Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Shattered Illusions ❯ Aristocrat ( Chapter 1 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: MellyN 
Miscellaneous: Original Stories Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Action | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 02.25.2015 | Pages: 9 | Words: 6.1K | Visits: 482 | Status: Work In Progress
Miscellaneous: Original Stories Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Action | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 02.25.2015 | Pages: 9 | Words: 6.1K | Visits: 482 | Status: Work In Progress
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Shattered Illusions
By: Melissa Norvell
Chapter 1: Aristocrat
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I never thought I'd be lucky enough to have one of those rich, foreign types fawn over me. I always thought that I was doomed to live out a normal life with an ordinary guy, either that or I'd die single and lonely. But, tonight was different…Tonight, the impossible would become possible.
There's just one little problem.
He thinks I'm a guy.
XxX
She walked out in a loose, button-up, white shirt with a black tie and a pair of nice, crisp slacks. At first glance, most everyone would mistake her for a male. The unisex qualities that she possessed were striking when hidden behind the clothes of a typical male. Tsubomi could easily mask her identity and when she was off of the stage and looked much like a very pretty male.
The stripper ran a hand through her hair, which was mid-back and tied loosely with a black ribbon in a style that was reminiscent of boys in the Victorian days. That time era had been a favorite of hers and she often wore Victorian, Ouji-sama,(1)or Neo Victorian male costumes, which made her appear all the more like a beautiful, high-class male when she was in the public eye.
'I'm gladthat'sover with. Now I can get a quick drink and go home.'She thought to herself as she made her way through the crowds and walked by the bar, where a number of men-both drunk and sober- were seated. Amongst them was one individual that stood out from the rest.
He was tall, taller than most Japanese men and his skin was a snow white in coloration. The strange man was very exotic and his foreign beauty caused her to stop and stare momentarily. At that time, she noticed that they shared the same love of the Renaissance style of clothing- only he dressed in the manner of a rich aristocrat and his clothes were of much high quality then her own. Tsubomi had first noticed his long, blue coat and white slacks. Even his mid-shoulder blade chocolate hair was pulled back in a similar style as her own.
As she continued to observe the man, he seemed to be enjoying himself, sipping on hard liquor and laughing with the Japanese men as if he had been in the country for quite a while, not to mention, his Japanese was very good.
'Man, that guy's really attractive. The way that he dresses, he must be an aristocrat with loads of money. I bet he's even got an exotic girlfriend or something. He'd never evenlookat a no body like me.'She thought to herself with a regretful smile. Someone like that obviously had to be the crème de la crème of society and if someone like her evenattemptedto speak to him, she would instantly be snubbed into the dirt like a irritating gnat in his face.'He looks too pale to be Japanese, maybe he's Australian or English.'
Her blue eyes continued to glance around for any other available seat. Tsubomi wasn't looking forward to being asking why she even dared to sit by someone like him, not to mention that the stripper felt very small when compared to someone so elaborately dressed and beautiful. The guy looked as if he popped out a Renaissance painting for crying out loud.
After quite a while of glancing around, she found that there was no other available seats and sighed in defeat. "I want to order a drink but the only empty seat there is beside of him. Oh well, got to suck it up sometime," Tsubomi reasoned with herself as she sucked up her worries and strolled casually over, taking a seat beside of the foreigner. He laughed again. The strong, manly tone of his voice reverberated in her ear drums.
Maybe he wouldn't notice if she slipped in without a word.
'He's got a nice laugh…No! Out of my league, out of my league,WAYout of my league!'The tomboy scolded herself for even daring tothinkanything of the sort about the man beside of her.
Just then, she heard the voice of the bar tender and glanced up to see him wiping the corner of a beer glass. "Something I can get for you?"
"One tequila please," the infamous voice that could not be described as neither male nor female came from her lips as she ordered her drink.
"You've got it!" The man behind the counter smiled as he walked off to fulfill her request.
"A tequila?" The foreigner questioned her choice of drink as he glanced to her. "That hardly seems your speed."
"Me?" Tsubomi asked a little shocked that the man even spoke to her.'Is he talking to me?'Her thoughts had to inquire a second time, to make sure that she was even in reality.
"Yes, who else would I be looking at?" The man questioned casually as he stared her straight in the eyes, putting more emphasis on the answer. The stranger slipped an elegant, gloved hand under his chin with a pleasant smile.
"Well, people like you usually don't associate with people like me. We're on two completely different social ladders." Tsubomi reminded him of the rules of status quo.
"We're all humans, so what's the harm in it?" He asked, as if he didn't comprehend the rules or simply threw away the rule book and never cared to memorize them. "May I ask what your name is?"
"Oh, I feel rude," the stripper blinked a little and seemed slightly embarrassed. "My name is Tsubomi. How about you? What's your name?"
Before the man could answer the question, the bar tender had reappeared with her tequila and sat the drink before her.
"One tequila!" He called out, to make sure that her order was correct. Tsubomi reached into her pocket and pulled out some money, but before she could hand it to him, the foreigner next to her was retracting his hand and the amount of the drink, plus a large tip was given.
"I'll take care of the bill." He told the both of them, before he turned his attention back to the girl. "Tsubomi, huh? What a girly name. You'd think that your parents would have named you something a little better."
"Guess they hoped for something else." She shrugged off the comment casually. In the depths of her mind, however, she wondered if he knew that she was a woman, or if he had thought of her as a pretty boy, like nearly everyone in her past had.
"By the way, I'm Copernicus J. Wittenberg. I'm pleased to make your acquaintance." The brown-haired man smiled.
"Copernicus?" That name was very strange and even a little hard for her to say. "So, what country are you from?" It was something that had been on her mind since she had first laid eyes on him.
"I'm from America. I've been here for a year." Copernicus replied.
"Really? How do you like it here in Japan?"
"It's exactly what I thought it would be, actually. I'm glad that I got to come here." He informed the stripper of his thoughts on her home country. Copernicus had done his research on the country and it was, indeed, as beautiful as the books had made it out to be. Japan was a great country with beautiful scenery and great technological advancement. It was a place that he was glad to be temporarily stationed in.
"I'm glad that you think so." Tsubomi smiled, feeling a little better that he didn't completely snub her out or even acted like he was superior to her. Copernicus was one of the few wealthy people who saw the both of them on an equal level, and that didn't happen often. "What's your favorite thing about Japan?" It seemed like a harmless question, little did she know, she was about to get an answer that made her worry about questioning the subject any further.
