Troubled Youth

It was three train stations from my home to Osaka's Nameda, its main shopping, business, and entertainment district. If there's one thing you can count on to be close together, it was offices and red-light districts. Not that Nameda quite qualified as one, but it was similar enough. It did hold quite a few sex shops, bars, and love hotels, after all.

It also held a particularly popular Host club, Narcissus. 

Why mention that club specifically? Because I worked there. Narcissus was a three-story building located smack-dab in the busiest part of Nameda and was in an ideal spot between no less than three Izakaya bars, a pachinko parlor, and two nearby love hotels. In fact, the Hotel Granvia was also not very far away. It was more expensive, but also equally as luxurious as the price you pay.

The woman who ran Narcissus was Nishima Inoue-san, an aging beauty of around fifty--though she barely looked it. She liked to lounge near the third floor and smoke her pipe while enjoying some quiet entertainment and drinks. She was also a very enigmatic lady, willing to bend the rules to hire someone like me. While I might've fooled others, she easily saw through my age.

"You need money? I need good-looking men. I'm sure we can help each other out." 

It was a very straightforward interaction, but there was a subtle kindness about her. She was no stranger to hardship, I could guess. Anyone who could make a name for herself in this kind of industry didn't exactly choose to. They clawed their way to the top after other options stopped being options. 

As I made my way through the employee entrance and clocked in, I entered the changing room. It was usually empty by the time I came, and that was also the case now. I moved towards my locker and put my bag inside before donning a fresh dress shirt. 

Narcissus prided itself on men with suave appearances. It wasn't some lowly strip club. Hence they did require one to at least own a few nice suits. The suit I wore now was a three-piece and one of which Inoue-san had bought me some time ago. I still hadn't quite paid them all off so there was a certain amount deducted from my pay at the end of each month. 

The three-piece I currently wore consisted of a red vest with a grey dress shirt and black coat. A gold chain hung on the vest's buttons that was connected to a pocket hidden inside the coat. I questioned its necessity, but it was just for decoration. 

My piercings had become part of that. Supposedly, I gave off a "fierce" aura. I'm not sure what, exactly, that meant, but apparently, I had, "A wicked smile that radiated sin and dark promise." 

I found the whole thing silly, but they went with the theme. Due to that, I'd also been given a silver cross-shaped earring that hung off a short chain and four Chrome Hearts rings that I wore across my left hand. 

The accessories were things that Inoue had also bought me...though she did say they were gifts, so there was nothing taken out of my pay for them. Still, I didn't take them home. I didn't feel right doing so. I only had to pay off the suits since they were exclusively for work. 

As I got done dressing, I met with the bartender. She was a pretty woman in her twenties. "Ah, Katsuragi-san." She greeted. Then gave me a look. "Wait, why're you here today?" She asked with narrowed eyes. I could tell she already had an inkling and didn't like it.

I leaned against the countertop and waved a hand. "Covering for Hide, what else?" 

The woman, Tobata Airi, frowned. "Again? That lazy bum. Isn't that, like--"

"The fifth time this month? Yeah, I know." I finished for her. "Well, he said he's probably going to quit soon. I could use the overtime, too."

Airi sighed "Alright. If you're okay with it." She let the matter drop. "Anyway, want a drink before you meet with Mitsuda-san?" 

I nodded gratefully and she poured me a shot of whiskey that burned pleasantly on the way down. It took the edge off. 

I thanked her and waved on my way up. 

On the base floor was also the lounge room where the bar was located along with some booths and a kitchen. The second floor had ten rooms, as did the third. These rooms, of course, were where various customers drank, ate, and happily enjoyed the company of men. 

There were at least thirty of us working at any one time. Never enough for everyone who came through, but enough that there could be at least two or three to a group. Not every room was used, either, so some people were even kept on standby. 

Of course, the more popular hosts were called on individually fairly often.

Mitsuda-san, the manager of Narcissus, was the one who handled these rooms and requests. The man was in his early thirties and as nearly as tall as Hide. He wore his suit like he was born in it and used to be quite popular himself back when he worked on the floors as a host. 

Normally you'd inform him of your arrival first thing, then he'd write your name down and send you to the first floor to mingle with the customers at your own discretion unless you were called up upon request. 

