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Sunset	By : thewriterwhocameinfromthecold Category: +G to L > Love Hina Views: 6179 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Love Hina or its characters. I am receiving no monetary compensation for this work.

Chapter List
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After Kitsune had recorded her introduction, she’d checked her mailbox daily for a week without as much as a nibble. After that she went a few days without. She’d managed to get a few extra yen from an article about a local band that had played in a few manga cafes. For a while she’d been prepared to toss the whole idea as just another moneymaking scheme that never took off; but like always, the money ran dry and she decided to keep all her options open.
To her surprise, there were two messages waiting for her. The first was from a guy who called himself Kenzo. His voice and attitude was pure high school:
“Hey sweetheart. Really liked your message. You got a hot voice. Hope you got a body to go with it. Name’s Kenzo, and I’d love…” Whatever else he might have said went unheard as Kitsune deleted the message in disgust.
She almost felt too disheartened by Kenzo to even listen to the second; but she forced herself to listen after reminding herself how soon rent day was.
"Hello.” The man had a rich baritone, and warm as if he were greeting an old friend. “You can call me Sakamoto. I’m looking for a lady to pass the evening with. Perhaps that lady is you? I enjoy good food, good company, and I’m told I’m very generous. Call me back if you’re interested.
It took a shot of sake and a few failed attempts at scripting her reply, but after half an hour, Kitsune did manage to leave a message in Sakamoto’s mailbox suggesting a date. Waiting for a reply turned out to be a nightmare. The fear that she’d be caught and the guilt over what she was planning kept her away every night until the fateful Friday. Lying in the dark she tormented herself with questions like ‘What if he’s a scumbag or a gangster?’, ‘What if he doesn’t like me?’, or ‘What if he wants more than just company?’
Somehow she managed to go to and from school with Naru everyday without confessing the whole thing. Of course, Naru was too obsessed with bringing up her grades for the entrance exams next year, and to busy drooling over her tutor Seta to notice her friend’s disquiet. Seta, now there was a name that gave Kitsune pause. What would the guy she’d been crushing on say if he knew what she was planning? The question earned a bitter chuckle. Seta would have to leave that hazy dream world made up of dusty volumes and mythic artefacts in order to have a clue about Kitsune and her troubles. In the end, Kitsune suspected giving up Seta for Naru’s sake had been the best idea she’d ever had. So fixated were they on their studies that they made a perfect pair.
After days of agonising, Kitsune decided to deal with her problems that same way she always dealt with them, alone; and she did so by throwing on a black dress, some strappy sandals and a spritz of the perfume that Haruka Urashima had given her for her birthday. She threw back a shot of sake and headed to the pub where she and Sakamoto had agreed to meet.
Her nerves got the better of her the moment she arrived and saw that it was full of people coming and going, and she realized that she had no idea what Sakamoto looked like beyond a vague description. She gave a weak nod to the proprietor’s call of welcome as she stepped under the banner over the door and inside. Salarymen and college students sat side by side, captivated by the baseball game as the Yokohama BayStars led the Hanshin Tigers three to one in the bottom of the third. At the far end of the room, bartenders were pouring beer and cooks prepared sushi side by side.
She wondered if she should ask at the counter; but she only had the name Sakamoto, which could well have been an alias. After some fretting, she decided to grab a seat at the bar. He could find her. After all, she was the one doing the selling. She grabbed a stool and ordered a soda. Her fingers nervously drummed against her purse as she tried to distract herself by watching the baseball game on TV. By the top of the fourth Hanshin was at bat and Kitsune felt ready to give up; but just then, she felt she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see a tall slim man with large square framed glasses. He wore a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, with charcoal slacks and a navy tie. While not expensive, they gave him an air of professionalism that his job undoubtedly required – a salaryman, perhaps, or a teacher.
“Are you Kitsune?” he asked.
“Sakamoto?”
He nodded. “I’ve got a booth over there,” he pointed.
She followed him to the booth in the corner and sat down across from him.
“Would you like a drink?” Sakamoto asked.
She nodded, not quite trusting herself to speak.
Sakamoto called for a waiter and ordered a beer, and Kitsune murmured that she’d have the same.
“You look nervous,” Sakamoto observed after the waiter had gone. “I don’t frighten you do I?” he asked with a reassuring smile.
Kitsune shook her head, returning the smile.
“You look very pretty,” he told her.
Other girls might have blushed at such an earnest compliment from a handsome older man, but not Kitsune. Rather, the compliment helped her regain her confidence. She was in familiar territory once again. Many men had told her she was pretty, and she knew from experience exactly what that prettiness could make men do.
Her smile ceased to be tentative. “Thank you. You have the envelope?” According to Yuri, the best way to get paid was in an unmarked envelope.
Sakamoto nodded, and reached into his pocket.
