The Tokyo Domain

The air was smoky, and the lighting was dim.  I was sitting at the bar nursing a drink, contemplating the morality of this and that.  The jazz band in the back wasn’t that bad at all, probably some group that had gained some popularity with the clientele of the establishment.  I tried not to listen to them too hard; the clamor of all the other guests helped me a bit.  The place was crowded; I guess that’s what I get for coming on a Saturday night.  I pulled my hat off and set it on the smooth untarnished bar top.  That’s when she sat down beside me.

She was wearing a fancy black dress, her hair tied up in a fancy way, curls falling down to outline her soft face.  It felt like all the color in the place was turned down.  Reds and blues and greens all faded into some tone of gold or brown, like a bad black and white movie.  She ordered her drink, and rested her arm of the bar gently.  She glanced over at me only half concerned with my existence, like I was a ghost.  Her eyes scanned the crowd meticulously. She was looking for something.  I didn’t care.

I turned back to the matter at hand, finishing off my drink.  The music was picking up; a lot of people were on the dance floor now.  All of them pulling fancy moves, dancing like they were all going to be the next Fred Astaire.  I couldn’t help but smirk a little bit at the show they were trying so hard to put on.  I turned my attention back to my now mostly empty glass.  I swirled it around in my hand, letting the ice clink against the sides.  It had a nice tone.

“You know…” She spoke to me “you used to be quite the dancer.  Why not go show them how it’s done?” She smiled affectionately, sipping her drink softly, like a warm spring breeze.  Something about the way she looked made me remember.  I didn’t like to think of my past, that’s why I was here.  Just to forget.

“I gave that up long ago, it has been years since I did any of that.”

“From what I hear you were quite the stud.” She winked.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?” I was disinterested; I was focused on enjoying the warm tones of the place.  Lost in my own solitude.

“Words out on the street; somebody is looking for you.”

“Looking for me eh?  Wonder what I did this time.” I could help but laugh a little.  Sometimes I wondered if I would get a moment to myself.

“I don’t know.  I did a little detective work of my own, dug up a few facts for you.  We’ll call these a friendly hint if you will.  Next time it’ll cost you.”  She slid a big manila envelope toward me.

It was full of interesting stuff, mostly on the guy out for me.  I didn’t recognize him at all, that was good.  Most of this stuff I hadn’t heard of before, his name sounded foreign.  Most peoples did anyway, could just be a fancy alias.  He looked like he was young, always in the same gray trench coat.  Where he was from was a mystery apparently.  Just showed up in my neighborhood asking people if they knew me.

“He’s been trying to track you down for three days now, I think maybe he will have figured out this is a hangout of your soon enough.”

“Oh well.” I swirled the now empty glass, the ice spinning in a hypnotic way.  She just smiled, sipping on her cold drink.

“Mind if I stick around?” She smiled at me again “Things could get pretty interesting.” She glanced in the direction of the door.  He had just walked in.

I ordered another drink.  She took the file and slid it back into her black bag.  He was walking around slowly, searching the crowd.  He stopped to talk to a few people; it looked like no one knew him.  This wasn’t the place for a stranger to be that pushy, I wondered if he would get into a brawl before he even got to me.  Someone must have eventually told him where I was.  Couldn’t blame ‘em he woulda found me eventually, as long as he knew what to look for.

He walked over, trying to be discreet about it, making a beeline for where I was sitting.  He sat heavily onto the bar stool next to me.  He untied the waste of his coat, letting it fall open.  The air was getting a little stale with cigarettes and too many sweaty bodies.  He lit up a cigarette himself, pulling on it heavily.  I guess I wasn’t going to get that quiet evening away from home.  The bartender brought me another drink and nodded in the direction on the guy next to me subtly.  I just picked up my drink and looked at him in the eyes calmly.  He wandered off to help the other customers.

“Are you… Kusanagi?” He said it quietly, as if trying to keep the other patrons from hearing.  He could have yelled at the top of his lungs and nobody would care.

“Who are you?” I sipped my drink, not even looking in his direction.  I was concerned more with other things.

“I am looking for the man they call the ‘Kusanagi’.” His speech was a little clean for the place we were in.

“Oh is that so?” I didn’t care to speak with him right now, why wouldn’t he just go away.

“I have a job for him.”

“What kind of work does this Kusenagy guy do?”  I mispronounced every syllable.

“I hear he is a detective, a good one.  Some one that I need desperately.”

“There are plenty of detectives out there, what do you need this one for?”

“I hear he is the best.”

“Sounds like some Japanese guy, I think you’re probably in the wrong place.”  I finished off my drink, setting the glass down on the bar.  The guy was looking pretty annoyed now, probably didn’t like to play any games.  Too bad for him, I was in a joking mood.

“I am willing to pay you well, and all up front.” He tapped a large metallic suitcase sitting on the ground at his side.  Mustn’t have noticed it when he came in.  “In there is your usual fee, a million yen.” I frowned.

“I hear he’s not pulling anymore jobs for a while, you should try back later.  There are a good deal of people out to get him, some in this very room.”  I threw some bills down on the bar and got up to leave.  He grabbed my arm.

“This is an offer you can not refuse.” He tensed up, His finger digging into my coat.  I couldn’t pull away.  I was getting angry.

