A couple of Japanese terms are used here. Definitions at the bottom.
Warning: Some swearing and crude talk.
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A coffeehouse in Shinjuku
“Mou...” Lina groaned as she rolled her head back and forth. “I’m exhausted!”
It had been a long day at the coffeehouse and she was about to collapse. Up at six-thirty to be at the shop at seven and serving coffee-starved customers without a break to rest. Silently, she cursed her own goddamn mind to take a job at this swarming café. But whatever possessed her to take a job at the Enkai Coffee House she knew well.
Money.
It always came down to that. A job at the Enkai Coffee House paid very well, since it was a popular place for both the old and young, especially the students who came after school to chat and sip their caffeine laden beverages in their school uniforms. The owner and manager of the establishment was generous to a fault and always in a good humour, especially to her employees, as eccentric as she was. And generous she was indeed. Lina had nearly fallen over when her employer, who preferred to be referred to as only D.S., told how much she would be paid per hour.
Needless to say, Lina snatched up the job, not knowing what kind of pain she was going to be facing the next few months.
Foot pain from walking and standing around all day. Finger cramps from punching in numbers into the computer and gripping cups. Face cramps from smiling too much. Third degree burns from scalding hot coffee. And there were many more that added up on Lina’s list of numerous grievances, including the annoyance of the occasional over-energized customer who needed moderation in his or her caffeine consumption.
But the money was too good and she didn’t want to leave a well-paying job with reasonably decent hours that paid her for her rent, which was outrageously expensive in Tokyo, her food, clothing, and other necessities for her to live. Hell, the entire cost of living in Tokyo was outrageous and often she considered moving to another country entirely where everything was cheaper. Except for one thing: she couldn’t afford a plane ticket.
It was one thing to speculate, another matter entirely to implement her plan into action. She knew that she spoke excellent English and a basic amount of French, enough to enable her to speak to English friends on the internet from the U.S.A., Canada, and England. She knew she could do reasonably well with a high school education, even though she didn’t have a degree. A high school education in Japan was higher-ranked than one in North America or England.
But money always stood in her way, or rather, the lack of it. Tokyo had become stifling of late and everything, even clubbing in the Ginza district with her more affluent friends, was boring. It didn’t really put a strain on her wallet, since her friends usually paid, and she loved dancing to the pulsating beat, in an ecstasy where nothing and everything existed.
No, she didn’t do any drugs, but the bone-pounding rhythm of the music, the alcohol and haze of cigarette smoke fused together into pure adrenaline every night. The thing was it was fantastic at first, but later as it worn on, she found it boring and the same crowd came every night without any new faces. It seemed like everything was locked in an endless loop.
She needed something new...something that could break the stale mold of the ordinary life. Almost anything would do and she grasped at everything, hoping it would help her out of her apathy, but nothing worked so far.
With a sigh, she took the tray Shizuki, one of the other servers, handed her. He gave a quick wink and gesture in the direction of figure seated in the back corner of the shop.
“Gloom Dude again?” she inquired exasperatedly.
“Hai, the usual for him.”
“I wonder when he’ll give us a decent tip,” she grumbled.
“Maybe in a few decades, but don’t string your hopes on him.”
“I’m not.” She threaded her way through the crowd of customers to the small table at the back. She plastered a fake grin on her face and said with false cheerfulness, “Your coffee, sir.”
An uncomfortable silence stretched until he grunted briefly, “Thanks.” He tossed the money onto the table and returned to the book he was reading, the hood of his sweatshirt obscuring his face.
“You’re welcome,” Lina replied sarcastically when she saw the meager amount he had given.
He either did not hear the sarcasm in her voice or did not care to acknowledge it and she would have stomped off in a huff if she had not seen the book he was reading.
“And Then There Were None?” Lina said incredulously, out loud.
The man’s head shot up and he stared at her. “You know this book?”
