An Alternate Story of the Knight Sabers
2034 Year of the Tiger
Neo No Armour Against Fate (Section 2 of 5)
Flash Powder (Part 3 of 11)
by Shawn Hagen(1998;1999;2005)
Based on situations and characters created by Suzuki Toshimichi.
February 11th, 07:43, Tokyo
Nene yawned deeply as she settled into her seat in the Green Car. Outside of the train, on the platform, people were milling about, saying their goodbyes to friends, or waiting for trains. Nene closed her eyes, stretching out her legs. The Maglev Shinkansen would be leaving Shinjuku in a few minutes. It would make one stop at the Central Tokyo Station and one more at Ueno and then it would be a straight run to Sendai station. The trip would take a little under an hour.
Around her she listened to people as they moved about, taking their seats. Most of the passengers in the first class car would be business people. Many of them would be Genom employees.
The Green Car was a bit of a luxury, but Nene could afford it, thanks to the fact she was not paying for rent. One of the bonuses of living with her parents, her paycheque was all disposable income. She did not even have to save any, not with her income from the Knight Sabers being invested for her by Sylia.
There was a soft chime, followed by a pleasant melody. A computer voice-not that one could tell-made an announcement, welcoming them on board the Tohoku ML Shinkansen, with stops at Sendai, Morioka, Hachinohe, Aomori and finally Hakodate. It was an express, avoiding all the stops in the little towns and cities that lined the Tohoku line.
The train began moving, the gentle, almost unnoticeable acceleration that was the hallmark of the MagLevs. Nene napped until she was woken by the pleasant computer voice telling her that they had arrived at the Central Tokyo Station.
She listened to the people coming aboard, taking their seats, talking to acquaintances. Then the train was moving again. Nene's nap was once more interrupted as the train stopped at Ueno. When they left Ueno Nene managed to get some real sleep, until the train conductor woke her to check her ticket.
Nene sighed as she put the ticket back in her jacket pocket. She looked at her watch. It would be about twenty minutes before they reached Sendai. She sat up in her seat, giving up on the notion of sleep.
Leon had kept her busy the day before, making her stay late so she could do all the computer searches he wanted. Corporate accidents, deaths of personnel of certain companies, all that sort of thing. It was obvious that something was going on, so much so that it was certain that Leon knew that, but he wanted her to do the work.
It had been her fault really. When he had asked her to do the work she had told him that she was taking a few days off so only would be able help him that day. When he had heard that he had made her stay late and get as much work done as possible.
If that had not been bad enough, she had got in trouble with Harrison-buchou for not doing her work. Leon had not actually received permission for her to help him, mainly because he did not have permission. She had shared being yelled at by the Chief with him.
"That Leon is an idiot," she said softly. She looked out the window, seeing the scenery flash by. They had long since left the city behind and were now passing through farmland. The flat land, stretching out around her until it reached mountains. The rice fields were bare, only the stubble of cut rice shoots remaining.
Every now and then they would flash by a billboard, put out in the middle of some farmer's field. The towns and small cities they passed through flashed by almost as fast. The tracks were raised into the air on concrete pillars and nothing impeded the train as it sped along.
Nene got up and walked towards the front end of the car. She passed through the doors into the area between cars. There, beside two phones, was a vending machine. She took a debit card from her pocket and ran it through the card reader then selected a can of coffee.
By the time she returned to her seat the train was beginning to slow as it approached Sendai. Nene gulped the hot coffee down, burning her tongue in the process, then grabbed her overnight bag from the rack above her seat.
She walked towards the end of the car, moving slowly so she did not hit anyone else who was getting up. The train's voice told everyone that they would be stopping in Sendai station for five minutes before going on. It also reminded everyone to check to make sure they had left nothing behind.
Nene was standing by the sliding doors when the train came to a stop. The doors slid open and Nene stepped out, just in front of two salarymen who were in a rush. She stepped to the side to let them go by.
The platform was fairly busy, and Nene had to dodge about as she walked through the people towards the escalator. She almost bumped into one of a group of young men. One of them apologised; another asked her if she wanted to go for a tea. Nene laughed and declined the offer. She doubted he had been serious, seeing as he and his friends were obviously on their way somewhere. She was flattered anyway. The young man was rather handsome. Of course he was about seventeen. What did that say about her?
As she stood on the escalator, letting it take her down, she looked at her reflection in the shiny metal. She was certainly cute, but it was a mature cuteness, wasn't it? Could one be cute and mature? Her smile faded a little as she realised that one could not be cute and mature. She sighed as she got off the escalator.
Her minor fit of depression lasted only a moment, there were worse things to happen then having a seventeen year old trying to pick you up.
She soon passed through the gates, putting her ticket through the ticket reader. The gates opened, letting her pass through into the main station. She moved out of the way of the other people who were exiting the platform area.
She stood on a wide platform, off to her left a set of escalators led to the main floor. Far to her left were a set of stairs, also leading down. She looked about, then saw, waiting almost directly underneath her, Yukiko.
Nene moved off towards the escalators, fighting off the urge to push through people. That would be rude. She did mutter unflattering things under her breath though. That was also rude, but no one would notice.
Yukiko spotted Nene on the escalator and had moved to the bottom of it to wait for her.
"Yu-chan!" Nene called when she reached the floor.
"Chibi Ne-chan!" Yukiko called as she moved in close to hug Nene. People passed about them, giving them little attention. Reunions like that were not all that uncommon in the big station.
"It's been so, so, sooo long," Yukiko said.
"I know, I know," Nene said happily. "But don't call me 'Chibi Ne-chan' Yu-chan!"
Yukiko laughed. "But I can't call you Ne-chan, you are too immature to be an older sister."
"You big meanie," Nene said.
"Ah, Keiko said you would say that"
"What?"
