The Plan (2/2)
Aiba's offered him a ride back into Tokyo, but Sho insists on catching a train. He's in his suit from the day before, the exact same tie, and he makes a quick stop at his own place to change. Jun notices things like that. Things seem downright normal as he gets back on the train, standing in the crowded cars as he heads to their office.
Maybe he's still riding on the high because he doesn't notice that the elevator takes longer than usual. Maybe he's still imagining Aiba's breath on his skin because he doesn't sense anything's wrong until he finds the door to their office locked.
Sho checks his phone. He has the time right and obviously the place. He's had no messages from Jun. He shakes the door, jumping back in surprise when he hears it unlock and someone not Jun or any of their staffers pushes it open.
Instead it's a short man with sun-kissed skin, a round face, and sadness in his eyes. "Sho-kun, you're here. Come in."
Sho does not obey. He steps back, clutching his briefcase. "Who are you? Where's Matsumoto-san?"
The man is stronger than he looks, yanking Sho by the sleeve and nearly tearing the fabric as he pulls him inside the office. The door is locked once more.
Sho wonders if he's gone crazy in the last five minutes. Their offices have several visitors, one for every staffer in the outer room. If he tilts his head, he can see through to the office he and Jun share. Jun's there, sitting in his chair, but his eyes are closed and a skinny fellow about the same height as the man who let him in is running some sort of device around him.
"Hey!" Sho cries, typing in a number on his phone. "I'm calling the police."
The tanned man takes his phone away. "Sho-kun, I'm sorry. This is necessary."
"What is necessary?" He tries to push forward, get to Jun. There's a green beam of some kind coming out of the guy's device. "What are you doing to him? Leave him alone!"
"I'm Ohno," the tanned person says. "Sho-kun, we're performing an adjustment."
He sees people with each staffer, doing the same action with these scanners. He looks around, confused as hell. "Who are you? Government, police?"
The man scanning Jun leaves the office, comes out to the main room. Where Ohno has a kind, gentle face, this other man's features are sharper, colder. His voice has a rather sarcastic tone when he speaks. "You've done this to yourself. We're adjusting your parents' memories. And unless you'd like us to adjust yours too, then you stick with this story: after the Yomiuri Shimbun interview, you spent the day with your parents."
"Hold on," Sho interrupts, "I don't understand." He was with Aiba yesterday. Do these men know what they did?
Ohno and the other man look at each other. "Nino," Ohno says, "this is too much for him to see..."
"Well he has a role to play," Nino shoots back. "So he can learn what it really means, and maybe he won't screw up again."
"He didn't screw up," Ohno says simply.
Nino scoffs, holding up the scanner, and Sho sees the green light before Ohno intervenes, lowering the other man's hand.
"We can explain," Ohno says.
Sho doesn't think they can.
--
As a rule of thumb, Ohno's never
followed Sho during his personal time. And truth be told,
he'd been pretty happy for Sho. How many years had Ohno
watched over him, waiting for him to understand how he truly felt?
But this has apparently been yet another grievous
error in a string of grievous errors Ohno has
committed because his feelings toward Sho,
toward his assignment, are too personal.
"Instead of letting him throw his life away,
you could have done any number of things," Nino had complained.
"Kept Sakurai late at the interview. Broken Aiba's car.
And you just let them go reenact some Getsu 9 drama climax."
Ohno has been under observation for weeks as soon
as upper management caught wind of what Sakurai's been up to.
And only today have they decided to perform an adjustment.
When Sho asks who or what they are, Ohno can't tell him.
It's not allowed.
But he can explain why they're here today. An adjustment,
Ohno explains to Sho, is a memory wipe. They can set the timing,
set the number of people it effects, and set what they remember.
It's a sophisticated bit of human rewiring.
So there is a crew at Sakurai's parents, a crew here in the office.
And if Nino gives the go ahead, Aiba too will be rewired.
Because the plan for Sakurai Sho means that he has to be
elected and go on to political greatness, Sakurai Sho cannot be
in a romantic relationship with a man. As he moves up
the political ladder, the media will sniff something like
that out, and it would be his total undoing. That's why
everything's been set up so neatly for him, Ohno knows.
Sho may be gay, but Sho's path takes him into the
Prime Minister's Cabinet some day with a wealthy, beautiful
wife at his side.
There simply isn't room in the plan for Aiba Masaki.
