Volume 4 Chapter 1 (2/2)

'Three' was curling your index finger and thumb in a circle, in other words, the universal 'OK' sign. For 'four' and 'five' you simply held up the required number of fingers, but you do a thumbs-up for 'six', presumably to differentiate it from 'one'. There was a sudden hubbub of noise as everyone began to play with finger gestures while they ate their rice cake soup. What a very laid-back first workday of the year this was, I thought, but I guess it suited our office just fine.

Then, the door chime rang.

Kiyo was the first person to react. He looked up upon hearing the chime, but he was in the middle of putting a piece of mochi into his mouth. I'll get it, I told him, and got up to open the door to the office.

Late last night, I received an email requesting for a free, first consultation session. The message said that it would be better if we met as soon as possible, so I scheduled the meeting for today, but I still had more than thirty minutes before the stipulated meeting time.

”Yes?” I said to the visitor over the interphone, and the voice of a young man replied sheepishly: ”I'm sorry. Am I too early?”

”Oh no, it's alright. The office smells a little of rice cake soup now, but do come in.” I opened the door to invite my client in—and froze.

It was him.

Standing at my door was the marriage swindler, s.h.i.+mizu Kyouichi.

He didn't recognise me, probably because I wasn't wearing sungla.s.ses now. Turning to me and giving me an earnest bow, he said: ”Thank you for having me today.”

I wondered briefly what I should do next, but decided that I couldn't turn away a client which I had previously agreed to meet. Hurriedly, I rearranged my face into a smile and showed him to the visitor's corner. The young man bowed once to everyone else, who was still eating rice cake soup, before seating himself on the sofa.

”Eh… erm. You said you were a victim of stalking, did you not?”

”Yes, that is right,” he answered, a look of great distress on his face. Was he putting on a show? Was this part of an elaborate trick he was playing on me…?

”First, please fill this in for me.” Despite my misgivings, I handed him a consultation form and a pen.

Since I do not require clients to leave their full names in order to put in requests for a meeting, there are many instances when I only know of their names after they have filled in this form. As I watched him fill in his name, I noticed that he had written 's.h.i.+mizu Kyouichi', and indicated that he was twenty-seven years of age. I was surprised that he would use the same false name, but I didn't let it show on my face.

Feigning calmness, I turned to him and said: ”Well then, s.h.i.+mizu-san.” The first thing I could do is to sound him out, to see if he was truly up to no good. ”Please let me in on all the details. How long have you been going out with this stalker of yours?”

”Mm… only around two months.”

”How did you two meet?”

”On the internet.”

To sum up what the man who called himself s.h.i.+mizu said, his stalker was someone in the service industry, but she did not tell him where and what she worked as. She was thirty years old, a great beauty, and rather wealthy; her clothing and accessories were all from luxury brands. At first, they would go on dates once or twice a week, and she seemed normal and sensible, then.

”But… two weeks ago, she began to text me more frequently.”

s.h.i.+mizu took out his hand phone and showed me his message inbox, which was filled with texts by a 'Remi-san', all sent almost one after the other. He showed me some of the messages, too.

'What are you doing now?' 'I was having a meal alone and couldn't stop thinking about you, Kyouichi-kun.' 'I found this wonderful looking jacket in Roppongi, and I think it will suit you, Kyouichi-kun.' 'Could I see you now?' 'I wish you would reply to my texts.' 'I'm sorry, please forget that. I'm sure you are busy.' 'I bet you could reply my texts, as even a one-liner would do.' 'You've read my messages, haven't you? Why are you ignoring me?' 'I'm sorry. Have I made you angry?' 'I said I was sorry, didn't I?' 'Please, don't hate me…!'

”Hmm. I guess the last few texts really sounded like they were from a stalker.”

s.h.i.+mizu shuddered. ”Oh yes. It's really scary,” he said as he bobbed his head at Sayuri-san, who brought over tea for us. ”She would shower me with presents, too, and it's getting out of hand. At first I would be happy to receive them, but over time it became a little creepy.”

”What kind of things would she buy for you?”

”All sorts of things… clothing, watches, hand-made sweets and home-cooked dishes, and recently she has started saying that she would make me a lunch box everyday…”

”Lunch box? You two aren't living together, I presume?”

”Oh no, we aren't. I didn't even tell her where I lived, but she found out after following me home one day. She was really persistent about wanting to drop off that lunch box at my workplace every day… and I panicked.” He sighed loudly, as if to demonstrate how difficult this period was for him.

