novelVolume 6, (5)
| ← Ch.44 | Ch.46 → |
Hiro said as he entered the kitchen. He was wearing a host-styled white suit, and the swelling was finally gone from his face. I really couldn't tell that he was just beaten up a few days back, lying limp on the floor like a puppet with strings snapped.
"Nobody's worried about you at all. You disappeared just like that. You hid in a woman's house, didn't you?"
Min-san stopped her hand from twirling the soup as she lifted her head up to look at Hiro, saying this unhappily.
"And what's with that gaudy get-up? Since you're all recovered, hurry up and head to the kitchen. Having Narumi help worries me too much."
"Ah, right, before I work."
Hiro entered the kitchen, took out a folded piece of paper from his pocket, and handed it over to Min-san. The latter opened it, and immediately frowned.
"What's this?"
"The valuation slip of that BMW. I went to a few second-hand car dealers, but the prices on an online auction were better. Also, I auctioned all those watches, but the money earned isn't much...I have around 5 million Yen in savings..."
"Why mention this to me?"
"It's the money owed by this shop...16 million yen, right? If you pay the money, you won't have to let the mafia do anything to you."
Min-san tore the valuation slip into the trash bin, and right when Hiro wanted to say something, she rewarded him with a slap. I cringed back in shock, and Hiro too lifted his face in shock.
"Did anybody ask you to do that? Or do you really want me to owe you a favor?"
"...That's not it. Once I get married to you, the debt owed by 'Hanamaru' will basically be mine. It's to be expected that I'll pay it off with my own money, right?"
This time, there was none of the sweet talk in Hiro's words. Thus, Min-san looked at her raised palm, and again looked at Hiro's eyes, asking impatiently,
"Are you serious when you say you want to get married with me?"
"Right, very serious."
Hiro nodded. At this moment, the smile on his face, not the honey wine-like smile that caused the hearts of the triple digit number of women to flutter, but that of a teary youth who experienced something new and harsh.
That was why he did it, right? Min-san averted her eyes with some awkwardness.
"Alright, I'll beat you up at least. Hurry up, change up and get in."
I handed the apron over to Hiro. Right when he stepped into the corridor, Min-san muttered,
"It's not an issue of money."
Min-san lowered her head at the wok sadly, while Hiro and I stared at her sidelong face at the same time.
"You guys dealt with the yakuza many times already, and you guys should know, right? The Huang Coalition found my weakness. Actually, they don't care about the initial reason. They'll just attack the weakness for their own objectives. That's how the yakuza play. Repaying the debt won't solve anything. If we're not careful, they'll set another trap to trip us again."
That was why Min-san made a request to the NEET detective, and I accepted it.
Hiro and I exchanged a glance, and we silently went out from the back door. I sat at the emergency staircase, my cheeks on my knees.
Min-san became weak.
But it was not because the yakuza got a hold on her weakness, but because the incident caused by her own dad caused her own life much turmoil, and she was mentally worn out. I could tell from her face. That person, who I knew was stronger than anyone else, was actually...
She might tell him off harshly, but Min-san probably left a large space for her disappeared dad in her heart, I guess? That space would give off a cold, empty feeling from time to time. I knew that feeling very well.
What could I do exactly?
What could I do for the woman who was so important to me—for us?
Think. Think. Think of something.
As Min-san said, there was a 'trap' laid out. Right when I was leaning by the railing of the emergency staircase, Min-san's anxious voice could be heard from the back door.
"...What's going on? ...How can you do this without a reason? ...No, no, this isn't an issue of repayment. We worked so long together, so at least explain this to me! Please wait! I'll go over now!"
Following that was the phone receive being slammed. What? Did something happen? I nudged the back door slightly, and saw Min-san hurriedly put on a shirt, about to duck out of the counter and leave the shop.
"Hiro, I'll leave the preparations to you. I'll be right back!"
"Ah, yes."
Min-san's footsteps could be heard leaving, and I asked Hiro.
"What happened? Did something..."
"Ah, yeah. The noodles weren't delivered, so Min-san called the noodle manufacturer Okada, but it seems that they don't want to do business with us anymore..."
"Ehh?"
Don't do business?
The noodle manufacturer Okada had been working with 'Hanamaru' ever since the shop opened. Why did this happen?
And right when Min-san personally went to the manufacturer to negotiate, the situation got dire. The food suppliers called one after another, causing Hiro much distress.
"Please listen, our owner isn't around right now! It's difficult for us to accept such a sudden request. Do you mind explaining the reason to us?"
I heard Hiro continue to question them on the phone, thinking that I should at least do what I could do, and I went ahead to prepare the ingredients.
However, it was all a waste of them. Min-san returned from Okada noodle manufacturing, and once she heard Hiro's explanation, she remained by the phone, negotiating with the suppliers.
The sun set, and all the members of the NEET detective agency were gathered at 'Hanamaru', a rarity.
"I never thought that they'll pull this method. I thought they would be more direct..." Tetsu-senpai folded his arms, showing a grim look.
"Thinking about it, this is the most direct method..."
Major took off his military cap, and scratched his head."
"The problem now is that we have no proof that it was them who did it...every supplier remained vague and refused to explain. But there's no doubt about it."
Hiro looked extremely frail.
All the suppliers to 'Hanamaru' requested not to provide the ingredients. Some of them angrily indicated, This will cause us distress, so stop calling us again. Some suppliers begged, We didn't hope for this to happen, so please understand. However, when the reason was asked, all of them remained silent.
We looked at the kitchen through the opened back door. Min-san was twirling fried rice in the Chinese work, nonchalantly chatting with the customers.
But for the time being, the shop wouldn't be able to open tomorrow.
It might not even be temporary...the shop might never be opened again.
Hiro cleaned up after our finished bowls, and Tetsu-senpai suddenly brought his forehead over to me, saying,
"Looks like we can only attack head on!"
"To where?" Major asked."To the mafia's base? Negotiate with them?"
"That's all we can do now, right? I don't know if the Chinese mafia has a tradition for one on one battles..."
"But I heard that Huang Hong Lei went barefisted and beat that Yondaime with speed."
"You idiot bastard. Do you think I'll be weaker than Yondaime? I'll definitely beat that bastard of a slick hair and show you."
