Omake Chapter: Raye, guardian of the temple.
1645hrs, 23 December 2011, Hikawa Shrine, Tokyo, Japan.
"The spirit of fire is fierce, whether the fire be small or big; and so it is with battles. The Way of battles is the same for man to man fights and for ten thousand a side battles." Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of the Five Rings.
"The problem with political jokes is that they get elected." Will Rodgers.
"Grandpa, you okay?"
It was a snowy day at the Hikawa shrine, a fine layer of the white stuff blanketing everything. Christmas lights dangled from trees and Worshippers had come in day and night, the bells clanging and the clunk clunk of change landing in the offering trays by the bells. Raye found herself quite busy helping them out, smiling at the ones who behaved themselves and scowling at those who tried to hit on her. "This is a place of worship!" she admonished aggressively. Needless to say, an aggressive woman in Japanese society was not looked highly upon and so business had suffered a little bit. But no matter.
"Yeah…I'm…I'm a bit tired," he said back to her, a weak smile on her face poorly masking his discomfort. As of course, it didn't convince Raye, and she persisted.
"Grandpa, go back to your room and lay down. I don't want you catching a cold."
"I'm fine, really Raye…" He stopped midsentence.
At first, Raye thought that he had a stroke or a heart attack or something. She rushed over to him, by the steps leading up to the shrine. Then she turned around and looked in the general direction he was staring in.
A fancy Toyota Century limo pulled up in front of the shrine, with small flags of the Democratic Party of Japan adorning the front of the car. Another car drove past and stopped a little bit further away, probably a security detail.
"Shit." That could only mean one thing.
The driver got out of the front and went to the back, opening one of the doors up to reveal Mr. Hino himself. He had a swagger around him that almost made Raye want to puke right then and there.
"Raye!" he exclaimed, a large smile adorning his face as he walked up to her. He held out his arms for a hug.
"What do you want, dad?" Raye nonchalantly said to him, turning away and giving a look to grandpa. He could only nod and start walking back up the stairs to the shrine, shaking his head.
"Now don't be that way," Mr. Hino chided to her. "I'm here for our monthly catch-up dinner. It's Christmas and all, don't be a downer."
Raye hated his smile. It was a politician's smile, tailor made for the cameras and the photo-ops. The muscles of his mouth were perfectly measured out to curve upward, exposing his perfectly whitened teeth and matching his perfectly pampered face. That was all great and all, but like many things in life, once you got up close and personal, it all fell apart.
"Fine, I'm coming. It's not like I'm doing a lot here anyway," Raye sarcastically said to him, getting into the Toyota.
"Now, now," Mr. Hino said, sliding next to her and putting his arm around her. "We are going to have a good time. It's even on me."
"That's great, dad." Not like I could afford anything that you buy.
"Well, we're going to the New York Grill."
Raye's mouth twitched. That tourist trap? Why couldn't they at least go someplace that was a bit more tasty…
The rides to the Park Hyatt took an excruciating hour, with Mr. Hino going on and on about how the party was going to make him the Prime Minister in about a year or so when they made sure that their victories in the Diet were solid and that the DPJ was never going to take back their spot as the dominant party.
"…and the idiot said to me, that smells bad! And I said to him, well that's too bad for you! And then I kicked him out of my office." Mr. Hino slapped his leg in laughter as the car pulled up to the expensive and ritzy Shinjuku Park towers. The driver stopped the car and let both of them out, while he went to park the car in the basement parking. The security detail was not far behind, and four burly men escorted Raye and Mr. Hino to the elevators.
The Park Hyatt Tokyo was built on the top on the Shinjuku Park Towers, from floors 39 to 52. Some astute people might remember that it was featured in Lost in Translation predominately, and it's no Motel Six, that's for sure. Shinjuku Park Towers had been completed in 1994, just in time for the bubble economy to explode, driving down commercial real estate prices considerably and being a pain in the ass for everyone involved. Well, at least the hotel was doing fine at least.
The elevator ride up was equally unhappy as the car ride, with Mr. Hino not shutting the fuck up, as Raye continued to endure his idiotic banter about his taxpayer funded ego trip.
What the hell have I gotten myself into, Raye thought to herself, looking the reflection on the elevator door as her dad babbled on cheerfully. Every fucking month I tell myself that it's nothing, it's not going to be bad, it's just a lunch or dinner, just endure and you'll get a free meal out of thing. Instead, it gets worse and worse as my so-called dad continues to gain more power than he knows what to do with and his ego gets bigger and bigger.
Ding. The elevator doors opened up to the 41st floor, the check in lobby. A huge throng of reporters immediately swarmed over them, almost steamrolling Raye in the process to get to talking to her dad.
"Hey, back up!" he sternly said to a photographer. "You almost knocked over my daughter!"
"Sorry, sir!" the photographer said, backing up. The security detail moved in and managed to push some of the reporters and photographers back.
For a moment, Raye thought that her asshole dad actually showed some compassion for her. Which was quickly ruined by him grabbing onto her and smiling for a photo op.
"Raye, smile, the press eats this shit up," he whispered to her.
