Chapter 3 - Night Life

 The night lights of the shopping district left Eiji as confused as a wild animal. He just wasn’t used to the big city life, not to mention the night life. The bright neon, the flashing signs, the fast crowds, the food vendors, the drunks, the entertainers… 
 Aimi held his hand firmly as they walked past a huge Pikachu selling cheap beer. “Isn’t it nice?”
“It’s… interesting.” 
 She was certainly happier than he had seen her in ages. The city at night was her element, and she wanted a bite out of every type of street food available, especially the foreign dishes neither of them could recognize at first glance.
 They stood and ate Thai food together at one of the stands, Aimi sipping from her coke as Eiji reluctantly chewed what must have been duck. “You are bad at this,” she said with an amused shake of her head. It was all natural, and Eiji missed seeing her like this. “I could eat all night and all day. And I’d eat everything. I want to try every sort of food before I die.” 
“Well, you have plenty of time.” 
 There was no disagreement from her, and she chewed happily as a bunch of girls in frilly skirts and brightly-dyed hair passed by handing out flyers. It was for nearby club that looked to have aquariums and fancy drinks. “Oh my god… Do you wanna go here?” 
“Won’t you be tempted to drink?” 
 Aimi shook her head. “Not at all. I’m with you, so I’m on my best behavior.” 
 And what happens when I’m not around? Eiji wanted to ask, but pushed it back as always. 
 Aimi had dressed up for their outing and guys were staring at her as they went by. Eiji wasn’t sure if she didn’t notice them or just pretended not to, but his heart beat in his chest the entire night thinking they might come over and cause trouble. She wore a pair of white shorts that were loose around the legs but were tight enough around her cheeks to outline their hard, round shape. 
 The bar in question was impressive, there was no doubt about it. Most of the low mood-lighting came from aquariums that were fit elegantly around the interior, including one that stretched the full length of the bar, and all the waitresses wore some kind of uniform jacked to a battery that kept their collars and the hems of their skirts glowing. Despite it all, the place was surprisingly empty, and there were only two other guys at the bar that looked to be about their age.
 Just seeing two guys around was enough to make Eiji nervous. Who was to say who knew Aimi and what they might do? The pain that Jonu had inflicted on him was gone, but he could still remember how Aimi suggested going with the thug to put an end to the conflict. So what, if a crew of these school boys gang up on me, is she going to fuck them all? he wondered with maddening fury. 
 He kept flip-flopping from thinking she was the best thing that ever happened to him and a good soul that had a troubled past and needed to be helped along, to thinking she was worst kind of whore that only put on a good face when she was around him and did god knows what else when they were apart. Really, the whole thing started getting to him and making him feel miserable, since he felt like this other part of him was a horrible secret that he was keeping from her. Despite her many flaws, it felt like he couldn’t have any, or reveal any, since she made him out to be perfect. 
 In the end, he just didn’t trust her. Not only with her conduct, but even with her feelings towards him. Maybe she’s just expecting me to be a dumb sap that agrees to everything. 
“Honey,” said Aimi. “Is something wrong?” 
 Eiji forced a smile. “Not at all. What makes you say that?” 
 Her hand reached out and went into his hair, gently caressing it. “You’re so wonderful and I love you so much. I’m so grateful that you… that you stick with me through everything.” 
 And it was just that easy to make his heart melt all over again. How? How could she be bad for him when she felt so right? When they were like soulmates? When the smallest touch from her could make his heart burst and take away any pain and doubt? 
“I always will. Do you feel the same?” 
 Aimi giggled in disbelief and leaned into her elbows on the bartop. “Are you kidding? I would be with you if I found out you were Hitler. I don’t care. I love you. That’s all.” 
 It was a comforting thought. To be loved no matter what… I owe her that, too. Of course, it was a lot easier for her to say this given his total innocence in most matters. Apart from his misgivings about their relationship, there was nothing he hadn’t told her, and no secrets to uncovered. I am just so boring. 
 Since it was a new place, the bartender insisted the first two drinks were to be on the house. They were sweet and colorful, only a little alcoholic, and as Eiji drank it through the straw and looked at the exotic fish in the aquarium, he wondered if any of them were used to give them the bright colors. What a stupid thought, he realized.
