Shinjuku Lagoon
My obsession with being alive is also your fault.
-Kawori Miyazono
Kousei was at Hikaru's house, helping Kaori pack.
Clapping her hands to get rid of the dust, she remarked, "It seems I just got here yesterday. I won't miss this room much, though. Nothing happy happened here . . . except when we met again!" She turned and jumped into his arms. "Gotcha!"
"Hey!" Kousei caught her in a surprised embrace. "It's kind of like a miracle I ever found you."
"No it wasn't." Kaori pulled her head back and grinned at him. "I made it all happen."
"Sure. If I hadn't happened to pass by the art shop, where would we be now?"
The grin turned into a frown. "Do you want me to answer that? I don't even want to think about it."
"Neither do I." Kousei smiled ruefully. "If they make a statue of me one day, it'll have to be one with its big mouth open." He gestured at the cardboard boxes Kaori had just taped shut. "Is this everything?"
She nodded, pushing the long sleeves of her shirt up. "Heaviest one first, I guess?"
They struggled into the corridor with one big box, which they left with a growing pile of suitcases and bags near the genkan.
"This ought to be enough," Kaori appraised. "Wait a minute, please. I'll just tell Hikaru-san we're ready." She ran up the stairs, her multilayered pink skirt flouncing about her.
In a few minutes Kaori came down with Hikaru in tow. "Ready, Kousei?" she asked, putting on a pair of dark sunglasses. Kousei noted she also wore short leather gloves.
Johann and another man emerged from the kitchen. They wore nondescript citywear—dark sport jackets and slacks plus sunglasses. The other man was smaller than his bulky counterpart, sinewy and brown-skinned. It seemed he liked to smile; Kousei only knew him by the name 'Ernesto.'
"Yes."
"That's quite the pile you have there," Hikaru commented. "We'll take the minivan. Help us load your stuff into the back."
"I'm sorry we're imposing on you like this," Kaori said.
"Ah, it's no problem."
"That's our boss," Ernesto chuckled. "Runs a daycare in the morning and shoots bad guys at night."
"Shaddup," Johann said, giving him a rough tap on the shoulder. "Loose lips."
"Hey, in case you've forgotten, the little lady over here's our client." Hikaru said. "Treat her with respect, Ernie."
"So sorry, little miss," the man apologized, scratching the back of his head and smiling disarmingly. "Didn't mean anything by what I said."
"It's okay," Kaori said, smiling back.
Without further banter they loaded her things into the back of the boxy grayish-black Honda minivan. The two teenagers piled into the back along with Ernesto, while Hikaru rode shotgun. The front gate opened electrically, guarded by another of Hikaru's crew, and the loaded vehicle eased out of the driveway into the street.
"Seems clear," said Johann.
"Keep on the expressway until we reach the Shibuya exit," Hikaru directed. "By the way, the weatherman predicted the possibility of fog hereabouts."
When they pulled off the expressway and had begun threading the streets that would eventually lead them to the interior of Nerima Ward, Hikaru tsked and turned to the driver.
"I think we're snakebit."
Johann looked up at the wide rearview mirror. "I don't see anything."
"The black Corolla to your left, two cars back," Ernesto said. "Don't look at it!" he warned Kousei and Kaori, who had begun to do just that. "It's been with us since the rotunda near the house."
"Ah."
"Get down, you two," Hikaru said calmly. "We may be mistaken. It may be nothing."
Hearts racing, the two teenagers bent down as far as they could. Ernesto released the catch on the seat back, letting it fold forward, to give them more room.
"You all right?" Kousei whispered. He was lying on his stomach, as flat as possible on the cargo floor, arm thrown protectively across Kaori's back, while she lay beside him.
"I'm fine. It's you I'm worried about. Just listen to what Hikaru-san says."
"I-I'm okay. You don't need to worry about me." Kousei's pounding heart belied that bravado, but she didn't need to know about it just now . . . .
