11:02 am
"Come on,Kawazaki! Open up already!!!",
Someone called out from the door.
Knocking without stopping, almost like a drum.
At the door stood a boy.
His appearance giving off the view of a highschooler, though his clothes showed otherwise.
Especially during the hours of the school.
A Heavy dark jacket, slightly giving off the colour blue.
Shoes with worked up texture.
His hair swirled and swept side, like a rainbow.
A strange dog like creature printed on his back.
"I know you're in there, so just come out and make it easy for both of us!!!", the young man still beating on the door.
He sighed.
This asshole...
The young man placed his hand on his face and spoke in a gloomy tone,
"man, I sure wonder if the fujiwara girls are still up for the deal. Aren't you curi–".
The door clicked.
The young man pulled his hand down.
A smile popped up on his face.
The door creaked open.
At the face of the young man stood a figure slightly taller than him.
He was thinner and more pale.
He pulled down his headphones with a sigh.
"Anyone ever told you how annoying you could be?", he said and the young boy outside shook his head lightly.
"Figured".
The pale boy turned around and stepped aside for a second.
The young man outside tried to peek in.
All he could see was darkness and just the light of monitor.
The monitor had a character with blonde hair on it.
Before the young man could peek more,the pale boy pushed the door.
"Privacy? I thought you people knew the most of it", the pale boy spoke and had something in his hands."Here, your so-called promised fortune, Mate-O".
His hand forwarded the yen toward the young man outside.
"Man,thanks and yeah, it's Mateo, should know your employees more clearly", the young man, Mateo, said and took the Yen.
He tucked it inside his jacket.
"Who knows when you'll need me again".
The pale guy, Kawazaki breathed out heavily.
He crossed his arms and spoke,
"Yes...about that....".
His voice faded.
He chin on his hands.
His eyes looking down.
Mateo's faint smile vanished, he opened his mouth but Kawazaki's words delivered faster.
"This was it".
Mateo looked with steady eyes, rather confused.
"My graduation's around the corner and I'll be leaving this job for good".
Mateo stood frozen.
Kawazaki seemed surprised with his own words. His eyes now staring at Mateo.
Mateo lifted his finger up with his mouth open but no words came out.
His pulled back his hand.
"But...Your graduation? You said you dropped out?",Mateo asked.
Kawazaki's hand opened and he replied,
"where do you keep hearing that?Ugh. Nevertheless, no, I haven't dropped out and I don't plan to either".
With an awkard silence, both stared at each other.
Mateo broke the silence.
"So... that's it? End of the line for our duo?", he asked, his hands in his jacket.
He shrugged his shoulder and Kawazaki replied,
"First, we are no DUO, we are just work partners with a history of god knows what kind of gigs".
He sighed.
"And second, this is it. I'll be moving next month, no more shady jobs or anything that will eventually mess with my graduation certificate.
So, don't try to reach out or cal–", his words came to a stop when Mateo forwarded a few Yens towards him,
"–what? what's this?".
Mateo gave a smile at the looks of Kawazaki and replied,
"I never graduated myself but... I happen to hear you gotta look charming that day. So...take this and get a haircut or something like those fancy suits".
He shook the Yen in his hand.
"Consider this a...parting gift of sort".
Kawazaki chuckled with his hand covering his mouth but Mateo saw the smile.
...This guy...
Kawazaki thought and opened his mouth,
"No, you need it more than me. My relatives are finally rooting up for me so I should be good and I believe I look decent enough, I did managed to get the Fujiwara girls on me like this,no? Nevertheless, it's you who came to my doorstep pounding for the 'Promised-fortune' of yours".
Mateo pulled back his arms and replied,
"Well, if you say so. You were always the boss when it came to calling the shots".
He tucked away the Yen back inside his jacket.
He moved his eyes towards Kawazaki again.
The pale hand of his was stretched out to him.
Mateo also forwarded his hand with a smirk.
"Well...see you never,then?", Kawazaki said as they finished shaking their hands.
"Never? I don't know but if you do ever plan to come around aga–", Mateo saw the glaring eyes of Kawazaki."–Actually... I hope we'll meet again in different circumstances, if that's written in my future that is".
Finally with a waving hand, Mateo walked down the right alley.
His eyes passing several doors beside him with CAUTION! tape on them.