Oh how I hate you, Raye thought, smiling for the cameras. The flashes from the DSLRs blinded her for a second before Mr. Hino continued his way forward.
"Mr. Hino, can you confirm that you'll be in a position for the PM's office?" a reporter in the back of the throng yelled at him.
"I'm sorry, I cannot confirm or deny that right now," he shouted back, continuing to walk forward, Raye unhappily at his side.
"Mr. Hino, what do you think about the persecution of Koreans in Japan!"
Now that wasn't from a reporter, as no one from the press would dare to criticize him in public. Several activists were at the back of the group of reporters as well, but they were trying to push their way forward. Two members from the security detail pushed their way through the reporters and shoved the activists aside, while the building security took care of shoving them into the stairwell and making them walk all the way down to the first floor. Not even fazed by that little disturbance, Mr. Hino addressed the reporters one more time before leaving.
"Alright, I must get going now," Mr. Hino said to the reporters. "But remember, the press conference is next week before the New Year!"
Mr. Hino and Raye made their way out of the gaggle of people and toward the check in desk. The receptionist looked up at him and immediately handed Mr. Hino a hotel key for one of the suites. Such were the benefits of being one of the head honchos.
"Why are we going here?"
"You can't go there looking like that." Raye was still wearing her miko outfit. "Gotta have a place to change."
"Oh…okay…"
"And plus, we'll be staying the night as well."
Shit. This just kept getting better and better.
After checking in, Raye followed her father to the elevators again, past the dispersing reporters and up to one of the top level suites.
No expense was spared for Raye, it seemed. As her dad opened the room up, elegance and splendor stared her in the face. Flat screen TVs, a minibar, a modern computer for business, and a beautiful view of the Tokyo skyline…it was all too much. And to top it all off, a fancy, yet simple dress lay on the king sized bed, a pure silky white with a low cut in front for her…ampleness to show for the entire world. At least the back of the dress was closed, so she could keep her underwear on and not go for those strapless bras. Several pairs of shoes, from stilettos to…stilettos, were laid out at the foot of the bed.
I fucking hate stilettos, Raye thought. They were probably picked out for the photo-op we're going to have later tonight.
"Well, I'll leave in here for about a half an hour," Mr. Hino said with a smile. "Then we'll go upstairs to the restaurant." With that, he left, probably to go bang his secretary or something like that. Or make business calls. Whichever came first.
Raye sighed at the dress in front of her. She wanted to burn it up, toss it out the window and never see it again. It wasn't a happy scene at all.
Reluctantly, she put the dress on to make sure it fit, and then the shoes as well, almost falling over in the process because she wasn't used to wearing such shoes.
The dress was fine, the shoes were fine, it was all just…fine. Raye went over to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Her pale skin contrasted with the jet black hair that hung past her shoulders; she put in back into a tight bun.
"What time is it?" She went over to the bed where she had thrown some of her belongings and looked at her mobile; it read 1825. Five more minutes.
"Well, if dad's paying…" Raye went over to the minibar and opened it up; small bottles of every alcohol known to man stared her back in the face.
"For a good time, make it Suntory time," she muttered to herself. "Yeah, what the hell."
She picked out a small bottle of the 12 year single malt and poured about half a shot into a glass.
Knock knock. Someone was at the door. Raye chugged the whisky down and put the glass back into the minibar. The hotel would later charge about 20,000 yen for that, but that was just a drop in the bucket for Mr. Hino. Of course, there would be other charges as well…
"Are you ready Raye?" Mr. Hino was standing at the door, his secretary at his side, beaming with radiance that seemed unnatural. An aftereffect of being screwed by one of the more powerful men in Japan, Raye thought.
"Yes, I'm ready, dad."
"Then off we go."
The three of them made their way to the elevator, with Mr. Hino and his secretary…what was her name again?
"You're so sweet, Kaidou," Mr. Hino said to her, hitting the call button for the elevator.
"And you are too!" she replied, smiling all the while. She wasn't too much older than Raye, maybe twenty four or twenty five, it was hard to tell. She had a little bit of a tummy, but then again, Mr. Hino had quite a larger one. In the older days, she'd be disregarded as a "Christmas Cake", but times had changed, even for Mr. Hino.
More elevator riding, and inane conversation later, they were in the New York Grill. Their table had been specifically picked out with a view of the Tokyo skyline, and the restaurant was chatty and lively. Several more photographers took some more pictures, which would appear on various newspapers and websites the next day.
"So, what will you have to drink?" Mr. Hino asked Kaidou after blinking away the flashes on the photographers' DSLRs.
"I'll take an Amaretto Sour, please," she said to him. "I'm so excited to be here, I've never been to a restaurant of this caliber before!"
Mr. Hino smiled that awful smile at her. "Yeah, it's pretty good. Right, Raye?"
Raye could just simply nod, staring at the couple across the table from herself. The waiter came shortly after, bringing the menu by and taking their drink orders. Mr. Hino had himself a glass of whisky, neat, Kaidou got her Amaretto Sour, and Raye was stuck having a Diet Coke. There were some things a politician's daughter couldn't get out of, and the drinking limit was one of those things.
