Number One Crush

JoryuxMiya 1shot

By: Toki

It was a seedy sort of place. The kind of place that only exists in the depths of a twisted mind. Yet, Joryu was able to walk right inside. Of course before he walked in, he was stopped by the bouncer. A large, broad man of some unidentifiable Asian decent that towered over Joryu by only a few inches. He had the nerve to stop Joryu before he walked in, telling him he couldn't go in without showing ID. Joryu, well over the age of seeing illicit material, paused and went into his coat pockets, pulling up the sleeve of his tattooed wrist, the signature tattoo of every employee top head of the 36 Moons as he plucked free a thick roll of yen. He gave it to the bouncer with a fierce glance, letting him know he had just fucked with the wrong guy that night. The bouncer saw his mistake as his eyes ran over the kanji of Akui tattooed on fair skin, each tick mark and curve showing deadly promise and he declined the money. Joryu, already annoyed he was stopped when he was a faithful patron of the establishment, grabbed the bouncer's thick wrist and pulled it up, shoving the roll of yen in and then glaring at him, a smirk across his young looking face as he said,

"To remind you who fucked with."

The bouncer, a huge man capable of a lot of strength and power was now trembling at Joryu's single sentence threat. He stepped aside and allowed him in without making him wait any further. Joryu now had him at his disposal. He glanced around, hearing the loud, bass driven music, dimmed lights and clouded atmosphere as he reached into his pockets again and withdrew a pack of cigarettes. He was almost out. A quick stop in the morning would take care of that. He placed the cigarette to his lips, cupped his lighter around the end and lit it as he inhaled. He leaned his head back as he removed the cigarette with a sigh and watched as his cloud of smoke mingled with the rest. He went to the bar, minding the bodies around him as he leaned on the polished white counter top and waited for the bar tender. The bar tender knew Joryu's face, teasing him for coming in a place with such a rep and like everyone else Joryu knew, called him Baby. He had a baby face though he was approaching his thirties now, but it didn't stop from high school girls hitting on him and asking if he was free for karaoke any night. The bar tender saw him and began serving the favorite drink of the night, vodka straight. He set the small shot glass and bottle in front of Joryu as he said,

"You're in later then usual."

"Had work."

The bar tender gave a laugh as he threw a white towel over his shoulder and leaned on the counter as well as Joryu took his shot straight, his face scrunching up as he gave a heavy sigh afterwards and began pouring his other while he still held a cigarette in his hand. The bar tender asked if his services would be required any longer and the young man shook his head, red hair spilling forward over his shoulders as the bar tender let him be.

Anytime Joryu had a free night and could be alone, he always ended up in the same place. It was a strip bar in the depths of the Kabuki-Cho, the red light district he had become very well aquatinted with over his years in the 36 Moons. Passing time with the likes of the trio often lead him to bath houses, massage parlors, bars where girls danced in skirts with no panties underneath and even whore houses. The trio usually had one thing on their mind and Joryu wasn't too far behind them. Tonight was one of those few rare nights that each of the trio had something to do that didn't involve girls, drinking and each other. It gave Joryu the chance for his own alone time.

Not that he liked having alone time.

Whenever he did, it was right back there, standing in front of a bar as crowds of horny men and even some women roared behind him, calling out for lapdances and strippers to take off everything they could for money. It was a step up from being a full blown whore, but the bar tender didn't kid about the bad reputation that place had. The dancers here were required to dance and what they did on their own free time was no one else's business. If a stripper should happen to catch the interest of one of the patrons and the money was right...but Joryu didn't really care for all that. He had his eye trained on one stripper in particular. As the young dancer made his round, Joryu watched him. Fond memories trailed around in his mind as he watched him, still slender, his body well toned, that always recognizable tattoo on the side of hip. It was almost a trademark.

