Volume 3 Chapter 2 (2/2)

I don't want to report him to the police. I want threatening to report him to the police to be a last resort; if possible, I want Saitou to pull out of this risky business of his own accord… was what his good friend and a fellow host said to me. As such, hotpot it is.

”I was thinking that hotpot would be the guiding light that will show us the way towards the resolution of this problem.”

”Mebuki-san, I have no idea where you are going with this.”

”You see, isn't it heart-warming when everyone gathers around and pecks at the same pot? If it was, say, the sort of hotpot one used to have back in one's hometown, wouldn't it strike home something? Furthermore, if seated around the same pot is a girl that you like, and she says something like 'I like honest and respectable men' perhaps he might change his views.”

”Ah, in that case…” It seems that Mitsuo now understood my intention.

”But I wonder if it will simply be as easy as doing that?” he asked.

”Well, if I must say so plainly it might not be that easy. However, it is still something worth trying. Since then, I have been checking up on him, and it seems that he hasn't really befriended anyone yet. You've also said that you haven't met him since, haven't you?”

I thought he must have felt lonely, then.

He was in a large city like Tokyo all by himself, and he was unable to return to his hometown. On top of that, he was also in financial trouble — with no one to turn to, he had turned to crime. That being said, it still isn’t okay for him to sell tobas.h.i.+ to scam groups. After all, there are many people in the same situation as he was but still decided they should lead normal, respectable lives.

I wanted Saitou to remember that he could, too.

Perhaps while sitting with friends around a hotpot, he would be inclined towards feelings such as these. Even if we were unable to influence him to that extent, if this gathering mends Mitsuo’s friends.h.i.+p with Saitou, it would still breed the possibility that Saitou would lend an ear to what Mitsuo has to say in the future.

I explained this to Mitsuo, and he agreed with my plan.

”I guess you are right… It's not as if he is a bad person at heart. Perhaps he might return to the honest person he once was after he has eaten some hittsumi and boozed a little.”

”Hittsumi?”

”Hittsumi, in soup. It's something we often used to eat back home during winter… you know, the one where they put pieces of wheat dough into soup… I think you call it suiton or dumpling soup over here, yes?”

”Ah… Suiton. Yes yes.”

I was told that hittsumi soup was named from the way it is made; wheat dough is kneaded, pulled into a string, and pinched into smaller pieces. Mitsuo went on to explain how in the past, hittsumi was similar to suiton in that it was eaten as a subst.i.tute for rice when rice was not available, and how it is eaten as a hearty hotpot with other ingredients nowadays. I heard about how Mitsuo's mother had been born in Hachinohe in the Aomori prefecture, and how there was always rockfish in her hittsumi soup. He also talked about how the flavors of the fish would turn the soup into an elegant, clear broth, and how those flavors would soak into the pieces of hittsumi… somehow, I started feeling hungry just by listening to him describe it.

As per the plan, I turned to Ayaka for help. At present, Saitou was madly in love with Ayaka, thus we would definitely need her there. Ayaka heartily agreed to go with our plan.

On the surface, we made it look like the gathering was to celebrate my birthday. As to why we wanted to have hittsumi soup native to the Aomori prefecture, well. If you were to think about it, it would have sounded a little weird, but I guess we would be able to come up a suitable excuse somehow.

Sayuri-san and Kiyo was also roped in. As we thought that the more people there were, the merrier, we also invited Tomonori over. As usual, Tomonori was being the obnoxious kid he was by agreeing to come with something along the lines of ”Well, I'm free anyway, so I guess I could turn up just for you?” in his regular pompous manner. When I reported this to Kiyo, his expression remained unchanged but his eyes turned red with happiness as he wagged an unseen tail. It seems that Tomonori remains his favorite person even after getting kicked by him in his family jewels.

As such, Mebuki Nego Office became the formal host of a hotpot party.

