“Interesting,” said Kiyotaka, standing behind Komatsu. He hummed and stroked his chin. “This post sounds like it was translated into English by AI. It probably wasn’t written by someone from an English-speaking country. Komatsu, could you scroll down?”
“Sure.” Komatsu did as requested, revealing a page filled with information on gemstones.
“Someone says, ‘Ailee Yeung sold the Sun-Drop without announcing it publicly. Buyer unknown. Looking for information,’” Kiyotaka said, translating the English post into Japanese.
Komatsu tilted his head. “What’s the Sun-Drop?”
“A yellow diamond that was discovered in South Africa. It’s cut into a pear shape and weighs 110 carats. It’s the largest diamond of its kind in the world, easily worth one billion yen.”
Komatsu hummed and typed “sun drop” into the search bar. A photo of a dazzling yellow diamond appeared on the screen. Its shape looked more like a teardrop than a pear.
“Huh? You’re kidding, right?” Yilin murmured. “I can’t believe it.”
Ailee was a former actress who now owned a cosmetics company. Yilin’s father, Mr. Jing, used to be a huge fan of hers.
“Is it really that shocking?” Komatsu asked.
Yilin nodded firmly. “Shortly before I was born, Ailee won the Best Actress Award and bought the Sun-Drop as a reward for herself. Ever since then, she’s called the Sun-Drop her personal emblem, and she often features it in her company’s posters.”
“I see,” said Kiyotaka. “If she had to part with such a meaningful treasure, her business might be in a dire situation. That would explain why she didn’t want the public to know.”
“So that’s why she sold it in secret,” said Komatsu. “It’d affect the stock price.”
“Could it be that my father is tracking the Sun-Drop?” Yilin whispered with a frown. “Does he suspect that it went to Takamiya?”
“Do you think your father wants to buy the Sun-Drop and return it to Ailee?” Aoi asked.
“Hmm, he’s always been a fan of hers, and he’s definitely soft on her—or, well, he’s always supportive. But I doubt he’d go that far.”
Well, yeah. No matter how big of a fan he is, this is a billion-yen diamond we’re talking about.
“That said, it would explain why he’s interested,” Yilin continued. “He never cared about jewels before, but Ailee’s Sun-Drop is a different story.”
“The timing matches too,” said Aoi.
“But what’s the point?” Komatsu asked, crossing his arms.
“Well, for example...” Kiyotaka raised his index finger. “Mr. Jing could be thinking of proposing to Ailee.”
Yilin gasped and covered her mouth. “It isn’t completely out of the question. He’s been single for a long time.”
“If I treasured something for years and sadly had to let it go, but then someone retrieved it for me, I’d definitely be moved,” said Aoi.
Kiyotaka’s shoulders twitched. He immediately took his fiancée’s hand and asked, “Aoi, is there anything you cherished for a long time but sadly had to let go of?”
“No,” she replied with a smile.
“Oh, I see...”
Komatsu nearly burst out laughing at Kiyotaka’s visibly deflated expression and hid his grin behind his hand.
Kiyotaka shot Komatsu a glare before regaining his composure. “In my opinion, the quickest solution would be to ask Takamiya directly.”
Komatsu furrowed his brow. “Uh, you mean go to the old man’s house and ask, ‘Do you have the Sun-Drop?’ Isn’t that a bit much?”
Yilin nodded. “I agree. If he did acquire the Sun-Drop and didn’t make it public, it might mean he doesn’t want anyone to take it from him. I feel like I’d make him wary of me by asking that. To make matters worse, he doesn’t seem to have a positive opinion of my father,” she mumbled.
Kiyotaka smiled. “It doesn’t matter if he’s wary. Mr. Jing only asked you to investigate whether there was a rare jewel in Takamiya’s collection, nothing more.”
“Yeah,” said Komatsu. The request was only to confirm that the jewel existed, not to obtain it.
“Regardless of whether Takamiya tells you the truth, if I’m around when you ask, I’ll be able to judge by his response if he has it,” Kiyotaka continued.
“Huh? What do you mean?” Yilin asked.
“I’ll know if he’s lying,” Kiyotaka declared with confidence.
Yilin’s jaw dropped. Next to her, Aoi was nodding.
“Oh, right.” Komatsu clapped his hands together. “Kiddo’s a mind reader.”
“No, I cannot read minds,” Kiyotaka said with an exasperated shrug. “I can only tell if someone is lying.”
As far as Komatsu was concerned, those were the same thing.
Yilin seemed convinced. “If only we’d discussed this before I went to the netsuke showcase,” she lamented. “I could have had you accompany me.”
“There’ll be another one, won’t there?” Komatsu asked.
