Ren was certain that he was about to fall only for the van to come to an abrupt stop. Everyone whipped around from the momentum. The kicking summarily stopped. Ren pulled himself up and turned around. He saw Kazutaka holding the attaché case high.
✦ ✦ ✦
Bam! Kazutaka hit one of the men hard, who collapsed onto a seat. The other man, the one who had been kicking and punching Ren, was already folded over the seats in the third row. He appeared to possibly be suffering from a concussion.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Ren, get out! Now!”
✦ ✦ ✦
Kazutaka pushed Ren out so that they stumbled out of the van together, but it looked more like two men falling out. “Ouch! Yikes.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Kazutaka held his wrist and grunted. Pulled down by the heavy weight of the attaché, Kazutaka must have landed badly; he was slow at getting up.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Are you all right, Kazutaka?”
✦ ✦ ✦
Ren slid his arms under Kazutaka’s armpits and helped him up. They started running, Ren still holding Kazutaka up. Although they thought they were running hard, it looked like slow motion because Ren was carrying the weight of Kazutaka and the heavy attaché case.
✦ ✦ ✦
Kazutaka whispered through his grunts, “Where are we?”
✦ ✦ ✦
For the first time, Ren noticed that they were on a bridge. That meant they couldn’t run into any side alleys. The only way was to move away from the van in a straight line. The attacker who had been knocked into the third row stepped out of the van.
✦ ✦ ✦
“How many of them were there, Kazutaka?”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Four, I think.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“You hit one of them, right? What about the driver?”
✦ ✦ ✦
“I put the chain around his neck to strangle him and demanded that he stop the car.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Really?”
✦ ✦ ✦
Ren kept on running with all his might, finally hearing the men shouting at them.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Hey! Stop right there!”
✦ ✦ ✦
It was the driver, the passenger, and the man from the back seat.
✦ ✦ ✦
Kazutaka stopped and crouched down.
✦ ✦ ✦
“I can’t run. Ren, you go on.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“I can’t leave you behind, Kazutaka.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“That guy has a knife, he’s dangerous.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Ren looked around, thinking about possible strategies. They were on a bridge, which meant they had no way out. Their pursuers were hot on their heels; they would catch up eventually. A lot of cars were passing by, but no one was likely to stop for them, especially if someone was waving around a blade. Ren considered confronting them, but he knew Kazutaka couldn’t run on his own if Ren happened to get stabbed. “Can you swim, Kazutaka?”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Yeah, I can.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“You're not scared of deep water?”
✦ ✦ ✦
“No, I’ll be fine.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Their pursuers were less than 100 feet away now.
✦ ✦ ✦
The railing of the bridge appeared to be less than 35 feet above the water. Not that high. Once they dropped into the water, there was another 100 feet or more to the river bank. Ren had no idea how deep the river was. Since the bridge was relatively low, the river might be rather shallow. If they hit the river bottom jumping down, the impact could kill them.
✦ ✦ ✦
Ren picked up Kazutaka and swung him over the guardrail. Then Ren hopped over the bridge railing. The bridge had a ledge with an outside rail, almost like a balcony. It must have been built that way for aesthetic reasons. A strong wind was howling between the bars. The pursuers were now right behind them.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Give it up already.”
✦ ✦ ✦
The three men approached with slow menace, seeking to intimidate them. They looked frustrated and had their hands in their pockets. They didn’t think Kazutaka could get away.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Kazutaka, let’s jump. I’ll go first. You follow me if it’s okay.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Jump from here?”
✦ ✦ ✦
“I don’t know the depth of the water. If I don’t surface, don’t jump.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Wait, Ren. Let’s jump together.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Kazutaka climbed over the outside railing, Ren supported the attaché case to help him. Seeing Kazutaka on the outside of the bridge, holding onto the railing, Ren placed the attaché case carefully at Kazutaka’s side. With the attaché case tucked between two bars, Kazutaka was forced into an uncomfortable position with his left shoulder hunched down. Ren climbed over the outer railing. The two of them looked at each other.
✦ ✦ ✦
“I’m counting down from three.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Ren, thank you for everything.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Later. I’m counting now.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Ren, I have to tell you something. I love you.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“I love you, too. Counting down. Three!”
✦ ✦ ✦
One of the pursuers climbed over the railing. He laughed, seeing Ren and Kazutaka preparing to jump into the river below.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Two!”
✦ ✦ ✦
The man came closer to Kazutaka. A second man climbed over the railing, joining the first.
✦ ✦ ✦
“One!”
✦ ✦ ✦
As Ren let go of the railing, he heard a loud bang but he didn’t have time to see what it was. Ren was already hitting the water feet first.
