CHAPTER VII

…

It was Friday, and so proceeding with the regular itinerary of heading straight into the parlors after school to collect debts, make our sales and listen to the word on the streets. The scheme to control the construction unions had begun days earlier. Now if we play our cards correctly, the scheme will succeed.

One of our most reliable runners was Kid Sudo. You could send that boy into the shop down the street to clear out the register or simply get something done, and he will. That wasn't anything quite special, but unlike other boys his age, who had their heads stuck in a fog or fooled around, Kid did not mess around. He didn't swipe a dime nor forget to count the money he was given and he always delivered. Still, that does not change the fact that he ought to be in school and not on the streets.

Late afternoon, as expected he was to be found at the barbershop down the street in Nagazu. I guessed he didn't go to school again, and decided to talk to him.

"Kid, were you cutting classes again?" I said in a stern voice. "You know the money your parents are paying for your education are all going to waste."

"Sorry boss," he mumbled guiltily. Kid shrugged, scratching the back of his head. Somehow, he reminded me of my younger self - at least before I became ruined by the bullying of my peers. He said, "but they know about my job at the cabstand. It's okay."

I laughed softly. "When I was your age, I couldn't hold a damn post as a waiter in a lousy resto. Look at you, parking cabs and washing down cars. To add, you're a bookie runner." I patted Kid Sudo's shoulder before crossing my arms. "Well, I'm not going to tell you how to live your life. I don't like meddling with the personal life of other people. But do me a favor, don't forget that studying is important, yes?"

"Yes sir," he answered quickly.

"Good. Well, are you coming with me to the site?"

Kid Sudo nodded, and we started walking across the road and down the other side of the street.

The sky was stone-grey and bleak, and cold rain was starting to fall. I took off my hat and put it onto Kid Sudo's head instead so that the boy wouldn't get a cold. We had yet to receive the first snowfall of this season. The precipitation felt like icy pellets against my neck, as we hurried towards a makeshift wall of blue and orange canvas that served to fence off the construction site of a new thirty-storey high-rise in Nagazu district. Pushing aside the canvas, I was greeted by a scene of men loitering around, quite lazily, and playing cards and drinking around a shoddily built table under a canopy. Hanzo came forward to greet me and we walked towards the workmen.

"Did they get the message?" I asked tactfully.

"They did," Hanzo said. "Fifteen sites so far. All work has stopped. It's like someone pulled the brakes out of the blue," he sighed between clenched teeth. "This will work?"

"Is that a question?" Before he could answer, I put up a hand. "Of course it will. You underestimate the power of the solidarity of men. So long as we keep the company from bringing in strikebreakers or enforcers, it'll pan out. Also, I want all of the other sites to go on strike. Shut those jobs down," I said in a pressing tone. "Because unless we have all - and I mean all - of the unions on our side, the company will just divert workmen from one site to another. Remember Monopoly? We're playing Monopoly now. This is it."

Hanzo walked ahead and turned towards me, before gesturing to another black man dressed in neat clothes. "Mr. Sieyes had come over a while ago. He's talking about the things down in the bayside."

I approached and offered my hand, which Bobby Sieyes took warmly. He was only twenty-one, older than me by several months, but he was as tall - perhaps even taller than Hanzo. I greeted him, in careful English, "Mr. Sieyes, good afternoon. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Just Bobby is enough," he said in a deep voice, smiling.

"Well, Bobby, how is father Jacob? I do pray that he has shaken off that acute case of the colds by now," I said cordially, as we eased into the conversation. "Please bear with the climate, Chiba city has never been the most hospitable especially at this time of the year. It must be a shock for someone who'd lived all their lives in a warm and pleasant continent. I myself hate the winter. It's dreadful, I tell you. Dreadful."

"It's not too bad," he said quietly. "Nothing we can't handle. We've come all this way from Senegal, and a little cold won't be sending us back."

