Chapter 9, I Can’t Swim

I woke up the same time I always do, 5:35AM. I got out of bed, brushed my teeth, had a shower, got dressed, and dried my hair. At 6:00AM, I had my morning toast and coffee. Today I would be driving to one of our headquarters near the mountains of Nishikatsura. At around 6:10AM, I headed out the door of my studio apartment and into my car. Driving to Nishikatsura is only a 20-minute drive, so I’d be typically arriving there at half past.

I reached the gate of the entrance. The place is discrete. The hillside of a mountain, what appears to be a little car park, and a Japanese woman guarding the entrance near the barrier. Just on the inside of that mountain, is a little door that separates the inside from the outside. The inside is where my cargo would be waiting. I park my car just near the entrance of the car park. I flash my FOB at the door – it opens.

Regular greetings from colleagues. Formalities, facades. It was a common understanding amongst us that all off-the-clock interactions were forbidden. This understanding was felt much more firmly to me than any other day because today would be my last day working for this organisation.

The cargo I would be delivering today was from Nishikatsura to Izunokuni. The load size for today is around 932.08 pounds, a little on the lighter side for typical morning deliveries. The contents of the load, however, are certainly not unusual. Pure, unadulterated barrelled Maorian, a chemical compound discovered in the 30s. It is also completely unheard of outside of our organisation. Today would be a normal day if it weren’t for one key aspect.

Just past my destination, there is a coastal town not far off called Numazu. There is where I’ll be dumping the contents of one of these barrels off. This is not part of standard protocol. I could very well be fired for what I am doing, in a very literal sense. You see, when deliveries are made, the inspector does what is called a “weight check”, to ensure that the contents of the delivery are the same as when they departed. Two weight checks are performed. One before departure, and one after arrival.

There is also something called an item inspection. Usually, this consists of opening and inspecting all of the packages delivered. The catch, however, is that due to the chemical that’s inside these barrels, it is forbidden to open these in the open air. Exposure to carbon dioxide is fatal and can ruin the product. This is why they are opened in climate-controlled environments. For whatever reason, the opening procedure states that a minimum of 48 hours after delivery must be adhered to before opening anything that uses Maorian chemicals in them. I suppose, like a banana, they must be ripened before they can be metaphorically eaten.

This brings me to my next point. The emptying of the barrel. With the emptying of the barrel, another barrel will be needed in its place that has the exact amount of weight as the previous one. Getting technical doesn’t even begin to describe how fucking painful this was to figure out logistically. So bear with me on this one… kay? You see… our organisation uses barrels produced by Japan’s largest and most popular manufacturer. And as it turns out, a little-known hardware store in a certain coastal town in Japan happens to sell these exact same barrels at their store. Then it’s just a matter of putting enough random shit in it for the weight to read the same as it was before. That could take a little trial and error. They read it to the nearest two decimal places, so it shouldn’t take that long to get right, but still…

I approached Izukuni and took the next route to Numazu. Entering the town, it was about as much as I expected. Pretty much a ghost town, as was every coastal town in Japan. Their main source of economic growth was their fishing. Of course, due to heavy polluting after WW2, most fish died off. Their habitat put under heavy strain due to huge amounts of drilling. There was no crime in throwing highly deadly chemicals into the sea. At least no moral crime.

And so, I did just that.

The rest of the day proceeded as normal. I had asked a senior manager for some additional guest FOBS. I explained it was for some other delivery that I had planned for today. He agreed with a smile on his face. it seemed that I was his favourite and always looked forward to when I was en route to their facility.

How nice.

That was my cue to leave. The additional barrel, the one that was bought at the hardware store, that would be the dummy barrel, the one hidden all the way at the back of the truck, and the last to be unloaded. Because the dummy barrel won’t be even looked at for another 48 hours, that’ll give me some time. My next delivery is for tomorrow. The reason why I needed the real barrel was because the load I would be delivering tomorrow would already be okay to open by the time delivery is due. Meaning they’ll be opened onsite. It is for that reason, that we use our trojan horse duo. The duo being of course…

…

For the foreseeable future – my life was not foreseeable. That was how I had viewed it from the start of the summer of 2002. Now, however, it wasn’t so much that I didn’t know what the future was holding for me, per se, but that I didn’t particularly like where it was heading to begin with. That late evening, after I, Aika, Natsuki, and Mao had driven home from Akihabara, Aika decided to stay with me. We were in my bedroom looking down upon a laptop. The very same laptop we had spent the afternoon in Akihabara with. The very same laptop that we stole from the broadcast station.

