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Epilogue
February 23rd, 2015—Ten Days later—Inside a bullet train wagon
The man had his legs crossed, his tie tightly wrapped around his neck to fit his black shirt, resting his head on his hand while keeping his eyes closed. With his open hand, he grasped his phone. The person next to him was slowly reaching for the business bag he had kept close to him. When the hand was about to reach the bag’s zipper, the man’s eyes shot open and he grabbed the wrist of the other person’s hand. Caught in the act, the other person was shocked and had her eyes wide open, but the same could be said about the man. After all, the girl who tried to steal the bag was a foreign girl who couldn’t have been older than ten years. She had clear blonde hair with jade-colored eyes that blinked several times. She flashed an awkward smile and then said in fluent English.
“Mind…just letting this…slide?”
“…That won’t do, sorry.”
“Oh well, then I’m just gonna scream and tell people you assaulted me. I’m gonna scream ‘you lolicon!’ out loud in this whole train!” she showed a provocative smirk, yet the man remained calm.
“I don’t think you should carelessly threaten people with that.”
The man wearing the black shirt showed the girl his phone’s screen, where it read “RECORDING” with a red button below it. The girl seemed like she wanted to say something, her lips quivering, but she eventually just gave up and sighed. After a brief moment of hesitation, the man let go of the girl’s wrist, which left her even more bewildered.
“Are you sure?”
“You don’t seem like the type of idiot who’d just just run away without saying anything.”
“…Hmmm.” The girl then sat down next to the man like it was the most natural thing in the world. “Sooo… Can I go?”
“Sorry, but I’m in a bad mood right now.”
“Huh? Did something happen? Can I help you?”
“There’s someone I’m interested in at work, but we happened to get into a fight, so I’m just not feeling too great right now.”
“Oh, love talk? Then let the girl help you! What’s your status like? Do you have a chance?”
“She called me Incessant Kazama in her phone address book,” said Kazama Toshihiko, as tears built in his eyes.
He seemed to try his hardest to hold back his tears. The girl felt awkward and averted her gaze in response.
“…Sorry, don’t think that’s anything I can help you with.”
“…Right,” a single tear ran down Kazama’s cheek. “I…shouldn’t have started an argument just because she was away from work almost two weeks without notice.”
“It’s not good to constantly bring up people’s past mistakes. Sometimes, you just have to let it slide.”
“Yeah, you’re absolutely right. However, I don’t intend your attempt to steal my bag to be a thing of the past that quickly.”
“Waaaah, now I get why she called you incessant!”
Hearing that, Kazama’s face grew even more pale. It was almost like he lost all will to live as he just sunk back against his seat. The girl wanted to cheer him up and tapped him on the shoulder.
“C’mon, just let it out. I’ll listen.”
“As of late, I feel like I’ve been getting too much free counseling from random kids… Oh well, whatever.”
“What are you talking about?”
“…Nothing. But if you’re gonna let me grumble, then I won’t hand you over to the employees at the next station. Where are you even getting off the train?
“Huh? Kyoto train station, actually.”
“Same here. Guess I can give your parents a piece of my mind.”
“…Are you seriously gonna see me off? You probably shouldn’t…”
“I’m on my way home from training over at the Tokyo’s main department, so I’ve got no more work today. I shall take responsibility and see you off to your guardian.”
Although Kazama had no ill intentions while doing this, the word “guardian” stabbed the girl’s chest.
—The person I’m going to meet isn’t my guardian…
—He’s just a pedophile who bought me with his money.
—That’s why… This bit of time I get to sit on this train will probably be the last someone will ever treat me like a proper human being.
*
Liz Kolevin is what many people would call a modern slave who came from a less-developed country. When she reached her 9th birthday, someone approached her mother and said they would introduce her to a new job. They were told she could live in a carpet factory to also use time to learn how to read and write. That way, Liz would be freed from her hard physical labor, and she was excited about this new future. However, they were eventually brought to a sex service pub, filled with other girls of a similar age, servicing people with twisted fetishes. She was forced to wear underwear with frills and laces, dancing and singing on top of a stage. Luckily, she wasn’t all alone. There was also a black girl and an Asian girl with her, as well as other boys, too. Thanks to that, she never really felt all that embarrassed. Rather than feeling ashamed, she almost felt drunk in this unnatural atmosphere.