"We had a pool you see," Yukiko explained as she walked towards the large glass doors that led out of the station. "Kate said you would cry. I said you would act mature about the whole thing." She shook her head. "They gave me odds on that. If you had acted mature I could have bought a car."
"That's a big lie!"
Yukiko smiled. "Maybe"
"Yu-chan, you're all very mean," Nene said.
"Hai, hai," Yukiko said in a bored tone. "You are such a child at times."
"Hai, Nene-chan terribly childish," Nene said in a flat tone as they exited the station.
Yukiko laughed. "What do you want to do now? The others won't be able to meet us till around four."
"I want to go to a toy store," Nene said in the same flat tone.
Yukiko laughed again. "Stop sulking. What do you want to do? We've got the entire day. I'm skipping classes for you."
Nene smiled. "Actually, I was thinking about visiting the school."
"Really?"
"I thought it might be fun."
"Well, looks like it is back to the trains," Yukiko turned around.
Nene reached out and grabbed her shoulder. "Chotto matte(Wait)," she said. Yukiko looked over her shoulder at Nene. "I'll pay for a taxi."
"Being a police officer must pay well."
"I'm a valuable employee, well worth what I get."
"If that were true I think you would get nothing," Yukiko said, smiling.
"Shut up," Nene said with no real anger.
"Well, if you are paying," she started towards the stairs that would take them down to the taxi area.
Underneath the raised walkways in front of the stations were a number of bus platforms, as well the taxi stands. The cars were parked along the road in a long line. Yukiko walked towards the first in line. When she got close the rear door opened for her and Nene.
Yukiko got in, then slid across the seat to make space for Nene. "Nodamachi," Yukiko said.
The driver nodded and closed the rear door after Nene had got in. He checked to the side, then accelerated away from the taxi line, circling around to the main road.
"So Nene-chan, why have you taken so long to get in touch with me?"
"Well," Nene said, "I've been busy..." she trailed off.
"With your job, or was it the running away?"
"I guess a little of both."
"You really should have stayed in touch." Yukiko shook her head. She sounded a little disappointed.
"I was hiding out," Nene said, defending herself. "Did you expect me to send letters to you and keep in touch?"
"Yes I did. Did you think we would have told on you?"
"Yes," Nene nodded, and looked down at her feet. "Not because you are not my friends, or did not care about me feelings, but because you would have been worried about me."
"We were worried about you as it was. It was not very nice of you to just leave like that."
"You could have mentioned this in your letters, or on the phone."
"Then you might have stopped talking to me. I wanted to wait before I brought this up."
"So I could not run away?
Yukiko nodded.
"I'm sorry. I did not mean to hurt you, or the others, or my parents, but I had to go."
Yukiko shook her head but she was smiling slightly. "I could never understand you. Always acting so careful but at the same time just taking all kinds of risks. Weren't you afraid, just running off to Tokyo like that?"
"A little."
"We all thought you'd be killed, or worse."
"Well, I wasn't, and the 'worse' never happened."
"Good thing. You know, your mother was very worried."
"I'm not surprised."
"This was beyond her normal worry Nene-chan. Up until you got back in touch with her, she visited me everyday to ask if I had heard from you."
Nene closed her eyes, "Shiranakatta(I didn't know)," she said.
"It was very immature of you."
Nene lifted her head and looked at Yukiko. There were unshed tears in her eyes. "Why are you saying this?"
"Because I have to. The others agreed we had to bring it up if we were to remain friends. It was agreed that I would do it."
"I'm sorry. I had to leave. I was afraid... Afraid..." Nene closed her eyes and dropped her head.
In the front seat the cab driver watched what was going on in his rear-view mirror. He looked uncomfortable. He hoped that the back seat of his cab was not about to host some major scene.
Yukiko put her arm across Nene's shoulders and leaned close. "Afraid of what?"
"Afraid of losing something of myself," Nene said softly. "All the pressures, my parents, the school, I did not know what I wanted. If I had stayed, I might have gotten lost."
"Nene-chan, that's sad."
Nene nodded.
"It's okay," Yukiko said. "We just wanted to know why, and wanted you to know how we felt. It's okay."
Nene looked up at Yukiko. "I'm sorry," she said.
Yukiko smiled and handed Nene a handkerchief. Nene took it and dabbed at her eyes.
"So Chibi Ne-chan, why do you want to go back to Sakura?"
"I'm not sure," Nene said as she handed Yukiko back her handkerchief. "I guess I just started feeling nostalgic. It's been some time."
Yukiko leaned back in the seat. "First you run away from it, now you come back. Your mother was right, you are very flaky."
Nene frowned slightly. "She said the same thing about you."
"Yes, but I proved her wrong didn't I? I was responsible and finished school and went to university. Unlike Nene-ojouchan," she said in a superior way.
"Ojouchan!" Nene's tone was cold.
"Hai. Chibi Nene-ojouchan."
Nene suddenly smiled, her eyes narrowing. "But aren't you skipping out on University?" Nene asked, certain she could take the high ground.
"Of course. That's what university is for. Also, I could not let Nene-ojouchan be alone in Sendai could I? Yukiko-oneesan will take care of you."
"Idiot," Nene said.
Yukiko laughed.
The cab dropped them off by the front gates. Sakura Senior Girls High School was a large building, one with a long history and a list of prestigious graduates. It was a private school, over a hundred years old. According to school history it had been rebuilt twice, the latest time after a fire in 2011.
Nene paid the driver and then turned around to look at the school. Not far away she saw a group of students sitting under one of the big trees, sketch pads and paper around them. Far off she could just make out the track, and the students training on it. She doubted they were training too hard, not at this time of year.
While there were no official classes on Saturdays, not any longer, there were still clubs, and it was a good time for review work. The end effect was that the school was busy even on a Saturday.
"Come on," Yukiko said, starting along the gravel walkway.