"Have a seat." I invited him to a table under a bare, cement ceiling that constituted the second floor of the unfinished complex. A flickering lightbulb provided ample light, as the sky grew darker and the winds whistled louder. I pulled out one chair, which Bobby sat in, before I took my place across him. There was some gin, which I offered to him, but none of which I drank.

Bobby said, "my folks have agreed to follow in your footsteps, and seeing that this is a relatively reasonable way to voice our dissatisfaction with the current wages, we banded together and took to strike." His dark eyebrows twitched, as if he was bothered by a certain nuance, before continuing, "but this is dangerous. I know the risks, of course. One of our friends was found on the pier, drowned, a few days ago. You must've known about that. Well, that raised some heat. Most of my folks think that a Japanese was the one who murdered the poor sap."

"It is possible," I nodded slightly.

"Well, to change the matter a bit. Four sites have already gone on strike down there. But now, it's raising too much heat. Not to mention that someone had just died at a site this morning."

Hanzo interjected. "They say it was an accident. But we all know that's on us, right? The circumstances are too uncanny to simply name it as a coincidence. Hell, now I hear most of the workers are scared shit outta their pants that they'll be the next to get kicked off the top of a scaffolding if they don't straighten up." Hanzo narrowed his eyes and furrowed his eyebrows, looking at me. "You know anything about this, Hikio?"

I stared at my half-empty glass of water, keeping an apathetic face and thinking of something else. I took a sip and glanced at them. "Well, I can't say that I don't know anything but… that's not important." I smiled.

"Jesus Christ," Hanzo sighed, as if irritated. "You can't- that's fucking nuts. You had a guy get a workman killed on site? Are you out of your mind?"

"Now, now. You're jumping into conclusions," I said to him coldly. As we had been talking in Japanese, Bobby couldn't understand a word, but my eyes gave the hint that it was a conflict. "I didn't send some wiseguy to kick a man off a building. I didn't give such a word. All I ever did was let my lieutenants do their job. 'Do what needs to be done,' I said. I entrusted to them the objectives of our scheme."

"What's the difference?"

"Hanzo, believe me, I wouldn't kill an innocent man out of the blue. But I do acknowledge the fact that an example must be made. Whatever that example may be, I can only imagine. But come off it now," I chuckled lightly. "What happened to 'getting used to it'? We're mobsters, and this is the mob life."

"You're right, we're mobsters," Hanzo said defensively. "But we're not murderers."

"What's the difference?" I retorted, laughing softly. "Hanzo, you can believe whatever you want to believe - that you're not a villain, that you're not a murderer, whatever. But say, what if your own brother is in danger? What if, say, I was in danger?" I smiled mischievously at him, raising a brow. "Would you kill for me, your little brother? Now, that's a good dilemma." I brushed myself off, out of habit, and finished my glass of water. "You can think I'm a bad person, go ahead. I haven't always done nice things, but at least my conscience is clear."

Hanzo, after a long silence, gave a relenting sigh. I turned to Bobby and said, "pardon me. We have spoken, and have come to a conclusion. More gin?" I held the glass bottle towards him, but he shook his head, continuing to listen. "Well now, don't worry about the unfortunate… nuances at the site. Quite an unfortunate accident indeed. But I will assure you that your friends and those of your community will be safeguarded, by my honor. Don't worry about any more of those happenings. Let us take it as a reminder that safety precautions are necessary. You have my support, Bobby, and if you find yourself in trouble, do not hesitate to call me."

Bobby Sieyes nodded understandingly. But by now, it was beginning to dawn on them that I was meaning serious business. That I wasn't messing around. Bobby knew that it was no accident, but he couldn't simply chalk it up against me. I honestly didn't expect such an 'accident' - at least, not this soon. Like I said, I had only issued objectives to my lieutenants, and they themselves executed it. That said, it was obvious this was one of such methods to achieve the objective. Throw some guy off a building. Everyone sees the body. The media, as usual, shrug it off as simply an accident.