Right when the duo bickered, a long figure appeared in the alley. Speak of the devil, it was Yondaime, followed by Pole and Rocky.
"Are you going to fight, Tetsu-ojisa?"
"Time to take action! We're not going to lose to some Chinese mafia! We'll send them packing back to Hong Kong?"
"Speaking of which, where's Hong Kong?"
"In the North, I guess? Isn't there a nursery rhyme that the snow continues to rain, and so is the ice?"
"Hong Kong's a lot more south than Okinawa..."
"What's the matter, Vice-Admiral Fujishima? Your retorts are slower and weaker than usual."
"No, I'm not it the mood..."
I knew I shouldn't have said anything. Yondaime beat up Pole and Rocky, getting them t shut. He sat down beside me, and I couldn't help but ask,
"Since you came all the way over, did you think of a good plan?"
"Are you an idiot? That's your job." Yondaime spat back."I came by since I thought that since I might never get to eat the ramen again."
For some reason, Yondaime's response was the most reassuring to me. Just a bit more comforting though.
Starting from the next day, I went home immediately after school. There was a logjam of people preparing for the culture festival, and even though it was late, many classrooms remained lit. The corridors and the back of the stairwells were littered with cardboard and decorations used for the outside, the arts-type clubs took turns rehearsing in the school, the committee members with armbands were patrolling the school, and the entire school was filled with a vibrant atmosphere. However, I was so busy with my part-time work the entire month that I didn't participate in the set up of class 2-4's tent, so there was no need for me in the classroom. Furthermore, if I remained in school, I would be questioned by my classmates, "Fujishima, why is 'Hanamaru' closing down?" "Is it our fault?" "Is Min-san feeling alright? Did we tire her too much?" but I couldn't explain matters to her, and it as really tough on me. That was why I immediately went home after classes ended.
Also, I couldn't bring myself to show up at the detective agency. For some reason, I knew I'll see a notice the words 'we're temporarily closed' pasted on the shutters of 'Hanamaru'. Seeing that would certainly depress me. That also didn't take into consideration that as a member of the detective agency, I proudly accepted the case, but I couldn't think of any solutions, and I couldn't bring myself to see Alice's face.
I cupped my knees as I laid on my bed, pretending not to notice the winter that was slowly closing in as I draped the blanket over my shoulders as I tried to figure out everything that had happened in this messy situation.
And so, the sun set, the days passed by, and October was about to end.
I heard on the phone that Hiro had been going around looking for new food suppliers, but at this point, 'Hanamaru' used rare ingredients for its ramen soup, and so the search wasn't going on.
"But what's more serious now is." Hiro said, "Min-san hasn't been able to cheer up recently."
If it had been the usual Min-san, she probably would have charged up to Hong Lei, beat him up good, and warn him not to do anything to the suppliers. At this point however, it's good to have a little break, she merely smiled and said that.
I hung up the phone, and laid on the bed.
That person had always been supporting us, and we never expected a day when she would show weakness and ask us for help.
That person was our sun, and it was at this point that I realized this fact emphatically. Once she hid in her cave, we could only remain in the dark day, unable to adapt, moving around without a cause, not knowing our rhythm or hearing any music.
I buried my face into the pillow, crushing away at these useless thoughts.
On the last day of October, I remained groveled in my room, letting time pass by meaninglessly, only to hear a hard knock on the door. I got up from my pillow, and stopped playing the music from the computer.
"Narumi? Have you woken up? You got guests!"
It was my older sister's voice. Maybe she realized that the music had stopped playing, since she opened the door and stepped in.
"I think that guy came before, that dropout called Kuwabara. He's really wearing some tacky clothes.
"Hiro?"
I went down to the first level, and opened the door at the corridor. Once I saw Hiro standing there, I was left speechless.
He was wearing a cocktail suit and a silk hat, holding a short staff with a golden ball, and said something like 'bonsoir' while dressed like that, which caused me to instinctively retreat and close the door.
"W-wait a sec! Sorry for shocking you, but I'll explain! Wear this, Narumi!"
Hiro slipped through a hat and some folded clothes through the gap at the door.
"...Well, no need for that. I don't know whose Princess' party are we going to, but you can ask someone else..."
"No no. It's Halloween today, you know?"
Halloween.
October 31st.
I see, it's Halloween. My slow consciousness was able to digest this fact. And then what? Why did I have to celebrate this pumpkin festival? The clothes handed to me were too heavy, and my doubts were gradually sinking in fatigue and helplessness.
"Change up and come out. I'll be waiting."
A few minutes later, I was wearing a frock coat and a round bowler hat, and this made me look like a proper English gentleman as I exited the house. There was a deep blue foreign car parked outside, and Hiro, dressed up in an idiotic manner, opened the back seat of the door. I looked inside, and was immediately left speechless.
"...Hiro's the one who chose it!"
Alice was seated there, looking really displeased as she wore an Inverness coat and a wide cape, a deer fur hunting cap, and holding a thick, short cigar in hand. The bear plushie pressed on her tummy looked more outstanding than usual.
"Ahhh..."
I could only feel that my consciousness was about to drift to the land of the elves, and to drag myself back into reality, I turned my eyes to Hiro to be sure.
"Alice is dressed up as Sherlock Holmes, so this plain attire of mine is Watson, right?"
"Correct! Detective and assistant. I thought of other clothing to fit the Halloween theme, but Alice's so cute wearing this that it's not fun at all!
Speaking of which, I guess the reason why Hiro bought a whole bunch of clothing for Alice was for her to wear it this Halloween? Explains all the Tokyu Hands bags.
"So, I thought of having a detective dress up as a detective. I think that's an innovative idea."
"What's innovative about this?" Alice muttered."What's with this crude getup? This is a humiliation to Conan Doyle. Who wears a hunting cap in town? More like Jeremy Brandt."
"But if you don't dress up like that, nobody's going to tell that you're Holmes. It's a festival, and the most important thing is to identify easily."
Hiro chuckled as he slipped back the driver seat, and I sat down beside Alice.
"And then? Why are you dressed up as Arsene Lupin?" It's like there's some relationship between him and Holmes, and not at all. Really interesting.