Tape yellow and black, all rolled down the doors.
Kawazaki saw the figure of someone he only knew through his work.
Mateo walked down and soon to be vanished when thoughts clouded his mind.
Maybe...He wasn't that bad of a...
"...Partner", he uttered.
The figure of Mateo vanished with a turn in the corridor.
"Asshole".
Mateo stepped out of the narrow alley and found his steps in a crowded market.
The place was swarmed with tourists.
He moved his head and took his steps when something in his pocket vibrated.
His hands reached out and pulled his cellphone.
One notification from "Ka-Zaki".
His fingers opened the message.
"If u r stil'lookin for a hustle, check the alley by the samurai museum".
A location was sent.
"Consider it a...Parting gift"
Kawazaki sent a winking emoji at he end.
Mateo used both his fingers and typed,
"K, thx".
With the last text by him, he blocked and deleted the number named "Ka-Zaki".
He tucked back his cellphone in his pocket.
His eyes again watching the crowd infront of him.
But among the crowd, his eyes seemed focused on a specific someone.
A girl in her school uniform.
Her hair had a small tint of a blue on the bangs.
Her bag swinging on her shoulder.
Her steps forwarded towards Mateo.
He felt a great uneasiness around him.
His head moved from left to right, the crowd still persisted but something more was there.
Girls in their school uniform with skirts long enough to reach their shoes.
Mateo stood firmly.
His fingers not having a grip on his cellphone.
The girl with blue highlighter stood infront of him.
"You do know he's not gonna pass me on this, right?", Mateo spoke.
The girl chewed her gum and rolled her eyes.
"you sure you wanna play hero?", she asked and Mateo was surrounded by the highschool girls.
"Because the odds are surely not on your favour".
Mateo sighed and pointed towards the alley he just stepped out of.
"The 7th door".
The girls surrounding him slowly marched inside the alley, leaving as they placed their hands on his shoulder.
His shoulders slightly shivered.
Only the girl with the blue highlighter stood there now, she reached under her bag and pulled out a bundle of Yen with a piece of gum.
"And don't worry, we'll make sure he never catches a glimpse of you again".
Mateo looked at the Yens for a few seconds and took them by his hands, tucking them inside his jacket.
The girl blew up a bubble from her mouth and also moved towards the alley.
...Almost...
Mateo took a last glance at the alley and also disappeared among the crowd.
Mateo made his way out from the crowd and followed on the location sent by Kawazaki.
He set his steps one after another, during which he came across several pleasure houses, hotels, bar, spas and one night hotels.
His glance avoided every single one of them, giving them no interest.
When he cut his way through a shortcut, he would find women with glamourous looks.
He avoided their glance as well, some of them avoided him too, except one.
"Mateo?? Coming back from Kawazaki's?", a woman in her 20's addressed him.
"He wasn't picking my calls, something going on?".
The woman wore a short skirt and a denim over her top. Her hair as black as it can be with a small golden brooch.
Mateo kept his steps going slowly as he answered,
"uhh no, he wasn't home but do ring me up if he reaches out,ok?".
With that, Mateo left.
Finally after walking for so long, his phone showed him in his destination.
He was facing a building which had it's entrance closed.
"Alley, alley...", he whispered to himself until his eyes caught the glimpse of a sign board with the image of a scraped mail box.
His eyes confirmed the image for certainity and he went towards it.
He realised he stepped infront of a herb shop.He looked around it's corner.
Beside the scraped off sign board was an alley consumed in darkness.
No light made it's way inside the narrow space.
Inside the darkness, a glowing neon sign could be seen.
Mateo saw the slightly blinking neon sign.
The neon sign had a very similar design.
A dog like creature, similiar to one on Mateo's jacket.
Mateo checked his surroundings and marched towards the neon light.
Below the sign, there stood an iron door.
Mateo's cold hand knocked on them.
A hatch slid open infront of his eyes.
A pair of eyes stared straight at Mateo.
"Err, We are all out of ginseng and any kind of herbs, restocking is n–", a sturdy voice came from the otherside but it stopped when he saw the Mateo showing the back of his jacket.
"–you wear that like a medal, Gaijin. State your business here".
Mateo turned around and replied,
"Delivery".
The eyes took a good look at Mateo and closed the sliding hatch.