As Ohno explains this, explains that there is a plan
for Sho's life, he sees the hope and happiness in
his eyes start to fade. Normally people are not privy
to adjustments. They simply wake up with new or rewritten
knowledge. Like Sakurai Sho's parents will soon wake believing
that their son visited the previous day. They'll believe it
so much they'll know what they had for dinner,
what their conversations entailed.
Nino wants to send a message. He wants Sho to understand
what's at stake. "Fate is an interesting thing," Nino says.
While they leave their people behind in the office,
Nino and Ohno take Sho to Katsushika Okudo Junior High School.
They stand at the entrance as school lets out, and across
the playground, Ohno sees a cheerful Aiba Masaki waving
farewell to students, oblivious to the three men at the gate.
Nino's linked arms with Sho, but only so he won't move,
so he won't speak out. He points to a schoolgirl with pigtails.
"She needs a haircut." With just a flick of his fingers,
the ribbon unravels and her hair loosens, gets tangled in her face.
He points to another student, soccer ball in his arms.
"His path leads nowhere. He'll be in prison someday,"
Nino explains. With a twist of his wrist, the boy lifts up
the soccer ball and suddenly flings it at the kid walking
in front of him and a fight breaks out.
But Nino continues talking as though nothing's amiss.
"As you may know, Aiba-sensei is taking a group of students
to a science fair in Osaka in a week. Any number of things can happen."
"I don't understand," Sho mumbles.
"Before the week is up, the student body may learn
that the chemistry teacher is a pedophile."
"He's not..."
Nino tightens his grip on Sho. "What, do you think that
would stop anyone from spreading a rumor? If Ohno-san or I tell them?"
Sho's face falls, and Ohno wants to be anywhere else.
Anywhere else but here, letting Sho know how he's being
manipulated and has been his entire life. He loves Sho like
the brother he's never had, even if Sho's never known about
him until today. And now Sho will know that Ohno is watching,
that Ohno can do nothing but watch. That Ohno can do nothing
but push Sho in the direction he's expected to go.
"So maybe he's not a pedophile," Nino says casually, although
there's a dark edge to his voice that Ohno doesn't like.
Long ago, Ohno knows that Nino had been too attached to
one of his assignments. After Nino let her marry the man
she truly loved, she'd been completely wiped, all of Nino's
hard work destroyed. Nino's never been the same. All he knows
now is adjustment. Sticking to the plans given.
"He's not a pedophile, but there's going to be a bad storm
on this science fair bus ride. The roads get slick,
the windshield wipers on the bus fail..."
Sho can't stop watching innocent, harmless Aiba across the way,
smiling brightly at his beloved students. "Stop," Sho begs Nino.
"There's no guard rail and the bus goes over. It flips two,
three, maybe four times," Nino continues, driving home the
extent of what they can do.
"Stop," Sho asks again, tears in his eyes.
"Aiba goes through the windshield trying to keep the students safe.
Or maybe the bus crushes him, smashes him...leaves nothing left to..."
"Stop!" Sho screams.
Ohno's hands become fists.
"So," Nino says, letting Sho go. "You cut him loose. You run for office.
You take Horikita's money and you win. Everything for you, Sakurai,
is up if you listen to us today. We're handing you success
on a silver platter."
Ohno leans close, puts a hand on Sho's shoulder.
"You want to make a difference in the world," he says gently.
"Isn't that the most important thing to you?"
"I can't have that and have him," Sho whispers.
"Just one or the other?"
"He's not in the plan for you," Ohno admits. "I'm very sorry."
Ohno knows that Sho wants to ask why, but he simply nods.
"Okay. I've seen enough."
--
He erases Aiba's number from his phone. Donates clothes they'd shopped for together to charity. Every time Sho looks out his apartment window, he can see Ohno-san standing there in the shadows now. When it's sunny, he's in a t-shirt and sandals. When it rains, he's holding an umbrella. He's been there Sho's whole life, and Sho's never known.
What are they? What the hell are they? He has flashes again and again. Aiba's reputation, Aiba's life. If Sho is selfish enough to stay with him, then Aiba's the one who will pay the price. That's how it's been explained to him. He can't allow it. He won't put Aiba in danger.
He works long hours, longer than ever before. A few weeks go by. He meets up with Maki, makes romantic gestures for others to see. Nice meal, nice date. But when she leans in, Sho leans back. She's always known about him, but she's never said a word. Sho wonders if he could love her. She knows him, at the very least. She could do whatever she wished. But will he just be trapping her the same as he'd be trapping himself?
