Chapter 23: History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes

Friday, 9 May, 20XX - Part 4

The first part of Yui’s plan was for me to enter Murakami Ryu’s tent.

Ryu was still unconscious. He is the only other person to witness what really happened. Yui’s concern was that one of the gang members would strangle him in his sleep so he’d carry the truth to the grave.

As for Kota, they had thrown him into the white van, which was guarded by one of the guys.

The woman in Yamaguchi’s gang was guarding the tent.

“Excuse me, I need to enter the tent,” I said.

She raised an eyebrow. She didn’t move from the entrance.

“Who gave you permission to enter?”

Tch…bastards. They were already acting like this entire campsite was their property.

“I need to take care of the patient.”

“It might not be possible to let you in.”

“It would be very worrying if the police investigate and find Ryu dead in his tent.”

“…”

“…”

“Fine, go in.”

She jutted her chin and added, “He’s your responsibility now, got it? If he dies, it’s not our fault.”

I entered the tent, suppressing a huge sigh of relief.

During feudal times, whenever the Shogunate was weak, local warlords took advantage of the power vacuum to expand their domain or even aim for the throne themselves.

In China, new dynasties were founded and collapsed overnight. Out of the ashes, new players emerged, built their own kingdoms and vanished with time.

“Does this guy really intend to start a new kingdom using two stolen vehicles, two tents and a campsite?” I muttered to myself.

Ryu opened his eyes. He let out a gentle laugh.

This guy…so he was awake the whole time.

“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes,” he said.

“Mark Twain said that.”

“Yes.”

“You’re awake?”

“Mh…”

“Since when?”

“Around the time when Yamaguchi and his hooligans arrived.”

“Hoo? You could’ve let us know.”

“It will be dangerous if they know that I’m awake,” he said in a low voice.

I sat down next to him. Yuki and Fumi had cleaned his wounds and bandaged him up. It was the most they could do given the circumstances. We still had to bring him to a hospital.

“What happened in the city?” I asked.

“Can I ask you a question first?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you know why Kota and I went to the city?”

Ah – I think I knew what he meant. This guy…he was more perceptive than he let on. He came off as a frivolous and carefree university student the entire time.

“You wanted to report Yui and me to the police, right?”

“How did you know?”

“Yui heard your girlfriend and her sister talk about it.”

“I see.” He paused and then asked, “In that case, why did you save me? You could’ve left me to die.”

I pursed my lips. Why did I save him? Even Yui was a little confused.

“Because it was the right thing to do.”

Ryu looked at me. One of his eyes was covered by a bandage, the other was swollen. Despite his wounds, he managed to smile slightly.

“I can see why she likes you.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s nothing.”

It was my turn to ask questions.

“What happened in the city? How did Yamaguchi and his gang end up here?”

Ryu closed his eyes, gritted his teeth and sighed through his nose.

“Damn it!” he hissed. He looked like an old man, regretting his entire life. He told me about what happened.

He and his brother had gone to the police station in the city to report Yui and me, but all of the police officers were too busy to talk to them. It seems that the government was taking these threats seriously after the traffic lights went out, even though it publicly dismissed the emails. After waiting at the police station for an hour with no one bothering to talk to them, the brothers gave up and left to buy some supplies for the campsite.

Most of the stores had closed. Before they could come across the 24 hour supermarket Yui and I went to, they found a convenience store that had been broken into by looters who took advantage of the power outage.

They didn’t want to steal, but they didn’t know where else to go for supplies, so they entered the convenience store.

This was a big mistake.

As soon as they came out, Yamaguchi and his gang surrounded them and accused them of being outsiders who were stealing. They tried to deny and even showed them that they left payment on the counter, but Yamaguchi and his gang refused to believe them.

Of course they didn’t believe Ryu and Kota. They were probably waiting behind the convenience store, waiting for a suitable victim.

Yamaguchi’s gang prevented them from getting in their minivan under the pretext that they were going to arrest the two brothers until the police could lock them up. When they resisted, the gang gave them a beating.

