"Hey."
"Hi."
"How you holding up?"
"I'm good. Erm…it wasn't as bad today, I guess. They weren't too tough on me. As for what they asked, it wasn't really anything too difficult. Just a little touchy. You?"
"Eh…could've gone worse. We'll catch up properly another time."
"See you later, Ren." Heading home should've been a breeze and frankly, I was sick and tired of these damned strangers and freaks popping up into my life. It was bad enough to have the kid of the guy that pried everything from me announce his presence and now another person wanted to get involved with me.
"Psst." The person who kept trying to start a conversation with me was a much older woman. With a short straight black bob cut and red headband along with white and red sunglasses, from a mile away the nasty smell of hard whisky lingered on her breath. She was dressed rather casually with a black and white tee, light blue denim jeans and some white and red low top trainers.
"Oy." I simply got on the train to Shinjuku ready to transfer over to Shibuya before heading to Yongen-Jaya yet the woman continued to bother me. Seated on the same carriage a few paces away, she yelled at the top of her lungs:
"Hey! You see me doncha? I swear…I know ways to make your life hell! Come ooon, you can trust me!" Her ramblings caught the attention of the people inside the carriage leading them to either focus on us both or painfully fail at pretending they couldn't hear us. I wanted to shoo this person off as quickly as possible and Mona happened to voice his thoughts.
"Why the hell does this drunk keep barking at you?"
"I don't know."
"*sigh* Didn't wanna hafta use this but herr goes…curly haired boy! I have your photo! You want me to delete it? Get your butt over herr then!" It was a no-brainer not to entertain the woman just because of a goad like that. While I continued to ignore her, it seemed that she wasn't happy with that response. Bringing herself over to me, she shoved a photo in my face of a moment where we wouldn't have expected to be spied on. Looking closer at the woman, she honestly wasted her good features with her drunken demeanour and brash attitude.
"The hell is this?" By we, Shiho happened to be the other unwitting party. The photo displayed was a rather blurred shot of us on the subway holding hands and looking out the window. Ann and I were already under the scope of the outlets and this coming out leads to some crap about my love life. The exact thing Shiho wanted to avoid and frankly, I could very much do without. Okay, what the hell is your problem with me, dumping me into these damn situations? Well, you're not getting an answer.
"A two timer, that's whatcha are! Just imagine how this poor blonde's gonna feel when I spill the beans on this one. Honestly, what would make you want to cheat on such a gorgeous girlfriend?" Thank god she thought that.
"And how long have you been stalking me?"
"I'm a journalist…it's what makes the bread in my household! Let's head somewhere a little more private." She replied as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. Guiding me along to the destination in Shinjuku, my eyes couldn't help but glance over at a bored young blonde woman seated at a desk. She was heavily absorbed in the cards on the desk. We'd eventually changed the backdrop of our conversation from the railway to a private bar owned by Lala Escargot who happened to accommodate kids even at these times of night. The bar was somewhat smaller than Leblanc - there were two booths with purple velvet seating along with black tables. The purple motif extended to the high chairs in front of the oak bar, the overhead glass cabinets holding expensive drinks and even the tint of the lighting in the place. It seemed this was Escargot's favourite colour - short purple hair to complement her tan skin, light purple eyeshadow and a long purple dress. I could hazard her shoes were possibly purple as well.
"Cut to the point. I've places to be." Being in the Shinjuku area at this time was annoying enough as it was and frankly, I couldn't afford to miss the trains back to Yongen-Jaya station.
"The truth!"
"Which is?"
"What I want to get out of you! That interview…you had all that prep and things you were allowed to say and whatnot, right?"
"You're the expert. I don't need to confirm that."
"Boy. I suggest you learn to have a little respect for your elders and learn it fast. Ohya-san is the only reason I'm even allowing you to stay in here right now." Lala said. And that's my cue.
"Alright." I started getting my things together and the excuses began to pile.
"Hang on…let's not do something hasty! It was just a slip of the tongue from the boy, Lala-san! Right, boy?" I simply continued to leave.
"He's made his choice, Ichiko-san. And frankly, I don't blame him." Having lost the security she had, she stated a rather lofty bluff as I was right at the door.
"You'll be causing your school a lot of trouble if you walk away from me. Just think of all the people who want to see who's really behind the reforming convict. The fact you even came with me all this way to a bar at this time is enough for me to ruin your life."
"Do your worst." It's already screwed anyway. Leaving the bar with my dignity in tow, that should've been the end of it but Ohya-san continued to drag hers through the mud. Running after me was a mighty reckless move and she couldn't help but begin to bring up the vomit in front of the bar. It was almost amusing how she wouldn't just give up.
"Kid…seriously, don't walk out on me! I'm tryin' so damn hard not ta let ya get on my bad side!" I'm still not on your bad side? What does that take?
"Ohya-san…just quit. Don't you see how pitiful you are pushing continuously just to get a few answers-"
"You're honestly happy to let me wreck you?!"