Ohno's in the corner of his vision, pitying him. Why does this Ohno even care?
So Sho works and works.
He declares his candidacy for Tokyo's 17th district's seat in the House of Representatives once again. A crowd's gathered, and Maki's at his side, their hands linked. Jun's at his other side, seemingly proud of Sho for "finally getting serious."
Inside he feels hollow. Like a robot, going through the motions. Isn't that what he is? He scans the crowd, sees cheering, smiling faces. Isn't that what they all are? Puppets on invisible strings?
After the rally, he tells Jun he needs some space. He tells Maki the same. He gets in his car and drives to Chiba, the minutes going by on the dashboard clock. The sky is pitch black when he gets to the spot. Their spot.
He goes to the bench, lies down and shuts his eyes. The music fills his ears. They haven't adjusted him, haven't taken this memory away. They've taken Aiba Masaki, but not their song. He sleeps, wondering if he'll wake up and have none of it left.
When the sun's rising, he feels someone's touch. A hand, ruffling his hair. "Ohno-san," Sho murmurs, not wanting to open his eyes. "You'll follow me even here? This isn't against the plan, is it?"
It's not Ohno-san.
"What plan?" Aiba asks.
--
It would have been best to push Aiba away. To run, get in his car and flee. But somehow Aiba's known to come here, right now. Right at this moment. How can that not be in the plan? How can that not be fate?
Sho shivers, eyes filling with tears. Aiba gives him a stubborn shake. "Have you been out here all night?" Aiba asks, chiding him like a parent. "You'll catch a cold, you know." He doesn't sound angry or upset about Sho cutting him out of his life, not in this moment.
They sit together in Aiba's car, parked beside Sho's. Aiba's put a blanket on him, and he's sitting behind the steering wheel staring at him, looking more curious than upset. He waits and waits for Sho to talk, to explain, but he's not the most patient person, never has been. After all, the first time they met Aiba came right out and introduced himself in a men's room.
"Okay so I get it," Aiba says. "You were on the news today. You're running again, that's great."
"Masaki..."
"No no, I get it, really. Politics!" Aiba smiles, but it's more bitter than Sho's ever seen it. "There's not much room for a Prime Minister with a boyfriend. And you will be someday. Prime Minister that is." Aiba turns, hauling his bag from the back seat. It's already covered in brand new, shiny "VOTE SAKURAI 17th!" buttons that Jun's only had out in circulation a few days. "See? I'll vote for you, at least."
Sho cries, not knowing what else to do. Aiba puts his arm around him, whispers silly reassuring words in his ear. It's dangerous, being here right now. But it still feels more right to be here with Aiba at his side. Should he tell him? Should he explain why? That it's nothing to do with his feelings? That Aiba might pay the price for Sho's selfishness?
Would Aiba even believe him?
He feels Aiba's lips against his temple. "You're under so much pressure," he whispers. "Do you know, I've been coming here every night at sunset? Since you've stopped calling me. I mean, it's a lot of miles to put on a car and gas prices are ridiculous on a teacher's salary, but whatever. Sho-chan, I believe in this, and I know you do too. It's just that the timing was bad, huh? Maybe in another life it was supposed to happen. Maybe the wires got crossed. What do you think?"
Sho pulls away from Aiba. He remembers that terrible day, Ohno and Nino (if those were even their names) showing off their terrible power. Were they gods? Was there really only one plan? If they adjusted one person, wouldn't that then adjust everything else? What if the plan for Sho was the wrong one?
"I'm going to adjust it myself," Sho says, hearing Aiba's confused chuckle. "Just...believe in me."
"Sho-chan," Aiba says, tugging up the blanket and pulling it over the both of them. "I have since we met."
--
Ohno is surprised when Sho comes with questions.
He walks right out of his apartment, right up to Ohno and jabs him
in the chest with his index finger.
"How do we change the plan?"
"We...we don't," Ohno says, looking around. Nino, somebody else
could be watching. He feels Sho shudder a bit when they touch,
Ohno dragging Sho into the corridor between Sho's apartment
building and the one next door.
When they're finally as alone as they're going to get,
Ohno shakes his head. "The plan is the plan," he explains.
"It's already written."
"Where?"
Ohno stops. He can't tell Sho this. Sho is human, mortal.
