantly appearing interested after hearing it. "Really? What part?"

He shrugged. "No idea. I've lived in Tokyo my whole life." Then, he added as an indicative hint, "You should ask him. He loves talking about it."

If she picked up on his clue, she didn't show it, as she ignored that statement entirely. "I like Tokyo too. It took a little getting used to when I first got here, but I really like it now."

"That's what Matt said too."

The bartender set down her beer, and Tai laid out some notes to pay for it. She was trying to hide a smirk as she watched him, and he could tell she knew what he was trying to do.

"So you said your friend writes music, right?"

"Yeah, he's great," Tai said, pretending to sound like he actually enjoyed the ruckus Matt liked to call music. "He sings and plays a couple instruments too. Pretty talented guy."

"That's nice. What about you?"

He chuckled, humoured by the thought. "No, not me. I'm useless when it comes to music."

She shook her head. "No, I mean what do you like to do?"

"Oh." She probably felt obligated to talk to him after he bought her a drink. "I like sport."

"Really?" She brightened and reached out to touch his forearm. "I love sport! I used to play football and tennis back in school."

He noticed she kept touching him. He purposely retreated his arm from her, using it to pick up his drink.

"Football," he repeated, nodding his head in approval. "Cheers to that."

He lightly tapped his glass against hers, and they each took a sip before she asked, "Well then, I take it you're following the J1 League?"

"Of course. This is FC Tokyo's year."

"No way! Kyoto Sanga's a much better team."

He dropped his jaw and stood up, extending his arm out to her. "Well then, Sora, it was nice to meet you, but it looks like I can't talk to you any longer." She threw her head back in laughter as he pretended to glare at her, then reached for his arms to pull him back down. He let her seat him back in his stool. "Can we just be honest though? Kyoto Sanga hasn't ranked in the top ten of the J1 League in the last decade. You only like them because they're from your hometown, but they suck."

"Hey! Tokyo hasn't done that well either," she countered immediately.

He didn't want his competitiveness and diehard loyalty for his team to get the best of him, but they did anyway. "I'm sorry. Are you seriously implying that Kyoto Sanga can even begin to compare to Tokyo?"

"I'm not implying anything. I'm saying that Kyoto Sanga is just as good—" Tai scoffed loudly. "—if not better than Tokyo."

"Wow, I really can't talk to you. I'm just going to pretend you didn't say that to me, Sora."

She smirked at him. "You seem pretty confident in your team."

"And you seem pretty delusional about yours."

She let the comment pass, leaning in closer towards him. "Well then, if you think that, maybe we can watch their next match together. It'll give me the pleasure of telling you 'I told you so.'"

Uh-oh.

"Well, you know, Matt's a huge fan of Kyoto Sanga," he lied, bringing the topic back to him. "You should watch their next match with him."

Never mind that Matt barely even watched World Cup matches, much less knew anything about football clubs.

She sat up straight again and looked at him confusedly. "You're really trying to get me to like your friend, aren't you?"

Caught red-handed, he grinned sheepishly and rubbed the side of his neck. "It's just that he's been going through a bit of a rough time."

Quite suddenly, all trace of pleasantry disappeared from her face, replaced by an offended frown. "I get it. So you come to a bar to pick up the first girl you see to make him feel better?"

He grew alarmed by her deduction and the accusatory tone in which she had called him out for it. "No, it's not like that. I just…" He tried to search for a way to save the situation but fell short.

"Thanks for the beer then," she said curtly, standing up. "Have a good night."

Clearly insulted, she marched away, leaving him dumbfounded in how stupidly he had messed that up. Why had he said the truth instead of covering it with a lie? She had seemed so laidback, but obviously no girl would be delighted to learn something like that.

Shot down, he let out a sigh and downed the rest of his whisky, then turned towards Matt's direction to glare at him. His attention was elsewhere, so he too got up and stormed over.

"Can you help me light this?" Matt slurred once Tai had come. Face slightly flushed, he held a cigarette in one hand and a lighter in the other. He stuck the cigarette in his mouth, filter faced out, then held out the lighter to him.

"You really suck," Tai hissed, snatching the stick from Matt's mouth and snapping it in half.

He laughed as he fumbled through his carton for another. "Why, did you get rejected? Deeeenied. You loser. That's what you get."

"I hate you."

"No, I hate you!" Matt barked, standing up and stumbling on the high chair. He jabbed a finger at Tai's shoulder as he tried to balance himself. "I told you I didn't want to go out!"

Tai pushed Matt back down in his chair. "All right, stop yelling at me. We're in public."