"That statement alone...good grief." Mona lamented.
"Do as you wish."
"For real, kid…I-" And now more vomit spewed from her mouth. As the owner of the store came out to see the debacle and immediately helped her friend, I actually started feeling a little guilty. Mona only served to increase that:
"I don't know, Joker. I doubt the chief's daughter can do much about printed stuff - even shutting down the journal doesn't seem likely to stop this train wreck. And now that I think about it, she's so drunk that it wouldn't be hard to just wait for her to crash out and then disappear." Hmm…good point.
"...I can only imagine just what she did to drag you here. Can you help me with her? I'll snap the sense into her to leave you be going forwards." Seeing as Lala had no ill will towards me, I saw no reason to be petty with her.
"He wants fighting talk? I'll give him fighting talk, Lala-san!" Ohya was livid at being made out like that and ended up so inebriated that her speech actually began improving…damn. Reasoning with her started to seem like a futile choice.
"I can help you track them down! I nabbed the license plate of those people that-"
"Okay! I'll entertain you." I had to stop her there and then. Her tenacity was truly an aggravating thorn in my side - it could potentially be a life or death situation for her if she's been spying on me to this extent. That damn guy would've come for her already if he was in those alleys. Annoying as she was, death wasn't something she deserved just because she tailed me.
"And up we go…" Supporting her by the shoulder, Lala and I helped her back into the bar for which she'd finally bit her tongue. Resting her onto a booth chair, Lala left her with some harsh but fair words.
"Ichiko…don't complain that I'm billing you for the patrons you've scared off tonight. You can also clean this mess up." Escargot wiped her mouth clean with a serviette.
"You can leave if you want." She offered.
"No thanks. Could you prepare a mocktail for me?" Futaba's probably gonna chew me out whether I go or stay anyway…oh well. I'd rather have a small win today.
"Hmm…what tickles your fancy?"
"House special." Lala then went over to the bar to prepare a concoction while I opted to try and ease the waters at home. The drink brought over to me happened to be an exotic blue and purple hue. The glitter at the bottom gave it a gradient effect and when I took a sip of it, the result was far sweeter than I'd expected. It was a tropical fruits sort of flavour rather than a berry flavour. At this point, Ohya-san finally recuperated and staring at my concoction, drank it without asking any sorts of questions. Jeez…couldn't even ask. Lala said nothing while I decided to strike the matter at heart.
"So whether I hear you out or not, you'll really give me the plate without question."
"As promised." Looking at the piece of paper she handed, the note was a QR code with a strong looking password. Could deal with this one myself but I highly doubt Sis would let me off.
"And if I hear you out, will you stop with the persistent pursuing?"
"Here's my word." Opening her phone and showing me her screen, she deleted the image of Shiho and I. There would definitely be backups of it…
"Can you tell me about your time in Shujin?" she asked. I figured I'd oblige and give her some truths, shall we say, on the academy that didn't hurt too many staff members.
"Dull. And here I thought I had myself a winner…"
"We have a deal."
"Don't worry - I honour my word. This group called themselves the Reapers? Sorry to break it to ya but it's not very marketable. The whole motif of taking a person's free will and uprooting mould…it just sounds all dreary and doom, you know what I'm saying?" Can't you see that's a good thing? You can't publicise our actions that way.
"You're putting yourself in more danger than you know all for a scoop."
"In my field, that's what separates the bog standard from the not so bog standard. Believe me, I've had plenty of strokes with death - some no name wannabe mob boss is nothing to me." So she didn't shrug this guy off.
"Can you get more info on that guy?"
"You'll need to make some time for me if you want that to happen."
"Why do you think the scoop's untenable?"
"Well…this group's supposedly providing a voice to folks who are scared. Marketing the unknown group with terms of death and whatnot connote a sense of 'I should stay the hell away from this' rather than 'I can let something off my chest'. You know what I'm saying? And Lala-san, where's my next drink?" The marketing tips and techniques that she divulged would hopefully help the website to pick up a few more hits and build some buzz.
"You can have a Bloody Mary if you really want something or a Virgin Mojito, no syrup or lime juice. That's what I'm going to restrict you to."
"...You know I hate the taste of tomato juice and Tabasco sauce! And the second drink…that's just water!" Ohya barked. What a trusty friend of hers.
"The principal is sure to corroborate these ongoings. I take it you know how to twist people your way?"
"Leave that to me. I'll have the scoop cooked up real soon. Please check out the journal when you get the chance - it'll be provided with the QR code's contents!" At the very least, I could head off and get the hell out of that bar before the last train. I turned back once more to see the woman with a serious look on her face as she scrolled through her notepad.
"Hmm…"
"What's with the look, Ohya-san?"
"Nothing, youngster!" she cheerfully replied.
"Don't get yourself killed." And with that, I got back without any further impediment to my journeys through the rest of the week.