Bando Biino’s Extraordinary Circumstances

  “I know I always say this, but... I’m so sorry, Biino,” said Bando Biino’s father, from where he lay on his flimsy, hard-worn futon. “If only I were a stronger man, you wouldn’t have to work so hard...”

  “Dad, you promised not to say that stuff, remember? Here, I made you rice porridge.” Biino smiled kindly. She set the freshly made porridge next to the futon and helped her father, who was suddenly seized by a coughing fit, to sit up.

  It was a cheap, 30-year-old apartment building on the outskirts of Amagi City. Wind blew in through the gaps in the windows; the slightest shift of weight caused the floorboards to squeak. The tatami mats were old and thick with the smells of years past, and there were dark stains on the ceilings.

  They had moved here six months ago. There was no real furniture. One of the burners in the kitchen had broken down, and the water heater had never worked from the start.

  “Our neighbor gave me some of their fresh-picked eggplant today,” said Biino. “I boiled it nice and soft, so eat up, okay?”

  “Yes... I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Biino.” He gripped the spoon in his frail hand and slurped up the rice porridge. His movements were weak. His fingers were trembling.

  Once... Once, her father had been a Wall Street power broker, moving tens of millions of dollars per day, jet-setting around the world shouting “Buy!” and “Sell!” into his phone. That father, who had once raked up money from stupid clients, who had made the poor weep, who had lived in a penthouse apartment with a Central Park view, who had hosted parties for dozens of clients each week, who had driven around in a Ferrari that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars... Now he was as thin as a rail, living in an apartment like a poorhouse from a period drama, sleeping all day and depending on her! Slurping down rice porridge with chunks of boiled eggplant! Whispering to her things like “Ahh... It’s delicious...!”

  Tears spilled from the corners of her father’s eyes. It was a scene like out of a TV melodrama. There weren’t many men out there who could cry like this— those that could certainly didn’t work on Wall Street.

  Ahh, what is the nature of happiness? As her thoughts drifted to more profound questions, Bando Biino looked at the clock in the room. “Uh-oh. I’ve got to get to my job.”

  “Of course... of course... how are things at the cafe?” her father asked.

  “I got fired from the cafe,” Biino admitted.

  “Ahh, I see... now it’s the hamburger place, right?”

  “I got fired from the hamburger place.”

  “Um... where was it, then?” he foundered on. “Oh, yes... the paper route.”

  “Fired from that, too,” Biino sighed.

  She’d also been fired from the family restaurant, the convenience store, the bento shop, and the pizza delivery joint. She was doing everything within her power to succeed, but none of her jobs ever seemed to last. Still, she couldn’t afford to get down in the dumps. She had to find a way to graduate from high school while working hard and making money, then find a proper career and become an amazing breadwinner for her family! ...Such as it was, anyway, since her mother had run off with another man, her big brother was in a mental institution, and her little brother had been sent to live with distant relatives.

  “I’m so sorry, Biino...” her father apologized. “I can’t even keep track of where you’re working...”

  “It’s okay, Dad,” she reassured him. “I’ll just tell you: I’m working at an amusement park right now.”

  “Oh, an amusement park?”

  “Yeah. It’s Amagi Brilliant Park! I already made trouble for them at the interview, but they still hired me, you know? They’re very nice people, so don’t worry about it!”

  “Yes. Yes...”

  “Anyway, that’s where I’m working today. I left lunch and water next to your pillow. See you later, okay?” she said with a bright smile, then left the cheap apartment behind. Just as she reached the bottom of the creaking stairway, she ran into the Landlady. She was an old lady in her 80s, but her posture was ramrod straight.

  “Bando-san,” the Landlady said.

  “Ah, Ms. Landlady... good morning!”

  The Landlady blocked Biino’s way, her eyes narrowed and lips twisted in a scowl. “Don’t ‘good morning’ me. Where is last month’s rent?”

  “Huh? I’ve been paying my rent every month on time...” Biino told her.

  “You wicked child! You think you can lie right to my face?! I’ve got a sharper mind than you think! You can’t fool me just because I’m an old lady!”

