Fukusha Model Eight – Chapter 2

“What was that all about?” Saki whispers as we cross the street.

“Just a second.” I melt back into the shadows with Ninjin and Saki and wait while I watch the windows of my apartment building.

“Come on,” I whisper. I promised myself that if Haku ever did this again, I would report him to Okamoto, the head of Kiiroi Yama. He owns this building through his mob connections which is the only reason I’m staying in the shithole to begin with. Everyone thinks the yakuza here are independent. They know nothing.

The light in Mirana’s kitchen flickers on, and I breathe a sigh of relief. Thank goodness because I wasn’t looking forward to dealing with Haku again. Saki follows my line of sight to the window.

“Looks like Haku will live another day,” she says, gesturing me up the street.

“If he’s lucky,” I reply, loosening my grip on Ninjin’s leash. My knuckles had turned white with the effort to hold back my rage. Ninjin darts ahead and tries to gobble up a stray cat that crosses our path. This was something I had to get used to on the Southern Continent. Here, animals were set free years ago, and now they breed, live or die on their own or with their owners, more like the situation at home. People think Ninjin is a stray I took in. I don’t correct them. It’s part of my cover.

“Ninjin, heel! Leave the poor cat alone.” He huffs as he returns to my side.

Saki laughs as she walks next to me, her long hair braided and flung over her shoulder. I miss my long hair, and I miss it being deep black as well. Brown doesn’t suit me.

“You’re so good with animals. You should be a trainer or something. I hear they make a lot more money than we do slinging noodles.”

“I’m sure they do, but you know. It’s just a temp job for me. I’m sure my boyfriend will be back from his tour of duty any day now.” The more I say the lies, the easier they are to believe.

“Ah, the mysterious boyfriend,” she says, wiggling her fingers at me. “Who does he work for again?”

“Kiiroi Yama. One of their maritime units. Hey, can we explore this neighborhood up the hill one more time? I’ve forgotten the businesses on this street.”

She sighs as she follows along. “Yumi, why do you live in that awful place then? If you have a boyfriend who makes money, shouldn’t you be living somewhere safer?”

I wave my hand at her. “Haku is harmless, and the room is cheap.”

“Haku is going to kill you if you’re not careful.”

I swallow hard as I begin to sweat. “Nah. I’m sure I can handle him.”

She’s more right than I am. I’m sure I can’t handle him, but I’ll have to at some point. If I had a fancy apartment and a real job, then people would start to ask questions. No one asks questions of people living in flophouses. No one but Saki.

“Well, maybe your man will come soon and sweep you off to some private beachside estate.” Saki turns to the side as she accompanies me up the hill. “Tell me about him again.”

Days spent making bowls of noodles next to Saki taught me a lot about her. She grew up an orphan and has never had a boyfriend. I told her that was scandalous for someone twenty-five years old, but she dismissed me. She’s a free spirit who never spends much time in any one place. And she can really kick ass. I once saw her knockout a man twice her size in the ring, and she didn’t even crack a knuckle. Pretty impressive.

I stick to the basics about Rin, though every day, he fades a little more from my memories. I knew him for less time than I’ve spent in this town away from him.

“He’s a bit taller than me. Crooked smile. Formidable. He has a scar on the back of his head from a butsu accident a few years ago.”

“And he shaves his head, right?”

“Yeah,” I confirm, angling to the left on a fork in the road. At this fork, I remember to go left for the hill, right to head into town. Left, hill. Right, town. I fill in the map I keep in my head, noting the businesses on the corners, how many people are usually around, and which streets lead where. I can’t ever let what happened in Shin-Osaka happen again, so in the three months I’ve lived here, I’ve tried to visit every part of the city from the wharves where the boats come in from the Northern Continent to the high hills surrounding the downtown.

But each day a new section of the city fades away. I forget the little details, grasping for tidbits like names or the color of a building. Saki never asks me why I need to walk these streets over and over. She considers it ‘good exercise’ meant to keep her in shape. I don’t dispute it.

This is how I get through most of my lies. I let people tell me what they think, and then I don’t correct them. The ghost of Rin’s touch on my chin, “I can always tell when you’re lying,” keeps my mouth shut.

I hate it.

I’m a journalist and prying the truth out of people is what I do best, not hiding secrets from everyone around me.

Besides, Saki is the closest thing I’ve had to a friend since I landed here, and for once, Ayamé approves. She shows up in my one-room apartment now and then to tell me the most random things including that she’s happy I finally have someone to talk to. I hide away from her now because the guilt burns. Guilt for trying to replace her. Guilt because seventy percent of what I tell Saki are lies. I have a lot of guilt over a dead person I regularly see outside of dream time.

