Eden of The Villains: Part 1 Story 7

 

Part 1 Story 7: Memory and The Future

Translator: Ririi Rain

 

 

　On the night when Ringo ran away from the hitman for his dear life,

　Maybe it was a flashback caused by the fear in his heart, but he dreamed of a memory that he didn't want to remember.

　It was of his uncle, aunt, and their son, which was his cousin.

　Their son was the same age as Ringo. After Ringo's parents died suddenly when he was 11, they became foster brothers and they grew up together like real brothers.

　Eigo Hayashiki had always been aware that he was a freeloader, so he had been doing his best to be useful while he tried to fit in with his foster family.

　Such as greeting them every day and helping out with housework.

　His foster brother was taking the entrance exam of a private all-boys school, and he invited him to take it as well. Ringo was able to enter the school with the highest score, which meant that his tuition would be free.

　He thought that all of those brought delight to his family, or so he believed.

　Everything was turned upside down on that day.

　Ringo received a certain award from a company for his graduation project at the science department of his junior high school.

　The award ceremony was held at a luxurious hotel in Minatomirai, Yokohama.

　Then, at the party after the ceremony, he was sure that it was when he nibbled at a soft adzuki-bean jelly dessert.

"Mr. Hayashiki. Another guest has requested your presence."

　The hotel staff told him so and he was guided through the long carpeted corridor along with all his family members.

　Then, he fainted on the way, and when he regained consciousness, he was at a hotel room where the curtains were already on fire.

　What entered his vision was his body that had been tied to a chair and his foster family's members who were about to flee from the room where the temperature gradually rose.

"Uncle!!"

　He breathed in the hot air and he was becoming more suffocated. Straining his voice, he cried out. His uncle turned around slowly. His eyes were terribly still and calm.

　It was an unnatural calm that didn't match the emergency caused by the fire.

　For a moment, he could see his aunt and his younger brother, who were beyond the door, directing cold gazes at him.

　Without saying anything, his uncle turned his back again and the door closed, accompanied by the sound of dry wood.

——He had been abandoned.

　A hard-to-believe reality that made him crestfallen, Ringo saw it.

　His uncle's belt and his younger brother's tie were tying his legs to the chair. He can't see it himself, but his aunt's belongings may be wrapped around his wrists behind him.

(Ah, so it was all useless.)

　In the end, Ringo was a stranger throughout all the five years. All the efforts he had put in were meaningless.

　No, rather, maybe they thought that those efforts were nuisances.

　The fire alarm doesn't ring for some reason, and the sprinklers also didn't work.

　There were signs of people outside, but they seemed to be in a state of tumultuous panic because of the poisonous gas. Even when he raised his voice to ask for help, no one replied.

　Having given up on everything, he closed his eyes and trembled due to the oncoming death.

　I'm scared, I don't want to die.

　His eyes grew hot and tears welled up in his eyes.

　So vexing.

　Not rewarded for everything and dying by myself.

　Water droplets quietly flowed down his cheeks and dropped down to the carpet in the room.

　At that moment, the door was kicked open with great force.

"Y, you are?!"

　Standing before the entrance where the hinges were about to come off was a woman with blue pair of eyes and long hair.

"Wow, I'm glad you're still alive. You're lucky, this place is not burning that much yet."

　The woman doesn't answer his question and just approached him without minding the flaming fire. Then, she bent her knees in front of Ringo, took a survival knife out of her waist pouch, and broke his restraints with a practiced move.

"You have a face that says that you didn't know what's going on."

　The woman said so with a fearless smile while facing the boy whose face was soggy with tears.

　The woman's smile was shining much brighter than the raging fire.

"I received a request and come to help you. Nice to meet you, Ringo-kun!"

 

 

 

 

 

　Four figures were surrounding the mahjong table.

"Suuankou!¹"

　One of them was Secret, who had just shouted cheerfully. Perhaps it was just his imagination, but Ringo felt that she was strangely good at Chinese pronunciation.

　She was wearing the flashy work clothes today.

"Ahーfucking brute!"

