企画: 南雅彦
竹田青滋
勝股英夫
峰岸卓生
Planning: Masahiko Minami
Seiji Takeda
Hideo Katsumata
Takao Minegishi
The series starts out with that text on a black screen. When the text fades away the scene switches to a more natural setting: the skyline of a city in Japan. The city is Tokyo. The buildings are white and light grey in color. The heights range from nearly ten stories tall to forty stories, on average. The tallest looks fifty stories tall, and is cylindrical in shape, with a small light flickering from its top. The time of day is sometime in the afternoon, as white clouds, abstract in shape, float by in the azure blue sky hanging above the city, the sun peeking out between the clouds as they float by.
TOKYO, JAPAN: 20111.
原作: bonesx 濠沢彼太
Original Story: bones x Kareta Gohsawa
Cut to a close-up view of the city, the downtown. Pedestrians and businessmen are seen walking on the sidewalks past several of the tall buildings in the downtown area. The buildings, white at the base with several windows for each story, surround the streets, flooded with cars, in the styles of sedan, compact, and minivan; and colors such as red, dark blue, yellow, black, white, silver, and gold. Streetlights are lined up along the sides of the sidewalks, each light switched off because of the daytime setting. One row of cars along the right side of the street emerging from offscreen, that has stayed stationary for a second or two, starts up again as pedestrians cross on the crosswalk alongside that same street, in the same direction.
THE STATE OF THE COUNTRY HAS BEEN A PEACEFUL ONE FOR SEVERAL YEARS.
キャラクターデザイン原作: kohikki
キャラクターデザイン/総作画監督: 菊池聡延 (nomad)
Original Character Design: kohikki
Character Design/Chief Animation Director: Satonobu Kikuchi (nomad)
Cut to a closeup of the tall, 50-story, cylindrical tower that has dominated the city’s skyline. The POV starts from the bottom upward, showing its several stories, the elevators lining the outside moving up and down frequently. The more the POV moves up, the more the blue sky is shown, the sun shining through a few stray clouds, reflecting upon the top of the building.
WITH THE NEW GOVERNMENT “RYUDIS” IN CONTROL OF JAPAN, ITS ECONOMY STABILIZED WELL OVER THE NEXT YEAR.
美術監督: 永井一男
色彩設計: 水田信子
Art Director: Kazuo Nagai
Color Design: Nobuko Mizuta
Cut back to the establishing shot of the city skyline.
IT WAS BELIEVED THAT TIMES SUCH AS THESE WOULD ALWAYS BE THE SAME. HOWEVER…
Suddenly, a flickering light on top of the tall cylindrical building stops. And just as quick as it disappeared, a thin, bright beam of light shoots up from the top of the building. The beam of light seems to be harmless, but accompanying it is the sound of a large explosion.
(MUSIC: “Kiguma” by Takkyu Ishino)
メカニカルデザイン: 河森正治
3DCGIプロデューサー: 神林憲和 (オクティグラフィカ)
Mechanical Design: Shoji Kawamori
3DCGI Producer: Norikazu Kanbayashi (Octigraphica)
The next shot is of several pedestrians looking up at the large 50-story cylindrical tower, the one from which the beam of light emerged. The noise and light remain as the pedestrians look on.
A SMALL EXPLOSION CHANGED JAPAN FOREVER. HOWEVER, THE EXPLOSION THAT OCCURRED WAS UNLIKE ANY OTHER.
撮影監督: 木村俊也 (T2 studio)
編集: 野尻由紀子
Director of Photography: Shunya Kimura (T2 studio)
Editor: Yukiko Nojiri
Cut to out in space, a shot of the Earth, the POV looking down upon it. Above Japan, from where Tokyo is, the beam of light that emerged from the cylindrical building in Tokyo earlier is seen to be going into space.
THIS EXPLOSION, DUBBED THE “DESTROY EVENT” BY THE MEDIA, CAME WITHOUT WARNING TO THE CITIZENS OF JAPAN.
The next shot is one of space, Earth being in the lower right corner. The beam of light is extending from it and heading off into space, the shot portraying the beam of light to be going straight, towards the far reaches of the universe.
音響監督: 若林和弘
音響効果: 倉橋静男
音楽: 石野卓球
音楽制作: アニプレックス
Sound Director: Kazuhiro Wakabayashi
Sound Effects: Shizuo Kurahashi
Music: Takkyu Ishino
Music Production: Aniplex
A FOOT IN DIAMETER, THE DESTROY EVENT WAS VISIBLE TO ALL WITNESSES, AND IS SAID TO HAVE REACHED THE EDGE OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM AND BEYOND.
