Trigger warning: A traumatized character briefly discusses abuse, including the kind of sexual abuse that a jury in a court of law determined Donald Trump did to E. Jean Carroll and held him civilly liable for. Under New York criminal law, it is not defined as rape. However, ordinary people commonly describe this kind of sexual abuse as rape.

Nobu had a connection to Mr. Endo, the Yakuza, but pimp was very hard for Rob to believe.

When the senior let go, Cynthia crossed her arms. She shifted her weight onto one hip. Her gaze hardened, but the skin around her eyes was red. Believing what she did, her outrage made sense. It mirrored his anger at Brian Keating.

"Don't let him follow me," Cynthia said.

"Wait, wait, listen to me," Rob said. "I admire you."

"Go to hell."

Rather than a jury of his peers, Rob had teenage girls, but there was no adolescent insecurity in Cynthia's hard glare. "Now I understand why you lied to Makiko. Thinking what you think or know about Nobu, I'd probably do something similar, so please listen a moment. I'll listen too. Please." Makiko overlooked his faults, what she thought were his faults, whereas Cynthia attacked. Rob admired her, but it was strange how Cynthia and Makiko's different reactions hurt him. "You're assuming I'm evil because of my friendship with Nobu, who you claim is a pimp?"

"He is."

"Okay, but if it's true, I didn't know, believe me, and if it's true, I'll find out. I'm going to look into it, believe me." None of the seniors spoke. Across from him, the two girls sharing a chair exchanged a look of dread. Even Cynthia fidgeted a little.

Nobu had ducked into the Irish bar when told Keating's people might be watching. Shaken, Nobu had insisted they not see each other until after the Keating thing played out. It could be for reasons other than his family. If Nobu was a pimp and worked for Mr. Endo, Keating was their client. Obviously, they would not want him to blackmail a client.

Rob had promised to give Keating's money to Nobu. Maybe Nobu was playing everyone, including the Yakuza, including Rob. "Nobu spends his nights in Shibuya and Ikebukuro," Rob said. "He works with runaways." He took a deep breath. "It's possible he pimps them."

Veronica put the creamer down and placed an arm around Cynthia. "You're cool. You know a lot of weird things."

Cynthia's shoulders sagged. Her knees buckled. Ayumi slid a stray stool under her, so she sat. Rob was being honest, but that was easily faked. If Cynthia was right about Nobu, he had to keep her out of it. She was amazing, but her naivety showed too. She really shouldn't believe him, even now. "I met Nobu for the first time in January," Rob said. "My friend Katsutoshi died in Afghanistan, and Nobu presided over a Buddhist ceremony held a bunch of days after his death. You know the tradition?"

Cynthia and the seniors nodded.

"As far as I know, knew, Nobu is a priest. He told me he works with girls as an activist, like Catholic nuns might, I thought." Cynthia believed Rob was like Brian Keating and she fought back. In that way, they were similar, very similar. How could he hold it against her? "So you saw me with Nobu and assumed the worst, right?"

"They send girls to the hotel," Cynthia said. "I guessed you met Nobu there."

"No. I just moved to Japan. Don't you think it's possible I don't know about him?"

After a moment, Cynthia shrugged.

Rob touched the tabletop. "Sit for a second, Cynthia. Give me some more information. Please?" Naoko was Nobu's niece. She could be in denial about him, but if Nobu really was a pimp, Fumiko would sense something wrong, wouldn't she? "I know someone who might be able to tell me more, but we need to talk very briefly first. Can your friends guard you from those stools a moment so we can talk? Please?"

***

The seniors hesitated, unconvinced that Cynthia's tired nod proved she wanted them to move. Looking exhausted, they finally grabbed their gym bags and retreated to the tall chairs by the glass wall, where they huddled together and whispered. Cynthia slid into a chair at Rob's table. "I'm glad you didn't know about Nobu."

Her renewed trust, while a relief, scared him. Anyone who prostituted runaways would be vicious. "You're right about celebrities meeting girls at the hotel, and Yakuza are involved. I know that much. It's dangerous - very dangerous. Please stay away, Cynthia. Promise me you will, please."

