“You said you could open one in five hours, right?” the hostage asked skeptically, but Ren didn’t answer. Engaging in talk and missing a signal could cause an unnecessary delay.
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“Excuse me, but what was I transporting anyway?” Kazutaka wanted to know as he didn’t even know what in particular he was carrying. Fuwa reached over from where he sat nearby in a chair. He held out a page from a magazine so that Kazutaka could read it. It was an article on some jewelry which had been exhibited at the Smithsonian Museum and become a popular topic of conversation. Ren actually didn’t know what the contents of the attaché case were, either.
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“Whoa, that’s all in English. Sorry, but I can’t read that,” Kazutaka said, ducking his head timidly.
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Kazutaka didn’t look dignified or reliable, especially being the school teacher that he was. Shameless yet brash—Ren worried about the educational system that was supposed to develop the young people, the bearers of Japan’s future.
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Fuwa started to read the magazine article for him. “This treasure was discovered inside a pyramid about 150 years ago by a British explorer. Many other trinkets and other valuable articles were discovered with this. They are normally housed in a vault at the British Museum but...this article came out for a special exhibit overseas.”
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Fuwa’s voice always sounded nice and Ren was listening keenly to his voice. Ren worked all year without decent weekends or holidays off in order to keep the factory going. Always working, Ren didn’t have much peace and quiet in his life. If only Fuwa were next to him when he woke up in the morning. If the first thing he heard was, “Oh, you are awake,” in this soft voice, how happy would that make Ren feel? Starting the day like that would make the day’s work ten times easier. Ren would be enthused and he would no doubt go about energetically operating the machines, refining an IC chip cleaner, miniaturizing a medical camera, or handling the rapid processes of the spectral photometer.
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But Ren could never admit to such romantic things out loud. He knew the way Fuwa engaged in romantic relationships. Fuwa could only be completely dedicated to one person with all his soul. One single person only, that’s the kind of man Yuri Fuwa was. Currently, Fuwa was fully committed to Bud West, almost as if his life depended on it. Bud’s official career was supposedly that of a sculptor. His grandfather was a famous Greek shipping merchant. His mother was an Australian actress and his father was a trading merchant. Despite coming from such an illustrious background, Bud was actually just a notorious prodigal son who just called himself a sculptor.
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He had been virtually disowned by his well-heeled family now. Bud dressed like a homeless guy from under a bridge or something. He appeared very suspicious and shady. It was unknown how many zeroes his estimated fortune had, but nobody would ever imagine Bud to be a scion of wealth. Haves normally weren’t greedy. Maybe that was why despite having had such a privileged upbringing, Bud seemed to actually enjoy living in strained circumstances. When in Japan, Bud usually rented an eighty square foot room and taught at an English Conversation school near the train station. Speaking Japanese with a weird accent, Bud was loved by everyone around him. Once a year or so, Bud would efficiently execute an operation of white powder disposal. Bud performed this task as though he were enjoying a mere hobby.
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Ren was thinking about how much he wished this would be truly the last time they’d have to do such a task. Ren stole a glance at Fuwa sitting beside him. Wearing half a smile, Fuwa was still reading the magazine article, translating it into Japanese for Kazutaka who was listening contentedly. Fuwa would definitely win Kazutaka over by the time the hostage was released since Kazutaka looked simple-minded. Ren was convinced that Kazutaka would soon start seeing a halo over Fuwa’s head.
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“So, the jewelry probably came from Africa originally. From the neck down to the chest, chains are woven like a net where a total of 238 tanzanites are embedded.”
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“And that’s worth twenty billion yen?”
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“That’s an estimated insurance value. But when it’s stolen and sold on the black market, the price could be only a third of that.”
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"That’s still about seven billion yen," Kazutaka said in awe.
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Kazutaka did not look like a middle school teacher at all. To picture him sitting in a classroom at a student desk was easier than picturing him teaching in front of a class. With such a baby face, the students most likely disrespected him, Ren thought.
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“Tanzanites are a lot like diamonds except they are a deep blue.”
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“Are there blue diamonds?”
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“Yes. The piece inside this attaché case has a faceted tanzanite called “Teardrop of the Nile” in the middle. It's about 350 carats.”