"Nothing much. Just for easy identification too. If I'm to dress up as Professor Moriarty, nobody can tell, right?"
Right...I was starting to feel that nothing really mattered at this point.
The car drove off, and Alice remained furious and silent. It seemed she really didn't like her dress-up, so I tried saying this to her,
"Actually...you kinda look cute."
"Wh-wh-wh-why are you saying this out of a sudden? How can I be thinking about that kind of that!"
And so Alice lowered the hunting cap further, covering her entire face.
That night, the devastation at 'Hanamaru' was akin to a witches' party celebrating the return of demons to the mortal realm. The entire shop was lit, and at the place where the curtains used to be, there were a few pumpkin lanterns hanging there, while girls wearing maid outfits and bunny ears were giggling and having fun. I really wanted to hide in the car along with Alice until daylight, but alas, it was a pity that Hiro, who first got out from the car, immediately yelled out, "I brought them here!"
The real identities of the bunnies were the girls from our class. Ayaka came hopping to us happily, and I couldn't help but feel a migraine.
"Fujishima-kun! ...Erm." Ayaka said, only for her smile to be frozen on her face, and she looked aside, not wanting to see my gentleman garb."Your hat's as cute as a steamed chocolate hat."
Couldn't you just say that it didn't suit me? I looked at my classrooms, and said,
"Why is everyone dressed up as bunnies?"
"Eh? I didn't tell you? That's the waitress attire for the culture festival."
I didn't know...even though the culture festival was coming up in 3 days.
"You don't have any awareness as a member of the class." The girls in my class noted.
"You've been going home recently."
"But you had nothing to do if you stayed behind, and you'll get in everyone's way."
The vicious bunnies surrounded me, at for a moment, I was on tenterhooks. I slipped to the back alley, and found Major dressed up as Nazi soldier, which Tetsu-senpai was dressed as the Incredible Hulk (more or less, since his outfit didn't look any different from usual, just that his skin got colored green), licking away at ice cream.
"What's with that get up of yours? A mook in a Ghibli film?" Tetsu-senpai asked.
"It's Watson!" As expected, nobody could recognize this outfit if I didn't explain.
"My get up's the most unique today."
Major gleefully noted. Diminutive he might be, he had a uniform cap with a crossbone marking on it that really seemed off.
"Such a shallow get up will normally be laughed off by me, but it does fit in the atmosphere for this festival."
But in Halloween, we have to dress up as ghosts or demons, right? If we're dressed up like this, it'll just be an ordinary clothing party! I looked aroundd at the buzzing crowd that's enjoying themselves, and inadvertently felt really relieved that Yondaime wasn't here.
"If we invitied Yondaime here, there'll definitely be 20 or so guys who don't need to dress up just to look like King Kong or Chewbaccas, so I didn't tell him about this." Tetsu-senpai noted proudly. Smart move.
I looked at the back door through, and Min-san was dressed up like her usual self, the tank top, a black apron around her waist as she continued cooking. I heaved a little sigh of relief. This person was still most suited to work in the kitchen.
However, I was a little sad that the food she was preparing wasn't ramen.
"You're not dressed up, Min-san?"
"Of course not. What a stupid question. How am I supposed to work in a kitchen wearing such crazy things?"
Min-san retorted as she continued stirring the contents of the pot. Hiro stood beside her, and said,
"I'm Lupin, and Min-san's dressed as Mine Fujiko."
"It's just the hair let down!"
"Look, big breasts too!"
"My chest's always like this, you idiot." Min-san sent Hiro flying with a kick.
And so, Tetsu-senpai suddenly grabbed me by the collar.
"Hey Narumi, go get Alice here, alright? We're really excited to see her!"
"Narumi, it's Watson's job to escort Holmes, you know?" And now even Lupin's saying that while standing at the back door. I had a look at the parking lot, and it appeared the hunting hat was still in the car. I could only sigh, and stand up.
I brought Alice over, and the bunnies were strangely agitated. Alice was hugged and fondled by the girls, appearing to be on the verge of tears.
"So cute! Who's this who's this?" "Let's take a photo together!"
"Let go of me! I'm not a doll!"
"I know! You're cosplaying as Conan!" "Detective Conan, right? It's exactly the same!"
That's not it. It's the original Conan. Young people nowadays...
"Narumi, aren't you the same age as them?" Tetsu-senpai pointed out, and that really devastated me. Now that he mentioned it, it's true, but I really, really forgot about it.
"Oh yeah, how old are you already, Narumi? 17? Right...you're in high school!"
Hiro said this, and the atmosphere quiet down for some reason. My classmates, with Ayaka leading them, Alice surrounded by my classmates, and even Min-san, standing at the kitchen counter, was looking at me.
"...Eh...ah?"
"It's your birthday today, right?"
Birthday. October 31st. It's definitely my 17th birthday today.
"You see, Fujishima forgot about it after all."
"You were right, Ayaka!"
"Don't tell me you forgot which month is it tomorrow?"
The bunnies' mutters entered my ears. Despite this, I couldn't relate myself to today's date being both Halloween and my birthday, merely twirling around in my mind.
At this moment, Ayaka dragged Alice along and opened the back door.
"You ready, Alice? 1, 2, 3—"
The crackers in their hands exploded, and the ribbons landed on my face.
"Happy birthday, Fujishima!"
And once Ayaka said that, my classmates pulled the crackers in their hands, and I was immediately covered with thin ribbons.
And as the explosive smoke lingered, I sat on an old tire, stunned, not knowing how to react, and suddenly, Min-san served a tray of large orange blobs.
"20 servings of pumpkin ice cream coming right now!"
The girls cheered.
That night was the first time I saw Min-san being completely wasted.
All my classmates had already left, while Tetsu-senpai and Major were holding empty bottles of rum, sleeping on the emergency stairs. A little brandy was used in the ice cream, but it's now empty, so I guess Min-san drank it all. Completely red faced, she was cuddling Alice firmly, rubbing her face on the latter's cheek as she muttered some words.
"Narumi, hurry up and drag her away from me! She reeks of alcohol! It stinks!"
