The Pink Rose's Promise (BL)

14. The Old School Rock Bar

Ichirou and Masahiro's date tonight was to a bar, and Ichirou was, admittedly, a little excited to go. They had some champagne there that was 100,000 yen per glass, and he had never had it before. He was fully anticipating paying for it himself, as that much money on a date was a bit much. However, he couldn't hold himself back from trying something so tasty... tasty and expensive.

Ichirou decided, due to the heat, he was going to wear one of his two cocktail dresses. This one had only one shoulder sleeve and was a little bit tight on him. It went a little more than halfway down his thighs and was reasonably classy. He had zero issues with people dressing as little as they wanted, after all, with his fashion sense, how could he judge? It just wasn't really for him.

Ichirou was wearing the bracelet he got from Masahiro once again, as well as some short heels. He wasn't sure how drunk he was going to get, and while he was reasonably confident in his ability to walk in heels, he was admittedly a little nervous to do it while drunk. To finish out the look, Ichirou put on a gold barrette.

Ichirou wore a full face of makeup, making sure to accent everything with pink and gold to match his outfit. With this and a clutch, he made his way downstairs. He was a little bit nervous to be meeting up with Masahiro, if he was being honest, after how seen he made Ichirou feel that last time. It was almost like Ichirou wasn't wearing clothes, and Masahiro was the only one who could tell. A very vulnerable feeling.

He was meeting up with Masahiro there because Masahiro was not planning on driving tonight. So, naturally, Ichirou got into the car of his chauffeur. It wasn't a super long ride into Shibuya, but Ichirou squirmed a bit anyway. He was trying his best to just consider this another, normal, fake date, but for some reason, his heart wouldn't stop pounding. Maybe he needed to see a therapist for this weird anxiety?

The building was down a single-lane street that could hardly be called more than an alley. The outside of the building was made of deep red bricks, and a large, wooden sign adorned the first level. It appeared to be some sort of izakaya, maybe containing ramen. The next floor up appeared to be some sort of other bar, while the third level contained the bar that Ichirou and Masahiro were going to.

Speaking of Masahiro, he was standing off to the side, looking up at the car with a patient smile. He was wearing slacks and a white button-up with his sleeves rolled up to the elbows. Ichirou got out, and Masahiro's smile faltered for all of a second before he grinned once again.

"Hello, Ichirou-san. You look great today. You really didn't need to dress up that much, though; this isn't a high-end bar," he said.

Ichirou shrugged. "I felt like it. Is it... bad?"

"No, no, it's not bad at all. Um, let's just head up, why don't we?" Masahiro offered, showing him the way to the stairs.

Ichirou and Masahiro headed up to the third floor and entered. The music that was blasting in the venue was classic rock music from Britain, and the entire place had touches of a famous band from the 1960s, the Stone Rollers. Their classic logo was plastered on the walls, the coasters, and even on the blinds. In the corners, there was some musical equipment, like a microphone, an amp, and even a fancy-looking record player. Ichirou realized pretty quickly that this was one of those places that Masahiro loved that was not necessarily a high-end joint. However, that did not mean that it didn't have its own charm to it, and Ichirou found himself smiling a bit.

"I'll order you whatever you want, go sit down," Masahiro said, pulling out his wallet.

"Uh, no, I'm paying for myself tonight," Ichirou interjected.

"There's no need for that. I'll pay," Masahiro insisted.

"I don't think you understand, Masahiro-san. I looked at the menu beforehand, and they have some champagne which is way expensive. I can't let you pay for that in good conscience," Ichirou said firmly.