Public service (2) - 13
A few minutes later Mishiba called Nakajou on his mobile, telling him of the search. "They will come to the conclusion that we are still inside the building while they made it easy for us to flee... I don't think Saitou will be able to escape now," he said, walking on the busy roadside.
"They probably think we wouldn't dare to risk meeting them," Nakajou said, from somewhere under dark, thick trees, throwing himself on a street bench and lighting a cigarette. "But what do the police have to do with this?"
Mishiba thought about it carefully. "It's the police, right... They have to think of the welfare of the public citizens. We'll have to bet on it."
- - -
That night the central police station received an anonymous call threatening to blow up one of the biggest train stations in Tokyo. "We're not doing this to get anything from this immoral country, but to show that the judgment of xxxxx is impending and his wrath quick."
All officers were called to search all the biggest stations in Tokyo, including those who were at home, or doing some 'minor' activities such as 'searching for some young man carrying something that didn't belong to him in a department store'.
From a telephone booth Nakajyo put down the receiver with a grin. He set out to put an empty suitcase in the nearest station to him and quickly disappeared under the cover of the night. In a café near the department store Mishiba watched the cops running out of the building, jumping into their cars and speeding away with neck-break speed.
He dialed Saitou's number on his mobile.
"Saitou, all is clear. You can go home now."
"Really? Toki-san, I feel I could hug you. Toki-san? Hello? Hello?"
Mishiba had quickly hung up, but he waited in the café to see Saitou safely out of the building. The boy was half dancing as he trod the almost empty street. Not long thereafter Mishiba took a different path and went home as well.
- - -
"Saitou, all is clear. You can go home now."
Saitou was not the only person receiving Mishiba's call, but this unexpected receiver only grinned and said, "Let them think they've won for a while... team AAA."
- - -
The next time they met up in Nakajou's place to avoid being spotted by the policewoman. Mishiba felt rather sorry that he couldn't eat Manrouken's spicy kim chi ramen, but for a while they had to keep themselves hidden.
"I'm speechless! I'm completely speechless!" Saitou said, his voice floated in even before he entered the apartment in person.
"Please don't contradict yourself that vehemently, Saitou," Nakajou grinned. "I don't mind giving you all the chance in the world to prove yourself speechless."
"What I mean, I was speechless that day to have that man – what's his name yadda yadda..."
"Yanagida."
"Yeah, Yanagida! Is he really not the judge? Why did the cops go after us as if we broke the law or something! And I'm still speechless, meaning I still find it so not acceptable right now," Saitou said, glaring around as if the person to blame was there with them.
"Just because he demands the disc doesn't necessarily mean he's the judge," Mishiba said.
"He can also as well be the judge, can't he?" Saitou asked. "I mean, if you two weren't there, I would have given him the disc right away."
"Yeah," Mishiba said.
"That's obvious, Saitou."
The absolute conformation made Saitou feel chided. "What else should I have done!" he erupted.
Nakajou grinned. "We already know you'd do that. Still, I want to know what the Bus Game has to do with the police, whoever that guy was. Was it coincidence that the policemen went after us?"
"... after we turned Yanagida down. Before that we were free to go, it appeared," Mishiba said thoughtfully.
"This is more complicated than I thought if even the police are involved in this game," Nakajou commented. He meant it seriously but spoke as always in his carefree manner of speech.
"Don't we have any right as a gamer to know what's going on?" Saitou demanded. "The whole thing is not clear, from the start to the end."
"If they disqualify us we'll know he's the right judge," Nakajou said, taking it easy. "Anyway, if we get disqualified at least we don't have to pay the cancellation fee. But we have our own way of playing the game, don't we? I don't know when's the last time I made such fun of the police." He laughed.
"The fake bomb threat made it into the news," Mishiba said disinterestedly as the television revealed the aftermath of their telephone yesterday night.
"What fake bomb threat?" Saitou asked and turned his attention to the TV announcer. "Did you make a fake bomb threat just to get me out of the building?" He was deeply touched and his eyes became all glazed again.
"Not you. The discs, Saitou," Nakajou tapped the boy's head. "Don't take it personally, okay? There was a search in the front door, but Mishiba made it through. So they must have thought all of us were still inside, or at least the discs were. We thought you wouldn't be able to escape if they search the whole building, so we made a call and said there's a bomb in one of the train stations. And zap! They're gone."
"You guys are awesome! I would have never thought of that!" Saitou exclaimed like a rabid fan girl. "It really is an honor to be in the same team with both of you, Toki-san and Nakajou-san!"
"Wait, listen to this..." Mishiba said.
The TV announcer continued, "The police presumed it was an attempt to empty the department store XXX, which jewelry store was robbed at about the same time the phone call was received. The suspect was a young man wearing a mask and until all officers were directed to the train stations a search had been conducted, although without any result."
"There... there was a robbery?" Saitou stammered.
Only awkward silence met his question. Mishiba was suddenly very interested in the roof over his head.
"Perhaps it's just an attempt to hush-hush it all," Nakajou said. He did not look as if he were keen to bet his life on it, though.
"We've helped a robber escape?" Saitou's voice hit the register Mariah Carey would have been proud of. "And I hid in the fitting room for nothing! Nothing, null, zero, cypher!"
It was easier said than done, but Mishiba and Nakajou managed to ignore Saitou's uninterrupted flow of heartfelt words.
To top it all, though, the next MD came with a notification that said, "By the last game we had the valuable appearance of Judge Yanagida. However, in order to avoid more misunderstanding in the future, he feels content to remain behind the curtain, unless the occasion demands for it."
So he was the real judge.
"See? See? I told you! It was all a stupid fault... Why are you looking that threateningly at me? Mmmmpphhh! Mmmphh! Doki-fan! Ngakayou-fan! Mmmmpphhh!"