Lone Insignificant
Dangerous Citizen
The Sheep God
Partying Fatcat
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♔ "It's on my shoulders." ♔
↳ нαяυкσ αsαмσтσ
⇊
It was a dreary, exhausting night. Every bit of her being ached from the long hours of crouching over a small table at the lecture hall, her hand stiff from holding steel ballpoint pens. For the first time in years, Haruko felt mentally exhausted, and needed a place to relieve herself. Home had not been the most warm place to be in nowadays with her parents running in and out, not to mention that the only face she usually saw was her maids and butlers greeting her at the front gates. They worked for some sort of job under the magistrate, running their own errands and only came home for dinner, well, if she was lucky enough. And even then, they were a fairly quiet couple, both sharing the same strict attitude and indifferent face when talking to others that made them successful businesspersons. The perfect authoritative figure, but not quite the perfect parents.
While they believed that money was the perfect way to love a child, Haruko was glad that she thought differently. She thought, maybe by learning from her parents' mistakes, she would make sure her own children would never have to feel the way that she did. There hadn't been a time where she was able to openly talk about her feelings, and while she had friends a-plenty, none of them made her feel comfortable enough to melt down the front she kept of a wealthy upcoming noblewoman that needed to show grace and poise in every step she took. There was this pressure that was put on her shoulders to do well, more than anybody else in the school just because of background.
Past her red lips and into people's ears, she needed to be well-versed, intelligent in the things that she said, the ridiculous pressure to find a suitor from an equally well-off family. The discussion about marriage from her mother was slowly creeping up on her, and she tried to avoid it as much as possible. She didn't work well under pressure, and it made her have second thoughts about being an educator after her schooling. The girl was barely nineteen, for godsakes.
But today she didn't go straight home. Instead, she decided to venture off to a part of town that, well, girls of her age should not be heading off to, at least not yet. The dingy red lanterns that spread across building to building made her grin in amusement, feeling genuinely warm inside as she walked under them, approaching towards the loud bustle of night life. There were many adults around, most very giddy-looking and mostly men crowded around the brothel entrances. The heavily made-up ladies would giggle with a flyer in one hand and hold onto their elbows, beckoning them to come and join them for the night. The streets were also filled with bottles of alcohol and drunkards that held onto smaller bottles of either cheep beer or hard liquor, hiccuping and patting their friends on the back. It didn't occur to her that it was dangerous it any shape or form to be a single girl walking in the streets at 12 AM, but she had no curfew because her parents were out of town. Besides, her chauffeur was on-call.
Her own friends had seemed to wander off themselves somewhere else, perhaps distracted by the little dolls that were newly crafted at the door of the red light district, but not yet in it which made for an interesting location. Haruko decided to wander off on her own for once, brushing her dark brown hair to the side so that her vision wouldn't be blocked to experience every moment of her rebellion for the time being.
A few men did look at her very questionably, some in confusion at what a young girl was doing here in the street if they weren't working in the brothels. Some looked like they had something else in mind, and because of that Haruko walked a little quicker on her steps. She decided to look for a place to visit for the time being, a smaller brothel that only had young men. The handsome ones at the front of the building caught her looking and waved her in, calling to her, showering her with compliments already while some of their eyes trailed up and down her body. Although a little plain, her clothes was made by designer brands, prettily simple yet extravagant at the same time. Just by that they probably knew that she had somewhat of a heavy wallet, and soon enough, Haruko found herself inside the building and drinking her own bit of alcohol as well, as they said, to 'drown her sorrows out'.
Her eyes glanced across the room as a few men were accompanying women of all ages, but no doubt she was the youngest one in the room. It was dimly lit with disco lights, and it was a little difficult to see the faces of them all-- or perhaps the alcohol was getting to her already? Haruko was primarily looking for somewhere to sit and enjoy the atmosphere, but suddenly the feeling of looking for someone to be with at the moment felt oddly strong. The men were all very good looking what she could tell, but she didn't think that a host was what she was interested in right now. A small sigh slipped out between her lips and she continued to walk on past another hallway, and not to her surprise, finding herself into another room of beautiful men and sad women.
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Lone Insignificant
Dangerous Citizen
It was finally the end of classes and each and every student, even the teacher, were exhausted. Talking all day to different classes with the same topic over and over will surely exhaust someone. Picking up his things, Aoyama-sensei, or Keiichiro, looked around the classroom and saw his pupil’s faces as they show relief from the end of classes. With a smile, he walked out and went straight to the faculty room. He needed to get to his next job soon or else he’ll have a deduction to his salary. Keiichiro Aoyama was twenty-two when he got married. He was still young and so was the girl. Everything was good until about a year ago when the girl wanted divorce. After a year of working as a teacher on a young age and getting food on the table for his wife, he was betrayed. The girl found another man that would give her what she wanted. Now alone with all the stupid things his ex-wife had left him; bills, debts, plus her alimony. He was broke. His teacher salary was not enough to cover everything. He knew he needed to get the money each month, but how? His question was answered when he found a night job that was willing to take him in. Being just twenty-four and his good looks, he was accepted without any trouble.