Mitsuo, Saitou, Ayaka, Sayuri-san, Kiyo and Tomonori, as well as myself, made up seven attendees. When evening fell, all of them gathered in the office and, for a start, clinked beers. Tomonori was underage, so he was given Oolong tea instead. He seemed to be discontent with this arrangement, but Sayuri-san's eyes glittered as she kept a close eye on him. Amidst the chorus of birthday wishes, I almost forgot my role and almost joined in with the saying of the well wishes as well. What a close shave. It was supposed to be my birthday, after all.

The hittsumi soup that Sayuri san prepared for us was top-notch. We had used the largest earthenware pot we had, just in case, but the contents of the pot were rapidly disappearing.

”Amazing, this is delicious. This doesn't lose to the one I used to have back in my hometown. Right, Saitou?”

”Un. I had missed having this…” said Saitou, who was sitting beside Mitsuo, as he peered earnestly into the small bowl he had in his hands.

”… This is delicious. I think I will end up overeating.”

”… Mm hm.”

”I'm eating this for the first time but this is really good, isn't it?”

Ayaka was in high spirits, Kiyo was wordlessly digging in, and Tomonori seemed to be enjoying himself. The person who commanded today's hotpot, Sayuri-san, peered into the earthenware pot with a ladle in one hand.

”Ara, it looks like there will be no more hittsumi soon.”

”Shall I go knead some more dough?” I offered, but she smiled as she said ”Tomonori-kun over here seems like he would be more skillful at it than you would be,” while shooting a glance at the youngest member of the party. It is hard to decline an appointed job when it came with praise. Tomonori stood up as he said: ”Can't be helped, then,” and for some reason Kiyo stood up as well, and the narrow pantry was immediately thrown into chaos.

Now then, I thought to myself as I put aside my can of beer. We have to get to the real issue at hand before I get drunk. The stage has already been set; while we were all digging into the contents of the hotpot, Sayuri had shown everyone the thank you letter she had received from the police before recounting the events of that day. ”Awesome! Awesome!” Ayaka had said as she innocently broke into applause and somehow Saitou was also led into clapping his hands, albeit with an inscrutable expression on his face.

On the other hand, Saitou was all geared up for the fight today. Even Mitsuo, who was the one who currently worked as a host, was in very casual clothing, but Saitou had put on a designer suit. He did not wear a tie, but a silver accessory winked from his edge of his collar. When he entered the office, the first thing he did was to press a bouquet of roses into Ayaka's hands. And for the person whose birthday he was celebrating today, he had nothing… No, I wouldn't know what to do with a bouquet of roses anyway, and I am okay with receiving nothing. In any case, Saitou was emitting an aura from behind that clearly said 'I will most definitely score tonight☆'.

I nonchalantly gave my right ear a pull.

This was to signal Ayaka to talk about her negative opinions of wire transfer fraudsters. However, Ayaka was engrossed in the hotpot and did not notice what I was doing. I kept pulling on my ear until finally it was Saitou who asked ”Mebuki-san, is there something wrong with your ear?”

”Er… No. nothing's wrong.”

And with that, Ayaka finally noticed me and returned the signal. It was fortunate that Sayuri-san chose this moment to declare ”I'm going to refill the hittsumi”, and recovered the pot. With the rising steam between us gone, I could perceive Saitou's face clearly as he sat in front of me.

”Hey Mebuki-san, is true that con-men like those Ore ore fraudsters earn buckets of money?” Ayaka asked as she pulled the tab off a new can of beer with a small pop. Alright, everything is going according to our strategy. The small jolt in Saitou's shoulders did not escape me.

”It would probably be very lucrative indeed. According to investigations by the police, the total amount of money taken from victims since 2008 has pa.s.sed the twenty-seven and a half billion yen mark.”

”Twenty-seven and a half billion yen?” sounded the surprised voices of all three people around me.

They probably didn't know it amounted to that much. Ayaka, who was supposed to be putting on a show, looked genuinely taken aback. Even Saitou, who was on the skirt of the same crime, also rounded his eyes.

”What is with that crazy amount of money… this seriously p.i.s.ses me off!”

”Un un. This does p.i.s.s me off too, really.”