He's not supposed to be privy to this information. If anything,
asking questions means he's due to be wiped if anyone else finds out.
He'll be rewired entirely, all his free will removed in an instant.
He won't be Sho anymore. Ohno's not sure who that man will be.
He doesn't want to meet him.
"Ohno-san," Sho pleads with him. "I get the impression you're
not very good at your job. So maybe you could slip up again. For me."
He says nothing. The Hall of Records is off limits except
when there's a complete rewiring. Or worse, if someone is erased.
Too many people may be affected if someone turns up with a completely
new personality. There's a lot that must be accounted for.
"Can't you break the rules? Or at least show me how to?
I can't do this. I can't do anything, I won't. Not without him.
It's not worth it without him," Sho says, fire in his eyes.
The same as he'd been the night Aiba Masaki had walked into his life.
For weeks now, Ohno's been struggling to reconcile the plan he knows
is written for Sho's life with the passion of the man standing
before him, in love and wanting to keep it. How can Aiba not be
part of the plan? It doesn't make any sense.
He shuts his eyes, remembering how lost Nino had been after
the person he cared about had been wiped. Could he bear to let
the same thing happen to Sho?
"I could go check your records," he says. "You've already breached
the plan by seeing Aiba-san today. I could pretend to be reporting you."
"I don't care what you have to say or what your stupid procedure is,"
Sho says, waving his hands frantically. "Can you change it or not?
Without him getting hurt? I don't care what has to be done to me.
Take my eye, take a limb, leave me destitute. Just don't take him away."
He decides to try. If Sho's not going to stop fighting, then why should he?
Ohno nods. "I'll come back, I promise."
He knows Sho will freak out, but Ohno doesn't have time
to explain everything. He vanishes in a flash of light,
reappearing in the Hall of Records. He clears his throat, tries to appear
casual as he approaches the main desk. It's treason for him to lie to
the woman behind the desk. She is the Keeper, and there is no crossing her.
Or maybe it's because nobody's ever tried.
"Sakurai Sho," Ohno says, seeing her stern, unforgiving face.
"Plan breach, severe adjustment potential. Possible rewire."
He stands there waiting for several moments while the Keeper looks
at him, looks for truth in his heart. Ohno lets his love for Sho and
Sho's own love guide him, lets it block out any signs of lying.
Will it be enough to convince the Keeper?
"Five minutes, and breach will be called," the Keeper tells him.
"We always knew it would come to this with Sakurai Sho."
He nods, as though he understands that Sho's going to be rewired.
The door opens, revealing the single book within. With a snap of his
fingers the book opens to Sho's page. There it is, written as it
always has been, as Ohno memorized it the day Sho was born.
But there's something here now that Ohno doesn't remember seeing
that first and only time before.
Sho's path had been so shining, so exciting that perhaps Ohno
simply hadn't caught it before. Or perhaps they'd hidden their error,
let him continue perpetuating the lie. How does he know this?
Because there's a rip in the page, extremely slight but it's there.
Someone's careless mistake has gone unnoticed for all these years.
The tear in the paper has fragmented Sho's plan, eliminated entire
chunks of his life. No wonder Sho's path has always seemed so linear.
Sho's path is incomplete. Broken. Perhaps even cobbled together from
the paths of other people. Paths Sho was never meant to be on.
"What have you found?"
Ohno jumps, turning to find Nino has entered the room.
He's about to speak when Nino brings his finger to his lips.
"Don't say anything. Let me see it."
Ohno steps aside meekly. Nino's caught him. Nino will report him.
Nino will see Ohno moved to a different division.
Maybe Nino will destroy Sho and Aiba's lives both.
But instead Nino's intelligent, sharp eyes peruse Sho's torn page.
He snaps his finger, and the page flips, shows the damage to the
person after him. He snaps again, brings Sho's back.
"I see," Nino says, but Ohno definitely doesn't see. Nino shuts the book
and turns to him. "This was what happened. With Yuko." Nino had loved her.
Adored her from day one. And he'd lost her. "They made me cover it up.
People are on the paths we set them on. If we screw up, it doesn't make a difference."
Ohno wants to reach out, embrace his friend. How many years have
they worked together? He's missed Nino for so long, ever since he's changed.
He sees determination in Nino's eyes now. If Nino couldn't save Yuko,
maybe this time they can do something.
"Will you help him? Will you help Sho?"
Nino grins. "Every breach correction requires a co-signer."
