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It had been a couple of weeks since Balam’s arrival to Japan , specifically to Ijincho, her wounds have healed for the most part and thanks to her new found friends, she has been able to adjust to life in Ijincho relatively well. Although she gets homesick every now and then.
There’s still a lot of unanswered questions regarding her situation. She was ready to get down to business and look out for answers as to who was responsible for her demise and treason .
But, before she could go look out for blood , she decided to pay a (in theory) brief visit to the guy responsible for gathering together the party that without a doubt saved her life and helped her get by in Japan, Ichiban Kasuga. She took some of the “bartender’s” best dishes and a couple of beers bought in one of the Poppo’s along the way.
By now , she knew the city well enough to not get lost and walk around in circles not understanding a thing, that doesn't mean she doesn’t get impressed by the way Japanese cities work , it’s a 360 change compared to how things work in both Mexico and the United States.
Due to the fact that she’s still staying the nights at Survive bar’s upstairs room , it only took her a couple of minutes to arrive at Ichi’s apartment carrying a whole bag of bento’s and beer bought at Poppo’s
“Yo Ichi! Cabron don’t be sleeping at this moment man and open the door!” Jaguar unashamedly shouted as she was knocking the door with such strength and loudness
“I’m coming” the hero shouted from afar but the door wasn’t opening
“Was my timing bad man? I don’t want to see any freaky shit , it’s Sunday!” Jaguar shouted as she got a dead stare from the people passing by the area
She still wasn’t used to lowering her voice down in public
When Ichi finally opened the door , he was greeted by a thigh hug from the girl while slowly making her way in . Despite her injuries, she didn’t lose most of her physical strength.
“It’s good to see you Ichi” she said with a puppy like smile as she greeted him with a hug
“You too Balam-kun, it has been a couple of days since I last saw you and the party” he greeted her as they got in , getting the food out of the bag and the drinks served on the table.
“So , what brings you here Balam, you had never come by here without one of our friends”
“I was feeling bored , even though it’s sunday everyone is doing their own thing around the city , i guessed they’re resting before shit hits the fan”
“Yeah, we don’t know what awaits us in that gang’s hideout, we will get by , but nothing’s set in stone”
“I’ve never fighted anyone with that many people by my side , I mean it’s one thing to have a whole gang of vatos following your orders blindly, but it’s a whole nother experience fighting with more than 3 friends in battle.”
“I get where are you coming from Balam, I got lucky I got to met every single one of you at this point in my life, i was pretty lonely in my youth, even though half of Kamurocho knew about me and lend me a helping hand when i needed it, and later on I got into the Arakawa family , with Mitsuo having my back , I still felt all by myself sometimes”. He reminisce with a small amount of melancholy in his voice
“Yeah, I know how it is… lots of “homies” around you , but no one at you side at your most vulnerable moments”
“Can’t said i hadn’t fun though, I used to spend the nights either playing Dragon Quest or just exploring the late 90’s Kamurocho lifestyle, I remember the night before I went to jail, I was sitting on a bench a couple of blocks away from theater square, hearing the countdown for the new year at that moment, 2001, I watched the fireworks in the sky and the crow cheering and celebrating, despite everything, i was feeling happy and hopeful”
“Goddamn, by that point in time I was barely 1 years old! You spent all my younger years in prison… I salute you for that Kasuga-San, I would have become crazy in that time span”
“It wasn’t easy, my sentence was originally 15 years, but, a couple of men got a hold up that I was a member of the Arakawa family, they wanted to provoke me… i got so mad they barely survived”
“I would have reacted the same way honestly… damn I can’t imagine the frustration you must have felt”
“Yeah, in part I don’t regret it, not just because I defended Arakawa’s honor , but who knows where I would be if i had been released from prison as planned”
“You wouldn’t have met us if that was the case… by the way I found it curious that both you and me met Adachi first haha”
“Probably, but I wonder if Arakawa wouldn’t have been killed”
“The party told me what happened , you had a chat with him the night he got killed…”
“It was his way of saying goodbye now that I think about it, we had a pending dinner though…”
“I see… I would have loved to met him, he’s now a legend of the first great yakuza dissolution”
A brief silence surrounded the apartment , not wanting to make the moment awkward, they focused their minds on finishing both their food and drinks, as they got done with that, Balam broke the ice by suggesting something that got on her mind as soon as she saw the Arakawa’s portraits.
