[yasuda yasutoshi]
RENT BOY ~ A DARK URBAN FAIRY TALE
Warning: NC-17 themes and non-consensual material
by ladyseishou
"I'm afraid, Nase-san, that we will be terminating your account with Club Twenty One and I must - reluctantly - ask you to leave in the company of these gentlemen."
Shindou reached out and grabbed Nase's wrist, pulling her behind him. "What's going on Mashiba-san? Nase-san has hired me for the day."
"I'm afraid that any previous engagements will have to be cancelled, Shindou-kun. Your special patron has decided to come visit you today."
Nase felt the boy go very still at the news.
"Today?"
Shindou was trembling. Nase opened her purse and took out the money that she had brought with her to buy Shindou's time. Now seemed as good a time as any to spend it.
"You said sometime today, right Mashiba-san? Well this ought to buy a couple of hours right now." She put the money into his hand.
Mashiba's sour expression brightened considerably as he counted the bills.
"Good money after bad I say Nase-san. But I can't refuse a beautiful woman's request now can I? Two hours, Shindou. Make sure Nase-san gets her money's worth, understand?"
Nase took hold of Shindou's hand to squeeze it with encouragement. She had been able to buy them two hours. A lot could change in two hours.
Mashiba turned to leave, only to stop suddenly at the door. "And just in case, you suddenly decide to try something stupid Shindou-kun…" He snapped his fingers at his men. "I want all of Shindou-kun's clothes. Get them. I doubt that he'll need any of it to keep his lady friend entertained."
One went through the closet in the bathroom.
Mashiba waved the man out before snapping his fingers again at the other one, pointing at Shindou this time. The burly man stared down at the boy until Shindou pulled off the kimono, dropping it on the floor at the man's feet.
"Two hours, Shindou-kun. I'll be back later to escort Nase-san out before your special friend arrives."
++++++
Shindou sat on the bed, leaving the chair for Nase.
"Your special friend?" she asked, eyeing the scattered stones on the floor. She reached down to pick one up.
"You remember the rich and powerful guy? He's grown fond of me and likes to visit every now and then. I guess now it's not assault. It's more of a business transaction. Especially if he brings friends."
"Shindou-san, we'll think of something."
The boy fell back on the bed. "And do you want to know what's really pathetic?" Shindou made a sound of disgust. "As much as I really hate the guy, all I can think about is that I'm not going to make it to the Ou-ji tournament today."
"Ou-ji?" She picked up another stone and placed it in one of the plastic bowls.
"Ou-ji. That's what everyone calls Touya Akira. The Prince. His father is the Meijin."
"Master?"
Shindou sat up again and reached over the edge of the bed to pick up a black stone. "Yeah. Sai really admired the guy. He's probably the best." At Nase's puzzled look, he shrugged. "Meijin. It's just a title for a Go tournament. But the winner is given a big cash prize. There are about seven big tournaments and Touya Meijin has won five of them."
"And the tournament this afternoon?"
"The Ou-ji." Shindou righted the table and picked up the game board. "Yeah, a knockout tournament to find someone strong enough to beat the prince." He tossed several more stones in a bowl. "Of course, it's also kind of special because they're allowing amateur players to compete. As long as they have a sponsor. Someone who plays professionally."
"Like Ogata-san?"
Shindou nodded. "Except Ogata-san wasn't very happy about sponsoring me for the tournament. He'll be very happy to let my spot go to someone else. There are a lot of players, pros and amateurs, who want the chance to beat the prince."
Nase saw the raw desire in Shindou's face as he talked about playing the son of the strongest Go player in Japan.
++++++
"Mashiba's bodyguard is still loitering in the hall."
Nase closed the door again. It had been nearly an hour and she still hadn't come up with any plan to get Shindou out of the club. She thought of all the numbered doors along the hall but they had both decided that it would be too risky to look for help.
"So why doesn't this room have a number?"
"What?" Shindou looked up from the stones that he was laying out on the gameboard.
"Outside. All the doors have numbers but this one doesn't."
"This used to be Sai's room."
"Oh? Then Sai used to…"
"Yeah. He did. He was abandoned as a kid and I guess hustling was the only way he could eat."
"I heard that he was pretty good-looking."
Shindou added another white stone to the black and white pattern of stones he was creating on the gameboard. "Sai was beautiful. Inside and out, you know?"
"I still don't understand what happened."
The boy sighed and dropped the stone in his hand, back into a bowl and pulled his legs up into the chair, wrapping his arms around his knees. "I guess I'd been here a couple of months or something and Sai decided to teach me how to play when... well, my special friend decided that it was time to stop by and say hello."
"Shindou-san," she whispered.
"I guess I must have freaked or something. And Sai… well, whatever he said or did… Anyway, the guy left and stayed away for a while."
Nase came and sat on the bed, close to Shindou. "That was a good thing, right?"
He shrugged. "Sai tried to get me out. And he tried everything... but nothing could touch the guy. So finally Sai decided that the only way to keep me safe was for both of us to run away and find someplace so far away that the bastard would never find us." The boy pushed himself out of the chair and began to pace the small room.
"Between us, we saved up what money we could. Sai sold a lot of the jewelry that people gave him. Everything except these." He pulled his hair away from his ears and showed Nase amethyst stud earrings. "He never told me where they came from but I knew that they meant something important to him. He gave them to me the night before he…"
"Disappeared," Nase said.
The boy nodded. "We had everything ready. Tickets, clothes, money. But my special friend…"
"Came again."
"Yeah. And this time there wasn't anything that Sai could do to stop him. So I... Anyway, I guess that was when... Sai was gone. All his things. Everything was gone, including all the money we'd saved. I went a little crazy then. This time they drugged me and kept me out of it for a while."
"God."
"So after a couple of months, I decided that living like that wasn't really living but anything else would be like giving up on everything Sai had done for me. So here I am. And here I'll stay." He had stopped in front of the Edo print and seemed to be examining the long phallic image.
"There's got to be a way to get you out of here."
Shindou made a fist and hit the wall. "Sai, what am I suppose to do?" He hit the wall again. Nase shifted uneasily in the chair, unsure about what to do when suddenly Shindou stopped.
"Shindou-san, are you…?"
"There's something here."
Nase came over and saw that Shindou had made a hole in the wall. But it was too even for that, she decided. "What...?"
"I think that there's something here."
Shindou's hand was inside the hole.
Nase saw that the hole was actually a rectangular opening that had been cut into wall through the print.
"Shit, the wall or door or whatever's in the way. Just a minute." Then he pulled a long plastic bag out, laying it out on the floor. Inside was a dress and long, dark wig.
"They're Sai's." Shindou said, holding up the wig. He pulled it on over his head and arranged it so that the silky hair fell evenly over his shoulders. "When he worked the new half bars."
Nase picked up the dress, holding it at arm's length so that it hung straight and discovered that it was a sleeveless sheath made from light aqua colored linen. She admired the dark, narrow ribbon that had been woven through the low cut neck and short hemline, tracing its path as she considered the overall size of the dress. Sai must have been tall.
Probably as tall as Shindou.
The boy had pulled another package out of the wall. This time the bag contained a pair of dark pumps and a shoulder bag. Shindou dropped the shoes so that he could use both hands to open the purse.
"Is there anything inside?" she asked eagerly.
Shindou shook his head. "Some money. Not enough. That's all."
Nase handed the dress to the boy. "Put it on."
She watched as he pulled the dress on over his head and resettled the wig.
"Please don't take this the wrong way Shindou-san but you make a prettier girl than I do. But something's still missing..." She pulled some of the wig's long hair away from his face. "Wait a minute, okay?" She found her bag and opened it, taking out her lipstick.
"Uh, wait a minute, okay?" he said, holding her off as she tried to put the lipstick on his mouth. "I think I know what you have in mind but I don't think that it'll work. I'm not Sai."
