Intermission, Chapter 49 - The Human Element

Tuesday nights were always slow at the Wild Life nightclub, so it was easy for Brutus to get the evening off for his date. Traveling to the date was another matter entirely: from the apartment he shared with Kyle, Brutus had to walk a half-mile to the train station, then he'd take one train all the way to Tokyo and switch onto another for the final leg of the journey.

"If I knew I'd have to travel so far for this date, I mighta turned down Agent Will's offer," Brutus grumbled to himself as he boarded the first train.

At that, a few other passengers fidgeted and looked away. At 6-foot-5, with tan skin and blond hair, Brutus stuck out like a sore thumb anywhere in Japan, and even more so in a little mountain town. His outfit wasn't helping either. He was wearing a crisp white button-up shirt that really showed off his biceps and some nice black slacks. He didn't want to appear too formal, so he had finished the outfit with his favorite blue sneakers. Kyle had joked that the outfit made Brutus look like an American basketball player. That wasn't a bad thing, right?

Brutus went over the date plans to himself, I should arrive in Tokyo around noon, but Kuroko will meet me at the final train station at 1PM. Then we'll go to lunch somewhere, then we'll… something? I guess I never planned it out that far. He shrugged his bulky shoulders and leaned back into the seat. I hope this Kuroko Smith is the spontaneous type, or has a plan of her own.

Brutus's train was a little late, so he only had to wait a few minutes outside the train station for Kuroko to arrive. Agent Will had only given a vague description, so Brutus thought the tall, black-haired woman approaching might be her. When she got close, he knew for sure.

Whoa, dude wasn't kidding when he said that she's got legs for days. Dayyyyum… he thought as his eyes climbed for what seemed like miles from Kuroko's black sandals to her short black skirt. Above that, she was wearing a dark blue tank-top that was pretty low cut and showed a lot of cleavage. Very long black hair framed her face, where light brown eyes peeked over bottom-rim glasses.

Alright, she's definitely beautiful, and she wears that mature look really well. Maybe this'll be worth the train ride after all… Brutus thought as he stood up and approached her. "Kuroko Smith?"

"That's me," she said with a faint smile. "Please just call me Kuroko. I hear enough 'Smith' and 'Ms. Smith' at work."

Brutus said, "I'm Brutus Benihana. It's nice to meet you, Kuroko."

She looked him over, admiring his muscular frame, then said, "'Brutus', huh? That's an unusual name."

Brutus grinned. "Yup, but I love it. I'm only half-Japanese, so I'm going to stand out anyway. Might as well make it count with a cool name." Judging by Kuroko's height and last name, she's probably half-Japanese too… he thought.

Kuroko didn't continue down that line of conversation, instead asking, "Got any plans for this date, Brutus?"

He shrugged. "Honestly, no. I barely know Tokyo at all, so I was hoping you had some ideas."

Kuroko smiled up at him. She was quite tall for a Japanese woman and she didn't have to look up that far. "I've got one. I've always wanted to check out one of those cat cafes."

Brutus stepped through the door and stopped dead. "Uh, this is not what I expected when you said 'cat cafe'."

Instead of playful kitties climbing on the counters and sleeping in the windowsills, the cafe was filled with women in skimpy maid outfits. At first glance, he thought they were wearing fake cat ears and tails, until he saw how the fuzzy ears twitched and the long tails flicked side to side naturally.

"These are cat-girls," he said flatly.

Kuroko wore a little smirk and said, "It was the closest thing to a cat cafe within walking distance. And besides, I heard this place is really popular, so it's lucky that we're here so early on a weekday."

Brutus could see why it was popular. The genuine nekomimi liminal girls were cute, flirty, and sexy in their bikini-coverage maid clothes. As he looked around, he noticed a trend among the customers. "We're the only couple here. Everybody's just pervy dudes."

"And pervy ladies," Kuroko corrected, pointing to a red-faced woman who was struggling through giving her order to a cute catgirl. "But don't worry about them. Let's just enjoy the interesting spectacle of a catgirl cafe."

Brutus and Kuroko were seated and ordered some coffee and sandwiches, then Brutus asked, "So, what do you do? Agent Will didn't tell me much."

"I'm a cultural exchange coordinator, like him, but I also lead a team that deals with extraspecies problems in Tokyo."

Brutus leaned forward, interested. "Problems? What kinds of problems?"

"Runaway liminals, violent extraspecies, that kind of thing."

"Sounds exciting."

"Eh, sometimes. Not so much when paperwork is involved, which is all the time. Thank god I was able to get my squad to help with the paperwork today so I could go on this date."

"Squad? Your coworkers?"

"Yeah, four liminal girls. They're great," she said with waning enthusiasm. Most of the time. They wouldn't cover for me today until I had promised them 'all the juicy details' of this date…

Brutus squirmed in the little cafe booth. He had no idea what Kuroko liked, but talking about work wasn't going well. He started grasping at straws. "Uh, do you like surfing?"

