Plate 8:
Candy
Scene 1
MY OLDER BROTHER threw away everything that mattered to me. So I decided to throw away what I treasured the most too.
It was winter, four years ago.
The Azuma Bridge was bathed in the light of dusk as a ball plummeted over the guardrails and splashed into the river below. It swayed precariously with the river’s rhythm, a bobbing sphere protruding from the surface. A ten-year-old Toi leaned over the guardrail and watched from above.
“Why are you throwing that away?”
Toi froze for a moment, thinking that he was being scolded. But when he looked, he spotted a child about the same age as him down by the riverside, peering up at him.
“Do you hate soccer now?” the boy asked.
Toi replied, “No, but I have to throw it away to survive.” Not that explaining it would do him any good; the other boy wouldn’t understand. Toi didn’t particularly want him to, either.
The boy mumbled, as if speaking to himself, “I wonder if that was the case for me too… I don’t have ties to anyone.”
Toi was too young to understand what such cryptic language might mean. Still, he got the impression that the two of them were similar in that they’d both lost something. “No one realizes the bonds they have until they’re gone,” he told the boy. That was an understanding he’d come to ever since his parents’ death. “I have to protect the only family I have left now. So…I’ve got to ditch soccer.”
That was the strength of his determination, born from the promise he made himself after everything that happened the night of the shooting. No longer would he be selfish.
He crumpled something in his hand and whipped his arm through the air as hard as he could, sending it in an arc over the edge of the railing. The blue friendship bracelet landed snugly in the waiting hands of the boy below.
“I’m giving you this!” said Toi.
Giving it away, throwing it away—it didn’t matter, as long as he was rid of it. Although his own childhood wish didn’t seem likely to come true.
“If it breaks, it’s supposed to grant the wearer a wish!” he shouted again, striking the same dramatic pose that used to encourage him so much. He would leave that pose, his sentimentality, and everything else behind.
There’s no way he remembers…right?
After that, Toi and his brother left Asakusa, passed from one distant relative to the next. There was a period during that time when he couldn’t even go to elementary school. Still, no matter how much his surroundings changed, he always had a futon to sleep on and three meals a day. Behind the scenes, he had to wonder… How much had his brother had to prostrate himself? How far had he soiled his hands, just to ensure they both had food to eat? Thinking about it only strengthened Toi’s sense of urgency.
Toi had forgotten about those memories, at least until he returned to this city, got wrapped up with those two troublemakers, turned into a kappa, and finally saw the blue friendship bracelet he’d given Kazuki all those years ago with his own eyes.
A carefree voice drifted to his ears from above. “Guess this is our last look at this place.”
“Brother!”
Chikai stepped from the water bus stop, clad in his usual dark suit. “Yo. Sorry I had to make you come out here so early in the morning.” He sounded as indifferent as ever, which only fanned the flames of Toi’s anxiety.
“Is everything okay? What happened?”
“Dunno. But it looks like they probably sniffed out what happened four years ago.”
Toi stiffened at those words, a reflexive response to being reminded of what he’d done.
“Hm? Don’t tell me you think it’s your fault that this is happenin’?”
“Not exactly…”
“Tch. When are you finally gonna let me take care of everything?”
Never—Toi could say that much with certainty. His brother had said that knowing full well that Toi would never let himself need too much from Chikai. Toi knew best of all what would happen if he took his brother’s words at face value.
“You’re doin’ good.” Chikai wasted no time extending his large hand toward Toi, mussing the hair atop his sweaty forehead. Toi raised his eyes, determined to complain this time, but when he did, he was met with a piercing, earnest look from his brother. “But don’t forget. Just like you need me, I need you, too.”
Don’t take his words at face value, he reminded himself.
“Come with me, Toi.”
But it’s not like it’ll kill me to believe what he says, either.
“Brother…”
Everything he wanted up until now—everything he begged for—was being lined up right in front of his very eyes. He’d be a fool not to take it. He knew that, and yet…
“Hm? What’s wrong?” Chikai asked.
He didn’t want to ruin his brother’s mood. “…I’d like a little bit of time,” he said.
“Huh?”
Panicked, Toi added, “No, don’t get the wrong idea! I am going with you. My mind’s already made up about that. But there’s a couple of guys that need me right now and…” The right words simply wouldn’t come out. There was no way he could hope to persuade his brother like this.
Or so he thought.
“Bwahah! I haven’t seen you with that kinda look on your face in a long time.”
