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09/21/2021 09:27 PM
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🍻 - Prompt
PROMPT||🍻 Triggers: Heavy drinking, violence
It must have been nearly three in the morning here, but he had been traveling so much recently that time was starting to fade together. Sleep came when it was too much to bear. Sometimes he would sleep for an hour or two, other times he would be out for 14 hours, give or take. It just depended on his energy levels. This particular day, he had just woken up from ten-hour rest and didn’t feel like being in bed any longer than he already had been.
He dressed casually since it appeared to be in the middle of the night, wearing a pair of dark denim jeans, and a red tee. Not the typical clothing style he was usually seen in while walking the streets at night, but no one knew his face here. His tebori ink was more visible this way, at least the ones that ran down his arms. Though, tattoos were more common on this side of the world, no one even batted an eye as he passed by them.
Most buildings were closed. Which brought on a slight annoyance considering how long he had gone without a proper meal. Finally, as he made it onto another street, he could see a building in the distance, all lit-up. Red string lights hung from the roof, and as he drew closer he could make out the beer logos as well as an ‘open’ sign, all illuminated in the windows of the front of the building. It was clearly a bar, and while Ryusei had no intention of drinking right now, his options were very limited, and he didn’t feel like exploring the entire town. Perhaps they offered a good variety of food, and he could have a beer or two while he ate.
Upon entering, he was surprised at how many were inside, all chattering and laughing amongst one another, most already drunk. Ryusei squeezed passed them and made his way over to an empty bar stool. “A menu please, and whatever seasonal beer you have.” After a moment, a menu was placed before him, followed by a tall icy glass of dark beer, a thick foam over the top. Taking a sip, it was rich in flavor, instantly adding an extra warmth to his body as it coated his empty stomach.
As he looked down at the menu, however, he could feel another pair of eyes on him, all of the sudden. After a few seconds, when they had yet to withdraw, he looked up as well and turned his head towards the wandering gaze. When his eyes met with the one sitting next to him, he raised his brows on instinct. She held such a powerful presence, one that pierced right through to his soul. Then she smiled, and her whole faced changed. She had gone from the most intimidating woman he had ever seen, to the sweetest, in only a matter of a couple seconds.
“I’m not sure whether to take that as a compliment, or an insult.” She proceeded to laugh lightly, bringing her bottle of beer to her lips for another sip as she eyed him with a curious side-glance. Ryusei had just realized how rude he had been by reacting that way. Bringing his knuckle to his lips, he cleared his throat. “Uh, sorry. It was a compliment.” He took a nervous swig from his beer. “Definitely a compliment.” A warm smile was added, one corner of his lips tugging upwards.
She placed her elbow up on the counter, leaning her head into her hands. “Well, I was the one staring, but I couldn’t help but notice your eyes. It’s not every day you see a man with golden eyes. Let alone someone of your.. nationality.” Another smile followed as she finished off her wine. Ryusei chuckled, unsure of how to respond to that so he took a long sip of his beer while he thought about it. “It’s a.. genetic mutation.” He finally said. That much was mostly true, even though he didn’t let her in on the full extent of it. “Ah..I see.” She looked at him a moment longer, particularly into his eyes, seemingly not convinced, but she didn’t press on it any further. 
“Well. I’m Macy, but you can call me Mace.” Her hand extended towards him, in which Ryusei met eagerly with his own warm hand. “Ryusei, but you can call me Ryu if you like.” When their hands joined, she glanced down briefly at them, holding on for a moment longer than one usually would. “I was going to order some shots. Would you care to share?” She released her grasp, her hues rising back up to meet with his.
“As long as you let me pay.” A smirk crossed his lips as he held up a finger to signal the bartender. Ryu ordered a large plate of wings and let Macy order whichever shots she preferred. Which happened to be tequila. He didn’t have much experience with tequila, that particular liquor seemed to affect differently than the other kinds. He almost didn’t trust himself whenever he drank it. He prided himself being able to maintain a certain level of sobriety no matter how much he drank, or what type of substances he dabbled in, but something about tequila was different. Someone had once called it the diablo of alcohol, and he would have to agree.
Still, he began a tab under his fake identification and a row of shots were brought to them. She picked up the first one, and he followed her lead by picking up the one closest to him. As they clinked their small glasses together, Ryu held his breath and downed the shot, letting it go down completely before he exhaled. It was a trick he learned to do when he didn’t like the particular taste of the alcohol, but still wanted the effects of it.
They shared the large plate of wings while they also shared small details about their lives. He revealed that he was based in Japan, but his work often had him traveling around the globe, which struck Mace as interesting, and she began asking him about his favorite places and future goals. He was genuinely having a wondering time with this stranger, turned friend. It had been a long time since he was able to chat and smile like he was now, that it almost felt unnatural, but in a good way.
They were on their third round now and his bearings were starting to slip away from him. He kept almost talking about things that would have revealed way too much about him than she needed to know, but she had been drinking too so she didn’t seem to notice, at least he hoped not. “Let’s go, it’s getting too noisy in here.” She began to stumble out of her chair, but froze halfway when the song changed. “Wait, I love this song.” Her smile lit up the room as it grew so wide, it was contagious. “Oh yeah? Are you going to dance?” He chuckled jokingly, but she had already removed herself from the stool and began moving along to the rhythm of the beat.
Ryusei sat back, entertained, watching as she enjoyed herself while he finished off his beer. However, someone else seemed to take notice too. “Shake that ass. Come on! A little harder than that!” The sleazy guy even reached out to smack her on the behind. Ryusei hadn’t brought any weapons with him, at all, but it wouldn’t have mattered, because his first thought was that someone like him deserved to burn. It didn’t matter who saw, a lesson needed to be learned. Though, just as he pushed himself from his chair, Mace had lifted her hand towards Ryusei. Halting, a look of utter confusion crossed his features. How could she not want him to do anything about that completely unauthorized behavior?
