Chapter Text
Once again Majima was struck by the simple fact that if he didn’t know who she was, he would have tried to bed her.
As always, Tamiko had no business looking as good as she did, even if he didn't understand what the hell she was wearing. She was in a short black dress with a plaid gray skirt, knee high combat boots, fingerless gloves, and a heavy looking cross necklace that hung at the middle of her chest. This was only their third encounter, and it was the first time Majima saw her with her hair down. He hadn’t realized how long it was: it tumbled to the small of her back, with soft waves two thirds of the way down - a blend of a permanent accent due to the tight bun she usually bore and careful curling. It was a strange ensemble, to be sure, but he was well aware that he wasn’t one to judge. Besides, he had seen that odd fashion pop up every now and again. He could have sworn he saw a familiar looking outfit on the cover of a magazine once.
"Huh. Can't say I expected to see ya here," he admitted as he pulled a box of cigarettes out of his back pocket, standing beside the entrance of his new office.
She didn't answer, so he continued, "A lone woman 'round here at night is just askin' for trouble. Yer old man know yer out?"
She blinked slowly and tilted her head, the thick fringe of her bangs shifting. Her skin was stark white and pearly, glimmering under the streetlamp, and her shiny onyx hair brightened round andalusite eyes. She looked like a jeweled figurine of Sadako that a child had treated like a dress-up doll, and she certainly beckoned danger to come near in her mysterious beauty. She was ghostly, too, because the fact she was as gorgeous as she was despite her father downright haunted Majima.
"No, but that's why I came straight here," she replied calmly, divorced from the concept of being harmed by someone.
"Haw? Why here?" He put a cigarette to his lips and replaced the carton in his hand with a lighter. It took several flicks more than usual to ignite, and he glared down at it. Need to get more fluid, he thought.
"I want you to be my escort tonight."
He almost inhaled the entire cigarette, but somehow managed to keep his composure. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, unsure if she was trying to be funny and if she was even aware of the sexual connotation. “Is that why ya asked where my office would be at my inauguration? Ya planned fer this?”
She nodded and he sighed.
“What if I say no? Will ya go home? I think it’s best ya turn around, sweetheart.”
Tamiko’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly when she said, “I won’t. Father says anything that happens to me is my own fault. If you don’t want to, then I’ll find someone else to do it. That Dragon of Dojima seems mild mannered.”
Majima sucked in the bitter tobacco and exhaled a plume of smoke. “When the hell did ya meet Kiryu-chan?”
“At your ceremony. How is it having your own family?”
His stare became more critical as he weighed his options. He didn’t have any real plans tonight, and having a pretty woman on his arm was hardly a bad way to pass the time. But he had been at the whims of enough women to last a lifetime back in Sotenbori. He’d much rather not risk her father finding out, too, because the man was too unpredictable for Majima to know if he’d be angry or not - he always looked for a reason to be. Then again, Majima couldn’t promise himself that he wouldn’t lose any sleep if he found out something happened to her if they separated now, and her father would definitely kill him. Or worse. Probably.
“Aw, fuck it, fine. Ya got me,” Majima relented. “What do ya wanna do?”
A faint smile graced her small cherry blossom lips - the first sign of emotion he saw on her - as she held out her hand. “I want your cigarette to start.”
Confused, he said, “Come again?”
“I’ve always wanted to try smoking.”
“No way. Yer pops will kill me if ya get hitched to it.”
“I won’t. Just one puff is all I’m asking,” she insisted, shaking her hand. She was definitely glaring at him now, and he couldn’t help but idly find it cute. Her nails were well manicured, too - would probably feel great on his back. Wait, no, he should definitely not go there.
She sure was a stubborn one, which was a little funny to him. She was so cold and stoic the other times he encountered her that he half-thought she didn’t have a personality at all. Majima reluctantly pinched the stick between his fingers, flipped it, and offered it to her. “Just one,” he repeated.