Alice stumbled and fell on the corridor, appearing to be on the verge of tears. She was fondled by the girls in our class, and was embraced firmly by a completely drunk Min-san. The cape on her Inverness coat was completely crumpled, and the hunting cap fell who knew where, and even her long, black hair was ruffled into a mess. It was no wonder then she was about to cry. However, both Hiro and me alone weren't able to pull Min-san out, and whenever we touched her shoulders or arms, we would be kicked away.
"Stop messing around, you bastards! Don't touch me!"
"Are you treating me as a bolster or something?"
"How can you be one when you're so skinny? I should have fed you more."
We had no choice. We could only drag Alice and Min-san together to the bedroom and put her on the futon.
"I'll get some water." Hiro went to the kitchen.
"What's wrong, Master? Are you fine letting us see how unrestrained you can be?"
Alice fiddled with Min-san's hair that was let down, asking with a gentle voice of disbelief.
"Nnn."
Min-san rubbed her cheek on Alice's thigh. To be honest, I never saw Min-san being so relaxed.
"I just had a little thought."
"Of course."
"That I might as well stop running the ramen shop, and that I should just, make ice cream or something. I accepted the ramen shop begrudgingly, so now, I can change it to the ice cream shop I wanted to open...right?"
Alice and I exchanged looks, and we never said anything. Hiro just so happened to return to the room, holding a cup as he stood at the door.
"...Narumi."
"Yes?"
"The photo album...on the table there..."
Min-san remained sprawled on Alice's legs, weakly raising her hand as she pointed at the table.
We saw a photo under the faulty, flickering light, and there appeared to be a mother and a daughter in the photo, beaming away. The teenage girl was obviously Min-san, but surprising to me was the mother. When did I have an impression of her?
"This is...?"
"My mom. Really resembles that woman, right?"
I nodded. Alice and Hiro looked at me, the expressions on their faces clearly asking, Like who?
That was the woman I only met once. The one who triggered this entire sequence of events and was most likely on the way to Kansai to live a new life, Huang Xiang Yu.
Again, I stared at the little Min-san bending down in the photo, and the smiling Huang Wen Li. She was exactly the same in appearance to Xiang Yu, Thinking about it, she was the aunt to Xiang Yu, so it wasn't strange for them to look so alike.
"That's his reason. That damned dad of mine was willing to cause me so much trouble because of this reason, all for the sake of letting the woman he was protecting leave the Huangs!"
I didn't know what I should say.
Did he leave his own daughter and the shop he left behind be in jeopardy just because the woman he was protecting resembled his deceased wife? Because he recalled his younger self? Was that simply all? A strange feeling arose deep within my throat.
"Thinking about this...I really am stupid. There's no reason for me...to cling onto this ramen shop."
Hiro crouched by Min-san's pillow. Min-san turned around, met Hiro in the eyes, and smiled, saying,
"It's just a passing thought! Don't give me that look. I'm not serious here. I'll think of something, either to make Hong Lei kneel in front of me, or that I'm going to cry to grandpa who I never met over the last 10 years or so..."
Min-san reached her hand out, patting Hiro's face lightly.
That hand lost all strength, and fell.
We left the sleeping Min-san to Hiro, and I decided to escort Alice back to the detective agency. The emergency staircase was completely pitch dark, and after climbing halfway through, the detective wearing the Inverness coat muttered,
"Narumi..."
"Hm?"
"I understand now."
"...I see."
I didn't ask her what exactly it was. Having passed my 17th birthday meant that I knew Alice for an entire year. I was used to doing many things, and used to the work of a detective assistant.
Rather than ask stupid questions, it was more important for me to stand beside the detective and shield her from the chilly night breeze.
"I know where Hanada Masaru is now, and what he intends to me. I know it all."
Alice's voice was as usual, no, a little more delicate this time, appearing to break down at any given moment.
"But this truth, is meaningless to Min-san, just like the tens of thousands of cases handled in the past. Don't be surprised, just listen to me. Actually, I don't want to lose 'Hanamaru' either."
"I'm not surprised. What are you saying?"
I patted Alice's trembling shoulders. It had been 4 seasons since she met me, and she probably changed somewhat, right? When she again ascended the stairs slowly, I could see her faltering from behind.
When we arrived at the door to the agency, Alice turned back, her hands pressed on the torso of my flock coat.
"Watson."
"...Eh? Ah, me?"
"John H Watson is a doctor, and an author. You should know that, right?"
"I know."
"And on the other hand, Sherlock Holmes is a detective. Nothing but a detective."
What's she trying to say? Were those words really appropriate?"
"In his life, Holmes only wrote two novels, but he always lamented, "I miss my Watson'. It's boring without Watson around, no surprise without Watson always asking questions, and unable to convert the thoughts perfectly into words."
I sighed. Alice moved her hands away from me, and leaned on the door to the detective agency.
"A detective can only face the world as a reader, only able to accept the complexity of this world, and read it as fact, analyze, digest and accept it. But..."
Alice lifted her head.
"But an author's different. I once read a bulletin written by an author on how to write a manuscript, and what he wrote was, a novel can be written in reverse from the last scene—or to be precise, this is the right way to write a story. Do you understand? An author can deduce the world."
Deduce the world, the author could piece together all the paths leading to the ending for the sake of his expected ending, and connect it to reality.
Alice uttered each word forcefully,
"I can't do it. Only you can."
Those words reached my heart after a very long time. Alice quietly waited for it to enter my heart, and opened the door before letting her petite frame slip through the gap, whispering to me in the end,
"Good night, my Watson."
My elbows were leaning on the railing of the stairwell, staring blankly at the night scene between the buildings, pondering over what Alice and Min-san said. The chilly breeze of the night caused the tips of my nose and ears to become chilly.
Deduce.
Not to make complicated matters simple, but the opposite.
From the simplistic final scene, I should direct what we should do.
Of course, what we wanted to protect are Min-san and 'Hanamaru'. In other words, to continue with that boring, steady yet warm life, the usual life of boiling chicken bones, dicing onions, cooking noodles, marinating roasted pork, frying vegetables.
And the ones posing a threat to our daily life is the Hong Kong Mafia, the Huang Coalition, the yakuza. How it all started didn't matter anymore, and in any case, Huang Hong Lei intended to have Min-san to himself.