Minutes seemed to crawl by just as slowly as the traffic. The sedan never lost sight of them, a threatening metal presence not actually doing anything save unraveling their peace of mind with its presence. Their nerves were already quite strained when something beeped in Hikaru's glove compartment. She opened it and pulled out what looked like a bulky first-generation mobile phone handset.
"Yes?" she said none too gently. "Who is this?" Her eyes went wide. "M-Major Pavlovna? Why—"
A loud buzzing sound came from the handset. Hikaru winced and held the device away from her ear. "Y-yes. To what do I owe the pleasure . . . yes." She looked over her shoulder. "But I thought—no, that was handled by someone else . . . the rat. I see. Well, thanks for telling me. But I'm stuck in a minivan with my cargo and I only have two men with me. You're sending someone to help? I don't mind, but let's not turn the entire city into a war zone. I do have to live here, you know. Yes. I'm quite near. Thank you. It'll be my pleasure." Letting a feral grin escape her lips, Hikaru put the phone back into the glove compartment.
"Ernie? What do you see?"
"At least three in the car," Ernesto reported quietly as he struggled to make out details in the smoky mist. "Can't tell what they're armed with."
"Johann, head for Shinjuku Gyoen. The Ookido gate." To Kousei's surprise Hikaru brought out a wicked black automatic from under her jacket. "If we're going to have to shoot it out, let's do it in a place without so many people."
"Come on, Hikaru," Johann prompted. "Don't keep us in suspense."
"That was Hotel Moscow. Apparently someone's being stubborn and doesn't want to give our Kaori up without a fight."
"Who?"
"You're not going to believe this—Extra Order."
"Miserable creeps," Johann muttered, looking like he'd stepped on something disgusting. Ernesto spat an expletive at the same time.
"Anyway, the Major thought it'd be fun to cause them some trouble by letting us know. She's sent some people. They're waiting at the park. Oh, there's probably another car out there with more Extra Order goons. The haze we're experiencing might keep many of them from engaging us at long range, but we're quite outnumbered. We'd best link up with our help as soon as possible. What're they doing?"
"It don't seem like—ah, yup, someone's just pulled out a silencer," reported Ernesto. "Window's going down."
Something hit the side of the van.
"They're shooting!" Johann growled.
"Get away from them!"
The van swerved and roared down the avenue, missing pedestrians by millimeters and eliciting a cascade of blowing horns and angry shouts. Additional thuds told them that bullets were impacting their vehicle.
"This is why I don't ever want to ride with you, Hans," Ernesto yelled as Johann steered them through both vehicles, near-misses causing everyone on board incipient bouts of heart failure. All three had drawn their weapons. Hikaru and Johann were armed with suppressed handguns, the former black and the latter silver. Ernesto unslung a boxy-looking, fat-snouted weapon that had hung hidden under his jacket.
"You can get out and walk then!" Johann shouted, twisting the steering wheel and snaking in between a light truck and a taxi with heart-dropping alacrity.
"Knock it off, you two! When we turn, Ernie, I want you to try and kill the car. Copy?"
"Copy."
"Kids, stay down no matter what?"
"Y-you bet," came Kousei's shaky reply. Seriously, this can't be happening, he thought frantically.
The van turned onto the street that led to both the Shinjuku and Ookido gates. Ernesto already had the windowpane in motion and thrust his weapon out. A series of sharp cracks pierced the air as he fired into the pursuing car's engine block. Spent casings tinkled around Kousei.
"Captain, I think I got them. The car's slowing down."
"Good. Run for the parking lot, Johann. We'll get off there."
"What about our other job?"
Hikaru rolled her eyes. "Let's survive this one first, okay?"
As they were hurtling past the sidewalk, they passed two men in dressed in dark green-gray clothes. One man carried an assault rifle. The other unlimbered a long tube with a bump on one end. He pointed it at the fleeing vehicle and peered intoa short metal tube mounted on the top of the tube.
"RPG!" Hikaru shouted. "RPG!"
