Chapter 147 - Name and Reality 70 {98 Solo} (234-235: Instructions from Motohashi Across Time 2)
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The phrase "Kanpo no Majiwari" (the friendship of Kan and Po) refers to a bond of steadfast friendship, much like "Funkei no Majiwari" (a friendship unto death) or "Suigyo no Majiwari" (the friendship of fish and water), and its origin lies in an ancient Chinese tale.
"Kanchu" was a politician who served Duke Huan of Qi during the Spring and Autumn period of ancient China, and was a man highly praised as a brilliant prime minister.
The idiom "Kanpo no Majiwari" was created by taking the first characters of his name and that of his childhood friend, "Hoshukuga" (often referred to simply as "Hoshuku"), a Daifu (meaning a small feudal lord or high official in ancient China; also read as "Taifu." In Japan, it is sometimes written as "Tayuu," though the nuance differs slightly) who also served Duke Huan, based on their deep friendship since childhood.
Kanchu and Hoshukuga were not only childhood friends but also went into business together in their youth. At that time, even when Kanchu incurred great losses, Hoshuku never blamed him, saying, "Business depends on the luck of the moment." Furthermore, even when they made large profits, Hoshuku would give most of the gains to the impoverished Kanchu. Regarding Hoshuku's profound friendship, Kanchu is said to have remarked, "It was my parents who gave me life, but it is Hoshuku who truly knows me."
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Even so, it seems certain that the reason Motohashi—who had even thought of a name for his own group—fell headlong from the peak to the bottom of a cliff in what could be called a sudden turn of misfortune, was his involvement in the subsequent murders, even if he had predicted it to some extent as of 1995. And the reason he was able to issue a cipher in this format to Kuboyama also became clear.
"By the way, Kuboyama-san, if a detective other than myself or Nishida had come, would you have ignored them even if they asked about 'Tadano'?"
Though he felt certain, Takeshita asked just to be sure at this point. Kuboyama exhaled a large cloud of smoke and smiled.
"Well, Aniki's instructions were, 'If one of the detectives from the letters comes.' So if anyone other than you or that Nishida fellow showed up, I wouldn't have said a word. That's my role."
As expected, Nishida's reading was correct. Yoshimura wouldn't have done.
"While I'm at it, is this 'surface' text addressed to you, Kuboyama-san, all true except for the part about Kawanishi?"
"The complaints at the end are probably Aniki's invention... That Aniki isn't the type of person to whine like that, even to me. Even if he really felt that way, he's the type to absolutely hide any weakness or timidity. ...He likely put it in specifically to create the cipher."
Hearing that answer, Takeshita understood. If Motohashi was a man Kuboyama admired this much, Kuboyama would have seen through the fact that even if what was written in the letter were his true feelings, Motohashi's personality was not one to actually write such things on the "surface." However, Takeshita felt that whether it was mere fiction written "to create a cipher" was perhaps a separate matter.
"Also, I heard that the outermost envelope containing the letter you sent didn't even have your fingerprints on it, Kuboyama-san. But since they were on the letter inside anyway, did that have some meaning?"
Takeshita ventured to ask further, riding the momentum.
"No, no, it's an embarrassing story, but I thought if my fingerprints were on a letter sent in Aniki's name, they'd think I did it and wouldn't take it seriously. So I wore gloves when I wrote and put it in. But I realized after sealing it that it's pointless if they're on the inner envelope. I was a real idiot."
He laughed boisterously. It seemed there was no great meaning behind the act.
"Then, to get to the root of it, what was the reason for putting the envelope you received from Motohashi-san into yet another envelope—the outermost one?"
"Aniki had already written 'Engaru Sho' in hiragana with a ballpoint pen on the envelope I received. If I'd rewritten it as 'Engaru Station' in kanji over that, it would've looked messy, right? Besides, my handwriting is different from Aniki's, so that would've looked bad too. That's why I put on gloves, put it in a larger separate envelope, and rewrote the address, recipient, and sender."
