Accuracy of death 2

On the near side of the subway staircase I stepped under a roofed section, and closed my umbrella. Before I closed it, I shook the water from it firmly, two or three times. A bit of dirt that was stuck to the umbrella flew onto the back of the woman who stood in front of me.

“Ah!” I loosed my voice. It was a bigger piece of dirt than I expected. The woman looked behind her suspiciously.

“Please forgive me. Some droplets flew…” I bowed my head. She twisted her neck, and haphazardly pulled at the suit she wore, resting her eyes on the dirtied patch. When she had confirmed there was a patch of dirt the sixe of a five hundred yen coin on the grey cloth, once again her suspicious eyes turned toward me. She looked angry, but of course, she had the right to be angry; she really looked more bewildered than angry. She went to go down the stairs, so I panicked, and stood in front of her.

“Wait a minute, I’ll pay for the cleaning” I said.

I had not checked carefully, but this time I should have an appearance that would charm a young woman. I was told by the information department that I was a young man in his early twenties who could pass for a model in a fashion magazine. The information department researches and decides on an appearance and age that will aid in our work.

Therefore, it is hard to imagine that my appearance inspired dislike in her; I think it must have been brining up money that made her suspicious.

She said something.

‘No it’s all right’ or ‘Don’t bother’; I managed to grasp that it was something of that nature, although she spoke in such a small, retiring voice that I could not hear what she said.

“Wait a minute” without thinking, I went to grab her arm as a reflex. I withdrew my hand immediately.

I had forgotten to wear a glove. It is forbidden to touch a human body with a naked hand. Just by being touched, humans can faint and become difficult, so it is forbidden except for in emergencies. It is a rule. Those who break it are forced to do a set period of manual labour and attend an educational course. Breaking such a trivial rule is like, in human terms, throwing away a cigarette butt or ignoring a traffic light, so I did not feel it was necessary to be overly fastidious about it, but even though I think it is interfering, it is a rule that should be followed.

“Getting dirt on such an expensive suit, I can’t leave it like that” I said.

“Expensive… the whole suit was 10 000 yen” finally the girl spoke in a voice I could hear. “Are you being sarcastic?”

“It doesn’t look so cheap” in fact, it easily looked that cheap. “If that’s the case, all the more; it must be rare to find such a bargain.”

“Don’t worry about this stain” she said darkly, “at this point I’m not worried about a mark or two.”

Yes, with your life-span, a stain like that is not a problem. You will be dead in a week anyway, I thought, but I did not say it.

“Okay, lets do this; how about you let me buy you dinner by way of an apology?”

“Huh?” she made a face like she had never heard this line before.

“I know a good restaurant. They are not likely to let me in on my own, so it would help me is you came.”

She stared at me. Humans are really deeply suspicious. They are extremely scared of being made idiots out of, yet are easy to fool. There can be no helping them. Of course, I have no intention of helping them.

“Where is everyone hiding?” she prickled.

“Sorry?”

“Your friends are hiding somewhere, laughing, aren’t they? Laughing at me, enjoying my response to your pick up.” Rather than talking, she gave the impression of reciting a Buddhist prayer.

“Pick up?” I said as if I had been shoved.

“I may not look so good, but I am not causing anybody trouble, so please leave me alone.” She went as to go ahead. At this point, without thinking I grabbed her shoulder with my bare hands. By the time I had thought ‘Oh no!’, she had turned her head around, and made a face like she had seen a god of death, well no, she had seen a god of death, but in any case her face paled to blue as the blood rushed away, and she sat down helplessly where she was.

It was too late to regret it. All I could do was pray that I had not been seen by a colleague. I took a pair of gloves from my pocket, put them on both hands, and held the girl where she had collapsed on the floor.