The chilly winds blew upon my head, and I had a strange feeling of my brain cells almost becoming crystalline.
Right, this matter itself was all because the yakuza wanted trouble with Min-san. There was no need to solve any mystery, and also no risk of misidentifying the enemy. The enemy was crushing us with brute force and economic power, so we just had to shut them up, and make them unable to speak up with a power that surpasses them. This was the only method.
A power to surpass the Huang Coalition?
Starting from the Hirasaka-gumi, I started listing out all the gangs I could think of. It's not a good thing, but I did know of a few delinquent gangs. However, these powers alone probably won't be enough, since we're dealing with the Hong Kong mafia here. Then...do we call the police? If we explained thoroughly that the gunshot incident that night was—no, this won't do. News of Huang Xiang Yu and Umeda Kouji being alive would be revealed. Didn't Min-san say that to Xiang Yu? Forget everything about the Huangs, and live a life anew? Even if Min-san did say that in the spur of the moment, I couldn't just trample on her feelings. Also, that wouldn't guarantee that 'Hanamaru' would remain fine in the future. Maybe they might look for trouble through other excuses?
If we could throw out something that was purely stronger and make Huang Hong Lei give up. But where exactly could we find this strength? The power that could overwhelm the king of Kabukicho was—
"...Ah!"
Suddenly, I thought of something. Right. There was something within my reach. But...would that really work?
I quickly descended the emergency staircase, jumped over Tetsu-senpai who was lying on the floor, and Hiro, dressed in a cocktail suit, walked out from the back door of the kitchen.
"Min-san's asleep now. She doesn't look uncomfortable in any sense, so don't worry."
"E-erm, Hiro."
Seeing how anxious I was, Hiro tilted his head in confusion.
"I want to ask you something, or rather, affirm this with you. I want you to do something, but if things don't go well, it may be bad for you. You might not be able to follow Min-san—"
"Narumi, calm down."
Lupin's hands were on Watson's shoulders. He removed his monocle and silk hat, his face showing an honest smile befitting of his usual self as a gigolo.
"...You thought of something?"
I nodded frantically. There were only 3 days left, not enough time at all. With a searing tone, I explained to Hiro, and the cheerful smile gradually became a wry smile of grimace.
After finishing my explanation, I finally heaved a sigh, and I lifted my eyes to observe Hiro's face. The dark shadows under the dim road lights meant that I couldn't see his face clearly. I inadvertently felt a distinct chill climbing from my arms to the pit, and anxiety rose into my heart. I exerted myself and explained the entire time, but I didn't know if his could work. I didn't know how many people I could mobilize for this, and I didn't know whether it was a power that had enough stopping power.
However, the worry on Hiro's face vanished in front of me, and appearing next was a smile I never saw before.
As expected—this guy could still smile in such a moment.
"I understand."
Hiro took the silk hat and placed it on his head, the inexplicable smile hidden under the shadow.
"I'll try. Nobody else other than me can do this."
The figure in the cocktail suit vanished into the night, and I felt two presences getting behind restlessly behind me.
"And I thought you finally had some motivation, Narumi."
"You want us to do clean up work?"
I turned back to look, and found the little Nazi and the Incredible Hulk leaning by the stair railing, gulping down the rum in their bottles. I couldn't help but give a wry smile.
"You heard it all?"
"We did. Really to be expected of you, Narumi, it's not a healthy one..."
"Can't accept the fact that Hiro just needs to stand by the sidelines and get all the goodies.
"What's bad about it? He's the one talking all the bad too."
"That's true."I nodded."The protagonists in the story are Hiro and Min-san..."
But I was wrong. It was only much later on that I realized this.
The protagonist of this story had been Hanada Masaru all this while.
To make it to the appointment, Min-san was dressed up in the purple dress, tied her hair into an elegant knot, and appeared like a Hong Kong movie star.
"...What? Why are you spacing out? Is anything weird about my outfit?"
Min-san lowered her head awkwardly as she looked at her clothing, and glared at me. I flusteredly shook my head.
November 3rd, the day the culture festival of M high school was to be held, and also the day Huang Hong Lei was to hold the wedding ceremony, and I dropped by at 'Hanamaru' early in the plan.
Based on the plan I came up with, the first step was to have Min-san attend the ceremony as usual. Soon after, Huang Hong lei would be there to get her.
"That Hong Lei had the dress tailored so nicely. I'm never going to wear this again."
"Eh? That's a pity though."
"What pity, you idiot?'
I got flicked hard in the forehead. Strictly put, Min-san's dress up was really a stark unbefitting contrast to the ramen shop.
"Anyway, isn't it your school culture festival today? Is it really alright for you to be here?"
"Erm...yeah, I guess."
I had Ayaka tell my classmates that Min-san was in a little difficulty. Thus, everyone had a common understanding and indicated in unison, "Then let's have you focus on Min-san's stuff, Fujishima."
"You really got left out by the class."
"I wasn't! A-anyway, didn't they celebrate my birthday with me!?"
At this moment, the phone in my uniform pocket vibrated.
"Fujishima-kun?" It was Ayaka's voice.
"How's the situation over there?"
"Business is great! We prepared a lot, but we probably will be sold out in the afternoon..."
"Sorry for being unable to help..."
"Don't worry! It's fine even without you around. Nobody's really bothered by it!"
Ayaka...you don't really mean anything with those words, right?
"But we got ourselves a little problem here...what time can Min-san make it?"
"Eh? Erm...around 3pm or so?"
Did something happen? Didn't they say that the teachers would come by to inspect after the activities were done? The food hygiene specialist just needed to be there for a little while, right? (even though in theory, she should be there the entire time)
"The principal and the education committee inspectors heard of the rumors and wanted to visit our shop, saying that they want to meet Min-san personally! What do we do? I lied to them saying that we don't have enough ingredients, so Min-san went out to buy, and they said they'll be back in the afternoon..."
"Well..." Now this is troublesome. I had a look at the clock, and it was almost 11."I'll think of something."
I hung up the phone, and informed Min-san, who merely shrugged.
"I should have left earlier anyway, so it's fine for us to go early, right? Speaking of which..."