”Here I am putting a strain on my body every single day, working so hard till I got my tendons inflamed and yet still not being able to meet my targeted earnings! What is that twenty-three and a half billion yen about?”

Ayaka's furious hand movements were so specific that all three men immediately averted their eyes. With those kinds of things she had to do, it was no small wonder that she would come down with tendonitis, and her clients would have no difficulty cl… No. That wasn't the point here.

”… Ahem. That's true. This is money that people had worked hard to earn, or possibly money from pensions that were meant to support the livelihood of the elderly, that has been stolen by these scam groups.”

”Group? Is it that all scam artists will definitely work as a group?”

Almost all of them do, I explained.

Saitou, who seemed ill at ease, took out a cigarette and was rebuked by Mitsuo: ”Smoking isn't allowed here.”

”I heard that scam groups are organizing themselves in a structure that is similar to the any other company out there. For example, these groups use a room in an apartment as an office, members are told that tardiness in reporting for work is strictly prohibited, their daily quota is written clearly on the whiteboard, and so on… all these supposedly depends on how the leader of the group chooses to run things.”

”When you say quota… do you mean the number of people they can swindle in a day?”

I answered Ayaka's question, ”That quota is probably not a number of people but an amount of money. Like a telephone operator, they do nothing else except to make calls again and again, and wait for someone to fall. They ensnare their victims in their devious schemes and have them transfer money out of their accounts that is withdrawn by people they call the das.h.i.+ko. There is yet another role called unpan which is given to people who transport the money.”

”In that case, the person who makes the calls do not go outside?”

”They don't. Simply because it is dangerous to.”

I looked at Saitou sitting diagonally opposite me. Saitou looked unnerved, and was fiddling with the edge of his nails with his eyes casted down.

”The leader and the core members in the group will try their best not to go out. On the other hand the das.h.i.+ko will be put in a risky position in which there is a possibility that their face might be seen, but yet they are not rewarded as handsomely… as the ones on top, that is. This is why the higher-ups in the group target those who have financial difficulties when looking for people willing to be a das.h.i.+ko.”

”In the end, they simply exploit those in unfavorable positions, don't they?” said Mitsuo, in a low murmur. Ayaka, with a nod, added, ”Man, this is p.i.s.sing me off more and more.”

”Once you become a core member, I heard that you could go around town having fun with women waiting on you every single night. They have a lot of money, so they'd probably be popular with the girls.”

”Even so, you will have no idea what will be said of you behind your back! Even we, girls from the s.e.x industry, can tell who's rotten and who is not!” Ayaka said, crossly. It was adorable, the way she puffed up with anger. ”We get them sometimes, you know? Those who flaunt their wealth and are extremely persistent when trying to get you to sleep with them. It's that sort in particular that completely lacks any kind of appeal whatsoever. I'm not talking about their appearance, after all, we do have customers who may be balding and all but know how to have fun in a responsible manner, and they are popular even among us. The problem with those people is what they are inside. To have fun while spending money you have swindled from people… how do I say this, is pretty uncool, right? It doesn’t look good at all.”

”Right? I guess it really doesn't look good.… Huh, Saitou kun, where are you going?” I asked Saitou, who was about to get up from his seat. Saitou was in middle of going: ”I'm just… going outside for a puff…” when Ayaka sprung up to cling on his arm.

”Nooo. There's no need to go for a smoke now… Ah, look! The pot's come back!”

Kiyo, with both hands in mittens, was carrying over the earthenware pot that was boiling over with gurgling sounds. It was previously almost empty, but it came back fully replenished. Ayaka handed Saitou his chopsticks before going ”Let's eat let's eat!” and Saitou reluctantly sat himself back down into his chair. Sayuri-san, Kiyo and Tomonori also returned to their seats.

”What were you all talking about just now?” Tomonori asked while reaching for a can of beer, but was promptly spotted by Sayuri-san, who slapped the back of the hand.

”Money wiring scams.”

”Ah, yes yes. Gangsters eventually get involved in those, too.” said Tomonori who absolutely loathed the yakuza, with the corners of his mouth turned down. Beside him, Kiyo picked up a bottle of Oolong tea for Tomonori.