"Have you been back here since graduating?" Nene asked her.
"All the time," Yukiko told her. "About once every two months. I get a chance to say hello to the teachers and visit some of my kouhai(juniors)."
"So you're a good senpai," Nene said.
"Of course."
As they walked along the path Nene looked around, becoming lost in her memories.
"Glad to be back?" Yukiko asked her.
"I'm not sure," Nene shook her head. "This is where everything started to get tough. My parents..."
"I never really thought that your parents were that bad."
"You weren't their daughter, not that that ever stopped them from giving you advice every now and then." Nene smiled at Yukiko.
"Especially your kaasan."
"Kaasan can not stand anyone, especially women, who did not reach their full potential. Do you know she told me to stop hanging around with Arisa-chan just because she thought Arisa would never amount to anything?"
"She never did. And you stopped spending time with her."
"I never said my mother had been wrong. Just that she need not have been so heavy handed about it. Do you remember when we used to eat lunch, just over there under that cherry tree?" Nene asked, switching subjects.
"How could I forget. You always stole Keiko's nori-giri."
"She never wanted them."
"I guess."
Yukiko looked around. "The year is almost over."
"What?" Nene asked.
"The school year is almost over. The third years will graduate soon. The girls from the Junior High will come here, the third year class will dissolve, moving onto university."
"I wonder how they feel about it?"
"Same way we all do. Happiness, sadness all sort of mixed together in an odd way. One part of your life is over, a new part is beginning." Yukiko had stopped and was looking around
"How was the third year?"
"Hell," Yukiko said flatly. "And it was sad. Fumi-chan had to quit her taiko group to study after summer break. I think it sort of killed a little part of her. She never laughed the same way after that. Still, being a third year student had its moments, just like we always knew it would. And you did miss a great trip to Vancouver."
"I almost wish I had stayed."
"I'm almost glad you didn't," Yukiko said softly as she started walking again.
"Why?"
"You still have that spark I think the rest of us have lost." Yukiko shoved her hands into the pockets of her jeans. "They never had a chance to crush it out of you."
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't change Nene-chan," Yukiko said as she began circling around the school towards the teacher's and guest entrance.
"What are you talking about?"
"Do you still sneak deserts and then lament about needing to go on diets?"
"Maybe."
"Cover your eyes during the scary parts of slasher flicks?"
"Sometimes."
"Prone to breaking into tears when you get teased?"
"Is that what you're trying to accomplish now?"
"What I'm trying to say is that you still have that spark from, well from childhood if you will. I don't, not any longer, that's what third year does."
"I'm not a child."
"I know, though at times you act like it."
"Meanie," Nene and Yukiko said together.
Nene began to laugh.
"Come on," Yukiko increased her pace. They soon entered the school and exchanged their shoes for guest slippers.
"I think we should go to the teacher's office first," Yukiko said. She turned left and started walking towards the stairs. Then she noticed that Nene was no longer beside her. She turned and ran after the redhead who was going the other way down the hallway. "Nene what's up?"
"Just want to check out something."
"What? Oh, the computer lab. It's not down here any longer."
"What?"
"They moved it upstairs, beside the library the summer right after you left. Put in a whole new system."
"Oh sure, I miss all the good things," she said to herself, then, "right." Nene turned and walked back the way she had come.
"It's faster if we continue down this way," Yukiko told her, pointing the way Nene had been going.
"But I want to use the south stairs."
"Of course." Yukiko smiled. "Ojouchan," she said softly.
The south stairs had been for third year students only, an unwritten code of the school. At the top of the flight of stairs, on the fourth floor, were the third year classrooms. On the second floor they let out directly in front of the teacher's office and on the ground floor it was near the students' entrance. All in all, for getting around the school, the south stairs were just a little faster, which was why the third year's of some alumni class had claimed them as their own.
Of course every now and then a first or second year student would dare to use the stairs. Yukiko remembered how she and some other girls had dared Nene to do just that when they were first year students.
She had been caught, as Yukiko and the others had planned. It had been cruel but fun. The third year students were not impressed and had made it quite clear that no students but they were to use those stairs. Nene had not been able to sit comfortably for a few hours after that.
She had not dared the stairs again after that.
Yukiko followed Nene up the stairs, laughing softly at the pose Nene took, no doubt unconsciously, as they walked up the stairs. She belonged on those stairs and no one had better question it. Nene had never officially been a third year student, but there had been no doubt that she was going to be one.
They passed the second floor and climbed up to the third. There they walked down the hall, passing the five first year student classrooms. There was some noise coming from the rooms, but probably not as much as they might hear from the classrooms of the upper years. The closer one got to entrance exams, the busier their Saturdays tended to be.
Farther down they passed an audio-visual room, then a lab, a lounge and a storage room. They turned right just past the stairs that Yukiko had suggested they use, into another hallway. The school was fairly large, having more room than most schools with comparable student populations. It was the lounges, rehearsal rooms, and labs that gave it the extra size. Nene remembered how all those extras irked her every day when it came to cleaning.
The two walked by the library, which sounded busy, and then stopped in front of the door to the computer lab.
"Want to go in?" Yukiko asked.
"No, I'll just peek in, see what they have done."
"Afraid they have defiled your shrine?"
Nene thought about that for a moment, then nodded. She slid the door open just slightly so she could peek in. From her rather limited view everything looked all right.
"Yasui-Senpai," some one said, rather loudly.
Nene started forward, banging her head, loudly, into the door. "Itai(ouch)," she said.
Yukiko had turned towards the voice. "If it isn't Nagane-kun, it's been a while," she said.
Mei Nagane nodded, smiling.
"Nene-chan, this is Nagane Mei-kun," Yukiko told her. "She's a third year now, shortly before you left she was a third year in the Junior High."
