THE FABLE
Horn
Fire
Anybody call the cops and fire department?
Where's a fire extinguisher?
Anyone hurt?
Yoko.
To your nine o'clock.
- What? - It's Suzuki. Follow that silver car.
He'll be meeting up with Utsubo.
Pinpoint their location for me.
Roger
What about you?
Did something explode? Upstairs?
Maybe a gas explosion?
A gas leak, huh?
I'll follow as soon as I can.
Okay, got it...
But...
How could you say Suzuki was all right?
All that stuff about his smell,
but you totally got ambushed by him
He totally squealed to Utsubo about you
Well, of course, he told Utsubo.
They're a team, after all.
That's not the problem.
Are you kidding?
They even planted a bomb to get you
Yeah, that was a grenade trap.
Don't tell me you knew and exploded it on purpose
Of course.
If somebody else tripped it,
they would have gotten hurt bad. It's too dangerous.
Mr. Utsubo, as for plan A,
the fireworks went off, but failed.
Sato wasn't hurt.
He's better than we imagined, and even better than that.
His sister is tailing me.
Sato is sure to show up later.
Go with plan B.
I know he realizes he's being tailed,
so why's he driving so slow?
It's like he's enticing me.
I brought it. Here you go.
A Lexus RC-F...
for five million.
That's expensive
You moron This is over 10 million brand new.
It is shady,
but even so, I discounted it to five million.
Well, all right then.
The owner skipped on his debts and disappeared.
Anyway, stuff happened to him. The GPS has been disabled on it, so...
"Sensei"
Yes? Hello?
Looks fast.
It's screaming fast.
Now? I'm at home, of course
I was enjoying nature, gazing up at the stars in the night sky
Who's he talking to?
His girl?
No... Probably a guy...
He acts that way sometimes lately.
A car?
Yes. Okay.
What kind are you looking for?
Oh, one as fast as possible?
Don't tell me he's...
Of course, I can do that
I'll bring it in 15... No, in 10 minutes
What the?
Hold on a bit, Tsutomu.
I'll be back in an hour or two.
Hey, hold on a sec, Kuro
Aniki
I told you to wait I've got an emergency
It was raining until yesterday, so the stars are really coming out.
The air in the mountains is nice too.
So, even you look at the stars.
Yes. They relax my mind.
Relax?
That's right.
No matter what a guy like me does...
Compared to this vastness I'm so insignificant...
All of it becomes meaningless.
The stars don't even care.
Hello?
I just turned onto a forest road by the Makino River.
Makino River, huh? Figures.
Where are you now?
A convenience store.
What? A convenience store?
Kuro's bringing me a car. I've got nothing to do until then.
Nothing to do? Why you...
Dang, you really tick me off.
What do you want me to do? There's no point in hurrying.
We're walking into a trap anyway.
Make them wait.
Two fried chicken.
Okay.
Did you just say "fried chicken"?
Hey Hey
Anyway, don't chase too far, pinpoint their position, and wait.
You said "fried chicken," didn't you?
No.
Hey you Hey
I'm reading the manga...
Yoshifumi and Fried Chicken.
You liar
Hey Darn you
Thank you.
The car's here.
I'll leave as soon as I eat the fried chicken.
I knew you bought some fried chicken
- Sorry about this. - No problem at all
I, Kuro, will drive you anywhere instantly
Leave it to me
Nice. But I'll be driving.
The odd route he took to get to this pass has made me realize something.
I think he's avoiding the N-System.
The N-System...
He's doing that so he doesn't leave any evidence no matter what happens.
I'll make sure to avoid the N-System too.
Like I said before, don't chase too far.
Just stop and wait somewhere.
I'll be there soon.
What's going on? Something happen? A fight?
No, just something to do with some old trouble.
Is the mountain road along the Makino River a pretty winding one?
Well, it is a mountain road,
so it used to be used as a drift track on weekends.
I don't know much about it nowadays though.
What about it?
Get me a map of that mountain pass on your phone.
Dang, this forest road really is awful.
Since this car's a lowrider, I can't go fast.
Suzuki's gone off ahead, so I've lost sight of him.
Then you must be near the place.
Stop around there and wait.
I'll be getting on that road soon enough.
Oh Here's a map.
Thanks.
I've memorized the route.
What? No way
Well, my memory's no match for Yoko's.
I'll forget it by tomorrow.
But it will do for now.
Drive mode engaged.
Okay, here we go
Yikes This is freaking insane
No way He's smiling
Damn Awesome Just awesome
Nii-san Nii-san
Holy
Nii-san
Dang, I bottomed out again.
A grenade
All I tossed was a rock.
For someone as inexperienced as you,
you thought of the explosion at the apartment
and assumed it was a grenade.
Coming from the guy who got beat up last time, this may seem pompous,
but let me teach you something.
Strength comes in many types,
especially in this business.
Since you've never killed anyone, there's a kind of strength you don't have
that I've got.
That was a warning.
Disobey, and the second one won't miss.
And of course, I can't guarantee you'll survive that one.
