“Who’d have thought that we’d meet each other here. Isn’t it such a coincidence, Master?”
I nodded to convey my agreement. At the moment, I was acting out the reticent and sour-faced bar master. Although he wasn’t an entire stranger, neither were we close enough for me to engage him in a frank conversation.
“Master, do you come visit this café often?”
“......Dropped in by chance.”
“Talk about being unlucky, right? Ahh, me? I’m here cus I have a job interview.”
Job interview? At this time of the year? It’s autumn now, though.
“I know it’s a weird time of the year, but they supposedly have positions even for mid-season hires.”
I thought I had kept up my sour look, but apparently my doubt her been visible on my face, so he answered my un-asked question amiably.
“Would you happen to have heard of it? It’s a place called Kaneyama Tech, and it’s located a street away from here. I heard that they’re hiring for someone to oversee their night shift guards. So I thought this could be a chance for me to use my special skill.”
Ah~hah! I bet he’s gotten himself fired and is therefore looking for a job in this off-season time. Guess he’s having it tough too. But that said... Kaneyama Tech, huh. Talk about coincidences. Because they’ve rapidly become a large company due to the abrupt expansion made possible by Kaburagi-san and my support, I’ve heard that they’re short-handed and thus accepting talented personnel left and right regardless of the season. However, this is my first time meeting someone hoping to get hired at Kaneyama Tech. I suppose their name really has gotten prominent enough that job seekers around Tokyo are actually giving them proper consideration.
As I mused over the surprise I felt at encountering this unexpected connection, the guy’s smile clouded over and he sighed. “However, due to this commotion, I have missed my interview. I mean, I did call them to explain what had happened, but then they told me that I don’t have to force myself to come. That was most likely a roundabout way of saying that I’ve been rejected, right? Or should I go still, but lower my head in apology? What do you think, Master?”
I brought my hand to my chin in contemplation.
Should he go to Kaneyama Tech’s interview or not? ......Though I agree that he probably shouldn’t force himself to go on a day like this. He should go home and rest up first. It probably would be asking a bit too much to demand that a job applicant head straight over to an interview immediately after having been caught up in an arsonist incident.
He should let go of some of that tension in his shoulders. In fact, how about I have him go home for the day to calm down first, and then I introduce him to Kaneyama Tech another day? ......Yep, let’s do that. And I’d meant to give this to the guys at Kaneyama, but oh well.
“It’s been a tough day for you. Hope it gets better.”
I reached into my bag and took out a bottle of Japanese rice wine of the slightly more expensive kind. When I passed it to the man, he broke into a smile. I knew that he was a severe wine-lover. Probably an alcohol addict, if I had to guess.
“Wow! This? You’re giving it to me? I won’t return it, you know. You sure about this?”
“Mm. Please continue patronizing us.”
“You bet I will! Ahh, I am going to enjoy tonight so much! Thank you very much!”
Glad to see you’ve recovered your spirits. I’m sure the wine would be happy too.
After he finished being questioned, he left with a spring in his step while cradling the wine bottle as if it was a piece of treasure. Apparently he had decided against going to Kaneyama Tech today, opting to go straight home to enjoy a cup instead.
Oh yes, it’s consideration like this that builds up the relationship with customers. I’m totally doing it right. Smirk......
“Apologies for the wait. We’ll keep this brief, it should only take about 5 minutes. Firstly, what’s your name?”
“......Kinemitsu Sago.”
After the alcohol addict dude, it was my turn.
Upon being asked my name by the policeman, I hesitated for a brief moment, but decided to go with my real name after all. I felt like it would have been a safer choice to use a false name, but I was afraid of the consequences if I was ever exposed. It would be like advertising that I had something to hide.
Kaburagi-san had previously told me that instead of doing a botch job of hiding things, acting confidently and boldly is much less likely to draw other people’s suspicion. Be honest most of the time, and only tweak the facts the tiniest bit when necessary. That is the best way of doing things.
The policeman asked me whether I knew anything about the arsonist’s motive and I answered as best I could, but my voice was shaking a little from the fear of being outed as an esper from some unexpected angle. But then again, I wasn’t the only person acting a bit shifty. Many other people also looked very bewildered and were struggling to maintain a proper conversation. On the flip side, it could perhaps be said that my nervousness made me blend in even better.
Thinking about it, anyone would act a bit weird upon being pressured by the police so soon right after having being a victim of an arsonist attempt. I highly doubted that I was the only person who, even if I was squeaky clean, would feel a bit sick from the unease and mental strain of facing a police officer.
I recalled that time during my middle school years when I got called out by a policeman—who I hadn’t noticed standing in the shade of a tree on the sidewalk—right after I jaywalked. From desperation born of a certainty that I was about to get arrested, I tried my best—and failed—to play innocent, barely holding back tears the entire time. I mean, the policeman literally saw me jaywalking, so of course there was no way to gloss over it. However, I did not get arrested. I only got a verbal warning, and my parents and school were not contacted.
That should have been obvious. If the police arrested every single middle schooler who jaywalked, then the overwhelming majority of Japanese people would have a criminal record. However, the fact of being questioned by a policeman was so nerve-wracking that it had completely slipped my mind. That was what made police questioning so troublesome.
But even so, I somehow managed to not bungle anything and safely got through this time’s questioning, and the policeman pronounced me acquitted. Once again, I headed over to Kaneyama Tech to pick Baba up.
Even though her pick up was late, Baba-chan (905 years old) behaved herself and waited for me quietly like a good girl. Then, on the ride back to the Takahashi residence, after hearing my account of the arsonist incident, she said prudently, “Perhaps some leveraging of the police might be called for.”
“Leveraging......?”
Wasn’t Kaburagi-san already doing that?
“How many encounters do you reckon we have had with the police from summer to autumn? Merely staying on guard against the police and bolstering our own defenses may be insufficient. We should perhaps consider going on the offensive, lest one day they push through and expose our identities.”
“Go on the offensive, you say, but how do we do that? Should we assault the headquarters of the Public Security team assigned to the Super Water Sphere Incident?”
That was the very core of the Japanese government’s effort at investigating espers and superpowers. True, there were also gaggles of people in mass media swarming all over the place, but they were not under a centralized command and so were of no threat to us.
But if we assault the police, won’t that burn bridges for real? We would be completely locked into the development of becoming Public Enemy #1.
Let alone the police, I had the power to destroy all of Japan in one blow, and so technically turning the police into our enemy wasn’t going to be much of a problem, but destroying the police was only going to cause problems. Japan would turn into a lawless land.
My answer caused Baba to look at me exasperatedly.
“Why did you leap straight to that? There isn’t only a single way to attack someone. No, there are non-violent ways of doing so too. What say you we give people what they want such that, in so doing, we divert their attention? Yes, I believe it shall serve us well.”
“You’ve been speaking in a really roundabout way for the past while. Please dumb it down for me.”
“Ahh, in other words...... let us drop the police hints about espers, and divert their eyes with decoys.”