“Oh? Are you Yui’s supervisor at school?”
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Ren snickered. It was Shīno himself.
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“Um, yes, I am. Mr. Yui was absent yesterday due to an illness, but I needed to contact him urgently regarding career counseling. I called his home but couldn’t get a hold of him. When I spoke to him Sunday night, Mr. Yui mentioned to me that he was going over to your house. So, I was hoping that you might know his whereabouts.”
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If you thought about it, the call was fishy, but Ren hoped that he'd caught Shīno off guard just as he was getting up. Ren thought there was a chance to get some truth out of him before Shīno became suspicious.
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“Well, Yui is not here. I assume he’s sleeping in his apartment. When he came over on Sunday, he went home after watching a video.”
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His first lie, Ren thought to himself.
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“I went over to his residence but he wasn’t there. When he called the school yesterday, it sounded like he was using a cell phone. I thought he may have gotten ill while he was visiting you and might be staying over at your place.”
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“I would have taken him to a hospital if he had gotten ill. Wasn’t he calling from a hospital?”
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“I called his primary care doctor and regular hospital but Yui-san didn’t visit either of them.”
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There was an awkward silence. Ren guessed what Shīno was doing. He was probably looking at his watch, thinking that it was awfully early. After a while, Shīno responded.
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“Ah, I don’t know what to tell you. I don’t know where he is.”
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“I understand. Well then, could you please tell him to call the school immediately if you hear from Yui-san? I’d greatly appreciate it. Sorry to have bothered you so early in the morning. Thank you.”
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With that, Ren hung up.
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Kazutaka tried to roll over on bed, but the weight of the attaché case pulled him back.
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“Wake up, Kazutaka.”
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Ren shook Kazutaka and dialed Shīno’s number one more time.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Wake up. Talk to Shīno, please.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Um...huh? Why am I calling him now? He's probably still asleep.”
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“It’s okay. Come on. He’ll pick it up any minute now. Shīno was at home. You should complain to him.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Complain? At this hour? Complaints should be made during business hours… Oh, Shīno? Good morning.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Shīno must have picked up again. Ren found it amusing that Kazutaka was politely greeting the man, despite the circumstances.
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“Shīno, I have to tell you that I was kidnapped by a group of thieves and I can’t come home yet.”
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After this, Kazutaka was mainly responding to Shīno, saying “yeah” or “right.”
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“They said they’d release me but I don’t think I can bring the attaché back. Have you reported the theft to the police?”
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Shīno spoke for a long time while Kazutaka simply nodded in response. After listening to Shīno for about a minute, Kazutaka head began to sway gently, probably getting sleepy again.
✦ ✦ ✦
“I don’t know where I am. Is someone standing watch? Yeah, there’s one right here. I don’t know how many of them there are. No, not just one, there are several of them, but I don’t know how many. Sometimes there are more, sometimes there are less.”
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Shīno was obviously trying to get some information from Kazutaka.
✦ ✦ ✦
Kazutaka was telling the truth but nothing crucial. He probably didn’t know the exact number in the group or his exact location.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Huh? That’d be okay? All right. I've got it. Oh, the City Board of Education called? Okay, I’ll call them. Yeah, got it. Talk to you later then. Bye.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Kazutaka ended the call. He handed the cell phone back to Ren and lay back down on the bed.
✦ ✦ ✦
“What did Shīno say to you, Kazutaka? Tell me before you go back to sleep.”
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“The school called. They want me to contact them. And he told me not to tell anyone about being kidnapped.”
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“Did he tell you the reason?”
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“If he reports the theft to the police, the media may find out. That if the news comes out, more thieves would come after me and that would be quite dangerous. He's hoping for my safe return.”
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How could Shīno say that with a straight face? Ren felt disgusted.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Did Shīno say anything else, Kazutaka?”
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“He said the design of this attaché case is very peculiar. He didn’t think regular thieves would be able to open it. But we knew that already, so it's not very helpful information.”
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“Do you still trust Shīno?”
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Kazutaka didn’t answer. Kazutaka normally placed his in trust and faith in people but it must have been obvious to him that Shīno was full of lies and excuses. Kazutaka most likely didn’t respond to Ren’s question because he was devastated by his friend’s betrayal.
