The smile on Akki’s face slowly disappears, then morphs into a warped mixture of admiration and respect. “I see. So you’ve decided to grow some balls. ’Bout time. A good woman’ll bring that out in ya.”

“Like you’d ever know.” Zaniel’s hand brushes against my hip. Instinctively, I grab it and squeeze. “And this has nothing to do with her. It’s about … how you promised you would never, ever hurt anyone.”

“Okay, Zaniel, shut up,” Akki lowers his voice as a couple passes by with wary glances. “Ain’t like the whole planet needs to hear.”

“I don’t care who hears. I don’t mind if the planet knows I’m no longer under Akki’s thumb. I’m done. And for the record, Cybelle’s not a thing. She’s a person. We both are. Being gaijin doesn’t make us any less of a human being.”

Akki looks at me as if seeing me for the first time. His face goes slack. “Gaijin?”

This idiot. What the hell did he think I was? “Yeah,” I say, trying to summon my drunken bravery back. “Gaijin. Duh. It’s not makeup; it doesn’t come off. Get on the tokkyuu, pal.”

Zaniel turns to me. “Come on. We’re leaving.”

A part of me wants to take his arm. Another wants to push Zaniel out of the way and run for it. A third has to go pee again. I honestly have no idea what to do. He takes the initiative by taking my hand. We don’t get far with Akki’s paw on Zaniel’s shoulder.

“The hell you are. Your little jokes have gone far enough, boy.”

“I’m not your boy.” Zaniel thrashes and shakes Akki off. “I haven’t been your boy for years. I’m through with this — this BULLSHIT you call … you know what, I don’t even know what to call it. I won’t help you do it. I don’t care about demons coming after me anymore. I’d rather deal with a thousand of them than one of you.”

Akki stands there, dumbstruck. So does the entire restaurant, for a time. Zaniel gives me a pointed look, turns, and walks away, pulling me along with him. My heart feels like it’s going to burst. It almost does when Zaniel suddenly lurches as he is grabbed from behind, whirled around, and socked in the stomach. Some people gasp as he crumples to the floor, but several more jump up from their tables and booths and scatter to get away. Before I can get down to see to Zaniel, Akki is stepping over his body and grabbing my upper arm, hard, squeezing me like I owe him money and he’s about to beat it out of me. I know no one is coming to help me. There’s only one thing left to do. I scratch the air like a cat with my free hand until I hit something that feels like a face, and when Akki shouts in pain and releases me, I lift up one foot and drive it right into his groin.