Walking through the streets, he couldn’t help but think over the things he needed to do at work tonight and his work tomorrow morning. He made sure he fixed his schedule the week before, just so he could get himself organized throughout the week. Having two jobs wasn’t a trip to the park. He needed to work in different settings and different responsibilities each day. He did not complain even how hard it was for him. He thought of it as a necessity to survive. Finally arriving at his second job, Kei took a shower and dressed up accordingly. In only a few hours, the shop will open and his job as a host would start, once again.
Just minutes after they opened, regulars and new comers started coming in. They were given a booklet with the pictures of the hosts present and they were the ones who would pick which host they would like. Hosts here are the ones who try to make their customers happy and their stay in the club to be a great experience. With the increased amount of women that come in each night, all hosts are fully booked each night. Kei was assigned his usual, Mrs. Natsuyaki. Mrs. Natsuyaki was married to a very successful businessman and she once told him that they were happily in love, not until his husband started coming home late or going to some business trips outside of the country. She was suspicious but she could not afford to get to the bottom of it and the thought of them separating just broke her heart. She was thankful for being able to live by him and that he gave him shelter and food on the table. She was thankful, but the longing of someone she loved to caress her and feel loved had started weighing her down. In the end, her friends decided to bring her along one night and there she met Kei. Now, she was his regular and she would come thrice a week and ask for him.
It was not long when Mrs. Natsuyaki said her goodbye and left. Kei had another two or three customers before he was free. The work wasn’t over though. He just doesn’t have any other customers at the moment. He settled down by the bar and asked for a drink. He checked his phone for some reminders for tomorrow. It did not take long when he heard the door to the room he was in and a new comer showed up. She was drunk, from the looks of it but he was a bit far from her so he was not entirely sure. Checking her out some more, he then thought she was a bit familiar. He swore he knew her from somewhere.
Standing up and walking toward the girl, slowly, he realized she was still young. Young to be seen in such a kind of environment. As he got closer, it finally struck him. She was one of his students. She was not supposed to be here, he thought. He knew he needed to get her out of there or at least, take care of her before some other host introduces themselves. He wouldn’t want anything to happen to his student. Even if they were not in school grounds, he still felt responsible for her. But wait. He was a host and he was not recognizable without glasses. If his student realized who he was, then that would be a problem. The school knew of his second job because it was their business to know, but it was not for his students to learn. Finally in front of her, he greeted her as how the hosts do; with a kiss on the hand and a lovely smile.
“What made such a young yet beautiful lady come to our lovely domain?” He said calmly. “Why won’t we take a seat by the bar and talk?” He escorted her to the bar and since no other host or customer was there but only the bartender, they were alone. He ordered a martini for his student and for himself. He flashed her a genuine smile, “Is there something troubling you, ma’am? Usually, the women who come here have problems they needed to let out. That’s where we, hosts, come in.” He wanted to kick himself for being too formal, better yet, boring. "May I know your name so I could address you accordingly, ma'am?" It was his first time to have one of his students in his work place and he was a bit unsettled to the idea that he was letting her drink alcohol even how much he told them not to at school.
ooc: Sorry took a while. And forgive me for a simple design for my post. I don't have photoshop at the moment since my desktop crashed and am just using my laptop.
The Sheep God
Partying Fatcat
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♔ "It's on my shoulders." ♔
↳ нαяυкσ αsαмσтσ
⇊
The lull of soft chatter in the atmosphere kept her mood stale, eyes drifting from corner to corner in the room as the lanterns barely lit up the dingy room. Her footsteps matched with the pounding in her head, small yet heavy. It was certainly very different from the atmosphere of a classroom, compared to the lonely nights spent in her dark bedroom where sometimes, the crickets outside did not even chirp for her. A sluggish hand went up to brush her bangs aside, a result from rushing this morning towards school without grooming herself first. All these men around-- were they just sitting there, waiting for something to happen? The look on their faces were different from the ones out there in the streets. Their lips held empty grins, hiding a certain shame that she couldn't put her finger on-- she was never one to read people, only books. A few of them glanced up towards her, though she quickly averted her gaze away when their eyes met. No, these were not the men that she wanted to associate herself with...
Her hand gripped tightly on the bottle, a quaint feeling of madness sweeping over her while she felt like she was the one that was selling herself off. Haruko clenched her teeth, taking a deep breath before sighing slowly to herself, trying to calm herself down. When was the last time she felt so strongly about something? Was it good to feel this way, to have a sense of relief from her boggled mind that struggled with being in a wealthy family? Her lips had been sealed shut for too long. It had always been do this, do that, improve on this, don't do that. It was funny how she thought about this in such a run-down place, a place where sad women go to indulge in artificial happiness. Was she one of these women? A hollow heart with her pockets full?
Suddenly, she was stopped by a tall figure. His silhouette loomed over her, blocking one of the lanterns that was ahead with his height. Haruko's dazed eyes slowly glanced up towards him as he spoke, a gentle grin on his face while he seemed to beckon for her patronage. The first thing she noticed, first of all, was that his lips were soft against the back of her hand when he kissed it. The second thing she noticed, was that this was a man that had approached her-- and this was a brothel. That fact seemed to have slipped past her mind when she was too busy contemplating her life, and now that an actual man had asked her if he would be a suitable host for tonight, she was slightly surprised. Her eyes blinked at his confidence, his tone humble but words direct. At first she thought that he was being rude, but then she was realized that the poor man was just doing his job, showing himself off to her before she picked one of his co-workers instead.