Nene looked at the young woman. She wore the same uniform as everyone else. She had long black hair and brown eyes, and was attractive, though not exceptionally so-not like Sylia, Nene thought. On her uniform she wore a Roman numeral 'III' pin and next to that her class pin, 3-A.
"Nagane-san, as you no doubt know, this is Romanova Nene-chan," Yukiko said with a wicked smile at Nene. "Nagane-kun is a member of the club."
"Leader actually," Mei said, looking at Nene. There was something challenging in her stance.
"This year?" Nene asked her.
Mei nodded.
"I took over half way though my first year."
"You were one of the best," Mei admitted in an offhanded sort of way.
"Were?"
"Everyone loses their edge," she trailed off for a moment, then added, "Romanova-kun.
"Not me, Nagane-chan," Nene said confidently.
"Prove it."
"Wait a minute," Yukiko interrupted. "Let's not do anything rash."
"This hardly counts as rash," Nene said. She knew rash. She had worked with Priss Asagiri after all.
Yukiko shook her head. "Always acts so careful, but will throw all that way in a moment. Well, let's go then."
Nagane opened the door for them, letting both of them enter first. They were greeted with calls of, "Yasui-senpai,what a surprise", and "Nagane-senpai, konichiwa", and a few others.
Both Mei and Yukiko acknowledged the greetings, then Mei led Nene over to one of the computers.
"Same challenge as the old days Nagane-chan?" Nene asked.
"Hai, Romanova-chan."
Nene smiled as she sat down. A crowd began to form around them. To Nene it suddenly felt like no time had passed since she had run away. "How fast did you do it Nagane-chan?"
"Straight hack? Twenty minutes."
"Wow," Nene said with a touch of sarcasm.
A few of the girls muttered darkly. Mei was their leader, in so much as they had one. Nene, most of them had not heard of, and none had ever met. To the few that had heard of her, she was just some student who had run away from home.
Nene reached into her pocket and removed her NAVI. She flipped it open and placed it beside the computer.
"What is that?" Mei asked.
"A NAVI. I'm sure you have heard of them."
"Well, since you aren't going to make a call, what is it out for?"
Nene smiled up at her. "It's my katana. Don't worry, the programs are all mine, and I rebuilt it myself."
"I guess it is all right," Mei said. "If you rebuilt it yourself."
Nene shook her head, smiling all the time. She pulled a set of leads from her jacket pocket. "Yu-chan, time me."
Yukiko held up her watch and looked at Nene. "Say when."
"Go," Nene said. She turned to computer on and plugged the NAVI into it. As soon as the computer had booted up she went to work. First she had to see what she had to work with.
When Nene had been in school she had officially been part of the tennis team. Unofficially she had been part of, and eventually the president of, a supposedly non-existent club. A group of young women who liked gaining access to computer systems they had no right to have access to. It had been fun.
Not that any of them had ever done anything illegal, or had planned to. It was more of the thrill and the challenge.
The student system was quite good, but it was meant for the students and had little real access to the school administration system. Of course there were a few entry points, and the library inventory system shared information with the student system. All possible entry points.
The first time she had got into the school system had been through the slow process of obtaining a teacher's password. It was still how she did a lot of hacking, though Sylia was the one supplying her with passwords. She also did some serious decrypting, real ice-skating but that required some very powerful and illegal hardware and software. It was why she had the NAVI.
She could always circumvent the system, find a hole and wiggle through. It was what she often did when she had no password and skating was chancy. That took time though. She figured she could find a way through the school systems in about fifteen minutes, but that would not be dramatic enough.
When in doubt, Nene thought as she tapped a few keys on the NAVI.
Data began to flash across both the screens of the NAVI and computer. Nene had one hand on the keyboard of the computer, the other hand on the keyboard of the NAVI. She liked the NAVI's subtlety, but the small keyboard was a pain to use.
It did not take long before the opening screen of the administration system appeared. Nene sat back. "Time?"
"A minute and a half," Yukiko said.
Nene began to remove the connections between her computer and her NAVI. "I didn't actually have to do it that way. I could have sneaked through the library circulation records into the purchasing records and then into the school financial records. That would have taken about ten minutes." She turned to NAVI off and then the computer.
"I don't believe this," Mei said.
"That was fun," Nene said as she got to her feet. She picked up her NAVI and returned it to her jacket. "Nagane-chan."
Mei stepped back, then bowed. "Gomen na sai Romanova-senpai(I'm sorry)."
Nene smiled.
"Still the queen of this little group of trouble makers I see," Yukiko said.
"Looks like it." Nene got to her feet. "Let's go." She walked towards the door, Yukiko followed.
"Nagane-chan," Nene looked over her shoulder just as she was about to leave the room, "good luck."
"Show off," Yukiko told Nene as they left the computer lab.
"I guess."
"Are you sure you work for the police?"
"Why?" Nene asked, trying not to sound nervous. It was not if Yukiko could know that she was part of the Knight Sabers.
"Just the way you broke into that system, I didn't know police were good at those sort of things."
"I've just kept in practice, for fun really." Nene felt she was not really lying.
"Well as long as you only do it for fun and not for profit."
"I'll try."
Yukiko looked at Nene sideways. "You're a naughty girl Nene, unfortunately in none of the ways that count." Yukiko suddenly smiled. "You really impressed Nagane-san."
"I was trying to do that."
Yukiko began to laugh.
"What?"
"Do you remember her from when she was in Junior High?"
Nene thought back on her time in school. While the girls from the Junior High had often been around, she could not remember Mei. She shook her head.
"I do. I sometimes saw her watching us. I never gave it much thought until after you had left. She used to come and ask me if I had heard anything about you."
"What?"
"She had a crush on you."
Nene looked at Yukiko for a moment. "That's not true."
"Yes it is. And the best part is that she probably had gotten over it, and now you have become her hero again."
"Oh great."
