Eclipse Nightclub
While working at a bar had never been Asami’s dream job, it was something. It could be worse; she could be one of the dancers men flocked to their nightclub for. Instead, the 23 year old was one of the most famous mixologists that club had to offer, bringing in almost more clients than the dancers themselves with her speed, grace, and accuracy.
In a way, it was fun. Things were lively and for the most part, the people who drank never got too out of hand. She’d been worried upon initially getting that job that sexual harassment would be a daily part, but the most she ever got was the occasional slap on the ass usually as a show of gratitude for the drinks. Anything beyond that was handled quickly by the managers who refused to tolerate any ill treatment of bartenders and dancers alike.
Yes, Eclipse Nightclub had a reputation most would kill for, so Asami counted herself pretty luck to be working there, even if it hadn’t been part of her initial plans. Life had a habit of working out in funny ways, though. Such as the night one incident accidentally introduced her to the love of her life.
Her older brother Taisuke had a habit of frequenting her work place. Asami knew just how he liked his drinks and he always put them on her tab. It was an arrangement that had carried on for as long as Asami had worked there. Either she drove him home or he took a cab, no matter what the situation, he’d never managed to overdo it.
Until that night, of course. It was close to closing time, she was the last one left behind the counter and Taisuke one of the few patrons left, so when he requested /another/ shot, Asami knew she had to say no. As kindly as possible, of course, for this news couldn’t go over well. So she put on one of her sweetest smiles, resting her elbows against the counter so she could lean closer and avoid causing a scene. “I think that’s enough for tonight, aniki. I’d hate for you to get sick.”
Mirroring, significantly glossier crimson eyes blinked at his little sister before narrowing darkly. “What the hell are you talking about, Asami? That’s not fucking funny.”
“I’m not trying to be funny, aniki,” Asami murmured, keeping her voice light and calm. “I think you’ve had enough, I’m not going to make you anything el-”
Before she could finish her sentence, a surprisingly nimble hand snapped out to wrap around her throat, pulling her even closer so she could so easily smell the alcohol clinging to each of his words. “Then I guess it’s a good thing they don’t pay you to think. They pay you to make drinks, so I suggest you get to it or else.”
In spite of finishing his threat, Taisuke didn’t release his grip. In fact, he tightened it until her fumbling hand managed to grasp onto the soda gun on her side of the counter, squirting it in her brother’s face until he let go. The young woman stumbled back into the counter behind her gasping for air, finally drawing the attention of a few of the patrons who simply blinked at the unfolding scene.
Unfortunately, security was already dealing with another issue at the door, a bunch of underage kids trying to talk their way in, so there was no one to step in when Taisuke took it upon himself to jump over the counter and teach Asami a painful lesson. The young woman tried to flee, but her brother got a hold of her hair and used it to pull her closer once more and right into his fist. The remaining patrons simply watch in confusion as the man slammed his fist against her face three times before throwing her against the ground.
“Aniki, stop!” Taisuke raised his fist to strike her once more, the young bartender throwing her arms over her head to protect herself from a hit that never came. Someone had finally stepped in, Asami peeking up to see her brother blinking confused at a man with long hair who had caught his wrist before he could hit her. This man seemed calm and collected, unlike the younger looking version of him who jumped over the counter to catch Taisuke off guard with a punch to the face.
While the more composed gentleman simultaneously twisted her brother’s arm behind his back and brought the larger drunkard to his knees, a third young man rushed over to Asami’s side to help her sit up.
Dark eyes tried to hold her own disoriented hues as this stranger kept a hand rested on her back to keep her steady. “Hey, are you okay?” Without a reply, crimson eyes blinked to try and bring this stranger into focus. “Jeez, that was a stupid question, I’m sorry. Here,” he blindly reached out for the first cloth he could find- surely her nose was bleeding though the pain hardly registered at that point.
A small hand held itself up to stop this man from pressing the cloth he’d grabbed against her nose, though. “That’s covered in disinfectants, please don’t put it on my face,” she mumbled earning herself a sheepish look from this dark eyed stranger.
“Shisui,” the younger, loose canon from earlier held out a stack of napkins to the one beside her- Shisui was his name.
“Thanks, brat,” Shisui responded in turn as he accepted the napkins which Asami allowed him to press against her nose now. “Sorry about all of this. My name is Shisui, by the way. These are my cousins, Itachi and Sasuke as well.”
Asami’s eyes flickered over to the other two, noticing her brother now slouched a little carelessly on the ground. “I still think you should have let me kick his ass before you knocked him out,” the younger one muttered as he crossed his arms.
Itachi cracked a hint of a smirk, shaking his head a little without a reply. Instead, his eyes fixed on the young woman beside his cousin, tilting his head ever so slightly. “Do you need a hospital?”
Vermilion hues blinked once more before Asami murmured, “No, I’ll be alright.” She could feel the blood on her lips now as she spoke. “My name is Asami, by the way. I’m actually a medical student, I should be able to tend to myself.”
The man at her side seemed rather impressed. “That’s pretty cool. I’m going to join the police force, maybe we’ll be working closely one day.” Shisui grinned warmly at her before gently helping her back to her feet.
“Shisui, stop flirting already, I wanna go home,” Sasuke grumbled a little, flexing his fingers since that punch had been with all the strength he had.