"What would you like to order?" Kaidou asked Mr. Hino, looking over the menu intently.
Mr. Hino briefly looked over the menu, but from what Raye could tell, he had been here enough times in the last week or so from the way he reacted to the items listed. "Uh, let's see. Okay, I know what I'm getting. Raye, you ready?"
Again, Raye just nodded. There wasn't anything to say to those two.
The waiter came by and stood ready to take their order. He had been well trained for his career, and serving high-powered politicians or businessmen was a daily occurrence in his line of work.
"Great. I'll have the King Crab cakes, the Kobe Beef Cut, and a side order of mashed potatoes."
"And for you ma'am?" The waiter meant Kaidou.
"Um…I'll have the Caesar Salad, the Hokkaido Scallops and a side of Pickled Roma tomatoes."
"That comes with all those other vegetables there too," the waiter said, pointing at the menu.
"Yes, thank you."
He finished scribbling the order down and turned his attention to Raye.
"And for the young lady?"
Well, at least someone here respects me, she thought.
"I'll have Caesar Salad as well, please. Then I'll have the Prime Tuna steak and the Grilled Asparagus on the side."
"Oh, I'm very sorry, but we don't have the Tuna steak or the Asparagus."
Basically, the story of my life, was the sentence that almost shot out of Raye's mouth. Thankfully, her father did it for her.
"What do you mean, 'you're out'? This is a high-class restaurant here, and you run out of stuff?"
"I'm very sorry, but demand was extremely high already. Furthermore…"
Mr. Hino rudely cut him off. "I'm not interested in your excuses…"
The commotion was attracting the attention of the other diners. Raye wanted to disappear right then and there to avoid further embarrassment. "Dad, I'm fine. I'll get something else."
"Oh no, Raye. I'm not going to let this one slide."
Rather than an exercise in care for his daughter, it was an exercise in how much power he could wield and get away with it. In a span of a few minutes, he had the head manager AND the head chef out there, bowing profusely and apologizing in front of everyone. They still couldn't get her the specific dishes, so she ordered the Ribeye and Duck Fat fries…might as well go all out with the fat content.
"Well, now that's resolved, a toast now!" He raised his glass of whisky, along with Kaidou as well. Awkwardly, Raye held up her glass of Diet Coke and their glasses clanked together.
The rest of the night passed by uneventfully, much to Raye's relief. They went back to their rooms, with Kaidou and Mr. Hino completely wasted.
"Goooddd….nighhttt…." Mr. Hino slurred to Raye as he walked away from her room.
"Mmmm…" was all that Kaidou could offer. Raye rolled her eyes and slammed the door in their faces. She could hear them stumbling down the hallway, laughing merrily as they went. In less than five minutes, Raye has tossed off her dress and those stupid stilettos, and after another drink from the minibar, was in bed.
Raye awoke to find a message on the hotel phone saying that the room had been paid for, that dear old dad had gone off to work and he would see her "later" (meaning in a month or so), and that there was a car on call for her outside the building. There was also a 20,000 yen check for her at the front desk as well, for her "living" expenses, but it was just another bribe. Not seeing much of a choice, she changed back into her miko outfit and took the night dress with her, just in case her father decided to take her out to any more tourist traps or photo-ops events.
The car outside took her back to Hikawa shrine. As the car pulled up, Raye expected throngs of worshippers to be there. Instead, the shrine was completely deserted, with a sign by the entrance saying that it was closed for the day. She was out of the vehicle before it had fully stopped, already running up the stairs.
Goddammit, this is what dad wanted, she thought, trying not to cry up the flight of stairs to the temple. He wanted to keep me away from the shrine because Grandpa is in bad health and he can't handle this place by himself anymore.
Raye burst into the living quarters of the temple and found her Grandpa in a futon, under a bunch of blankets. He looked really bad,
"Raye…Raye…you're back," he said weakly. "How was dinner?"
Raye blinked away some tears and tried to not lose it in front of her sickly Grandfather.
"Dinner was fine, gramps. I had some good food and…" She trailed off, looking at him lying there.
"That's…that's great to hear," he replied back. "How was your father?"
"The same as usual," Raye said. "An asshole."
Grandfather laughed at that. "Raye, you couldn't be more right."
He smiled at her, this time, it was full of energy. It was if Raye's mere presence was enough to cure him of whatever ailment had been afflicting him for the last couple of days.
"What time did you close the shrine yesterday?"
"Almost right after you left. I'm not the same man I was all those years ago. When you mother…"
"I know gramps. I know." Raye had to wipe away more of those tears, remembering her late mother and how her asshole dad barely blinked an eye at her death.
"Well, no use staying here all day," Grandfather finally said. He threw off the blankets and sprang back into action. "Shall we?"
Raye nodded. "We shall."
"That's the spirit. How about some fried chicken after today is done?"
"Can't think of a better way to celebrate Christmas."
The two of them walked toward the entrance of the temple, with Raye taking down the closed sign for the temple.
Within an hour, the place was full.