"What can I get you?"

Sawako hesitated for a moment. She wasn't sure whether or not the bartender was speaking to her, and didn't want to embarrass herself if he wasn't.

"Miss, what can I get you?"

She looked at the bartender's face, his eyes were looking directly at her and she realized with embarrassment that she was the only person he could have been talking to.

"Ah, yes. Sorry. Three cranberry vodkas please."

Sawako shuddered a bit at the bartender's annoyed expression as he turned away silently. She hated to cause people trouble, and she had just annoyed this poor bartender with her awkwardness.

Though, I guess I am somewhat out of my element. She thought to herself.

As the bartender made the drinks, she surveyed her surroundings. Her friends Ayane and Chizuru had brought her to a nightclub in Susukino, Sapporo's red light district. And she was completely out of her comfort zone. All around her were throngs of intoxicated and obnoxious club goers, and many of them were only there to get black out drunk or to find a quick hookup. Sawako was looking for neither of these things, and she felt quite out of place.

As she squinted at the flashing lights and winced at the pounding music in her ears, she almost didn't notice the bartender trying to get her attention again.

"Miss… MISS! Your drinks are ready."

Sawako jumped slightly and turned to face him.

"That'll be 3300 yen," he shouted over the noise.

"What?" Sawako shouted back, unsure if she had heard him right.

"3300 yen, miss," The bartender repeated, louder this time, "1100 each. Cash or card?"

She had heard him right. A drink at this club was 1100 yen. 3300 for her and her friends to drink a relatively small amount of alcohol. How people got black out drunk in this place and didn't go broke, she wasn't sure.

Luckily, Ayane and Chizuru had given her 2000 yen each to pay for the drinks and had offered to buy hers, but she still winced and she handed the bartender the large sum of money.

Realizing she would have some trouble carrying three drinks to her friends with only two hands, she looked around in a panic as the bartender handed her a measly 700 yen in change. To her relief, Chizuru emerged and came to her rescue.

Chizuru grabbed two of the drinks wordlessly, giving Sawako a wink as she left to take them in Ayane's direction. Sawako followed close behind, clutching her expensive drink in one hand.

Weaving her way through the crowds of people and trying her best not to spill the costly drink, Sawako followed Chizuru to the other side of the club, where Ayane had managed to grab a table. As Chizuru sat down, Ayane reached out a hand shakily, eager for more alcohol to advance her already slightly inebriated state. Sawako slid into the circular cushion surrounding the rounded table, periodically taking nervous sips.

After chugging half her drink and setting it down, Chizuru was the first to shout over the roar of the crowd.

"Isn't this great?" she bellowed as she placed her arms around Sawako and Ayane, "How often do just us girls get to go out and do stuff together? I feel like we always have the guys around. It's just like old times!"

"Yeah, and this club is great!" added Ayane, "I'm glad we decided to go for a different one this time! What do you think, Sawako?"

Raising her voice louder than she normally would, Sawako shouted, "Y-yeah! It's great!"

Ayane and Chizuru turned to look at each other before bursting out with laughter.

Confused, Sawako shifted nervously in her seat.

"Sawako, girl. It's clear that you hate it," Ayane said between bursts of laughter, "You look so scared and uncomfortable. Don't say it's great just for our sake."

Sawako fidgeted. It was no use trying to fool her closest friends.

"But hey, thanks for coming with us Sawako. We know this isn't really your scene, but the fact that you came means a lot," Chizuru shouted.

Sawako looked at the floor, embarrassed.

"No, it's not really my scene," she said with an effort, her voice barely audible over the roar of the club, "But I like to spend time with you two. You're my two closest friends, after all."

Ayane and Chizuru gave each other a knowing look.

"Sawako, you're just too sweet," said Ayane with a grin, "We love you lots, you know."

Chizuru jabbed Sawako lightly in the ribs.

"Yeah," she said with a laugh, "Thanks for putting up with us Sawako."

Sawako smiled and said nothing more.

Realizing she was overwhelmed, Ayane spoke up.

"Sawako, you know what might help you become a bit more comfortable with all of this?"

Sawako looked at Ayane, wondering what she could mean.

Ayane held up her cup with a mischievous grin.

"More alcohol!"

