Disclaimer: I don't own nothing.
Chapter 1: A Handout
"Get out and don't come back unless you can pay up!" the burly man bellowed as he slammed the steel door shut.
"Shit! I'm down to my last 100 bucks," Tsukasa muttered to himself.
He picked up the meager few possessions he owned strewn over the pavement. It wasn't the first time this had happened. Actually, it was the sixth time in four months he had found himself homeless. When funds got tight and there was no way to avoid the landlords pestering any longer, he found himself picking up his dirty boxers from the gutter.
"I guess it's time to start looking for a job," he sighed as he slung his duffel bag over his shoulder and began to walk down the long, narrow alleyway. It was relatively quiet in the neighborhood that night. The only sounds you could hear was the cracking of glass breaking, screaming babies, and women yelling at their husbands, boyfriends or whoever.
From the corner, a dark figure emerged from the darkness behind Tsukasa. He stopped sensing someone approaching him. It wasn't the first time a man like him had approached him n the cloak of darkness and secrecy. "What do you want?" he asked in annoyance. He shifted his bag back up onto his shoulder.
"Are you ready to come home yet?" the shadow gruffly asked in between the screams and the sounds of the television from the windows above. He took another step closer revealing himself dressed in a long black trench coat, sunglasses, and hat.
Tsukasa indignantly stared at his reflection looking back at him in through the lenses of the sunglasses. The man's face was stoic and expressionless like all the others. For as long as he could remember, none of them ever had any distinguishing features. It was if his family mass-produced them like clones one after another. The same hair, same clothes, same dull voice. He gritted his teeth together somewhat hoping this would start a fight. "Never. Tell her to give this up. I'm never going back. I would rather die rotting on the street than go back to that bitch."
The man just respectfully nodded his head. "I will tell her your message." He stepped back and immersed himself into the darkness with some inhuman grace.
Tsukasa looked ahead at the dim street road ahead. The light above flickered against his face. He turned to his left and right trying to decided which way to go. The sound of a nearby gunshot made his heart jump a little. Seeing as how it came from the right he chose to turn to the left. "Man, I need a drink."
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"Ugh," Tsukasa groaned as he stretched his body out against the cold, hard wooden bench. A sharp jabbing pain shot up his spine pulsing to his brain making him wince in agony. His nose crinkled at the smell of the stench burning in his nostrils. He rolled over trying to avoid the smell, but it still lingered in the air. That was when the realization hit him that the smell was coming from him. Spending the night sleeping on a park bench wasn't exactly something that would leave a person smelling like a bed of roses. It had already been two days since he had last had a shower. He spent the day before scoping out the area for some kind of work.
However, he only met the same response from each prospective employer. Who would hire someone with no background information, no home address, and no references? With no money, he was forced to wander the streets in search of some refuge, which lead to his current resting place of a barren park bench. He sat upright and rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes.
A little boy ran past stopping at the sight of the young homeless man. His youthful exuberance allowed his curiosities to get the better of him. He hesitantly approached him holding an apple in his hand.
"Hey, mister. You can have this if you want." The boy extended the gift towards him.
A gentle smile replaced the scowl on his face. It was really rather pathetic to be forced to accept charity from a child. He waved his hand as a sign of rejection to the offer, but the sudden rumble from his stomach betrayed his act of pride. "Thank you," he answered in a muffled voice.
"Get away from my child,' a woman shrilly screamed snatching the little boy away. "How many times do I have to tell you to stay away from strangers?!"
The little boy dumbly looked up at his panicked mother as she continued to rant on about the dangers of strangers. He turned his head around to look back at Tsukasa cheerfully waving, "Goodbye, mister!" His mother only jerked harder on his hand to yank him away.
Tsukasa weakly waved back at the little boy ignoring his mother's warnings. He rubbed the smooth skin of the apple and took a large bite out of it letting the juices drip onto his hand. He greedily devoured it to the point where the core was barely left to be found. He glanced over to the direction of where the mother and child had walked away and his eyes widened at the sight of them returning. She was still screaming about something, but this time a man was beside her. Tsukasa squinted his eyes to get a better view of who was coming, and at the discovery of the man being a cop to haul his ass to jail as some kind of child molester really woke him up more than before. He grabbed his bag from under his seat and made a mad dash out of the park gates.
It may sound kind of sick, but I chose this life for myself. By the way I look and smell right now, it's hard to believe that I used to live in a mansion surrounded by maids and butlers. I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth. Actually, it was pure platinum, but that's besides the point. My full name is Doumyouji Tsukasa. The name Doumyouji strike a bell? Yep, that's me Doumyouji as in Doumyouji Corp., owner of twenty five oil wells, eighteen diamond mines, thirty five television stations over the world, fifty five star worldwide Maple hotels... Yes, the list could go one for days. So, you must be wondering why the hell I am living on the street. I was just about to get to that.
This year I am 23 years old. I'm a little too old to be running away form home. Up until a few moths ago, I was living what most people would call the good life. I was on my way to doing what everyone always expected me to be, the heir to a massive empire, a captain of industry. What do I do when the time for me to step up to the bat comes? I run like the dumb piece of shit my mother always said I was. Do I regret my choices? Not really.
You have to understand the dynamics of my home life. This might sound a little cliché, but I really am the product of a dysfunctional family. No, I'm not trying to sound like a whiny little rich kid. Let's just say that I've spent enough years and money in therapy to be able to say, "Mother, you can not control me. I am my own man." It's always easier to say it in front of a shrink that the actual person, though. Excuse me, for getting a little ahead of myself. Let's get back to my little inner monologue. Well, I guess you could say that from the outside we were the typical Japanese nuclear family, a mother, father, daughter, and a son. Growing up in this picture perfect family wasn't always the easiest thing in the world. My father was never the sitcom father who worked 9-5 to come home to a hot dinner cooked by his loving wife. I rarely ever saw my father. He was always abroad in some country doing whatever it was that he did. I don't think I ever spoke more than 10 words to him in one sitting. In the last 23 years of my life, the only times I had ever spoken to him was during the annual birthday or Christmas phone call where he would just absent mindedly wish me luck on my future endeavors. It was always the same vague crap. He probably read it off some pre-made script where it said 'insert name' at all the right parts.