The Extra Order merc aimed and fired. There was a whoosh as a projectile sped out of the tube, and the earsplitting sound of tearing paper as its rocket motor ignited. In seconds the world became a deafening, shattering mess. Kousei was aware of something beating on the side of the van, like a giant demanding entrance, crumpling the metal like tissue paper. Then something struck him on the head, and darkness descended upon everything.
- - - oOo - - -
He became dimly aware of being dragged by his collar and set on a cold floor. He groaned and opened his eyes.
"Kousei!" cried a pale-haired girl bending over him, wiping the tears from her face and sniffling. "Kousei!"
"Kaori? I had the weirdest dream."
Something spanged against the window frame above Kousei's head, and his eyes grew large.
"Awake, Arima?" Hikaru, kneeling by the teller's window, popped up and fired her pistol. "Can you move? Good. Out the back door. Make for the Taiwan Pavilion."
"Can't we just stay here?" Kousei asked as he rolled into a sitting position. Every muscle on his body seemed to ache, but no bones seemed to be broken. His ears rang.
"No, if someone rockets or grenades this place we'll all die. I'll hold them off as long as I can. Our helpers should reach you before you get to the Pavilion. Johann will be with you."
"Ernesto?"
Hikaru shook her head. She stripped off her outermost garment. "Here, Kaori. Wear my jacket. It'll help protect you."
"No, you keep it. You'll need it—"
"What did I say before about crossing me?" Hikaru said sharply, her voice rising as she risked a quick, angry look at her charge. "Anyway, it won't help me. It only stops pistol rounds."
Kaori donned the jacket and gave Hikaru a quick squeeze on the forearm. "See you later."
"Gotcha. Go now, Johann's waiting."
The German giant, his pomaded hair messed up, his face cut and scratched, motioned for them to follow him. They stepped out the back door of the entrance facility. Kousei held his hand out to Kaori. She gripped it and wondered why it felt slick. Looking down, she was horrified to find her hand wet with blood.
- - - oOo - - -
"Kousei!" she said as they ran down the main path that served as one of the park's main thoroughfares. The haze that had been building before was somewhat substantial now—they could barely see the buildings beyond the park from where they were. "Are you hurt anywhere?" People were running away from the sound of the shots—and when they saw Johann's gun, from them.
"I don't think so," he replied. "At least not seriously."
"Then this blood . . . ." Kaori looked back in the direction of the entrance, which they could no longer see, hidden by the lie of the land, the foliage, and the gathering fog. A quick pop-pop-pop followed by a fusillade from more than one weapon squeezed her heart. She wanted so terribly to run back to Hikaru, make sure she was okay.
Johann waved at them. "Listen. We don't know if there's anyone ahead of us, so we'll get off the main walkway."
"Is there anything we can do to help?" asked Kousei.
Johann nodded. "Keep quiet, keep looking around, and pray we get out of this alive."
- - - oOo - - -
At any other time the beauty of the scenery would've enticed any one of them into sightseeing. Now the greenery was nothing more than a verdant and disappointingly un-bulletproof backdrop concealing enemies from a small group of running and sneaking individuals. The silence of their surroundings was eerie—they heard the occasional car, a siren or two, and sometimes gunfire—but other than the gathering mist, everything seemed to be normal.
Kousei had a moment to feel regret at stepping on a pinkish carpet of moss phlox, planted as part of an upcoming exhibit. Seeing the expression on his face, Kaori quipped, "This is one time when you should 'Step on the grass'!"
"Very funny. Am I imagining it, or are you enjoying yourself right now?"
"It's like . . . well, it's like playing chess—I like it when you outsmart someone. Especially someone with a gun. But we always got away without getting into trouble before," she added, mumbling.
Around fifteen minutes later they arrived at a point from which they could see the pavilion on their left. Pausing at an azumaya shelter to catch their breath, they prepared for one last push to safety.
"Where are those people Hikaru said would be helping us?" asked Kousei, breathing hard as they knelt down behind the bench seats in the gazebo-like structure and observed the pavilion.
"I don't know," Johann answered, tight-lipped. "Maybe they're under cover as well."
Kousei pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Think it's safe to go there?"
