Nightclub at Daytime Chapter 6

[tacuma]

Title: Nightclub at Daytime

Writer: Tacuma

Pairing: Perfect Pair

Chapter: 6/40 (probably)

Genre: AU, romance, angst, crime

Word count: 2327 words

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis

Chapter 6

The first time Fuji joined the others at the club was a few days later. After dinner every one went to his own room to dress up. Most of them chose some nice, but not too sexy clothes and made sure their hair looked perfect. Only Mizuki went as far as to put make-up on. Together they went downstairs, entered the club and positioned themselves on the different couches. Tezuka was already behind the bar. He stopped Fuji and told him to sit down on a chair behind the bar. From there he could see everything that happened in the club and he could learn from the others. He was a little scared to be alone with Tezuka the entire evening, he still feared the man a little, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Momoshiro opened the doors. He was the guard, always at the door to let people in. Fuji watched how the first customers got in and were welcomed by Eiji and Yukimura. The guests made themselves comfortable on the couches, others went to the bar to order a drink. Within fifteen minutes the place was filled with men and everybody was talking.

Fuji watched it from behind the bar. Tezuka was busy with the drinks. The first hour was always the busiest for him. People always wanted a drink first thing as they came to a club. Fuji had visited some clubs himself in the past and he knew a lot of the drinks Tezuka made. He hadn't expected to see that the man with the piercing eyes was so good at mixing drinks. It looked really amazing.

When an hour had passed, Tezuka turned to face Fuji. He had a little more time now and could explain a few things to the newbie. Fuji stood up, so he had a better view on what was happening at the club.

'We always have a lot of guests,' started Tezuka. 'Some come here only once, but others visit this place quiet often. We do have some regulars and you will get to know them soon enough. They visit at least two or three times a week. Like those two guys over there. The one on the right is Shiraishi Kuranosuke and the other is Kajimoto Takahisa. They're important businessman. They often work together. Shiraishi-san is a successful movie director and he owns a model agency with only the best models of Japan, while Kajimoto-san is a famous fashion designer, owner of a few very important clothing labels here in Japan. His clothes are worn by Shiraishi-san's models in his movies.'

Fuji looked at the two men. They looked like they were really rich. Nioh was talking to them and it seemed they enjoyed his company, because they were often laughing. Meanwhile Tezuka helped one of the customers who came to get two drinks.

'Tell me, Tezuka, that guy, is he a new one here?'

Tezuka nodded. 'Yes he is new and he will start working here soon. He is taking a look around to see how things are going around here and what he will have to do in the future.'

He handed the two drinks to the man and got some money from him.

'I was right then' said the customer. 'Renji thought he was family of one of the guys around here. Mean I won this bet.'

The man left and Tezuka turned to Fuji. 'That was Inui Sadaharu and his friend is Yanagi Renji. They're both famous scientists. Very smart. Almost too smart for their own good. They bet about the most weird things, like they bet if you were new here or if you were family of one of them. The one who loses will have to pay a drink for the other, but sometimes they have other prices as well. Just be careful when you're around them, because they can ask you to do weird things. They always ask new people to drink one of their disgusting vegetable juices. Most people can't handle them. They will bet if a person will or will not be able to handle it. I tried to forbid them to give more of my employees those drinks, but they will still try to give it to you secretly. I'd say you shouldn't drink it, but it's your own choice.'

Fuji nodded. He would see what he would do if they asked him. People often thought he hard weird taste buds. Maybe he would be able to handle a drink like that. Or maybe not, he would find out when they asked him. Secretly he looked forward to it.

'The guy over there, at the end,' said Tezuka, talking about a guy who looked bored, with black hair. 'That is Sanada Genichirou. He is a businessman, earns a lot of money. He doesn't look like he enjoys it, but he likes talking to Yukimura a lot.'

'He looks a bit out of place,' said Fuji honestly.

Tezuka nodded. 'He does, but he is here at least three times a week, so I guess he must be enjoying it then. He is a friend of Atobe, but they are very different. It was because of Atobe that he decided to come here.'

Fuji had to agree to that. He had only seen Atobe one, but the man in the club didn't look like he was flashy enough to be one of Atobe's friends.

'Then there are also two cousins, over there. Oshitari Yuushi and Oshitari Kenya. They're real estate agencies. It seems that Oshitari Yuushi can sell every house he wants, no matter what kind of bad place it is. He is a very smooth talker and he is also a big flirt. He often tries to flirt with the people who work here, but also with other guests. Another big flirt is the guy over there with the red hair. Sengoku Kiyosumi. Also a rich guy, but that is to be expected as they know Atobe. I don't know in what kind of business he actually works, but he has enough money to come here often. And the last one of our regulars is the man in the yukata, the one that looks like a monk. It is Echizen Nanjiroh, but everybody just calls him Nanjiroh.'

Fuji looked at Nanjiroh. The man was much older than most of the others that were around in the club. The average age was probably somewhere between the 24 and the 30, but this guy was at least fifteen years older. To Fuji it looked like the guy was trying to look young and fit in. At the moment he was talking, laughing and winking at Eiji. Eiji was laughing as well, but didn't look completely comfortable.

