Mid-afternoon came before I knew it. Probably because the sedative had kept me down til noon. I was feeling pretty good about everything and I wasn’t as sore with the painkillers kicking in. So when the Boss asked me if I wanted to let's the girls take me out tonight I went along with it. To my surprise the Boss did in fact have a vehicle. It was a 50cc scooter and yes it absolutely looked like a clown riding a tiny tricycle every time she got on it. Well that meant we were going on foot.

When we arrived at our destination I couldn’t believe it.

“This is just the club!” I said more than a little confused.

“Indeed.” The Boss said pushing the door open.

To my surprise the place was open, I’d gotten used to the place being empty but there was a bustle going on inside for sure. I followed the boss in and stepped up to the podium. There wasn’t anyone at there waiting but a small woman from the back briskly walked up to greet us.

“Sorry we’re still getting set up.” Aoi said brushing a hair out of her face. She was doing her best not to look overwhelmed but it looked like she’d been going all out trying to get the club back together.

“Are you certain you’re alright?” The Boss asked clearly concerned about the extended period she spent in custody.

“I was sitting around for days, It was hard not having anything to do this is a nice change.” Her voice was slightly exasperated but it seemed like she was genuinely happy to be back working. “Thanks so much for helping out.”

Helping out? That didn’t sound right I assumed we’d be going out for food or something not working at the Club.

Before I could ask what the freak was going down, The Boss filled me in.

“Some of the Clubs talent was snapped up by competing clubs in her absence. She asked us to be mock customers.”

I guess that made sense.

“I’ve never been to a hostess club though not as a customer anyway. I dunno what’s expected.”

“That’s fine” Aoi smiled at me. “I’m keeping an eye out, it’s a test for them just be yourself. Order whatever you like, it’s on me tonight.”

Aoi waved to me and lead out to one booth near another couple, one was obviously Xianying and some girl I didn’t recognize in a really showy outfit. Xianying raised her beer as I passed.

I took a seat and Aoi handed me a menu. I skimmed it but nothing looked all that great, there were a lot of sweets which was good but I was feeling hungry. I picked some sort of chicken dish that didn’t look too fancy. What can I say? I’m a picky eater.

My heart kinda skipped as a woman approached my table. She was wearing a bright yellow safety vest and matching orange helmet. Were they doing construction in here what the frig man?

Upon closer inspection she was in fact not wearing a safety vest but a bright yellow spring dress. Her hair was dyed orange, she was not wearing a helmet. The whole ensemble was a garish mess. It was hard to look directly at it when she was standing beneath a light source as I’m genuinely convinced she could melt my eyes from the right angle. I was about to ask what in Freyja’s name she thought she was wearing when she introduced herself.

“Umm.. Hello I’m Rumi and...” She was cut off by Aoi.

“Enunciate!”

Rumi spun around to glare at Aoi.

“I’m TRYING to be cute and shy, you scraggly harlot!”

I could hear Xianying cackling at that one.

“..and a fine mess of it you’re making!”

Rumi turned back to me with a fresh smile painted on. I admit if I hadn't been right there I doubt I'd be able to tell she'd just come out of an argument. Before she could get back to it that greasy biker came stumbling in the front. She dashed across the room bull rushing me and pulled me into a tight hug before I could dodge.

I screamed in both surprise and pain… but it was mostly pain. I flailed to get her off me, I pressed my palm on her stupid face and pushing her away.

“Y-you ASSHOLE.” I doubled over. Blast cringed in shame as Aoi led me to the back. She sat me down gently making sure my back wasn’t pressing against anything. She came back a minute later with a glass of water and a bottle of pills.

I took the extra painkillers after making sure I’d been long enough since my last dose. Aoi stood next to me quietly.

“I’m so sorry” she said taking the glass of water from me when I was finished.

“Is fine that asshole hardly thinks before she does things.” I shrugged. “It's to be expected.”

“I can’t help but feel responsible. This is my club everything that happens here is my responsibility.” Aoi had a pained look on her face. She’d been in police custody until yesterday and she was worried about me?

“It's okay I’ll be fine in a minute she didn’t squeeze that hard.” Yeah it was a lie but I’d rather suck it up than have her worry about me.

