Pakin crept along the edges of an alley till he reached the other side. There he could make out the area of Yoshiwara that had eluded him the whole trip. They were set to leave tomorrow, and Pakin really wanted to know why no one had let him near this side of town. Now, as he stared out at the large street in dying afternoon light, he understood what had them so concerned.

  All along the road were businesses with gaudy signs and flashy exteriors. Women in sumptuous dress were dotted around the front of establishments, snatching men from the street and pulling them inside. A few men did the same, but women largely seemed to dominate this side of town.

  Ah, I probably should’ve guessed that. Pakin put two and two together. It’s a sex tourism city. That’s why so many hotels were catering to travelers around the city, yet none of the businesses seemed to want patronage from the tourists. He could see why now. The men and women who came to Yoshiwara were clearly only coming for one thing.

  Mesmerized by the signs and sounds, Pakin took a stroll through the district. Surely a friendly auntie or uncle would find him, and he could hang out for a while and learn a little about this side of town. So, he reached into that familiar place in his mind and let a look of pure innocence wash over his face.

  Pakin made his way down what appeared to be the main thoroughfare and took in the kinds of places he passed. It felt like a very modern part of the city, and even with the focus on sex work, there was still a prevalence of restaurants, bars, and even a few souvenir shops. The patter of dozens of feet across cobble roads mixed with the occasional cat call. The air was still cold and sharp in his lungs, but cloying scents would play across his nose every time he walked by an open door.

  As he walked, he caught the eye of a few people. Most of the adults he passed tried to avoid making eye contact with him, probably hoping someone else would address the minor roaming the red light district. Many of the workers he passed did the same, or looked at him with open contempt, obviously pissed that he might be scaring off potential customers. However, a few had very different looks in their eyes.

  Some of the workers looked exceptionally young, and they looked at him with a kind of fear. In fact, the more he looked, the more disturbed he became by their apparent age. He even saw one girl who looked very close in age to him.

  That’s grim. I hope there are laws against pedophilia and stuff like that. Living a picturesque, country life sure didn’t prepare me for seeing that kinda stuff.

  As he wondered about how such young girls could be here, he ran into something soft.

  Looking up, he realized he’d run into the particularly plump end of a woman. She turned around and looked at him with notable amusement. Realizing his mistake, he quickly bowed and said, “I’m so sorry, ma’am, I should’ve been paying attention to where I was walking.”

  The woman he’d run into had long, silky black hair and pale skin. Her face was almond-shaped, and her cheeks and lips were accentuated by her makeup, but it was a subtle effect. Her clothes did something similar for her body. She wore a knitted sweater that showed the occasional glimpse of shirt underneath, a long skirt that hugged her hips and flowed loosely around her legs, a pair of black tights, and a pair of kitten heels to complete the look. She giggled and covered her mouth with a well-manicured hand, fingers capped by sharp, red stiletto nails. “It’s no trouble at all. Now, what’s a sweet thing like you doing in a sour place like this?” Her voice was melodic, almost like she was singing each word she spoke.

  “Ummm.” Pakin struggled to think as he stared at the woman. She was very pretty, and something about her sent shocks through his little brain. Luckily, he managed to scrape together a few words to respond to her question: “I’m lost. I just kinda wandered in here and saw all the people and signs and lights. I was curious, so I just kept walking.” He gulped at his fumbling response.

  She looked at him like she clearly knew he was fibbing. There was no way he didn’t sneak in, given how diligent the other townsfolk had been in warding the entrances to the district. The doubtful look on her face was quickly replaced by one of… something. She grinned at him and held out her hand for him to shake, saying, “Well, curious boy, I’m Shino. It’s nice to meet you.”

  “I’m Pakin, it’s nice to meet you too.” Pakin reached out and shook Shino’s hand. He noticed that her grip lingered for a little too long when it was time to let go.

  “Well, Pakin.” She moved around him and placed her hand gently on his shoulder. “This is not a place of curious little boys. But, that didn’t stop you from coming in anyway, did it?”

  Pakin wasn’t particularly embarrassed that she had found him out, but he blushed regardless.

  “So, how about this?” She slid her hand down his shoulder and onto his arm. “I’ll take you to a favorite place of mine, and tell you a little about Yoshiwara. Then I send you home to wherever you belong.”

  Pakin nodded at the beautiful woman and wondered if his pick-up lines from his old life would work here.

  “So, most of Yoshiwara is hands off with the red light’s business. In return, we send our customers into town and make sure they don’t cause any trouble.” Shino leaned against the counter before her and Pakin as she finished her explanation.

  “That makes sense. It’s good for the local economy and I guess it probably makes the other locals feel a bit better about not having to deal with the ‘dirtier’ work over here.” Pakin replied, sipping on the soda Shino had ordered for him.

  She’d taken him to a modest underground bar, with an entrance between two brothels off the main road. It had seemed super sketchy at first, with the air inside hazy from cigarette smoke, but the soft jazz music on the radio and the warm tone of the lights alleviated that feeling. Plus, this bar didn’t seem to have any tourist patrons inside, just a few women who looked like they were just getting off their shift. It gave the place a very chill vibe.

  Stolen story; please report.

  “Exactly, although it does make me feel a little bad to hear you call the kind of work we do around here ‘dirty’.” Shino pouted playfully.

  “No! I don’t think it’s dirty at all.” Pakin quickly corrected, “I just know how some folks can be about it. I think what you all do here is fine. It’s just work after all!”