”What do you mean by gangsters?” Saitou finally said.

As Kiyo was pouring Oolong tea into the gla.s.s that Tomonori was holding up, Tomonori said ”Gangsters as in the yakuza, that is” like it was no big deal. Kiyo, being allowed to a.s.sist Tomonori in some way, looked really happy for some strange reason.

”I heard that Sayuri-san did the police a great service, however, even if you manage to catch one das.h.i.+ko or one unpan, it'll be very hard to arrest the head of the group. That's because in almost all cases gangster organisations are involved with the ones heading such groups.”

”How would you know something like that? Aren't you still a high school student?” Mitsuo asked Tomonori quizzically. It was natural that he would ask, since Tomonori had a small build and well-proportioned facial features and didn't wear the type of clothing that the young delinquents wear. Frankly, if he didn't open his mouth, you would think he was a charming young man. However, he was someone with special circ.u.mstances back home.

”That's because my dad's with the yakuza.”

Tomonori's father, like Hyoudou, belongs to Suou-gumi. His father was the younger brother-in-law of the head of the Suou-gumi, Suou Tadanori. This means that Tomonori had a father in the yakuza and an uncle who was head of a yakuza group, a k.u.michō.

Mitsuo and Saitou, who didn't know this, stiffened.

Ayaka shouldn't have known this as well, but she simply went ”Ah, was that so?” completely indifferent. She must have grown accustomed to yakuza due to the nature of her job… Though I can't very well criticize others for that.

”Up until recently he was eating prison food but he finally got out. He is what you call yakuza top management, I think? And then, the k.u.michō came over to my house the day before and they talked about the group's sources of incomes. It was then they touched on the topic of money wiring scams… Ah. My dad and uncle doesn't have anything to do with those. The k.u.michō is weirdly old fas.h.i.+oned about things like that.”

”The head of the Suou-gumi used to be a manager of stalls in open air markets. In some ways he is different from yakuza nowadays who would do anything for money.” Speaking unexpectedly at this juncture was Sayuri-san.

”Eh, Sayuri-san, do you know Suou-gumi's k.u.michō?” I asked her in surprise, Sayuri-san, who was in the midst of scooping some of the contents of the pot for Tomonori, raised an eyebrow and answered ”I don’t.”

”I don’t, but when I was still young, I remember seeing his face a number of times, at festivals and such. Look, you have to eat your vegetables too.”

”I know that.” Tomonori took the small plate from her with a shrug. ”Anyway, as I was saying, when it comes to wire transfer scams, those who get caught are often underlings who don't even get paid much, right? Furthermore, they don't even know who has been using them. This is the kind of system they have in place now,” he said in between blowing on and wolfing down his food. A sprig of spring onion stuck out from the side of his mouth, and Kiyo tried to remove it but Tomonori disdainfully brushed his hand away. Kiyo then turned to look at me with a forlorn expression in his eyes… No, Kiyo, even if you look at me like that I would't be able to help you.

”… However, when they meet to exchange money, they at least get to see their boss's faces, don't they?” Saitou asked, but Tomonori told him: ”You wouldn't know their faces if they had sungla.s.ses on, right? Well, in the unlikely event that the information gets out, by the time the police searches the base of operation they would have already cleaned it out. The underling who slipped up will probably be punished.”

”By punished… you mean they’ll make you cut off the tip of your finger?” Saitou's voice was steadily losing its strength.

Tomonori, with an astounded look: ”Which era were you talking about? Yakuza nowadays don't cut their fingers off anymore.”

”Then, what kind…”

”Even I don't know the specifics. The yakuza's my dad, not me. I'm just a high school student.”

Without skipping a beat, Ayaka chipped in: ”It'll be the worst! You'll be b.u.mped off!” Her tone was cheerful but her words brought about an uneasy atmosphere. ”It can't be…” Saitou laughed, but with a grimace. His expression made it apparent that he was forcing his smile. ”To get killed, just like that… It can't be like in those dramas and movies.”

