The Nail That Sticks Out

Chapter Twenty: Beer

Kai Fukuda

I don't normally come to the bar unless I have a shift, so the surprised look my manager gives me when I walk through the entrance is expected.

"Kai? Shit, did I fuck up the shift schedule again?" Ito curses, fumbling for his phone.

"No, I just need a drink." I drag out a stool at the furthest end of the counter as Ito places a clean ashtray in front of me. 

"Drinking at your own workplace? Alone? Even I've never done that," he chuckles. 

I shrug and pull out a cigarette along with a lighter. "A beer, please."

Ito comes back after a minute with a pint of beer and a curious look.

"You know, kid. Most guys only start drinking alone at a depressing bar like this one when they hit 50."

I busy myself with my beer, my body gladly welcoming the cold, bitter taste. 

"What is it, boy," Ito pushes. "I'm your boss but I'm also old enough to be your dad."

I set my glass down and give him a pointed look.

"Fine, uncle," he rolls his eyes. "Sure am old enough to be your goddamn uncle."

I ponder for a while, thinking of ways to get him off my back. I come up with nothing.

"I just felt like a drink," I tell him. "Killing some time."

"And you couldn't find a better way to kill some time? Look at yourself. This bar is for old men who have nothing better to do but to get drunk on weekends after their shitty nine-to-five job."

"I just wanted some peace, alright? Jesus, should I have gone to a different bar?" I mutter.

The old man tsks as he perches himself in front of me behind the bar. "Kai, you're in your twenties. You think I don't know that you bailed on your own education? You're a smart kid, I can tell you that much. Sure, you've got two part time jobs, you make ends meet, I'm not saying you're a deadbeat. But come on, Kai, at least live your life. Make some friends, have a real drink at a real bar with some real people."

"You sure are starting to sound like an uncle," I drawl.

He scowls and swipes the half-burned cigarette off the ashtray. "And this? This is fucking disgusting, kid. I don't give you breaks on your shifts so you can go rot in the back of the bar. You're addicted, Kai."

I snatch it back from his fingers and snap the thing in half before tossing it in the ashtray. "Not addicted."

Ito shakes his head in disapproval. "What is it, Kai. Why are you here?"

I feel myself growing more annoyed at his interrogation. All I wanted was a good smoke and a number of drinks. Not some therapist behind a bar. I hide my irritation seamlessly.

Something I can't seem to do around her. 

"I'm tired. So I needed I drink," I settle.

"Tired from what?" Ito questions. "Work? You know I'm happy to cut your shifts down if that's what you need."

"No," I reply immediately. "Work's fine. The more hours the better."

"Then what is it?"

I think about it for a while. What is it? Why do I feel this exhausted? And it's not just tiredness. There's more. I'm pissed. Hell, sometimes I'm even feeling fucking sorry for myself. And she fucking knows. Every single time, she knows. 

"I've been...emotional."

Ito looks at me with a raised eyebrow for a second, as if he had heard wrong. Then he throws his head back and laughs.

"Emotional? Boy, aren't you a little too old to be going through your hormonal period?" he breathes through his laughter.

"It's not that," I scowl. "I just...I'm pissed."

"At what?" he asks, wiping a false tear.

"I don't know."

He sobers up and clears his throat. "Well, I will say I'm a little surprised. In the three years you've worked here, I've never so much as seen you bothered. And that's saying a lot, considering the fact that you've dealt with more drunken old men than any teenage kid deserves. You are one closed-off person, you know that?"

I scoff and down the last sip of my beer. Ito wordlessly takes the glass and replaces it with a new one, freshly poured. "It's not like that. Drunken men don't bother me at all."

"Whatever's bothering you must be one hell of a nuisance then."

I look up at his knowing smirk. "It's a girl, isn't it?"

An uncomfortable feeling settles in my chest. I can't help it when my fingers drift to my box of cigarettes and curse when I realize I don't have any left.

"Oh, it's about fucking time, Kai," Ito laughs. "The little boy is finally, finally whipped, thank the lord."

I take a long swig of the beer, leave the half-empty glass on the table and head straight to the cashier, ignoring the old man.

"Beer's on the house, kid!"

I give him the finger and leave a 1000 yen note on the cash machine. 

---

I watch from the back of the classroom as Dr.Davis gives his lecture on various immune responses. Olivia sits in her usual seat, fully engrossed in the lecture.

Something about her outfit today is different. She's switched out her tank tops for long-sleeves. About time.

Her hair's swept to the side and I feel a strong urge to run my hand through the dark waves. Her head rests on her hand, elbow propped onto the table.

I'm not really needed in the lecture today, since it's not a lab. Normally I'd spend my time in Dr. Davis' office or at the university gym, but I'm too curious to stay away from the lectures. I want to know if Olivia's in class. If she's answering every single question like she always does. If she'd pay any attention to anything other than the lectures.

Then I catch her turning her head to the side and her eyes meet mine. Only for a split second, before she returns to writing in her notes. Somehow, that makes me feel some sort of way and I decide I want to see her more.

As soon as Dr. Davis dismisses the class, I head to her seat where she's packing her bag.

"What are you doing now?"

She turns to me in surprise. "Right now? Packing? Going home? Unless you want to do something. I mean, unless you're too busy. With work or-"

"You want to see more lights?"

She stops her rambling and nods once. Twice.

And I can't help it when the corner of my mouth lifts into a smile.