makiri

Things sure haven't been nice and peaceful lately, what with people getting stabbed in the middle of the street.

Those yakuza thugs should settle their fights behind closed doors. Just my luck that I need to walk down this street to get to work every day.

It's terrifying. Are they cleaning house or something?

*sigh* And at such a young age too. What made him go and join up with those gangsters in the first place?

You never know with youngsters these days. Not that I care, as long as they don't cause trouble for others.

At least they left him in an alleyway, which meant the oba-san opening up shop early found him and called the police. If they had dumped him in the river...

Alright, enough of that, you're scaring the crap out of me. Anyway, the oba-san has already called the cops, so they'll handle it.

Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta go.

The morning rain of early autumn intensifies.

The raindrops fall swiftly, pedestrians walk by quickly, and the corpse lies face-up on the ground as it is splashed with mud, enjoying a stillness only it can enjoy. All in all, an out-of-place body.

Tooru Moriuchi looks on from afar under his umbrella. The torrential downpour extinguishes his urge to walk ahead. The sound of falling drops drowns out the questions he wants to ask. All he can do is turn around and leave.

Irasshaima... hmm? Been a while, Asai.

Hey there, Taishou, I'll have a daikon, a kombu knot, a fowlbeast egg, and two burdenbeast tendons—wait, no, three! Oh, and add another daikon while you're at it!

Alright, alright. Got a lot to transport tonight? You look hungry enough to eat an entire burdenbeast.

Nah, I spent all day handling some crap with people from the family. *sigh* Didn't think breaking free from them would be this much of a pain.

Yeah... Sure looks like one...

Are they giving you much trouble? Didn't they ask you to sort out that dead guy's affairs recently?

*sigh* What even was there to sort out? No real closure in the end.

Okay, enough unappetizing talk. Here, your order. Eat it while it's hot.

Heheh, thanks, Taishou! I've been looking forward to this—

Oh, right, did you know? Riko's dad seems to have changed his mind about me recently. I can't really explain it, but he's been looking out for me a lot lately.

That's great. I remember you telling me about her father before. Sounded like he didn't approve of your relationship.

Glad all your hard work at the docks paid off. Keep working hard at your job, and who knows, I might have to call you 'Asai-koujichou' before long.

Don't make fun of me, Taishou...

I... *sigh* I'm actually preparing to leave Mitsukue.

Leave?

Yeah. Once I've completely broken away from the family, I'll go.

Go where?

North... Gonna go take a look at Kusarigawa.

Going that far... Why this all of a sudden? What about the work...?

There are a lot of reasons... I'll need to give the foreman a proper goodbye when the time comes. *sigh* I really hate having to say bye to everyone, it was a lot of hard work getting to know them.

And I'll really hate having to say bye to you, Taishou. How am I supposed to eat your oden up in the Northern Court?! How am I meant to live without it?!

...Hah, and I thought it was me you were having trouble parting with.

But will you actually be able to make it to the north right now?

When I haven't been untangling myself from the family, I've been getting ready to go. Pretty much got everything sorted out by now.

Sounds like you're serious...

But I still think heading to the Northern Court right now is a bit...

Ah, crap, the time! Gomen, Taishou, but I've still got a little thing to do for the family, got an appointment and all, we'll have to cut the chatter here!

Money's here! I'll come back tomorrow night! Mata ne!

Oh, sure... Mata ne. Stay safe.

Irasshaimase.

Oh? Asai?

Yo, Taishou. Why so shocked? I told you last night that I'd come find you again.

I thought you meant at my yatai for some oden.

But this is fine too. What would you like to drink? My treat, to celebrate you steadily getting away from the family.

Really? Then I'll have whatever's the most expensive.

The exit is to your left, okyaku-sama. Please mind your step on the way out.

Hey, hey, I was just kidding—

A negroni, then.

You must really like those, since you order one every time. Your 'brothers' prefer single-malt whiskey.

Speaking of, it's been a while since I saw you at this establishment. Work pushing you too hard?

You know this place's address, right? We're in Ginza, Tochou, do I look like the kinda guy who can just come here and throw money around?

Besides, I'm saving up right now.

To head north?

Yeah...

Then I'm gonna open up a little izakaya of my own in Kusarigawa.

You are?

If you want to open one, you can do it here in Mitsukue. Kajimachi's about to start rebuilding, you can just go take over a storefront there. Shouldn't be that difficult.

You don't understand, Taishou. I... I need to get out of this place. I've got this feeling that if I stay here any longer, I'm gonna get drawn into something way bigger...

