Incident at Shinagawa

[Lux]

Longshore, aka Stevedoring, started in the age of Imperialism with the rise of sea trade and is still a lively profession.




*BEEP BEEP BEEP*

"Fuck it's 6am, I'm running late."

I start pushing the speed limit in my Evo, If i don't get to my lashing Partner's address and get to the docks in time for the lashing regimen the foreman is gonna give me shit again. I turn on my satellite radio and switch it to Tiesto's club life. I swerve through the morning traffic like a salmon swimming up river.

"For fuck sake, how many desk monkeys are there in Tokyo?!"

I finally spot an offramp and practically drift off the Nakahara Highway. I nearly shit my pants when I sped past the police station, luckily most of the Gardai are still probs getting their gear together for the morning traffic accidents. I take a couple more turns and I reach my destination. I look at my android,

"Right across the street from the Dainiezan Elementary school, This should be it."

I honk my horn a couple times and I see someone come running out of the house. It's a chick, and she's quite a looker at that. She runs over to my evo, opens that back door, throws her dufflebag in the back and then proceeds to take shotgun on the passenger side. As soon as she gets in the car I speed off back towards Nakahara Highway. It's then that I begin to talk.

"So you're the new kid eh? You ready to do some actual work?! The names Kira Satou.

"Miki Miura, Boys on the longshore just call me Arya."

"Well then, 'Arya' We're fucking late and we gotta work on a container ship coming from Vancouver. you got your gear? It's really fucking windy at Shinagawa Term. They say that the ships are even swaying a little."
"Containers from Vanport? damn my cousins probably lashed the damn things."

"You got family down there?"

"Yeah, they're the ones that made me get into Longshore. My uncle's been part of the North American ILWU for 40 years. I started working longshore over there in the summers while i was on vacations with my mom. Though mostly the Old men from the union gave me a lot of slack, but it doesn't mean I can't Lash with the best of 'em."

"Good, I hate having to work twice as hard for princesses."

"Well, that's not gonna happen"

It's on that note that I turn up the radio and begin pushing my Evo to the limit again. swerving through traffic, I can see through the corner of my eye that Miki is clutching her seat belt for dear life. Off the highway once again, I finally reach the dockman parking. Me and Miki get out of the car and grab our things. We both stand outside the gates, putting on our vests and patting down our pockets to make sure we have our gloves and that our hardhats' tighten properly. Once we be both head to the gate, show our badges and begin walking to the foreman hall. It's a long walk so i decide to strike up another conversation, The more I get to know and trust Miki, the better.

"So, Why is your nickname Arya?"

"It's because of my uncle, my mother's brother. My mom obviously married a Japanese man, and He was quite pissed about that, along with my Great-granddad. He started calling me Arya, Which is Sankrit for "noble one" because he didn't want me to forget my Sikh roots. I remember he used to say to me, 'Some days you may feel like shit, and may feel like you don't belong with those kids in Japan, but remember this, our people are fighters, academics, and lovers. We are the kings and queens of the Indus valley.'

"Damn that a pretty important name then. At least it's something cool that sticks with you. The best i got from my unique bloodline is the little bit of Gaelic I know from my mother which I even use when speaking Japanese."

"Gaelic is a pretty badass language."

"I Guess. Anyway, I'm still gonna call you Miki despite your nickname. you gotta earn one over here."

All of a sudden a gust of wind hits us. We both stop. I pull up my hood and take out a bandana from my left back pocket of my workpants. Miki looks at me in amazement of my preparedness,

"Jesus christ, you look like a Shinobi."

"Yeah well, it's good to be covered up for shit like this. with the waves rocking the ship it's going to be a lot colder there. Here take this."

I reach inside my hoodie and pull out another bandana.

"This should keep your neck warm."

"thanks!"

"No probs, just give it back yeh?"

I look at my phone, It's 7:40, I urge Miki along and we speed up our pace to the foreman hall. We reach the hall, I motion Miki to follow me, but not to talk. We walk through, alot of the older boys wave, I tilt my head back in the usual acknowledgement and then look for today's boss. I spot him in the corner, having his morning coffee.

"Date, sorry I'm late"

"Better be fucking sorry"

"Calm down old man, What's the job today?"

"removing Lashing on the ship from Vancouver, GCS TALA. Came in last night."

"Who's working with us today?"

"Hell if I know, Maybe if you showed up on time you would"

"Yeah Yeah, Anyway... the new kid got pared with me, she knows her way around so it should be alright."
"Whatever, not my problem, if she can't do it it's just more work for you"

"Okaaayyy there buddy. I guess we better get going"

I signal to Miki to follow and we head towards the GCS Tala. It's on the eastmost end of ShinTerm. As we walk out of the hall, Date calls back to me and throws me a radio.

