Fikush-ON!

Ch. 43: Cold Coffee, Buried in Snow, Part III

I think Ichiro and I were about halfway to the rail yard when we caught up with the rest of our crew, who had bolted off a few minutes ago. They still seemed to be running at full speed. Ichiro slowed down the bike as we got next to them, and I waved my hand at them. A few of them answered the gesture. Ichiro sped up again, and we were back at approaching the rail yard as fast as we could. I mean, I guess this thing could go way faster than this, but neither of us were too keen on the idea of being peeled off the front of a truck or something like that.

"Cops?" Ichiro asked, peering around the approaching intersection.

I quickly scanned the road behind us. "No, keep going!"

Ichiro turned the throttle slightly, causing us to speed up, and running yet another red light. We didn't have time to waste, Tsukuda was waiting for us. Or me, to be precise. Also, the more time we spent in public, the more attention we would draw. A loud moped with two helmetless guys on it is far from keeping a low profile. I know running a red light doesn't help our case at all, but we can't take the risk of stopping and letting the people around identify us.

Couple of intersections later I tapped Ichiro on the shoulder. "Take a left here!"

"I know!" he answered, steering the bike to the left.

We left the main street, and kept driving through a smaller, shadowy road. Right ahead of us I could make out a cluster of mopeds parked on the side of the road. It was a clear sign that we were at the right place. Ichiro drove us closer to the other bikes before coming to a stop, and gestured to me to get off. I did so, after which he neatly walked the bike to the side of the road, before getting off himself.

"Fucking hell, I should've worn something better than fingerless gloves..." he muttered curses to himself as he turned off the engine and grabbed the key from the ignition. "My hands are almost blue."

My leather gloves saved my fingers from the freezing wind, but the same can't be said for my face; I could barely move my eyebrows. I shook my head to rid my hair of the snow, and I did some light stretching to warm myself up, when I noticed Ichiro staring at the bike we just rode. He turned to look at me, noticing me eyeing him.

"Just wondering if I should swipe it, or at least break it... It's too good of a bike to be driven by those kinds of assholes," he said, scratching his cheek.

"Not sure if either of those would look good on your police academy application," I noted sarcastically. "For now, let's just focus on breaking Tsukuda's nose and swiping his sense of authority."

Ichiro chuckled quietly, and turned to face me. "Alright, alright. But what do you think, should we wait for those other guys?"

I looked down the road at the direction we came from, thinking for a second. "...Nah, I think we're good. They'll be here in a few minutes. If shit hits the fan, I'm sure we can outrun those fucks and regroup with the others."

"Well I hope it doesn't come to that, I've had it with the damn running for one day," Ichiro sighed.

He glanced at the rail yard's entrance, about to say something, but fell quiet. Carefully, he turned to look at me, finding my slightly confused face.

"Hey, uh... You okay?" he asked.

I raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

Seeming a bit difficult, he peered around the alley as he thought about what to say, and soon turned to face me again.

"You know, your... your girl and all."

...

"...That ain't relevant right now," I muttered, facing away from him.