  Shino’s pout disappeared behind a smile, and she laughed at Pakin, saying, “It’s okay, Pakin, I was just teasing. Dirty is just such a crass way to describe what we do, I prefer naughty.” She laughed again as he blushed at her innuendo. “But, that is a rather modern way of looking at it.” She eyed him with that look again, the one he couldn’t pin down, and said, “You’re very mature for your age, Pakin. So, articulate and I love how curious you are about my little hometown.”

  Pakin felt heat creeping up his neck, and he replied, “Haha, thank you. I come from a tiny village on the outskirts of Lightning, so everything just seems so shiny and new.” That short-circuiting of his brain returned with more force this time, only now it was more pronounced. It was like his brain was trying to do something, but couldn’t find the right buttons to press to make it happen.

  “What was your hometown called again? Mukayama?” She asked, putting a filed nail to her lips.

  “Fuwayama.”

  “That’s right. Fuwayama. It’s so far away from here, you really are brave, Pakin. Coming from so far away at your age, it must’ve been hard, but you seem so strong.” She reached out as if to touch his arm again, and said, “You know, Pakin, I like strong young men like you. Especially, the smart ones. Maybe we could-”

  Her words were cut off as someone grabbed Shino’s arm and jerked it away from Pakin. Another woman, much closer to Gera’s age than Shino’s, with short brown hair, dark skin, and many tattoos, glared at Shino with so much anger it made the air around her smolder.

  “What are you-?” Before Shino could finish her question, the teenager slapped her across the face. She let go of Shino’s arm and grabbed Pakin’s instead, dragging him forcefully out of the bar.

  “Ow, ow! What are you doing? Why did you slap Shino?” Pakin tried to get a response from the girl, but she just pulled him out into the street and marched him towards the entrance to the red light district.

  Pakin stopped complaining and worried about what the girl would do with him once they reached the exit. Then, he wondered: what could she even do to him? He could probably slip from her grasp if he tried; all that training had made him stronger than most boys his age.

  That thought brought him up short, and for the first time since last year, his body didn’t feel like his own. He sucked in oxygen with desperate gasps, but it was too much for his lungs. The little body he was in felt wrong; he wasn’t supposed to look like this, he was twenty-two for god’s sake! That’s why he was smarter than the other kids in the village, and that’s why he could be so disciplined and leave home, and that’s why Shino had brought him to that bar!

  No. She brought me to that bar because I’m not twenty-two, because I look like- because I am eleven. Pakin had barely gotten a hold of the first set of thoughts when another struck his mind like a plane crashing into a skyscraper.

  OH MY GOD! I ALMOST GOT MOLESTED! For the rest of their march, Pakin followed behind in abject horror.

  They quickly reached the gates to the district, and the girl flipped around and pulled Pakin close, crouching down so that she was looking up at him. Her face was a mask of rage, and Pakin could practically see the steam rushing out of her nostrils. Suddenly very close to this woman, Pakin’s new awareness of his situation set off alarms in his head. The panic must’ve shown on his face, as the teenager looked in his eyes for a few seconds before letting out a heavy sigh and releasing her iron grip on his arm.

  “You understand what just happened, right?” She asked him in a grave voice.

  Pakin rubbed his forearm absentmindedly and nodded towards the girl.

  “Good.” She looked at him again, and the last of her anger melted away, concern taking its place. “Hey. Are you okay? I’m sorry for ripping you around like that. I’m Chira, what’s your name?”

  Pakin looked at her for the first time since she’d pulled him from the bar. She looked very different from the other women he’d seen in the red light district, with her hair, cropped so short, and her casual outfit. She wore sandals, baggy shorts, and an oversized t-shirt with a dorky mascot on the front. She had intricate tattoos covering every exposed inch of her skin, except for most of her face. That same face was looking at him with somber eyes.

  “I’m Pakin, and yeah, I’m alright. Thanks. For getting me out of there.” Pakin felt like a mess, but at least he wasn’t in that bar anymore. He clung to fact with an iron grip.

  “Hi Pakin, It’s nice to meet you.” She didn’t try to shake his hand; instead, she stood up and said, “I’ll walk you home. Can you lead the way?”

  Pakin told Chira which inn he was staying at, and they walked through town together.

  The whole time Pakin’s head was spinning with terrible thoughts. He imagined what would’ve happened if Chira hadn’t been there, and he had to stop and dry heave for a few seconds. The image of a grown woman doing that with this new body, Pakin’s eleven-year-old body that’d barely started puberty, made him sick beyond belief.

  I wish I was back home. It was the first time since leaving with Gera, that Pakin had thought that. The feeling seemed to double as he realized that he also meant it in two ways, home as in Fuwayama and home as in his old life.

  These and a dozen other thoughts crashed against his psyche like stormy waves against a sailboat, each one threatening to capsize him with its force and frigid weight.

  When they finally reached the inn, Chira led him inside, and Pakin was surprised to find Gera waiting. She looked happy to see him but frowned once she caught his expression. Chira entered behind him and told him to lie down.

  He nodded a weak affirmative and got into his bed, only stopping to take off his boots. He snuggled into the covers and tried very hard to purge the imagined scenarios from his mind.

  It felt impossible to banish them completely, as soon as he crushed one, another grew in its place. So, to distract himself, he tried to listen to Chira's conversation with Gera. They’d stepped outside, but after a few moments of muffled conversation, Gera reentered the room and shut the door.

  She walked slowly over to his bed, sat down, and reached out hesitantly. She seemed to be debating with herself before she asked, “Pakin, would it be okay if I touched you?”

  He looked at her for a second before replying, very, very quietly, “Uh-huh.”

  Gera’s lips thinned, and her eyes looked pained, as she reached out and softly stroked Pakin’s head. Pakin let her do that for a while, before something inside him broke and he started to sob.

  Gera didn’t make a sound; she just petted his head while he cried to sleep.