12:06 pm
April watched as the swarming bald pursuers chased Mateo like bulls.
The alley barely fit all of them at once.
With consideration, April carefully closed the door silently as her pursuers made some distance with her.
Mateo...you balloonhead...
April stepped out of the shoe store and her eyes searched her surroundings.
No other gang member seemed to be in her sight.
She sighed and moved her legs.
Her eyes, still cautious of her surrounding.
April tried to stop a cab on the road but the cab only slowed.
"The police curfew restricts passengers here, no can do, lady", the driver said and sped away.
April held the package and kept walking.
"The delivery had to be in Shibuya?!!?Arghh!!", she wailed to herself and took shortcuts every turn.
Until in one turn...
"UGH! Wha–", April's head knocked on something and she lifted her eyes to check.
"You have the r...right to r...remain silent ",
A female police officer stood shaky with her handgun pointing towards April.
...Where even are we?!America!?...
April stopped at once with no sudden movements.
Her eyes moved to the barrel of the gun between her eyes, it was shuddering.
"Officer! You have to help me!?! Someone took my bag and handed me this bland package!!?I had my College ID and keys and–", the female cop slightly lowered her gun,"–he said he...he would...he would take my guts if I don't keep it safe!!", April wailed and the female cop lowered her gun.
A radio static buzzed and the cop reached for the walkie-talkies on her chest.
"Nayumi?..."
"We have eyes on the package..."
"The Gaijin is being hunted..."
The radio static continued.
"Hello?Goro?? What is your loca–", as she spoke, her eyes moved towards the package in the hands of April.
Her eyes showed uncertainty when April took the chance and snatched the lowered gun from her grasp.
April pointed the gun at her and slowly walked around her to switch sides, now she stood further from the street .
The radio static recovered...
"He is heading towards..."
"The station..."
April heard the last words and threw away the gun behind the cop.
Without looking back, she sprinted away.
The cop went back to retrieve her gun.
She reached for her walkie-talkie and spoke,
"A DECOY! I REPEAT! THE PACKAGE HAS A DECOY!".
April pulled her phone and called the contact "Mexicano".
"Come on, Mateo, Pick up", she gasped while hiding under a staircase.
Her ears caught the police sirens blowing up and she tucked back her phone.
She began moving again.
The sirens now seemed closer and her steps grew faster when–
she heard loud crashes.
Her eyes moved across the road,
Her eyes saw a familiar scene– Mateo being chased down by their bald pursuers.
"She's here!", April's ears ringed with sirens and she began sprinting.
Mateo looked back once and saw the group of bald pursuers chasing after him like starving strays.
Sirens also crept in his ear and his eyes caught the glimpse of April being run down by a cop.
A bitter smile climbed in his face.
His head again turned to his path when something knocked him.
He fell on his chest, the package slid away from him.
A heavy voice shouted out,
"Where is the Delivery!? Who is your supplier?!".
Mateo turned around to see a man pinning him down, he yanked the dangling handcuffs on his waist and lunged for Mateo's wrists.
The continuous struggling from Mateo disrupted the man's action.
"Just hold still! Your actions will–", he turned his head and saw the gang of bald pursuers charging towards him.
The man's grey hair shone brightly and his eyes kept swapping between the pinned down Mateo and the charging bald group.
He closed his eyes as wrinkles piled up in his tired face and left Mateo to reach for his gun.
Mateo quickly stood up and grabbed the package in front of him.
He turned around and saw the man holding his handgun pointing towards the bald pursuers.
"You can still surrender! We'll make sure you get back to your country!", the man spoke to Mateo with slightly turned head.
Mateo held the package tightly with sweat covering his fingers,
"Who said I want to go back?".
"Stop right now!", the female cop shouted out as she chased after April.
"Your actions will be recorded in the foreign–", as she lashed out her voice, her eyes saw the occurrence across the road.
A grey-haired man holding himself against a bald gang with a gun in his hands.
...HAYASHI SIR!?!...
She reverted her eyes back the culprit she was chasing but April had vanished from her sights, that is until she saw her running across the road with another man.
She sighed heavily and with a stoned face–
marched towards the bald gang.
Her hand on the walkie talkie,
"Goro?! send backup to my location!? We have Hayashi sir in a brawl with the baldies!?".
"Hear you loud and clear..."
Mateo felt someone pulling on his jacket and locked to sprint.
"It's me you balloonhead!", April lashed out and smacked him on his shoulder.
"April?? Weren't you... suppose to deliver the package?",Mateo gasped out for air and they slowed down while entering a railway station.
"Will do, Boss", a bulky bald guy ended the call and handed the phone to a guy in a suit beside him.
He saw a scar near the bald man's ear and hesitantly took the phone from him.
"The package is in the station. Send everyone who are left", the bald man's huge body stepped out of the alley and spoke to the guy in the suit.
"But who even are you?",
The guy in the suit did not reply and left the alley while holding his briefcase.
He was talking to someone on his phone.