Something thwacked into the benches of the azumaya, sending splinters of wood flying everywhere. Clumps of dirt and grass fountained around them. Everyone huddled around the concrete pillar in the middle of the structure.
"Does that answer your question?" Johann asked, glaring balefully at him. Turning, he brought his silver pistol up and fired behind them. A strangled cry reached their ears.
Behind him, a man rose up from his hiding place behind a dome-shaped topiary. He had a gun pointed at Johann. Kaori yelled a warning.
Johann pivoted, his pistol describing a fluid semicircle as he brought his weapon to bear. Both he and the man shot at the same time.
The huge man banged against the pebbled surface of the pillar, his arm falling to his side and his gun landing on the ground. He turned towards them, grimacing.
"Run!" he gasped.
There was nowhere to go. Only a single scrawny tree was nearby, its twigs masquerading as branches and trunk. The topiaries would hide them, but they wouldn't stop a bullet, and neither would the open-work bridges. Kousei grasped Kaori's hand as they froze where they were.
The sound of two unsilenced gunshots rang out, and the man who had shot Johann threw his hands up, casting his pistol into the air. His mouth was an O of surprise as he fell to the ground. Someone came into view through the mist, crouching, carrying two handguns, each a burnished silver in color, pointing them at the fallen mercenary as they quickly crab-walked to where the two terrified teenagers where.
It was a woman in her twenties, with long dark hair done up in a ponytail. She wore a black cutoff top, denim shorts, and combat boots. A fatigue-colored pistol belt kept her shorts in place. She was also kitted out with a shoulder holster. A long arm of some sort was slung across her back.
Her sloe eyes, came to rest upon the figure of Johann, still slumped against the pillar. "Shit," she said, "I was supposed to be on vacation, Johannes. What have you and your pansy-ass friends gotten into this time?" She smiled fiercely down at him.
Johann returned her smile. "Hey, Two Hands."
The woman gave him a once-over and unclipped a walkie-talkie on her belt. "Benny?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm in a gazebo near the water, Taiwan Pavilion, right side. Bring a first-aid kit."
"I'm a bit busy at the gate. Rock's near you, he'll bring it."
"Alright, but hurry up." She returned the radio to her belt. "We're lucky this fog's pretty thick. I need to leave. When you see a Japanese guy with short hair and dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and jeans, call his attention. Tell him to patch this guy up—" she indicated Johann "—and then go to the pavilion. We've unlocked the off-limits rooms. Go in there and wait for a tall, bald black guy with shades and a beard. That's Dutch. He'll tell you what to do next. Got it?"
Kousei and Kaori answered in the affirmative. Kaori scuttled over to Johann's side. "Excuse me . . ." she ventured timidly.
"What?"
"Did you see a woman with really short strawberry blond hair around the Ookido entrance? She had a pistol."
"Can't say that I have. Someone you know?"
Kaori nodded.
"Stay here with him. I've got some more fish to fry." The woman went back down the path and became a vague shape in the mist.
- - - oOo - - -
The man with the Hawaiian shirt found them and bandaged Johann up. Then they all moved to the one-story Kyugoryotei, which had been a gift in 1927 from Japanese living in Taiwan to commemorate the wedding of then-Crown Prince Hirohito. There they stopped in the first room to the left of the entrance. The bodies of a park staffer and a policeman lay on the floor in the middle of the observation deck.
"I wonder where the police are," Kousei said.
"A Metro Police Special Assault unit had arrived at the Ookido gate when I passed by," answered the Japanese man. "I don't really relish getting caught by them." He looked at Kousei. "Are you the people Captain Hiyama was transporting?"
Kousei was about to answer when Kaori interrupted, saying "I am. He—" she indicated Kousei "—was a bystander, Mister . . . ."
The man regarded them. "Rokuro Okajima. You can call me Rock. Everyone else does."
"Rock-san—"
"Just Rock."
"Okay."
"What do they want with you, kid?"
"I-It's sort of secret."
"Of course it is." One could hear the sarcasm dripping from Rock's voice. "It's always secret, like selling nuclear technology."
