It is day 2 of recording and time for us to meet the 2nd of 3. The traveler from Japan who became a brother to me, and saved my life countless times in the past.
You can find more information, including our full cast list and transcripts, at DesperadoRadio.com.
Credits:
Written and produced by Samy Souissi.
- Elio – Samy Souissi
- Shinji – Tibet Boyer
- Kasumi – Sarah Passos
Soundtrack:
- Cherry Blossom, Traditional music of Japan, classical Koto music: https://youtu.be/AK51LblcEOw
- Anxiety – Horror – Kevin Macleod: https://youtu.be/GF19XLJcnHw
- Epic Chase – Ross Bugden : https://youtu.be/ujsCRw-eA0o
- No copyright Jazz type Beat “bread, prob” by Lukrembo: https://youtu.be/6eWIffP2M3Y
Transcript
Please be advised the content of this podcast contains violence, murder, blood, smoking, alcohol, mentions of suicide, and driving sound effects. Please do avoid listening to this while in a car. We also swear… a whole lot… so… there’s that.
SFX: Eerie, almost ethereal transitional music. Akin to a siren song. This transitions into a more twinkly piano melody.
ELIO
Hey! Good morning
SHINJI
Morning
ELIO
Take a seat.
SHINJI
Thanks, how are you?
ELIO
Doing alright.
SHINJI
Yeah?
ELIO
Yeah. I had a good sleep, I’m with a friend, I got my juice right there… if this isn’t nice I don’t know what is.
SHINJI
Well, uh, should we get into it then?
ELIO
Let’s. Yeah. State your name and origin for the record please, sir.
SHINJI
My name’s Shinji and I come from a small town in Japan, nested against one of its many mountains.
ELIO
And… it doesn’t have a name?
SHINJI
Not if I say it doesn’t.
ELIO
Alright. And why did you move to London, Shinjin?
SHINJI
…To survive.
ELIO
Right. Change of tone. Sorry. Didn’t realize this was still running. Carry on.
SHINJI
I ran from home about a couple years ago. I was 19 at the time and, when it happened I was… just in my room, waiting for-
ELIO
You wanna describe your room a little? It’s… it’s radio.
SHINJI
…I was going to.
ELIO
Mhm, didn’t sound like it.
SHINJI
If you’re gonna be like this the entire time, I’m walking out.
ELIO
Oka- Sure, I can do your part.
SHINJI
You do not have the range.
ELIO
No but I’ll just do a very thick Japanese accent and people will know it’s you. It’s fine.
SHINJI
My room was clean.
ELIO
(quietly)
Thank you.
SHINJI
There was no trace of teenage mess, no clothes on the floor or badly stacked books. I… I mean, what was on the shelves was alphabetized, and my drawers were kept locked. It was a… a room with a secret. And that night I lay awake in bed because a minute ago I’d heard my father’s guests saying goodbye downstairs …and any moment now he would come in and he would ask me a question I… I didn’t want to answer.
I watched the breeze nudge open the shutters of my room, inviting the moonlight inside. And I… I knew I should have run already. Fly away before I got caught, but… I don’t know. I wanted to stay in that moment… just a little longer. There was still a chance, a small, beautiful chance that I wouldn’t have to leave. To be alone… Never turns out that way though does it?
The light turned on behind the bedroom door. I closed my eyes and my father walked in. [sound effect of door opening with a soft creak] He sat down on the side of my bed and I inhaled deeply, pretending to wake up. He wasn’t looking at me. There was something different in the way he carried himself. It was in his slumped lowered shoulders and his far away gaze. It was… Resignation.
I asked “Father? Is everything okay?”
He said “Our neighbors came to visit.”
I feigned some kind of confusion, I asked: “What time is it?”
He ignored the question and went the neighbor told me that his son and I had been spending a lot of time together. And it felt like somebody was brushing a cold finger in my
stomach, slowly getting to my throat.
I asked, “Did something happen to Kaito?”
And he said, “No, but he’s been talking about you.”
I knew something was wrong from the start but that’s when my mind started yelling “get the fuck out of there!”. And I’m not sure what set it off but maybe it was because of how calm my father was. He was… perfectly still. And- No, not still, but… Controlled, that was it.
And he said to me, “Kaito says you can see his mother.”
His mother who had died 3 months ago.
I brought my knees in a little closer, coiling like a spring.
And I said “His mother? …What? Why would he say that?”
He finally looked at me. And casually, like reaching to shake my hand, he put a knife under my throat.
“Don’t lie to me, Shinji,” he said.
He knew. He knew. He knew already and he had made his decision maybe a long time ago. But now that the neighbors were talking. He had no choice.