After a few sounds of metals clanking to each other, the hatch opened again.
A rectangular package fell from it.
Mateo quickly opened his arms and grabbed the package.
It was covered in a dark green wrapper with peculiar signs.
Mateo held the package with his eyes focused on the package.
A sudden heat spreaded over his face and he asked with a dried throat,
"Where to?".
___________________________
"yeah, yeah, he won't be joining us anymore...
what do you mean it's not fair? Hey, you remember who was the one that dealt with the Fujiwara girls last time? I believe i'm the one who should keep the compensation after that...
oh come on, you certainly wouldn't have...
yeah, it's a center by the samurai museum, never knew it existed before...", Mateo spoke on his phone and held the package in his hands.
"Just be here soon, the client is at the otherside of the freaking city".
He hung his phone.
The contact he just talked to had the name written "Afhril".
Mateo walked out of the alley and as sunrays brightened his eyes, he saw a certain someone standing near the scrapped sign board.
A woman, her hair short to her neck.
She seemed no younger than Mateo.
"Man, you are fast, I'll give you that", Mateo said and threw the package at her.
"It's really that cold for you, huh?".
She caught the package and examined it,
"Goddamn Raynaud you see".
Her fingers having the feel of the signs on the package.
"Are you sure you wanna roll with this?",
She asked, her voice seemed lighter as her eyes gazed upon the package.
Mateo nodded.
"They don't call it shishi for nothing. It's a really big one too, you couldn't have gotten anything better?", the woman handed back the package.
"Better? This literally tolls about the weight of about.....6 or 7 deliveries, what could be better?", Mateo asked as he hid the box under his shirt.
"It also equals to more dilly-dally with the cops and the gang members and I don't think it's worth risking for", the woman spoke out and pulled out her phone.
"Oh, come on , April. Don't you want those kittens in your apartment? You could even go to the beach with them, have a good time and all", Mateo said, he crouched by the wall, hiding himself behind April.
April's fingers stopped their play on the phone and her vision locked down.
The screen she held showed a picture of a couple in a beach during a sunset.
She felt a urge in her chest.
Her finger tapped on the side of her cellphone and she spoke,
"50-50".
A smile painted on Mateo's face.
"60-40,and I'll handle your cats when you'll be out learning how to swim".
April tucked her phone back in her jacket and replied,
"Deal, but remember they only eat wet food".
___________________________
Few minutes went by and Mateo still hid the package inside his jacket as he walked the streets of Kabukicho.
The woman, April,by his side with a sharp focus on their surroundings.
"Are you sure it's a good idea to keep Brian in the dark like this?", Mateo asked and kept walking, still holding the package inside his jacket.
"Remember how he was when we got a Tanuki package? He played a card trick and we were forbidden from accepting the delivery", April asked back.
Mateo nodded, unsure with his words.
"Then what makes you feel he'll hop on with a shishi package?", April spoke and Mateo went around his clouding thoughts.
He opened his mouth again,
"Yet still, shouldn't we atleast let him know? At the least, our missing report would be put up in the police records".
April smiled and chuckled, she replied,
"He's safe like this, safe from all the shit and rut we are about to pull with this delivery".
Mateo still had his eyes looking down on the ground.
"We should give the old timer some rest once in a while, he's been around our back for sometime now, dont'cha think?".
Mateo reverted his view.
Looking straight, he replied,
"You're not wrong".
April smiled, knowing she convinced Mateo.
"But",her smile slightly became pale,
"He gets to know once we are payed–in full".
April agreed as if a mother nodding to her child.
In the very next instance, April caught a hefty sight.
A police patrol checking the passing pedestrians.
April swiftly grabbed Mateo by his jacket and pulled him inside a restaurant.
A cop turned to the crowd, almost catching the glance of Mateo being pulled.
Mateo and April took a seat at a table.
They looked out of the glass, the patrol still at large.
"They aren't moving. Seems like the whole city patrol would be out for us".
Mateo remarked as more police arrived at the checkpoint.
"Then we better hustle and get it off us as soon as possible", April replied and she turned her head as her ears heard the ringing of the doorbell.
A group of bald men set foot inside the restaurant.
They matched inside with their black clothing like dark clouds.
The golden letters on their clothes shone brightly in April's eyes.
She waved her hand and called a waitress.