I’m obviously going insane.

A flash of movement down an alley we pass catches my eye, and I turn to look. Ninjin whines, but whatever was there is gone now. I always have this creepy feeling like I’m being watched and followed, but I never actually catch anyone. Yep, going insane.

“So, what would you say if I told you I saw someone just like this boyfriend of yours in town the other day?”

Ninjin pulls at the leash, and I throttle forward making some random guy passing us laugh.

“Ninjin, slow the fuck up, will you?”

Saki laughs at me when Ninjin turns around to pant in my direction.

“I never thought I’d meet someone who curses more than I do, but here you are.” Saki lifts her hand and shields her eyes from the bright morning sunlight. One thing I like about the Southern Continent is the weather. Always bright and sunny here.

We avoid the butsu-empowered stairs and climb the hill. I remember when I first arrived on Hikari with Rin, I thought those were flat magical stairways. Now I know better.

My thoughts are pulled back to Rin.

“You saw someone who looks like Rin in town? Where?” I do my best to keep my voice even and non-interested, but Saki is too smart for that. In the few weeks I’ve known her, she’s come to read me well enough. I can fool her with stories I’ve practiced for months, but these things that come out of nowhere are harder to hide.

“At Bella Napoli. Last night.”

Bella Napoli is Saki’s second job. She’s able to afford an apartment with its own bathroom because she works two jobs and fights on Friday nights for extra cash.

“Huh. That’s interesting.”

Second guesses whirl around in my head as we huff and puff up the hill. Saki barely breaks a sweat. I’d give anything to have her stamina.

We’re quiet as we walk past two, three, four buildings, all of which I place on the map in my head — a grocer, a gallery, a small apartment building with an old lady rinsing off the sidewalk.

“Aren’t you going to pry me for more information?” Saki looks sideways at me. “I thought for sure you’d be asking what, where, when, why, and how. You always ask me a million questions about everything.”

I lick my dry lips as I watch Ninjin’s tail swish back and forth in front of me. It’s so hard for me to hide my curious nature. New people to my life call me on it within a few hours of meeting. I was only on Hikari a brief moment before Rin was telling me to stop it with the questions already.

“Was he with anyone?” pops out of my mouth.

I’m surprised this is the first question I’m asking. Even Ninjin looks back, his ears pricked up.

She twists her lips to the side. “You went right to ‘who.’ Didn’t expect that.” She pushes up her sleeves. “He was at the table with a woman. Long, curly hair. Tanned skin. Pretty but not striking or anything.”

Then not Atsumi. Who is this?

“You’re sure he meets the description I’ve given? Scar?” I trace the line around my head, and she nods, biting her lip. Great. It’s such a distinctive feature, it would be hard to believe someone else would have the same scar.

But if Rin is in town, why didn’t he write? Stop by? He would be able to get my location from Atsumi.

Something doesn’t seem right about this unless he’s changed his mind? Maybe something went wrong with the mission, and he met someone else, and he’s gone back on his word and…

My stomach spirals into a tangled knot of uncertainty as I try to recapture the weeks we spent together in the house after we left Shin-Osaka. I stop and close my eyes, remember the house and the land and Rin sitting beside me. I turn to look at him, and my head hurts trying to fill in all the minutiae of his face, his smile, his eyes.

Damn. What have these migraines done to me?

We hit the top of the hill where we usually take a break. There’s a freshwater fountain here with a bowl for dogs that I always let Ninjin drink out of, so I pull up there and tie him up to the fence so he can lie in the shade of the trees.

Sighing, I sink down to the stone bench next to Ninjin and Saki sits next to me.

“I’m so sorry,” she says, kicking at a stone. “I thought maybe he was there with a sister or friend, and you’d recognize them both and be happy.”

I shake my head, looking at my feet. “He’s an orphan, and as far as I know, he knows no one in Kitakyushu. He was due back soon, but I figured he’d come to me right away.”

“Maybe he still will? Maybe today?” She elbows me in my side, and it reminds me of Ayamé and Shintaro, their favorite ways to get me to smile. “He could’ve been debriefing with a colleague or meeting up with someone else from work. You never know.”

“You’re right. If it was him, I’ll probably see him soon.” But I don’t say that with confidence. I wanted Rin to run right to me, sweep me away from the dump I’ve been living in, take Ninjin’s leash, and lead me off to some secluded Shiroi Nami estate where I’d be treated like an honored guest and secure a future for my people.

Wow, that was one hell of a dream I had. Where did that come from?

“I bet you see him sooner than you think. I brought him and his companion glasses of water, and he asked me if there’s anything fun to do in town on a Friday night. I gave him the usual spiel — the night market at the wharf, the local cinema, the dance club. But he pried some more and asked about any gambling. I told him about the fights. I bet he’ll come. He seemed interested.”

