Tadashi Kurosawa walked five steps behind Ayumu Kaneko as they headed down towards Glass Mist Bar. Today was a real miracle. Snowflakes reflected the warm, yellow light of the streetlamps creating an almost romantic scene. Tadashi followed the steps of Ayumu who was going on and on, nonstop about how he was going to win the Rookie of the Year award for 2019 Sato Technologies Employee Awards.
It was Christmas Day and both salarymen from the Sales Department had stayed later than usual to finish up the final project of the year. Tadashi stared straight ahead at the street with bright beaming eyes as if there was only one destination in front of him and nothing around him would catch his eye. The cement was covered in a thin layer of glistening white snow and the falling snowflakes gathered together around the bottom of the lampposts. Despite having a determined bold look, Tadashi listened to every word that flowed out of Ayumu's mouth.
Tadashi was a senior employee in the Sales Department of Sato Technologies and had just entered his sixth year. Just three months ago, he turned 28 but did not celebrate it, he didn't even acknowledge the date.
No one in the department dared to speak with him about anything other than business. He had cold thin eyes topped with strong straight eyebrows that always furrowed too close for their own good. It was always a hassle to talk to him within the department so the other employees would find interns or new employees to run errands between him and the rest of the department. Despite his cold demeanor his face was something that people would always sneak looks at. He had a sharp nose perfectly placed on the small face. His broad shoulders were always covered in a crisp black suit jacket that was always ironed perfectly on top of a black vest. Never in his six years of working at Sato Technologies has an employee been able to spot a mistake in his clothing. His tie was always perfectly symmetrical and pressed flat against his chest. A beautiful silver leaf brooch was placed diagonally on the left collar of his shirt. Jet black hair was swept back smoothly with a single hair left where his right part was.
The two of them had crossed the train tracks and were just a few steps away from Glass Mist Bar. Tadashi was still five steps behind those of Ayumu's when he checked his watch. Eight twenty-four. Fumio, his brother, should've already been home after finishing cram school, but there was no text confirming his brother's location. Concentrated on his phone now, Tadashi was unknowingly standing one foot away from Ayumu's back.
"This is a first! All the other employees at Sato say you're unbreakable. Are you that eager to have a sip?" Ayumu laughed as he was about to pat Tadashi on his shoulder.
Ayumu was a new employee at Sato Technologies. He had just finished university and was 22 years old. His seat in the office was directly in front of Tadashi and was the errand boy for all of the employees, giving him the chance to talk to Tadashi. Tadashi's presence made him feel like a looming tower over all of the other employees, but Ayumu was raised in more vulgar ways and was not bothered by the strength of Tadashi's aura, especially since Ayumu stood five cm taller than Tadashi at 183 cm.
Ayumu's name was given to him by Yuki, his single mother. She named him hoping that his future would be bright with dreams, despite growing up with a tough background - Ayumu meaning a step of dream and vision.
"Kurosawa-san, let's go in!" Ayumu exclaimed as he slid the door to the side.
Tadashi pushed the curtain aside and followed him into the bar. The two of them walked over to the bar table, passing a few seated tables on the way. Light jazz music played in the background. A young man in a white shirt with a grey bow tie and vest walked past the two men with a tray folded under his arms.
"Hello. Would you like to be seated at a table or the bar side?" He smiled widely making it seem like his eyes disappeared under his wavy blonde fringe. The two salarymen definitely walked into a bar but the first waiter to greet them seemed way below age, most likely a minor.
"We'll take the bar." Ayumu smiled back at the waiter. Little did he know that his smiles gravitated towards smirks more than innocent smiles.
"Right this way," the waiter motioned with his hand flat, palm facing upwards, "My name is Hiroshi Fujisaki. Call me over if you need anything."
The three of them walked towards the counter. Ayumu took off his jacket and folded it over the back of the seat and positioned himself comfortably on the tall barstool. Tadashi unbuttoned his jacket and comfortably sat on the seat next to Ayumu.
Seeing the two customers, Kazuki Ueno quickly walked over to them to take their orders. Kazuki, the owner of Glass Mist Bar, was at the ripe age of 23. He had taken over the bar recently from his uncle. Of the three employees in the bar, only Kazuki had an unbuttoned top button to his uniform. He had soft eyes and light brown; long hair swept to one side. A small smile naturally rested on his face and his voice was calm and smooth.
"Is this your first time here?" Kazuki said.