"Don't worry about it. She'll go to University in a few months and once surrounded by boys will forget about you. You were infatuated with a few of our senpais if I remember correctly."
Nene nodded. "I suppose. I also remember being a little annoying about it."
"Nene-chan? Annoying? Say it's not so," Yukiko said sarcastically.
Nene laughed. "I guess it is just karma then."
"So what do you want to do now?"
"Don't know. I guess we should stop off at the teacher's office."
"It is only polite."
"Yes," Nene sighed.
"Come on." Yukiko grabbed Nene's arm and led her down the hall towards the stairs. "You have to face it sometime."
Once they were back on the second floor Yukiko walked over to the door to the teacher's office and slid it open. "Excuse me," she called out.
"Please excuse me," Nene said, keeping her voice low and trying to stay out of sight behind Yukiko.
"Aa, Yasui-san, Ohayo," one of the teachers said as she got to her feet.
"Ohayo Gozaimasu(good morning) Nagasaka-sensei." Yukiko moved forward to meet her and suddenly Nene found herself fully exposed. There was little she could do but stand there. Running from the office or trying to hide were a little too undignified.
Nagasaka looked at Nene for a moment before she recognised the young woman. "Romanova-san, Ohayo."
"Ah, Ohayo Gozaimasu sensei," Nene said to the woman who had been her homeroom teacher in Junior High.
"It's been a while, hasn't it."
"I know."
"It's almost like old times," Yukiko said.
"It's good to know you are well," Nagasaka said. "I heard that you were from your Kaasan, but it is nice to see you."
"It certainly is," someone else said from behind Nene.
Nene cringed as she recognised the voice.
Himiko Mukai-kocho sensei(principal) was the one person in the school who Nene had almost never been able to get around. It had seemed whenever she was about to do something wrong, or more often just after, Mukai-kocho sensei had been there. Nene had not been the only student to suffer from the woman's ability to ferret out anything that might be wrong but she had often felt that she had been a high priority target.
Her third year had promised to be rather hard when she had discovered that Mukai-kocho sensei was to take over as her homeroom teacher.
"Ohayo Gozaimasu, Mukai-kocho sensei," Nene said, turning to face the woman.
She was not a large woman-though she was taller than Nene by a few centimetres-but she seemed to radiate power. Long brown hair, a little grey in it, beautiful face, athletic build, and piercing brown eyes. She wore a severe suit, black, with a cream coloured blouse.
"I take it this is a social visit, you are not here to complete your third year as you should have," Himiko said, staring at Nene.
"Uh, yes," Nene said, dropping her head, not wanting to meet that stare.
"Nene-chan has written the Central Exam," Yukiko spoke up, enjoying the fact that Nene was the target of Mukai-sensei's attention and she was not. "She did very well."
"I see. Still time for you to complete the last months of your third year though," Himiko said flatly. "That would be something."
Nene wondered if the woman was actually serious, she finally looked up just to see if Himiko was smiling. She was not.
"What do you think Romanova-kun?" Himiko asked her.
"Don't you have anything better to do than to torture me?" Nene asked, suddenly tired of being meek.
Himiko smiled at that point and shook her head slightly. "Not really. So, where do you plan to go to university?"
"Well, I'm not sure yet. I was thinking of Toyoeiwa," Nene said.
"I see. Well, thirty years ago it might not have been an institution I would have approved of but now it is a fitting university for a graduate of this school."
"I didn't graduate from this school," Nene reminded her.
"A formality at best. While I suppose you don't have the two days you need to write the school's final exams; I can give you a shortened version. We'll get it done in two hours, and if you pass," she said that as if she was not certain that Nene would. "I'll give you your diploma. I think that will be for the best."
"But..."
"Is there a problem Romanova-kun?" Himiko asked, suddenly serious again.
"No," Nene said, giving in. Yukiko and Nagasaka-sensei were laughing softly.
"Good. Wait here for a moment," Himiko said as she walked towards her office. Nene slumped slightly.
"You were the one who wanted to come here," Yukiko said, sliding up to Nene.
"I was hoping she was dead," Nene told her.
The "Shimoyachi Gallery" occupied the first floor of an office building on the West Side of Shinjuku station. It was not one of the best galleries in the city, but it had a certain reputation and a number of well known artists let it be a showcase for their work. The main feature that day was a set of works entitled "100 views of Mount Fuji". Priss wondered if Hokusai would have approved of the title or the works.
She could not help but feel a little under-dressed as she entered the gallery and noticed all the suits and long skirts.
"Irasshaimase(welcome)," the woman behind the desk in the lobby said.
Priss nodded at the receptionist then put two, thousand yen bills on the desk. She took one of the brochures and a pen with the galley's name on it then walked into the gallery proper.
She stopped at the first poster sized photograph, a picture of the Genom Tower at night, fully lit up. The new Fuji-san(mount Fuji). The illusion was very strong, with the shape of the Tower and the spotlights, concentrated on the top, made the black material shine white, like snow.
The shot was a double exposure, like all the works. The Tower and, like an after-image, a scene of the AD Police cleaning up after a boomer battle. In the centre of that picture were three shapes, covered with white shrouds, stained with blood.
Priss flipped open the brochure and scanned it, reading about the dates both pictures had been taken. Miako Forest had used an old 35mm. No digital enhancement or any computer tricks were used in any of the pictures in the showing. It was rather impressive.
The night before, after a rather long set at Hot Legs, Priss had been introduced to the works of Miako Forest. Yuuko had brought a book of the woman's work to the set. Priss had found it in the dressing room and had been drawn to the works. When Yuuko had told her that the photographer was showing her work Priss had decided to take a look.
She walked through the aisles, stopping to look at every picture, examining it, trying to guess what she had been feeling when she had taken the pictures. In all cases she had taken the picture of scenes around the city first, then the shot of the Tower. Different angles, but all from about the same distance.