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Unforgivable.
✦ ✦ ✦
Ren was furious. Ren called Shīno once more, thinking that perhaps the third time would be the charm.
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“Yes, this is Shīno.”
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His voice was clearer than before, defogged by sleep. Shīno was completely awake now, no doubt because he had received several phone calls in a row. Ren steadied his breath, preparing to scare him a little.
✦ ✦ ✦
“We’ve got your attaché case. If you want it returned, bring 300 million yen to Narita at one in the afternoon today. If you call the police, we’ll send pictures of your friend’s left hand and the empty attaché case to the media.” Ren hung up the phone.
✦ ✦ ✦
Kazutaka sat up in the bed, looking dumbfounded.
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“Don’t worry. I’m only threatening Shīno so that he won’t get carried away.”
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“Poor Shīno. He's going to have nightmares about my bloody left hand.”
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“I didn’t say that the left hand would be severed from your body. I meant to tell him that we’d send the body back with the left hand and the attaché case.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“That’s tricky... You shouldn’t threaten people, Ren.”
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Kazutaka now looked like a pushover. An eye for an eye just wasn’t his style. Kazutaka was honest and sincere through and through. It wasn’t an easy way to be. Kazutaka might appear frail but he actually had strong core principles, Ren observed.
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“Can you open the last lock, Ren? Can you do it here?”
✦ ✦ ✦
“You are something else.”
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Ren could not believe how calmly Kazutaka was smiling at him now. But Kazutaka just said, “Go ahead,” then he lay down, pushing the attaché case towards the edge of the mattress.
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“We’ll find out what’s inside in five hours, right? Then you guys are going to let me go. I’m going to save energy by sleeping while fighting my seasickness.”
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Given his situation, Kazutaka’s positive attitude and words were almost heart shattering.
✦ ✦ ✦
Ren wanted to get the job done as swiftly as possible, not for the contents of attaché case or Fuwa, but for Kazutaka. Ren brought the table closer and put the equipment and tools on top. Then he started scanning the fourth lock.
✦ ✦ ✦
An hour later, Fuwa came over to check on them. Fuwa asked if they wanted anything to eat. Kazutaka said that he didn’t want anything because everything he ate came back up anyway.
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“I tried to bring some motion sickness medicine last night. I knocked several times but you didn’t answer the door, Ren.”
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“Oh, did you? I fell asleep immediately.”
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“Is that right?”
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Ren turned around, thinking Fuwa sounded a bit strange. But by the time Ren saw him, Fuwa was already walking away towards the door.
✦ ✦ ✦
After a short while, Fuwa came back to their room with coffee and sandwiches for Ren, and motion sickness medicine and a glass of water for Kazutaka.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Ren, let me know when the case opens.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Having said that, Fuwa left hurriedly.
✦ ✦ ✦
Watching Fuwa's back, Ren felt that Fuwa had something on his mind. Then Kazutaka asked a question with his eyes closed.
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“You are used to handling machines, aren’t you, Ren? Do you think you can operate any kind of machine?”
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“Not just any kind, but I am able to figure out the structure or system of most types of machines if I have enough time. As for operating them, one can always learn from the machines.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“I see. It’s like the machine tells you what they want you to do, huh?”
✦ ✦ ✦
Ren nodded yes. Whenever he took an order for production or modification of equipment, Ren first touched the machines before getting started. He'd press his palms against the machines in order to determine what to do. Sometimes it was as if Ren could hear the machines telling him what needed to be done. It could be “Oil the cylinder for me,” or “I’m having a hard time getting the reflective plate to the right angle.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Ren’s father had been the same way. He could also hear the voices of the machines. In the middle of the night, Ren’s father would suddenly mutter, “Aha. I've got it. That’s what you wanted me to do.” Then his father would go to the factory, open the machine up and say, “Look, Ren. We just needed to do it this way.” Although his father wasn’t smiling when he'd say it, he must have felt happy as the machines had told him what was needed. There was a gardener who lived two doors down from Ren’s house. That man would sometimes say a similar thing. He said that the trees told him what to do.