Chapter 3 – Prisoner Island, Garren Awakens
He fought like he always did.
His life was on the line as he battled against those immortal monsters in his strange silver and maroon form.
He took out numerous cards and defeated the monsters using various different special techniques. After defeating the monster, he always threw out another card to seal them away.
The same dream as always, with the same ending as always.
What in the world’s going on? He had asked himself that same question again and again within his dreams.
He couldn’t think of any trauma or incident in the past that would’ve caused him to see such a thing. Nothing came to mind.
And he would always be woken up by the same unfamiliar voice.
“Ta…chi… Tachi… Tachihara…”
“Tachihara… Tachihara!”
Upon opening his eyes, she was there.
“Oh… sorry.”
It seemed that he had fallen asleep again. For some reason he always grew tired whenever he entered her examination room.
“You were seeing that same dream again, huh? You were groaning like crazy in your sleep, buddy.”
“Hey Doctor, do think you could stop calling me ‘buddy’ already?”
“Why? In that case, you have to stop calling me ‘Doctor’. Call me Saeko instead.”
She then picked up Tachihara’s hand and began measuring his pulse without even a hint of a smile on her face.
“…Whatever. Anyway, do you think I could head out now? I want to eat breakfast.”
And then Saeko finally smiled.
“You were carried into here supposedly because of stomach pain, then you immediately fell asleep, and now you’re wide awake, demanding breakfast like nothing had ever happened. A guy like you doesn’t even need a doctor, huh?”
Tachihara got off the bed and headed to the door, pretending not to have heard her.
“I’m leaving.”
Upon opening the door, he came across a prison guard standing right at the doorway.
“Make sure you eat light. Breakfasts aren’t meant to be heavy.”
Saeko spoke loud enough so that the prison guard could hear.
“You’re joking, right?”
Tachihara retorted back at her.
“Yes, yes, I’m joking.”
After hearing her response, Tachihara clicked his tongue and exited the examination room.
“Hurry up! What’re you dawdling for!”
The prison guard rushed the prisoner in charge of serving the food. As a result, the majority of the soup on the breakfast tray Tachihara received had spilled over.
“Next!”
Tachihara prevented the next prisoner in line from proceeding.
“There’s not enough soup. Give me more.”
“I said next! Hurry it up!”
“Give me more soup.”
The prison guard then froze and glared at Tachihara.
“What’d you say?”
Tachihara stood still and calmly repeated his demand.
“You’re the one who’ll be in trouble if you keep up this quarrel this early in the morning. Give me more soup.”
An annoying sound could be heard from the prison guard’s tightening grip on his baton.
“You know full well that you’re the one causing this little quarrel, Tachihara!”
“Still waiting on my soup.”
After another few seconds of glaring, the prison guard finally gave in. He nodded towards the server, signalling him to add more soup.
For just a moment, the server and Tachihara’s eyes met, and then their gazes averted not but a moment later.
“Sorry.”
Tachihara apologized to the prisoners in line and turned around.
It was a horribly simple meal, but unless he got something in his system, he’d be unable to operate for the rest of the day. He wouldn’t be able to perform that unreasonably heavy labor that was always pushed onto him. Tachihara mindlessly chewed down his food, taking in whatever measly energy he could get his hands on.
Suddenly he heard a gunshot.
The prisoners stopped moving their spoons and momentarily forgot to chew.
The gunshots continued for a total of three times. Meaning, three people had died.
The executions everyday always took place during breakfast.
I eat, he dies. Will it be me next, or another prisoner? Maybe it’ll even be a prisoner from another cell. Those kinds of negative thoughts were common, and they were effective in suppressing any rebellious attitudes. Completely intentional.
Tachihara felt like throwing up his food after hearing the gunshots, but he continued to eat. He single-mindedly chewed and swallowed.
All so that he could survive. So that he could become free.
This place was known as Prisoner Island.
The isolated island consisted of a prison that was remodeled from a fortress, and it accommodated about three hundred prisoners on an average basis.
Because the amount of criminals transferred there from the Domed City in the South Pole or the other islands were about the same as the amount of prisoners executed or thrown out into the sea from catching illnesses, the population usually maintained an equilibrium.
Due to the volatile tides around the island, it was extremely hard for small vessels to safely chart any routes involving it. If someone were to be insane enough to swim through the waves by themselves, they’d either last no more than thirty minutes before getting swallowed by the currents, or become a meal for the countless sharks prowling the area.
There was apparently not even a single person that had managed to successfully escape from the prison hell.
But that’s exactly why I’ll be the one to do it. That’s what Tachihara swore.
“Breakfast time’s over!”
The blowing of whistles and the shouting of prison guards filled the room.
