บท 29: The Eerie Exhibition
May 4th, 5:30 AM.
A young, dark-skinned woman with bleach-blond hair could be seen weaving her way through the still-deserted streets of Rakuen just as the sun was beginning to rise, narrowly avoiding the early morning rush as she scrambled to get to her job at the nearby mall.
According to their calendar of activities, today was the photo shoot for their upcoming Labour Day sale. Everything in the mall's department store would be on sale at a discount, up to and including various consoles, desktops, laptops, and smartphones that were normally priced high enough for some to make jokes about selling their kidneys on the black market. Despite Labour Day being a holiday in many areas in the world, she and a few of her colleagues at the Rakuen Mall found that the day itself, as well as the days leading up to it, would be just the opposite for them.
'At least we get paid extra, I suppose.'
In her bosses' defense, Tsukiyama Haruna knew perfectly well that reporting for work on Labour Day itself was strictly voluntary. Not only that, the mall management prepared an incentive for those who did volunteer to report for duty on that day. Apart from the 35% premium of their regular wage that they were entitled to under the law, their bosses had promised them an additional 50% for that day's wages from out of the mall's surplus funds.
'Yeah, I love my job.'
Needless to say, thought Haruna as she raced around a street corner, it was an offer she simply couldn't refuse. Between the tuition fees of her niece – her departed sister's only child that had been left in her care – and her own dreams of getting them their own small business closer to home, there was no way she'd ever turn down an opportunity to make an extra penny. As much as she loved her job, there was also something to be said about starting her own small business. Not only would she make extra money outside her day job, it'd also afford her an opportunity to get out of the rat race altogether.
'Every last penny counts.'
To that end, Haruna insisted on walking from her apartment complex at the southern edge of town, all the way to the huge mall in the heart of Rakuen's commercial district. Apart from the primary benefit in terms of the money saved, she also joked to herself that walking several thousand steps a day was a great way for her to get exercise and maintain some semblance of a healthy lifestyle.
'If only there wasn't so much for me to do today…'
But while that was usually the case, thought Haruna, today was one of the few days where she just couldn't get to the office quickly enough. The sooner she'd gotten her share of the morning preparations over with, the sooner she'd be able to take a quick power nap. And the earlier she was able to complete her assigned workload, the earlier she'd be able to go home.
'Oh, boy,' Haruna stopped at a nearby donut shop to catch her breath for a few minutes, and to order a glazed donut and a cup of iced coffee to regain some of her lost strength. 'What wouldn't I give for a free ride right about now…'
Luckily, it wouldn't take long for her prayers to be answered.
As soon as Haruna stepped out of the donut shop…
"Excuse me, miss, you look flushed."
The frazzled retail worker looked up, and what she saw got the butterflies fluttering in her stomach. It was a handsome, red-haired man, clad in a leather jacket and mounted on what could only be a Kawasaki Ninja with a custom paint job.
"If you're heading for the commercial district, that makes two of us," he commented with a friendly grin and a bemused laugh. "You could hitch a ride, if you like."
Haruna took a moment to consider it. On one hand, both her big sister and their parents who had died a decade ago had always warned her not to trust strangers, or to even talk to them, if she could avoid it. But at the same time, they also told her to accept gifts in the spirit with which they were given. And besides, the man in front of her looked anything but shifty. 'If anything, he's… wow.'
"Alright, sure," she beamed at her ginger saviour. "It'd be my pleasure."
The biker laughed, his eyes gleaming as the young woman mounted his bike and clasped her arms around his waist. "Nah, don't mention it, miss."
With that, the two rode off.
'The pleasure's all mine…'
------
It was a Monday, so Shugo went to school.
"Damn, you're wearing hand wraps now?"
And unsurprisingly, all everyone wanted to talk to him about was to ask about his newfound fashion choice.
'…I guess I should've seen this coming.'
