Bullet Train

by Kotaro Isaka

  ‘No idea.’

  ‘They look around to see what other people are doing.’ The Prince seems immensely pleased with his pronouncement. ‘Even though they’ve been told they can do whatever they want! They’re given free rein, but they worry about what everyone else is doing. And they imitate others most of all when the question at hand is important but doesn’t have a clear answer. Weird, right? But that’s how human beings are built.’

  ‘Good thing for that.’ Kimura gives an offhand reply, because he’s already lost the thread of what the Prince is trying to say.

  ‘I’m fascinated by how that works, how people are controlled by such a powerful force without even knowing it. They fall into the traps of rationalisation and self-justification, all the while naturally acting in accordance with what others are doing. It’s fun to watch happen. And if you can take advantage of that to control people, that’s the most fun of all. Don’t you think? If I do it right I could cause a traffic accident, or even a genocide like the one in Rwanda.’

  ‘What, through controlling information?’

  ‘Hey, not bad, Mr Kimura,’ says the Prince with a generous smile. ‘But that alone isn’t enough. It’s not just about information. Manipulating human relations is like a game of pool – if you make someone feel anxious, or if you frighten them or get them angry in the right way, it’s easy to make them attack someone else, or have them put someone on a pedestal, or have them ignore someone.’

  ‘Is bringing me to Morioka part of your independent research?’

  ‘It sure is.’ The Prince sounds confident.

  ‘Who exactly are you expecting me to kill?’ As soon as the words leave Kimura’s mouth something wells up, something he had put out of his mind so completely it feels like the memory of a tall tale. ‘Years ago there was a guy in Tokyo, a big deal, who suddenly went back to the countryside.’

  ‘Oh, you’re definitely headed in the right direction. Keep going.’ The Prince sounds like he’s having fun, but Kimura’s face becomes tight and drawn. It feels like his next words are being wrenched out of him.

  ‘Don’t tell me you’re going after Mr Minegishi.’

  The Prince’s cheeks pull upwards slowly but surely into a joyous grin. ‘Is he really that big a deal?’

  ‘We’re not talking about some celebrity here. He’s the badass boss of a gang of badass criminals. You wouldn’t believe how much money he’s got, or how little he cares about rules and morals.’ Kimura had never met Minegishi, of course, and when he was still working he had never been hired by Minegishi directly. But in those bad old days, Yoshio Minegishi’s grip on the underworld was so tight that virtually any job could be traced back to him, or so people said.

  Kimura knew chances were good that most of the work he did was subcontracted out to him by someone working for Minegishi.

  ‘And before him there was a man named Terahara, right?’ The Prince sounds like a little kid asking to be told a story of days past, as if hearing about crime lords was the same as his grandma telling him about how she used to do her laundry in the river.

  ‘How do you know about this?’

  ‘It’s easy to get information. Only stupid old people think that they can keep their secrets from getting out. It’s impossible to keep information contained. If I feel like it I can gather all kinds of info, either by poking around for stray bits or by forcing someone to spill their guts.’

  ‘What, you get stuff on the Internet?’

  The Prince’s smile takes on a shade of disappointment. ‘Of course I use the Internet, but that’s just one way. Old people are so black and white in their thinking. They look down on the Net, or they’re afraid of it. They put a label on something to make themselves feel better. Even though it doesn’t matter whether you get the information online or not, it matters how you use the information. And then there are younger people who say that you can’t trust anything on TV or in the newspapers and that the adults who swallow it all are morons, but I think that they’re the morons for swallowing the notion that everything on TV and in the papers is automatically false. It’s so obvious that any source of information is a mix of truths and untruths, but everyone wants to say that one is better than another.’

  ‘And I guess your highness has the magical power to tell truth from lies.’

  ‘Nothing so fancy. It’s just a matter of getting information from several sources, isolating what’s relevant, and doing your best to confirm it for yourself.’

  ‘So Minegishi’s giving you trouble?’

  ‘I don’t know if I’d call it trouble,’ the Prince replies with a pout, effecting that childlike air. ‘There’s a classmate I don’t like. You know him, the one we were playing with in the park that time. The one with the dog.’

