Folie a Cinq, Chapter Two
by Technomad
Shogo Kawada had the easiest time getting time off work of all the five Battle Royale Program refugees. He was valued by his employers, and did excellent work for them. So when he asked for a couple of weeks off, they were happy to oblige.
"Of course! You've hardly taken a day off since you came here! We're caught up on work, and don't anticipate any sudden emergencies. As long as you leave word on where you can be found, we'll be happy to let you go. Where are you going?"
"Sapporo," Shogo said, with one of his sardonic grins. "There's this young lady up there…"
"Ah!" With knowing smiles, his employers signed off on his vacation.
As he headed north on the "bullet train," Shogo smiled to himself. He hadn't lied to them at all. He was headed to Sapporo, and did intend to look up a young lady. If they had drawn the wrong conclusions from what he told them, that was just what he wanted.
Nobody paid attention to him on the train. He'd learned to use makeup to hide or minimize his scars, and he had a story ready about why he'd acquired them. His clothes told the world that he was a respectable young salary-man, off for a vacation in Japan's northernmost island.
He'd never been to Sapporo before, and looked around himself curiously as he exited the train station. It didn't seem terribly different from other Japanese cities, although he only knew Kobe and Tokyo at all well. It had fewer reminders of the past, but Shogo knew that Sapporo was a relatively recent city, unlike the older cities of Honshu and the other Japanese islands.
The inn he went to had been recommended by some people he knew in the Yakuza. The staff were efficient as any Japanese hotel, but very discreet. When he walked into his room looking like a respectable young salary-man, and came out looking like a scar-faced laborer, Shogo knew that nobody would say a word.
Before he left, he'd had Noriko look up Hirono Shimizu on the police computer network. He had an address where she was listed as living, but Noriko hadn't been able to find any records of her being employed regularly anywhere.
"It might be that she's living off the stipend that Program winners get," Shogo had commented, scowling at the memory. "It's not much, but it'd be enough for a single person to live on."
"She might not be able to work," Kazuhiko had said. "As I remember, her grades in school weren't good, and I don't think she'd have gone back to school any longer than she absolutely had to. She was a lot more interested in running the streets with Mitsuko and her girl-gang."
"Well, I'll find her and see what she's up to. If she's settled into a new life, I won't try to make contact. Otherwise, I'll at least see if she'd be interested in joining us." With that, Shogo finished packing, gave his friends a wink, and headed out to catch his train.
It took him a couple of days, but he spotted Hirono. He'd staked out the area where she lived, unobtrusively observing the apartment building she was listed as living in on the government's computers. From his vantage point in a cafe across the street, he saw her leaving her ground-floor apartment. Once she was safely gone, he went over and knocked on the door of that apartment. When there was no answer, he quickly picked the lock and went on in.
Sure enough, the apartment was deserted. It was not at all unlike the "hideout" apartment that Kazuhiko and Sakura had managed to rent with the proceeds of their criminal careers, back in Shiroiwa before the BR Program had got them. It was the sort of thing that single young people without families to live with would rent. Shogo was impressed by how neat and clean it was. In his brief acquaintance with Hirono Shimizu, before the BR Program, he had not seen her as a careful housekeeper. I guess we all have unexpected depths, don't we?
In one corner, a makeshift altar had been set up, with an incense burner before a group picture of their unfortunate class, taken before the ill-omened trip that had landed them all on Okishima Island and in the BR Program. Shogo was quite touched. Hirono Shimizu had always come across as one of the hardest hard-girls he'd ever met, and to see that she grieved for her dead classmates moved him. He understood her feelings fully.
He found no evidence that Hirono was gainfully employed. Nodding, he let himself out and re-locked the door. He had learned what he had come to learn.
Over the next days, he unobtrusively shadowed Hirono. She didn't have a job as far as he could see, which made sense. Over the years, Shogo had studied other BR Program winners, and he knew that few of them could hold down regular employment. They had often been injured badly enough to make most forms of physical labor impossible for them. Even the ones who were still fit and active like him generally had mental problems stemming from their ordeals that precluded working.
Program winners got a stipend, to be sure. It wasn't a large amount, but it could support a single person if that person didn't insist on luxury. Hirono's tastes seemed to be simple, rather like Shogo's own. During his time in Shiroiwa, before his second round in the BR Program, Shogo had lived by himself in a cheap apartment very like the one Hirono now occupied.