“Hey Kasuga-San, I have an idea , it’s already November 2nd here in Japan, no? “ Jaguar asked
“That’s correct, why, are you making a call to a familiar member, I can lend you my cellphone if you want”
“No no man, it’s not about me, I have done this ever since I was a little kid, it’s time for you to honor him!”
“I don’t understand Balam-Kun” A confused Ichiban let out loud his thoughts not understanding what she was talking about
“Ok ok let me explain, November the second is a special day for us mexicans, it holds one of our biggest holidays”
“Oh, how is it called?”
“It 's called día de muertos!” Jaguar euphorically said
“Día de muertos…” Ichiban repeated the name of the holiday so that he could memorize it in the long run
“Yesss, it’s tradition in Mexico to honor our deceased family members and friends by building them an altar filled with bright yellow marigold flowers, photos of the departed, colorful decorations and their favorite foods and drinks, it usually has 2 or 3 levels, each one representing a different aspect of the afterlife” Balam carefully explained to Ichi
“Oooooh” Ichiban answered amazed
“We believe that in this day, our ancestors come back from the afterlife to visit us, the legend says that they take both the food and their favorite items as a offering, it’s a day to honor our loved ones and take a look at death not on a grimesome way, but as a natural part of life, some people even make a visit to the pantheons and make their altars right besides the person’s resting ground”
Ichiban was so intrigued by the philosophy of this festivity, he had never heard or seen it on display, after all this time he’s still learning new stuff, it got him excited to take a look at it with his own eyes.
“And I see you already have the photo part covered” jaguar turned her attention to the right corner of his apartment, in which not only was both Masumi’s and Masato’s portraits, but also the selfie with the original party members alongside them.
“Yes , I have them ever since I moved out here , I honor them every single morning before I leave for work and when I arrive back here”
“I can see that , they’re very important to you”
“Yes, I wouldn’t be who I am if it wasn’t for them”
A brief but respectful silence was again present in the room, Ichi bowed down to honor the memory of the Arakawa’s , after he finished, he explained to Jaguar who they were and what role they had in his life.
“The one in the left is Masumi , whether he is indeed my biological father or not, I don’t really care, as far as I’m concerned I have two fathers, the other one is Jiro Kasuga, the owner of the Shangri La soapland , I think I have a photo of him around here… but the one on the right is Masato”
“Yeah him I know him rather well, his whole election debacle even made it to our national news… it’s a shame he didn’t have a chance for redemption”
“No matter what he became , at the end of the day, he was my brother…”
“What do you say we give their altar a new look? Día de muertos style of course Ichi”
“Oh , what do you have in mind?”
“A small but detailed altar, spacious enough to fit the three of them with easy alongside the decorations” Jaguar suggested
“Do you think you can find the items you mentioned?”
“Most of them yes , I knitted a few of the decorations out of boredom while I was still recovering from my injuries ”
“ Maybe I can’t find the cempasúchil flower here in Japan , and if I do it will be taxed up the ass… but I also knitted that too, and the other day I bought online a small structure of the altar made out of burned wood, I just need to know their favorite foods and drinks”
“For Masumi, Peking duck…” ichiban’s face turned sad for a moment , remembering the fact that they never got to enjoy that peking duck
“For Jiro… he usually celebrated with a salmon sashimi platter, and for Masato… it was single cut Kalbi , an expense Japanese beef “
“Got it, how about this Kasuga-san, you’ll get their favorite drinks and I'll get the food and the rest of the decorations!”
“But those dishes are expensive! You’re sure about this?”
“Come on man! You should know me well by now , nothing that beating a few assholes around Ijincho and selling some resources won’t solve , besides , if those dumb motherfuckers are short on cash , I can ask Zhao and Kori for help”
“Just be careful out there Balam-kun”
“Hehehe, no worries Kasuga-San, I’m leveled up well enough to deal with street punks with ease” She knew Ichiban was fond of video games terminology, to the point that he got motivated enough to go to the nearest Poppo and get the drinks for the altar as they went their separate ways.