She took it, instantly appearing passive again, and wrapped her lips around it. Tamiko inhaled and almost dropped the cigarette as coughs immediately wracked her body, smoke billowing from her mouth. Majima couldn’t restrain his howls of laughter even if he tried. He thought that would happen, and it was utterly priceless.
“How do you do this?” she gasped, thrusting the cigarette back at him. He took it and made to place it back in his mouth, but hesitated for a second. This was an indirect kiss, wasn’t it? Majima resisted shaking his head to clear it. Nope, no, definitely not. Not with her of all people, no matter how cute she was. He was too old to be thinking like that, anyway.
“Ya got to if ya wanna be taken seriously as a man, lil’ lady,” Majima said, breathing in the nicotine and letting the tension in his shoulders ease.
Tamiko tried to look angry, but was clearly flustered. “That’s just ‘lady’ to you.”
There it was. Just when he was starting to believe she might actually be normal despite her upbringing, the hierarchy reared its head. “Yer a year younger than me.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“What? Gonna tattle on me?” he sneered.
He was sure she wasn’t used to not getting her way, and that was confirmed by her sheer indignation. He thought she was going to stomp and pout, but she surprised him by saying, “Then call me Tamiko. Nothing else.”
For a moment they silently regarded each other. Majima couldn’t get a grasp on the kind of person she was, but frankly, he didn’t want to. She had always been an enigma, and it was fine that way. She wasn’t someone he cared to know, and he had never once thought of her outside the times she had been brought up or he saw her. This was a strange situation he found himself in, but again, he decided the only thing to do was to roll with it.
Majima was the one to break the tension. “Alright, that’s one thing down. What’s next?”
She coughed one last time. “Food. I don’t care what we eat; just take me to your favorite place.”
He scratched the back of his head. Anyone would think they were on a date, and he supposed that wasn’t so far off. But he did not want to date her. The very thought of being her father’s son-in-law made a shiver run down his spine. That was a sentence worse than death.
"Not a bad idea. Let’s go!" He grinned at her, flashing his teeth, but she didn't react.
They walked side by side wordlessly, her keeping her head on a swivel to take in the sights and sounds and him making sure no one came too close. Men stopped and stared at her, which he expected, but she didn't pay them any mind. Seriously, it would have been beyond reckless of her to be alone, regardless of her nigh untouchable status. There was bound to be someone that didn’t care or didn’t believe her, and he didn’t think she understood that.
Finally, his curiosity took over. “Yer lookin’ around like ya never been here before,” he noted.
“I usually go straight to Father’s office when I’m in Kamurocho. I’m on my own if I want to be on the street. I haven’t been to this part of town in a few years.” Tamiko paused, then added quietly, “I don’t know if it’s changed a lot or I just don’t remember.”
A memory flashed through his mind’s eye, one Majima had buried deep. He suppressed a shudder and made to distract himself with conversation. “What brought ya out here tonight?”
She didn’t respond for several seconds, and when she did, she sounded sad. “I felt good today.”
He wasn’t sure how to continue the conversation. After a few more minutes of silence, Majima stopped in front of a set of red curtains that concealed a wooden sliding door. “Here it is. Best damn ramen in all of Kamurocho.”
Majima opened the door and let her in first - he may be a yakuza, but he was still somewhat of a gentleman. She stepped inside the tiny ramen shop, longer than it was wide, brightly lit and with the limited seating almost full. He watched as two men at a table completely stopped mid conversation to gawk at her. She didn’t so much as glance in their direction as she glided onto a stool at the bar, and Majima followed suit next to her. She gave no indication that she was displeased, which Majima was glad for. She told him he got to pick, so it would’ve been a huge pain in the ass if she still complained.