Now, one of our wiseguys gets inside a car with the foreman or union representative and says, "remember that dead guy who fell off the building? Well… it'll be really unfortunate if that happens to any more of your workers. Maybe even to you." Everyone hears of it. Word gets around. Eventually, folks get the message that you're either with the mob, behind it, or in it's way. Bobby and Hanzo were disturbed at my logic, but there was no reason to be wary of me. I wasn't a threat to them. Besides, can anyone come up with a better plan than mine? We all knew that my way of running things was, albeit efficient, enforced by precision displays of brutality.

Kid Sudo was standing on the steps, scribbling furiously in his small pad of paper, as a group of carpenters and bricklayers were holding up coins and bills at him. An old, beat-up television was running nearby, which the rest of the men were watching while playing and drinking. They'd seen the news this morning. Now, we were watching a Basketball playoff. Sometimes, if the college playoffs were on, we might see his older brother in the game. Not as popular of a sports betting game than baseball or boxing, but still lucrative.

"What are the odds, Kid?" I asked him.

"Chiba's the underdog by twelve points," he answered.

We were watching through the small square television screen. It was almost peculiar to see us rooting for our college Basketball team to lose. Narashino was the favourite, and all we needed was for Chiba to be beaten by at least the twelve point spread. The game was almost over. We'll clean up a couple hundred thousand yen tonight from the bets. I lit a cigarette and started puffing away, thinking about joining the guys at the table. They were playing cards. But instead I climbed up the scaffolding to join Hanzo and Bobby, who were talking amongst themselves. It was getting dark now.

Bobby was holding up a small binocular that a workman had lent him to his eyes. "See that red flaglet, over there? That sites' gone off to a strike too. No work here tonight."

"Hey Hikio, how much longer until the company finally concedes?" Hanzo asked morosely.

"Soon enough," I said quietly. "They're losing thousands of yen by the hour with all the work interruptions going on. They'll fork over the three billion yen soon." We all knew that the particular company that was working this site was the Yukinoshita Constructions.

Hanzo said, "gee, the Yukinoshitas must be sure pissed at what's happening."

"Oh yeah. Well, it's nothing personal. Just good business."

We saw another hard-nosed foreman yelling at us to stop the strikes and get back to work, only to be yelled back at by one of the workers, "no, fuck you! Raise our wages, asshole!"

"Come on, let's go down. It's getting cold," I said shortly. "We'll have a poker game or shoot pool at my club. Where's Kenji? Out again, all day?"

"Look down there, that's your girlfriend, eh?" Hanzo nudged me, pointing down and across the street. My college school could be seen in front of this site, though the main building complex was further in. The side gate across the street, lit by a row of blinding lampposts was one of the many entrances to the campus. "Why, there's Miura-chan!"

"What are you talking about?" I scoffed, as I took away the binoculars from Hanzo's grasp. Near the campus side gate, under a spacious and well-lit bus stop, were a couple of college girls waiting. Or at least I thought so, until I realized they were engaged in a sort of a quarrel. I recognized my friend by her striking blonde hair. Three other girls were present, and it looked like they were ganging up on Yumiko. I don't know the context of this, but it doesn't look good.

"Oh Jesus, they're in it now," Hanzo said.

"A fight?" Bobby noticed.

"Seems like it."

"I'll be damned," I sighed loudly, before making for the ladder. "I'll get her, don't worry. You two follow soon, alright?"

Soon enough, I was walking briskly out of the site and across the road. I was shocked to see a fight escalating between Yumiko and another delinquent-looking girl. Yumiko shoved the girl, making her stagger a bit, before she shoved back. I could hear uncouth words being exchanged now. I got there in the nick of time to step in between the two.

"What the hell is going on?" I demanded in a serious voice, surprising everyone. Yumiko looked really aggravated and red with anger. The same could be said to the other girl.