　The man who doesn't hide his frustration was that man, the host as well the informant. When he was seen in the early afternoon sunlight, he looked like he was in his mid-twenties.

　The stream of smoke that puffed out from that man’s cigarette was swayed by the wind and went up.

"Nico, your face gave it away. Right?"

　The two middle-aged uncles who answered "Rightー" to Secret and sat in front of her were people who they met when they wandered around the Doya District.

　It seemed that the host aka the informant was called Nico. Nico was probably his professional name as a host, because although he was quite tall, he can only be seen as an Asian.

(Who are these old men?)

　Ringo frowned at the situation of the mahjong game. He had bad dreams lately, so he was a little short of sleep.

　The pink-haired Nico and Secret had opened a carless garage at the roadside because they had a plan to talk about work.

　Mahjong requires four members, but Ringo refused to participate because he doesn't know the rules. Therefore, as a stopgap measure, they gathered the mahjong-loving old men who were walking around the place.

"Ringo-kun can learn the rules in an instant, so you should do it〜. You can memorize hundreds of patterns of the winning method, can't you?"

　Secret, who was forlorn, murmured dissatisfiedly as she bid farewell to the uncles who were leaving. They were going to see horse racing.

"What the hell is that? Does this cherry-boy have the Memorization Bread²?"

　I feel like I've just heard a lot of bad words, but I will ignore them.

"That's not it, Nico. Ringo-kun has an instantaneous memory skill. Once he sees something, he'll never forget it."

"It's not a skill. Mine is just a case of hyperthymesia."

"Hoーu, that sure sounds like a convenient syndrome."

"Yeah, well..."

　In fact, it was a very useful special ability.

　It was all thanks to this hyperthymesia that he was able to enroll at the prestigious school as the top student, as well as being able to recite the damage amount of the Grand Lou Hostess Bar.

　Secret received a request from someone to ‘protect Eigo Hayashiki's life and return him to the normal society’, and while the difficulty and the high risk of the job were worrying, she said that as he was under her care, she found his hyperthymesia useful.

　Even if that ability had helped him so much, he was also condemned by the people around him for being unfair in terms of studying.

"It's because of Ringo-kun's special ability that we managed to escape from Mizari, you know. Well, physically, he's still a long way off, though."

　Putting her elbows on the mahjong table, Secret smiled like a naughty child. She urged Ringo to sit on the chair next to her.

　He was tired of standing during the mahjong game, so he tried to sit down, but he immediately froze and stopped moving.

"What the hell?"

"...It's, myalgia (muscular pain)."

　Nico made a dubious look at the unexpected reply.

"I don't know the exact reason, but it seems that Mizari has targeted us, so I made him train him every day just in case of emergency."

"What 'training'? You practically forced me to run 10 kilometers and do muscle building every day!"

"Isn't that good? After all the danger that we've been through, we need to be ready for the next attack."

"How did you get away from that mentally ill woman? What did you guys do?"

　Perhaps it was a compliment, but it doesn't convey well because the wording was too disturbing.

"It's easy. I used that child's thanatophobia."

"What the hell is that?"

"A phobia of death, right?"

　Ringo looked it up at the dictionary in his brain and pulled out the answer. Secret responded with a "Yep!" while pointing at him to show that he had answered correctly.

"I don't know what happened to her in the past, but Mizari is extremely afraid of dying. That child is so strong that she rarely gets into a pinch, but if you bring her closer to death, she will freak out."

　If she's so afraid of death, why did she become a hitman? Ringo thought.

　But that woman's every move was out of the ordinary, and there must be circumstances that he couldn’t understand.

"Hoーh. If I'm about to be butchered next time, I wonder if I should use that thanasomething. Ahーright, this is a request for you. It seems urgent."

"Come to think of it, we need to talk about work, huh?"

"Did you two seriously forget about that...?"

　Crestfallen, Ringo’s shoulders sagged.

"... Okay, I'll take care of it. Fufu, seems like this is going to be fun."

　While Ringo was showing a tired look, Secret, who received the piece of paper, started pondering with an evil look on her face.