"The sights," Copernicus stated in a rather strange way to her as he stared into her eyes for a moment. His clam, dark blue eyes seemed to bore a hole into the girl's soul but at the same time, she could not take her eyes off of him. It was as if they held some sort of hypnotic power over her for those few minutes.
A blush crept to her cheeks, followed by the feeling embarrassment.'Oh great! I'm blushing! Way to make an idiot of myself. He probably wants to run off, pulling his hair out and screaming into the night.'
The man closed his eyes and leaned, closing the space of dead air around their faces. "There are a lot of beautiful things in Japan."
"Do-Do you have t-to be so close to me when you say that?" Tsubomi stuttered. He was way too close for her crumbling comfort. The brown-haired girl could smell the thick scent of alcohol on the American and the equally strong smell of expensive cologne. She had never been in this type of situation with someone so daunting before and it made her very nervous.
"Something wrong? You certainly seem shy, my little Tsubomi." Copernicus teased.
"How much have you drank?" The stripper questioned, trying to divert the subject to a less erotically implied one.
"Is that relevant?" He seemed so damned casual about everything! It was hard to even fathom what he was thinking at this moment in time.
Tsubomi blinked in confusion. "Um…Well…" She was at a loss of what exactly to respond to that with.'Does it matter? Come on, Tsubomi, a handsome guy is hitting on you! Have some confidence!' After her thoughts both berated and encouraged her, she finally came up with a sentence that made her seem even more defenseless to the American's sexually implied phrases. "I-I guess it doesn't." The tomboy then decided to take the more dangerous path into the conversation.'Even if I regret it later, this is as close to a fairy tale prince that I'll ever be…even if he is drunk.'
After all, it wasn't every day that a beautiful stranger hit on you, even if heavy alcohol was involved. Tsubomi was just happy that such a gorgeous man took the slightest interest in her, even if she felt awkward about the way things were going.
"You're beautiful as well, very exotic." The very words were something that the stripper never thought that she'd be described as. She had never considered herself beautiful, even with the help of make-up and glitter from the costume department of the club. In a way, Tsubomi considered herself equivalent to the half-time show of a foot ball game- amusing to watch, often times humorous and it gave most people a chance to get away and drink or eat until the more busted and curvaceous women came on stage.
"Wait! Don't you have a girlfriend?" Tsubomi was a little shocked then she wanted to come out. The whole situation flustered her, and she couldn't figure out why. Perhaps the fact that she had never been romantically involved with anyone played a factor in her erratic behavior.
Copernicus simply laughed his casual, lazy laugh, as if he were being joked with.
"Hey! What's so funny?" The stripper asked in the same low, subdued voice that she usually possessed.
"Why would you assume that?" It was as if she was stupid for even asking him and to be honest, she felt that way.
"You really don't?"
"No, is there any reason I should?" Tsubomi didn't even know how to take that question. In what way did he mean that? What exactly was he trying to say?
"Lots of them," she leveled him with a semi-serious look. By nature, Tsubomi was a very mellow and laid back individual, so most of her commentary had been calm, minus her outburst to his laugh.
"Like what?" Copernicus was interested in why she would assume that he possessed a lover of any kind.
"It seems like you'd have one by now. You're so handsome-" Before she could get the rest out, she was cut off by the brown-haired man.
"Don't sell yourself short; you're very handsome as well." The American complimented Tsubomi on her looks, and then it hit her.
'Handsome? He thinks I'm aguy?I knew it. He's gay…Just my luck.'Her thoughts berated her once more. She knew it was too good to be true. The one man that the tomboy thought showed an interest in her unlike anyone else's turned out to only think what everyone else in her life had thought. "I'm nothing special." Though she tried to keep casual, her smile turned into a bittersweet one that she struggled to keep on her face.'I'm practically unisex. Damn my genetic make-up.'
"Doyouhave a girlfriend?" Copernicus was a little curious for several personal reasons.
"No way! I don't like women like that." Tsubomi shook her hands to implicate that fact that the thought of being with another woman sent chills up her spine.'What am I saying? I should tell him that I'm a girl.'
"You didn't seem the type." The comment was relaxed, as if he knew her like an open book.
'Great, I look gay.'The stripper figured as much. It was whateveryone'sexpectations were of her. "What's that supposed to mean?" For once, she was determined to figure out why everyone assumed that she was a gay man.
"Well, you can be confusing. I mean, you have a girl's name and you're voice is so strange. I couldn't tell what you were. Although, if your parents named you that because they wanted a girl, then you have every right to be angry." Copernicus deduced that Tsubomi had a hatred for women because her parents named her after the baby that they secretly wanted. She must have hated living a life, damned with the name of the girl.
Tsubomi sighed.'It's too late to say anything to him now. I should probably just go before I get caught.'The only thing that she knew to do was get away and get away fast. "I guess…" The stripper gave an avoidant answer.
"Don't be like that." Copernicus tried to chide her touchy feelings on the subject as he wrapped his arms around her. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. In truth, you're beautiful enough to be either one. You kind of remind me of those J-Rock boys, most people can't tell their genders either."
That didn't help her situation- at all. "Well, some of them cross-dress."
"So, you like other men, huh?"
There was that subject again. Just when she thought that she'd get out of it and run for her life while she still had the chance, he stopped her again.
"Is that a trick question?"
She felt a hand touch the side of her face from behind. Copernicus had massive, yet graceful hands and only his fingertips, which were placed on her temple, beneath her eye and two below her bottom lip, were touching her face. She couldn't help but blush at the contact, and she could feel his baited breath on the back of her neck, even with the high collared white shirt that she wore.
"What kind of men do you like?" He asked from behind her head with his eyes closed.
"Um…You're making me uncomfortable." Tsubomi tried to keep her voice from trembling. Copernicus seemed like a gentleman, at least in stature, so perhaps if she told him that she was uncomfortable with what he was doing, he'd back off a little and not be so forward. For her, things were happening at a fast pace. Soon, they would go flying out of control.
The American slowly took his hand away and gave her a little space. "Sorry, I'm a little drunk." He earnestly apologized for his actions. Copernicus was a little clingy by nature, but he had a little less inhibition about it when he was intoxicated.
"Yeah, I can tell." Tsubomi tried to rid herself of the horrible shade of pink that airbrushed her cheeks.
"Do I smellthatbad?" Copernicus asked, a little self-consciously.
"Sort of."
"But I'm serious." The brown-haired man propped his head up on the bar and rested his forearm beside of his elbow. "What kind of men do you consider to be you're 'type'?"