"No, you're not, Shindou-san. But you are a beautiful person." She took his hand and pulled him to the bathroom where she encouraged him to stand in front of the mirror. She met his eyes in the reflection.
"Smile, Shindou-san" she said. "We're going to change the impossible to the possible."
++++++
"You're crazy."
"Maybe, but I think that it'll work," she said, peeking out the door. She didn't see the bodyguard but she could hear someone coming up the stairs. She closed the door again.
Shindou had finally agreed to put on the pumps and stood uneasily next to the door. She took a moment to admire her handiwork: lipstick on his lips, a little more to highlight his cheekbones, mascara to darken his lashes, making his eyes look wider, bigger. The wig hid the rest.
And he had enough money now to leave the city. But not much more...
"If I left now," Shindou said, "I could just get to the Keio Plaza..."
"The Keio Plaza Hotel? Why there?" Nase asked. "You need to get as far away from here as you can."
"I plan to. After I win the Ou-ji Tournament."
Nase shook her head. "That's a fantasy, Shindou-san. We're talking about your life now."
"Yeah, we are. My life. And I need to do this using my own strength. You got to understand Nase-san, the most important thing for me now is to stand up and move forward. I can't run away. I know it's what Sai would want me to do. I can win this tournament and buy back my freedom."
There was nothing else she could say to that. "Okay, fine. I'll check the hall again."
But someone was already knocking on the door.
++++++
It was Fukui. Nase quickly pulled the boy inside.
"What are you doing?" Shindou said behind her, his hand on her arm.
"I hope that he's going to help you get out of here."
"What about you?" Shindou asked, frowning.
She smiled impishly. "Ladies first."
"Shindou-san?" Fukui asked. "You look so much like Sai-sama. What's going on?" He turned to look back at Nase. "Mashiba-sama has let everyone off for the day but Waya-san said that Nase-san was here and that he'd left you in Shindou-san's room and..."
"Shit. I'm out of time," Shindou said. Nase gave him a questioning look. "My friend doesn't like messy complications. So lately, he's arranged for the club to be empty when he visits."
"So then you need to go now."
"What can I do to help?" Fukui asked.
"Shindou-san needs to be somewhere else. Did you see any of Mashiba's bodyguards when you came up here?"
"I think that they're downstairs."
"That sounds good. And Mashiba?"
"I didn't see Mashiba-sama. He might be in his office, I suppose."
"Great. Then I want to hire you as an escort."
Fukui smiled. "I'm at your service, Nase-san."
Nase shook her head. "Not me, Fukui. But for Shindou-san."
"Shindou-san?"
"Me?"
"Yeah. I need you to escort my lady friend here," Nase said, pointing at Shindou, "who has obviously enjoyed a delightful evening here at the club and in Fukui-kun's company, drinking and... Well you get the idea. And my friend…"
"Your lady friend."
"Yes. My lady friend needs a little help getting a taxi so that she can go home. Or the Keio Plaza Hotel," she added.
"Now?"
"No better time," she said, opening the door.
Fukui wrapped his arm around Shindou's waist and pulled Shindou's arm up over his shoulders. "Just think of me as a really big teddy bear, Shindou-chan."
Shindou gave the shorter boy a sour look.
Nase touched Shindou on his shoulder. The boy turned to look back at her.
"Good luck, Shindou-san. Do your best at the tournament, okay?"
"I will, Nase-san. I had a good teacher. And I have good friends."
Nase nodded. "You do."
++++++
Nase stood in the middle of the room, impressed anew by its adult feel. But this time the erotic print on the wall had a dark rectangular hole in the middle of it. She picked up the plastic bags the clothes had been stored in and stuffed them back into the niche that Sai had cleverly designed as part of the mural on the wall.
Shindou had already emptied it, but Nase wanted to reseal the niche to keep the small closet a secret and found the edge of the loose panel that covered the opening. Nase was gently coaxing it back into place, when her hand slipped and her fingers touched something, taped to the back of the swinging panel.
Someone knocked on the door.
++++++
"Who is it?" she asked sharply.
"Nase-san, it's…"
Nase pulled the door open so fast that the boy nearly fell on the floor.
"Fukui-san, I'm so sorry. Is everything okay?"
"That's what I came back to tell you and that you might need…"
"Fukui-kun, I could just…" She kissed Fukui.
"Tell me everything. But tell me fast. Mashiba will be coming back soon."
"Then maybe we should go back to my room. And I might have something… ah… that you could borrow to…"
Nase smiled. She'd forgotten all about the corset. "Just give me a minute."
The boy nodded. "I'll stay here and guard the door."
Nase pulled the envelope out of the niche. She needed to get her purse and…
"One more thing Fukui-kun…" She ran into the bathroom and turned the shower on. It was a poor ploy but it might buy them a little more time. She joined Fukui at the outer door.
"Okay. Let's go."
++++++
Mashiba was an idiot but no fool, Nase decided, as his bodyguards brought her to Mashiba's office after finding her in Fukui's room.
"You've caused me quite a bit of trouble, Nase-san. I've had to re-schedule an appointment for one of our more important patrons."
"Johnnie Gokiso," Nase said, tired of all the make-believe games they'd been playing.
"Then you can guess how much trouble you've caused yourself Nase-san." He slid his phone to her across the desk. "Call your boyfriend and tell him to get his ass back here. Now."
"Why should I?"
"Because I can make things very uncomfortable for you. Something that I wouldn't really enjoy doing but if you give me no choice…"
"Do you know how much you sound like the soundtrack for some bad Hollywood movie, Mashiba-san?"
The man frowned as Fukui was pushed roughly into the office.
"Fukui, Fukui. You'll tell me where Shindou has run off to, won't you?"
"Shindou-san? I don't think I've seen him all day."
Mashiba came out from behind his desk and stood close to the boy, stroking the boy's short, spiky hair. "You know I like you Fukui-kun. We have fun together, right? So don't be difficult and tell me where Shindou is."
Nase stood up and tried to push Mashiba away. "Let go of him. I'll tell you where Shindou is."
Mashiba let Fukui go. "I knew that you were a reasonable type, Nase-san."
Fukui looked up at Nase with a stricken look. "Nase-san, you can't."
"Get him out of here," Mashiba ordered.
Nase ignored the whole exchange and tapped out the phone number on Mashiba's phone. He answered on the second ring.
"Shindou-san, I've run into a little difficulty here at the club and was wondering if you could come back. No, I understand that things are a little busy for you there but I'm afraid that Mashiba-san is very insistent."
Mashiba pulled the phone out of her hand.
"Listen Shindou, your pretty girlfriend… Who the fuck is this? Ah, my apologies Ma-san. I think that Nase-san has had a little too much to drink. Yes, I thought that it was strange too but then she just had this very messy fight with her boyfriend. Well, just between me and you, I should say that he's really just a rent-boy who works here at the club. Yes, you may be right. She does seem to be getting a little too involved for her own good. Yes. I'll tell her."
Mashiba shut off the phone with an angry gesture. "Ma-san says that he'll let the sensei know that you're feeling a little under the weather."
One of bodyguards looked in, signaling Mashiba. "Hey Boss, the fat kid just said something about a hotel."
"Well, what did he say Idiot! What was the name of the hotel?"
"I think it was the Keio. Maybe the Prince. I'm not sure now."
"Idiot," Mashiba mumbled, dialing the phone. "Yes, hello. I hope that you can help me. It's very important that I get a hold of a guest that is staying at your hotel. Or he may be visiting… Yes. Oh? That's sounds right. Yes, at the Go tournament. No? Well I would like to leave a message then. Shindou Hikaru. Please tell him that he should call home as soon as possible. His girlfriend is very ill. Yes, it is bad news."
