Dirty, Dirty Liars [Mature/Editing]

[5] 五

I made a mistake, sure, but it didn't feel that way.

After a secret night of fun, I was buzzing at work. I must have looked crazy. People kept giving me looks. Raised eyebrows, discerning glances, little grins. It was as if "I had hot sex last night" was plastered on my forehead. 

"Oh my god, Mina. Spill!" I looked beside me and found Kat.

I touched my forehead just to make sure. "Spill what?"

"Don't give me that. What's gotten into you? This smile. This glow." She circled a flexed hand over her view of me. "It's a vibe, babes."

My eyes fluttered down. I could feel how ridiculously large my smile was. I felt like an idiot, wrapped up in a handsome stranger, unable to get over a one-night stand. It should have felt scary or wrong, but all I wanted was to do it again as soon as possible.

Kat rolled her chair closer to me. "I know that look. You're in love."

"What? No. Far from it."

She smiled as if her hidden plan was successful. I realized I told her a lot by telling her she was wrong. "So, what got into you? Who got into you?" she teased. My face could not possibly be that loud.

I hadn't felt like this in so long. It was as scary as it was exciting. "Okay, I did have sex with someone last night, but it's not like that. It was a one-time kind of thing."

"Sure it was, babes. Sure." A doctor stopped at the desk, thankfully interrupting her. She waited until they left before continuing. "Now I see why you never come out with us."

"That's not why," I laughed. "I'm just not used to things over here. I'm always in Shinjuku."

"And you're already getting laid. How?" She tried to pry information from me, but I would never tell her about Ryuzo. I would barely tell her about myself.

"Hello!" Ayumi came and sat between us. We returned our focus to our screens.

"Hi, Ayumi," Kat and I said in tandem.

"What are you girls talking about?" Her heavy accent was as cute as her attempt at nonchalance. She leaned her chin on her fists, her eyes as wide as her smile. It was her way of prompting us to tell her the newest gossip.

Ayumi was fun. She looked and sounded like she was in a pet toy commercial while she was spilling the hottest tea I had ever heard.

"We were discussing why Mina is always staying in Shinjuku rather than coming out with us," Kat lied to save me.

She frowned. "Do you not like fun, Mina?"

I snorted, then realized her question was sincere. "Yes, I like fun, Ayumi."

"You know she's living in the Kabukicho apartment?" Kat asked her.

Ayumi's lips formed a perfect, tiny O. "No! That is so mean to do!"

"I'm perfectly safe," I insisted for the fiftieth time. "The Yakuza can't be that bad."

"Oh," Ayumi said as if I gave her the answer to a question. "You don't know about them?"

Learning Japanese was my priority. I hadn't made it to history lessons yet. I could have googled it, but . . . "No."

"Mina-chan." She leaned her cheek on a fist with that anime grin. "Do they teach you nothing in America?"

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" I said to myself.

She scooted closer to lean in and whisper. "The Yakuza have been around a very long time — longer than the police. There are different gumi or kai — families — that control certain areas, and they are all a little different." She sounded like she was reading a storybook to a group of kids rather than explaining organized crime to an adult. "Kabukicho-Shinjuku is controlled by the Fujiwara-kai. The Fujiwara-kai are the second oldest family, third biggest, and were the first to do business outside of Japan. They know many people in many places."