"I don't know." The stripper tried to avoid the question.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Copernicus was a little confused by that answer. How could someone not know what type of lover they liked?
"It's embarrassing. You'll laugh." Even Tsubomi didn't want to tell him why she didn't know. It made her sound entirely lame.
"We're both men here. You can talk to me about anything." The brown-haired man reasoned. Most men just spoke of anything around each other. He didn't see why Tsubomi was such a closed book around him. It was odd that she was so secretive.
"You're drunk and I barely know you." The stripper had plenty of reasons to hide things from him, especially things that were this lamely embarrassing.
"Well, isn't it best to tell someone that you don't know?"
"Huh?" What in the hell did he mean by that? How did that even make any sense?
"If they don't know you, then they can't judge you." His words, in a way, made sense to her. No one could judge her or should without knowing her personally. Therefore, if she told him and he said something negative about it, his opinion held no emotional value because they hadn't known each other long enough to be affected by opinions.
"Okay, Okay…I've never had a lover. I've never been kissed on the lips and I've never truly been in love with someone." Tsubomi forced the revelation from her lips. If he laughed at her before, he'd be rolling on the floor by now. Besides, she had an unnerving feeling that he wouldn't leave her alone unless she told him.
"Are you serious?" He seemed surprised by that more than anything.
"It's so embarrassing." She sighed and placed a hand on top of her forehead, over her cheek bone length bangs that were combed with the ends pointing to the right.
"You've never had a boyfriend…or a girlfriend? But, you're so beautiful." There was nothing secretive about Copernicus' thoughts on the subject. He was very forward with what he felt. Tsubomi found it surprising that he thought of her as beautiful.
"No," she sighed in defeat.'I feel so lame.'
"How old are you, anyway?" He inquired. Did he really have to elaborate on the subject?
"Twenty-four," Tsubomi responded.'It just got lamer.'
"You've really never been kissed?" The American could hardly believe such a thing. To meet such an untouched person was very rare.
"Um…On the cheek," the tomboy responded.'I must be the lamest person on Earth.'She berated herself once more before she spoke up again. "I know I'm sad and virginized but I've never been in love and the people who fell in love with me were always annoying."
"Perhaps you haven't found someone on your level of maturity. You seem like the one to play prince, not deep down inside, however. Deep within you, you secretly long to play the role of damsel in distress, no matter how princely you look." There he went again, making his off the wall deductions about her, only this time- they were sadly correct.
'How? How does he know me like that? How can he read me so well with only knowing me a couple of hours? I never said any of this to him…I don't understand…What's the power that he has over me?' Tsubomi seemed a little shocked outwardly by what he had just told her. "How can you tell that?" The tomboy asked as her thoughts berated her yet again.'Idiot! You're acting like a frightened little girl…but…I can't help it. He just does something to me that strikes deep.'
"You do know that friendship is a form of love, don't you?" Copernicus asked. At that point, Tsubomi knew it wasn't just some random statement. Everything this guy said had a cryptic meaning but the only question was- what was the meaning of his simple inquiries and phrases? What did he imply when he spoke to and of her in that manner?
'Why do I think, that for some reason, no matter what I say, it will come out stupid?'He literally broke her brain and left her seeming pretty ridiculous due to her lack of answers that didn't make her seem like a simpleton. "Well, in a way. I mean, a lot of people mistake friendship for love, but I've never had that problem. I mean, my friends are my friends and my lovers are my lovers. Besides, none of my friends really liked me like that, or at least they never acted like they did."
Just then, Tsubomi realized what a rambling idiot she made herself out to be.'I sound so stupid. I'm waiting for him to run off screaming.'
"You seem like you've never allowed yourself to express your feelings. It's a dangerous thing to hold back your desires, my little Tsubomi." Somehow, his words made her think…again. No one had ever told her advice like that before.
"I'm not that type of person. I'm not just going to walk up and jump all over someone-" Her words were cut off as she felt the familiar arm wrap around her as she was pulled from her bar stool and into his lap. Copernicus faced towards her bar stool and used it as a foot prop as he held the Japanese female in his lap.
"You can close your eyes to what you don't want to see, but you can't close your heart to what you don't want to feel. You're much too innocent to be twenty-four but then again, I admire that about you. However, it's hard to keep from wanting to be close to you." She could feel his breath on her ear as his deep voice filled her senses with words of truth.
Tsubomi let herself relax a little more as her head fell back into his chest, and she could faintly hear the beating of the man’s heart. The very sound seemed to drown out the drunken conversations that took place around them.
"Why would you want that?" She posed. What was so exceptional about a tomboy like her? Compared to someone like him- she was typical, minimal and easily overlooked. So why was there a strange magnetism between them that she couldn't ignore? "I don't even know how to love. You're right, I'm pathetic. I have no social life. I'm twenty-four and I've never been kissed. I'm probably just a cold, dead fish who's too conservative to have any fun."
"I'm sure that you will. Just give it time."
"I gave it twenty-four years."
"If you want, Tsubomi, you can come here and talk to me on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. I come here to buy a few drinks and watch beautiful women take off their clothes. It's a sinful pleasure." Copernicus smiled as he took another sip of his toxic concoction of alcohols.
"Oh really? You're not paying much attention to them now." Tsubomi noted that his blue sights weren't really on the ladies on stage that much.
"Damned lolita complex," the American joked as he stared into Tsubomi’s eyes.
"You're such a tease." The stripper shook her head lightly as she felt the familiar feeling of arms wrapping around her back and lifted her onto the bar as he gazed into her eyes and took one of the long tendrils of shoulder-length length hair that hung loosely and twirled it around his slender fingers.
"You know what that is?" He teased in a sensual manner.
"I'm notthatlame." Tsubomi wrapped an arm around his shoulder.
"Tsubomi…There's something about you." Copernicus admitted. "I'm sure that we could be the best of friends if you wish to continue this."
"I wonder if we're just drunk. Maybe you're really ugly in the real world, huh?" She smirked slightly. Surely something this perfect was a product of intoxication, though she had never known herself to be drunk on one drink, and tequila at that.
"I doubt it. I'm sure you'd look the same as you do now." Copernicus was sure no matter how drunk he was, he knew when something suited his fancy.
"You're just trying to be nice to me so you can get in my pants." Tsubomi knew better then to take those lines as anything serious. Most men came up with stuff like that in order to get an unsuspecting woman into bed with them.