"You always forget this you fucking dipshit!"

"Love you too, Date."

"By the way! If you see our little Koala, you know what to do."

"Same as always, get her to work or carry her the whole day"

"That's my girl!"

As we return to the cold winds, I notice it's beginning to rain a little. It shouldn't be a problem if we go into the Tween deck. All of a sudden Miki asks me,

"So who's that Date Guy?"

"He's one of the Old boys, been here for about 50 years. Worked his way up the ranks. He's like our dad, he takes care of us and sometimes gets us out of trouble."

"Yeah, we kind have the same thing back in Van. The Older ILeWU members are like out Godfathers. Yeah..... Who's the Koala?"

"Don't worry about that, even if i told you, you'd only believe it once you saw her for yourself."

We keep walking, and as we do the wind picks up even more. It's almost as if there's some kind of force that wants us off the Dock. We finally reach the place where the Tala is moored and we stop to give it a once over. I point and state to Miki

"Normal Multipurpose freighter, three decks, Two hold openings."

She adds,

"Tween deck stuff should be easiest. It's also the quietest place in on these kinds of ships."

"No shit shirley! Now come on, we gotta see who we're working with today."

Once again I lead the way and Miki shadows me. We get up the ladder and on to the main deck of the ship, We head to the stern. People should have left from there after the briefing but there still may be someone who can give us info. I round the corner and immediately see some familiar faces. It's the Nakamura Brothers, Hiroto and Hayate. The younger one is a complete douche and doesn't fair well with a 'no' from women. Hell I almost caught him trying to feel up the Koala one time. I better act before he starts causing trouble for Miki.

"Aww snap! Kira brought us a nice one today Hiro!"

"Shut the fuck up Hayate, Show some respect."

"What?! I'm just saying she's hot"

I see Hiro smack Hayate upside the head and can't help but laugh and say,

"Keep it in your pants bitchboy, She's mine."

I grab Miki by the neck and pull her gently towards me, I my face closer to hers and whisper

"Play along, it's for your own good"

I provocatively smell her hair and then lick her neck and slide my tongue all the way up to her cheek.
"Nice Innocent one I snagged myself eh?"

By this point Hayate's jaw has dropped and is giving me a 'what the fuck' look. meanwhile Hiro is just laughing his ass off at his little brother being put in his place. Hiro breaks the silence,

"You just gotta do some unfastening of lashing, and then head down to the tween deck to move some grain cargo. She's down in the Tween deck as usual."

"Cheers, Hiro. I guess me and my partner here better get started otherwise we're blaming it all on you yeh?"

I grab Miki and start walking to the bow of the ship. I hear Hiro call out to us,

"Be safe Satou!"

We get out of sight, and when we reach the bow of the ship i see our area. A 20m. long lane with 1m. of room in between each stack of containers. I'm about to state where we should start, but Miki grabs me by the scruff of my neck, pushes me against a container, turns me around, and puts a firm grip on my neck.

"What the FUCK was that?!"

She's cutting off some air, but I still manage to get some jumbled words out.

"i-ifuckinghadtodoit. Hewouldntleavealoneotherwise."

"I get that point, but the fact that you made me the submissive one gets to me. I always like to be in charge okay? I've been raised to get people back for what they do to me. So before we start working We're gonna settle this."

With that she removes her right hand and sticks it in my pants. Then using her left, she brings me forward and frenches me. She also Pinches my vag a bit.

"Now we're even"

I breath heavily to catch my breath but still reply,

"Damn.... You're a feisty one..... I like that...... They say the feisty ones do good work"

I catch my breath and then with a smile, both of us get to work. Our movements are fluid, We unhinge and drop 80lbs 3-high bars like they're pieces of deadwood. The wind is still blowing strong, The sound it makes when rushing through the small lanes of the top deck are eyrie yet soothing, Like taking a deep breath, holding it , and then exhaling. After about 40 minutes we reach the center point of the ship. I motion to Miki that we should take a break. We both head to the port side of the bow to view the harbour.

"Check it!"

I point to a super freighter that is approaching the harbour in the distance.

"Thats two days worth of work right there. I think that's the Laperouse. A French GCS."

All of a sudden my radio beeps and Date's voice comes over it, He's yelling as usual"

"SATOU, WE NEED YOU TO GET TO THE TWEEN DECK AND HELP WITH LOADING PALLETS UNDER THE HOLD OPENING."

"What about our Lashing? we're not done yet!"