After looking at about thirty of the works Priss noticed something. Any shot of something unpleasant, dead or wounded ADP officers, some historic building being destroyed, a shot of a politician being arrested, the Tower's image was strong. Other shots, a fire boomer carrying a child form a blaze, some Genom suit dedicating a park, a group of smiling students, the Tower's image was fainter.
Priss could not help smiling. It was so simple, so elegant, yet so telling. It made such a strong statement without being overblown about it. Some people would never notice it, but she suspected it would stay with them. A feeling they could not explain, that somehow the Tower represented the bad things in the city.
The book Yuuko had brought had been shots from all over the city in the early days of the reconstruction. Crude for the most part, anything that would make Genom look bad. Still, there had been something to the work that spoke of passion. Priss recognised it as being akin to her own early work.
Since then Miako, like Priss, had gone on, her work becoming more elegant, more beautiful, with her social message hidden in the art and being stronger for that.
Priss had seen some people in the gallery who wore Genom lapel pins. She thought it both funny and ironic that a print, or even one of the original works, might end up on the office wall of some Genom executive.
She continued to walk along the aisle, looking at each of the pictures, sometimes circling the number in her brochure. There were a few that she might want prints of. If there were prints.
"Asagiri-san?" Priss heard someone say from behind her.
Priss turned, she was a little surprised to find Ali Romanova standing there.
"It is you," Ali said. "I wasn't sure."
Priss, at a lost for words, fell back on, "Uh, yeah."
"Are you a fan of Forest-san's work?"
"Maybe," Priss said. "I just found out about her last night." Priss said nothing for a moment, then, "Are you?"
"Well, I'm not entirely sure," Ali turned to look at he picture Priss had been looking it. A man, probably a Genom executive, was being led off in cuffs by police. The image of the tower was rather strong. "It's quite beautiful, in its way, but her dislike of Genom is quite obvious. I dislike having something shoved in my face." Ali was looking at the picture with a critical eye.
"Maybe that's the only way people will notice," Priss said, for some reason feeling a little defensive.
"I'm not sure," Ali said. "She seems to have become fixated on Genom. That she hates them is obvious. Why does she keep coming back to it?"
"Lots of people have reason to hate Genom. Do you like them?" Priss asked, unable to keep and edge out of her voice.
Ali turned to look at Priss. There was something close to surprise on her face. "Genom is too large to like or dislike. There are things the company has done that have not impressed me, and have even made me angry at times. They have also done things that I was very glad of."
"It's just public relations."
"I know," Ali nodded. "Several years ago Genom gave me a rather generous grant and some very advanced prosthetics. They asked me to lead a team of doctors into several of the poorer countries in Asia and perform some transplant operations. It was publicity related, but that does not change the fact it was a good thing. Nor does it make up for the bad things they have done." Ali turned to look at the picture again. "There are people related to the company who I consider friends and there are ones that I dislike." She turned to look directly at Priss. "That man in that picture is one of them. I can claim some responsibility for his arrest."
"What?" Priss wondered if the woman in front of her was continually putting her off stride on purpose.
"His line of research was rather unethical."
"Aren't you worried that you won't get any further grants from Genom? That they might ruin you?" Priss asked. Ali shook her head. "That they might hurt your family?" That had the effect that Priss wanted. It cracked the woman's composure ever so slightly. Priss suddenly felt guilty for saying it.
"Asagiri-san," Ali said as she reached into her purse. "Whether I like of dislike Genom is ultimately unimportant." She held out a white card to Priss. Priss, still a little off, reached out and took it. "What really matters is whether I like myself." She released the card, turned and walked away.
Priss stared at her back as she walked off, and continued to stare straight ahead for several seconds after Ali had left her view. She shook her head and looked at the card. On it was Ali's name, her work phone number, her fax number, her e-mail address, and hand written, her home phone number and NAVI number.
For a moment Priss was tempted to simply crumple the card up and drop it. She told herself that she was just being polite to a friend's mother as she put the card in her pocket. She shook her head and turned to look back at the picture. She was about to circle the number on her brochure when she asked herself what she was doing.
Was she going to put prints of the work up on the dingy walls of her trailer? Just something else to shove into a box, to store until she got a chance to use it? It seemed rather pointless. She circled the number anyway.
Priss walked along, looking at the last set of pictures, though not really seeing them. She was almost at the end when she was brought up short by herself, staring out from one of the last pictures.
It was from Hot Legs, she was wearing her wig and stage gear, an upper body shot. Behind her image, looking just as solid, was the tower. She flipped open the brochure and looked up the information on it.
The picture of her had been taken almost a year ago. So much for the 'no cameras' rule at Hot Legs, she thought, looking at herself. It was untitled, as were most of the works, simply a number eight to indicate which view it was.
"So, what do you think?" someone asked from behind her.
For the second time is a short time Priss was caught off guard and turned quickly finding herself face to face with Miako Forest. She was an attractive young woman, more so than the picture on the brochure had led Priss to expect. Her long back hair was drawn back from her face with two braids. She was wearing a suit like many of the others in the Galley, though the skirt was a little too short and the red, high-heeled shoes clashed with the dark blue material.
"Pardon," Priss said.
"I'm sorry." She smiled. "Forest Miako. I am pleased to meet you."
"You're the photographer?" Priss asked.
"Yes, and as you can tell, I know you already Asagiri-san." She pointed at the picture behind Priss.
"Priss is fine," Priss said.
"Priss-san. Please call me Miako. So, do you like it?" She once again indicated the picture.
"It's very interesting." Priss turned once more to face it. "Why is the Tower's image so strong?"
"I'm glad to see you noticed that effect," Miako moved up beside her. "As to why, I'm not sure. I was going to make it faint, was setting the shutter speed very fast when I suddenly changed my mind. I felt your picture needed a strong back drop."
