by Rocco Ryg
Gen handed each girl a walkie-talkie. “Okay, here’s the plan. Person A, that’s you Renka-chan, will enter the front and ask for a massage, thus distracting Ms. Nagasado for a while. If Michiko comes home early, you will press the beeper on your walkie-talkie to warn us. Person B, that’s you Chikara-san, will stand right here and keep guard from the rear. Person C, that’s me, will enter the room and search for the ring or anything else. All clear?”
Though impressed by his cunning plan, Chikara didn’t like her part. “I don’t want to be Person B.”
“Why not?” asked Gen.
“I want to search the room myself. I’ve always wondered what skeletons she’s hiding.”
“But I have night vision. I won’t need to turn on the light for the mom to notice. Plus, if Michiko comes home, you’ll be screwed.”
“Just let me do it, Gen. I feel like I have to.”
Gen sighed, knowing his plan had already flopped. “Okay, fine. I’ll stand guard, you search the room, and Renka-chan can get the massage.”
“I don’t think I should be Person A, Gen-kun,” said Renka. “I used to know Ms. Nagasado. What if she recognizes me? She’ll wonder why I came here all by myself.”
Renka felt his frustration. Gen just shrugged his shoulders and replied, “Fine, I’ll get the massage, you stand guard and you search the room. Any more objections? Okay, walkie-talkies on and set to the same channel?”
The girls replied, “Check.”
“Watches synchronized?”
“Check.”
“Ski masks on?”
Renka slipped hers over her face, but Chikara didn’t. “Gen-san, don’t be a dope.”
“Whatever. Good luck.” Gen formed a ladder from the darkness that stretched up to the window. Chikara climbed the ladder and opened the unlocked entrance. When she was safely inside, Gen ran around to the front of the house and walked through the door. Ms. Nagasado put down her romance novel and acknowledged her customer. Gen stood up straight and said, “Hello. I’ve had a very stressful day and I need a long, relaxing massage.”
Ms. Nagasado looked a tad suspicious. This boy was much younger than her usual customers. “How old are you?”
“Eighteen, ma’am. I’m about to graduate.”
“Then you came to the right place. Come in, there’s no line.”
Gen noticed the murals and paintings on the living room walls. They showed pictures of mountains, hot springs and forests painted with soft, bright colors designed to put the body in a state of relaxation. A collection of towels and oil bottles surrounded the special chair, which was programmed to recline and massage the back with the push of a button. Ms. Nagasado certainly knew how to present her office.
“Now, just remove your clothes in the changing room and put on this robe.”
“Actually, I’d prefer to leave my pants on, if you don’t mind.” He couldn’t take them off because the walkie-talkie sat in his pocket.
“You don’t need to be embarrassed. Everyone gets aroused in the chair.”
Is she coming on to me? Like daughter, like mother. Gen then said aloud, “No, I just want them on.” He took off his shirt and lay on the reclining chair.
Hearing their dialog through the door, Chikara turned the light on and looked around Michiko’s room. A huge television sat on her dresser, probably a gift from her spoiling mother. Posters of pop stars and beautiful models adorned her walls. She remembered that Michiko was always dancing, singing and acting in the school plays. What if she aspired to be a celebrity like in the pictures? With her paranormal talent for persuasion, she could be anything she wanted. The entire Japanese entertainment industry would be hers for the taking. Chikara shuttered at the idea. Her own parents had taught her the ethics of hard work and perseverance, but here, an undeserving little harpy could have anything she wanted for nothing.
Wasting no more time, she looked under the bed and pulled out a storage container. Finding nothing but expensive designer clothes, she put it back and looked through the dresser, finding more clothes that Michiko probably never wore. She next opened her writing desk and rummaged through the supplies, but still found no sign of the ring.
Downstairs, Gen greatly enjoyed the soothing backrub that Ms. Nagasado gave him. He had to admit she had real talent. He felt like his back had turned to jelly and that she was ferrying him across nirvana itself. Michiko had told him the truth. Her mother really was the best masseuse in town.