The Ao-Oni affair ended in a really weird way, but after it did, we've been having way more trouble with the other gangs.

Matsuda and Ohno... The Ao-Oni only roughed those two up that night, but then there was the fight with the Kobayashi Alliance, and Matsuda, he... he and Ono have been stuck in the hospital to this day!

I can't keep going on like this, living a life where I fight and kill but I don't even know what I'm doing it for...

(Quietly) How could I not understand?

Here, your negroni. I rubbed the rim with orange peel, I remember you like it that way.

Thanks, Taishou—

It might be the case that people are always looking for a reason to live their lives.

But does the type of life you're looking for really need you to go to the Northern Court?

I've always wondered, if I lived an entirely different life in an entirely different place, would I still turn out this way?

You don't know how much I envy your life, Taishou. I really want to try something like it if I ever get the chance.

...My life... is it?

But, in an entirely different place, and with new possibilities...

I've already planned it all out. After I get to the north, I'll look for a street by the river to open up my shop. Ideally there'll be a bakery next door, so I get to enjoy the smell of fresh bread when I'm opening up shop in the morning.

I'll have two windows facing the river. I'll get the sunlight shining off the river during the day, and plenty of streetlight during the night.

I'll have flowerpots on the windowsills and fill them with Riko's favorite, jasmines. The whole shop will smell something special when the summer wind comes blowing.

For the shopfront... Doesn't need to be too big, seating ten customers should be enough. The counter though, it needs to be a single slab of dark polished wood. Seasoned with time, but impervious to scratches, and shinier than gold.

Under the counter, I'll use old iron pipes for footrests, so when you're seated you can beat out a rhythm with your heels. I've always been fond of that 'clang clang' you get out of them.

A real retro shop, huh.

Sounds like you should put a record player with some golden oldies in the corner.

Yeah, yeah! I'll put on three of them a day, none of this pop music stuff, just ones I like. The customers can listen while they sit down and have a drink, maybe sing along a little.

I'll paint the walls a light gray, then hang up some old photos wherever I feel like. Photos of Mitsukue, of Riko and me... Oh, and with the customers, those can go up too!

Don't need to make the frames match either. Cracked wooden ones, faded metal ones, the mix will make it more interesting.

What about the drinks cabinet? I suspect you'll like ones made out of old wood.

You get me, Taishou! But I haven't really thought about whether I want a cabinet like that or make one embedded in the wall...

The drinking glasses, though, I've decided I'm getting them all from second-hand shops. No full sets, and hopefully they'll have some small marks on them, so they can reflect the light in interesting ways as you drink.

I'll string the lightbulbs up in rows then frost them, so they're not too bright but not too dark, so it ends up feeling like... like your yatai!

We won't just be serving drinks either. We'll have some sakana on the menu, like fowlbeast skin tossed in pomelo vinegar, fowlbeast liver kushiyaki, spicy shellbeast sashimi... Riko's dad's chili fowlbeast karaage has the greatest smell, too!

Heheh, I can't do much else except polish up my cooking skills, and Riko says she loves eating what I make...

If Kajimachi hadn't been torn down and it had a little place like that, I would definitely have been one of the regulars.

You really did think of every little detail, didn't you...?

The more Asai talks, the louder he gets. With just the two of them in the bar, Moriuchi stops wiping the glasses, listening intently.

Tooru Moriuchi has a sudden vision. All these years he has lived, he should have passed by and entered countless izakayas like the one they are discussing.

There should have been. He has such a clear idea of what one should be like, after all.

Throughout all these years he has lived, Tooru gave himself countless excuses as to why it wasn't time to settle down yet. But now, he can't think up a single one.

As Asai goes on, he sees the young man standing behind the counter of an izakaya in Kusarigawa, the spot where he is standing right now, wiping down the drink glasses as he croons out a few off-key notes.

I think I'll paint the door white, hang up a small sign with 'Bar Shin-Matsuri' written on it—

'Bar Shin-Matsuri'? The same 'Matsuri' in Riko-san's family's 'Izakaya Matsuri'? Like jasmine flowers? I'm... not sure if I should call you affectionate, or simple-minded...

Huh? I just think that kinda name is pretty in vogue, yeah?

Never mind, I'll let Riko-san explain it later... But if you really do manage to open it, I'm definitely going to drop by as a paying customer.

Heh, you're a great guy, Taishou... Oh, right, right! Nearly forgot what I was here for. I dropped by today to get you to help with something.

Help?