The bald guy raised an eyebrow with a thought in his head...
Hmph...Boss and his tricks...
"The package is at the station ", a voice echoed.
The bald man heard a radio static from the alley.
He saw straight into the alley and saw a policeman holding his walkie-talkie who was crouching behind carton boxes.
"Goro, out ", the police man said and stepped out from his hiding.
He too had a firm stature with a utility vest on.
The bald man's face stayed frozen and he popped his knuckles.
Finally catching their breath, Mateo sat down behind a pillar with April beside him.
"You are still going for the train?", April asked as she held the box tightly.
"All the stations from here will be under police watch".
April kept peeking out from the pillar towards the entrance.
Her short hair moving violently left and right with each peek.
The whole station was empty.
A bell rang once.
"The train bound for Yokohama will Shortly arrive at platform No.3. Please stand behind the Yellow line"
Mateo saw as a silver train slowly stopped beside them on a platform across the railway.
His thoughts scrambled until April shoved him to his senses.
"Hey! Hey! Don't lose it right now!",
April shook Mateo and he dropped the package he was holding.
"The cops know there is a fake package, we can't just run it now. They'll know, you hear me, Mateo!?"
Mateo moved his eyes form one package to another and stood up.
"I got an Idea", Mateo replied.
"Remember Brain's card trick?".
A few moments later, through the entrance –
A group of police and a group of bald members in black showed up.
They met eyes and between them stood April with two identical packages.
"The train for Yokohama will be departing Shortly. Please check your belongings before the departure"
A ringing occurred and April ran towards the platform across her.
She jumped down the railway.
Both the groups broke eye contact and blasted off towards April.
April threw the packages at the platform across and Mateo caught them.
He then boarded the train with the LED 'Yokohama' on it's sliding doors.
Both the storming pursuers climbed the platform.
They forced themselves inside the train.
There stood Mateo, he looked at the wildly chasing pursuers but stood still until every single one of the stepped inside the train.
"Train to Yokohama is departing. Doors are closing, please stand by."
Mateo turned around and cut his way through the cabins until he tripped over in one and the package bounced from his grasp.
Mateo tried reaching for the package.
His expression hardened as he saw a tsunami of people hoarding towards him.
One of the bald members almost reached Mateo when–
"Get off!",
April slammed a fire extinguisher on his head and pulled up Mateo.
The doors closed.
A foot stepped out right after the departure sound.
"Come on!! Don't you people have tickets to give!!",
one bald guy shouted out while reaching for the Package.
"Don't YOU have clubs to visit!??!",
a police officer shouted back while pushing off the bald member.
A storm was brewing inside the train as it departed.
In an instance though, everyone inside saw Mateo and April outside from the moving window–April was holding a package.
They all froze.
Their eyes widened and mouths left open.
Then a bald member slowly opened the package in the cabin.
"...empty".
A sigh filled the cabin and both the group began struggling again.
Mateo and April waved goodbye to the storming cabin inside and April spoke,
"You were pretty sure they'll be coming for you. How did you know it'll work?".
"Weren't we tricked all the same by Brian?", Mateo replied.
"And nevertheless,they did follow us...just not carefully enough".
The package that April held had some sticky substance and a few napkins sticking to it.
"Are you sure about that?", Mateo whispered and April threw her puffy jacket on him.
"I'm not going to sit here like ducks", April said and unfurled her hair– looking messy as ever.
She smushed some lipstick on her lips and saw Mateo looking at her with wide eyes.
"Believe me, it always works".
In the awe of the neon lights, two police officers stood near a Hotel's entrance.
One of them was scrolling through his cellphone.
"Kabukicho had some serious clash today...", one said as something caught his eye inside his cellphone.
The other officer leaned closer to see what his subordinate was watching.
"And even as the whole of Kabukicho is under a lockdown but it seems the streets are not buying it.
The streets..."
A female vlogger seems to be going on live.
Several bald people could be seen behind her in police custody.
"Heard it was a total face off up there, even the radio stations were all jammed up", the other officer spoke.
"–wait what?! You aren't allo—"
The vlogger's live ended.
Both the policemen sighed.
"OFFICER! OFFICERS!", a women came rushing from the shadows.
The policemen alerted and stood straight as the women approached them.
Her short hair was built like a nest and red was smeared all over her mouth.
She adjusted the strap on her shoulder with trembling hands.
"S...some men...", she gasped and the policemen supported her to stand up.
"Classic, April", Mateo said and hid trash bags.
A few moments later April left the Hotel entrance with both the policemen.
Mateo looked at the area and skipped his way towards the Hotel.
"Poor fellas", April's stern voice came from behind.
Mateo turned around and saw the slick women rubbing off the lipstick stains and winking at him.
She took her puffy jacket back from Mateo and entered as the sliding doors opened.
Mateo also stepped inside.
His foot landed inside the hotel and–
"Don't—Turn back—"
His hair shifted smoothly and a cold breeze swayed by his warm face.