The scene cuts to a crowded city, presumably a few days after the Destroy Event. Cars drive by each other on the streets, and pedestrians pass each other on the sidewalk. On a television attached to one of the tall buildings in the area is a news anchor in his late thirties/early forties, describing what may be the Destroy Event. The music and narration block out his voice, but what implies this is a picture of the titular explosion seen from the city’s skyline in a small picture beside the anchor.
プロデューサー: 米内則智
松家雄一郎
丸山博雄
大山良
細川修
Producers: Noritomo Yonai
Yuichiro Matsuka
Hiroo Maruyama
Ryo Oyama
Osamu Hosokawa
CAUSES OF THE DESTROY EVENT REMAINED UNKNOWN, BUT THE EVENT NEVER LEFT THE POPULACE’S MEMORIES.
The scene cuts to the front of the 50-story cylindrical building. A sign is seen above the entrance reading “リュディス政府建物” or “Ryudis Governmental Building”, stating that it is the building belonging to the new Japanese government known as Ryudis. Past the entrance are several steps leading up to it, each one wide and made of concrete. These steps are crowded with several pedestrians. The only step left vacant is the top step, leading to the entrance of the governmental building, save for a podium and three men.
ESPECIALLY AFTER RYUDIS ANNOUNCED TO THE WORLD OF WHAT THE DESTROY EVENT UNCOVERED.
アニメーション制作: bones
KINEMA CITRUS
Animation Production: bones
KINEMA CITRUS
On the platform on the vacant step is a man in his mid-fifties, with white hair and grey eyes. He doesn‘t have many wrinkles, but just enough to recognize that he is of old age. He is wearing a white suit with a gold trim on the cuffs and collar, as well as the buttons lining down the middle of his suit. Both of his hands are on the podium as he speaks into the microphone, his speech muted by the narration and music. Behind him are two men wearing the same suit as him, their hands behind their backs in a professional manner.
WHAT WAS UNCOVERED WAS A CODE THAT HAD NO SPECIFIC SOURCE, COUNTRY OF ORIGIN, OR EVEN PURPOSE.
脚本/監督: 濠沢彼太
Written and Directed by Kareta Gohsawa
Cut to a closeup of the older gentleman, a full close up on his face as he continues to speak to the populace, despite his speech being muted.
NEWS OF THIS CODE SPREAD AND JUST ABOUT EVERYONE HEARD OF THIS CODE.
製作: 毎日放送
きぐま求職者連合
bones
A Production of: Mainichi Broadcasting
Kiguma Seekers Union
bones
The screen cuts to black as the last staff position shows up.
THAT CODE’S NAME WAS ONLY KNOWN AS “KIGUMA”.
Suddenly, as the staff position disappears, three beams of light emerge from the middle of the screen: one to the left, one to the right, and one to the middle. The one on the left: the upper part moves upward as a sort line segment perpendicular to it emerges from the sides; another line just like that emerges from the middle, and the last one stops short of being like the others and veers off to the left, meeting up below the line origin, its path having formed a half-circle. The one in the middle: the line forms as normal, only when the upper portion reaches the top, is veers off perpendicularly to the right, stopping short after a while; two very short lines parallel to the original line form under the vertical line. The one on the right; the upper and middle portions form the same as the left, only this time, the lower portion reaches the bottom, but veers off to the left, forming a half circle, and stopping a short while after it crosses the original line. These actions form the series title:
きぐま
KIGUMA
(MUSIC END)
After a few seconds of black screen, the setting switches to a small store on a city street. There is no sidewalk beside it. The building the store is located in is about two or three stories tall. A couple of tall flags hung alongside the majority of the poles hang on either side of the store entrance. Each flag is blue in color and has this text on it, the same on the steel sign above the entrance:
宮崎スポーツ
Miyazaki Sports
Inside the store is a majority of sports equipment. Lined up alongside one wall are several sports balls, and a couple of baseball bats and tennis rackets. Various sporting uniforms hang on a small kiosk near the center of the store. Opposite that kiosk, on the right side of the building, is the cashier counter, behind it a man in his mid-twenties. He has straight light brown hair going straight down to his shoulders. He’s wearing vision-correction glasses with a black trim, hiding his eye color. From what we can see at this point, he’s wearing a dark brown long-sleeved shirt, loose-fitting. His arms are crossed and resting on the counter he’s standing behind. An analog wrist-watch is seen on his left wrist. He stands there without a care on his face, like he’s overly serious. We don’t know much else on him except for a name tag clipped on his shirt. It’s simply white with a blue trim around it. In the middle of the tag, it reads the following, the person’s name:
宮崎亜紀
Aki Miyazaki
Resting on the counter next to Aki is a stand with various magazines in it, and a CD case: a grey base with red graffiti saying “TEKHOP”. A parental advisory sticker is seen on the lower right-hand corner of the case. Aki lifts up his wristwatch to check the time. The time on his analog wristwatch says “2:45”, the second hand ticking away from the 2 to the 3, as Aki looks at it. Suddenly, the sound of the door to the store opening is heard, causing Aki to lower his wristwatch and see who’s coming into the store.
