Things Can Go Wrong

Chapter Twenty Two

AISURU

"I'm not sure what model I actually had..."

This isn't exactly how I thought I would be spending my Saturday afternoon, looking for a brand new phone at a mall which I almost rarely ever actually go to. On the Friday me and Kirai were at the park, I lost my phone, and upon me going back at 7am in the morning, it had been stolen.

Now the two of us are browsing phones, and I'm unsure of what to actually get. Having to tell my parents that I lost my phone didn't exactly feel that easy, and seeing as they have just been hit pretty hard by electricity and gas bills doubling in the past three months, they were pretty pissed when I had to ask them for 60,500 yen to buy a new phone. They instead gave me about 30,000, which is completely fine by my standards.

I have been asked before if I wanted to get a Holophonia, and I have always very confidently said no. Ever since I watched Years and Years, a British TV drama about the world and the future of technology from 2019 to 2034, I have always said no to any future technological advancements that seem fairly dodgy.

As much as I like the Holophonia and its unique features, I have always hated the idea of several computer processors being injected into your veins just so you don't need to carry a phone around for the rest of your life.

So, I've gone the traditional way, and I have enjoyed having a phone just as much. After a little while of thinking, I finally pick out a phone and bring it to the checkout. Once me and Kirai have paid for our goods, I find a pretty spot at the top of the mall and me and Kirai both chat and play around with my new phone for a little while.

Our relationship has definitely grown hugely since our first kiss, and despite my ever growing nervousness, being in a relationship like this for the first time feels truly incredible. To have someone genuinely love you for everything that you are; the way they look, the way they talk, their interests and everything in between feels like the best feeling in the world.

I get Kirai to send over a load of photos that we shared between my old phone and his current phone, and he also sends a message to my old number explaining for whoever has it to return it as quickly as they possibly can. Kirai puts my new number in the message, and we leave it at that before he puts my new number in his contacts and removes my old one.

The two of us eat lunch at the mall before we crash out at his place, and I feel extremely tired from the shopping that we did. As I am about to leave, Kirai suggests that I stay the night, and after some positive conformation from both of our parents, I go back home, pack some luggage for the night and within minutes I'm back at his place.

The two of us decide to watch a movie, and after a rather heated debate on what snacks we should get for the movie, we hire a taxi to take us to the convenience store. As we walk in, Kirai shoves numerous bags of sweets into a basket that he picked up upon entering the store, and I follow suite with bags of chips, pastries and drinks.

After the two of us pay, we head back to his place and spend a good amount of time browsing through a movie rental website, and we settle on a fairly old film based on the club culture in France set between 1992 and 2013, Eden. Despite the fact that the majority of the film is in French, we both pick the film's plot up fairly easily thanks to the use of subtitles.

It's a fairly interesting film, and while I don't think that it's a definite favourite, I do enjoy the plot and pacing, and there were some scenes that were fairly emotional, particularly in the second half of the film. I'm fairly sure that Kirai shed a couple of tears at the film's conclusion.

After we clean up in Kirai's living room, we both head up to his bedroom and I am immediately greeted to shelves crammed with video games, consoles and technology that genuinely baffles me, even in the year 2032. The majority of the room is filled with machines all of which seem brand new, their paint gleaming underneath the plethora of lights that sparkle around his bedroom. It's like I'm in the Matrix.

At first, the room is dominated with his collection of gadgets, however he walks over to a small brown device and after quietly whispering a set of completely unrelated words, the shelves that once boasted their prevalence in his bedroom shrink inwards into his walls and a large bed sprouts up from the ground, already made for him.

He grabs two pillows from his floor, props them up onto the bed, and takes off his shirt. He smiles at me playfully before gesturing to the bed and saying "Are you getting in?"

I follow suite, and after getting into bed, I sigh to myself happily, and in some ways I'm actually glad no-one knows about our relationship.

SUJI

I think I might have an idea.

In order to try and get at least one new member of Satsujin, I'm going to use Aisuru. Today I received a message from his phone, saying to return it. Well, instead I'm going to use it as a burner phone in order to make communications and deals easier in the gang, and I'm fairly sure that if I can target him, then I can easily get him to do a couple of deals, or partake in other things that might be helpful to us.

My plan is to add his new number, which has been provided for me via the text that his boyfriend sent in order to try and return the phone, and send a shitload of photos from his camera roll to him. I won't disclose my name at all, and I'll just tell him to meet me at a certain location otherwise I'll expose him to the rest of Koenji High and more importantly, his parents.

It's a fairly simple plan, and I think it'll work.

Besides, he's so desperate to keep his relationship secret, that I think he will do anything just to be able to keep his life in apparent order. My aim is to let his life spiral out of inevitable control, and then I'll be able to expose him to his family in some way or another. I've also heard that he's becoming part of Jack's group, so there's an even better reason to take him down.

I grab the phone and begin to type a message to him. After a few seconds, I send the message and place the phone somewhere in my apartment for later. I wake up the next morning and I get a notification that the text has been read.