"Yeah! What do you recommend?" Ayumu picked up a menu and read through the famously beautiful drinks. Ayumu loved drinking and always dragged Tadashi along despite Tadashi never touching a single drink.
"You two are striking young men. I especially love your dark wavy hair. Is it naturally like that?" Kazuki asked while wiping down a glass.
"Of course, I was born perfect like this! I've hit the perfect height of 183 cm that could even make the perfect Kurosawa-san jealous." Ayumu replied, flipping over the page.
"I'd say you two are definitely a nice match," Kazuki chucked, "My name is Kazuki Ueno. Kazuki as in harmony and hope. Call me over when you two have decided." Kazuki walked away to attend to a newly arrived customer.
"Did you hear that? We match well indeed! I'm definitely the only one in the office that dares to even talk to you, let alone drag you to bars" Ayumu laughed as he finalized his decision on a drink"
Tadashi sat with his back perked up and straight, not reacting to anything that just happened.
"Ueno-kun, I think I made my decision!" Ayumu called out while raising his hand and not noticing that he was in the middle of caring for the other customers.
Hearing the name being called, another bartender walked over. "Hello, I can take your order if you don't mind."
He was dressed the same as the kid waiting the tables in the dining area. The sides of his hair faded into a buzz with the top long and free. The natural brown color of his hair could be seen at the buzzed areas, but the platinum blonde hair stood out at the top of his head.
"I'll take this one and he'll just have a glass of water." Ayumu said pointing at one of the martinis listed in the menu. Tadashi was a man of very few words and nodded in agreement with his glass of water.
Ayumu shifted his body to face Tadashi and crossed one leg over the other.
"Kurosawa-san, we've known each other for a couple of months now and I've dragged you to several different bars already yet I don't actually know if you're okay with just water" Ayumu chucked to himself as the bartender mixed shots and flavors together.
Ayumu turned back towards the bar and found himself looking at Kazuki again instead of the platinum blonde man. Ayumu shifted in his seat as he was taken back from the sudden change.
"Sorry to surprise you. It's just that I've taken a liking to you, and asked Aikawa-kun to let me have you." Kazuki said calmly as he pushed the finished drinks closer towards Ayumu, completely ignoring the perfect man next to him.
Ayumu laughed nervously and took the glass. Tadashi followed and picked up his glass of water, never taking his eyes off the screen on his phone.
"Kurosawa-san, what's so urgent on your phone. Even though you never respond, you're normally better at listening." Ayumu spoke to Tadashi trying to avoid conversation with the bartender.
"Fumio isn't home."
"Your brother? What do you expect, it's Christmas day and he's a high schooler!" Ayumu said, putting the glass down.
"Another?" Kazuki smiled motioning his hand at the empty glass.
"Sure," Ayumu replied, brushing off the soft smile.
Ding.
Tadashi's phone rang quietly. He turned it off and slid it into his right pocket and turned to look towards the bar only to sense intense stares from Ayumu.
"Kaneko-san." Tadashi said in a low solemn voice.
Ayumu smiled as his cheeks blushed. He turned over and picked up the second glass and downed it in two gulps.
"Kaneko-san." Tadashi switched his gaze from Ayumu to Kazuki. "What did he order?"
"Just a martini. This is his second one."
"Dry vermouth and Gin." Tadashi mumbled. He looked back at Ayumu and was already starting to get drunk. Although Ayumu dragged Tadashi to bars, he couldn't hold his alcohol. One shot would have already made him drunk, yet he dared to get two martinis.
"Kaneko-kun." Kazuki said, catching his head before it hit the counter.
Tadashi shot a look at Kazuki from the corner of his eyes as if he felt a hostile presence coming from the bartender but stayed silent.
"Ueno-san! I haven't introduced myself yet." Ayumu said, smiling and causing all of the strong cool aura of the 183 cm man to vanish. "I'm fresh and ripe at 22! Call me Ayu-kun."
Tadashi looked over at Kazuki and repositioned Ayumu. "How much?"
Kazuki smiled at the two of them, "it'll be on the house if Ayu-chan calls me Kazu-chan once."
Tadashi flinched at that and took out his wallet, leaving a bill large enough to cover three times the amount consumed. "Kaneko-kun we're leaving." He propped Ayumu up and swung his jacket over his forearm and hoisted him out of the seat.
"But Kazu-chan is a nice man; I like this bar." Ayumu said, reaching back towards the bar.
Kazuki smiled and handed him a business card slipping past Tadashi's sharp eyes.
