Be Careful What You Wish For (PUBLISHED)

(18) - A Little Dose of Reality

"Ja, what happened?" Yoshi asked as he sauntered into Ken's living room. He took off his jacket, tossed it on top of the sofa, and then looked around for the remote.

"What do you mean?" Ken asked as he locked the door and tossed his keys on the dish that lay on top of the shoe cabinet. He went into the kitchen and fetched two bottles of beer from the fridge. When he came back to the living room, Yoshi had already was flipping through channels at the speed of light. Without taking his eyes from the screen, Yoshi blindly reached one hand out for the beer.

Ken almost smiled as he handed him the bottle. He watched as his friend gulped down half the bottle and belched. At times, Yoshi felt more at home at his apartment than he did. He sat down on the adjacent armchair and took a fortifying sip. Although Yoshi kept his own private apartments in Shibuya, he often hung about Ken's place in Minato a lot. When Ken asked him why he didn't get an apartment nearby, Yoshi said that he liked living where the action was and that Minato was for yuppies. Privately, Ken thought that Shibuya was the perfect place for his friend who was out on the streets more often than he was in his own house.

That was probably why Ken had been surprised when barely an hour ago, at a little before ten, Yoshi had rounded up the party and called it an early night, reminding everybody that they had relatively early call times for the concert rehearsal the next day. Yoshi and the girls were performing, and Ken was hosting one of the segments.

Reiko and Nana were actually sweet girls, if a bit shallow, and although they pouted a bit, they went without much fuss. Ai however had trouble retracting her claws and keeping up her angelic façade. The look she gave Yoshi as she left would have killed a lesser man. However, Yoshi had stood firm and packed them all into taxis. As soon as the girls had left however, he hopped into Ken's car and tagged along to his apartment.

Although he hadn't said so, Ken was glad to be free of Ai. A few more hours in her company and he would have started screaming. The sight of her red-talons caressing his arm almost sent shivers up his spine.

Lost in his thoughts, Ken was slightly surprised when Yoshi suddenly leaned over and stared fixedly at him. "Ne, it's about Ana isn't it? You haven't seen her in a week and you're having withdrawal symptoms. You should have gone to see her tonight..."

"I did."

"So she was busy. It happens," Yoshi tried to console his friend as he went back to surfing channels.

Ken shook his head and paused to take another swig of his beer. He grimaced as the bitter brew went down. "My evening schedule cleared up so I went over to the institute to surprise her for dinner. And what do you know, she was already eating at the cafeteria with her preppy boss."

"Eeeee?! Maji de?! Are you serious?" Yoshi almost dropped the remote in surprise.

Oblivious, Ken continued, "I know, right? We had a deal, an agreement, and now she's screwing around on me," he looked for confirmation in Yoshi's shocked face.

"Actually, I was surprised that you went to surprise her," Yoshi clarified, shaking his head, "You're not exactly an impulsive person by nature."

Ken grunted in response. Yoshi surveyed his friend; Ken was hunched over his seat, staring moodily at his drink. Yoshi bit back a smile; he knew exactly what was happening. He knew Ken wouldn't appreciate the humor of the situation, but he couldn't help himself, "They were just having dinner Ken," Yoshi said, trying to placate his friend, "Nothing to be jealous about."

"I'm not jealous!"

"Hai, hai," Yoshi agreed in the tone that mothers used to humor little children with.