Her face flushed pink when his soft scent of cologne wafted under her nose as they walked, it was her first time meeting older men after all, and she wasn't exactly a girl who had any experience with boys. She sat on the bar stool next to him, avoiding eye contact while mentally yelling at herself for what she just got herself into.. could he tell that she was underage? Haruko was a little drunk, but not drunk enough to not know what she was doing. Then he asked for her name-- thank god, not her age-- and she ended up looking at him with a bashful look. "Haruko."
She placed the bottle aside and took a sip of the martini, which tasted a hell of a lot better than the stuff she was drinking. Well, he ordered alcohol for her, so he probably wasn't aware that she was only nineteen. And was it really okay to talk to a random stranger about her problems? "It's... nothing much. I just... I don't know. I feel really empty inside." It was a vague answer, but she didn't feel like pouring her feelings out on him, though it was really because the alcohol was hindering her from saying anything intelligent. "Like that sort of empty where... you wake up every morning and you don't know why you even bother waking up. There's nobody to wake up for, you just do the same things everyday, and you pretend like you have a goal in mind but you don't. I know I have a goal to get to, but I don't know how to get to it without feeling miserable every second." Haruko took a deep breath, it did feel pretty good to say all this, even if she didn't explain the fine details.
Taking another small sip from the glass, she seemed to gain a bit more of a voice through the help of the alcohol getting to her head, and looked straight at him. Everything was just bursting at the seams right now. "What's yours? Your name, I mean."
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Lone Insignificant
Dangerous Citizen
Smiling at his young student beside him, Kei took a sip of his drink before smiling once again at her. He knew her name, obviously, but he could not afford to let her know that. That’s why he needed to ask. His cover would be blown once he said something that he always said in class. “Princess Haruko.” He said her name after she told him. He knew the background of each student he had and with Haruko, he thought he knew a lot but, with her coming down here, it was then clear he knew so little. He listened to her as she explained how she felt. He listened intently but and nodded. “You know,” He took his glass and took another sip. “You should think of your parents. Why do they wake up every morning to work?” He paused for a bit, observing her as he continued, “You should set one of your goals to do your best in your studies because they work to pay for your classes.”
Looking at her, it was clear that she might be suspicious on how he knew she was still young and attend school. He looked at his glass, “However, it seemed like something to do with your family.” He looked at her, with a concerned expression, “A lot of girls of your age come here on weekends. For them, it’s better to come here than an empty home.” He flashed another smile, holding Haruko’s hand once again, caressing the back of her hand with his thumb. “You’re welcome to come here whenever you feel empty. I’ll fill that emptiness.” He kissed her hand once again, tenderly and lovingly. “I’m Zero, and I’ll be your host tonight.” He smiled at her, forgetting that she was his student. She was in the brothel so she was not his student, she was his customer.
He then had no idea what to say next or what topic he should open for conversation. But since he was one of the best in the brothel, he quickly regained his train of thought. “You’re a beautiful young maiden, Princess Haruko.” With a smile, he did not let go of her hand and kept it in his. Her hand was smaller than his. It fit perfectly upon his and he liked the feeling. It had been a while since he felt such warmth from a woman. Even though he did work in a brothel, he did not feel this warm and comfortable. Maybe it was because he spent some time with Haruko at school since she was his student. For him, it was a bit relaxing to have a customer he knew on his normal life. Eyeing the girl beside him, he chuckle a bit for she was still a bit shy. He could tell. It was not new that a new customer would be shy to talk about personal things since they were strangers. It was not long and Haruko slowly told him about herself. He knew most of what she told him. She came from a rich family with very successful mother and father. Being an only child, he could imagine how it was to be alone with no one to play with, or share your feelings with. There were maids and butlers but still, it was different when you have someone with the same age or a little older to talk to.
He ordered another margarita for both of them and he could tell that she was loosening up. She was being open to him, even just a little. It came to pass and it was already an hour before midnight. Kei thought it was already late and Haruko still had class tomorrow. “It’s getting late, Princess. You still have class tomorrow, don’t you?” He let out a small smile, “It would be better if you go home and rest. I don’t want you to be tired tomorrow and do badly on your studies.” He was being sincere. He did not want her to have any failing marks on her report card. He kissed her hand once again and led her to the door. “You’re welcome to come back, Princess. I’ll be waiting for you.” He smiled at her one last time as she paid the use of the brothel. He was concerned that she might get harmed when drunks and high men roaming the streets see her and take interest. Kei decided to come with her and stay beside her until she could get a cab home.
ooc: Sorry took a while. And forgive me for having a short post. I'm tired from the laboratory today and I knew I needed to finish this post. It has been three days or two that you're waiting.