"FUCK THE LASHING, YOU CAN DO THAT SHIT IN YOUR SLEEP! GET TO THE TWEEN DECK AND HELP OUT"

"Got it, I'm Oscar Mike"

Once again I lead Miki down into the Tween deck There are Grain bags everywhere. A couple of the other guys are already down there. She anxiously asks me,

"No forklifts?"

"Nope, old school hooking. look on the floor for some. You disappointed?.... PRINCESS?!"

"Fuck you"

"Relax, Hey come on, I wanna introduce you to somebody."

"Who?"

"The Koala"

We walk past the other guys who are lifting grain onto pallets, and head to the stern of the tween deck. This is where the largest piles of grain bags are. I point to a pile in the left corner and motion Miki to follow. We start climbing it, and as we reach the top we look into the small enclave on the other side. There is a teenage girl in neon green coveralls and work boots. She still has a hook in her hand, It's as if she's frozen in the middle of working.

"Miura, I'd like you to meet the Koala. Suzu Sizuki. AKA Snoozu."

"The fuck?! How the hell is she sleeping with all this noise?! And to top it off this is dangerous as hell!"

"Relax, She's safe. Snoozu here is Narcoleptic. She's falls asleep in the middle of work often. We care of her like a little sister. We allow her to keep her paycheque be stowing her away when it happens. Date is okay with it, He's usually the one who picks the spot."

"well... shouldn't we wake her up? we could use the help."

"Good point. Even if she's only around for half an hour, that's still one more bag being lifted."

I climb down into the enclave and position myself over Snoozu's body. I carefully lift her up into my arms. I look at Miki with a mischievous grin on my face.

"You're gonna love this."

I lean forward and kiss Snoozu, I make sure there is a tight enough seal between our lips and then I suck as hard as I can. I can feel the warm air leaving hear lungs and then entering mine. I keep the pressure on until I can't receive anymore air from her. I then blow back as hard as I can. Quickly filling her lungs. This causes her Jolt awake, although the rapid state of being alert does not last long. I lean back, still keeping her in my arms, and allow her to regain her surroundings.

"kira, Why do you always do that? You could just shake me awake like Date or Hiro does."

"That's not as fun. Now come on Snoozu, we got some grainbags to lift."

I place Snoozu on gently on the ground and then help her to her feet.

"Come on, let's roll."

Miki looks at me with astonishment.

"And you call me Feisty."

We climb out of the enclave and scour the floor of the Tween deck and finally find some hooks. We get to work lifting bags and then placing them on pallets under the hold opening. We go at it until we are out of breath. We lie down on some bags for a couple minutes so we can catch our breath. By the end of our break the Hold doors are open and the cranes are beginning to lift some pallets out. I look over to Snoozu and pat her on the back

"looks like I got some good work out of you today!"

She then falls over, her eyes sealed. Looks like she passed out as soon as we stopped working. I'm just about to wake her up again and then get back to work when we hear the Ship's horn go off. Me and Miki we're both startled, while Snoozu didn't move a muscle. I then hear a lot of commotion on the top deck. I look up to see a lot of the boys running to the starboard side, where the gangway ramp is. I begin talking to myself,

"The fuck is going on?"

My radio goes off, It's Date, and he defs seems upset.

"KIRA! AKIRA ANSWER ME!"

"What is it Date?!"

"GET THE FUCK OFF THE SHIP! THE FRENCH FREIGHTER OVERSPED AND CANT TURN! ITS GONNA COLLIDE WITH THE TALA!"

Its then that I freak the fuck out and my heart begins pumping like It's never done before. I Shout to the other boys in the Hold,

"EVERYBODY OFF THE SHIP! I'M NOT FUCKING AROUND! GET OFF NOW! EXIT THROUGH THE TOPDECK STARBOURD SIDE!"

I grab Snoozu and shake her like a british nanny.

"WAKE UP, THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO BE FUCKING ASLEEP!"

She shows no response. it looks like she's out cold. I decide to pick her up fireman carry her. I can't afford to losing more time trying to wake her up. With Snoozu on my back, we all start running. It's like the great fire of Rome, everyone wants to leave the center of chaos, but in doing so create Chaos elsewhere. We climb up 3 flights of stairs to the surface. Except that we're on the port side. I see the Incoming freighter. We only have about 30 seconds. I scream,

"FUCKING BOOK IT! GO GO GO GO GO~"

Miki and I are both using every muscle in our bodies to propel ourselves to the gangway at the starboard side. We were only a few meters away from the ramp. It's then that the ship hit and everything Jolted to the starboard side. The angle which is created is too steep, and in our sprinting state we are thrown off the deck. The last thing I think to myself before I hit the dock.

