by Kotaro Isaka
T he creaking grew louder and he glanced up, wondering whether the knot would hold. They were above him now, looking down. "Stop or I'll shoot!" yelled one of the men. Aoyagi nearly lost his grip on the rope. T hey were leaning over the railing, and he was staring down—or up—the l)arrel of a gun, aimed carefully at him.
Aoyagi was shaking, but he managed to let go of the ro|)e with his right hand and fumble in the pocket of his jacket. He found the object he'd borrowed from Inai's brcjken box: a dart, (jripj)ing it in his free hand, he leaned back. T here was no time to aim. His left arm clutched the rope tighter and his right arm let fly in the direction of the balcony above.
He heard the sound ot scraj)ing metal: the extra weight from his throw must have broken the fittings on the flimsy railing. T he rojie went limp in his hand. As he tell back, he thought he saw the dart stuck in the lace above him.
Legs drawn up to his cliest, he landetl in a row ol a/aleas under Inai's balcony. His knees struck his chin and the shock lett him da/ed. lUit a moment
REMOTE CONTROL
later he was up and running again. Glancing over his shoulder, he could see the two men watching him go. Gne of them was holding his cheek, but the other was aiming a gun—though the shot never came.
He ran down a row of cars in the parking lot to the south, checking for unlocked doors. Though he knew it might be useless with roadblocks ringing the city, he wanted a car. He needed to escape the fear and exhaustion, if only for a few hours or a few miles.
One of the energy bars fell from his pack, but he didn't stop to pick it up: he had spotted a lock button protruding above a door. Opening the driver's side, he reached in by the steering wheel—no key. He checked the sun visor and the glove compartment. Still no luck.
Slamming the door, he took off again.
He ran out to the road and followed a narrow sidewalk. T here was a guardrail to his left, the street side, and a line of telephone poles to his right. At one point, as he hustled along, his shoulder struck one of the poles and he nearly doubled over from the pain; but he rubbed the shoulder, gritted his teeth, arid ran on.
How had they found him? There was only one possibility. He remembered what the police chief had said on TV—about Sendai and the "one bright spot in the tragedy." The Security Pods.
As he ran, he pulled his phone from his pocket—the likely culprit. But it wasn't clear whether they could find him just because the phone was turned on or because they'd intercepted the calls he made. Maybe they could trace a call to a general area but not an exact location. They might have known he was in Inai's building, but not which apartment—so they had relied on the manager.
He remembered Kazu and thought he should call him back. But would they get a fix on him as soon as he hit "send"? With the power down, he slipped his phone back in his pocket.
Coming out on a major road, four lanes with wide sidewalks on either side, he slowed to a walk, took the cap out of his pack, and pulled it down over his eyes. He had come some distance from the site of the explosion, and the people he passed seemed less agitated.
Ahead to his right was a bus stop. He pulled the cap further down on his face as he approached. A woman in high heels was studying the timetable.
THE INCIDENT
"Is there one coming soon?" he asked her.
"I was just checking," she said, frowning slightly. She straightened and turned toward Aoyagi. "Seems like I've been here forever."
"With all the roadblocks, the bus company probably can't keep up."
"Roadblocks?" she said, frowning again.
"The e.xplosion today?" Aoyagi said. "They've got all the highways blocked off, and they set up checkpoints."
"What explosion?" Her voice was high-pitched, her eyes hooded over. "What are you talking about?"
Cars were passing by. No bus, but traffic was moving. You might not be able to get out of the city, but you could still get around in it, though there were probably traffic jams here and there.
"You mean you haven't heard? Prime Minister Kaneda was killed by a bomb." He realized his voice was too loud and might have frightened her. But he had merely aroused her curiosity.
"Kaneda? Who's he?" she said, taking a step toward him. "And why'd they kill him?"
Aoyagi looked around. He had run here all the way from Inai's place, but there was still a chance those men could have followed him.
"Look, I'm sorrv—I'm in a bit of a hurrv."
"Oh, don't be," she said. "Didn't somebody famous say 'Haste makes waste' or something?"
"Who was that?" said Aoyagi.