The Sheep God
Partying Fatcat
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♔ "It's on my shoulders." ♔
↳ нαяυкσ αsαмσтσ
⇊
The girl frowned a bit when he mentioned her parents. Did she really look that much like a school girl? She looked away, suddenly feeling really sullen about the whole situation within the realm of her own house. It was so big, yet so empty.. it was true that her parents were never home, perhaps twice a week but sometimes they would go to the Western countries for weeks, even months, without coming back to check on her. Her brother was somewhere else in Japan, climbing up the ranks of society year by year along with his salary numbers. And she was just stuck here, with the maids and butlers, stuck in the awkward years where she was just out of the typical teenage years, but not yet out of the teenage phase. As he continued talking, a film of tears made her vision foggy as she tried to glance at him, trying her best to keep her emotions in to keep from embarrassing herself. She would hate to break down in a club in front of an attractive man that was paying so much attention to her.
When he leaned down to kiss her hand again, she reached up with her free hand and quickly wiped her tears away before they could make their way down her cheek. It did feel nice, to feel loved and respected, to be called beautiful for once. For a moment, it did cross her mind that she felt pathetic for indulging in a person's words that she only knew by an alias-- but she kept quiet, and kept a gentle grin on. Her cheeks were flushed as he smiled back at her, his firm yet gentle grasp under her hand felt comforting. It was just what she needed at the moment, and with another sip of the margarita she felt fine again... or perhaps it was the alcohol that was doing its magic.
The night went by smoothly, he was a great conversation starter and she began to open up a lot easier with the help of the margarita and her newly found confidence. They talked about little things, the less grim things in life while he gave her his full attention. It was weird feeling, but a good kind of weird. She didn't mind it one bit, after all, her friends at school weren't all that nice when it came to actually talking about things that mattered. Even as a girl from a rich family, she could tell that they were very spoiled and didn't mind spending a chunk of their parent's money every week. There was a reason why she ditched them in the first place, after all.
When it hit past one in the morning, Zero made a small notion that it was probably time for her to go. She drunkenly looked up at the clock behind the bar, and bit her lower lip. It was really late.. her maids must have been worried sick. They wouldn't tattletale on her, would they? A defeated sigh slipped out in between her lips as Zero mentioned school, and nodded before taking his head to walk out after checking out and giving him a fair amount of tips.. maybe a little too much. Her own personal cab came pretty quickly, and they both said their goodbyes as he told her that he was going to be waiting for her. A soft smile spread on her lips, waving as the door was held out for her by the chauffeur.
"I'll be back."
----------------the following day----------------
When morning hit, the regrets came. Getting home by almost two in the morning, doing homework until four, then getting ready to go to sleep at four-thirty. Her eyes could barely open as she trudged into the school's grand hallways, eyes sensitive to the light in contrast to the cold weather outside that fit her mood a little more than these bright scholarly light bulbs. Rubbing her eyes, she said half-hearted greetings to the teachers that passed by, and her friends that hung out with her at the lockers for the five minutes before class started. They walked towards their class, their arms hooking around Haruko's so that she was dragged along in effort to break her out of her morning daze. They probably had no idea what she was doing last night, and she didn't plan on telling them about it. It would only cause more gossip than they already started.
They were about a minute early before Aoyama-sensei usually walked in. She got out her usual notebook and a pen, before slumping in her chair from the three hours of sleep she mustered up from last night. She snapped to attention when she heard everybody stand up to greet the man while he came in, which she mumbled the words 'good morning' before collapsing back in her seat. The quietness and the warm temperature of the room only lulled her to sleep, and it wasn't long until her head hit her open notes, a sentence only half-written as the side of her face pressed against the notebook. It was unlikely for her to fall asleep, she was one of the best students in the class-- and so, her friends took this as an opportunity to get her in a little trouble and decided not to wake her when the class ended. They snickered as they watched the whole class leave the room and say their goodbyes to the teacher, before leaving her in her peaceful nap.
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ooc: no worries! i have been a little busy this week too, haha.
Lone Insignificant
Dangerous Citizen
A lifeless contraption suddenly sounds off as it tried to remind the person sleeping soundlessly on the bed to wake up. It was already six in the morning and it was already time to get ready. Kei slowly reached out to the bedside table to turn off the alarm. After working at the brothel last night, he was surely tired with lack of sleep. He came home at around two in the morning and then fixed his lesson for any final changes before going to bed. He was reluctant to go to class today but he readied a twenty item surprise quiz which was needed to be given today. Getting out of bed, Kei immediately got ready and as he prepared a sandwich for him to eat while waiting for the bus, he remembered what happened last night at his second job. His student, Haruko, came in the brothel and she was having alcohol. It was surprising for a student of his to be in such a place so late at night, but what could he do? He even buried her even more. It was not a good place for a student of his to be, not only would it be a possibility of her knowing who Zero really was, but she might go back each night and neglect her studies. It simply would not do. She was on top of his class and he would like it to stay that way.