Matt flopped his arms over the high top table, practically hugging it to keep himself from falling. "I'm drunk."

"Yes, I can see that," Tai agreed impatiently. "Go close your tab, and let's go."

Matt shook his head, cheek pressed against the filthy table. "You close it. I don't even want to look at how much it is." He squeezed his eyes shut and ran a hand down the right side of his face. "I hate myself."

Tai sighed. As a person who rarely got drunk in public or showed any extreme side of himself, such a state did not suit Matt. "Fine, I'll be right back."

By the time he went back to the bar, he saw that it had quite suddenly gotten crowded, feeding his impatience. Even worse, the bartender was male, so he knew he wouldn't get any attention until all the women had been served.

What a waste of a Friday night.

"Your friend looks like he needs to go home."

He turned around at the sound of a semi-familiar voice and came to face Sora once again. It hadn't been that long, but she didn't seem angry anymore, smirking at him.

"Hey," he said confusedly, trying to hide his surprise.

"You said you'd drive me home," she reminded him, crossing her arms though her expression remained light-hearted. "You're the one who made me go over my limit, so take responsibility."

Goddamn it.

"Yes. That. Right. Well, you see, I—" As he tried to think of an excuse, his eyes drifted past her to Matt, who had his mobile up to his ear. Not good. "I'll be right back," he finished hastily, sprinting to his flatmate before she had a chance to respond. "Who are you ringing?"

Matt covered his free ear with a hand to tell him to shut up. "Megumi."

"She moved, dumbass. She doesn't have that number anymore."

"I know, dumbass. I'm ringing her mum to ask for her n—" He straightened up as the other line picked up. "Hello? Mrs Kane—" In a panic, Tai snatched Matt's mobile out of his hand and turned it off as quickly as he could.

"Have you gone fucking mad?!" Tai demanded furiously, making absolute certain that the call had ended. "You're ringing her mother?!"

"Well, I tried to ring her sister, but she didn't answer!" Matt snapped back, just as angrily. "What do you want me to do?!"

"I want you to stop being a pathetic drunk ass and sit still while I close your tab! Got it?"

Matt did the opposite, trying to stand up, shoving Tai's shoulder in his angry, drunken state. "You're the one who made me come here!"

"And believe me, I've regretted it since. Don't move, and no crying!"

"Fuck off, I'm not going to cry!"

"You better not. I swear to God I will beat the shit out of you if you cry now."

"Fuck you, Tai!"

"No, fuck you!"

"Fuck you, and give me back my mobile!" Matt reached out for Tai's hand, falling off his chair and grabbing Tai's arm for support.

"You'll get it at the end of the night," Tai hissed, setting him back on his chair, making a mental note to delete Megumi's family members' numbers off his mobile when Matt wasn't looking. "Just stay."

"I'm not a fucking dog, you fucking moron."

Tai raised his hands, ready to strangle Matt's neck, but knowing it would do little more than get him thrown out of the bar, strangled air instead.

"Tsk, tsk. Such language."

Overcome with frustration, Tai turned to see that Sora had once again appeared next to him, looking half concerned, half amused.

"Do you need help?" she asked, cocking her head.

Embarrassed that she had seen him lose his temper in public, he quickly tried to compose himself. "No, we're fine. He's just really drunk."

"Fuck you, I'm not drunk." Matt flopped out of his chair and suddenly jerked towards Sora without warning. She backed away a step by instinct, freaked out by his abrupt approach, so Tai tried to pull him back into his seat.

"Sit still!" Tai hissed, annoyed that he had randomly scared her.

"No, I have to warn her about you!" Matt hissed back, flailing his arms in an attempt to swat him away. Then, as loudly as he could, he yelled, "Tai sleeps with a lot of women!" Bewildered, Tai froze, and Matt grinned, satisfied, as he sat back down on his own. "Whatever he said to you was a lie to get you to go home with him."

While Tai could only stare at his friend in astonishment—where the hell had that come from?!—Sora smirked with amusement. "Is that so?"

"He's full of shit! He's a shit friend and a shit human being, and he's never going to talk to you after tonight!"

It took every bit of willpower in him to maintain his cool instead of killing Matt the way he wanted. He looked at Sora pleadingly, not knowing what else to do. "I'm really sorry, but can you make sure he sits here? I have to close his tab. It'll only take a minute, and I swear he's harmless."

"Sure thing," she said, taking the seat across from Matt. Surprised that she had agreed so readily, she cheekily added, "You are driving me home, after all."

He had brought it upon himself, really. The world was punishing him for trying to be a good friend.