++++++
Nase and Fukui sat together on one of the couches in the club's empty lounge under the watchful eye of Mashiba's men. Nase was pretty sure that she didn't like how the one with the beard was eyeing her chest and pulled self-consciously on the tee shirt that proclaimed that she was twenty-one and ready to suck it up.
"It's almost six o'clock," she said.
"You don't think that Shindou-san will actually come back here do you?"
"You better hope that he does Fukui-kun." Mashiba dropped down onto the couch next to Nase, resting his arm familiarly over her shoulders. "Because if he's not back here in time to entertain our guest tonight, I'm giving him you two. Free of charge."
The door to the club opened.
Fukui looked up. "Shindou-san!"
"I'm sorry that I took so long."
Nase groaned silently, cursing Shindou for acting like five kinds of fool. There was nothing now to keep them all from "disappearing" after tonight.
"Please tell me that you've at least brought the police with you," she asked hopefully.
Shindou shook his head. "They wouldn't come even if I called them Nase-san."
"That's right…" Mashiba began, turning in his seat. He smiled wickedly and then began to giggle. "That's a good look for you. Maybe we should trade your contract to one of the New Half bars."
"Did you win?" Nase asked.
Shindou shook his head again. "I made it to the finals. But I lost the challenger round."
Mashiba began to play with Nase's hair, twisting it between his fingers. "Shindou, you're a loser and you'll always be a loser. The only thing you're good for is a half way decent fuck. Am I right Nase-san?"
"Shut up Mashiba." Shindou leaned across the table and grabbed Mashiba's hand. "I'm back. Let them go."
Mashiba's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Let go of my hand, asshole."
"Fukui, get out of here and take Nase-san with you."
Mashiba tried to get up but Shindou pushed him back down on the couch.
"You're going to regret this, Shindou," the man growled.
"The way I see it Mashiba-sama is that I have nothing to lose here. So let them go and I'll make sure that your best customer has a good time tonight."
"Shindou, no." Nase shook her head. "We're going to get out of here. Together."
"I think that it's a little too late for that Nase-san." Mashiba knocked Shindou's hand off his shoulder. He waved at the men that had settled again at the bar. "Idiots! Do you need an invitation or something? Make sure Shindou-san gets back to his room and that he stays there this time. Do you think that you can manage that?"
"Mashiba…"
"Shindou-san…"
"Nase-san…"
"Excuse me."
Everyone turned to look at the boy standing at the door. He was elegantly dressed in a dark suit and lavender shirt. His dark hair hung evenly to his shoulder and was cut straight across his forehead, just above his dark blue eyes that were fixed on Shindou.
"Who the fuck are you?" Mashiba asked.
"Touya-san," Shindou said, his eyes wide with surprise.
"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting anything Sai-san, but you left something behind at the hotel and I thought that it might be important." The youth reached into the pocket of his suit coat and brought out something that he held out in the palm of his hand.
Nase wondered what it was and watched as Shindou felt each of his ears with a panicked look. That was when she noticed that Shindou was missing one of his earrings.
"Sai-san?" Mashiba asked peevishly.
Nase grinned as Mashiba struggled with the evolving dynamics that the newcomer brought to their situation. She also noted that his bodyguards had gone back to finish their drinks at the bar.
There would probably be no better time to try to run for it. She grabbed Fukui's hand and pulled him out of his seat.
"Shindou-san, let's go," she hissed in his ear. "And be sure to grab your buddy on the way out."
Shindou nodded and followed close on her heels as they ran toward the door.
"Sai-san?" the boy asked. Nase pushed him out of the way to get to the handle of the door and pull it open…
"I'll explain later Touya-san but right now we have to get out of here," Shindou said.
"Are you going somewhere, Shindou-kun? And after I took the time to come visit you."
A man in a dark expensive looking three-piece suit stood just outside the door and Nase thought of the all pictures of the man that she had come across during her research, superimposed one on the other: grainy high school photos of a rocker youth with piercing sharp looks… mimeographed flyers produced by an aggressive start-up company and its ambitious twenty-something president… tabloid paparazzi photos of a powerful, pinched-faced man in the company of popular, beautiful people…
This was Johnnie Gokiso.
And now as she stood face to face to with the man, a man of mythological legend, Nase blinked and announced in a wondering voice:
"So short!"
++++++
Gokiso's handsome companions were anything but short in stature, standing silently at the man's back, tall and muscular and dangerous looking.
One held the door still, using a hand that had two unnaturally short fingers.
The other, hair cropped short revealing the ragged, thin scar that ran from his brow to his square jaw.
"Charming," the man himself murmured as he walked past Nase and Fukui without a second look.
"Shindou-san, you look ridiculous." He gave Touya, Shindou's friend, a disdainful, appraising look. "Some people apparently have no taste." He turned then to address Mashiba; the man still sprawled over the couch where Shindou had pushed him. "I assume that I've arrived at an inconvenient time, Mashiba-san?"
Mashiba scrambled to his feet, ashen faced. "No, no not at all, sir. Just a bit of unfinished business that will be taken care of momentarily, I promise you."
The man sat down on the couch and ran his hand over the shiny surface of the table. "I'm sure that you know that I'm not a man accustomed to waiting, Mashiba-san?"
"Of course, sir. I know but…"
"Then why is it that I am still waiting?"
Mashiba's face was white now as he signaled to his men who came shuffling like beaten dogs under the watchful eye of Gokiso's weary companions. "Take Shindou-san to his room."
"Sai-san? I'm not sure I understand what's going on here." Shindou's friend looked anxiously over at Shindou. "Could I call someone…?" He reached into his pocket.
Gokiso's bodyguard grabbed the boy's hand. The boy's cell phone clattered to the floor.
Shindou turned angrily to shout at the man. "None of these people have anything to do with this. Let Touya-san go."
"Such defiance, Shindou-kun." The man reached out lazily and laid his hand on the boy's thigh. "You were always a cheeky one. Rude. Disrespectful. Insolent. I think that's what I like best about you. I'm happy to see that you haven't lost that… fire." The man's hand disappeared up under the short dress.
"Stop it," Shindou said.
"Mashiba-san, please invite Shindou-kun's acquaintances to sit and bring them something to drink so that we can all get to know each other better." The man's hand stayed under the dress. "What do you say, Shindou-kun? It's been a while since you've performed in front of an audience. Do you think you still have what it takes to keep them coming back for more?"
"Stop it," Shindou said again.
"Don't be that way, Shindou. Smile. It's show time."
"I believe that he asked you to stop." Shindou's friend said, bravely stupid.
"So noisy." The man nodded briefly at his bodyguard who shoved the boy toward one of the couches, forcing him to sit.
"Now, if I were you Touya-san, I'd sit there quietly and watch how good Shindou-kun can really be with the right motivation. The right handling…" The man's eyes were fixed on Shindou's face.
"Nase-san," Fukui whimpered uneasily.
"I know," Nase said tightly. "Give me a minute."
The boy's phone was still on the floor.
Maybe close enough to reach with her foot…
Suddenly the phone was gone, kicked away by Gokiso's bodyguard. The man grinned down at her.
++++++
"We're closed for a private party…"
"Yeah, that's what we heard," the burly man said, reaching over to push the bodyguard back down onto the couch.
Gokiso's man started to get up, swinging a fist, but the newcomer sidestepped the punch and displayed the blade of his knife. "Be good now or my friends will think that you don't like me."
Three new men had come into the club.
"Tsubaki, the boss said to keep things polite." A tall, middle-aged man with a long, lean face grinned down at Nase. "Sorry about the big guy's manners."
A slim, younger man with a wolfish-styled hairstyle nodded his head toward Mashiba's bodyguards. "Kitajima, keep an eye on those two." He smiled at the man that had kicked the cell phone out of Nase's reach. "I'm sure that these gentlemen will practiced better manners."
Nase saw that Gokiso had let go of Shindou and was staring at a fourth grim-faced man, standing at the door, silently surveying the room.