“Of course! Agatha Christie! Who wouldn’t?” she exclaimed. She loved Agatha Christie! All her mysteries were all great reads and she’d grown to like Hercule Poirot, Hastings, and Miss Jane Marple over the years, buying almost all the British woman’s books.
“You’d be surprised,” he snorted. “The usual Tokyo citizen doesn’t know Agatha Christie from J.K. Tolkien.”
“Lord of the Rings,” she said automatically. “That was good too.”
He looked at her curiously and laughed shortly. “Maa, maa. I see I have met a fellow English bookworm.” He seemed amused yet wary.
“And I’ve met a guy who’s never tipped. Ever,” she replied bluntly. If he was going to be so sardonic, there was no point talking to him.
He chuckled and he reached into his pocket and tossed some more coins onto the table. “There. Does that patch up the rift between us?” he inquired, an amused glint in his sapphire eyes.
She took the money and saw he had given a more than decent tip. She tossed the coins up in her hand and said, “Perhaps.” Then she laughed as well, turning away with her empty tray.
The man laughed silently to himself and brought the cup to his lips. The coffeehouse wasn’t so boring after all.
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The Psychotic Seraph, Ginza
A new song shuddered through the speakers, the bass agitating the floor. Masses of bodies shook to the rhythm, the fast-paced beat commanding their entity. Crowds danced wildly, oblivious to everything but the beat and the people around them. The crowd of motley beings mingled with strangers and acquaintances alike, caring nothing for names and only for faces and bodies. Hair whirled in its spectrum of colours, from silver to purple, glitter sparkled in the flashing lights, and a fantastic array of apparel clothed all the bodies of the mob dancing into oblivion.
Boring, Lina thought. She sat in a booth with her laughing friends, conversing excitedly with one another. She felt like a complete wet blanket and out of place.
“Lina-chan!”
“Hm? Doushita?”
Her friends rolled their eyes and one said, “What’s the matter? You seem so down!”
She shrugged her shoulders and replied dully, “I dunno. Clubbing just doesn’t seem to be fun anymore.”
Her friend, Kimiko, pouted and said in a mock-whine, “Aw, Lina-chan, you’re no fun!”
“Right!” her other friends chimed in, laughing smiles on all their faces.
“Well, I can’t be Miss Personality all night. It would be just too cruel to rob you of the guys,” Lina replied, her rejoinder lacking her usual spark of jest.
Another girl, Kyoko, lifted her cigarette from her lips and said dryly, “That’s definitely not our Lina. What’s wrong?” Her dark eyes, rimmed in black eye makeup, regarded her with curious, but cynical eyes.
Lina sighed. When Kyoko asked, there was no escaping her question. The girl should have entered the police academy for training. Without a doubt, she would have been the best interrogator in all of Tokyo.
“Nothing.”
Kyoko snorted and took another drag from the cigarette. “Yeah, like we believe you.”
“I dunno...I mean, I believe her!” Makoto, who was suitably sloshed, giggled.
“Ok, who the hell gave liquor Makoto again?” Yusako demanded.
A round of denials went around the table until it stopped at Natsumi. She giggled and confessed, “I didn’t think a drink would get her that smashed!”
“So how much did you give her?” Kyoko questioned.
“Oh, only a vodka!”
“Makoto does fine with one shot of vodka. Why is she so drunk?” Lina asked.
“Well I dunno! I only gave her three shots of scotch!” Natsumi replied, slurring her words a bit. It was apparent she was quite intoxicated as well. “Or was it two martinis? Or four margaritas? Well...I don’t think I remember anymore!”
“Great. Now both Natsumi and Makoto are sloshed. Who’s going to take them home?” Yusako asked.
“We’ll take them home when the first person is ready to leave. It’s the most logical solution,” Miyuki piped in. “It doesn’t matter that they’re just a little bit drunk.”
“Okay! Problem solved!” Kimiko said cheerily. “Now, sexy, dark brooding type at the bar, three stools from the left from the blue-haired bartender.”
All their heads swiveled to check out who she had noticed and all eyebrows went up.
