Gotta Drink Away The Pain

The sounds of his rumbling stomach was all Atsushi could hear and focus on. It was practically roaring at this point. He rubbed his stomach as he looked around for some type of food that sounded good. He had quite a bit of money on him since he had just closed a deal, so he didn’t need to skimp on food this time. His eyes scanned the various restaurants around him until his eyes fell upon a izakaya and a grin found its way onto his face. He pushed his sunglasses up his nose, so they weren’t resting on the tip of it before making his way into the establishment.

The smell of food hit him like a ton of bricks and he almost moaned at all of the delicious aromas. He was so hungry. All he could think about was getting something into his mouth and down to his stomach. The all consuming thoughts even pushed out the ones that had to deal with sex which was quite astounding in its own way. He found himself a seat at the bar and asked for a menu. He ordered some whiskey on the rocks and proceeded to sip at it as he browsed the menu. He was definitely going to buy more than one thing. It had been a long day filled with deals, fights, and other more fun activities. He was pretty sure his stomach looked like he had been used as a punching bag, which he basically was, and he knew that he had quite the black eye. He was pretty sure that if it wasn’t for the… certain things he had consumed, he would be unable to move. He sure wouldn’t be able to move tomorrow.

He finally decided on something and motioned for the bartender to come over so he could order. He tried to smile, but his split lip hurt too much to do, so he just settled on a tilt of his lips.

“I would like an order of sashimi and yakitori.”

The fact that he could still walk in a straight line was miraculous, his head hurt from a thumping headache from something that he could barely remember, just like the last few days, he had little to no recollection of them. He knew something had gone down... At some point.... Somewhere..... He thought.... Maybe.... He would just get Badou to fill in the details later, if only he could sober up just a tad. But for now sobering up wasn't the priority, it was the headache and the only way he was going to fix this headache was to drink it away.

Noticing the red lanterns he steered his body in that general direction. He knew there would be warmth, food and most importantly alcohol. Giving a nod to the bar man he headed to the corner and sat down at the low table. As someone came up and handed him a warm towel to wipe his hands he realised he had been here so many times before. This place seemed to be like a magnate to him when he got into one of these states. Or he had just gone on a 3 day bender.

A menu was brought out and he just pointed at pictures and they nodded then walked off. It wasn't until he was alone with his drink that he noticed another annoying ringing. At first he put it down as part of the headache. But it wasn't until he had downed a few beers that it became clear it was something else.

He noticed something change in the air, in his body, and his tattoo seemed to… ache slightly. He frowned and stopped eating to glance at his tattoo on his arm then around. He scanned his surrounding in hopes of trying to figure out who or what was causing this. He had a feeling it wasn’t what he had taken earlier though. Normally, he would have passed it off as that. It didn’t help that a low buzzing sound soon followed afterwards and his effort to search for the caused doubled. He eventually stood up from his seat and it was then that he noticed a familiar person. His eyes widened and he felt the cold shock of fear run through him. It had to be a coincidence. He pressed a hand against his arm where the word tattoo lay and felt like was going to puke. He wasn’t sure if he should walk over there or not. On one hand, he was incredibly curious. On the other hand, curiosity often kills the cat. He was too young to die.

Unfortunately, his curiosity won out, so he ended up motioning to the bartender that he was going to move and grabbed his food and drink. He made his way to where the other sat. He laid his food on the table and proceeded to sit down. A weak smile made it’s way to his face as he murmured a hello. This was such a bad idea.

He was halfway through finishing his beer when half eaten food and a drink found its way to his table. It wasn't until he put the empty glass down that he found himself face to face with a person he had kinda tried to forget about. "Uhhhh hi." He answered, his features showing confusion.

As he sat across from the other wordlessly he tried to study the situation. What the hell was going here? How did something like this happen again. As Ren eyed the other up and down he didn't know what to make of the situation. So he stared at the other until he said something. Which became easier when his food arrived. This gave him something to play with and shove in his mouth as he kept up his wordless stare down.

Unfortunately for Ren, his stomach seemed to be working against him and he couldn't keep the food on the table long enough. Soon Ren's order was all gone and his stomach was still growling for more. Internally he cursed to his stomach to shut the hell up as the louder it got the weirder the tension between the two males got, till the situation was almost laughable. But Ren didn't laugh, he couldn't, not with all the memories from the first time the two males had met coming to life in his brain.

He considered saying something, but what the fuck was there to say? Plus in his eyes the ball was in the teens court, as he had made the move over to him. Obviously in Ren's mind this meant he wanted to say something. With an impatient sigh he glared at the other wishing that he would just sit whatever it was he had to say out.

The idea to sit across from Ren turned out to be an even worse idea than he previously thought it would be. The other was clearly confused as to why Atsushi had sat down and he was also beginning to wonder why he had sat down again. Oh yes, it was because of the weird feeling he got the moment that Ren entered the establishment. He cursed his curiosity and impulsiveness as a staring contest began between the two men.

Much like Ren seemed to be to be doing, Atsushi used his food as a reason to not say anything, but kept his eyes trained on the other. He felt like he was in a showdown; the first to look away would lose.

However, it wasn’t long before both of their plates of food were empty. However, whereas Atsushi was content and full, Ren apparently wasn’t. The former could hear the latter’s stomach even over the sounds of their fellow patrons. The situation was so ridiculous that Atsushi couldn’t keep eye contact any longer and was forced to look away from the man.

He cleared his throat and glanced back at the other. Atsushi had to get this conversation started or leave. Somehow, he doubted that Ren would stay there for very long. Finishing his drink for some liquid courage, he gave what he hoped was an easy smile.

“I’ve never seen you here before. Do you… come here often?” He winced at his words. They sounded way too much like a pick up line despite the fact that wasn’t his intention this time.