He felt a thud on the back of his seat. Don’t worry about it, his father said. You won’t need to worry about a moron like him. Just concentrate on what you have to do.
Calming himself down, Mitsuhiro called Miyoko. She didn’t answer. Must be at the hospital for testing. With no other option, he sent a message saying that his request to leave early was refused.
He then drove to where he thought Yoshikazu Hara was, parked in a lot, and checked his phone. The was a text from Miyoko reading I can’t believe it, followed by the news that she might have to be hospitalized for observation again and they’d have to ask his mother-in-law to take care of Sae.
Mitsuhiro sighed and sent a message of apology and agreement. If only Yoshikazu Hara would just stay in that hole. He felt sorry for the guy, but right now Mitsuhiro deserved a whole lot more sympathy than that bum, in his own opinion.
No more whining, he told himself. He’d just do as his father said and concentrate on the task at hand. After all, he’d been entrusted with an extremely important job.
Mitsuhiro bought a few things Yoshikazu Hara might like at a convenience store and looked around for places where he might be. He didn’t think the blazing sun would be enough to slow him down, but he was overcome by a lingering fatigue. Spending last night in the car must have taken its toll. He was afraid he’d collapse from the heat, but his sense of mission spurred him on…and after a bit more searching, he managed to take Yoshikazu Hara back to the hole again.
For another day, he worked up to quitting time without seeing his boss or anyone else on his team. After returning his car to the company lot, he filed an application to continue using it, even though he knew Takenaka would reject it. If today was the last day, tonight probably still counted. He was exhausted, but he’d have to work overtime again tonight. Takenaka was wrong in that respect. In fact, he was swamped with overtime work right now.
He removed the bag of dirty clothes from the trunk and took the train home.
There were women’s shoes at the front door, but they weren’t Miyoko’s. He knew right away that they belonged to his mother-in-law.
“Helloooo…”
“Daddy!”
Sae ran up and hugged Mitsuhiro. His mother-in-law, Michiyo Umehara, appeared with her handbag.
“Oh, hard day at work?” she said in her patronizing tone, heading straight for her shoes. Mitsuhiro was home, and that meant her job was done.
“Thanks for coming in,” he said with a formal bow. Michiyo gave him an exaggerated shake of the head.
“I had to feed Sae, you know. And I had to accept a delivery for you. Something your mother sent. I can’t believe how heavy it was. Okay, see you later, Sae.”
“Bye!”
“Whew, I’m all worn out,” she said, putting on her shoes. She left without even looking at Mitsuhiro.
He went to the dining room with Sae. He wondered what kind of meal his mother-in-law had prepared, but it was just instant curry poured over microwaved white rice.
“Grandma said we should get a new microwave. She said this one smells funny.”
Mitsuhiro sighed. “Still?”
“Uh-huh, a little. Even with the amulet.”
“Well, maybe it takes some time to work.”
Mitsuhiro stared at the amulet hanging off the refrigerator. Would he have to burn it already? How long would it last? Would he have to pay another two hundred thousand yen to buy a new one? The thought made his heart feel heavy, and fear squeezed against his spine. If he blew all his savings on this stuff and couldn’t even pay the mortgage…
“Daddy, did you want some of Grandma’s curry?”
Sae’s cheerful voice drove away his fear for a moment. Accepting the offer, he heated the curry and rice in the microwave and ate it with Sae. Then he called Miyoko so that Sae could talk to her.
“I’m sorry. I’ll get better soon.”
Miyoko’s voice sounded much stronger than it had early this morning. Did leaving this home make her feel better? He wondered about that briefly but didn’t say anything about it.
More importantly, he had to get Sae to bed. He had to find Yoshikazu Hara right this minute. His father had to watch Sae, so he had no choice but to go alone.
“Daddy, are you going out again?” Sae asked anxiously in her bed.
“It’s okay, Sae,” he replied, dodging the question. “You don’t have to worry about me, okay? I’ll call your mom when I wake up in the morning.”
He decided to relax in the dining room for a while until Sae was fully asleep. Then, for the first time, his eyes fell upon a cardboard box in the living room. He remembered that his mother-in-law said she took a delivery. Something sent by his mother.
Belongings.
The word suddenly popped into his head. He had completely forgotten about it until then. Curious about the contents, he fetched a box cutter from the kitchen, cut the tape securing the lid, and removed the contents from the wadded newspaper it was packed in.
He was startled. For a moment, he thought his mother had sent him a large dark-gray blade of some sort. It was actually a stone, about two and a half feet long, and it was shaped like a kitchen knife, except the handle was attached at a right angle to the blade.
—Can stone really break off into this shape?
If his mother was to be believed about the broken gravestone, that’s exactly what this was. It looked like a blade of stone, or a sharp stake carved from stone, but either way, it almost seemed to be crafted for some kind of specific purpose.
What’s more, the words “Kosuke Matsunaga” were engraved on the handle of this knife. This was the engraving originally on the back of the gravestone, which was why he thought this might have been intentionally carved off. Plus, there was a white handkerchief near the handle. The initials “KM” were embroidered on it, for Kosuke Matsunaga. It was like he was telling Mitsuhiro to wrap it around the handle and use it. But use it on what?
—The deceased.
Mitsuhiro felt the words pop into his head again. The words of Araki from Tamai Construction, and Chief Sugawara as well.
Just as Mitsuhiro was about to touch the stone, still uncertain, a loud shout reached his ears.
“Don’t you dare!”
It was his father. Suddenly, he was standing right in front of Mitsuhiro, his eyes full of anger.
“What’s wrong, Dad?”
Mitsuhiro shrank back as his father furiously shouted at him. “You can’t bring something like that into the house! What are you thinking? Throw it out!”
“But it’s yours…”
“I’m right here! Don’t touch that! Do you understand? Don’t touch it! Throw it away right now! Do it now!”
His father’s fierce tone was so frightening to Mitsuhiro that he began to cry. Just like when he was a child, he couldn’t even think of disobeying his father.
He wrapped the stone and handkerchief back in the packing newspaper. He took it all into the kitchen, still crying, and put it into the plastic garbage bag lining the bin.
“No! You gotta throw it away! You can’t keep this in your home!”
His father continued to yell at him, so Mitsuhiro, trembling with fear and grief, took the trash bag out and tied it shut. He brought it to the front door, put on his shoes, and went to his floor’s trash-disposal room. He placed the bag on top of the other trash bags, sobbing.
“But it’s yours,” Mitsuhiro wept.
A much calmer voice came from behind him.
“It’s your mother’s fault for sending all this pointless junk. I’m sorry I yelled at you, son, but I was doing it for your own good. C’mon, cheer up. You have work to do. I’ll take good care of my granddaughter in the meantime, okay? You should get out there before Yoshikazu Hara falls asleep somewhere.”
Mitsuhiro wiped his tears, returned to his room, changed his clothes, and got ready for work. Before he knew it, the thoughts of his father’s grave and his belongings faded away, fully replaced with thoughts of the man he had to find.
“Sae’s all yours, Dad.”
With those words, Mitsuhiro left the house and hurried to the station before he could miss the last train.