Shindou's foolish friend, stood, fussing with the cuffs of his shirt, straightening his coat, all the while glowering with ill humor at Gokiso's bodyguard. "Uncle, I'm happy to see you."
The older man grunted, acknowledging the boy's greeting. "Your father seemed to think that it was important. He was concerned."
"I know that I should have told someone..."
"That's alright. Kouyo has just forgotten what it's like to be young and hot-blooded. I see that you found your young man."
"Morishita-sama. I am pleased to see you in such good health." Gokiso bowed.
The man ignored him. He pointed at Mashiba. "You need to be somewhere else."
Nase watched Mashiba nod. Then bow. Then nod and bow before leaving the club, his bodyguards following quickly behind him.
The young man with the wolfish hair gestured at Gokiso's men. Both followed Mashiba and his bodyguards out of the room, seemingly unconcerned about leaving their boss behind.
Shindou tried to back away from Gokiso who caught his arm roughly. "We have unfinished business. Wait for me in your room."
"I don't think so, Gokiso-kun," Morishita said matter-of-factly. "I've turned a blind eye to some of your - how can I say this politely? - less-profitable activities but I think that it's time we reevaluate our working relationship."
"Morishita-sama, I don't think that will be necessary. This is nothing. A rent boy. There's no need..."
"What do you think Akira-kun? Is the boy good for nothing?" Morishita asked.
Nase watched as the young man crossed the room, to take Shindou's hand in his, opening it so that he could place the earring in his hand. "Shindou-san. I know already. Ogata-san told me. That's how I knew where to find you. It doesn't matter. Please come back to the hotel so that we can finish the game properly."
Nase and Fukui shared a look of disbelief. "You mean that Shindou-san didn't lose the game?" Fukui asked.
The boy shook his head. "No, far from it. We were still playing the middle game when Shindou-san suddenly left. The sponsors wanted to record the game as forfeiture but I requested a suspension. Please come back, Shindou-san. I would like to see how our game ends."
"Go on, boy," Morishita said. "I have a wager with young Touya's father on the outcome of the game. And I don't like losing to the man. Win and I'll make sure that you never have to come back here."
"Morishita-sama, you're interfering in matters that have nothing to do with..." Gokiso began angrily. "Do you know who you're dealing with now? Do you?"
"Saeki-kun," Morishita said, addressing the young man with the wolfish hair. "Tsubaki, Kitajima. Why don't you take Gokiso-sama to one of the back rooms and remind him how to show the proper respect to his betters."
"Morishita, you're going to regret this..."
The man stopped at the door. "No, Gokiso-san, I don't think I will."
++++++
Nase rode in the back of the car, sitting between Shindou and his friend. They had already dropped Fukui off at an apartment complex where, the boy said, he could stay with some friends.
Before leaving, Shindou hugged the boy. "I don't think that I could have managed all this without your help."
The boy smiled and nodded. "It was a second chance, Shindou-san. And you know me. I can't pass up seconds."
They were on their way to her apartment now. Nase had protested, knowing that the hotel lay in the opposite direction and that the train would probably be faster but Touya had insisted, reassuring her the game had been rescheduled for the following morning.
Now, she leaned sleepily against Shindou's shoulder as the two boys talked about Go. She smiled, remembering Shindou's pleasure at finding his clothes, quickly changing into a pair of jeans and a tee shirt that had the word "five" printed on it. He claimed that it was his "lucky" shirt as he shared a heated look with the other boy that caused Shindou's friend to blush very prettily.
He had packed the rest, rolling then all up inside his silk kimono, but not before adding Sai's dress, carefully folded around the wig. It was all that he had left…
Nase suddenly sat up, surprising both boys who stared at her curiously.
"Nase-san, is there something wrong?" Shindou asked.
"It should be in my bag," she answered cryptically. It was and she pulled it out, trying to smooth the creases. "I'm sorry Shindou-san. I hope that it's okay. But I didn't want to leave it behind and..."
The boy took the envelope. "What's this?" he asked.
"I found it. In the wall."
"But there was nothing else in there." Shindou looked down at the envelope as if it had appeared in his hands from thin air, with wonder and a little fear.
"It was taped behind the door," Nase explained.
"That was very clever," Touya said. "It must be something very important."
Nase nodded. But she understood Shindou's reluctance to open it. "Just take it for now. You'll know when it's right to read it."
Shindou smiled. "No better time than now, Nase-san." And he tore off the end of the envelope, pulling out the single folded sheet inside with trembling fingers.
"It's from Sai," he said quietly. He read the letter silently and refolded it. "It's a name and address for the man that Sai gave the money to. To keep it safe."
"Shindou-san, that's wonderful news," Nase said, pleased for the boy.
"Yeah, he says that the guy will be able to help me buy my contract back from the club."
"I think that Uncle Morishita has already taken care of that," Touya said brightly.
"Yeah, I suppose," Shindou said.
Nase could tell that something was still bothering the boy.
"What's wrong?"
Shindou turned away to look out the car window but Nase could see the melancholy expression in his ghost-like reflection.
"We were planning to run. The money was suppose to help us get settled someplace new."
"Sai must have found someone who could..."
The boy turned back, angry. "You don't understand. Sai knew. Sai knew that he wasn't going to make it. He knew and he didn't tell me."
"If that's true, Shindou-san, I'm sure that it was to protect you."
"I don't care," Shindou shouted back at the other boy. "He should have told me. He shouldn't have had to..."
"Shindou-kun," Nase said softly. "Sai cared for you. Very much."
"I know," he said. "I know that." He gave her the letter.
She opened it and held the letter so that she could read it using the light from the passing traffic. There was very little written beyond the details regarding the money. No declarations of undying love or final words of regret or farewell. Just three words really, hastily scrawled at the bottom of the page.
"Believe in yourself."
She folded the letter and handed it back to Shindou. The boy shoved it unceremoniously into his pocket before turning to look out the window again.
They rode in silence the rest of the way to her apartment.
++++++
It was several weeks later before Nase saw Shindou again. The boy was waiting at the front entrance to the Social Sciences building, leaning casually against one of the fluted concrete columns, arms crossed, the very image of an undergraduate checking out the giggling, blushing co-eds that were coming and going from the school.
"Shindou-kun, how are you?" Nase pulled him into a friendly hug. "I haven't heard from you since the Go tournament."
"Yeah, I was pretty bummed about losing to Touya after all the... excitement."
"But the score was so close. Three points with a six and a half point adjustment. It's almost as if you won by two and a half points, isn't it?" She smiled at his look of surprise. "I've joined the university's Go club, if you can believe that."
"How's the research going?" he asked as she led him to a bench that looked out on the grassy square where a fountain splashed noisily. The oddly shaped obelisk that stood in the center of the fountain had been titled "truth" by the sculptor. But most of the school's student referred to it by a more risqué name.
"Oh, I was late submitting my proposal so my project was cancelled," Nase answered matter-of-factly.
"That sucks, Nase-san. Did you...?"
"It's alright, Shindou-kun. I rewrote my proposal and submitted it. I haven't heard anything official yet but it's looking good. And what about you? Have you decided anything yet?"
"I'm going to take the pro exam this summer."
Nase smiled, delighted. "I'm sure that you'll pass, first time."
"Yeah, I'm pretty strong. But there are a lot of good players," he added as a modest afterthought.
"Like Touya-san?" she asked innocently.
"Yeah, I guess so."
"Have you been able to play Touya-san again since the tournament?"
"Oh yeah. Almost every day."
"Oh, that sounds nice," she said, smiling.
"No really, Nase-san. We play Go."
"Okay, if you say so." She hoped if Shindou were to meet someone that he was interested in, he would act on his feelings and not let his past hold him back.
The boy suddenly rubbed the back of his head self-consciously. "Of course, after the game, we discuss things..."
Nase laughed, sure that Shindou actually had the situation well in hand.