Person: Hello, is anybody there?
The person walking in is about the same age as Aki. He has strawberry blond hair that goes down a little below his ears, short-cut and a little messy, and blue eyes, which hide behind his glasses. He has a mole under his lip on the left side of his face, as well as one on his right hand, pressed up against the right side of the door as he walks in. He is wearing a pastel blue cardigan and brown dress pants, as well as dark brown dress shoes. Once walking in, the as-of-yet unnamed person walks into the store, looking around with his hands in his pockets. He looks pretty disgusted at the surroundings of the store.
The person makes a sound like he’s cringing, and speaks up a little. “Geez, man, all the stuff in here looks pretty naff2,” he says as he approaches the counter, facing Aki, “don’t you agree?”
Aki just stands there silently for a few seconds, without a reaction to the person’s comment. At this point, the person gets a little angrier, but still polite. “Oi3, you! Didn’t you hear what I said?”
Aki stands there for a few seconds before responding to the person. “Yeah, I heard ya. You gonna buy anything or not?”
The person continues to look around his surroundings for a little. “Well, yeah, I am, but I’m afraid what I’m looking for might not be here,” he says before turning to Aki. “Do you carry the magazine ‘Young Record’?”
Aki stands there for a few seconds before pointing at the magazine stand. “Over by that stand, in the back.”
The man looks over at the stand. “Oh, thanks!” he says as he reaches behind the several other magazines in the stand to grab a magazine that looks like a pop culture magazine, with the words “ヤングレコード” or “Young Record” on the top in blue print with a white outline. Aki watches as the man takes the magazine, holding it in both his hands, staring at it in excitement.
“That’ll be 2000 yen, please,” said Aki, reaching his hand out to get the money from this man.
“Hm?” The man looks up from his magazine at Aki. “Oh, right.” He reaches into his pocket and takes out two ¥1000 notes, placing them in Aki’s hand. After Aki takes the money, the man looks up at Aki again. “By the way, the name’s Johnny.”
Aki looks at Johnny, not amused by his personality. Some of the light shining on his glasses moves to his right lens, the left lens showing one of his light blue eyes. “It isn’t necessary for me to know your name, weirdo.”
Johnny, surprised a little, backs up a little, shaking his hand in a way that supposed to imply that it isn’t his fault. “Hey, there’s no need to take the piss4 at me!” Johnny, done with his plea, looks down at the counter, noticing the CD next to the magazine stand. He points at the CD case, looking up at Aki. “How much is this disc? *reaches for CD* It may be Japanese, but one of my bandmates might find it to be good sampling material-”
Before Johnny could finish his sentence. Aki quickly grabs his wrist, preventing him from touching the disc. Johnny, surprised and cautious, looks up at Aki. “Hey, what in the bloody hell was that for?”
“Don’t touch that.” Aki said those words with extreme seriousness, looking right at Johnny very seriously. “That CD’s mine, I’m not letting any foreigners touch it.”
Johnny jerks his hand away from Aki, clutching the magazine to his chest. “Well, you're one to talk!” Johnny walks toward the door out of the store, his head partially lowered, his left hand forming a fist. “It’s a shame that you’re quite fit5 for someone like yourself…” Johnny said as he undid his fist to open the door, forming it back into a fist as he walked out.
Aki looks at Johnny walk away from the store, still as bored and cynical-looking as he has been. He looks upward at the ceiling, and sighs. And after his sigh the screen cuts to black.