Before Asami could get too flustered about the younger’s words, she heard a door slammed open in the distance, footsteps able to be heard coming their way. “Asami!” The young woman turned to see the white haired manager rushing over to her side. “Are you okay? What happened?!”
Asami’s soft smile could hardly be seen behind the stack of napkins against her nose, but it was there just the same. “I’m alright, Jiraiya sama. My brother got a little upset about getting cut off, that’s all. I was lucky these nice gentleman jumped in to help.” She motioned to the three in question.
“Why am I not surprised?” The manager grinned a little dryly at seeing those three Uchiha he knew all too well there. His eyes locked a little harder with the youngest as he declared seriously, “If you did all of this to try and get my blessing to date my godson, it’s not going to work.”
Sasuke scoffed a little, rolling his eyes as he countered, “I guess it’s a good thing I intend to do so with or without your permission.”
“You little…” Jiraiya began, but Shisui was quick to cut off the age old argument.
A good-natured smirk was on his face as he stepped between the two bickering ones. “Do you have any issues with us taking Asami home?”
Dark eyes took the three in, reluctant to trust anyone with his precious employee. “Haven’t you been drinking?” He countered suspiciously, sounding as if he would pull out a breathalyzer to test himself.
Shisui jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Itachi’s the designated driver, he hasn’t had a drop.” The elder brother didn’t care much for drinking. Not to say that he or Sasuke had had enough to really be considered drunk either, but they were always responsible about getting home safely.
“I haven’t served him anything,” Asami confirmed when her manager still didn’t seem convinced.
There’s a long moment of contemplative silence before Jiraiya nodded slightly. “Fine, but no funny business, you hear?” He leveled them each with an accusing look before a significantly softer gaze settled on Asami. “You take the night off tomorrow and rest, okay? And I’ll make sure your brother gets home okay.”
Relief could be seen within Asami’s eyes at that last part. “Thank you, Jiraiya sama. I’ll see you again soon.” She gave him a little wave before turning to her three saviors.
“I guess we’re leaving,” Itachi declared with a small shrug, easily stepping around the man on the ground as if he weren’t even there as the four of them made their way out from behind the counter at last.
“But we didn’t even get to see the show,” Sasuke declared sarcastically, causing his older brother to snort quietly. Sasuke was always into coming there for the beer, never the girls. Not that he or Shisui were much different. The food was good and the management consisted of friends, so they kept coming by.
They would idly comment on the shows, but Shisui would always come back to the fact that the girl behind the counter was prettier than any of the dancers. Perhaps this was his chance to finally get her number? At the moment, he was just shaking his head at his younger cousin. “Like this wasn’t just as entertaining,” he quipped at Sasuke’s remark about missing the shows.
He didn’t stop hovering at Asami’s side- she seemed a little less than steady, truthfully- as they exited the nightclub. She peeked around him at the eighteen year old strolling beside them. “So you’re the punk trying to steal Jiraiya sama’s precious godson?”
Sasuke couldn’t help but grin a little at the fact that even this man’s employees knew of the debate going on. “Seems I’m infamous, yes. For whatever stupid reason.”
“You want to date Naruto because he’s the only one who can put up with your moodiness,” Shisui quipped with a playfully grin, pinching Sasuke’s cheek only to have his hand swatted away quickly.
Asami couldn’t help chucking quietly at that interaction though the action took her focus from walking and nearly caused her to stumble. Shisui was quick to catch and steady her, dark eyes looking concerned once more. “You okay?”
“Gross,” Sasuke muttered under his breath as he slipped into the passenger’s seat of Itachi’s car while his cousin got all romantic with this bartender.
Itachi rolled his eyes a little at his younger brother, asking as he got into the drivers seat, “You know, if you date Naruto he’s probably going to expect something like this from you, right? You should take notes.”
The younger wrinkled his nose in disgust at the thought. “That moron is disgustingly sweet enough for both of us.”
Asami was still a little too disoriented to notice the exchange, but Shisui was suppressing an eyebrow tick at Sasuke’s words as he opened the door for Asami once she was ready to walk again. Once she was settled, he got in on the other side just as Itachi was asking their new guest, “Does that interesting young man live with you?”
“Nah, I’ve got my own apartment pretty close by.” She seemed largely unphased by her brother behavior, as if his violence was nothing new.
“Perhaps you could give us an address to put in the GPS?” Shisui suggested, pulling out his phone as he spoke. “And maybe your number as well, so we can check in tomorrow and make sure you’re alright.”
Shisui had had just enough to drink that that must have seemed like a good excuse, either that or Asami was just cocky enough to see through him. “Well, it seems that I’ve got the night off tomorrow. If you’re not opposed to taking out a girl with a black eye, we could get dinner.”
“Black eye or not, you’ll still be beautiful, so I guess it’s a date.” Shisui countered with an obvious sincerity to his tone.
In the front seats, Sasuke was rolling his eyes while Itachi patiently waited for his cousin to finish flirting so he could get directions. “Girls are weird, aniki.”
“They are,” Itachi replied easily, casting a slightly amused look at his little brother. “But one of us has to give mother and father grandchildren, so wish your big brother luck getting one, ne?”