  ‘Oh, him.’ Kimura’s brow furrows as he digs up the name. ‘Tomoyasu, right? You call that playing? More like you were torturing him.’ He’s on the verge of asking why they’re talking about Tomoyasu when another detail comes back to him. ‘Wait a minute, didn’t he say that his dad had some scary friend who would come after you?’

  ‘I thought he was just making it up, so I didn’t pay it much attention, but it turns out he really did go crying to his dad. Pathetic, isn’t it? Who goes and complains to their parents? So his dad got angry. Isn’t it stupid how worked up parents get over their kids? Dumb lawyer, thinks he’s so important.’

  ‘Yeah, I’d never want to be that kind of dad,’ Kimura says thickly. ‘So what did he do?’

  ‘He went and told on me!’

  ‘To who?’

  ‘To Mr Minegishi.’

  Actually hearing it spelled out comes as a momentary surprise to Kimura, but then it all clicks into place and he sees how the Prince is connected to Minegishi. ‘Turns out his dad’s scary friend really is scary.’

  ‘I have more respect for someone like you who takes care of their own business. Tomoyasu’s dad is worthless. I was very disappointed.’ The Prince doesn’t seem like he’s trying to act tough at all. He sounds more like a child who’s crestfallen at finding out that Santa Claus isn’t real. ‘But what was even more disappointing is how lightly that dummy Minegishi took me.’

  ‘What does that mean?’ Kimura can scarcely believe that he just heard someone calmly refer to Yoshio Minegishi as a dummy. What’s more, that calmness isn’t born of ignorance but confidence.

  ‘All he did was call me on the phone. He called my house and said to me, Leave Tomoyasu alone, if you don’t I’ll get angry and you’ll be sorry. Like he was scolding a kid.’

  ‘You are a kid.’ Kimura barks out a derisive laugh, but he knows all too well that the Prince is no ordinary kid.

  ‘I figured the best thing to do was pretend I was scared. I’m sorry, I said, I’ll never do it again. I made my voice sound like I was about to cry. And that was it.’

  ‘Then you got off easy. Minegishi wouldn’t waste any time fucking around with a schoolkid. If he really came after you, it’d be a whole lot worse than having to cry some fake tears.’

  ‘Is that really true?’ The Prince looks genuinely doubtful. This adolescent boy with his silky hair and his graceful, slim body looks like the classic image of a hard-working honours student. He looks so squeaky clean it’s hard to picture him shoplifting or even sneaking a snack on the way home from school. Kimura has a sudden fantasy that he’s on a day trip to the north with his refined nephew. ‘Is Minegishi really that scary?’

  ‘He’s goddamn terrifying.’

  ‘I wonder if that’s just what everyone thinks. Like those American soldiers in the movie who are convinced that radiation can’t hurt them. Couldn’t it be that everyone just takes all the rumours about Minegishi at face value? Or maybe it’s like how old people are always talking about how TV shows and baseball players in the old days were so much better. It’s just nostalgia.’

  ‘If you underestimate him it’ll cost you your life.’

  ‘See, I’m saying that’s just like a superstition. Don’t cross Min
egishi or you’ll end up dead! It’s like a warped preconception gave rise to a group bias that then warps reality even further.’

  ‘Talk like a normal teenager, okay?’

  ‘When people are told that someone’s dangerous, they just accept it and fear that person. Same with terrorism, same with diseases. Nobody has the time or energy to make up their own mind. I’m betting that your Mr Minegishi doesn’t have anything going for him besides money, threats, violence, and a numerical advantage in manpower.’

  ‘That’d be enough to scare me.’

  ‘And so he didn’t take me seriously. Just because I’m a teenager.’

  ‘And so what are you planning, your majesty?’

  The Prince points in the direction of the front of the Shinkansen, towards their destination. ‘I’m going to Morioka to meet with Mr Minegishi. Did you know that once a month he goes to see his daughter from his mistress? There’s also a son from his wife, and that son is Minegishi’s heir, but apparently he’s stupid and selfish and basically useless. Maybe that’s why Minegishi dotes on his cute little daughter so much. She’s still just a little kid.’