The guy in question was indeed very sexy and very much the dark brooding type. He was about twenty years old, dressed in a black shirt and pants and it suited his striking hair, a deep shade of silvery lavender. His sapphire-amethyst eyes stood out of his pale face and he had fine features, sculpted faultlessly. The hard line of his mouth marred the otherwise flawless face and had it not been the frenetic atmosphere and dark clothes, one could imagine it being the face of a fallen angel, utterly beautiful on the surface, yet whose soul was scarred within by sorrow and pain. Not only was his appearance extraordinary, but the personality he radiated, a kind of dark, faraway depression that invited utter fascination, attracting both sexes to unravel this enigma of youth, man, and near divinity entwined into one being.
A gasp caught in Lina’s throat as her eyes roamed over his slim figure. There was something indescribably beautiful about the young man that it almost overwhelmed her. And yet, there was something faintly familiar about him, a compelling force beckoning her to discover the inner workings of his mind.
Kyoko observed Lina’s spellbound gaze and smiling faintly, she inquired lightly, “Why don’t you go over and talk to him, Lina-chan?”
“Mou! Why does Lina get to? I wanna!” Makoto whined.
Miyuki shot a Look at Makoto, who silenced her complaints, and turned back to Lina. “You look like you’re interested, now why don’t you go and talk to him?”
Lina shook her head slightly. “No...it’s just that...he looks kind of familiar, that’s all.”
“Then that’s more the reason to!” Yusako and Natsumi chimed in unison, grinning widely.
“And there’s an empty stool next to him! It’s perfect!” Kimiko pointed out.
“Guys...really...” Lina said weakly.
Miyuki and Natsumi, who were both sitting next to her, hoisted her up by her arms and pushed her out of the booth.
“Just go and talk to him. It’s not like it’s going to kill you,” Kyoko said.
“Go for it, Lina-chan!” Makoto said, forgetting she had volunteered first.
“Ganbatte! Now go!” Miyuki encouraged. More motivation came from the other girls and finally, Lina, reminding herself that she was doing this only to appease her friends, took a step to the bar. She wove her way through the crowd, dancing wildly on the floor, trying her hardest to avoid invitations.
She arrived next to the guy and sat herself down on the stool. She cleared her throat nervously, a sign, which the bartender noticed, but not the man.
“Can I get you something?” the bartender, his black hair streaked with a shade of electric blue, asked with a smile.
“Ah, yeah. Perrier, please,” she said, stealing a glance at the guy, sipping his drink, seemingly oblivious to the heart-pounding music and mobs of people.
“Only Perrier? How about something stronger?” the bartender inquired flirtatiously.
Lina’s mood soured. This was the fifth guy who had propositioned her! She was sick of it all!
“No thanks,” she said flatly.
“Really, you won’t have a real drink? C’mon, it’s on the house.” He winked at her with a smirk.
The word free rolled across her mind and she acquiesced reluctantly, “All right then. Margarita, no salt on the rim.”
“That’s better! A pretty lady like yourself shouldn’t stay sober on a night like this.”
“...Whatever. Are you going to get my drink or not?” she asked brusquely. The only way to get rid of them was to be rude. And she didn’t give that much a damn about this guy’s opinion of her anyway.
“Okay, okay.”
The bartender went away to mix her drink and she muttered under her breath, “Hentai yaro. Thinks more with his dick than brains. Shit, I don’t even think he has brains, unless his balls count as brains.”
In her little encounter with the bartender, she forgot about the man sitting next to her who she was supposed to introduce herself to. But she had no need to now...
She heard a light chuckle next to her that sounded suspiciously familiar and she turned to the guy, whose shoulders were shaking slightly with silent laughter.
‘What’s wrong with him?’ she thought.
He lifted his head and looked at her with an amused grin dancing on his lips. A shock of surprise washed over his expression, then it settled back into an amused, sardonic mask. “Maa, maa. So it’s the waitress from the coffeehouse,” he observed.