Min-san grabbed my collar.
"What are you planning? You aren't saying anything even at this point?"
"Eh? Ehh, no, that's..."
I wanted to avert my eyes, but my face was being clamped such that I had to look right at Min-san. Such a terrifying expression...
"Hiro never contacted me ever since that day, while Tetsu and Major pretended not to know anything. You're not going to say anything?"
"Well, that's because, we're trying our best to solve this without worrying you, and we aren't sure whether it will work...Anyway, we'll send someone to the scene first, so just go along with his instructions."
"Didn't you ask Sou for help? Are you intending to charge into the place?"
She's really sharp. Guess it's hard to hide everything from her.
"It's fine. We won't be that reckless."
Thinking about it from another perspective, our plan might be more reckless. To be honest, I really hoped for everything to be settled down. If possible, I really hoped to tell Hong lei before the ceremony and settle this peacefully. Too bad I only thought of this plan 3 days ago, and didn't have enough time to plan, so I had to take action first.
Furthermore, even if the plan goes well, the outcome was meaningless.
Min-san glared at me fiercer than ever, and nearly lifted me by the collar. At this moment, a heavy exhaust sound on the other side of the ramen shop shutters echoed, and Min-san clicked her tongue, shoving me into the back door of the corridor.
"Not a good thing to have Hong Lei see you now, right? Get out by the back door."
I pushed the bicycle between the buildings, and when I got out to the road, I glanced back. There was a black foreign sedan parked outside 'Hanamaru', and the chauffeur dressed in a black suit and white gloves opened the door. I didn't know whether it was a coincidence, but Huang Hong Lei got out from the back seat, dressed in a flock coat, much grander than I did when I wore it on Halloween, and I felt so sheepish I wanted to die. Seeing him standing alongside Min-san in the purple dress, it really resembled a scene in a movie.
I turned my bicycle handle around, and pedalled hard. The gloomy skies appeared to snow, and as I sped up, the cold seeped into my body.
The Zodiac Group manages an Esthétique and a sports gym, and it owned a very tall building in Ebisu. The wedding would be held at the hall at the highest level of this building.
I parked my bicycle by the roadside, and discreetly observed the entrance, only to felt such great despair I was giddy. A few savage looking men dressed in black suits were clearly standing at obvious places, two of them guarding the atrium, while another two were standing guard at the reception and the elevator respectively. It felt as though they would draw their Qinglong blades at any given moment and pull of some stunt, and seemed that they had no intention of keeping a low profile as it was their own turf. Ordinary civilians were so terrified, they avoided the elevators and took the stairs. It's bad, could we achieve our objective?
I took out the transmitter microphone, put on the earphones, and called for major.
"Everything at hand is ready. We're ready to take action."
"There are 4 mafia guys at the entrance. Switch to the stairs."
Tetsu-senpai's voice interrupted.
"We got people watching the stairs too! I'm hiding in the toilet now. Every corner at the corridors of the roof is guarded. I just saw Master and Hong Lei enter."
"Eh...this is..." really troubling. How many men did he arrange for? Added security was to be expected to protect the guests attending the ceremony, but the savage glances at the lobby entrance were obviously not guards. It appeared that Hong lei understood that we wouldn't go down easily.
"Take the emergency staircase."
"Got it."
And then, Yondaime's voice too could be heard,
"Looks like there's a lot of Chinese outside watching the vehicles parked. We can only drive around before we take action."
"I'll leave it to you. Min-san will escape from the back of the building where the emergency staircase is."
"Anyway." Tetsu-senpai interrupted, "Why did you tell Master to join the party? Couldn't you have ignored them and get her to attend the school festival?"
"We aren't just dealing with the Huang Coalition here. We got a lot of topshot Chinese who were invited. If Hong Lei's going to get embarrassed in such a moment, this won't be a problem he alone can settle. If the Huang Coalition continue to cause trouble, the situation will get tougher for us."
"Mm..."
That's why we couldn't embarrass the Huangs during the lunch gathering. However, the gathering later would be between relatives, and there was no need to play nice. Of course, he wouldn't let her leave that easily either.
That's why we'll just have to kidnap the bride.
"...Hong Lei's speech is beginning."
Major muttered. I folded the map back into my pocket, and stood up.
At exactly 1pm, Yi Ling-san called. I was at the Starbucks opposite the building, and immediately got up from my seat.
"We're in the restroom. Min-san said she isn't feeling well, and slipped out with me."
My heart was starting to kick at the inside of my ribs. Yi Ling-san's our first trump. We had her on standby deep in the enemy camp by registering and be a receptionist for the ceremony.
"Once the power goes out, run to the emergency staircase, about two minutes later!"
I exited the shop, went across a road, and ran to the back of the building. I switched on the wireless microphone, and spoke to Pole.
"Target's at the emergency staircase. I'm betting that there should be mafia guarding the back. Once you see Min-san get down, start causing disturbance."
"Yes! Allow us to refine our manliness!"
Don't be so loud, you idiots! Right when I went around to the road at the back of the building, I saw a few Hirasaka-gumi members in black T-shirts scurrying towards the Zodiac building like cockroaches.
Next, Yondaime.
"Drive the car over!"
"On it!"
And finally, I communicated with Tetsu-senpai and Major at the same time,
"Its time. I'll leave it to you!"
"Oh!" A baritone echoed back. Once Min-san and Yi Ling-san escaped, he'll be in charge of guarding the emergency stairs. As for Major—
"Let's begin. We'll meet at Yasukuni."
I looked up at the roof of the building overlooking the gloomy skies. At that moment, I saw all the lights at the roof go out.
A black sedan ran by me while I ran. It was Yondaime. At the back of the Zodiac building was a wide green patch, and visibility was bad. Furthermore, the emergency staircase wasn't outside the building itself, and we couldn't tell if Min-san managed to escape successfully. The intense heartbeat meant that I couldn't hear my own footsteps. Yondaime's car was parked by the fence of the greenery, and I caught up, holding my breath as I watched.
From a corner of my eyes, I saw several black figures, and my impression of the ground was contorted. They were not Hirasaka-gumi members. The black T-shirt guys had already passed through the woods, and was about to assault the back door of the building, while the many strong black figures closed in from the flanks of the buildings, seemingly intending to surround them. Seeing this, Yondaime wanted to open the door immediately.
