The girl wore the uniform for the local junior high school in Odewara. It consisted of a light grey blazer and blue pleated skirt, and she carried a large school bag for her books. She stepped off of the train at Kumotawa Station. A light breeze blew a few strands of her shoulder-length hair into her face, but the red hairband she was wearing kept the rest in place. A half-dozen others stepped off with her. There were several middle-aged women who she guessed were heading up to the shrine on the mountain, three high school students, and several tourists. She couldn’t believe her good luck when the students and tourists headed for the SuperQuickly konbini. More customers in the store would make it easy for her to steal, and she tailed them in.
Shizuku Yazawa had visited the konbini every day after school to pick up food for her dinner. She felt like her luck was reaching its limit after shoplifting for four days in a row. Her stomach growled a little to urge her on, telling her that her small lunch today had not been enough. She felt guilt about stealing, but hunger and lack of money won out. The clerk at the front was the tall American with the blonde brush cut who had the build of a muscular athlete. He often worked the afternoon and evening shifts, and his Japanese was really good. She wondered why a guy like him worked here, but there were plenty of Americans living in Odewara, and their children attended her school. The other clerk was nowhere to be seen, probably in the store room or office.
She knew exactly where to go to get what she wanted and casually worked her way around the store to where the instant noodles and canned goods were. A glance made sure that the other customers were browsing elsewhere and that the clerk was busy with the hot food cabinet. A cup of instant curry noodles went into her school bag, followed by a can of braised pork.
That was when she noticed Ghost, the store’s cat, sitting at the end of the aisle watching her. She was weirded out for a brief moment, knowing she had been seen, even if by a cat. Besides, who ever heard of a guard cat, she thought. The grey cat seemed to be a mascot and wandered freely around the store and the surrounding area. Shizuku had been spending a fair bit of time on the mountain, and Ghost had previously visited her for an hour one evening, so she knew he was friendly and extremely smart.
Putting the cat out of her mind, she turned to the next aisle, to the beer snacks section. A foil pack of nuts and a thin package of dried squid were taken. That was enough, and she closed her bag. Looking to the end of the aisle, she saw the cat had followed her and was watching her intently again. It was strange. She went over to the produce cabinet to get a big Fuji apple and a small carton of milk from the dairy section. A glance behind her showed the cat was no longer watching her.
The tourists had just paid for their purchases and were leaving now. The high school kids were looking through the magazines at the front of the store. Shizuku placed her milk and apple down on the counter and mulled over the fried chicken in the hot cabinet. Her stomach growled again, loud enough that she thought the clerk might have heard it. The chicken looked so tasty, but she didn’t have much money left. Next week, things were really going to start to get desperate.
“Will that be everything?” the clerk asked.
Shizuku’s eye level looked at the clerk’s chest, and she could read ‘Travis’ on the name tag. It seemed the clerk did not hear her stomach growling. She put on her best smile. “Yes. That is everything. The chicken just looked so good.”
“I know. I just fried some up ten minutes ago, and I have to resist the spicy crunch flavour myself,” Travis replied.
His grey eyes looked at her more intently than Shizuku would have liked as if assessing her. Shizuku’s face was calm as she fought down a brief spike of panic inside. Does he know I’m stealing, she thought.
“That will be 370 yen,” Travis said.
Shizuku reached into her wallet and found a 500 yen coin to place on the payment tray.
“500 yen.” Travis picked up the coin and rang the transaction through.
Travis put her change back on the tray. “Your change is 130 yen.” He bagged her two purchases and handed the bag to her. “Please come again,” he said with a friendly smile.
Shizuku exhaled a sigh of relief outside the store. What was up with the cat and the clerk? Were they onto her? Maybe she needed to avoid the konbini tomorrow and pick a different store. There was nothing else to do but to go home now. There would be more time to determine what to do later.
She walked behind the konbini and passed through the big red torii gate at the bottom of Mount Kumotawa. Shizuku followed the stone-paved path that led up to Kumotawa Shrine. About ten minutes in, she cut off the path and followed an overgrown dirt trail that led well away from the main path. It wound its way through the forest and ended up at a small clearing. She and her mother had picked wildflowers and greens in the spring here. She walked through some bushes, and her hidden campsite appeared. It was a simple setup with a three-person, light blue dome tent, a couple of folding camp stools, a plastic crate for a table, and a small fire pit ringed with stones. She didn’t keep food around and carried her garbage out the next morning when she left for school.
