CHAPTER VI

…

As of today the entire population of Japan, including the foreign population, is at 120 million people - which is an all-time low, dropping down eight million in the past decade. The poverty rate rose to sixteen percent, which meant that almost 20 million people earned less than the average national income. It didn't mean people suffered and went homeless on the streets, but it meant there were less and less people who purchased and consumed goods. Simply put, Japan is taking a nosedive, and everyone is in for a hard time. That aside, on the other hand it was a breath of fresh air being exposed to new different cultures. Some of my acquaintances were foreigners themselves, and it's not unusual to see them on the streets anymore. These people came here for the same reason why the privileged of the Japanese society left the country, and that is to pursue a better future.

Since Japan hesitantly started to welcome foreign workers and immigrants, the number of foreigners also increased throughout Chiba prefecture. Along Tokyo Bay there were English-speakers, Southeast Asians, and Hispanic people who worked in the docks mooring ships, unloading cargo and taking over the fishing industry; while in the centre of metropolitan cities like Tokyo and Yokohama, "China towns" and Vietnamese restaurants started appearing; on the east coast of Bousou peninsula, there were thriving religious communities of Irishmen, and chiefly Catholic Brazilians and half-Americans who formed labor unions and worked in construction, sanitation, healthcare, trucking and delivery, and in the garment industry. There were ghettos popping up everywhere.

With so many people from so many cultures all in one place, there's bound to be conflicts arising between the labor unions. This has got to be literally the most colorful era in Japanese history yet. Public disobedience and dissent was beginning to make a comeback. There were occasional nationalist protests, union strikes and rallies on the streets. Some Japanese people didn't like the fact that the government was taking in so many foreign immigrants. To them, it appeared as a socio-cultural invasion on a mass scale. I didn't think it was that big of a deal - I thought maybe Japan would turn out like the U.K., with a multi-ethnic population constituted by different nationalities from around the world.

Just yesterday, there'd been a strike at a construction site in Yuko district. Henry Winfield (who we all called "Winnie") was an Irish unionist who worked at our cabstand, on Sakaemachiazuma street. He ran into an ongoing rally and came back with the top corner of his cab's windshield shattered. It was awful. Winnie was telling us how their Irish union was supposedly getting paid more than the local unions, and that provoked a strike. Thankfully, nobody was hurt, but the strike was going to rob the construction company more money, he said. Japanese carpenters, bricklayers and steelworkers stopped showing up until their wages were raised. Instead, they gambled and drank beer in pubs to pass time, waiting out the fire outside. It was business as usual on our part. But then word was getting around about the job we took, and folks at The Grandeur were beginning to talk about the theft of a certain consignment of guns from the unloading bay in Kawasakicho. At the moment only four people, including me, knew about the scheme. That was already a perilous responsibility on my hands.

Then there's Miura Yumiko. I was becoming weary of her spontaneous propensity for stirring up trouble anywhere and pushing me around. You're thinking, what the hell am I waiting for? Am I seriously going to allow a girl to just boss me around? Of course not. But I'll tell you this, I have the patience and kindness that would make a Buddha proud. You don't believe me? After years of getting bullied and insulted by people, it'll take more than just words to break my spirits. Besides, Miura just seemed so impulsive to me that fighting back would seem uncalled for. It would be like giving Komachi the harsh treatment for being a foolish girl. But unlike my sister, Miura was something else. Still, I have my limits and at least she hasn't crossed a red line yet. If I wanted to get rid of her, I would've already done so.

But I think she just needs someone to sympathize with her, so I'm trying to at least play the part of a nice guy. I know a thing or two about relationships and breakups, because I've been there before. But I'm not exactly the most compassionate human being on the planet, so sooner or later, Miura and I would butt heads over our differences. Honestly, I simply couldn't bring myself to hate her, but much less to really like her. She's not worth losing sleep over, and you've got to first care about someone in order to hate someone. Simply put, I don't care enough to hold grudges against people these days.

By now, I'm always on high alert for any unexpected events or situations. She likes to drink a lot, but she's not exactly the drinker type. I'm worried that she might faint from drinking too much, and I wouldn't be there to assist her. Things can get very troublesome fast. Have you ever heard of Murphy's law? If something can go wrong, it will go wrong - and at the worst possible moment, and cause the greatest possible damage. In case those kinds of scenarios occur, I wrote my number on a card (just as I did in the motel episode) and slipped it in her wallet. On it, said: "if I'm completely out of my mind, please call the number below: #092-0509-XXXX" It's just like getting a lost and found tag for your dog. Miura is going to be royally pissed when she finds out, and I suppose that's a small win on my side.

I was in a bad mood this Wednesday because of a friendship that had gone awry. It might not actually have been a real friendship at all, because if it was, then it wouldn't have ended abruptly. But it was a fault on my part for letting myself believe in the first place. Friends appear when you have wealth, power and fame, like flies attracted to a corpse. And sometimes, people will treat you like a God; that is, they ignore your existence most of the time and only remember your name when they need to ask for something from you.

There were still people who I consider good friends. Zaimokuza Yoshiteru had helped me plenty of times during the past two years in college, and Kawasaki Saki was the one who first showed me the ropes in my part time job; if it wasn't for them, I probably couldn't have gone this far. Tobe Kakeru and Yui Yuigahama were also nice to me, and when every other student ostracized me, they didn't just go along with the rest. But the more you see and the more you learn, you'll start to think that there's a certain price to all this. There can't be such a thing as friendship without self-interest. Everyone wants something in return for something given. Good friends are only as good as you make them out to be, and I'll admit, as difficult as it is for me to say this, it must be said that friends turn into enemies. And the saddest thing about betrayal is that it doesn't come from an enemy. Let God help me against friends, and I'll deal with the devil myself.