 

***

 Notes:

1 a winning hand of four concealed pungs. Sorry, I’m not familiar with it. ^↩
2 a gadget in Dor*emon that resembles a typical, single-loaf of plain bread. It allows the user to memorize any contents 'printed' on it. ^↩

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Eden of The Villains: Part 1 Story 6

  

Part 1 Story 6: Lolita and Knife

Translator: Ririi Rain

 

 

 

　"You see, this alley we jumped into is a dead end. The assailant, who is a freelance hitman——Mizari, is probably on the roof of the Minato Building where she could overlook the street. She opened fire just as you and I were nearing this alley."

 

　Secret added that even if the assassination failed, the intention was to hunt them in this alley that lead to a dead-end.

 

"Furthermore, the Minato Building is three stories high, and no other building in the area has more than two floors, so if you go out from this dead-end to the street, the openings on your body will be the highest. And if you climb the utility pole to try escaping upwards, Mizari can shoot you through the heavens from a vantage point."

 

"The, then..."

 

"Fufu, it is a long-awaited date, but it is ruined."

 

　Even though it was such a time, Ringo's heart was pounding as he saw her looking up and behaving like a spoiled child.

 

"Don't worry. It's my selling point to always complete every request that I accept."

 

　At that moment, Secret pulled out her long chain, the manrikigusari, from her pouch and she struck the windowpane of a building with one of the lead weights.

 

　The glass-breaking sound was deafening.

 

　Fortunately, there was no one on the first floor of the store, but the scream of someone from the second floor can be heard.

 

"Follow me!"

 

　As if flicked by that voice, Secret started running.

　Secret kicked the broken window further and jumped into the store without worrying about the scream. She swiftly ran through the pitch-black room.

 

　She broke the window on the other side in the same way and went outside again, becoming closer to the hitman.

　Probably it was because there was no window on the first floor of the next building, but she smashed the weight onto a window on the second floor accurately. Then, she pulled herself with the chain that was already wrapped around something in the room and ran up the wall like a monkey.

 

　It had just been a few seconds since she jumped into the first building.

　Of course, Ringo couldn't keep up with her at the same speed.

 

　As he looked up at the second floor’s window where Secret had disappeared to, something black was thrown down from there.

 

"Wagh!"

 

　He inadvertently scrambled to catch it. It was surprisingly heavy for its size. There was no mistake, it was a handgun.

 

"I'll give it to you for self-defense! Don't forget to pull the cocking handle when you use it!"

 

　From the darkness, Secret explained in a brisk tone.

 

　No, wait, of course it's not that easy.

 

　However, he can't afford to complain like that. He was anxious if he just waited for her while trembling alone in this place.

　Ringo decided to thrust the wild weapon of murder into his pocket. As he climbed up a utility pole in another back alley, he heard a new gunshot from diagonally above him.

 

(Has it already started?!)

 

　He hurriedly jumped from the utility pole to a hole in the window that was made by Secret. Then, he ran up the stairs that were leading to the rooftop where she must have gone to.

 

　As soon as he opened the door in haste,

 

"Take cover!"

 

　Secret shouted.

　He was a little relieved to confirm that she was safe, so he obediently hid behind the outdoor unit of the air conditioner.

 

　The sound of bullets sharply cut the air. There was the sound of metal hitting concrete. There was also the sound of the outdoor unit that was struck by something.

 

　After a while, the vicinity regained its silence.

　He peered out fearfully to see what was going on, and he saw two shadows were standing over there.

 

　A warm breeze blew and the moonlight, which had been hidden by the clouds, illuminated the two women who were facing each other.

 

　Even though he was being very careful to not be noticed, one of them still turned their gaze towards him and grinned.

　Ringo yelped from the depths of his throat.

 

"A, a hitman..."

 

"That's ri〜ght! Mizari doesn't have any grudge〜, but I'll have both of you die he〜re."

 

　It was a high-pitched, distinct voice. The unusual tone was accentuated by the strange stretch at the end of her sentences.

