#43: Pousse Café
On the outskirts of Roppongi stood antiqua, the bar of Charlotte Gabriel—Shandy, her professional name—and Rinko’s rival in love. Beyond the curtain that divided the darkness near the entrance, she heard the voice of Kurosu Mikoto.
“Oh, it’s Kotone.”
It was a loose, unguarded voice unlike her usual one. That alone made Rinko’s heart jump.
“There are seats free. Since you came all this way, why not have a drink?”
Then Mikoto’s younger sister, Kurosu Kotone, called to Rinko in the voice she knew so well from the screen.
Rinko could not quiet her heartbeat. It raced wildly, and a host of emotions surged through her.
Kotone had said that Mikoto, the woman Rinko loved, had started living with someone. That it was practically a countdown.
“…Peach tonight. Welcome, Rinko-san.”
“…”
Even Rinko, slow to take a hint and slow to give up, understood that it was probably time to retreat. But she could not drive the final stake through her love so easily.
She wanted to love Kurosu Mikoto. She wanted to protect her from Shandy, that vicious woman of the night.
But Mikoto had not woken from the nightmare. She had fallen even deeper into it.
“I do not mean to turn you away. You are welcome here.”
“…How can you say that? I had not heard you were living together.”
“That is what a game of love is.”
In the darkness, only Shandy’s voice could be heard. Rinko clenched her fists, holding down the anger welling up so fiercely it felt ready to burst, and spoke quietly.
“Do not play at romance. I am serious about loving Mikoto-san.”
“I am serious too.”
“Liar.”
“I truly love Mikoto-san.”
“You are lying.”
“I think I could tell Mikoto-san my secrets.”
“Tell me you are lying…!”
She could not believe it. She did not want to.
“…Believe me. I will tell you my secret, and only you.”
A torch lit up in the darkness. Its white LED light illuminated Shandy’s pale hand.
A driving licence. The small, lit card displayed information Mikoto did not know: not merely Shandy’s photograph and address, but her real name and date of birth, clearly printed with neither lie nor evasion.
Rinko recognised the name.
“Then you are…!”
“Hehe, I’m glad. But from here on, it is a company secret. A secret just between the two of us.”
“But you died already—”
Shandy laughed softly, as though enjoying Rinko’s reaction.
“Please go through the curtain. Everyone is waiting.”
With that, Shandy disappeared beyond the curtain.
Rinko could not understand the truth of Shandy’s secret. But Shandy had told it to her, which meant Rinko could state one thing with certainty: Shandy had not been lying.
“It’s unfair. There is no way I can tell Mikoto-san something like that…”
Her hostility towards Shandy completely deflated, Rinko passed weakly through the curtain.
Unlike the previous time Rinko had visited, the dim bar was full of life. The five counter seats were occupied. From the wall sat Mikoto; a short woman Rinko did not know, apparently Sanae; Toko, whom Rinko had drunk with at Maverick’s private bar; and finally Kotone.
Sitting beside Kotone, Rinko selected her words. Keeping carefully away from the intense warning Shandy had just given her, she spoke to Mikoto, who sat furthest away.
“Kurosu-san, what is Machida like to live in? I have been a little interested in it myself.”
“Oh, yes. It’s a nice place. It feels more like Sagamihara in Kanagawa than Tokyo, though.”
“Is that so? I have been thinking about moving. If I moved to Machida, would you tell me about good places around there?”
“Leave it to me. I know the area well.”
Mikoto’s transparently false words threatened to break Rinko’s heart. She was hiding her cohabitation with Shandy because she did not want Rinko to know. Or perhaps she was trying to spare Rinko’s feelings.
Mikoto’s kindness was distorted.
The outcome had already been decided, yet Mikoto was still trying to keep Rinko tied to her. Even after speaking of adding her to a harem, she showed none of the consideration required to make that real. She had forgotten to feed the fish she had caught.
Mikoto was surely afraid to tell Rinko that their relationship had no future, afraid of hurting her by confirming that there was no hope. It was because Rinko had told her about the miserable love she had suffered before. How much did that superficial kindness and concern hurt Rinko? How much did it prevent her smouldering love from reaching its end? It seemed like something Mikoto could understand if she only imagined it for a moment.
“By the way, Kotone-san, what is your relationship with Rinko-san?”
At Shandy’s question, Rinko hesitated. She had promised herself that she would become clean and face Mikoto again; she could not say that she had been bought for one million yen. It would make it seem as though she was continuing sex work even after quitting.
Kotone spoke first.
“Well, I picked her up.”
“Picked her up,” Sanae repeated, in a cold tone.