第1話
きぐま
Episode 1
Kiguma
The weather outside of the sporting goods store is moderate, to say the least. The sky is a light grey, and the trees lined up along the street are nearly bare. Judging from the motions of the trees in the background, it’s lightly windy out. Waiting outside the sporting goods store on the barren sidewalk are two bystanders. The first person is a woman of average height, with bright red hair and some pretty large, but realistically proportionate, breasts. She’s wearing a tan jacket about the size of a shirt, unzipped. Under her jacket is a red long-sleeved shirt with the words “H DAD” on it in white (the ends cut off by the jacket), and a blue skirt going down to her knees. She’s carrying a small purse over her left shoulder. The other person is a man a that's about six inches taller than the woman, with shaggy black hair in the style of a thick, rockstar mop with fringe bangs. He’s wearing a black long-sleeved shirt with the AC/DC logo on it with white, skinny jeans that sag a little, and black boots. A closeup of the two shows that the man, his hands in his pockets, has a pendant around his neck, the actual pendant tucked in his shirt, and that the woman, looking at her wristwatch, has blue eyes, her red hair having a nearly invisible brownish tint to it, implying that it’s dyed. The sound of the door to the sporting goods store opening directs their attention toward who’s opening the door. The woman lowers her wrist and turns around, her bored facial expression changing to one that looks like she's slightly surprised to see who's at the door. The man, on the other hand, just glances towards the door without moving an inch. Standing outside of the sporting goods store's door, being looked at by the two people waiting outside, is Johnny, holding something behind his back.
“Junichi?” said the woman, revealing Johnny's real name. The woman's words have the slightest bit of concern in them, most likely coming from her observation of the serious look on Johnny's face as he stands there with his eyes closed.
After a few seconds, Johnny's serious expression turns into a small smile, which grows as he pulls out the magazine from behind his back, showing it to the two people standing outside before him. “I finally found it!”
(MUSIC: “OH DADDY” by Takkyu Ishino)
The woman lets out an unimpressed sigh while the man closes his eyes, moving back to his original position. “Good,” the woman said with some tsuntsun6 feeling in her voice. “We've been walking around for hours trying to find that stupid magazine of yours.” She looks up at Johnny. “Are you sure it's the one you like so damn much?”
Johnny looks at the woman excitedly, even though the weary smile on his face and the small comical drops of sweat coming down from the side of his face say otherwise. “Of course, Hekireki! I'm sure of it!”
The woman, Hekireki, closes her eyes and looks up as she walks off. “Okay, just wanted to be sure...” The man walks off in the same direction as Hekireki, his hands still in his pockets. Johnny, surprised to notice the two walking off so suddenly, lightly runs so he can catch up to the both of them, tucking the magazine under his shoulder.
“Hey, wait up, you guys!” After a second or two, maybe even three, Johnny catches up with Hekireki and the as of yet unnamed man who is with them. Johnny glances at Hekireki, moving to his right so he's closer towards the man with them. “You really shouldn't walk ahead of me like that, Hekireki. You know I'm not a fast walker.”
Hekireki tilts her head upward and to the left, looking almost aloof. “Sorry, I didn't notice you standing still back there.”
Johnny moves his eyes forward, moving a little closer towards the man beside him. “There's really no need for you to be such a prude, coz.”
Hekireki leans in towards Johnny, her aloof attitude immediately switching to one that's a little more apologetic. “Hey, come on, Junichi! I was just joking!”
Johnny moves even closer to the man beside him to get some space from Hekireki, to the point where he's sort of leaning beside his arm. “Well, joke or not, you really should slow down and wait for me in the future,” says Johnny as he's glancing at Hekireki. Johnny then moves his eyes back in front and closes his eyes in annoyance. “And you of all people should know that I want to be called Johnny and nothing else.”
“Get off of me, you d*mn Limey-lover7.”
The seriousness on Johnny's face disappears as the man he's leaning against finally says something. Johnny looks at the man and his voice goes quiet as he says to him, “Cujo?”
Johnny looks up at this man, Cujo, for a few more seconds before taking his magazine out from under his arm and starting to flip through it. As he does all of this, Hekireki, angered, turns to Cujo, pointing her finger at him. “Hey, wait just a second, you jerk! Junichi deserves more respect than that! You can't just go around in public like this calling him something as rude as 'Limey-lover'!”