“It must be so easy to be a fish,” said Aimi dreamily, gazing inside the tank. She tapped her finger against the glass at her knees and got the attention of some orange beauty streaked with white. “You don’t think, you don’t worry, you just live.” 
 To a man that had always been introspective, that sounded incredibly depressing. “Or you get stuck in an aquarium. Or fished out and eaten.” 
 She smiled and put a hand on his leg, her eyes narrowing suggestively. “I’d want you to fish me out.” 
 It was a provocative move, one that no one had ever done to him, and he could feel his dick twitching in his pants in response. He felt nothing from the drink, but was it possible that Aimi was a little tipsy? Or was she just having some fun? She rarely touched him like this...
 Just a few moments past, an elderly, skinny-looking man had sat down between them and the younger guys. He ordered himself a drink and rubbed thoughtfully at his forehead, studying all the bottles on display behind the bartender. As his eyes wandered to the right, they met the couple and went wide. “Aimi? Aimi, is that you?!” 
 Not again, thought Eiji, his mind veering backwards just as fast as before. This guy? Are you serious? Finally, they were having a good moment. Finally, they were enjoying themselves. And again her fucking past was here to ruin it all. Her hand went away, too, and so did whatever was happening.
 But unlike the other times, Aimi perked up with joy. “Tanaka-san! I didn’t even see you!” She jumped off the stool and ran over to hug him, then quickly grabbed Eiji and brought him over for introductions. “My boyfriend,” she said proudly. 
 The feeble old man shook his hand with both of his. “What a strong young man you are! To think that I would bump into you here, Aimi. It must have been months.” 
“Yeah…” Only now did a reluctant expression hit her face. “It has.”
“Well, I’m glad you stopped hanging out with those guys. Now you look nice and sober and you’ve got a handsome boyfriend to boot! Good for you.” 
 Eiji wondered who those guys were supposed to be, especially since she avoided looking at him as they were mentioned. Indeed, he had been wondering how exactly Aimi knew the nightlife in other cities so well when he could barely make his way home at night in the same streets he walked during the day. Just who are you? he wondered, trying to find her avoidant gaze. No doubt, this old man seemed to know. Maybe there was something he could share. 
“Why don’t we all get a table?” suggested Tanaka. “It’s much better than to sit up here like some storks.” 
 As he grabbed his drink and got down, Aimi whispered: “Don’t worry about Tanaka-san, he’s a really good guy. He saved my ass more than a couple of times. Like the grandpa I never had.” 
 That was nice. But Eiji tried picturing bumping into his grandfather at a random bar and drinking together - it wouldn’t happen.
 They sat down at the booth in the corner, Eiji and Aimi on one side with the old man on the other. The waitress came over and took their order, which Tanaka made before asking the couple what they might want.
 Aimi leaned in furtively, clearly recognizing the names of the drinks that were alien to him. “Tanaka-san, I really shouldn’t have heavy stuff like that.” 
“Oh, nonsense! We should celebrate. Come on, tell me about your lives, you two. Regale an old man with something to think about other than death.” 
 Aimi was the one that did the talking, though she spoke almost entirely about Eiji, repeating the same information that he had told her over time. Really, it was an impressive, almost encyclopedic knowledge of things even he had forgotten, like the name of a great-grandfather he had seen on a photo one time, told her about in the morning, and forgot existed until the present.
 The drinks came. 
 All three tinkled their glasses and started to drink. The taste was so strong and repellent to Eiji that he stopped at once and spat it out, coughing his guts out. Tanaka poured it down his gullet with a satisfying sigh at the end, and Aimi sipped half of hers, calmly, as if she were drinking soda, smiling at him naughtily, like some big brother laughing at a little brother. “You’re not used to it yet.” 
“I’m not sure I’ll ever be…” And why are you?
 Aimi savored the last half of the glass and kept her eyes closed near the end. “So good.” 
“Don’t take it too far,” Eiji warned.
 A grim look came over her. “Don’t worry. It takes a lot to get me drunk. A lot. Do you mind if I finish yours?”