The prisoner that had been serving the food had once again showed up to collect the dishes, and he made a small nod towards Tachihara.
“Thanks.”
Tachihara responded without meeting eyes with him.
It seemed that the information was correct. Meaning, today would be his last chance.
The nervous faces of two other prisoners in the room showed that they had come to the same conclusion.
The type of labor assigned to each group of thirty-or-so prisoners usually differed by the day.
Maintenance of the oil-covered machinery in the factory, construction on further expansion of the prison, outdoor work using heavy equipment, and so on.
Today, the group Tachihara was assigned to was in charge of the weekly farmwork, and had headed out to the farm all the way on the opposite side of the island.
The security was rather light, despite the fact that there were hardly any walls or fences in the area. It was because the guards assumed that it would be impossible to escape the prison hell via the sea around the island, and that there wouldn’t be a single idiot who’d attempt such a feat.
Unfortunately for you though, that kind of idiot is standing right in front of you right this moment. Tachihara internally spoke those words with a laugh.
And if the information was correct, that meant his chance of escape was just about 100%.
After being carried to the farm in the cargo bed of three different trucks, Tachihara and the rest got to work swinging their hoes and digging with their spades under the sweltering sun.
The soil wasn’t especially fertile, but it was enough to supply the vegetables and grains needed to feed the prison.
The three rifle-carrying prison guards spread themselves around the prisoners, who were all between a wall and a precipitous bluff facing the ocean, but it was clear that they were struggling with their drowsiness.
Even though the low-flying sea birds circling above them squawked with what seemed like intimidation, the guards showed no reaction whatsoever.
It was now or never. His last chance.
After meeting the eyes of two other prisoners who were from his ward, Tachihara nonchalantly set down his hoe at his feet. Just as he was about to move on with his plan, something happened.
“Yo, Tachihara! I heard you were a pirate or something!”
The large man approached Tachihara, paying no attention to the prison guards whatsoever. He was something of a boss amongst the prisoners.
Because of the tattoos that covered his entire body from the top of his shaved head to the tips of his toes, people called him Sumio. (T/L Note: “Sumi” means ink.) Even now, he continues to get new tattoos every day during lunch break by a prisoner who used to be a tattoo artist pro outside of prison.
Sumio, huh? Sounds like the name of a kid with a few screws loose in the head. There was a time where a rather mild-mannered new prisoner got fed to the sharks not even thirty minutes after arriving onto the island. It was because Sumio had grabbed him by the neck with a single hand and threw him towards the ocean. The prison guards had apparently just written the incident off claiming that the newcomer had slipped his feet from not being used to the island.
“How much did you make? Where’s your treasure hidden? Wouldn’t hurt to share just a little bit of it with me, yeah?”
Sumio had a friendly smile on his face, but his eyes looked to be the complete opposite.
“I don’t have anything like that. I already used up everything.”
Tachihara replied. It was a lie, of course.
“Yeah, right!”
Sumio smiled as he struck out with his elbow. Tachihara felt like he almost died from the blow.
The prison guards as well as the rest of the prisoners pretended not to see anything. The two prisoners from Tachihara’s ward exchanged glances of confusion.
It was true that Tachihara was a pirate.
Three years ago, he had sneaked out of the Domed City in the South Pole and teamed up with people from all kinds of different islands. Together they sailed the seas in piracy.
It went well at first.
It was easy to plunder the food and goods that were carried from island to island, and no one ever fought back or chased after them.
Their victims often lacked spirit and were quick to falter in the face of intimidation and violence. It wasn’t as if Tachihara’s gang ever intended on killing anyone, though.
They accrued a lot of money as well. They hid their treasure on uninhabited islands and reefs that didn’t look like they were close to sinking.
But one day, things suddenly changed.
About three months ago, they were ambushed during the middle of heading to their destination. Tachihara’s comrades were killed one after the other as they ran from their pursuers. When Tachihara was the only one left, they captured him and sent him to Prisoner Island without even a trial.
It was like something invisible carried me here… There was a time when Tachihara felt that way, but he soon cast the thought aside, deeming it to be ridiculous.
But that thought continued to stay cramped inside his head like a cage.
“You’re planning on doing it, aren’t you? Tachihara.”
Sumio’s voice grew unnaturally low.
Don’t tell me this guy knows about it?!
Tachihara reflexively turned around to meet his face, and then frustratingly clicked his tongue. What he did was no different from admitting that Sumio was right on the mark.
“Doing what?”
He pretended to feign ignorance, but it was futile. Tachihara received yet another smiling elbow strike and fell to his knees in intense pain.
“Let me come, too.”
Sumio smiled as he wrapped his arm around Tachihara’s neck.
“Otherwise I’ll make a scene. I’ll tell everyone I found someone trying to escape.”
