Bungo Stray Dogs - Volume 8 - Chapter 2.4

It was not the outcome I was expecting. I thought their reunion would be so emotional that they would embrace with joy. That was what happened in most of the films I watched to learn about human culture.

And yet this “Shirase” individual threw a flower vase at Master Chuuya. I tried to catch it, but I didn’t make it in time. The vase hit Master Chuuya right in the face and shattered into many pieces. The way the fragments scattered compared to the speed with which the vase had been thrown was staggering. I quickly realized that Master Chuuya had used his skill to manipulate its gravity, causing the vase to shatter into countless pieces the moment it touched him. It probably didn’t cause him much pain, if any.

Unfortunately, there were thriving flowers in the vase. In other words, there was water in the vase as well.

Water dripped from Master Chuuya’s soaked head.

“Shirase? The hell?” he said evenly without even a hint of shock. “That water was ice-cold.”

“Real convenient memory you got there, Chuuya,” Shirase replied, sneering. “Did you already forget what you did to me—what you did to the Sheep? It’s barely even been a year.”

Master Chuuya’s quiet gaze did not stray from Shirase. He didn’t say a thing, nor did Shirase as he kept his murderous glare locked on Master Chuuya. The plant director had shrieked before running off the moment the vase broke. I had no idea what this silence was about, but we weren’t going to be able to follow through with the mission at this rate. Perhaps it was my duty to lead the conversation.

“So… Shirase, good sir. It’s nice to meet you. Lovely weather we are having today, yes?” I heard that you should talk about the weather first when meeting someone new. “There is actually something important we have come to discuss with you. Something extremely important. Please have a seat so we can talk.”

“I’ve got nothing to talk about with you guys,” Shirase said as he began walking out the door.

“Shirase, wait. Where d’you think you’re going?”

“I finished work, and I’m goin’ home!”

I stood up and went after him before he could get away, but Master Chuuya did not move a muscle. He simply remained standing in place. He didn’t even blink. I wondered what was wrong.

Come to think of it, his reaction to the vase was odd as well. He should have easily been able to dodge something like that, yet he did not. Very curious.

I was not programmed to have any troublesome features such as emotions, but I was installed with a decision-making module that mimicked emotion so as not to stand out when investigating and interacting with humans. (I always had the feeling that I would perform even better without it, though.) Therefore, I could replicate emotions such as surprise or excitement. I could also analyze others’ emotions. Nonetheless, I failed to comprehend why Master Chuuya did not move when Shirase left the room.

“Let’s go after him,” I inevitably suggested. “Is everything all right, Master Chuuya?”

He was still dripping water, but for some reason, his lips were curled into a smile.

“Sigh. I figured this would happen, and yet…”

We followed Shirase down the corridor as he left.

“Shirase, good sir. Please wait. We need your help.”

“Gee, sounds rough. Not my problem, though. You could offer me all the money in the world, and I still wouldn’t help Chuuya.”

Shirase’s pace did not slow down.

“But helping us would be the rational thing to do.”

“Who the hell are you anyway? You really know how to piss someone off, huh? Do you even know what Chuuya did to us?”

Shirase turned around and shot me a threatening glare, but his gaze meant nothing to me, since I cannot feel threatened. I could, however, comprehend the emotion he felt based on his facial expression: hatred.

“He destroyed our group one year ago. He had the Port Mafia attack us, and we ended up losing our home. Then we were scattered all over the country to keep us from regrouping ever again. All of us but Chuuya, that is. And y’know what he did then? The bastard joined the Port Mafia! He sold us out! We took him in when he had nowhere to go, and this is how he repays us!”

I cross-referenced Shirase’s story with the logs in my database, but they did not match. The facts told a different story. He needed to be corrected, but Master Chuuya did not say a word. He seemed to have no interest in discussing the matter.

“And this is where I got sent to. Me—and no one else. I had to stay in Yokohama, where they force me to work and watch my every move. You know what this is, Chuuya?”