Miya had once been his only lover. His single purpose for coming home, for staying home, for wanting nothing more then have someone sleep beside him at night. But that had been long ago. Joryu grew up since then. His ideas of happiness had changed. Who needed someone to tie you down when you had the world at your feet? Not Joryu. He had all he wanted and he accepted that he could never ever claim a happy or normal life. He thought Miya could move on this, rise above it all and become something better. Instead, much to Joryu's horror he discovered his once bashful, almost prude former lover was now a stripper, almost a whore. Miya wore low rise pants that didn't allow him to sit and nothing else. Not even shoes. On his head, a lavender colored wig that fell to his chin was the only other thing covering him up, the image he gave was something out of someone's fantasy so they served their purpose well. His face was still the same though he was now a few years older. Delicate features like soft eyes, full feminine lips dusted in a soft pink rose color and flawless skin added to the fantasy. Joryu had not approached him. He did not speak to him, follow him, even stop him from grinding and being felt up by a bunch of business men who were close to raping him. It was not Joryu's place to protect him. It hadn't been for a long time. But he watched. He watched Miya any chance he could, torturing himself with the repercussions of his actions. Miya had always been a good student, a best friend, a beloved son, someone you could trust to be there for you. He had an innocent quality Joryu had forever tainted. When Joryu decided he loved his former best friend, he did what he could to get and keep Miya. It ruined their friendship and later on their relationship. Being threatened with death caused Miya to leave. Joryu had been heart broken. He was tormented with a lost love he couldn't stop thinking about and a face that made his heart clench in pain. He tried once more to rekindle what they had and almost succeed until a single shot almost killed Miya. Joryu decided to let it all go then and he never looked back. It was much later on he discovered that Miya had left his home again, maintained a day job and school only find out that his parents would no longer support him. They never liked Joryu, always seeing him as a bad influence on their perfect son. So when Miya returned to Tokyo's inner city, his parents cut off funding, assuming Miya would return to Joryu. Unable to pay for things on his own with a minor day job, he was reduced to this. No one to help him, no one to support him. Joryu at one point blamed himself, but then he stopped, seeing Miya's stubborn ways as his own punishment. What had Miya hoped to get out of returning to Tokyo's inner city? He could have stayed in the suburban area and still attended Tokyo University. Why bother coming back into the city? He didn't blame himself for that. But he watched him now and he did feel a small pang of guilt in his chest.

He turned from the floor as he watched Miya come on as he poured himself another drink. He took his shot, scrunching up his face again as he reached up to his hair, almost all of it knotted at the base of his skull, as he scratched his head. His eyes were getting a little watery as he yawned. After a moment, Joryu lit another cigarette having finishing his first one while lost in thought. As he lit it, he felt someone tap his shoulder as he turned, exhaling smoke along the way as he heard,

"Can I offer you a dance?"

Joryu looked to see it was Miya. Miya still wearing nothing more but those pants and the wig, his hands clasped behind his back, his hip to the side, legs slightly apart. Joryu turned away again, not saying a word as Miya said,

"You might as well say something since your practically stalking me."

"I'm not stalking you!" Said Jo as he whirled back around in an angry fit.

"I said practically."

"What do you want?"

"I should ask you that. I work here."

"I'm havin a drink."

"Or a couple."

Joryu gave him a look before he said,

"What's it to you?"

"Do you want to talk to me or not?"

Joryu didn't say anything as Miya then said,

"Fine. I have to work. I assumed you wanted to talk since you've been coming here every chance you get."

"What makes you think I'm not here for something else?"

"Because if it was someone, I doubt you would still be standing here. And you can get drunk anywhere else in Tokyo."

Joryu sighed, hating having no excuse for why he was really there and decided to at least speak to his former everything.

Miya lead them backstage where a lot of the dancers were still getting ready, not wearing much of anything but fantasy and sexual appeal. Joryu kept his eyes focused though they did wander a few times. They reached a room at the far end of the hall and Miya allowed him in first as he said,

"Most of the dancers are already outside. We can talk for a while here."

Joryu nodded, coming in seeing a shared dressing room, feather boas, glitter and sequince costumes, ridiculously tall platform high heels, pants that looked too tight for an arm let alone an entire lower torso and rows of make up, mirrors and chairs where some of the things among the room. Joryu moved aside some costums from a chair as he sat down and looked at Miya who finally got some modesty and picked up a robe and put it on. The false lavender hair remained for a moment before Miya turned to face Joryu once more and pulled off the wig. Short brown hair that looked messy was revealed as Miya ran his hand through it, shaking it out slightly as Joryu said,

"I can't believe you cut it all off."

"Had to. The wig wouldn't fit with my real hair underneath."

He nodded, accepting that as Miya sat down in front of him. They stared at each other for few moments of silence, neither one knowing where to start. Eventually Miya broke the silence as he asked,

"How have you been?"

"Busy."

"Still working there huh?"

"Yeah."

It was quiet again until Miya said,

"Your hair got so long."

"I know. I like it this length."

He didn't feel right about saying that his present date lover had threatened to stop fucking him if he cut his hair. Joryu just tugged on the ends slightly as Miya finally sighed and said,

"Why are you here Jo?"