Getting to school thirty minutes before his class starts, Keiichiro went straight to the teacher’s lounge and tried to take a slight nap before class. Fifteen minutes before class started, Kei went to his desk to place his bag and other unnecessary things before making his way to the classroom. Students greeted him along the way and it made him more and more awake. A classroom before his, Kei would always stop by there for his cousin’s son, Ryosuke, was among that class. He always greeted him each morning since the kid did not have a father and Kei was always there for him. Kei was like a father to him. Ryosuke was the second from all the top notch students of the school. Haruko was the first and Ryosuke was second. “Good morning Aoyama-sensei!” Ryosuke greeted by the door with a smile. “Good morning to you too, Ryo.” He patted him on the head with a smile. “How are you?” Ryosuke shrugged, “I’m good. I’m helping mom with the store. Finally, she agreed for me to help.” Kei let out a chuckle, “Well, I’m proud of you. Tell your mom she is doing the right thing. She should train you while you’re still young.” Kei smiled again as he started walking to his classroom.
The bell finally rang and Kei went inside his classroom and was greeted by the students. The children stood up and greeted him good morning before taking a bow and sitting down. Kei immediately saw Haruko and she looked really tired. No doubt she was. She stayed until past one in the morning at the brothel. Shaking the thought away, Kei knew he needed to focus on class first. He started with the attendance and it seemed everyone was present. He then continued on with the lecture. He caught a glimpse of Haruko as he turned to face the students and he knew she was already asleep. He wanted to wake her up but he knew it was his fault, so he let her sleep. After lunch, as Kei stepped back in the class, he saw Haruko still asleep. He let out a sigh for feeling guilty but he continued with class and the surprise quiz.
It was already the end of school for the day and everyone was already packing their bags and saying their goodbye’s with each other. Kei already went out of the classroom to his desk in the teacher’s room and took his things. He was already making his way out when he remembered Haruko. She was still asleep and he knew the other students would not wake her up; since they did not even do it when they had the quiz. He went back and walked to his classroom and there, left alone was Haruko, still asleep on her table. Kei walked toward her and nudged her slightly, “Asamoto-san.” He said, trying to wake her up. “Asamoto-san.” He said again and finally she moved. He woke her up. He greeted her with a slight smile, “Asamoto-san, it appears you slept throughout school today. Were you out the whole night?” He pulled the seat of the table in front of Haruko’s and sat on it, facing her. “You should go straight home after class.” He smiled once again, pushing his glasses slightly on his face. “Well, it’s the first time I saw you sleep in class. I’ll let it slide just this once.” He patted her on the head, “Come by early tomorrow at the teacher’s lounge. I will let you take the quiz they had today. Be ready, okay?” He smiled at her as he pulled his hand back, stood up and walked out.
Night fell and Kei was back at the brothel. It was his last day for the week for he got tomorrow and the next day off. If the customers thought that the hosts don’t have any day off, well, they do, at least, this brothel that Kei works for do. Kei was assigned to his usual Mrs. Natsuyaki and then Ms. Shimizu for the first few hours of his work. After saying goodbye to Ms. Shimizu, he had a slight break as he chilled by the bar. Drinking a bit of Hibiki, Kei wondered if Haruko would take his advice and went home. It would be great if she went regular as his customer but he knew it was wrong. She gave him so much tip last night. She gave even more than what his usual regulars would give him. It would be truly best if she’d be his regular customer as well, but deep down inside, he knew what he was thinking was wrong. He hoped she went home.
ooc:
The Sheep God
Partying Fatcat
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♔ "It's on my shoulders." ♔
↳ нαяυкσ αsαмσтσ
⇊
The nap, what seemed like only ten minutes of 'resting her eyes' went for most of the day, and she did not once wake up through the loud chatter of students during lunchtime, to the projecting voice of her teacher. She felt the slight nudge and refused to budge at first, but her mind snapped out of its sleepy state and she actually woke up quite peacefully.. that is, until she realized that she still in the classroom. A classroom with empty people, with only the teacher here-- and he was the one waking her up. She quickly sat up to attention to meet the sympathetic look that he had on his face, and Haruko panicked to say something intelligent. "S-sensei, I'm so sorry, I... I.." What do you have to say for yourself, Haruko? She ended up keeping her mouth shut, awaiting the inevitable lecture that every teacher would give a student if they were found sleeping in class. Except this time, she had no excuse. It was definitely all her fault that she decided to get drunk and went to a host club, a brothel for godsakes, on a school night. Her bashful eyes looked up at him as he pulled a seat out to sit in front of her.
Her eyes blinked in surprise, was he actually suspicious of her going out last night? Was it normal for girls to even go out that late? "Sorry," she muttered again, confirming his assumption. Never in her life had Haruko have this sort of conversation with a teacher before, it felt like detention and it would really destroy her clean record if there should be any red marks on it. She sat uncomfortably on her seat as he seemed to have a nonchalant attitude, even keeping a small grin on while he told her that she missed a quiz. Her expression dropped, jaw almost dropping too until he told her that she was allowed to take the quiz again tomorrow, which almost gave her a heart attack. Haruko was usually very on top of things, there was not a single grade lower than a B+ on her records and definitely no late work, no absences, and no tardies. It kept her among the top five students in the school, but unfortunately, she wasn't too happy about her life to care about her academic successes.
