Takemura Itsuki
“Twenty seven… I gotta hunt more today.”
I was thinking as I was sitting on top of the cart which was being carried by the soft shining brown horse in front of me. I had the straps of the horse in my right hand and the folded newspaper in my left hand, with only a quarter of the newspaper visible at once. The cart was going towards the giant wall which surrounded the city, with a hack run by a horse at its front. The pavement on the left was filled with the busy walks of the new day. I soon turned my head to the front, looking at the sky behind the wall with my motivated sparkling eyes, and thought, “I’m gonna be in the top sixteen, no matter what it fucking takes.”
***
Miura Daisuke
“After about three days…”
The newspaper was lying on top of the table between the two pairs of elbows covered by the dark clothes which were facing each other. On top of the greyish black double-folded paper filled with bold black headings with squares of narrow letters beneath them. On the box at the top left, there was a little article with the heading ‘The Bar’s Takemura Itsuki Climbs Eight Ranks in Three Days!’ Suddenly, one of the elbows on the right slid sideways, and the right hand was thumped down on the newspaper. The eyes were fixed at the front. The lips said, “It’s useless, Daisuke.”
My eyes frowned a little as I looked at Hideyoshi in front of me, with his right hand down on the newspaper. “Hideyo—”
Hideyoshi moved his right palm up. “That’s it, Daisuke.” He moved his palm down, looking directly into my eyes. “Without a team and the resources the detectives have regarding a case, you will never be able to investigate the case. And, you won’t get the resources, obviously. So, it’s better to let it go for once and think rationally.”
The two of us were sitting in the middle of the canteen of the police department, with the wooden table of the two of us surrounded by tons of others tables and chairs spread all over the canteen. It was filled with people sitting and talking, and with their voices of indistinct chatter and chew. “I can’t let go of this case, Hideyoshi!” I said with my puppy eyes. “I… I wanna avenge my fathe—”
“I’ve heard this thing a ton of times, Daisuke. I don’t wanna hear it all again,” Hideyoshi replied rudely and uninterestedly. He then turned his head down at the food, moving up some white rice with the wooden spoon in his right hand from the plate in front of him to his mouth.
I had my eyes open in realization, my mouth open in a little shock, as I continued to look at him for a second, like I never expected that. I continued looking at him for a second, glaring at him as he moved the spoon up and took the rice in and chewed, and then I said after the pause, “I can’t… believe it…”
He moved his head up, shrugging his eyebrows, asking what.
“You… You never looked at Dad as your teacher… or as someone who you respected or admired…?” He frowned a little as he heard my words. “You never looked at him as your superior who taught you so much, did yo—”
“I did, oka—”
“Then how the hell are you so calm about this?!” I shouted as I looked at him with my angrily frowning eyes. “How can you sit silent about this matter?! You told me he was the best in the office, was he not?! Then why the hell are you just sitting silently eating shit and behaving as if nothing happened?!” I slammed my right hand on the table and stood up. “JUST HOW THE HELL DO YOU MAINTAIN SUCH A PERSONA?!”
Hideyoshi moved his head up as he looked at me looking downward at him, my eyes wet and red with anger and despair. He gulped his food in, turned his head right and left, and noticed the whole canteen which had turned silent, all eyes at them. He then moved his head up at me again, looking into my eyes, and then whispering slowly at me, “See, Daisuke, it’s not like I’m not in pain that Miura-sensei is not between us anymore. But, I can’t just keep on playing the victim card and keep on crying on your shoulders like you’re doing. I can’t act so restlessly. We’re detectives. We gotta act rationally. We gotta think about what makes sense rather than get soaked in our own emotions and take decisions which we think are right.” Hideyoshi stood up, looking at me with my red eyes with his own red eyes, his lips compressed, like he was trying to refrain from crying out. “Just because he’s dead doesn’t mean I’d forget his teachings. This is the first time I’m getting to implement his teachings in my life. I can’t let all of his efforts into making a detective like me go in vain, like you’re doing with yourself.”
I moved my right hand up and covered my lips, moving my head down in guilt. I closed my wet eyes, my face tilted down. In a little voice, I said beneath my hand, “You… You always end up speaking useless and unnecessary shit. Just… Just how the hell am I supposed to make you understand tha—”
“You are just not ready to accept what I’m saying. You’re so much soaked in your emotions that you feel like what you’re doing is the right thing to do, when it certainly isn’t.” I looked at him as he was looking at me with his red eyes filled with anger and pain. He moved his back down and sat down on his wooden seat. I glared down at him with my angry wet eyes for a second, and then sat down. As I settled my butt in the seat, I was constantly glaring at him with my angry eyes. He tilted his head down, looking at the edge of the wooden table. “Just… Just look at you. Miura-sensei worked so much on you, so that he can make sure you become the best of the best, beating even someone like him. He had so many hopes from you. He saw you as the epitome of discipline and rationality. But… do you think that… someone who has killed a killer… to take revenge… someone filled with so much rage who can take such drastic steps…” He turned his head up, looking directly into my eyes.
“Do you think that someone like that deserves to be someone Miura-sensei has hoped for?”
