The train that was going to the spot was unusually empty.
Aside from me, Sayori, and Monika there was probably one elderly person near the door and a some random guy in a business suit laying down on the seat using his bag as a head cushion.
I was listening to some western hip-hop (CYNE - Time Being album) music that I discovered last week with my earbuds in while Monika and Sayori either looked outside or at their phone.
Speaking of Monika and Sayori, Monika seemed to be perfectly calm while Sayori was fidgeting slightly in her seat.
I already tried to talk her out of coming with me when we dropped off the bags, but she seems sort of determined to come with me and watch me.
It took a solid 30 minutes after getting on the train to get to the next station, which would be damn near in the middle of nowhere, before walking the rest of the way.
As we got off the train, I pulled the both of them aside near a wall. I looked around the station that we pulled out in...but calling it a station is a real stretch from what it actually looks like…
Instead of a station where you'd see some kind of platform and electronic booth to buy your tickets, we got no platform where the train is ground level with some slightly rusty rails and a manual ticket booth where you have to talk to a person to get handmade tickets.
Since I've been here a couple of times, I already got to know the person running the ticket stand and sort of be friends with him. Surprisingly, he's one of the very few locals who I can trust in this part of the countryside that knows about my graffiti and keeps it a secret in return for some work favours.
"Here put these on now, from here on out, you don't take them off until we're back here. Promise me, under any situation, you will not take off those masks. Ok?" I said firmly and cautiously.
Both of them tied up their hair in a short ponytail as they wrapped the face mask around their mouth up to their nose and put on their sunglasses.
I did the same as the three of us walked away from the side of the wall. Since this part of the country was very rural, there was barely any people near the station 90% of the time so it was safe to say that people won't report me as a suspicious person.
The guy running the ticket booth looked away from his phone and instantly noticed me, he held up 3 fingers.
3 people at the spot. Yeah, that's a normal amount, but not at this time…
I nodded at him as I walked away from the station and forward to the road for the next 10 minutes before taking a dirt path that lead deep into some tall grass.
The dirt path that the three of us were walking on could be considered a local secret of sorts.
If you weren't from this area there was a good chance that you would either not find this path unless you did some serious search or you accidentally would find this path cause you were lost while trying to find some kind of place.
Well, that was the situation for me at least when I was here for the first time.
It was during a school trip last year where we would do some volunteer work for the country folk and help them out with their crops (don't ask how something like this was considered a school trip, just know that we were given extra credit and I somehow managed to scrape by with a B- average because of it.)
When it was time for some kind of break, being the 'loner loser' I was, I walked around the roads/sidewalks exploring the land around me. Of course, I did get lost while exploring and somehow found this dirt road that lead up to an abandoned factory where the roof was caved in.
I explored around the factory for a solid 20 minutes before making a mental note of where this was and returning back to the group before I was reported missing by the cops.
Ever since I found this place last year, I've been coming here just about once or twice a month to work on my spray technique and work on my tag at the same time.
Of course there was usually one or two people that would spray with me in mutual silence, but over all we haven't spoke or tried to communicate with each other.
As the three of us continued to walk and get closer to the old factory, the dirt path that was guiding us soon turned into an old brick path with roots sprouting from the cracks.
Needless to say, even if this spot was sort of unknown to most people who are outsiders, you still get the occasional homeless man living nearby in either a box or makeshift tent.
A couple of feet right in front of the factory was an orange tent pitched up with a pretty big backpack right next to it, and right next to that backpack was said homeless man sitting on an old lawn chair with a fire going on as he started to light up a crack pipe.
I made my way past him not looking at him while he did the same and not look at me or the girls behind me.
The inside of the factory didn't look any different from all the other times I've been here.
The roof of the factory is still broken with shattered glass all along the floor.
Compared to the last time I was here, the greenery had already settled in some nooks and crannies of the stone floor.
The cobwebs and dust around are bad enough to send someone who gets bad allergies into a coma.
And to top it all off, all the walls are not normal anymore, their either cracked and about to break, broken in already, covered with graffiti, or covered in different types of stains I'd rather not explain.
To put it simply, the building was janky and broke to shit with a very small chance of it accidentally killing us, but even so I still decide to go in and ignore the fact that I could get pancaked within seconds.
No pressure, you know...
As we continued to walk through, I started to hear the familiar sound of a spray can being used.
I looked inside one of the empty rooms that were nearby and saw one person doing the spraying while the second person watched.
I recognised the person spraying the wall as one of the usual guys that would come to this spot and do his stuff, the person watching him on the other hand looked a shorter than him and maybe a bit younger.