Cujo glances towards Hekireki, not really showing any signs of care or apology. He's still wearing that scowl he was wearing ever since his first appearance. “Well, excuse me, Miss Thundert*ts, (but I personally don't give a sh*t about what you think. You may be my bandmate and all, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm better than you at all this music sh*t you love so d*mn much.)” (Hekireki reacts to the nickname Cujo gave her with disgust, but a cute-looking kind of disgust like she's embarrassed, blushing heavily at the possible humiliation of being called that. She then immediately closes her eyes and looks down on the ground, clenching her teeth and growling in anger as she clutches onto her purse strap, shaking it with the anger she's outputting.) All while Johnny is continuing to flip through his magazine.
Hekireki snaps and stops in the street, forcing her hand off of her purse and balling it into a fist. “YOU TAKE THAT BACK, YOU ASSH*LE!” Hekireki is about to throw a punch at Cujo, shifting her feet so she's facing him (or his right side) so she can get a perfect hit. Halfway through throwing her punch, Johnny, still looking at his magazine, comments on Hekireki's actions.
“Now, now, Hekireki, stop that.” Hekireki suddenly stops her punch, snapping out of her rage, looks at Johnny with the same concerned look she gave him when he left the sporting goods store. Johnny, him and Cujo having stopped alongside Hekireki, continues to flip through his magazine, having gone past half of the pages. “Cujo did nothing wrong.”
“But he-”
Junichi smirks slightly. “He's always like that, Hekireki. His nicknames and insults don't bother me at all.”
Hekireki gains a disgusted look on her face, not as cute as the one she had on before. “You're just saying that because you're gay for him.”
“Don't go around making excuses, now.” (MUSIC END) “Oh, and one more thing...” Just after he says this, Junichi changes his expression so that his eyes are comically indifferent, showing slight annoyance. Just as fast as his expression changes, a zoom out shows that the fist Hekireki was about to throw at Cujo stopped only an inch away, not from Cujo's right cheek, but Johnny's. “Try not to hit me the next time you attack Cujo.”
Hekireki notices this and moves her hand back, rubbing the back of her head and looking off to her left in an attempt to pretend it didn't happen. “Oh, sorry about that...” Hekireki starts nervously laughing to cover up her embarrassment, while Johnny goes back to flipping through his magazine.
“Yeah, whatever. *stops flipping, gasps in excitement* Found it!”
Hekireki looks at Johnny, a little calmed down, not because her sentence was interrupted by Johnny's out-of-nowhere exclamation. She stops again, and Johnny and Cujo stop as well. “Found what?”
“My horoscope.” Johnny looks a little closer at the magazine. “Let's see... Ah! Here we are. Gemini...” Johnny continues to read his horoscope (which isn't shown), while Hekireki and Cujo both reluctantly look at it with him. “My lucky colors are brown and dark blue... 'It is wise to take the first opportunity you see that may change your personality for the better. Grabbing that opportunity might result in success, yet the chances of that outcome are paired with the chances of new acquaintances being more than meets the eye.' Hm? I wonder what that's supposed to mean...”
Cujo looks away from the magazine. “Beats me.”
Hekireki looks away too, backing up while keeping her eyes on the magazine, sort of. “It sounds pretty mysterious, even for a horoscope. It could mean anything, if at all nothing.”
Hekireki, bored, looks up at a large TV screen on the building they're standing in front of. Out of the three, Hekireki's the only one paying any attention to the screen. A voice, that of a reporter, comes from the screen. “This just in: we have some new information on the KIGUMA code.” (MUSIC: “Kiguma” by Takkyu Ishino) The TV screen shows the reporter looking like he's in his forties, with brown hair, some wrinkles on his forehead, and a black suit with a matching tie as clothing. In a smaller screen in the upper right hand corner, is a picture of the really tall building from the opening sequence, the beam of light shooting out from the top. “For anyone who isn't aware of what the KIGUMA is, here's a bit of information: just last year...”
The reporter's voice is faded out by Hekireki's comment on the report she's seeing. “I still can't believe that it's been a year since the Destroy Event...”
Johnny closes his magazine and turns to look at Hekireki. “Hm? You mean that beam of light that shot out to the edge of the universe?
Cujo looks up, a sort-of cocky smile on his face. “Oh yeah... That was the explosion that killed nobody...”
Hekireki looks back at the TV screen. “It's weird... It's been a year, so everybody should know about the Destroy Event and the KIGUMA by now. There's no reason for that reporter to explain something nearly the entire nation knows about already.”
