Folie a Cinq, Chapter Three
by Technomad
In the event, moving Hirono Shimizu down to Tokyo from Sapporo turned out to be more complicated than just having her pack a bag and leave. She turned out to have a very extensive wardrobe, and she wanted to bring it along.
"What did you think I spent the money I stole on?" she asked Noriko and Sakura, who were slightly agog at the variety and quality of clothing that Hirono kept in a storage locker. "I have a large stash of cash, hidden in my apartment. I don't have any source of legal income other than my Program survivor's pension, so I can't do a lot of open spending." She gave them a slightly twisted grin. "Why do you think I live in that cheap apartment? I like nice things, too!"
"So how did you get all this without being noticed?" asked Noriko. She stared admiringly at several very expensive dresses.
"Second-hand clothing stores. You'd be surprised at what you can find there." Hirono looked abstracted for a second, as she called on her memories. "Before the Program, my family was poor, and without second-hand stores, we'd have had a hard time dressing ourselves. Even my school uniforms were second-hand."
"Ah," Sakura said. "Tell me, Hirono, what do you do with the wallets and such that you take? Do you try using the credit cards?"
"No! Those things can be traced and tracked. I empty out all the cash I find, then put the rest into the nearest post-office box. The post office will see that their owners get them back. That way, they're less likely to report the loss as a theft."
"Good thinking. Kaz and I did have ways to use credit cards, but we had resources and contacts you lack." Sakura nodded approvingly. "I think you'll fit in well in our little group, Hirono."
When her bullet train pulled into Shinjuku Station, Hirono looked around herself with wide eyes. She'd been through Tokyo before, on her way to Sapporo, but had never actually visited the city. When she'd been through before, she was still woozy from the effects of her time in the Program, and hadn't been in condition to notice much. The huge station and the crowds were rather intimidating. Her arrival had been planned for a busy time, so that she would be less conspicuous. Just another traveler among thousands.
After a minute, she saw Kazuhiko Yamamoto and Sakura Ogawai standing side-by-side on the platform, waving to welcome her. Relieved to see familiar faces, she got off the train and passed through the barriers to greet her old classmates. Like her, they were dressed as though they were respectable corporate employees. She approved completely.
"Welcome to Tokyo! How was your trip?" asked Sakura. Kazuhiko, polite as always, took her bag. "We're all waiting to see you again, and we've got a restaurant meal lined up to celebrate your arrival!"
"That sounds wonderful! Let's go!" Chattering and laughing like any old friends reunited after too long apart, they left the station.
They met up with Shuya, Noriko, and Shogo a little distance from the station, all of them also in office-worker clothes. Hirono's eyes went wide when she saw Shogo.
"So that's it! I had thought someone might be watching me, but I couldn't spot anyone. I did see a big, burly guy several times, but he looked so different each time, I put it down to my imagination. It was you all the time!"
Shogo grinned. Hirono had never seen him smile before, and decided that she really liked to see it. "You aren't the only one who can use clothing changes for disguise, Hirono. Between several different outfits, some mens' wigs to give me different hair styles, and glasses, I could change my looks enough to look like different men."
"Sneaky!" Hirono approved completely. "And I suppose you used something to cover up those scars on your face?"
"Sure did," Shogo said. "Between some tutoring from Sakura and Noriko...men generally don't know much about make-up...and careful application, I can cover them up enough so that they're hardly noticeable unless you're standing close. And I made sure never to be too close to you."
"Even if you'd been standing right by me, I don't know that I'd have 'made' you." Hirono shook her head. "We weren't close at Shiroiwa, and I thought you were dead. Remember?"
"The government thinks we're all dead," Shuya said. "We've got very good fake IDs, and backups in place if we need them. With those, we can bank the money we make."
"I could have used that myself," Hirono commented. "As things stood, I had to stash a lot of cash. I've got it here in my travel bag."
"We'll set you up with a false ID and you can bank the money," Noriko promised. "In the meantime, dinner awaits!"
They were soon seated at a table in a private room in one of Tokyo's nicer restaurants. The waitresses made sure they were all provided with drinks, and withdrew discreetly. Hirono had requested a soft drink. The others were drinking sake.
