Football Frenzy (4 page)

Josh stacked a side table on top of another at the front of the restaurant so that the floor could be cleared of broken glass. When he looked up there was a gathering crowd on the other side of
the smashed windows. A few flashbulbs went off and he reached up to draw the curtains, angrily. The paparazzi had disappeared at the first sign of trouble, but now the thugs had gone they were back
for some close-ups. This was bound to make it into the papers, but at least he could stop the paparazzi from getting shots of the Hanzos’ upset faces.

As he crossed the restaurant again he met Shini bringing over a mop and bucket. To Josh’s surprise, his face crumpled a little.

“I am so sorry about this, Josh,” he said quietly.

“Hey, it’s not your fault!” Josh reassured him. “Nobody got hurt – and that was down to you getting them out quickly.” When this didn’t seem to cheer
Shini up, he carried on. “We’ll come back for another meal when you re-open. So will everyone,” he added, wondering if Shini was worried for his parents’ business.

“I guess so.” Shini shook his head for a second. When he looked up again, he smiled. “Anyway, thank you so much for your help,” he said.

“We must repay you,” said his father, who had come and taken Shini’s mop and bucket from him. “You will all eat for free here any time you wish.”

“Oh, thank you!” Jessica said, beaming as she picked her way across the floor, carrying handfuls of chopsticks.

“I think there is something else you might enjoy, too,” Shini said, his face lighting up again. “How would you two like to come with me tomorrow to greet the England football
team? There is a photo shoot in Ameyoko in the morning, and a welcome reception in the evening.”

“Wow!” Josh gasped. He looked at Jessica, who was standing with her mouth open. “That would be amazing!”

“Yes please!” Jessica echoed. “Do...do you think I could interview one or two of the players?” Jessica was a roving reporter for her school newspaper back home, and
constantly on the lookout for a fresh story.

Shini grinned at Jessica. “I’m sure I can talk some of my teammates into giving you five minutes.”

“Thank you so much for your help,” said Mrs. Hanzo, walking up to the twins and bowing low. “We can finish cleaning up now.”

“We didn’t mind at all,” said Jessica. Mrs. Hanzo gave her a thin, strained smile.

“Indeed, we must be returning home,” said Granny. “After all this excitement it will be straight to bed for you two.”

Josh and Jessica sighed. Sadly, Josh could tell this wasn’t the old lady act – this was their steel-willed grandmother speaking, and she really meant it.

A fire truck crossed the intersection in front of them with its siren wailing.

“Hey, Jess,” he said. “Shini said he was going to call the police, didn’t he? How long ago was that?”

Jessica looked at her watch. “About...half an hour before we left? Maybe a bit more...” She raised her eyebrows at him. “The Tokyo police are normally pretty
efficient, aren’t they?”

“That’s what I thought. If it was an emergency – like, a people-are-attacking-my-customers-with-baseball-bats emergency – they should’ve arrived before we
left.”

Jessica shrugged. “I s’pose they should. They probably got delayed – it was right in the middle of the business district, the traffic was awful getting there.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Josh said. But as he watched cars swerve to get out of the fire truck’s way, he wasn’t so sure. “Granny, why do you think the Hanzos were
attacked?”

Granny Murata was silent for a moment. Then she said, “I must admit, I do not know. Nothing they said gave me any clues. I will be sure to keep an eye on the situation, do not worry.
Meanwhile, perhaps it is good that you two are to join Shini at this photo shoot tomorrow.”

“We’ll keep an eye on him,” Jessica promised. “And report back to you if we find anything out.”

Another mystery,
Josh thought.
Don’t worry, Mr. and Mrs. Hanzo – the Murata twins are on the case
.

“Is this really it?” Jessica asked Granny. Granny glanced down at the printout of instructions Shini had emailed them, and nodded.

“
Hai
,” she said. “This is the place.”

A security guard in a black cap approached the car.

“
Donata desu ka?
” he asked, peering in. Josh saw that he held a clipboard with a list of names on it.

“Josh and Jessica Murata,” Granny answered him.

“Shini Hanzo arranged for us to visit the photo shoot,” Jessica said. Josh waited, his heart in his mouth, while the guard scrutinized his list.

Finally he nodded. “
Hai
,” he said. “Come, I will take you.”

“Have a nice time, and behave yourselves,” Granny said as Josh and Jessica climbed out of the car. “I will collect you in an hour. And give my best wishes to
Shinichiro-san,” she added with a piercing glance at Josh.

“Thanks, we will.” Josh gave her a nod. Granny had given them strict instructions back in her apartment. Josh had glanced longingly at the bookshelf that held the secret entrance to
the team’s headquarters, but Granny had been quite firm that there was no need to take any of Team O’s super-spy equipment with them. They would be keeping an eye on Shini, nothing
more.

Granny drove off, and the guard bowed slightly. He gestured for the twins to follow him through a metal gate and into the construction site.

“Odd place for a photo shoot, isn’t it?” Jessica murmured to Josh. As they rounded the corner of a temporary office, the first few floors of a tower block under construction
loomed up in front of them, all bare concrete, scaffolding and plastic sheeting blowing in the wind. Actually, Josh thought, it was kind of artistic-looking – in a bleak, urban kind of way.
His fingers twitched with the urge to start sketching.

In front of the tower block, there was a large group of people. Most of them were wearing red or white football shirts, bouncing footballs about between them and laughing. Both teams were
already here, with officials from the Japanese and English Football Associations in black tracksuits.

“Come on.” Jessica prodded Josh forward with the end of her pen. He noticed she’d already got her notebook out and made a few scribbles in her weird shorthand.
“Don’t freeze up on me now. Look, there’s Shini!”