She arched an eyebrow in skepticism and asked doubtfully, “Do I know you?”
“Looks like you don’t remember me. Tragic,” he noted dryly. “I’m known to you and your employees by the stunningly brilliant nickname of ‘Gloom Dude’. Also I talked to you earlier this afternoon and I usually don’t tip you guys, until today when you grilled me for being a stingy bastard.”
“You?” Lina exclaimed. “That’s what you’ve looked like under that disgusting sweatshirt all that time?”
He cracked the barest smirk and asked bitterly, “So? Would you have treated me differently if you’d seen my face?”
‘Touchy, isn’t he?’ she noted to herself. “No...it’s just kind of surprising, that’s all.”
“Miss? Your drink?” The bartender set down her margarita and she took it without a word to him.
He studied her face, searching for any sign of insincerity, and doing so, noticed the extraordinary personality of her face. She wasn’t devastatingly beautiful, but her delicate features and large, wide, flashing ruby eyes were lovely and her long mane of crimson hair waved around her heart-shaped face like an aureole. It wasn’t as much as her face that was attractive, but rather the sheer force and vitality of her personality. A fusion of demon and angel all in one being and one could expect one would not tire of her.
“Lina-chan!” Unknown to Lina, Yusako had sneaked up on them and decided to give her dear friend a hand in snagging such a sexy guy. Yes, it was her duty to help her friend when she was in need and what was better than a good man and a good lay plus a few margaritas to top it off? Yup, she was going to help her friend the best way she could.
“Yusako?” Lina mentally groaned. Yusako was a little tipsy now and she knew how loose her mouth could get when she was drunk.
“Yare, yare...so this is the guy? He’s cute! Such a bishounen, ne?” Yusako remarked to Lina audibly.
“Yusako ...” Lina said in a pleading tone.
“Hai? Oh, I forgot to introduce myself to him, didn’t I? I’m Shiratori Yusako! Douzo yoroshiku!” she said cheerily to him.
He arched an eyebrow and said dryly, “You’re Lina’s friend?”
“Hai! And you’re the guy she’s been eyeing for the past...” she turned to Lina and asked, “How long have you been looking at him? Maybe fifteen minutes?”
‘Oh God...shoot me now...’ Lina thought, wanting to sink down into the floor. “Yusako, shouldn’t you go back to the girls?”
“Huh? Oh, they told me to get drinks and help you out! I think I should help you first!” She turned back to him and inquired, “So Lina’s been eyeing you for fifteen minutes! Do you think she’s cute?”
His lips twitched at the corners as if he was trying to resist the urge to smile and replied in a monotonous voice that threatened to break with laughter, “Well, I can’t be the judge of that yet.”
“Oh...does that mean you’re gay? Damn...all the good men in Tokyo are either gay or hentai. That’s too bad, Lina-chan. He was so bishounen too; he must have had some cute friends that he could have introduced to the rest of us single gals. Oh well...let’s go and we’ll try to find you another lay for the night...” Yusako rambled on. It didn’t occur to her in her befuddled daze that Lina signaling her to shut up.
The guy was obviously trying his hardest not to laugh, but it was apparent by the shaking of his shoulders that he was laughing silently.
All Lina wanted to do was throttle Yusako and kill herself. Seppuku must be less embarrassing and painful than this.
“Yusako!” Lina nearly screamed.
“Hm? Hai, Lina-chan?” Yusako broke out of her meandering chatter and looked up expectantly at Lina with fuzzy eyes.
“Please. Shut. Up.”
Yusako’s eyes blurred with tears and she sniffed loudly.
Lina grabbed onto this chance to leave and said to him, “Sorry, my friend’s having some trouble. Don’t believe what she said earlier. She’s drunk.”
“All right...” he said, a bare smirk playing around his mouth.
Arrrgggghhhh! That was obviously a sign he didn’t believe her. Time for her to make her exit. “Bye,” she said shortly. She snatched Yusako’s wrist and began to drag her friend back across the crazy dance floor to their booth.