"Well, if I wanted to do that, then I would have offered to show you love. Besides, I like that about you, do I not? I mean what I say."
"You're not innocent. I can tell." Everything about him was skilled. Even a virgin like her could tell his type when she saw it.
"Well, one of us has to be impure."
"What are you implying?" It sounded like a hell of a lot, and out of everything that he had said to her, that was the most forward comment of them all.
"Who knows? It's probably the booze talking." Copernicus skillfully played it off.
"Is that what you do? Come in here and pick up young boys?" Tsubomi asked, finally feeling comfortable enough to be as close as she was to his face. Even though he seemed like a playboy, there was something peaceful and easy going about him that chided any further nervous reactions from coming about.
"Gender isn't the thing. It isn't at all what I'm after." It was not as if he were gender specific, after all. Copernicus saw the beauty in any gender but his preferences did go to younger men.
'What does he mean by that? What the hell is he after then? Is he trying to seduce me? Better yet, would I mind? Why am I completely loosing myself around this guy?'The stripper wondered, before she decided to verbalize the question. "Oh, then what are you after?"
His face inched toward hers, so close that she felt her heart slam against her sternum. If someone were to scare her, then the slightest flinch would mean that her first kiss would be stolen by a foreign stranger that she had just met. "If I told you, I might have to kill you." The American's words were dangerous, as if he could cut her in to pieces by simply knowing any given fact about him.
Just then, Tsubomi had wondered how much time she'd spent talking to this stranger and decided to check her watch. Her face lit up in slight shock. "Crap! I have to go! I didn't realize how late it was. I have to walk home and it's quite a way from here."
She hopped down from the bar and took one step towards the door before her hand was engulfed in a pale one. The tomboy glanced over her shoulder to see Copernicus on the other end, smiling the same relaxed smile that he managed to keep the entire time. It always held some type of amusement to it that unnerved her. In a way, masked what he was feeling.
"Come and see me."
"Well, I work here so I'll see you at night, no matter when you come." Tsubomi didn’t realize that she was on the verge of giving herself away.
"What do you do here?" Copernicus wondered aloud.
"Uh…" Tsubomi felt her heart stop.'Son of a- What do I say now? There's no way that I can tell him that I'm a stripper! He still thinks I'm a guy! My parents always told me that I'd have to keep lying once I started.'
"I help the strippers. I pick out their costumes as I'm always back stage. No one ever sees me, but when I'm done, I'll come and see you." She made up, what she thought was a good lie. Hopefully, he'd buy into her words.
"Can't I come back and see you?" He questioned.
"No!" The brown-haired girl shouted before she realized how guilty she sounded and cleared her voice, in an attempt to go into an informative tone. "I mean, the girl's wouldn't like that very much. Authorized personal only, I'm afraid."
"Well, can I at least walk you to the door?" Copernicus seemed more amused with her then anything.
"Sure," Tsubomi smiled.'I'm so stupid. I'm falling for the oldest trick in the book! I've heard this from my friends in high school. He'll walk me to the door, and he'll take advantage of me for sure.'
He gently took her hand as the two of them made their way through the crowds and out of the door. When they passed through the door, the brisk night air hit their forms and he gently placed a hand on her face and pulled her into him. "You have trust issues," Copernicus stated as she turned her around and pressed his body against her back side. "I think if there was one person you could trust, then they would have your heart."
"I really do have to go." The stripper made the first excuse that came to her mind. She had a feeling things would be like this.'Stop playing with me. I'm not weak-minded. I'm not…'
"Very well, I'll see you later then, ciao." He put his hand in the air as he walked off down the street as casually as he had come into her life; he vanished once again, like a leaf blown in the wind.
"Right, good-bye Copernicus J. Wittenberg," the girl uttered his name in a wistful tone, happy to have met a man with such strange tastes. One would have to have strange tastes to like someone such as herself.
She turned and began to walk home alone, as she had done every night that she had worked at the strip club. Usually, Tsubomi did the same thing every work day, dance on stage, buy a drink and head home but today was different. It was a step from the mundane into the mysterious and she found that her mood was a little less stressful now that she had nearly a two hour conversation with the interesting American.
Tsubomi soon came to the end of the block and turned right as she sighed to herself and frowned, looking a bit downtrodden. Now that she had no one to talk to, she realized how lonely she truly was and what type of predicament she had been in.
'What the hell do I do now? Tsubomi, you're so incredibly stupid. You were like a wounded gazelle on the Serengeti. They can't get any more retarded then me. That guy was obviously a playboy and yet…I fell for every trick in the book…Those eyes…I was captivated by them. I can't ignore the fact that the man was an Adonis. I mean, I'm lucky that he even spoke to me, and he wants to meet me again. I'm not too sure how I feel about that, really…He seemed so nice and casual. It felt like talking to him was natural. Maybe he just wants me to feel comfortable so he can move in and do whatever he wants.'Her frown deepened as a look of slight irritation crossed her face.'Well, I won't be taken advantage of. Besides, he might not be able to remember anything. He was so drunk…Too bad that even when someone's drunk, I still look like a guy.'
The tomboy sighed as she walked past an opposing pathway. As she passed the pitch black area, a figure emerged from the darkness as the dim light faintly shown on what seemed to be a woman with very beautiful features and blonde, curly hair that was dressed in an elaborate, frilled Victorian dress with an Empire cut bust line.
A hand with long nails quickly shot out, as if it was snatching prey and grabbed the unsuspecting tom boy's arm.
From then on, everything was a whirlwind of sudden events. Tsubomi felt herself be shoved into a wall with such force that it beat the breath out of her body. The harsh brick from the building was rough against her skin as she struggled to keep her breath.
The girl felt something dig into her biceps as she winced in pain and slowly turned her head to see one of the most beautiful women that she had laid eyes on in a very long time. She was so attractive that she looked just like a doll.
A dark smirk crossed the beauty's face as she glared into the stripper's pristine blue eyes. "I found you." When the voice came out, it was quite contradictory to her gender.
It was the deep and sultry voice of a male. Tsubomi had not expected that from someone who unmistakably looked like a woman.
"Found me?" She didn't even know someone was looking for her, much less someone who looked a cross-dressing J-rocker.
"You're the boy that was with Copernicus, aren't you?"
'Boy?! Okay, I'll just play along.'Tsubomi's thoughts raged before she spoke to the beautiful male. "Yes, I'm your man, but what do you want with me?" After all, she had never seen this person in her entire life and for them to call her out and treat her like a threat was more than odd.