"It isn't her fault!" Kousei interjected. "There was supposed to be an agreement—"
Rock listened to Kousei explain. He shrugged. "What's done is done. Let's just get you out of here." He sat down heavily beside the two teenagers.
- - - oOo - - -
The minutes seemed to crawl by. The fog grew thicker, leaving the world outside a sinister gray. Finally Dutch, a tall, muscular black man in long-sleeved shirt and cargo pants, arrived, followed closely by the woman gunfighter.
"I think we got all of them," Dutch announced in gravelly bass voice. "Any problems, Revy?"
She shook her head. "Let's get out of here, Dutch, or Balalaika might pull the plug on our invitation to the Russian Embassy."
"Some goddamn invitation. Come on, let's go where Benny-boy's waiting. You in the middle." Dutch waved his revolver at Kaori.
"Did you see Captain Hiyama?" Kaori asked as they began to move out of the Pavilion.
"The police have her, kid," Dutch answered. "She's in pretty bad shape."
Kaori looked worried, chewing her lip but otherwise staying quiet. Kousei reached over and squeezed her hand. She gave a slight smile, but her eye continued reflecting the turmoil within, like sunlight off a turbulent stream.
- - - oOo - - -
They made their way to the northwestern border of the park, twice having to stop and deal with some Extra Order goons. After the woman called Revy had dispatched one with a rifle shot to the heart, Kousei wondered where they were going, as the exit was nowhere near their route. In the mist he heard a sudden crash and thunderclap.
"He's here," said Dutch. "Hurry, hurry!"
When they got near, they saw that someone had driven a full-size van through the outer and inner fences of the Park. A blond man with glasses and another garish Hawaiian shirt waited for them behind the driver's seat.
Rock cursed. "Now I know why none of you wanted to sign for the rental."
"Yo, Benny-boy," Dutch called as they came closer. He waved. "It's us, don't shoot."
"Hurry, Dutch" Benny called. "A cruiser just passed by a while ago."
"Okay. Everyone aboard. Revy, put your guns away. We're just lost gaijin sightseers if anyone asks."
"Armed sightseers," Benny sardonically amended.
Revy got into the front passenger seat, her eyes smoldering with anger. Kousei felt a tug on his sleeve.
"Should we make a run for it?" Kaori whispered.
"I'd like to, but they'd probably just shoot us."
"What if they're just roleplaying to get our trust?" Kaori squeezed Kousei's shoulder painfully hard. "What if they want to kidnap us too?"
"Hold it!" came the shout from inside the fence.
The figure of a man appeared in the fog, pointing an assault rifle at them.
Without hesitation Kaori turned and threw Kousei backwards.
As he tumbled back, Kousei watched events unfold as if everything had suddenly slowed down. Kaori's mouth formed an O as she said his name and her violin, strapped to her back, poked upward like some kind of weird antenna as her arm flung him away; Hikaru's large jacket spread out like a capelet away from her rotating body. Beyond her he saw the bright flashes and heard the crack crack crack of the rifle.
Kaori's good eye widened, and she stumbled and fell in front of Kousei.
"No!"
Dutch and Revy instantly fired back, and the gunman fell back out of sight. There was a splash as he hit the water, but Kousei hardly heard it; his attention was somewhere else.
"Ow! Owowow!" Kaori lay on the ground, grimacing and clutching her calf.
"Kaori!" Kousei stammered as he divested her of her instrument case so she could lean against him instead of lying of the ground. "Are you hurt? Were you hit?"
"Noo-oh! Cramp! It'll pass." Her face was a study in frustration as she fought her calf.
Kousei, relieved, hugged her to him. "This is the first time I'm glad you suffer from cramps!" he laughed. He reached down and gently kneaded her calf, feeling the muscle spasm under his touch like a wild animal seeking escape.
Kaori had enough humor left in her to chuckle. "Sorry," she said as she rested in the cradle of Kousei's arms.
"C'mon, c'mon, time to leave!" Dutch motioned for Rock to help carry Kaori, but the bespectacled pianist, with main strength, lifted her and brought her all the way into the van on his own.