My mother, you ask? I think if you looked for the word devil in the dictionary, you would see her picture. I mean my father was tolerable in his indifference, but my mother really wanted to smother me to death. She made my childhood a living hell filled with enriching lessons to further my expansive knowledge of the world making me into a better well-rounded person. So, I wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but I tried. Nothing I ever did was good enough for her. She wanted to control me like a puppet making sure I didn't stray from the right path, her path she had deemed for me. Half the time, she wasn't even there to see my accomplishments, but always made it in time to catch my failures. Yeah, I have mother issues. Well, I sort of couldn't blame the woman for finding some obsessive hobby, which was me. It was a pretty well known fact that my father had a penchant for the hired help. My mother kept her silence all those years standing outside in the hall listening to the sounds coming from her own bedroom door. Trying to play fire with fire didn't seem to make it any better. She had her share of houseboys and drivers to fill up her own little black book.
In all this insanity, there was one person, though who didn't make it seem so bad. That was my sister, Tsubaki. Friends were something I lacked. Constantly being groomed to take over a multi-billion dollar corporation left little room to socialize outside of my home. Tsubaki was my only friend. Instead of me against our mother, it was the two of us. We were a united front. Usually Tsubaki was the one who could get my mother to back off. She is actually one of the few people in this world I can say I admire. Then again a part of that admiration comes from fear. She could beat me till I was senseless and thankfully she did or I would have ended up some wimpy prick that squealed at the slightest punch. She made me strong and pushed me to fight back, break bones, and not fear the sight of blood. It was all pretty okay having Tsubaki around that is until my mother saw her as a bad influence. She found some rich old dude and married her off like some kind of prized cow to the highest bidder. The day she was shipped off, I was left alone with no one to protect me anymore.
Now this all leads up to my current predicament. I just finished university and was in the middle of the process of training. Everything was going as planned. I was pretty compliant with the idea of taking over my father's role. Then the real kick in the ass came. She found me a girl I was supposed to marry. Ok. That was it. I drew the line there. She brought in this scrawny monkey girl introducing me as my future wife. She said in time I would get used to the idea. She thought she could replace my sister with some stupid bimbo. The worst apart of it was she thought I couldn't take care of the company. She somehow convinced my father or rather blackmailed him into turning it all over to her. Like hell I was going to spend the next 30 so years waiting for that old bag to keel over to take what was rightfully mine all along.
I still remember marching up to his door ready to lay it all out for him, but someone was already there. I stopped at the sight of blood oozing out from beneath the door onto my feet. I swung the door open to see my mother holding the smoking gun, my half naked father hiding behind a chair, and his dead lover face down in a pool of her own blood. The screams had no affect on me anymore. All I knew was that I had to get out of there. I think the shock hit them so hard that they didn't even hear the sound of my footsteps nor did they notice my appearance at the door. I ran after that. I grabbed what money I had in my wallet, a few clothes, and left that hell. The worst part of it all was the only few words I heard my mother utter," It's not the first time we've had to dump a dead whore."
All I knew was that I wasn't going back to that shit. So, I made a made a run for it. She's tried to look for me a few times in her typical rich woman fashion. She believes I'm rebelling against the marriage, but she knows now I was there. I'm the only witness that could bring them down. They brought me into this world and I have the power to take them out of it. Why didn't I go to the cops? Well, let's just say with our family money I would most likely find myself in the intense psych ward of some mental institute. Silence is something that can be easily bought. So, here I am trying to avoid the lesser of two evils. One, I go back and pretend nothing happened and end up another one of her flying monkeys always watching my back in case a bullet finds it's way there from my demented mother. Two, I stay on the streets without any of their help and die some nameless face on the street. I'll take the latter.
Tsukasa hastened his steps away down the street ignoring the strange looks of disgust coming from people. The once smiling and welcoming salespeople standing by the entrances of their lavish boutiques now looked right past him as if he were nothing. He was nothing more than a threat to their goods as a suspected shoplifter. He stood outside the window looking in at all the clothing he could have once had with a flick of his gold card. Nowadays fashion had to take a back seat to nourishment. Tsukasa looked up at the sky and released a heavy sigh. It looked like it was going to be another long day of circling jobs in the paper. He spun around to run a way from the temptation to go back to his old life.
"Hey! Watch where you're going?!" a longhaired man yelled at Tsukasa as they knocked into each other. He stepped back to take a better look at the rather disheveled looking man who had the nerve to bump into him and not say anything.
Tsukasa just glared at him and walked away without apologizing.
The man stood on the street rubbing his shoulder where the wall like man had bumped into him. In his hand, he carried two very large shopping bags filled with clothes for himself and his companion. He blended in with the district wearing a pair of back slacks and a rather flashy designer shirt. Although he wore the brands to show off his wealth, it was quite obvious it was all an act like the kind that poor people put on to look rich. He was just another victim of new money not truly understanding the subtlety required to achieve the elitist look.
"Let's go, Akira! I'm hungry," the girl beside him whined as she tugged on his arm. She pulled back her short hair into a ponytail and smoothed out her short mini skirt that barely covered her more private areas. Her top hugged every curve on her body with a deep v-neck that plunged down showing her cleavage to anyone who looked in her direction. Her face was covered in a thick bold mask of cosmetics. It looked like she used everything and anything on her face like a painted china doll. She stared at the direction where her friend was looking at. "Do you know him?" she asked pointing a finger.