✦ ✦ ✦
The water was plenty deep. Ren surfaced immediately and looked for Kazutaka who might be having difficulty in surfacing due to the weight of the heavy attaché case. Ren looked around for ripples and bubbles. Ren heard Kazutaka scream desperately from above.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Ren!”
✦ ✦ ✦
“What’s wrong, Kazutaka?”
✦ ✦ ✦
“The case opened! It’s stuck in the railing, it won’t come loose!”
✦ ✦ ✦
Ren looked up to see Kazutaka hanging from the bridge railing, with his left arm above his head. The attaché case had opened when Kazutaka had been about to jump and the case was now wedged in the railing.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Kazutaka, where are they? The bad guys?”
✦ ✦ ✦
As if in response to Ren’s question, three men poked their heads out above the railing. One of them was holding the glittering replica of the Teardrop of the Nile in his hand.
✦ ✦ ✦
“See ya.”
✦ ✦ ✦
The three men disappeared from view.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Hey, you! What do you mean, ‘see ya’? Help Kazutaka! Hey, help him up!”
✦ ✦ ✦
There was no reply. Ren was worried about Kazutaka. His wrist had to be hurting badly from being pulled by the handcuffs. Ren’s heart was racing with fear.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Kazutaka, hang in there! I’m coming up right now to help you!”
✦ ✦ ✦
Kazutaka didn’t respond, possibly from being in too much pain to talk. Ren looked side to side, trying to determine which bank was closer. As he started swimming, a thundering boom came from the bridge. Pieces of something rained down. Ren was afraid that there might have been an accident or an explosion near Kazutaka. He was about to resume swimming when he saw a man falling towards the river.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Whoa!”
✦ ✦ ✦
It was the man holding the replica of the Teardrop of the Nile. The man fell into the water and surfaced within seconds but he sank again splashing wildly. It looked like he couldn’t swim.
✦ ✦ ✦
Ren glared at the spot where the man had sunk. Ren called out to him but he was already busy with the important task of rescuing Kazutaka. I don’t have time to help this guy, Ren thought to himself, and began swimming again. At that moment, Ren heard a gentle voice calling to him from bridge railing.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Ren! Are you down there?”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Yuri?!”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Kazutaka-san is okay. These two men will help him.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“What two men?”
✦ ✦ ✦
Kazutaka’s body was not swaying any more. Something that looked like a belt had been placed under his armpits. Ren then saw four arms grab Kazutaka’s clothes.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Yuri! Who're those guys?”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Friends of the man who fell into the river.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Fuwa leaned over the bridge railing and smiled angelically. A bearded face appeared next to Fuwa. It was Todo. Then another face popped up. Brown haired, it was Toshi.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Ren, we’ll toss down a rope. Can you tie it around the guy who fell into the river?”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Do you want me to help him?”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Tie the rope around him, so he won’t drown. I’ll tie this end right here.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Ren saw Kazutaka being lifted up and the attaché case wedged free. Ren had thought that he'd secured the attaché case by wrapping a belt around it. He wondered why the case had opened at such a crucial moment.
✦ ✦ ✦
All’s well that ends well. Kazutaka was safe now. There was nothing to worry about. Ren grabbed their attacker, who was bobbing up and down, and gave him the end of the rope.
✦ ✦ ✦
“See ya.”
✦ ✦ ✦
With that, Ren started swimming toward the bank. When he reached the shore, Fuwa, Todo, Toshi, and Kazutaka were waiting there.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Ren!”
✦ ✦ ✦
Kazutaka ran to him, his face wet from tears. They hugged each other, the attaché case a barrier between them. It was difficult to embrace with an opened attaché case getting in the way.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Why did it open? I thought the belts were strong enough. True, the spring around the hinges was quite strong, but I used two belts.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“They cut one belt in the van. They almost cut through the second one, too.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Kazutaka put the attaché case on the ground, kneeling down.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Look, right here.”
✦ ✦ ✦
The attaché case had scratches which must have been left as the men attempted to cut through the leather.
✦ ✦ ✦
“I see. Hanging by your left hand must have hurt a lot.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Ren tried to give him another hug, but Todo came over and shoved his stocky body between Ren and Kazutaka.
✦ ✦ ✦
“What’s up, Todo-san?”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Listen up, Ren. If you had both jumped from 35 feet and hit the water, Kazutaka’s wrist would have broken from the weight of the attaché case. Human bones are more fragile than metal. You may be an expert on iron and other metal, but you don’t know much about the human body. If you put Kazutaka-san in such danger again, my strong left hand will have to teach you a lesson.”