Arc 0: Prologue

Chapter: The Eccentric Passenger [II]

The taxi driver didn't look worried at all. In fact, he treated the encounter like an everyday occurrence. And the way he talked to the police, well, let's just say he would have a terrible time in the states.

"What do you want? I have a passenger in the back."

For some reason the beat cop took his gruff demeanor into stride. He appeared to be a man in his mid thirties, short but robust, sporting a crew cut and the way he had the sleeves of his uniform rolled up, the passenger at the back of the taxi could notice that he had thick bouts of body hair on both his arms. He wasn't clean shaven, had a stubble, but the most prominent feature on his entire face was the extra thick, m-shaped unibrow.

As it turned out, the beat cop knew the taxi driver.

"Odokawa." He greeted gruffly. "Still faking your way through an eye exam. I should take away your license."

The taxi driver knew the cop as well.

"You still owe me money. When do you plan to pay me back?"

The cop changed his tune in a heartbeat. He started to rub his hands together like a sleazy businessman. "All in good time. By the way, I have another quick money making scheme. It's guaranteed to double your money. Do you want to invest? Think about it Odokawa. It will cost you just 20,000 yen."

"No thanks." The taxi driver replied.

The cop continued to insist. "C'mon! It's a great deal. Okay fine. How about a 10,000 yen? Now that's pocket change for a guy like you. Just overcharge a few foreign tourists. They wouldn't know the difference. It's a harmless crime. Nobody will arrest you."

The young passenger at the back seat of the taxi remained a silent observer. He watched the entire exchange happening between the cop and the taxi driver and he grew worried with each passing minute. It looked like they were dealing with a crooked cop. Perhaps this was his way of harassing the taxi driver and forcing him to pay a bribe.

Not on his watch, he thought.

Without drawing any untoward attention on himself, he fished out his phone from inside his jacket pocket. He was about to record the entire incident and show it to the policeman and politely ask him to mend his corrupt ways or else he would post the video online.

"Passenger-san," It was a police woman with black hair in a ponytail. "Sorry for bothering you. I hope we are not making you late for your job interview."

Beauty and brains. She seemed to be in her late twenties. With how things were in Japan, she should have made detective by now. Sexism? No. Inability to suck up to superiors? Maybe. A scandal? Definite possibility.

Another policewoman, a rookie with short hair who seemed like she had just graduated from the academy asked the obvious question. "Chief Fuji, that's amazing! How did you know?"

"His suit." "My suit."

Chief Fuji and the passenger blurted out together. The two of them shared a small smile. For once he didn't feel like giving the long winded explanation which leaves people awestruck and intimidated by his superior intelligence. He would gladly let the police woman take up the role.

But instead he heard the clack of wooden sandals and an unimpressed voice scrutinized his appearance.

"Youngsters these days get impressed by everything. Kawai-chan, take a good look at what he is wearing. It's a basic black polyester suit. It's what we call a recruit suit. Of course he is going for a job interview!"

Recruit suits. He had dealt with them back during the grueling process of job hunting in his senior undergrad years in Japan. Never again. And to think this oaf thought he was wearing one of those abominations. No wonder he never made detective.

"This is Armani."

The taxi driver and the senior policewoman didn't show any visible reaction. The rookie police girl couldn't help but gasp out loud. After a look from her supervisor, she seemed really embarrassed. But the middle aged beat cop didn't know when to quit.

"I think we got off on the wrong foot." He spoke in a much friendlier tone. "My name is Kankichi Ryotsu. You can call me Ryo-san if you want. I am the Chief Patrol Officer of the local police box. My colleagues and I are really sorry for wasting your time. But you know, it's standard police procedure."

The young man raised an eyebrow. "To ask people for money?"

"To ask friends for money." Ryotsu amended. "And you look like you are new in town. Let me tell you, in a place like Ikebukuro it helps to have a cop as your friend. And I promise I make a good friend. Ask Odokawa!"

The taxi driver looked ahead.

He kept his mouth shut.

But the young man in the passenger seat kept up the charade. "So, let me get this straight. You will agree to be my friend if I pay you?"

The oaf nodded his head vigorously. "20,000 yen to be exact! I'm sure it's not a big deal for a guy like you."

Everything seemed perfect.

"Ryo-san, you know he is recording you, right?"

It was the rookie. He didn't expect her to be especially bright. Perhaps she had learnt a thing or two from Chief Fuji. Or maybe it was a generational thing. It's what people of her age do; they make videos, post it online, create an outrage and get the guilty party fired or worse.