He wore a variety of disguises as he followed her about, ranging from "day laborer" to "salary-man." Hirono herself seemed to have a good many more outfits than he'd have expected her to afford on her meager stipend, and often wore wigs in different styles. Shogo became more and more certain that she had another source of income.
Finally, his suspicions were confirmed. He was just behind Hirono in a crowd that had gathered to watch a shrine parade, when he saw her deftly lift a wallet out of a nearby man's pocket. Shogo had to give her credit for technique. Kazuhiko and Sakura were both very good at pickpocket work, but Hirono had clearly learned the skill somehow or somewhere. Shogo personally suspected that she had learned how while in Mitsuko Souma's girl-gang.
Mitsuko Souma had been a gang leader in her own right before ninth grade. She and her two followers had made a specialty of "girl-style" crime. They'd been part-time prostitutes and drug dealers, and were not at all above robbing their customers. Mitsuko herself had been the worst of them, and even though Shogo had been the "new boy" in school, he'd been warned repeatedly that while Mitsuko was as beautiful as a Christian angel, she was someone it was good to avoid.
Once he knew that Hirono was a thief, he was able to see how she operated. She dressed unobtrusively, sometimes like an "office lady" employed in some business, other times in what Shogo guessed were second-hand school uniforms, and mingled in crowds, searching for targets. While she mainly victimized men, she was by no means above dipping into women's purses when she got the chance. Shogo approved; he knew that women were less on their guards around other women, and less conscious of their proximity. He was impressed with her dexterity. If she'd learned that from Mitsuko, he had to give his dead former classmate credit for being an excellent teacher.
Another thing that Shogo approved of was that Hirono did not seem to be greedy or reckless. She'd take, at most, three or so wallets in a day before breaking things off. The police didn't seem to have noticed her, and Shogo figured that if she continued being discreet and cautious, she could go on for a long time.
Other than theft, Hirono did not seem to have anything that she did. Shogo never saw her go into bars, or drink alcohol at all. She ate in small side-street cafes, and seldom bought anything to take home and eat there. Her small apartment didn't have bathing facilities, so she was a regular visitor at a public bath house near her home. She didn't seem to go to movies, and he hadn't seen any books in her home. She had a small television, but that was it. She'd go out, do some pickpocketing, and go home. Later, she'd come out, drop the looted wallets into a randomly-selected post office box, and go back home. She didn't seem to have friends, much less a boyfriend, and if she engaged in prostitution, Shogo couldn't see it.
After a week in Sapporo, Shogo knew what he'd come to find out. When he checked out of his inn, his "salary-man" suit on and his disguises discreetly tucked away, he told the clerk on duty at the desk that he'd enjoyed his time in Sapporo, and might possibly come back.
"Please do, sir!" The clerk bowed slightly. "Our Winter Festival is something no one should miss!" In casual conversation, Shogo had learned that the clerk was a Sapporo native and proud of his city. He'd been useful in suggesting venues that Shogo might find it worthwhile to visit.
Back in Tokyo, Shogo reported to his friends. "Hirono's apparently given up drinking. I watched her for days, and I didn't see her so much as take a sip of sake, much less anything stronger. Considering what she does, that makes sense."
"True," Sakura said. "A pickpocket needs steady hands. If your hands are shaking from a hangover, you'll be caught for sure if you try lifting wallets and purses."
"She also works alone, as far as I could see. My Yakuza contacts gave me names of people to talk to, and assured that they'd speak freely to me. None of them knew anything of her."
"Better and better," mused Kazuhiko. "If she was involved with a gang, I don't know that I'd want to approach her. While I don't think she'd betray us, her colleagues would likely see us as not only reward money on the hoof, but an easy way to get in good with the authorities."
That was nothing but the truth. While their survival was not known, there were standing rewards for any escapees from the BR Program. The Program was one of the biggest hits on TV in the Greater East Asia Republic, and the government took the whole thing very seriously. Every video store had a collection of Program DVDs, and they sold very well.
The five fugitives had obtained a second-hand copy of the one featuring their class, and had watched it in grim silence. The girls had wept to see their classmates killing each other, or, sometimes, themselves, while the boys had stoically sat through the whole thing, their expressionless faces concealing their inner rage.