The old man that owned the joint appeared from the kitchen, donned in white and a small hat. “Welcome-! Ah, Majima-san, it’s you!” he said kindly. Then he saw Tamiko and his eyes widened. “Ooh, and you’ve brought a beautiful woman with you. Very good,” he chortled. Even though he was well aware of Majima’s status, he treated him like any other customer, and Majima begrudgingly tolerated it because of how delicious the food was.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Majima muttered with a roll of his eye. “Just get me my usual.” He looked at Tamiko and saw clearly just how small she was. Her cheeks were sunken and her arms were as thin as the ramen noodles they were about to eat. She looked dangerously close to underweight, if she wasn’t there already. “What’ll it be?”
She directed her answer towards the owner. “Shio ramen, please, and water to drink.”
“Give me just a few minutes.” He smiled, the laugh lines around his eyes deepening, and disappeared behind the curtains.
Majima put his elbows on the bar and laced his fingers together, shaking his leg impatiently. He nodded in thanks to a waitress that gave them their drinks, and a few minutes passed quietly, which was much more awkward compared to the walk over. He took a sip of water. What the hell was he supposed to talk about?
“Have you brought women here before?” she suddenly asked.
He almost choked on his drink. When he directed his bewildered gaze at her she had her head down, admiring the grain of the wood surface.
“Why’re ya askin’ me that?” he said, more puzzled than offended.
“Because I want to know,” she asserted.
He shook his head. “Yer weird,” he decided. “And no, I don’t.”
“Do you take women to other places?”
What kind of line of questioning was this? It started to irritate him. “I don’t really take ladies out in general. I’m busy, and most of ‘em are annoyin’.”
"What makes them annoying?"
He couldn't tell if she was insulted by him saying that or not, but it was the truth. “When they’re too demandin’ and expect men to pay for the most expensive shit. Just ‘cause I have money don’t mean I wanna give it all to a girl.”
She finally raised her head to stare at him blankly. “So then, should I pay for this? I have cash.”
“Haw? Ya have yer own money?”
“No, it’s my father’s. He gives me an allowance.”
Majima shifted in his chair to get more comfortable. “Bah, don’t worry about it. The old man that runs this place and your old man would never let me hear the end of it if I made a woman pay for her food. This one’s on me. Besides, half the reason why I like this place is ‘cause of how cheap it is.”
“Thank you, Majima.” Again he saw that elusive, pretty smile of hers, gone before he could really enjoy it.
The food arrived a moment later, hers a light chicken broth garnished with tofu, bonito flakes, fish cakes, and kombu. His was the opposite, a hearty meat broth with slices of beef, mushrooms, scallions, and a soft boiled egg. They put their hands together and gave thanks for the food as the waitress placed small bowls of white rice in front of them. As Tamiko started to eat, he noticed that she was left-handed.
“You never answered my question,” she said after a few bites.
At this point, he was already getting used to her non-sequiturs. “What question?”
“How is it to have your own family?”
He thought back to his inauguration and the semi-formal gathering that followed at Tojo Headquarters. She had somewhat stolen the spotlight because she was such a beautiful anomaly. Very few knew of her, and fewer still had seen her. She was a rumor, someone that many within the yakuza didn’t believe existed. But there she was, lovely in a red kimono, her eyes downcast as she pointedly ignored the drooling men. That was fine with him at the time; he felt suffocated in the montsuki-hakama, and she drew attention away from his fidgeting. He remembered the impossibly quiet way she congratulated him, her tone not insincere but lacking passion. Somehow it was soothing, and at the time and again now, there was an odd urge to keep her talking, like she was a siren born to be seductive.
Ignoring that compulsion - a rarity for him nowadays - Majima blew on a steaming bite of noodles, then slurped it up before answering. “Busy, between movin’ into the office and pluckin’ up men to join. Been sleepin’ on the couch more than in my own bed lately.” He smiled and added, “But it ain’t all bad. Money’s good and I got more freedom, so I can’t complain too much.”
Tamiko seemed oddly satisfied by his answer. “I see.” With that, they returned to their meals.