"Huh?" Ryotsu looked at the rookie, then the rich kid in the Armani suit, who was actually now flaunting the fact that he was making a video with his phone. Finally, he turned to the policewoman and cried foul play. "Chief Fuji, why didn't you say anything!?"

Chief Fuji tried to act innocent. "I didn't notice."

"Liar!" Cried Ryotsu.

Afterwards when he spoke to the young man in the taxi, all trace of friendliness and sucking up to a rich guy was gone. Now he spoke with all the authority of a senior officer of the law.

"Let's try this again. You!" He pointed a finger at his face. "Suspicious looking rich kid in an Armani suit. You look like you have come back from abroad. Where?"

Oh. So he did possess a brain. "From the states."

"That's just another fancy way of saying America. Tell me, do you have a gun? What about drugs? Are you a pimp? Is that how you became filthy rich? Are you a gangster?"

"…that's a bit racist." The young man said.

The beat cop crossed his arms and he was being completely serious as he said, brimming with confidence and worldly wisdom. "What a load of crap! America is not a race. It's a country!"

A brief moment of silence was observed.

Chief Fuji faked a cough into her fist and took out her phone. She decided to speak with the passenger, the young man with whom she had established a pleasant rapport.

"If you don't mind I will show you a few images."

Ryotsu did the same. But instead of a phone, he asked for a bunch of photographs, which Officer Kawai handed to him, that he went on to show to the taxi driver.

"Recognize anyone?" Ryotsu asked.

"Please look at them carefully." Chief Fuji implored. "Anything you can tell us will be helpful."

The young man in the passenger seat looked at the first image. It was of a woman with long, light brown hair. She wore a brown jacket over a white chiffon blouse with a red ribbon, a red skirt and long black socks.

It didn't take him long to notice there was something fishy going on with the picture.

"Next."

Chief Fuji didn't repeat herself. She didn't tell him to take his time, take another look or look closely at the picture. With a gentle slide of her index finger, she shifted to the next image.

The second image was very different.

"Sorry, we couldn't get a better picture." Chief Fuji admitted.

"On the contrary, the picture speaks for itself." The young man offered. "A shadowy reflection captured on a car's window in an underground parking lot. I take it the security cameras were destroyed."

Chief Fuji nodded. "There was a gunfight. Lots of dead bodies. We think it was an ambush."

"Ah yes. But who was the one being ambushed?" The young man asked.

He had nothing further to add.

The police woman gave him a minute before clearing her throat.

"Sorry, lost track of time." He looked at his wristwatch. "Look, I have an interview to get to. But I always try my best to help out local law enforcement agencies, so I will give it a shot."

"Now, the first picture you showed me, I think it was of a man cross dressing as a woman. He definitely looked androgynous to me. Also, I am pretty sure he is of Chinese descent. I hope that will be of some help.

Now, I don't want to talk about the guy in the second image. Dressed in all black, leaving a trail of dead bodies, taking out the security cameras before massacring everyone; I know a professional killer when I see one. Take my advice, Chief Fuji. This one is above your pay grade. And I mean this in the most politest way possible - Don't fuck with him."

Chief Fuji didn't seem like the type of woman who would mind the odd expletive. But everyone grew a bit quiet. He thought Officer Ryotsu, being the old fashioned man he was, walking around wearing a geta, would break the silence and start lecturing him for not knowing his manners around a woman. But it was Odokawa, the taxi driver who spoke up.

"I have seen this guy." He said while looking at the photograph. "He used to drive a taxi."

Officer Ryotsu caught on. "Used to?"

Odokawa shrugged. "I have seen him a couple of times, driving around people in fancy cars."

"He could be working as a chauffeur." The rookie police officer said.

"Good job, Kawai." Chief Fuji remarked.

The young man knew how these things worked. This wasn't his first time dealing with the police. And if he had any say in the matter, it won't be his last either. But for the time being he just wished they could speed things up a little. He looked at the time on his phone. Wow, they were cutting it close.

"I think we are done here." The young man informed the police officers. "Now if you don't mind, I would like to get going. I don't want to be late for my interview."

"Not so fast!" Officer Ryotsu smiled. "We have just a few more questions."

"I have answered all your questions!" The young man grew annoyed. "Don't think I don't know what you're up to. You are abusing your authority to make me late for my interview on purpose."