+++ owari +++
previous part
Warning: NC-17 themes and non-consensual material
by ladyseishou
"I'm afraid, Nase-san, that we will be terminating your account with Club Twenty One and I must - reluctantly - ask you to leave in the company of these gentlemen."
Shindou reached out and grabbed Nase's wrist, pulling her behind him. "What's going on Mashiba-san? Nase-san has hired me for the day."
"I'm afraid that any previous engagements will have to be cancelled, Shindou-kun. Your special patron has decided to come visit you today."
Nase felt the boy go very still at the news.
"Today?"
Shindou was trembling. Nase opened her purse and took out the money that she had brought with her to buy Shindou's time. Now seemed as good a time as any to spend it.
"You said sometime today, right Mashiba-san? Well this ought to buy a couple of hours right now." She put the money into his hand.
Mashiba's sour expression brightened considerably as he counted the bills.
"Good money after bad I say Nase-san. But I can't refuse a beautiful woman's request now can I? Two hours, Shindou. Make sure Nase-san gets her money's worth, understand?"
Nase took hold of Shindou's hand to squeeze it with encouragement. She had been able to buy them two hours. A lot could change in two hours.
Mashiba turned to leave, only to stop suddenly at the door. "And just in case, you suddenly decide to try something stupid Shindou-kun…" He snapped his fingers at his men. "I want all of Shindou-kun's clothes. Get them. I doubt that he'll need any of it to keep his lady friend entertained."
One went through the closet in the bathroom.
Mashiba waved the man out before snapping his fingers again at the other one, pointing at Shindou this time. The burly man stared down at the boy until Shindou pulled off the kimono, dropping it on the floor at the man's feet.
"Two hours, Shindou-kun. I'll be back later to escort Nase-san out before your special friend arrives."
++++++
Shindou sat on the bed, leaving the chair for Nase.
"Your special friend?" she asked, eyeing the scattered stones on the floor. She reached down to pick one up.
"You remember the rich and powerful guy? He's grown fond of me and likes to visit every now and then. I guess now it's not assault. It's more of a business transaction. Especially if he brings friends."
"Shindou-san, we'll think of something."
The boy fell back on the bed. "And do you want to know what's really pathetic?" Shindou made a sound of disgust. "As much as I really hate the guy, all I can think about is that I'm not going to make it to the Ou-ji tournament today."
"Ou-ji?" She picked up another stone and placed it in one of the plastic bowls.
"Ou-ji. That's what everyone calls Touya Akira. The Prince. His father is the Meijin."
"Master?"
Shindou sat up again and reached over the edge of the bed to pick up a black stone. "Yeah. Sai really admired the guy. He's probably the best." At Nase's puzzled look, he shrugged. "Meijin. It's just a title for a Go tournament. But the winner is given a big cash prize. There are about seven big tournaments and Touya Meijin has won five of them."
"And the tournament this afternoon?"
"The Ou-ji." Shindou righted the table and picked up the game board. "Yeah, a knockout tournament to find someone strong enough to beat the prince." He tossed several more stones in a bowl. "Of course, it's also kind of special because they're allowing amateur players to compete. As long as they have a sponsor. Someone who plays professionally."
"Like Ogata-san?"
Shindou nodded. "Except Ogata-san wasn't very happy about sponsoring me for the tournament. He'll be very happy to let my spot go to someone else. There are a lot of players, pros and amateurs, who want the chance to beat the prince."
Nase saw the raw desire in Shindou's face as he talked about playing the son of the strongest Go player in Japan.
++++++
"Mashiba's bodyguard is still loitering in the hall."
Nase closed the door again. It had been nearly an hour and she still hadn't come up with any plan to get Shindou out of the club. She thought of all the numbered doors along the hall but they had both decided that it would be too risky to look for help.
"So why doesn't this room have a number?"
"What?" Shindou looked up from the stones that he was laying out on the gameboard.
"Outside. All the doors have numbers but this one doesn't."
"This used to be Sai's room."
"Oh? Then Sai used to…"
"Yeah. He did. He was abandoned as a kid and I guess hustling was the only way he could eat."
"I heard that he was pretty good-looking."
Shindou added another white stone to the black and white pattern of stones he was creating on the gameboard. "Sai was beautiful. Inside and out, you know?"
"I still don't understand what happened."
The boy sighed and dropped the stone in his hand, back into a bowl and pulled his legs up into the chair, wrapping his arms around his knees. "I guess I'd been here a couple of months or something and Sai decided to teach me how to play when... well, my special friend decided that it was time to stop by and say hello."
"Shindou-san," she whispered.
"I guess I must have freaked or something. And Sai… well, whatever he said or did… Anyway, the guy left and stayed away for a while."
Nase came and sat on the bed, close to Shindou. "That was a good thing, right?"
He shrugged. "Sai tried to get me out. And he tried everything... but nothing could touch the guy. So finally Sai decided that the only way to keep me safe was for both of us to run away and find someplace so far away that the bastard would never find us." The boy pushed himself out of the chair and began to pace the small room.
"Between us, we saved up what money we could. Sai sold a lot of the jewelry that people gave him. Everything except these." He pulled his hair away from his ears and showed Nase amethyst stud earrings. "He never told me where they came from but I knew that they meant something important to him. He gave them to me the night before he…"
"Disappeared," Nase said.
The boy nodded. "We had everything ready. Tickets, clothes, money. But my special friend…"
"Came again."
"Yeah. And this time there wasn't anything that Sai could do to stop him. So I... Anyway, I guess that was when... Sai was gone. All his things. Everything was gone, including all the money we'd saved. I went a little crazy then. This time they drugged me and kept me out of it for a while."
"God."
"So after a couple of months, I decided that living like that wasn't really living but anything else would be like giving up on everything Sai had done for me. So here I am. And here I'll stay." He had stopped in front of the Edo print and seemed to be examining the long phallic image.
"There's got to be a way to get you out of here."
Shindou made a fist and hit the wall. "Sai, what am I suppose to do?" He hit the wall again. Nase shifted uneasily in the chair, unsure about what to do when suddenly Shindou stopped.
"Shindou-san, are you…?"
"There's something here."
Nase came over and saw that Shindou had made a hole in the wall. But it was too even for that, she decided. "What...?"
"I think that there's something here."
Shindou's hand was inside the hole.
Nase saw that the hole was actually a rectangular opening that had been cut into wall through the print.
"Shit, the wall or door or whatever's in the way. Just a minute." Then he pulled a long plastic bag out, laying it out on the floor. Inside was a dress and long, dark wig.
"They're Sai's." Shindou said, holding up the wig. He pulled it on over his head and arranged it so that the silky hair fell evenly over his shoulders. "When he worked the new half bars."
Nase picked up the dress, holding it at arm's length so that it hung straight and discovered that it was a sleeveless sheath made from light aqua colored linen. She admired the dark, narrow ribbon that had been woven through the low cut neck and short hemline, tracing its path as she considered the overall size of the dress. Sai must have been tall.
Probably as tall as Shindou.
The boy had pulled another package out of the wall. This time the bag contained a pair of dark pumps and a shoulder bag. Shindou dropped the shoes so that he could use both hands to open the purse.
"Is there anything inside?" she asked eagerly.
Shindou shook his head. "Some money. Not enough. That's all."
Nase handed the dress to the boy. "Put it on."
She watched as he pulled the dress on over his head and resettled the wig.
"Please don't take this the wrong way Shindou-san but you make a prettier girl than I do. But something's still missing..." She pulled some of the wig's long hair away from his face. "Wait a minute, okay?" She found her bag and opened it, taking out her lipstick.
"Uh, wait a minute, okay?" he said, holding her off as she tried to put the lipstick on his mouth. "I think I know what you have in mind but I don't think that it'll work. I'm not Sai."