”Eh? But, in Tokyo, there are many people who do disappear, you know. Just as when you think, oh, they seem to be making trouble of some sort, they suddenly disappear. Right, Mebuki-san?”

The ball was pa.s.sed back to me, so I ventured lightheartedly: ”Un. The city is a scary place. Not all of these cases get out in the news, but I heard that the number of missing persons is a pretty high.

Eh, how many people in a year are we talking about?” asked Kiyo, again without skipping a beat. Nice pa.s.s.

”If it's the number of people for which a request for a search has been made to the police, it's about ten thousand a year.”

Wah, Ayaka made cute sound of surprise. ”By golly, ten thousand people! How scary!” she said as she leaned into Saitou, and he must have felt some soft brush past his arm. Yet Saitou couldn't really afford to turn red right now, in fact, he was turning paler instead.

Of course, ten thousand isn't the number of people who actually go missing, but merely the number of requests made to the police for a search. In most of these cases the police were able to confirm the whereabouts of the person after the report has been made. However, the subtle nuance in my language made him think that there was in fact ten thousand people getting murdered by the yakuza every year, but this was my strategy. I had deliberately manipulated the conversation to flow that way. Nevertheless, there is a fair number of people who actually do go missing with their disappearances going unreported. In this country, water and safety used to be free of charge, but that age is over. Yet, in comparison with other countries, I guess you could say we are still relatively safe.

”Really now, we shouldn't get involved with the underworld, should we?” said Tomonori, and I nodded vigorously at his words. Kiyo muttered darkly, ”For Mebuki-san, it might be too late…” but I pretended not to hear.

Now, let's see. If we threaten him to this extent, he might change his ways. After all, that was some amazing team play we saw back there. Ayaka put on a great show and Tomonori's pa.s.ses were unexpectedly good. He can be cheeky at times but he is just as sharp as I thought he would be. The goal draws close. That being said, I knew that we shouldn't drive him too deep into a corner, till he has no place to run. It must be Saitou himself who kicks the ball into the goal called 'cutting off all ties with criminals'.

”Ah, by the way…” just as I decided that it was time to return to more enjoyable conversational topics, the door to my office opened.

”Ayaka?”

Upon hearing that deep, smooth voice, I froze with a beer in my hand.

It's him. Again. The person who opens my office door like as if it was the door to his home, can only be him.

”What are doing in a place like this? Didn't you have a fever?”

Hyoudou, with Hakuta in tow, was looking at the circle we made around the pot… rather, glaring at us. Ayaka had a look on her face which said oh c.r.a.p I screwed up. In my head I also thought the same.

Such adult entertainment establishments are very strict with their employees about attendance. Employees basically wouldn't be allowed to take leave with short notice, and if they take sick leave they would be penalized for it, in other words, fined. If they were late for work or left work early they would be penalized, too. I understood how strict it was because I had some experience working as a host, too.

But Ayaka had said; ”I'm ranked number one in the shop, so I won't get penalized for the occasional absence if I get sick” and made time for me.

”Erm… Hyoudou. Ayaka-chan was…” I started, and while I groped for words to defend Ayaka, Hyoudou looked over the line-up of people surrounding the pot. Today he wore a black suit over a gray s.h.i.+rt with a red tie, a clothing ensemble only allowed on a celebrity or on yakuza. As if he had no intention to listen to what I had to say, he slowly started to make his way towards the table on his well-polished shoes. He scowled a little when he saw Tomonori, and said quietly to Mitsuo; ”Haven't I seen you before?”

”… I'm Mebuki-san's ex-colleague.”

”Ah, the host from the last time. And over there is…?”

Looking overwhelmed by the decidedly yakuza aura that Hyoudou was giving off, Saitou introduced himself: ”Mi-Mitsuo's friend” in a small voice.

”Oh…? And Senpai. Why hotpot in a place like this?”

”Why… if you ask. Everyone eats hotpot in autumn, right?”

”Don't you eat hotpot even during the middle of the summer?”

”Hotpot, when eaten during summer makes you sweat and lowers your body temperature, and hotpot, when eaten during autumn warms you up. It's the same thing done with different objectives.”