“Why don’t you let go, before I get angry.”  I shifted my weight.  He had me by my left wrist, his other hand reaching into his coat.

“If you try to leave I will kill you.  That is how important this is.”  He reached a little further into his coat.  Now was my chance.

I broke his grip easily, twisting my arm and driving against his fingers.  I was free.  He reached further into his coat, a surprised look on his face.  I dove backwards, sliding on the slick floor on my back.  He pulled his piece, a revolver of some kind.  The fool, he walked into this place packing that?  He fired a shot; it exploded on the floor a foot in front of me.  I smiled.

“Give it up man, you’ll never hit me like that!”  I smirked. He had no chance.

“I am a better shot then you think, this is your warning.  Come with me, or I will kill you.”  He pointed the gun right at me.  He obviously hadn’t played this game as much as he thought he had.

“Are you really challenging me? HA! I’ve been around since before you could ride a bike kid.” He looked a little angry.  The place was in a panic; people were running for the doors as fast as they could, the Jazz band played on the stage as if nothing was happening.  She was still sitting at the bar, sipping on her second order of the evening.  The bar tender was cleaning out a few glasses, un-phased.

He fired his second shot.  I was rolling before he even pulled the trigger.  It hit right where he was aiming; the floor I was lying on a second or two before.  I crouched behind the bar reaching into my coat and producing two Colt revolvers.  I cocked them both, smirking.  He had about four chances left to hit me, and with the way he was shooting he never had a chance.  Looks like tonight was looking up.

He fired again, what an idiot.  I leaned around the corner, firing one of pistols in his general direction.  I wasn’t trying to hit him.  Maybe I could just scare him off.  He laughed aloud; I guess he thought he was tough.  He could have actually been a lot better then he was leading on.  “Always keep your guard up”, my fathers words rang in my ears.

“They told me you were a much better shot then that! Why don’t you stop treating me like an idiot and fight me for real!” He fired off another shot.  Two more left.

“Look kid, do you want to get hurt? Get out of here before I have to shoot you.” He squeezed off another round; I could hear it shatter a glass on the bar.

“Why don’t you come on out of there?”

“You got it!” I yelled.  I got up, running across the room as fast as I could, I squeezed of a round on each of my pistols, both aimed low.  He looked pretty surprised.  He tried to move, the first hit him in the ankle.  He fired off his last shot at nothing, a light went out across the room somewhere.  I dove behind a table.  He had nothing left.

“Come with me now, these games are getting to be annoying!”  A gunshot went off.  I heard a body collapsing to the floor.  When I looked out from where I was crouched she had a smoking gun in her hand.  His head was all over the place.  I walked back over to my seat picking up my hat.

“Do you always have to play with them like that?”  She tossed the pistol into her black bag.

“Just trying to play the part.” I pushed my hat back onto my head.  She smiled.

“Lets get out of here, these fifties places always make me sleepy.”  She started out of the bar.  I tossed some extra cash on the table. The bar tender just nodded his head and sighed.  I pushed my two revolvers back into my belt.

“Don’t you think your crossing eras a little to much with that?” She gestured at my gun belt.  I always wore it. “I mean, your wearing this whole Humphrey Bogart get up, and then you just have to be all John Wayne.  It really clashes.”  She threw her bag over her shoulder.

“I figured the coat suited the place.  Didn’t think Id have to pull the guns.”  I smiled.  We strolled out of the bar leisurely.

The outside world rushed over me suddenly, it was a jumble of images and words flying past us like a highway.  It always had a way of confusing me, like your trying to watch eight or nine different movies in fast-forward.  I squinted for a second, getting my bearings.  She walked with me, arm in arm, humming softly to herself.

“Its getting late there cowboy.” She smiled. “Dinner will be ready soon.” She flicked me gently on the nose and everything went black.

Reality flicked back into my vision.  The glasses had turned off.  My eyes were a little sore; using the glasses too much always did that to me.  I took them off for a minute and laid them down on my desk.  I stepped out the sensor ring I was standing in.  The wall panel was still frozen at the bar.  It was filling up again, the patrons returning quietly to their seats.  The jazz still filled my small apartment; I could see the band on screen, still playing away.  They had cleared away the body, probably just punted him.  Poor guy, I don’t know what he thought was so important that he would pull guns on me in a game I mastered years ago.

The bar faded out slowly and Konpyuuta Chan stood on the screen wearing something a little more appropriate for the day.  A pair of jeans and her light blue tank top.  She had a short black sports jacket draped over that, with the logo for Kawasaki all over it.  It loosely hung to just above her waist, almost making her look a little taller.  She slowly took her hair down; it fell almost magically back into place.  She shook the curls out and it lay straight and flat again.

“I kinda like it the other way.” I mentioned casually.  She just smiled and stuck her tongue out at me, slightly winking at the same time.

“Dinner is waiting downstairs, I told them you would be happy to eat with them.”  She wore a huge mischievous smile. I opened my mouth. “Before you say anything, I’m already on it.  Don’t worry at all about that whacko.  I’ll tell you everything about him when you get back.  Now go have dinner!”  She skipped lightly into the sea of windows and screens that were plastered on my wall.  I just smiled, and pushed my glasses back onto my face.