7. Guilty Pleasures

Kris sipped her Tom Collins, savoring the gin’s bitter astringency and letting the alcohol seep into her system slowly. After all the pomp and circumstance of the morning, she needed this. Coming of Age marked a pivotal turning point in her life, sure, but standing around for hours in a lined furisode had been more tiring than she’d expected, not to mention posing for all the photographs afterwards, and socializing with half-forgotten acquaintances… it was a pain, to be honest. At least she’d managed to change into something more comfortable in her college dorm (with some help from her girlfriends) before coming out for drinks.

To be fair, it had been nice to have the furisode on - it was like having Mom holding her, even when she couldn’t attend the ceremony in person. She had helped Kris put on the furisode in the morning, and when Kris had finally gotten it on properly, Mom had looked… happy. The way she hadn’t looked in years, not since Dad had passed. Mom had worn this very furisode to her own Coming of Age ceremony, an elegant piece of her own design, and Kris could only imagine what she must have felt watching the daughter she’d singlehandedly raised reach adulthood and become a full-fledged member of society. She wanted Mom to feel that way every day, and now that she was an adult in her own right, she could make that happen.

“Kris, finish that boring drink and come get another round! We’re doing shots - Miyuki’s treat!” Kyoko sidled up to her, playfully nudging another one of their friends in the side. Miyuki protested, but quickly acquiesced as the bartender lined up a row of shot glasses and got out the vodka. “C’mon, drink, drink, drink!”

Yay, being an adult. Kris inwardly sighed, but dutifully downed the shot, savoring the burn in her chest that the liquor brought. She wasn’t a party girl, unlike Kyoko and Miyuki, but she was a team player, and she knew that turning down the shot would only spoil the mood and lower the group’s estimation of her. Sometimes you had to go along to get along, and she had a reputation to maintain. She stood out - there was no helping that. Whether it was her height, her heritage, her family background, her scholarship… there was no shortage of factors that might have fostered resentment amongst her classmates. To this end, she’d cultivated an unflappable - but still approachable - demeanor, as though you could throw anything at her and she’d smile and handle it effortlessly. It was a conscious, calculated decision, and it took constant effort, but it ensured that they saw her as an object of admiration, rather than a despised pariah. From exams to parties to confessions, she met everything with the same air of confidence and capability, even when she was a nervous wreck on the inside - a knack of adulthood that she’d picked up along the way.

Setting her glass on the counter, Kris politely extricated herself from Kyoko’s embrace - that girl got way too touchy-feely once she’d had a few - and stepped away from the bar.

“Actually, I’m going to make this my last drink here. I’ve got to meet someone soon - I told you guys, right?”

Kyoko, Miyuki, and the rest of their friends, loosely assembled around the bar, perked up at that. Kris froze, caught off-guard by this reaction, and raised an eyebrow as a knowing look crept onto Miyuki’s face.

“Ah… off to meet the mysterious boyfriend, hmm?”

“He’s not my boyfriend-“

Kyoko cut in. “The one who’s been able to capture our inscrutable ice queen’s heart?”

“My heart hasn’t gone anywhere, Kyoko.”

“Someone so important that you’d run off and leave your best friends all by themselves here in this seedy bar?” Miyuki faux-swooned against Kyoko, who chimed in. “Whatever shall we do without our white knight to hold off the lecherous hordes?”

“Kyoko!” Kris stifled a laugh, glancing around at the crowd, which consisted mainly of college students. Valentino’s was anything but seedy, and sat along the borderline of expensive and cheap, which meant that a respectable group of young ladies like themselves could let loose a little without a) being harassed by said lecherous hordes or b) going bankrupt.

That said, it wasn’t as though Kyoko or Miyuki were strapped for cash. Kyoko’s family was old money, and Miyuki had some cash coming in on the side - she’d been close-lipped about it, but Kris had spotted her with a sugar daddy or two on her days off. They’d booed her choice of bars at first, but after a spirited round of bargaining (not to mention anger, denial, and grief, not necessarily in that order), they’d eventually settled for having their afterparty at Valentino’s, a chic little hole-in-the-wall bar not too far from campus. Rolling her eyes, she waved to the bartender to settle her part of the tab.“You’re a regular comedy duo, the two of you. When can I expect your debut?”

Miyuki caught Kris’s hand and shook her head at the bartender with a sweet smile. “Don’t you even think about paying today, miss - this is on Kyoko and I.”