"I've never seen you in Hot Legs," Priss said, unsure how to respond to her previous comment and wanting to change the subject.
"I don't get out to many clubs that often, shame really."
"Why me?" Priss asked.
"Because I like your music and I like your message and I think you're very beautiful. The last reason was the most important for me."
Priss was again unable to think of a proper response for that one so she just looked at the picture and they fell into an uncomfortable silence for several seconds.
"Would you like to go eat lunch?" Miako asked.
"Pardon?"
"I was planning on going to lunch when I saw you come in. I've actually been following you, waiting for you to come to this one. So, would you like to have lunch with me?"
Priss thought about it for a moment. She had nothing important to do for the next few hours and Miako, and her art, did interest her. "Okay," she said.
"Come on, I know a great little Italian place about two blocks away," she headed towards the lobby.
"Why did you follow me?" Priss asked, falling into step beside her.
"I don't know, I guess it was just kind of fun really. I'm a fan of your music and I saw you come in here so I guessed you might be a fan of my work. I wanted to watch you without you knowing the photographer was watching your reactions."
"Weird," Priss said.
"A little," she smiled.
"Do you have prints of your work?" Priss asked, remembering she wanted some. Maybe she would never put them up, but she could give them as gifts. Maybe Sylia would appreciate them.
"Limited editions. One hundred copies of each, signed and numbered. Which ones do you want?" she asked as they passed through the lobby. Miako waved to the receptionist as they left.
Priss opened the brochure and read off the numbers as they exited the building.
"Should have a few of those left I would think. Chotto matte(just a second)," she turned and went back into the building. Priss watched through the windows as she talked to the receptionist then came back out.
"I have one of each being held for you," she said as she came out of the building.
"How much?" Priss asked.
"For you, free," she said, walking down the street.
"Really?"
"Don't worry about it Priss-san. After all, I did take and use your picture without permission. Consider this an apology or payment."
"All right," Priss said. Miako did have a point.
They arrived at the restaurant a short time later. It was crowded, but Miako knew the staff and they quickly cleared as table for them.
"What's good here?" Priss asked.
"Everything," she said. "I would recommend the pasta-salad or the pizza though."
"I think I'll go with the pizza."
"Good choice. Shall we order a large and split it?"
"Whatever," Priss shrugged her shoulders.
Miako ordered their food and some drinks.
They made some small talk through the meal, nothing of real import, a little about art, a little about the city, a little about how they had spent their youth. It was an easy, comfortable conversation that relaxed Priss.
"Would you have dinner with me tonight?" Miako asked. Priss was suddenly not so relaxed.
"I suppose," Priss said without really thinking. When was the last time someone other than Leon had asked her to go to dinner?
"Good." she smiled. "You know the Shinjuku station well?"
"I've been through it a few times."
"Okay. Fourth floor. There is a restaurant called 'Oishiya' near the escalators. How about we meet there at about nine."
"That's too late. I have a gig at Hot Legs. I can only show up so late."
"How about six then?"
Priss thought about it. She had the perfect excuse to get out of the dinner she had just agreed to, and almost used it. There was something about Miako that interested her though. "Sounds good."
"Good. Shall we go back to the gallery now? I can get those prints you wanted packed up for you."
"Thanks." Priss got to her feet.
Shrill flute music took the dancers into the first steps. Like the music their movements were sharp, quick, or that was the intention. Most of the dancers were not quite getting it, though they had only run through the routine once before.
Andrea Kikuchi sat in the front row of the theatre watching, frowning, and making notes. She watched as the dancers moved through the steps, through her choreography. None of them had gotten it yet, though they were trying, she gave them that.
The two taiko drummers began, adding another element to the music, and bringing on two more dancers. The koto music brought on the final dancer. Now they were all together, with the music as it should be, moving through the dance that almost looked traditional.
They were only half way through it all when Andrea got to her feet and signalled the musicians to stop. The dancers, looking a little surprised, all stopped.
"That was all very bad," Andrea said. "Foley-san, what was that you were doing?"
The small woman looked over at Andrea. "Dancing," she said.
"Is that what you call it? You are dancing the part of a ethereal spirit, of water and wind, and yet you are stomping all over the stage."
"I'm sorry."
"Namura-san, what was that you were doing with your hands?"
"Kikuchi-sensei?"
"You've got them balled up like you are planning on hitting someone."
"But I'm supposed to be a warrior."
"Warriors don't go around looking for a fight. They move with grace and beauty until they have to kill someone, and even then they tense up only for the strike.
"Hai sensei."
"Yamazaki-san, what is it you are trying to do?"
"Act like a demon," Linna said.
"That's what I thought. Well, in my world demons move with grace. They are refined, evil yes, but refined. Whose world are we in?"
"Yours sensei."
"Yes. Now, I want you to take Namura-san and show her how a warrior moves. The rest of you, work by yourself for the next ten minutes. Everything I've said applies to you as well." She looked over at the musicians. "Why don't you take a break? My assistant will make you some tea."
The musicians thanked her and put their instruments aside.
Linna sighed, once again feeling like she must be some sort of klutz. She wondered if it was possible to please Kikuchi-sensei. Then again, it was not as if she took the full brunt of the woman's displeasure. She tended to find fault in every one of her dancers at least once a day.
"Come on," Mako Namura said, grabbing Linna by the shoulder and directing her to an unoccupied corner of the stage. "Now, what does she mean? Tense up only when they strike?"
Linna ran her hands through her hair. "When you tense up, you can't move very well. Watch." Linna shifted her right foot back, dropping into a fighting stance. She cocked her right hand in, extended her left out. She held the position for a moment, then launched the right hand out, drawing the left back, and tuning her hip to add force. Just before her fist reached its imaginary target Linna's left heel, which had been raised slightly, dropped to the ground. She moved back into the fighting stance. "See?"