"That's an easy one, my dear. I want to kill you."
…To Be Continued
NOTES:
1. Ouji-sama- A style of lolita Japanese dress for males, which consisted of Renaissance, baroque and princely orientated costumes.
Shattered Illusions
By: Melissa Norvell
Chapter 1: Aristocrat
XxXxXx
I never thought I'd be lucky enough to have one of those rich, foreign types fawn over me. I always thought that I was doomed to live out a normal life with an ordinary guy, either that or I'd die single and lonely. But, tonight was different…Tonight, the impossible would become possible.
There's just one little problem.
He thinks I'm a guy.
XxX
She walked out in a loose, button-up, white shirt with a black tie and a pair of nice, crisp slacks. At first glance, most everyone would mistake her for a male. The unisex qualities that she possessed were striking when hidden behind the clothes of a typical male. Tsubomi could easily mask her identity and when she was off of the stage and looked much like a very pretty male.
The stripper ran a hand through her hair, which was mid-back and tied loosely with a black ribbon in a style that was reminiscent of boys in the Victorian days. That time era had been a favorite of hers and she often wore Victorian, Ouji-sama,(1)or Neo Victorian male costumes, which made her appear all the more like a beautiful, high-class male when she was in the public eye.
'I'm gladthat'sover with. Now I can get a quick drink and go home.'She thought to herself as she made her way through the crowds and walked by the bar, where a number of men-both drunk and sober- were seated. Amongst them was one individual that stood out from the rest.
He was tall, taller than most Japanese men and his skin was a snow white in coloration. The strange man was very exotic and his foreign beauty caused her to stop and stare momentarily. At that time, she noticed that they shared the same love of the Renaissance style of clothing- only he dressed in the manner of a rich aristocrat and his clothes were of much high quality then her own. Tsubomi had first noticed his long, blue coat and white slacks. Even his mid-shoulder blade chocolate hair was pulled back in a similar style as her own.
As she continued to observe the man, he seemed to be enjoying himself, sipping on hard liquor and laughing with the Japanese men as if he had been in the country for quite a while, not to mention, his Japanese was very good.
'Man, that guy's really attractive. The way that he dresses, he must be an aristocrat with loads of money. I bet he's even got an exotic girlfriend or something. He'd never evenlookat a no body like me.'She thought to herself with a regretful smile. Someone like that obviously had to be the crème de la crème of society and if someone like her evenattemptedto speak to him, she would instantly be snubbed into the dirt like a irritating gnat in his face.'He looks too pale to be Japanese, maybe he's Australian or English.'
Her blue eyes continued to glance around for any other available seat. Tsubomi wasn't looking forward to being asking why she even dared to sit by someone like him, not to mention that the stripper felt very small when compared to someone so elaborately dressed and beautiful. The guy looked as if he popped out a Renaissance painting for crying out loud.
After quite a while of glancing around, she found that there was no other available seats and sighed in defeat. "I want to order a drink but the only empty seat there is beside of him. Oh well, got to suck it up sometime," Tsubomi reasoned with herself as she sucked up her worries and strolled casually over, taking a seat beside of the foreigner. He laughed again. The strong, manly tone of his voice reverberated in her ear drums.
Maybe he wouldn't notice if she slipped in without a word.
'He's got a nice laugh…No! Out of my league, out of my league,WAYout of my league!'The tomboy scolded herself for even daring tothinkanything of the sort about the man beside of her.
Just then, she heard the voice of the bar tender and glanced up to see him wiping the corner of a beer glass. "Something I can get for you?"
"One tequila please," the infamous voice that could not be described as neither male nor female came from her lips as she ordered her drink.
"You've got it!" The man behind the counter smiled as he walked off to fulfill her request.
"A tequila?" The foreigner questioned her choice of drink as he glanced to her. "That hardly seems your speed."
"Me?" Tsubomi asked a little shocked that the man even spoke to her.'Is he talking to me?'Her thoughts had to inquire a second time, to make sure that she was even in reality.
"Yes, who else would I be looking at?" The man questioned casually as he stared her straight in the eyes, putting more emphasis on the answer. The stranger slipped an elegant, gloved hand under his chin with a pleasant smile.
"Well, people like you usually don't associate with people like me. We're on two completely different social ladders." Tsubomi reminded him of the rules of status quo.
"We're all humans, so what's the harm in it?" He asked, as if he didn't comprehend the rules or simply threw away the rule book and never cared to memorize them. "May I ask what your name is?"
"Oh, I feel rude," the stripper blinked a little and seemed slightly embarrassed. "My name is Tsubomi. How about you? What's your name?"
Before the man could answer the question, the bar tender had reappeared with her tequila and sat the drink before her.
"One tequila!" He called out, to make sure that her order was correct. Tsubomi reached into her pocket and pulled out some money, but before she could hand it to him, the foreigner next to her was retracting his hand and the amount of the drink, plus a large tip was given.
"I'll take care of the bill." He told the both of them, before he turned his attention back to the girl. "Tsubomi, huh? What a girly name. You'd think that your parents would have named you something a little better."
"Guess they hoped for something else." She shrugged off the comment casually. In the depths of her mind, however, she wondered if he knew that she was a woman, or if he had thought of her as a pretty boy, like nearly everyone in her past had.
"By the way, I'm Copernicus J. Wittenberg. I'm pleased to make your acquaintance." The brown-haired man smiled.
"Copernicus?" That name was very strange and even a little hard for her to say. "So, what country are you from?" It was something that had been on her mind since she had first laid eyes on him.
"I'm from America. I've been here for a year." Copernicus replied.
"Really? How do you like it here in Japan?"
"It's exactly what I thought it would be, actually. I'm glad that I got to come here." He informed the stripper of his thoughts on her home country. Copernicus had done his research on the country and it was, indeed, as beautiful as the books had made it out to be. Japan was a great country with beautiful scenery and great technological advancement. It was a place that he was glad to be temporarily stationed in.
"I'm glad that you think so." Tsubomi smiled, feeling a little better that he didn't completely snub her out or even acted like he was superior to her. Copernicus was one of the few wealthy people who saw the both of them on an equal level, and that didn't happen often. "What's your favorite thing about Japan?" It seemed like a harmless question, little did she know, she was about to get an answer that made her worry about questioning the subject any further.
"The sights," Copernicus stated in a rather strange way to her as he stared into her eyes for a moment. His clam, dark blue eyes seemed to bore a hole into the girl's soul but at the same time, she could not take her eyes off of him. It was as if they held some sort of hypnotic power over her for those few minutes.