Just two hours later, the girl was making her way back to the hero’s apartment, with a little dirt around her clothes from doing acrobatic attacks all over Ijincho , gathering the amount of cash necessary for her little “dia de muertos sidequest” . When she got done reuniting the money and buying out the food, she went back to Survive to gather the rest of the decorations necessary for the altar.
As she was making her way back into Ichi’s apartment, she had her yellow over the ear headphones (a gift from Kori) on full volume , singing one of her favorite songs in spanish that take her back to 2000’s Guadalajara, singing “Sirena” by Sin Bandera, jamming the chorus of it while bobbing her head to the rhythm of the beat.
She stopped the music the moment she made her way back to the apartment, greeting back again the hero with a cheek kiss while making her way in.
“Ooooh that was quick!” Ichiban said much to his surprise
“I told you! It was a piece of cake, Isezaki road was full of dumb assholes trying to screw the families over the main street, they drop the dough as quick as they ran away from me, I even found some of the school bullies from that fancy ass academy near Survive bar”
“Oh, even they were carrying cash?” Ichiban asked
“That 's right! I barely had to sold platinum plates to complete the budget for this fine dishes , the trickiest one was the Peking duck, the fine folks at that big Chinatown restaurant weren’t to keen on me taking out one of their most expensive dishes like it was some random doordash , but I could convinced them…”
“I ain’t going to lie, it smells really good! I always wondered how the duck would look and smell , I got that curiosity for 23 years…”
“Remember Ichi, this one is for Arakawa-San, we can go eat another Peking duck with the whole party after we're done with this desmadre” Jaguar finished her suggestion as she took a small bag from the rest of them, it was food for Nancy, Olivia and Joseph
“Deal” He agreed as he proceeded to unpack the other two foods for the altar while putting Jiro’s portrait and their most recognizable object.
As this point on, that area of the apartment was in Jaguar’s full control , it’s no secret that she has her home sick moments every now and then even though she loves to learn and experience new cultures, that’s why at her former gang she used to be send to the farest corners of the world to take care of business.
Doing this detail for Ichiban’s loved ones was not only her way of thanking him for everything he and his friends have done for her without asking anything in return, but it was a way to reconnect with her culture and roots.
Back in her hometown she used to prepare the altars with the help of her family members, her cousins taught her how to position every single decoration in a way that it looked appealing enough.
So she was in memory lane while setting everything up in his place, while this offering didn’t even have real Cempasuchil flowers or pan de muerto around it, it was a really damn good recreation of a traditional altar considering they’re located miles and miles away from Balam’s home country.
Surrounded with small candles, colorful pieces of paper around the 3 levels, the knitted cempasuchil flowers and pan de muerto both in and out of the wood altar, themed decorations she found at a convenience store, the food, drinks and finally a piece of clothing that represented them in life located right below their portraits, Masumi’s outfit, Jiro’s bow tie and Masato’s glasses.
“Tada! it’s finally done, do you like it?” She asked with a puppy like smile in her face
“It’s beautiful… it gives them a new look, makes me feel that they’re right here with me” Ichiban’s face started to drop some tears as the emotions got to him, he never took the time to truly grief their losses, years of keeping it inside him were now getting to him.
Balam immediately reached out to him to give him a tight hug, he understood this was a sensitive topic that he had never fully addressed after their funerals, she was no stranger to dealing with repressed feelings finally coming out.
She may not have met any of them , but she made their altar with love and dedication.
As his tears slowly stopped and the altar was all setted up, Ichiban paid his respects the same way he has done it this past couple of years, lighting up incense as he took a moment of silence to not only pay his respects, but to also reflect on what the future will hold for him and everyone around him.
As for Jaguar, this was a brief moment of calm and peace, she was happy she could integrate a part of her culture to the altar despite her being a long long way from home, helping her keep her feet on the ground
She’s not sure if she will ever get back to her birthplace, as long as she remains illegally in Japan, her destiny is bound to whatever Ijincho’s gray area will throw at her.
Despite all of that, she’s grateful to have met such kind hearted people after having the most traumatic experience in her life.
Good things can come out of bad situations, who knows what could have happened if the deal went through as planned . She now, for a brief moment, has a brighter tomorrow. She got to celebrate this holiday alongside the hero of Yokohama , honoring his dead loved ones, using the dia de muertos tradition as a way to connect with him even more closely… a calm before the storm.