"Yo Katsu!"
In a dark and smoky bar, a guy wearing a leather jacket and sporting a soul patch yelled out. He was flanked by two women who continued to run their hands up and down his body. One in a red dress, and the other in blue.
He was rather handsome and had a bad boy vibe to him, though it looked like he could afford to shower more.
"Sup Kiyo."
Katsuya responded, throwing his bag onto one of the nearby seats. He was still dressed in his uniform, though it was now unbuttoned, revealing his black undershirt.
He leisurely took a seat at the booth, leaning back.
"What's wrong with you? Still haven't won over that beauty yet?" the guy named Kiyoshi asked, a smile plastered onto his face.
Yet Katsuya didn't react.
"Got a smoke?"
"Hehe, you only smoke when you're annoyed." He replied before nudging the woman on his left.
As if knowing what to do, the woman in the skimpy red dress reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of smokes before making her way over to Katsuya.
She took out a smoke and placed it in his mouth gently, retrieving a lighter from the table and setting it alight. Katsuya barely even acknowledged her, puffing until clouds of smoke began to come out of the cigarette.
"Ruby, why don't you help make Katsu feel better." Kiyo said with a wicked grin.
At these words, Ruby's eyes lit up in excitement. Katsuya was a million times better than the stinky man she was forced to worship over there.
However…
"Tch, piss off. Like I'd allow some used goods to touch me." He spat out, looking at her with disgust.
Ruby was by no means ugly. She had curves in all the right places, giving off a youthful yet mature charm that would make any salary man drool at her attention. But the teen in front of her saw no such allure.
While the words hurt her pride, she did well to conceal it.
"Aww come on man. She gives great you-know-what's." He said with a wink.
Ruby almost shuddered at those words, feeling a bad taste in her mouth. Just thinking of what she had been forced to do almost caused her to cry on the spot.
Ever since Kiyoshi had taken a liking to her, she'd been stuck. The hostess company she worked for gave her up on a silver platter, as if they were scared.
She couldn't leave because nowhere else would hire her because of his influence. Well, it wasn't exactly his influence, it was who he was involved with.
Before she could return to his side, the door to the bar opened with a loud bang, causing everyone to sit up in shock.
A bulky man walked in, his arms covered in colorful tattoos. He had a suave appearance with slicked back hair and a simple mustache which fit his face perfectly. Were it not for his outfit and tattoos, one might mistake him for an executive.
Once Kiyo and Katsuya saw this man, they relaxed considerably, whereas Ruby and the other girl tensed up.
"Get out." He said simply, the deep tone containing an unveiled threat of violence.
Ruby was frozen in fear as she stared at the man with horror.
"HE SAID GET OUT!"
Kiyo grabbed Ruby and threw her onto the floor, sending a kick her way not even a second later, eliciting a yelp of pain from her. The other woman beside him quickly moved, picking up Ruby from the ground and draping her arm over her shoulder.
They rushed to get out of the bar as quickly as possible. In the process of walking past the suave looking man, the woman in the blue dress grazed against his arm.
Unbenknownst to the women, the man's face flashed with a vicious expression.
He turned and watched them scurry out the door, waiting a few moments.
"Akira."
"Yes boss!"
Another man dressed in a black suit rushed in at the call of the man, only to see him beckon him closer.
"The one in the blue dress… Make sure she disappears." He said in a lowered voice.
"Understood."
With that, he quickly left the bar, not turning back.
"Kiyoshi, what did I say about bringing your filthy bitches in here?" He stated, yet his tone was much more gentle, as if he was reprimanding his child.
"Hehe, sorry father." Kiyoshi said, his face looking slightly embarrassed.
"Haaahh. Why can't you be more like your brother?" He asked, letting out a deep sigh.
As he turned to Katsuya, the man's face finally changed, looking at him in question.
"You're smoking… What's wrong?" His deep voice sounded concerned.
"Hehe, Katsu is still chasing that girl at school but she rejected him~" Kiyoshi replied in a playful tone.
"Shut up Kiyo, at least I have standards." He rebutted, taking a deep breath of smoke into his lungs.
Before the two could continue to squabble, their father put an end to it.
"Kiyoshi, get this place cleaned up, we have guests coming around tomorrow night."
"Eh? Really?" Only now did Kiyo begin to show some signs of nerves.
If it was the usual suspects, his father wouldn't care how the place looked. This could only mean that some important people would likely be in attendance.
He quickly left the room, looking for some lackeys to help him clean the joint up for the arrival.
Once he'd left, Katsuya's father walked over to the booth and took a seat next to him. His wide shoulders taking up a lot of space.
"Are you really having girl trouble?" He asked, his tone softening.
Katsuya blew out another puff of smoke before nodding. There usually wasn't a woman who he couldn't get, yet Ai seemed to be out of reach. All of his usual tricks were failing miserably, leading to his depression.
"Well, if you can't earn what you want, why not just take it with both hands?" The man said, a small smile forming on his face.
Judging by how he had said it so casually, it was clear that this was not an uncommon occurrence.
"Not yet… There's still time." Katsuya stated, putting the cigarette out in the ash tray.
***