"Anything I can help with, ma'am?", the waitress asked diligently.
April leaned down and pointed towards the bald guests,
"I wondered if you guys could plan a service for those poor guys, they are kinda lost but they surely like Hot chocolate. Cancer hasn't been kind to them, if you know".
The waitress nodded,
"Oh if that's the care then we'll make sure they are warmly served".
She bowed slightly and took off, April also stood up to leave and Mateo followed.
"Wait, who's gonna pa–", Mateo closed his mouth as the waitress stood in their way.
"This will be your bill, ma'am ", she handed a bill to April which she gave to Mateo.
"Oh, will you be the one paying, sir?".
April smiled at him and winked.
Mateo reached for his pocket and pulled out a card.
"Do forward the card to our colleague over there", April said as he dragged Mateo to the stairs, he pointed towards a bulky bald guy with a scar near it's ear.
The bald group was held back by a couple of waiters who offered them glasses of warm chocolate.
The customers and the waitress begun singing and clapping when
the one with a scar babbled out things in Japanese and the waitress came up to him.
"Your card, sir", she handed the card to him.
His confused hands took the card only to read the name on it as "Hobo Ediot".
The scar guy clenched the card in his hand and threw it away.
He made a call with his phone and said,
"They are near".
He called out to his allies who were busy with their hot beverage.
"They aren't coming, we should probably be on the move ", April said as she stopped peeking out from a corner.
At that moment, Mateo got a text from the contact "Blue sea-lover".
'Any luck with Kawazaki?'.
...Brian,sorry buddy but not now...
He ignored the message and followed April as she pulled up her furry hood.
He slid back his phone in his pocket when he bumped with someone.
Ding...
"Huh?", his tongue slipped.
The package he held dropped on the floor, he quickly grabbed it off the floor.
The man he bumped to walked away with his fluttering black coat.
Fuckass...
Mateo tucked back the package and followed April down the stairs.
"It would have been a lot easier if we could just rip off the GPS", Mateo complained while scratching the cover of the package.
"And get ourselves the highest bounty in the whole city?", April as she carefully walked down the stairs, peeking down to make sure they were clear.
"It would be cool though, no? We would be the most wanted by both the cops and the underworld for atleast a few hours", Mateo replied with enthusiasm.
April rolled her eyes and opened her mouth,
"Unlike you, I don't wish to spend my last hours of life running away...like I always have been".
With that said, they heard a voice shouting from behind,
"Ey! That's the box elder looks for!".
They turned their heads and saw the group of bald guys charging down the stairs towards them.
"Come on already?!", April yanked Mateo by his jacket and skipped down the stairs.
The pursuers also skipped down the stairs.
"WHERE ARE WE HEADED?!?",
Mateo asked out as their legs sprinted away.
April took a turn and they entered a store.
Ting!Ting!
The bell on the door rang and a woman showed up,
"welcome, how can I–", April ignored her and dragged Mateo inside the store.
The store had shoes all up for sale. From a heap of boxes, April picked up one black box. She emptied it, sandals fell off.
"You heard them, right? They don't have the GPS on them, they just know there's a box",
Mateo listened carefully as April spoke.
"We split up, that way we can lose them more easily and if not, then you better find a way to bail me out of those baldies". Mateo rubbed off the drops of sweat on his head and a chiming sound buzzed in their ear.
They peeked from the shelves at the entrance and saw their bald pursuers.
"How about the subway? We can take it and–", April spoke in middle of Mateo, "–Delivering the package will be impossible by midnight then, we can't risk that".
The bald pursuers swarmed in the shoe store. Mateo kept his eyes on their pursuers when April found a back door. She opened it and found an alley outside.
She whispered to Mateo,
"You deliver the package, I'll board a train with the fake box. They will leave the search for sometime after that, you'll get the time ".
She tried to stood up when Mateo held down her jacket. He took the fake box from her hands and stood up.
"Hey! What are you–", she tried reasoning but Mateo replied,"–Don't bail on me like before, aight?!".
He stepped towards the back exit and shouted out,
"Oh no! What is this box?",
The swarming pursuers turned their heads.
They held up their knives.
"Oh", Mateo uttered and dashed out the door.
Knives came flying and struck the door.
April grabbed the box Mateo dropped and hid from the bald pursuers as they blindly chased down Mateo through the alley.