"1 don't know. 1 heard it on T V. Some guy trying to set a record for knocking over the most dominos. . . . But tell me about this bomb," she said, her lijjs pursing and puckering. "Who did it?"
The back (fi his neck prickled and he turned slightly. Standing in the distance was the man with the gun who'd been at Inai's building. Apparently he hadn't spotted Aoyagi yet.
"Hi there," a voice called. Aoyagi turned to find a big loreign car pulling to a stop in tront ol them and a man leaning out the window. "Looking tor a date?" the man said. His hair was tri//ed in a perm, anti the arm iKinging out the windf)w was fleshy. His lace was Hat, his eyes hidden behind dark glasses.
"I'm waiting lor the biis," said the woman, sidling up to the car, "but 1 d(jn't think they're running. I low about ii ride? I'm .dready late lor .i party."
REMOTE CONTROL
"Ho}") in/' he told her. "But who needs a party? I'm already here. . . . And who's this?" he said, turning toward Aoyagi.
"I just met him," said the woman, on her way around to get in the car. "But did you know that somebody named Kaneda got killed? Big politician?"
"Never heard of him," said the man. Aoyagi was stunned, but also a bit envious, that anyone could be so ignorant. She's off to her party, he's out cruising, and I'm here in the Twilight Zone—except it's real. What a joke. "But that's probably why the town's crawling with cops," the man added.
"You get in, too," she said, coming back around to grab Aoyagi's arm. "You can tell us all about it on the way." He didn't resist when she pulled him toward the car.
As he slid into the back seat, he nearly gagged on a cloud of sickly sweet air freshener, and he had to shove aside a slew of CD cases. Slouching down, he peered out the window. The man was still there on the sidewalk.
"Where're you headed?" the woman asked from the front seat.
"Just hope it's not far," said the man driving, craning around. "Takes forever to get anywhere with all these cops. What is this anyway? Safe Driving Week?"
"It's the bombing," Aoyagi said levelly.
"Right! You said that, and somebody died?"
As he listened to them babble away, Aoyagi felt a slight sense of relief. The police knew where he lived and where he might be going; they knew his name and what he looked like. But no one else—including these two— seemed to have any idea who he was or how he might be connected with the assassination. He had begun to believe that everyone in the city was after him, and he found it a bit reassuring now to realize he was wrong. Maybe there was somewhere he could hide. He'd try Kazu first.
h
Masaharu Aoyagi
"To what do 1 owe the honor?" Ten years earlier, Kazu had looked annoyed as he opened the door to find Aoyagi and Morita standing outside. "Do you know what time it is?"
THE INCIDENT
"Sure," Aoyagi laughed, looking down at his watch. "It's eleven." Kazu was living in an old, ramshackle apartment building thirty minutes from downtown on foot.
"Have you two been out drinking?" he asked. His hair was wet and he looked as though he had just pulled on the dark blue sweat suit.
"Sorry," said Morita, leaning on Aoyagi's shoulder. "Were you already in bed?"
Kazu sighed. "1 was, and not planning on entertaining two boozy upperclassmen."
"The best-laid plans . . .," Morita muttered. His face was bright red. "Don't make us stand out here. When your elders and betters come callin
g on a cold December night, you don't usually ask them in?"
"1 don't," said Kazu calmly. He rarely got really angry—which they saw as both a strength and a weakness in his personality. "Anyway, you'll have to wait a minute while 1 clean up a little."
With that he disappeared, and they were left in the open air, leaning against the railing and staring up at the night sky.
"Whadda we do if he never comes back?" Aoyagi said.
"We'll talk about it in years to come, 'the night Kazu never came back,"' said Morita.
"Then I hope it snows," said Aoyagi. "It makes a better story with snow."
"If it starts to snow. I'm sure he'll let us in."
"I wouldn't, if I were him."
"Why's that?"
"Because I'd want to see what we'd look like buried in snow."
"You're right, that does sound interesting, present conijiany e.xcepted," Morita murmured. At this point the door oj)ened again.
"D(j come in," said Kazu.