"No."
Linna smiled. "You keep yourself loose up until the point you are going to make contact, then you tense the muscles up for a moment, just to get that extra power. Up until the point you hit, you stay loose. You move faster that way. Try it."
Mako moved, copying Linna, shifting into a stance, then punching out.
Linna made a number of corrections, then had her do it again. They kept it up for several minutes until Mako began to understand.
"I thought dancing was hard," she said, wiping her face with a towel.
"You know how to move," Linna told her. "That's what is the most important thing. Don't over think it. Fighting, dancing, the body mechanics are ultimately the same."
"I guess you have to be really good at both to understand that."
"I don't feel really good at dancing," Linna said.
Mako laughed. "You would not have got such a good part if you weren't good."
"A good part?"
"Okay, the demon does not get a lot of stage time, but when you do, with that mask, and those swords, everyone is going to be looking at you."
"I didn't think about that," Linna admitted.
"Just wait until we start doing dress rehearsals."
"If you say so."
"All right," they heard Andrea call out. "Let's see if we can figure this out."
"Back to work," Mako said, tossing the towel aside.
Linna nodded.
Priss showed up late to the restaurant. Miako was waiting for her, but did not seem bothered by that fact. She smiled broadly when she saw Priss.
"Thought maybe something came up," she said.
Priss was about to make an excuse, say something about heavy traffic, but instead just shrugged her shoulders as she took her seat.
"Here," Miako said, putting a large envelope on the table.
"What is it?" Priss said, picking the envelope up.
"Look."
Priss opened it up and shook the contents out. Inside was the picture of her and the Tower, as well as several negatives. "What's all this?"
"Well, as I said earlier today, I took you picture without permission. I'm just returning this stuff to you."
Priss looked at it all for a moment then put it all back into the envelope. "Thanks," she said.
"Hungry?"
Priss nodded.
"How about we split a big plate of sushi, get some gyoza, some soba, and some rice."
"Sounds good," Priss said.
"Excuse me," Miako called out, attracting the attention of the waitress. When the woman came over Miako placed the order. Priss ordered some beer to go with it, Miako ordered oolong tea.
"So," Priss asked after the drinks had arrived, "why did you want to have dinner?"
"Right to the point. It's all fairly harmless. I've liked your music for a long time and thought that this would be a great chance to get to know you. Furthermore, we have a lot in common."
"Do we?"
"You rode with a motorcycle gang didn't you?"
After a moment Priss nodded, then took a drink of her beer.
"I ran with a street gang in Shibuya. We worked a small area and got what we could from it. The Yakuza was majorly screwed by the quake, we just moved in."
"I know," Priss said.
"Lost friends?"
Priss controlled herself, the anger raising up in her. "A few."
Miako smiled. "A few," she said. "I lost a lot. We were playing with drugs. At the same time the Yakuza were coming after us, so were the police. People died, or were arrested. Those of us who made it out..." she shook her head. "I don't see much of them anymore. They are either dead, or have gone legitimate in one way or another and don't want to anything to do with their past. Not that I blame them. I'm the same way."
"So why me?"
"We share a similar past, but not the same past. I figure if you are like me, sometimes you need someone to talk to," Miako dropped her voice. "Someone whom to you can say things like, 'I might have killed someone' or 'I once saw a friend beaten to death by cops'. Someone who you know is not going to looked shocked about it."
Priss nodded after a moment. "I know."
"I've listened to your music, I think you feel the same way about things as I do. You express it through your songs. I express it thorough my photography. We've both been through dark times and survived it. You don't find too many people like that. Or at least too many that you would want to share a meal with."
Priss laughed. "True, but to tell you the truth, I don't know you well enough to start spilling my guts."
Miako nodded. "I didn't expect your darkest secrets tonight, or ever really. I certainly don't plan on sharing anything. Still, being able to talk to someone who understands the things left unsaid is nice."
Priss took a drink of her beer. "How long have you been in photography?"
"For a while I guess. When I was a girl I always liked taking pictures, though I never gave much thought to the art involved. It's only been the last four or five years that I've been trying to say something with them."
"About the same for me. At first it was just a way to pick up some change, singing on street corners and stuff. Then I realised I could say something."
"You were lucky. Taking pictures on street corners does not get you a lot of money."
Priss laughed at that. "I suppose."
"So what's your next step, one artist to another?"
"Not much," Priss said, thinking about the contract she had torn up.
"My agent is telling me I should put together a showing and take it on tour, the big cities in Japan, then jump over to North America."
"Sounds interesting."
"It might be. If we can get funding."
The waitress showed up at that point with some of their food. The conversation switched to simpler topics, quality of the food, current events, shared interests. Priss decided that Miako was right. It was nice to talk to someone with which she shared a common background.
Later, they exited the restaurant together.
"That was very good," Miako said.
Priss nodded.
"Well, I've got some work to do. Priss-san, thanks for eating with me."
"No problem."
"Here," she said, holding a card out to Priss. "It's got my number and everything."
"Thanks," Priss said, taking the card. She found one of her cards and gave it to Miako. "That's my cel phone number. Probably the best way to reach me."
"Thank you," Miako said as she put it in her pocket. "See you later." She bowed slightly, smiled, then turned and walked away.
Priss looked at her watch. She was going to have to get moving is she was not going to be too late.
Cultural Notes:
Katsushika Hokusai (1760 - 1894) was a famous Japanese painter, whose work was influenced by Western painting devices, such as realistic perspective. He was well known for his landscape work, particularly for a series of prints, 'Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji.'
"The person who practices an art is an artist, not a samurai, and one should have the intention of being called a samurai. When one has the conviction that even the slightest artful ability is harmful to the samurai, all the arts become useful to him. One should understand this sort of thing"
- Yamamoto Tsunetomo