"Hey shove off, pal, before you get hurt," the girl said brusquely. I narrowed my eyes at her, trying to recollect where I'd seen this girl. She had shoulder-length blue hair, and seemed of a quite tomboyish nature. I can't say her name, but I've seen her before at a flower shop front for a betting parlor. She was probably a bookie too, an associate. Suddenly, her eyes widened and surprised, she bowed. "A-Ah! I'm sorry sir. I-I didn't- "

"No, no," I waved her off. I was also nervous, as I couldn't remember her name. "It's okay. Pardon this girl here for her behaviour. She's a friend of mine. Now, if you'll excuse us." The girl said sorry again, before she and her friends stepped away.

Yumiko blurted out irritably, "what are you doing, Hikio! I'm not the one in the wrong here!"

Restraining myself from a sudden outburst, I put my left arm over Yumiko's shoulders, practically around her neck already, and firmly steered her away. She was taken by surprise by my sudden move, and pulled awfully close towards me, her face turned red. I didn't notice. Yumiko protested and tried to wriggle out of my hold. It was like dragging away a troublesome child. She almost stumbled as I led her down the street.

One could easily assume that I am being too harsh on Yumiko, but I beg to differ - in fact, she was due for a much needed castigation, something to snap her back into reality. How many times has she gotten me into trouble? Embarrassed me? Physically hurt me? It wasn't too long ago that she nearly exploded with her characteristic fits inside a café and compelled me to restrain her; she's often on her phone while walking and once even crossed a red light like some kind of psychopath.

Or most recently, a few nights ago, I took her with me to one of our bars to play poker; it was unbelievable. Yumiko went all in and bet sixty-thousand yen - her entire monthly allowance, and possibly even her paycheck - just so she can show off, I guess. And Hanzo, Matsudo and Fukushi knew no better and were hell bent on winning the pot. There was no way I was going to let them win all the money, so I also went all in. And against all odds, I won. The reason why is because I did not want my friends hustling my poor Yumiko of all her money, so I had to win the game for us so I could give her back her sixty thousand.

But instead, Yumiko got really enraged and found the notion of me winning the game and supposedly robbing her blind of her money so repulsive, that she went berserk. She screamed that I was a cheat before charging at me and giving me a glorious sucker punch to the cheek. For a woman, she sure can punch hard. I swear she almost knocked me out clean. But to be fair, the truth was that I actually did cheat… I snatched a Queen to make a royal flush, and Yumiko was not so easily deceived. Hanzo had to pry her off me before she strangled me to death. When I gave her back her money and explained everything to her, Yumiko merely gave an embarrassed laugh and apologized nervously, like some innocent little girl. She even planted a wet kiss on my swollen cheek, which I found absolutely disgusting.

And thus Yumiko Miura is a very duplicitous woman. In fact, I would even go as far as to say that all women are wily and dangerously deceiving. It's in their DNA to be shrewd and mischievous. You think what you have in your hands is a delicate porcelain doll, until the clock strikes midnight and she sticks out her sharp claws at you. Then you realize that what you have at hand is in fact a tiger who'll completely rip you apart and leave you soaking in a pool of regret.

I began to come back from my brief reverie, and glanced behind me. I'd been pulling Yumiko with me as we walked until we turned to an empty corner of the street. She looked disgruntled.

"H-Hey, let go of me! This isn't funny…"

"You're right, it ain't funny!" I exploded, suddenly letting go of my hold on her. Yumiko almost fell down. "What the hell's the matter with you, Miura? Goddamn, if I was alone I could live so easily. I could do my job and go to work, and no trouble. No mess at all. And every Wednesday, I could go home and sleep or go downtown and get whatever I want. Why, I wouldn't have to waste my time on the whims of some girl. I could eat anyplace I want, hotel or any place, and order any damn thing I could think of. And I could do that every week. Get a gallon of bourbon, or sit in a pool room and play cards or shoot pool."

Yumiko stepped back, staring at my frighteningly dark eyes. Her lips were quivering and her face was looking terrified.

"And what do I have?" I went on furiously. "I have you! You can't keep your mouth shut, and you fuck up in every conceivable way. Just keep shoving me all over the place all the time. And that ain't the worst. You do bad things, Miura, and I've got to get you out."