 

　She wore pink lolita clothing with frills, ribbons, and laces that were attached to her whole attire as much as possible. Her black hair was made into twin-tails, and her sidelocks were cut straight on the length of her cheeks, like a woman in the Heian period.

 

　She looked dazed and out of focus. In addition, her very unusual appearance was amplified by her morbidly pale skin. Ringo was on guard and held the handgun tightly.

　He couldn't take his eyes off of her because of fear. Ringo once again felt the heavy weight of the gun that had been given to him. He gripped it firmly, desperately trying to keep it from dropping because of his sweaty hands.

 

"Mizari Busujima. A freelance hitman. We are both independent, we have worked with each other, and we also have engaged in fights before."

 

　It seemed that Secret also noticed Ringo’s gaze. She smirked without turning her eyes away from the hitman.

 

"Mizari, you're the last person I'd want to deal with if possible."

 

　Secret's boots stepped on the concrete and she broke into a run.

 

　Her chain reached out towards Mizari at a speed that cannot be followed with the naked eye.

 

"Eeーh?! Mizari ha〜ve been waiting for this da〜y for a long time〜!"

 

　The hitman also fired bullets at Secret while laughing happily. However, her opponent danced in the air like a gymnast and was hard to catch.

 

　A moment later, the chains wrapped around Mizari's arm. Secret pulled it and made her opponent lose balance. As Mizari's body staggered, Secret struck hard the gun barrel with the other end of her chain, and the gun fell to the ground.

 

"You're such an eyeso〜re!"

 

　At that moment, the hitman's expression changed into one that resembled a demon. Secret kicked Mizari’s hand to the air as she tried to pick up her gun.

 

"Your skin is whiter tha〜n Mizari! I can't forgive you who are so whi〜te!"

 

　Mizari quickly pulled out a dagger knife from the inside of her fluffy pannier.

　The knife was moving like a flash of light, creating a red streak of blood on Secret's thigh as she failed to avoid it.

 

　Her face was distorted with pain, and the knife was swung down towards Secret who had made a momentary gap.

 

"Secret!"

 

　When Ringo screamed subconsciously, Mizari abruptly stopped her movement. She turned her neck at a strange angle. When her eyes met the boy's, she grinned.

 

"That's rig〜ht, this time you are also the target of the assasinatio〜n. Mizari almost got in trouble〜"

 

"Sta, stay away..."

 

　He held the handgun with trembling hands. But he also won’t be able to pull the trigger well with his sweaty fingers.

 

　When he realized, the lolita was already standing in front of him with a smile on her face.

 

"Well then, goodbye〜."

 

　A dagger knife approached Ringo's neck. Right at that moment, the crouching woman stopped Mizari.

 

"Wha〜t?"

 

　She looked back with a face that had changed to that of a demon (Hannya) once again, and over there, Secret was holding a grenade pin in her hand.

 

"Noooooo〜oh!!"

 

　She screamed as if she was in her death throes. Mizari began to search through her lolita outfit here and there.

 

"Ringo-kun, run!"

 

　The stunned Ringo was startled by Secret's words. He hurriedly passed by the frenzied Mizari.

　He tumbled down the building’s external staircase together with a self-proclaimed consultant who had successfully snatched only the pin of the grenade from the hitman.

 

　Then, they slipped into the shadow of a car that was parked on the roadside.

　A second later, there was a roaring sound that shook the area behind them.

　An earthquake-like tremor occurred for a moment, and Ringo’s breath stopped for a second when debris came flying to fall on the street close to him in clatters.

 

"Hurry, Mizari isn't the kind of person to be killed by something like that. Let's hurry to a crowded place."

 

　He agreed and the two ran in the direction of the light.

***

 

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Eden of The Villains: Part 1 Story 5

 

Part 1 Story 5: Informant and Hitman

Translator: Ririi Rain

 

 

 

　After having dinner in Chinatown and going outside again, Secret said that there was a place that she needed to go to, and so, they headed towards Ishikawacho Station.