"(jenerally speaking," said Kazu, launching into a sermon as soon iis Aoyagi and M(jrita were seated, "you wait until December when girls get all moonie (jver (diristmas, and then you throw a party and you find a dale. It's pretty simple, really, l.xcejit you haven't done it." Kazu's apartment was modest— just tw(j small tatami rooms—but neat l)y student standards. Yi*t there w.is something dejiressing about the holes that doited the jitiper closet tloor.
REMOTE CONTROL
"True/' Aoyagi nodded solemnly.
"But, but," Vlorita stammered mournfully, "if Aoyagi spends Christmas with Haruko, can 1 come see you, Kazu?"
"You can if you don't mind watching me make out with my girl," he said. At this, Morita's mouth fell open, his lower lip trembled, and he began to rock as though in pain.
"You, too? Since when?" he moaned, like a man who had been betrayed.
"Since a while ago. I met her at work."
"How'd you get a girl?" he said, pointing at Kazu's grubby sweat suit. "Just look at vou!"
j
"They're pajamas," Kazu said.
"1 wouldn't wear that even to sleep in."
Kazu turned toward Aoyagi, as if to say that he couldn't talk to Morita in this condition. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" he said again, with mock formality. "I thought the plan was to introduce our friend here to a girl this evening."
"That's right. He said he absolutely had to find a girlfriend before Christmas," said Aoyagi. "So 1 arranged a date with a girl from the place Haruko used to work."
"But you struck out?" Kazu asked, turning back to Morita.
"Not exactly. We had fun," he said, waving his finger like a maestro's baton. "Well, / had fun."
"And what about the girl?"
"She seemed to be enjoying herself," Aoyagi said. "And Morita was a little quieter than usual—he even managed to avoid mentioning the 'voice of the forest.'"
"I'm sure all the little wood sprites and fairies were weeping."
"We had dinner, and a few drinks. Then we went to a karaoke place."
Kazu passed them each a mug of tea and leaned back against the closet door to sip his own. "He's a good singer, so that should have been okay."
"And sing he did, like a regular rock star. Some song by that group everybody's listening to. . . ." Aoyagi's voice trailed off as he failed to remember the name of the band.
"You mean Fiber Optic?" said Kazu, his eyes growing wide. Aoyagi nodded. "But you Ihite them," Kazu said to Morita.
THE INCIDENT
''You cud say dat," Morita nodded, his voice beginning to slur badly.
"But he found out the girl was a big fan," said Aoyagi.
"And you knew one of their songs?"
"Well," said Morita, slumping forward, "1 practiced a little."
"He was fantastic," Aoyagi put in.
"But how could you sing that trash? It's like selling your soul to the devil."
"You know," Morita said with a thin smile, "a liddle Fiberopic woulda been a small price to pay to not spend Christmas alone."
"But it didn't work out?"
"It was looking good when we left the karaoke place," said Aoyagi. "Haruko and I were walking a little ahead, but I could hear them talking. I thought everything was going great. But I guess in the end she just wasn't interested."
"I sent her an email after we said goodnight," Morita told him.
"But you don't have a cell phone, do you?" Kazu asked.
Morita groaned. "1 borrowed Aoyagi's, but she never answered. CDur little romance was DO A."
"You don't know that," said Kazu. "What did you say in the mail?"
"1 said 'I had a lot of fun. Can 1 see you again?"' Morita recited.
"Doesn't sound like you at all," said Kazu. "Which is good."
"That's what 1 thought. But she never answered."
"Maybe she's the type who likes to keep you waiting awhile. Or maybe you weren't receiving mail right then. Did you check with the call center to see whether the system was working?"
"So many times 1 think 1 pissed them off. 'You lunrii't got mail' is my new call name. But 1 can't say 1 was surprised." Morita fell silent, staring at his la[). The refrigerator thrummed in the kitchen and there was a low creaking in the walls somewhere. T he closet door rattled as Kazu shifted position.
"But you know, Morita," said Kazu, speaking up at last, "who needs a girl who doesn't rec(.>gnize your true value? 1 hate to see you all messed up over this."
.Mfjrita l(Kjked up and sighed. "Shit," he muttered. "It was close, though."
