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“All that work and barely enough for food tomorrow,” Mera mumbled apathetically. She’d been working increasingly hard jobs in sketchy locations to hopefully make more money for her family. However, her siblings were growing and required more food. Her mother was having more issues doing jobs and could now only stay at home, knitting, crocheting, and embroidering to hopefully be able to sell the creations for money.
Mera noticed a strange few people a bit ahead of her, so she slid to the side and hide behind a tree, spying on them. All she could tell visually from the distance was they were huddled in front of a door. The missing lens in her glasses and the dark street weren’t helping. The street she was on was extremely quiet however, so she could clearly hear what they were saying.
“Do you remember the password this time?” one was whispering.
“Uh, duh. I’m not a dunce, unlike you.” The other retorted.
“Just say it already,” the first said, seething.
“Fine. Semsi, Semsi, Semsi, open.” When they finished speaking, the door to the building unlocked. The person at the door quickly swung open the door. With the light from inside, Mera could now tell there were three people, all carrying bags.
“Semsi, Semsi, Semsi, close,” she heard one saying and the door locked, or so Mera assumed.
She stayed behind the tree until the three were out of the building again. Oddly enough, they didn’t have their bags anymore, so Mera concluded they dropped them off in the building. Once they walked a significant distance away, Mera walked to the door. The building was labeled “Semsi” but seemed very run down.
‘Weird to name it the same as the password, but okay.’ There was a speaker box by the door, so Mera decided to see what was inside.
“Semsi, Semsi, Semsi, open.”
To her surprise, the door opened. She walked inside, cautiously checking for cameras. Once the coast was clear, she closed the door. The halls were dark and dingy, a distinct smell of dirt permeating the area. Eventually, she made it to the end of the hall with a door ending the path. Thankfully, the door was unlocked, and she opened it.
Inside the room were stacks of bills and precious metals and jewels in boxes scattered about. Mera audibly gasped, fumbling around in her pocket for her flip phone, intent on calling the police. However, as she stared at the keypad, she was having second thoughts. ‘What if…what if I just take a few bills? They won’t notice and I need to feed my family.’
She stood stock still for what felt like hours, contemplating her choices. Soon enough, she decided to throw caution to the wind and grab a small stack of bills. She flicked through and determined it’d be enough for a month of food. ‘It’s fine, I’ll keep working and just use that for the mortgage on the house. Maybe I can get something good for my siblings.’
Mera tucked the bills in her pocket, zipping them in to make sure she wouldn’t lose them. As she walked out of the building, she quickly checked to make sure no one was around.
“Semsi, Semsi, Semsi, close.”
The door locked immediately, a loud click sound echoing around the street. Mera cringed and walked quickly back to her house. When she made it home, it was nearly midnight, and the house was silent.
She went to the room she shared with her sisters, excited to fall asleep. Mera quickly tucked the bills in the pocket of her winter coat, hoping it’d stay safe there. Her sisters had already gotten out her uniform and packed her lunch, for which Mera was grateful. She rolled out her mat and laid down, stealing part of her sister’s blanket, falling asleep soon after.
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Nearly a month later, and as Mera had calculated, the money from ‘Semsi’ had ran out.
‘I made sure not to spend anymore than usual, but it still ran out.’ Mera sighed, thinking to herself. She had been working herself to the bone, more than usual, but money was fading faster than usual. She continued walking down the street, exhausted from her recent job. But, as she walked, the street became familiar.
Lo and behold, just a bit down the street was that odd building, Semsi.
‘Wait! I can just get some money from there.’ Mera felt guilt wash over her but shook it off. ‘Those people from earlier were clearly robbers; it’s not bad if I take money for my family. I’ll be like Robin Hood.’ Convincing herself it was a good idea; Mera walked up to the door and whispered the same password.
“Semsi, Semsi, Semsi, open.” The door unlocked, so Mera went in and walked to the back of the room. She took the same as last time, only taking an extra 10K yen bill. ‘Our family deserves something nice,’ she argued to herself, putting the bills in her jacket pocket. Mera quickly left, locking the store behind her, and going back home. Yet again, her siblings got her uniform and bag out, but this time Mera put the extra bill in her bag.
‘I’ll get something nice tomorrow and claim one of my employers gave me a bonus.’ Mera laid down, not even bothering with her mat, and quickly fell asleep.
The next morning, Mera double checked to see if the bill was there. Seeing it was, she got dressed and headed to school. ‘Love you mom, see you after school!’ Mera scribbled out on a note, leaving it by her mother’s bed.
“Bye guys,” she whispered to her siblings, heading out for school.
The day passed without incident, until the end of the day. It was the last class, and Mera was sat next to Saiko. Normally, this didn’t pose any problems, but Saiko had an eye for money and could spot it from miles away. When Mera rummaged for her notebook and left her bag open, he saw the 10K yen bill clear as day.