Tears dribbled from the corners of her eyes. "Nobu punches girls, beats them, rapes them."

Monsters could appear kind when necessary. It was possible. "I'll find out," Rob said.

"I'm not wrong."

"Okay, but don't put yourself in any more danger."

"I won't."

"Please. You're a young woman yourself. You're vulnerable. You know that?"

"I know." She dabbed her eyes with her fists. "The other day, you said you were going to ask Nobu to find those girls, the ones who were with me when I met you."

"Don't worry, I didn't end up asking him. Someone paid them to mess with me. Remember when we parted that night, I took a phone call."

"I saw you."

"It was the person who paid them. He threatened me."

"Who?"

"It's better you not know. Please go back to your life as a student, okay? Forget all this. It's too dangerous."

"Those girls don't pick up when I call."

"That might be unrelated. They might not be in danger," Rob said. Cynthia had told him that she threw away their phone numbers. Lying when she thought he was a bad guy was a good sign. Hopefully, she'll protect herself and stop poking around Roppongi. "Those girls are crazy, you know that? They ruined my dinner night with Makiko for money, they must have."

Cynthia frowned.

"When was the last time you tried calling them?" Rob said. "Try calling them now."

She pushed a button on her phone and let it ring. She held it in front of him. "No answer."

"Let me try. Maybe they're avoiding you." He squinted at the display on Cynthia's phone. The number looked familiar. He entered it into his phone.

His phone rang twice before someone picked up. "Hello, Vintage Rob?" A girl with a heavy Japanese accent spoke.

Rob handed the phone to Cynthia. While she spoke in Japanese, he reviewed the phone number one digit at a time, trying to recognize it. He knew the number from somewhere. Then it came to him. It was the number left on his phone by Keating's Mr. Young. "Cynthia," he said, "Tell them to stay away from Mr. Young. He used this phone number to threaten me."

"What?"

Rob explained briefly. "Warn them. Ask if Mr. Young's there. He used their phone to threaten me."

After a few more words in Japanese, Cynthia pulled the phone from her ear and frowned. "They hung up." Rob checked the number in his phone. Yup. That bastard Mr. Young must have known it would unnerve him. "What do we do?" Cynthia said.

"What can we do? Hopefully, they're no longer involved with Mr. Young or any of it." There was no reason for Mr. Young to harm them. No reason for him to think it mattered to Rob if he did. The girls were as safe as anyone messing around with sex for money or money for harm.

Cynthia shifted in the chair. She checked on the seniors, who were busy not paying attention to them. "You were in wars, right?" Cynthia whispered.

"Not as a soldier."

"But you had to survive. You're tough."

"Well... I'm lucky."

Cynthia gritted her teeth. Her whole body shook for a moment and she hugged herself as if cold. "Nobu forced his finger into a woman I know. Inside her. He's a horrible person."

Just the image angered Rob. "I understand."

"He did it because she refused to go with him."

Nobu had encouraged the blackmail, then bailed. Rob's disappointment with that prepared him for other shortcomings, but not this, not something this horrendous. While Cynthia dabbed her eyes, Rob reached for napkins from the service counter and shut up. He did not intend to aggravate her or draw out more pain. "You want revenge?"

"Yes." Cynthia looked down, then up. "No." She blinked away tears and held her head high. She pushed strands of her hair behind one ear. "Are you afraid?" she said.

"I'm more afraid for you." A thought crept over him like poison. Cynthia lied. Nobu did not molest a friend, he molested Cynthia. "Promise to stay out of this now. No more snooping around Roppongi or wherever. Please. They're not amateurs, Cynthia. They're ruthless, worse than animals. Please, no more snooping, promise?"

"I promise."

He hated the fear in her eyes, but it reassured him that she would stay away and safe.

How will Rob go about investigating this? Any ideas?

Is there any chance that Nobu is innocent? What do you think?

Whether or not you enjoyed this chapter, I think you know what a star reader like you will do now...