"No, you're not, Shindou-san. But you are a beautiful person." She took his hand and pulled him to the bathroom where she encouraged him to stand in front of the mirror. She met his eyes in the reflection.
"Smile, Shindou-san" she said. "We're going to change the impossible to the possible."
++++++
"You're crazy."
"Maybe, but I think that it'll work," she said, peeking out the door. She didn't see the bodyguard but she could hear someone coming up the stairs. She closed the door again.
Shindou had finally agreed to put on the pumps and stood uneasily next to the door. She took a moment to admire her handiwork: lipstick on his lips, a little more to highlight his cheekbones, mascara to darken his lashes, making his eyes look wider, bigger. The wig hid the rest.
And he had enough money now to leave the city. But not much more...
"If I left now," Shindou said, "I could just get to the Keio Plaza..."
"The Keio Plaza Hotel? Why there?" Nase asked. "You need to get as far away from here as you can."
"I plan to. After I win the Ou-ji Tournament."
Nase shook her head. "That's a fantasy, Shindou-san. We're talking about your life now."
"Yeah, we are. My life. And I need to do this using my own strength. You got to understand Nase-san, the most important thing for me now is to stand up and move forward. I can't run away. I know it's what Sai would want me to do. I can win this tournament and buy back my freedom."
There was nothing else she could say to that. "Okay, fine. I'll check the hall again."
But someone was already knocking on the door.
++++++
It was Fukui. Nase quickly pulled the boy inside.
"What are you doing?" Shindou said behind her, his hand on her arm.
"I hope that he's going to help you get out of here."
"What about you?" Shindou asked, frowning.
She smiled impishly. "Ladies first."
"Shindou-san?" Fukui asked. "You look so much like Sai-sama. What's going on?" He turned to look back at Nase. "Mashiba-sama has let everyone off for the day but Waya-san said that Nase-san was here and that he'd left you in Shindou-san's room and..."
"Shit. I'm out of time," Shindou said. Nase gave him a questioning look. "My friend doesn't like messy complications. So lately, he's arranged for the club to be empty when he visits."
"So then you need to go now."
"What can I do to help?" Fukui asked.
"Shindou-san needs to be somewhere else. Did you see any of Mashiba's bodyguards when you came up here?"
"I think that they're downstairs."
"That sounds good. And Mashiba?"
"I didn't see Mashiba-sama. He might be in his office, I suppose."
"Great. Then I want to hire you as an escort."
Fukui smiled. "I'm at your service, Nase-san."
Nase shook her head. "Not me, Fukui. But for Shindou-san."
"Shindou-san?"
"Me?"
"Yeah. I need you to escort my lady friend here," Nase said, pointing at Shindou, "who has obviously enjoyed a delightful evening here at the club and in Fukui-kun's company, drinking and... Well you get the idea. And my friend…"
"Your lady friend."
"Yes. My lady friend needs a little help getting a taxi so that she can go home. Or the Keio Plaza Hotel," she added.
"Now?"
"No better time," she said, opening the door.
Fukui wrapped his arm around Shindou's waist and pulled Shindou's arm up over his shoulders. "Just think of me as a really big teddy bear, Shindou-chan."
Shindou gave the shorter boy a sour look.
Nase touched Shindou on his shoulder. The boy turned to look back at her.
"Good luck, Shindou-san. Do your best at the tournament, okay?"
"I will, Nase-san. I had a good teacher. And I have good friends."
Nase nodded. "You do."
++++++
Nase stood in the middle of the room, impressed anew by its adult feel. But this time the erotic print on the wall had a dark rectangular hole in the middle of it. She picked up the plastic bags the clothes had been stored in and stuffed them back into the niche that Sai had cleverly designed as part of the mural on the wall.
Shindou had already emptied it, but Nase wanted to reseal the niche to keep the small closet a secret and found the edge of the loose panel that covered the opening. Nase was gently coaxing it back into place, when her hand slipped and her fingers touched something, taped to the back of the swinging panel.
Someone knocked on the door.
++++++
"Who is it?" she asked sharply.
"Nase-san, it's…"
Nase pulled the door open so fast that the boy nearly fell on the floor.
"Fukui-san, I'm so sorry. Is everything okay?"
"That's what I came back to tell you and that you might need…"
"Fukui-kun, I could just…" She kissed Fukui.
"Tell me everything. But tell me fast. Mashiba will be coming back soon."
"Then maybe we should go back to my room. And I might have something… ah… that you could borrow to…"
Nase smiled. She'd forgotten all about the corset. "Just give me a minute."
The boy nodded. "I'll stay here and guard the door."
Nase pulled the envelope out of the niche. She needed to get her purse and…
"One more thing Fukui-kun…" She ran into the bathroom and turned the shower on. It was a poor ploy but it might buy them a little more time. She joined Fukui at the outer door.
"Okay. Let's go."
++++++
Mashiba was an idiot but no fool, Nase decided, as his bodyguards brought her to Mashiba's office after finding her in Fukui's room.
"You've caused me quite a bit of trouble, Nase-san. I've had to re-schedule an appointment for one of our more important patrons."
"Johnnie Gokiso," Nase said, tired of all the make-believe games they'd been playing.
"Then you can guess how much trouble you've caused yourself Nase-san." He slid his phone to her across the desk. "Call your boyfriend and tell him to get his ass back here. Now."
"Why should I?"
"Because I can make things very uncomfortable for you. Something that I wouldn't really enjoy doing but if you give me no choice…"
"Do you know how much you sound like the soundtrack for some bad Hollywood movie, Mashiba-san?"
The man frowned as Fukui was pushed roughly into the office.
"Fukui, Fukui. You'll tell me where Shindou has run off to, won't you?"
"Shindou-san? I don't think I've seen him all day."
Mashiba came out from behind his desk and stood close to the boy, stroking the boy's short, spiky hair. "You know I like you Fukui-kun. We have fun together, right? So don't be difficult and tell me where Shindou is."
Nase stood up and tried to push Mashiba away. "Let go of him. I'll tell you where Shindou is."
Mashiba let Fukui go. "I knew that you were a reasonable type, Nase-san."
Fukui looked up at Nase with a stricken look. "Nase-san, you can't."
"Get him out of here," Mashiba ordered.
Nase ignored the whole exchange and tapped out the phone number on Mashiba's phone. He answered on the second ring.
"Shindou-san, I've run into a little difficulty here at the club and was wondering if you could come back. No, I understand that things are a little busy for you there but I'm afraid that Mashiba-san is very insistent."
Mashiba pulled the phone out of her hand.
"Listen Shindou, your pretty girlfriend… Who the fuck is this? Ah, my apologies Ma-san. I think that Nase-san has had a little too much to drink. Yes, I thought that it was strange too but then she just had this very messy fight with her boyfriend. Well, just between me and you, I should say that he's really just a rent-boy who works here at the club. Yes, you may be right. She does seem to be getting a little too involved for her own good. Yes. I'll tell her."
Mashiba shut off the phone with an angry gesture. "Ma-san says that he'll let the sensei know that you're feeling a little under the weather."
One of bodyguards looked in, signaling Mashiba. "Hey Boss, the fat kid just said something about a hotel."
"Well, what did he say Idiot! What was the name of the hotel?"
"I think it was the Keio. Maybe the Prince. I'm not sure now."
"Idiot," Mashiba mumbled, dialing the phone. "Yes, hello. I hope that you can help me. It's very important that I get a hold of a guest that is staying at your hotel. Or he may be visiting… Yes. Oh? That's sounds right. Yes, at the Go tournament. No? Well I would like to leave a message then. Shindou Hikaru. Please tell him that he should call home as soon as possible. His girlfriend is very ill. Yes, it is bad news."
++++++
Nase and Fukui sat together on one of the couches in the club's empty lounge under the watchful eye of Mashiba's men. Nase was pretty sure that she didn't like how the one with the beard was eyeing her chest and pulled self-consciously on the tee shirt that proclaimed that she was twenty-one and ready to suck it up.