His step froze.
"...What?", slipped from Mateo's tongue.
His head turned around and all he saw were neon lights blinking in the night.
"...You heard something?".
" You said something?", April asked Mateo.
He shook his head,
"Nothing...let's just...get this package off quickly", he said took his steps forward.
The door closed.
"Welcome to our humble abode, you two must be Mr.Hoshikuma's esteemed...guests?",
A female receptionist greeted them.
"Although I'm certain he mentioned only one guest would be arriving. I...cannot allow both of you to enter."
She began searching through the record of rooms occupied in her tablet.
"You get going, I'll be here", April said and took a seat in on of the couches nearby.
"And get my brains blown out by myself? Nope, you are coming with me", Mateo replied and turned to the receptionist.
"Can you please let him know about my colleague too? She's a grumpy one".
Mateo felt a stingy gaze on him but he dare not turn around.
"If that's the case...then kindly wait here , I will go and consult Mr.Hoshikuma",
She place down her tablet and left.
Mateo stood by the counter until she disappeared in a turn.
He leaned forward and picked up the tablet.
April saw him with narrowed eyes and gazed around,
"There could be cameras, Mateo".
He didn't bother.
The contents in the tab left his eyes wide open.
"Check it out, this Hoshikuma got the whole hotel reserved. Must be a hotshot", he said and placed back the tab by the counter.
"More reason for the delivery to be a Shishi package", April replied and noticed a vending machine across the room.
Few moments later...
The fizzling of the sparkling water filled the room.
Mateo threw a bottle of sparkling water to April. She caught it effortlessly.
"You are not wrong but...I don't know. It's not like Brian never kept things from us and sooner or later, he'll be suspicious about the money we just happen to have", Mateo said and picked up another sparkling water from the vending machine.
April was twisting her bottle cap,then suddenly stopped.
"Then we'll just have to be more mindful when spending the money", April said and looked at the bubbles inside her bottle.
"You? Being careful about your spending?GIVE ME A BREAK!", Mateo chuckled and sat beside April.
He turned his bottle cap and opened it.
"You would buy a cat cafe without a heartbeat if you had the chance".
April weakly nodded with a smile.
Her eyes focused on the sizzling bubbles inside her bottle.
Mateo kept his drink open, not taking a single sip.
A silence crept in the room.
Mateo sat there without moving.
April was still focused on her bottle–Yet to be open.
...she's really quie—!
"What do you think, Mateo?", April suddenly opened her mouth.
Mateo's thoughts scrambled.
"... What do you mean?", Mateo asked back.
"This...job. How long do you think we'll be running around like this? Until one day–we'll finally luck out", April said.
Her voice was much lighter than Mateo had ever heard.
Mateo's hand fell on the package beside him. The carvings on it's cover felt sturdy.
"About me? I don't know, about Brian? He did say he'll be leaving Tokyo for good...and You? You already have a choice", Mateo's words came out loud and clear, though his face was worn out.
"You can go back, there is still—", he stopped talking as April turned her gaze towards him.
"–Go back? Go back to what? Being a cultist and throw away my life for something I couldn't have care less for?", she said hastily and teared open her sparkling water.
Mateo sat silently, his thoughts gathering.
A brief silence filled the room once more.
Both April and Mateo sat near each other but felt yet so far.
Until April broke the silence–
"...If I go back, I doubt I can ever come back".
...she still...has a dream...
"...Then why not work on that cat cafe?", Mateo stood up and closed his sparkling water then snatched the sparkling from April.
"I'm sure Brian will be more than glad to help as well".
Mateo shook both the sparkling water and handed back one to April.
"...But what about you? You still have no lead on who your parents were", April remarked as she took the sizzling sparkling water from Mateo.
"Bah! They are long gone from what I know, I doubt a few months will be of any waste", he replied and gestured the sparkling water towards her.
Both opened the bottle together as if in a celebration and chugged together.
"Hey", Mateo called and April looked up at him.
"We'll figure something out, just like always".
...Thanks...you crazy Mexican...
A few minutes passed by.
Lost in talks over cat cafe, beaches and Novels–Mateo and April didn't realised the receptionist already stated at he counter.
"When did she returned?", April asked.
Mateo shook his and stood up.
"Anyways, ask her what that Hoshikuma guy said".
Mateo went up to the receptionist and she took her eyes from the computer.
"Ah, I have consulted with Mr.Hoshikuma and he's very well comfortable with the arrival of you and your colleague", she said and April stood up.
It seemed she was quietly listening.
"Mr.Hoshikuma is waiting for your arrival in Room 707, Second floor".
With the room number said, April grabbed the package and made her way towards the stairs.
Mateo bowed to the receptionist and also left.
"Enjoy your stay, Mr.Xung", the receptionist's voice echoed in Mateo's ear.
Mateo whipped around at the receptionist.
But the counter was empty.
His eyes scanned the whole area.
...What the...
He followed April up the stairs.
Unsure thoughts filled his head.