Shirase held out his arm and showed his wristwatch.

“Beats me,” Master Chuuya replied.

“That is a luxury watch from Switzerland,” I said upon referencing my knowledge database.

“Yep. It’s the only luxury item I still have, too. I was able to buy stuff like this every month when I was in the Sheep, but now? I dunno when exactly, but I’m gonna have to sell this thing someday. Anyone could do the kind of menial work I’m doing, which is why the pay’s such dirt. I’m not gonna be able to raise enough capital to rebuild the organization like this.”

“Rebuild the organization?” Master Chuuya’s expression changed.

“Uh-huh. You really think I’m gonna keep working at this shithole for the rest of my life? I’m slowly buying weapons and getting things ready. I’ll be able to do it. I’m gonna bring back the Sheep and become an even better king than you ever were!”

Master Chuuya frowned slightly. “In your dreams.”

“What’d you just say?!”

“Come, now. Let’s all calm down.”

I had no choice but to speak up, since we still had not even discussed why we came here. Humans tend to engage in petty arguments even when they should clearly be prioritizing something else.

“Shirase, sir, there seems to be a misunderstanding. According to my memory database, Master Chuuya—”

“Stop. Don’t say another word.” Master Chuuya suddenly grabbed me and stopped me. “Listen, Shirase. There’s only one thing you need to know: You’re gonna die if something isn’t done. Today or maybe even tomorrow.”

“What?” Shirase gaped.

“There’s a hit man after you—a monster named Verlaine. I’m gonna kill him, and you’re gonna help me do that.”

“What? Why would a hit man be…?” Shirase looked utterly confused; he seemed to have no idea what was going on. “Why me?”

“’Cause he thinks I’ll have no reason to stay in the Mafia once you’re dead.”

“The hell? Why would he think that?”

“Don’t ask me to explain a crazy man’s logic.” Master Chuuya sounded like he was trying to avoid a debate. “Anyway, he’s strong. Even if the entire Mafia went against him, they’d basically get wiped out. That’s why I’m going to set up a trap to kill him. I’m gonna sneak up from behind and take him out when he comes for you. It doesn’t matter how powerful his skill is if I catch him off guard and get a clean shot…kinda like what you did to me a year ago when you stabbed me in the back.”

Master Chuuya’s gaze sharpened, and then his eyes narrowed with a different emotion. However, my emotion mimicry module was unable to determine what this really was.

“Wait, wait, wait. Lemme get this straight,” an irritated Shirase stammered as he waved his hands. “There’s a hit man named Verlaine, and you guys can’t beat him, so you’re gonna use me as bait to lure him out. Basically, you’re asking me to wait in the middle of this trap and not run away, despite knowing he’s coming to kill me. Did I get you right?”

Master Chuuya frowned without saying a word. It appeared that it was my duty to answer the question for him.

“Yes, that is exactly what you need to do.”

“Then hell no! I’m not doing that! What kind of idiot would willingly be murder bait?!”

“Yeah, I figured you’d say that. But ya don’t have a choice,” Master Chuuya replied sharply.

“What?”

“You’re bait, but so what? We don’t need you. There’s two others he’s gonna go after as well, so we could just use them instead. Only difference is, if you don’t cooperate with us, you’re gonna die. That’s why you don’t have a choice, Shirase. You do this, or you’re dead!” shouted Master Chuuya as if to shut down Shirase’s rejection.

They glared at each other without another word. Perhaps they were searching for something on the other’s face. It was Shirase who eventually ended the silence.

“Fine. Whatever,” he griped before turning his back to us and walking away. “Still playing king, I see. Good ol’ Chuuya.”

We kept walking until we eventually arrived at the factory car park. Numerous vehicles were parked, loyally awaiting their master’s return. (And unlike humans, vehicles do not neglect their mission. It was a very soothing sight.)