"Kaneko-san," Tadashi said, assisting his coworker out of the bar.
Once the doors slid closed, Tsuyoshi Aikawa walked over to Kazuki and brushed his platinum blonde hair to one side.
"He looks straight, and I doubt Mr. All-Serious will let them come back." Tsuyoshi commented.
"I think not." Kazuki snickered.
The snow had stopped falling but the roads were still painted in white since foot traffic on Christmas night was close to non-existent. As they were walking North towards Ayumu's apartment, Ayumu started dragging towards the West.
"Kaneko, your apartment is farther north, there is nothing to the west." Tadashi said calmly, trying to pull the tall man back to the right road.
"I want to see the Oji bride. She must be lonely on Christmas." Ayumu yelled loudly in the empty streets. The sound bounced off the walls and a light turned on in one of the neighboring houses.
"Let's go home quietly" Tadashi tried again to pull him to the right path.
"NO!" Ayumu shouted, followed by a ��Shut up!" from the neighbors.
Tadashi was still standing perfectly straight and upright despite supporting the 183 cm tower next to him and decided it would be better not to disturb the neighbors and follow Ayumu to where he was planning to go. Ayumu hoisted himself up and began bobbing forward by himself, allowing Tadashi to return to his five steps apart etiquette.
While staring straight forward at Ayumu, he thought to himself. Who was this Oji bride? Could it have been Ayumu's secret girlfriend? Again, lost it thought he found himself one foot away from Ayumu's back.
Ayumu had stopped in front of one of Japan's famous Shrines - Oji Shrine.
Oji Bride? Must be one of the sisters that worked here. Or was it one of the beautiful goddess statues? Either way they were here in front of the brightly lit shrine.
"OJI BRIDE I'M HERE TO KEEP YOU COMPANY" Ayumu shouted.
Tadashi glared at Ayumu, "hush you're disturbing them. We'll come back tomorrow when it's open."
Ayumu pouted. It was quite the scene. A tall slender man dressed in a pressed suit with disheveled ink black hair who normally glowed with radiance of handsomeness was pouting and yelling for the bride of a shrine. Tadashi had seen Ayumu drunk many times but never like this.
"OJI BRIDE I HAVE SOMETHING I NEED TO SAYYYYYY!" Ayumu yelled again at the shrine.
This time more lights turned on and the doors opened. A bald man with neutral robes walked out with a small lantern.
"We are closed now, please come again tomorrow. We will open at 6." The man said with a scratchy tired voice.
"My apolo--" Tadashi started but was interrupted by Ayumu.
"I've come to see my bride! It's me Ayu-chan" Ayumu said, pushing the door farther in.
Tadashi was shocked beyond words.
"It is you! Ayu-chan!" The monk's countenance changed drastically and swung the door open. "You haven't come by in a few months! I will go call Haku-sama over."
Sama? Someone of such high standing was going to be called out of the temple just to see Ayumu? Was it possible that this really was the bride of Ayumu? Tadashi was searching for answers as he followed the other two in.
"Ayu-chan, have you been drinking?" The monk laughed and got closer to his ears, "who is the man with you. He has quite the looks."
Hearing this, Tadashi replied, "My name is Tadashi Kurosawa, I work with Kaneko-kun." Without hearing any noise or feeling any presence, next to them was a beautiful young maiden dressed in white robes layered on top of each other with intricate thread patterns. Long flowing sleeves enveloped the slender arms that dropped to the ground. The robe dragged behind her feet and her deep black hair fell across her shoulders and down the middle of her back. Half of her hair was tied back into a bun with a beautiful white silk ribbon to tie it up. Her pale face was illuminated with the portable lantern. Soft pink lips perked below a beautiful smooth nose between glistening golden eyes. Tadashi was taken aback as if he had seen a goddess from ancient times. Today was not the day for Tadashi. Not only was he taken off guard twice and almost walking into Ayumu, but he was starstruck by a beautiful maiden from the Oji Shrine, not far from his house.
"Kurosawa-san, nice to meet you. I am Hikaru Haku and I take care of this shrine." She smiled softly.
Tadashi nodded and snapped out of his trance after hearing the abnormally low voice of the beautiful maiden.
"We can take care of Ayu-chan tonight. We've always kept his quarters clean even after he left us to find his dreams. He will be safe with us. Feel free to pick him up tomorrow." Hikaru said never letting the smile leave her face.
Tadashi nodded again and slowly walked out of the doors keeping his perfect posture, not knowing for sure what had just happened.