I made myself smile as I played along with him. ”I guess it is understandable that you would. It would be really troublesome if she went to your workplace. You said you were working at a trading firm, didn't you?”

”Ah…erm. Yeah.”

He didn't write that down on the form I had given him, nor did he mention his workplace in the text he sent me. In other words, this was my attempt to ensnare him… but s.h.i.+mizu fell for it, hook, line, and sinker. He really was pretty slow in the head for a swindler.

”I guess you really have gotten yourself in a sticky situation, haven't you?”

”Indeed. I had no idea… that she was like that… I sure am unlucky.”

”True. You failed your last attempt, too.”

”Yea, that too, and… huh?”

I smiled drolly and called Kiyo over, before pulling out the pair of sungla.s.ses which I had kept away in the desk drawer. After putting them on, I a.s.sumed a haughty pose as I leaned back on the sofa. In a low voice I said: ”Do you remember me now?”

s.h.i.+mizu gaped at me with rounded eyes, and he froze for a moment with that idiotic look on his face before squawking loudly, ”Ah!”

”You're, you're that yakuza from the last time!”

”That is correct. However I was simply putting on an act for you at that time, and this is who I really am. I am not yakuza but a negotiator.”

”W-What? Then, what are you doing here?”

”That's what I should be asking, really,” I said, as I removed the sungla.s.ses. ”Weren't you the one who sent me a email wanting to meet?”

”B-But… I heard from some friends who were working as hosts… that there was guy you could count on working in this office… I had no idea that you were the negotiator they were talking about!”

In other words, it was a coincidence. The world sure is small… but I guess there aren't that many negotiators around anyway, so it was possible that he would end up here entirely by chance.

I tore up his consultation form right in front of him, as he stared at me weakly.

”I already know that your name and workplace are false. Sawada-san and this Remi-san you were talking about were all women you thought were sitting ducks and were intending to cheat, weren't you? My apologies, I do not accept requests from marriage swindlers.” I declared.

His lips twitched and for a moment and he looked like he was about to say something, but he hung his head instead. Those who were eating rice cake soup in the other room had, by now, noticed the commotion in the visitor's corner. Ayaka and Tomonori, in complete disregard of our need for privacy, decided to pop their heads into the room.

”Hey. What's going on here, Mebuki-san?”

”This person is a marriage swindler, you say? Huh, isn't he the swindler we were talking about earlier, the one who was unable to get the job done?”

Both of them came closer to stare down at the young man, without bothering to hide the curiosity on their faces. He, on the other hand, looked extremely crestfallen.

”Arara, doesn't this mean that the marriage swindler was now being stalked by the woman he was targeting?”

”And of all places you could have gone, you come to this office to try to get your problem solved… you must be h.e.l.luva stupid.”

Both Ayaka and Tomonori did not mince their words.

”Huh. I thought that marriage swindlers would be das.h.i.+ngly handsome, but you look pretty normal.”

”Brains are more important than looks for a swindler, after all. I heard that all their lies and pretences must be perfect down to the details, if not they won't bear scrutiny.”

”Of course. Women aren't that stupid, too.”

”You don't seem to have foresight, nor do you have a plan for when things go wrong, like now. I'm really sorry to tell you this but you aren't cut out for this job. Most swindlers are… you know, more…”

”I know that, alright!”

Ayaka and Tomonori went silent in shock, and both of them took a quick step backward. Kiyo, with a slightly worried look, slowly emerged from the other room to stand beside Tomonori. I was sitting opposite the young man and was also surprised by his angry outburst, but I didn't move.

The man raised his face. His cheeks were flushed red, and so were his eyes. He looked like he would burst into tears any moment.

”I-I know, that I wasn't suited for this job,” His voice trembled as he lifted his eyes to meet Tomonori's. ”I've been doing this for three years… and had more failures than successes. My targets would find out I was cheating her halfway, or she would decide that she liked someone else… sometimes I would even lend a girl money to get her to trust me, and that'll be the last I ever saw of her!”

Uwa, it can't get any worse than that.

That was the thought I had in my head, but I didn't say it out loud. I had a feeling if I said that, he really might start crying.

