Yuichi Akiyoshi sat almost exactly in the middle of the classroom, allowing him to pay attention or join the miscreants in the back depending on his mood.
Toshiyuki Muta walked in halfway through class with a loud rattling of the door, not seeming to notice the stares as he casually made his way to his own seat in the very back, next to the window. Once Muta sat down, the class resumed as though nothing had happened.
Muta put both his feet up on his desk and pulled a magazine out of his bag – a porno mag.
‘Hey, Muta, no jacking off in class,’ one of his friends whispered, and an eerie smile flickered across Muta’s stony face.
Class finished and Yuichi pulled a large envelope out of his bag and walked over to where Muta was now sitting cross-legged on top of his desk. He had his back to Yuichi, making it impossible for him to see his face, but judging from the smiles of the other kids around him, he was in a good mood. This was important. They were talking about the latest craze, a videogame called Brickout. Yuichi figured they’d probably be ditching school again to hit the local arcade before the day was finished.
One of the boys sitting across from Muta noticed Yuichi approach and jerked his head towards him. Muta turned around. He’d shaved off his eyebrows, leaving two dark blotches on his forehead. Beneath, his eyes were like little sharp pinpoints of light shining out of the craters in the rugged landscape of his face.
‘Here,’ Yuichi said, holding out the envelope.
‘What’s that?’ Muta said in a low voice. His breath smelled of cigarettes.
‘I went to Seika yesterday.’
Muta snatched the envelope out of Yuichi’s hand.
The envelope contained three photos of Yukiho Karasawa. Yuichi had woken up when it was still dark that morning to make the prints. He was proud of his work. Even though they were black and white, you got a real sense of the colour of her hair and skin.
Practically licking his lips, Muta looked up at Yuichi and half of his mouth curled upwards in an unsettling smile. ‘Not bad.’
‘They’re pretty good, right? It wasn’t easy,’ Yuichi said with relief that his customer seemed satisfied.
‘Why are there only three of them?’
‘I just brought the ones I thought you’d like for now.’
‘How many more you got?’
‘Five or six good ones, I guess.’
‘Bring the rest tomorrow,’ Muta said, slipping the envelope inside his school uniform jacket. Clearly he wasn’t intending to give them back.
‘It’s three hundred yen a photo, so that’s nine hundred,’ Yuichi said, pointing at the envelope.
Wrinkles formed in the space between Muta’s shaven eyebrows and he glared sidelong at Yuichi. The angle made the scar under his right eye look even more impressive.
‘I’ll pay when you bring the rest. You’re good with that, right?’
The implication was clear. If Yuichi had any complaints he was welcome to take them up with Muta’s fist. Yuichi nodded and walked away.
‘Hang on a second,’ Muta called out from behind him. ‘You know Miyako Fujimura?’
‘Fujimura?’ Yuichi shook his head. ‘No.’
‘She’s at Seika. Third year. Different class than Karasawa.’
‘Never heard of her,’ Yuichi said, shaking his head again.
‘I want you to take some of her, too. I’ll pay the same price.’
‘But I don’t even know what she looks like.’
‘She’s a violinist so she’s always in the music room playing violin after school. You can’t miss her.’
‘Can you even see inside the music room?’
‘Guess you’re going to go have to find that out for yourself,’ Muta said, turning back to his friends. Clearly, Yuichi had been dismissed. He knew better than to ask any more questions. Muta had been known to fly into mad rages over less.
Muta had first taken an interest in the classy, rich girls attending the famous Seika Girls Middle School about halfway through the first term. Chasing after them was the latest pastime for his gang although it wasn’t clear that any of them had actually ever scored.
The whole photography project had been Yuichi’s initiative, though he’d only had the idea because he heard Muta and his buddies talking about wanting pictures. Yuichi needed pocket change to support his hobby, so the arrangement worked out well.
Muta’s first request had been for photos of Yukiho Karasawa and Yuichi got the sense that he was genuinely interested in her; Muta never turned down any photo with her in it, even ones that were a little blurry.
So it came as a surprise to hear him mention another girl’s name. Maybe he had switched targets, having decided Yukiho Karasawa was out of his league. Either way, it didn’t make much difference to Yuichi. Work was work.
Yuichi had finished eating and was in the process of cramming his lunchbox into his bag when Kikuchi walked up, carrying a large envelope in his hand.
‘You want to come with me up to the roof?’ Kikuchi asked.
‘What for?’
‘That thing we talked about the other day,’ the boy said, opening the envelope so Yuichi could look inside. It was the photo he had lent him.
‘OK,’ Yuichi said, his interest piqued. ‘Sure, let’s go.’
The roof was unoccupied. Until recently it had been a popular hangout for the bad kids, but after a large quantity of cigarette butts had been discovered there, the guidance counsellor had taken to making frequent patrols on the roof, and so no one ever came there any more.
After a few minutes the door to the stairs opened and a boy emerged. He was in Yuichi’s class, but they had hardly ever spoken. His name was Ryo Kirihara and Yuichi had long since categorised him as one of those gloomy kids you just avoided. He didn’t seem to have any friends, never stood out in class, never said anything. During lunch and recess he would always go off by himself and read.
Ryo walked over to them and stopped a short distance away. There was a sharp light in his eyes Yuichi had never noticed before and for a second he felt his heart race.
‘What do you want?’ Ryo said bluntly. Yuichi realised that Kikuchi must have called him up here.
‘I wanted to show you something,’ Kikuchi said.
‘Yeah?’
‘Here,’ Yuichi said, taking out the photograph.
A wary look on his face, Ryo stepped closer and took the photo. He took one glance at the black-and-white scene and his eyes went a little wider. ‘What’s this?’
‘I just thought it might be useful for you. You know, as evidence.’
Yuichi took a sidelong glance at Kikuchi. Evidence?
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ Ryo glared at Kikuchi.
‘Come on, that’s your mom in the photo, isn’t it?’
‘What?’ Yuichi blurted. Ryo shot him a withering glare then turned his sharp eyes back to Kikuchi. ‘No way. That’s not her.’
‘Take another look. It totally is. And the guy with her, he’s the one that worked at your place, right?’
Ryo took a closer look at the photo and slowly shook his head. ‘Honest, I got no idea what you’re talking about. And that’s not my mom. Stop wasting my time.’ He gave the photo back to Kikuchi and started to walk away.
‘This was taken by the station,’ Kikuchi called out. ‘Near your house! It was four years ago. I could tell by the movie poster on the telephone pole. See? It’s for Johnny Got His Gun.’
Ryo stopped. ‘Drop it,’ he said, looking back over his shoulder. ‘It’s got nothing to do with you.’
‘I was just trying to help out,’ Kikuchi said, but all Ryo did was glare at both of them before heading down the stairs.