Fukusha Model Eight – Chapter 10

“Can we stop to rest?” I ask, stumbling around next to Kazuo. “Except for a twenty-minute nap yesterday afternoon, I’ve been awake for an entire day now.”

Out ahead of us, Saki and Shun walk together, their steps measured and even. They’re holding up a lot better than I am. I’m tired. I’m thirsty. I’m a bit of a mess. Ninjin trots along next to me, his energy on peak. Lucky thing.

“We need to get to the Gobo Loop Butsu, and then we can rest. You can even sit in the green lane for a while.”

I smile as I remember Rin telling me that sitting in any lane but the green lane would get you fined. I draw in a sharp breath with the memory of dancing on the butsu, his hand on my back, and the crazed android with his face trying to kill me.

My emotions are a roller coaster, and I want to get off.

“How far away are we?” I ask, looking at the desolate surrounding landscape. The land here is dry and craggy with nothing but brush bushes and skinny trees to shelter us from the equatorial sun. The bright orb in the sky rose an hour ago, and it’s already uncomfortably warm.

Kazuo shifts his pack to his front, unzips it, and pulls out a bottle of water.

“Oh, you are a blessed being,” I say, taking it from him and drinking deeply.

He laughs. “That’s a new one.”

I shrug. “The people in Kitakyushu are funny and vibrant. They may be lawless, but they’re a good time.”

“Yeah. This Southern Continent is a lot more like home.” He takes the bottle back and drinks as well. “We’re about another hour’s walk from the butsu.”

I slow down a little more, putting additional space between us and Saki and Shun. Kazuo cups some water in his hand and feeds it to Ninjin.

“Great. I’m gonna fall over dead if you don’t distract me, so start talking. What the hell is going on?”

“Long version or short?”

I laugh, thinking about how many times we’ve bounced this phrase back and forth to each other over the years.

“I’m a journalist. I always want the long version. I want to know what’s going on and why you’re not more worried.”

Kazuo guides me to the right where the path is a little more solid and straightforward.

“You read me too well. Of course, I’m not worried. It’s Rin. I’m sure he’s doing just fine. Okay, so, when you left for Kitakyushu, Rin and I left not long after but we went directly east to Susami. I wanted to check on you when we got there, but Rin didn’t want to compromise your position.”

“Sounds like him,” I say with no malice. He’s always looking out for my best interest and my safety, even if he’d rather be with me. “Did Atsumi ever tell you about me? What I was doing?”

“No. She probably should have. It looks like you’ve lost a lot of weight, and you’re twitchy.”

“It happens when your boss demands you act poor, and she threatens you with jail time if you blow your cover.”

He backs up. “Atsumi told you that?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“What happened to the one-bedroom apartment in the artisans’ district she set you up in? I thought for sure you’d love that place.”

I trip, and dirt puffs up around my legs. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Kazuo’s face hardens. “She showed me photos of the place,” he grinds out between clenched teeth. “I was surprised to find you in that flophouse.”

I watch my feet carry me forward, growing aware of the fiction Atsumi has been feeding people while I’ve been starving and scared for my life.

“Yumi, tell me what happened. Now.” Kazuo’s stern voice brings me to a halt.

“I’m not sure what happened.” I force my legs to continue ahead. “Atsumi and I were getting along during the time we traveled south together. She had that private meeting with Rin and Okamoto one morning, you left, and she came back to the inn we were staying at all cold and distant. It felt like I had pissed her off, but I had no idea what I’d done. She wouldn’t even talk to me about the mission. All she did was walk me to the docks and introduce me to Ninjin before she put me on the boat. She gave me my new identity with a few credits to my name and told me to figure it out. Nothing else. I spent the entire journey seasick and wondering where I would live when I got there. When I got to Kitakyushu, I realized that the only places to go to disappear were the halfway houses, and the…” I lick my dry lips and hesitate at his expression of horror. “The drug dens.”

“No.” Kazuo’s face is hard with shock. “That wasn’t the deal. That wasn’t supposed to happen.” His voice is so full of anger that Ninjin whines.

“It’s okay, buddy,” I say, calming him down.

“I didn’t know what to do. I tried to ask Atsumi for help, but she didn’t answer my messages in the forum we set up. For the first few nights, I slept on the street. I wandered around observing the homeless until I saw which areas were left alone by police officers.