He was currently talking to another worker, Suzuki, who had a head of neatly-combed black hair and glasses. They occupied one of the rooms near the entrance, the manager's office. It didn't differ much from the other rooms, to be honest. A long table surrounded by a long booth seat that could easily fit ten. A few decorations. A large television. The difference was there were papers on the table instead of food and drink. 

The man, Mitsuda, looked up. "Let me guess, covering for that brat again?"

"Perceptive as always," I nodded.

"That fucker. This is--"

"The fifth time this month. Yes, I know." 

"Does that bastard have no sense of professionalism?" The man cursed. "Ah, whatever. Anyway, I see you. You know the drill. I'll call you up soon, I'm sure."

I'm rather popular myself. Why? Well, I had little shame and even lower self-esteem. Combine that with a ravenous hunger for money, and I was willing to go further than most of the hosts here.

I wasn't a whore. I never fucked the clients. However, I did everything but.

"Got it." I nodded. And the two men went back to their conversation. 

It was 8:15. I'd be here maybe until 3 or 4 in the morning. Hitomi never asked why I stayed out so late and I didn't bother to tell her. But she knew. I'd come home covered in the scent of women too many times for her not to. And like a jealous lover, she'd be cold and petty about it tomorrow. I only worked on weekends, but that was enough to make her mean and she'd only start acting a bit nicer around the middle of the coming week. Though, what did that matter to me anymore whether she was nice or not?

I couldn't worry about that. 

Instead, I went back down to the lounge and talked to Airi for a while before a few customers came in. They'd be streaming in around now and I wasn't going to bother keeping an eye on them all. I let the other hosts take care of them. After the women had a few drinks and loosened up, that's when the guys made their move. 

The goal was seduction. Just having a handsome face wasn't enough. Being pretty was all you needed when it was men, but women wanted to feel a connection more than anything. It was the host's job to make sure they felt that connection. 

In fact, that was a problem. Clients would sometimes become too enamored with a particular host. For obvious reasons, that was no good. They could become very possessive or irrational. 

Hosting could be dangerous. Me? I didn't give a damn about that. I came when called, plain and simple.

Speaking of, it was not even an hour later when Suzuki appeared at my side.

"Sho, you've been called. A group of five, room 15." He waved at me. He didn't get my name wrong. Like I said, hosting could be dangerous. That's why people used aliases here.

Mine was Shosuke. Of course, Suzuki wasn't his real name. In fact, I didn't even know it. I assumed only Mitsuda, Airi and Inoue actually knew my full name. Well, Airi herself only knew my real family name and that's just because I was new back then and let it slip. She chastised me a lot for it and only used it when she saw no one else was around. But to everyone else, I was just "Shosuke" or Sho. 

"I'll be right up," I replied. 

"Looks like you're in for a long night," Airi observed. "Five? I hope they ordered someone else, too."

I shook my head but didn't answer. People who called for me usually knew my "reputation". They wanted it to be kept private. Why? Because the other hosts would have qualms doing the things I did with other people watching, and they certainly wouldn't be comfortable with co-workers around while doing it. 

I doubt many of the others knew exactly why I was so popular, and I didn't tell them when asked. I did this because I didn't want Hide to find out. I had little shame, that was true. But it was different with friends. I had so precious few that I'm not sure I could bear if Hide looked at me the way I did in the mirror every day. 

With disgust, loathing. 

"I'll manage even if not."

"You're going to work yourself to an early grave," The woman rolled her eyes. Her dyed pink hair, becoming black at the roots now, shook as she swung her head at me. 

"I'll let you give my eulogy. You can tell me 'I told you so'." I offered.

"I'm telling you now so that doesn't happen." She said drily. "Ah, forget it. Your funeral."

I chuckled and made my way upstairs where Mitsuda was waiting for me outside the door. He normally presented the hosts when they were called up. 

"There's a few regulars of yours and a new one. You know what that means."

They wanted to introduce me to their friend. I'd be focusing on her. 

"Understood."

At that, the man opened the door and walked in with the smile that earned him his past fame. "Ladies, your man has arrived." He dipped his voice. " Do enjoy him." I couldn't see it, but I knew there was a wink in there. 

I followed him inside and my heart froze. 

"...Katsuragi?" 

It was Ryoko.