My voice rose nearly into a shout. "You crazy bitch. You keep me in trouble all the time." I started mimicking the mischievous manner of girls when they were mocking each other. "She started it! - I'm not the one in the wrong here! - Well I saw you, Miura. You shoved her first. Every goddamn dilemma with you, you always play innocent. And how in the hell did you even end up here? This ain't your neighborhood. There wouldn't be a fight if you didn't show up here. Every time, something like this… every goddamn time. I wish I could break your legs and then you won't be going nowhere."

My anger suddenly left me. I gazed at Yumiko, whose head was now tilted downwards. As I couldn't see her face clearly, I couldn't tell if she was mad, embarrassed or hurt. At first, I thought it was the rain, then I realized it was tears that were falling down at her feet. I looked away ashamedly.

It was quite dark now, but with the streetlights coming to life, it wasn't so dim. The icy raindrops, though still a weak drizzle, made my cheek numb, and a sudden gust of wind made me shudder, even though I was wearing my hat and my thick overcoat. I realized Yumiko had been wearing a deep blue dress - something I'd given to her as a gift on her birthday. She looked gorgeous, but it was a poor choice to wear in such bleak weather. Yumiko was still silent, but her body swayed with the wind, as if she was about to fall over anytime soon. Normally, she would have either run away by now or launched a flurry of punches towards me. She must've wanted to disappear right there and then. I cautiously moved towards her. I knew she was pretending to be unaware of my presence. There was only one good move in this situation, and thus I wrapped both of my arms around her and held her close.

"Yumiko," I whispered very softly. No answer. "Yumiko?"

A muffled breath escaped from her lips. She was trying to stifle a cry and was choking back tears. Obviously, she didn't want me to see herself like this. Finally, I hear a barely comprehensible "sorry" from her.

"I didn't mean any of what I said. I was just mad. I wouldn't dream of hurting you. You're my friend, right?" She continued to sob into my chest, as I rubbed her arms tenderly. Her skin was cold from the wind. I told her gently, "when I think of how peaceful my life would be if I didn't have you in it, I feel awfully empty. I never get no peace."

"D-Do you want me to go away and leave y-you alone?" She finally glanced at me with emerald eyes, with a certain anguished look that broke my heart, stuttering in a fragile voice.

"And where the heck would you go?" I said, turning my head, unable to look at her straight.

"Well, I'll go… I'll never bother you again. Maybe I'll just make myself disappear forever."

"Now don't you think of anything stupid. You don't have the sense to take care of yourself, so I've got to look out for you."

"I'm not as fucking stupid as you think I am!" Her voice shattered, as Yumiko teared up again. She started flailing her arms at me weakly, as I loosened my embrace on her. "I-I don't need you or anyone else to take care of me. I'm an adult now. If I hadn't got you, I could make as much trouble as I want, and nobody is gonna come and stop me…" her voice trailed off. Tears continued to fall down her face, as she gazed at me indignantly.

"I've been mean again, haven't I?" I looked at her searchingly.

"If you don't want me anymore then just say it! Then I'll go away!"

"No, Look! I said I was just mad, Yumiko." I sighed, finally facing her to look her in the eyes sincerely. I put my hands inside of my pockets. "You're one of the only real friends I've ever known. I want you to stay with me. Problem with you is that you're always shoving me around, keeping me in hot water all the time." I paused. "But you're far from being the worst person I've ever met. You're not that bad. You're smart, brave, you're pretty and straightforward. I really do like you."

"If you don't want me anymore, then you've only just got to say so. I don't even know if you really mean being friends with me. You don't need me. You're just saying things to make me pipe down."

"I… want you," I stated hesitantly, before immediately realizing how wrong it was phrased out. Yumiko blushed profusely. "I want you to stay with me," I quickly said. "You're a dear friend to me. Good grief, you might fuck up your life if I ain't watching. No, you stay with me. Your mother might haunt me if I don't take care of you."