“After about a week, I got desperate for help and wrote to Okamoto. Then finally Atsumi answered my messages. She was fucking pissed that I went over her head. She got me a room at that flophouse, said Okamoto owned the place and let this yakuza asshole named Haku run it.

“Anyway, I was supposed to be poor, and I couldn’t really be eating expensive pastries and three square meals a day ‘poor’ so I cut my calorie intake, and I started exercising a lot. It’s just a few kilos. I’m sure I’ll get it back.”

Kazuo’s eyes widen. “This is not ‘just a few kilos,’ Yumi. I’m going to kill Atsumi.”

The anger I had suppressed for months wells up in my belly like a newly found spring.

“You’ll have to get past me to do it,” I say, cracking my knuckles. “I’m first in line.” I remember the list of people I had that I was going to kill. I haven’t thought about that list in forever, and now’s a good time to reassess it. Narumi Ogawa and Gen Miyazawa are still on the list. Akikazé is already dead, and now Atsumi ratchets up to number three. Fucking hell. I put my life in her hands because Rin told me to. Was this what he was expecting?

“I’m going to guess you and Rin had no idea?”

His eyes widen in surprise. “That you were living in a one-room disaster with some guy practically dead on the stairs from an overdose and the only protection you had was a padlock on the door? No. Of course, we didn’t.”

Suspicions confirmed. Atsumi kept my situation a secret.

“Then I know what to do when we get to Gobo.”

Kazuo nods his approval.

“And, I’m afraid we’re going to have more problems than just this,” I say, looking sideways at him, “because according to my yakuza landlord he owns me, my contract, now.”

Kazuo shakes his head. “No way. We put locks on your account.”

“I saw it, Kazuo,” I insist.

“You saw your profile and…?”

“My contract had been sold off to the yakuza. I swear it.” I glance over my shoulder, certain Haku must be coming to get me.

He shakes his head. “No way. There’s just no way it can happen, Yumi. I promise. We instituted every safeguard. They must have doctored up something to fool you.”

I reach for my bag. “I’ll show you right now.”

“Don’t bother. There’s no connectivity out here. Show me when we get to Gobo.”

I huff as I shift my bag around to my side. “Tell me about the rest of your mission.”

He sighs before putting his water away. “Where did I leave off? Ah, so we split up in Susami, which is the biggest city on the eastern coast. We’ll have to take the Gobo Loop Butsu to another loop to another loop to get there.”

“Why don’t we take a train?”

“Too much surveillance. The butsues here are practically unpoliced, enough for our purposes.”

I pick up a stick and let Ninjin wrestle with it.

“Anyway, we split up in Susami. I rendezvoused with other Kiiroi Yama undercover officers to watch out for Shiroi Nami and build up an arsenal to help them come out of hiding. But the yakuza in Susami are far too powerful now. They took over after Shiroi Nami were banned to Kurai. They saw an open market and swooped right in.”

Kazuo shakes his head. “So, Shiroi Nami is working to reclaim their lands, which Aka Matsuba was going to help them do. But now instead, they’re dealing with yakuza and Fukusha Model Eight androids infiltrating their ranks and killing off their corporation heads. They’re locked up tight.”

“And Rin was supposed to get into their ranks how?” My voice shakes with fatigue and nervousness. This is worse than I expected. Not only would he be dealing with Shiroi Nami, paranoid and fighting for their corporation, but also with power-hungry yakuza and Aoi Uma’s uprising androids.

I try to swallow, my throat dry again. It was better I didn’t know how dangerous this mission was for Rin.

“It was an impossible task, but he made great progress. He figured out who the yakuza were and who he thought was with Shiroi Nami. We met, and he said he was going to talk to his Shiroi Nami contact, come clean about having your data, and ask them to negotiate. We’ve heard rumors that Shiroi Nami is shipping more of their people in from Kurai, so now would be a good time to form an alliance with them. But…”

Kazuo walks for a few steps without saying anything.

“What happened?” I ask, prompting him. I pry the stick out of Ninjin’s mouth, let go of the leash, and throw it as far as I can. He runs out after it.

“Turns out, Rin was wrong. He thought he was talking to Shiroi Nami, but he was talking to these Samurai Seven people.” Kazuo jerks his chin to Saki and Shun way out in front of us. They’ve pulled so far ahead that we’d have to run hard to catch up.

“How long have they known?” The night before, Shun told me I had to come along or my boyfriend would be dead. Shit. He’s been holding Rin’s life in his hands, and possibly for a while now.

