Akiko had sake with the eel, so she was already a bit tipsy when they left the restaurant to head to Roppongi and a night club. She confirmed that her face was bright red when they passed a mirror, and assumed that it was largely due to the alcohol, rather than to embarrassment at Naoyuki’s unflagging efforts to look up her skirt. She’d chosen well, however, and he had so far been disappointed. Not that he seemed particularly unhappy about it, however; he’d been unusually cheerful through dinner.

They dashed through the storm, which had got worse, arriving at the underground station just as the street was lit by a flash of lightning. The trains were quite crowded, giving Naoyuki all the excuse her needed to stand close to Akiko and try to subtly slide his hand up inside her skirt. She kept swatting it away, but she could tell she was grinning like an idiot, and anyway this skirt wouldn’t let him do that.

Another dash, quite a short one, brought them to the night club, and Naoyuki paid their cover charges without taking his eyes off Akiko. As soon as they were inside, he turned to her.

“It’s warm in here. Let me take your jacket.â€ For a moment, Akiko thought she would refuse, but then she realised that it would be more fun with nothing over the camisole. She shrugged the jacket off and handed it to him.

“Now buy me a drink.â€

“Of course, your majesty.â€ Naoyuki grinned as he said it, and Akiko affected a haughty stare, striding out onto the dance floor.

The club was still fairly quiet, as it was early in the night, and Akiko was grateful, because she soon realised that it was a long time since she’d been to a club, and that she hadn’t kept up with the music or the dance styles. After a couple of minutes, she retreated to a table to drink with Naoyuki, watching the dancing women until she thought she could copy them well enough to not stand out.

Then she stood up, glancing at Naoyuki, she hoped flirtatiously, and went out to dance.

The wall opposite the bar was one large mirror, and she used it to keep an eye on Naoyuki, as well as on her dance moves. She felt drunk enough to relax, but not too drunk to dance properly, and Naoyuki certainly seemed to have his eyes fixed on her. She spun round to look at him directly, and felt her nipples pressing against the thin material of the camisole. She spun back to the mirror to check whether they were visible.

Tamao was lying along the bar, his head at the inner end raised to stare at her. His eyes shone golden, and the purple, green and red gems of his skin caught the night club’s lights and scattered their many colours all across the room. The shards of light reflected off the mirror and ran across her camisole, almost as if they were deliberately drawing attention to her erect nipples.

She put her head down, and hurried back to the table.

“We’re going to another club. Drink up now.â€ Naoyuki looked shocked, but he drained his glass and got up to follow her.