Chapter 40Hiroshi barely nodded at Takamatsu when they pulled up to where he was waiting in front of a convenience store near Kannai Station. He was too sore and too tired to do anything other than stare as Takamatsu put out his cigarette in a rusted ashtray, tossed out his can of coffee, and pulled off his camelhair overcoat, folding it neatly. Takamatsu leaned in to set his coat on the backseat next to Sakaguchi and got in.
“What took you so long?” Takamatsu asked.
“He almost got killed today,” Sakaguchi said, nodding at Hiroshi up front.
“Sword.” Ueno looked back at Takamatsu in the rearview mirror before pulling out of the streets around the station onto the Shuto expressway, a long twisting ribbon of highway devoid of traffic in the desolate hours of the morning.
“Street smarts is