The spirit – Kurona, Shugo told himself mentally – roused him at half past 4 so they could have a talk, after which he barely managed a further hour and a half of sleep before waking up again when his alarm clock rang at 6:30 AM. He considered taking the day off, only to think better of it. He'd already skipped class a week ago, and while the teen was reasonably sure his grades could tank another absence, Chief Ryoma had been clear that his 'internship' – or, more specifically, his compensation – was contingent on his academics, and that his pay would be halved if any of his teachers so much as breathed about his grades suffering because of his arrangement with the RCPD.
"It's for your own good, Shugo," the chief had said in a tone that was fatherly but firm. "I'd be doing you a disservice otherwise."
And so Shugo decided to show up for class, though not before doing something about his battle scar. Seeing as he'd hung his Bullet Club bomber jacket out to dry, he instead opted to don the hand wraps he'd worn a year ago while cosplaying as his one of his favourite professional wrestlers at an otaku convention last year. Between the wrestler's recent retirement from the industry, and the straight edge lifestyle they both shared, Shugo had wanted to pay tribute to one of the heroes he'd idolized since boyhood. Needless to say, he had no way of knowing then that he'd have an actual reason to wear them in a year's time.
"Shugo," asked their teacher who called on him to recite during their first period Testing Psychology class. "What's with the hand wraps? You're not picking a fight with anyone, I hope?"
All the teen could do was laugh nervously.
'Sir, you've got no idea.'
Shugo wasn't entirely surprised at all the attention he was getting, even if he didn't necessarily enjoy it; apart from Kaito, who had attended the same convention a year ago, none of his peers or teachers had ever seen him don those hand wraps before. More importantly, he knew perfectly well that the attention he was getting over his wraps was nothing compared to the major, major fuss everyone would be making about an unexplained scar on his forearm. He'd been having some trouble keeping to himself as it was, and the last thing he needed right now was for everyone to have yet another reason to bug him.
'Still, this is all getting really old, really fast.'
Unfortunately for the teen, there wasn't much he could do about it until the lunch hour came.
And when it finally did, Shugo made his way to his usual table in the corner of the cafeteria, with Kaito and Ayato joining him soon after.
"I didn't know you were wearing those hand wraps to school now," Kaito quipped when Shugo placed his water bottle and his packed lunch on the table in front of them. "Trying something new, are we?"
"Pretty much," Shugo casually replied. "This is just one of them."
It was all true, just not in the way Kaito meant it. Between what Shugo had just learned about the dangers of overusing his abilities, not to mention the emergence of deadlier foes who knew how to kill him and weren't afraid to try, the upstart avenger knew he was in dire need of combat training. The skills he'd learned during their karate classes had served him well up until now, but the training he'd received there was better suited to points-based competition as opposed to live combat where his life was on the line.
"Damn right he is," Ayato piped up, an uncharacteristically devilish glint in his eye. "Really, Kaito, you should've seen him yesterday at the outreach. Your boy's come so far."
"Oh, is that right? What, did you walk in on him and Rena-?"
Shugo rolled his eyes as he cleared his throat.
"I'm glad you've both got so much faith in me, but that's not quite what happened," he retorted with a crazed, toothy grin of his own. "Besides, that sounds more like something Kaito here would try."
Shugo pointedly ignored his two friends as they laughed nervously, with Ayato giving Kaito a look that seemed halfway between apprehension and warning, in favour of locking eyes with the two new arrivals who just walked in the cafeteria.
"Hello there, boys," Chief Hikawa Ryoma acknowledged all three of them as he and Detective Ashihara Riku reached their table. "Sorry about this, Shugo, but could you come with me?"
Shugo tilted his head, puzzled, before exchanging a look with Ayato.
"Come to think of it, Ayato, you should probably come with us too."
They obeyed, Shugo and Ayato following as the two lawmen led them out the cafeteria, down the halls, all the way to the parking lot. Once there, they bade both young men to board Riku's red Lancer.