The reporter's voice fades back in. “...became known as the KIGUMA. Now, we bring you to reporter Iemi Fukuo. Iemi?”
The TV screen switches over to the front of the Ryudis Governmental Building. A female reporter with brown hair (with pigtails), brown eyes, and a dark red-colored reporter's outfit, stands on the top of the stairway leading to the building's entrance, holding a microphone. Behind her are two men. One is in his thirties with slightly tanned skin, short-cut brown hair, and a muscular physique. The other is taller, a little thinner, but still sort of bishonen with light brown hair hanging past his ears. Both are wearing white lab coats with business outfits underneath, like they're scientists. They are also wearing sunglasses.
“Thank you. I'm here live at the Ryudis Governmental Building with Hidehira Oobashi and Norikatsu Takagi, discoverers of the KIGUMA.” Iemi holds her microphone up to the mouth of the skintanned scientist. “What do you have to say about the new information surrounding the KIGUMA code?”
The man speaks. “Well, it's pretty complicated.” The camera zooms in on the man, the subtitle '大橋秀平 – KIGUMAの発見者' or 'Hidehira Oobashi – Discoverer of the KIGUMA' under him. “The studies we conducted over the past year really didn't yield any clear results.” Oobashi smirks slightly. “But that was before our most recent study revealed the KIGUMA's purpose.”
“Oh really? Well then, Mr. Oobashi, what's its purpose?”
“Well, the KIGUMA's primary purpose lies its nickname: 'The Modern Genie'.”
“'Modern Genie'?”
“The nickname comes from the Kiguma's ability. According to the results we got from our study, that ability is to alter the characteristics of the personality and appearance of any number of people or things, ranging from one to a million, even if it is impossible to do in a realistic spectrum. In short, it grants wishes.”
“Ooh, that sounds very interesting!” Iemi moves the microphone to the mouth of the other man. “Mr. Takagi, would you like to tell us the purpose of the KIGUMA?”
Takagi nods, as the subtitle '高木則勝 - KIGUMAの発見者' or 'Norikatsu Takagi – Discoverer of the KIGUMA' appears under him. “Certainly. The KIGUMA's purpose is to fix all the problems contained within Japan's society.”
Iemi holds the microphone back to her mouth. “That sounds like a pretty intriguing purpose. I don't see how it would benefit a society as problem-free as the one under Ryudis' control today,” Iemi turns to the camera, winking with her left index finger sticking upward, in a cutesy manner, “but still, it's pretty intriguing~!”
The sound of the TV starts fading out as the POV cuts back to Johnny, Hekireki, and Cujo. Cujo and Hekireki are looking at the TV screen, indifferent, but Johnny looks pretty peeved. “'Problem-free society' my arse! That has to be the dumbest bloody statement I've ever heard in my life!”
Hekireki, surprised by Johnny's outburst, turns to him, honestly surprised with small sweatdrops running down her face. “Whoa, Junichi, what was that all about?”
Johnny immediately goes from his peeved mood to his regular shy attitude. He turns away from Hekireki a little, maybe ashamed of his outburst. “Oh, sorry about that, Hekireki. It's just... what that reporter said. She said that this society is completely free of problems. You and I both know that's not true. I have that issue I have that's been troubling me for so long, remember?”
Hekireki's becomes concerned, her face gaining a blush as she holds her hand up to her face, in a cute sort of way, showing her sympathy for Johnny. “Oh... you mean your stage fright?” Johnny nods silently. Hekireki moves her hand away from her mouth as she turns to Johnny. “I know it's not a problem to that ditzy reporter, but still... a problem like that deserves attention!”
(MUSIC END)
Suddenly, something starts ringing. It brings the attention of Hekireki and Johnny a second after it starts. Johnny reaches inside his pocket and takes out his cell phone, holding it up to his ear. “Hello?”
A voice, boyish yet with a slight of maturity in it, comes from the phone. “Hello. Are you the man who started yelling at the television screen today in the uptown district?”
Johnny suddenly becomes surprised and a little scared. “Eh?” Johnny holds the phone close to his ear. “Tell me! Who are you and how do you know who I am?”
The voice continues from the other end of the phone. “Interesting... You're the first I've seen to have a problem within this so-called society free of problems.”
“How in the bloody hell can you see me? Are you some kind of stalker?”
