Sharp Dressed Man

After exhaling a puff of smoke, Eiji walked through the entrance of the familiar bar he had spent many a-days in before.

Instead of the usual, manly and gruff voice greeting him behind the counter however, came a much more gentle, feminine tone.

“Welcom—Oh! Eiji nii-san?” The young lady behind the counter paused for a brief moment, as she stared at the person before her.

“…Yo, Yume.” Eiji greeted casually, not really showing his surprise upon seeing her. Despite working primarily on weekends, there wasn’t anything in the way of her popping up on weekdays sometimes too. Not that it happened often, though.

“Heh. Welcome Eiji nii-san.” Overcoming her initial surprise, Yume’s lips curled into a gentle smile as she bowed slightly. Her extremely proper mannerisms were always the most distnict trait of her personality. With a posture straight and firm, long legs, slim waist and a mature face, one could never guess she was one year younger than Eiji.

Yume wore her silvery blonde hair in a tight tail at the top of her head, which accentuated her facial features even more than her otherwise long fringe allowed.

Despite not vocalizing it, or even thinking about it, it was pretty evident to Eiji that the girl he had met in that very same place 6 years ago grew up into a very beautiful young lady.

“The usual?” Yume smiled once again, as Eiji took his usual seat by the counter with a nod.

“Where’s Hayato?”

“Oh, Onii-chan had some errands to run. That’s why we’ll be closing early tonight.”

“And Shig?”

“Ah…” The girl smiled wryly at the mention of his name. “He was supposed to come back from feeding the pigeons an hour ago…”

“Figures…” Eiji too shared her sentiment, as he sighed.

After dismissing the subject with a giggle, Yume served the young man his fresh cold beverage.

“How have you been, Eiji nii-san? It feels like it’s been a while since we saw each other…” With a scarlet tint to her cheeks, the young girl averted her eyes albeit slightly.

Surely though, she was exaggerating. It probably wasn’t even a full month before Eiji had visited Dream during her working hours last.

Even so, it was definitely before he had met Naomi, gotten fired, and joined the occult club. Thus, it was likely it felt even long for Eiji himself.

“It’s been… eventful.” Eiji replied, putting out his cigarette on the nearest ashtray. “I just joined a club.”

“A club? You mean a fighting club?” Yume titled her head to the side, looking equally puzzled and worried.

“No… A school club.”

“Oh, okay. A school club…” The girl smiled with relief. “Wait… Eh? A school club?! You, Eiji nii-san?!” Yume finally hollered, after carefully thinking it over.

“What’s so weird about it?” Eiji muttered, slightly annoyed.

“To be honest, everything about it…” The young lady chuckled, as she got her bearings back together.

“Apologies, Eiji nii-san.” With a slight nod to herself, Yume began speaking again, “What kind of club is it?”

“It’s uh… an occult club.” Eiji paused for a moment, unsure if such information would be too embarrassing to disclose.

“An occult club? What do you do there?”

“…”

That one question landed like a critical hit on Eiji’s HP bar.

“Occult… things.” He eventually replied, as he took a sip from his juice and averted his eyes away from her.

“Oh, I see!” Yume nodded vigorously as if she had understood, for some unknown reason, “I’ve heard about those occult things too! It must be quite fun!”

“Yeah?’ It was fair to say Eiji was taken aback by that statement.

“Aw, I wish my school wasn’t so strict…” The girl muttered, drooping her shoulders slightly. “There aren’t even any fun clubs in mine.”

Yume looked quite dejected as she said those words. Of course, attending a prestigious all-girls school had its drawbacks too, and especially in such occasions.

“Aren’t you in any of them?”

“No, that’s why I take dance classes after school.”

Dance classes? Eiji’s mind suddenly perked up at those words.

Of course Yume attended dance classes too…

“What’s the name of your dance school?”

“Uhm…” Yume was suddenly taken aback by Eiji’s sudden interest, yet replied nonetheless. “It’s called Move, nii-san.”

“Hah…” With a slight snort, Eiji leaned forward from his seat, causing Yume to tense up.

“Nii-san…?”

“You don’t happen to know a senior girl, called Takenaka, right?”

“You mean Honoka-senpai? Of course I do.” The girl replied almost instinctively. “Is she… your friend, Eiji nii-san?”

“No…” Eiji shook his head. “I’d just like to know more about her.”