Still, I tried. I asked him, “What are you doing?”
And he got angry.
“DON’T LIE TO ME! You think I haven’t noticed? You think I didn’t know every time you left in the middle of the night?”
I tried to protest, saying things like
“He’s lying, he’s lying! He’s jealous!”
His lips curled in disgust, his grip on the knife tightened…
…And I hit him.
I rolled out of the bed as soon as I saw the expression, I knew what I meant! And I’m pretty sure I broke a couple fingers punching him but I uh… didn’t even feel it. He uh… yelped? And let go of me and I rushed for the window. I slammed the shutters out of my way and just… jumped. From two stories high.
But before my feet hit the ground I slowed my decent, floating briefly. Witchcraft. There was no denying it at this point. When I glanced up I saw him gazing back at me. And it felt like… like looking at a stranger. So I started running. I took a path the men of my village only walk at night, through the forest that borders our town. I didn’t stop until reached a clearing, where stood the estranged house of a mountain whore. Her name was Jun. She was thin and… almost unremarkable until she started moving. Her steps were soft and delicate, her posture was perfect, and her smile was a… a deadly trap. In a city, she would have been a dancer.
That night, she was upstairs with a client, in a clean and minimalist bedroom. The sex was unexciting but she kept up a good act.
As soon as her client was dressed and out of the house, she dropped her smile and pocketed the money. She took a shower, changed the sheets, then noticed a bracelet on the bedside table. I imagine she frowned and took a closer look, as she realized her client must have left it behind. So when she heard a knock on the door, she opened it with the bracelet in hand.
SFX: Door opens
JUN
You forgot your bra-
SHINJI
And then she stopped. She looked at me and I was trying my best to stand, hold myself upright but I don’t think I fooled her one bit. I was terrified.
JUN
Evening Shinji.
SHINJI
Hi!
JUN
Does your father know you’re here?
SHINJI
No-no-no I’m not, I’m not here for-
JUN
How old are you?
SHINJI
Jun, I need help.
I saw her face change. Her eyes locked into mine and something clicked. I don’t think I was her first. She ushered me in and scanned the forest behind me, and before she closed the door I saw something weird.. A fox on the edge of the forest, staring right back at her.
Once inside she draped a kimono around her shoulders then poured a cup of tea. Her living room was halfway there to becoming an antique shop, her walls collected ancient scrolls and her bookshelves could hardly support the weights of her books.
JUN
Sit down.
SHINJI
No-no we don’t have time-
JUN
Sit. Down.
SHINJI
You don’t discuss with that tone. You pull up a chair and you accept the cup of tea, which is what I did.
JUN
Talk.
SHINJI
…I’m sorry, I’m sorry I’m putting you in danger but I had nowhere else to go and-
JUN
Who’s chasing you?
SHINJI
I don’t know if father told anyone… I don’t know how many- I just ran!
JUN
Why would they go after you?
SHINJI
I turned quiet. And she- she knew already of course, she had to. People were always whispering about her. Talking about her strange books and the claw marks on her body. But nobody ever dared say anything about what we all knew she was. Because if you were
sick or cursed you’d go to her. You would never talk about what she did to you but you’d come back in good health. Still I kept quiet. She reached over the table and I thought she was going to take my hand but, when I looked up she had a gun pointed at me.
JUN
I’m not getting burned at the stake for you. Either you let me help or I sell you out.
SFX: The safety on the gun clicks menacingly.
…Show me.
SHINJI
I closed my eyes and I took a deep breath. And that’s when the lights in the room began to flicker. Before she could say anything, she saw the glow coming from behind me. My wings extended from my back, forged out of light and glowing in a faint pink. Featherless and delicate, they took root in between my shoulders and sprouted out to the side like cherry tree branches.
JUN
They’re beautiful…
SHINJI
You think?
JUN
It’s unusual for your kind.
SHINJI
You know what I am.
JUN
I’ve seen it before. Death spirits have many places to be and flying helps quite a lot.
SHINJI
My wings vanished and light returned to the kitchen.
JUN
Do you have a bag ?
SHINJI
No. I… I wasn’t really planning ahead.
She smiled at me. And there’s something about that smiles that was so…Unsettling. It was too wide, too… Hungry. It was the smile of a beast.
Jun… what are you?
JUN
You don’t need to know.
Let me get a pen. There’s an emergency backpack under the couch, go grab it. Do you know where Toshima is?
SHINJI
This island?
JUN
Yes. Fly there. Find the brothel and ask for Kasumi. Give her the note and ask her to connect you with a path. She’ll ask you for something in return. You have to refuse. This isn’t how the Path works. We help each other, no questions asked.