"Real business types use this sort of place for meetings," Shuya commented. "It's pricey, but one of the things they sell here is privacy."
"So we can talk fairly freely," Sakura said. She raised her glass. "Here's to classmates, reunited!" All of them raised their glasses and took a drink.
"Normally, we don't drink much," Noriko said. She smiled. "We find that keeping a clear head is essential in our line of work."
"Good idea," Hirono said. "I don't know if you know it, but for a while after I hit Sapporo, I was trying to kill myself with cheap shochu."
"You seem to have sobered yourself up," Shogo commented. "I'm glad to see it. I can understand what you went through, better than the others."
"We do have that in common, don't we?" Hirono quirked a grin. "After I scared myself with the effects of one bender too many, I dried out by main force of will. I decided that the Program hadn't killed me on that damned island, and I wasn't going to do its work for it."
"An excellent idea," Sakura said. She topped up the others' glasses. "Here's another toast. To our absent friends."
Solemnly, all of them drank. For a second, the mood turned very dark in the room.
"And, while we're on that subject," Noriko said, "could you tell us how you did in the Program?" She blushed prettily. "That is, if you really want to. If you don't want to talk about it, we'll all understand."
"Far too well," said Shogo.
"Oh, I don't mind," Hirono said. "I got into a firefight early on with that damned Kaori Minami. Shuya, you remember that. You showed up in time to stop the fight."
"Yeah." Shuya nodded. "You were still in pretty good shape, but poor Kaori was totally gone, mentally. After you left, she tried killing me, but Shogo got her just in time."
"Judging from what I saw of her, I'd say that was a mercy kill," Shogo said.
"After that, I wandered around. I'd used up more ammo than I should have trying to take down Kaori, so I didn't want to get into firefights. The only times I got into fights, I managed to get away without using much ammunition. I did pick up some from one of our classmates, but I still didn't want to waste it unnecessarily."
"Excellent thinking," Kazuhiko commented. "Were you looking for Mitsuko?"
"No," Hirono admitted. "I was eager to avoid her. I knew Mitsuko...better than almost anyone. I knew she'd be playing, and she'd play hard and play to win. I don't think she understood the concept of 'friendship.'" She grinned her old gamine grin. "She'd have turned on me in a second if she thought she'd get enough out of doing it."
"Then why did you run with her?" Sakura asked. "Kaz and I, we thought about recruiting you to join us in our own endeavors, but we didn't trust anybody who was in with Mitsuko."
"You were wise," Hirono said. A shadow crossed her face. "I fell in with her because even though I knew she was bad news, she accepted me. Most of our classmates just saw a girl from the 'bad side of town' and avoided me. With her, I could also get some pocket money, although sweet Mitsuko made damn sure she got the lion's share of anything going along that line."
"Color us unsurprised by that bit of news," Sakura drawled. "You and your two friends, along with Kazuo Kiriyama and his pals, did do a wonderful job of drawing any suspicion away from me and Kazuhiko, you know."
"Yes, I know. The police questioned us several times about break-ins and assaults that we really hadn't done. Luckily, we had alibis for all of them. We did wonder who was doing these things. We figured it was probably Kiriyama and his pals." She gave Kazuhiko and Sakura a Look. "We'd never have believed it of you!"
"Staying off the radar is what helped us stay free, Hirono," Kazuhiko replied. "You and your friends, and Kiriyama's lot, were all obvious about what you were doing. In public, Sakura and I played our roles of 'good boy and girl in love who'd never do anything evil' to the hilt. No smoking, no drinking, no breaking rules anywhere that anybody could see."
"Our goal was yen in the pockets, not scoring off the authorities," Sakura said. "We'd read about criminals who made their activities too well-known and all of them got caught and thrown in prison. Or worse."
"You were smart," Hirono admitted.
After dinner, they all went back home. Hirono looked around herself curiously as she came in. "It's a lot bigger than anything I've ever lived in," she said.
"Yeah, with five...now six...of us, we do need more room. We got a good deal on this place. The neighborhood's mostly ethnic Koreans and Chinese, and the landlord had trouble renting it out." Kazuhiko pointed out the window. "A lot of Japanese don't want to live here. We have no particular problem with it, but we're a bit different."
"Do the neighbors ever bother you?" asked Hirono.