“We did a lot to get this, Yuuki. We should be proud of what we have accomplished.” She must have seen my face of unease whilst looking at it. Even when she reassured me, that unease never left me.

“Then – we should open it, right… right?” We looked at each other, both sharing an intense gaze of worry. This laid its weight on Aika the most, however. What Aika was hoping to find within this laptop – was something of importance to her. She had told me this, back in July, about a friend she once knew in America. He too was subject to this organisations various tests.

Perhaps… just maybe – a sort of closure might be found regarding his whereabouts on this laptop. She realized it was a stretch, the man she knew would definitely be dead by now anyway – a one-in-a-million chance to even find any sort of information about a guy who disappeared more than 40 years ago, but even knowing that there is a chance at hope, she said she doesn’t mind clinging to such an idea.

“We…” Aika hung on those words, and a sort of discontent lingered in the air. If there was an appropriate time for deliberation on such a subject, now would be the time. To open the laptop, or to not open the laptop? In a sense, it was akin to that of Pandora’s Box. No – wait, I guess we don’t really know for sure that this laptop contains anything worthwhile, it WAS at the end of the day something Aika managed to theft from a broadcast station, a broadcast station whose main application is using radio waves as a means to send a letter and number combination directly to your hippocampus as a decryption method. That was the means to a terrible end.

“I don’t want to – or I suppose I should say, not now.”

“Yeah… I agree with you on that.” Maybe it was for the best, at least that’s the way I think Aika justified it in her mind. Knowing to Aika, what was on the hard drive of that laptop – was like Pandora’s Box. We stored it underneath my bed. Out of sight and out of mind, that was the philosophy we decided to go by. In this circumstance, however, I nor Aika knew whether just ignoring it completely was the right call. By that point, though, the overwhelming urge to pretend that the laptop simply didn’t exist took over.

I had known Aika for a few months now, so I have a somewhat feasible grasp of what her personality is. She can be incredibly rash, not thinking properly before she heads in just like at the broadcast station. Then a switch turns, and all of a sudden, she tends to become a lot more methodical and calculated. This was one of those moments. Her naïve, quick-to-act nature is nowhere to be found. I wish I could say this is a lot better than her usual outgoing self, but in reality, it means I’m just as clueless as her, which doesn’t inspire confidence.

“After we’re done.” I looked over to Aika as she made that proclamation.

“Only after we’re done, then we see what’s on it.” That was the promise she made to herself, and to me.

“What’s with the serious tone all-a-sudden?” I asked curiously.

“Serious… tone? W-what are you rambling on about all of a sudden… this is how my default speech pattern is!”

“Sure… well, whatever that is, it doesn’t suit you. I liked it when you were completely cold in your mannerisms.”

“Well, I’m sorry I don’t live up to your lavish expectations.” Aika said in the coldest, most deathly tone she has ever produced. We laughed at each other in a sly manner.

That night, and for the foreseeable future, we didn’t mention that laptop again. It was for the best, I thought as much at least.

And so, the laptop we had spent so much time trying to crack, was closed off from our minds as if it never existed. Yes, it was for the best.

I forgot to mention, my sister is coming home for the summer break soon. My relationship with my sister throughout my life has been, jumpy, to put it politely. She is the older one in the brother/sister hierarchy and as such, has historically abused her power as the older sibling to gain a footing over me. Metaphorically and quite literally. Expectedly, as the flow of time runs its course, we did average out our heights and are currently more or less the same height as each other. Whilst I stopped growing during my final years in middle school, my sister didn’t stop growing up until the end of high school, putting her at a steady 5’7.

But I digress. My annoying sister is sure to be nothing but a pain during the following weeks. Having her friends over whilst mom is gone and then her friends make strange gestures to me, taunting me. Very annoying, and very routine as this seems to be the trend every single summer break. Kimiko, the one that bleached her hair blonde, and the one who also coincidentally got expelled from her old high school, supposedly for doing just that, bleaching her hair blonde. Akari, the biggest gyaru of the group, yet the one I seem to have the least problems with. There are still problems, however… and then there’s Aika. No, not that Aika, the same Aika who has taken me to hell and back on her wild adventures to radio buildings and murdering of not-so-state officials.