SHINJI
It’s a code.
JUN
Yes. If you think you’re being trailed, tell her you’ve seen a white fox on the way there. Got it?
SHINJI
Kasumi, 7 years, refuse whatever she asks, white fox if something’s wrong.
JUN
Great, now go.
SHINJI
Oh just- Just like that?
JUN
You want to wait for the pitchforks?
SHINJI
My dad has a shotgun but I see what you mean.
She didn’t find that funny. Handed me the note, and then… she opened the door. And her client was stood outside, hand raised as if he was just about to knock. I froze in place as the guy saw me and said:
CLIENT
Uh…Shinji?
JUN
You’re here for your chain?
SHINJI
He said: I think I left it on your table?
And she left us at the door, just like that. I mean, I was trying to think of something to say but I don’t have to because the guy leans in to me and goes:
“Don’t worry. I used to sneak out all the time when I was your age… I won’t say a thing.”
I just kinda went like… Aha. Yeah…
And then he asked me, “Hey have you seen all those foxes on the way here?”
He gestured toward the forest and I saw at least a dozen foxes. Just… waiting, watching us.
And that’s when Jun came back.
And she was not holding his chain.
SFX: Gunshot rings out.
SHINJI (CONT’D)
She shot without hesitation. Point blank.
Behind us the foxes… flinched, but they didn’t run. And Jun just started… yelling at them.
JUN
You couldn’t warn me, you little shits?!
SHINJI
Meanwhile I was just staring at the body and thinking to myself… Fuck!
JUN
He would have told the others.
SHINJI
Yeah, yeah I got the decision-making but—
She didn’t let me finish she just shoved the gun in my hands and said:
JUN
If you want to live, don’t hesitate. I’ll take care of the body, now go!
SHINJI
And I didn’t ask any more questions, didn’t say anything at all. I took the gun, deployed my wings and got the fuck away from there. I did back look though, just once. I think she was smiling at me. Then she glanced down at the foxes, they were already sniffing the corpse of the mean at her feet.
JUN
That’s why you stayed quiet, isn’t it? Well come on! Come and get your dinner! Get him out of my sight.
SCENE: Back to studio
ELIO
Damn, and you flew all the way to Toshima?
SHINJI
Yeah, it’s really not that far with wings. An hour or two at best. The streets were asleep on the island. But as I flew above the port and its houses, I didn’t see the lone figure that still patrolled the neighborhood. A giant figure, military gear, huge rifle, you know the story.
ELIO
Yeah, but correct me if I’m wrong, Japan doesn’t have crusaders
SHINJI
No, officially we don’t even have a religious presence in the country. The emperor actually prides himself in saying that there is no witchcraft in Japan.
ELIO
Which, obviously-
SHINJI
Yeah bullshit- But since 1931, when the Old Man in the Sky started his ascension and wrecked havoc in the US, the Emperor made sure nothing of the sort could ever happen in Japan. He created a new department in the military, which became what you call here the IWO.
ELIO
Which stands for…
SHINJI
Imperial Warding Office. Men and women trained to protect the country against divine threats, containing or suppressing them. Spirit hunters, essentially. And the man I was talking about, the man patrolling the street, again, massive, was one of them. And- I didn’t know. I truly didn’t know what I was doing. There’s no helpbook, no… no guideline. Nothing to tell you how to be a fugitive. I didn’t know. I just flew straight over the city.
I bet he didn’t even have to look up to know I was there…
SCENE: Nighttime cityscape
Kasumi’s brothel was the only building alight in the middle of the night. It was a beacon of red by the sea. I landed in a street nearby, and… walked up to the door. A stocky bouncer guarded the entrance under the light one of the red lanterns. I stopped in front of him, not really certain what to say until he asked me:
“What do you want?”
I told him, “I’m looking for Kasumi.”
He stared me down then disappeared inside. A few seconds later the door opened again and the guard came back out, followed by… this tall woman, towering over us. She was wearing this beautiful kimono, catching every reflection of the red light. She smiled as she saw me. She reached for my cheek and said:
KASUMI
You seem a little young to know my name.
SHINJI
I just handed her the note. She frowned, started reading, then threw it at the bouncer.
KASUMI
Get rid of this. And you, come in.
SHINJI
I followed her inside.. The brothel was like… a labyrinth of dark rooms, soft giggles and strange
smokes. It smelled really good in there, like umm… like sandal wood I think.
She walked through a large salon where a bunch of workers were waiting for their next client. And I think I stared a little too long cuz a man smiled back at me. Without breaking her stride, Kasumi took a flip phone from under her kimono and dialled a number.