 Eiji thought she was kidding, until he pushed it an inch and watched her guzzle it down like a man in the desert. “Dee-lish.”   
 The next round he got a soda, though Aimi insisted she was doing just fine holding her alcohol. Knowing absolutely nothing about it, Eiji couldn’t say one way or the other, though he kept making suggestive comments that went ignored. And though both Aimi and the old man tried to pull him into the conversation and make it a threeway one, the truth was that he knew none of the people they gossiped about. How was he supposed to know old Mitsuhide from the flower shop? What did that even mean?
 After their fourth round, Aimi excused herself and got up to go to the bathroom. Eiji watched her go, and noticed the old man’s eyes lingering after her as well, focusing on the tight butt as the muscles worked under the shorts. “Don’t you worry,” said Tanaka. “I’m forty years too old for that.” 
“I wasn’t worried.” 
 Tanaka didn’t even seem to hear him as he slurped some more from his glass. “You should thank me. I’m warming her up for you. A few more drinks and you can take her home, no questions asked.” 
 What the fuck was he saying? He wanted to reach out and punch Tanaka in the face over the implication, but Aimi was already walking back to the table. So this was the quality of her friends? Would-be rapists?
“Sorry, boys,” said Aimi as she got back in the booth. “I needed to freshen up a little.” Though she pretended to be energetic, her movements seemed sluggish, and her voice slurred the words as they came out, one at a time.
“We should go soon,” said Eiji. “It’s getting late.” 
 Aimi gave him a confused look, but nodded. “Sure thing, sweetie. Whenever you want.” 
 Just then, he could hear his phone buzzing in her purse. Aimi took it out and made a face, reading the name of his mother. 
 Eiji sighed and answered. “Mom? Hello?” What she said was practically inaudible. Eiji excused himself and went outside. “Mom, can you hear me now?” 
“Eiji, where the hell are you? Have you seen the time?” 
 He clicked his tongue. “I’m coming soon, Mom.” 
“How soon is soon?... Are you drunk?” 
“Do I sound drunk?” 
 The inane conversation went on for another ten minutes until he agreed that he would be back in two hours at most. Eiji headed back into the club, to find that Aimi had switched places and was in the same booth as the old man, who kept showing her pictures on the phone that made her laugh hysterically, with tears in her eyes. 
 The old man flashed the screen at Eiji, but the boomer meme was just tasteless and unfunny, something about a pig talking to a politician. “That’s nice. I think we should go. My mom called.” 
“Just one more round and then we all go,” Tanaka said. 
 Aimi gave him a pleading look and reached towards him with trembling fingers, though they couldn’t reach him. “Just ten more minutes, honey? Please?” 
 Eiji bit his tongue and sighed quietly. “All right.” 
 By the time the drinks came, Aimi already looked pretty out of it. Her lids kept closing by themselves in a way that made Eiji nervous, and her body leaned against the seat like dead weight.  
 Tanaka put an arm around her. “What’s wrong? Are you dozing off on us?”
 Aimi only half-smiled. Fuck, she was too tired to even smile? How drunk was she? “Only a little.” 
 The waitress showed up with the drinks just then, and Tanaka brought one up to Aimi’s lips as soon as they hit the table. “Here you go. This should energize you.” 
 Eiji knew he should have intervened, but it all just happened so fast. Before he even processed what was going down, the old man had tilted the glass in her mouth the whole way. Aimi was so gone mentally that a little bit of it at the end just drooled out of her mouth. 
 Then Eiji noticed him grab the other drink and his heart stopped.“What are you doing?” he said, but his voice came out as a desperate whimper.
 Tanaka brought the second drink to her mouth and poured it in. “Her you go, sweetheart. You just have a little left in the glass. Don’t let it go to waste.” And just like that, in a few seconds, everything in the second glass went into her, too. “How’s that, good?” 
 Aimi’s eyes didn’t open, but her mouth moved as if she were talking from a dream. “Good…” 
“That’s my girl.” Tanaka brought his face close to hers, dramatically close, like a would-be kiss in old movies. “I’m so proud of you of you, Aimi-chan. Even after all this time you can still hold your liquor.” 