Soon they stood outside again, their stomachs full and Majima appeased by his predicament thanks to the food. “What’s next on yer list?” he asked.
She batted her curly lashes and said, “You can take me to my father’s office now. I don’t want to be too demanding for you.”
Her tone remained quiet and her face was devoid of feeling, but the bitterness in her words weren’t lost on Majima. Again, he thought back to when he first learned of her existence, and a key sentence stuck out to him.
My kid’s been sick since the day she was born.
Once more, Majima sighed, and he had a feeling that he’d do that a few more times before the night was done. He was a patriarch now, the epitome of tough, but…he couldn’t help but feel a bit bad for her.
“Uhh, listen, Tamiko-chan,” he began. Her gaze was equal parts piercing and alluring. “I’m fine with entertain’ ya a little while longer, so long as it’s within reason. What else did ya want to do tonight?”
Her lips parted slightly in surprise. “Is it because of my father? You want to keep his daughter happy?”
“No, it-” He stopped, not wanting to admit to that twinge of sympathy he felt in his chest. He was too hard-headed for that. Exasperated, he straightened and said, “It’s just ‘cause I had no plans, so I may as well treat ya.”
Her eyes roamed over his face like she was trying to catch him lying, but she quickly turned away. “The arcade, then,” she decided. “I want to go to the arcade.”
Majima glanced up at the late spring sky. “Huh. Haven’t been there in awhile myself. Sounds good to me.”
The walk was longer this time, but the weather was warm and clear, and the energy in the streets was palpable. Despite the recent crash the avenues were congested with all kinds of people talking, laughing, and having a good time. The ward had gone from a place to wallow in wealth to a veiled paradise of escapism where one could pretend he still had money, and it continued to thrive as new businesses opened as quickly as old ones closed. It resonated with Majima and set his pulse quickening, so he didn’t even notice he had outpaced Tamiko until he rounded a corner and spotted her behind him from the corner of his eye. He slowed down, and when she caught up she was subtly out of breath, gasping quietly to herself. Her face did not betray her exertion, but he mentally kicked himself.
Slow down, dumbass, he thought.
On the way, she paused at the entrance to a nightclub. The deep thrums of the bass could barely be heard, but Majima felt it in his feet. As she eyed it curiously he asked, “Wanna go in here instead? The drinks ain’t bad.”
She put two fingers to her temple and shook her head, massaging it. “No. I’m getting a headache just thinking about being somewhere so loud.”
He shrugged, believing that she sounded a touch wistful. “Eh, can’t blame ya. Loud music ain’t for everyone.”
Club SEGA was almost full, mostly kids, but the young man behind the counter was speaking informally with a small group of guys his age. They stared at her, dumbfounded, and Majima shot a warning glare in their direction. They noticeably wilted and quickly returned to their conversation.
When he turned back to Tamiko, she had already pulled out a small purse and was withdrawing yen coins for the claw machine. He looked at the little monkeys and kappas, and the familiar round shape of pink and tan birds stared back at him with their beady little eyes.
“What’re ya tryin’ to get?” he asked.
The machine started and she grabbed the control stick. “The pink bird is cute,” she murmured, fixated as she began to carefully maneuver the claw. On her first attempt one of the prongs scraped against the bird’s green hat, and it fell forward in front of the bird’s face, unable to get it.
“Ya mean Bun-chan? Seems like every girl loves this thing.”
“Probably.” She narrowed her eyes and leaned forward, but was just shy of gripping it once again. The Bun-chan she targeted toppled over, and she clicked her tongue.
Majima crossed his arms and rested against the machine, watching the changes in her expression as she set her sights on a different bird. Her brows were furrowed in concentration, and as two more tries proved unsuccessful, she bore an almost frightening scowl. It was the one time she resembled her father, but frustration was far more endearing on her.
As she played, his interest was again piqued. "Hey, when was the last time you were in Kamurocho?"
