Stories From Tokyo-To

Chapter 12: Super Brothers!

We started to make out way out of the sewer system by following the graffiti arrows Slate painted for his other clients. The faint yellow emergency lights made navigating these concrete guts somewhat manageable. The more obscured portions of the system were illuminated by the light emitted from Benisu's goggles.

"Aw man, these things are the shit!" His voice echoes through the vacant pipes and tunnels.

"Keep it down! Just because we're almost out of town doesn't mean we're scott free."

"Sorry."

I scoffed at the kid as we kept walking further. I'll admit, I'm glad we're leaving with the skin on our back intact. I was ready for at least something to go ary, but color me surprised. It's not like Poison Jam to just call off a search. Maybe Slate cut a deal with those mongrels to not interfere with his hustle. Whatever the case, I can breathe somewhat easily knowing that the tunnel we're taking leads directly to the River District. I can even see the sun's faint light peek towards the end.

"Hey, Tab?"

"What's up?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Is it gonna piss me off?"

"Yeah..."

"Ugh, fine."

"That thing Slate said, about you and Poison Jam, was any of it true? I know it's not my place, and you don't have to answer."

I sighed. I knew somehow this was gonna be brought up. To be honest, I was kinda surprised the kid had the balls to ask me point blank after my little outburst just a while ago. Better soon than later.

"Yeah kid, I was... involved with 'em."

"Oh, I see."

At least Benisu can now understand why I was so freaked out during our chase. Every gang is prohibited from killing someone, but the rules of the street don't say anything about beating someone to a bloody pulp, and that's exactly what would've happened to us if we didn't make it in time.

"Listen, I'm not proud that I played a part in their schemes. I'm not proud of what I did during my time with 'em. And I'm definitely not proud of what they are and who I became."

"Hmm... Well, for what it's worth, I don't see you as some ruthless monster."

"Thanks."

Soon after we made our way out. The iconic orange sunset of Kogane-Cho greeted us at the end of the tunnel. We threw ourselves into the bus and passed out from exhaustion on the ride back. It was around eight as we shuffled into the front door as Pots barked and jumped at our aching legs.

"Hey lil man, sorry, I forgot to grab ya those 'meat sticks'." I leaned over and scratched his little head. He let out a sad whine but still gave kisses to my hand.

"Oh! Wait!" Benisu rummaged through his bag and whipped out some homemade 'Kogane Meatsticks' wrapped in foil. Pots went berserk. He jumped and knocked one out of Benisu's hand, and immediately started to devour it.

"Wait, how tha hell did ya manage ta grab those? We didn't stop anywhere..."

"Well, remember that swarm of vendors? I couldn't really help myself, they looked delicious!"

Giving out a hearty chuckle, I patted the kids back and thanked him for picking up my slack. I told him that we'd start training in a couple of days since we both needed rest before we do anything physical. I slept like a rock that night.

The weekend came and went. There I was, back behind the counter of Makita Hardwear but at least I had something to look forward to towards the end of my noon shift: teaching Benisu how to skate. Well, I guess 'teaching' is a bit of a stretch since the first day was mainly a breakdown on what to expect.