 There was no response from her. 
“Such a cute little girl you are,” said Tanaka, and rubbed his nose against hers. A moment later he brought his lips up to kiss the tip of her nose. “So beautiful… You’ve always been so beautiful…” His eyes went down to the long and muscular legs that stretched right next to him, ghostly pale in the low light of the club, the shorts pulled up enough to reveal the thick and rounded thighs, silken smooth and all so warm.
“You look so good, all the time, no matter what…” With every word he seemed to be losing control of himself. He eyed her glossy lips and sleeping beauty face, then came up and kissed her for real, his cracked lips pushing against hers violently.
 At first Aimi showed no reaction at all, as if she were nothing more than clay in his hands. But as he kept forcing the kiss on her and reached down to hold her waist, she responded in turn, lifting her arm and wrapping it around his neck instinctively. 
 Eiji doubted she knew what she was doing. These were just the natural responses of her body. Of the mouth that had made out with god knows how many others. Somehow, he was less mad than he suspected he would be. All the times he had imagined it happening left him somewhat numbed, and tonight was yet another clear example of her inability to judge a situation. 
 I am done with her, he thought, feeling confident that this was the last straw. It didn’t even matter to him that Tanaka made out with her. That he was touching her tummy. Stroking her legs. Caressing her face. She’s not my girlfriend. 
 And yet, his knees shook fiercely, and tears ran from his eyes. 
 The old man just made out with her without any sort of qualms about what he was doing, his gnarled hand exploring every inch of tomboy body, now addicted to the feel of her inner thighs and the heat that came from what was between them. He brushed back her short brown hair and opened her eyes, watching them stare lifelessly back at him. He sucked her tongue into his crooked-tooth mouth, bringing his fingers to her ass, and moved her over into his lap until her legs were resting over his, her ass lifted to stand sideways and grant ease of access. 
 Tanaka took a deep breath and wiped at his forehead as if this had been a grand exertion of physical prowess, then reached for the glass that he found empty. His eyes locked with Eiji and he grinned. “Sorry, kid. You know that saying, first come, first served? No hard feelings.” 
 Eiji’s eyes went to the round ass of his girlfriend that was now being touched by yet another man. He had never touched her ass. And now, just like with Saburo, he watched this old creep reach down and feel it up at leisure, as if were his natural right or something. She’s not my girlfriend, he went on saying to himself. I don’t feel sad… I don’t feel sad at all. 
 But even as he thought that, his vision blurred from the tears and sobs he could no longer suppress broke out. She said she loves me, so why does she do this to me?! Why?! What a sick joke! What a sick fucking joke! I’m never going to be her first anything. She doesn’t even try anything with me. It’s all so stupid. So stupid! 
“Kid,” said Tanaka. 
 Eiji wiped away the tears and looked up, trying to get ahold of himself. “What?” 
“Kid, I…” He seemed to be torn between feeling guilty and being too drunk to act morally. His palm was still on her bubble butt, enjoying itself way too much to stop feeling that those sweet schoolgirl buns. “What were you expecting from her, really? Don’t you know she’s just a drunk? I mean you think this is bad… Can you imagine what she’s done with all those guys she hung out with?” 
“What guys!?” screamed Eiji. “Tell me.” He grabbed one of the empty glasses and pressed it ready in his hand. “Tell me or I’ll throw this right against your fucking HEAD!” 
 He hoped the old man would get mad, but instead he sniggered with dark amusement. “This is what happens to sad men that don’t drink. You should learn to drink. I’m sure Aimi here can teach you a thing or two.” He slapped her ass hard enough that Eiji jumped, as if she were some pack animal. “Ain’t that right, Aimi-chan?” 
“Tell me,” Eiji repeated, but he was practically begging.
“Look.” Again the old man tapped her ass, delighted with his achievement of getting to feel it up like this. “Aimi here is a good girl. But she’s not girlfriend material. Or any sort of material. Where do you see her in a few years from now? Either dead, or homeless, or working some deadend job while feeling sorry for herself and making some poor guy miserable. That’s all there is.” 