Shirase strolled over to a motorcycle parked in the center of the lot. Perhaps it was what he used to commute to work. He grabbed a helmet out of the basket and turned to us.

“You win. I’ll do as you say, so take me to where we’re gonna lay that trap. I’ll follow you on my bike.”

The moment I smiled with relief, I also felt something strike the side of my cranial parts. Shirase had hit me with his helmet, and the impact caused a momentary loss of vision. He then threw the helmet at Master Chuuya, but Master Chuuya caught it right as it was about to hit his face. Shirase used this brief moment to start his motorcycle’s engine.

“Ha-ha-ha! Like hell I’d help a traitor!” Shirase cackled as he suddenly accelerated away.

“Ouch.”

I ran my self-diagnosis procedure. Impact to the head. No internal damage. No signal delay. I was simply surprised, it seemed.

Master Chuuya held the helmet with both hands and stared ahead in annoyance. “Tch… Does he honestly think he can get away?”

After a deep sigh, he tossed the helmet to the ground. He then leaped into the air and manipulated gravity, landing atop a nearby parked car.

“Ya better keep up, tin man. ’Cause I’m not gonna slow down for you.”

I immediately began running, for I was not going to allow myself to be left behind.

Master Chuuya’s movement was closer to sliding than it was to running. He reduced the downward push of gravity while creating gravity to propel himself forward like a Frisbee. Each step sent him flying down another block, effortlessly passing the moving vehicles.

I engaged the elastic actuators in my knees and leaped after him. Once I left the factory’s premises and landed on a sign, I leaped even higher, this time straight over the pedestrians’ heads. In the meantime, I attempted to ping Shirase’s motorcycle and probe its location. However, I did not get a signal.

I hacked into the traffic control system as well, but no vehicle matched his motorcycle’s description. It appeared Shirase’s bike was not connected to any outside system or network. In other words, a cheap, unsophisticated model.

This worked against us because I wouldn’t be able to control it remotely like I did with Verlaine’s car. Our only option was to catch up with Shirase and physically stop his motorcycle. I opted for a relatively aggressive, albeit bothersome, method.

As I kept running, I accessed a traffic enforcement camera via a tool I had installed in advance that overrode the access authorization. Now my field of vision displayed an overlay of every car in the area, and I proceeded to quickly analyze the data available only to traffic police and search for Shirase’s vehicle until I found it. It was two blocks west and one block north of my location.

The motorcycle was racing north toward the residential district. Shirase was obviously breaking the speed limit, so the system had already flagged his vehicle, hence why I was able to locate it so easily.

“Master Chuuya! He’s northwest of here!” I shouted while leaping over a moving truck to get across the street.

Master Chuuya and I jumped over the hordes of vehicles and headed west as nearby pedestrians looked up at us in astonishment.

I connected to a traffic camera and saw Shirase’s motorcycle speed through a red light and into the residential district. How reckless. But lucky for him—and unlucky for us—he had entered a narrow road with no traffic cameras. I would no longer be able to track him via camera footage.

Master Chuuya and I trampled over hedges, leaped across rooftops, and jumped over utility poles in pursuit of Shirase. Bits of shattered asphalt flew in my wake when I increased my speed.

Both Master Chuuya and I were traveling must faster than the motorcycle by now. This country lacked any pedestrian speed limit—a negligent move on the part of human policy makers. I would never have made such an oversight. If I were a policy maker, there would be laws to catch out-of-control androids.

“I can hear his bike. I’m goin’ on ahead!”

Master Chuuya removed all the gravity pulling his body down and began to float. He then kicked off the side of a building and disappeared into the city. I hurried to catch up. He may be able to manipulate gravity, but my legs are far longer than his. He couldn’t possibly outrun me.

We arrived in a residential area with narrow streets. According to my calculations, I would be able to catch up with the motorcycle within twenty-seven seconds. If Master Chuuya took the front, and I took the rear, then Shirase would have no choice but to give up. Things were going perfectly.