She leaned forward and hugged me back affectionately. Her face felt warm against me, and I could smell sweet lavender coming from her soft blonde hair. Then suddenly I felt a sharp pain on my chest. "Ouch! Hey, don't bite!" I yelped.

"Don't belittle me!" She peered up at me with angry eyes. The wind was tousling her hair around. She said grudgingly, "You're no better than me… so don't act like you're my godfather or something. We're both the same age. And don't you mention my mother."

"You silly fool. Did you think I wouldn't see you messing about here? I could see you from across the street."

We peeled ourselves away from each other and started walking down the street. She had an indignant and at the same time ashamed expression on her face.

"Your poor mama wouldn't want to see you messing about. Like you said, you're an adult now so act like one. Getting into fights like that… a big girl like you. Good grief, you're a lot of trouble," I grumbled.

"I told you not to belittle me!" She cried. "Why're you talking to me like that?"

"Cause it seems like no one else does." Yumiko looked like she's on the verge of tears again. Really, underneath her tough exterior she was quite sensitive. I gently put my arm over her shoulders. "Aw, Yumiko. I'm not doing it just to spite you. That fight back there, you should know better to walk away. There's a time to be tough, a time to be adamant and a time for compromises. I can't have you getting hurt."

Yumiko remained silent. After a while, she said, not looking at me but forward, "you know, Ma used to talk to me like that. You're sort of like her." I glanced at her curiously. "I used to get into trouble a lot when I was a kid. I'm sorry," she mumbled. "Well, Ma told me to 'turn the other cheek', whatever that meant. Pops thought otherwise. He said you can't let people kick you around. You've got to teach 'em a lesson."

"Well, I think they've taught you enough not to punch above your weight. Like I said, there's a time to be tough and a time to be adamant. Turn the other cheek for now, and then come back the next time for revenge."

"Revenge," she let out a soft giggle. "You're rotten as always."

"Well, not revenge per se, but an eye for an eye."

"That's fair enough, I guess," Yumiko shrugged.

"Look, even your grandma wouldn't be happy to see you like this. You can't just waste your time doing nonsensical things like this. Instead of running around and into trouble, you should study for the final year of college. I'm telling you, you'll be sorry if you don't."

Knowing Yumiko, she wouldn't sit with being told what to do by another person. That wasn't how she operated. Nobody really likes being lectured by other people, and I know I've got no obligation to meddle with her personal life.

"Yeah… fine. Whatever," she huffed, pulling a surly expression.

"Hey, just tell me to shut up, and I will. If you don't want me nagging you, just say so."

That would've made everything exponentially simpler. It meant I wouldn't have an obligation to play as the guardian angel anymore. But she said, "no… you're right. Nobody else is saying to me these things. I don't know. I don't know if they're even being truthful. Okay, I'll do as you say. I ain't getting into trouble no more."

I gave a sigh of relief. "It's your fault, you know. Your attitude is starting to rub off on me." In fact, I had noticed a change in my temperament since Yumiko and I got together. Yumiko had always been short-fused and full of haught, to the point that it was infectious, and I'd caught it. It frightened me that I might be turning into a riajuu myself.

"Hmph! Don't blame me, I'm not responsible for your wretched attitude." She nudged me aside strongly. Yumiko rubbed her arms, shivering. "It's goddamn chilly, y'know."

I immediately sensed an opening for a derisive quip. "Then you should've brought a jacket," I quickly said.

"See?! That's what I'm saying, you're no better than me!" Yumiko gasped, glaring at me, insulted. She tugged on my arm. "Come on now. Let me borrow your coat."

"Er… fine. Here you go." I relented. I shed my blue overcoat from myself and put it around Yumiko, who happily tucked into it with a triumphant grin. I looked her down and nodded approvingly. It was slightly too big for her, and the sleeves covered her hands, but she looked nice in it.

"It's still warm…" she mumbled timidly. Her eyebrows furrowed, as she pulled the lapels close to her face. "And it smells like- like you, Hachi. Gross."

