Volume 5 - CH 5(3/3)
"No, I'll help."
As he said so, without waiting for a word of protest, he plucked the tray right out of her hands. It looked rough, but actually the ice stirring in the glasses didn't even make a sound. With a rather peeved expression, Miyuki swiftly hid her true emotions as she followed Tatsuya into the kitchen.
Going to the bank is no longer for making deposits. As a result of the evolution of personal checks and the electronic wallet, money cards are widespread and cash is now rarely used. Nor do you go to make transfers. Both transactions and transfers are pretty much all recorded online, and using the bank in such situations is also limited to special cases.
The reason Tatsuya was going was to update his ID required for such online services. There is no periodic determined time for which you have to do so. You can continue using it from the date of issue without a single update if you wish. Only the ID is required, not the update. Updating the ID is a part of security, and by proceeding straight instore in person rather than authenticating the data online increases the security.
Tatsuya updated his ID every three months. The average renewal rate was twice a year, so four times would be classed as a higher frequency. It was not unusual for some more paranoid users to update theirs on a weekly basis. In the cool store, Miyuki and Tatsuya stood perfectly in line shoulder to shoulder and waited to be called up. They didn't do so because they were cold, but rather they had walked that way from the station to the bank under the hot sun as well.
The reason was because people had the frequent habit of hitting on Miyuki. Not many guys, especially of the same age, looking at Miyuki would dare to immediately try to make her accompany them or go out with them, but dealing with just a single one would take a considerable amount of time. Therefore, they decided in advance that whenever walking through the city they would act as lovers.
When Miyuki accompanied Tatsuya outside, such as for shopping or someplace she wants to go or something she wants to watch, being able to stick to her brother like this was probably just as much a factor as anything else. Case in point, even though there was nothing particularly interesting about standing around in the bank lobby, Miyuki seemed as cheerful as ever.
--her brother complex left no room for doubt.
That aside, modern banks often do not store cash since their utility is so limited.
In place of cash, money cards were used to shift around large amounts of money. The issuer is able to systematically put on hold transactions. Unlike with checks there is nothing in circulation, the only one inconvenienced is the party in question. For that reason, the existence of the bank robber is becoming ever more an endangered species.
--that should have been the case.
"This is pretty rare......"
Tatsuya and Miyuki had just come upon a scene with that very same endangered species.
Four men had just burst into the store brandishing shoddy remodeled handguns, threatening the bank clerks and customers. The ski masks they hid their faces behind in the midst of summer gave a rather retro feel.
They wore grimy jumpers, as they swung a Boston bag onto the counter.
Their style was so traditional that an onlooker might even be confused as to whether this was a bizarre attraction of some kind or something, but from the desperate yelling they directed at the bank staff one could surmise that they might just possibly might be the real thing.
"Onii-sama, what should we do?"
With eyebrows raised Miyuki looked up at Tatsuya, and asked him in a business as usual tone.
"If you like, I can handle this."
Her usual feeling of not wanting to cause bother to Tatsuya came to the fore.
"No, there's no need for us to interfere."
Laughing, Tatsuya put his hands on Miyuki's shoulders. He lightly patted her. Miyuki happily buried her head in Tatsuya's chest.
For the other customers who made anxious expressions and stiffened at this scenario, this 'could not care less' attitude was less than familiar. Needless to say, these two who exuded such a relaxed mood in the turbulent atmosphere stood out pretty damn well.
If you need an explanation for the sake of Tatsuya's honor, he hadn't said there was no need to interfere just so he could flirt around with his sister. Strictly speaking, his current actions were simply to appease her. Just because bank robberies had become such rare crimes didn't mean banks didn't have security systems in place to combat it. A bank robbery would never succeed with just remodeled handguns anyway.
The proof of that was evident before them. A previously transparent shield had extended from the counter to the ceiling to prevent all access. Within that shield, another semi transparent shield descended from the ceiling to cover the open window before the clerk.