I drank quite excessively that night. I probably should've just lit a cigarette. I can only handle three or four shots of bourbon, but I don't act up when I'm drunk. I just drift off to sleep, or fall silent. Because sometimes, you just have to shut up the voices and disturbing thoughts in your head. I drank five shots. I'd have to go home tonight semi-consciously. Most people don't realize this, but the reason why alcohol is legal is because the government needs to keep you drunk enough not to realize the prison you're living in. That's also the reason for caffeine: to keep you energized and a productive member of society. Exploitation on a mass scale with the use of "legal" drugs.

You don't hear news about people having good times on drugs. You never hear that on the television, do you? It's always a tragedy, is what it is. "A man found out to be high on drugs jumped off a building, believing he could fly." You think, how sad, but really he's just a fucking idiot, that's what he is. He should have tested if he could take off from the ground first. I mean, you don't see birds lining up to take the elevator and jump off the top floor of a building to fly south, do you? No. They take off from the ground first. It's common sense.

Out of nowhere, an idea popped up in my head. I don't know why I thought it a good idea, but at this point logic slipped away from me, at least until I sober up. I suddenly wanted to see Miura (whose outward looks at least, was most appealing.) I took the train line heading to Yotsukaido… and fell asleep. Someone woke me up a few moments later, but it was really fifteen minutes or so that had passed. "Listen, young man. You have to get off here. This is Monoi station," the man said.

Monoi station? What the hell am I doing here? I'm still drunk at this time. Sleeping a little does not solve intoxication that much, and someone helped me off the train and had me lie down on a bench. Still, the world is actually a nice place to live in. I was a complete stranger, and that guy had the heart to help me out. I looked around, trying to figure out where I am. It really is Monoi station! I was in the northeasternmost area of Yotsukaido city, and I had gone past Yotsukaido station. I couldn't remember where Miura lived, and even if I did, I had absolutely no business going there. Aikoku-Gakuen was far from here, if I had to guess. Again, I'm still drunk by then, so in a fit of childishness I took out my phone and called the Miura Yumiko.

"Hello?" Her voice answers from the other end.

"Hey. I, uh… it's me! I'm at Monoi station… you gotta come here and get me… in twenty minutes!" I said, in an uneven tone of voice.

"Idiot! What in the hell are you- " she started to say, when I dropped the phone. When you think about it, twenty minutes is very generous of me. I was always pressured by her time limits… so in a way, this was revenge, and I'm just getting even. I was still drowsy, and the bed- er, bench seemed comfortable enough that I just had to lie down and before I knew it, I fell asleep.

When I woke up the next morning, I was not in the station anymore. It took me a few moments to realize that I was actually in jail! What's this? How did I wind up here? I got up on my feet and leaned against the bars. I had a blinding headache, and my stomach was not feeling good at all. My throat was parched. A police officer brought me a cup of water, and watched as I drank it all with one gulp.

"Officer, what am I doing here? Let me out," I plead.

"No. You have to wait for the District Attorney."

District Attorney? Oh shoot. I must've attacked a woman or something last night. It couldn't be… but I'm not a criminal! Well, it's not as if they would know, but the DA? Have they finally found out about the gun robbery? I was nervous, but I knew there was no reason to fret just yet. If I had indeed been pinched, I knew what to do. I was groomed in case I was caught on the job. Manny told me to keep my mouth shut no matter what. Never sign anything. Call the crew as soon as possible, and they'd get me out. The officer told me he wanted my signature on a sheet. He's nuts to think I'd do that. I told him I'm not signing anything. I tried to remember what happened, and slowly, it was all coming back to me. I remembered impulsively getting on a train to Yotsukaido, and calling Miura on my phone. Sure enough, Miss Despicable was soon in front of me.

I realized that Miura hadn't come last night, but was worried that something bad had happened to me. She revealed to me that her uncle, Miura Sanada is the District Attorney of Chiba city, and he happened to live in Yotsukaido. Well now I remember she lived in Uchikuroda, so was it really necessary to send a high ranking official - your uncle no less - to come and check on me? I couldn't believe it. Miura was surprised because I did something out of character, so she called her uncle in the middle of the night. And her uncle found me sleeping under the station bench, barefoot, using my shoes as a pillow. Apparently, there were also some coins thrown in front of me. Thanks for that.

Then I was taken to the nearest police station. I understand the situation, and that Dr. Sanada was a DA… but still, letting me sleep in jail? That was too extreme, and I am her niece's friend! But of course, it was Miura who agreed to let me spend the night in jail. She was laughing and smirking at me, while I growled at her from behind the bars. The DA mutters quietly, "some friend you have here, Yumiko-chan." She laughed and told him that I was a classmate of hers from before.

Afterwards, I demanded, "why'd you leave me here? You think this is funny?"

"Yeah, it's pretty damn hilarious!" She snickered.

"You're a real piece of work, you know that?" I muttered, as the officer unlocked the cell door. "Thanks, I guess, for not leaving me there in the station."

From now on I swear to avoid drinking, especially when I'm on a job. God knows, my ineptitude could've doomed us all at the nightclub. But now, I'll note that Miura is a close relative of the law. Anyway, remember when I put a number card in her wallet? Well, she wasn't going to let me get away with that, and so while I slept inside the cell that morning, she put one in mine: "Hello, I'm a mental patient. Sometimes, I'm completely out of my mind, so if you see me acting crazy, please call #090-5049-XXXX" And that is how we have each other's addresses and phone numbers (and asking people to call these numbers in certain situations) in our wallets. That day, she beat the living hell out of me for scaring her and said, "if you do something like this again, I'll kill you!" She's really despicable, isn't she?