Yilin shook her head. “Not anytime soon, it seems. At the end of the netsuke showcase, Takamiya said, ‘There won’t be another gathering for a while. Take care, everyone.’”
“How about we pay Takamiya a visit, then?” Kiyotaka suggested.
Yilin shook her head again. “He’s in Tokyo right now. I heard he lost most of his family in an accident, and he only has one grandson left.”
“It’s true.” Aoi gave a solemn nod. “If I remember correctly, his late granddaughter would’ve been around my age if she were still alive.”
That was news to Komatsu. “Huh, really?”
“Yes,” Kiyotaka said quietly. “He told us his story before.”
“You see, I gained an incredible fortune through successful business operations. For a time, I thought I’d obtained everything the world had to offer. I even boasted that there was nothing that money couldn’t buy. Then divine punishment came for me. Since I was busy with work, my wife and my son’s family went on a trip without me. There was a car accident, and just like that, I lost most of my family. My wife who I had spent decades with, my son who I was ever so proud of, and my beloved granddaughter, Satoko...”
Komatsu, who had a habit of researching things, had looked up the accident while listening to Kiyotaka’s retelling. It’d happened twenty-three years ago. Takamiya’s wife, son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter had gotten into a highway accident on their way to the airport. His granddaughter, Satoko, had been five years old at the time, so if she were still alive, she’d be twenty-eight. That was actually a fair bit older than Aoi, but perhaps to an elderly man like Takamiya, it felt about the same.
“I didn’t know that old man had suffered so much,” Komatsu murmured. “Wait, but his grandson survived, right?”
“Yes,” said Kiyotaka. “His grandson lives in Tokyo and is married with children. Takamiya adores his great-grandchildren and has been visiting them frequently as of late, hence his current absence.”
“I see.” Komatsu folded his hands behind his head. “So that’s why you and Miss Yilin can’t just casually go to his house and ask.”
“Exactly.” Yilin sighed. “It seems he only comes back to Kyoto for meetings and parties.”
“Oh!” Aoi clapped her hands together. “Why don’t we ask him to hold a viewing party for Present City?”
“Huh?” Everyone sounded confused.
“Ensho’s painting should be arriving from Hong Kong soon, right? We could propose a celebratory unveiling party.”
Kiyotaka’s face lit up. “That’s a wonderful idea. Takamiya would surely want to show off his new treasure to his acquaintances.”
“Thank you,” Aoi replied shyly. “Actually, I thought of it because of my personal desire to see it as soon as possible.”
“Your personal desire?” Kiyotaka looked conflicted.
Suddenly, there was a quiet noise from the staircase. Apparently Ensho had been eavesdropping. Kiyotaka noticed and glanced in his direction, but Aoi and Yilin seemed oblivious.
“Oh? You haven’t seen it yet, Aoi?” Yilin asked.
“I was too busy with my internship. I really can’t wait to see it. But we should check with Ensho first, right? Takamiya will probably be more open to the idea if we can tell him that Ensho’s eager to do it too,” Aoi said excitedly.
Kiyotaka finally shifted his gaze away from the stairs. “Good point. I’ll take care of that as well as the proposal to Takamiya.” He smiled. “You two can head back first.”
Aoi and Yilin left the office.
“Now then...” Kiyotaka turned to the stairs again. “You were listening, yes? Do you mind if we suggest an unveiling party to Takamiya?”
No reaction. The room fell silent. Feeling restless, Komatsu nursed an artificial cigarette in his mouth. After a while, there was a creak from the stairs, and Ensho finally showed himself.
“Takamiya bought that painting, so he can do whatever he wants with it,” Ensho said awkwardly.
“If the party is held, I’d like you to attend,” said Kiyotaka.
“What the hell? Your scheme’s got nothing to do with me.”
That was the expected response.
“Indeed, it does not.” Kiyotaka nodded. “However, Takamiya’s fellow art aficionados would surely attend an unveiling party for Present City. Having you there would greatly benefit future activities.”
Ensho snorted. “You want me to suck up to rich people?”
That, too, was the expected response. Komatsu assumed Kiyotaka would proceed to gently persuade the cranky artist, but instead...
“Good grief.” Kiyotaka shrugged. “You sold one painting for a good price, and you’ve already become a tengu about it?”
“What?” Ensho’s eyes widened. “The hell are you talking about? I’ve always been like this.”
It’s true, thought Komatsu.
“I didn’t think you intended to continue the way you’ve always been,” Kiyotaka said coldly. “My apologies. Well, since you gave your permission, I’ll make the suggestion to Takamiya. See you.” He bowed to Komatsu and left the office.