Chapter Text
For a country with such strict gun control laws as Japan, it is amazing how fascinated by the weapon the people are. Just look at the pop culture; if the hero does not have some kind of sword, their main weapon is always, always a gun, no exceptions.
I was no different of course; since I was a kid, I always wanted to own a gun – to point it at the bad guy and say something really cool to get them to freeze in their tracks. That was why I enrolled in the police academy once I got out of college, and my enthusiasm had me sailing to the top of every class I was in. It was not long before I was in the police force; I had my gun, and I could finally look like the cool guy. I was the good guy, the happy clown that knew how to get things done and get them done right… and then there was the mistake.
One mistake, one over enthusiastic discharge, and that all came crashing down. It was not like I shot a civilian or anything; the man was as guilty as they come, and if I had not shot him, he probably would have been given the death penalty anyway. He had a girlfriend, though; a stupid bitch that knew how to complain, and complain loudly to the right people. Someone had to keep her mouth shut somehow, and that "somehow" came in the form of a pretty hefty paycheck from the city government, and me being booted from the city as far as possible.
At least, that's what I kept telling myself.
That is how I ended up on a rain slicked road to the middle of no-where's-ville in a country that did not really have that much "nowhere" left. The Yasoinaba area was known for a lot of rain almost year round, not to mention the dense fog that seemed to make a reappearance every fifty years. It was kind of creepy if you really thought about it, but I didn't at first; I had more important things to stew over, like the fact that everything I ever wanted now had to come in the form of me being a detective of some sleepy, boring ass town.
If this was how the world repaid the cool hero, then the world was full of shit as far as I was concerned.
The closer to Inaba I got, the worse the rain got, to the point where I needed to keep the windshield wipers on my old clunker going full force in order to see. I squinted through the window anyway; I was so far out in the boondocks, that they did not even have street lamps lining the road, and the high beams of my car did not like to be very "high" when the rain was this bad. Sadly, having the opportunity to be "cool" did not come with a decent paycheck, and constantly repairing this piece of junk was the only thing I could afford. Even now, I was praying under my breath, hoping the rumbling coming from the back was just because my meager possessions was weighing down the tail end, and not because the muffler was about to fall off again.
I did not let out a breath until I finally, finally saw a street lamp, collapsing back against my seat as I held the steering wheel with white knuckled hands. For awhile there, I did not think I was going to make it, but I should have known I was not out of the woods yet. As soon as the wheels hit pavement instead of the dirt road I had been traveling on, a loud bang came from the back: there went the muffler again. I let out a groan, my forehead meeting the steering wheel, just in time to see that the gas gauge was uncomfortably close to empty.
"Of course…" I muttered under my breath, squinting through the fog and the rain. The street lamps barely illuminated the paved street, and I could just see the flickering logo of the Moel Gas Company down the long stretch of road before me. Still, at least there was a gas station in this backwoods hick town, and I headed straight for it, the back of this stupid piece of junk clunking the entire time.
I could see the gas station attendant turn toward my car as I approached, a mildly amused look on the kid's face as I pulled in, clunking the whole way. I swear, if this kid so much as mentions the muffler when I get out…
I slammed my way out of the piece of junk, muttering a sharp, "fill it," at the kid. I was not going to pause long enough to give the guy a chance to comment; I needed something to try and calm my nerves, and since booze was out while I still needed to drive somewhere, a coffee was just going to have to do.
A few moments later had me leaving the store, a double tall cup of joe in my hand that was already half empty, and even that was just barely enough to give me the energy I needed to get through the rest of this hellish night. I downed another large mouthful, setting out to shove that stupid muffler back on… only when I got to the back of the car, the annoying thing had already been shoved back on, rather well at that. I could not help but blink down at it in surprise, reaching out to test it and make sure it was really on there; damn, that reedy little kid must have been stronger than I thought – there was no way that thing was going to be falling off again anytime soon.
"Hunh…" I muttered, standing back up straight, sipping at my coffee. Well, one less thing to be irritated about…
"Looks like you've been having a bad night."
I turned to see the kid then, and my initial thought of him being "little" was more than off. The kid damn near towered over me – not that this was much of a shock, unfortunately – but other than his height, he was not that remarkable. Grey hair, grey eyes, and that obnoxiously bright Moel uniform that all the attendants wore; if I had to pick him out again in a crowd, I probably would not be able to. Still, he had manners, and was offering me a hand to shake. It was kind of obnoxious really – backwoods town welcome for sure – but I was always the clown. No one was allowed to know what I thought; it was the only way I put up with my asshole instructors and "superiors", catering to what they thought they needed to hear.
So, of course, I accepted the handshake.
"Don't worry, sir," the boy continued. "Inaba is not that bad of a place. Enjoy your stay here."
"Ah, I will. Thanks," I replied, all the while thinking that was bullshit spouted by some country bumpkin kid. He offered another smile before going to attend to another customer that pulled in, leaving me to watch the numbers on the pump tick up to ridiculous amounts. Damn gas prices being so damn—
A wave of nausea hit me at that moment, and I felt myself wavering on my feet as my head suddenly became a separate part of my body, swimming off on its own. My hand shot out, slapping against the rain slicked trunk of my car to keep myself from falling over, somehow not dropping my coffee in the process. What the hell…?
The moment passed, and my head was suddenly back on my shoulders. Man… what the hell was that? I was not the kind of person to suddenly get sick for no reason; I'm a strong man, even if I have to be stuck on a cabbage diet because of my stupid paycheck. I put a hand to my head, shaking it just as the pump snapped onto the final price: 6500 yen. Well, there went the last of my last city paycheck.
I let out a sigh as the attendant came back to collect payment, tossing my gaze to the sky. My time in Inaba was already off to a fantastic start.