Akira snapped out of his thoughts. "Huh? You're hungry again? Sakurako, we just ate two hours ago!" he gasped in disbelief. "I can't believe someone so tiny like you could eat so much."
"Shut the hell up!" she snapped back. "It was your idea to get up at noon to go shopping for some new clothes. I would have preferred to stay in bed. We've got a long night of work ahead of us. Plus I worked up quite an appetite after last night."
Akira only nodded his head in agreement. "Fine. You win. Let's go get something to eat then. Stay in bed? You mean that guy I saw sneaking out of your room this morning?! You must be losing your mind. He is everything you've ever stayed away from. Bad hair, ugly clothes, on the short side, awkward. What the hell did you see in him?"
Sakurako revealed a smug little smile. "When the lights are out it doesn't really matter. You know how I've been going for looks this entire time. I've learned that the umm...less attractive ones are sometimes quite 'well endowed'. When I saw it I almost screamed. I didn't think it would even fit. You should have seen it. It must have been at least..."
Akira cupped a hand over her mouth to shut her up. "I don't need to hear anymore of your sexual trysts, ok. I'm sorry I asked. Let's go before I lose my appetite."
"Fine," she shrugged. "It really was enormous," she giggled.
"Jeez, remind me to never ask again." He grabbed her hand and led her down the street to the nearest restaurant.
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Tsukasa managed to find himself a seat in a rather run down diner. It was more of a dive than anything containing a few cranky old waitresses huddled together talking about the latest soaps. The moment he entered they stopped talking for a moment to give him the once over with their eyes. Seeing as how he didn't look like a big tipper, they turned back to their little huddle and continued squabbling like a pack of squawking chickens. He sat down and opened up the menu trying to decide on what to order. Everything appeared to be made of pure grease. In disgust, he put down the menu and picked up the metal napkin holder to look at his reflection.
I'm a mess. Well, what would you expect after spending the night on a dirty park bench. It'd be quite funny if I were to go see my so-called fiancé right now. I would just walk up to her and say, "How's about you and me go share something from the dumpster out back and then spend the night under the stars in my cardboard box." Yep, that'll sure impress the ladies.
He put down the napkins and ran his fingers through his matted curly locks.
I should try to clean up a bit if I'm going to look for work today. No one likes to hire a smelly person.
He took in his surroundings wondering if anyone would mind he occupied the bathroom for too long.
No one wants to be interrupted while in the shower.
Seeing as how the place was pretty much dead, he grabbed his bag and headed for the men's room to clean himself up.
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Akira ducked into the nearest eatery to try to shut Sakurako up. If he had to listen to one more story about her sexual escapades he was gonna retch right on the street. He liked his good pornographic story once in a while, but hers were too graphic for his tastes. She was too creepy with her cosplay and S&M antics.
"Shit! I don't have any more money. Do you have any?" Sakurako hissed under her breath. She reached into her purse and pulled out a few coins.
"Don't worry. I'll take care of it."
He pushed her into the booth and flashed a smile at one of the haggard waitress. One of them took notice of the young, charming man and hurried over to take their orders.
"What'll it be honey?" she asked brushing her hand across his thigh as she stood there.
Akira only shuddered at her advances. "Hmm... not really hungry now that I've seen you, beautiful. Just seeing you is enough to make me forget about food. Umm... I'll just have a cup of coffee. Black." He avoided looking her in the eyes for fear she would try to devour him then and there. He always had that affect on woman. It was becoming too hard to keep a straight face. If she spent one more minute in her vicinity he was sure he would gag. "What do you want Sakurako?"
Sakurako raised an eyebrow realizing what Akira was up to. The waitress turned to her with a scowl on her face as if the other woman in front of her was an immediate threat to her prey. Sakurako just dismissed her dirty looks and opened up the menu to read off her order. "OK. Give me a double cheeseburger, a side of fries, a side of onion rings, and a chocolate milk shake. For dessert, ummmm... how about a piece of pie with three scoops of vanilla ice cream on the side."
Akira grinned from across the table and turned to the waitress. "My little sister sure can eat. I just had to stop and feed her cavern of a pie hole," he laughed.
The waitress' scowl disappeared at the word, 'sister'. She put on a cheery smile and nodded her head. "Aaww...you're such a good brother to take your little sister out shopping," she cooed. She turned around with a little more bounce in her step to place her order. A few minutes later, she returned with their order and slipped her number into Akira's hand with a wink of her eye.
Akira just continued to smile while inside he was kicking and screaming to run out of the establishment. Sakurako ignored his him and dove into her food with a ferocity like a wild animal. When Akira finally managed to get the waitress to go away he turned to Sakurako and quickly looked away in horror.
"What?" she asked in between mouthfuls of food spilling out of her overflowing mouth. "You want some?"
He raised a hand to stop her from talking. "I'm going to the bathroom," he muttered as he stood up to walk away.
"Fine. More for me then," she greedily smiled as she shoved a fistful of onion rings into her mouth before slurping down more of her milk shake.
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Tsukasa stood in the front of the grimy mirror trying to style his hair in some sort of respectable style. It just seemed to flop from one side to the other. It had been a long time since his last hair cut and it was now growing past his ears. It was a good thing his hair was curly so, it looked much shorter than it actually was.
Akira pushed the door open preparing himself for the stench of the men's room, but to his surprise he walked in on a shirtless man in front of the mirror combing his hair. He didn't seem to take the least bit of notice of him, so Akira just decided to proceed with his business. As he relieved himself in the urinal, he glanced up at the safety mirror stealing glances at the man cleaning himself. He couldn't help, but smile thinking about how he once was like him. He finished up his business, washed his hands and walked out without ever saying a word.