"Thank you so much, sensei," she stood up as he left the room, bowing deeply to him until his presence was out of the classroom before she started packing her own things in the empty classroom. With a defeated sigh, she gave a text to her chauffeur to tell him to take her home before walking to the front gates of the school. She made in a effort to ignore eye contact of everybody, a universal sign of saying that she wasn't feeling well and wasn't interested in chatting. She was only popular because of her family status, anyways. A lot of these people were kids of her parents' business partners and were told to get along with her-- which only further heightened her need to find somebody who cared.
It was about a twenty minute ride until she got back home, still feeling plenty tired and stiff from the terrible position she kept herself in while napping. She opened up her textbooks and immediately got started on homework, holding up her head with two hands as she stared at the text.
It only took her about two hours of procrastination to realize that her mind was somewhere else.
Her hands twitched as her arms gave in to let the side of her face hit the book's pages, her lips curved into a frown as she was experiencing something that she never experienced before. A sense of laziness, but mostly she was... she wanted to go out. Usually that was a fairly normal way of thinking for a teenage girl, though Haruko had always been a very good natured girl that every parent would love to have in their families. Yet, as she looked out the window at the night sky, she thought of how at ease she felt talking with that man at the brothel, and how she missed the feeling already. She glanced again at her work, and threw down her pencil. She had to go.
Haruko skillfully sneaked out of the house behind the maid's backs, getting into her chauffeur's car and telling him the location. Thankfully the chauffeur didn't get into the family business, and he was really just there for the money so there was no way her parents would know through him. She bit her lip, remembering what Aoyama-sensei said about going straight home this afternoon-- this didn't count as lying though, right? She was just having that bit of leisure time that she never got to have out of all the unnecessary 'for fun' classes she took on the weekends. Seeing the flashy sign, she signaled the driver to stop and told him that she was going to call him later to come pick her up. Haruko stepped out of the car, immediately attracting attention from the same men in the front and quickly invited her in with open arms.
"Zero. I'm looking for Zero, please," she said, as they asked her if there was somebody she'd like to see in particular. One of them signaled her up the staircase and said that she would find him there-- the same place she found him yesterday. She walked up, instantly hearing the giggling of girls and some inappropriate things that she wished she didn't catch, and scanned the room for him. He was at the bar, where they were sitting yesterday. Haruko felt her face heat up a little bit as she approached him, only about two feet away as she said his name. "Um, Zero-san?" She was a little drunk yesterday, but he wasn't, right? Her hands nervously intertwined with each other behind her back."Do you remember me?"
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Lone Insignificant
Dangerous Citizen
After a few minutes of enjoying his whiskey, Kei decided to just stay at the bar for a little while longer, feeling a bit reluctant to go down and wait for a customer. The thought of having days of starting tomorrow made him a bit lazy to offer services to new customers, at least. It has been a long while, two weeks to be exact, did he have any time to rest and relax after his daily work as a teacher. He started out on a different school just at the end of the prefecture and with the low pay it did not seem to be a bother because he lived happily with his wife. That is, before he knew she was seeing another man who earned way more than him. After they separated, Kei moved closer to the city and sought out a teacher position on one of the schools. He was left with a lot of debt and he needed the money for it. After being accepted at the Keio University, the cheapest place he could find was a bus or walking distance away and already takes half of his salary. He needed a second job. Then, he was here; working as a host when he least expected it.
His reminiscing of his past stopped when he heard his name. Surely he was oblivious to anything around him but he remembered he was still on duty and he needed to entertain whoever asked for him. Tomorrow, he would rest. Turning around, he saw the young girl that came drunk yesterday. Even though he told her to go straight home earlier, she still showed up. He greeted her with a slight bow and a smile. Of course, he would not turn down any customer that asked for him. Tonight, he was Zero. He was not Haruko’s professor. He can’t tell her what to do or what not to do.
Zero smiled once more and motioned for her to sit down beside him. “Of course I haven’t forgotten about you, Prncess Haruko.” He signalled for the bar tender to come near them. He ordered not the same margarita but a long island iced tea for both of them. If she would keep this up, then might as well just go with it and let her taste all that the bar could offer. “What made you come back again, princess?” He smiled more and took her hand, rubbing his thumb in circles over her hand. “I’m glad you came back. We had so much fun last night. You had more alcohol though.” He kissed her hand gently. “We would be able to talk more now that you’re sober.” He smiled once again, letting go of her hand and taking the drinks from the bartender. He took a slight sip on his after placing Haruko’s glass in front of her. Kei wondered how long would she stay here. She still had a retake of the test tomorrow morning and he wouldn’t want her to stay up so late like yesterday.
“So, how have you been today, my lady?” He let out a slight grin as he looked at her lovingly. “Did you miss me already?” He moved closer to her ear, pausing slightly as he slowly breathed. “It would be a shame if you didn’t, because… I missed you.” He moved away and went back to his original position with a wider grin than his first. It was his first move to flirt with her and flirting was normal in the brothel. Some customers even fought for personally getting attached to the host. Kei was glad none of his customers were like that. He enjoyed flirting and relieving his customers with stress and other problems. It works as well for him to forget about his debts and stress in life. Now he wondered if he would be able to snatch his student’s interest and make her flirt on their second day at the brothel.
ooc: Sorry it's a bit short. Will compensate on my next post.