“I’m home,” Shizuku called out to no one in particular. It was a comforting habit, even if there was no one to reply with a “welcome back.” She unzipped the fly to her tent and went inside, putting down her school bag. Inside was a sleeping bag on a cushioning pad, a water jug, her backpack with her spare clothes, and a table made out of a plastic crate turned on its side. The space inside the crate was being used to store a few books, a stuffed animal, and small items of camping equipment. On top of the table was a photo of her mother, along with a hairbrush and her small jewelry bag.
“I had a good day at school, Mom. I have a little homework to do tonight, but art class was fun today. We sketched places around the school,” she said to her mother’s picture. She paused. “I miss you, Mom. I wish you were here.”
Shizuku lay down on her sleeping bag to rest for a moment before getting on with her dinner. Her mind wandered, and she wondered what she would do in the future. No good ideas came to mind. She despaired a little but told herself to stay strong. Sooner or later, someone would stumble across her campsite, too, and then who knew what would happen?
“Well, nothing is going to happen if I don’t get up,” she said to herself.
She changed out of her school uniform and put on jeans and a T-shirt. Straightening out any wrinkles in her uniform, she hung it from the ceiling of the tent so it was ready for tomorrow. She filled her small cooking pot with water and took it outside along with her camp stove. Setting the stove up on her makeshift table, she turned the gas on and lit the single burner with the piezo-electric igniter. It was cup of noodles time again, but with a different flavour tonight. She went and retrieved her other food from the konbini and sat down on a camp stool to eat her nuts and drink her milk.
The water boiled quickly, and she filled her cup of noodles with boiling water. She stared up at the blue sky and let her mind wander while she waited three minutes for her noodles to be ready. Her mother entered her mind again, and she had to think of something else. Tomorrow, her best friend Sawako, would visit. Sawako would sneak her clothes into her laundry to do them before returning them in the morning.
Her dinner of curried noodles and braised pork went well together and tasted delicious. Her stomach was comfortably full now, and she would have her apple later on. She would start up her campfire in a bit to provide some heat and light for the evening. She found the firelight and crackling of the fire soothing. She had even downloaded videos to watch later on her phone and would text her friends, but only Sawako knew about her true situation.
Shizuku prepared the kindling for her campfire when she noticed Ghost emerge from the bushes. She stopped working to see what the cat would do. The big grey cat stopped well away from her and appraised the situation before continuing towards her without fear. His tail stood straight up with a slightly curled tip. The cat trilled a greeting and rubbed itself against her outstretched hand.
“Why are you here, Ghost?” Shizuku asked the cat while petting it. The cat had unnerved her earlier in the store but sure acted friendly now.
“He’s probably worried about you,” a female voice spoke up from behind another bush.
“Who’s there!” Shizuku startled while looking for the source of the voice.
Yuriko stepped forward to show herself with her hands raised.
Shizuku saw a middle-aged woman dressed for the outdoors. She wore cargo pants, hiking boots, a white top, a green fleece jacket, and a daypack. Her left hand held a bag from the SuperQuickly konbini.
The woman spoke again. “Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to startle you like that, but I couldn’t help myself. The opening was too good to not use.”
Why did she look really familiar, Shizuku thought. She suddenly realized that the woman was the manager of the SuperQuickly she stole from. Panic surged through her again. Would she be arrested? Her eyes darted to the left and right. She wanted to run, but where would she go?
“Please calm down,” the woman spoke in a steady voice. “I’m just here to talk. To listen to you. After all, if Ghost befriended you, you can’t really be a bad person.”
That calmed Shizuku down. Ghost looked up at her and gave a “mrrrp” as if agreeing with the woman. “I’m sorry. I just didn’t expect any visitors.” She looked down at the cat and wondered if it had led the manager here. What kind of cat was this anyhow?
“Ghost led me here. If you were wondering.” The woman read her mind. “He’s actually a lot like a dog sometimes.”
“Mrrreow!” Ghost protested loudly.
“Sorry, Ghost. You’re a smart cat. Way smarter than any dog.”
“Mrrrp!” The cat agreed.
This little exchange both amused and felt strange to Shizuku. It was so odd that it also put her more at ease.
The woman walked a little closer. “I need to introduce myself. I’m Yuriko Morimoto,” she bowed, “and I’m glad to make your acquaintance. And it looks like you know who Ghost is.”