Then she heard him say, “Nice talking to you both.”
‘Yeah right...’ she thought. This was quite possibly the most humiliating encounter with a male she ever had, and not to mention, she had to meet the guy and serve him coffee everyday after that! Or if she was lucky, he wouldn’t show up at all and all she was left to deal with was the complete mortification that this guy was driven away by her and her friends. And she didn’t even know his name...
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Lina yawned; it was five a.m. She was still stuck at the club because her friends refused to leave and she needed to borrow Kimiko’s rail card, but Kimiko refused to unless she stayed.
“Ha! You lost! You drink!” Miyuki gloated.
“Mou! You win every time!” Natsumi pouted, but she slammed back another shot of vodka anyway and said, “Okay, again!”
“Hontou ni? Don’t you want to admit defeat?” Miyuki asked, smirking. The two were playing a drinking game and Natsumi was losing heavily.
“Hell NO!” Natsumi refused flatly.
“Okay, but you’re just going to get a hangover tomorrow!”
“Are you guys going to be at that any longer?” Lina interrupted.
The two turned to her, their eyes owlishly large, and shook their heads emphatically. They giggled and returned to their drinking game.
She groaned and slumped down in her chair, throwing back another shot of tequila. It was a horrible night. She was bored out of her mind again. The music was still blasting out of the speakers and people were dancing, although the crowd had thinned a bit.
Kimiko and Makoto were both dancing with guys on the dance floor, Kyoko was chatting with an old friend of hers, and Yusako was over at the bar, talking to a half-gaijin bartender whose hair was a brilliant shade silver with icy argent-blue eyes.
She closed her eyes for a moment to shut out the flashing lights and the frenetic activity around her. She was so tired...
When she opened them, she saw him. ‘What the hell?’
He smiled slightly and leaned down to her, quite close. She discerned a flush, perhaps a result of his alcohol consumption, to his pale skin as the distance between them decreased. She felt her own face grow warm and she froze, her own heartbeat drowning out the beat of the music.
“My name is Zelgadiss,” he whispered to her. He stepped back and walked out of the club, not even glancing over his shoulder to catch one last look of her.
If he had, he would have seen a dazed and furiously blushing Lina, the same thought whirling around in her mind.
So his name was Zelgadiss...
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Glossary (Please don't take these as concrete meanings, I'm putting down what I remember and I'm NOT a student of Japanese, so I'm not exactly sure.)
Shinjuku - a district in Tokyo
Mou - a light expression of annoyance (not exactly a swear word, something like "Shoot!" or "Darn!")
Enkai - deep sea; ocean (^_^ hint, hint)
Maa, maa - Well, well
Ginza - another district of Tokyo, known for its clubs and shopping. (A VERY cool place, from what I've heard)
chan - an honorific for people to use, usually indicating a familiarity and fondess for the person whose name -chan is attached to. Used a lot among the elementary school kids and students, less use as age increases. Females use it MUCH more than males, but there's no real rule against using it for a guy.
Doushita - What is it?
Ganbatte - Good luck or Go for it
Hentai yaro - perverted bastard (or a rude form of perverted/abnormal guy)
Yare, yare - My, my or well, well
Douzo yoroshiku - "Pleased to make your acquaintance."
Hai - yes
Bishounen (Bishonen)- literally means "beautiful boy/guy"
Hontou ni - really
Gaijin - foreigner (referring to everyone BUT Japanese)
*yawns* Please excuse any grammatical or spelling errors, my eyes feel like they're going to fall out now. If have any comments whatsoever, be it comments or constructive critcism, it's welcome.
Okay, sorry if all those terms were confusing, I apologize if they puzzled you. Ahhh...I hope this fic won't drag on forever because this was intended to be a fluffy romantic fic, but the idea began expanding when I started to write. Prepare for some angst, that's all I have to say.
~ Em-chan