The sound of the door opening and young girls chattering broke him out of his pleasant experience. Michiko stood at the front with Chisato, Yukiko and Kaijin, who all stared right back at him. “Kagekuro?” said the surprised Michiko. “What are you doing here?”
Gen quickly reached into his pocket and pushed the beeper on his walkie-talkie. “You said your mom gives great massages, so I decided to try it out. You were right… she’s a miracle worker.”
Ms. Nagasado looked pleasantly surprised. “Oh, you two know each other?”
Gen had to stall for time so that Chikara could get out of there. “Oh yeah, we went to dinner yesterday at Kedakai. We had a fun time.”
Kaijin turned to Michiko and asked in a jealous tone, “Wait, you went to dinner with him?”
The stunned young girl tried to explain. “I was just trying to... you know... forget about it.” Kaijin stopped talking, but his feeling of betrayal still lingered in his brain despite the specific command.
Michiko felt like ordering Gen out, but she couldn’t interfere with her mother’s business. “We’re going to my room. Good night, Kagekuro.”
Needing more time, Gen said, “Wait... Ms. Nagasado, did you ever teach Michiko your superb technique?”
The flattered woman replied, “Why, yes. It’s been in my family for generations.”
“Maybe Michiko can try it out on me too? I’d love to see what she’s learned.”
Michiko flashed a look of disgust. “No, I’m not touching you. Just leave when you’re done.”
“No really, I think we made a great connection last night. Remember all the times you kicked my feet? What about our kiss? I thought it was really cute.” Gen hoped that Chikara had made it out of the room by then, because this humiliated him almost as much as it did Michiko.
With her girlfriends looking at her with amusement, and her “boyfriend” looking depressed and betrayed, Michiko forcefully shouted, “That was nothing. I just wanted to... I don’t know, just leave.”
She stormed upstairs, her friends in tow, giving Gen no more options. He jumped out of the chair and grabbed his shirt. “Oh crap! I’m sorry, Ms. Nagasado, but I just remembered I have a term paper due tomorrow. It’s forty percent of my grade. I have to go. Here, keep the change.” He handed her a 5000 yen bill and ran out of the door to the back, where he saw Renka hiding in a bush.
Just a few moments earlier, Chikara opened the drawer at the side of the bed just as the walkie-talkie’s beeper went off, warning her to get out. Before it could register in her mind, she noticed the familiar metallic case inside the drawer. She picked it up and opened it, and her eyes widened in shock when a ring identical to her own returned her gaze. It had the same stone and markings on the gold band. She didn’t want to believe it, but the proof didn’t lie.
Chikara heard footsteps trotting up the stairs and knew it was time to leave. However, she couldn’t go just yet. She confirmed the existence of the second ring, but she still had no explanation as to how her rival obtained it. Maybe if she left it out in the open, Michiko would tell her friends. It was a long shot, but Chikara just had to know and this could have been her only chance. She left the open case on the dresser, closed the window and hid in the closet just as Michiko and her friends walked in. She then raised her walkie-talkie to her lips and whispered, “I’m staying in the closet. Get ready on my command.”
From the thin wood grating of the closet door, Chikara could see them walk into the room, passing under the smoke detector hanging from above the door. Michiko remov
ed her jacket and threw it on her study chair. Chisato and Yukiko sat on her bed, while Kaijin stood against a wall out of everybody’s way. With an amused grin, Yukiko asked her friend, “So did you really kiss Kagekuro?”
Michiko groaned, “Yeah, I did. He told me Kusaka and he did it, so I... I don’t know what I was thinking. Sorry Kaijin-kun, it meant nothing.”
Kaijin just nodded, although the true pain of her actions stabbed him in the heart like a katana.
“I can’t believe Renka would do a guy like him,” she said, a tinge of jealousy imprinted on her lips. “I mean, she’s always been dependant and submissive but... damn, I don’t get it.”
From within the closet, Chikara clutched her fists. Kagekuro had a lot of explaining to do when this was over. If this was true, all the darkness in the cosmos wouldn’t protect him from her wrath.