Shini was coming over to greet them, dodging around piles of camera equipment. “Hi guys!” he called. “Come and meet the others.” Josh swallowed down his nerves and
allowed Shini to steer them into the crowd. “This is Takeshi,” Shini said. Josh caught Jessica blushing bright pink – Takeshi Higa’s handsome face had grinned down at them
from billboards ever since they arrived in Tokyo, as part of the promotion leading up to the match.

“Hi.” Josh bowed, then held out his hand, and Takeshi shook it warmly.

“And this is Goro Sasaki, and well, I guess you know Karl Clarke.”

Josh found himself looking up at the famous face of the England captain.

“Hello!” He shook Josh’s trembling hand. “How are you doing?”

“Um, great, thanks!” Josh couldn’t help beaming as he met more and more of the players he’d only ever seen as red and white dots on the television. He tried hard to keep
Shini in sight as much as he could, but he started to relax – what could possibly go wrong when they were surrounded by players, managers and security?

Josh turned and bumped into a slight, middle-aged Japanese man in a severe suit and tie, who was standing stiffly amongst the cheery footballers. He stared at Josh.

“Are you supposed to be here?” he asked, in clipped English.

“Yes, we’re guests of Shini’s,” Josh answered. “Josh and Jessica Murata, sir,” he added. The man sniffed and bowed formally.

“My name is Kobayashi Kenji. I am the Minister for Social and Cultural Affairs.”

“Ah,” Josh said.

“
Hajimemashite
, Minister,” said Jessica over Josh’s shoulder. She had her notepad at the ready. “So...can you tell me why the photo shoot is taking place in
this location?”

Kobayashi launched into an explanation at once. “Ah, you see, the tower in progress represents the growing development of Japanese football on the world stage,” he said. “The
great talent of our players is like the scaffolding on which we hang international renown for our whole country, just as Japan is thriving in the realms of culture, tourism and business.”

He broke off and looked at his watch. Perhaps he had a meeting to get to, Josh thought.

“Ah, the photographer is here,” Kobayashi continued, indicating a young man dressed in black who was unpacking and setting up equipment. A grumpy frown passed across the
Minister’s face. “You will kindly not interfere, and don’t touch anything.”

“
Hai
,” said Josh and Jessica together. Josh spotted two metal, folding chairs that looked like they weren’t in the way, and the twins sat down on them, watching the
photographer and his assistant eagerly as they got to work.

The assistant ran back and forth, helping the footballers to feel at ease and getting them to pull a bunch of fantastic poses: kicking the football, leaping in the air, even swinging off the
scaffolding.

“Don’t you dare pull a muscle, Gallagher!” the England manager yelled as the defender jumped down onto the platform with a thump and a hearty laugh.

Josh pulled out his sketchpad and began to draw as fast as he could, trying to capture the best poses.

Takeshi and Jamie Elton began an epic, highly competitive game of keepy-uppy, with the photographer snapping away gleefully. In the end it was Takeshi who dropped the ball, earning playful jeers
from his teammates and a great round of applause from everyone for both players. The only person not clapping was Kobayashi. Josh frowned. He found himself sketching the Minister, trying to capture
his weird, uptight pose and the glint off his watch as he looked at it yet again. Underneath he scrawled the words,
What is his problem?
He showed the drawing to Jessica, who sniggered.

“All right,” the photographer called. “Everyone in for a big group shot, please.”

Both teams crowded onto the platform. Josh settled down to shade one of his sketches, with half an eye on the players.

“What is he doing?” Jessica muttered.

“Who?” Josh asked. Jessica pointed to the platform. Kobayashi was now up there with the players, arranging them in position.

“Okay, big smiles...” the photographer called out. Josh glanced at Kobayashi as he backed away from the platform. Something had caught Josh’s eye – it was that watch
again, gleaming in the sunlight as Kobayashi glanced at it. Then Josh saw his eyes flick up – way up, past the platform, up to the top of the half-constructed building. Josh looked up
too.

Was that...something moving? Josh frowned.

Clang!

A dark object bounced into the air. At first it was just a black shape in the sky, but it fell fast, clattering off scaffold poles and splintering through wooden boards. Josh’s heart felt
like it had frozen in his chest. It was a huge block of cement!

“Look out!” Jessica screamed, pointing upwards. Josh sprang out of his chair as if it was on fire.

“Move!” he shouted. “Now!”

Shini and the others glanced up, shock and fear welling up in their faces.

The photographer and assistant grabbed their cameras and ran back. There wasn’t time to do anything but dive out of the way.

Smash!
The block crashed into a scaffold full of tools and sent them scattering.

It was still falling.

Josh felt as if cold water had been poured down the back of his neck – Shini was still on the platform.

I said I’d watch him. Now I’m going to watch him get squashed
. He started forward, madly. Shini and Goro dived head first off the platform, just as the concrete block smashed
into the centre of it with a great
thud
, splintering the surface.

Josh’s ears were still ringing as he ran forward and took Shini’s arm, helping him to his feet.

“Are you okay? Is everyone all right?” he asked. The players edged forward again, stunned, and crowded around the ruined platform. A cloud of brick dust and splinters blew away on
the breeze and they brushed themselves down as they stared at the concrete block embedded in the wood where they’d just been standing.

“No injuries, I think,” Shini said. He let out a long, relieved sigh.

“Well, that was...” Josh began.

Twang! Clang!

He looked up. A pneumatic drill was ricocheting down the tower, twisting chaotically. It bounced off the scaffolding and scythed out into the air, its sharp metal edge glinting in the light,
hurtling right towards the players.