No, this Aika is far worse than anything the Aika Yamaguchi I know could think up. As well as being one of my sister’s closest friends, she’s also one of her oldest friends, meaning I’ve had the pleasure of having “known” her, or to be franker, known of her existence, for the better part of 15 years now. Yes, ever since I was a baby, although I don’t remember anything about her before the age of 7, just that she was around when I was very young. So then, why exactly does she annoy me the most? To start off with, she is mean, like deadly mean. Not tease mean, like downright plain mean. There are no other implications to her meanness, she is just that – mean. There is no hint of a joke, no other foolery at play here, just straight-up awful behaviour. Maybe “mean” isn’t as strong a word I’d preferably like to use to describe a person such as herself after all…

But that aside, we closed the lid on it. When I awoke the next morning, Aika was nowhere to be seen. She said last night that she was going to school, despite it still being holiday break. Club activities were ongoing, but Aika, obviously, wasn’t a member of any of these clubs. Either way, I called Natsuki to see what he was up to.

“School, huh…? Why?” He questioned dejectedly, his words barely making it out of his mouth. Metaphorical drool. I had no other reply to that other than, “Aika”.

Yeah, that was the whole reason why I woke up so early today.

“A-Aika, you say…” I didn’t need to see his face to understand why those four words excited him.

“Well, I guess I have no choice! I mean, if it’s Aika we’re talking about, of course.”

Never change, Natsuki.

We arrived at the school grounds 9AM sharp. Looking for Aika would be a pain in the ass. One, she has no phone, and two, her mysteriousness seems to find her in very obscure places, like for example… the school rooftop. This may take some time…

But no, actually. Instead of making us go on a wild goose chase, she was at the front gates, waiting for us.

“I didn’t know you were waiting for us; did you know we would be coming?”

“I had a hunch, seeing as you’re completely inept whenever I’m not around you.” I gave her dead eyes in response to her harsh, yet at this point, fair, critique.

“O-ho-ho, lovely day we’re having for weather. Wouldn’t you agree, Aika?”

“…”

“Why is he here?” Aika was a master of giving out blows to people’s self-esteem, I knew it all too well… hang in there, Natsuki!

“Eh?“

Even though it was just the three of us, Aika and I knew there was a third party watching, that being Mao. Even when we’re not in direct communication with her, we know that she is always spectating on the sidelines. If she’s gonna reveal herself, now would be the time to do it, but instead, she continues her overwatch of our actions. It was at this moment that I heard a buzzing in my pocket. I flipped my phone to see who it was.

Mao…?

“H-hello?”

“Yuuki, is that you?” She asked with a semi-panicked voice

“Who else would it be?”

“Oh, good. Well look, Aika said you’d be with her, since she doesn’t have a cellphone, you’re the only way I can get through to her. Can you put her on for a minute?”

“Oh yeah, sure.” I pass on the phone to Aika. She looks at me with a muddled face before kinda realizing what it is I want her to do. She takes the phone and puts it to her ear.

“Who is this?” She asked with a straight face.

“You know who it is, asshole. Why don’t you get a phone like a normal person? I’m having to use a middleman just to reach you, how is that gonna help if there’s ever a situation?”

“Middle who now?”

“You know what-”

“Sorry, sorry, go ahead… what is it you wanted to tell me.”

“You know that conversation we had, the schematics?”

“Hmmm… I believe that does ring a bell, yes.” She said mockingly.

“Don’t waste my time. We’re not on a secure line so don’t say anything stupid.” She said it again with more clarity this time.

“Schematics, the cards. We have them now. Any and all codes to your mother's back garden.”

“Mother's back garden?” Aika seemed confused at the sentence.

“Oooh, ohoho. Ok, yep. I get you now.”

“I’m already in hot water as it is. I should be keeping an eye on you right now, but instead, I’m playing Russian roulette with my life for your sake. Don’t forget what you promised me Aika.

“I understand. Nothing’s changed.” There was a short pause when Aika gave her that reassurance.

“Thanks.”

“Anyway, I’ll be there shortly. And Aika?”

“Hmm?”

“When we go through with it, and if something goes wrong…” She stopped mid-sentence.

