When he left the American girl’s room, Jun quickly discovered that his friends had already gone back to the campus— well, either that or they were still asleep in the other rooms. They had had much more to drink than Jun, so he wouldn’t put it past them to sleep through the morning. He decided not to wait up for them. The owner would probably kick them out soon enough if they really were still here. As he headed down the hallway to leave the building, Jun saw another man walking towards him. He stepped aside to let him pass. The man nodded at him curtly and went into the American’s room. Jun stared after him for a moment. She had another customer so soon after him? She must be very popular. He wasn’t sure why he was surprised. She was a beautiful girl with her exotic blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. Of course she would draw in many customers. He wondered if she compared the men who paid for her services, and if so, what she thought about him. Jun shook his head. It didn’t matter. He meant nothing to that girl who slept with dozens of men for a living. He was just one of the many faces she saw throughout her work, and their night together was just part of her income. He knew he shouldn’t think of it as anything more than that, but somehow it didn’t feel right to turn something so intimate into an unimportant event. [i]Your innocence is showing, Jun.[/i] He could almost hear Koji’s mocking voice in his head. His friend came to places like this all the time and never thought anything of it. Did his numbness grow overtime? Would Jun turn out the same way? He wasn’t sure how he felt about turning into a person like Koji. Sure, his friend had some great qualities, but sleeping around in brothels was not one of the things Jun admired in him. He was still reeling from the fact that Koji had managed to trick him into doing this in the first place. Jun left the run-down building and headed back to the college campus —now that he was sober, he was able to figure out where was and find his way back— nursing his hangover the whole way. He didn’t have another class until later in the day, so he went to his dorm room to take a nap. He hoped the pounding ache in his head would fade. It would be difficult to focus on the lecture if it persisted like this. He lay down on his bed and closed his eyes, drawing his blanket over his head to block out the daylight that filtered through the window curtains. Eventually, he drifted into a light sleep. -- Fortunately, Jun’s headache had faded to a dull throb by the time he went to class. He showed up early and found an empty seat near the back of the room and watched the other students enter through the door. He found his eyes wandering back to the girls, and his thoughts circled back to the American. She had been about the same age as his peers. He wondered how she ended up working as a prostitute in Japan, while she could be studying to make a more honorable living in her home country. “Hey, Jun,” Koji’s voice drew him from his musings. His friend smirked at him mischievously. “Did you sleep well last night?” Jun rolled his eyes at the blatant double entendre in Koji’s words. “I can’t believe I let you convince me to go to that place,” Jun said. “Hey,” Koji held up his hands innocently. “No harm done, right? You didn’t lose a single yen. So…” He leaned in close and dropped his voice to a whisper. “Did you sleep with her, or did you chicken out?” “I didn’t want to waste your money,” Jun replied with a shrug, trying to sound as carefree as his friend was about the whole matter. “[i]Really?[/i]” Koji’s eyes lit up with a mixture of surprise and amusement. “You mean you actually went all the way with her? I have to say, I’m impressed, Jun. I thought you’d run out the instant you realized what was going on. I guess I can’t call you innocent anymore, huh?” “I guess not,” the lightness in Jun’s voice wavered. “I just… never expected to lose that innocence to a girl like her, you know? I always thought I’d be with someone I actually cared about.” “You sound like my old man,” Koji shook his head. “Jun, come on. Sex doesn’t mean to people what it used to. Everyone’s having it, and you just happened to have it with someone who costs money. What’s the difference? If you really want to sleep with someone you ‘care about,’ just take your pick.” He gestured at a group of girls towards the front of the classroom. “I mean, look at you. You could have anyone here if you asked. It’s your own fault for never putting any effort into building a love life.” “I need to focus on my studies, Koji,” Jun said. “I don’t have time to get into a relationship.” “Which is why I paid for your stay at the brothel,” Koji replied. “You got your night with a girl, no relationship necessary. See? I do have your best interests at heart.” “If that were true, why did you have to be so sneaky about the whole thing?” Jun muttered under his