She blinked at him. "Can't say, since I've never tried it. You?"

"Uh, I used to surf, back when I lived by the sea. It's been years though." He relaxed as he thought of a much better question to ask. "So what do you do for fun, Kuroko?"

Kuroko blushed a little, then said, "Don't tell anyone, but I just like to laze about on my days off. Crack open a beer and lounge around the apartment in my underwear. Bliss."

She watched Brutus closely to see his reaction to the thought of Kuroko in her underwear. As she'd hoped, Brutus blushed red, but then he quickly dove into a response.

"Ah, I usually work out to relax, so I spend a lot of time at the gym. I'm a bouncer, so I need to stay really strong," he boasted.

Kuroko definitely appreciated Brutus's fit figure, but she wasn't into the whole muscle culture thing, so she just nodded.

Brutus rambled about his work for a bit, then eventually mentioned his roommate, Kyle. "He's the kindest, most courteous guy I ever met, and now he's my best bro. I'm really glad I signed up for the Exchange Program and got to meet him."

Kuroko tilted her head in thought. "You said his name was Kyle? I wonder if I ever met him…"

Brutus smiled wide. "Oh, you'd know if you had. Nicest orc you'll ever meet."

"Orc?" Her eyes went wide as she recalled some of the violent interactions she'd had with orcs. "I guess I did hear about an orc in the Exchange Program, but I never would have thought he'd be so…"

"Well behaved? Yeah, I lucked out," Brutus said with a chuckle.

Kuroko was reminded of one of the hosts she worked with, who she liked to call Darling-kun. "I guess I lucked out like that with one of the hosts I oversee. No matter how many energetic liminals I assign to his house, he's always dependable, calm, kind, and easygoing."

Shit. That's what she likes in a man? I guess I can be those things, Brutus thought. "Well, it isn't just Kyle who's so kind. We get along so well because we're pretty similar. And I'm dependable. Never had a single issue with the Exchange Program!"

Kuroko smiled at his awkward boasting. Younger men are so predictable. Tell them what you like, and they'll pretend they've been that all along. But they're also so much fun…

Just then, a catgirl maid arrived with their meal, then made a show of pawing at Brutus's muscles. "Me-ow! You're sooo strong, meowster."

Brutus blushed bright red, partially from the embarrassment of being pawed at and called 'meowster' and partially from the cleavage wiggling in his face. "Um, thanks, miss."

The young waitress turned to Kuroko. "And who's the lucky lady?"

Kuroko smiled up at the maid. "You know who I am, Mai. How are you?"

Now the catgirl turned red. "Oh my god, Miss Smith? I didn't recognize you without, you know, your suit. I'm so sorry." She bowed quickly to each of them. "I'll just, uh, let you two be. Enjoy your meal!" she called back as she darted away with her tail between her legs.

Kuroko sighed. "I'm her coordinator, but being an authority figure really makes it hard to be friendly sometimes."

Brutus nodded. "I guess I can see that. People aren't big on chatting with bouncers either."

Kuroko was enjoying her time with Brutus, and before she knew it, they'd both finished their lunch. Brutus paid for their overpriced sandwiches and coffee and the two stepped outside into the early afternoon sun.

"Hmm, what should we do next?" Kuroko looked at her phone to check the time, ignoring the massive queue of missed calls and emails. "It's only two, so we can't hit a bar…"

"How about karaoke? Do you like that?" Brutus asked.

"I love it… but karaoke's not karaoke unless everyone's good and drunk," Kuroko said with a smirk.

Brutus swallowed, then took a chance. "Well, we can solve that. I'll buy the drinks if you pay for the karaoke room."

Kuroko raised an eyebrow. "Now you're speaking my language."

Brutus groaned with regret when he saw the prices at the karaoke place. For the afternoon on a weekday, a room for two would only cost a few hundred yen per hour. The drinks he agreed to pay for would cost that much each. He shrugged it off, thinking, Well, a deal's a deal.

After the karaoke attendant guided them into their private room, Brutus asked, "What do you like to drink? You mentioned beer earlier. Got a brand?"

Kuroko flopped onto the couch. "I love me some Asahi, but that's for light drinking. For karaoke, we're gonna need the hard stuff." She picked up the phone and ordered two whiskies, then looked up at Brutus and asked, "And what should I order for you?"

"Screw it. I'll have the same."

By the time they each finished their first drink, Kuroko and Brutus were getting really into the music. Brutus would never have admitted it normally, but he loved J-pop and knew a surprising number of girly pop songs by heart. Kuroko's choice of music also revealed her age a little, given the number of 90s and early 2000s hits she was singing.

As soon as they started in on their second whiskies, Kuroko ordered more drinks. Before they arrived, Kuroko downed the rest of her whisky in one gulp and tore into one of her absolute favorite songs, Evolution by Ayumi Hamasaki. It was a pretty lively song, featuring some very tricky and fast lines, but Kuroko was really nailing it.