"Last autumn," she answered, transfixed on the claw. She even stepped around to the side for the ideal angle.
“Do ya always gotta sneak out when ya wanna explore?”
The claw successfully grabbed Bun-chan, but the plush animal slipped out of its grasp when it was lifted. Tamiko cursed under her breath before answering, “I wouldn’t call it ‘sneaking out.’ Father really doesn’t care if I go out - I just can’t do it much.”
Majima wasn’t sure if she was aware that he had a vague understanding that she was ill, but he decided to keep that to himself. That was too personal to bring up. “And ya come out dressed like that?”
She glanced at him, miffed. Bun-chan moved closer to the chute before falling again. “I’ve never worn anything like this before. I saw something similar on a magazine cover and wanted to try it out. Not that you are one to talk.”
“Hey, I look good!”
She trained her eyes back on the game. “I never said you didn’t,” she muttered, but he heard it all the same and grinned.
“Speaking of yer old man, how come ya don’t talk like ‘im? Yer real ladylike.”
“My live-in nanny spoke this way, and she raised me more than Father did. She always said I had to be proper.”
That sounded like a lot of pressure to him, but he was distracted by her sixth failed attempt at getting the toy and her mounting ire. "Say, I'll bet ya a thousand yen I can get that thing in one try," he said.
She looked up at him and squinted. "Just yen? Nothing else?"
"Just yen," he assured, not surprised that she was suspicious of his intentions. If she had been out alone before, he could only imagine the trouble men gave her.
She hesitated, but finally took a step back. Majima made a big show of cracking his knuckles and smiled broadly. “Watch and learn, Tamiko-chan!”
It was nostalgic, trying for Bun-chan on behalf of a girl, but it was one of the few times a memory wasn’t bitter. He checked the angles meticulously, making sure the claw was lined up just right. Then he hit the button with a flourish, pounding it with his fist. She cracked a smile, until the claw effortlessly picked up the bird and carried it to the chute.
Her eyes widened with indignation. “You cheated!” she blurted above the congratulatory tune. It wasn’t quite a shout, and no one else in the arcade peered curiously, but it was far louder than he had ever heard her before.
“Like hell I did!” he retorted, but there was no malice in his words. Actually, he thought her reaction was quite funny. He offered the toy to her and she took it carefully, staring into its little black eyes. Maybe the flashing lights of the machine were playing tricks on him, but Majima could have sworn she blushed.
She tucked the prize under her arm and handed him the yen. “Heh. Still got it,” he said with a smirk. “Wanna play somethin’ else? I’ll kick yer butt some more.”
Her light brown eyes seemed to shimmer as a soft giggle passed her lips, almost drowned out by the sounds around them. Gosh she was pretty, and there was something so enchanting about it that the misgivings that hung over her head weren’t visible. He couldn’t raise his eye to see them with the way her expression locked his gaze on her pallid face.
“No, it’s fine. I want to go to Poppo next,” she said. She was soft-spoken again.
“Poppo? I don’t think that’s quite as excitin’ as an arcade.” They returned outside to the warm night air, the neon lights turning her eyes into a kaleidoscope.
“I want snacks for home,” she explained patiently, holding Bun-chan close to her chest.
“Fair enough.”
Now the silence was comfortable in earnest, and Majima was losing himself to just how rawly attractive she was. He made sure to walk slowly this time, their steps almost matching. No one dared to bother her with him at her side.
When they arrived, she asked him for some suggestions and what he liked. Once he gave his input he got distracted by food he wanted for himself, and didn’t pay much attention to what she picked. Soon enough she checked out and tucked Bun-chan in her bag along with the snacks. He followed suit, but to his surprise, she exited the store and veered into the alley behind it. It quickly widened to a small block with a dumpster.
“What’re ya doin’?” he asked, following her. When Tamiko faced him her lips were pressed tightly together, and he wondered if she had looked so ashy the entire time.
