Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 303, Section 50: Me, the Mouse

The Palm House is home to twelve children and three adults.

As the person in charge, Martha not only teaches the children daily life skills, but also takes care of their psychological well-being.

Besides Martha, there were two others: Judy, a middle-aged woman, was in charge of the meals, and John, an old man, was in charge of the hygiene.

Now, this small group has temporarily gained another security guard, a tall, taciturn man named Ikeda Rui.

"Although I don't want to say it, I guess you can tell that Palm House is an organization that takes in children who have had a lot of hardships. There are many things that require extra attention. After all, the little angels are very sensitive and have experienced traumas that are hard for ordinary people to imagine. They can easily detect even the slightest deliberate emotion from you."

"First, we prohibit any physical contact with the children without their permission to avoid triggering negative memories. We also forbid discussing the children outside Palm House; don't underestimate this. If you notice anything strange happening to the children, please let me know immediately."

"Every now and then, some real teachers will come to teach the children, and we need to pay attention to how they interact."

In a private office, Martha prepared a meal for Ikeda Rui, sat opposite him, and scrutinized his choice of words.

As he ate his sandwich, Ikeda Rui thought of the girl's bright eyes: "That girl from just now."

“Oh, you mean Elsa?” Martha smiled. “She’s a smart child. But if I had to say, we have to thank Mr. Smith. He only came a few times, but he made many children more proactive and more willing to interact with the outside world.”

Smith. He had lost count of how many times he'd heard that name tonight.

Ikeda Rui went through his mind several times, confirming that he did not know anyone named Smith.

His last memories were of Japan, of chaotic Tokyo.

In the Komagome Academy incident, he confessed to murdering one of the students.

However, the court rejected the case because the evidence was insufficient. He was temporarily released and allowed to return home, but he was not allowed to leave Tokyo and had to report to the police station regularly.

It was at this moment that he truly realized he probably did indeed have schizophrenia.

Another version of himself would occasionally take control of his body and do things he wouldn't normally do.

For example, admitting to murder.

However, he was indeed at home on the night the incident occurred at the college, which is corroborated by surveillance footage.

Even if he doesn't have the memory of that personality, he can be certain that he didn't kill anyone.

Then why did "he" take the initiative to confess, and why did he find the victim's handkerchief in his own home that shouldn't have been there?
just like.
He wanted to kill himself.

He wasn't particularly familiar with the law, and after learning that he had confessed, he thought he would be imprisoned. Unexpectedly, things took a turn for the better, and he was later released due to insufficient evidence.

In addition, Tokyo was in complete chaos, and no one had time to care about it.

Then, in the blink of an eye, he found himself in a small alley in Miami, with only a broken Polaroid camera and a photo of himself with the Palm House.

"Ikeda, Ikeda?" Martha waved her hand in front of Ikeda, and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that his eyes were no longer empty. "You suddenly stopped eating, I thought you choked."

Ikeda looked at the milk that had been poured to the side, said thank you, picked it up and took a sip, without explaining that he had been daydreaming.

"Martha, I understand all the taboos you just mentioned. So, how should my main work be arranged?"

“Yes, yes, that’s what I was just about to say.” Martha took out her phone, which showed a video she had downloaded, an official emergency atlas of mutated creatures. “You should know, right? The huge riots that happened yesterday were terrifying. It was caused by these mutated creatures. I’m not too worried about things like crocodiles and giant deer; many people are hunting them on their own.”

"But look, there are also these—spiders as big as windows but able to squeeze into the vents, rats bigger than cats, and especially these giant bats with bared teeth and claws. There are too many of these mutated creatures. We live here mostly with children, and it's the suburbs, so there aren't many people. That's why we're looking for a reliable person to protect the children."

Ikeda Rui's expression showed no surprise; he simply nodded and carefully studied the possible weaknesses of various animals reported by the official team.

After continuing his conversation with Martha about his upcoming work, he finished his dinner.

Martha led him into a small room near the door, which seemed to have been converted from a storage room. After a bed was placed in the room, there was basically no room left.

For a burly man like Eiichiro Ikeda, it seemed quite cramped.

Martha was a little embarrassed: "Rooms are a bit scarce, so I'm afraid you'll have to make do here."

Ikeda Rui shook his head, indicating that it was alright; he was mentally exhausted and just needed a safe place to rest.

He doesn't need to work today.

Starting tomorrow, he will need to stand guard every night and patrol regularly. He can sleep during the day because Martha thinks there shouldn't be much of a threat during the day, as many of those animals are nocturnal.

Moreover, it's more convenient to call the police during the day.

The door closed gently, leaving only Ikeda Rui in the small space.

Martha will bring him a change of clothes tomorrow, so he'll have to make do tonight.

He sat silently on the edge of the bed, his gaze once again falling on the broken Polaroid camera and the blurry photograph.

