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There wasn’t much to do until Shun got information. Since my choices were sitting around with Yuki or sleeping, I decided on sleep. I put my case back in the wardrobe and settled into my futon. Even if I only got a few hours, it’d beat the hell out of dealing with Yuki’s sour face.
It seemed like I’d only just got to sleep when Shun banged on my door. He had Yuki with him. The two of them came in and sat down. Yuki sprawled on the floor making me resent the space she took up in my apartment.
“Did he tell you anything?” I asked.
Shun shrugged. “I found out a bit. Their headquarters is in a host club.”
Yuki tsked. “Of course it is. Just what you’d expect with those guys.”
She looked pretty disgusted.
“What’s a host club?” I asked and waited for her scathing reply.
“It’s hard to explain,” Yuki said.
She always said that, though. I’d gotten the idea it was nothing good.
“It’s a club where women go to enjoy male company,” Shun said.
“So they are man whores?” My eyes widened. I’d been out drinking with male prostitutes? Whoa! Add that to life experiences. I couldn’t wait to tell Gabby. I guess man whore demons would pretty much cover it but I couldn’t tell Gabby the demon part.
“Man whore,” Yuki repeated, saying it like she was testing the phrase out, rolling it around her mouth. “That is exactly what Jin is. Man whore.”
Shun inhaled. “They act charming and encourage women to buy overpriced drinks. There is no whoring involved but it can be very shady.”
“If Jin is involved, there is whoring.”
Wow, Yuki really hated him with a fury that went beyond her normal bored apathy. Way beyond.
“Jin and Yuki have a history,” Shun said.
I sat up. “Really?”
I needed to know about that but Yuki shot Shun a look that made him shut up. Damn it. Jin, huh? The dude was a bit seedy looking. At least if I’d been sucked in by one of the Snakes, I’d gone for the good looking one. Why did Yuki hush Shun when I was finally finding out something interesting about her? I needed all the dirt on this.
“What about Mai?” I asked. “What does she do while they’re man whoring?”
“Maybe bartending,” Shun said.
“Do you have the club name?” Yuki asked.
Shun shook his head.
“How many of these clubs are there?” I asked.
“In Kabukicho? Many, many clubs,” Yuki said. “Kabukicho is in Shinjuku,” she added before I asked. “Shinjuku has everything. Bars, host clubs, hostess clubs. And other things that normal people don’t even know about.”
“I didn’t get the name of the club but I saw the place,” Shun said. “There’s a big sign with a flamingo.”
“And did you find out about the kami?” Yuki asked.
“No. He went blank when I asked about that. There was nothing there at all.”
“So, he’s blocking it?” Yuki asked.
“Seems that way.”
I wanted to know if he’d said anything about me in his dream. Like maybe he was sorry that he’d messed with me or that it hadn’t all been a lie. But there was no way to ask that without looking sad and pathetic. He’d messed with me and now he’d stolen my kami, and that grumpy old kami had ended up being the best friend I had in this entire country, continent even. I shouldn’t even think about forgiving Hokuto.
I stood up. “What are we waiting for? Let’s get to this club and kick ass.”
“Ah, Molly,” Shun said. “You might want to change out of your pajamas.”
I looked down at my outfit. Oh yeah, Shun was right.
“Put on something flashy,” Yuki said. “We need to fit into the host club.”
“But what if we have to fight? I need to be able to move.”
I did a high kick to demonstrate then – ouch! I rubbed my thigh as the pain shot down my leg. That might’ve pulled a muscle.
“I don’t think you should fight,” Yuki said. “You’re not cut out for it and you’re the only one who can talk to the kami. Anyway, we have skills that go beyond childish fighting.”
Yeah, she was right. My skills went way beyond just throwing punches. I could talk to the kami. That made me valuable.
“So, I’ll lure the kami out of hiding while you guys tackle the Snakes?”
“That’s the basic plan,” Shun said.
“Basic plan, huh? If you have a more detailed plan, please tell me. I don’t want you hiding stuff from me. That will put us all in danger.”
“We can’t plan in detail,” Shun said. “We only have the bare details. Once we get there, we’ll play it by ear. But your task is to get the kami. Don’t worry about anything else. Don’t even wait for us. If you can get him out then run and meet us back here.”
Back here wasn’t a good idea in my opinion. The Snakes knew where we were and they proved we had no defenses against them. But, since I couldn’t think of any other alternative, I didn’t say anything.
I threw Shun and Yuki out of my apartment so I could change then met them outside of the building. I didn’t exactly have anything glamorous in my wardrobe but I had a short black dress I’d packed in case I went clubbing. I threw a pair of fishnets on with it. I looked cute. That Hokuto would be sorry he messed with me.
Yuki had on a silver dress that clung to her body. she didn’t have an inch of fat on her.
“Are we catching the train?” I asked.
“It’s too late. The trains have stopped running. We’ll have to get a cab,” Shun said.
As he said it, a cab pulled up. They must’ve called it while they were waiting. The cab door automatically opened. Cool. We jumped in and I gazed out the window as we drove. The streets around us got brighter and filled with people. We pulled up on a street full of neon lights.
“I did some research,” Shun said. “There are a few places it could be.”
I followed Shun and Yuki as they walked through the streets. We seemed to be the only sober ones in the entire area. Groups of friends staggered down the street, arm in arm, propping each other up. A man in a business suit slept on the street.
“Shouldn’t we help him?” I asked.
“He’s just drunk. He’ll sleep it off.” Yuki didn’t look too concerned.
We went past a department store with random stuff spilling out onto the street.
“Look,” I said. “They sell those masks.” I pointed to the row of horse masks the same as Jin and his friend had worn when they attacked us.
“They sell them everywhere,” Yuki said.
Damn. I thought I’d found an awesome clue.
I hoped we’d find that club soon. These streets smelled of vomit and urine and other not so nice stuff and a lot of the business men we passed leered at my boobs.
We headed down a narrow laneway and stopped outside a brightly lit building.
“This could be it,” Shun said.
There was a board at the front of the building with pictures of hot guys.
“Are they the hosts?” I asked.
Yuki nodded.
“Which one would you pick?” I asked her then regretted it. She’d have a snappy comeback. But instead of mocking me, she put her head on the side.
“The one with the blond hair,” she said.
She really did have a thing for the seedy type.
“He’s cute but the one on the end is cuter. He’s got those collarbones peeking out of his shirt.”
Yuki walked down and took a closer look. “That’s pretty hot, right? But the blond one has sexy eyes. They are ranked. That one at the top is the number one host, the most popular.”
“Can the two of you keep your mind on the job?” Shun said.
“Hey, if we have to check out host clubs, it’s important that we pay attention to who works at them. It’s part of the job.”
Shun’s eye roll proved he didn’t believe me.
“This isn’t the place,” he said. “The sign isn’t the same.”
We kept going down more alleys. I wanted to check out everything but I had to rush to keep with Yuki and Shun. A couple of guys stumbled out of a bar and nearly knocked me down.
“Hey, watch it,” I said.
The two of them stared at my boobs. I rushed away.
We got to another club.
“The sign is the same,” Shun said.
“Yeah and that’s Jin on the board,” Yuki said.
He looked much better in his picture than he had at karaoke but he still had that seedy look about him. I guess some chicks like seedy.
“Okay, let’s get our kami back,” I said, hoping I sounded more confident than I felt.