one and two million ? Part 3
where we last left off, The boys were chased down by Racer Redd and her crew. They were then later surrounded by them. Okuyasu gets out of the convertible and walks over to Redd trying to talk to her. Can he sweet talk this racing beauty?
"Oh no, Okuyasu. She's very angry. What are we gonna do?" Koichi said nervously
"Stay calm Koichi. Don't panic. I'm gonna talk to her" Okuyasu said
"Okuyasu, Be careful." Koichi worriedly said
"Don't worry Koichi. I will." Okuyasu said as he got out of the convertible and walked over to Redd.
"Hi-" Okuyasu said
"Did you really think that you could steal my damn car? Let me tell you what the hell is gonna happen now." Redd said aggressively while being in Okuyasu's face.
Koichi is crouched down, peeking while shaking in fear of Redd's aggressive personality.
"Listen, we're not car thieves. See the thing is...We-We.."Okuyasu stammers
Koichi jumps out of the convertible and runs towards both Redd and Okuyasu as he starts sobbing.
"WE BROKE OUR FRIEND'S STATUE AND TRY TO FIX IT… THEN IT ENDS UP FALLING APART AGAIN AND WE NEED MONEY TO REPLACE AND SOMEBODY WAS GONNA PAY US TO STEAL YOUR CAR…" Koichi sobs
"Whoa! Whoa! Okay, okay. It's all good, little man. You can stop crying. Though I do respect you boys for having integrity. I get it. Friendship is key to us, Right guys?" Redd said calmly
"Word." Scum said
"We're like family." Exie added in
Koichi starts sniffling as he wipes his nose. "Aww, that's sweet."
"So, does this mean we can keep your car?" Okuyasu asked
"Absolutely the hell not! But I do want to help you boys out." Redd said
Okuyasu turns to Koichi. "Koichi, show her the statue."
"Oh yeah." Koichi said as he showed Redd and her crew the picture of the golden cat statue.
"Hmm. I don't know if you boys can replace it...That's a rare item right there. It was found in China years ago. Very hard to find nowadays ." Redd said as she glanced at the picture.
Koichi turns to Okuyasu. "What are we gonna do now? Rohan will be home Tuesday and we still don't have the statue or the money for it."
Redd paused herself with a surprised look on her face."Wait, Did you say Rohan? Rohan Kishibe?"
"Yeah. why?" Koichi questions
"He's that manga artist. I love his work!" Redd said cheerfully
"Yeah. He lives here in Morioh. He's currently on a writing retreat and will be home Tuesday." Koichi explained while a frown appeared on his face.
"Welp. We're gonna be manga material again. C'mon Koichi." Okuyasu said as he and Koichi turned around and started walking away from Redd and her crew.
Redd stops the boys. "Wait!"
The boys stopped walking and turned back around facing Redd and her crew.
"I may not be able to help you boys get the real statue but I do know a guy that can help. His name is Wishbone and he owns a pawn shop that's located in the toy district at the east part of Downtown. Tell him I sent you." Redd explains
"Wow! Okay cool. Thanks, we'll go." Okuyasu said
"Wait Redd, let's take them down there." Exie said
"You're right Exie, Let's give these boys a hot ride."Redd said while walking to her car.
at Downtown Morioh toy district
Moments later, Redd and her crew dropped off the boys in the toy district. They both get out of the car.
"Thanks for the ride." Okuyasu said
"No problem, Oh and your driving skills are totally wicked! Never seen racing like that before." Redd said
"Yeah. You know I'm the greatest. The best of the best. Maybe I can out race you one day." Okuyasu said
"Ha, Nice try kid but no one and out race the great Racer Redd. See ya!" Redd scoffs as she and her crew peel out kicking up a cloud filled with dust. Both boys watched the cars drive away.
"Man. That Redd lady and her crew are so cool huh Koichi?" Okuyasu said
"I guess so. At least we got away from that scary industrial district. Geez, another horrible memory." Koichi said nervously with a sweat drop on his cheek.
Okuyasu turns around facing an alleyway. "Okay, let's go to this pawn shop and find this Wishbone guy."
inside the underground floor
The boys started walking inside the small alleyway and into a building. They are inside the underground floor 1. The underground floor had dimmed lights with trash scattered everywhere.
"This is a pawn shop? Looks pretty empty." Okuyasu as he looks around the underground floor.
"We have to go downstairs. Redd says it's in the basement." Koichi said
" We can take the elevator down there." Okuyasu said
The boys started running towards the elevator but when they finally approached it, there was an "Out of Order" sign on it.
"Dammit! We can't. It's out of order." Okuyasu said
"Geez, I hate being on foot!" Koichi complains
"Same here. But we can't give up, Koichi. We gotta get to this pawn shop." Okuyasu said
The boys make their way down the stairs and onto the next. They're currently on underground 4. Koichi paused himself for a second while catching his breath as he then sat down on the steps. Okuyasu stops walking, then turns around and sees him sitting down.
"Huh? C'mon Koichi. We're almost there. Why did you stop?" Okuyasu questions
"I'm sorry Okuyasu. But my feet hurt really bad. How many floors are we going down anyway?" Koichi asked
"We're currently on underground 4 and the pawn shop is in the basement. Just four more floors down. Hang in there Koichi." Okuyasu explains
Koichi groaned as he stood up and started walking again. Minutes later, The boys are on underground 7 getting closer to the basement.