  “Ah, um, but I paid it in full... Oh, I know! The receipt you gave me last week...”

  She hurriedly pulled the receipt from deep in her bag. The Landlady snatched it from her hands and tore it into pieces right before her eyes.

  “Ah...”

  “Forgery!” the Landlady screamed at her, spittle flying.

  “Ms. Landlady, please!” Biino begged.

  Six months ago, when they had first moved in, the Landlady had been a kind, on-the-ball woman who had cried when she’d heard Biino’s family situation. She really had been late with the rent a few times, but when that happened, the Landlady had simply laughed and said, “Don’t worry, Biino-chan. Half the rooms in this rotten place are empty anyway!”

  But recently, her attitude had taken a sharp turn. If Biino turned in the rent by the due date, she wouldn’t say anything kind; she’d just grumble. Sometimes, like now, she’d insist she hadn’t really paid it.

  “I-I don’t know what to do,” Biino stammered. “Please calm down, Ms. Landlady. There must be some kind of misunderstanding...”

  “This is part of some scheme of yours, isn’t it?” the Landlady accused, “Yes, that’s got to be it! I thought you were a good girl at first... but you’re a vixen at heart! You’re trying to seduce my husband and my sons when I’m not looking, aren’t you?!”

  “N-No, certainly not!” Biino objected. “Um, I’ve never even met your sons!”

  “You liar! I know the truth! You act all innocent, but it’s just a facade!” The Landlady ranted. “You can’t fool me, you understand?!”

  “That’s not true. I...” Biino looked at her watch. It was a Hermes watch her father had bought for her, back when they were wealthy. It was really too much for her now, but it was the one thing she couldn’t bear to take to the pawn shop.

  “Oh no, oh no! I’m going to be late,” Biino panicked. “We can talk about the rent later!”

  “Wait!” the Landlady fumed.

  “Sorry!” Biino told her. “I need to go!”

  The landlady grabbed for her, but she fled past, then ran to her scooter. It was a Yamaha Vino that was over ten years old, which she’d managed to acquire for next to nothing. It was like a faithful dog to her, with its charming, curvy design.

  Boarding complete! Taking off!

  “Wait, Bando-san!” the Landlady screamed after her, but Biino just put on speed. She raced as fast as she could until the voice faded into the distance. Once she made it to work, she thought, she could forget about this everyday stuff. Even if it was just a brief respite...

  On Saturdays, Kanie Seiya took his bike to the park. It was a long, exhausting uphill ride to the employee gate. He was the park’s acting manager—the top position in Amagi Brilliant Park—and while he knew it was a bit unbecoming for someone in his position to pant his way to work on a bike, he wanted to avoid using the buses where possible. After all, his wage was only 850 yen per hour—the minimum wage for metropolitan Tokyo—with no paid overtime.

  What kind of world is this where a manager makes that as his own wage? he wondered sometimes. But because of the park’s financial woes, he didn’t want to waste a single yen. Besides, if he paid himself that wage, it made it harder for the other members of the cast to complain about what he paid them. Therefore, riding his bike to work was the right move on every front!

  “Whew... whew...” He wheezed through the employee gate, then parked his bike in the lot next to the general affairs building. Just as he got it chained up, he heard a loud screech of brakes behind him. “...?!”

  He turned back and saw what had happened: A delivery truck had gotten into an accident with a scooter. The truck’s driver got out of his cab, face pale. The unoccupied scooter lay in the middle of the road; its rider lay prone on the ground, a short distance away.

  “Hey, are you okay?!” Seiya shouted, running up to the rider before the panicking truck driver could.

  “Y-Yeah... Sorry. Sorry...” The bike’s rider picked herself up and shakily took off her helmet. It was Bando Biino, a part-time worker they’d hired in April. She looked up at Seiya and blinked her large eyes in surprise. “Oh... good morning, Kanie-san.”

  “Huh? Oh...” said Seiya, bewildered.

  “I... I guess I was a little careless,” Biino admitted. “Um, I’m fine, though! T-Totally A-OK!”