"Uh, Chief?" Shugo said uncertainly as he got in and assumed the leftmost seat. "We've still got afternoon classes."
"Don't worry, Shugo," Riku assured him. "We've already cleared it with your teachers."
'If you say so, boss.'
As they drove out of St. Stephen's Academy, Shugo noticed how they seemed to be heading to the commercial district. He knew it wasn't likely to be a social call; both Riku and the chief were dead silent for the drive, in stark contrast to the previous times they'd gone out where both men were loose and talkative. More importantly, there was no way the chief would pull them out of their afternoon classes just so they could go to the mall. Whatever it was, it was urgent.
'The question is, what…?'
"Not long now."
Once Riku had brought the car to a full stop in their parking slot on the fourth level of the carpark and all four of them had exited the vehicle, Shugo and Ayato followed both cops as they led the way. They walked past various restaurants, shops, stalls, and stores, confirming the former's guess that they hadn't come here to shop or socialize. Apart from that, the teen couldn't help but notice the grim, stony silence between Chief Ryoma and his aide. Whatever it was they had come all this way to see, both young men knew that it was of utmost seriousness.
'…And now I'm getting nervous,' Shugo thought.
'It's like they're expecting us to be attacked any second now…'
"Not so much impossible, but highly unlikely," Kurona chimed in through their mental link. "I sense no great malice or ill intent around us. Regardless, you would do well not to lower your guard."
That served to reassure Shugo somewhat. All the same, he couldn't help but wonder what exactly was going on. Even if they weren't about to encounter an enemy here, there had to be a reason why both Riku and the chief were acting so strangely.
'Seriously, it's as if someone just died.'
Before long, they'd stepped off the escalator going down to the ground floor. Both lawmen led them out the exit leading to the open air ampitheater right at the center of the mall, before stopping a few feet away from the sizable throng that had assembled up ahead.
"Wait a moment, guys," the chief said without looking at them, while pulling out a whistle from his left back pocket.
'…This doesn't look good…'
Chief Hikawa Ryoma then blew the whistle.
The crowd turned to face him at the sound, before stepping aside to give the police chief and his companions a wide berth through which they could pass – and, in the process, revealing the yellow tape that restricted access to the stage.
'…What the hell?'
From where Shugo was standing, he could see a life-sized sculpture of sorts. It was a blond, dark-skinned woman, clad in a midnight mauve gown, who appeared to be trapped in the large cage that had been placed in the middle of the stage. Her eyes were wide, mouth hanging slightly open in what was clearly intended to be a silent plea as she goggled at them through the bars. On the floor of the cage right behind her was what looked like a neatly folded uniform, beside which laid an old key. Her hands, stuck outside her prison, clutched a folder-sized illustration board in landscape orientation. Even at a distance, a viewer could read the words 'CAGED DREAMS' that had been written in chalk.
"What's up, chief?" Shugo addressed the longtime lawman. "We didn't come all the way here to look at modern art, did we?"
It was Riku who answered.
"No, that's not it."
Shugo's bafflement grew. 'Okay, then what? I know it's a cool-looking work of art, and she looks unusually lifelike-'
But as he took a step closer, he noticed something off.
'Wait a minute.'
'Something's wrong here…'
Confusion began to mingle with unsettlement and dread as Shugo approached the eerie exhibition that had been featured on the stage. The art work was clearly well-made, but upon closer inspection, he couldn't help but focus on how lifelike the sculpture was, to the point that he half-expected the woman to come alive to try and beg him to free her. As it was, he was beginning to wonder whether it was merely a mannequin that just happened to be scarily realistic, or…
"Ayato!"
The teen turned back as he heard a woman's voice call his friend's name…
'No…'
…And as he did, it was all Shugo could do to watch as a clearly distraught Matsugane Erina wrapped her arms around her boyfriend and held him tightly as if her life depended on it, her tears leaving his shirt soaking wet as she wailed and wept inconsolably into his chest.
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