”Even though I am a marriage swindler, I would find myself in debt. Sometimes I would have to do part-time work for a while just to make ends meet. That is why I am fully aware that this job isn't for me. But what else could I have done? I haven't even completed middle school, and you guys are right, I am rather stupid. Very stupid, in fact. I don't have any business connections or family left, too. There was nothing else I could do, but…” his voice trailed off and he hung his head once more.

Ayaka and Tomonori maintained their awkward silence. They thought it was an incompetent swindler, but probably didn't think that he would be so bad that he has had to spend more money on his women than he made off them. It was like they thought they were giving a bully a good telling off—only to find out that the bully was also getting bullied, too.

Sayuri-san's light footsteps drew near.

She was carrying a tray with a small bowl on it, and she perched the bowl in front of the third-rate swindler. It was a bowl of rice cake soup, and he must have caught a whiff of the broth as he lifted his face to see what it was. There were tears glittering at the corners of his eyes.

”Eat.” Sayuri-san voice wasn't very kindly. In fact, it sounded like she was commanding him to eat it. ”I bet you haven't had rice cake soup this New Year. Here, eat.”

”But…!” he protested shrilly, but Sayuri-san gave him a small glare. He probably realised that it was no use to argue with her, so he timidly picked up the pair of chopsticks. At the same time, Sayuri told Ayaka and Tomonori: ”Now, now, those who have finished their soup should leave, so shoo!”

Chastised, both of them obediently went: ”Yes ma'am,” and shortly after they left the office, bag and jacket in hand, with Kiyo seeing them out.

I stayed silent, watching over the young man as he ate his rice cake soup.

How should I put this…? I also felt it when I first met him, but he really didn't seem all that bad. No, truth was, people who were really rotten to the core were actually pretty hard to find. However, this third-rate swindler looked particularly… distanced from truly evil deeds, or maybe you could say he really wasn't capable of them. He seemed to be well aware of that, too. Even the amounts of money he had attempted to extort from Sawada-san up till then had been trifling amounts.

The man finished his soup, and lifted his face.

”Thank you very much for the meal,” he said with a polite bow, and it looked like he did it rather often.

He said he didn't have family left, but it was obvious that they taught him manners as a child when they were still around. Sayuri wordlessly removed his bowl, and came back to refill our cups of tea. Whenever Sayuri refilled the tea, it is a silent command that I spend more time talking to that visitor. Well… she is very much older than I am, so I couldn't very well refuse.

”What is your real name?”

”Be frank with me this time. I won't report you to the police.”

It wasn't me he trusted… rather, he probably trusted Sayuri-san and her rice cake soup. ”s.h.i.+zu Kyousuke,” he said, in a small voice. He really must be a bad swindler, since he had unwisely chosen a fake name that was similar to his real one.

”My a.s.sociates were discourteous to you. I apologise for that.”

”… It's the truth, anyway.” He then sniffed, audibly.

”Were you also telling me the truth when you told me that someone called Remi-san was giving you trouble?”

”It is all true. I sound really pathetic, really, but there is nothing I can do about it now. She wouldn't listen to me when I tell her I want to break up… I am afraid that one day she'll take a knife and stab me. I don't have insurance so it'll be real bad for me if I get stabbed.”

I sighed.

What a troublesome first client of the year. I could turn him down again, like just now, and I still think I have every right to. I don't intend to be choosy when it comes to my clients, but things are different when the client is a criminal.

However—I turned my head to look at Sayuri-san. Her back was on me, and she was tapping busily on her abacus, but I could feel it questioning me. ”Are you sure it is okay, to leave things like that? Are you sure you wouldn't regret turning him out?” it seemed to ask.

”… I will take up your case on one condition.”

”… eh?”

I looked at s.h.i.+zu squarely in the eye.

”Quit the scam business and live an honest life.”

”Quit…”

”Isn't it a good chance to? You also know that you aren't really cut out for this anyway. Become a law-abiding citizen, then.”

”But, I'm… really quite stupid.”

Un, that is true. That is why I am telling you to quite being a swindler, aren't I? I thought in exasperation, but left these words unsaid. Instead changed the topic to Sawada Chimako. I told him that she had known that he intended to cheat her from the very beginning.

”She knew you were a swindler, but couldn't bring herself to dislike you. That was why she played that trick on you to get you to break up with her.”

”I-I see.”

”… It sounds weird coming from me, but you do have a strange charm to you. I'm think you can find a job that will suit you better than cheating people, perhaps in the service industry, or in sales… you have a part time job now, right?”

s.h.i.+zu nodded. ”I've been on this part-time job for quite some time now.”

