The Fable (ザ・ファブル)

THE FABLE

Horn

Fire!

Anybody call the cops and fire department?

Where's a fire extinguisher?

Anyone hurt?

Yoko.

To your nine o'clock.

- What? -It's Suzuki. Follow that silver car.

He'll be meeting up with Utsubo.

Pinpoint their location for me.

- Roger! -

What about you?

Did something explode? Upstairs?

Maybe a gas explosion?

A gas leak, huh?

I'll follow as soon as I can.

Okay, got it...

But...

How could you say Suzuki was all right?

All that stuff about his smell,

but you totally got ambushed by him!

He totally squealed to Utsubo about you!

Well, of course, he told Utsubo.

They're a team, after all.

That's not the problem.

Are you kidding?

They even planted a bomb to get you!

Yeah, that was a grenade trap.

Don't tell me you knew and exploded it on purpose!

Of course.

If somebody else tripped it,

they would have gotten hurt bad. It's too dangerous.

Mr. Utsubo, as for plan A,

the fireworks went off, but failed.

Sato wasn't hurt.

He's better than we imagined, and even better than that.

His sister is tailing me.

Sato is sure to show up later.

Go with plan B.

I know he realizes he's being tailed,

so why's he driving so slow?

It's like he's enticing me.

I brought it. Here you go.

A Lexus RC-F...

for five million.

That's expensive!

You moron! This is over 10 million brand new.

It is shady,

but even so, I discounted it to five million.

Well, all right then.

The owner skipped on his debts and disappeared.

Anyway, stuff happened to him. The GPS has been disabled on it, so...

"Sensei"

Yes? Hello?

Looks fast.

It's screaming fast.

Now? I'm at home, of course!

I was enjoying nature, gazing up at the stars in the night sky!

Who's he talking to?

His girl?

No... Probably a guy...

He acts that way sometimes lately.

A car?

Yes. Okay.

What kind are you looking for?

Oh, one as fast as possible?

Don't tell me he's...

Of course, I can do that!

I'll bring it in 15... No, in 10 minutes!

What the?

Hold on a bit, Tsutomu.

I'll be back in an hour or two.

Hey, hold on a sec, Kuro!

Aniki!

I told you to wait! I've got an emergency!

It was raining until yesterday, so the stars are really coming out.

The air in the mountains is nice too.

So, even you look at the stars.

Yes. They relax my mind.

Relax?

That's right.

No matter what a guy like me does...

Compared to this vastness I'm so insignificant...

All of it becomes meaningless.

The stars don't even care.

Hello?

I just turned onto a forest road by the Makino River.

Makino River, huh? Figures.

Where are you now?

A convenience store.

What? A convenience store?

Kuro's bringing me a car. I've got nothing to do until then.

Nothing to do? Why you...!

Dang, you really tick me off.

What do you want me to do? There's no point in hurrying.

We're walking into a trap anyway.

Make them wait.

Two fried chicken.

Okay.

Did you just say "fried chicken"?

Hey! Hey!

Anyway, don't chase too far, pinpoint their position, and wait.

You said "fried chicken," didn't you?

No.

Hey you! Hey!

I'm reading the manga...

Yoshifumi and Fried Chicken.

You liar!

Hey! Darn you!

Thank you.

The car's here.

I'll leave as soon as I eat the fried chicken.

-I knew you bought some fried chicken! -

- Sorry about this. -No problem at all!

I, Kuro, will drive you anywhere instantly!

Leave it to me!

Nice. But I'll be driving.

The odd route he took to get to this pass has made me realize something.

I think he's avoiding the N-System.

- - The N-System...

He's doing that so he doesn't leave any evidence no matter what happens.

I'll make sure to avoid the N-System too.

Like I said before, don't chase too far.

Just stop and wait somewhere.

I'll be there soon.

What's going on? Something happen? A fight?

No, just something to do with some old trouble.

Is the mountain road along the Makino River a pretty winding one?

Well, it is a mountain road,

so it used to be used as a drift track on weekends.

I don't know much about it nowadays though.

What about it?

Get me a map of that mountain pass on your phone.

Dang, this forest road really is awful.

Since this car's a lowrider, I can't go fast.

Suzuki's gone off ahead, so I've lost sight of him.

Then you must be near the place.

Stop around there and wait.

I'll be getting on that road soon enough.

Oh! Here's a map.

Thanks.

I've memorized the route.

What? No way!

Well, my memory's no match for Yoko's.

I'll forget it by tomorrow.

But it will do for now.

Drive mode engaged.

Okay, here we go!

- -

Yikes! This is freaking insane!

No way! He's smiling!

Damn! Awesome! Just awesome!

Nii-san! Nii-san!

Holy!

Nii-san!

Dang, I bottomed out again.

A grenade!

- -

- -

All I tossed was a rock.

For someone as inexperienced as you,

you thought of the explosion at the apartment

and assumed it was a grenade.

Coming from the guy who got beat up last time, this may seem pompous,

but let me teach you something.

Strength comes in many types,

especially in this business.

Since you've never killed anyone, there's a kind of strength you don't have

that I've got.

That was a warning.

Disobey, and the second one won't miss.

And of course, I can't guarantee you'll survive that one.

Remove the communicator from your left ear.

Throw it at my feet.

Your phone too.

Can I stand up?

No standing. Stay like you are.

I know what your strengths are. Keep crawling like that.

About 100 yards.

I'll be six feet behind, gun pointed at you.

You're pretty hot.

Really? Thank you.

Yeah. Nice ass you got.

Yoko.

Hey. Yoko.

She's been captured.

Uh... Sounds like something bad is up.

Well, I won't know until I get there.

If you'd like, I can help!

I'll do whatever you want!