Kurosaki Katsuo had been on remand in the local jail for six days when he got his first visitor. Big Brother. The Lionfish's eyes and ears in Hanagawa; Hidenari. He strode into the precinct with a pizza box in his hand, tossed it on the counter, scratched his goatee with one tobacco-stained finger and strode behind the desk, not even waiting for Honda's permission to enter.
Hidenari was an everyman. Easily overlooked in crowds, it helped him slip under the radar, despite his gaudy patterned shirts. He was a squat man with a prominent beer belly and unruly chest hair that concealed a plethora of tattoos. His thick, dark arm hair concealed most of the lionfish insignia on his right arm. He crossed his arm across his chest and glared down at Katsuo. He'd stuffed his beer belly into a blue polo shirt, an embroidered pizzeria logo stitched on the left breast. There was a yellow stain on his right-hand side, where his liver ought to be, a dark blue thread puckering around the mark as if he'd mended it.
"Who was that so-called Lionfish? I don't see him rotting in a cell," Hidenari snarled.
Katsuo stared up at his boss, the man who guarded the back door to the massage parlour. The easily overlooked puppet master. Hidenari glared at Katsuo, his beady dark eyes boring into his own from under a cream fedora.
Katsuo scowled and didn't say a word. Hidenari bared his teeth at the teenager, reached a meaty fist between the bars of his cell and grabbed him by the collar, "Oi! Bastard! Don't tell me you're going to rat."
Katsuo's heart raced. He raised his hands in mock surrender, "N-no Big Brother. I haven't said anything. I swear!"
"So tell me who that Lionfish was. I saw him slink in after you, and five of our masks were gone."
Katsuo swallowed and looked up at him, he needed to think and he needed to think quickly. It was like that thing Honda had been ranting about while knitting, the three body problem, whose life was worth saving and whose weren't. Would you save three strangers or one person you know?
Katsuo bit his lip, screwing his eyes shut. There were tonnes of people he would love to smite, Matsuoka Naseru included, but was it worth it? Katsuo wasn;t going to exact revenge, not from a holding cell, or on remand, or when he was in jail. He'd been selfish and deserved his bruises and cuts, he'd been greedy and selfish and started thinking of other people as products that could be sold.
Katsuo looked up at Hidenari, "Fine, I'll tell you his name."
Mrs Aigawa was chopping bok choi for their dinner when Kaho went to see her that evening. Her letter had instructed her to seek that kind of advice, and seek it she would. Maybe it was being her daughter, but in Kaho's mind, there were few people that could be wiser than her mother.
"Hey Lovely Girl, want to give me a hand?"
Kaho nodded, washing her hands and rolling up her sleeves.
"Mum, I have a question," Kaho said as her mum put some mincemeat in a frying pan.
"Ask away," Mrs Aigawa said, putting the pan on the heat. She turned her head and raised a brow, "You're not going to tell me you're sleeping with Tatsuya are you?"
Kaho's cheeks burned scarlet, "Why is everyone so obsessed with Tatsuya!"
Mrs Aigawa laughed, "He's your boyfriend, Kaho. You should be the most obsessed with him."
Kaho lowered her gaze. She hadn't spoken to him, even after he told her he wanted to. She sighed and continued to dice the vegetables.
"Say I have this friend," Kaho said, "Hypothetically. A hypothetical friend. And she's having a really rough time at home, her family is broke and she needs help. What do I do?"
"Has this hypothetical friend of yours asked for help?" Mrs Aigawa asked, standing on her tiptoes and grabbing a bottle of soy sauce. She tipped it into the pan, making the oil sizzle.
"Kind of?" Kaho said, "I don't want her to ruin her life, break the law or something…"
"You'd be surprised about the crimes people get away with in this world," Mrs Aigawa said, adding a handful of chilli flakes to the meat.
"Like stealing?" Kaho said, "Thing is she isn't doing that. I almost wish she was. After all, if she was there and stealing, it would be to provide for her siblings. Surely she wouldn't get a criminal record for that?"
Mrs Aigawa sighed and squeezed Kaho's hand, "My Lovely Girl, people aren't always as good and right as they think they would be in these kinds of situations. Sure you can say you'd turn your head if someone was stealing diapers, and I'm sure many people would, but if its something else, like noodles or tomatoes or something, it gets harder to prove you're not stealing for yourself because you can. And don't even get me started on clothes."
Kaho's lip trembled, "I don't understand, in middle school we had a debate, and agreed people who steal for the wellbeing of their families aren't bad people and shouldn't be punished."
"Oh Kaho," Mrs Aigawa said, "If only you made the laws."
Kaho scowled, turning her attention to the spinach on the chopping board, "She's not stealing. I think it's worse than stealing, theoretically, if we don't help, she's going to start working at 'Luvrz'."
Mrs Aigawa dropped her spatula on the floor. Her jaw hung slack. She cupped Kaho's face in her hands, "You tell me right now which one of your friends is going to 'Luvrz'."
Kaho's lips puckered under her mum's hands. She pursed her lips and eventually Mrs Aigawa let go, retrieving the spatula and throwing it in the washing up bowl, "Kaho, sex work is often a desperate woman's work. Because they're already going above and beyond, and it can ruin you. You can get sick, get pregnant, be attacked. Die. All sorts. Sex workers aren't protected by unions and the police don't care about them. 'Luvrz' is a shady place. A horrible place. You need to tell me which one of your friends considered working there right this instant!"
Kaho looked up at her mum, her oak brown eyes glistening with tears, "It's really bad – Ryota went over this morning. They don't have any food, except Ichigo's birthday cake, and that's only because Mamoru bought it!"
Kaho put her hands over her mouth – she'd dropped a name, an actual name of someone her mother already knew. Mrs Aigawa wrung her hands and sighed.
"Kikiyo is considering a job at 'Luvrz'? Even though she's working at the café by the station."
"She works at a convenience store too."
"And she's still having to consider sex work?" Mrs Aigawa was bristling, "And Ryota said they don't have any food?"
Kaho squeaked, nodding.
Mrs Aigawa took Kaho by the hand, turning the gas off for the meat. She'd reheat it later. Mrs Aigawa took a deep, centring breath and turned her head, her glossy black hair cascading over her shoulder, "Himiko, we're going to the supermarket, come get put your shoes on!"
"Do I have to?" Himiko whined, "I only just finished my homework. I want to play 'Mario'."
"I know, Lovely Girl," Mrs Aigawa said, "But if you come with us, you'll get a little treat?"
"Really?" Himiko exclaimed. She jumped off the sofa, discarding the controller for her games console and scampered toward the door, shoving her feet into her shoes, stomping down the counters of her trainers with her heels. She bounced on the doorstep. Mrs Aigawa sighed and grabbed a woven bag from a hook and a sunhat.
"Come on, Kaho."
Kaho nodded, trailing after her mother.
"We're restocking their pantry. Then, when we come over with groceries, we'll check and see what's going on with her parents. Kikiyo is only sixteen. She shouldn't have to work so hard."
Kaho nodded, quickening her pace as they headed toward the supermarket.
She would rather Kikiyo be embarrassed about some extra groceries than be dead in three days. Not that she could tell her mother that that was at stake. Even if there was a chance she'd believe her.