She took in the litter and milk crates strewn about and declared, “Trashy things happen in alleys.”
“Uh…yeah, I guess so.” Yep, definitely weird, Majima thought.
She maintained eye contact as she continued, “I want to do something trashy for once.”
At first, he was positively befuddled by this news, but after thinking about it for a few seconds, he burst into laughter. “Wha-What the hell does that mean?” he wheezed. “Ya gonna take a piss right here or somethin’?”
“Not that trashy!” she snapped, mortified. She clenched her fists and stepped into his space, craning her neck; he was a whole head taller than her. “Just - this -”
Before he could understand what she was trying to do she stretched on her toes, threw her arms around his neck, and pulled him down for a clumsy yet earnest kiss. His eye widened as he stood there, frozen by how startlingly cold her lips were. This probably wasn’t good, but it wasn’t bad, either. Best not to think of the consequences. Fortunately, he was good at shutting out negative things.
Why the hell not?
He kissed her back, hugging her slender waist and bending down so she didn’t have to strain to reach him.
Good god this girl’s bony. Need to get some meat in her, he thought absently.
It was a brief kiss, and Tamiko was obviously trying not to seem embarrassed when she opened her eyes. She brought herself down, but didn’t move away from him. Instead she dug around in her Poppo bag for something, and once she found it, she grabbed his hand and flipped it over to place the object in his palm. She really was full of surprises, because it was a container of lighter fluid, which he then realized he completely forgot to buy at the store.
“For your trouble,” she whispered awkwardly, avoiding eye contact.
Majima wasn’t going to turn his nose up at some physical gratification, so he didn't mind the kiss, but he couldn't resist teasing her a little. "Are you sayin' I'm trash?"
Her eyes widened in horror. "N-No! But kissing someone without permission, that's-"
He interrupted her by laughing so hard he doubled over, holding his stomach. "I'm just messin' with ya, Tamiko-chan. It's fine."
She stood in silent shock for a moment, then puffed up her cheeks and pouted. "Don't make fun of me."
There was something exhilarating about witnessing her change from someone so distant to - well, a normal young woman. Majima didn't dislike this more open side to her.
He finally calmed down, and wiped a tear from his eye. "Was there anythin' else to knock off yet bucket list?"
She shook her head. "No, you've done enough for me tonight, and I'm tired. I had an amazing time, though. Can you please take me to my father’s office?"
He heard a loud crash in his own head as the moment was abruptly ruined so innocently. Oh no. Shit. Fuck. Goddamnit. He just kissed his boss’s daughter.
Wait, no! She kissed him! This wasn’t his fault! He was just trying to do right by her and keep her safe. This wasn’t a date. This was nothing at all. He didn’t even like her. Oh god, Shimano was going to kill him if he found out.
"Yeah, but, uh, don't tell him we kissed, okay?" Majima pleaded, trying to sound much more composed than he felt.
His trepidation, however, was easy to catch, and she snorted in amusement. "Trust me, I didn't plan to."
In hindsight he didn’t know why he was worried, or why he was relieved by her vow of secrecy. She had given every indication that her father was completely indifferent to her. But perhaps there was just a deep-rooted fear of that man, one that could not easily be shaken. At the end of the day, he may have been the Mad Dog of Shimano, but he was still his jester, too.
And Majima hadn’t imagined her downturn, either. Tamiko walked much slower this time, but she wasn’t hesitating in her steps. If she wanted to avoid Shimano, she could have just taken a taxi home, so she meant to see him for whatever reason. It seemed as though it was a genuinely difficult endeavor for her to move her legs. But he fought the urge to ask her if she was okay, because he had to stay emotionally distant. In this new clarity he understood that maybe he had enjoyed himself, but no matter how quickly the time had passed or how charming her small smiles were or how effortlessly bewitching she was, she was nothing more than his charge for the evening.