Kazu looked puzzled.
"Shit," .Morita said again, running his hanil through his hair.
"( juess 1 win," said Aoyagi.
"Win what?" said Kazu.
REMOTE CONTROL
Morita sounded glum. 'The truth is, the girls put off our little party till tomorrow."
"What does he mean?" said Kazu, turning to Aoyagi.
"You see, Morita was nervous about meeting this girl tomorrow, so we went out drinking tonight to help him relax. But he kept saying he didn't know what he'd do if things didn't work out, so to shut him up I told him you'd take care of him. Then he started saying you weren't really that nice a guy."
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
"So, we decided to try a little experiment, just in case—to see how you'd react if we showed up here with a sob story."
"And we made a bet," said Morita. "Aoyagi bet you'd be nice to me, and I bet you wouldn't."
"You see, he really is a good guy," said Aoyagi, smiling.
"What the fuck?" Kazu muttered again, looking more than a little annoyed at being made the butt of their joke.
Aoyagi took a sip of tea. "Anyway, Morita, now you've got a backup plan for tomorrow," he said.
"And when you crash and burn, you really think you can come here?" Kazu said.
"This was just a rehearsal," said Morita. "Tm counting on you."
Masaharu Aoyagi
"To what do I owe the honor?" said Kazu, as he opened the door of his apartment and found Aoyagi standing outside. Surprise and then suspicion showed on his face in quick succession.
"I know it's sudden, but I need a place to crash tonight," Aoyagi said. Kazu's hair had grown since they'd last met, and he seemed somehow more substantial. Maybe he'd just gained weight. "Sorry to call out of the blue," he added.
"I tried calling you back."
"Oh? 1 had my phone off."
THE INCIDENT
"Well, come in," Kazu said, stepping aside to let him pass. Aoyagi bent to remove his shoes and then followed him into the living room, where he slipped off his backpack.
The room was sparsely furnished, just a low table, a TV, and a jumble of cables that seemed to belong to one of the newer game systems. Aoyagi murmured his thanks again as he sat down and leaned back against the wall next to the closet. When Kazu disappeared into the kitchen, he took a few deep breaths to calm himself and checked the blue-black bruise that was forming where he had hi
t his arm against the telephone pole.
"How long has it been?" Kazu said when he came back from the kitchen carrying two mugs. He handed one to Aoyagi, who let the steam warm his face for a moment.
"Tm not sure," he said. "1 think the last time was when you helped me move out of that apartment."
"That's probably right," said Kazu, lowering himself to the floor. He picked up a cushion and offered it to him.
"Office closed today?" Aoyagi asked, waving off the cushion. Kazu had gone to work for the local government soon after graduation. "1 didn't think I'd find you here this early."
"1 quit that job a couple of years back."
"No kidding? Why?"
"Got sick of the place. 1 was just too serious, 1 guess. I got everything done during regular business hours."
"A model employee," said Aoyagi.
"1 thought so. Hut it didn't sit well with the guys 1 worked for. T hey fooled around all day and then stayed late to collect overtime. Since 1 was going home at five, they j)retended 1 didn't have enough to do and really piled it on. T hey even tcKjk work away from guys who did next to nothing to give it t(j me. T his pissed me off. Ksj)ecially since 1 knew their overtime was coming cjut (d my taxes."
"(,an't say 1 blame you," Aoyagi siad. Kazu was as idealistic as he'd been back in school.
"So 1 quit. 1 wanted them to see how much they needed me, how hard it would be il I wasn't there to pick u|) the slack."
"And did they see the error ol their ways?"
REMOTE CONTROL
“Not exactly," Kazii laughed. “I don't think they even noticed I was gone."
“So, you could say your decision was a bit hasty?"
“A bit. I kick myself every day."
“So what are you doing now?" Aoyagi asked.
“Working at a shop," he said, mentioning a clothes store in the Fashion Building downtown. When Aoyagi admitted he had never heard of the brand, Kazu laughed. “A good-looking guy like you should pay more attention to his appearance. You'd clean up real nice," he said. “For example, where'd you get that lump of a backpack?"