KASUMI
Hi sweetheart, I think I heard mice in the walls again. I need them gone immediately.
SHINJI
She hung up the phone, threw it on the ground and fucking stepped on it.
SFX: crunching metal and plastic
And then just kept on walking.
KASUMI
Clean it.
SHINJI
Now Kasumi didn’t need to raise her voice. If she gave an order she knew someone would obey, and I felt so… compelled that I immediately reached down to collect the broken piece.
KASUMI
Not you! Follow me.
SHINJI
A young woman took the broken pieces out of my hands. I think I apologized or something.
She lead me to a quiet office and closed the door behind me. Compared to the rest of the building her chamber was surprisingly unwelcoming. The lights were cold and white, the chairs were rusty, her desk a true antiquity, and not in a good way. Neither of us sat down this time. And I guess… I guess it should have been the first sign.
KASUMI
Where do you come from?
SHINJI
Uh, it’s a small village in-
KASUMI
Did you fly here?
SHINJI
Sorry?
KASUMI
We’re not doing the old code bullshit. Did you fly here?
SHINJI
Yeah…
KASUMI
Fuck.
SHINJI
Outside we heard a car pull up by the brothel. And then the first gunshot…
SCENE: Back to studio
ELIO
Hey. We… we don’t have to. We can skip that part man.
SHINJI
No it’s important. People need to know what happens when our kind make mistakes…
SCENE: Flashback begins again
SFX: Four loud gunshots, followed by a cacophony of screams
SHINJI
What’s going on?
She took out her necklace and I realized her pendant was a key.
KASUMI
The city is a minefield. We’ve been smuggling people out of here for months! Jun hasn’t left her village in years. She has no idea how things evolved on the island.
SHINJI
We got the desk moving and Kasumi threw out the carpet underneath, revealing a trap door on the ground.
KASUMI
Get in here!
SHINJI
She unlocked it and I jumped down without using the ladder.
KASUMI
There’s another door underneath, start running as soon as you’re in the tunnels.
SHINJI
She tossed me another set of keys. She disappeared and I heard the office door open.
SFX: Door quickly swings open
KASUMI
You! Get everyone inside! Now!
SHINJI
A few workers started to climb down, as I jumped into the tunnel. Above me, I heard a man’s voice yell for Kasumi. And then… and then I heard a howl.
SFX: A distorted, primal scream cuts through the rumble of people, as though from a wounded beast.
A noise that a woman in a pretty kimono shouldn’t be able to let out.
In the tunnels, our small group had already started running. But we stopped when we heard the gunshots.
SFX: Machine gun fire
And we shared the same terror in our eyes.
SHINJI (CONT’D)
My wings were the only thing chasing away the darkness, guiding the rest of us. Seconds later they were shooting at us. Someone yelled at me to hide my wings… And… I flew away. I flew away as fast as I could… I left them all to die.
SCENE: Back to studio
ELIO
You did what you had to.
SHINJI
Don’t say that.
ELIO
I don’t resent my father for dragging me away. He knew there was no point in dying with the rest trying to be a hero. And now look at me. The bane of crusaders! How many people we freed… how many we saved!
SHINJI
I just… I just wish I knew what I know now.
ELIO
I know. What happened next?
SHINJI
I got out…
SCENE: Flashback begins again
And I fell to my knees, ears still ringing. I was… broken. Hyper-ventilating, tears rolling down my face but I couldn’t feel any of it. I couldn’t even see the waves crashing down in front of me. The sand, the mist… Nothing. I barely felt the hand that came shaking my shoulder. Two men in dark clothing tried to help me up, dragging me away from the tunnel. They pushed me toward a boat and as soon as I sat down they started the engine.
The shore started to fade away, but as I looked back, I saw one of the soldiers step out. Rifle in hand. The giant. And you know the scariest part ? There was no expression to his face.. He was just a man doing his job.
One of the smugglers suddenly tackled me down to the floor. The giant just started shooting. But thankfully, we were already out of range. After a few seconds the smugglers seemed to relax.
One of them said, “It’s okay, you’re safe now.”
So I sat back down… I was just 19 years old, lost at sea. Two broken fingers. I asked where we were going. And the man said… Mexico.
That is it for Episode 2, guys. Thank you so much for listening. And thank you to Tibette Boyer, Martine Benson, and Sara Pasos for lending me their amazing voices this episode. This is my first time properly editing dialogue and it made my poor laptop crash four times. So it was a bit of a nightmare, but we still got it done! Knowing that, I think it’s safer to switch to bi-weekly schedule. So new episodes will now drop every other Wednesday and I hope you’ll tune in. Bye!