A blush crept to her cheeks, followed by the feeling embarrassment.'Oh great! I'm blushing! Way to make an idiot of myself. He probably wants to run off, pulling his hair out and screaming into the night.'
The man closed his eyes and leaned, closing the space of dead air around their faces. "There are a lot of beautiful things in Japan."
"Do-Do you have t-to be so close to me when you say that?" Tsubomi stuttered. He was way too close for her crumbling comfort. The brown-haired girl could smell the thick scent of alcohol on the American and the equally strong smell of expensive cologne. She had never been in this type of situation with someone so daunting before and it made her very nervous.
"Something wrong? You certainly seem shy, my little Tsubomi." Copernicus teased.
"How much have you drank?" The stripper questioned, trying to divert the subject to a less erotically implied one.
"Is that relevant?" He seemed so damned casual about everything! It was hard to even fathom what he was thinking at this moment in time.
Tsubomi blinked in confusion. "Um…Well…" She was at a loss of what exactly to respond to that with.'Does it matter? Come on, Tsubomi, a handsome guy is hitting on you! Have some confidence!' After her thoughts both berated and encouraged her, she finally came up with a sentence that made her seem even more defenseless to the American's sexually implied phrases. "I-I guess it doesn't." The tomboy then decided to take the more dangerous path into the conversation.'Even if I regret it later, this is as close to a fairy tale prince that I'll ever be…even if he is drunk.'
After all, it wasn't every day that a beautiful stranger hit on you, even if heavy alcohol was involved. Tsubomi was just happy that such a gorgeous man took the slightest interest in her, even if she felt awkward about the way things were going.
"You're beautiful as well, very exotic." The very words were something that the stripper never thought that she'd be described as. She had never considered herself beautiful, even with the help of make-up and glitter from the costume department of the club. In a way, Tsubomi considered herself equivalent to the half-time show of a foot ball game- amusing to watch, often times humorous and it gave most people a chance to get away and drink or eat until the more busted and curvaceous women came on stage.
"Wait! Don't you have a girlfriend?" Tsubomi was a little shocked then she wanted to come out. The whole situation flustered her, and she couldn't figure out why. Perhaps the fact that she had never been romantically involved with anyone played a factor in her erratic behavior.
Copernicus simply laughed his casual, lazy laugh, as if he were being joked with.
"Hey! What's so funny?" The stripper asked in the same low, subdued voice that she usually possessed.
"Why would you assume that?" It was as if she was stupid for even asking him and to be honest, she felt that way.
"You really don't?"
"No, is there any reason I should?" Tsubomi didn't even know how to take that question. In what way did he mean that? What exactly was he trying to say?
"Lots of them," she leveled him with a semi-serious look. By nature, Tsubomi was a very mellow and laid back individual, so most of her commentary had been calm, minus her outburst to his laugh.
"Like what?" Copernicus was interested in why she would assume that he possessed a lover of any kind.
"It seems like you'd have one by now. You're so handsome-" Before she could get the rest out, she was cut off by the brown-haired man.
"Don't sell yourself short; you're very handsome as well." The American complimented Tsubomi on her looks, and then it hit her.
'Handsome? He thinks I'm aguy?I knew it. He's gay…Just my luck.'Her thoughts berated her once more. She knew it was too good to be true. The one man that the tomboy thought showed an interest in her unlike anyone else's turned out to only think what everyone else in her life had thought. "I'm nothing special." Though she tried to keep casual, her smile turned into a bittersweet one that she struggled to keep on her face.'I'm practically unisex. Damn my genetic make-up.'
"Doyouhave a girlfriend?" Copernicus was a little curious for several personal reasons.
"No way! I don't like women like that." Tsubomi shook her hands to implicate that fact that the thought of being with another woman sent chills up her spine.'What am I saying? I should tell him that I'm a girl.'
"You didn't seem the type." The comment was relaxed, as if he knew her like an open book.
'Great, I look gay.'The stripper figured as much. It was whateveryone'sexpectations were of her. "What's that supposed to mean?" For once, she was determined to figure out why everyone assumed that she was a gay man.
"Well, you can be confusing. I mean, you have a girl's name and you're voice is so strange. I couldn't tell what you were. Although, if your parents named you that because they wanted a girl, then you have every right to be angry." Copernicus deduced that Tsubomi had a hatred for women because her parents named her after the baby that they secretly wanted. She must have hated living a life, damned with the name of the girl.
Tsubomi sighed.'It's too late to say anything to him now. I should probably just go before I get caught.'The only thing that she knew to do was get away and get away fast. "I guess…" The stripper gave an avoidant answer.
"Don't be like that." Copernicus tried to chide her touchy feelings on the subject as he wrapped his arms around her. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. In truth, you're beautiful enough to be either one. You kind of remind me of those J-Rock boys, most people can't tell their genders either."
That didn't help her situation- at all. "Well, some of them cross-dress."
"So, you like other men, huh?"
There was that subject again. Just when she thought that she'd get out of it and run for her life while she still had the chance, he stopped her again.
"Is that a trick question?"
She felt a hand touch the side of her face from behind. Copernicus had massive, yet graceful hands and only his fingertips, which were placed on her temple, beneath her eye and two below her bottom lip, were touching her face. She couldn't help but blush at the contact, and she could feel his baited breath on the back of her neck, even with the high collared white shirt that she wore.
"What kind of men do you like?" He asked from behind her head with his eyes closed.
"Um…You're making me uncomfortable." Tsubomi tried to keep her voice from trembling. Copernicus seemed like a gentleman, at least in stature, so perhaps if she told him that she was uncomfortable with what he was doing, he'd back off a little and not be so forward. For her, things were happening at a fast pace. Soon, they would go flying out of control.
The American slowly took his hand away and gave her a little space. "Sorry, I'm a little drunk." He earnestly apologized for his actions. Copernicus was a little clingy by nature, but he had a little less inhibition about it when he was intoxicated.
"Yeah, I can tell." Tsubomi tried to rid herself of the horrible shade of pink that airbrushed her cheeks.
"Do I smellthatbad?" Copernicus asked, a little self-consciously.
"Sort of."
"But I'm serious." The brown-haired man propped his head up on the bar and rested his forearm beside of his elbow. "What kind of men do you consider to be you're 'type'?"
"I don't know." The stripper tried to avoid the question.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Copernicus was a little confused by that answer. How could someone not know what type of lover they liked?