"What the hell did you expect it'd smell like?!" I blushed, irritated at her comment. I bet she could tell that I was using cheap cologne, or 'toilet water' as we started to say. Yumiko laughed. I sighed in exasperation, before looking at her again, and deciding to place my white fedora on top of her golden hair as well.

"Isn't this the one I gave to you?" She asked, touching the hat on her head.

"Yeah. It goes hand in hand with the overcoat." I smiled slightly. "You look cool. Hey, what were you doing here anyways? You don't live around here. Look what happened, you got into trouble again."

"I was waiting for you," Yumiko answered shortly. "I wanted to go on a date."

"What? You can't do that- today is a Friday. You can't just show up and want that," I moaned. "And don't just call it a date. It sounds wrong. It's a practice date. We'd just gone on a practice date last Wednesday. Have you found a boyfriend yet?"

"You can't rush me, mate! Getting a boyfriend is not that simple!"

"Oh, I know that damn well. No date. I'm beat, let's just go to my club and sit down. I'll make you daiquiri if you want. Besides, it's about to rain hard soon. You might get sick."

"It's going to be your fault. Making me cry doesn't help."

I wanted to walk faster, but Yumiko was keeping me at her pace. I made sure she wasn't on the side of the road as we walked down the streets. The heavy sky made everything seem darker, even though it wasn't close to dinner time yet. Yumiko wrapped her arm around mine.

"Hachiman… tell me. Tell me what you've told me before."

"Tell you what?" I asked, puzzled.

"That silly monologue of yours you told me at the pool club."

"Well, it's silly, and I'm not repeating myself. You're not going to put anything over me."

"Please?" She asked softly. "I actually think it's pretty… poetic."

"That's what you want, huh? Alright. I'll tell you again," I huffed, looking forward. My voice grew deeper as I spoke quietly, as if I'd been telling this story many times now. "Some people are wandering aimlessly, looking to love and be loved by someone else - they're the loneliest people in the world. They're looking in the wrong places. Some don't have any family and some don't have any friends. And some, they don't belong anyplace. When they finally get a lover, they think they're set. They think they've filled the hollows in their heart. Then they fall apart, and the next thing you know they're looking for someone else to fill them."

Yumiko hummed, looking at me. "That's right. Now, tell me how it is with us."

"With us, it's not like that. We've got friends. We've got someone to talk to who gives a shit about us. We don't have to look for someone to 'love' us because we're lonely. Other people have got nobody, and they've looked in the wrong places. Let them cry. Nobody gives a damn about them. But not us."

"But not us," Yumiko said, shifting closer towards me. "And why? Because I've got you to look after me, and you've got me to look after you. We're friends, that's why." She giggled happily. "Go on now, what's that you were saying about friendship?"

"This is such a load of crap," I groaned, looking away from her. I couldn't believe I even said things along those lines. Damn it all! I'll do just fine alone by myself-

She pouted and jabbed me in my side, knocking out my breath. "Come on Hachiman, stop being so edgy!"

I gave a heavy sigh and waved my hands in defeat. I glanced at Yumiko, who was smirking cleverly, and could not help but give a smile as well, though it was not one that reached my eyes. I hate to admit, but her innate charm was contagious and never failed to amuse me.

"Okay. Friendship is more valuable than money. It's more important than talent. It's more than the government. It is almost the equivalent of family."

With that, she draped her arm over my shoulder and laughed, warming up now that we've gone through another one of our occasional confrontations. Perhaps she didn't care how we looked like together, but it wouldn't be too far-fetched to assume we were almost best friends of sorts. And so I hesitantly put my hand on her shoulder as well.

How could I bring myself to hate her? Yumiko wasn't all benevolent and perfect. She was often more ostentatious and arrogant that most people, but she can be very agreeable and pleasant as well. And her chaotic tendencies served as a nice balance to my own - admittedly - dull and pragmatic existence. Unlike other people, she was as genuine as could be. I think.