Takeshita felt a slight chill hearing this. Most likely, at the point he decided on the request, Motohashi must have believed that having his own fingerprints and handwriting on the envelope would serve to make Nishida and the others recognize it as the "real thing," even in the impossible situation of a "letter from the dead." However, ignoring that consideration, Kuboyama had, on this occasion, been over-attentive.
Moreover, if the fingerprints of someone like Kuboyama, a former member of an Aoi-ikka affiliate with a criminal record, had turned up, they might have felt a bit more like "let's look into this." But since the outermost envelope didn't even have Kuboyama's fingerprints, the danger was even higher.
If Nishida hadn't felt something regarding the contradiction that the supposed sender knew the names and former affiliations of the two men who interrogated Motohashi but knew nothing of their current situations, it would have narrowly ended up in the trash. Perhaps Motohashi's failure was that, while specifying to write "Engaru" in kanji, he didn't write it in pencil so it could be erased. He should have given specific instructions like "use the envelope as is." For the sharp-witted Motohashi, one could say he failed to add the finishing touch.
At this point, Kuboyama asked in return.
"That aside, since I've answered your questions, you answer mine! What did Aniki really write in that letter?"
"I see. It's certainly unfair for only us to be asking... Understood!"
Saying so, Takeshita took out the copy of the letter from Motohashi he had brought and placed it on the desk in a direction easy for Kuboyama to read.
"Oh, this is it, this is it! How nostalgic! They really are lined up beautifully."
Kuboyama crushed his cigarette into the ashtray, picked up the paper, and stared at it intently. Then, he urged like a child.
"So, how do you read it? Hurry!"
Takeshita took out the second will that had reached them as well, let him read it once, and then gave a detailed explanation.
As expected, regarding the Classical Chinese portion, he struggled a bit because being too detailed might actually make it harder to understand, but by taking about twenty minutes to explain thoroughly, Kuboyama understood.
"No way! It starts from the middle of the sentence! There's no way I'd know that! And zigzag reading, too? It's hard enough to read, but making it must have been even harder, right?"
His reaction was a bit exaggerated, but having such an impression was not strange—it was, in fact, normal.
"Yes. I think it was quite difficult, but this cipher is very well-made!"
Takeshita expressed his admiration to an extent he himself thought was excessive, though he wasn't necessarily influenced by Kuboyama.
"That's Aniki for you. So, who cracked it, you or that Nishida guy? And how long did it take?"
Kuboyama kept pressing.
"I'm the one who did it to the end, but Nishida noticed the hint in the tanka poem early on, so it's something of a joint effort. Since we're in different parts of Hokkaido, I can't say for sure about the total time, but for me, it was about four hours..."
After replying, Takeshita added.
"But if he was going to do it, it would've been better if he'd hidden something in the cipher that could directly identify Kuroda-san or his whereabouts. Then we wouldn't have had to visit Chief Priest Mizuno or trouble you. I wonder if it was just too tedious because he had to write a whole line for a single character..."
Kuboyama responded.
"Hmm, I wonder about that? I don't think so. ...Well, that doesn't matter for now. Anyway, 'Rokkou' and 'Hinako', huh... It seems Aniki trusted you guys even more than he trusted me... Anyway, I understand now. I'll take you to Kuroda-han's place right away."
Muttering things that piqued interest, he cut the conversation short himself and stated his conclusion. Then, he told Takeshita.
"Kuroda-han still lives in Kawachinagano (City), where Aniki was born and raised. He runs a shop called Kuroda Bakery in Kawachinagano."
It seemed that Tadano, or Kuroda, was running a bakery.
"Kuroda-san is a baker?"
Takeshita confirmed just in case.
