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"Heyo! Can Ibuki get you anything?" The bartender beamed with a smile seemingly disproportionate to the rest of her features.
"Just a glass of water thanks. I'm not drinking tonight." I reply as soft as can be heard over the loud music coming from the other room which is still quite loud despite being muffled by the wall.
"Driving tonight are we?" She asked as she slid a small glass across the countertop and into her other hand.
"No, just here for a couple friends. I'm not here by choice unfortunately." I groaned.
"Awww..." The girl sighed. "Might as well have fun while you're here though!"
"I guess... I'm not too much of a club person myself."
The girl giggled and turned to grab a jug out of the bar fridge behind her and swiftly poured the water from the jug into the glass she had previously.
"Ice?" She asked looking up at me.
"Please." I respond.
The girl once again giggled and reached for a conveniently placed tray embedded into the counter that held the ice and plucked a few cubes out, dropping them quickly into the glass of water, then passed it over to me with a smile.
"Thanks." I said as I grabbed the glass and lifted it to my lips, taking a small ladylike sip.
It took me a few minutes of sitting silently at the bar to realise I seemed to be the only one there apart from two men in a loud discussion at the other end.
I looked back over to the bartender who was wiping down the countertops with a small pink cloth from all the rings leftover from the glasses and bottles.
I used this time I had at the bar in silence to note the girl's appearance.
She was pierced in multiple places including three small studs just beneath her lip. And her hair just reached her hips in a mess of black, white and blue and a pink and blue fringe that hung over her face, completed with two buns sitting atop her head.
Of course she was wearing the club's plain black uniform that she seemed to have decorated with a black studded belt and a pink and blue striped glove on one arm.
I was an open bisexual and was willing to accept the fact that I found her very attractive. But of course I would never make a move unless I knew she was comfortable with a girl hitting on her, or anyone hitting on her for that matter.
I was never a shy girl. I always found it quite easy to tell someone I thought they were attractive. Of course that had led to quite a few short-lived flings and a collection of numbers left in my phone belonging to people I probably won't call again.
All I needed was a conversation starter. It wasn't like the bar was busy considering it to be the VIP section where not many people were allowed. I always went to the VIP section, I never liked being constantly bumping into people and having to scream over the deafening music.
Thankfully my status as a princess allowed me to enter such areas.
I usually don't like abusing my privileges as a member of royalty but it had its uses.
Conversation starter... Why can I never think of one in a situation of need? Hang on... Maybe...
With a quick flick of my wrist I managed to knock the glass of water over, spilling the leftover water across the counter and letting the glass roll off the table and crash to the floor, breaking into generous shards.
"Oh I'm soooo sorry!" I say in a feigned shock.
The girl quickly looked up and inspected the spilled glass. She looked back up at me and smiled.
"It's cool! Ibuki's got it!" She said. She darted under the counter for a moment and pulled out a dustpan and ran around to my side of the counter and leaned down around my barstool, quickly sweeping shards of broken glass into the pan.
"I'm really sorry!" I said again.
She stood back up with the pan of glass and smiled back at me.
"Don't sweat it! Ibuki gets paid to do this!"
I let out a small giggle and she walks back around the counter and sets the pan back down on the counter and grabs a few sheets of newspaper from under the counter again and sets it down.
"You have all this stuff prepared?"
"O'course! We're used to customers breaking stuff!" She gently tipped the glass onto the newspaper and carefully wrapped the paper around the shards, promptly disposing of it in a small bin just behind her. When she turned back around to wipe the counter of spilled water I used the opportunity to glance at her name tag pinned to her apron.
"Mioda?" I ask and she rolled her eyes.
"Mioooooda." She mocked. "What a boring name. Call me Ibuki!" She cheers.
I was a bit taken aback.
"Oh... But isn't that name a bit... More for intimate relationships?" I ask.
"Nah. Most people say Ibuki. Hell! Even Ibuki says Ibuki!"
I giggle at her again. I had noticed how she tended to speak in the third person. It was quite cute.
"I'm sorry, Japanese is not my first language, I tend to be quite technical."
She looks quite curious.
"Hmm? What's your first language?" She inquires.
I smiled back at her.
"English!" I respond. "But I do speak many languages!"
"That's super cool! Ibuki was never good in English classes."
"I'm sure you weren't that bad." I assured her.
Ibuki covered her mouth with one hand and chuckled.
"Good morning!" She said in English, her thick Japanese accent still very prominent. I couldn't help but laugh.
"I think you might have meant 'Thank you'." I corrected.
"Oh yeah..." She trailed off and I giggled again. She shook her head and looked back at me.
"So what's your name?" She asked.
"Sonia Nevermind." I answered. "Call me Sonia."
"Sonia..." She chimed. "Such a pretty name!"
"Thank you!" I said.
Ibuki leaned across the counter and rested her head on one of her arms, her gaze landed on me.
"Suits you." She said.
"How so?"
"Pretty name for a pretty girl."
I felt my cheeks flush and I sat up straighter in my chair by instinct. My hand flew up to play with a lock of blonde hair.
"Th-thank you!" I said. As I came down from the initial shock I managed to regain my composure.