The room has a window that overlooks the sand pile and some children's toys in the yard.

The night in Miami was deep, with occasional faint sounds in the distance, whether police sirens or something else, that could not be discerned.

"Can we talk?" he muttered to himself, looking at his blurry reflection in the window.

There was still silence; there was no response.

Ikeda Rui drew the curtains, turned off the lights, closed his eyes, and fell asleep wearily in the surrounding silence.

He slept soundly through the night, and when he woke up, the sunlight was already filtering through the thin curtains, illuminating the room.

Ikeda Rui opened his eyes, and after a brief moment of confusion, his consciousness quickly returned.

I had a good night's sleep and feel much better.

A faint sound came from outside the window; unlike the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, it was a rather quiet noise.

He got up and gently pulled back the curtains a crack. In the yard outside, children were already playing.

The sunlight shone brightly on the lawn and sand, but the atmosphere was unusually quiet.

There was no chasing or roughhousing, no excited shouting. Most of the children played alone, fiddling with toys or looking at picture books. Even when two or three gathered together, they mostly cooperated silently with little communication.

This is completely contrary to the child's playful nature.

He straightened his slightly wrinkled clothes and pushed open the door.

The Miami morning sun was already blazing, and the salty, humid heat wave hit him, making him, who was used to the Tokyo climate, feel somewhat uncomfortable.

"Good morning, Ikeda. Won't you rest a little longer?" Martha's voice came through the phone.

She crouched down and carefully wiped away a little boy's cheek with a wet wipe. When she saw Ikeda come out, she stood up with a typical warm, Western-style smile on her face.

“That’s enough.” Ikeda Rui shook his head, his gaze sweeping over the little boy, who was also staring at him quietly with wide eyes, not blinking. “I want to familiarize myself with the surroundings during the day.”

“Okay.” Martha said understandingly, turning around to take out two prepared eco-friendly bags. “I asked someone to bring you two sets of work clothes and two sets of pajamas. Old John’s son is about your size, so they should fit you. There are also some toiletries here.”

The bag contained clean clothes and brand-new towels and toothbrushes.

Ikeda accepted the bag without hesitation. As Martha had arranged, he first ate a simple breakfast, then took a shower and changed into new clothes.

The simple yet clean work clothes fit him surprisingly well, concealing some of his incongruity.

Around nine o'clock in the morning, Martha began showing him around the layout of Palm House. "Martha," Ikeda Rui asked as they walked down the somewhat worn corridors, "could you tell me more about Mr. Smith?"

He suspected that Smith was his second personality.

But he had his doubts. If he had met Martha before, there was no reason why she wouldn't recognize him.

Could it be that she disguised herself?
When Smith was mentioned, Martha became very talkative, her tone filled with obvious gratitude and excitement.

She described in detail how Smith came to Palm House, how she interacted with the children, and what positive changes she brought about.

“You must know Smith,” Martha concluded with certainty. “Otherwise, he wouldn’t have written those words on the back of the photo entrusting me with this. It’s just that you may have temporarily lost this part of your memory for some reason. Perhaps you should go to the hospital for a checkup. Oh, but I don’t recommend it if you don’t have identification and health insurance; it would be an outrageous expense.”

The two talked as they walked back to the front yard. Just then—

"Aaaaa!!! Masa—Masa!!"

A piercing scream suddenly came from inside the building.

Just then, Aunt Judy, who was in charge of the meals, rushed out wielding a large soup ladle. Her face was deathly pale, and she was trembling all over. As soon as she came out, she hugged Martha tightly and cried incoherently, "A rat! A huge rat! A rat that can... can stand up! The Ninja Turtles' teacher! I saw it!"

She was speaking incoherently.

Martha stumbled from the impact, but the much larger woman quickly regained her balance, pressing down hard on Judy's shoulder to try and calm her down: "Hey, Judy! Wake up and tell me, what did you see in the kitchen?"

"A rat!" Judy gestured in terror, her arms outstretched dramatically. "It's huge! A super-sized rat that can stand up!"

Based on her exaggerated gestures, it shouldn't be called a mouse, but a mouse tank.

A tank drove into the room? Ikeda thought about it for half a second and then immediately dismissed the idea. If such a large creature came in, it would be impossible for it to leave without causing any noise or damage. So it was more likely that she found a rat that was about the size of a child, and in her panic, her fear amplified the visual impact, causing the image to become distorted.

"Elsa! That's right, Elsa is still in the dining hall!" Judy suddenly remembered, her fear compounded by panic.

Martha, who had been relatively calm, changed her expression instantly upon hearing Elsa's name and looked nervously at Ikeda Rui.

Without any hesitation, Ikeda Rui snatched the heavy soup spoon from Judy's hand and rushed towards the cafeteria.

"I'll go get Elsa. Martha, watch over the other children."

