It was the worst Sunday ever.
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Kazutaka Yui leaned against the wall of the cargo space and sighed. His left wrist was handcuffed and not with just any ordinary handcuffs either, their design was peculiar. The cuff for the right wrist was inside a chromium alloy attaché case. Incidentally, the key to the handcuffs was also inside the attaché case. Unless you opened the case, you couldn’t remove the handcuffs.
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The attaché case was sitting on a seat. It gleamed black as if it were flaunting its existence. Inside the attaché case was some merchandise that Kazutaka would never be able to afford, not even if ten of him worked their entire lives.
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Kazutaka had only seen a black bag. He didn’t know what color or shape the goods inside were. Shīno had only told him that the contents were some jewelry.
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"It’s probably worth about twenty billion yen," Shīno had said with a nonchalant smile.
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Why do I have to be the one transporting such valuable goods? If it’s that important, take it yourself, Shīno. These thoughts ran through Kazutaka’s mind as he rode towards the delivery point. The destination for both Kazutaka and the attaché case was the police department.
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Kazutaka had just spoken to Shīno, who somehow managed to convince Kazutaka that he had to do this for him. However, Kazutaka couldn’t help feeling that there was something wrong.
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"You're asking me to do this by myself. What if something goes wrong?" Kazutaka had asked him inside Shīno Jewelry’s vault. Shīno had given him a cheery smile and replied, "Nothing will go wrong. It's just that you're the only one I can trust with a task like this, Yui."
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True. Kazutaka would never even dream about taking the jewelry and running away, but what was at stake was too valuable. When he'd heard the words twenty billion yen, Kazutaka had nearly wet his pants. Normally, people would insure goods like these and hire a well-established security company to transport them.
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Shīno seemed to be of the opinion that Kazutaka was being ridiculous.
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"Don’t worry. I’ve already told the police that I’d be having some jewelry delivered because I suspected that they were stolen goods. Please, Yui. Transport them to the police department. It’s only a 15 minute drive and it’s the middle of the night. You are the only one I can ask to do such a crazy task. Come on, please?"
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Shīno and Kazutaka went way back, so Kazutaka felt unable to turn down his plea any longer. That was how Kazutaka ended up in a car dispatched by a security firm with his hand chained to an attaché case containing priceless jewelry. Shīno had said that he would be coming to the police department in a different car.
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There’s definitely something wrong. Kazutaka sighed again. It was a huge amount of stress to carry twenty billion yen worth of goods, even if it was just for 15 minutes. How can Shīno stand it? Selling and buying stuff like this every day? He’s got some nerves. Half appalled and half impressed, Kazutaka thought of Shīno’s straight A student-like looks. Shīno was the owner of a jewelry store that generated millions in annual revenue. He has to have some major balls. Do people get used to such huge figures when they handle super expensive goods all the time? This sort of business is definitely not for me, Kazutaka thought.
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Taking out his cell phone from his chest pocket, Kazutaka looked at the display. There weren't any messages or calls received. The security company’s car seemed to block all transmissions and the vehicle had no antenna attached. The time read 9:58 p.m. It had only been a scant five minutes since Kazutaka left Shīno Jewelry. Only ten more minutes to get to the police station. Since the car didn’t have any windows, Kazutaka couldn't even tell where they were.
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“We’re almost there, Yui-san,” the driver informed him through the intercom. “There’s no traffic this time of the day so we’ll be at the police headquarters in about five minutes or so.”
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“Ah, that’s great. Thank you.”
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“Once you deliver the goods to headquarters, I’ll drive you home,” the driver reassured in a gentle tone and turned off the intercom. He must have been trying to ease Kazutaka’s tension. Kazutaka had a thing about gentle voices. Normally he was surrounded by people with high-pitched voices, obnoxious voices, and threatening tones, so Kazutaka felt relieved when hearing caring, gentle tones.
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I should eat that Cup-o-Noodles when I get home. I've already poured in the hot water. It will have gone all soggy by now. Oh well. I can dump it into a pot, add some more water, and heat it up. I'll just shove it into my mouth and go to bed straight after. I’m so tired; it’s been an exhausting day today. This has got to be the most tiring Sunday I have had in several years.
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Kazutaka removed the watch from his handcuffed left wrist and checked the time, 9:59 p.m. Two hours remaining until the end came at last to this tiring Sunday.
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At 9:00 p.m. sharp, Ren turned off the power on the grinding machine. The cutting machine on another row over also stopped with a hissing sound.
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“I'm going home for the day, boss,” his employee informed him. The young man had just started working at this factory after graduating from a technical high school last year.
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“Thank you for staying so late on a Sunday,” Ren replied and the young man smiled.
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“Oh, this is fun for me. It gives me more chances to handle the machines.”
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His face was dirty with machine oil, but he still had a dazzling smile. Atobe Manufacturing was a small family run operation consisting only of the owner and one employee. Machines and tools do not smile. Ren, the owner, seldom smiled. The smiles from the barely 19 year old worker were the only sparks of cheer around the place.
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Ren turned off the factory's main power, saw the worker off, locked up, and then went into the small room he used as living quarters.
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Ren Atobe’s late night snack for the past year invariably had been Cup-o-Noodles soup. He took out a package of the instant noodle soup from the cupboard and poured in some hot water. He then set a timer for three minutes before taking off his overalls to take a shower. When Ren came back from the shower, drying his body with a towel, the timer went off, telling him that the noodle soup was ready. He sat at his desk and put his hands together. Before picking up a pair of disposable chopsticks, Ren politely bowed, giving thanks for the meal.