The Substitute

Chapter 6

When Itsuo slammed down a roll of money and announced, "I got lunch, fellas. No need to worry."

Reita, Tawara, and Koji all looked up from their food in surprise.

"Sweet!" Koji yelled, and went back to the buffet for a second helping.

Tawara and Reita stared at Itsuo suspiciously.

"You never get lunch." Tawara stated with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, that was before. This is now. Enjoy my generosity."

Reita glanced at the amount of money on the table. "Where'd you get all that?"

"I've got a new job now."

"Doing what?"

"I'm a courier, okay? Can you stop with the interrogation?"

"What kind of courier job pays that well?"

"Geez, would you lay off? My brother hooked me up, alright?"

Reita stopped asking questions, but this last piece of information only made him more uneasy. Itsuo's brother Takumi had dropped out of school fairly early on, and was always getting in trouble with someone, be it his parents, teachers, or the police.

So he decided to follow him.

After school let out, he watched Itsuo wave goodbye to everyone, then head to his house, change into regular clothes, and ride off on his bike.

It took a minute for Reita to realize that Itsuo had a new bike, with a crate on the back. He followed him through town, down towards the riverfront, taking a few shortcuts in order to keep up. There was a moment when he thought he lost Itsuo in the maze of buildings, but heard the squeak of wheels from around a corner.

He stationed himself behind some pallets and watched Itsuo talk to a man he recognized as Takumi, Itsuo's brother. Another man come out from the warehouse with a few boxes and loaded them into the crate on the back of Itsuo's bike.

Reita was listening very hard to try and make out what they were saying, which is why hearing, "Whatcha doing?" right next to his ear caused him to nearly jump out of his skin.

"What the- Yankumi! What the hell are you doing here?"

"Following you." She answered, as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do.

"What? Why?"

She blinked at him. "Because you looked concerned."

"What? I looked concerned so you decided to follow me?" He hissed at her.

"Well, yeah. If you're worried, it's for a good reason. You're a good judge of these things."

Reita stared, unsure how to respond to the fact that an adult trusted him without question.

"I don't need your compliments." He finally muttered, which just caused Yankumi to smile broadly.

They were interrupted by Itsuo calling out, "Alright, bye!" and biking away.

"See, told you he'd work out." Takumi told the guy next to him.

"Fine, as long as you're sure he doesn't know."

"Not a clue."

Reita and Yankumi exchanged glances as the two men walked back inside the warehouse. Crouching down, Reita made his way over to a dusty window and peered in, crowded closely by Yankumi. Through the dusty panes, Reita could make out several boxes, some white packages, and tables of glass tubes and bottles.