I concentrate on Saki’s back. Has she known who I’ve been for weeks? Has she been playing me? She’s the one who told me that Fake-Rin was in town. Did she lead me right to the slaughter? If so, why is she helping me now?

“These two? Not sure. Shun has more clout amongst them. I don’t know much about Saki. I’ve never met her before today.”

“Son of a bitch,” I mutter.

How have I allowed this to happen? I was stupid. I was lonely and wanted a friend, and I let this traitor into my midsts. Even if I get my hands around her throat, I’ll never hear the end of it from Atsumi.

“Shit. Shit. Shit.”

“What?”

“Atsumi swore up and down that if I jeopardized Rin’s mission in any way, she would kill me.”

“Looks like we’ll have to kill her first then.” Kazuo shrugs amiably like we’re talking about the weather.

I sigh. “She told me to trust no one. No friends. No confidences.” I harden my jaw, knowing I fucked up. Does the fact that she was trying to end me quietly make up for my own errors?

Nope. I don’t think so.

“You know what? It’s all her fault.” I jerk my head at Saki.

Ninjin brings his stick back to me, so I grab his leash and urge him on.

“Yumi,” Kazuo warns, his voice low, “what are you doing?”

“Hey!” I yell, moving my legs even faster. They’re like rubber now, and they don’t want to move for me despite my urging them along. “Hey!” I yell again, increasing my pace.

They finally hear me and stop to turn around.

I storm straight up to them, and Shun backs away as I lash out and push Saki with both hands.

“How could you?” My voice shakes, and instead of Kazuo telling me to calm down, it’s Ayamé at my ear. “Be nice, Yumi. She may be the only friend you’ll ever have again.”

“Fuck you,” I tell her.

“Well, fuck you too,” Saki says, pushing me in return.

I meant that for Ayamé, but it applies to Saki as well. I stumble, my rubbery legs unable to keep me upright.

“Don’t,” Shun warns, grabbing Saki’s arm. “The boss won’t like it if we show up, and she’s already mad at us.”

“I trusted you.” I jab my finger at her, and Ninjin barks. Thanks, buddy, for backing me up. “I told you about my brother and my family… I told you about Rin, and your people kidnapped him? You’re trying to take him away from me?” I squint at her and the halo she’s developing around her body.

Dammit. Migraines come on quicker than I’m used to here.

“Don’t play innocent with me,” she says, stepping into my personal space. She’s taller than me which never bothered me before but does now. “You kept the truth from me from the very beginning.”

“So, you knew who I was?” Anger heats my cheeks, and the extra blood to my head causes my brain to beat in my skull.

She draws herself up, lifting her chin. “Yes. It was my job to find you and figure out what your weakness was. We thought we’d either go for your brother or for Rin. Rin was the easier target. But I had no idea they had him until Shun showed up yesterday.” Her shoulders droop, and she sighs. “For what it’s worth, I did enjoy spending time with you.”

I draw back, horrified. I’m so angry with myself. This is all my fault. I spent ten years hardening myself, turning my heart into a black hole where every good emotion went. I was tough. I was strong. Then I let a little love into my life, and everything’s gone to hell.

“I was honored to be selected for this mission,” Saki continues. “But that doesn’t mean I didn’t consider you a friend.”

I want to throw up.

“What the fuck was I thinking?” I ask Kazuo in disbelief.

“I don’t think you want to hear my theories.”

I’ve known Kazuo long enough to make an educated guess what he thinks. He would tell me the same thing that I’m thinking. I became a fully functional human being once I let Rin defrost my heart.

And that was a huge mistake. I became someone who could be manipulated. I became weak. I let happiness get the better of me.

I don’t think that’s something I can change either.

These events are already in motion.

Despite what I will have to do to harden myself back up again, I can’t let Rin suffer because of me. I won’t abandon him to these crazy people. I’ll be responsible and get him out, and then I’ll see what can be done about my situation afterwards.

“Don’t you fucking talk to me ever again,” I say to Saki, my voice a cold, wintry wind.

She backs away, her face falling. I don’t care if I hurt her feelings. Fuck her and her feelings.

“Yumi, come on. It doesn’t have to be like this,” she pleads, stumbling towards me, but I turn my back to her.

“Let’s go, Ninjin. Let’s go.”

I stalk off with my dog at my side and Kazuo not far behind.