”Yes yes yes. When you start splitting hairs like that, I know that you are just trying to buy time.” Hyoudou had hit a sore spot, rendering me momentarily speechless. Tomonori was strangely impressed and he further annoyed me by saying, ”I'm amazed you could tell!” and Ayaka added; ”It's because they’re in love.” This made it even harder for me to find anything to say. I wonder where the teamwork we had up to a moment ago had gone to.

”Hotpot aside, our shop's number one skipping out on work is the main problem here. Oi Ayaka, I'll let you off just this one time, but if you take sick leave one more time I'll fine you for it.”

Ayaka, with a resigned sigh, obediently said: ”Okay.” It appears that she understood that grumbling at Hyoudou would be of no use. But I won't let it go like that. Ayaka had taken leave in order to do me a favor, therefore I should bear some of the responsibility.

”Hyoudou, Ayaka-chan didn't do anything wrong. I…”

Halfway through my sentence, a hand phone rang. It was Hakuta's, and he bowed in my direction in apology and took the call. After a brief conversation, he turned to give Hyoudou a Look.

”What is it?”

”They said they have found Saku.”

”Is he sober?”

”No. He is thoroughly intoxicated and is in the middle of a violent outburst.”

Hyoudou clicked his tongue in annoyance and muttered: ”This one's no good. Hakuta-san, my apologies but could you go over there for me? When Saku sobers up, do spank him for me and deliver him to our boss. That one's probably going to get excommunicated.”

I got it, Hakuta nodded with his usual smile. ”To what extent am I supposed to spank him?”

”The arms and legs would be too conspicuous. Two, or maybe three ribs would do. What kind of hotpot is this? It smells wonderful.” Hyoudou peered into the pot while uttering those disturbing words. Kiyo, being considerate, got up from his seat and Hyoudou proceeded to sit on it like it was the most natural thing in the world. He stole my plate and my chopsticks from me and promptly decided to start sampling the food.

”I was feeling hungry just a while ago… Un, this is good soup stock.”

Tomonori and Ayaka looked perfectly fine, but in the face of a yakuza sitting right in front of him and starting on his food, Saitou’s expression looked extremely stiff. Sayuri-san got up, presumably to get a new plate and a pair of chopsticks for Hyoudou.

”What a shameless yakuza you are. No one said you could eat with us.” I said.

”Is there such thing as timid and reserved yakuza? Is there any meat here… I want meat. …I'll pick out the s.h.i.+take mushrooms for you, okay Senpai?”

”I'm good. Eat your own s.h.i.+take.”

He in fact hated s.h.i.+take mushrooms, but shot me an innocent look and said: ”But it looks like it is cooked just right, so Senpai should have it.”

Hyoudou started to take off his jacket, overflowing with intent to do some serious eating. Ayaka had to get back into his good books, so she went ”Here you go, some beer” and started pouring some for him.

”Well then, I shall take my leave.” Hakuta-san said. He bowed to us and got ready to leave, but just as he was about to go out of the door, Hyoudou said: ”Ah, wait,” appearing to have abruptly recalled something.

”Let's make it the arm instead of the ribs.” said Hyoudou, while still chewing on a piece of hittsumi. ”The last time, there was one guy who got pierced in the lung with a rib and almost died. …Or did he? Well, that'll be fine both ways, but Saku is not worth killing.”

”An arm it will be. Would it be the left or right one?”

Hyoudou, while digging around the pot but avoiding the s.h.i.+take mushrooms in it, answered him, ”Why not both, then?”

Needless to say, by then Saitou was already deathly pale.

Translation Notes

1 Nagas.h.i.+ Soumen, or flowing soumen, are thin vermicelli noodles which are served in water flowing along a bamboo gutter.  The noodles are caught by chopsticks before being dipped in cool broth and eaten.

2 Lupin The Third (or Lupin  III) is a manga series written by Monkey Punch about the grandson of a Master Thief, Lupin the Third, and his thieving exploits. Fujiko Mine is the femme fatale character of the series.

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