Lesson learned.

"Yeah," he agreed, giving in.

"He's lying to you!" he heard Matt continually insist to her as he walked back to the bar. He would beat the crap out of Matt later, but for now he just wanted to take the little bugger home.

Or throw him away, depending on the limitations of his patience.

"Yamato Ishida," he grunted at the bartender. Then, for lack of better judgment, he took out his own credit card and gave it to him. "Put it on that."

For as much as he wanted to tear the bastard apart, he couldn't help but feel sorry for him at the same time.

He instantly regretted it after seeing the number of digits on his bill but hastily signed it before darting back to his friend, afraid of what damage he might have done.

"And he hit on my mum once. Can you believe that? What the fuck kind of sick ass motherfucker does that? That's the kind of deranged person he is, Sara."

Ex-friend. Matt was officially his ex-friend.

"Let's go," he growled, grabbing him by his shirt collar.

"So don't sleep with him!" Matt concluded.

"Don't worry," she said soothingly, standing up too. She made playful eye contact with him, apparently not judging him even though Matt had effectively tried to ruin him. "I won't."

"It was nice to meet you," Tai said tightly.

"Pleasure was all mine," she said with another easygoing smile. "Do you need help getting him back? I was going to ask you about it earlier, but you look like you injured your hand."

He shook his bandaged hand a little, flexing his fingers. "I can manage. We live nearby, and he's not throwing up yet."

"Fuck you. I'm not going to throw up."

"We'll be fine," Tai assured, ignoring Matt's angry rebuking. "Thank you for everything, by the way."

She crossed her arms and feigned a frown. "I must say I'm a little disappointed though. Does this mean you can't drive me home?"

Was she trying to drive him crazy? Couldn't she see he was in no state to do anything but get his flatmate to bed?

"Rain check?" he tried.

She shook her head. "Sorry, I need it back tonight."

He groaned in his head. "Okay, I'll tell you what. I'll put him to bed, and then I'll come back to drive you home."

She gave him a disbelieving look. "Yeah right. You and I can both tell that's a lie."

"Tai's a liar!" Matt cried. Tai shook him a little to shut him up. "Ow!"

He set Matt up against the table, then held out his hand. She blinked in confusion.

"Give me your mobile. I'll give you my number, and if I don't show up, you can ring me."

She thought it over for a second, then fished through her handbag for her mobile. He contemplated putting in a fake one, then Matt's, but ultimately decided to enter his own.

"There," he said, giving it back to her. "Just give me fifteen minutes. I'll be right back."

Tai threw Matt on his bed, purposely making it hurt a little.

"You're such a shitty friend," Matt hissed, sitting up immediately and pointing an accusatory finger at him.

"Shut up, and go to sleep."

"I hate you."

"Go to sleep."

"I hate Megumi."

"I know you do. Go to sleep."

"She ruined my life."

"It's because she's a bitch. Go to sleep, and you'll forget about her."

"She's not a bitch."

Tai rolled his eyes. Even in this state, he managed to defend her. "Fine, she's not. Just go to sleep."

"She was perfect," Matt continued, eyes rolling back from being so out of it. "She was so perfect. She was so—"

"Matt."

"What?"

"I swear I will knock you out with that blasted violin of yours if you don't shut up and go to sleep."

"You're just trying to get back to the bar to hook up with that girl," he said miserably, pulling his duvet over him as he finally lied down. "And for the millionth time, it's a bass guitar, you dumbass piece of shit."

"No," he corrected. "I have to go back because I told her I'd drive her back home because you—"

Matt turned over so his back was facing Tai. "Whatever. Get out of my room."

Tai sighed with relief as he turned off his light. "Good night."

"Piss off."

"Yeah, yeah."

He closed the door behind him before running a hand over his face. He couldn't believe he now had to go back to the stupid bar, just to drive some random girl home.

Feeling his mobile vibrate in his pocket, he took it out and opened a message from an unknown number.

'Hey, this is Sora from the bar. Turns out my friend kept her word and can drive, so no need to come back. I hope your friend is all right. Give me a ring later about Kyoto Sanga beating FC Tokyo?'

Thank the Lord.

Without answering, he went straight to his room and flopped on his own bed in exhaustion, asleep before his head hit the pillow.

Note:
- Sora being from Kyoto is taken from the fact that her father is a professor at Kyoto University, as well as evidence pointing to Kyoto being the hometown of her mother. A discrepancy is that Kyoto Sanga is actually part of the J2 League this year, but they do switch between the divisions quite a bit.