Officer Ryotsu felt deeply insulted. "Why you little brat! I should arrest you on obstruction of justice. And just so you know, I never abuse my authority. In fact, you wanna know someone who abuses her authority? It's Chief Fuji. She used to be an ace detective, but she bullied some poor junior and was transferred to our humble police station. Now that's what you call power harassment!"

Officer Kawai took a step forward. "Chief Fuji…"

Chief Fuji didn't seem perturbed. She took two long strides, got into his personal space, towered over the older man and just as he tried to cover his face from any number of physical blows, the photographs were snatched from his grip.

"Ow!"

Nobody saw Officer Ryotsu getting hit.

Yeah.

Nobody.

"Thank you, Ryo-san." Chief Fuji appeared polite.

Odokawa, the taxi driver mumbled softly the words, 'scary gorilla.' The passenger at the back wondered what the hell was that about. He was pretty sure nobody else was able to hear it except for him. And even then he must have heard wrong. But he had more important things to worry about. As it turned out, Chief Fuji wasn't done with him yet.

"Please, ignore Ryo-san. He is a 36 year old with the personality of a 12 year old. If you don't mind me asking where are you going for this interview?" Chief Fuji asked abruptly.

The young man expected her to question him about the photographs. But it wasn't uncommon for the police to ask about other details which had nothing to do with their investigation. He complied.

"It's a place called Anteiku."

"Oh! I have heard of the place." Officer Kawai added. "It's a nice café. And it's located in a safe neighborhood."

Officer Ryotsu reared his ugly head. "What kinda interview takes place in a café? Are you one of those guys with fake jobs? You know influencers and tick-talkers."

Nobody bothered to correct him.

The young man already knew he wouldn't endear himself to the older beat cop, but he explained what he did all the same. "I am a consultant."

"Sounds like a made up job." Officer Ryotsu said. "I don't get it. A guy has over a million dollars. He hires a financial consultant, who has never earned that much money in his entire life and now he expects this guy to handle that much money, because apparently he knows what to do with the money, better than the guy who has actually earned it." He let out a huff of air. "Sounds like a scam."

"Well, it's a good thing I don't deal with finance." The young man said. "I'm a different kind of consultant. In fact, the way I helped you out with these photographs, that's a part of my job. Now that I think about it, I should send your boss a bill."

Officer Kawai figured it out. "You're a detective consultant!"

The young man tried not to make a face. "I prefer being called just a consultant, thank you very much. I find adding the word 'detective' kinda limits the scope of my entire job and what I have to offer. Besides, I think I want to do more than look at photographs of victims and suspects of homicide investigations."

"Speaking of photographs," As he had been expecting for a short while now, Chief Fuji showed him the other two photographs. "What can you tell me about these two?"

He recognized the first one immediately. But his time in the states had taught him a thing or two.

"What do I get in return?"

Chief Fuji tried to use her feminine charms. "Is helping a cute policewoman not enough for you?"

Dammit. It almost worked. But he shook his head. "A man once told me, 'If you are good at something, never do it for free.' Now Officer Ryotsu made it seem like it was a good idea to have a cop for a friend in this town. I kinda agree. But I get to decide who gets to be my friend. So, if I help you out, I would like you to be my friend."

"Okay."

He blinked.

Since when did making friends become so easy?

"I think you don't understand what I am saying. I am asking for your number." He clarified further.

"Okay. Sounds like a plan." Chief Fuji didn't make it into a big deal or anything.

Did the women population undergo some radical change while he was away? Where were the blushing virgins and the tsundere's calling you 'baka' over everyday normal stuff. But perhaps it was different when you dealt with older, more mature women. Yeah, this was definitely better.

"The photographs…" Fuji-san urged.

"Right." Get your head back in the game you idiot, he said to himself. "So, this first photo is actually of a woman. Her name is Seishirou Tsugumi. She's a hitman for the Beehive Gang. I don't know what's she's doing in Ikebukuro. Last time I checked they were based in America."

"What about this one?" Chief Fuji showed him the last photograph. "This one looks like a man at least. Don't tell me I'm wrong this time as well." She joked with a smile.

The young man returned her smile as he took a good look at the photograph. He furrowed his eyebrows in concentration. "This one looks familiar. I think I have seen his face in the papers. But I can't remember a name. Ex-military. European. Probably works as a hired-gun. Are all these people connected somehow?" he asked abruptly.

Chief Fuji offered a polite smile, but said nothing further. Instead, she reached into her pocket and produced a small piece of paper. In this she wrote something down rather quickly, neatly folded it and handed it to him while keeping a winning smile on her face.

"Thank you for your co-operation."