Tsukasa sighed in relief as the weird guy left the men's room. He couldn't help but notice the way that guy kept stealing glances of him from the urinal. Then he oddly smiled that made it even more uncomfortable. The bastard was probably jerking off while staring at me or something. He dug into his bag and pulled out what seemed like a fresh shirt or as fresh of a shirt he could ever get his hand on and buttoned it up. He only hoped that when he stepped out that weirdo would be gone. He swung open the bathroom door and to his dismay the guy was sitting at a booth with what appeared to be some starving girl gorging herself. Wanting to get out of that man's view, he chose to sit at the counter so he wouldn't have to meet that guy's leering eyes.
"Yo, Akira! What's so interesting over there?"
"Nothing. I was just thinking about the old days."
The playful glimmer in Sakurako's eyes dulled. "Doesn't seem like it's much of anything to smile about," she sneered as she pushed her plate away and crossed her arms over her chest. She turned her head to steal a glance at Akira's object of attention. "I know that look in your eyes. Don't even think about it. You know she won't go for it. Remember what happened the last time you tried to recruit a newbie. I couldn't deal with another druggie."
"He doesn't look like a druggie. His eyes aren't blood shot. No tremors. He looks healthy as can be to me. He kind of reminds me of myself a few years ago."
"Whatever. Just say I didn't warn you. Do whatever the hell you want. I'm not going to try to stop you. He's your wreck."
"I liked it better when your mouth was full and you couldn't speak."
"Shut the fuck up, you ass!" Sakurako snapped back. "I'm going home to get ready for work. If I were you I'd drop the idea." She stood up and snatched up her shopping bags storming out of the diner leaving Akira alone.
Tsukasa turned towards the door to see the girl with that weirdo storm out. Based on the way she was dressed she probably was one of his 'girls'. His imagination ran wild coming to the conclusion that either the guy was a pimp or some kind of drug dealer. Whatever he was, he had better keep his distance.
The waitress gravitated back to Akira's lonely table coyly batting her eyelashes. "Looks like the little one threw a tantrum," she giggled. "Good for me because now I have you all for myself."
Akira looked up at her trying his best to stay calm. "I'm a lucky guy to have a beauty like you all to myself."
She pulled out the check from her apron and placed it on the table. "That'll be $15, sweetie."
Now was the time for Akira to follow the scripted scene he had gone through so many times. He reached down into his pockets and frantically began to pat himself down. He ducked under the table and scoured the seats with his eyes. "That little! Umm...I normally wouldn't do this, but it appears my little sister took my wallet when she left. Do you think you could just let me slide this one time?" he seductively purred into her ear earning him some high pitched giggles from the older woman.
She looked up at the cook who was also the proprietor of the establishment now scowling at the penniless free loader owing him money. She bent down and whispered into his ear, "Don't worry, I'll take care of it. How about next time you pay for me? I'll treat you for lunch, if you treat for dinner," she grinned.
"How about tomorrow night," he replied.
"You've got my number."
Akira stood up and stretched his arms up into the air in victory. Works every time, he smiled to himself. He was about to walk through the door, but something caught his eye. That guy he from the bathroom was looking through the want ads. It had to be a sign. Taking this as his cue, he sauntered over to the counter to take a seat beside him.
Tsukasa cringed the moment he heard that guy sit beside him. All he could think of was that if he tried to make an advance on him he wouldn't hold back. He had to be some sick pervert.
"Excuse me?" Akira politely asked.
"Huh?' Tsukasa grunted in reply trying to show him he had no interest in whatever he had to say.
"Are you looking for a job?" Akira pushed down the newspaper the man held up to his nose trying to get his attention.
"Yeah."
"I can get you one if you like. From the way you look, it seems you could use the help. You have the build and look to fit into our clientele's tastes. The work isn't too hard and the pay is good. On a good night you can make up to $1,000. So, how about it?"
Tsukasa bit back his lip finally giving into his rage. What the hell kind of proposition was he making anyway. "Look! I don't go for that kind of work. Maybe your girls do, but I'm not that kind of man. I don't sell my body and I'm not in any way ever gonna be a drug dealer. So get the fuck away from me!"
"Whoa!" Akira jumped out of his seat in surprise and backed away. "I think we went about this the wrong way? My name is Akira. I'm not a drug dealer, I'm not a pimp, and already the answer to your last question is no, I'm not gay. My offer is legit. Here's my card, if you still want it. Give me a call after you've thought about it. I run a club and I thought you would make a good waiter or bartender." Akira dug his hands in his pockets and started to walk away.
The card stared up at him in screaming red lettering, "Last Resort". Underneath the background of flames he saw "Manager: Mimasaka Akira." Tsukasa stared down at the card wondering if this guy was serious. A waiter? By the time he came to a decision, it was too late. The guy had left. Tsukasa grabbed the card and ran out the door. He jumped out into the street and looked in every direction for any sign of Akira. "Damn," he muttered.
"I knew you would be interested," Akira smirked as he came walked out from around the corner.
Tsukasa lowered his head in embarrassment. "Are you really serious about $1,000 yen a night?"
"Yep. You should be overjoyed that I'm offering you a job at one of Japans hottest night spots." Akira walked past him and down the street.
"Hey! Who said I accepted your offer?"
"You're an even bigger idiot than I thought if you do. So, are you coming or not?"
He ran to catch up with him. "Yes, but if it's not what you say it is there'll be hell to pay."
"Fine, fine, fine." He waved a hand dismissing the threats. "Follow me. I was about to go to work anyway. Oh yeah, what's your name?"
"Tsukasa."
Akira smiled and stretched out a hand, which Tsukasa accepted. "Nice to meet you Tsukasa." he shook his hand vigorously. "I think this will work out quite nicely."