As the man called Benny gunned the engine and drove off into the fog, Kaori happened to look back into the cargo compartment.
"My violin!" she wailed. "Kousei, can you get it for me?"
Kousei reached back and retrieved the salmon-colored case, which bore a telling hole through its center, ragged at the edges and about half an inch in diameter. Kaori singlehandedly popped the metal latches and opened it. Her face, already written over with trepidation, fell.
- - - oOo - - -
A week later, someone knocked on the door of a private hospital suite.
"Excuse me."
"Well, if it isn't Kousei Arima. Come in, come in." Reading glasses were placed on the bedside table, a magazine was put away.
Kousei bowed. "How are you, Hikaru-sensei?"
"As fine as can be. Just a favor."
"Name it."
"Don't make me laugh, okay? It hurts to laugh."
"Oh, okay. Do you want me to talk about depressing things?"
Hikaru chortled. "Kousei . . . ."
"What? I wasn't trying to be funny."
"It must be your face. The cops still questioning you?"
"Not since the last meeting."
"I suppose that's a good sign." Hikaru gestured. "Come on in and sit down. What are you standing there for?"
Kousei moved from where he had been awkwardly standing near the door and sat down in a chair.
After the incident in Shinjuku Gyoen, the Lagoon Company had made a beeline for the Russian embassy, where Sofiya Pavlovna, former Soviet army captain, Afghan War veteran, and present head of Hotel Moscow quickly provided an escape route consisting of diplomatic passports, some local arm twisting, calling in of favors, and a discreetly armed convoy, which brought them to Haneda, where they took advantage of a lapse in security in the private side of the airport to board a business jet and flee to an undisclosed location. Kousei and Kaori last saw them at the embassy, prior to being picked up themselves for questioning by the police.
There were those who didn't merit a single word in the media, and thus whose bravery went unnoticed. Ernesto had nearly died from loss of blood from multiple gunshot wounds. Johann was okay; he had just been winged, and would regain most of the motion in his arm. Hikaru had been hit in the flank and a bullet had broken her left arm.
She gingerly moved in her hospital bed. "You're probably disappointed that Kaori has to stay back in my house for the time being."
"As long as she's safe, I don't mind. Besides, I don't think it's a thing for me to pass any kind of judgement on." Kousei sighed. "I guess it's only now that I've realized what she meant about living a dangerous life before."
"You can help her forget about it," Hikaru suggested. "What reason did her parents give the press, about why Extra Order tried to kidnap her?"
"It never came up in the press conference." Shrugging, Kousei looked uneasy. "People sort of assumed they were simply out to hurt people and destroy property."
"In a park?" Hikaru raised an eyebrow. "Why not in a crowded place like a scramble crossing or a train station? Oh, well. I won't dissuade them from thinking like that. But speak thou," she said, looking at Kousei. "Methinks you have something to say."
"Well . . . they didn't show our faces on TV, they didn't release our names, but I'm sure my friends are going to find out anyway and I'm not sure how I'm going to handle it when they ask me what's going on."
"We both want Kaori to be safe. I don't know your friends, so it falls to you to use your judgement. Just remember what we talked about before."
Kousei nodded. "She was terribly depressed when her violin was destroyed."
"I know. I've put a word in with my friend Madoka. Maybe she can do something about that."
"I'm grateful for that. Also, there's something I wanted to show you. I took it from your room—I hope you don't mind, Johann just sort of cleaned it and left it on your bed."
"You were in my room?" Hikaru's eyes narrowed.
"Just to get this, I swear!" Kousei brought out a thick leather jacket from the bag he carried.
"Hey, isn't that my jacket?"
"It is. And I want you to look closely at it." He handed it to her.
Hikaru twirled it around. "I don't see anything wrong."
Kousei stood up and took it from her. Grasping the garment by the shoulders, he opened it wide. It was then that Hikaru saw the light shining through the small hole in the chest.
Fourth version. *sigh*. Changed the end of the chapter.