Then, he looked to his left and saw a knife levitate from the counter, floating adjacent to his head, trembling slightly. Before he even had time to think, the knife soared passed him the moment she snapped her hand back towards herself. She was standing with her back still facing the stranger, but the man was too busy looking down that he didn’t see the knife as it sailed directly into his jugular. He choked right away, grasping for the intruding blade, but as it slipped from his neck, blood followed, spurting out onto Mace and other people around him. Ryusei’s eyes grew wide, as he was the only one who was frozen in place as others began to scream and scatter when his body hit the floor.
Taking her hand, he wasted no time following the crowd, blending in, even though his surroundings were still unstable, and he hadn’t quite processed what had just happened. He knew what he saw, though. It was lucky that he was the only one who saw it all, as no one else had even caught sight of the floating knife or how it followed her command. This night turned out to be far more eventful than he ever had in mind, he just hoped he would remember it by the time he sobered up.
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09/05/2021 02:23 PM
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Wisteria
Wisteria
The dull sound of an old clock clicked steadily above him. Each second signified another step closer to being done with this meeting. That was, if Katsunaga ever showed himself. The sun had already risen over the ocean, beaming in through the open window in the lobby of their complex. His surroundings were engulfed in the light, dust particles now visible floating about the room. This was about the time he began to unwind for bed. He was reminded of that fact when a forced intake of air had him yawning for a few seconds.
Just as he was about to get up and retreat back to his personal quarters, his phone vibrated against his thigh from where it was settled in his pocket. Retrieving it, there was a message from the oyabun: I’ll be there in 10 minutes.
A heavy sigh drifted from Ryusei’s lips as he switched off the device and fell back into the cushioned swivel chair he was seated in. He began to turn in it, simply out of boredom, scanning the room as he did so, as if he hadn’t already seen everything in here several times before.
However, something did catch his eye, just as he was about to make a 360 back to the desk. Halting, his sight fixated on the newspaper that sat on the counter. Particularly to the name on the front title, in bold symbols he could easily make it out.. Takeda. He immediately pushed himself up and to his feet, striding a couple steps over to the counter where he took the folded back and white papers and began unknitting them.
Just as he expected.. he gulped as his father’s name appeared across the headlines, but it wasn’t until he read the words following the name name, that it felt like his heart had stopped beating and dropped to his feet like a heavy weight, holding him down. There, on the front cover of the Asahi Shimbun, it read: ’Takeda Takashi, a world renowned businessman, dedicates a memorial to his late wife on the sixth anniversary of her death.’ A memorial.. for his wife? His breath suddenly stopped. No, it can’t be..
His gaze fell to the snapshot below. The photo showed his father; who looked nearly the same as he always had, aside for a longer beard, standing stoically before a crowd with his head held low, surrounded by flowers. Not just any kind flower, Wisteria flowers. Those had been his mother’s favorite. Despite their poisonous reputation, she had insisted that they smelled heavenly, and the lavender tone they held was her favorite hue of all.
Ryusei felt his heart shatter and suddenly he couldn’t stand to even stand any longer. He managed to take a few steps back until he fell back into the chair he was previously seated in. The newspaper remained in his hands as he began to tremble and tighten his grasp on the parchments until the entire thing was crimped within a tightly grasped fist; the most damage done over the photograph.
Six years.. six whole years, his mother had been dead and here he was, just now finding out. By word of a newspaper. Ryusei had turned a blind eye to public news for so long, due to the lean it had. A lot of false information was plastered over the the news. If he really wanted to know something, he trusted himself more than anyone else, to research that information for the right answer.
He would have been eighteen years old when she passed. A sudden flashback of his mother and himself took over his thoughts. It brought him back to when he he had just turned thirteen, and his mother swore she would leave and come live with him when he turned old enough to begin working and get a place on his own. A young Ryusei had promised his mother that he would be no more than eighteen when that day came.
Here he was, twenty-four years old, with more than enough money to buy a house somewhere, and send his beloved mother to it. Slamming his fist down into the table, he let it crack the wood, the split echoing throughout the empty room. He couldn’t even bring himself to cry, even though the nerves behind his eyes were burning painfully, all he could feel was anger.
Anger at his father, for using her death as a form of attention. Playing victim like he always had, to keep people astray from the truth. It couldn’t have been more disgusting. The man who caused her the most physical and mental pain and suffering was standing before a crowd, accepting their condolences for his tragic loss. Ryusei couldn’t even bear to read the rest. He would find out the truth when he could bear it, but now was not that time.
The anger continued to boil, even as his father’s image finally dissipated from his mind. It was then that he realized the anger he felt was mostly directed at himself. How could he let so much time pass him by without doing anything? How could he have waited so late... now there was no turning back. No saving her, no new chance at life for her. She had been born into a tragic life, and tragedy had taken everything from her until she was no more.
The urge to punish himself came strong, as it was the only thing he deserved in this moment. To suffer. Like she had. Then, for some reason, a familiar scent invaded his senses, distracting him. The lovely smell could only be from one thing.. wisteria. His fist slowly unclenched, the whites on his knuckles fading. For the first time in years, he felt the comfort of his mother’s embrace within the smell of her favorite flowers.
She didn’t want him to hurt himself more than he already had. All they had ever done was hurt themselves because of what Takashi did to them. He made them feel like they were lower than the dirt he walked upon, that all the pain they felt, they deserved. He had taught them to expect suffering, or live in fear when it didn’t come right away. Within time, it would be his turn to suffer. Ryusei was willing to risk everything he had to ensure that became inevitable.
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