She gave me a nasty glare.

“You don’t need to pretend to be all stoic. Nobody would fault you for a moment of weakness.”

I snorted.

“You’re one to talk you’ve been putting on a brave face since you got back.”

“Hardly, The worst part of that was knowing the club was falling apart without me.” She put her hands on her hips.

I’d kinda figured that was the case. Aoi seemed like the type to be addicted to stress.

The awkward silence that followed was broken by Tsubasa stumbling in with a mug in hand. She set it down neatly in front of Aoi who smiled wryly. She took a long sip and wrapped her arm around Tsubasa’s waist.

“Kairi, you have yo get yourself a girl as thoughtful as this one.” Aoi hugged Tsubasa as best she could without standing up.

“I’m heading out for a while.” Tsubasa said mussing Aoi’s hair as she tried to pry her hand away. “I have a few errands to run.”

Aoi pushed her back and stood looking her in the eye. Aoi wrapped arms around her waist and pulled her into a deep kiss. Tsubasa was blushing when Aoi let her go. She gave me a wave as she headed out.

“Love you!” Aoi called after her but Tsubasa was gone.

Aoi was grinning as she sat back down. I wondered if that’s what my Mom looked like when she was alone with Ms. Kim. It was still hard to wrap my head around. Imagining the two of them doing something like that just felt… off. Which I supposed was pretty normal for a kid imagining her parents being all lovey dovey when she hadn’t seen it before. I admit it was weird seeing Aoi and Tsubasa go about it so openly. I was barely to grips with my own preferences but I couldn’t imagine taking it so far. Being kissed in front of room full of people would give me a heart attack.

“Feeling better?” Aoi took a final sip downing the rest of her coffee.

“Yeah, I think so.”

My back was still sore but I admit the thought of kissing girls had taken my mind off it briefly. Aoi helped me up and lead me out into the main hall. It seems as if Blast had made herself at home with Rumi. The two were snuggled up tight together. I was a bit jealous of the asshole not that I’d admit it. Despite her brusqueness to Aoi she seemed like a good sort.

Aoi rubbed her head.

“Sorry about that. I have another girl in back but… to be frank her Japanese isn’t great. How’s your English?”

I beamed putting my hands on my hips with pride.

“Amazing!” I said in English.

“I have no idea what that means. I’ll take it as a yes then?” Aoi gave me a weird look and headed off toward the back. I found a new seat and to me relief the waitress came to take my order as Blast and Rumi seemed to have claimed it. At least I wasn’t the one footing the bill.

Butterflies started to settle in my stomach. I mean a cute girl coming to meet me? that was nerve wracking. I hadn’t had enough time to really consider it from that angle before. I know I was just here as a sample customer and it wasn’t as if this girl was here to see me specifically. She probably wasn’t interested in me and probably wouldn’t ever be. Now I was just making myself depressed.

The girl that followed Aoi back out surprised me. Not that she was interested in me despite my many flaws. It wasn’t it her impressively neat hairstyle or her overly revealing dress. It was that the girl in front of me was unquestionably Sophie Z.

“Hello!” Sophie waved at me.

“Hey.” I asked flabbergasted. “What are you doing here?”

Sophie flushed a bit as she sat down across from me.

“Well… your mom handles my room and board but if I want any spending money I need a part time job. Apparently the owner was in some sort of trouble and needed to hire quickly. Ummm what are you doing here?”

“The owner asked me to help train the new girls. I guess I’m supposed to be a mock customer.”

Sophie tensed up. “Is that what we’re doing? I’m sorry! I didn’t know! I can't understand anything the owner says!” She turned pale. “Did I mess everything up?” She looked at me pleadingly.

“You’re doing fine.” It was a lie I had no idea how she was doing but I read a bit of exasperation coming off of Aoi’s expression. I just hoped getting her to relax would help her recover.

“What should I be doing now?” She asked shifting uncomfortably.

I would’ve asked her to pour drinks but my order hadn't arrived yet.

“Uhh… might as well work on conversation that’s an important part of a hostesses job right?”

Sophie nodded.

“How’s my Mom doin'?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to ask but it was the only subject that came to mind that wasn’t total annoying small talk.

