Ding. The pair of Mystics and Disciples stepped out once again into the main floor. Salamandra now scattered and rested within the hood of Kentarou’s denim jacket. Hakuro whispered into the air and vanished from human sight, though he still rested on his Disciple’s right shoulder. “Huh. I didn’t expect that. You know, it’d make more sense for him to do that… Are there any octopus Mystics?” The cat hissed and grumbled and Yugai decided his curiosity had no need to be sated at that exact moment in time. “I’m not invisible. I’m incorporeal. I’m like a ghost behind your shoulder. I’ll keep quiet. I’m not a fan of conversations between humans.” Finally, they were back in the main hall filled with hosts and the women who had come just to see them. Kentarou leaned over and whispered in the ear of his new protege.

“Table at the top right corner. She’s the one who’s asking for you. Go. Stay confident. Don’t be stupid. I’ll be watching you.” Yugai nodded and took his first step into this life. The sound of his foot against the marble floor sent an almost silent shockwave through the air. That was how it would start. A single tap against the ground. It would grow. Standing straight and advancing with a smile, doing all he could to appear dignified. “Not bad, newbie. Heh, walk the walk but you need to talk the talk.”

A young woman came to view. She looked around the same age or just a bit older than Yugai himself. Her hair was compacted into a long and lovely purple coloured braid that hung down from her right shoulder. It was and always will be the first thing that anyone will look at when they lay their eyes upon her, anyone could tell there was a loving amount of attention and detail dedicated to making it twinkle like a diamond among a mountain of coal. However, the rest of her physical form was no slouch either. Rouge lips that were as deep as the very first sin. Eyes of emerald. Skin that looked as if it had just been bathed in ambrosia, a layer of milk like white that had wrapped around her body and could not be torn away. Not a single blemish. A low cut dark blue dress that opened a window to a valley of temptation.

“Hey good looking, want to make my night tonight?” A voice that carried the notes of a mastered violin. Enticing with just a few pulls of the strings, grabbed and swallowed in a symphony. Yugai stared at her dumbfounded. It was as if the statue of a goddess of antiquity had come to life before him, a living miracle of beauty sat on a black two-seater couch and carried bubbling champagne in a glass in her right hand while her left patted the cushion to her side. Come. She was beckoning the beast she had picked out to bow his head to his new mistress.

Kentarou grinned as he watched the boy walk over like a zombie and fall into his designated seat like a well-trained dog. “Did you forget Yugai? Your customers are also likely to be part of the nightlife. In other words, hostesses! Our exact opposites! Women who entice and wrap men around their fingers for a living! This will be a match of wills, seduction, and setting the mood! If you can even land a few good hits in… no, if you’re able to avoid being completely sucked into her pace then I’ll commend you even if I hate doing so. Now, what will you do?”

“I’m… Milo! I’ll do my best!” He was able to psyche himself up and open with an energetic introduction. “Oh my, how adorable! I do love children who try their best!” A backhanded compliment that makes the recipient want to prove themselves to the one who struck them! A fire was lit and it would not go out easily. “I hope to meet your expectations!” The woman brings her left hand to her mouth to conceal her lips as she let out a brief giggle. “So earnest! I’m falling for you already! Oh, how rude of me, my name is Violet! Let’s exchange mail addresses!”

A blush was forced onto his face as he stumbled to stay cool, but this just gave her the opening to reach into the coat pocket of his duster and retrieve his new cellphone. Without asking for permission she moved her fingers with incredible precision and speed. “There! I added my number! I expect you to answer within five seconds a text and three rings of the dial.” Yugai could only nod in response. She was far too fast. Too smooth. She was operating him like a well-oiled machine and she had memorised every nut, bolt, and function just like the back of her hand. She pushed his phone back into the pocket she had taken it from while pushing her face closer to his. She unleashed an addicting poison at this range. Her long dark eyelashes batted like the wings of butterflies and drew Yugai further into her soul.

Kentarou sighed and stared at the woman sitting with his apprentice. “Violet is a professional after all. I had very little hope in the first place for any first-timer to be able to control the conversation. Since he couldn’t weather the rapid, he should go with the flow…” Kentarou had seen this happened many a time before. Most of the new hosts were tested with similar methods. This wasn’t about crushing the hopes of fresh-faced dreams. It was to see who was able to pick up their pride and fight another day. This business was a cutthroat one, and your words are your weapons. Your body is merely a good-looking sheathe for the blade known as the heart. The most important thing is to charm with character and when this cannot be done, assist with loving care. “Urgh. He’s going to try to counterattack now. This is going to be ugly.”

“I’m Izumi Yugai! I’m twenty-one years old! It’s a pleasure to meet a wonderful woman such as yourself, Lady Violet! I’m honoured to have been chosen by you personally! I like… shonen manga from the 80s and 90s!” Violet let out a cute roar of victory and Kentarou groaned and tilted his head to the right in disappointment. “You’re so nervous! You actually gave me your name! You introduced yourself so formally too! Hahaha! You’re certainly a fun one. I’m guessing this is your first day here?” Yugai grit his teeth as he realised he had fallen face-first on this battlefield. He was internally about to break into a panic. He was losing badly and was now exposed. If she struck now with all her force… a flash of steel.