“I’m Shizuku Yazawa,” Shizuku bowed back. She then hesitated, not wanting to say anymore.
Yuriko noticed her hesitation and the empty food tin and cup of noodles on her makeshift table. “I see I’m a little late for dinner,” she joked. She hoisted the bag she was carrying up in the air. “I did bring food to share with you. If you don’t mind, I’d like to sit down with you and hear your story.”
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“But, you’re the manager at the konbini. Why do you want to help me?”
“Why? Why wouldn’t I want to help a girl who is living by herself in the forest? You’re still going to school, too, right? I see you come into the store in the morning when you go to school. You’re very punctual and on time.”
Shizuku eyes widened in shock. “You’ve been watching me?”
“I know all of the regulars who come into my store when I’m working. You buy a medium roast coffee every morning with both sugar and cream. I think melon-pan is your favourite pastry, but you only buy it for a special treat.”
Shizuku’s jaw dropped a bit from all these revelations. The woman knew her habits.
“Please,” the woman motioned towards the camp stools. “Let us sit and talk. I want to hear about why you are camping here. By the way, you’ve set up a nice tidy camp. Well done.”
Shizuku decided it probably wouldn’t hurt to talk to the manager. She seemed to honestly want to help her, but not that she could, even if she had gone through the trouble of finding her.
Shizuku sat down on the nearest stool, and Yuriko took the other one. They were sitting side by side, looking at the unlit campfire. Ghost lay down in the grass near them. Yuriko pulled out a few bottles of green tea from the bag and a small box of the spicy chicken nuggets that were sold at the store.
“Have a bottle of tea. If you’re still hungry, please have some chicken. They’re not hot now, but Travis fried these up fresh for you. He said you were hungry earlier.”
Shizuku realized the store clerk had heard her stomach growl. She felt embarrassed and touched by Travis’s concern. “Thank you. You are both very kind.” She reached over to have a chicken nugget, taking small bites before washing it down with a swallow of tea.
Yuriko also had a nugget and sipped her tea. “I’m guessing you’re experiencing some difficulties. Just talking about it can really help.”
“Where do you want me to start?” Shizuku could talk about so many events.
“Something easy. How was your dinner or school today?”
“I guess it was okay today. I’m always happy to see my friends. School is good; it keeps my mind off things.”
Yuriko nodded in agreement. “It’s good to have friends and something to look forward to.”
Shizuku gazed at the food on her table and the empty food containers—guilt about her stolen food flooded into her mind.
“Don’t worry about where your dinner came from,” Yuriko reassured her. “That has all been taken care of.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really. You know you shouldn’t have done that, and that is enough.”
“Thank you for being so understanding…” Shizuku began to get teary-eyed.
“It’s okay,” Yuriko gently spoke. She held out her hand to let the girl hesitantly take it before giving it a comforting squeeze. “How long have you been living here?”
Shizuku sniffled. “Twelve days. I ran away from home and had nowhere to go. I-- I just couldn’t stay at my house anymore. I had to get away from my father.”
“Can you tell me more about your father?” Yuriko’s calm demeanour hid her thoughts about child abuse.
“He works at the auto parts factory in town. I think he works hard, but he always says his supervisor picks on him for no reason. He has to do more odd jobs than anyone else. I don’t think he likes his job much.”
“That does sound tough. So why did you leave home?”
“My mother got sick and died a few months ago. I think my dad is angry that he needed to take care of me now.”
“I’m really sorry to hear about your mother,” Yuriko said, giving her hand a sympathetic squeeze. What else happened?”
“I tried to help out at home and cook dinner, but I’m not as good as mom, I guess. Dad’s been really upset about everything, and he’s been drinking more than he did before.”
“You did your best to help out. Did anything else happen at home?”
“I— I guess my dad yelled at me a lot and said I was useless.”
“Is that all?” Yuriko spoke more pointedly than she wanted, but her anger at her father was rising.
Shizuku really hesitated to speak at this point. Yuriko used both hands to firmly support Shizuku’s slightly trembling hand.
“W—when he’s really drunk, he hits me or throws me around. I had some bad bruises. He… He used to hit mom, too. She would always tell me to stay in my room when he was angry.”
“Your mother protected you.” Yuriko tried her best to stay objective like she would on a mission. Enemies were bad guys, hostiles, or enemy combatants, not people with families. The mission came first, and she needed that objectivity as the situation felt personal. There would be no killing this time, of course, just a girl to rescue.