Chapter 1: A Handout
"Get out and don't come back unless you can pay up!" the burly man bellowed as he slammed the steel door shut.
"Shit! I'm down to my last 100 bucks," Tsukasa muttered to himself.
He picked up the meager few possessions he owned strewn over the pavement. It wasn't the first time this had happened. Actually, it was the sixth time in four months he had found himself homeless. When funds got tight and there was no way to avoid the landlords pestering any longer, he found himself picking up his dirty boxers from the gutter.
"I guess it's time to start looking for a job," he sighed as he slung his duffel bag over his shoulder and began to walk down the long, narrow alleyway. It was relatively quiet in the neighborhood that night. The only sounds you could hear was the cracking of glass breaking, screaming babies, and women yelling at their husbands, boyfriends or whoever.
From the corner, a dark figure emerged from the darkness behind Tsukasa. He stopped sensing someone approaching him. It wasn't the first time a man like him had approached him n the cloak of darkness and secrecy. "What do you want?" he asked in annoyance. He shifted his bag back up onto his shoulder.
"Are you ready to come home yet?" the shadow gruffly asked in between the screams and the sounds of the television from the windows above. He took another step closer revealing himself dressed in a long black trench coat, sunglasses, and hat.
Tsukasa indignantly stared at his reflection looking back at him in through the lenses of the sunglasses. The man's face was stoic and expressionless like all the others. For as long as he could remember, none of them ever had any distinguishing features. It was if his family mass-produced them like clones one after another. The same hair, same clothes, same dull voice. He gritted his teeth together somewhat hoping this would start a fight. "Never. Tell her to give this up. I'm never going back. I would rather die rotting on the street than go back to that bitch."
The man just respectfully nodded his head. "I will tell her your message." He stepped back and immersed himself into the darkness with some inhuman grace.
Tsukasa looked ahead at the dim street road ahead. The light above flickered against his face. He turned to his left and right trying to decided which way to go. The sound of a nearby gunshot made his heart jump a little. Seeing as how it came from the right he chose to turn to the left. "Man, I need a drink."
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"Ugh," Tsukasa groaned as he stretched his body out against the cold, hard wooden bench. A sharp jabbing pain shot up his spine pulsing to his brain making him wince in agony. His nose crinkled at the smell of the stench burning in his nostrils. He rolled over trying to avoid the smell, but it still lingered in the air. That was when the realization hit him that the smell was coming from him. Spending the night sleeping on a park bench wasn't exactly something that would leave a person smelling like a bed of roses. It had already been two days since he had last had a shower. He spent the day before scoping out the area for some kind of work.
However, he only met the same response from each prospective employer. Who would hire someone with no background information, no home address, and no references? With no money, he was forced to wander the streets in search of some refuge, which lead to his current resting place of a barren park bench. He sat upright and rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes.
A little boy ran past stopping at the sight of the young homeless man. His youthful exuberance allowed his curiosities to get the better of him. He hesitantly approached him holding an apple in his hand.
"Hey, mister. You can have this if you want." The boy extended the gift towards him.
A gentle smile replaced the scowl on his face. It was really rather pathetic to be forced to accept charity from a child. He waved his hand as a sign of rejection to the offer, but the sudden rumble from his stomach betrayed his act of pride. "Thank you," he answered in a muffled voice.
"Get away from my child,' a woman shrilly screamed snatching the little boy away. "How many times do I have to tell you to stay away from strangers?!"
The little boy dumbly looked up at his panicked mother as she continued to rant on about the dangers of strangers. He turned his head around to look back at Tsukasa cheerfully waving, "Goodbye, mister!" His mother only jerked harder on his hand to yank him away.
Tsukasa weakly waved back at the little boy ignoring his mother's warnings. He rubbed the smooth skin of the apple and took a large bite out of it letting the juices drip onto his hand. He greedily devoured it to the point where the core was barely left to be found. He glanced over to the direction of where the mother and child had walked away and his eyes widened at the sight of them returning. She was still screaming about something, but this time a man was beside her. Tsukasa squinted his eyes to get a better view of who was coming, and at the discovery of the man being a cop to haul his ass to jail as some kind of child molester really woke him up more than before. He grabbed his bag from under his seat and made a mad dash out of the park gates.
It may sound kind of sick, but I chose this life for myself. By the way I look and smell right now, it's hard to believe that I used to live in a mansion surrounded by maids and butlers. I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth. Actually, it was pure platinum, but that's besides the point. My full name is Doumyouji Tsukasa. The name Doumyouji strike a bell? Yep, that's me Doumyouji as in Doumyouji Corp., owner of twenty five oil wells, eighteen diamond mines, thirty five television stations over the world, fifty five star worldwide Maple hotels... Yes, the list could go one for days. So, you must be wondering why the hell I am living on the street. I was just about to get to that.
This year I am 23 years old. I'm a little too old to be running away form home. Up until a few moths ago, I was living what most people would call the good life. I was on my way to doing what everyone always expected me to be, the heir to a massive empire, a captain of industry. What do I do when the time for me to step up to the bat comes? I run like the dumb piece of shit my mother always said I was. Do I regret my choices? Not really.
You have to understand the dynamics of my home life. This might sound a little cliché, but I really am the product of a dysfunctional family. No, I'm not trying to sound like a whiny little rich kid. Let's just say that I've spent enough years and money in therapy to be able to say, "Mother, you can not control me. I am my own man." It's always easier to say it in front of a shrink that the actual person, though. Excuse me, for getting a little ahead of myself. Let's get back to my little inner monologue. Well, I guess you could say that from the outside we were the typical Japanese nuclear family, a mother, father, daughter, and a son. Growing up in this picture perfect family wasn't always the easiest thing in the world. My father was never the sitcom father who worked 9-5 to come home to a hot dinner cooked by his loving wife. I rarely ever saw my father. He was always abroad in some country doing whatever it was that he did. I don't think I ever spoke more than 10 words to him in one sitting. In the last 23 years of my life, the only times I had ever spoken to him was during the annual birthday or Christmas phone call where he would just absent mindedly wish me luck on my future endeavors. It was always the same vague crap. He probably read it off some pre-made script where it said 'insert name' at all the right parts.