"It's embarrassing. You'll laugh." Even Tsubomi didn't want to tell him why she didn't know. It made her sound entirely lame.
"We're both men here. You can talk to me about anything." The brown-haired man reasoned. Most men just spoke of anything around each other. He didn't see why Tsubomi was such a closed book around him. It was odd that she was so secretive.
"You're drunk and I barely know you." The stripper had plenty of reasons to hide things from him, especially things that were this lamely embarrassing.
"Well, isn't it best to tell someone that you don't know?"
"Huh?" What in the hell did he mean by that? How did that even make any sense?
"If they don't know you, then they can't judge you." His words, in a way, made sense to her. No one could judge her or should without knowing her personally. Therefore, if she told him and he said something negative about it, his opinion held no emotional value because they hadn't known each other long enough to be affected by opinions.
"Okay, Okay…I've never had a lover. I've never been kissed on the lips and I've never truly been in love with someone." Tsubomi forced the revelation from her lips. If he laughed at her before, he'd be rolling on the floor by now. Besides, she had an unnerving feeling that he wouldn't leave her alone unless she told him.
"Are you serious?" He seemed surprised by that more than anything.
"It's so embarrassing." She sighed and placed a hand on top of her forehead, over her cheek bone length bangs that were combed with the ends pointing to the right.
"You've never had a boyfriend…or a girlfriend? But, you're so beautiful." There was nothing secretive about Copernicus' thoughts on the subject. He was very forward with what he felt. Tsubomi found it surprising that he thought of her as beautiful.
"No," she sighed in defeat.'I feel so lame.'
"How old are you, anyway?" He inquired. Did he really have to elaborate on the subject?
"Twenty-four," Tsubomi responded.'It just got lamer.'
"You've really never been kissed?" The American could hardly believe such a thing. To meet such an untouched person was very rare.
"Um…On the cheek," the tomboy responded.'I must be the lamest person on Earth.'She berated herself once more before she spoke up again. "I know I'm sad and virginized but I've never been in love and the people who fell in love with me were always annoying."
"Perhaps you haven't found someone on your level of maturity. You seem like the one to play prince, not deep down inside, however. Deep within you, you secretly long to play the role of damsel in distress, no matter how princely you look." There he went again, making his off the wall deductions about her, only this time- they were sadly correct.
'How? How does he know me like that? How can he read me so well with only knowing me a couple of hours? I never said any of this to him…I don't understand…What's the power that he has over me?' Tsubomi seemed a little shocked outwardly by what he had just told her. "How can you tell that?" The tomboy asked as her thoughts berated her yet again.'Idiot! You're acting like a frightened little girl…but…I can't help it. He just does something to me that strikes deep.'
"You do know that friendship is a form of love, don't you?" Copernicus asked. At that point, Tsubomi knew it wasn't just some random statement. Everything this guy said had a cryptic meaning but the only question was- what was the meaning of his simple inquiries and phrases? What did he imply when he spoke to and of her in that manner?
'Why do I think, that for some reason, no matter what I say, it will come out stupid?'He literally broke her brain and left her seeming pretty ridiculous due to her lack of answers that didn't make her seem like a simpleton. "Well, in a way. I mean, a lot of people mistake friendship for love, but I've never had that problem. I mean, my friends are my friends and my lovers are my lovers. Besides, none of my friends really liked me like that, or at least they never acted like they did."
Just then, Tsubomi realized what a rambling idiot she made herself out to be.'I sound so stupid. I'm waiting for him to run off screaming.'
"You seem like you've never allowed yourself to express your feelings. It's a dangerous thing to hold back your desires, my little Tsubomi." Somehow, his words made her think…again. No one had ever told her advice like that before.
"I'm not that type of person. I'm not just going to walk up and jump all over someone-" Her words were cut off as she felt the familiar arm wrap around her as she was pulled from her bar stool and into his lap. Copernicus faced towards her bar stool and used it as a foot prop as he held the Japanese female in his lap.
"You can close your eyes to what you don't want to see, but you can't close your heart to what you don't want to feel. You're much too innocent to be twenty-four but then again, I admire that about you. However, it's hard to keep from wanting to be close to you." She could feel his breath on her ear as his deep voice filled her senses with words of truth.
Tsubomi let herself relax a little more as her head fell back into his chest, and she could faintly hear the beating of the man’s heart. The very sound seemed to drown out the drunken conversations that took place around them.
"Why would you want that?" She posed. What was so exceptional about a tomboy like her? Compared to someone like him- she was typical, minimal and easily overlooked. So why was there a strange magnetism between them that she couldn't ignore? "I don't even know how to love. You're right, I'm pathetic. I have no social life. I'm twenty-four and I've never been kissed. I'm probably just a cold, dead fish who's too conservative to have any fun."
"I'm sure that you will. Just give it time."
"I gave it twenty-four years."
"If you want, Tsubomi, you can come here and talk to me on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. I come here to buy a few drinks and watch beautiful women take off their clothes. It's a sinful pleasure." Copernicus smiled as he took another sip of his toxic concoction of alcohols.
"Oh really? You're not paying much attention to them now." Tsubomi noted that his blue sights weren't really on the ladies on stage that much.
"Damned lolita complex," the American joked as he stared into Tsubomi’s eyes.
"You're such a tease." The stripper shook her head lightly as she felt the familiar feeling of arms wrapping around her back and lifted her onto the bar as he gazed into her eyes and took one of the long tendrils of shoulder-length length hair that hung loosely and twirled it around his slender fingers.
"You know what that is?" He teased in a sensual manner.
"I'm notthatlame." Tsubomi wrapped an arm around his shoulder.
"Tsubomi…There's something about you." Copernicus admitted. "I'm sure that we could be the best of friends if you wish to continue this."
"I wonder if we're just drunk. Maybe you're really ugly in the real world, huh?" She smirked slightly. Surely something this perfect was a product of intoxication, though she had never known herself to be drunk on one drink, and tequila at that.
"I doubt it. I'm sure you'd look the same as you do now." Copernicus was sure no matter how drunk he was, he knew when something suited his fancy.
"You're just trying to be nice to me so you can get in my pants." Tsubomi knew better then to take those lines as anything serious. Most men came up with stuff like that in order to get an unsuspecting woman into bed with them.
"Well, if I wanted to do that, then I would have offered to show you love. Besides, I like that about you, do I not? I mean what I say."
"You're not innocent. I can tell." Everything about him was skilled. Even a virgin like her could tell his type when she saw it.