The Sheep God
Partying Fatcat
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♔ "It's on my shoulders." ♔
↳ нαяυкσ αsαмσтσ
⇊
Of course he wouldn't remember her. In fact, now that she was sober and was able to think things over, there was no way that he would be in the least interested in a little girl like her. Everybody else around her was probably well over their mid-twenties, some even looking thirty years old and having a job somewhere that found a host club a little too taboo to talk about. What would a girl that was still in school doing in a host club, anyways? Shouldn't she still be into that high school romance stage, where she was supposed to wait for her highschool sweetheart to approach her? And yet here she was, buying love from a cafe that had a whole bunch of men that was there to cater to her needs. She grew more and more uncomfortable as every split second went by, and there was even an urge to her to just forget everything and run back home in complete shame.
But then, he turned around with the same smile he had from yesterday with her name on his lips. Haruko blinked at him as he addressed her in such a sweet way again, eagerly letting him take her hand as she sat herself down at the bar with him, while his full attention was on her again. Gosh, how was she able to sit through this even with alcohol? She was nervous, and glancing at how her hand was now enveloped in his didn't make her feel any calmer. Well, it wasn't her first time holding a guy's hand, but geez, something about an older more handsome man holding your hand was proving to be a little too much for her teenage heart. 'What made you come back again?' Haruko struggled to have an answer-- what could she say that didn't come out too corny? She tried to let herself be at ease, taking a sip of the iced tea before opening her mouth to finally talk. "I suppose I just wanted to see you," she said, eyes looking at him with a soft grin.
Her eyes widened when he mentioned her with alcohol yesterday-- she was still a little afraid of him telling the authorities that she was a minor and shouldn't be in here. On the bright side, this definitely would be something that would get her parents running back from whatever country they were in to scold her. Well, maybe even then, she would just have the maid be in their place. "Oh gosh. I'm sorry if I said anything that offended you, I didn't mean to," she apologized, actually finding herself not remembering word-for-word the things she said yesterday when she was with him. Haruko was aware that she said some pretty personal things compared to what she said to her friends, but maybe there was something that he remembered in particular that made him say this to her. He was still smiling, so that was a good sign.
Then he suddenly moved closer, making her heart beat fast while he whispered in her ear with his taunting words. Her cheeks went pink again, and for the moment she only grinned shyly while letting a giggle or two out of her mouth. "Maybe," she chimed, trying to feel more at ease with him. After all, if he was going to be her host for a while, might as well try and make friends with him.. if friends actually held hands and kissed while they talked. It was still funny to her though that he didn't seem to mind that she was underaged-- from the way he talked about her being at school showed that he wasn't oblivious to that fact. This was a brothel, after all. The men were not obligated to be too close to any of their customers, though something about Zero made Haruko feel that she didn't mind getting close to him.
"It's better than going home and having to go do work, that's for sure," she admitted, crossing her legs at the bar stool so she didn't seem too awkward. "Besides, who could ever say no to an attractive man, right?" Haruko giggled, maybe she didn't need alcohol to be able to talk like this. Hell, maybe it was just because she never had the chance to talk like this. It felt good to have a voice, that's for sure. "How often do you work here, Zero?" She rested both of their hands on her knee. "Are the other girls good to you?"
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ooc: no worries, post as much as you like. (:
Lone Insignificant
Dangerous Citizen
With still a grin on his lips, he moved away slightly and took his glass, breaking his gaze on her eyes. Keiichiro needed a few seconds to compose himself and out of the flirtatious aura. He of course, needed to make the customers have the need to come back and the only way for that to happen is to flirt but also have a small amount of time to have a conversation with them. He looked back to his student and smiled, “Oh, you did not say anything that offended me. You were actually fun to be with despite of feeling uncomfortable and shy.” He smiled once more then slowly and gently ran his pointer finger on her cheek. “But, in the end, you loosened up a bit and started talking.” He stopped his finger on her chin and made her face him. “Well, I’m glad you are here, princess. I’ll be responsible for you and will make sure you’d be having a great time.” He smiled once again and took it upon himself that if his student would come here night by night, then he should be responsible for her. Whatever happens, she was still his student.
When she told him about how someone wouldn’t say ‘no to an attractive man’, he let out a slight chuckle. The chuckle was a sign of humor and of course, a bit of disagreement, which he would not show in any other way. In his life, even though he was told he was attractive, the scars of life were there. He was told ‘no’ so many times. He was dumped for so many times as well. He was so naive and thought everyone that he had a relationship with was serious but instead, he would learn the reality of it. He was liked because of his looks and he never understood why. Working in the brothel as a host was just the time he would not be told ‘no’ to. But as he knew it, working as a host entails fantasy, a lot of lies, and swindling. You must keep the customers coming and happy. No one could do that unless you tell those lies and make them feel like they are perfect. But Kei believed the customers knew that but yet come to feel special. “Yes, you’re right. Who wouldn’t?” With a slight tease, he gently blew on her ear before showing a playful grin. “I’m the most attractive man in here for you, princess.” With another slight grin, he listened to what she would say.