“What? No, really, I can pay for my own -”

“This is the first time you’ve come out with us in months, Kris! Come on, let us repay you for everything. A few rounds is nothing compared to all the times you’ve been there for us.”

“All the times you lent us a shoulder to cry on, or lent us notes when we missed class, or talked us out of bad decisions…” Kyoko counted off Kris’s accomplishments on her fingers.

“Or bailed you out of those bad decisions after you’d already made them?” Kris cut in sardonically.

Miyuki chuckled. “That too. You’re a good friend, Kris. Just... live a little, alright? Come on, we’re adults now! One round for the road, and then you can go enjoy the rest of the evening with your not-boyfriend.”

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Kris felt a retort come to her lips, but thought better of it and accepted the second round of shots Kyoko had gotten from the bartender. “Oh, alright. To adulthood and responsible decisions.”

“To adulthood!” They toasted enthusiastically, and Kyoko slammed her shot glass on the counter, demanding another round.

Kris made her exit as the gathering got rowdy, sobering up immensely as the frigid January wind reached straight through her coat and sweater to chill her from the inside out. Teeth chattering slightly, she hustled down the street, trying to keep warm by staying in motion.

Already, she regretted letting Miyuki talk her out of wearing thermal underwear (they’re granny undies, Kris, nobody wears those). How that girl managed to avoid hypothermia in this weather given her choice of attire remained a mystery to her, though she suspected that Miyuki’s firm belief in the virtues of the ‘alcohol blanket’ had something to do with it. Well, she hadn’t had enough to drink to ignore the cold, and though the black cashmere V-neck sweater flattered the lines of her body, taking advantage of her above-average height and slim build to do wonders for her figure, it didn’t do very much to keep her warm. She typically dressed more sensibly than this, and Kyoko and Miyuki had delved deep into her wardrobe before putting together an ensemble that did justice to her figure.

And what if I don’t want it to do justice to my figure, Miyuki? What if I’d rather be seen as a person in my own right, not a juicy side of meat? Kris had her share of reservations about the outfit, but knew that they were the fashionistas, not her. Learning when to accept well-intentioned advice and when to stick to your guns was another skill of adulthood, one that she’d learned long ago. There was nothing wrong with wanting to look your best when you were out for a night on the town, and they were going out as a group, anyway, so unwelcome advances were less likely. Kris knew how to turn men down - she’d let down her share of would-be suitors in high school and college - but she always made a point to do with tact and grace, for the sake of her reputation, if not the men’s feelings. Not so easy to do with a stranger in a public setting, much less when both parties had had a drink or two. She tightened her scarf and snuggled into her duffle coat a little more, trying to get warmer and make herself look more nondescript. The bar she was heading to was in one of the less savory parts of town, and she hoped the cold would encourage the less savory individuals who always seemed to be loitering around on the street to stay inside. Who’d brave this weather just to make catcalls at passing women, anyway?

No one, thankfully. She walked past a building with blanks where the directory should have been, turned left at the corner, looked for a bricked-up window, and finally came to a stop in front of an unremarkable door in an anonymous alley. She knocked twice, paused, then knocked again.

As far as she knew, this bar had no name, and the alley it was located in didn’t turn up on any of the maps she’d looked up. She’d had to memorise the landmarks in order to find her way back to it after she’d been here the last time round. A peep-hole that blended seamlessly into the door’s wooden surface slid back, and though she couldn’t see what was on the other side, she felt herself being scrutinised briefly. Then the door opened just wide enough to let her in, and she slipped inside without hesitation, knowing it wouldn’t remain open for long. Her body prickled as it adjusted to the heated air inside the bar, and her eyes slowly adjusted to the dim lighting.

Nameless this place might be, but there was no mistaking the effort and money that had gone into its ambience and decor. Dark mahogany panels lined the walls, and wrought-iron faux-antique incandescent lamps both drew the eye and filled the space with a warm, muted light. The clientele here definitely skewed a little older, as well as somewhat more… sketchy, to put it bluntly.

A group of middle-aged gentlemen congregated at one end of the bar, dressed impeccably, as though to say ‘we are very definitely legitimate businessmen and not anything suspicious, even though our behavior may indicate otherwise.’ This did make it somewhat difficult for Kris to find who she was looking for and navigate her way through the bar’s patrons, but she’d know Tetsuya anywhere. He was seated at a small alcove set into the wall across from the entrance, nursing a glass of some amber liquor on the rocks, and looked up as she approached.

