When I came back inside from the restrooms, Akira was sitting at our table in the food court again. Wanting to check if the item she’d stolen was actually a pack of batteries or not, I took a moment to casually walk down the aisle she’d been crouched in front of. On the shelves were a selection of lighters, souvenir pens, and—sure enough—batteries. My eyes had not deceived me. I could begrudgingly condone stealing things like food and toiletries we needed to live with dignity, given we had no other choice, but nothing more. Batteries were by no means a necessity, especially in our current situation. I needed to give her a firm warning about this.
“Hey.”
I jumped at the sound of Akira’s voice, then whirled around to see her staring at me suspiciously from the food court.
“Y-yeah, what’s up?” I asked.
“Where the hell’d you go?”
“Just to the bathroom.”
“Oh yeah? Sure took you a while.”
“N-not sure what to tell you…”
I tried to laugh off the awkwardness with a forced smile. Akira slung her backpack over her shoulders and stood up from her chair.
“We’ve rested here long enough,” she said. “Let’s get back on the road.”
“R-right. Okay.”
So much for giving her a firm warning, I guess. She hadn’t given me any time to muster up the courage to do so. I supposed it didn’t have to be right now; I could just find a good time to bring it up while we walked.
Even after we left the rest stop, I just kept putting it off and putting it off. Every time I almost broached the subject, my words caught in my throat. I really wasn’t good at having tough conversations with people. I’d been chided for my behavior many times in my life, but I had virtually no experience being the one on the other side of the table.
The one silver lining to my crippling indecisiveness was that it made the time go by an awful lot faster. Before I knew it, it was just past seven o’clock, and we were making our way down off the expressway at an interchange to head into a little downtown area. We’d spotted a decent fast-food joint from up above and agreed to stay there for the night. Had we any extra energy to spare at all, we might have taken some time to find a public bathhouse or traditional inn or something, but both of us were far too exhausted for that today. We entered the restaurant, and I set my backpack down on an empty table. Thankfully, there weren’t many customers in the building, so there was more than enough room for me to lie flat on one of the long sofa-style seats lining the walls.
“Mugino,” Akira called out with her mouth full. I turned to see that she had already helped herself to a box of chicken nuggets. “There was a conveyer belt sushi place just up the street. Let’s go eat there.”
“Sushi…?” I said, somewhat in disbelief.
“Yeah. I mean, I’ve been kinda craving it, and I guess I realized that hitting up a conveyer belt place might be our best bet—since there’ll always be a bunch of fresh plates comin’ down the pipeline, y’know? I mean, I know the quality’s gonna be a lot cheaper than a legit sushi place, but still.”
Looking smug, she puffed out her chest and popped another nugget into her mouth. A conflicting slurry of anxiety and aggravation filled my chest. Akira was starting to treat thievery as if it were nothing at all. Before long, she might even set her sights on far more valuable commodities than batteries and fast-food items. I knew if I let this go unchecked, there was a chance it might be too late to stop her. I had to say something now, before her kleptomaniac streak got any worse.
“Listen, um… Iguma-san?”
“Mm?” Akira mumbled, tilting her head as she licked the grease off her fingers. Immediately, I could feel myself getting nervous. But now that our rapport had improved to the point that we were calling each other by our last names, I knew she probably saw us more like equals and would respect what I had to say. I couldn’t get cold feet now; I’d just have to try to act natural and chide her as softly as I could.
“I really don’t think we should be doing that sort of thing so much…”
Akira stopped licking her fingers and looked at me, almost shocked. “Sorry, what sort of thing?”
“Well, like… It just feels a bit wrongfully indulgent, you know? Pigging out on sushi and stuff when it’s a bit more of a luxury.”
“Luxury?” Her face went stone-cold for a moment, and then she furrowed her brow defensively. “Then what do you suggest, huh? That we just eat cheap-ass bentos from convenience stores and supermarkets for every single meal? I really don’t see why we should have to be so strict about stuff like that—especially under these circumstances. We’re struggling enough to get by as it is.”
“Yes, but we don’t have the money to pay for it… Just because time’s stopped doesn’t mean we can do whatever the heck we like. We’ve gotta show a little restraint. All things in moderation, y’know?”
“I really don’t think anyone with half a brain would blame us for eating something a little nicer every once in a while.”
“Oh yeah? And how about what you stole from the rest stop, huh? You don’t think anyone would take issue with that either?”
“Huh? Whaddya talkin’ about?”
“You’ve got some batteries in your pocket, don’t you?” I asked cautiously.
Akira’s eyes went wide, then she averted them and clicked her tongue in disgust. “So you were spyin’ on me, huh?” she said sourly.
“Just happened to be walking by.”
It seemed she did recognize that it was something to feel guilty about after all. She scrubbed her fingers roughly through her hair in frustration.