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“I’m not familiar with that jewelry unit. How big is one carat?”
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It was easy to see that Kazutaka had never given a ring with a small gemstone to a girl before.
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“Let’s see. I’d say five carats is like one gram. You’ve seen an engagement ring with a little diamond, haven’t you?”
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“Only in commercials. How many carats is one of those?”
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“About three tenth of a carat.”
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“How heavy is the Teardrop of the Nile then?”
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“Kazutaka, were you listening to Yuri? He just told you five carats equals to one gram, right? You divide 350 by 5. That’s 70 grams,” Ren snapped. Kazutaka stopped smiling and stared at Ren balefully. “Why are you being so mean?”
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“It’s not a matter of being mean or kind. Just use your brain.”
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Kazutaka turned away from Ren.
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“Fuwa-san, is a gemstone of 350 carats hard to come by?”
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Kazutaka had clearly decided to ignore Ren.
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“You should tell your fellow female teachers when you get back, Kazutaka-san, that you’ve seen a 350-carat gem. Nobody will believe you,” Fuwa said softly and put a straw into Kazutaka’s mouth. Fuwa was giving him a sports drink.
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Fuwa is treating Kazutaka like a prince, Ren thought discontentedly.
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“Historically, it is very rare for us to see a huge stone anywhere close to 1,000 carats. In fact, there aren’t many that go over 100 carats. There are probably fewer than 30 in the world.”
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“I shouldn’t be carrying such a rare item, then.”
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“When the case is opened, maybe you can try it on?”
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“Ah, no, no way. It wouldn’t look good on me anyway.”
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This teacher guy is very strange. We're talking about an ornament that royalty in ancient Africa wore. It’s only natural that it wouldn’t look good on a modern Japanese person. It’s not a matter of looking good or not. It has to be worn by a person with the proper dignity and grace, Ren thought.
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Ren was bewildered by Kazutaka, but at the same time, Ren noticed Kazutaka’s intrinsic and unique sensibility. Kazutaka never raised his voice, got too emotional, or hissed accusingly at Fuwa’s team in anger. Kazutaka remained unfailingly calm and spoke politely. When Kazutaka talked to Fuwa, he appeared to think before speaking so that he could choose the appropriate words.
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Maybe it was because Kazutaka was a school teacher, but when he smiled as he spoke or nodded to others, he had a distinct kindness in his eyes. Kazutaka always listened very carefully, looking up at the speaker a little bit. He invariably acknowledged others by nodding in response and it didn’t look like it was calculated. It just came natural for Kazutaka, perhaps because he had an accepting personality.
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Although this was beside the point, Kazutaka also looked rather young. He looked like a small child listening to others intently. Ren thought Kazutaka was cute, though it might be rude to say so. After all, he was a school teacher. Yet it was also undeniable that Kazutaka had a look in his gaze that made others want to talk to him.
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Ren knew that he looked intimidating to other people. Ren took after his father, so looking scary was hereditary. There was nothing he could do about it and he figured it didn't matter since how he looked didn’t affect how he did his work, so Ren never felt any jealousy over other people’s looks. He just honestly enjoyed looking at Kazutaka's diminutive features. However, Ren wasn’t daft enough to be nice to someone just because they were cute. Kazutaka not being able to instantly divide 350 by five worried Ren, he felt that he couldn’t trust the education of children to a middle school teacher like Kazutaka. Pondering this, Ren kept working.
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A voice suddenly came through the R.V.'s speaker. It was Toshi, the driver.
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“Chief, our boss is here.”
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Tōdō quickly got up to open the back door. Fuwa became restless and fidgety beside Ren.
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Fuwa always acts like this, Ren thought. Fuwa becomes like an innocent and naive girl in the presence of someone she’s in love with.
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The door opened and Bud West came inside, his long body half bent. Bud was extremely tall, Ren noticed bitterly.
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Bud started saying something in English. Ren’s English comprehension was pretty weak. He also needed to keep his focus on the screen now so he tried not to listen. Fuwa answered in English and Bud put his knee down next to Ren to pat him on his shoulder encouragingly. Bud was being overly friendly, but he was acting personably with grace and authority, which got on Ren’s nerves. Ren was keenly aware of his own twisted personality.