Martha, who was about to follow, stopped abruptly upon hearing this.

She glanced back at the children in the yard, who were anxiously and curiously peering over, drawn by the commotion. Gritting her teeth, she pulled the still trembling Judy to the center of the yard and opened her arms: "Children! Come here! Come to me!"

Ikeda had just eaten breakfast in the cafeteria not long ago, so he naturally knew where it was.

He sprinted quickly and arrived at the door in just a few seconds.

The sight before him made his eyes widen suddenly.

In the corner, little Elsa was huddled up, her face buried in her knees, her hands tightly covering her ears, her small body looking so insecure.

Not far in front of her, a huge rat, about half the height of a person, stood upright.

It has a somewhat human-like form, with rough gray fur standing on end, a piece of food that is hard to tell whether it is cheese or bread in its long, pointed mouth, and small, red-glowing eyes that are approaching Elsa with a kind of greed.

hum-

Ikeda seemed to hear the sound of a string snapping in his mind, and a surge of inner fire instantly boiled over.

"Hey!" he shouted to get attention.

Upon hearing the shout, the giant rat turned its head almost without hesitation, but at the same time, a large iron ladle was already swung around and slammed against its face.

The iron ladle tip twisted and deformed instantly. The giant rat didn't even have time to scream before its head was smashed to one side. Blood and unidentified liquid gushed from its mouth, nose, eyes, and ears, splashing onto the nearby window and drawing a red streak on it.

The immense impact sent the rat flying, crashing heavily against the wall. Its limbs twitched, and before it could even begin its street dance, Ikeda caught up again, gripping the deformed spoon handle tightly with both hands, and with all his might, slammed it down!
A series of muffled clanging sounds echoed through the restaurant.

When Ikeda regained some consciousness, the mouse's head had already been smashed to pieces.

He stopped, panting heavily, and looked at the giant rat's corpse on the ground, its head completely smashed and no longer moving. He then looked at his hands, which were trembling slightly from exerting too much force.

He slowly exhaled a breath of stale air and turned his gaze to the corner of the wall.

Elsa had raised her head without anyone noticing. She wasn't looking at the gruesome dead rat; her clear, yet childlike eyes were fixed on Ikeda Rui, unblinking and quiet.

She tilted her head slightly, then suddenly spoke softly, her tone carrying a hint of curiosity as if seeking confirmation:
"Uncle Smith, is that you?"

Ikeda opened his mouth, almost instinctively responding, but then immediately realized what he meant.

No, he's not Smith.

“I am Eiichiro Ikeda, Elsa,” he said, referring to a name that might be difficult for children to remember.

Elsa nodded as if she understood, stood up, walked barefoot behind Ikeda, and tugged at his clothes.

"Let's go out first." Ikeda didn't want the little girl to stay in this terrible room.

"Mmm." Elsa was escorted out of the restaurant by Ikeda and all the way to the courtyard.

“Elsa! My darling Elsa!” Martha hugged Elsa with tears in her eyes. The latter seemed somewhat emotionally deprived, simply nodding obediently, her face showing little fear or joy at surviving a close call.

"Ikeda, what happened inside? Are you alright?" Martha asked Ikeda after comforting Elsa.

Judy, standing to the side, covered her mouth and stared at the bent, bloodstained soup spoon.

Ikeda shook his head: "There was a big rat, which has already been dealt with. I need to check again to make sure it's safe, and then I need someone to help me dispose of the body."

Martha breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank goodness you were here, otherwise I really wouldn't know what to do. I just called the police. They'll be here in a few minutes. We can give them the bodies to handle; they need the monsters' corpses too."

"Okay, I'll check it again."

Ikeda, carrying an iron ladle, turned and walked into the building.

His heart was not as calm as it appeared.

The power he had just unleashed did not seem to belong to him.

And then there's Elsa's line about Smith.
What was the second personality's purpose in deliberately leading him here?
Ikeda calmed himself down and carefully searched the building. He then found several small mice gnawing on the carcass next to the giant rat's corpse in the restaurant.

It's called a little mouse, but it's actually about the size of a cat.

Such a size was actually difficult to deal with, so Ikeda secretly closed the doors and windows beforehand and it took him a lot of effort to eliminate it.

At this time, the police also arrived.

Fully armed, they expertly searched Palm House, then took out a registration form, inquired about the situation, and collected all the bodies, even thoughtfully cleaning up the bloodstains.

"Here's the bounty. Well done." The officer patted Ikeda Rui on the shoulder, expressing his appreciation.

There was even a bonus, though it wasn't much.

Looking at the children, Ikeda couldn't help but recall his own hazy time in the orphanage.

Let's stay here for now and look for an opportunity to talk to my second personality.

　Failed to update too much _(:з」∠)_ Went out to play
　　
　
(End of this chapter)