“More exactly, she asked me for a handshake. Fans keep secrets, so I figured I might as well make a move, played the celebrity card, and brought her here. Sorry I deceived you, Rinko-chan. I can go for women too. If you want to run, now is the time.”
Kotone lied smoothly. Perhaps she was protecting Rinko, even at the cost of damaging her own reputation.
“No, it’s fine. I have been to this bar before. Kurosu-san is here too.”
“I’m a Kurosu too, you know.”
Kotone leaned back in her seat and laughed carelessly. She was still unsuited to the public image of Kurosu Kotone. But this Kotone was lying, playing an uncouth woman, and acting her part convincingly.
The acting ability she had cultivated in the profession Rinko had once admired was giving her a commanding presence.
“Excuse me. Is what you just said… that you can go for women, true?”
“Do not worry. I have no intention of going public, so I will not damage your company’s reputation.”
“I do not want to say, ‘Thank you for your consideration.’ But honestly, given my position, I have no choice but to say it. I’m sorry.”
“Well, that can’t be helped. Don’t worry about it!”
Sanae belonged to Hibiya Trading, the company where Mikoto was on secondment. If Kurosu Kotone, the public face Hibiya had selected for its advertising, suddenly came out, society would be thrown into an uproar. It would affect Hibiya’s image, both good and bad, and naturally the consequences would reach Kotone herself.
Which meant Kotone had taken that much risk to protect Rinko by coming out. It might all have been a performance, but even so, Rinko could understand the kindness inside it.
“So, Sis, I thought of a pretty interesting game. Mind if I borrow Rinko-chan?”
“Try not to cause Shirai-san too much trouble. You said you were borrowing someone before, and then beat my boyfriend black and blue…”
“There was no way some guy who couldn’t tell me and Sis apart could make you happy. At minimum, he should be like Shan-nee, who saw through it on sight and even threatened me.”
“My, my. We have received your official approval.”
It seemed that even Kotone thought Shandy was better suited to Mikoto. The fact that Mikoto’s own sister thought so weighed heavily on Rinko’s heart.
But Kotone continued.
“Still, I think Rinko-chan might suit Sis too.”
“Eh…”
The words moved Rinko’s mouth before she could stop them. Kotone smiled slyly beside her in the dimness.
It was the face of the actress Kurosu Kotone, impossible to read. Rinko had no idea what she was thinking.
“Kotone, I—”
“Rinko-chan immediately knew that bunny girl was Sis, you know? That’s reason enough.”
“But that is…”
“What? Do you have some objection?”
“It would be unfair to Shirai-san.”
Mikoto’s voice grew quiet at the end. She was keeping something hidden. She was holding herself back out of concern for Rinko.
The relationship built over two years as colleagues had been broken by that confession. Perhaps it was punishment for Rinko breaking her own rule and confessing. The thought tightened around her heart.
“Mm. It is unfair to Rinko-chan. But I’m a bad woman who respects Sis a whole lot. Don’t I want to make things clear?”
There was a trace of heat in Kotone’s voice. She sounded as though she were trying to contain anger, a sharpness in her tone.
“Hehe. And what kind of game do you mean to play with Rinko-san?”
“I’m going to produce Rinko-chan into the kind of woman Sis likes. Turn her into a woman suited to Sis.”
“Kotone-san!? What are you saying…?”
Ignoring Rinko’s words, Kotone continued.
“I’ve always been good at imitating Sis, right? So I’ll have Rinko-chan practise romance while thinking I’m Kurosu Mikoto. We’ll tell each other secrets and things.”
“What are you saying, Kotone…”
“I’ll teach her while becoming Sis. Sis’s taste in underwear, how often she masturbates, the face she only shows her girlfriend. I’ll use my acting ability to show Rinko-chan all of it and train her up.”
“H-hey, you have gone far enough—”
“Mikoto-san?”
Shandy cut off Mikoto. She came to stand directly in front of Rinko’s seat, speaking in a remarkably serious voice.
“Are you all right with this, Rinko-san?”
Rinko could not understand Shandy’s intentions any more than Kotone’s.
Perhaps she intended to make Rinko fall in love with Kotone and take Mikoto for herself. But if that were true, surely she would look more triumphant. Then perhaps she feared that a Rinko trained by Kotone to become the sort of woman Mikoto liked would take Mikoto from her.
No. That was probably impossible.
Rinko stopped thinking. Since Ayuru had dragged her here, she had been angry, forcing herself to smile, crying, and confused without pause.
“Fine! You can decide everything!”
She had always thrown tantrums like this. The habit emerged again now. At the time, Rinko did not understand what it meant.
“So I’m borrowing Rinko-chan. I’ll turn her into such a good woman that Shan-nee will be jealous.”
“Hehe. You really are a bad woman.”
“You too.”