The two men milling around inside the office snapped to attention when they saw Majima, but there was evident confusion on their faces when they looked at Tamiko - they must not have recognized her. As he now expected, she didn’t pay them any attention, her eyes downcast when she carefully stepped past them. He originally planned to leave her at the entrance and go on his way, because he really didn’t like seeing Shimano’s ugly mug any more than absolutely necessary, but her face was an odd hue of greenish gray and he was nervous that she'd collapse at any moment.
She managed to climb the stairs to Shimano's main room, her tiny hands trembling when she knocked. "Father, it's me," she announced, straining her voice to be heard.
"Huh? Tamiko?" Shimano said from inside, his voice keeping its constant growl despite who he spoke to. "Come in."
She pushed open the heavy door, pressing her whole weight to swing it open. Shimano was sitting at his desk, puffing at a cigar as he looked at a document and the bright lights making his bald head hard to look at. He glanced up as she approached, his eyes scrutinizing and mean, even towards his own daughter.
“What the hell are ya wearin’?” he grumbled.
“I wanted to try something different,” she answered calmly.
“Waste of my money.” His dark eyes bore into Majima, and it took everything in him not to swallow. “And why are you here?”
Tamiko cut in before he could say anything. “He caught me walking around and was concerned that I was by myself, so he brought me here.”
Shimano hummed, and for all the passing mentions Tamiko made that suggested he wasn’t a very caring father, Majima couldn’t be sure that Shimano was nonchalant at the thought of them together. But his boss was always hard to read, and could be laughing to himself for all he knew.
“Whatever,” he decided, “I was about to leave, anyway. This burst bubble is about to drive me fuckin’ nuts with all the shit I lost.” He tore up the paper with his plump fingers and smiled crookedly at Majima, a crocodile ready to drag him in at a moment’s notice. “Guess ya picked a shit time to start yer own family. Go tell Yamada to get the car ready.”
Majima tightened his jaw and said nothing. It was never brought up, but Majima didn’t put it past Shimano to vouch for Majima to get his own family the moment the economy crashed for a second. It was a calculated decision, another test to see if he could succeed. Or rather, another way for Shimano to entertain himself as he watched his captain scramble and stumble to remain upright.
But, he knew he had to say something. “Yes, sir.”
He turned on his heel and marched out, but peeked at Tamiko from the corner of his eye. Her head was down, but she was staring at him with an unreadable expression.
Later, Tamiko stared out the window of the black SUV as Yamada drove her and Shimano home. The wind stirred the hair at the top of her head, the window next to her cracked to let out the smoke from her father’s cigar. As she silently watched the orange bulbs of the streetlights zip by, finding the hue beautiful, she thought of how so many people took the simple sight of their glow and the exhilarating feeling of rushing down the street for granted. Or perhaps, it was more that she was quite pathetic for spending so much of her life inside her room. The simple splendor of human ingenuity that brought light to Kamurocho combined with self pity was enough to bring tears to her eyes.
Suddenly, Shimano spoke up. “I don’t get why ya felt the need to see Majima. Don’t tell me yer gettin’ cold feet.”
“No, I’m not. I just wanted to see what he was like.”
“Good, ‘cause it wouldn’t matter. By this time next week, you’ll be married to ‘im, and that’s that. There ain’t anyone else I can pawn ya off to now that yer past yer prime.”
“Twenty-seven is past my prime?”
“Sure it is. The whore that conceived ya was older, and look how you turned out.”
Used to his crude remarks, she didn’t waver in her reply. “Well, Father, I suppose you must be happy that I’m finally getting out of your hair.”
He guffawed at that, making Yamada flinch from both his patriarch's loud bellow and her audacity to say such a thing without fear of repercussion.
Though she sounded self-assured, Tamiko’s heart was fluttering with a mix of anxiety and excitement. For the rest of the ride home, where she would tuck herself away to begin packing for her new chapter, she comforted herself by stroking Bun-chan’s head and thinking of the life that was finally opening up to her.