He stopped spraying for a moment as he looked back and saw me, he gave me a small wave before going back to spraying on the wall.
Sayori came close to me and whispered, "Do you know him?" She asked
"No, not really." I whispered back, "But we've seen each other enough times around here to have some kind of mutual trust."
I soon looked inside each room that was nearby for a wall empty enough to try out. In each room that I checked, each of the walls seemed to not have enough space for my tag, and since I didn't have any regular paint to cover over all the tags that were there I was forced to search even more.
Strangely enough, I couldn't find the third person that the ticket master hinted at earlier.
Of all the spots in this factory, there really wasn't a better spot than in these empty board rooms that used to hold meetings.
"You know," Monika spoke up after being quiet for so long, "I never understood why people would want to go out to industrial wastelands to clear their heads, but after walking through here it has this weird charm of being alarmingly calm."
"Well, spot's like these are literally out in the middle of nowhere you know. No traffic, no annoying people, and no noise to break us of our immersion. It's all we really need." I replied.
The only thing that would make this better is if I was alone...
After searching through some of the rooms, I was finally able to find a room with walls that weren't completely covered in graffiti.
I motioned for Monika and Sayori to come in as I took off my bag, opened it, and pulled out my spray can.
After shaking it enough, I tested it out by letting some of the spray out into the air…
Holy shit, this paint and nozzle is so damn crisp…
I was already feeling giddy as I started to spray down my tag that I was working on for the past weeks.
Since my tag was a short four letter word, with not so much of a complex style, I was able to spray it down pretty easily
But after feeling so good from this spray can and how great its quality was, I couldn't help but feel like going all out.
For the next 30-40 minutes, I was all over the wall going in rapid motions while using my entire arm to make out the words.
Big, little, thin, chunky, blockly, smooth, you name it; I've almost covered the entire wall in all the styles that I could think of and not care about how they looked, I enjoyed every moment I spent in that room.
For the first time in months, I was able to enjoy myself and enjoy what I was doing.
I took a couple of steps back from where I was and took a breather.
"Wow," Sayori spoke in amazement, "This is the first time I've seen you move that much, and you always try for the bare minimum in Gym class…"
"There's a big difference between moving from enjoyment, and moving for a good enough grade." I said as I caught my breath.
Monika, surprisingly, sat there next to Sayori with nothing to say. For the most part, she's been sitting there in silence with not much to say.
It was hard to tell whether or not if she was interested in what I was doing since her entire face was covered with the cheap sunglasses and mask I bought for her.
I pulled out my phone, 4:10, I've got just about another hour or so to do this…
I shook the can a couple if times, by the weight of it, It's safe to say that I've probably used almost half of the paint. If this was a normal can of paint, It'd be out already, but since this one isn't a cheap 2200 yen ($20 US) where paint is for general use, I could probably use this for another hour before it runs out.
As I stood back up and was just about to return to spray paint, I heard a faint noise of some footsteps from outside the doorway.
I grabbed both Monika and Sayori's arm as I pulled them back from the wall that was near the door.
In some hand motions I told them to stay low and stay quiet.
"...are you sure a group of three came near here? All the hallways and rooms look the same to me." a voice called out.
"Trust me, I already ratted out those two in the other room, I know what I saw." Another voice spoke out.
Well shit, it looks like some rat bastard turned in the other guy and his friend…
"Alright well, let's split up. It's pointless to check all the rooms, building looks like it's about to collapse…" the first voice spoke, "You continue to check the rooms, I'll take the two we got to a nearby station."
The footsteps of the first voice started to get faint as he walked away, while the other footsteps was nearby and checking each of the rooms.
I looked around the room, there wasn't a hole nearby or a window we could've escape from, so our only choice to leave was from the same door we went through straight towards someone who would catch us.
I turned towards Monika who was starting to get cautious and Sayori who was starting to hyperventilate a bit.
I put my hands on Sayori's shoulder trying to calm her down, "Calm down, none of us are gonna get caught. I've been preparing for a situation like this. As long as you have your mask and glasses on, no one will know you were here, got it?"
She seemed to have slowed down her breathing for a bit, but aside from that nodded at me trying to calm down.
The footsteps got closer to the doorway and the three of us waited in anticipation. I still had my spray can ready in my right hand ready to use so I could buy time…
The moment the guy's head popped in the doorway and spotted us, before he could shout and call out to his buddy, who I can assume probably was a cop, I use my spray can to spray directly at his eyes and blind him for the moment.