breath. “So,” Koji went on, unable to hear Jun’s softly spoken comment. “What did you think of the ‘Innocent Beauty’?” “She’s a beautiful girl,” Jun replied vaguely. “She seemed kind of… detached though.” “I’m not surprised,” Koji shrugged. “She’s only been in the business for about three months, according to her pimp.” “Three months?” “Yeah, he struck a good deal for her with an American man.” “So she was a prostitute in America before she came here?” “I don’t think so. Her pimp said she was new when he bought her.” “Then… how did he buy her?” “I don’t know. Does it matter?” Jun opened his mouth to reply, but the professor stepped into the room and Koji had to return to his seat as class began. Jun had a hard time focusing on the lecture, so he turned on a recorder and let his mind wander back to his conversation with Koji. He felt a growing sense of unease in the pit his stomach. It sounded like there was more to the business of prostitution than he originally thought. Just where did the American girl come from? Where did any of the girls come from? He had never really considered their backgrounds before. He had always assumed they went to the brothels of their own accord in order to make money. Was there something else going on that Koji hadn’t told him about? -- Jun went straight back to his dorm room when class was over. He pulled out his laptop and opened up a web search page. He wanted to find out for himself what his friend had kept from him. It took some time to sort out the informational sites from the obscene ones, but eventually he managed to find one article about something called ‘human trafficking.’ By the time he finished reading the article, Jun felt sick. The girls weren’t choosing this lifestyle of their own free will; they were tricked, abused, and threatened into it. Once trapped by their pimps, they hardly ever received any compensation for their constant mistreatment. He finally understood why the American girl had been so robotic and unemotional the night before. She had been turned into an inhuman slave to be used by uncaring men who only wanted to have their way with her. [i]Uncaring men like me,[/i] Jun fought the bile that rose in the back of his throat. He was disgusted with himself. He had completely taken advantage of the girl and made her life all the more miserable. Before he realized what he was doing, Jun picked up his cellphone and called Koji. “Hello?” his friend answered. “How do you make an appointment at the brothel?” Jun said in monotone. He could hear Koji whistle on the other end of the line, “That girl must have been good if you want to go back so soon. Her pimp has a private number. Do you have a pen?” Jun acknowledged that he did indeed have a pen, and Koji gave recited the number for him to write down. “He changes phones every few weeks, but the number should still be the same this time. I used it to talk to him only a few days ago.” “Okay, thanks,” Jun said. “That’s all I need.” “Okay,” Koji said. “Glad to see you’ve come around to my way of thinking. See you, Jun.” Jun hung up and dialed the number his friend gave him. “Hello?” a deep voice answered. The man sounded frustrated. “Err, hello,” Jun said uncertainly. “I want to set up an appointment. I was at your motel yesterday.” “Who is this?” the man replied warily. “I was part of the group that came with one of your regulars, Koji Nakahara,” Jun dodged giving the man his own name. “Ah,” the man said. He sounded less suspicious, but his voice was still terse. “Which of my girls do you want to see, and when?” “Umm, is there an opening with Innocent Beauty tomorrow?” “Tomorrow,” there was a pause and an indistinct noise from the man’s side of the line that sounded like rustling papers. “Yes. She only has one other appointment at 9:30PM.” “Could I see her at seven?” Jun’s stomach twisted when he heard about the other appointment. After everything he’d learned about human trafficking, the thought of the girl being forced to sleep with yet another man made him feel sick. “How long will you have her?” the man went on in a businesslike fashion. “Two hours.” “Fine. What do you want her to wear?” “I’m sorry?” “You choose what you want to see her in, and I will have her wear it.” “Do you have anything casual? Modest, even?” “A good-girl fetish, eh?” the man chuckled. “Err, something like that.” “I can fulfill that request,” the man said. He paused again and Jun heard another noise on his end of the line. “Two hours with her will be twenty thousand yen. You will pay up front.” “Okay,” Jun said. He heard the man hang up, and that was it. [i]What am I doing?[/i] Jun lay down on his bed and stared at the wall. He wanted to make things right with the girl; atone for what he did to her somehow. He just wasn’t sure what he would do or if it was even possible. The most he could do was confront her and try. Jun closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep.