74. Various opinions…Before long…the car Katsuko-nee drives arrived at the front of the station in the private railway.
It"s approximately three stations away from the station where Nei-san raged.
Since the stations is in the residential area…the front isn"t that lively…
Margo-san"s van is parked in the parking lot at the convenience store in front of the station.
Katsuko-nee"s car joins in…that said, she stopped the car on a slightly remote position on purpose.
7:30 P.M.…
Nei-san who"s in the pa.s.senger seat of the van beckons me.
「…Then, I"m going」
「See you later…Take care」
Katsuko-nee told me.
Katsuko-nee gets out of the minivan and runs towards the white van with short steps.
Nei-san is wearing the same patch of Nagissan"s shop as mine.
Margo-san"s wearing a brownish uniform.
「Then…I"ll go shopping in the convenience store」
Saying that, Nei-san opens the door and gets out of the pa.s.senger seat.
She"s smiling towards me
A person with a good style looks good in whatever they wear…
Though we"re wearing the same clothes, I can clearly trace her shape and a.s.s well.
Nei-san entered the shop.
「…Yos.h.i.+dkun, get in」
Being told by Margo-san, I sat in the pa.s.senger seat.
The door closed and Margo-san handed me a piece of paper.
「It"s in the computer but…here"s the map. Can you memorize it?」
On top of the paper is a map showing the distance to a certain shop.
It"s a map of the station in the private railway in the suburbs.
The shop is a 15 minute walk from the station…
「I"ve never been there but I get the gist of it」
It"s a bit far from here…It"s 15 stations by train.
「Is that so?…That"s great. Nagissan will be meeting with the Yakuza in that shop at 9:00」
「…Okay」
「Nagissan will enter the shop at 8:30 You"re going to get in the train, then enter the shop at 8:40」
…Err
…What does that mean?
「The Yakuza want to know whether she called for support or not, I think that they will be checking all of the cars entering the road. We"re the same way, but they don"t have any way to check for people who took the train and walked from the station」
…I-I see
「When you enter, there might be someone from the Yakuza who would go check your status. Contrarily, if there"s a spy in the shop already, that guy can take action regardless. Anyway, they want to control the number of people」
…They plan to let me, an irregular enter to confuse the Yakuza side.
「But…won"t the Yakuza arrive before 8:40? Should I go earlier?」
「…No way」
Margo-san laughs.
「They"re people in that type of industry so they like to a.s.sume importance. They themselves would be a little late. That"s how it is」
「…Then, that"s fine」
「Well…A subordinate would come earlier and asks for the status. They want to know the lay of the land.」
「Got it」
「The person in the shop is someone Minaho knows so don"t worry. There are hidden cameras put in the shop already」
As expected…Margo-san"s skilled.
「Then…When I arrive at the shop, what should I do?」
「You don"t need to do anything. You can let Nagissan do the talking」
「…Eh?」
「Oh right. If the Yakuza attacks, I want you to protect Nagissan. Get in between the Yakuza and Nagissan all the time. Prevent Nagissan from being caught by the Yakuza」
「Okay, got it」
Nagissan will be in the back-most seat close to the wall, so you should sit by her side when she talks. Oh right, Yos.h.i.+dkun…do you have your 『Beat up Stick』?」
I knocked the sleeve of my patch.
「Yes. I have it here」
「Leave that in the car」
Margo-san said with a smile
「Eh…Why?」
Won"t it be troublesome for me if I don"t have a weapon?
「The opponent is a Yakuza. They"re skilled at fighting. If you bring some poor weapons, you"re going to think 『If ever something, I can use this to protect myself, I can use this to attack』 Then a chance would show up」
…chance
「The Yakuza might have some quite strong awareness…They might discover if you have weapons. It"s fine to just think of protecting Nagissan with your own body…」
…Yup.
Certainly, it is as Margo-san said.
If I take out a poor weapon, I might be distracted…
I"m not as strong as Margo-san…
「Got it…I"ll protect Nagissan with my life!」
I answered honestly.
「With that said…do you have your wallet, Yos.h.i.+dkun?」
Ah…wallet, it"s in my school uniform.
「I left it when I got off Katsuko-nee"s car.」
「It"s fine. You shouldn"t bring it…If you were caught by the Yakuza, they will discover your personal information if you have it. Leave your phone here too」
I took out my phone. And handed it to Margo-san
「You don"t have anything else? What about your Student ID」
「It"s all in my car. His pocket is empty」
「Okay…」
Margo-san handed me a cheap digital wrist.w.a.tch and a brown envelope to me
「There"s 3,000 yen in that envelope, use that for transportation」
「I don"t need that much…I think that a ticket costs only 400 yen」
Margo-san leaked out a sigh
「It"s unnatural if you don"t have money except for transportation isn"t it? I"m going to say this again but, a.s.sume the worst case that you"re caught by the Yakuza. Think about a false name」
「…False name?」
「Something that you can answer immediately if asked by the Yakuza. Also, use a common name so that you won"t make a mistake when you were asked again after a while」
「…Okay」
「You can use a name of a friend or someone you know…as long as it"s not easy to forget」
…Speaking of which
Yukino used Megumi as her false name as before…
「In my case, It"s Mary Smith 20 years old. American. Belonged to a lifeguard a.s.sociation in Los Angeles and usually works as a watchmen on the beach. I was sent to j.a.pan by the a.s.sociation and am now an instructor at rescue activity」
…Amazing
With Margo-san"s physique, she certainly looks like a beach watchmen in America.
「This is a profile of my acquaintance. That"s why I won"t make a mistake」
「…Won"t they be able to get it from the net」
「Do you know how many Mary Smiths live in Los Angeles? By the way, Smith is one of the most common family names in the US」
I-I see
「You can think while you"re in the train. Try to choose an ordinary name as much as possible」
「Okay」
「Then…We"re about to begin our operation. Anyway, Minaho and I are on the vicinity There"s no need to worry」
「…Got it」
「Try to be accurate in the times…Yos.h.i.+dkun, when you make contact with Nagissan, you no longer have any other contacts. I thought of handing over a prepaid phone but…having that is just unnatural」
「…Right」
I put on the cheap wrist.w.a.tch
Looking at the time in the van…Yup, it"s accurate.
「Then, I"m going…!」
「…Take care」
I opened the door…
Then Nei-san ran in…
「Okay…Yo-chan, have some ice cream!」
Nei-san offered a mint chocolate ice bar to my lip.
I opened my mouth and took a bite…Nei-san then gulped it down.
「…Why ice cream?」
「Well you see…it"s becauce I love you, Yo-chan1…Just kidding!」
Nei-san laughs.
「Yo-chaaan~!」
She embraced me.
Nei-san"s rich chest wraps my face softly…
「Seriously…Nei"s being spoiled by Yos.h.i.+dkun when Misuzu-chan or Megumi-chan"s not here」
Margo-san laughs.
「Aren"t I the Onee-san…There"s no way I can just take Yo-chan from my little sisters!」
Saying that, Nei-san embraces me and spins
「That"s dangerous Nei…You"re going to smear your ice cream on Yos.h.i.+dkun"s sleeve!」
「Ah…Sorry!」
Nei-san released me.
Looking at my sleeve…there"s surely some ice cream sticking on it.
Nei-san licked it with her red tongue…
「Yo-chan…take care」
「Nei-san too」
「I"ll be fine…Maru-chan"s with me!」
「Then…I"m going」
「Hey…Yo-chan」
Nei-san spoke
「Let"s go somewhere with just the two of us…」
「…Okay」
「That"s a promise」
Nei-san and I coiled our pinkie fingers.
「…Hot springs would be good」
Nei-san said with a blus.h.i.+ng face.
「Eh…we"re going to stay overnight?」
「You don"t want to be with me?」
「No…I want to go if it"s with Nei-san」
「Ufufufufu…I"m happy that you"re honest!」
Nei-san removed her pinkie finger…
「…Later then」
「Okay…Nei-san」
I went to the station with light steps…
◇ ◇ ◇
I bought a ticket and entered the station.
Doing something so common feels somewhat strange.
I"m going to an abnormal situation for a while.
…Having s.e.x with ridiculous frequency
…Dream like girls
…『Kuromori』
…Yukino
…And right now, I"m going to fight Yakuza
It"s somewhat absurd.
It"s entirely different from one week ago
The train came immediately.
The seats have become empty but I stood in front of the door.
I gaze at the night town outside the train…
Streetlights…lights from the building…stores…is that a convenience store s.h.i.+ning brightly…
My face reflects on the windowpane…
Ah, I"m still a bit bruised.
…I"m having a scary face.
「…Yos.h.i.+dkun?」
I was suddenly called out
When I turned around…It was a face I saw before
It"s a guy from our cla.s.s…he"s wearing a white T-s.h.i.+rt and plain jeans
…If I recall
「It"s me, Tanaka」
Oh right…Tanaka
「What are you doing with such clothes? Part time?」
I"m wearing a batch with the same name as Nagissan"s shop
「…Something like that」
I can answer only that way
There"s now way I can answer「I"m going to fight the Yakuza」
「Hee…you"re doing a lot of things, Yos.h.i.+da」
「…Well, yeah」
「What kind of work is it?」
「N…It"s a flower shop?」
Why am I making a question…?!
Wasn"t I taught by Margo-san a while ago?
I should be able to lie about my false profile smoothly…!
「Hee…You"re working somewhere unconventional」
Still…Tanaka seems to be convinced for the time being
「I"m about to go home to my relative"s house for the moment」
「…IS that so?」
I"m not interested in Tanaka though
「…Yos.h.i.+da, you"ve changed」
「…Eh?」
「You look suspiciously timid at the entrance ceremony…you were beaten up by Endou the other day after all. Did he break anything?」
「…Nah」
「No, everyone"s saying the same. Yos.h.i.+da has changed after his trouble with Endou. Is that it…Have you given up on s.h.i.+rasaka?」
…Yukino?
Why is Yukino being mentioned?
「Aren"t you always staring at s.h.i.+rasaka absentmindedly all the time? Well, s.h.i.+rasaka"s a beauty so I can understand your feelings. It was just too open though」
…Is that so?
So I was looking at her
…That much
「That must be why Endou beat you up… Endou began going out with s.h.i.+rasaka around last week after all」
…Everyone knows
「Those with foul mouths say that some parts in Yos.h.i.+da"s head got broken when you were hit by Endou」
Un. That"s how it looks like. Really.
「But you see…s.h.i.+rasaka"s not a great of a woman since she went out with someone like Endou. She looks good but she"s ill natured. She"s that type」
「…I wonder」
「That"s true. She was number one on the popularity among men at the start of the school but…her reputation dropped recently. It was finished specially when she had gone out with Endou」
「…Hee」
「The one rising in popularity recently is the chairwoman…Yamamine-san」
…Megumi?
「That girl"s kind to everyone. She"s not two faced. Also, she would be bright if you polish her…I can tell」
Err…I"ve seen the results of her polis.h.i.+ng though
「She actually has a good style…her face is good too. Her hairstyle is lacking though. If someone teached her the way of fas.h.i.+on, she would change dramatically. Yamamine-chan is…!」
Yup…She really changed dramatically.
She"s seriously a good woman.
She became an amazing beauty…yes
「s.h.i.+rasaka started being disliked by the girls from our cla.s.s, but…Yamamine-chan"s has always been liked by the girls. I"ve never heard them say anything bad about Yamamine-chan」
Megumi…is really a good girl after all
Somehow…hearing such a talk makes me happy.
It feels like my own family is being praised…
「Well anyway…you better not get involved with Endou any further He"s just a midboss you know」
「…Midboss?」
「He"s always acting so arrogant and self important. But, he doesn"t actually have the strength, that"s why everyone calls him 『midboss』from behind since middle school」
「Is that so?」
「I"m from the same middle school as Endou. He"s always saying 『My father"s a president and my uncle"s a councilor. My house has the power』 Then making absurd demands on the school side… But he had a fight with a son of a prefectural council member…」
「…What happened?」
「He went to apologize with his father while holding a box of cake. Since then, he definitely bows respectfully to the son of the prefectural council member. He"s an idiot…seriously」
So that"s why he"s a 『midboss』
He doesn"t have the ability to become a 『Big boss』…
Yukino is the woman who"s going out with him.
…The train arrived at the station.
「Ah, I"m getting off here…by, Yos.h.i.+da. Do you best at your work!」
「…Thanks」
Tanaka left the train laughingly
He"s not bad.
But…He"s looking properly
A person from our cla.s.s.
No…I didn"t know anything…
About Yukino.
About Endou.
Even about Megumi…
◇ ◇ ◇
I arrived at the target station.
I walked in the night road following the map…
It was an area where big factories gathered near the sea.
It"s golden week so all factories are closed.
There"s no people around.
With the help of the streetlights and the vending machines…I face the target shop.
I arrived at the shop safely.
The shop was an old bar.
It"s called a coffee shop during the daytime so should I call it bar at night?…
It looks like they usually deal with the people from the factories.
There"s a poster with『Large noon serving – 700 yen』written on it after all
It"s originally a fas.h.i.+onable looking shop though…
The name of the shop written on a blue neon sign…
『Stardust』
In the parking lot at the side of the shop is Nagissan"s Benz that was taken from the mansion.
…Nagissan"s already here.
When I looked at the clock…It"s 8:36
Margo-san told me…「Enter the shop at 8:40」wasn"t it?
…What should I do?
…Hm?
Nagissan from inside the shop has noticed me.
She"s waving her hand smilingly saying 「Here here」
I made a gesture saying 「No no, I won"t enter right now」
Nagissan made a 「Why?」gesture
I pointed at my watch and showed 「It"s not time yet」
Nagissan made a gesture saying 「Oh, I see」
I returned a gesture saying 「Please wait for a moment」
Nagissan signed 「Roger, roger」…
Haa, I sighed.
