Mafioso? I don’t think so! 7

Time went by too quickly for Jack, and her last shift at the pizzeria was upon her. Everyone had figured out what they going to do after this job – going to trade school, traveling outside of Japan, moving out of Japan, and so on. All of them had been there for years, as she had. It was heart breaking for their family to be disbanded. They’ve seen each other at there best and worst of times, and for some it was hard to let that go. The shop decided to have 2 long shifts that day to have overlap, so everyone that could make it would be able to see each other. People that normally had the day off also came in because even though goodbyes are hard for some people, they’re worth it.

What was massively earth shattering was that all the people that she was closest to were moving out of Japan with no intention of returning. It was easier not to cry in front of everyone, but by the end of the day, when one person started crying they were all crying. Sam locked up the shop that night for the last time, and Jyushimatsu was there to pick Jack up. She had on shades to cover how red how eyes were from all the crying she knew she would do, but there was nothing to cover up how poofy her face was.

“Oh..hey,” she said walking up to Jyushi’s ride. “Hey, Jack. Get in,” he said happily. “Oh, ok,” she said and walked around to the passenger side. “Wasup, my guy?” she asked looking concerned. “Today was a long day, and Kara’s busy, so he asked me to come get you,” he explained. “Oh, thanks. Yeah, I’m tired. It was technically a 10 hour shift, but we didn’t start right away so we can say all our goodbyes, and they had long breaks.” There was a pause. “Wanna tell me whats on you mind?” he offered to break to silence. “I’ve lost another family,” he explained with eye welling up in her eyes. “I keep losing people. It has to be me. I would hate if something happened to any of you,” Jack explained as she continued to look straight ahead, as if she said nothing. “Ah! We’re too evil to go anywhere! Don’t worry about us!” Jyushimatsu cheered with a big grin.

Jack lightly snickered, but it don’t ease the pain that was settling in. Her biological family sold her. Her theater family died. Her pizzeria family got bought out and disbanded. “The people I really bonded with are leaving Japan. I’ll probably never see them in person again.” Jyushi was quiet, as the pulled up to a fancy place but Jack couldn’t tell what is was from outside. He remembered what he said before her started cutting into Jack’s father, what how Choro smiled reassuringly when he said “It could have been worse, but it’s not.”

“You running an errand?” she asked after some silence. “Ah, no, I’m dropping you off here. Kara’s inside,” he said coming back to the present. “Oh. Alright, I’ll see you later, then,” she said with a smile and gave him a one armed hug. He hugged back and pulled off when she got into the doors. She place was very low key and kind of dark. What was eerie is that it was empty. Jack walked up a small set of stairs to the main floor, and looked over to see Todomatsu. “Hey there~!” he said sweetly, and waved her over to the window booth. “Hey, boss,” she greeted and took the offered seat. “Karamatsu’s running a little bit behind, but he’s on his way right now I just talked to him.,” Todo explained.

Jack took off her sun glasses, trusting it would be too dark to see how much she’s been crying. “So, how was your day?” he asked kindly. “Oh, you know, lost my job and a family, but I guess I should be use to that by now.” “What do you mean?” “My bio family… My Theater family… And now my co-working family. All gone. I’ve lost all my families,” she explained, and she felt a sudden wave of coldness come over her. It was one thing to think about it, but saying it out loud, and releasing it into the universe made her feel differently. “How about we be your family?” Todo offered and Kara ran up to them.

“Sorry I’m so late!” he said with a tired smile and a waoft of sweet smells hit Jack’s nose. “You smell good,” came out of her mouth being she could think about it. “Thank you!” he said and Todo stood up. “Alright, I’ll see you later,” he said as if they weren’t talking about anything and left. Jacked watched him leave as Kara sat across from her. She looked at him and looked at the table. “You look nice, too.” “Smell good, like good; must be good,” he replied with a big grin and she smiled back. “Why is this place empty, by the way?” “I rented it out for us. Figured you would want some food and some peace and quiet. I know how much that place meant to you. It was more than just a job,” he answered and waved a server over. “You can have whatever you like,” he said as the person got ready to take their order.

“Rare steak, and chicken ceaser salad, please,” she said without needing a menu, not that she was offered one. “I’ll have shrimp scampini,” Kara ordered. “And, the drink?” “Red wine, please.” “A bottle.” “Very good,” the server said before leaving. “We’re going to have to take our time tonight, because the had to be emergency contraction on our street. We’re here because its loud at home, right now,” he explained. “You were able to rent out a place at the last minute?” “Not last minute. This morning,” he explained. She slowly nodded and didn’t argue.

“I hate to see you so sad,” he commented. “I just don’t know what to say anymore,” she said and put her hand on her forehead. “I’ve lost another family, but I guess I’ll get a new one like I always do.” “Is it that bad?” “Yeah, all my closet friends are moving out of Japan.” “Oh,” he hated not knowing what to say, but he smiled a little. “Well, you’ll always have your hellish family. Speaking of which, the debt’s been paid.” “What do you mean?” she asked looking at him. “Jyushimatsu got a little excited, and with what he did we had to collect them both, to cover all the ends. But, Jyushi, Choro and Oso made sure it was painfully slow.”