Hearing her ask about if the other girls were good to him, he smiled and nodded. Of course they were good to him. It was against the rules of the brothel for a customer to be cruel to the host but they had seen a lot of women fight over a host and that was normal. But still, they try to contain it and stop them. “They are good to me. They had been very generous as well.” He kissed her hand twice. “But of course, you’re much more beautiful, kind, and sweet.” He took both of her hands in his and took her to the dance floor. The music that was playing had a slow, sweet and tender feeling that Kei needed to take her there. “Are you good at dancing?” He smiled, “Maybe you could teach me." He laughed slightly. Of course he knew how to dance, but he wanted to butter her up more. He placed both of her hands on his chest and his on her hip, then he started moving slowly. There was another host and customer with them but they were a bit farther away, so they were still alone.
Going back to one of Haruko’s questions, tomorrow and the next day would be his nights off from his night work. He usually had at least a night off each week but he covered for an absent host last week and he was not able to use his night off. Now, he was given two nights off because of it. He now wanted to answer it. “You asked about how often I work here. I work here six nights a week and have one off.” He pulled her slightly to move closer to him. “Last week, I covered one of the other host’s shifts and did not have my night off. I will not be working tomorrow and the next night.” He let out a slight grin, “You would miss me, right?” He slowly moved the strands of Haruko’s hair that covered her face and hooked it behind her ear. “Don’t worry. If you would like, we can go out on a date.” He winked at her with a gentle smile on his face. Offering a date with a customer was actually prohibited but only when you were still on working hours. Of course, tomorrow and the next day would be his nights off and that meant he was free to do whatever he wanted.
He hadn’t asked a customer on a date before for they were mostly married, have boyfriends or even engaged. This was actually the first time he had a customer without any, or does she? “Of course, if it is alright with your boyfriend, that is.” Asking if she had a special someone slipped his mind. For her to be coming here, he could have been having problems with her boyfriend. He grinned and pulled her more closely. “Just tell your boyfriend your cousin is coming for a visit and you would be taking him out.” He moved his face forward and touched the tip of his nose on her cheek, making his lips near hers. It was another one of his flirting signatures. He grazed his lips slightly on hers then moved away slightly with a grin. “If you tell him the truth, he would be upset.” He was still thinking of the possibility that she had a boyfriend. If she didn’t, then everything would be better.
ooc: Sorry it took so long...
The Sheep God
The Sheep God
Partying Fatcat
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♔ "It's on my shoulders." ♔
↳ нαяυкσ αsαмσтσ
⇊
Now that she was sober, Haruko would admit that she was aware that he was just sending random compliments her way, perhaps ones that were just overused and fished out of his memory. She smiled along with all of them though, letting him do what he thought would be pleasing to her while subtly giving her affectionate touches. It didn't matter what he said or did, Haruko has just been lacking the attention that she wanted for the past few months. The girl was just lonely. She didn't want to admit it, but she was just didn't feel as if she was getting the attention that she deserved, and not just any type of attention. One would think that she had enough from school being one of the most well-known and privileged among the student body, but it was for more of a shallow reason. Everything that came out from a man's mouth sounded better to her, after all.
Haruko giggled softly when he kissed her hand, though a little surprised when he suddenly pulled her towards the dance floor. "W-wait, Zero-san, I can't-- !!" God, she had taken every type of visual art class except anything that required dancing... no doubt that she was going to be clumsy, but was held awfully close against the host's body. Her cheeks flushed a little pink when she felt hands on her hips, it was one of her first times dancing with a guy, nonetheless be so close to one where their faces were only inches away. Haruko couldn't seem to take her eyes off of him however, so they were locked in this gaze where he kept talking and she just kept staring while her clumsy steps were led surprisingly well by the slow tempo.
He explained to her his schedule, and she nodded, perhaps it was better for her not to come so much anyways.. there was always the danger of her getting caught, and if her parents knew about this she would probably be kept under house arrest by her maids for the next few weeks. But then he mentioned them going on a date, and she bit her lower lip. Why did he have to tell her that? The offer was all too tempting to say no, but would it really be such a good idea to be on a date with a host?
Though, being young and adventurous, she still struggled to deny her wants. It was an opportunity that was laid out in front of her, and she sure as hell didn't want to miss it like she did in her past years of school. Watching all her friends date and frolic with boys didn't exactly make her feel the best, but perhaps it was because her standards and expectations were too high.. Haruko had always liked older men, much of the reason why she found herself so attracted to Zero.
It surprised her that he even took the initiative to ask her out. It was probably obvious that she was under-aged, and he was at least a few years older, judging by his appearance and the way he talked. The way he used his words was different from the teenage boys at school, which she appreciated a lot-- speaking of which, he started to poke the boyfriend subject at her, which she raised an eyebrow. She smirked, and shook her head. "...I'm single, unfortunately." It wasn't anything to be proud about, but it was what it was.
Haruko just went ahead and kissed him after his lips grazed against hers, not really wanting to give a damn anymore. "Care to change my relationship status then, if I accept your offer for a date?" She smiled slyly at him, sliding her hands up over his shoulders and around his neck while they swayed to the beat of the music that really just seemed like background noise for their conversation.
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OOC: i'm suuuper rusty, sorry for typing like a potato!