"AHHH! FUCK! FUCKING...PRICKS!" He shouted in pain as he held his hands over his eyes in extreme pain.
As cruel as it sounds to spray paint someone in the eyes, I didn't put at a lot of pressure in my fingers when I sprayed him, so there wasn't much spray leaving the can when I blinded him.
It was enough for him to get hurt and probably get slight burns, but the burns won't be too bad that the guy needs surgery.
Besides, I'd rather spray some no name rat who'd snitch on people who weren't doing any harm then let Sayori and Monika get caught.
Getting them out of this place, unharmed and undiscovered, is my top priority.
"Run! Get out now!" I shouted as I grabbed my stuff, pushed the rat who was in pain to the side, and ran towards one of the emergency exits that was open.
As we were now outside the building, I checked around us seeing which side of the building we were at so we could run towards the station. It didn't matter if the train was there or not, we just needed to escape quickly.
Since I recognized the stonepath that revolved around the factory, I followed it closely and carefully just in case there were more nearby.
As we carefully followed the path, we were now back the side of the factory where we first got in from. But by the looks of it, it looks like the two other guys who got caught by the rat were cuffed in front of the entrance right next to the now empty spot where the homeless guy's tent would be.
I guess he left before the cop cuffed him for his crack…
The cop that was with the rat doesn't seem to be around and I might be able to get them out if luck is on my side….but…
Sayori and Monika saw those two as well and looked at me for a while, their eyes easily had that 'What about them?' kind of vibe.
I started to move away from the factory as I slowly headed towards the street…
"Are you really gonna leave the two of them?" Monika whispered
"We don't have a choice, we know what we signed up for the moment we entered the graffiti scene. Right now, all that matters is getting you two out of here." I said in a deadpan voice, "It's illegal for a reason, and it's for that reason we know the consequences and wouldn't want any outsiders sticking their noses in business they don't belong in." There was a bit more emphasis towards the last sentence...
Sayori looked at me with sad eyes knowing that we might not have a choice to save the guys who were already caught, while Monika gave me a look of disappointment.
We made our way past the two guys who were on their knees and followed the stone path back to the street where there was a police car waiting, as we made our way back towards the train station.
…but I couldn't help but feel the stares of disappointment and sadness burn a hole at the back of my head as we walked to the train station…
I stopped walking, dropped my bag, and sighed deeply...
...ughhh!
Fuck it!
I told Sayori and Monika to get to the station and put their mask and glasses into the bag as I walked back to the factory and went for those two guys who were caught.
As I cautiously walked on the path making my way back to the factory, I saw where the two guys were and saw a cop carry out the rat that was now not blinded by my paint anymore but still slightly blind.
"What do you mean, you didn't get to see them!?" the cop said in a pissed off attitude.
"I couldn't get….a good look before that….fucker sprayed me...aw fuck! This shit burns!" The Rat said as he still complained about the pain.
"Well no shit it burns, it's a chemical burn! If you can catch the bastard, you can sue him all you want for chemical assault and I can charge him for vandalism. Just know that you'll be on your own before you find him, now get on your way and treat those burns." The cop said before shoving him away from the factory.
Soon, the cop went over to where the two guys were at and unmasked both of the guys.
"This may be out in the country, but vandalism is still vandalism. We won't charge you for it, but we will take you to the station and call your parents. Got it?" The cop tried to tell him, but the older guy turned his head the other way lazily and ignored the cop.
Sadly, I couldn't really do much at this time. There weren't any stones to throw far enough to distract them and there wasn't any tall grass near them for me to slip by…
...ok, maybe I've been playing too much Metal Gear...
"Sigh* Alright well, Let's make a deal." The cop said as he squatted down to the older guy, "You tell me who the other three ran off, or better yet their names, and maybe I can forget this little incident, Deal?"
It was at this time that the younger guy spoke up after hearing the offer the cop made, "Oh Hell Naw! Ma Bro'll Never snitch on those three that came by, fuckin' pig!" The younger guy, who might be the older guy's younger brother, said all loud and proud.
"Hey, quiet down." The older brother finally said.
"But Bro…!" The you ger brother tried to argue but the older brother cut him off.
"Let me handle this, I don't wanna let Ma worry 'bout you too." The older brother said.
"Well Mr. Man in Blue, I'd love to accep' the offer you made but it seems to me that I don't know those three who came in. Yer better off taking me in and letting the lil shrimp go home." The older guy said.
The cop looked unamused as he stood back up, walked behind the younger brother and started to drag him up to the police cruiser.
Since the walk to the cruiser was a lengthy 5 minute walk to and from, I made a break towards the older brother who saw me try to help him.