'Some people think it's hard to deal with him,' said Tezuka. He had also noticed Eiji was uncomfortable around the guest. 'Just be yourself, don't do too much things he asks of you and you will be fine. I don't want to worry you, but he likes everything that is pretty. Boy's or girls that doesn't matter to him. Make sure he won't let you go too far. I have given him several warnings, but he acts like he doesn't care and keeps trying to touch some people.'

Fuij nodded. 'I will,' he said. He had gotten used to people who thought he was a pretty boy. He knew he wasn't totally ugly and Fuji had always made good use of it, but in a place like a club it could be dangerous.

Tezuka had to get back to work, because there were a few people at the bar. Fuji went to get some bottles from the storage for him, because several were empty. That way he felt a little more useful. Just watching everybody made him almost feel like a peeping Tom. When he got back he took his place on the chair again. That way it wasn't so obvious he was starring at them and watching how they were doing.

He thought it was fun to see how the guys he had gotten to know a little these days were so different when they worked at the club. The childish Eiji was much more mature, while the silent Yukimura was talking a lot with the guy Tezuka had said was named Sanada. Probably because that Sanada-san was more silent than Yukimura was. Nioh, who Fuji had gotten to know as a trickster, was playing tricks on the guests, like he was some sort of magician. Gakuto, who was sometimes a little childish, like Eiji, was flirting with the Oshitari cousins

The atmosphere at the club was relaxed. The soft music on the background and the talking really gave the feeling of a large living room where friends had gathered to catch up with each other. Later that evening different music started playing, it was a little louder than the music from before. Eiji and Gakuto let their customers alone and walked to the stage. Some people started cheering and whistled. Both guys grabbed one of the metal poles.

'What is happening?' asked Fuji.

'They have a little acrobatic dancing competition,' explained Tezuka. 'They do that once every weekend, so either on Friday, Saturday or Sunday evening. They never know when it will happen, so they always have to be prepared. The guests can chose who they like better. It was one of Atobe's ideas to do something like this, but it works. We earn more money because of it. Somehow people start to buy more drinks afterwards and they also pay drinks for our employees. For that I have to warn you. Our guests hardly ever get drunk, so I don't want to see any of our employees drunk either. Make sure you don't consume too much alcohol.'

'I won't,' answered Fuji. He liked an alcoholic drink, but not too much. He watched how Eiji and Gakuto did all kind of great moves at the poles. It didn't look erotic at all. More exciting. That is probably what Atobe wanted with the little show. He wanted to make the evening a little more spectacular. Fuji noticed Inui-san and Yanagi-san were betting who would win this time. Fuji didn't know who to chose. Both Eiji and Gakuto were really good.

'Are the drinks the only way you earn money here?' Fuji asked Tezuka, while they both continued watching the two redheads perform.

'No,' answered Tezuka. 'There is an entrance fee. That way we make sure not everybody can just enter this club and make a mess of it. The price is high, so only the real rich people, like the people here, can afford it. All of our regulars have a card. With that they get a discount. That is probably why they are here so often. They can come here whenever they want.'

Fuji didn't dare to ask how high the entrance fee was. It was probably so much that he would never be able to afford it either, but he still had to work in a place like this. 'Don't the guests think we're….too poor for them?' he asked.

'Do you think the others look poor?' Tezuka asked. 'Some regulars know in what kind of situation our employees are, but most don't know anything. The guys who work here make sure they look good. They are able to make their clothes look expensive, even though they are not. You did a good job yourself as well. The clothes you got from Oishi aren't very expensive and most of the things are rather simple, but you managed to make them look more expensive than they actually are.'

'Thank you, I changed them a little,' said Fuji. The clothes he had gotten were boring and he didn't want to look like everybody else. So he had asked Oishi for scissors, a needle and some thread and with that he had changed some of the clothes to make them look a little more fashionable. Some of his friends who studied fashion had showed him the easiest way to work with needle and thread and Fuji's creativity helped him to look different, but still good.

'Do we get more clothes?' Fuji asked. Back at his home he had lots of clothes. It had been important to him to look good and different at every shoot. Here he had only a few sets and there wasn't much to combine.

'You get more when you work here for about a month,' answered Tezuka. 'You can also buy more when you get money. You can also switch clothes with others if they fit, so you will look different every time. We can't afford to give everybody too much clothes. Your dept would get higher and it would take you longer to pay it back.'

Fuji understood that and he wouldn't want his dept to get any higher than it already was. He wished he could go home to get his clothes there, but going home was not an option for him. It wasn't his home anymore. Meanwhile the competition between Eiji and Gakuto had ended. The guests were trying to decide who was better. They were both good, so it was a hard decision. They were voting and in the end Eiji became the winner. He got a free drink from Inui, who had lost the bet.

The night passed by and one by one the guests went home. When they had all left, Momoshiro locked the door and everybody started to gather the glasses that were everywhere on the tables. In the storage were dishwashers. They put all the glasses in there and started them before they went upstairs to their rooms to sleep. Kawamura would clean everything else the next morning.

Fuji lay down on his bed and thought about the things he had seen. Maybe he wouldn't mind working here. It wasn't a bad place. Not bad at all.