Why was he there? Joryu himself didn't really know. He looked up after glancing at his hands and stared into Miya's eyes. Deep and dark brown...he had lost himself in there so many times. Somewhere inside him, Joryu still knew that Miya held everything that made him human. Every emotion, every feeling, all his love...it was all in him.

"To see you."

Miya looked down, his hands toying with the stray lavender strands of fake hair on his lap as he said,

"I don't like you seeing me like this."

"It's not like I haven't before."

"This isn't something I'm proud of doing. But...next to being a yakuza...it's good money."

"I'm sure it is."

A flood of color tainted Miya's skin as he said,

"Wh-what's that suppost to mean?"

"You know what kind of reputation this place has."

He stated it as a fact. So many years of being around blunt and frank people had desensitized Joryu from watching his tongue. Miya stood to his feet suddenly and slapped Joryu across the face, almost knocking him off his chair as he said,

"Fuck you! I'm not a whore!"

Joryu gathered himself up as he stood up too, towering over Miya as he said,

"You're a step up!"

Miya's anger drained from his face as he paled and looked up at Joryu with wide eyes as he said,

"That's what you think of me now?"

Joryu paused and stopped to think about his words. Usually he just said whatever he was thinking, no matter who it was to. Seeing that sad look on Miya's face made him stop as he said,

"No."

It wasn't an entire lie. He believed that Miya was doing something he shouldn't ever have to do but at the same time, he knew something inside Miya's character would never allow himself to be whored. No matter how good the money was. Miya sat back down, his head hung as he looked off to the side dejectedly. Joryu sat down as well, sweeping back a long lock of blood red hair. They were quiet again as Miya finally sighed heavily. Joryu looked at him, admiring what was once his and his alone.

"We didn't end on good terms."

"That wasn't my fault."

"I didn't say it was."

Miya looked at him a moment longer before saying,

"Why didn't you talk to me that day? You really didn't have a right to hate me. It was me who should have hated you."

"I had to let you go."

"Why?"

"You're a liability. You make me weak. You have all my emotion with you. Everything I was, you have. And I had to let go of that part of myself."

"Even if you loved me?"

"Even then. My job is all I have. You made sure of that the first time you left me."

Miya looked away, clearly feeling guilty of his past actions. He then looked back at Joryu as he said,

"We never had a chance did we?"

"We might have. Had I not taken this job."

"Why did you take the job Jo?"

"I needed it."

"Did you really?"

He thought about it for a moment, really thinking about it. His memory was a little hazy, things not clear anymore from so many light nights of drinking, fucking and working. It had been a long time. His reasons for taking the position to be Jia's driver and then later his ninth top head, aside from needing the job was now long erased. It had crossed over into everything else, reasons meshing and blending into something else that he could no longer explain. He summed it up as best he could.

"It was in my blood."

Miya nodded, accepting that reason as he said,

"I miss you."

Joryu nodded, letting his hair fall over his shoulder again as he checked his watch, Miya glancing at the wall clock as he said,

"I should get going. If they notice I'm missing I'll get fired."

Joryu nodded getting up as Miya got up as well, turning to the mirror as he put his wig back on, the illusion back in place as he took off his robe again. Joryu watched him as he said,

"When can I get my dance?"

Miya looked at him from the mirror laughed slightly as he turned and said,

"I'm not a whore. I told you."

"Who said anything about you sleepin with me? I asked for a dance."

Miya walked over to him, putting his arms around him as he said,

"It was good to see you again Jo."

"You too."

Like a natural movement, they met for a brief, chaste kiss. They broke apart a heart beat later as Miya gave a small smile and soon walked away. He approached the door as he opened it waiting for Joryu to leave first. The young man walked out, listening to Miya follow him as the door was closed. They approached the front of the club as Miya went back to mingle and Joryu went back to the bar. He paid for his drinks as the bar tender gave him a look and said,

"Where'd you go?"

"Had to take care of some business."

The bar tender saw Miya walking back through the crowd as he then smirked and gave a playful snap of the towel towards Joryu as he said,

"Lucky bastard! You know how hard it is to nail that one?"

Joryu looked back over at Miya, still flirting and teasing as he turned back and said,

"No...how hard?"

"You have no idea."

Joryu nodded, satisfied with that answer as he lit another cigarette and then gave a wave to the bar tender and left. He walked onto the streets of the Kabuki-Cho as his cell phone rang. He answered it, being Akio inviting him for a late night again. Joryu replied he'd be there soon and hung up as he caught a cab and went on his way.