I looked up at the night sky.
There"s clouds up above.
It might rain tomorrow. 2
I saw the orange moon from the rift of the clouds…
Ah…Nagissan"s looking this way
But…there"s still two minutes.
Should I do exercise on the meanwhile?
It would be bad if I can"t move my body at important times.
I started doing radio exercise.
I don"t know other exercise anyway.
Nagissan from inside the shop points at me and laughs out loud.
That"s cruel…I"m just doing exercise.
Okay…It"s time
I entered the shop
「Yos.h.i.+dkun…Gufufufufu…why?」
Nagissan"s still laughing…
「Well…I have to warm up so I can move if needed」
「Even so, doing a radio exercise in front of the shop…Ahahahaha, so funny!」
Nagissan holds my hand…
「Thank you…I loosened up thanks to that」
Saying that, she smiled towards me
「Anyway…take a seat」
Nagissan"s sitting in the back seat just as Margo-san said.
I sit by her side.
If anyone ever shot a pistol from the doorway, I can set my body in-between to defend Nagissan…
I thought that"s a necessity during this situation…
「…Want to drink something?」
Nagissan asked me.
…But
「Sorry…It"s my first time in such a place」
I don"t get what"s written on the menu.
『Manhattan』or 『Blue Hawaii』…
『Sidecar』, is that really a name of a drink?
「Nagissan, what are you drinking?」
「Me?…This is 『Moscow Mule』」
Yup, I can"t imagine the taste from the name…
「Yos.h.i.+dkun"s not allowed to drink alcohol yet…Master, bring 『Moscow Mule』to this boy and remove the vodka please」
「…Got it」
The 50 year old master began to make something after saying that
He"s mixing two liquids…W-What?
「Here"s your 『Moscow Mule』without vodka」
A gla.s.s was put before me
「Drink it」
Being urged by Nagissan who"s laughing fufufu…I took the gla.s.s to my mouth.
「…How is it?」
It doesn"t have the taste of alcohol.
…How should I say it?
「It"s a bit sour, it feels like ginger ale…」
Answering that, the old-man master laughed.
「Clever…『Moscow Mule』without vodka is just lime juice mixed with ginger ale」
…haa
「It"s called 『Saratoga cooler』 This is also a non-alcohol c.o.c.ktail」
Nagissan laughs satisfied…
「Let"s come to this bar again when we"re out of this situation. Should we go when Yos.h.i.+dkun"s of age, when you can drink alcohol? I"ll teach you all about delicious liquors…!」
「…Okay」
「There"s a fantastic bar in the grand hotel at the port. We"re going to drink there…then reserve a room for the night. I want to watch the beautiful night with you」
Nagissan"s making such a talk…
「Sorry about that…this isn"t a romantic shop」
The master interrupts
「I"m sorry for using this shop for a troublesome thing」
When Nagissan said that to the master
「I don"t mind…we"re a shop that suits it after all. Please use it without hesitation!」
Then he laughed.
When I looked around the shop…
There"s no other customer other than us.
「There doesn"t seem to be a scout does it? Even though Yos.h.i.+dkun made such a performance in front of the shop, there"s no one who came…」
Nagissan laughingly said.
「Is there no need for us to worry then?…」
「…We"re still not sure」
I gripped Nagissan"s hand
「…Right. We must not stop being vigilant」
Just like that…Nagissan and I waited for the arrival of the Yakuza.
…8:50 No one"s coming.
…8:55 There"s no change.
…Even at 9:00. The Yakuza didn"t come at the promised time.
「Margo-san said that the Yakuza would be a bit late…」
「Right. But, that Yakuza person is just for bluff so they won"t make us wait that long」
From outside the window…there"s a car coming over.
…09:02:12
「…Look」
The Yakuza from the flower market this morning had stopped his yellow green Porsche.
Yup…There"s a graffiti on the door.
It"s Nei-san"s prank
Certainly, that looks bad.
Or rather…the yellow green Porsche looks like a tree frog.
The door opened and the Yakuza came out.
One, two, three, four, five…
「…That"s surprising」
Nagissan muttered
「Three people were able to sit in the rear seat of such a small Porsche…!」
The Yakuza in the purple who we met this morning is in the middle.
Uwaa…He"s still wearing sungla.s.ses even at night.
The other four look like hoodlum followers.
They"re all looking flashy…
「…They came」
The door of the shop opened…and the Yakuza entered…!
1. Can"t make the English version of the joke so I"ll just explain it, Ice cream is read as Aisu, and she said aisheteru in this line. ↩
2. Oh yes, this rain will be so dramatic ↩