"Woah yeah, woah yeah, wo-woah yeah!" she screamed along with the song. When it ended, she threw herself down on the couch next to Brutus, breathing heavily. She brushed a strand of hair from her forehead and smiled at Brutus.

"Wow, Kuroko, you rocked that one. I never woulda thought you'd be so… wild," Brutus said, a bit tipsy himself.

"You ain't seen nothin' yet. Get a couple more drinks in me and they'll be kicking us out."

She was right. After another hour and several more drinks each, the music cut out, the lights turned on, and the door opened. The hostess stood in the doorway, frowning. "I already asked you two to calm down once. Your actions are disturbing the other patrons. I'm going to have to ask you to leave now."

Kuroko sneered down at the shorter woman. "Ain't our fault you don't 'ave better soundproofin'!"

"It's fine, Kuro-HIC-ko," Brutus said, totally drunk despite his large size. He put an arm around Kuroko's shoulder and pulled her close. "We had enough fun, an' my wallet couldn't take much more anyway."

Kuroko turned and looked up at him. "Hah, alright, you big hunk of muscle." She ran her eyes up and down his muscular form. "Wonderful, hunky, muscle…" she whispered.

They paid and left the karaoke place without causing any more trouble, then stumbled out into the street, arm in arm. It wasn't even five in the evening, so the drunk couple certainly stood out as they wobbled down the sidewalk.

"Man, Kuroko, you got some lungs on you. You're a pretty great singer, you know?"

She flushed red, but it might have just been the alcohol. "Eh, I'm not that great. I used to want to be a professional singer, but life took me in a different direction."

Brutus looked around at the towering buildings of Tokyo. He didn't recognize anything in the area and was feeling lost. "Uh, speaking of direction, do you have any idea where we are?"

"Oh, yeah. I know exactly where we are. My apartment's just a couple blocks away," she answered, still walking.

"Good, good," Brutus said, relieved. "Anyways, how the heck did you end up in charge of a SWAT team of badass liminals?"

"I was in the right place at the right time, I guess," Kuroko said. "When all the extraspecies races started coming out of the woodwork, Japan needed people with prior experience ASAP. Thanks to my weirdo brother John, I already had some exposure to liminals, so the government came knocking and practically begged me to take the job."

As they crossed the street at an intersection, she shrugged. "I started as an exchange coordinator, and then I just kept on picking up new responsibilities over time."

"Oh, cool," Brutus mumbled. He'd only caught about half of her explanation over the sounds of the city, and he was also distracted by Kuroko's cleavage. Her sizable breasts were bouncing with her steps, and he couldn't keep his eyes from them. Normally Brutus would only sneak a quick peek at such a wonderful display, like any normal man, but slowly-sobering-Brutus was happy to stare.

Kuroko noticed, and she liked being appreciated, but she had to stop and get Brutus's attention. "Hey, Brutus." She pointed a thumb at the building to their left. "This is my apartment."

Aww, she's leaving? I thought the date had been going so well, too… he thought, visibly frowning.

"Want to come up for some coffee?" Kuroko asked.

Brutus lit up with a wide smile when he realized the date wasn't over. "Sure, I like coff—" He froze mid-word, then after a moment, he blushed and said, "Wait, is this actually about coffee at all?"

"Yes, it's about coffee. I love coffee, and I really am craving some right now."

"Ahh, okay. For a second there, I thought you were using that slang, where you say coffee, but you mean sex."

"Oh, I meant that too," Kuroko said with a wink.

Brutus turned bright red and his eyes flicked side to side, checking if anyone was close enough to have heard that. "Whoa, are you sure? That's not just the alcohol talking?"

Kuroko grabbed Brutus by the collar and pulled him down into a kiss. After she pulled away, she said, "First, I can handle my alcohol well. I'm nearly sober already, so this is a reasoned decision. Second, the date's been just wonderful, and I can't think of a better way to end it."

She ran her hands over his firm and muscular chest. "Third, I've been wanting this since I first laid eyes on it…"

Many blocks away, a single large eye watched the tall man and woman through the scope of a sniper rifle. When they disappeared into the apartment building holding hands, the watcher blinked twice, then blushed and looked away. She was a Monoeye, a kind of cyclops liminal, and the badge on her flak jacket said her name was Manako.

Manako raised a hand to the earpiece in her ear, then she said, "They went inside her apartment. I tried to read their lips, but they just seemed to be talking about coffee."

A gravelly yet feminine voice responded, "Oh, yeah. They're gonna fuck, alright. We'll definitely need to hound Miss Smith until she gives us all the sweet, sweet, details. From what you said, Manako, that date of hers is a real hunk."

Manako blushed again. "Uh, if you say so, Zombina… he's not really, uh, my type…" she mumbled, thinking instead of Kurusu, or Darling as most of the squad like to call him. He was so wonderfully caring and accepting during our brief little 'date'…