“Wha…?!” Toi was frantic, and yet his brother was laughing at him. He felt both embarrassed and annoyed, but it had been a long time since he’d seen his brother laugh like this.
“Okay, okay. I’ll wait for ya. But just one day.” By the time Chikai said those last words, all traces of laughter evaporated.
Scene 2
THERE WAS AN OLD Smart Ball arcade just a short walk from Asakusa’s Sixth Ward’s five-way intersection, in the direction of Hanayashiki. Enta was inside it, grumbling to himself. The arcade was run by his grandmother as a sort of hobby, but its retro look made it popular with residents and sightseers alike. Today, it was bustling with customers.
“Kazuki, that jerk! Why’s he gotta blame me for everything, huh?! Who’s more important anyway, me or Toi?!” Enta was sporting a yellow cap on his head and a lollipop stick protruding from his mouth—one of the prizes he won. He yanked roughly at the levers on the game tower.
It was only the third day of summer break, and his mood couldn’t have been worse. His misdeeds were revealed during the previous night’s secret leak, but he was loathe to remember what happened afterward. Suffice to say that he and Kazuki had had a huge fight, hence his current state of despair.
Each of the blue balls he released gradually sank down into the gutter. Enta was a run-of-the-mill player, but playing half-heartedly and randomly pounding the controls quickly drained all of the balls he had. He turned the levers, only to realize he lost, and then started cursing.
“What? Already? Ugh, see?! Nothing ever goes right!”
Suddenly, a man’s large hand appeared in front of him, a ball pinched between his thumb and forefinger. “If nothing’s going right, just throw it all away.” He dropped it into the slot on the machine. “Life is a make-it-or-break-it game.”
Ga-thunk.
“You can change out balls, but you only get one life, so…” He smoothly pulled the lever, sending the ball bouncing until it landed gracefully in the highest scoring hole. The prize tray filled up with an enormous number of balls.
“Incredible!”
“Right?” The man looked triumphant.
When Enta looked back at the stranger, he let out a small squeak of alarm.
“Hm? Somethin’ on my face?”
Beneath the visor of his hat, Enta could clearly see Toi’s older brother. His face was mostly unchanged from the way Enta had seen it in Toi’s memories, but the sinister aura around him had grown stronger.
“No, nothing! Oh yeah, as thanks, here…” Enta held out one of the lollipops he brought with him, hoping to distract Chikai from realizing Enta recognized him. He trembled, wondering if the man might get angry at him for being patronizing by offering such a thing.
“Oh, good. I just ran out actually. Looks like helpin’ people has its benefits.” To Enta’s surprise, Toi’s brother looked delighted at the gift. But then his fierce features took a frightening shift as he spotted the two silhouettes loitering outside. Chikai clicked his tongue, making Enta flinch in fear.
The two silhouettes belonged to the police officers Reo and Mabu.
“So this is the leader of the group of swindlers from Tama… This is balls. Why do we gotta find him?” Reo grumbled, glancing down at the file in his hands with disinterest.
“They told us about this at the emergency summons briefing. This is the suspect’s birthplace. There is a good chance he might pass through here,” Mabu replied, reaffirming the necessary details of the case.
“Uh-huh. And?”
“He’s the suspected culprit of that shooting four years ago. If we arrest him, it’s a guaranteed Kappa Zombie.”
“Hmph.” Reo scoffed. “For a defective puppet, you sure are desperate to earn their goodwill.”
This was the kind of disparagement Mabu came to expect from Reo. It was a daily occurrence. Reo could sense his partner’s pensive silence, but when he lifted his eyes, he saw a wooden box being held out toward him. Inside were three adorable otter-shaped ningyo-yaki.
“You think I’m going to listen to you if you give me stuff like this?” Reo scoffed. If so, this “Mabu” was certainly underestimating him. Despite that, Reo hated to let food go to waste. He decided to test one, snapping off a piece with his teeth.
“Urgh! It’s still raw.”
“I-It seems to be clear.” Enta and Chikai peered out from the rear of the Smart Ball Arcade.
The two looked conspicuous with their backs pressed to the wall, gliding sideways down the back alley with the noon sun glaring down from above. They stopped once they reached the main street, which was crowded with sightseers. They would draw too much suspicion, walking like that.
“Phew, thanks for that. You know this area pretty well?” Chikai asked. Judging by the way he walked up ahead, he was just as familiar with the roads.
“When I was young, I played around here a lot with Kazu—uh, my friend.”
“Everything seems to have changed. The city and the people.”