"The hell 'er ya doing here? I thought you already left." He whispered to me to making sure the cop would come back.
"Yeah, well call it a guilty conscience. It's not like this was my first choice." I whispered back as I tried to get him up and standing.
"Jus' get the hell outta here, no point in tryin to save me an' my lil bro since they seen our ID's." He tried to argue, "Don't worry about me, I'll be leavin' the countryside soon and get outta Ma's hair for causing a ruckus."
"Dammit, are you sure?" I asked as I put him back onto the ground.
" 'Course I am, Mama didn't raise no bitch to run from problems. As Long as the little shrimp doesn't get in too much trouble, he should have a decent life away from this kind of illegal shit." The older brother said.
I hesitated to leave him before I started to hear the footsteps return.
"Go on, Git! I won't cover for you too if you get caught!" He said before I made beeline towards the treeline.
"Alright Country Bumpkin, your turn." The cop said before dragging him towards the cruiser.
"Lead the way, Cherry Boy! (slang for Virgin)" The Older brother said before chuckling to himself.
Dammit...of all the times to feel completely useless, why'd it have to be now.
As watched him take away the older brother, I tried to get away by going the other way but almost tripped on what seemed to be a slightly large rock.
I got pissed at it for a moment before getting the idea of using it as a distraction for the two of them to get away.
I lifted it up with both my hands, it was light enough where I think I was able to throw it a decent distance but it had enough weight to do some real damage if it hit something.
I lifted the rock and headed up the trail slowly going after the cop and the two guys who got arrested.
I saw the police cruiser through the trees and saw the cop himself taking a smoke break on the trunk of his car with his back turned towards me.
Now was my chance, all I had to do was toss the rock onto the hood and run off. Maybe that could buy enough time for them to get out…
I started to breath faster as I held the rock over my head and was just about to to toss it over to the car until I got a glimpse of the older brother looking straight at me.
He was looking at me with a deadpan face, as he shook his head and hoping that I would do it.
I was now conflicted between tossing the rock to let the two escape or just having them get arrested from the brothers request…
It seems that I took too long taking my decision as the cop flicked his cig. across the street and headed towards the door of his car.
My hands started to shake from the weight of the rock eating away at my strength as my arms started to ache from the pain.
The cop car drove away from me towards the opposite direction of the station me, Sayori, and Monika came from.
I tossed the rock on the ground in front of me and watched it completely crumble and break into pieces.
"Fuck!" I shouted angrily
I tore off my face mask and glasses as I angrily kicked parts of the rock away from me.
"Worth piece of shit!" I yelled again as I kicked another piece of rock away from me.
I hated myself not only for letting the two guys go in the police car when I could've done something, but for the fact that I was just about cross the "actually illegal with jail time" kind of line.
The fuck was I thinking!?
As I finished having my self-hated hissy fit from feeling worthless, I just headed back towards the station where I told Monika and Sayori to wait.
It was a long 20 minute walk back towards the station and when I did get there, eventually, I found Monika and Sayori sitting on a bench next to the ticket booth guy.
The booth guy gave a look of confusion as I shook my head and gave him a thumbs down for today's spray raid.
He gave me a look of sympathy before going back to his phone.
"Did you save the two guys?" Sayori asked me when I sat next to them.
I didn't bother responding from the bitterness and exhaustion of trying to let off my steam.
"Jun?" Sayori asked once again, but this time she was stopped by Monika as she placed a hand on her shoulder signalling her to give me some space.
The train came after waiting for another 10 minutes and we rode it back to town.
There wasn't much for me to say to them, so I just left Monika with not much and headed home with Sayori in silent anger.
I got my stuff back from Sayori after she was hanging onto it and didn't really speak to anyone for the rest of the day.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Sorry for today's chapter if the end seems really rushed, finishing this chapter was the least of my concerns as I was busy not only finishing my final paintings last week, but also typing up a 9.5k chapter for my other story to make up for 3 months of not uploading.
One change though that will happen now, is that I won't be posting any updates for the rest of the month.
Why? Because I want some rest and my birthday is soon, and I'm not gonna do shit on my birthday.
I will be getting a job at the beginning of June and hopefully working weekdays with weekends off.
What this will mean for this story is that I will be switching from bi-weekly updates, to monthly ones since I'll be starting up on my main story again.
Now I know monthly updates will be long and seem like they're not worth it, but I will compensate that with longer chapters each time I update it.
I usually try to go for 4,000 words at the minimum for each chapter, but for the new monthly updates, I will try to make them either 5,500 or 6,000.