“At least she’s getting some at all,” added Chisato. The girl then noticed the strange case left on the drawer. “Hey, what’s this?”
Michiko turned around and saw the exposed ring on her dresser. She swore she put it away that morning. “Who took that out?”
“It was just here,” replied Chisato, who couldn’t tell why her friend was so mad.
Yukiko made the connection immediately. “Wait a minute... isn’t that Kaminari’s ring? It is! You actually took it?”
Michiko darted over and closed the case. “No, it’s... it’s mine.” She quickly opened the drawer and threw it inside like a toxic substance.
Chisato stood up and put her hand on her friend’s shoulder. “Michiko-chan... we’ve been friends forever. If something’s hurting you, you can tell us.”
Michiko looked into her friend’s sincere eyes and felt her heart soften. The thought of revealing the truth always frightened her, but getting it off her chest suddenly didn’t seem so bad anymore. “Kaijin-kun, go downstairs.” As instructed, Kaijin left the room. When his footsteps stopped, Michiko sat down by her computer and logged on to the internet. “I’ve never told anyone this before.”
Yukiko said, “Hey, that’s what friends are for, right? What’s wrong?”
Chikara couldn’t see through the closet door, but she could hear the sounds of typing. She listened hard for what they had to say.
Michiko typed a name into a search engine and brought up a picture of a handsome Caucasian man. “Who is that?” asked Chisato.
“His name is Maxwell Chillingworth. He’s my father.” The girls gazed back at the photo. The man looked to be in his early fifties, with well-groomed brown hair and a charismatic smile, but one detail in particular caught their attention the most. His haunting gray eyes that radiated through the computer screen were a perfect match to the young woman who claimed to be his daughter.
“That’s... your father?” asked Yukiko, still shocked at this awkward revelation.
Chisato recognized the name. “Chillingworth? Like the diamonds?”
“Yes, he’s the heir to the Chillingworth jewelry company. He was also the United States’ Ambassador to Japan, and later to the United Nations.” Michiko spoke with a depressing tone. Chikara, who had always suspected her nemesis to be part Caucasian, listened carefully.
“I always used to ask my mom who my dad was, but she would just clam up and change the subject. Last year, I just got so mad, I shouted at her to tell me, and she did. She told me how he came in to the parlor for a massage, and how it led to the one night stand that made me. She never even called him. She didn’t want to damage his damned career!” Michiko started to tear up. Her friends touched her shoulders in an attempt at comfort.
Chikara couldn’t believe this. Although she truly felt bad for her, she couldn’t help but also feel a sadistic sense of satisfaction. She couldn’t recall ever seeing Michiko cry or display any empathy towards another human being, and hearing her sob while talking about her absent father gave her a feeling of poetic justice.
Michiko continued, “So I tried to get in touch with him. I sent him a few letters, but he never responded. He didn’t care. So I tried to blackmail him. That would get his attention. I told him I’d tell the media and his wife if he didn’t respond to me. His career would be over. The bastard just sent me twenty-five thousand American dollars in hush money. So I did it again... I just wanted him to talk to me. What was I supposed to do? I just wanted to get to know him.”
She walked over to her drawer and pulled the lead case back out. “Instead, he sends me this thing... a weird ring in a metal case. He wrote a note telling me to wear it for a while, but not too long. He said it would give me great power. I don’t know what that meant. So then I tried to call him, and I found out he was dead. He died of cancer and all he gave me was money and this worthless ring.” At this point, she completely broke down and collapsed on the bed. Chisato and Yukiko ran to her side to offer their arms in support.
Chikara stood there dumbfounded. How was this possible? A parent dies of cancer and leaves his child a ring that grants supernatural talents, telling her not to wear it too long? The parallels between Michiko’s story and her own couldn’t have been coincidence. This had to be much bigger than she thought.
Michiko continued to cry her eyes out while her friends tried to cheer her up. When she returned to her senses, she wiped away her tears and said, “Thanks, guys. Who needs him, anyway? I can have whatever I want.”