“She’s fine I think. Ummm does she always go out after the store closes?”

That one threw me for a second. The only time she ever goes out after dark is if she needs something from the store or if it's Mahjong night. I quickly realized the implication. It would make sense for her to try and find comfort where she could given the situation. I couldn’t help but feel partially responsible. At least she had two good people looking after her.

I sat there chatting with Sophie til the food came. It was stretching my ability to speak and understand English but i didn’t feel too lost. Unfortunately we were both pretty shy so the conversation ended up being pretty dry. The food was great at least.

Blast and Rumi were getting pretty damn cozy when all of a sudden the filthy biker jumped out of her seat and came over to me looking somewhat jumpy.

“Whadda want asshole?” I asked

Blast looked way more nervous and excited than I’d ever seen her.

“Uhhh… would it be okay if you let me have the apartment tonight?”

I was confused.

“What do you mean let you have the apartment? It's your apartment.”

“I mean can you… not come home tonight? I’m… having someone over” she said trying to nod toward Rumi.

I put my hands up defensively.

“Alright Alright. I’ll find somewhere else to sleep.”

Blasts eyes lit up. “Thank you, thank you. I love you so much.“

She didn’t hesitate to stride back to her table and left with Rumi hanging off her arm. I shook my head, did the biker thing really do it for her? I didn’t know I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. I made my apologies to Sophie and found the Boss hanging out at the bar. I knew I was going out on a limb here but… as scary as the Boss was she had a gentile kindness to her. I didn’t wanna take advantage of that but… well I was not looking forward to sleeping on the street tonight.

“Hey… Boss, can I ask you something?”

I nearly had a heart attack as she looked at me. She was BIG and every instinct I had told me this was a very bad idea. I very much tried to stop my voice from cracking.

“My sister is taking a girl home and… she’d like some privacy. Would it be too much trouble if I stayed with you another night?”

She slowly put down her glass and to my considerable relief the Boss grinned.

“You may stay as long as you like.”

I looked around. Xianying was sitting with a girl in her lap. Far as I could tell they were both pretty hammered. Sophie was in a pretty involved discussion with Aoi… one of the other girls was trying to play translator.

I pushed myself up on the barstool next to the Boss.

“Did you enjoy it?” The Boss set down her drink neatly on a coaster.

“What?” My mind scrambled to try and figure out what she meant.

“The services of the club?”

“Oh yeah.” I fumbled to gather my thoughts. “I didn’t really get to enjoy it the way I thought I would.” I was a bit disappointed but I didn’t want anyone thinking I didn’t like it. “I just feel like I didn’t get the full experience.”

The Boss just nodded. “I will make sure you get the chance to try it properly when they reopen.”

I tried not to look too uncomfortable. Something felt not right about wanting to visit a hostess club. I did want to but there was this side of me that screamed that it wasn’t FOR me. That high school girls aren’t supposed to go into hostess clubs. Part of me was just embarrassed it seemed like everyone around knew I liked girls and I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. I mean it helped most of them seemed to be as well but… it's like they knew something intimate about me. Like I was unintentionally advertising a bizarre fetish I have.

Foreigners never have this problem nobody demands they conform to being Japanese. If they say they like girls it's perfectly understandable because that’s just how they are. It's to be expected. I was a bit jealous of Sophie. She could get away with not being normal.

I nearly jumped as a powerful arm cupped my side. The Boss pulled me into a bit of an unexpected hug. I blinked and felt the moisture of my tear for the first time. I’d been crying without even realizing it. I let the Boss hold me. It really did help.

We sat like that for a while. My mother was never the touchy feely type. Not a big hugger. It wasn’t until right then that I realized how much I’d needed one. Everything just started flowing out. I’d tried to pretend her words hadn't hurt me that I wasn’t scared out of my mind for her. What I didn’t want to consider at the time was that the reverse might be true. It was just easier to not think about how she was feeling.I had to wonder if it was the same with Blast and Ms. Kim. It definitely look like there was some serious baggage there.

The Boss didn’t pry into what was up with me which I appreciated. I wouldn’t have known how to explain it anyway it was just… everything all at once. I slept pretty well that night.