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“Yes. I’ve just started today. I must thank you for being so accepting of my first stumbling steps into this world. Worry not, your efforts will not be wasted. It will not be tonight but I swear that I will be number one.” A sudden change of intensity. She swirled her glass, let out a small smile, and then brought the bubbling golden liquid to her lips and sipped the expensive drink in tiny measured gulps until it was now half empty. She lowered it again. “Oh. I like that. It might be a bit too intense for your average girl, but who doesn’t like seeing a man do his very best and fight for his dreams?” She had ceded an inch of ground but had set up a pitfall. Changing her address of him from child to man emboldened him, but overconfidence can be a traitor that wrings your neck with a loose when you least expect it. Could he escape the trap she had laid?

Her lips cracked into a knowing grin. “Well, since you gave me all that information I feel obliged to give you mine too! My real name? It’s a secret. My age? How about you take a guess? My three sizes? My, you men are all the same!” Three strikes that turned up the heat. He can’t respond. His mind hasn’t been trained for such banter. She had lived it every night of her adult life.

A veteran against a recruit. It wasn’t even close to a fair fight. She then prepared her critical blow. “As for my hobbies, those would be Aikido and Wing Chung.” His legs had been swept from under him and now he was in free fall. “I can beat you down to the ground with my fists. Some boys quite like that. Are you one of them?” He was struck to the floor with a cackle and a whisper from a demoness. “I-I don’t know? M-maybe?” He didn’t know if he should encourage that line of thinking or behaviour. The customer is always right fought with his pride and undermined by inexperience.

The bad boy continued to see Yugai verbally collapse. “Damn. She’s not holding anything back. She’s more merciless than usual. Oh. Maybe she actually does think he’s cute? That would explain it. Kid, c’mon. You’re getting massacred out there. You’re glued to your seat and sweating bullets. Show me you have… something. Was my instruction too poor? Or does he just suck? Or is she just too good? Sigh. All of those things?” If this were an actual fight, he’d had thrown in the towel by now. That was how bad he saw the situation… but it wasn’t a dumpster fire. At least, not yet.

“Milo. Hey, Milo? Milo? Are you paying attention to me?” Violet waved her free hand over his eye and he snapped back to reality. “Milo? Ah, yes! That’s me! I’m Milo!” She now looked significantly displeased. “You got distracted, didn’t you? Were you imagining me dominating you? Pervert. Or were you thinking about some other girl? I shall not forgive you if you were.” He was losing. Utterly and terribly. The need to fight the mighty current had not died down just yet. He was still willing to make a go of it. Of labour that would impress even the goddess of love. “Forgive me, Lady Violet. I was so transfixed by your beauty that I committed the unforgivable sin of being unable to hear your angelic voice. I can only pray you shall pardon me, though I do not deserve it.” He had dug up a bunch of eloquent and overly dramatic words and phrases from the manga of his youth and had placed them together to form a makeshift collage and hoped it could give him some form of defence. Violet’s eyes opened a margin wider and she said not a thing. She simply brought her glass back to her lips and took one long but thin sip until nothing remained.

Kentarou let out a pained exhale of air that sounded like the hissing of a snake. “...Cheesy shit like that out of nowhere? Aramis should be his teacher instead of me. What the hell are you thinking Lang? You know I have no time to teach hatchlings to fly and yet…” Kentarou however kept his promise. His eyes had not once strayed from his pupil.

Violet finally put the glass down, and this time rested it on the white table before them, it was completely empty now, immaculately spotless. Both of her hands had been set free. Yugai could now clearly see all ten of her lavender painted nails. “Milo… have you ever been beaten by your father?” Her eyes and voice fell with the weight of a guillotine and Yugai had somehow found himself locked into it just as the string that held the massive blade skywards was let loose. Kentarou’s eyes bulged in disbelief. This was rather rare for her to speak about, let alone with her first meeting with a person. Why was she going this far? “Shit. She’s going for the kill.”

“I’d like to order a bottle of red wine!” She called out and a waiter nodded and arrived with a black bottle with a golden top. The server kneeled as he placed the bottle on the table and left behind two glasses and hot towels. “Please enjoy.” He turns and leaves while picking up the empty champagne glass. It all happened very quickly, Yugai didn’t even get a stammer of surprise in, still reeling from the sucker punch Violet had thrown at him mere moments before, and yet she was beaming from ear to ear.

“Come, drink with me.” She unscrews the cap and then pours half a glass for both of them. She took one for herself in her right hand and presented Yugai with the other with her left. He gathered enough composure and awareness to reach out and take it. “Cheers!” She tapped her glass against his and he was able to also blurt out “c-cheers!” A ringing sound resonated across their table. They both took a sip of the scarlet liquid and then rested their cups in their hands while looking at one another. “So, as I was saying, have you ever been beaten by those who said they loved you?” With a flip of a switch, the pressure was back on in full force. She would not let him go. He gulped and almost choked on the wine in his throat. It took everything he could to stay even a little bit calm. The real battle began from this moment onwards...