Chikara figured Michiko was finished revealing her secrets. She raised her walkie-talkie and whispered, “I’m done. Get me out of here.”
Yukiko raised her head and asked, “Did you guys hear something?”
“Oh oh.”
Outside, Gen heard the order and tried to come up with a way to extract Chikara without the trio upstairs seeing her. He noticed a utility pole near the street and came up with a crazy idea. “Renka-chan... make them scared.”
“What?”
“Change their emotions to terror. I’ve got a plan.” He concentrated on the space above the electric cables and formed a giant guillotine-like blade above them. As the huge razor cut through the wires, Gen created a hand that grabbed onto the pylon transformer and crushed it into scrap. Within seconds, the lights in every home on the block went out. Wasting no time, Renka thought of everything that scared her and channeled it into the three girls upstairs. When Gen heard the sounds of females panicking, he used the newly-formed darkness to create a horrifying dragon head. He extended the monstrous creation into the window and heard the girls scream in fright. When he heard slamming door and trampling down the staircase, he lifted himself into the window on a rising dark pillar and shouted, “Chikara-san, let’s go!”
Chikara exited the closet. “What did you do?”
“I hit the lights. I can’t do anything without pitch black, you know that. Come on, get on the pillar.”
Before she reached the window, Chikara said, “You were right. She has her own ring, just like mine. Do you see the case?”
Using his night vision, Gen looked around the room. “No, it’s not here.”
“Damn! She must have held on to it.”
Gen lowered the pillar to the ground. Noticing the lack of light in any neighboring houses, Chikara yelled, “What the... did you take out the whole street?”
“If we had stuck to my plan...”
Renka interrupted, “Guys, don’t you think we should leave before the police show up?”
“Good idea, let’s go.” Gen led the way behind the back yards out of view of witnesses. Having nothing but his ability to see in the dark to guide them, Renka and Chikara followed.
***
Nagasado Nyoko walked back down the stairs, her flashlight leading her through the dark house. “I checked, girls. No dragons up there.” She used a lighter to ignite the candles, allowing them everyone to see.
“But Mom, we all saw it! It was huge and black and had sharp teeth!” Michiko still couldn’t get the horrifying creature out of her mind, and her friends were just as scared. She didn’t even notice herself holding onto Kaijin, who enj
oyed comforting her.
Nyoko wasn’t the least bit concerned. “It must have been an owl or something. The mind plays tricks in the dark.” Michiko had never known her mother to show fear. She must have been the most laid back, unworried person in Japan, or even the world.
Chisato, still on the phone with her parents, came back from the kitchen. “Hey, I have to get home. My mom asks if you can drive us, Ms. Nagasado? She doesn’t want me walking in the dark.”
“Sure, I’ll drive you girls. Let’s go, everybody.”
“Wait, Mom,” Michiko interrupted. “Kaijin and I have to talk so, how about you just drive Chisato and Yukiko home?”
“What do you have to talk about?”
“Just drive them home.” Without further inquiry, Nyoko grabbed her keys and walked out the door. The worried girls looked back at their friend, hoping she wouldn’t do something she’d regret.
After they left, Kaijin nervously looked at Michiko and asked, “So... what do we need to talk about?”
Michiko wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him. Although surprised and unprepared, Kaijin didn’t resist. She cuddled him close to her body and whispered, “I need you. Protect me.”
***
By the time the trio reached Gen’s apartment, Chikara had finished telling them what she learned. “So that’s the whole story.”
Renka felt awful. “That’s terrible. I always wondered why her father wasn’t around. It must hurt her so bad.”
Renka tried to feel Gen’s emotions, but only felt a sense of excitement. He said with a grin, “A wealthy American politician gives his illegitimate daughter a magical ring. The tabloids would have had a field day with that one.”
Chikara frowned back, “You seem overly enthusiastic about this.”
“Of course. We just got a huge puzzle piece thrown onto the table. We now know where Nagasado got her ring, and if we get lucky, we may be able to find out where your mother got hers. Starting tonight, I’m going to dig up everything I know about this Maxwell Chillingworth. I’ll use every resource at my disposal.”