“Hmmm,” I breathe out, unable to form any other words. He knows I like fights. Back home, I fought occasionally because I needed a way to handle my aggression, but here on Hikari, I go to gamble, yell, and cheer. I need to keep my profile low and being the talk of the town after winning a fight is nowhere near low profile.

“That’s it? Just hmmm? I’ve been working beside you for three weeks, and usually, you can’t stop talking.” She whistles. “This one must have broken your heart.”

“Not true,” I say, raising my finger. “He hasn’t… would never…” I falter to a stop. Rin saved me more than once, he said I was his ticket out of this mess, and he was… My gut clenches as I remember him in bed, his light touch and the way he held me. If I were to put all of those things on a scale, how much would they be worth? How do I even explain that to Saki?

I look up from the pavement to her. She’s waiting for me to finish my sentence, and I’m not sure how to do that. I like her a lot, and I do trust her to a point. But I can’t be truthful with her.

“It’s fine. Really.” I dust off my pants and stand up. Ninjin jumps to his feet. “If it was Rin, then I’m sure I’ll see him soon. I don’t know what I expect to see, but he won’t keep me in suspense for very long.”

Okay, that sounded halfway normal, enough for Saki to nod her head in agreement.

“What are you doing here in Kitakyushu anyway, Yumi?” Saki kicks a stone down the hill before smiling up at me. “I can’t believe I’ve known you for three weeks and I never asked!”

I swallow, wondering how honest I can be with her.

“What do you mean, what am I doing here? What does it look like? I’m working and living, hoping my boyfriend comes back from sea in one piece.”

“Really? Why not wait at home? I mean, I’m sure you’re not a Kitakyushu native. Your accent is all wrong. You strike me as a Northerner.”

How have I still not killed my Orihimé accent? I huff a fake laugh.

“Yeah, you’re right. I’m from the Northern Continent. I actually came here to meet up with someone, but I have yet to run into… him.” I have no idea who from Shiroi Nami I would even run into. Maybe some of the men or women I saw on Kurai when we negotiated for my brother’s release? That would’ve been ideal.

But still, I’ve been here for three months and nothing.

“Can’t you just call him up?” Saki’s questions sound innocent, but they’re making me nervous.

“Nah, I can’t. He moves around a lot. Shall we head back?” I start walking again with Ninjin. “Any chance you have time for one of those decadent coffees from Seisai café?”

Saki laughs. “You’re going to go broke drinking those. I swear it’s the most expensive coffee in the city.”

“It’s also the best coffee in the city.”

“Fine. Sure. Do you want to shower at my place? Maybe you should avoid Haku for the time being.”

“Yeah. Can I borrow a shirt?” I ask, frowning as I hear a rumble in the distance. Is that thunder?

“Of course,” she says, smiling at me. “We’re the same size.”

She’s right. I should avoid going home until I have to sleep there. Haku needs more time to forget about what I pulled this morning. He’s probably still angry with me for interfering in his business, and a cooling off period is needed.

We round the corner back down the hill in the direction of Saki’s neighborhood when a distant siren catches my attention. Looking up the side of the mountain, a Kiiroi Yama police car comes flying in over our heads.

Saki and I both crouch down, even though the car is several dozen meters above us, and Ninjin pulls at his leash, barking at the retreating flying car.

“Wonder what’s going on?” Saki asks, right before a building six blocks down the hill explodes, billowing fire and dark smoke up into the sky. “Motherfucker,” she says, pulling back in shock. “I think that’s…” She squints her eyes. “I’m pretty sure that’s an Aoi Uma credit exchange.”

Several people come out and join us on the sidewalk, and I bring Ninjin in closer to my legs to keep him calm. Insistent buzzing prompts people to pull out their tablets and read the screens. I glance over at an older man who just exited a laundromat carrying his clean clothes in a bag. It’s cheaper if you come pick them up yourself.

“That’s interesting,” he says, looking at the screen.

“What?” I ask, leaning closer.

“No calls for cameras. They’ve disabled cameras on all tablets in a ten-block radius.” He shows me the screen, and it reads, “You are requested to avoid the scene of a fire on the 300 block of Mitsui Avenue. All cameras within a ten-block radius have been disabled for the next one hundred twenty minutes.”

I once earned a hundred credits for filming a newsworthy event, and Aoi Uma is keeping people from recording whatever is happening downhill.

They can suppress our cameras but not our eyes.

I look at Saki and tilt my head while raising my eyebrows.

She reads my mind right away. “Oh hell yeah. Let’s go.”