”Then there really is no need for you to try so hard at being a swindler, isn't there?

”It was… a profession I looked up to.”

”What nonsense are you spouting now? Don't look up to criminals.” I admonished him, and he replied glumly: ”I guess that's true, too.”

”Anyway, do think about it. Call me when you make up your mind.”

s.h.i.+zu nodded, and got up from his seat to bow deeply to Sayuri-san. ”The rice cake soup was delicious,” he said. Then he left my office, looking rather sad and dejected.

The first thing he did when he reached the hospital was to go up to the reception desk.

Visitors nowadays couldn't just go in and out of the hospital whenever they wished. He signed his name on the register, received a tag in return, and was told that he would need to report to the nurse's station.

”I am Has.h.i.+moto Souji's younger brother,” he said, in a voice that was almost a whisper. The nurse nodded unsmilingly, and showed him to a room next to the nurse's station.

”He doesn't have much consciousness left… your parents were here, just now.”

He knew they came. He pa.s.sed them by at the entrance of the hospital just now.

”I was overseas all these while… when I received news that his illness had taken a turn for the worse, I rushed home to see him. How is he doing now? Is it true that there is no hope for recovery?”

”I'm afraid that recovery would be difficult. The doctor-in-charge of him said the same, too.”

I see, the visitor murmured as he looked down onto the p.r.o.ne figure sleeping on the bed. The face of the person, which was half obscured by an oxygen mask, was ashen. He looked so different from when he was still healthy, when he practically glowed with virility and confidence.

”Erm… do you know where my brother keeps his laptop?”

”I'm sorry?”

”In the last email my brother wrote to me, he mentioned that he had his laptop with him in his ward. He also said that if he were to go into a coma… erm, there is a lot of private information in his laptop, so he would like me to dispose of it.”

Ah, said the nurse with a nod.

”Come to think of it, Has.h.i.+moto would often be using his laptop despite not being in the best of health… that one up there on the shelf is probably his.”

The visitor followed the nurse's line of sight and spotted a laptop on the shelf, sitting beside a few books.

”I'm sure it's that one… however, there is still a chance that Has.h.i.+moto-san will wake up, isn't there?” The visitor's eyes searched the nurse's face, like he was looking for affirmation, but the nurse dropped her gaze.

”I cannot say anything for sure, but…”

”But, Has.h.i.+moto-san is someone with immense strength of will… he told me that he had a great many things to do, and that he couldn't lose to his sickness.”

”Yes. Your brother was that kind of person.”

”He was a police detective, after all.”

”Yes… he was someone who poured his heart and soul into his work.”

The visitor managed a small laugh, and she smiled, too.

The nurse left the ward immediately after that. She probably thought that he would like to be alone with his elder brother.

The ward had two beds, but the other one in the room was empty. It was so silent that you could hear a pin drop, and the only sound that could be heard was the faint whirring of the medical machines.

Then, the eyes of the figure on the bed fluttered open.

Perhaps he had sensed the presence of someone else in his ward, and had woken up to see who it was. His eyes slowly rolled in their sockets to fix themselves on the visitor. His lips quivered. Who are you, they seemed to ask. It seemed that he could no longer see clearly, nor speak aloud. It was almost a miracle—that he would regain consciousness at this very exact timing.

The visitor drew nearer. He had many questions to ask, and very limited time.

He said his name into Has.h.i.+moto's ear, and Has.h.i.+moto's eyes widened and his fingers twitched. He seemed to be desperately trying to lift his wrist, his fingers… to reach a hand towards the visitor. However, his hand only hovered for a moment, before dropping back onto the bed.

–

The visitor clasped that hand in his, and Has.h.i.+moto's eyelashes fluttered, in a silent plea.

Translation Notes

1 When Hyoudou asked Mebuki if he liked, suki, the sweet chestnuts, Mebuki had replied, ”Un, daisuki.” without a subject or a particle. This 'love' could have referred to Hyoudou instead of sweet chestnuts, which was why Hyoudou wanted him to repeat it, because it probably sounded really nice, since that poor wakagas.h.i.+ra hasn't heard Mebuki say anything like that to him in the past three volumes of this series despite going through so much with him.

…Well, it really was something simple but I couldn't find the English that would do this properly, so here you go.

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