An Unrefusable Offer

The smell of chlorine, along with the throbbing pain on both his head and forearm awoke Fukei from his slumber. As he opened his eyes, the boy was immediately bombarded with an unnatural, bright white light all around – from the shining lamp above his head, to the vast ceiling where he was situated.

However, even he didn’t expect a voice to call out to him. Especially a male’s voice.

“Awake already?”

Along with it, the stench of tobacco invaded his nostrils, temporarily pushing away the chemicals for a moment.

Fukei tried to raise his hand to cover his nose, but there was no response; whether it was because he had lost his reactionary system or because he was simply too weak for his body to comply, he didn’t know. So instead, all he could do was tear up and cough uncontrollably, though each sound he made sent a jolt of pain all over his body.

“Easy now kid, you’ll end up shocking yourself to death,” the owner of the voice responded.

“W-Who are you?” Fukei responded. He couldn’t even turn his neck around as his heart beat like a drum. Facing against a stranger, a dangerous one as a matter of fact – judging purely from his gruffy tone – set the boy’s nerve to an immediate high alert.

“Calm down,” the man answered, letting out a puff of cigarette smoke. “Let’s say… I’m a friend of your mother.”

Hearing that was already enough to make Fukei almost jump out of the bed, no matter how weak he might be. However, as soon as the boy’s muscles so much as twitched for just a second, a big, rough hand had already pushed down his chest, preventing him from going any further.

“Like I said, don’t move, or you’ll shock yourself to death,” the man sounded once more. “And I don’t mean electric shock; you’re being infused. The stuff is just some vitamin, but any sudden movement could affect the dosage being pumped into you, and if it’s wrong… you get the rest.”

“Why am I being infused?” Fukei asked. He couldn’t have calmed down after a few mere words – his heart was still like a wild stallion. But if what the man said was true, he could be dead any minute, and so, he was forcing his mind to think elsewhere – anything was fine, even if he had to talk to someone he didn’t know.

“Have you looked at yourself? Malnourished all around, haven’t eaten in days, and just now had a burn mark and a concussion from yours truly. You were lucky that the injury wasn’t anything severe, or else after being hit with a kettle filled with boiling water, you’d be a goner.”

“What does that have anything to do with you?”

As Fukei asked, in front of him appeared a business card. Along with it was a rough, scarred hand darkened by years of working outdoors.

“As you can see, I’m part of the Tokyo Child Guidance Office. The name’s Kageyama; Kageyama Takuto, and an old friend of your mom,” the man said, flashing his card. “In a panic, she called me about your situation – I don’t know what you guys were arguing about, but I suggested that you two separate for a while for both sides to cool down. I’ll be taking you under my care until then.”

“I don’t need any help,” almost instantly, Fukei scoffed. “Not from you… not from her.”

Contrary to his expectations, however, the man known as Kageyama only laughed.

“Haha, I get that a lot. Don’t worry, that’s why I’m the man for the job,” he continued. “You see, while I am legally your caretaker for the time being, we have a special facility for you kids that have lost trust in adults. Feel free to stay with your peers until you’re ready to talk to us again, and no worries about food or shelter either – we’ll still cover every expense. All you need to do is to kick back, relax and open your heart in time.”

“What makes you think I’ll do that?”

“It works every time, of course,” Kageyama answered with a smirk. “Like I said, your case is a dime a dozen. Of course, if you’d like to refuse, that’s okay too – just that I can’t cover your current hospital fee if you don’t have any relations with me, that’s all.”

“... Asshole.” Fukei gritted his teeth. If he wasn’t bound by the wires from the infusion, he would have strangled the man with his own two hands.

“Haha, if that’s what it takes to get you kids to safety, then I’ll be the devil for all I care. Now…”

As the man was about to continue, a sudden “ding” sounded.

“Ah, the infusion is done,” he commented. “Hold a bit, I’ll call the nurse.”

Before Fukei could do anything, the man had already disappeared from the premises – signaled by his footsteps turning smaller and smaller as each second passed. Soon enough, he returned, and true to his words, the man was accompanied by another, smaller sounding string of footsteps.

Appearing in front of Fukei’s face now was that of a young nurse. From the name tag on her uniform, ỉt read “Tokyo Municipal Hospital”, so at least she matched with the man’s words from before.

“That would be 300,000 yen, Sir,” after removing the wires and tubes from Fukei, she turned to Kageyama.

“Put it on my card,” the man quickly nodded. “Thank you again for saving the child.”

“Of course Sir, we’re just doing our job.” The nurse bowed in return.

As the nurse left the room, Kageyama turned to Fukei again. Now that he was finally free, the boy could actually have a good look at his so-called benefactor. A pair of sunglasses hiding his eyes, slightly greyed-out hair tied to a ponytail, a beard around his pointed chin and a violet-plum colored suit all screamed the appearance of a late-middle-aged man.

“Now, shall we go?”

“Uh, no,” the boy quickly scoffed. “Why should I? You’ve already paid, so I’m not bound by you anymore.”

“Good point,” the man flashed a grin, revealing his pearly, almost artificial, white teeth. His hand reached for his breast pocket instead, and took out another slip of paper. “Then I guess you’ve heard of this before?”

Fukei took the paper for a peek. On it was a slogan all in colorful letters, and its arced form resembled a rainbow:

Smile World! Where all your children’s worries disappear with a grin! A happy wonderland, where everyone is filled with joy! ‘

The name did ring a bell for the boy as he mumbled, “Smile World…”

Fukei did recognize it, true to Kageyama’s words. The children from before the accident came to his mind; and if anything, it was as the slip advertised – all of them wore an inexplicably happy face in what now was meant to be their moment of returning home… at least according to Fukei’s guess.

He didn’t believe it one bit. What if the children were all in an act too? What if this was just an elaborate trick to get something from him? He clutched the slip of paper, almost crushing it with his grip. Sweat started to soak through, mushing it up all the same while.

And yet, there was still something that kept him in. Be it the devil’s sweet whispers, or his own heart longing for love and acceptance, or perhaps just an overly optimistic mind hoping for something different in his life, but Fukei was hesitating to outright refuse.

Kageyama could tell with a look. And so, he handed the boy another card.

“Here’s my number. You still have your phone, right? If anything happens, you can call me. Or any adult for that matter; this hospital, your school, the police, whatever that makes your mind at ease. We don’t block any reception, anyway. As soon as you feel troubled, contact someone. Deal?” He extended his hand for a shake.

“... Fine. Deal.” With great reluctance, Fukei accepted.

“Great. Come with me, then. I’ll drive you there.”

As soon as they made their way to his supposed car – a jet-black limo that reeked the smell of upper-class money – tragedy had already struck. All of the windows were shattered, leaving around the card a bunch of broken glass pieces. The tires were all punctured with dozens of needles, but worst of all was the door and body.

The otherwise perfect exterior had been marked with a long-winded scratch, cutting deep enough that one could still hear its creaking sounds even if the perpetrator was nowhere to be found. The mark made a grinning face with sharp teeth, almost like a mischievous smile of an imp, as well as a large, capitalized phrase, in English letters.

YOUR DEAD!

“Well… what a way to crack us up, eh?” Kageyama let out a dry laugh. “They can’t even spell it right.”

It was a paltry attempt at a joke in front of an otherwise serious threat. And yet, perhaps it was the sheer clumsiness at handling the situation that brought Fukei the amusement he needed.

Finally, after what almost seemed like forever, the boy let out a smile.

“I guess we’re walking then.”