She thought about her grown-up daughter and how she could have been a better parent, to be there for her, a still-in-progress work. Ayako, the top shooter and captain of the Gun Girls Auxiliary that she coached, was also raised by a single, hard-working mother. Ayako reminded her of her younger self in many ways. Still, in her mind, Shizuku’s father had no excuses for his behaviour. She did want to beat Shizuku’s father senseless, at a minimum, for what he had done, but that wouldn’t help the girl in the end. Travis had said she was the better one to take care of this, and she had to agree.
“… So I finally decided to run away. I hid here, and my friend Sawako helped me set up my camp. I thought my father would come and find me or look for me at school, but there’s been nothing from him. The teachers haven’t done anything either, so I guess he hasn’t said a thing to the school.”
“Sounds like he is ignoring you.” Yuriko’s heart broke for this girl, but staying on this mountain was only a temporary refuge and a really bad idea with the fog that happened here. It had been fortunate that it was between Confluences. “At least you had time to catch your breath and think.”
Shizuku nodded silently.
“Listen,” Yuriko said softly. “I’m going to help you out. I know a lot of people. We’ll find a way to keep you safe from your father and fix things in a way you can accept.” She would make things work out, knowing this probably wouldn’t be a clean operation. From her own experience, matters of the heart and family rarely went without complications.
“You can tell me more later, but for now, come here.” Yuriko leaned over and opened her arms to hug Shizuku. Shizuku awkwardly took the hug, her face nestled into Yuriko’s fleece jacket, and started to sob slowly.
“You have been very brave, living on your own. I’m sure your mother would be proud.”
Shizuku just cried and cried into Yuriko’s shoulder. So much emotion had been bottled up inside her. Yuriko bore it all quietly and stroked the back of her head. How could a parent do such a thing, she thought?
The two left the mountain that evening. Yuriko helped Shizuku pack up, and they hiked back down the mountain to the parking lot at the SuperQuickly before nightfall. They loaded Shizuku’s belongings into the back of Yuriko’s little Nissan hatchback and drove over to the nearby home of Harumi Suzuki, Yuriko's elderly friend from the konbini.
When Yuriko called to ask if she could take on Shizuku as a guest for a while, she easily agreed after hearing about Shizuku’s situation. Harumi was friendly but lonely, as all of her children had moved away to cities long ago. To Yuriko's relief, Shizuku took to Harumi immediately, saying she felt like a favourite aunt to her. All Yuriko had to do now was contact Goro, her direct police contact, to discreetly arrange a better family situation for Shizuku. It would not be easy to do if her father did not cooperate. All of this wasn’t exactly in her job profile, but she really wanted to help this girl. Further investigation would have to be done to determine the exact situation, but Yuriko did believe Shizuku’s story.
*****
Saito walked down the narrow residential street that led to his house. It was quiet, and the only life he saw were a few crows perched high up on the power and utility lines along the street. Like most residential streets in Japan, it looked like a wide, paved alleyway to an outsider. There were no sidewalks, just marked lines and houses faced right onto them.
After a long day at the factory, he was tired and would be returning to a dark and empty home. There would be no dinner on the table because his wife had passed on, and his useless daughter wouldn’t be there to cook a simple meal. She had run away from home after one of his drinking bouts. He drank even more now to hide from his lousy life. Tonight, there were more beers and a dinner bento he was carrying from the supermarket.
A van turned onto the street behind Saito. Turning his head, he saw a white cargo van come up the street. The van slowly drove by him and stopped in front of the house that came before his. He hummed a little tune and continued walking. The side cargo door slid open as he walked past. Saito managed to squeal a little in surprise when a large man, dressed in utility overall and wearing a black balaclava, hopped out to press a taser into his side. The buzzing crackle and pop of a high-voltage discharge was heard. His still shuddering body was casually tossed into the empty interior of the van, and it drove off at a normal speed. The bag of beers and bento lay on the street where it had fallen.
Saito was groggy when he awoke from being stunned, and his head hurt where it had hit the floor of the van. His eyes opened wide in fear when he realized he was inside the van and his hands were zip-tied behind his back. The big man was crouched off to one side, and there was a more petite figure of a similarly clad woman on the other side.
“Too bad you’re awake,” the woman said. Sometimes, people have complications from being tasered. It would have saved us more work.”
“Who—who are you people,” Saito stuttered. “I don’t have much, but you can have it all. Just let me go.”
