Enter Aisu
Aisu watched them leave with a lazy smile on his face, contributing to the conversation at his table automatically. Mina giggled flirtatiously and laid her hand on his fore arm for maybe the millionth time that night. When the bill arrived he and Untifik split the bill as the girls went to freshen up in the restroom. "Have you known Mina long?" Untifik asked nonchalantly as he sipped his drink. Aisu set his own drink down lightly on the glass table top.
"Not long. You have excellent taste in restaurants. Henbun is pretty heavy on the wallet. Does this mean that you are serious about Ami or are you just in it to win it?" he asked the last question with a just-between-us-guys smirk. Untifik chuckled.
"No. I assure you that my intentions are indeed very serious."
"Good. Then I will not have to break your knee caps," he said dropping the pretense of the smile and inclining his head in mock salute. Untifik just chuckled again.
"I had thought that that was your true inclination. You care a great deal about Ami to put up with Mina. The girl seems to have boundless energy to supply her mouth," he said with a grimace. It was Aisu's turn to laugh.
"True." The both chuckled at the concession but their mirth was cut short as the girls came back from the restroom together.
"Shall we take a walk ladies?" Untifik asked as he tucked Ami's hand into the crook of his arm. She blushed and nodded. Mina smiled broadly.
"Perfect. There's a beautiful full moon out tonight and the sky should be clear enough to do some star gazing." She grabbed Aisu's arm. "Let's go!" She started to tug him out the door and Aisu gave Ami a long suffering look that clearly said "I'm only doing this for you". She gave a small smile trying not to laugh but mouthed a small thank you to him and he smiled at her.
As they strolled along the elaborate gardens to the side of Henbun and Ami stopped suddenly as they came to a break in the rose studded hedge and gasped.
Mina quickly turned to see what had caught Ami's attention and sighed, hugging Aisu's arm tighter at the sight. The view of the lit up city was certainly breath taking with the different color lights of buildings and the slow moving lights of traveling cars combined with the secluded moonlight in their garden sanctuary was spellbinding.
Seika would have liked this, he thought and immediately felt a stab of guilt as he glanced at Mina. He was making plans to win one woman while on a date with another. He suppressed a sigh. Human life was complicated. He smirked slightly. His situation with Seika would have been complicated with or without Mina and the male youth. Seika wouldn't make his campaign to woo her easy but he was up to the challenge. The prize was that much more sweeter if it was harder to obtain. His smirk widened into a grin then to a full-fledged smile. Oh how sweet this prize would be.
Written by: Aisu (Iketeru-dohai)