Unofficial Crimes
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On the first night of the festival, when it was still dark and quiet outside, I went to see my friend. He had been living in a room on the third floor of an old building for some time now; he’d moved out from his parent’s house after they got divorced, but before that he used to live with them.
The apartment belonged to him alone—he didn’t have any family or friends who lived nearby, so no one else ever came over there except me sometimes.
It wasn’t very big: just two rooms plus a kitchenette, bathroom, and toilet. There were three doors leading off the main hallway (one into each bedroom), and another door at the end where you could go up onto the roof if you wanted to.
When we talked about what kind of person our mutual acquaintance might be like, this is exactly how I imagined him: sitting by himself in front of the TV all day long while eating junk food and watching anime. So far though, as soon as I saw his place, everything fit together perfectly!
I rang the bell several times until finally someone opened it and let me come inside. My friend was lying face-down on the sofa bed, fast asleep. His hair stuck straight up above his head, which made him look even more ridiculous than usual.
Asleep at eleven o’clock at night? How unusual… But then again, he’s always slept late. Even during school days, he would only get up around noon, so I guess sleeping till the evening isn’t really strange behavior for him.
He looked pretty young too. Maybe twenty years old? Not much older than I am, anyway. He wore a T-shirt and tracksuit bottoms, both black. They were rather worn out and dirty looking, but not enough to make him seem hopeless. In fact, judging by his appearance, he seemed to be quite well off financially. If anything, maybe he should’ve been wearing a suit instead of those clothes…?
Anyway, I decided to leave him alone for tonight. We weren’t close enough to call ourselves “friends,” so I couldn’t ask him why he hadn’t gone home yet. Besides, I knew perfectly well that he hated being disturbed when he was relaxing. And besides, it wouldn’t do anyone any good to wake him up right now either way. No point in making things awkward between us.
So I quietly closed the door behind myself and left without saying goodbye or anything else. After that, I spent most of the rest of the day walking around town aimlessly.
I don’t know whether I actually enjoyed doing nothing or if I just felt sorry for my friend, but either way, I ended up spending the whole day wandering around with no real goal in mind. Just going wherever my feet took me.
It started raining later on, and it rained hard. By the time I noticed it, I was already soaked through from top to bottom. That was probably because I kept stopping every few minutes to take pictures of whatever caught my eye. I’m sure you can imagine what happened next.
Once I’d finished taking photos, I put away the camera and walked on ahead. Then I stopped again to look at something interesting, and so on and so forth… Eventually I found myself standing under an umbrella, completely drenched, staring at the sky.
A little girl passed me by carrying a cardboard box full of books. She must have been seven or eight years old; her mother followed along behind holding the hand of a younger child. Both children were crying loudly. Apparently, their father had abandoned them here, and they’d run out of money.
The woman carried a plastic bag containing some snacks she bought earlier, and gave one to each of the kids. Their faces lit up immediately upon receiving such unexpected gifts. At least, I assume that’s what happened. It was difficult to tell due to the rain.
After that I wandered around for another hour or so before returning to the station. I changed into dry clothes and then headed back to my own apartment. On the way, I called a taxi service and asked the driver to drop me off somewhere near my friend’s apartment building.
I told him I needed to return something, and I also mentioned that I hoped he could wait for me since it would take longer than usual to find my friend today.
“Well, okay…” said the man, sounding somewhat reluctant.
When we arrived at the apartment complex, I paid the fare and thanked the driver. I waited patiently while he parked the car, then climbed down from the cab and started walking toward the entrance. Before long, I spotted my friend coming out of the elevator.
He turned to wave at me but quickly realized that he didn’t recognize me at first glance. “Oh, hi!” he exclaimed, smiling broadly once he recognized me.
We greeted each other, exchanged pleasantries, and went our separate ways. When I got back to my place, I checked my phone messages. There wasn’t anything urgent waiting for me there. So I sat down on the sofa and watched TV for a bit.
Finally, I switched it off and lay down on the floor. I thought about how I might go about finding my friend tomorrow morning. Perhaps I’ll try asking around at the same places where I met him last time. Or perhaps I should visit the police station again. Hmm… Well, I guess I needn’t worry too much about this just yet. Tomorrow is Sunday after all, so I won’t have to hurry anywhere.
***
The next day dawned bright and clear, with the sun shining brightly over Tokyo. I woke up early as always, showered, dressed, and ate breakfast. After that, I set off for Shinjuku Station, where I planned to meet my friend at ten o’clock sharp. Since I still hadn’t figured out exactly what to say, I wrote a short message on the paper napkin: “Sorry for bothering you yesterday.”
I folded the note neatly and placed it inside my shirt pocket. As I stood outside the station waiting for my friend, I glanced nervously around me. My heart began beating faster whenever someone came within sight. But nobody did—not even my friend.
Ten minutes passed by, and then fifteen more. Still no sign of him. Was he late? Did something happen to him? What if he forgot about me altogether?!
Panicking slightly, I tried calling his cell phone several times. No answer. This couldn’t be happening! I mean, why wouldn’t he pick up right away when he saw who was calling him…? Oh well, maybe he’s not really my friend anymore… Maybe he never cared about me anyway… If only I knew which train he was riding…
Just then, two men approached me. They wore suits and looked like businessmen. One of them spoke to me in English. “Excuse me,” he said. “Are you looking for someone?”