"It's almost six o'clock," she said.
"You don't think that Shindou-san will actually come back here do you?"
"You better hope that he does Fukui-kun." Mashiba dropped down onto the couch next to Nase, resting his arm familiarly over her shoulders. "Because if he's not back here in time to entertain our guest tonight, I'm giving him you two. Free of charge."
The door to the club opened.
Fukui looked up. "Shindou-san!"
"I'm sorry that I took so long."
Nase groaned silently, cursing Shindou for acting like five kinds of fool. There was nothing now to keep them all from "disappearing" after tonight.
"Please tell me that you've at least brought the police with you," she asked hopefully.
Shindou shook his head. "They wouldn't come even if I called them Nase-san."
"That's right…" Mashiba began, turning in his seat. He smiled wickedly and then began to giggle. "That's a good look for you. Maybe we should trade your contract to one of the New Half bars."
"Did you win?" Nase asked.
Shindou shook his head again. "I made it to the finals. But I lost the challenger round."
Mashiba began to play with Nase's hair, twisting it between his fingers. "Shindou, you're a loser and you'll always be a loser. The only thing you're good for is a half way decent fuck. Am I right Nase-san?"
"Shut up Mashiba." Shindou leaned across the table and grabbed Mashiba's hand. "I'm back. Let them go."
Mashiba's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Let go of my hand, asshole."
"Fukui, get out of here and take Nase-san with you."
Mashiba tried to get up but Shindou pushed him back down on the couch.
"You're going to regret this, Shindou," the man growled.
"The way I see it Mashiba-sama is that I have nothing to lose here. So let them go and I'll make sure that your best customer has a good time tonight."
"Shindou, no." Nase shook her head. "We're going to get out of here. Together."
"I think that it's a little too late for that Nase-san." Mashiba knocked Shindou's hand off his shoulder. He waved at the men that had settled again at the bar. "Idiots! Do you need an invitation or something? Make sure Shindou-san gets back to his room and that he stays there this time. Do you think that you can manage that?"
"Mashiba…"
"Shindou-san…"
"Nase-san…"
"Excuse me."
Everyone turned to look at the boy standing at the door. He was elegantly dressed in a dark suit and lavender shirt. His dark hair hung evenly to his shoulder and was cut straight across his forehead, just above his dark blue eyes that were fixed on Shindou.
"Who the fuck are you?" Mashiba asked.
"Touya-san," Shindou said, his eyes wide with surprise.
"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting anything Sai-san, but you left something behind at the hotel and I thought that it might be important." The youth reached into the pocket of his suit coat and brought out something that he held out in the palm of his hand.
Nase wondered what it was and watched as Shindou felt each of his ears with a panicked look. That was when she noticed that Shindou was missing one of his earrings.
"Sai-san?" Mashiba asked peevishly.
Nase grinned as Mashiba struggled with the evolving dynamics that the newcomer brought to their situation. She also noted that his bodyguards had gone back to finish their drinks at the bar.
There would probably be no better time to try to run for it. She grabbed Fukui's hand and pulled him out of his seat.
"Shindou-san, let's go," she hissed in his ear. "And be sure to grab your buddy on the way out."
Shindou nodded and followed close on her heels as they ran toward the door.
"Sai-san?" the boy asked. Nase pushed him out of the way to get to the handle of the door and pull it open…
"I'll explain later Touya-san but right now we have to get out of here," Shindou said.
"Are you going somewhere, Shindou-kun? And after I took the time to come visit you."
A man in a dark expensive looking three-piece suit stood just outside the door and Nase thought of the all pictures of the man that she had come across during her research, superimposed one on the other: grainy high school photos of a rocker youth with piercing sharp looks… mimeographed flyers produced by an aggressive start-up company and its ambitious twenty-something president… tabloid paparazzi photos of a powerful, pinched-faced man in the company of popular, beautiful people…
This was Johnnie Gokiso.
And now as she stood face to face to with the man, a man of mythological legend, Nase blinked and announced in a wondering voice:
"So short!"
++++++
Gokiso's handsome companions were anything but short in stature, standing silently at the man's back, tall and muscular and dangerous looking.
One held the door still, using a hand that had two unnaturally short fingers.
The other, hair cropped short revealing the ragged, thin scar that ran from his brow to his square jaw.
"Charming," the man himself murmured as he walked past Nase and Fukui without a second look.
"Shindou-san, you look ridiculous." He gave Touya, Shindou's friend, a disdainful, appraising look. "Some people apparently have no taste." He turned then to address Mashiba; the man still sprawled over the couch where Shindou had pushed him. "I assume that I've arrived at an inconvenient time, Mashiba-san?"
Mashiba scrambled to his feet, ashen faced. "No, no not at all, sir. Just a bit of unfinished business that will be taken care of momentarily, I promise you."
The man sat down on the couch and ran his hand over the shiny surface of the table. "I'm sure that you know that I'm not a man accustomed to waiting, Mashiba-san?"
"Of course, sir. I know but…"
"Then why is it that I am still waiting?"
Mashiba's face was white now as he signaled to his men who came shuffling like beaten dogs under the watchful eye of Gokiso's weary companions. "Take Shindou-san to his room."
"Sai-san? I'm not sure I understand what's going on here." Shindou's friend looked anxiously over at Shindou. "Could I call someone…?" He reached into his pocket.
Gokiso's bodyguard grabbed the boy's hand. The boy's cell phone clattered to the floor.
Shindou turned angrily to shout at the man. "None of these people have anything to do with this. Let Touya-san go."
"Such defiance, Shindou-kun." The man reached out lazily and laid his hand on the boy's thigh. "You were always a cheeky one. Rude. Disrespectful. Insolent. I think that's what I like best about you. I'm happy to see that you haven't lost that… fire." The man's hand disappeared up under the short dress.
"Stop it," Shindou said.
"Mashiba-san, please invite Shindou-kun's acquaintances to sit and bring them something to drink so that we can all get to know each other better." The man's hand stayed under the dress. "What do you say, Shindou-kun? It's been a while since you've performed in front of an audience. Do you think you still have what it takes to keep them coming back for more?"
"Stop it," Shindou said again.
"Don't be that way, Shindou. Smile. It's show time."
"I believe that he asked you to stop." Shindou's friend said, bravely stupid.
"So noisy." The man nodded briefly at his bodyguard who shoved the boy toward one of the couches, forcing him to sit.
"Now, if I were you Touya-san, I'd sit there quietly and watch how good Shindou-kun can really be with the right motivation. The right handling…" The man's eyes were fixed on Shindou's face.
"Nase-san," Fukui whimpered uneasily.
"I know," Nase said tightly. "Give me a minute."
The boy's phone was still on the floor.
Maybe close enough to reach with her foot…
Suddenly the phone was gone, kicked away by Gokiso's bodyguard. The man grinned down at her.
++++++
"We're closed for a private party…"
"Yeah, that's what we heard," the burly man said, reaching over to push the bodyguard back down onto the couch.
Gokiso's man started to get up, swinging a fist, but the newcomer sidestepped the punch and displayed the blade of his knife. "Be good now or my friends will think that you don't like me."
Three new men had come into the club.
"Tsubaki, the boss said to keep things polite." A tall, middle-aged man with a long, lean face grinned down at Nase. "Sorry about the big guy's manners."
A slim, younger man with a wolfish-styled hairstyle nodded his head toward Mashiba's bodyguards. "Kitajima, keep an eye on those two." He smiled at the man that had kicked the cell phone out of Nase's reach. "I'm sure that these gentlemen will practiced better manners."
Nase saw that Gokiso had let go of Shindou and was staring at a fourth grim-faced man, standing at the door, silently surveying the room.
