Is It Okay To Have Dinner With The Spider

【三】NSDE

She unsteadily trudged through the black streets where lights were still lit and people were still drinking and smoking. The street was untidy, with broken glasses of bottles and blood littering the footpaths. This part of town was called the Kuroi (Black) District. It was a lawless place where criminals, lowlifes and gangsters hung out. The Kuroi District was almost completely free from the police and authorities, except for the few who patrolled close to the border of the district.

The pain was finally getting to Reina and she could barely open her eyes properly. Though she had taken bullet shots and knives in her before, this was different. Like they had put poison in her as well.

Something made her trip, and if it weren't for her spider legs which held her steady, she may have fallen. That would've led to a stampede, everyone trying to get a piece of her. Even now, she could feel the unwavering gazes from those surrounding. They tried not to make it obvious, but it was.

Reina pushed open the doors to a small pub at the end of the road. It was filled to the brim, like always, with men and women shouting for more drinks. People here were dressed thinly, with almost nothing and they were either making out with the person next to them, or overdosing on alcohol or drugs. It was the usual night life here. And it was something she grew up with. The pub here was her usual destination whenever she came to the Kuroi District. The vodka was undeniably good.

When she arrived at the counter, she slammed a couple of dollar notes on the bar table, glowering at the waiter in front of her. "Get me five shots of vodka. Now." The waiter nodded and disappeared to the pantry behind. The workers here were used to the rowdy and reckless behaviour of the usual gangsters and thieves who came here every day and night. They were trained to fight back and deal with them.

"I haven't seen you in a while. Busy? We got a new shipping of vodka come in yesterday night, extremely expensive too. But it ran out almost immediately yesterday night. You should've been here," someone said as she leaned against the bar table, facing the shelves of alcohol bottles.

"Takaya, shut up already. I don't need you spitting in my face tonight," Reina hissed, "I've had a bad day."

Takaya smiled a toothy grin. Before he became a bar master, he was one of those guys out there who always got punched in the face. He argued that he just had a very punch-able face. "Don't worry, Spider-chan~!" He whistled cheerily. "I saved some for my best customer." Reina had come to the bar almost every night since its opening and was named Takaya's best customer, despite her hatred towards the very title.

Soon, her five shots of vodka had arrived, along with another glass of a green-ish liquid. Eyeing Takaya, Reina poked one of her spider legs into the two glasses. It helped her sense if there was anything unusual about it. You could never know if someone had flipped from your side to the other. Retracting her spider leg, she took a sip of the new vodka. It was normal and it was refreshing. There was a tangy taste that she found herself long for.

It was not long after, she had completely finished her two glasses of vodka. "Say, Takaya," she glanced at the man who raised an eyebrow curiously. "You don't happen to know about any... new guys around, do you?"

"I might," He answered. Reina rolled her eyes and put some coins on the counter table reluctantly. This brought a grin on his face as he opened his mouth to speak. "I heard some guys talking about them. Ninjas, they described them as. Wore black kimonos, silk ones too. Those guys... they say that they're dangerous. The 'ninjas' took some of Hikado's men not too long ago. Maybe this afternoon. But then again, some say that they're as strong as Hikado's super men. No one knows what they want. They don't speak. And no one knows how many of them there are either."

"Hikado's men? Just him?"

Takaya shook his head. "Hikado and the Red Gang. Just them. It's strange because they could be going for the richer gangs, like the Purps and the Crow Crew. Even the Twenty Ones. But it's only been Hikado and the Reds. Of course we all know Hikado's the strongest, but still. Why not choose easier ones first?" He leaned in closer, "Some people thought that it may have a tie to you."