Remove the communicator from your left ear.
Throw it at my feet.
Your phone too.
Can I stand up?
No standing. Stay like you are.
I know what your strengths are. Keep crawling like that.
About 100 yards.
I'll be six feet behind, gun pointed at you.
You're pretty hot.
Really? Thank you.
Yeah. Nice ass you got.
Yoko.
Hey. Yoko.
She's been captured.
Uh... Sounds like something bad is up.
Well, I won't know until I get there.
If you'd like, I can help
I'll do whatever you want
Really?
Then stay quiet.
Oh... Sure...
Use them to tie your hands and feet to that tree in front of you.
Start with your dominant hand and foot.
Who is that?
Hina, this woman is just like Sato.
She's part of the hitman organization.
So what? She's got nothing to do with this.
Just sit still, Hina. Don't move.
Sato will be here soon...
right?
Probably so.
Give me your right arm.
Astonishing.
I know your brother's that way, but you too...
Just how were you raised to have such nerves of steel?
Since I've preyed off of rich idiot sons,
I'm amazed at the difference between you and them.
What the heck kind of childhood did you have?
If you fight my brother, I'm sure your imagination will run wild.
Let's get ready.
Right. Enjoy your front-row seat, Yoko Sato.
Wait Nii-san, isn't that...
Is your sister in the car?
No, she's not in the car.
She's been taken away.
Listen, Kuro.
Move the car quietly to the edge of the road there.
Quietly. Got it, Nii-san
After that, let loose on the horn and turn on the headlights.
Hina, here are some bullets.
You know how to load it, right?
Listen.
Sato will try to get close to you somehow.
Don't shoot until he's within 10 feet of you.
We're ready, Suzuki.
Do it exactly like...
we planned
Those were gunshots...
Yeah, about 100 yards that way.
That's close.
Nii-san, you have a gun?
Yeah, I've brought one just in case.
This.
Isn't that the one you used when you kidnapped Mr. Kojima?
Aren't those bullets...
Yeah, they're toys I made,
but they do the job.
- Don't you forget to blow the horn. - Yes, sir
It wasn't Sato who killed my mom and dad
It was him
Hina... You serious?
What's this all about, Hina?
A bulletproof vest.
Even so... That really hurt. Hey
What's that horn? Is he signaling he's here?
Well, I'm sure he's here.
Who else could it be, out here in these mountains?
You must be pretty sure then, if you shot me.
When my parents were murdered,
all the papers and internet said was that they were stabbed to death
In order to catch the murderer,
the police intentionally hid info that only the real murderer would know.
And you...
You knew what that was.
You said that my parents' throats were slit
How else would you know that?
You murdered them
I see...
You were afraid of that Fable.
You wanted to blame it on Sato,
but you slipped up and said he slit their throats.
Because I saw what Fable did four years ago...
I'm no idiot, you know
That horn...
It keeps going off.
That's not the signal he's here.
What is it for?
To distract us?
To hide the sound of his footsteps?
He's...
He's here
I can't believe I made such a rookie mistake... It's a real shame, Hina.
The sex with you was great.
Shut up You're making my skin crawl
I'll give you a chance to get your revenge.
There's three shots left.
Aim carefully and shoot.
I won't move.
I've got this vest on,
so if you want to kill me, it'll have to be in the head.
You should really aim very carefully.
If you can get closer, go ahead.
I won't move.
You know what your father said?
"Leave her out of this..."
"You can kill us, but just leave Hina out of this... "
That's a common line for someone protecting their daughter.
It was so like a TV drama, it was touching.
Don't stand up, Hina
There's a mine there
Don't move, Hina
If you lift your foot, you'll be blown sky-high
Don't lift your foot, Hina
It'll blow up
Sato's coming
Hina, leave your foot there and grab onto the wheelchair
What a surprise,
standing up on your own like that.
Now you've ruined what we were going to have Sato step on.
Hina Toss away the gun and grab onto the wheelchair
You keep getting in the way, Hina.
Hey Hurry up and stop her
If she shoots, she'll fall
Don't shoot, Hina
Get over there and hold her up
I know you're worried about my brother,
but he's not going to kill you
You think I can believe that?
This has nothing to do with Sato.
This is my problem
What you're standing on is an anti-personnel mine.
It'll take your legs off, but you'll probably survive.
But you don't need those legs anyway, right?
Shoot.
If you're lucky, you'll get me in the head.
A good trade for your legs.
You've got two shots. Go on, shoot.
You can really see the stars tonight.
I bet your mother and father can see you.
From that place called heaven.
Quit provoking Hina
This isn't part of the plan.
Sato's already close
No, the plan is still good. Look.
We've still got his sister over there.
Hina, we don't need you anymore.
Hurry up and shoot and get blown up.
Pray to your parents who've become stars in the sky.
Depending on how you fall, you just might see them again.
You scumbag
Don't, Hina
No
He threw something to distract me
Diversion
This time, I caught you before you fell.
Starry Sky Lullaby
Translated by: Brian Athey