The final showdown had been Mitsuko Souma facing off with Hirono Shimizu. Mitsuko had not been at her best; she'd been wounded several times, including one from an earlier encounter with Kazuhiko and Sakura in a lighthouse where some of their classmates had taken temporary refuge. Hirono had also clearly been through the mill, too. One of her arms dangled uselessly at her side, and she looked like she'd taken a blow to the face with something really nasty like a baseball bat.
The fight had been savage and brief. The combatants knew each other well, and knew that this was the Big One-that no quarter and no mercy would be given or received. They blazed away with pistols first, but they were both low on ammunition, and neither was a good shot. When their guns were empty, they threw themselves on each other, shrieking and snarling.
Mitsuko had had several blades, but apparently couldn't choose which one to use. The kama sickle she grabbed was not a good choice, as she found when Hirono tackled her and they both went to the ground. Throwing the sickle aside, she tried yanking a butcher knife out, but by that time, Hirono had her on her back and was stabbing her to death with what looked like an Army knife. Mitsuko screamed "Daddy!" as she died. At that, the girls watching had wept unashamedly.
As Kamon's self-satisfied voice came on the soundtrack, announcing Hirono's "upset victory" and inadvertently telling the refugees that it would soon be safe to escape the island, Shuya had got up and snapped the TV off.
"No need to listen to him, is there?" Nobody objected. They had tracked Yonemi Kamon down years before, and had tortured him to death in retaliation for his role in the BR Program. Leaving his head on the grave of their teacher, who had died when he objected to their class being selected for the Program, had been an added thrill.
"I wonder how we can approach her?" mused Noriko. "I think you were wise, Shogo, not to make yourself known. Even before…" there was no need to specify before what… "you had a rather shady reputation in Shiroiwa." She smiled and blushed prettily. "No offense meant!"
"And none taken," Shogo said. "You know, I think that having her approached by other women might be the best way. What do you say, Sakura, Noriko? Up for a little trip to Sapporo?"
Hirono Shimizu had had a pretty good day, in her own estimation. She had been at the horse races, disguised as a young man. While there, she had managed to lift three very heavy wallets from men who'd had too much to drink. She had got away unnoticed, blending easily into the crowds before her victims noticed their losses. With any kind of luck, they'd just attribute their misfortune to their own drunken state.
She knew all about drunkenness. After she had survived the BR Program, by killing the girl she had once thought of as a mentor and best friend, she had been shipped up to Sapporo. She had never been close to her family, who alternated between ignoring her and beating her for not being a "good girl" like that stupid little bint, Noriko Nakagawa, or that idiotic cow Sakura Ogawai. She had watched Sakura's romance with that goody-goody Kazuhiko Yamamoto with wonder and some contempt.
Catch me going all gooey over some moronic guy? Not in this life! She had fallen in with Mitsuko more-or-less by chance, and often thought that while Mitsuko had real talent, she was utterly untrustworthy and would cheerfully throw her or Yoshimi Yahagi, the third member of their little group, straight under the nearest bus if it'd put yen in Mitsu's pockets or get her sweet ass out of a jam. She had followed Mitsuko's lead, but had always had a side-eye on her, and would have cut ties in a second if that seemed necessary.
Their final confrontation on Okishima had been vicious. Hirono wasn't sure whether she'd have been able to win it had Mitsuko not already taken several wounds. To be sure, Hirono'd been hurt herself...one thing that was impossible to avoid, in the Program...but she'd had the wits to close quickly with Mitsuko when her former leader drew a kama sickle out of her clothes, after they'd both exhausted what ammunition they still had.
Hirono didn't regret killing Mitsuko. She did have feelings of real guilt about being the only survivor of her class, though, and sometimes wondered why she'd been spared. She'd had several strokes of luck on that accursed island, and when Yonemi Kamon had met her as she arrived back at the island school from which they'd all set out, he had assured her in his oiliest tones that her escapes would make the DVD of their class's Program a high-rated best-seller. When she'd asked if she would get a share of the royalties, he had suddenly become distracted and didn't answer.
She had finally managed to dry out after she'd nearly killed herself with cheap shochu. She now religiously avoided alcohol, and instead of trying to punish herself, she now punished the Greater East Asia Republic's society by being a thief. She didn't spend much of the money she stole. The stipend she got, while not great, was enough to live on, and while she didn't know what she might buy, she did think that one day she might splurge on something nice.