“Well, all’s well that ends well. I wasn’t that attached to the idea,” she said with a sly smile. The server brought their wine and glasses and said “Your food will be out shortly,” before leaving. Kara opened it and poured her glass first. “Thank you,” she said before drinking. “Anything for you,” he said, wanting to say more, but that got her attention enough. “Consider yourself lucky I’m tired,” she huffed, being more of her usual self. “I considered myself lucky when you jumped on the wall after I popped one of those low lives. I knew that no matter what, you were worth whatever was going to transpire in the future, and now here we are.”

She blushed and looked at him annoyed as he poured his glass of wine, and closed his eyes as he drank it. “You! I’m gonna--!” “You can do whatever you want.” She grunted and made aggravated noises waving her arms comically and settled down as soon as the server returned with their orders. “Thank you,” they both said to the serve before the person left. They both started eating quietly, a they were both very hungry and focused on their food. The serve came over again, and they ordered dessert.

The whole time Jack was eating she thought about when Kara confronted her. “Did you feel lucky when I yelled at you for being a prankster?” she asked before taking a sip of wine. He looked at her and took a moment to remember what she was talking about. “Well, you returned my shades un-scuffed, so yeah,” he answered with a sly smirk. “You’re still a prankster, with more extreme pranks,” she commented with a devious slime. “Sometimes, I feel like I’m pranking myself,” he said, becoming annoyed with the subject matter but still smiling. She looked at the tabled and took a breathe with a long exhale with wide eyes. “That was a vindicating statement. I need that on a shirt,” she said and sipped more. “Put a trap door on it.”

The server brought over their desserts and they finished it quickly. “That was so good! Thank you, Karamatsu!” she said dreamily. “You’re welcome, my sweet,” she replied with a big smile. “You’re sweet, huh? I’ll be your sour if you don’t cut that out,” she said annoyed. “Ok, so you’re mine no--” “KARAMATSU MATSUNO, I SWEAR TO SHIVA!!!” She got up, but sat back down when the server came over with a note for Karamatsu. “Alright, it’s time for us to go,” he said a little annoyed at her yelling but mostly amused at how she was so easily tricked. He didn’t even think that would work.

The car ride home was quick, due to Jack’s drowsiness. “Good night, you dumb prankster,” she said annoyed and went to the bathroom and ran a salt bath to relax in. “Don’t fall asleep in there are I’ll have to come get you out~,” he called out with a mockingly sweet tone. “Touch me and DIE , pervert!” she yelled back. “Touch me and I’ll send you to paradise in a different way!” he yelled back. “Yeah, that’s what they all say,” she replied with an annoyed familiarity. She sounded disappointed, and it had to have had something to do with those idiots in her past. He pouted and decided it was best to leave it alone form there, then went into his room.

The next morning, Kara woke up to a text message:

I think there’s some sexual tension going on, so I’m going to leave the house for a little while. Last night was weirder than I prefer.

He replied:

Understood. Be sure to keep your housekey on you.

Later that day, while he was stocking a run away debtor Jyushimatsu called him. He didn’t see the harm in answered until “YOU DUMBASS!” blared out of the phone speaker. “Can I guess why you’re calling me?” “You already know! Keep the dirty talk between brothers, you fool!” he yelled. Oso and Choro were laughing deviously at their conversation, in the rental girlfriend office and Ichi wanted to punch Kara in the face. “And, you know what she said?” a pause. “She said that you reminded her of EVERY OTHER GUY SHE’S BEEN WITH! Are you trying to kill all your progress?!” “Claim down, Jyushimatsu. He’s gotta make mistakes,” Todo said in the 3-way call.

“I know I fucked up, alright?” he said annoyed with all of them, but there was no denying that he was embarrassed by all this. “I’m sure you do. The best thing you can do now is respect her space,” Todo advised. “Not that you have a choose. A phone tracker doesn’t matter if it’s on her! I can’t even talk to her!” “That’s your biggest hint she wants her space. None of you are allowed in the brothel for a month,” Todo warned. “Fine! Whatever!” Jyushi said and hung up, ending the 3-way for Todo as well.

All he could do was accept it. She wasn’t totally done with him if she still cooked food for him, but the way she worded it was foreboding. The days up to Hong Kong were catching debtors, eating what she made, and masturbating to porn of mostly woman that look like Jack and punk/ goth/ emo women. He looked at her old Tik Toks, with his favorite being the one where she’s in full goth regalia and dancing to a hardcore techno song with the camera spinning around – attached to a ceiling fan?

