[One-Minute Story] Conflict in Kinshicho

I got caught up in a gang conflict in an alley in Kinshicho.

It was past ten at night. I kept running regardless. My chest burned with pain, but I had no choice but to keep my feet moving. Both arms were wrapped around my partner of many years.

Looking back, we had been together for over thirty years.

And now he was limp in my arms. When the gang members had pinned me from behind, the impact had sent him crashing to the floor.

I ran. Through the nighttime streets of Kinshicho, holding my partner tight. The shutters of the shopping arcade were down. A customer stepping out of an izakaya gave me a suspicious look. I ran through red lights without slowing down.

A light came into view. I caught sight of a hospital sign. I threw myself against the door to get inside. The hospital was quiet at night. The corridor was empty. I rushed to the reception counter and held him out with both hands.

“Please. I don’t care what happens to me. Just save him.”

My voice was shaking.

A woman in a white coat came out from the back. She looked quietly between me and my partner. Then, in a composed voice, she said:

“Of course. We will take good care of him. As for your injuries, I’m afraid we cannot treat those here. Please head to the surgery clinic next door.”

I entrusted my partner of many years to her. My stuffed bear.

I turned slowly and looked up at the sign above the entrance.

It was written in round, soft lettering.

“Mofumofu-kai Stuffed Animal Hospital” [1]

[1] The word “gang” used throughout this story translates the Japanese term 組 (kumi), which in everyday language simply means “group” or “team” but carries a strong secondary meaning of yakuza crime syndicate. The word “conflict” renders 抗争 (koso), a term almost exclusively used in Japanese to describe violent turf wars between organized crime factions. The narrator’s framing relies entirely on the reader absorbing these associations before the final reveal. The hospital name, Mofumofu-kai (もふもふ会), plays on the Japanese onomatopoeia mofumofu, a soft, fluffy texture associated with stuffed animals and small animals, and the suffix kai, which means “association” or “society” and is also routinely used in the formal names of yakuza organizations.

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【1分小説】錦糸町の抗争

組の抗争に巻き込まれたのは、錦糸町の路地だった。

夜の10時を過ぎていた。俺は構わず走り続けた。胸がひりつくように痛んだが、足を止めるわけにはいかなかった。両腕に、長年の相棒を抱えていたから。

思えば30年以上の付き合いだった。

そいつが今、俺の腕の中でぐったりしている。組の連中に羽交い締めにされたとき、はずみでこいつが床に叩きつけられたのだ。

俺は走った。夜の錦糸町を、相棒を抱きかかえたまま。商店街のシャッターが閉まり、居酒屋から出てきた客が怪訝そうな顔をした。信号が赤でも構わなかった。

明かりが見えた。病院の看板が目に入った。ドアに体をぶつけるように入った。夜の病院は静かだった。廊下には人影がなかった。受付のカウンターに飛び込んで、両手でそいつを差し出した。

「頼む。俺のことはどうでもいいから、こいつだけは助けてやってくれ」

声が震えていた。

奥から白衣の女性が出てきた。俺と相棒とを、静かに見比べた。それから、落ち着いた声で言った。

「わかりました。お預かりします。お兄さんの治療はここではできないので、隣の外科までお願いします」

俺は長年の相棒である、くまのぬいぐるみを預けた。

ゆっくりと振り返り、入口の看板を見上げた。

丸くて柔らかいフォントで、こう書いてあった。

「もふもふ会　ぬいぐるみ病院」