"Well, one of us has to be impure."
"What are you implying?" It sounded like a hell of a lot, and out of everything that he had said to her, that was the most forward comment of them all.
"Who knows? It's probably the booze talking." Copernicus skillfully played it off.
"Is that what you do? Come in here and pick up young boys?" Tsubomi asked, finally feeling comfortable enough to be as close as she was to his face. Even though he seemed like a playboy, there was something peaceful and easy going about him that chided any further nervous reactions from coming about.
"Gender isn't the thing. It isn't at all what I'm after." It was not as if he were gender specific, after all. Copernicus saw the beauty in any gender but his preferences did go to younger men.
'What does he mean by that? What the hell is he after then? Is he trying to seduce me? Better yet, would I mind? Why am I completely loosing myself around this guy?'The stripper wondered, before she decided to verbalize the question. "Oh, then what are you after?"
His face inched toward hers, so close that she felt her heart slam against her sternum. If someone were to scare her, then the slightest flinch would mean that her first kiss would be stolen by a foreign stranger that she had just met. "If I told you, I might have to kill you." The American's words were dangerous, as if he could cut her in to pieces by simply knowing any given fact about him.
Just then, Tsubomi had wondered how much time she'd spent talking to this stranger and decided to check her watch. Her face lit up in slight shock. "Crap! I have to go! I didn't realize how late it was. I have to walk home and it's quite a way from here."
She hopped down from the bar and took one step towards the door before her hand was engulfed in a pale one. The tomboy glanced over her shoulder to see Copernicus on the other end, smiling the same relaxed smile that he managed to keep the entire time. It always held some type of amusement to it that unnerved her. In a way, masked what he was feeling.
"Come and see me."
"Well, I work here so I'll see you at night, no matter when you come." Tsubomi didn’t realize that she was on the verge of giving herself away.
"What do you do here?" Copernicus wondered aloud.
"Uh…" Tsubomi felt her heart stop.'Son of a- What do I say now? There's no way that I can tell him that I'm a stripper! He still thinks I'm a guy! My parents always told me that I'd have to keep lying once I started.'
"I help the strippers. I pick out their costumes as I'm always back stage. No one ever sees me, but when I'm done, I'll come and see you." She made up, what she thought was a good lie. Hopefully, he'd buy into her words.
"Can't I come back and see you?" He questioned.
"No!" The brown-haired girl shouted before she realized how guilty she sounded and cleared her voice, in an attempt to go into an informative tone. "I mean, the girl's wouldn't like that very much. Authorized personal only, I'm afraid."
"Well, can I at least walk you to the door?" Copernicus seemed more amused with her then anything.
"Sure," Tsubomi smiled.'I'm so stupid. I'm falling for the oldest trick in the book! I've heard this from my friends in high school. He'll walk me to the door, and he'll take advantage of me for sure.'
He gently took her hand as the two of them made their way through the crowds and out of the door. When they passed through the door, the brisk night air hit their forms and he gently placed a hand on her face and pulled her into him. "You have trust issues," Copernicus stated as she turned her around and pressed his body against her back side. "I think if there was one person you could trust, then they would have your heart."
"I really do have to go." The stripper made the first excuse that came to her mind. She had a feeling things would be like this.'Stop playing with me. I'm not weak-minded. I'm not…'
"Very well, I'll see you later then, ciao." He put his hand in the air as he walked off down the street as casually as he had come into her life; he vanished once again, like a leaf blown in the wind.
"Right, good-bye Copernicus J. Wittenberg," the girl uttered his name in a wistful tone, happy to have met a man with such strange tastes. One would have to have strange tastes to like someone such as herself.
She turned and began to walk home alone, as she had done every night that she had worked at the strip club. Usually, Tsubomi did the same thing every work day, dance on stage, buy a drink and head home but today was different. It was a step from the mundane into the mysterious and she found that her mood was a little less stressful now that she had nearly a two hour conversation with the interesting American.
Tsubomi soon came to the end of the block and turned right as she sighed to herself and frowned, looking a bit downtrodden. Now that she had no one to talk to, she realized how lonely she truly was and what type of predicament she had been in.
'What the hell do I do now? Tsubomi, you're so incredibly stupid. You were like a wounded gazelle on the Serengeti. They can't get any more retarded then me. That guy was obviously a playboy and yet…I fell for every trick in the book…Those eyes…I was captivated by them. I can't ignore the fact that the man was an Adonis. I mean, I'm lucky that he even spoke to me, and he wants to meet me again. I'm not too sure how I feel about that, really…He seemed so nice and casual. It felt like talking to him was natural. Maybe he just wants me to feel comfortable so he can move in and do whatever he wants.'Her frown deepened as a look of slight irritation crossed her face.'Well, I won't be taken advantage of. Besides, he might not be able to remember anything. He was so drunk…Too bad that even when someone's drunk, I still look like a guy.'
The tomboy sighed as she walked past an opposing pathway. As she passed the pitch black area, a figure emerged from the darkness as the dim light faintly shown on what seemed to be a woman with very beautiful features and blonde, curly hair that was dressed in an elaborate, frilled Victorian dress with an Empire cut bust line.
A hand with long nails quickly shot out, as if it was snatching prey and grabbed the unsuspecting tom boy's arm.
From then on, everything was a whirlwind of sudden events. Tsubomi felt herself be shoved into a wall with such force that it beat the breath out of her body. The harsh brick from the building was rough against her skin as she struggled to keep her breath.
The girl felt something dig into her biceps as she winced in pain and slowly turned her head to see one of the most beautiful women that she had laid eyes on in a very long time. She was so attractive that she looked just like a doll.
A dark smirk crossed the beauty's face as she glared into the stripper's pristine blue eyes. "I found you." When the voice came out, it was quite contradictory to her gender.
It was the deep and sultry voice of a male. Tsubomi had not expected that from someone who unmistakably looked like a woman.
"Found me?" She didn't even know someone was looking for her, much less someone who looked a cross-dressing J-rocker.
"You're the boy that was with Copernicus, aren't you?"
'Boy?! Okay, I'll just play along.'Tsubomi's thoughts raged before she spoke to the beautiful male. "Yes, I'm your man, but what do you want with me?" After all, she had never seen this person in her entire life and for them to call her out and treat her like a threat was more than odd.
"That's an easy one, my dear. I want to kill you."
…To Be Continued
NOTES:
1. Ouji-sama- A style of lolita Japanese dress for males, which consisted of Renaissance, baroque and princely orientated costumes.