Together they open the book back to Sho's page. He watches Nino write
"Aiba Masaki" and before their eyes Sho's page blooms. The ink seeps
into the paper, and it jumps, thick red strings firing out from Aiba's name
and racing across the page, twisting and wrapping themselves around
Sho's name along with the other strings already tied to him. His parents,
his siblings, Matsumoto Jun, Horikita Maki. Aiba's red, Nino and Ohno discover,
is somehow the brightest of them all.
"He was here," Ohno says. "He actually was here, and he'd been missing."
Nino nods. "He was meant to be here all along."
Alarms go off, but it's already too late. They haven't changed anything.
They've only restored the truth.
--
"I'm still going to run," Sho tells Maki over dinner a few nights later. "But I...I just don't think I want to do it with your father's help."
She smiles, happier than he's ever seen her. She reaches a hand across the table, squeezes his. "You've found someone."
"I'm not cheating on you...I..."
Maki laughs. "We're not together. We never have been, not really. You've always been looking just past me, and that's fine." She squeezes harder. "I'm happy for you."
He looks down, embarrassed. He's never deserved someone this kind. "I'm so sorry."
She slips her hand away, eyes sparkling a bit in the candlelight. She pulls her purse from beneath the tablecloth, slips out a Vote Sakurai button. "I've been speaking with Jun-kun, and I'll have you know that my father is not the boss of me. I may not have his reach or his connections, but I'm building them. And if you'll accept, I'd like to financially support your campaign."
He smiles. "Seriously?"
"Seriously," she says with a nod.
Sho walks her to the train, hugging her goodbye before she boards. He turns and heads out, deciding to walk. The air is cool, breezy, and he won't get too many more nights like it. He'll be hunkered down indoors, nothing but campaigning for the next year. Jun's been informed about the changes on the way, and he's adjusting as well as can be expected. And adjusting without assistance from otherworldly beings, whatever they are.
He finds Ohno sitting on a bench outside of the train station, hands in his pockets and waiting as always. Ohno gets up and they walk together.
"I wish I could marry her. Pretty lawyer, nice smile," Ohno says with a sigh. "Too bad she's out of my league."
"What do you mean?" Sho asks, feigning innocence. "I'd be happy to set something up."
Ohno just rolls his eyes. No humans for him, thanks. Sho chuckles to himself. He'll never know who or what Ohno is, other than the person who changed Sho's fate. Or more like the person who allowed Sho to decide his own.
They walk quietly down the street. The cherry blossoms are just about done, but the fragrance still lingers in the air. Their walk takes them to the gate of Katsushika Okudo Junior High School, and for some reason Sho isn't surprised to find Aiba there, just pulling up in one of the school vans after a Science Olympiad meet at a rival school. He suspects Ohno's timing has arranged for this.
They stand together at the gate, watching Aiba saying goodbye to his students. It's going to be hard, maintaining a life together with all that Sho will be scrutinized in the months to come. They're going to keep their relationship secret for the benefit of both of their reputations, but Ohno (and even Nino) have vowed to assist here and there. In fixing Sho's "path" the two of them have apparently gained some respect and privileges from their mysterious employers.
"My job is to ensure that you're happy," Ohno admits, scratching the back of his head. "I've always been told that keeping you on the plan was my job. But where's the fun in that?"
He strolls off with a wave, giving Sho his privacy. Sho still doesn't get it, but it doesn't matter. Because all he knows is Aiba coming to the gate, seeing that smile under the street lamps. Here in the dark they don't have to hide.
"I've been working on an acceptance speech," Sho says as he holds out his hand. Aiba takes it.
"Oh really?" Aiba says, backpack slung over his shoulder, looking more like one of the students than the teacher. "So soon?"
"Well, I'm fairly confident I'll be winning this one. It may be a year off, but I've just received the endorsement of one of Tokyo's finest lawyers."
Aiba laughs. "That's good to hear." He wiggles a bit and the multitude of "VOTE SAKURAI 17th!" buttons and keychains dangling from his backpack make little metal pinging noises. "Since I've already donated a great deal of money to this campaign."
"Maybe I'll be Prime Minister someday too. Imagine how many buttons you'll have to get then."
"I'll buy them all! Nobody will escape my political message!"
"Ah, please continue to look upon me favorably, Aiba-san."
"Not a problem, Sakurai-san."
Their laughter rings out in the Tokyo night, two voices joining perfectly. As though they were simply meant to be.