"N-no, please stay in the car!"
I shouted as I ran to the greenery, towards the back door. I felt the melting brain juices spurting from my ears. 5-6, no—there were more of them. Why were there so many people? There shouldn't be a lot of people standing guard at the back of the building, right? My mind was filled with skepticism, confused by the growls of Chinese and Japanese.
I went across the green patch, and in front of me was the end of the fence. The emergency staircase to the building was right within my reach. At this moment, a person in cream colored suit barged into my sights, and I nearly fell limp immediately.
Huang Hong Lei passed through the potted plants, grabbing a Hirasaka-gumi member by the shoulder, and slammed him down with a punch. He turned back, and knocked down another.
Why—why's Hong Lei here? Didn't Major stop the elevator?
Right when I tumbled as sat by the fence, the door to the emergency staircase opened. Yi Ling-san showed up first, her face completely frozen as she stayed rooted. Min-san in her Chinese outfit shoved her aside, and walked out from the back door.
"Hold it!"
She bellowed sharply.
"Don't move, you brats! Do you want to die?"
Some of the black T-shirt guys were trampled onto the brick floor, some were shoved into the potted plants, and some had their arms locked by the mafia, frozen there. At this moment, the number of mafia members was at least ten or so, double that of the number of Hirasaka-gumi members. All of them stopped kicking and punching, staring at Min-san silently.
Huang Hong Lei moved past his subordinates to approach Min-san. I collapsed on the floor, backtracking, calling for Major in the transmitter. There was no response. Why?
Hong Lei suddenly turned towards me.
"Hey! What are you yelling for?"
He said as he glared at me, raising a hand. I saw him holding the intercom with the goggles on, and felt darkness appear in front of my eyes, my organs practically froze. That was Major's communicator. Was he found out in the electrical room? How? Is he safe?
"I thought you wouldn't be so stupid..."
Hong Lei tossed away the goggles in his hands, and narrowed his eyes as he sized me up.
"What's with this commotion? Do you think you can accomplish anything with these brats?"
Min-san too gave me a scathing look, practically saying, isn't this just a reckless scuffle? No, this isn't what you think. I wanted to explain, but I couldn't let out a voice. Min-san appeared to have given up as she looked at the floor, and apologized to Hong Lei. Sorry, I'll go back with you, so let go of these brats! You can't do that! All our efforts will be wasted. But what do we do now? I intended to start a scuffle first before rationalizing everything. Everything still waiting to sprout, and they're going to be trampled before they're discovered. What do I do? Come up with excuses to pull a fast one? But I don't have anything at all. It's impossible. If I try to bluff, I'll be seen through. See. My legs are so weak, I can't even stand up right.
But at this moment, someone spoke up.
"—Young Master."
Hong Lei looked away from me towards the voice. Min-san was about to return to the emergency staircase, and stopped, while the mafia members holding down the Hirasaka-gumi members too lifted their heads.
Gentle footsteps entered the thick shadows of the trees and the building. Appearing around the corner of the building was a group of middle aged women wearing posh semi-formal dresses with a corsage and scarf.
"My apologies, madams."
Hong Lei sighed, and tidied his ruffled clothing.
"It is my inappropriate service that you saw such an unruly scene, so i do apologize for that. Ming Li and will return immediately."
Those middle aged women were here to attend the ceremony, and I could tell from their faces that they were all Chinese. There were 10 of them...maybe more of them? The dangerous charisma emitting from their eyes showed that they were rich, but not ordinary women, and furthermore, there were some faces I seemed to recognize.
Ah, right, I met them at 'Hello Palace'—they were the group of older ladies who went all the way to the entrance of Yi Ling-san's room.
So—they made it?
"No...please allow Ming Li-san to return..."
One of the ladies said this. The fins she showed when she smiled resembled a raptor, and I wiped my sweaty palm onto my pants. Hong Lei frowned.
"...May I inquire what you just said?"
"Actually, we intended to inform you a few days later..."
Another madam hushed her voice.
"We hope that you reconsider your marriage with Ming Li-san."
"Why mention that now?"
Hong Lei's voice became that of a dying beast groaning. Despite that, the madams never once frowned. As to be expected of the queens ruling Kabukicho at night.
"This is an internal matter for the Huangs. There is no need to abide by your wishes."
One of them, an oldest looking plump madam in a red ruqun, walking to the front of all the ladies.
"We heard that Miss' father has returned to Hong Kong, and is hired by the Beng Ya Association. If you are so insistent on getting married to someone of that indecent organization, we can no longer believe in the Huangs or even hand our funds over to you. I want to void my contract with the Coalition."
Hong Lei widened his eyes in shock, and the ladies voiced their threats one after another.
"Our company and employees are all looking to void the contract."
"Right, our retail chain will do likewise."
"Our family members too will like to void the contract."
"Impossible."
Hong Lei appeared to be impatient, and he cursed quietly.
"Ming Li already broke all ties with Hanada Masaru, and has no contact with him. How can she possibly have any relation to the"
He stopped midway through, sensing something was amiss, and shut up. After pondering for a little while, he spoke up unhappily.
"...No, that's just an excuse, right? What is the real reason?"
The atmosphere shook slightly, and the temperature seemed to rise.
The madams looked at each other, and snickered.
"Always the sharp kid there."
"Young Lord, we can't explain the real reason. This is shameful for us after all."
Huang Hong Lei really had a keen, wire cutter-like instinct. He turned back, and glared at—
Me, lying limp by the fence.
"...Did you do this?"
His voice and expression terrified me, and it felt as though I had a frozen ice pillar impaled at my gut. Hong Lei, and even Min-san widened their eyes at me. I really regretted not running away earlier, but it was all too late. If I remained silent, I definitely wouldn't be able to settle this situation.
Thus, I pulled myself up from the fence, barely straightening myself, and my limp knees were limber as I stood up.
"What did you do?"
Hong Lei approached me, and I hastily lifted my chest proudly as a facade, staring at him right in the eyes.
"I didn't do anything."