It wasn’t until later when I remembered what the doctor told me: “It will come the moment you think things are going well. The beast known as failure is always drawn to the stench of success, where it finds and devours its unfortunate prey.”

It turned out exactly as she described. When I caught up with Master Chuuya and turned the corner, I heard him shout.

“Tin man, stay back! Hide!”

But it was already too late. By the time I rounded the corner, I saw what was taking place.

I had predicted this might happen. There were a few signs: Shirase’s history; his mission to rebuild the Sheep; how the plant director seemed oddly nervous when he brought Shirase to the reception room; and how quickly the director fled said room.

Shirase was standing in the middle of the intersection. He was completely surrounded…by police vehicles.

“Buichirou Shirase! You’re under arrest for unlawful possession of weapons!”

A stocky officer was pressing Shirase’s head onto the hood of one car.

“Let go of me, damn it! I’m gonna be the next king!”

He was struggling, but according to my calculations, he would need thirty-nine others to successfully escape arrest.

“I know you’re out there, Chuuya! One of your lackeys is in trouble,” came a hoarse voice. The speaker was strangely calm considering the situation. “Come on out and save him.”

The man who called out to Master Chuuya emerged from a police car. An unassuming detective who appeared to be in his forties, he wore leather shoes that had lost their shine along with a long dark-green coat that looked like it was part of his body due to being worn for so many years. He seemed light, and his hair was fluffy like wool as it framed his affable smile.

“I’m not his lackey! I’m the king!”

Shirase was still struggling to break free.

“Yeah, yeah. That’s enough now, sire. Nobody cares enough about small fries like you, so you’ve got nothing to worry about,” the detective teased while patting Shirase on the head.

Master Chuuya clicked his tongue. “So you were using Shirase as bait the entire time, huh?” he said, making himself visible to the police.

“Hey, how’ve you been, Chuuya? You eating well these days?”

The detective in the dark-green coat opened his arms wide as if he were meeting an old friend, but I sensed that they were not friends.

“You’re not gonna grow big and tall if you don’t eat right, so you better get to it. Oh, and don’t forget to stay in school. You need to think about your future and start saving. No staying out late at night, either. You hear me? Granted, you should have a little fun while you’re still young, though. Oh, and one more thing.” The detective smiled before smacking Shirase. “You need to pick better friends.”

“Mr. Chuuya Nakahara, I would like you to come with us to the station. You’re suspected of conspiring with Mr. Shirase,” stated a young officer who approached Master Chuuya from the side. His expression was stiff with the cold calculation of a machine. Of course, he was still nowhere near the real thing, though.

“Now I get it. This arrest wasn’t just a coincidence, was it?” Master Chuuya glared sharply at the officer. “So that factory director was one of yours, huh? And you were monitoring Shirase to get to me.”

“Heh. Because, unlike you, this Shirase kid’s nice to old folks like me,” the detective replied as he gave Shirase another light smack. “I mean, he basically handed us evidence of his illegal firearm collection on a silver platter.”

“Bullshit! My plan was perfect! There’s no way you got anything on me…unless…! Chuuya, did you betray me again, you rat?!”

The detective cast a sidelong glance at Shirase, who was whining and struggling. The detective then shrugged.

“See what I mean? I said to choose your friends wisely, didn’t I?”

Master Chuuya sighed. “Detective, I get that he’s guilty and all, but d’you think you could wait another day before you arrest him? We’ve run into a little trouble back at the organization, and I need to protect him today,” he said with a scowl.

The detective listened with a puzzled expression, but he soon cracked a faint smile.

“Don’t worry. We’ll protect him,” he replied. He took out his handcuffs and dangled them next to his head. “He’ll be safe in the cell we’ve got for him. You’re free to tag along if you’re worried, though.”

When the detective signaled with his chin, the other officers forced Shirase into a police car. There was nothing we could do—that was what Master Chuuya’s expression was telling me.

“Damn it…,” he groaned between clenched teeth.