“We only want your cooperation, Saito Yazawa,” Yuriko spoke with a slight sneer as she said the name.
“I’ve never done anything to you,” Saito flailed for an excuse. “You must have the wrong man. I’m just a factory worker.”
“Actually, you’re a widower and a bad father,” Yuriko said. “You're probably a bad worker, too, but that is another topic.”
“Bu—but…”
“Now shut up,” Yuriko angrily snarled. She unsheathed the combat knife on her belt and pointed it at her prisoner. “I don’t want to have to repeat myself to you, so listen very carefully.”
Saito swallowed hard; beads of sweat were beginning to form on his forehead.
“Your daughter, Shizuku, ran away from home.”
“Yes. Yes. I looked for her,” Saito interjected. “Has she been found?”
Yuriko made a hand motion to Travis. He punched Saito in the face hard, dazing him. A tiny trickle of blood came out of his nose.
“Don’t interrupt me again.”
“S—sorry.”
“We’ve investigated your situation. We know you never looked for your daughter. You never checked the school or filed a police report. You didn’t care. But you did beat her.”
“I swear I won’t do it again—.”
Another punch to the head from Travis shut him up.
“Your daughter came to the attention of the people I work for. For some reason, they have taken a liking to her. Family and loyalty are important to them; child abuse is bad, but business is business, too. So here is the deal. Your wife’s parents have agreed to become guardians for Shizuku, so she’ll be moving to Tokyo. You just have to sign over guardianship to them and stay away from Shizuku.”
“But she is my daughter…” Saito protested weakly.
Yuriko stopped Travis from punching him again with a raised hand. She put the edge of her knife against his throat and leaned in close. “You’re a drunk and a woman beater. I’ve seen your kind before. To me, you’re trash. I’d rather feed you to the fish than give you this deal.”
Saito swallowed in fear, his eyes wide. He nodded in agreement. “Yes, yes. I’ll sign anything.”
“You better. If I have to see you again, they’ll be fishing your body out of the river. Remember, only death will cure a fool. You won’t just disappear. I’ll make sure there is closure for your daughter about her father.” Yuriko paused for a moment, staring at the man with cold eyes. “One day, many years from now, your daughter might want to see you again. It will be on her terms, so again, no contact from you, or you will be fish bait.”
Travis opened the van's side door to reveal an old deserted factory at the edge of town. The parking lot was overgrown with weeds. Yuriko guided Saito out of the van and faced him away from it.
“Final words of advice. Don’t go to the police. We have people everywhere. Stay quiet and live. If I were you, I’d also go to AA; you might live longer. Now, walk forward 100 steps and don’t look back. Don’t make me do more work.”
Yuriko cut the ties that bound his wrists and shoved him forward. Saito began to slowly walk away from the van. He heard doors close behind him and the van driving off, but he didn’t dare to peek and just kept walking and counting.
*****
There was a small group of people around Shizuku at the main train station in Odewara. She had her luggage and was going to take the train to Tokyo with Miki, Yuriko’s daughter. Miki, who attended Tokyo University, had agreed to escort Shizuku to her grandparents. Shizuku’s father hesitated to sign over custody, but seeing a white van parked outside his home a few times encouraged him to carry through with his promise.
Shizuku had just finished hugging Yuriko, thanking her for her help, and was now hugging Harumi, who was wearing a floral-patterned kimono.
Harumi appeared a little sad. “I will miss you, dear. You were a ray of sunshine in my home. The last month has passed so quickly. I consider you to be like one of my grandchildren. If you visit here, you are welcome to stay with me anytime.”
“I will miss you too, Obasan,” Shizuku replied. You were wonderful to me. I promise to visit.”
She turned to her best friend, Sawako. “We’ll keep in touch by video and text. And when we are on break, we can visit, okay?”
“Of course. I’m going to miss you terribly.” Sawako sniffled. “Let me know how it goes with your new school. You’ll have to show me around Tokyo if I visit.”
“That’s a promise, then. You really helped me when I needed it. I’ll never forget,” Shizuku said, tearing up, too, as she hugged her friend.
“Your train will be leaving in three minutes,” Yuriko announced. “Let’s not miss it.” She faced Shizuku. “Remember your courage and draw on it when you need it. And if you ever have any problems, call me, okay?”
“I owe you so much already, Yuriko, but I will call if I have trouble.”
Who is your favourite character so far?
