His phone rang.
Mitsuhiro threw off the jacket he had draped over his body. The bright light hit him like a blow to the eyes. He covered his face with both hands and groaned.
Something felt strange under his rear end. He wasn’t in bed at home, apparently. He blinked his watery eyes and looked around. He was in a car. With a shock, he suddenly realized that he had been sleeping curled up in the back seat of that company car.
He thought someone had shone a flashlight or something in from the outside, but that wasn’t the case. It was the morning sun. The surrounding buildings were reflecting the sunlight into the car.
The car was parked in the company lot. He had a vague memory of driving it around last night. After he got home, he went out again with his father to look for Yoshikazu Hara. He remembered that much. But when did he fall asleep in the car? He couldn’t believe he’d ever do such a thing.
His eyes cleared up as he searched for his ringing phone. He found it in his jacket pocket and yanked it out. As he feared, it was Miyoko.
“Uh, good morning.”
His heart was pounding with shock. He was so unnerved that he almost wanted to ask her where he was, but he still managed to keep it together.
“Hey, when did you leave?”
“I’m not sure what time. I had something I needed to do first thing.”
He wiped the sweat from under his chin, reached out to start the engine, and switched on the air conditioner.
“First thing? It’s five thirty.”
“Well, it is what it is, you know? I wanted to sleep, too.”
The AC began to blow out cool air. Spending the night in a car with the engine off in the dead of summer… He could have died of heat stroke. The thought made him shiver.
“Hey, did you really come to bed? I didn’t notice you coming in or leaving…”
“I did. I didn’t want to wake you up, so I was quiet.”
“Hmm…” She sounded less than fully convinced. “I hear a car.”
“It’s a company car. I’m using it for an investigation.”
“Is it okay to use it before work starts?”
“I can’t just rent a car. I’ll explain everything to the company.”
“Are you going to work now?”
“Yeah. Sorry to make you worry.”
“Well, I hope that investigation ends soon. Also, I’m supposed to have another checkup today. If it takes a while, can you leave work early?”
“I’ll…ask my boss. How’re you feeling?”
“Not all that great, to be honest. I’m getting that unpleasant smell again. Doesn’t the condo feel weird to you?”
“Weird?”
“Like, the smell won’t go away. Just being here makes me feel sick. You must think something’s off, too, right? You got that amulet and everything.”
“I’m fine. Stop worrying. I’ll look into the smell and clean it up when I get home.”
“I hope cleaning will fix it…”
What do you want us to do? Move out? We’re only a few years into our mortgage! He almost blurted it out, but he managed to hold it back. He had just woken up, and he needed to both pee and get something to drink. Both needs were becoming rapidly urgent.
“I’ll figure it out, okay? I should get going.”
“Make sure you come back home, all right?”
“Of course.”
Mitsuhiro ended the call, threw the phone into his bag, and got into his car.
He rushed to a convenience store in the neighborhood and bought breakfast and a drink, along with underwear and a T-shirt. He then went to a capsule hotel about a ten-minute walk away, washed himself up, and finally started to feel human again.
But then he noticed something strange. There were scratches all over his arms, along with the backs of his hands, and bruises were starting to appear. As if he’d gotten into a violent fight with someone. When did that happen? It was because he resisted. He recalled all the many times Yoshikazu Hara had tried to push him away, refusing to go down into the hole. Too many times to remember.
So that was it. It was Yoshikazu Hara’s fault. Realizing this, Mitsuhiro put both arms into the capsule-hotel bathtub. The scratches stung a bit, but he didn’t care. Even after dark, he’d managed to bring Yoshikazu Hara into that hole. That was something to be proud of.
He got out of the bath, changed into a clean shirt and underwear, and put his dirty clothes in the convenience-store bag.
After throwing it in the trunk of his company car, he went to work. No one was there, however; it still wasn’t even seven AM yet. Mitsuhiro finished the report Takenaka had asked him to submit and emailed it over. Then he wrote up a report on his use of the company car. He did this to avoid questions about why he was driving it around in the middle of the night…but that’d require Takenaka’s approval. Given Mitsuhiro was now on his boss’s bad side, that approval wouldn’t come easy—but then again, it was Takenaka who ordered the investigation. As long as he kept hammering that fact, Mitsuhiro would probably avoid taking the full blame.
But that, of course, would probably mean no more company car. If that happened, he’d have no choice but to rent one, which presented some thorny issues. He had already paid a lot of money for that amulet; any further unanticipated expenses would squeeze them hard. He would have to keep car usage to a minimum and get Yoshikazu Hara to the site on foot as much as possible, but that raised the chances of being noticed by someone.
It’ll be fine. His father suddenly spoke to him from behind. Don’t worry about your boss. Besides, look how early you are. Might as well use the car while you got it.
Following his father’s advice, he left the office without greeting anyone or even checking to see if he had any meetings and returned to his company car. Yoshikazu Hara’s body odor was pretty strong in there, so he cleaned the interior with wet wipes and deodorizer. Well, he had to be frank—it felt like he had contributed to the odor a bit, too. A distressing thought crossed his mind, that he could end up like Yoshikazu Hara himself sooner or later, but he pushed it out of his mind and drove away.
Today, he found the first Yoshikazu Hara within minutes. He quickly took him to the basement and waited until he was out of sight before returning to the surface.
When he got back to his car, he remembered that Miyoko had asked if he could get out of work early. It was already past nine. He called Takenaka. No answer. With no other choice, he sent a message saying that he needed to leave early because his pregnant wife wasn’t feeling well.
He wondered where he’d find Yoshikazu Hara next, but less than five minutes later, Takenaka called.
“Matsunaga speaking.”
“What the hell is this? Are you crazy?”
“What?” he asked back. He could sense Takenaka’s disappointment on the other end of the line.
“I’m asking if you’re serious about this,” Takenaka said, changing his tone slightly.
“You mean about leaving early, sir?” he asked, frowning.
Then Takenaka suddenly started shouting at him. “What’s wrong with you? You’re not the one giving birth, are you? Leave that job to the woman already!”
Mitsuhiro felt the blood drain from his face. Wasn’t it Takenaka himself who said harassment like this was nonconstructive, harmful, and had no place at work? Did something change in Takenaka over the past few days? Or were these just his true colors showing? Whatever the case, any remnants of his trust in his boss were completely shattered.
“So I can’t leave early?”
“I don’t see how this is your problem, all right? And stop requesting the company car without running it through me, either. Today’s your last day in that thing, okay? You’re working in the reference room until the shareholder meeting is over.”
“The reference room?”
“And lemme warn you—you better not file any stupid complaints over me keeping you here the full day. You should be grateful that no one’s forcing overtime on you.”
And then Takenaka hung up.
Mitsuhiro clutched his phone. His body was shaking with rage. What was he going to have to do in the reference room? Organize old company newsletters and stuff? He couldn’t help but think that Takenaka’s personality had done a one-eighty. He hadn’t expected such blatant bullying, so the attack had hit while his defenses were down.