"No. To be honest, many of them are third- or fourth-generation residents, who just can't get Japanese citizenship. To all intents and purposes, they're as Japanese as we are, but thanks to our glorious Greater East Asia Republic's laws, and a lot of people who're fixated on the 'purity of the Yamato Race,' they're always on the outside looking in," Shuya explained.
"Some people think we must be buraku-min." Noriko said.
"Welcome to the glorious Greater East Asia Republic. Here, all are equal," Shogo growled. "Except some are more equal than others."
"And ninth-graders are forced to fight each other to the death, which creates the most popular reality TV show in the country," Hirono added. She scowled. "I've been in the mood for revenge ever since I woke up on Okishima with that damned collar around my neck. I'd been bad. I knew I'd been bad. I did things I could have, and should have, been put in prison for. But, damn it…" her face crumpled as tears started to flow..."I didn't deserve that!"
"None of us did," Shogo said quietly, as Sakura gathered Hirono in and let her cry on her shoulder. "Neither my first class, or you guys. You weren't perfect, and neither was my first class, but we weren't so evil that we deserved to be exterminated just as entertainment!"
"That's what stuck in my throat about the whole thing," Shuya said. "I mean, if there'd been a war on, and we'd been out defending our country, I'd have been horrified to see so many of my friends dying, but I'd have accepted it. But just for entertainment?" He shook his head. "Even the Ancient Romans didn't do that!"
"I've read that the Program originally started as a military experiment to test reaction to extreme situations," Sakura said. "The experimenters found that people seemed to really enjoy the videos they made of it, and the whole thing swelled to where it is today."
"Which is why we do what we do," Kazuhiko commented. "And, with that, I think it's time we turned in. Hirono, you get first crack at the bath."
"You have a private bath? Oh, luxury!" Hirono smiled. "All my life, I had to go to public bath houses. We were too poor to afford our own private bath in Shiroiwa, and after the Program, I was up in Sapporo and the only apartment I could afford on my stipend didn't run to one."
"Well, enjoy it," Noriko said. She pointed to a door. "You can change into your yukata in there. We'll bed you down out here in the main room for now. We're all using the bedrooms."
When Hirono came out, feeling refreshed and clean, she found that they'd laid out a futon with a comforter and pillow. The girls used the bath next, followed by the men, and soon they were all bedded down for the night. Hirono smiled as she drifted off. For the first time since the Program, she had friends around her again. Even though the friends in question were people she'd have probably never associated with in Shiroiwa, it felt very good.
That night, Hirono dreamed. She dreamed that she was back in Shiroiwa, with Mitsuko and Yoshimi. They had never been in the Program, and had gone on with their lives. Mitsuko, as usual, had taken the lead.
"Tonight, ladies, we're going to go for some big money," she said. She opened up a case, and Hirono saw that it contained guns. She recognized the Colt 1911A1 she'd been issued in the Program. The only other one she was sure about was the Browning that Mitsuko had been carrying in their last fight. Could the third pistol be Yoshimi's issue gun?
"We're going to take down the main Shiroiwa National Bank. We're going to be rich! What do you think of that?" Mitsuko gave them all the triumphant grin she used when she'd come up with a particularly good scheme.
"Uh, Mitsu," Yoshimi said, "I'm not so sure about this."
"And why is that, dear?" Mitsuko asked. Her tone was gentle, but Hirono could sense the dangerous edge underneath. "We've already done robberies, prostitution, blackmail, and drug dealing. How is this different?"
"Uh...because I don't want to kill anyone?" Yoshimi stared at the guns as though they were poisonous snakes, coiled and ready to strike.
"Too bad, sweetheart. I do!" Mitsuko grabbed her gun and shot Yoshimi in the head. Yoshimi fell backward, her forehead a bloody ruin, just as she'd been when Hirono had stumbled across her corpse, back on accursed Okishima Island.
"You shot her! She was our friend!"
"Yes, I did, dear. Just like I'm going to shoot you! All for one...and that one is me!" Suddenly Mitsuko changed, becoming the battered, bleeding wreck of a girl she'd been when Hirono had last seen her. Hirono felt sudden pain, and glanced down to see that she, too, had changed into what she'd been when she'd won her Battle Royale.