My mother, you ask? I think if you looked for the word devil in the dictionary, you would see her picture. I mean my father was tolerable in his indifference, but my mother really wanted to smother me to death. She made my childhood a living hell filled with enriching lessons to further my expansive knowledge of the world making me into a better well-rounded person. So, I wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but I tried. Nothing I ever did was good enough for her. She wanted to control me like a puppet making sure I didn't stray from the right path, her path she had deemed for me. Half the time, she wasn't even there to see my accomplishments, but always made it in time to catch my failures. Yeah, I have mother issues. Well, I sort of couldn't blame the woman for finding some obsessive hobby, which was me. It was a pretty well known fact that my father had a penchant for the hired help. My mother kept her silence all those years standing outside in the hall listening to the sounds coming from her own bedroom door. Trying to play fire with fire didn't seem to make it any better. She had her share of houseboys and drivers to fill up her own little black book.
In all this insanity, there was one person, though who didn't make it seem so bad. That was my sister, Tsubaki. Friends were something I lacked. Constantly being groomed to take over a multi-billion dollar corporation left little room to socialize outside of my home. Tsubaki was my only friend. Instead of me against our mother, it was the two of us. We were a united front. Usually Tsubaki was the one who could get my mother to back off. She is actually one of the few people in this world I can say I admire. Then again a part of that admiration comes from fear. She could beat me till I was senseless and thankfully she did or I would have ended up some wimpy prick that squealed at the slightest punch. She made me strong and pushed me to fight back, break bones, and not fear the sight of blood. It was all pretty okay having Tsubaki around that is until my mother saw her as a bad influence. She found some rich old dude and married her off like some kind of prized cow to the highest bidder. The day she was shipped off, I was left alone with no one to protect me anymore.
Now this all leads up to my current predicament. I just finished university and was in the middle of the process of training. Everything was going as planned. I was pretty compliant with the idea of taking over my father's role. Then the real kick in the ass came. She found me a girl I was supposed to marry. Ok. That was it. I drew the line there. She brought in this scrawny monkey girl introducing me as my future wife. She said in time I would get used to the idea. She thought she could replace my sister with some stupid bimbo. The worst apart of it was she thought I couldn't take care of the company. She somehow convinced my father or rather blackmailed him into turning it all over to her. Like hell I was going to spend the next 30 so years waiting for that old bag to keel over to take what was rightfully mine all along.
I still remember marching up to his door ready to lay it all out for him, but someone was already there. I stopped at the sight of blood oozing out from beneath the door onto my feet. I swung the door open to see my mother holding the smoking gun, my half naked father hiding behind a chair, and his dead lover face down in a pool of her own blood. The screams had no affect on me anymore. All I knew was that I had to get out of there. I think the shock hit them so hard that they didn't even hear the sound of my footsteps nor did they notice my appearance at the door. I ran after that. I grabbed what money I had in my wallet, a few clothes, and left that hell. The worst part of it all was the only few words I heard my mother utter," It's not the first time we've had to dump a dead whore."
All I knew was that I wasn't going back to that shit. So, I made a made a run for it. She's tried to look for me a few times in her typical rich woman fashion. She believes I'm rebelling against the marriage, but she knows now I was there. I'm the only witness that could bring them down. They brought me into this world and I have the power to take them out of it. Why didn't I go to the cops? Well, let's just say with our family money I would most likely find myself in the intense psych ward of some mental institute. Silence is something that can be easily bought. So, here I am trying to avoid the lesser of two evils. One, I go back and pretend nothing happened and end up another one of her flying monkeys always watching my back in case a bullet finds it's way there from my demented mother. Two, I stay on the streets without any of their help and die some nameless face on the street. I'll take the latter.
Tsukasa hastened his steps away down the street ignoring the strange looks of disgust coming from people. The once smiling and welcoming salespeople standing by the entrances of their lavish boutiques now looked right past him as if he were nothing. He was nothing more than a threat to their goods as a suspected shoplifter. He stood outside the window looking in at all the clothing he could have once had with a flick of his gold card. Nowadays fashion had to take a back seat to nourishment. Tsukasa looked up at the sky and released a heavy sigh. It looked like it was going to be another long day of circling jobs in the paper. He spun around to run a way from the temptation to go back to his old life.
"Hey! Watch where you're going?!" a longhaired man yelled at Tsukasa as they knocked into each other. He stepped back to take a better look at the rather disheveled looking man who had the nerve to bump into him and not say anything.
Tsukasa just glared at him and walked away without apologizing.
The man stood on the street rubbing his shoulder where the wall like man had bumped into him. In his hand, he carried two very large shopping bags filled with clothes for himself and his companion. He blended in with the district wearing a pair of back slacks and a rather flashy designer shirt. Although he wore the brands to show off his wealth, it was quite obvious it was all an act like the kind that poor people put on to look rich. He was just another victim of new money not truly understanding the subtlety required to achieve the elitist look.
"Let's go, Akira! I'm hungry," the girl beside him whined as she tugged on his arm. She pulled back her short hair into a ponytail and smoothed out her short mini skirt that barely covered her more private areas. Her top hugged every curve on her body with a deep v-neck that plunged down showing her cleavage to anyone who looked in her direction. Her face was covered in a thick bold mask of cosmetics. It looked like she used everything and anything on her face like a painted china doll. She stared at the direction where her friend was looking at. "Do you know him?" she asked pointing a finger.