"You're very pretty as well."
She showed her teeth in a smile and I leant a little closer to her across the counter, resting my forearms on the cold bar tops.
If I was reading the situation and the way Ibuki was looking at me correctly, there's a good chance she would be okay with me talking to her more.
I of course would never hit on anyone who I expected to be a one night stand or in many cases with girls, I would never want to be just an "experiment". I did believe however in living your life to the fullest. Talking to people I found cute was a part of that. I had been called a slut a couple times but that was an opinion. I could do what I wanted thank you very much.
In that moment a man stepped up to bar and glared at Ibuki.
"Mioda!" He called much too loudly. "You're on stage in 10 minutes, get your ass into the main club now!"
"Eheh... Ibuki's very sorry sir!"
The man glared at her once again before turning around and leaving the bar.
I looked back at Ibuki who was quickly untying her apron.
"On stage?" I asked.
"Yeah!" She said as she whipped the apron off.
"Ibuki's a musician! Bartending is fun and everything but music is Ibuki's real passion!" I smiled at her in fascination and she darted around the bar towards me.
"This is Ibuki's last shift, can she come find you after the show?" My chest fluttered and I nodded in agreement.
"Awesome!" Right before she took off she planted a small peck on my cheek and I flushed red.
"S-see ya!" I called after her.
I awkwardly shifted in my seat for a few moments then slid off the stool, trying to be wary of some of the tiny fragments still left on the floor.
I found my way into the club and as I expected. The music was loud, the place was crowded and she could barely see anything in its original colour due to the brightly coloured lights everywhere.
I smoothed my green dress out before eying the crowd, looking for a sign of any of the friends who I accompanied here.
I manage to spot Koizumi and Saionji with drinks over by one the walls, Saionji seemed to have been drinking a lot more than Koizumi; her posture was a clear sign of that.
She was draped over her girlfriend and her face seemed to show she was half-asleep.
I moved across the club towards them.
"Koizumi!" I called out. She looked up from the girl who seemed to be nearly passed out on top of her.
"Sonia!" She called back.
I moved as quickly as possible across the club towards them.
The music thumped loudly in my ears and even though I stood next to Koizumi I found myself needing to shout to talk to her.
“Is Saionji ok?” I asked.
“Yes, she’ll be fine,” she assured. “She just can’t handle alcohol that well. She’ll probably have a hangover tomorrow though”
“Do you think you can drive her home?”
“I’m not sure, I’ve been drinking too.”
“Best not to risk it then, I’d take you home but I need to stay for a little while.” I move a bit closer to them to see Saionji; she’s clearly very drunk, she seems to be completely relying on Koizumi to hold her up and there’s a clear line of drool down her chin.
“Sleepy drunk?” I asked.
Koizumi smiled and nodded.
“Has she ever been drunk at home?”
“Eh… we’ve had a couple drinks at home together but never in public and never this much.” Koizumi replied, hugging the girl a bit closer to her.
“Has Hinata been drinking? He could take you two home.” I suggested.
“I don’t think he has, I can go see if I can find him.”
“Go check the booth we left our stuff, maybe someone’s there.”
“Ok, thanks Sonia.”
“Smph… than-ff…” Saionji slurred.
I giggled and Koizumi and Saionji left for the booth, Saionji’s arm draped over Koizumi’s shoulder.
A few minutes after Koizumi had disappeared along with Saionji I had made my way to the other side of the club where there was a small stage with guitars and a drum kit set up with microphones in front of each instrument.
The pulsing music slowly faded out and then she stepped up onto the stage. She was followed by three other girls. She had changed her clothes in the short time from her uniform into a white shirt with a pink scarf and a navy blue skirt. The rest of her accessories she was wearing previously were still there along with mismatched, ripped thigh-high socks which were admittedly very cute on her.
She picked up the guitar at the front of the stage and tossed the strap over her shoulder and the other three girls took their positions.
The club burst into applause as Ibuki took to the microphone and she giggled.
“Hello!” She greets. “First off, Ibuki would like to thank Kuwata for the awesome DJing tonight!”
She gestures to the other side of the club where I could just make out a boy with red hair operating the DJ booth. So that’s who had been deafening me the entire night, my ears will be ringing by the time I got home. Still, it was pretty good music despite the volume so I clapped with the rest of the crowd.
I turned back to the stage where Ibuki smiled to the crowd.
“We are Black Cherry and Ibuki hopes you’ll like the show!”
She turns to the drummer behind her and the girl nods. As Ibuki turned back around the drummer counted the band in with a loud clacking of drum sticks.
In that moment the guitars strummed to life and another guitarist started singing quietly into the microphone. Then all of a sudden a loud break of Ibuki’s voice broke through the club.
“Genkai no saki e-----!”
Ibuki’s personality almost completely changed during the 4 minute span of the song.
While she was talking to me earlier she seemed so cute and upbeat but the song seemed completely different. Her voice was deep and the song made my stomach drop.
I had never listened to much J-Rock. But I had to say I was enjoying the performance. The intensity of the music loudly playing through the club caused me to sway my hips to beat vibrating through the air.