“Hey, Kris. Congratulations on becoming an adult.” He smiled, raising his glass to her. She noted that he was favoring his left hand, which struck her as odd - he was right-handed, wasn’t he? “How’s it feel?”

She smiled back, taking her coat off and folding it over one arm as she took a seat. “Same old, same old. Law school is impossible, dealing with people is exhausting, and I have no idea where to go with my career.”

“Weren’t you thinking about becoming a public prosecutor? That’s a respectable career goal, isn’t it?” He raised a hand to get a waiter’s attention - his left again. This time, she noticed a binding of some sort around his right wrist. An injury of some sort?

She undid her scarf and placed it over her coat as a waiter brought a menu over. “Yeah, I did… but I don’t know. Everyone’s going into private practice because the money’s better, and my family could certainly use some financial support from me. Mom’s worked hard enough to keep us afloat - I’ve got to start doing my part, too.”

“You got that scholarship, didn’t you? I’d call that doing your part.”

She ordered a whiskey and coke and passed the menu back to the waiter. “Mmm, I don’t know… What about you?”

Tetsuya grinned wryly. “Me? I got my bachelors’ from the school of hard knocks, and the tuition was free. Well, I didn’t pay in money, at least.”

This was one of the reasons she liked hanging out with Tetsuya. He was an unabashed man of the gutter - or at least he didn’t mind painting himself as such - so she didn’t need to keep up appearances with him. The fact that he wasn’t part of any of her other social circles meant that she could just be herself when she was with him, and… interesting things tended to happen when she was around him. There was also no denying that he was easy on the eyes. He stood out, with his silver-grey hair and blue eyes, though she suspected those were fashion statements, unlike her own piercing green eyes, which she’d gotten from Dad. In his crisp white oxford shirt, midnight blue blazer and jeans, he could have been taken for a model or an actor. She’d noted at least two women discreetly checking him out just before she’d sat down with him, though they’d moved on quickly.

She’d first gotten to know him three years ago, just after entering college, and despite what Kyoko and Miyuki had implied, there really wasn’t anything romantic about their relationship. (Yet.) She was just a straight-laced, career-driven, aspiring lawyer hanging out with an inscrutable, borderline-criminal, unemployed rogue. Together, they fought crime.

Well, not really, but they’d stopped a mugging once in Ikebukuro. And while she wasn’t entirely sure if he was unemployed, he always seemed to be strangely free to hang out when normal upstanding members of society would be at work. Perhaps he was some kind of freelancer.

“Very funny. But you’re… older than me, aren’t you? What do you do after you figure all this adulting business out? Isn’t there anything else to life? I mean, I thought it’d feel different, somehow. Instead, it’s business as usual.”

“Firstly - rude. You can’t just go around asking people how old they are, oh my god, Kris.” Tetsuya feigned outrage, getting a chuckle out of her. “Secondly, as an old-timer, I can tell you that… no, it really isn’t any different. Granted, you’re ahead of the curve. I know plenty of twenty year-olds who have no idea what to do with their lives, and here you are with everything figured out. So… yeah, it’s natural to feel a little disillusionment.”

“I wouldn’t say I have everything figured out. What were you doing when you turned twenty?”

Tetsuya looked momentarily nonplussed, but smoothed it over quickly. “I was one of those twenty year-olds with no clue, Kris. No direction, no vision for the future. Luckily, I had enough on my hands to keep me busy. Sometimes that’s enough. Anyway, are you sure you want to be taking life advice from a bad influence like myself?”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m a good enough influence on myself ninety-nine percent of the time, Tetsuya. Sometimes you just have to be bad, y’know?”

“Oh, is that what I am to you? A guilty pleasure? The proverbial pint of Ben & Jerry’s on a cheat day?” He laughed self-deprecatingly, but restrained himself to a sardonic grin as her drink arrived.

“Nah, I’m more of a Haagen-Dazs kind of girl. Got to have my rum and raisin.” She smirked as she accepted the glass from the waiter, and raised it towards Tetsuya. “To guilty pleasures.”

He met her toast with his own, their glasses clinking together lightly, their fingers brushing for an electric moment. “To being bad.”