Akira snapped out of his thoughts. "Huh? You're hungry again? Sakurako, we just ate two hours ago!" he gasped in disbelief. "I can't believe someone so tiny like you could eat so much."
"Shut the hell up!" she snapped back. "It was your idea to get up at noon to go shopping for some new clothes. I would have preferred to stay in bed. We've got a long night of work ahead of us. Plus I worked up quite an appetite after last night."
Akira only nodded his head in agreement. "Fine. You win. Let's go get something to eat then. Stay in bed? You mean that guy I saw sneaking out of your room this morning?! You must be losing your mind. He is everything you've ever stayed away from. Bad hair, ugly clothes, on the short side, awkward. What the hell did you see in him?"
Sakurako revealed a smug little smile. "When the lights are out it doesn't really matter. You know how I've been going for looks this entire time. I've learned that the umm...less attractive ones are sometimes quite 'well endowed'. When I saw it I almost screamed. I didn't think it would even fit. You should have seen it. It must have been at least..."
Akira cupped a hand over her mouth to shut her up. "I don't need to hear anymore of your sexual trysts, ok. I'm sorry I asked. Let's go before I lose my appetite."
"Fine," she shrugged. "It really was enormous," she giggled.
"Jeez, remind me to never ask again." He grabbed her hand and led her down the street to the nearest restaurant.
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Tsukasa managed to find himself a seat in a rather run down diner. It was more of a dive than anything containing a few cranky old waitresses huddled together talking about the latest soaps. The moment he entered they stopped talking for a moment to give him the once over with their eyes. Seeing as how he didn't look like a big tipper, they turned back to their little huddle and continued squabbling like a pack of squawking chickens. He sat down and opened up the menu trying to decide on what to order. Everything appeared to be made of pure grease. In disgust, he put down the menu and picked up the metal napkin holder to look at his reflection.
I'm a mess. Well, what would you expect after spending the night on a dirty park bench. It'd be quite funny if I were to go see my so-called fiancé right now. I would just walk up to her and say, "How's about you and me go share something from the dumpster out back and then spend the night under the stars in my cardboard box." Yep, that'll sure impress the ladies.
He put down the napkins and ran his fingers through his matted curly locks.
I should try to clean up a bit if I'm going to look for work today. No one likes to hire a smelly person.
He took in his surroundings wondering if anyone would mind he occupied the bathroom for too long.
No one wants to be interrupted while in the shower.
Seeing as how the place was pretty much dead, he grabbed his bag and headed for the men's room to clean himself up.
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Akira ducked into the nearest eatery to try to shut Sakurako up. If he had to listen to one more story about her sexual escapades he was gonna retch right on the street. He liked his good pornographic story once in a while, but hers were too graphic for his tastes. She was too creepy with her cosplay and S&M antics.
"Shit! I don't have any more money. Do you have any?" Sakurako hissed under her breath. She reached into her purse and pulled out a few coins.
"Don't worry. I'll take care of it."
He pushed her into the booth and flashed a smile at one of the haggard waitress. One of them took notice of the young, charming man and hurried over to take their orders.
"What'll it be honey?" she asked brushing her hand across his thigh as she stood there.
Akira only shuddered at her advances. "Hmm... not really hungry now that I've seen you, beautiful. Just seeing you is enough to make me forget about food. Umm... I'll just have a cup of coffee. Black." He avoided looking her in the eyes for fear she would try to devour him then and there. He always had that affect on woman. It was becoming too hard to keep a straight face. If she spent one more minute in her vicinity he was sure he would gag. "What do you want Sakurako?"
Sakurako raised an eyebrow realizing what Akira was up to. The waitress turned to her with a scowl on her face as if the other woman in front of her was an immediate threat to her prey. Sakurako just dismissed her dirty looks and opened up the menu to read off her order. "OK. Give me a double cheeseburger, a side of fries, a side of onion rings, and a chocolate milk shake. For dessert, ummmm... how about a piece of pie with three scoops of vanilla ice cream on the side."
Akira grinned from across the table and turned to the waitress. "My little sister sure can eat. I just had to stop and feed her cavern of a pie hole," he laughed.
The waitress' scowl disappeared at the word, 'sister'. She put on a cheery smile and nodded her head. "Aaww...you're such a good brother to take your little sister out shopping," she cooed. She turned around with a little more bounce in her step to place her order. A few minutes later, she returned with their order and slipped her number into Akira's hand with a wink of her eye.
Akira just continued to smile while inside he was kicking and screaming to run out of the establishment. Sakurako ignored his him and dove into her food with a ferocity like a wild animal. When Akira finally managed to get the waitress to go away he turned to Sakurako and quickly looked away in horror.
"What?" she asked in between mouthfuls of food spilling out of her overflowing mouth. "You want some?"
He raised a hand to stop her from talking. "I'm going to the bathroom," he muttered as he stood up to walk away.
"Fine. More for me then," she greedily smiled as she shoved a fistful of onion rings into her mouth before slurping down more of her milk shake.
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Tsukasa stood in the front of the grimy mirror trying to style his hair in some sort of respectable style. It just seemed to flop from one side to the other. It had been a long time since his last hair cut and it was now growing past his ears. It was a good thing his hair was curly so, it looked much shorter than it actually was.
Akira pushed the door open preparing himself for the stench of the men's room, but to his surprise he walked in on a shirtless man in front of the mirror combing his hair. He didn't seem to take the least bit of notice of him, so Akira just decided to proceed with his business. As he relieved himself in the urinal, he glanced up at the safety mirror stealing glances at the man cleaning himself. He couldn't help, but smile thinking about how he once was like him. He finished up his business, washed his hands and walked out without ever saying a word.