Near the start of the second verse is when I felt a tap on the back of my shoulder. I turned around to see Koizumi again.
“Hey, Hinata’s taking us home I thought I’d say bye.” She yelled over the music.
“Make sure Saionji’s okay in the morning will you?” I yell back.
“I was going to anyway,” She smiled. “I’ll call you sometime tomorrow morning, we’ll see if Saionji’s up to our shopping trip.”
“Cool! See you tomorrow.” I yelled once more as we both leaned in to hug goodbye. She pulled back first and I let go. As she turned to leave, she waved goodbye and I waved back.
I turned back to the stage to watch the rest of the song to see Ibuki’s eyes on me. She must have spotted me amongst the crowd while I was talking to Koizumi. When my gaze met hers she noticed almost instantly and winked in my direction. My cheeks grew warm but I managed to throw a smile back at her.
Her eyes left mine again and fell back over the crowd. The song seems to be reaching the final chorus and most members of the crowd danced along to the heavy bass.
“Itsumademo asenai ano melody tsurete-----!” Ibuki sang as the guitars and drums began to slow down. “Genkai no saki e-----!”
The guitars played the last piece of music with a steady beat and the drummer finally ended the song with a loud crash.
The crowd starts to cheer for the girls and Ibuki takes a deep breath before leaning back to the microphone.
“We have been Black Cherry! Good night!” She yells into the microphone, lifting the guitar strap back up over her head. The other three girls stepped away from the instruments and left the stage, tailing Ibuki, leaving the equipment behind.
Within a minute or two I manage to escape from the crowd and make my way to the side of the club which appears to be a small corner where nobody else seemed to be, giving me the chance to take a breather from the sweaty mosh pit that I had to take part in to view Ibuki’s performance from a good angle.
I noticed the bow tied around my shirt collar had grown loose and I reached up to tighten the knot on the bow, only to notice the gem that pinned my bow together had fallen off, probably somewhere in the nightclub.
I looked around my general area to spot a small stone shine against the light.
I moved closer to inspect the object. As I got closer I managed to see that the stone was green and I knelt down to pick it up.
As I picked up the stone I inspected it to find it was indeed mine and I felt a wave of relief as I pinned the gem back onto the bow.
I stood back up from the ground to come face to face with a big smile.
“Yoooooooo!” She called.
“I-Ibuki…” I stutter in slight surprise.
“Sorry Ibuki took so long! She couldn’t find you…”
“It’s fine,” I assured her. “I just got out from the crowd.”
She giggled softly and gazed up at me.
“Ibuki’s glad she found you.”
I smiled back at her and giggled slightly.
“Can I hug you?” I asked.
Without a moment of thought she bounced closer to me and threw her arms around my neck. She pushed me back a bit but I managed to keep my footing. After a few moments I registered my situation and I nervously moved my arms to pull her waist closer to me and I rested my head on her shoulder.
After a while of enjoying the warmth of Ibuki clinging to me she moved her head way from my shoulder, causing me by default to move my head as well to look directly into her eyes.
I needed to look down a little to meet her gaze and she smiled gently at me.
Without thinking I leaned down and planted my lips against hers. Her eyes went wide for a moment due to the sudden advance and I worried I had completely stuffed up and made her uncomfortable but after the initial shock she relaxed and closed her eyes, slowly starting to kiss me back. She tensed her arms around my neck and I met my hands behind her back, pulling her against me and deepening the kiss.
--
The loud buzzing of a vibrating cell phone against the wooden bedside table is what stirred me from my sleep. I groaned loudly at the annoying wake-up alarm and lazily sat up in the bed and pushed the duvet of my chest.
I blindly reached for my phone beside the bed and when I managed to hit the phone with my hand I gripped for the phone and held it in front of my face to stare at the caller ID to see that Koizumi was calling me.
I dragged the answer slider on the touchscreen across the screen and held the phone to my ear.
“Hey Koizumi…” I groaned sleepily. “What’s up?”
“Hey Sonia, I think we need to call off the shopping trip today. Saionji is not taking the hangover well, I think I need to look after her today.”
“Hmm… that sucks, how are you doing?”
“My head hurts a bit but I never get hung over that badly.”
“Maybe we can go out tomorrow? I’m pretty tired myself.”
“You stay up late last night?” She asked.
I looked across to the other side of my bed, the sleeping figure lies in a mess of sheets and messy coloured hair. She was left in just her black underwear and appeared to be sound asleep.
“A little late… yeah.”
“Okay, talk to you later kay?” Koizumi says.
“See you!” I replied and held the phone away from my ear and ended the call.
I looked down at Ibuki in my bed again and tucked myself under the covers again. I moved a little closer to her to press her back into my chest and I draped my arm over her chest. Her mess of hair tickled against my stomach. I nuzzled my nose into the mess of hair by her neck before resting my chin on her pale shoulder.
She made a small noise and shuffled slightly in her sleep and I grinned slightly into her shoulder.
“Are you awake?” I whispered.
“Ibuki saw you break the glass on purpose.” She mumbled.
My smile only grew wider.