He went out to Hong Kong and did what he usually does in a lot of ways, but he was acting different. He didn’t have his past persona to shield him, anymore. He enjoyed the show as more of his human self, than a character. He still won big, but he wasn’t trying to fuck on this round. That was an issue that was also related to the underground activity in Hong Kong. He didn’t want to do anything the fuck with the triads. He kept it in his pants in Honk Kong, anyway, but he couldn’t do anything else if he wanted to. But, that problem wasn’t getting between him and his money. He still won big like he was supposed to at the casinos after the tournament rounds!

When he returned he was hoping she would be there, but instead there was a note:

“I’m going to India with some friends. Be back in a little while. I made more food, and I have my phone on me. Btw, I’m half Indian half Lebanese. You could probably tell the only thing Japanese about me is my “name”. See you soon!”

He slumped on the den couch an checked her Instagram and Tik Tok and as he though there was new content. She posted about getting a former co-worker from the pizza place a job at Todo’s brothel to cover her shifts. And, posted at the airport in India with another former co-worker that would be traveling through that region for at least a year. Jack also cut her hair into a fluffy mohawk that she was very proud of, as implied by her poses. She also put on her galaxy elf make-up and did some modeling as her character in public. The posts were location tagged for “India”, but none were tagged exactly where.

Karamatsu rolled over on the sofa and Venmo’d Jyushimatsu some money and asked him to send it to Jack. Jyushimatsu explained that if it came from him she might be on to it, so his asked Ichi to PayPal it to her, instead. Ichi did as requested and it went through. There was no one home to catch him so he went to sleep on the couch fully dressed.

Jack sat with her friend at the airport, nervously waiting her their flight to be called. She thought about all the Matsunos and everything that’s happened recently and how her life got flipped thanks to those assholes that barely raised her. Her friend looked over to her in the next seat and tapped her shoulder. “Are you alright?” the person asked. “Yeah! Yeah, I’m fine, Candice. It’s just been going on lately, but I’m fine! I’m fine,” she said obviously jumpy. “Alright,” Candice replied.

They got on the plane without hassle, and safely landed in India. When they got out of the plane Candice looked at her funny. “You’re more nervous than I am, and I’m the tranny. Is the luck for being able to book a last minute flight getting to you?” ze asked looking at Jack coyly. “Too much on my mind.” zie rolled hirs eyes. “You hardly slept didn’t you?” “I passed out at some point.” “Well, we have to be on guard when we get out of here.” “Yeah, scammers await in the lobby.” The discussed their place of blowing past the scammers. Hopefully, being able to take decent pictures of each other, and getting to their cab before getting bum-bared with touts and getting confused and distracted.

They took pictures of each other and their camping packs and made it to their cab, mostly in peace. Jack’s Hindi rushed away a lot of the scammers. Those expensive online courses and tutors paid off! Candice had to go the free listens route, so hir Hindi wasn’t as good, but zie picked up on enough. They got to the hotel peacefully, and Candice started going over hir trip and Jack took more pictures, for her private collection. They were in the city for a few days, and said their goodbyes with Candice going new to Nepal and Jack going south, farther into India.

Everything for Jack was flexible, except one major stop. The largest woman owned market: Ima market in Imphal! There were other stops before that, and they were all beautiful, but that was the COUP DE GRAS! She saved it for last as she went to southern India and came back up to northeast India. During the time, she mostly stayed with people on BeWelcome, Trustedroots, and hostels and traveled by bus and rides. She danced on the street to pop songs for some money – sometimes being run off by the police, and sometimes being able to stay a while and make decent money for what it was. Of course, she advertised her Venmo for people that didn’t have cash, and her Tik Tok and Instagram for anyone that wanted to see more.

When she finally got to Ima Market, it was better than all the pictures she had seen, for now she was seeing it for herself. It was a very crowded place to start with but the hustle and bustle was different here than in Japan. Something about it made her dizzy, but she kept it together and entered the market with her Instagram live as she walked through the market and looked at things. She turned off the live when a scammer walked up to her about 30 minutes in, and she recorded videos and took pictures after that encounter, but didn’t go back on live.

She couldn’t buy much, because funds where low. She didn’t have the paypal app or notification on because she didn’t use it that much. When she got back to the hostel she saw the money from Ichimatsu and thanked him assuming it was advanced pay or something. Of course, she went back to the market the next day, and got more stuff, but not that much more. She made sure to get gifts for all 6 boys, thought. And, she got post cards for her decorating her room, and for the people that moved out of Japan that gave her there address. She sent those before heading back to the international airport to go back to Japan.

She posted a lot more updates about her trip on Mastodon, so Ichi and Choro knew more of what she was up on the day-to-day adventures of Jack’s trip than Todo, Kara, and Jyushi – but those 3 saw more videos and pictures. Jyushi followed her Vidlii and PeerTube, which he knew had to updated when she got back, but Jack had already announced that it’s where she would post longer videos and vlogs of the trip, before she started. Oso wasn’t on text social media, and was fine with looking at what the others were showing him. He was also following her Vidlii and PeerTube, so he was fine with waiting on the long videos and vlogs.