　After passing through the main street under the overpass, the buzz of the city that can be heard until then became quiet, like it was just a lie.

　The sudden change in the atmosphere made Ringo feel uncomfortable. It was not a very good feeling to get chills.

　It was only after a few minutes of walk that he realized. It was quiet because there were barely any people and many stores were closed with shutters.

　The buildings were all old. Iron scraps and woods were piled up high in a place that should have been a parking lot.

　Here and there, old people were standing around the road. There were almost no young people like the two of them.

　It was clear that those old people were staring at them even though they were just walking, and Ringo realized that this neighborhood wasn't the strange one, rather, they were the odd ones in this neighborhood.

"Secret, this place-"

"Here, we have arrived!"

　His inquiry was interrupted, and when he looked towards the place that she pointed at, a slightly dirty illuminated signboard was sitting there.

　‘Bar, Red Brick’. The old-fashioned white font was shining on the red background.

　There was a staircase leading to the second floor of the building behind the signboard. When he climbed up the stairs to catch up with Secret, there was a bar that was neither more than nor less than what he had imagined.

　It was in Showa retro style, or rather, it had been persevered since the Showa era without refurbishment.

　A faint moldy odor that got mixed with the scent of drifting cigarette smoke was stabbing his nose.

　At the end of a row of tables, there was a counter with a variety of bottles of alcohol. The myriad of clear glasses glowed softly in the indirect light, and the gray-haired old woman owner stood at the counter without looking anywhere.

　At the far end of the bar, around the billiard table and the dartboard, some real hoodlums, unlike Ringo, were gathering and making noises.

　When they were halfway through to the counter, the owner finally seemed to notice Ringo and Secret.

"Mama, one sweet martini, please. And also,"

"O, oolong tea."

　Where on earth is this? When he was still looking around restlessly, another customer came in.

　He was a young man who was dressed up in a flashy and unrefined suit that clearly identified him as a host. His hair was dyed in a conspicuous deep pink color.

　From the corners of his droopy eyes, he distinctly gave off the air of a womanizer.

　As it turned out, the man sat down next to Secret, as if he was familiar with her.

"Good evening¹〜 , I've been waiting for you, you know."

"Damn, how many women do you think are waiting for me?"

　Gray smoke rose from the man’s smoked cigarette to the ceiling, and Ringo coughed involuntarily.

"I will treat you, okay. Mama, add a fuzzy navel."

"I'm in a rush, so make it quick."

　The haughty and foul-mouthed man drank the offered cocktail like it was water, pulled a piece of paper out of his chest pocket, slid it on the counter, and handed it to Secret.

　After exchanging a few words, he quickly stood up.

　Contrary to the boy's earnest wish, which was for that guy to finally leave, the said guy brought his face in front of Ringo who had been erasing his presence all this time.

　It was a face that seemed like it would be popular with the opposite sex.

　Ringo would be a human who stood at the opposite end of the spectrum, and he was not good at crude language either.

"Heh〜, so this is the juvenile criminal from the hottest topic right now, huh?"

"Huh?!"

　Upset by the loudness of those lines rather than the rude words, Ringo looked around the bar in a hurry. Before he noticed, the hoodlums were already gone, but still, the owner should be able to hear it clearly.

"It's okay, Ringo-kun. He knows everything because he's an informant, and Mama also won't tell anyone. This shop is that kind of a shop."

"You are, an informant?"

　While Ringo was stunned by the existence that he had only seen in mangas, it seemed that the pink-haired informant had lost interest in him. He cut into a new topic.

"Ah, I forgot until just now, but, Secret. It seems that recently, guys who have lost their sanity are wandering around here. One of the boys at my shop got done in. His upper arm was bitten off by a zombie like in the movies. You should be careful. "

"Zombie? Somehow it's been getting more and more dangerous lately. I'll be wary."

"You baldie over there too, if you are being a vacant lump like now, you will be eaten from the head."

"Y, yes ..."

 (This person, as expected, I don't like him.)

　Ringo shrugged his shoulders.

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Fufu〜n, drink, drink."