  “Uh, but... You seem to be bleeding a lot...” Seiya observed. Something seemed to have cracked through her helmet, and blood was trickling down from her temple. Still, Biino just smiled brightly at him.

  It was only when Seiya pointed it out that Biino finally noticed she was bleeding. “Huh? What? Um... sorry! It’ll dry, okay? It’s not that bad; it’ll dry right away!”

  “Uh, I’m not worried about whether it’ll dry or—” he tried to explain.

  “Anyway, I’m fine!” Biino told him brightly. “I just can’t be late! I’ll c-clean up my scooter later, but I need to get to work first!”

  “Uh, I should probably call an ambul—”

  “Don’t need one! Really, sorry for the trouble! Bye! Bye...” Biino started to walk away, but her gait was uneasy. Fresh drops of blood scattered across the asphalt.

  Should I stop her, Seiya wondered, or let her go? While Seiya and truck driver watched in awe, she took four steps, five steps...

  “B... Blugh...”

  ...And then she fell over.

  “Augh!” Seiya yelled, “That’s why I said you need an ambulance...”

  “P-Please... no... You’ve helped me out so many times. I can’t be a burden to the park...” Biino said, her blood-stained fingertips trembling.

  “Then at least go to the infirmary!” he told her. “Come on, get a grip!”

  “Sorry... Sorry...”

  With the truck driver’s help, Seiya picked her up.

  Despite her terrible accident that morning, Bando Biino was back at work before noon. She’d lost a shocking amount of blood, but she was still a tough girl. Normally, they would have sent her to a hospital to have a full set of scans done, but she staunchly refused the offer and threw herself back into her work.

  “Head injuries are no laughing matter, you know,” said Sento Isuzu, Seiya’s secretary, after he explained what had happened. They were both in the underground passage, dressed in street clothes, and heading towards the onstage area to do some surprise inspections.

  “Subarachnoid hemorrhaging and the like,” Isuzu continued. “I hope she won’t go home tonight, suddenly take ill, and collapse. It might cause her bereaved guardian to come by later, ask why we didn’t send her to the hospital right away, and sue us.”

  “Well... I know you’re right,” Seiya agreed helplessly. “She just intimidated me somehow...”

  “...... I’ve been wondering this for a while. Why are you so timid around Bando-san?” Isuzu asked, peering at him intently. There was no sign of jealousy or suspicion there; she seemed genuinely confused about his treatment of Biino.

  “I wouldn’t say I’m timid... well, maybe I am,” Seiya said haltingly. “Hmm... I’m not sure how to put it. She just...”

  It was Seiya who had decided to accept her application, in the end, and now he was starting to regret it. He still didn’t know much about her: She went to an all-girls school in Amagi City (a different school from his, of course); she had a lively, cheerful personality, and she was more passionate about her work than most; she was great with the guests.

  She hadn’t objected at all when she learned the strange fact that Seiya, her peer, was the park’s acting manager. She’d also readily accepted the fact that the park’s cast were (mostly) genuine fairies from a “magical realm,” and she hadn’t told anyone about it, either.

  She was good looking, too, and curvy. She had an aura that just seemed to charm everyone around her. And not just men, either— it was more of an all-ages charm; something that appealed to women and children, too. It was enough that Seiya was considering using her in an idol-like role for park PR. She was, quite frankly, a diamond in the rough. But despite all that...

  “She just keeps bleeding!” he sighed.

  “Yes. I see...” Isuzu nodded, as if that explained everything.

  “She was bleeding the day of her first interview, then she came to the orientation and tore the wound open again. And there’s always bloodshed going on around her attraction... I just... No matter what... I can’t help but want to get away from her all the time!” he finished.

  “But Kanie-kun,” Isuzu pointed out, “every person has flaws.”

  “That’s one flaw I can’t handle,” he grumbled.

  “And at the moment, no guests have been injured...” Isuzu continued persuasively.

  “By the time they have been,” he objected, “it’ll be too late!”

  “But we can still keep her on staff, can’t we?” Isuzu wanted to know.

  “Ah, yeah. Yeah... I guess we can.”