Suddenly, and at such a straightforward reply, Yume narrowed her eyes in a slight glare.

“Oye, it’s not like that…”

“Sure it isn’t.”

Despite her gentle eyes, and prim and proper attitude, she had quite the glare, as was rather evident in that moment

“Yume…”

“Okay, I’ll tell you…” Collapsing under the weight of Eiji’s gaze, Yume shook off her own mean demeanor.

“Honoka-senpai is one of the most talented dancers in our club. She also serves as an extra instructor to new and young members. She’s very kind and has a knack for dancing, but lately she has been missing practice quite a lot…” With a sigh, Yume lowered her voice in visible disappointment. “And when she does attend, her movements feel off. She’s even slipped and fell a couple of times like she’s grown clumsier. Almost as if she’s not even herself anymore…”

“I see…” With a light nod, Eiji fell into a brief contemplation.

“That’s all I can say about her at the moment, if you need more detailed information, like what type of guys she likes then I can spin a guess. B-But, you’ll have to c-come with me, for lunch—“

“No, that’s plenty. I think I got something.”

“E-eh? Are you sure, Eiji nii-san?” Yume asked, the spring and anticipation building up in her voice disappearing in a flash.

“I am, thanks Yume.” With a rare grin that not many have seen on him, Eiji smiled at her for a moment.

“I-I-It’s nothing, really…” Averting her eyes from the boy she’s known since childhood, Yume spun a strand of hair on her index finger as if her life depended on it.

Having acquired the information Eiji didn’t know he needed, he prepared to leave the establishment behind. His juice glass was all empty too, and Luna would probably run rampart if left alone for any longer than she already has.

Just as the young man was about to call it a day however, a step of footsteps echoed through the entrance as a tall, suited man entered the establishment.

“Oh, welcome!” Yume snapped out of her trance like a coiled spring, and bowed politely.

Even so, the formally dressed-man didn’t utter a word as he looked around for a place to sit. Considering there were no customers other than Eiji though, he had quite a range of seats to choose from.

“Eh?”

Yume uttered, as the man approached the counter, and sat only a stool away from Eiji.

“Hm?” Eiji turned to look, curious himself,

His strange behavior wasn’t the only weird thing about him, after all. Despite his spotless, black suit, he sported a round hat, and a pair of thin sunglasses.. With a get up like that, he certainly looked anything but inconspicuous.

After what felt like an eternity, the man finally decided to speak, through his gritty nasal voice.

“This place used to be called Magnifica a few years back.”

“Haha…” Yume chuckled awkwardly at such a peculiar comment, “What can I get you, sir?”

“I’ll have whatever you have on hand. Surprise me.”

Raising a brow at the man’s remark, Eiji turned his body entirely in his direction. That man somehow had gathered all the eyes of the establishment on him. And as the young man stared him down, a feeling deep within him arose.

That man was different. He wasn’t like the rest.

His aura. The space around him. Eiji felt something.

That man was an exorcist, too.

Probably noticing the same, the peculiar man stared back at Eiji.

“What’s your… surname, kid?” He asked.

“Kanzaki.”

“Figures.”

What did he mean by that? And why did he act all high mighty and mysterious anyway? Something about that man was ticking Eiji off.

“And who are you? Is there some kind of problem?” Eiji voiced, glaring at the man.

“Eiji nii-san, please—“

“Yo… I’m back Yume-chan!” While the atmosphere within the bar grew so thick you could cut it with a knife, a certain aloof individual walked into the establishment amidst the tension.

“Shigeru-san?” Yume turned to the entrance once more, releasing the breath even she didn’t know she was holding.

“Oh, Eiji-kun too! And a customer… Hello!” With the same relaxed grin, that he would probably wear even if the bar itself caught on fire, Shig greeted the two glaring men.

“Thank you for the drink…” Right when the bar had broken its annual customer attendance record, the mysterious man gulped down the ragtag drink Yume mixed together and made for the door.

“Woah…” Not before bumping against Shig on the way out though.

“Uff…” Relieved to see him go though, Yume slumped her shoulders lightly. “That was… odd.”

“Yeah…” Eiji muttered, before he too decided to leave.

Was that man really an exorcist? And was he really just out for a drink even before the sun had set?

Eiji couldn’t help but keep adding more to his train of thoughts than was strictly necessary. Thus, as it stood he had quite the long night ahead of him in turns of thinking things through…