　Secret was humming in a good mood, but her staggering legs made it dangerous.

　In the end, even after the informant returned, Secret and Ringo stayed at Red Brick for another two hours and she continued to drink.

　Because the drunkard said that she wanted to sober up using the night breeze, the two were enjoying a midnight walk just from one station to another one.

　The surroundings were in complete silence, but as they were walking along the railroad tracks, the noisy running noise of the train sometimes broke the silence.

　Every time the light inside the train was reflected on the asphalt, Secret's blue eyes were illuminated.

"That place, what was that?"

　That place was clad in a strange atmosphere.

　It was as if, that place had been cut off from the rest of modern Japan.

"Hnnー? You see, that place, is called Doya² District."

"Doya District?"

"Doya is a kind of inn. It's an area where low-income earners are gathering as there are super-cheap accommodations for day laborers. That Doya District seems to be one of the largest in Japan. Maybe that's why, there are izakaya³ and set meal shops, but they are all unusually cheap. And in fact, there are also gambling venues (casinos)."

"Those gambling places (casinos) are illegal, aren’t they...?"

(So there’s such a place. I didn't know.)

　Ringo straightened up his back for some reason.

"Don't mind the details〜"

"Jeez, you've had too much to drink."

　He felt a sharp breeze right next to his cheek as he supported Secret who was leaning against his shoulders.

　The next moment he noticed, he was being blown to the right side by a tremendous force and he kissed the asphalt with his face.

"Wha ?!"

　When he got up while frowning because of the severe pain on his face, Secret blocked his mouth.

　He desperately moved his eyes and looked around, and it seemed that he had been dragged into a back alley.

　Everyone seemed to throw away trashes as they liked, because his nose smelled something pungent and rotten from the garbage bags that were piled up there.

　It could be seen that something like thin smoke was rising from the ground where Ringo was standing until just a moment ago.

　It was a bullet hole.

　Furthermore, it was most likely aimed at Ringo.

(Am I being attacked by someone?!)

"You don't move, just stay here."

　Even though she was dead drunk until just a moment ago, now, Secret whispered to him in a commanding voice. 

"Secret sa〜n, please come ou〜t."

　The voice that echoed was unexpectedly close and it made him jump.

　It doesn't sound human, it was like an anime character who had a high-pitched voice that stabbed the brain and resembled mechanical sound.

　The assailant knew the name Secret. Are they acquaintances?

　He didn't want to admit it, but he realized that someone was aiming for his life and that the assailant seemed to have a gun.

　While Ringo endured stressful nausea at another spot, Secret raised her voice from the back alley.

"It's been a long time, Mizari. Where did you get the request this time? "

"Kyahaha〜h, of course I can't say it. After a〜ll, Mizari is a professional hitman, you kno〜w?"

　The moment Secret heard that voice, she threw a garbage bag beside her to the street.

　In a blink of an eye, the garbage bag was shot at and it became full of holes. Lumps of tissues and food waste were scattered from the torn bag.

"Ringo-kun, is there a building within 30 meters in that direction that is about two stories high?"

"There are the three-story Minato Building, two-story Chinese West Building, and the also two-story Minamikawaso Apartment."

　In his head, he recalled the map from an app that he had seen before.

"That means... I see. As expected of a hitman."

"What do you mean by that? And a hitman-"

　He heard a word that was too disturbing, and the olive fruits that he had snacked on when he was at Red Brick earlier had come back to his throat.

 

***

 Notes:

1 Originally use English pronunciation, but it is written in Japanese characters^↩
2 Several major Japanese cities have a slum district known as a doya-gai. The word doya is a venerable piece of Japanese street slang. It is the word yado (an inn) reversed, and it means a cheap lodging place. The nearest English equivalent would be “skid row”—in both cases, we are talking about a slum that is populated almost exclusively by men. The most famous ones in Japan are Kamagasaki, in Osaka; San’ya, in Tokyo; and Kotobuki, in Yokohama. Secret will explain more about it.^↩
3 Izakaya: Japanese bar that also serves various dishes and snacks^↩

 

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