Shindou's foolish friend, stood, fussing with the cuffs of his shirt, straightening his coat, all the while glowering with ill humor at Gokiso's bodyguard. "Uncle, I'm happy to see you."
The older man grunted, acknowledging the boy's greeting. "Your father seemed to think that it was important. He was concerned."
"I know that I should have told someone..."
"That's alright. Kouyo has just forgotten what it's like to be young and hot-blooded. I see that you found your young man."
"Morishita-sama. I am pleased to see you in such good health." Gokiso bowed.
The man ignored him. He pointed at Mashiba. "You need to be somewhere else."
Nase watched Mashiba nod. Then bow. Then nod and bow before leaving the club, his bodyguards following quickly behind him.
The young man with the wolfish hair gestured at Gokiso's men. Both followed Mashiba and his bodyguards out of the room, seemingly unconcerned about leaving their boss behind.
Shindou tried to back away from Gokiso who caught his arm roughly. "We have unfinished business. Wait for me in your room."
"I don't think so, Gokiso-kun," Morishita said matter-of-factly. "I've turned a blind eye to some of your - how can I say this politely? - less-profitable activities but I think that it's time we reevaluate our working relationship."
"Morishita-sama, I don't think that will be necessary. This is nothing. A rent boy. There's no need..."
"What do you think Akira-kun? Is the boy good for nothing?" Morishita asked.
Nase watched as the young man crossed the room, to take Shindou's hand in his, opening it so that he could place the earring in his hand. "Shindou-san. I know already. Ogata-san told me. That's how I knew where to find you. It doesn't matter. Please come back to the hotel so that we can finish the game properly."
Nase and Fukui shared a look of disbelief. "You mean that Shindou-san didn't lose the game?" Fukui asked.
The boy shook his head. "No, far from it. We were still playing the middle game when Shindou-san suddenly left. The sponsors wanted to record the game as forfeiture but I requested a suspension. Please come back, Shindou-san. I would like to see how our game ends."
"Go on, boy," Morishita said. "I have a wager with young Touya's father on the outcome of the game. And I don't like losing to the man. Win and I'll make sure that you never have to come back here."
"Morishita-sama, you're interfering in matters that have nothing to do with..." Gokiso began angrily. "Do you know who you're dealing with now? Do you?"
"Saeki-kun," Morishita said, addressing the young man with the wolfish hair. "Tsubaki, Kitajima. Why don't you take Gokiso-sama to one of the back rooms and remind him how to show the proper respect to his betters."
"Morishita, you're going to regret this..."
The man stopped at the door. "No, Gokiso-san, I don't think I will."
++++++
Nase rode in the back of the car, sitting between Shindou and his friend. They had already dropped Fukui off at an apartment complex where, the boy said, he could stay with some friends.
Before leaving, Shindou hugged the boy. "I don't think that I could have managed all this without your help."
The boy smiled and nodded. "It was a second chance, Shindou-san. And you know me. I can't pass up seconds."
They were on their way to her apartment now. Nase had protested, knowing that the hotel lay in the opposite direction and that the train would probably be faster but Touya had insisted, reassuring her the game had been rescheduled for the following morning.
Now, she leaned sleepily against Shindou's shoulder as the two boys talked about Go. She smiled, remembering Shindou's pleasure at finding his clothes, quickly changing into a pair of jeans and a tee shirt that had the word "five" printed on it. He claimed that it was his "lucky" shirt as he shared a heated look with the other boy that caused Shindou's friend to blush very prettily.
He had packed the rest, rolling then all up inside his silk kimono, but not before adding Sai's dress, carefully folded around the wig. It was all that he had left…
Nase suddenly sat up, surprising both boys who stared at her curiously.
"Nase-san, is there something wrong?" Shindou asked.
"It should be in my bag," she answered cryptically. It was and she pulled it out, trying to smooth the creases. "I'm sorry Shindou-san. I hope that it's okay. But I didn't want to leave it behind and..."
The boy took the envelope. "What's this?" he asked.
"I found it. In the wall."
"But there was nothing else in there." Shindou looked down at the envelope as if it had appeared in his hands from thin air, with wonder and a little fear.
"It was taped behind the door," Nase explained.
"That was very clever," Touya said. "It must be something very important."
Nase nodded. But she understood Shindou's reluctance to open it. "Just take it for now. You'll know when it's right to read it."
Shindou smiled. "No better time than now, Nase-san." And he tore off the end of the envelope, pulling out the single folded sheet inside with trembling fingers.
"It's from Sai," he said quietly. He read the letter silently and refolded it. "It's a name and address for the man that Sai gave the money to. To keep it safe."
"Shindou-san, that's wonderful news," Nase said, pleased for the boy.
"Yeah, he says that the guy will be able to help me buy my contract back from the club."
"I think that Uncle Morishita has already taken care of that," Touya said brightly.
"Yeah, I suppose," Shindou said.
Nase could tell that something was still bothering the boy.
"What's wrong?"
Shindou turned away to look out the car window but Nase could see the melancholy expression in his ghost-like reflection.
"We were planning to run. The money was suppose to help us get settled someplace new."
"Sai must have found someone who could..."
The boy turned back, angry. "You don't understand. Sai knew. Sai knew that he wasn't going to make it. He knew and he didn't tell me."
"If that's true, Shindou-san, I'm sure that it was to protect you."
"I don't care," Shindou shouted back at the other boy. "He should have told me. He shouldn't have had to..."
"Shindou-kun," Nase said softly. "Sai cared for you. Very much."
"I know," he said. "I know that." He gave her the letter.
She opened it and held the letter so that she could read it using the light from the passing traffic. There was very little written beyond the details regarding the money. No declarations of undying love or final words of regret or farewell. Just three words really, hastily scrawled at the bottom of the page.
"Believe in yourself."
She folded the letter and handed it back to Shindou. The boy shoved it unceremoniously into his pocket before turning to look out the window again.
They rode in silence the rest of the way to her apartment.
++++++
It was several weeks later before Nase saw Shindou again. The boy was waiting at the front entrance to the Social Sciences building, leaning casually against one of the fluted concrete columns, arms crossed, the very image of an undergraduate checking out the giggling, blushing co-eds that were coming and going from the school.
"Shindou-kun, how are you?" Nase pulled him into a friendly hug. "I haven't heard from you since the Go tournament."
"Yeah, I was pretty bummed about losing to Touya after all the... excitement."
"But the score was so close. Three points with a six and a half point adjustment. It's almost as if you won by two and a half points, isn't it?" She smiled at his look of surprise. "I've joined the university's Go club, if you can believe that."
"How's the research going?" he asked as she led him to a bench that looked out on the grassy square where a fountain splashed noisily. The oddly shaped obelisk that stood in the center of the fountain had been titled "truth" by the sculptor. But most of the school's student referred to it by a more risqué name.
"Oh, I was late submitting my proposal so my project was cancelled," Nase answered matter-of-factly.
"That sucks, Nase-san. Did you...?"
"It's alright, Shindou-kun. I rewrote my proposal and submitted it. I haven't heard anything official yet but it's looking good. And what about you? Have you decided anything yet?"
"I'm going to take the pro exam this summer."
Nase smiled, delighted. "I'm sure that you'll pass, first time."
"Yeah, I'm pretty strong. But there are a lot of good players," he added as a modest afterthought.
"Like Touya-san?" she asked innocently.
"Yeah, I guess so."
"Have you been able to play Touya-san again since the tournament?"
"Oh yeah. Almost every day."
"Oh, that sounds nice," she said, smiling.
"No really, Nase-san. We play Go."
"Okay, if you say so." She hoped if Shindou were to meet someone that he was interested in, he would act on his feelings and not let his past hold him back.
The boy suddenly rubbed the back of his head self-consciously. "Of course, after the game, we discuss things..."
Nase laughed, sure that Shindou actually had the situation well in hand.
+++ owari +++
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