"Hey Okuyasu, Do you think we'll be able to finish our science project?" Koichi asked
"I'm pretty sure we will. It's easy to do anyway. So I'm not really tripping off of it." Okuyasu said
"Yeah. you're right." Koichi said
at Wishbone's pawnshop
Moments later, The boys finally arrived at the pawn shop as they walked inside and looked around.
"Nyeheheh! Welcome to Wishbone's pawn shop! I'm Wishbone." Wishbone greeted
"Yeah. We know Redd told us about you." Okuyasu said
"Ah! Racer Redd huh? She is so cool." Wishbone said
"I know right!" Okuyasu said
"How can I help you boys? Would you two be interested in a stuffed frog?" Wishbone asked
"Eww!" Koichi exclaims
"Cool!" Okuyasu said
"How about an unstuffed frog?" Wishbone asked
"Even cooler!" Okuyasu said
"Actually, we came down here to see if you have this golden cat." Koichi said as he showed Wishbone the picture of the statute.
Wishbone tilted his glasses down and glanced at the picture. "Hmm, I see. I believe I do have this item for you boys."
"Ah! Here it is." Wishbone said as pointed his finger to the statue.
The boys had elated facial expressions when they saw the golden cat statue in a glass container.
"How much?" Koichi asked
"2,500 yen!" Wishbone said cheerfully
"You're joking?" Okuyasu said
"I'm actually serious. This is a high quality item." Wishbone said
"Can we get a discount?" Okuyasu asked
"Hm. Well I could take 10 off, but it's not really gonna make a difference." Wishbone said
Koichi looks over the counter and sees another golden cat statue. "What about THAT golden cat?"
"Oh that? 20 yen." Wishbone answered
"What? But it looks exactly like the 2,500 yen one!" Koichi said
"It does but It's not REAL gold." Wishbone said
"We'll take it!" Okuyasu said
"What?!" Koichi exclaims
"C'mon Koichi, We have to buy it. We can't afford the real one!" Okuyasu said
"But what about Mr. Velli and our bid at the auction?" Koichi asked
"We're just gonna have to forfeit the bid and tell Velli that we've found something better." Okuyasu explains
"I don't know Okuyasu." Koichi said while a frown appeared on his face.
"Look, If you want to nickel and dime it with that Velli guy? Go right ahead. It's gonna take us a while to come up with 14,001 anyway. Not only that he put us in danger by making us go to the industrial district to get Redd's car. I don't know about you but I'm not going back home empty handed that's for sure." Okuyasu said as he walked up to the counter.
"I'll take that statue."
"Sure. Let me wrap it up for you." Wishbone wraps up the statue in wrapping paper, puts it in a bag then gives it to Okuyasu.
at Rohan's house
Three days later, Koichi and Okuyasu placed the replica golden cat back inside the glass container.
"Wow! You're right Okuyasu. It does look like the real one." Koichi said
"See, I told you Koichi and you didn't want me to get it." Okuyasu said
"Well, I'm glad you." Koichi said with a smile
"Also, We finished our science project and got an A on it." Okuyasu said
"Yeah. We did. I got worried about that for a minute. I thought it wasn't gonna work out at first." Koichi said with a sweat drop on his cheek.
"It did and we got the statue. I mean a replica statue." Okuyasu said with a smirk.
Suddenly, the front door opens and Rohan walks inside carrying his book bag.
"Hey Rohan, How was your writing retreat?" Koichi asked
"Oh, It was wonderful. We sat outside, expressed our feelings and listened to mother nature herself." Rohan explained
"Uh...That sounds….very….cool!" Okuyasu said
"Very cool." Koichi added in
"Yes it was lovely. Anyway, Enough about me. What did you guys do while I was gone?" Rohan asked
Both Koichi and Okuyasu paused themselves for a minute while having nervous smiles on their faces.
"Oh...Uh…we...we" Koichi stutters
Okuyasu finished Koichi's sentence "We finished our science project!"
"Yes. We finished our science project. It was very easy to do." Koichi said
"Well that's good to hear." Rohan said
He then walks around the living room, his bedroom and his office to check to make sure everything is where it was before he left while the boys followed him. Both Koichi and Okuyasu were nervously sweating while Rohan was still looking around.
"You two didn't touch anything while I was gone, did you?" Rohan questions
"N-No...we didn't." Koichi said nervously
"Y-Yeah. N-not a thing." Okuyasu added in nervously
Rohan walks over to the replica golden cat statue as he glances at it. The boys started sweating rapidly.
"Hmm…" Rohan said as he wiped his finger on the glass container.
"There was a speck of dust on the container." Rohan said as he rubs both his index finger and thumb together to wipe away the dust.
The boys stop sweating and let out a sigh of relief.
"Well, you two did an excellent job on watching my house and did what I asked by not touching anything in here. As a man of my word, I'm giving you both 300 yen for it." Rohan said as he pulls out the money from his desk drawer and gives the boys
"Thanks Rohan." Both Koichi and Okuyasu said together.
"No problem, when I go on my next writing retreat, I can have you two watch my house again." Rohan said
"Sure. We'll do that." Koichi said nervously
"Yeah." Okuyasu added in as he turned to Koichi.
"Let's get outta here Koichi."
"Yeah. Agree."
"See you later Rohan." Koichi said
The boys left Rohan's house.
"Do you think Rohan will know that the statue is a replica?" Koichi asked
"I don't know. But who cares? We got our 300 yen!" Okuyasu cheered
phew! Looks like Koichi and Okuyasu are off the hook for breaking the statue or are they?
