Alice

    "#Do you have a bread?#" Emma asked Fujisaki over the game "Guess Who."

    "Yes," Fujisaki replied.

    "#Suits ya!#" she said.

    "Thank you," he said. Emma put down some of the people on her side.

    "Are you Ginger?" Fujisaki asked.

    "#I'm offended you even asked that!#" his girlfriend snapped in a joking way. "#Are you Phillipe?#" Her boyfriend glanced down to see Phillipe staring right at him.

    "No..." Fujisaki lied as he looked down at his card in question.

    "#Liar!#" she said. "#Liar! Show me your card right now!#" She set down her tray to crawl over him and see the truth. Fujisaki laughed the whole time.

    "#Come on,#" I said. "#Every time. I got it right, didn't I? Why do you do this every single time?#" Arisu stopped playing the piano and looked up. Emma got the card out of the keyboardist's hand.

    "#Ha!#" she said in victory. "#I win, again!#"

    "Only because you cheated!" her boyfriend said. Arisu gave off a little cough.

    "#I cheated? I cheated?#" Emma asked as her boyfriend kept laughing. Arisu coughed aloud again as the couple were play-fighting. Fujisaki paused and looked up.

    "Sorry, Arisu-chan," he murmured. He sat back in place. Arisu shook her head.

    "It's fine," she said. "I was going out anyway." She rose to her feet from the bench.

    "#Where ya off to?#" Emma asked. The Japanese woman paused to think about that for a moment.

    "I'm going on a date," she said. She began walking to her room.

    "#Right, let us know how it goes,#" Emma said. Arisu smiled and handed to her room. Fujisaki cuddled up into Emma's lap. In her own room, Arisu put on some black lipstick in the mirror. She pressed her lips together and grinned.

    Moments later, the Goth woman waited in the street for her date to show up. She was all dressed in black and smoking a cigarette as she sat on the bus stop bench. A red balloon was stuck on a telephone post. Arisu stared at it as she took another smoke. It didn't take her long to start her walk down the street to look for a date this afternoon. As she sat waiting on the swings in the local park, someone who looked Sid came over and sat down next to her on the other swing as he talked on his cell phone. She sat on a colorful statue and waited, writing a text to Emma.

        "I'm with him right now," she wrote. "He's lovely. Miss me? Ari xx"

    It was on to more walking into the coming night. She came down the stairs behind an old bar. She came across an old man lying in the street.

    "Excuse me!" she called out. "Are you alright?" The man looked at her and chuckled.

    "I'm just listening to the pavement," he said. Arisu slowly approached him.

    "Oh wow," she said. "Have you heard anything yet?"

    "Not yet," the man said. "It's a quiet night." She took closer steps to him. The old man looked up at her.

    "What are you doing?" he asked. Arisu lied down next to him.

    "Enjoying the view," she said. The man turned and looked at the night sky with her. They looked like an odd site together-- lying there watching the dark sky behind a bar. For once, Arisu felt like she was at peace.

    "I can't reach my walking stick," the old man complained. Arisu turned to him. She ended walking him along with her. The old man turned to her.

    "What's your name, dear?" he asked. Arisu looked over at him.

    "Arisu," she said.

    "Ah... That's such a beautiful name," he said. "Do you know the story of Alice?"

    "Tell me," she said.

    "She was the daughter King Matthew and Queen Annabelle of a kingdom named Wonderland Dust," the old man began. "She was very beautiful, like you. She was so beautiful that the gods gave her the gift of prophecy. But when she wouldn't give herself over to them, they put a curse on her so that no one would believe her when she told the future."

    "That's awful," Arisu said.

    "Indeed," the old man agreed. "She told the truth, but no one would listen." Arisu looked around.

    "Is it much further?" she asked.

    "No, no. Not long," he said. The pair continued on with their walk. Arisu turned to him.

    "What's your name?" she asked. The old man smiled at her.

    "Nogi," he said. He chuckled a bit. "Yui used to call me Nagi. God rest her soul."

    "Nogi, who looks after you?" Arisu asked. He looked straight at her on that question.

    "I look after myself," he said. "Who looks after you?" Arisu chuckled a bit, but then she when quiet at that question.

    Nogi unlocked his door once they got to his apartment. The man walked forward.

    "You've been so kind," he said. The man paused and turned to her. "Will you come in?"

    "I really should go home," she said.

    "Aw, come in, warm up. You must be freezing," Nogi insisted. Arisu pushed some hair out of her face.

    "I don't know," she said.

    "Don't know what?" he asked. "Come in, have a cup of tea." Arisu reached into her jacket and pulled out her phone. She put it on silence.

    "I'd love to," the woman said. Then, she followed the old man inside. He had many books on his shelf. Arisu looked at each one closely as Nogi came in with the tea. She looked up when the radio came on. Classical music filled the room.

    "Nothing like a little music to get the party going," he said. "Would you like to dance? If you hold me close, I think my knees can handle it." He paused for bit. "But... that's if you want to." Arisu turned to him. She gave him a big smile.

    "It would be my pleasant," she said. Nogi set aside his cane. Arisu came into his arms and they started to dance. Pretty slow and simple too.

    "You have a lovely smile," he said. Nogi pulled her in closer to him. Arisu looked on in discomfort. He began sniffing her hair and groping her ass.

    "My Yui!" he gasped. Arisu pushed him away and ran out of the room. She tried to go out the front door, but she found it locked.

    "F**k!" she whimpered as she tried to open it. Meanwhile, Nogi groaned as he tried to push himself to his feet. Arisu turned around in worry and went back into the living room.

    "Will you please unlock the front door?" she asked.

    "I... I'm... I'm... I'm so sorry," he said.

    "Please let me out!" Arisu pleaded. "I have to go home now, please Nogi!"

    "I was having such a lovely walk," the old man whimpered. "Thank you so much." Arisu stood over him, trembling. Nogi reached into his pocket and pulled out the key.

    "Forgive a senile old man," he said. Arisu stayed still. He held out the keys to her. Arisu didn't move at first, but then she reached forward and took the key. She began to smile.

    "Are you hungry?" she asked. Arisu made him some miso in his kitchen. She smoked a blunt at the table as he ate up. The woman even handed it to her older friend. He took a smoke as she smiled at him. After that, he slept on her lap on the couch as she read one of his old books. Her phone buzzed in her jacket. She reached in and pulled it out. The woman got a text from Emma.

        Sorry, shit reception. Wot time wil u b home? Emma x

    Arisu smiled and put her phone back. She gave Nogi pillow and she moved from underneath him. The old man moaned in his sleep. She leaned down and kissed him on the forehead before she went home. She walked the streets with her umbrella over her head. Arisu made it back to the apartment that she shared with Fujisaki, Emma, and Damon.

    "Hi, honeys, I'm home!" she called in the darkness. Arisu took off her shoes and walked into the living room. In her room, she took off her make-up in her mirror. At this point, she felt like crying. She in her bed, feeling the loneliness once again. As she was trying to fall asleep, her phone buzzed again. She reached over and picked up her phone. It was another text from Emma.

        Nighty night, don't let the beddy bugs bite. Emma x

    Arisu smiled and lowered the phone next to as she tried to fall asleep. Guess she did have someone to take care of her after all.