My voice was trembling. Calm down. Think what I have to say first. It doesn't matter whether I anger him now; I need to agitated him some more, and deliver the final blow.
"Just request all the madams earnestly, and accept their goodwill."
"What—"
"Actually, it wasn't me."
Hong Lei stood still, the skeptical look on his face spreading into frozen astonishment.
There was no need to explain, Hong Lei probably knew what we did exactly, and understood where his weaknesses were.
You guys now looked as though you own everything as you walk down the most bustling area in this country, but you were just hoodlums in the past. You were chased out of your hometown, went far beyond the seas to a foreign country where you had no support, and could only rely on your compatriots—the women who lived on strongly in the night cities, using their bodies as weapons. No? And so you guys protected them from violent threats, and absorbed wealth, solidified your territory, regrouped your organization, and built your own fortress. However, just by looking down at your feet, you'll understand that the ones supporting you till this point had been the women making a living through the night lives. You guys still remain under their control, and this is the power I found, the power that surpassed yours.
"Please don't forget."
I uttered each word, and felt heartbroken at the same time. Despite this, I continued staring at Hong Lei, saying.
"You need to trample those women below your feet to survive, but in this city, there's one person who can bring several hundred women like them to heaven with a single smile."
I didn't say that person's name, but Huang Hong Lei probably knew who it was.
Please don't forget,
The name of the man who opposed you.
We were on a car headed towards M High School, but Min-san was utterly fuming.
"So what's different from charging in and causing a ruckus? You idiot!"
I, seated at the co-passenger seat, pulled my neck in. Luckily, Min-san was driving, and had no hands to beat me.
"Tetsu's probably caught now, and Major's definitely going to get murdered. Couldn't you have thought of a better plan?"
"Sorry..."
Again, I underestimated Huang Hong Lei. That man's instinct was way beyond our imagination. He probably understood what was going on the moment the electricity went out, contacted the people on the first floor to provide support in the basement. I wonder if Major's okay? The Hirasaka-gumi members were also trounced badly, and Yondaime's still there to clean up the mess. Because of my clumsy plan, everyone involved got battered hard. Luckily, those madams showed up to save us.
"So, where's Hiro?"
"I really don't know. Hiro's not in the operations, and I didn't tell him the plan on that day. But, he's probably—"
At that ceremony. That was the only logical explanation.
Besides the few madams, there were a lot of Hiro's female friends in the welcomed guests, so it probably wasn't hard for him to sneak in as one of the supposed guests.
It had been 3 mere days since I thought of the 'kidnap the woman', and Hiro no only contacted all the Chinese madams he had affairs with, and even boasted that he was going to start new relationships. However, even Hiro had targets he couldn't contact, or couldn't invite because they were busy. 3 days soon passed, so I had intention to forcefully interrupt the wedding on the day itself, stop the Huangs' wedding gathering at at night, and a few days later, bring the madams along to negotiate.
But Hiro didn't think of this way.
He was a natural at wooing ladies, a hunter of love, and of course, he would choose the perfect opportunity when all the targeted ladies were gathered, today's gathering, to take action. It was probably during the short time, less than two hours, that he would duck through the ladies at the crowd, say a few words to get on their good side, and successfully get everyone to opposite this wedding. This godly act was really unbelievable, but I couldn't think of any other possibilities.
However, that godlike skill was a double-edged sword.
"That irresponsible guy!"
Min-san slammed the steering wheel a few times.
"He actually proposed to me so earnestly, and to think...those ladies were all married too! What was he thinking!?"
Well, it's true that this would surely wreck Hiro's love, and that both him and Huang Hong Lei took their losses. When I first thought of this plan, I really didn't know how to request Hiro.
"Seriously! I saw he was doing decent in the ramen shop, and thought he had a real change of heart to do well. And then, argh, ahh damn it."
However—I nonchalantly heard Min-san's grumbles, and thought,
He probably still had a chance, I guess?
At this point, Min-san showed no signs of hating him, and was simply, just completely furious. If she had no feelings for a man, she wouldn't be so angry at him laying his hands on a few hundred women...right?
"Narumi! What are you grinning away for?"
Min-san's growl his my right ear.
"Call Ayaka right now! I'm going to speed up and reach in 15 minutes or so!"
"Ah, ye-yes."
The car accelerated, and I nearly dropped my phone.
We reached the school in less than 10 minutes. The school gate was glamorously decorated, and the banners hanging from the roof practically covered all the walls of the school. There were the classes' booths in the yard, and the visitors packed the place so much it was impossible to get through. The bustling school broadcast had some background music playing, but I couldn't tell what it was at all. There were sandwich men and bunny girls holding placards to attract customers, even touting outside the school.
The bustling celebratory activities were about to begin, and I had a feeling that I was going to faint.
Min-san and I got out from the car at the parking lot, and we attracted a lot of attention. Min-san came directly from the wedding, and she was wearing a glamorous dress no inferior to a Bond girl.
The moment she stepped into the classroom of 2-4, the commotion increased by 5 times, or even 10 times.
"What's with that dress up, Min-san?"
"Did you participate in a photo shoot?"
"I want to take a photo! Is that fine?"
"Shut up. The customers are queuing up! Hurry up and work!"
The problem here is that the customers were excitedly drawing their cellphones out and taking photos of Min-san too...
As for me, I collapsed at the front end of the classroom that was segregated as the work place. The bunny maids holding the trays and going in and out were giving me stinging looks, but it was really worn out.
"Welcome back, Fujishima-kun!"
The bunny ears and the hem of the apron dress swayed as Ayaka came running towards me.
"Thank goodness Min-san made it in time. I'll go get the principal and the teachers."
"Yeah, made it...can I have a little break? Is there still some work for me?"
"Ah, it's fine. You can sit for your next work, Fujishima-kun. Actually, the committee wanted to do a review writeup for all the classes, so you can try all the ice cream our class made and write something like a food report?
Ayaka said that the review would affect the performances tomorrow, so I had no choice but to take this job. Back then, I completely forgot something critical. Our class 2-4 had 31 different flavors of ice cream sold.
And so, after eating the 5th ice cream, I had such a severe migraine that I collapsed, and had to finish the report in the infirmary.
| ← Ch. 44 | Ch. 46 → |