"You got me last time...but I'll get you this time!" Desperately, Hirono lunged for her pistol, but Mitsuko fired first. The roar of the pistol overwhelmed everything, and suddenly, Hirono was sitting up in bed in Tokyo, gasping and shuddering.
The others had heard and were all gathered there, in yukatas and nightwear. "Bad dream?" asked Shogo. He took her hand gently. "We all get them, don't we?"
"Yeah, we do." Noriko took a shaking Hirono into her arms, holding her close. "Don't worry. We're all here. What was it? Okishima?"
"Started out in Shiroiwa, actually. I was dreaming that the Program had never happened. I was back with Mitsuko and Yoshimi. Mitsuko told us that we were going to rob a bank, and pulled out some guns. I recognized the one I got in the Program."
"I take it things didn't go well from there?" That was Kazuhiko. His face was full of concern.
"No. Not a bit. Yoshimi said she wasn't sure about bank robbery, and Mitsuko shot her dead. Just like she bragged she'd done on Okishima. I found Yoshimi's body after Mitsuko had killed her."
"She never did really fit into your group, did she?" said Sakura. "She always struck me as a pretty weak personality. Not up to a life of crime, at least not on her own hook."
"Yeah, that's about right. She was always shy and rather helpless on her own hook. She went along with what we did, but I don't think her heart was ever in it. Mitsuko dominated her very easily." She suddenly grinned reminiscently. "Unlike me!"
"Mitsuko had a hard time keeping you under her thumb, did she?" Sakura smiled. "I'm not really surprised."
"As long as her schemes worked out...and they generally did, I have to admit...I was willing to go along. But if she'd ever really screwed up, I'd have walked. Or taken things over for myself and kicked sweet Mitsu's ass out into the cold." Hirono looked grim. "She'd have done the same to me."
"Well, we're glad you're all right, Hirono," said Shuya. "In the meantime, it's late, and the rest of us do have to go to work tomorrow. Shall we try to get back to sleep?"
"Good idea!" said Noriko. Soon, they were all bedded back down again, but it took Hirono a while to drift off. She kept feeling like Mitsuko Souma was prowling nearby. But, eventually, she did get to sleep.
A few days later, they got a visitor. "It's Patrolman Suzuki. He's the local policeman," Sakura said. "He's just making his routine visit."
"Oh," Hirono said. Like all Japanese, she was quite accustomed to the idea of visits from the police. A local patrolman would visit every home in his assigned area a few times a year, to inform the residents of any crimes that had been committed recently, and to keep himself informed of any changes. In her old home, Hirono had rather looked forward to the local policeman's visits. If for no other reason, when Patrolman Otani was in the house, she could be sure that her parents would be on their best behavior. Misbehaving in front of a police officer's face was quite unwise.
Sakura welcomed Patrolman Suzuki in. "Ah, come in, Patrolman! I hope all's well in the neighborhood?"
"Nothing new, ma'am. We've had little to do, and you know that a bored policeman is a happy policeman." Then his eyes lit on Hirono. "And who is this?"
"She's a relative of mine by marriage. Her name is Hirono Shimizu. She's come down from Sapporo to live with us."
"Ah." Patrolman Suzuki bowed politely, and, conditioned by a lifetime of Japanese manners, Hirono bowed back. "I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Shimizu-san. I am Patrolman Suzuki, from the local police box. I hope you like Tokyo?"
"A pleasure to meet you, Patrolman. I've only been here a few days. I came down from Sapporo looking for better opportunities. This is the capital, and a lot more goes on here than up in the North."
"And the weather is better, too." Turning from Hirono, Patrolman Suzuki addressed Sakura: "Other than your cousin arriving, have there been any changes in your circumstances?"
"No, Officer. All is as it was when you came by. If we run into trouble, we'll notify you immediately, of course."
"Of course. Well, I've many others to get to today, so I'll bid you farewell." Once the patrolman was on his way, Hirono let the fear she'd been feeling show. Sakura noticed, and came over to comfort her.
"Don't worry, Hirono. Unlike us, you're legally alive, and have every right to move about Japan. If he finds you're a Battle Royale Program winner, well, so what?" Sakura put her arm around Hirono's shoulders. "There's nothing illegal about that."