Fumbling with her keys in the dimly lit hallway, Sawako eventually managed to push open the door to her apartment in the 3 am light. She was met by a pair of faintly glowing eyes and a series of meows.

"Hey Junko," she said as she flipped the light switch.

A happy cat bounced her way about the room as Sawako sleepily removed her shoes and set down her bag. She was glad to have gone out with her friends, but recalling the previous lazier weekend she had spent with Shota, she found a part of herself wishing that she could have done something like that instead. That, or a part of her wished that Ayane and Chizuru weren't such party animals.

Mew

Junko's incessant mewing broke her out of her thoughts. The cat had probably been lonely while she was out with her friends, and surely wanted to be played with. But Sawako was exhausted from the shenanigans her friends had forced her to take part in. Junko would have to be satisfied with simply curling up beside her master as she slept instead of playing. Sawako went to her room to remove her uncomfortable dress and get into something she could sleep in.

As soon as she got into her pajamas, Sawako grabbed her phone. Even though it was 3 am, Sawako could not go to sleep without completing her nightly ritual of checking the internet before bed. She wouldn't check anything particularly important, but she had become so used to it that if she didn't do it before sleeping she felt like she was missing something important in her routine.

She checked various social networks, news sites, email and the like. After about ten minutes of checking up on old high school classmates she hadn't seen in years and reading about the latest political scandal, she was hit with a realization.

Oh. I forgot to text Shota!

Whenever she went out with Ayane and Chizuru as she often did, she would text Shota when she got home to let him know that she was okay. Given how late the three of them would stay out, he would often get nervous. Overall, Sapporo was a safe place to live, but you never knew in a city of two million people who might try to mess with you.

She closed her internet browser and began to type out a message.

Hey Shota. I got back home safe. Great night with the girls today. I'm going to bed now. Talk to you later!

She hit send and was somewhat surprised by the timestamp that appeared on the message as soon as it was sent. 3:44 am. She was up really late. At least she didn't have to be anywhere the next day.

She connected her phone to its charger and set an alarm for 11. She would allow herself to sleep in a little given how late she had been out, but she still didn't want to waste her Saturday. With the alarm set, she shut off the lamp she had on next to her bed. It was definitely time for sleep.

Just as she rested her head on her pillow, her ringtone went off. There was only one person who could have been calling.

She answered it and was greeted by Shota's sleepy sounding voice.

"Hey… Sawako. It's me. I'm glad you made it back okay. I just wanted to check in with you. How was your night?"

Still somewhat surprised that he had called her this late, she took a moment to respond.

"It was good. They were pretty wild as always but I had a lot of fun. But what I want to know is why you're still awake. You need your sleep!"

"Oh, you know. I had my ringer on and your text woke me up. So I just thought I'd call and hear your voice really quick."

At these words, Sawako was filled with a warm, tingling sensation.

"Aw… That's so sweet of you to say," she responded with delight, "I'm glad I got to hear yours too."

A momentary silence descended on them.

"So, did you go to the club again with those two?" Shota finally asked.

"Yeah," she said, "We went to a different one this time, but it was the same basic idea."

She heard a chuckle through the earpiece.

"Yeah, those clubs are all the same, aren't they? I can't say I've been to too many, because Ryu would never want to go. And for that matter, neither would you. You're just forced into it by your friends."

Sawako let out a tired laugh.

"Yeah, that's true. We could always go together if you really wanted to. But that's not really how we do things."

"Yeah."

A silence again. There was no way either of them could carry on a meaningful conversation at this late hour. The only reason they were talking to each other and were not asleep was simply to hear the other speak. Quality conversation was not really what they were looking for.

Understanding this, Sawako decided to call it off.

"I need to go to bed, Shota. And so do you. It was great to talk to you though. I'm glad you called me."

"Yeah, I need to sleep too. I'm glad I got to talk to you too. I'll see you later."

"See you later, goodnight."

Sawako ended the call with a smile on her face. Their conversation hadn't had much substance, but having talked to Shota, she would go to bed far happier than she had been before.

Mew

Junko's soft meow made Sawako aware of her cat's presence. She clicked her tongue a few times to get Junko to come closer and the cat quickly obeyed. Once Junko had jumped onto the bed, Sawako pulled her into an embrace and closed her eyes.

She quickly drifted off to a series of soothing purrs.