Kotone and Shandy exchanged a look beneath smiles layered with lie upon lie. Rinko hated conversations where people probed one another’s true intentions, and she could not grasp what either of them wanted.
All that filled her mind was the overwhelming secret Shandy had shown her, and the dread, alongside a faint anticipation, of the game that was about to begin with her beloved idol, Kurosu Kotone.
“Um… I would like a drink…”
Toko, who sat in the centre of the counter, timidly raised a hand, apparently no longer able to endure the tense exchange. She must have been uncomfortable the entire time.
“I’m sorry we drew you into our circumstances. To apologise, I’ll buy everyone a drink.”
“Kotone does not need one!”
“Why not? Let me drink.”
“Do not sulk, Mikoto-san. This is also a toast from me.”
Shandy gently chided Mikoto, almost showing her off. No matter what Rinko did, she could not reach Mikoto — or rather, could not reach Shandy. Knowing Shandy’s secret made that feel all the more certain.
“Then tonight, I shall make a drink for the six of us: to celebrate our meeting, and to deepen our friendship before the coming battle with that very bad woman named Akazawa.”
The instant Shandy said it with a smile, her face became serious as though by magic. She took out a narrow-stemmed glass. Surely it was another glass so expensive that dropping it would cost a fortune. Rinko felt like smashing it.
“The cocktail I shall serve is a Pousse Café. I rarely make one myself, and honestly, receiving an order for it is enough to make me sigh. It is an extremely labour-intensive drink.”
Pousse Café.
Its name means “push coffee”, and it was best suited to after enjoying a post-meal coffee. As Shandy said, the reason it exasperated so many bartenders lay in its preparation.
“A Pousse Café is a cocktail that must be made without mixing the layers. You know this, Mikoto-san?”
“Yes. I did not think I would see one at antiqua, which is famously the least Instagrammable place imaginable.”
“That is how apologetic I feel.”
Shandy glanced at Rinko. Rinko stopped herself from reflexively saying, In what world?, and watched Shandy’s hands, resentfully but intently.
Before six chilled glasses, Shandy played with a long-handled bar spoon.
“First, crimson grenadine. At the beginning it is easy: there is nothing in the glass, so there is no need to worry about anything mixing.”
She poured equal amounts of crimson liquid into the six glasses. But there was not much of it. Rinko thought Shandy probably intended to pad it out with ice later. What a cheap bar.
“Now the real work begins. Next, mint liqueur.”
The colour of Shandy’s eyes changed. Letting green mint liqueur run down the bar spoon, she poured it with agonising slowness. The green did not mix with the crimson she had poured first. Their wavering boundary separated beautifully, like oil sitting over water.
“Wow, Sanae, look! It’s so pretty!”
“I told you I cannot drink…”
“You cannot drink my alcohol?”
“It might be poisoned.”
“You say that as though I have poisoned someone before.”
“Come to think of it, we did poison three people.”
“Hehe.”
A grotesque black joke passed between Shandy and Sanae. Rinko secretly rooted for Sanae. The enemy of her enemy was her ally.
Six glasses of crimson and green stood before the counter. Just as Rinko thought that must be the end, Shandy took out another bottle.
“You’re still going!?”
“Yes, three more layers. I’m sorry to keep you waiting.”
“Shan-nee, how long have you been bartending, anyway?”
“How many years do you think?”
“There it is again.”
Shandy clearly had no intention of discussing her secret. Though judging by the secret Rinko had heard, she could infer something about how long Shandy had been a bartender.
“…You really take your work seriously.”
“I am glad you understand my efforts, Rinko-san.”
“Next, maraschino,” Shandy said, pouring a transparent liquid with a faint white cloudiness. Her hands were even more careful than for the second layer. Naturally: one careless movement now would ruin all the work that had come before. And there would be two more layers after this.
The glasses reached their third layer. Shandy breathed out.
“The fourth layer is yellow Chartreuse. Here we go.”
Upon the clear spirit, she poured a yellow liqueur, again very slowly. She caught the liquor flowing from the bottle on the back of the bar spoon, cushioning it as she gradually formed a new boundary.
“Do you know why they do not mix, Mikoto-san?”
“Er, because you are pouring them carefully…?”
“Hehe. You are not ready to be left in charge of antiqua yet. Does anyone else know?”
Rinko did not want Shandy to keep looking down on them. She thought seriously about the reason. If it was not merely careful pouring—
She remembered blending aroma oils. She had read once that even essential oils differed in density according to their fragrance.
“The density—”
“Because you pour them from the heaviest density upwards, right?”
Rinko spoke over Sanae’s answer, and Rinko gave her a quick apologetic nod. Seeing Sanae’s displeased look, she felt a little guilty. The enemy of her enemy had been an ally, and she might have treated her badly.