“Yes, actually.”
He smiled kindly. “Do you know your friend’s name? Mine’s Hiroshi. And this is my colleague, Kenji. We’re both working for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
My face flushed red hot with embarrassment. How embarrassing! “Um… yes, sorry. His name’s Tomohiko Nakagawa, and he lives in Shin-Okubo.”
Hiroshi nodded knowingly. “Ahh, that makes sense. You see, we’ve come across information indicating that Mr. Nakagawa may have been involved in some sort of illegal activity recently. Do you mind telling us what kind of person he is?”
“Erm… er… ah…”
They continued to question me for another five minutes or so. By the end of it, I felt thoroughly humiliated. I kept apologizing profusely until finally they agreed to let me go.
As soon as I left the area, I ran straight home without stopping anywhere else. Once there, I locked myself inside my room and collapsed onto my bed in tears. All because of those stupid bureaucrats! Why had I gone along with their silly game?
Now everyone would think badly of me! Just imagining the looks people were going to give me made me feel sicker than ever before. It took everything I had just to get through the rest of the day.
That night, I dreamed vividly about being chased by an enormous tiger. In my dream, the beast appeared suddenly from behind a tree and attacked me viciously. The tiger knocked me to the ground and pounced upon me repeatedly, tearing at my flesh with its claws and teeth.
Each time it struck, blood gushed forth from my body. Yet despite the pain, I remained conscious throughout the entire ordeal. Eventually, though, I lost consciousness completely. And when I awoke the following morning, I discovered that the nightmare was indeed real.
A tiger was standing right beside my bed. Its eyes were glowing crimson, and it growled menacingly at me. With shaking hands, I grabbed a nearby knife and held it tightly against my chest. Then I slowly rose to my feet and walked toward the door.
For a moment, I hesitated—but then I remembered my promise to my mother. She’d told me many years ago that she wanted her youngest son to become a great man someday. That was why I decided to do whatever it took to make sure I became one.
So I opened the front door and stepped into the hallway. Slowly but surely, I crept past the tiger. A few seconds later, I reached the stairs leading downstairs, climbed them carefully, and headed towards the living room. As I entered the kitchen, I could hear voices coming from outside. When I peered out the window, I realized that my family was sitting down together for dinner. Everyone except me…
When I went back upstairs, the tiger followed me all the way up to my bedroom. I didn’t want to kill it; instead, I simply threw open the windows wide and started shouting loudly enough for anyone to hear. “Please! Please don’t hurt me!” I cried desperately. “I’m innocent! I haven’t done anything wrong!!”
The tiger roared angrily after hearing my voice. I quickly turned on the light and stared right at the creature as it paced around the room, searching for the source of the sound. After a while, it stopped pacing and sat down next to my bed. Then it leaned forward to look directly into my eyes.
“Why are you crying?” it asked gently. “What has happened to you?”
“It’s nothing… really.”
“You mustn’t cry over such trivial things.”
“But…”
“Now tell me: Why did you run away last night?”
“Because… because they came here… looking for me.”
“Who?”
“Those men… From the government office.”
“And what exactly do you mean by ‘they’?”
For a long moment, I couldn’t find any words to say. Finally, I found my courage and began explaining everything that had happened earlier that evening. At first, the tiger listened quietly, nodding occasionally as if trying to understand what I was saying. But eventually, it grew impatient with my story and interrupted me rudely.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” it said sharply. “There’s no way someone like yourself could possibly cause trouble for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs!”
Then it added more calmly, “Still, I suppose I should apologize on behalf of our organization for making you worry unnecessarily. However, please keep in mind that we cannot allow anyone who might pose a threat to national security to remain free.”
“Threat?!”
“We can’t afford to take chances where matters of state are concerned.”
Suddenly, the tiger leaped off my bed and rushed out of the room. Before I knew it, it was standing in front of the bathroom door. There was something odd about how it stood there silently staring at me, almost daring me to enter.
So I reluctantly approached the doorway, only to see two large men standing there with guns pointed directly at my head. They looked very familiar. One was balding, and the other had a bushy mustache. Both had stern expressions on their faces.
After confirming that I was unarmed, they ordered me to sit down on the floor and wait patiently until further notice. Then they left without another word.
***
Later that day, I learned that those two agents were part of a special team known as Section Three. Their job was to investigate individuals suspected of having ties to terrorist organizations or foreign intelligence agencies.
According to the information provided by the ministry, these particular investigators also possessed the authority to arrest suspects anywhere within Japan. It was clear that they meant business.
As soon as the agents returned home, they immediately contacted the local police station and requested permission to conduct a search inside my house. The officers readily agreed to cooperate, so the following morning, several armed policemen arrived at my front gate and proceeded straight into my backyard.
They spent hours digging through every corner of the yard, including under the shed and behind the garage. Although it was obvious to everyone present that I hadn’t been involved in any wrongdoing whatsoever, none of us dared speak up and risk attracting unwanted attention.
Eventually, however, the investigation concluded successfully. No evidence suggesting that I was connected to terrorism or espionage ever surfaced. And yet, despite this fact, I continued to live with the fear that I would be arrested at any time.
The End