By the time she got used to showing her skin and pouring the customers their drinks, the whole establishment burned down. In the end, Liz was sold off further until she became an object as part of a Japanese human trafficking organization. And today, she was off to meet her new master—the person who had bought her. The reason she tried to steal the man’s bag was the hope that she could use the money in there to escape for just a little while longer. Though thinking about it rationally, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to escape from the pervert who bought her. Even so, a part of her believed that maybe fate would be kind to her today.
Either way, that fate didn’t change, and her life was set in stone.
February 23rd, 2015—Ten days later—Kyoto—A flat in the Sakyo Ward
After the robbery of Hisamoto Bank, the group of foreigners began living in a high-rise flat they all bought together. They sat in the living room in front of the giant TV, partying with snacks and drinks like they did back when they waited inside the van. A bit further away from them were two men, sitting on the sofa at the wall. One of them had modified his head to the extreme with piercings and tattoos, and the other had silver hair with headphones around his neck—Kurosaki Ginnojou and Ichinose Yuzuru. They were spending time watching Ninja Slaver on TV.
“Yo, Bro Kurosaki? How are you feeling lately?”
“Can’t be doing any training for the foreseeable future. I’m bored out of my mind here. Can’t you just let me solve another password like back with Hanshin Loans?”
“Sure, sure. I like that geeky soul of you, really. But where’d you even get that data from? Hanshin Loans? The security firm?”
“Nah, Masaya said he found an interesting code and gave it to me. We had a battle to see who could get through it faster. In the end, I didn’t find out the answer to the prompt ‘answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything,’ so he had to teach me…”
“I figured as much. Although, Bro Masaya mentioned he also struggled with that.”
“…For real? He was bragging to me like crazy. How did he solve it?”
“Juri read ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,’ that’s why.”
“Say what? No way some birdbrain like her would read a book.”
“That’s just rude at this point. You know that’s her favorite book, right? Something about liking the complaint they print on the paper slips around the guidebook.”
“What kind of complaint?”
Ichinose looked up at the ceiling, groaned a few times, and then looked back down at the TV.
“I forgot. Something about a panic…or at the wit’s end? I don’t know anymore.”
But then, the doorbell rang, which made the group of four and the other two on the sofa all go silent. Ichinose confirmed who it was thanks to the security camera, and opened the door. Shortly after, they rang the front door again and entered.
“Thank you very much for calling us here, Mr. CEO of M&D’s Kyoto branch,” Kurosaki said with a condescending tone, but Shinohara just smiled and took off his coat.
“Thank you very much for the warm welcome, my new employees.”
Because of the incident at the branch, most employees had either been fired or quit. And the only six current employees working under the Kyoto branch were the six people present right now.
“Hey, Shinohara-san, Ichinose and those four guys have no experience abducting people, so they’re not doing that. Why are you even having them join your company?”
“You see, I came here today to discuss that. From now on, we will not taint our hands in the abducting business any longer.”
The group of four, as well as Kurosaki and Ichinose sat down at the table, so Shinohara began explaining the new business idea he had for M&D. It was…sheer insanity, to say the least. A truly devilish plan that involved using his administrator rights of Pikaro to cause chaos in the black market and put severe breaks on human trafficking across the globe. Of course, this involved him losing his position as CEO of the branch as part of it, but it would allow for great profit and change the landscape of illegal trade. Listening to this, the group of four and Ichinose, even including Kurosaki, all began swearing profusely with frozen expressions. When Shinohara was done explaining, they all looked at each other with dry smiles.
“I mean, I get where you’re coming from, but…”
“Not even Karasu could come up with such a devious way to use Pikaro…”
“Kaji-san isn’t going to let you live after that…”
“You’re insane, just like I thought. No sane person would come up with that.”