"Welp, This is gonna fucking suck."

The next thing I know, I open my eyes to see Hiroto Standing over me.

"KIRA! KIRA! YOU OKAY! STAY HERE! EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT! I GOTTA FIND HAYATE!"

I quickly jolt myself upwards. I try to regain my vision, but blood keeps on coming over my eyes. Looks like I hit my head pretty hard. I look around for Miki and Snoozu. I pray that I can find them. There are containers and metal lashing bars everywhere. Men are running to and fro looking for wounded. It's a complete shit-show. I try to concentrate and regain some composure when I look to my left. I'm on the edge of the dock... Snoozu was on my back. I quickly stagger to my feet and look over the edge. I scour the waterline for her. I can't spot her. I run a few feet down the dock, and then i see a neon green sleeve snagged on a side hook on the waterline. My eyes, widen and my mouth becomes dry. I Dive into the water, work boots and all and swim towards the suit. I takes me a couple meters, but I reach her. It's still seems as though she is out cold. I pull her up from under the water, rip her sleeve so she can be free, and back paddle to the nearest ladder while holding the scruff of her neck. When I reach the ladder I position myself so that i can properly place her on my back so that her body weight keeps her on my shoulder. With one hand i climb the ladder. I use the remaining amount of my energy pushing us over the top. As we both hit the concrete, she is jolted awake and begins coughing up water. I crawl over to her and try to get her as well as myself to sit up straight. She's seems okay, but is having a bit of trouble regaining a normal breathing patter. It is then that I hear Miki's scream. I look Snoozu in the eyes and state,

"STAY HERE! YOU'LL BE OKAY! I GOTTA FIND MIKI!"

I quickly try to get up, but end up stumbling. I'm not going to stop, She's my fucking partner and I need to find her. I beginning running. Im falling all over the place but I keep going. After turning a couple of corners in this new maze of fallen containers, I find her. She seems okay, She's up against a container. As I get close I realise that she's not up against it, she trapped by it. Most of her forearm is being crushed. I get on my knees and hold her as best i can for the position that she is in. I scream on the top of my lungs

"I NEED A FUCKING MEDIC! MIURA IS TRAPPED UNDER A CONTAINER! SOMEONE GET A LIFT!"

I scream this in repeat for as long as I can. Unfortunately i screamed so hard that i ended up blacking out because of my already messed head.

I wake up to the sound of the heartbeat monitor. Looks like someone found me. But what of Miki and Snoozu? I try my best to look around and then I spot Them. They're In the beds next to me, Snoozu is on Miki's bed. It seems as though she's trying to comfort her. From what I see, she's giving her a the comfort of a physical embrace. At least someone is with Miki right now. Since I now have the reassurance that they are safe. I decide to let myself drift off into sleep. I need the rest.

I wake up again, This time I feel a lot better. I hear something, I think it's the TV. I turn my head to the left to see it the top corner of the room. It's switched to the News. the headline reads,

"27 DEAD AT INCIDENT AT SHINGAWA TERMINAL"

I Instantly notice a face as they show the scene and damage. It's Hiroto. He's bawling his eyes out. I look to my right as I hear a sniffle. It's Miki. She's upright and crying. Snoozu is still on her bed. But it seems that she has passed out. Her head is resting In Miki's lap. I try my best to get on my feet and balance, and then once I do, I slowly walk over to her.

"Thank God you're both okay...."

"Yeah, Suzu is fine, they're just monitoring her in case of a concussion and breathing troubles..... B-but I-I....."

She raises her right arm. Her hand is missing and bandage is wrapped around it.

"They told me that it was completely crushed. there was no way to save it. I'm completely fucked now"

She begins sobbing heavily. I take a seat on her bed, trying not to move Snoozu as I do it, and give her a hug, and a kiss on the forehead.

"Hey, relax, at least your alive yeh? You can still work longshore!"

"But what about school?! How am I going to write?! I'm gonna be fucked over for my final year."

I try my best to console her.

"The three of us are still here, be grateful for that right now. I could have had a bad head injury, and Snoozu could have been sleeping with the fishes. For now, relax. We're safe and we're gonna be here for another day."

I then give her another hug and begin rubbing the back of her head. Suddenly it hits me.

"Don't worry I know a place that will let you come in for your final year and make sure you'll survive in University with your new problem. My sister goes to this school, It's called Yamakau."

Just then, Snoozu wakes up,

"H-hey akira, H-hey Miki. Glad you guys okay. Whatcha' talking about?"

[nemz]

Well thats... something. Not honestly sure what to make of this, as it feels like it wants to be a prequel but it also feels like an alternate universe. Just plain odd.