 The old man raised his finger to stop Eiji from interrupting. “When I met her she was always hanging out with these guys. You know, thugs. Not like Yakuza or anything, but just your usual high school pieces of shit. I’d always see her in one guy’s lap or another, and it was clear she wasn’t anyone’s girlfriend. She was just the girl they dragged along because everyone knew they could have fun with her without any problems. The one that would drop down and suck their dicks at command. You know the type, the no self-esteem, ready-to-please young slut.
“Anyway, one time those guys tried to beat my ass and Aimi stood up for me. After that, whenever I’d catch her around and she needed help, I’d do it. One time I let her sleep over, another time I paid for her bus fare, and so on. Each and every time she told me she wouldn’t be back with those guys, and then I’d see her at it again a few days later, drinking booze in some guy’s lap and getting talked to like a dog.” 
“And?” 
 Tanaka shrugged. “And what? That’s the story. I don’t have some happy ending for you. I lost a lot of money trying to give this bitch a second chance, and another, and another. I should’ve told her to suck me off, too. I guess I still can.” 
 Eiji clenched his fists in rage. He wanted to be sucked off, was that it? “When did you stop seeing her?” 
“Hell if I know. A few months ago. She was fucked up and I helped her get on the train, and that was that. I genuinely thought she was fucking dead until tonight.” 
 A few months ago, that was when… That was when we met, he thought. She stopped because of me? Aimi had always said so but he thought that just covered her smoking and drinking less. She stopped coming back to those guys, because she wanted to be with me… The realization burned through him and made him ashamed. She was trying. In her way, her limited way, she was trying to pull out of this mess… 
 And I’ve done nothing to help. 
 As he stared at the old man caressing her ass and holding her like some stuffed doll, a thing inside of Eiji, a thing deep inside, like the glass of an EMERGENCY ONLY hammer you see on buses. What kind of man am I to let this happen? She was right in front of me. I was right here. How did I let him do this? What’s wrong with me? 
“Get away from her,” he ordered Tanaka.
“Kid, calm down.” He yanked her head up and stared at the open-mouth, so similar to that of the fish in the aquarium. “Let’s just have some fun with her and call this a lesson learned, eh?” 
 Eiji said nothing. He got up slowly and went over, though the old man wasn’t showing any sign of hostility. “Calm down now. You wanted me to stop, okay, I’ll stop. I’ll go.” He started moving away from her. “Goddamn it, I’ll go, okay? I’m going…”
 He let him get up from the booth and smile apologetically. Then Eiji grabbed him by the shirt and slammed him hard against the table. He put his forearm against his neck and pushed, using his other hand to beat down into his face as if he were stabbing him, though there was no knife. He could hear parts of him breaking. “You come near her again, and I am going to break the little that’s left of you.” 
 It all happened in a matter of seconds, and no one noticed anything. The old man went dead quiet. He was only bleeding from his nose, thankfully. Eiji pushed his limp body in the seat that he had risen from, then grabbed Aimi and lifted her up. “Come on, time to go.” 
 As he walked out a waitress passed them by, and he gave her a smile, “My friends, they had too much to drink…” 
 He got out of there as fast as he could, pulling her along like a corpse, and got into the first cab he saw. “Train station,” he said breathlessly. “Now.” 
 The driver glanced at him and Aimi in the rearview mirror. “I hope that’s your girlfriend or sister…” 
 Eiji looked down at her passed out face and adjusted her in his lap so she was more comfortable. “My girlfriend,” he said firmly. The one and only. 
 Was that old imbecile dead? He sure hoped not. And in the end, nobody had seen him do anything, and there were no cameras in there to speak of. Not to mention, there was a really good reason to do what he did. 
 And anyway, I just don’t care anymore. 
 Aimi shifted a little in his arms and said weakly, “Are we going home?” 
“Yes.” He rubbed her back and felt her shiver. “We’re going home.” 
“I didn’t say bye to Tanaka-san…” 
“Don’t worry.” Eiji smiled and kissed her forehead. “I said goodbye for you.” 
 She was soon out again, but not before her fingers sought his and twined with them in the dark. 