“I don't have anough time to reveal any of that information to you, sir. Now then, if you want to fix your problem, come to Warehouse 4 in the Kameda Seika Incorporated Industrial Park in the Konan Ward8. Bring anyone else with problems like yours if you wish.”
“But-”
“Goodbye. You'll thank me later.”
The person on the phone hangs up, leaving Johnny to yell back into the phone. “Hey, don't hang up! You didn't answer any of my questions!”
Hekireki stands there, confused as all hell. “Who was that?”
Johnny looks at Hekireki, putting his phone away. “Oh, nobody. Just some weird kid who's able to see and hear us. He noticed us talking about my stage fright earlier, and told me that if I wanted to cure it, I had to meet him in the Kameda Seika Incorporated Industrial Park, Warehouse 4.”
“You don't think that he's going to have the KIGUMA fix your problem, is he?”
Johnny shrugs at Hekireki's question. “Don't know. I doubt that he would have access to the KIGUMA, since it's in the government's hands. And I doubt that they're going to use it on anyone, especially someone with problems like myself. But I don't really care, I'm going anyways.”
“Oh really?” Hekireki puts her fists up in a sort of pose. “What about all those times I tried to make you confident and confront your fear of stage fright?”
Johnny looks off to the side, sweating slightly with his weary smile on. “Yeah... All those times you did that, you just scared me out of even trying.”
“Seriously!? And you think the KIGUMA will do different!?”
Johnny shrugs again. “Who knows? From the sound of it, the KIGUMA will likely get rid of my stage fright faster than you ever will. But that's besides the point. Even if that kid isn't planning to use the KIGUMA, I'm still going, and you're going with me.”
(MUSIC: “Angelic Thunderstorm” by Takkyu Ishino)
“Huh?” Hekireki acts to Johnny's remark with surprise and a little anger. “Y-You're not serious, aren't you?”
“Of course I am. That kid said to bring anyone with problems like mine if I wanted to.”
Hekireki gets a little angrier at Johnny, pointing at herself. “That's crazy! I don't have a problem like yours!”
Johnny smirks slightly. “Of course you do. You have a lack of originality.”
“Lack... of originality?”
“Right. Everytime we practice for and perform our shows, you're always wanting to do cover versions or ripoffs of existing songs.” Johnny glances over at Hekireki. “Not to mention that when we try to do original songs, you always want to add samples to the background to cover up how terrible we sound.”
"Oh, really now? What about that one time we performed at that nightclub over in the downtown area, the 'TEC HAUS Ishino'? We did a perfect performance there without resorting to ripoffs and sampling! You weren't even as afraid there as you were at our other shows!"
"Yeah, but the crowd there was small, about two or three people. It wasn't enough to make me piss-scared."
“But I-”
“Just admit it, Hekireki. You need to fix your problem. You're the songwriter for this band, and we can't go on using samples and doing covers forever, especially with your lack of involvement in the band. Going to this kid with me's the best option.”
Hekireki stands there, looking frightened for a second or two, but then looks down. “Okay. I'll go with, if that's what you want.”
Johnny's smirk goes back into a regular smile as he gains a cheery expression in reaction to Hekireki's agreement. “Perfect!” Johnny turns to Cujo, his hand on his hip. “And what about you, Cujo? You have any problems?”
Cujo stands there for a second before smirking. “Heh. I don't really have any problems that need fixing.” Cujo turns to Johnny, showing a small smile. “But I'm gonna go along with you anyways, since I have nothing better to do.”
Johnny blinks slightly at Cujo's comment. “So you're just going to be there for the ride?”
Cujo shrugs. “Yeah, I guess so.”
Johnny turns around, his hands behind his head (one of them holding his magazine) in excitement. “Excellent!” Johnny starts walking off. “Now we can head off to that warehouse!”
As Johnny starts walking, Cujo turns around and starts walking too. Hekireki, surprised by the both of them going so soon, runs to catch up with them. “Hey, wait!” The POV cuts to a shot of them walking back the way they came from, their backs facing the POV. “What about our current jobs? And the band practices?”
“Don't worry about it, Hekireki. We're gonna stop by the funeral home before we leave to get our stuff.”
“Yeah, I know, but what about my job?”
“I'm sure you can call your boss and explain everything to him.”
The sound fades out as the music concludes, the shot fading to black.
(MUSIC END)
I enjoy Cujo muchly.
Magical stalker phone guy!
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