He laughed as if he was enjoying this from the bottom of his heart.
Tachihara didn’t have a choice.
The darkness of suffocation was quickly approaching from the immense strength wrapped around his carotid artery.
To the people around them, it probably just looked like they were messing around.
“Fine… You can come…! Just let go of me already!”
“So, what’s the plan?”
Tachihara took a desperate gasp for oxygen upon Sumio’s grip loosening just the slightest bit.
“…There’s no plan. We’re just gonna jump from here.”
“Huh?”
“We’re gonna jump and start swimming.”
“Are you fucking with me?!”
He once again tightened his grip.
“Let me finish! We’re not swimming towards the open sea. We’d just get swallowed up by the tides that way.”
“Then where are we heading…?”
Sumio’s voice got even lower.
“The harbor.”
“The harbor?”
“We’ll swim around the bluff over to the harbor on the other side. The average guard would just assume that we’d only swim away from the island. That’s what we’ll take advantage of.”
“By harbor, you mean… we’re taking a ship?”
When his eyebrows scrunched together in what looked like deep thought, he almost looked like he had the face of a child.
“According to my information, there’s gonna be newbies showing up today at noon. We’ll have to make it to the harbor before then and hide. The next opportunity won’t be for another half a year. If we’re gonna do this, it’s now or never.”
“All right, let’s go!”
Sumio suddenly started dragging him.
Dust rose up into the air as Sumio carried him straight towards the bluff. Tachihara struggled desperately, but he had no chance of breaking out of Sumio’s grip.
“Wait! The guards are watching. We have to be more careful…”
It looked like the guards had finally broken out of their sleepiness, but it didn’t seem like they had noticed what was going on yet.
But once they saw that two of Tachihara’s cellmates had started chasing after him and Sumio, they realized they had a situation on their hands.
“Stop!”
“Stop or we’ll shoot!”
They all raised their rifles.
The other prisoners that had just been watching the events unfold quickly got down on the floor and covered their heads.
The firing of the rifles occurred at the same moment as the dive from the bluff.
However, Tachihara could do nothing but fall, as he was still caught up in Sumio’s grip.
One second later, and they were in the sea.
He thought he’d be free at this point, but he was naive. Sumio’s grip only grew stronger, clinging to Tachihara like a vice.
“Let go… Let go, damn it!”
He reflexively yelled out, causing seawater to fill his mouth. He instinctively choked on it, allowing even more sea water to flow in. Intense pain shot through his throat, nose, and skull.
Don’t tell me…
“Can you not swim?”
After taking in another mouthful of seawater, suddenly Sumio’s grip loosened. He had fallen unconscious. Bubbles rose out from his mouth and nose as he let go and sank towards the ocean depths.
Tachihara quickly grabbed onto his arm and lifted him onto his back.
Desperate to fight against the fate of both of them sinking, Tachihara swam towards the surface.
But when he noticed the nearby floating bodies of his cellmates that had taken bullets that pierced through the seawater, he immediately came to a stop.
As the blood flowing out of the drifting corpses glimmered from the sunlight shining through the ocean, bullet after bullet came descending down like arrows.
In face of the fantasy-like spectacle playing out before him, Tachihara momentarily lost sight of what to do and fell into a panic.
After straining his eyes and locating the bluff, he kicked himself forward.
Tachihara swam alongside the bluff, desperately resisting the urge to flee towards the open sea in order to avoid the persistent gunshots.
Even though they were in the water, Sumio’s massive body was heavy. Too heavy. It felt like his arms were about to rip off. His oxygen-deprived lungs were close to their limit. Tachihara swam while ignoring the bursting pain within him. He had to keep swimming.
After swimming around a large ledge, he was finally safe from the gunshots.
He began to slowly rise up as if climbing the bluff.
After carefully calculating his timing so that he wouldn’t get slammed into the bare rock by the approaching waves, as well as so that he wouldn’t get swept towards the open sea by the returning waves either, Tachihara’s face emerged from the ocean.
His lungs greedily inhaled the air, and his head tingled from the resupplied oxygen.
Sumio then suddenly regained consciousness and began writhing and coughing out sea water.
“Calm down, Sumio! Stop squirming!”
Once Sumio returned to his senses, he stopped moving and clinged onto the bluff.
“Where are we…?”
“We haven’t gone far. Let’s start heading towards the harbor.”
“Wait… Did you save me…?”
“If you couldn’t swim, you should’ve said something beforehand. A double suicide’s about the last thing I’d ever want.”
“…Sorry.”
It was a voice completely unfitting of his massive build, soft enough to almost get muffled by the sounds of the roaring waves. Tachihara pretended not to hear and began moving.
“Let’s go. Don’t let go of the bluff.”
“Right.”
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