Chapter five, 2017, leverage, segment one

Accusations of Urufu cheating died down, even though they left a dirty memory behind. Jeniferu’s expulsion, however, went through.

Silently Kyoko wondered how Kareyoshi dared, because foreign journalists still clung to both Himekaizen and Irishima High making the scandal fester, and Kyoko agreed with them. It was a disgusting scandal.

She stood, phone in hand and looked at it. Among other news it seemed Jeniferu had made new friends at Irishima High.

And a press conference.

Right now Jeniferu was one of the most hated girls in Tokyo ever since she disclosed details, not only of the gang rape but also about the atrocities the police had made her go through while at the same time dissuading her from filing a report.

The reason Kyoko stared at her phone was the latest news that an opportunistic China had used the incident to warn their citizens off travels to Japan since security for females couldn’t be guaranteed. South Korea was bound to follow suit within a day or two, which, just as Ambassador Cooper had threatened, would make it all blow up into a huge international scandal.

Rightfully so.

The police report, at least the parts someone managed to dig up, indicated the rape was Jeniferu’s fault for being in the wrong place at the wrong moment. Which meant being exactly where Kareyoshi’s goons had ordered her to be at the time they wanted her to be there.

Isn’t the police supposed to be protecting us?

So in the end Jeniferu got kicked out of school for indecent behaviour. And the online communities went up in flame where ‘foreign whore’ was among the politest epithets attached to her.

Does it mean it was my fault I was attacked? Twice?

In a bad way Kyoko suspected not everyone believed so, because the Stockholm Haven café had two new customers at the moment. Two scary men who had once moved from Japan to Sweden, or at least one scary man. The other was Ai’s father, and he just made Kyoko feel awkward since he somehow was involved in Ryu and Ai breaking up last spring.

One of the men, however, was definitely scary. The father to one of the five Swedish guests they had entertained last summer. Rika, if Kyoko recalled correctly. The former student council president of their sister high school, or at least something very close to a student council president.

She could ask, Kyoko noted. Both Rika and Ai’s older brother Jun were present as well together with Jun’s girlfriend. Three of those five students attended universities in Tokyo, and as far a Kyoko understood, none of them planned to spend all four years here.

The scary man sat talking with the not so scary one, former Principal Nakagawa and Kuri-chan’s grandfather, who by all rights was a scary man himself if Urufu could be believed. From time to time Urufu’s guardian and James joined their conversation, but most of the time they shared their own table with Kuri-chan’s photographer and a very old woman Kyoko had never seen before.

As for Kyoko she stood behind the counter taking orders and serving them. She did so together with Noriko and that university student part timer James had hired for late evenings.

Urufu was in the inner room together with the three Swedish students, of whom two were really Japanese. It wasn’t club activities, because the café proper was filled with club members ever since Urufu booted everyone out from their club room.

Kyoko forced down a very unfeminine growl when she saw Jeniferu in her sailor uniform talking with another Irishima High freshman and Tomasu. Jeniferu should never have had to wear that uniform, or even better, should have worn it from the beginning.

Then Kyoko’s eyes sought out the adults again.

What are you thinking? Half a dozen arrivals in the café. You stand out like a sore thumb. And they did. It was still early enough for the students to be here, and the only adult expected except for James was the vice principal of Irishima High.

Sure enough students glanced at the older people from time to time, and Kyoko sighed with relief when Urufu finally left the inner room together with their former guests and let the grown-ups inside.

“Kyoko, Noriko, could you tell me when you have your next break?”

Kyoko shot their older colleague a glance, and when she nodded approval Kyoko met Urufu’s eyes again. “Now is fine.”

“Outside.”

She followed him through the door, and the short delay until the bell rang again behind her was proof that Noriko had joined them as well.

“What is it?” Noriko asked when the door closed.

Urufu turned and faced them both. Behind his back Kyoko saw cars passing by in a steady stream and on the other side of the street her body guard sat in a car waiting as he always did whenever she visited the Haven café. Just one body guard, because Yukio and Ryu were away running errands for the club.

“The old people are planning something dirty. I think it has do do with Kareyoshi.”

“Why can’t they just have him put in jail?”

Urufu grimaced. “They could. To be honest I believe even we could by now.”

“So why not?” Kyoko just wanted the madman gone.

“Because they’re adults. Because they need to know he isn’t replaced by someone equally bad.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Because adults don’t do the right thing or the wrong thing,” Noriko said.

Kyoko turned and looked at her, and in doing so she saw how Urufu drew a deep breath.

“I’m pretty certain they need to negotiate with whoever put him there in the first place,” he said.

“Negotiate?” The word felt strange in Kyoko’s mouth. “He’s involved in the assault of four girls!” The word made her sick. “Negotiate? What’s there to negotiate?”

“It’s not that...” Urufu began. The he stopped mid sentence and bowed. “I apologise. Adults to disgusting things and call it being pragmatic. I apologise for even thinking like that. You’re right. There’s nothing to be negotiated.”