When she got home, she opened her door and let herself into her apartment. When she turned on the lights, her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped open. Sakura Ogawai and Noriko Nakagawa were sitting in her apartment, smiling at her. She thought she had to be dreaming.
"Oh, merciful Buddha! You're dead! You have to be dead!"
"Oh, I don't think we're dead, darling," Sakura purred. "Any more than you are!"
"Aren't you glad to see us?" Noriko Nakagawa sounded different from how she had been when Hirono had known her in Shiroiwa. Instead of her former soft, deferential tones, she sounded like someone gloating over a successful joke. It was surprisingly reminiscent of Mitsuko Souma herself.
Right then, everything went black and Hirono collapsed on the floor.
When she came to, Hirono found that her two former classmates were still there. "Yes, we're real. And we aren't any more dead than you are," Noriko said. "We're sorry if we scared you, but we didn't want to approach you on the street. We were afraid you'd freak out and make a fuss."
"And while we're on that unpleasant subject," Sakura said, "I'd very strongly advise you to not start screaming, or anything foolish like that." She produced a nasty-looking automatic pistol with a cylinder attached to its muzzle. "This is very quiet. We've tested it before, and it works well enough. One scream, one yell, and we'll have no problem painting that wall with your brains."
"How? How? How did you survive?" Hirono finally managed to stammer. "I heard the announcement! They said you were dead! How did you manage to stay alive!"
"Well, dear fellow criminal," Sakura said, sounding rather smug, "Kazuhiko and I were professional criminals before we got caught in the BR Program. We were quite glad to have you and your two friends, as well as Kazuo Kiriyama's gang, around. You drew the attention of the police...and very well, too...while we burglarized, robbed, stole and made a lot of money!"
Hirono couldn't have been more shocked if she'd seen the Dictator dancing naked down the street. She had known Kazuhiko Yamamoto and Sakura Ogawai for years, and they had always seemed like the ideal young couple, the sort of children that parents hoped to raise. "You sure fooled me!" she gasped. "I'd have never believed it!"
"That was how we managed to get away with so much!" Sakura said with a triumphant smile. "You and your friends were open and obvious about what you were, at least enough to draw attention. We, on the other hand, kept quiet and kept up our acts in public, which allowed us to get away with all sorts of stuff!"
"But how did you get mixed up with Noriko, here? Was she a criminal, too?"
"No, of course not! We knew each other before the Program, of course," Noriko took up the tale. "Shuya Nanahara and I teamed up after we got out of that hell-school. A while later, we teamed with Shogo Kawada."
"Shogo Kawada?" For a few seconds, Hirono tried to place that name. "Oh. The transfer student."
"It turned out he'd been in the previous BR Program. He knew a lot and was able to get us all off the island."
This was yet another shock. The thought of there being a person who could survive not just one, but two Battle Royale Programs was almost more than Hirono could grasp. "He always did strike me as a person with secrets in his past," Hirono finally managed to stammer out. "He was awfully close-mouthed about his past."
"He had a very bad time in the Program," Noriko said.
"Well, duh, who doesn't?" Hirono answered, with a touch of her usual asperity. "The Program is many things, but fun it isn't!"
Sakura looked grim. "What happened to him...he can tell you, if you want to come with us down to Tokyo. The five of us have stayed teamed up, and we're down in Tokyo." Sakura grinned unexpectedly. "We're all in Kaz' and my old line of work!"
"You're thieves?"
"Just like you, dear. But we set our sights on bigger targets than salarymen's wallets and purses that have gone astray. A little while ago, we got away with a whole truckload of expensive imported whiskey from a government warehouse, and they haven't got a clue as to who did it or where it's gone."
"And you think you can use me?"
"Shogo was up here a while ago, shadowing you. You didn't notice because he's good at that sort of thing. You've got talent, and skill. And we think we can trust you. You have no reason at all to love the government or the laws."
"So that explains it," Hirono said, thoughtfully. "You know, I did have an odd feeling a few weeks ago. I couldn't put my finger on it, but it was like someone was watching me."
"Good," Noriko said. "You've got the right instincts. Do you want to come to Tokyo? Or waste your life up here on penny-ante stuff when big profits are waiting?"
Hirono looked around her little apartment. "If you've got a place for me to stay, I can come back with you. I've got nothing holding me here, much."
END Chapter 02