“I was just barely able to get away,” Ryu said. “I kept running until I collapsed.”

“We found you next to a vending machine.”

After Ryu ran away, they must’ve forced Kota to tell them where the campsite was.

For a while, we stayed silent. Outside the tent, I could hear Yui, Yuki and Fumi putting their part of the plan into motion. They were laughing and playing music using the car radio.

“A-Are they partying with those guys?” Ryu asked with disbelief.

“Calm down. I’ll explain everything.”

I lowered my voice to a whisper and explained Yui’s plan. Ryu listened intently and eventually nodded.

“Your girlfriend is something else,” he said.

“Actually…” I decided to tell him the truth. At this point, it didn’t really matter anymore. “We aren’t dating. We’re just normal friends.”

I explained how Yui and I ended up going on a trip because we believed the emails we received were serious and the world was truly going to end. It was better to get as far away from Tokyo as possible.

Ryu had an uneasy look on his face.

“You don’t need to feel bad about it,” I said.

“It’s not that. It’s about your girlfriend…sorry, I mean your friend, Nishiyama Yui.”

“What do you mean?”

He shook his head. “It’s nothing. Please forget about it.”

The festives outside the tent continued. I poked my head out of the tent and saw that the woman from Yamaguchi’s gang who was supposed to guard the tent had joined them.

Yamaguchi was sitting in one of the camping chairs while Yui sat on his lap, holding his can of beer and laughing with him. Maybe the others couldn’t tell, but her laughter was strained. She was really pushing herself to put on a convincing performance.

The Kobayashi sisters were doing the same with the other guys.

“Are they still partying?” Ryu asked, trying to get up.

“Yeah.” I went back in. “It’s better if you don’t see this.”

Ryu grimaced, but he lay back down.

I looked at my watch. It was just after noon. Hopefully Yui will be able to execute her plan before it gets dark.

About an hour later, the sounds of partying faded away.

Yui popped her head into the tent, looking exhausted.

“Haruto, you can come out. It’s done.”

I helped Ryu get up, and we went outside. I sucked in a sharp breath.

Yamaguchi and his gang were lying on the ground, unconscious. The Kobayashi sisters were busy tying their hands and feet together, then moving them to the edge of the campsite and tying their bodies to a tree trunk.

“Heh-heh~” Yui tried to smile and make the peace sign.

Yui’s plan was simple. Become friendly with Yamaguchi, start a party, encourage them to drink a lot, and slip sleeping pills into their drinks until they pass out. The riskiest part was that the sleeping pills weren’t completely scentless, so she and the Kobayashi sisters had to distract Yamaguchi and his gang with physical touch and music so they didn’t notice that their beer tasted strange.

Yui didn’t come up with this plan just now. After Yamaguchi and his gang arrived, it occurred to her that she could recycle one of the schemes she had used in the past – even before our journey started.

When her stepfather drank too much and became violent, she’d sometimes slip sleeping pills into his drink to put him to sleep before he could become violent. That trick was difficult to pull off if her mother was around, so she’d still take a beating every now and then.

Ever since the beatings became a regular occurance, she always made sure to have an emergency supply of sleeping pills hidden in her pockets. She carried those pills with her even during our journey because feeling them in her pocket calmed her down.

Fumi approached Yamaguchi and kicked him in the stomach. He didn’t respond. She spat on his face and kicked him again. Her sister joined in. Yamaguchi lay on the ground, groaning, but he didn’t wake up.

“Don’t worry, he will wake up in a few hours,” Yui said when she saw the concern on our faces.

The Kobayashi sisters said they were feeling tired, so Yui and I dragged the rest of Yamaguchi’s gang away and tied them up. When we returned, the sisters lay on the ground, fast asleep.

“H-Hey, why aren’t they waking up?” Ryu cried. He was shaking their shoulders. There was no response.

Yui tilted her head slightly and smiled.

“Hmm? Did no one ever tell you not to trust the enemy?”