The Boston bag caught in that window was torn apart. If the robber's arm had been there, it was probable it would have fractured seriously enough to even require amputation.
One of the robbers fired a bullet at the shield. It didn't even faze the first layer.
The clear outer shield appeared to be made of a material similar to high viscosity liquid. It prevented collateral damage. Seeing that, Tatsuya was impressed by the design.
One of the robbers spat then looked back into the lobby. Looking right at the man, Tatsuya averted his gaze. What the man's eyes settled upon was Miyuki. Being suddenly stared at (she felt), she hurriedly cast her face downwards.
A glimpse could be seen of the man's eyes from the gaps in the mask. Putting the fear and tension of the fleeing customers in the lobby aside, from the unpleasant smile he wore it seemed this man in particular had a short temper. Anyway, it was safe to say that Tatsuya and Miyuki had caught the man's attention.
Tatsuya sensed his malice. He wouldn't be much of a bodyguard otherwise. Of course, there was little chance of a robber looking at them with friendly eyes. He could also perceive the sadistic light that shone in his eyes.
Miyuki also realized the robber was looking at her with such eyes. She huddled closer into Tatsuya's chest. It was the splitting image of looking frightened in the face of the situation. Judging from his smirk, the robber thought so too. But
Tatsuya, who could feel Miyuki's body through her thin clothes, knew there was no tension in her. His sister wasn't nervous in the least. If he could see her expression, he wouldn't have been surprised if she was trying to stifle laughter.
Subconsciously, he hid his own wry smile under his signature pokerface. He hoped it wasn't too unnatural, as he then made an anxious expression and held Miyuki's hand tightly. It wasn't something he normally did, but he was also perfectly proficient in drama if it came to it.
The eyes of the four robbers converged on the two. It was impossible to see clearly under the masks, but it was easy to tell from their exposed eyes that they were grinning broadly. Miyuki and Tatsuya's acting must have stimulated them quite well.
Tatsuya went so far as to tremble a little. Even he thought that was probably a bit much, but the robbers seemed to drink it up.
Their attention had completely diverted from the other customers in the lobby. A security system that even took into account ricochets, should definitely extend beyond just cutting off the counter from the lobby.
The immediate focus of the robbers was the two of them. They completely failed to notice the beams forming above them in a rectangular pattern. Before they knew it, the ceiling had been replaced by stereoscopic images. From the girders, people dropped in onto the heads of the robbers. The conditioned wiry guards overpowered the robbers in the blink of an eye.
Tatsuya wasn't particularly surprised at the scene. For someone able to sense others presences, something such as a stereoscopic screen was no shield whatsoever. As he was waiting, he had always been aware that there were guards ready for deployment overhead.
The bank staff of course didn't know he was like that. Miyuki, still huddled in his chest, would by common sense be seen as crying in relief at the close of a tense situation. They thought Tatsuya's arms were hiding her face as he embraced her because of that. Truthfully, he had simply read the mood and was trying to hide her smile from the somber staff and guards.
With Miyuki's head still cradled in his arms, the bank manager came out to Tatsuya. Asking his name, he apologized profusely and offered him exemption from fees for one year as compensation for the distress. Unsure of how to look, Tatsuya maintained his pokerface-- at that, the bank manager's expression visibly tensed-- before accepting the offer. In the eyes of most people, that really was a relatively dangerous situation after all.
After being told Tatsuya had come to update his ID, the manager called a subordinate to carry out the necessary proceedings. Tatsuya gently released
Miyuki, and she hid her face behind her long hair as she allowed herself to be guided by the shoulder.
There was no chance of being spied upon during the process, as it was all carried out by a machine in a private room. Entering, away from the eyes and ears of others, the two of them finally dropped the act and, facing each other, burst out laughing.
This encounter with the bank robbers was the one unusual occurrence the two siblings experienced that day.
That incident the two went through on that last day of summer vacation, in the minds of the two, was organized along with the others into their 'memories of a certain summer'.