  That was right. Seiya didn’t have time to rack his brain over a single part-time worker; his job right now was getting people to the park. He passed through the door of exit A3, the door for employees coming and going from of one of the park’s five areas, Sorcerer’s Hill. It was around noon, on a Saturday.

  As for the number of guests currently visible onstage—yes, it wasn’t bad at all. In fact, it was quite a bit better than he’d expected. Cheerful music played from the park’s speakers. The guests looked cheerful as they came and went. There were even lines for the few attractions he could see!

  “Things seem to be going well,” Isuzu (who had come along with him to observe) said, with some slight cheer in her voice.

  Their recent series of improvements did seem to be pulling in the guests. Part of that was the attraction renovations, of course, but the live show they’d started during Golden Week had also gotten rave reviews.

  Especially the live show. Moffle and the others had certainly worked hard, but it was the show’s villain, the red dragon Rubrum, who had really gotten people talking. He was intimidating in a way that couldn’t be explained with mere holography or giant props. The children cried, the parents raged...

  But mostly, the customers cheered with joy, and the resultant word-of-mouth had been drawing people in since the end of Golden Week. It was good enough that some foreign special effects studios were coming by to ask questions.

  They’d also received some complaints from Maple Land that using a dragon in a performance was crossing a line, but Seiya didn’t care. He had to use every resource at his disposal. Looking just at this month’s numbers, attendance was at least 350% of last year. That was three and a half times greater!

  Of course, that was just because last year’s numbers had so been pathetic; their new target of three million was still completely unrealistic at this rate.

  “Attendance is increasing steadily, week by week. May’s second week drew in about 30,000, and its third week about 35,000. The fourth was about 42,000. If I plot this growth on a graph...” Isuzu fiddled with her tablet, then revealed a simple line graph. “By next March, we should be drawing 10 million people to the park per week.”

  “What’s that a chart of?” Seiya asked. “A killer virus pandemic?” Even zombies in the horror movies multiplied at a slower rate than that.

  “It’s just a simple calculation. It doesn’t make you feel better?” Isuzu was probably trying to cheer him up in her own way, but thoughts of attendance couldn’t do anything but depress him.

  It was true that attendance was trending upwards. No, it wasn’t just trending—it was rising, and rising fast, at that. Its speed was enough to surprise even Seiya (even though of course, it had been his intention). They might even reach last year’s attendance quota before summer break was over— but it still wouldn’t be enough to bring them to three million.

  “...... We can think about it later,” he told her. “First, let’s run our inspection.”

  “Mm. Ah... of course,” Isuzu agreed.

  Seiya shifted gears and walked around Sorcerer’s Hill with her. It was bustling all over with guests. As acting manager, he would be performing surprise inspections. Were there any issues with the cast’s customer service? Any lapses in safety precautions? Any places that weren’t getting properly cleaned? He’d be like the villainous mother-in-law in a daytime drama, stingily checking every fine detail.

  “Did you see any problems?” Isuzu asked after they’d had a look around.

  Seiya fell deep into thought. “Hmm...” He hadn’t, really. Thanks to his repeatedly telling the cast how to do things these past three months, most of the major problems had finally been eliminated. That was a great thing, but being unable to say anything made him feel like he wasn’t really doing his job, which put him in a black mood anyway.

  Isuzu, perhaps picking up on his feelings, spoke with a composed expression. “I think everyone’s worked very hard.”

  “Hmm... well, that’s true,” he admitted reluctantly. Nitpicking things just for their own sake wouldn’t help anyone. Maybe he needed to offer praise where appropriate, too.

  “Now we have to visit the attractions,” she told him. “Shall we?”

  “Yeah,” he agreed. “Let’s have a look.”

  They headed for the newly renovated Moffle’s House of Sweets. On Moffle’s insistence (and under the pretense that it was “for a limited time”), its whimsical world had been shifted to one of action horror—a move which had proven to be surprisingly popular. You were under attack by evil and hostile “naughty mice,” which you could face with a wide variety of extremely realistic and substantial weapons. It combined a variety of sound and lighting elements, and more game-like elements seemed to be added every day.

 

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