“Pass it under the table,” Kitsune told him.
Once he had done so, she followed the next part of Yuri’s instructions: stuffed the envelope in her purse and left for the bathroom. She locked herself into a stall and counted the money. She realized with a giggle that this was the easiest twenty thousand yen she had ever made. It occurred to her that she could walk right out of the pub without him noticing; but the more she thought about it, the more she decided that Sakamoto seemed like a good man. Besides, if she stuck around, there was probably a dinner in the offing.
She returned to the table just as the waiter was laying their beers onto the table. The potentially deadly equation of unattended alcohol and strangers flashed through her mind, and she resolved to get the money before the drink order the next time.
“Kampai.” Sakamoto raised his glass in toast.
They sat and drank, and talked the light inconsequential talk of strangers. They ate their way through several platters of tempura as Kitsune giggled at Sakamoto’s jokes and she impressed him with her heart felt analysis of Kokoro, which she’d been reading for school.
It seemed so normal that Kitsune began to feel like she was on a normal date; but no sooner did that thought occur then she remembered the money in her purse. As the beer coaxed her into a warm and fuzzy relaxation, Kitsune became determined to ignore the money, ready to grasp at anything that would make this feel like something other than a transaction.
She reached across the table and grabbed Sakamoto’s hand. “Hey, what do you say we get out of here and find some place fun?” she asked, running her index finger over his hand in sensual patterns.
“Sure.” Sakamoto seemed surprised. “Where to?”
‘Where to’ turned out to be a music club that Kitsune had been to with her friends. Softly lit and with dark furniture, the place screamed hideaway. The drinks were cheap and the live music wasn’t bad; but the real reason Kitsune chose it was the series of pool tables that sat between the dance floor and the bar.
Sakamoto gave the cue in his hand an unsure glance. “It’s been a while for me,” he confessed.
Kitsune smirked as she chalked up and lined up her break shot. “Don’t worry. I hear it’s just like riding a bike.”
Sakamoto snorted. “If you say so.”
His jaw dropped as Kitsune’s shot shattered the triangle and set a pair of stripes into opposing corner pockets.
“I’m glad we’re not playing for money.”
“We’re not?” Kitsune pouted.
Sakamoto gave her a look. “After that shot? Not a chance.”
Kitsune snapped her fingers in mock disappointment. “Darn. If I’d played dumb, I could have fleeced you all night.”
“You already…” Sakamoto stopped himself, and bent down to take his shot. He sunk two easy solids before he missed and backed away from the table, still looking at his feet.
“Good shot.” Kitsune smiled to let him know she wasn’t upset.
For some reason, Kitsune felt better knowing that the money was a sticking point for Sakamoto as well. She lined up her next shot and took it.
A few minutes later they were well into their second game, with Sakamoto smarting from one loss and heading towards a second.
“Want me to help you?” Kitsune asked.
Sakamoto looked at her, then the table, then the cue in his hand, and back at her. “Any advice would be helpful.”
An imp of mischief seized Kitsune and she decided to try something she’d seen guys try with their girlfriends.
“Line up your shot,” she told him.
Sakamoto did so, aiming for the number two ball balanced precariously against the corner pocket.
“Okay,” Kitsune instructed, for this shot, you’re going to want to be gentle. Too much force and you’ll knock the cue ball in with it.” She leaned flush against him and placed her hands over his.
“A smooth and steady motion,” she told him as her cheek rested against his shoulder.
As one, they drew back the cue and gently struck the cue ball. It rolled forward, slow but true, and tapped the two ball in. Sakamoto craned around to look at Kitsune leaning against him. They shared a smile.
“Care for a drink?” Sakamoto asked.
One drink became two, and then three. By then, Kitsune was feeling mellow, happy, and increasingly attracted to the square jaw line of the man across from her. The rules she had set for herself began to matter less as Sakamoto leaned across the table to move her hair back.
“I’m glad I met you,” he told her. “You’re very beautiful.”
As he withdrew his hand, Kitsune held it in place and leaned into the warmth.
Sakamoto watched her for a long time before he leaned in. He move slowly, his eyes on hers, watching for any sign of rejection before bringing his lips to hers. Kitsune’s eyes glided shut as she kissed him back. Had she been sober, she would have pulled back. If playing pool hadn’t been so fun, she wouldn’t have agreed to drink with him. If he hadn’t been so charming at dinner, she would have ended the date back at the pub. If she hadn’t needed the money, she’d have ignored Yuri because she wasn’t that type of girl. But as their lips met, the last of those dominoes came crashing down. When she pulled back she knew she couldn’t let the evening end with a kiss and neither could he.
“Do you want to go somewhere private?” Sakamoto asked.
A hot knot twisted in Kitsune’s stomach as she nodded.
It seemed she was that type of girl after all.
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