“The plan, the ideas, the execution…the Time Miene can’t even come close to this. You’re picking a fight with the biggest guys in this country.”
“Yeaaaah.”
In response, Shinohara showed a devious smirk and looked at the faces of his new subordinates, his eyes filled with darkness.
“You’re not afraid, are you?”
That statement made the other six grin. Watching that, Shinohara was satisfied and declared.
“You best be prepared. Because from now on…we’re going to journey a battlefield like no other.”
From that point on, the meeting began. Confirming each other’s roles, distribution of profits, and checking the people who support them. The following reward for the operation—They discussed these topics and reached an agreement eventually, so Shinohara stood up.
“Let’s leave it at that today.”
“Huh? Bro Shinohara, you gotta be somewhere?”
“Yeah, I have to meet someone.”
“Meet someone?”
“The person I bought.”
He said with a beaming smile like there was absolutely nothing wrong with his statement and left the flat behind.
*
Liz Kolevin stepped through the ticket gate at the Kyoto station together with Kazama Toshihiko. Walking along the mass of people, they almost looked like brother and sister as they walked next to each other.
“I’m glad I got to talk to you at the very end, Incema.”
“All right, I’ll whack you over the head.”
Liz narrowed her eyes and showed a smile. It felt weirdly out of place that it concerned Kazama.
“Why are you talking like this is your last day on earth? Your guardian lives here in Kyoto, right? Then stop by at the Suits Shop B Cox here at Kyoto Station sometime. Although they don’t sell kiddo stuff.”
“…The person who’s going to take me in is a strict person, y’know. He’ll probably keep me tied up all day.”
“Really? Well, that’s a bummer,” Kazama gave Liz a slightly bothered look.
He probably thought she was talking about piano lessons or anything that transfer students like her would do.
“What kind of person is that guy?”
“Don’t know. We only talked over the phone once, but I can tell that he’s a weirdo.”
“A weirdo? What are you on about?”
“Who knows?”
Liz cut off the conversation there and started walking faster.
—The pedophile who bought me is a weird man.
—When I first talked to him on the phone in connection with M&D, he said ‘Oh, I forgot.’ He then followed it up by saying ‘I didn’t think that would actually get pushed onto me…’ which only confused me more. And he said that with a troubled tone, too.
—At that store, I’ve met a lot of people…
—But none of them ever told me to just ‘Come on over if you feel like it.’
When they arrived at a pedestrian crossing in front of the shopping mall, past the cars cruising down the street, Liz could see a man waving his hand at them. He wore a black coat with cunning facial features, making him look exactly like the kind of person who’d be high rank in a mafia. And yet, the gaze he showed her felt warm and welcoming.
—Don’t let that gaze deceive you. It’s part of the underworld. And I can’t let Kazama be wrapped up in this mess.
Liz stared at the man like she was a starved predator. Most perverts show a peaceful face but drop the act once they’re behind closed doors. But then, Kazama gently slapped her on the back. Half the tension building in her body was forcefully opened up, and she glared back at him.
“What was that about?”
“You don’t have to tense up like that. I don’t know what exactly is going on, but you shouldn’t make that kind of face like the world is going to end. You won’t suffer like you think you might.”
“…How do you know that?”
“I swear it right now on my name as Incessant Kazama.”
“So you’re fine using it as a joke now?”
“You’ll only have piano lessons three times a week at most. Nothing to get all scared over.”
“What are you even talking about? The future I have in mind is only scary.”
“Really? Honestly, I feel more confident than ever. Something like the world might have taken a turn for the better without us even knowing.”
“…What does that even mean?”
“I’m known to be on the mark often when it comes to these things. Just the other day, my colleague said that ‘your emails are far too on the mark, it’s creepy,’ which made me cry for hours.”
“I don’t know why you’re bragging like this, then.”
“Just have faith in my intuition, Liz. That man won’t do anything bad to you.”
“…I wonder about that…” Liz showed a worried expression as she put her sleeve on her mouth.
The traffic light turned green. Kazama took Liz by the hand, pulling her along as they walked toward Shinohara.
CClaw Translations 