‘She must have stolen it from me!’ he thought indignantly. ‘I’ll just get back at her later,’ he finished thinking, a satisfied smirk on his face.
An hour later and class was let out. Mera tried rushing out of class, shoving her notebook in her bag. However, her path was blocked when she tried to get up.
“Mera, I need to speak to you,” Saiko said sternly. Mera was confused, what had she done to gain the attention of Saiko? Usually he ignored ‘lowlifes’ like her.
‘Wait,’ she thought fearfully, ‘Did he see the money?! He did, didn’t he.’
Mera got up, a solemn look on her face. She grabbed Saiko’s forearm and dragged him to a secluded area of the school.
“How dare you just drag me around?!” Saiko said indignantly after Mera let go. “Whatever. I saw you had a 10K yen bill. Obviously, you could never get such an amount, so you must have stolen it from me. Give it back.” He held out his hand expectantly.
Mera stood still, clutching her bag tight to her side. “I didn’t steal it; at least not from you.”
Saiko rose his eyebrow, noticing the odd way Mera phrased the sentence.
“Where is it from then? You WILL tell me.”
Mera glanced at a nearby clock, worried crossing her face. ‘Shoot, I’m going to be late for my job!’
“Fine I’ll tell you.” She practically shouted. “There’s this one run-down building near Mountainside Boulevard. The sign says ‘Semsi’ and to get in, you go up to the door and say ‘Semsi, Semsi, Semsi, open.’ It’ll unlock and you just walk down the hall to the back.” Mera pushed her way past Saiko, storming off angrily.
“Feel free to tell me it sounds ridiculous tomorrow; I have a job and you have nothing to lose.” Saiko stared off to where Mera went, flabbergasted. ‘That lowlife poor girl. She’s obviously trying to mess with me.’ He started to walk off, before stopping in his tracks.
‘I have nothing to lose so I’ll go. Obviously, I’ll see to it she’s dealt with if she was lying.’ With that, Saiko headed down to his chauffeur.
A half hour later and Saiko had arrived at the street. The roads were too narrow for the car, so Saiko had to get out and walk down the street. ‘What store again?’ He kept walking until one caught his eye. ‘Bingo.’
The door was right by him, so Saiko walked up to it. “Semsi, Semsi, Semsi, open.” When the door unlocked, he smirked triumphantly. ‘This seems to be accurate so far. She wasn’t lying after all.’
Saiko swung the door open with reckless abandon and waltzed in. He walked down the hallway before swinging open the last door. He was met with the sight of a roomful of riches. He greedily took armloads of the precious metals and jewels before walking back to the exit door. ‘What was that password again?’ “Simeli, Simeli, Simeli, open.” The door stayed shut and Saiko was indignant. But before he could try anything, he was jumped.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?! Do you know who I am?!”
“Shut it.” Two of the robbers restrained Saiko, the last one standing in front of him.
“We’ve been losing some funds. Considering you’re not part of the gang, you must have been the one stealing it.”
“It wasn’t me; it was some-“
“Quiet!” the robber said, smacking Saiko. “Now, if you don’t want us to tell everyone about you being here, you’ll be quiet and let us smack you around a bit.”
“What if I just gave you 1 million yen? Would you bastards let me go?” The leader thought for a few seconds, before making a decision. Saiko had smug grin on his face, ‘Obviously he’s accepting the bribe. Money can do anything.’
“Nah.” The leader kicked Saiko in the knee before walking off. The other two took the opportunity to beat up Saiko a bit, while the leader collected up all the jewels and metals Saiko had stolen from them.
“We’ve had our fun. Now, get out of here and never come back.” The two robbers lifted up Saiko and threw him out of the building, before locking and deadbolting the door. The impact gave Saiko a gash on his forearm, making him even angrier. However, even he knew he couldn’t win, so he held the wound and made his way back to the chauffeur. ‘How dare they not accept my bribe?! Why are so many people not able to be swayed by my money?!’
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“Huh, Saiko’s absent today?” Mera asked, seeing the opulent desk empty of a student.
“Yeah, something about his dad needing him for something,” Takahashi piped up. Mera nodded, then sat at her desk. She rummaged through her desk, trying to find a pencil she left. However, she was taken by surprise when she felt an envelope. She quickly stashed in her bag and went off to the restroom to see what it was in private.
As soon as she locked the stall door, Mera looked at the envelope. The outside was blank, but the envelope was stuffed.
‘What in the world?’ she thought to herself. Mera opened the envelope, but almost dropped it out of shock.
‘Wh-what the hell? Is that a million yen?!’ Besides the money was a letter, which Mera quickly opened to read.
‘Use this to feed your family, or whatever. -MS’
Mera smiled to herself, before tucking the letter and money in her bag. ‘Maybe Saiko’s not so bad after all.’