“Correct, Rinko-san. Would you like to become a bartender?”
“No.”
“You worked that out well, Shirai-san.”
“Really? Hehe…”
When Mikoto praised her, Rinko’s spirits lifted despite herself. She turned her back on Kotone, who was smirking beside her, and saw Shandy breathe out deeply.
The fourth layer must be complete. She was finally preparing to finish it.
“This is the last layer, whether we cry or laugh. Would anyone care to pour it in my place?”
“I will, if I’m allowed to make it all a mess!”
“If you do not mind being unable to drink it pleasantly, I do not mind.”
Laughing quietly, Shandy brought out a brown bottle.
“Finally, the amber brandy with the lowest density. I will pour an equal measure. Anyone who distracts me now will be an X-Y-Z without question.”
A calm light came into her eyes. Amber liquid ran down the spoon’s back. Above the yellow fourth layer, its wavering boundary formed clearly.
“Thank you for your patience. Here is a Pousse Café inspired by the six of us: appearing to mingle, yet never mixing. Please use the straw to enjoy whichever layer you prefer.”
Shandy let out a breath, and her shoulders moved. She must have been extremely tense. Even Rinko, who knew little about cocktails, had no interest in them, and was beginning to dislike them if anything, could see how difficult it had been.
Crimson, green, clear, yellow, and finally amber. The fantastical Pousse Café, woven from five coloured layers, seemed to symbolise the six people there.
“Oh? One is missing.”
“No, you made six perfectly properly.”
“That is not what I mean. There are six of us, but only five layers. Does that not leave one person out?”
“You can be the one left out.”
Rinko said it immediately, and Shandy pretended to cry, saying, “Oh, come now.” She truly was an irritating woman.
“What will you do, Shan-nee? Add another layer?”
“Let’s see. Something lighter than brandy would be dry gin, but it is clear…”
“Please, I want to drink! I can be the one left out!”
“Do not say something so sad, Toko. I will be the one left out, since I cannot drink.”
While everyone debated the imaginary sixth layer, Rinko found herself considering the unimportant question of which person each colour represented.
A hand rested on her shoulder. It belonged to Mikoto, who had left the preferred wall-side seat.
“Who do you think is each colour, Shirai-san?”
“Ah, I was thinking the same thing.”
“I want to hear your interpretation.”
The pleasure in Mikoto’s voice stirred Rinko’s heart. It was a love that would not be returned. She was beginning to understand that, but Mikoto treated her this way, and so her feelings began to sprout again.
“The crimson at the bottom is perhaps Kotone-san. She feels straightforward and passionate. Green is probably Sanae-san, somehow. Because she seems calm. The clear layer in the middle is white, so that is me. Yellow feels bright, like Toko-san. And the amber at the top is…”
“Me?”
“…That is fine.”
“Then Mikoto-san is the one left out. Yes, X-Y-Z.”
“W-wait a moment, Shandy-san.”
“I’m joking. Right, Rinko-san?”
“Y-yes! Of course, Kurosu-san! I would never want to leave you out.”
The tense, suspicious atmosphere from the beginning had dispersed the moment Shandy began making cocktails.
Rinko remembered something Shandy had said before.
“We professional bartenders do not merely make delicious cocktails. Creating beautiful interiors, using expensive glasses, and offering witty words, so our guests can enjoy the time that accompanies a cocktail, is part of our work too.”
Was it simply because bartending was her work that Shandy could do all this?
Or was it Shandy’s own personality, her ability to entertain people despite her arrogant, inscrutable attitude?
Either way, Rinko did not think she could ever do something like this.
And against a woman like Shandy, perhaps Rinko had no chance of winning.
“I’m hopeless…”
“Ahaha. Don’t worry about it.”
Whether she had been listening or merely saying something at random, Kotone now patted Rinko’s shoulder repeatedly.
Though they shared the Kurosu name and blood as sisters, the two were utterly different. Rinko’s heart only grew darker.
“Ah! I have an excellent idea. There is a way to ensure Mikoto-san is not left out.”
Shandy took a bright-red fruit from the refrigerator. She made one cut with a knife and placed it over the rim of each of the six glasses.
“What is that?”
“A maraschino cherry. Right, Mikoto-san?”
“Urgh…”
A maraschino cherry. Since it was called a cherry, it must have been a cherry, but Mikoto’s reaction was conspicuously unexcited.
Does Mikoto-san not like cherries?
“There. Now it is truly complete. Shall we?”
Lifting the glasses would destroy the layers, so at Shandy’s instruction, the six people gathered at antiqua held only the stems and spoke as one.
“Cheers.”