“It’s nothing. Look, I’ll give you another call when I get there, actually BE there, don’t decide 10 minutes later that you’re going home.”

“Sure sure, whatever ok bye.”

“No, wha-?” *Beep*

She flipped the phone and handed it back to me.

“Good talk, I presume?”

“We’ve got the floor plans to the base and the FOBS. That means we’re almost ready to act.”

“Floor… plans…?” Natsuki looked directly at us. Oh shit oh shit oh shit.

“To the treehouse in the back garden, of course… r-right, Aika…?”

“I dunno.” For fucks sake Aika.

“She means yes.”

We strolled around the school; the building was pretty much vacant. One club, the light music club, seemed to be in session. A club of around 20 members. They do big band stuff. Everyone in there is actually pretty talented at their respected instrument. Then there was the swimming club. They were practicing their strokes, I think? From where I was standing, it looked that way. I wouldn’t know either way because, well, I can’t swim.

Then the last club that I passed by was the drama club. Their “leader” so to speak, was Etsuko. Hasegawa Etsuko. She came strolling out of the club room just as we were walking past with chopsticks tied to her hair, cloaked in what appeared to be some sort of mishmash between a ningyo and a nurse’s outfit. She was definitely trying to get into trouble wearing an outfit like that.

“Well, looky here! Fancy seeing you three in school during the summer break!”

“Oh, you didn’t know? The three of us are more academically inclined than you give us credit for” Natsuki retorted.

“I’ll believe you when you stop failing at everything you do, Natsuki!”

“W-what…?” Natsuki completely downtrodden by her scathing remark. I suppose there is some explanation to be made as to why this seemingly random girl just destroyed Natsuki’s self-esteem. He and Etsuko go way back, nearly as long as I’ve known him. According to Natsuki, she was always the smarter one of the bunch, but not nearly as sociable. It wasn’t until the start of high school she had a massive turnaround, and all of a sudden – poof – like an entirely new person had sprouted from that shy shell of a human she used to be. Natsuki couldn’t say what exactly made her change so drastically. He, for one, didn’t know whether he liked it or not.

He was happy for her that the shy and timid girl that he used to know had sprung forth and made new friends. However, something nostalgic was lost in the process. Her personality had switched so drastically that when I said she was like an entirely new person, I meant it. Her hairstyle, her manner, and even her dialect had slightly changed. She completely reinvented herself. Maybe Natsuki thought that she might have lost herself somewhere along the way, her true self – whatever that even means.

“Aika! I barely talk to you! But I see you and Hayashida hanging out all the time! How’re you enjoying school life here?” Aika thought about that question for a moment before responding.

“Good.” She needed a whole three seconds to respond with a single word. Like always, you have someone who has a lot to say, and someone who doesn’t even want to talk to the other.

“Well… that sounds good!” Yikes… a conversation like this makes you wonder how someone like Aika even managed to talk her way into a school like this… speaking of which, how did Aika even apply for this school anyway?

A voice could be heard from inside one of the classrooms. “Etsuko, we’re back on in a minute!”

“Coming!” She faintly looked at Aika before giving her a warm smile and turned back into the classroom.

“Drama club, huh?” Aika scoffed.

“I assume then she’s only been doing this for a couple of months then?”

“Hey, how’d ya know that?!” Natsuki exasperated.

“She was trying too hard.” Me and Natsuki looked confused but decided to drop her speculation.

A couple of minutes later, Natsuki had to go off somewhere, something to do with his club. It was me and Aika. We walked to towards the school gate. The sun was starting to rear its ugly head.

“Look who decided to show up.” Aika spat out the words in a scrutinizing manner.

“Go fuck yourself, Aika. You’re lucky I don’t have you tied neck by noose on the end of a gutter. Any moment and I could call them and they would send everyone to your location without a second thought.”

“But we both know that wouldn’t be beneficial for either of us now, would it?” A staring contest ensued between the two of them whilst I just watched the two bicker on.

“Jesus, can you get the fuck along already? It’s boring now watching these hollow threats.”

…

“When did you get a mouth on you?” – “Yeah! Get fucked, Yuuki!” the pair were more fired up than before to berate the living shit out of me, somehow combining their dislike of each other and channelling it all onto me seemed to be extremely effective!

“Hey! Fuck you, too!”