  ‘You did your homework, I’ll give you that.’

  ‘That’s not the point. What’s important is that there’s a child involved.’

  Kimura’s brows knit. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

  ‘In kids’ shows on TV, no matter how tough the villain is he always has a weak point. When I was a kid I used to think that was too convenient.’

  ‘You still are a kid.’

  ‘But it turns out it’s true. Everyone has a weak point, no matter who they are, and usually it’s their family or their children.’

  ‘That simple, huh?’

  ‘That’s why you came after me, isn’t it? Because of your son. People are unbelievably weak when it comes to their kids. And Minegishi has a kid he loves too. If I can press on that, I’ll get to his weak point soon enough.’

  ‘You’re going to go after Minegishi’s daughter?’ Kimura experiences a swirl of emotions.

  One is simple anger, that the Prince would be willing to harm an innocent little girl. Another is doubt as to whether Minegishi would actually expose himself on behalf of his daughter. ‘You really think that’ll work?’

  ‘I’m not going to do it.’

  ‘You’re not?’

  ‘Not yet. Today’s just the first step. An introduction, or like a preliminary investigation.’

  ‘You think Minegishi’s gonna meet with you?’

  ‘I heard his mistress and their daughter arrived yesterday. They’re staying with him in his villa, in a compound near a bunch of farms.’

  ‘How’d you find out where he is?’

  ‘It’s not like he keeps it a secret. He’s not hiding or anything. He just has tons of security around his villa so nobody can get in.’

  ‘Then what are you planning to do?’

  ‘Like I said, preliminary investigation. But I thought it would be a waste not to try anything. That’s why I’m bringing you, Mr Kimura. To put you to work.’

  The critical detail comes screaming back to Kimura: the Prince plans to have him kill Yoshio Minegishi. ‘That’s no preliminary investigation. Sounds to me like the main event.’

  ‘We’ll go to his compound and I’ll distract the security so you can get in and try to take down the boss.’

  ‘And you think that’ll work?’

  ‘It’s a toss-up. I’d say there’s a twenty per cent chance it’ll work. More than likely you’ll fail, but that’s still okay.’

  ‘Like hell it is.’

  ‘The chances of winning go up when I use his daughter against him. If her safety’s at risk I doubt he’d do anything rash.’

  ‘I’d be careful if I were you. There’s no telling what an angry parent’ll do for their kid.’

  ‘Oh, you mean like you? Willing to die for your child? And even if you die you’ll be so worried about the kid that you’ll come back again?’

  ‘Damn right.’ Kimura has an image of dead mothers clawing their way out of their graves. Given how he feels as a parent, it doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibility.

  ‘People aren’t that strong.’ The Prince laughs. ‘Minegishi will do anything for his daughter. And whatever happens to you, I’ll be fine. I’ll just say that you put me up to it.’

  ‘Nothing’s gonna happen to me.’ Sheer bluster.

  ‘You know, I heard a rumour. They say that Minegishi doesn’t die even if you shoot him,’ says the Prince with foppish glee.

  ‘Sounds like a bunch of bullshit.’

  ‘I know, right? He probably just survived being shot at one time. Must be a really lucky guy.’

  ‘If that’s what you’re going by,’ Kimura says, his voice hardening, ‘then I was lucky too, back when I was working.’ It’s not a lie. On two separate occasions a job went sour and it looked like he was done for, but both times he was saved at the last minute, one time by a fellow professional and another time by the arrival of the police. ‘It’d be hard to say who has better luck, though, Minegishi or your highness.’

  ‘That’s what I want to find out.’ The Prince’s eyes shine, like an athlete who’s finally found a worthy opponent. ‘So today I’m going to have you go after Minegishi. A little test to find out just how lucky he is. Whatever happens, I’ll learn something about him. At the very least I’ll be able to get close to his compound and see what kind of security he has in place. I’ll be able to see how he operates. Not bad for a preliminary investigation, I’d say.’