Tsukasa sighed in relief as the weird guy left the men's room. He couldn't help but notice the way that guy kept stealing glances of him from the urinal. Then he oddly smiled that made it even more uncomfortable. The bastard was probably jerking off while staring at me or something. He dug into his bag and pulled out what seemed like a fresh shirt or as fresh of a shirt he could ever get his hand on and buttoned it up. He only hoped that when he stepped out that weirdo would be gone. He swung open the bathroom door and to his dismay the guy was sitting at a booth with what appeared to be some starving girl gorging herself. Wanting to get out of that man's view, he chose to sit at the counter so he wouldn't have to meet that guy's leering eyes.
"Yo, Akira! What's so interesting over there?"
"Nothing. I was just thinking about the old days."
The playful glimmer in Sakurako's eyes dulled. "Doesn't seem like it's much of anything to smile about," she sneered as she pushed her plate away and crossed her arms over her chest. She turned her head to steal a glance at Akira's object of attention. "I know that look in your eyes. Don't even think about it. You know she won't go for it. Remember what happened the last time you tried to recruit a newbie. I couldn't deal with another druggie."
"He doesn't look like a druggie. His eyes aren't blood shot. No tremors. He looks healthy as can be to me. He kind of reminds me of myself a few years ago."
"Whatever. Just say I didn't warn you. Do whatever the hell you want. I'm not going to try to stop you. He's your wreck."
"I liked it better when your mouth was full and you couldn't speak."
"Shut the fuck up, you ass!" Sakurako snapped back. "I'm going home to get ready for work. If I were you I'd drop the idea." She stood up and snatched up her shopping bags storming out of the diner leaving Akira alone.
Tsukasa turned towards the door to see the girl with that weirdo storm out. Based on the way she was dressed she probably was one of his 'girls'. His imagination ran wild coming to the conclusion that either the guy was a pimp or some kind of drug dealer. Whatever he was, he had better keep his distance.
The waitress gravitated back to Akira's lonely table coyly batting her eyelashes. "Looks like the little one threw a tantrum," she giggled. "Good for me because now I have you all for myself."
Akira looked up at her trying his best to stay calm. "I'm a lucky guy to have a beauty like you all to myself."
She pulled out the check from her apron and placed it on the table. "That'll be $15, sweetie."
Now was the time for Akira to follow the scripted scene he had gone through so many times. He reached down into his pockets and frantically began to pat himself down. He ducked under the table and scoured the seats with his eyes. "That little! Umm...I normally wouldn't do this, but it appears my little sister took my wallet when she left. Do you think you could just let me slide this one time?" he seductively purred into her ear earning him some high pitched giggles from the older woman.
She looked up at the cook who was also the proprietor of the establishment now scowling at the penniless free loader owing him money. She bent down and whispered into his ear, "Don't worry, I'll take care of it. How about next time you pay for me? I'll treat you for lunch, if you treat for dinner," she grinned.
"How about tomorrow night," he replied.
"You've got my number."
Akira stood up and stretched his arms up into the air in victory. Works every time, he smiled to himself. He was about to walk through the door, but something caught his eye. That guy he from the bathroom was looking through the want ads. It had to be a sign. Taking this as his cue, he sauntered over to the counter to take a seat beside him.
Tsukasa cringed the moment he heard that guy sit beside him. All he could think of was that if he tried to make an advance on him he wouldn't hold back. He had to be some sick pervert.
"Excuse me?" Akira politely asked.
"Huh?' Tsukasa grunted in reply trying to show him he had no interest in whatever he had to say.
"Are you looking for a job?" Akira pushed down the newspaper the man held up to his nose trying to get his attention.
"Yeah."
"I can get you one if you like. From the way you look, it seems you could use the help. You have the build and look to fit into our clientele's tastes. The work isn't too hard and the pay is good. On a good night you can make up to $1,000. So, how about it?"
Tsukasa bit back his lip finally giving into his rage. What the hell kind of proposition was he making anyway. "Look! I don't go for that kind of work. Maybe your girls do, but I'm not that kind of man. I don't sell my body and I'm not in any way ever gonna be a drug dealer. So get the fuck away from me!"
"Whoa!" Akira jumped out of his seat in surprise and backed away. "I think we went about this the wrong way? My name is Akira. I'm not a drug dealer, I'm not a pimp, and already the answer to your last question is no, I'm not gay. My offer is legit. Here's my card, if you still want it. Give me a call after you've thought about it. I run a club and I thought you would make a good waiter or bartender." Akira dug his hands in his pockets and started to walk away.
The card stared up at him in screaming red lettering, "Last Resort". Underneath the background of flames he saw "Manager: Mimasaka Akira." Tsukasa stared down at the card wondering if this guy was serious. A waiter? By the time he came to a decision, it was too late. The guy had left. Tsukasa grabbed the card and ran out the door. He jumped out into the street and looked in every direction for any sign of Akira. "Damn," he muttered.
"I knew you would be interested," Akira smirked as he came walked out from around the corner.
Tsukasa lowered his head in embarrassment. "Are you really serious about $1,000 yen a night?"
"Yep. You should be overjoyed that I'm offering you a job at one of Japans hottest night spots." Akira walked past him and down the street.
"Hey! Who said I accepted your offer?"
"You're an even bigger idiot than I thought if you do. So, are you coming or not?"
He ran to catch up with him. "Yes, but if it's not what you say it is there'll be hell to pay."
"Fine, fine, fine." He waved a hand dismissing the threats. "Follow me. I was about to go to work anyway. Oh yeah, what's your name?"
"Tsukasa."
Akira smiled and stretched out a hand, which Tsukasa accepted. "Nice to meet you Tsukasa." he shook his hand vigorously. "I think this will work out quite nicely."