  ‘And what’ll you do if I turn on you?’

  ‘You’ll do your best, for your son’s sake. You are his father, after all.’

  Kimura works his jaw left and right, making a popping noise. He really can’t stand this kid, with his clever answer for everything. ‘Okay, let’s just say that you mess with Minegishi, and it goes well, although I’m still not sure exactly what going well would mean to you, but say things go as you plan and you embarrass all the grown-ups –’

  ‘I’m not trying to embarrass them. It’s more than that. It’s like, how can I put it? I want to make them feel despair.’

  That’s still pretty vague, thinks Kimura. ‘You know, it doesn’t matter what you do, you’re just a little punk trying to run with the big dogs.’

  ‘That’s exactly it, Mr Kimura. That right there.’ The Prince opens his mouth, showing his beautiful white teeth. ‘Anybody who thinks I’m just a little punk, I want to show them just how powerless they are against me. That’s what I mean when I say despair. I want them to realise just how meaningless their lives have been. I want them to give up completely.’

  Fruit

  LEMON’S HEAD IS STILL A bit fuzzy. He looks out the window. As he follows the buildings that fly by he reaches up to touch his chin. There was no pain in the moment when it happened, he just blacked out. Shouldn’t have underestimated that little dude just because he wears glasses.

  ‘That was close, you know, I could’ve ended up in the same place you are,’ he says to Little Minegishi. ‘What, now you’re ignoring me?’

  A sudden thought occurs to him and he pats his side. His gun’s gone. He scowls. Not nice to take someone else’s stuff, Murdoch.

  Then Lemon recalls what Nanao had said to him before: that he was working for Minegishi also. But after he stole the bag from them, someone else stole it from him. So where’s the bag now?

  He stands, considers going to see what’s up with Tangerine, is about to head towards the rear of the train but decides against it. Don’t really feel like it. I’ll just take it easy here for a little longer. Reaching for his phone to try calling Tangerine instead, he finds that’s missing too. Dammit, Glasses Guy! He’s especially sad to lose the Thomas charm he had dangling from his phone.

  He finally notices a noise that’s been there for a little while, a digital tone sounding insistently under the train’s vibrations. At first he figures it’s someone’s phone ringing. ‘Come on, whoeve
r’s that is, answer it already!’ But it doesn’t stop. Then he realises that it’s coming from somewhere closer, and starts to look around, trying to isolate the noise.

  Down below me.

  He can hear it emanating from under his seat, and a little behind him. He leans over and searches for it, but can’t get a good view. He’s not crazy about the idea of getting his trousers dirty, but the sound is getting on his nerves now, so Lemon kneels down and peers around in the space between the underside of the seat and the floor. Nothing there. It sounds like it’s coming from one row back, so he gets up, changes rows and crouches down again.

  The sound is much louder now, and it’s not long before he finds the source. A small digital wristwatch. Black band, cheap-looking.

  The display is flashing. He wonders if someone dropped it by accident. Take better care of your stuff, people. He mutters a stream of invectives. Then he freezes. Is this part of some trick? It doesn’t seem like a bomb, but it’s not hard to imagine that the alarm is a signal that triggers some unforeseen result. Better not to leave it there. He works his long body into the right position and finds a good angle to reach his arm under the seat to grab the watch. It takes some fumbling but he eventually gets it. Then he stands and returns to his seat.

  ‘Hey, rich kid,’ he says, flashing the watch in front of Little Minegishi’s dead face. ‘You ever seen this piece of junk before?’ The beeping stops once he pushes the button. It looks like an ordinary watch, nothing special. Is it a bug? He turns it over, then brings it up to his ear and listens. Just a wristwatch.

  As he’s deciding whether or not to toss it out, Tangerine enters from the direction of car number two.

  ‘You find Glasses Guy?’ asks Lemon. But he can tell the answer just by looking at Tangerine’s dour face.

  ‘He got away.’

  ‘So, what, he went the other way? To the front of the train?’ Lemon points at the door leading to car four.