"Yeah. I heard he's the second-generation owner. I've heard they've been together since they were classmates in elementary school. I heard he was a bit of a rascal in high school, but only within a laughable range. Regarding Aniki becoming a 'professional' (T/N: yakuza), even though they were best friends... no, because they were best friends... he didn't seem to approve... Well, even so, choosing his friendship with Aniki up to that point, he apparently told him, 'I'll associate with Motohashi Yukio, but I have no intention of associating with a yakuza. Don't act like a yakuza in front of me either. That's my condition for continuing to associate with you!' Because of that, when Aniki met Kuroda-han, his appearance was like a shabby salaryman in plain clothes, unimaginable from his usual flashy style. Well, I was also ordered to wear more subdued clothes than usual when I met him with Aniki... When I first saw Aniki like that, I burst out laughing the moment I saw him! Then he yelled at me, 'You! What are you laughing at!' ...In the end, since Kuroda-han hates yakuza, I was the only yakuza Aniki ever introduced to him, before or since."
As he said this, it seemed to Takeshita that Kuboyama wore a slightly proud expression.
"And, partly because Aniki kept claiming his innocence, Kuroda-han apparently worked hard, mainly with old friends, collecting signatures and such, saying 'Yukio is a bad seed, but there's no way he'd commit murder.' But then that happened... He must have felt strongly betrayed..."
Here, Kuboyama's expression clouded.
"Based on a letter from Aniki, I went to see Kuroda-han twice after Aniki was pinched for the murders. The first time was in '95. I think it was less than a month after that Great Earthquake. He said, 'Go see if Kuroda's having any problems. Just say something like "I happened to be nearby..." and don't mention my name at all. If he's in trouble, give him up to 2 million out of the 3 million yen I've left with you for free.' ...I thought he should just send a letter directly, but when I met Kuroda-han and poked around, it seemed Kuroda-han and the others had been told by Aniki, 'Don't worry about me at all,' and he'd been refusing visits from a fairly early stage... That seemed to be why he didn't send a letter directly himself. Anyway, as predicted, Kuroda-han seemed fine, and he was still saying things like 'I want to save Yukio somehow,' worrying about Aniki instead. Even though Aniki was in the detention center, he must have known there was no damage around Kawachinagano, so I thought he was being a worrywart. But then, within a year, things turned out like that..."
"What's this about 3 million?"
Since he didn't understand the circumstances, Takeshita asked.
"Aniki came to see me just before he was caught and told me, 'I won't be able to see you for a while, so keep this money for me.' That's what I was holding," he answered. Then, lightly stroking his chin with his fist, he took out a cigarette, lit it, and slowly resumed his story.
"Then the second time I met him was in '97, after I received the letter from the monk. Partly because it was written that you guys would 'come and ask about Tadano,' I wanted to confirm if he knew anything beforehand, and since it said 'regards,' I went to see him to give my greetings as well. By then, Kuroda-han already knew that Aniki had confessed, and he turned me away without a word, saying 'I'm not getting involved with yakuza anymore!'..."
After speaking, he paused for a while and let out a deep sigh. Then he said.
"In taking you there this time, Takeshita-han, what I'm most worried about is what kind of attitude Kuroda-han will take toward us! To be honest, I'm wondering if it would be better if I didn't introduce you directly and just took you there."
At this point, Kuboyama's tone had become timid.
Then, as if suddenly remembering, he said.
"Ah! I've still got the money I received from Aniki safe and sound, so don't get the wrong idea! There's no way I could ever use that money in my life!"
He laughed after making a threatening gesture, just like in his 'professional' days. He probably wanted to lighten the heavy atmosphere, but it's likely there was also an aspect of him truly not wanting to be misunderstood.
"I see... However, nothing will start unless we ask Kuroda-san about the truth and about 'Rokkou' and 'Hinako.' You don't know either, do you, Kuboyama-san?"
"Yeah, like I said earlier, I haven't the faintest idea!"
Kuboyama denied it rather haughtily.
"Then we have no choice but to go and see him. For now, you will take me there, right?"
"Well, if I let an unguided 'guest' go just like that, my dead Aniki would be furious! On top of that, it's probably safer to have you ask him yourself..."
In a complete change, he had a strangely solemn look on his face at the end.
"First of all, it's important that you take me there. We can think about what comes after we get to Kawachinagano. For now, please guide me to the site!"
"Leave that to me! I'll take you in my Mercedes with my driver!"
It was behavior typical of an executive of a profitable moneylender, but despite his history of attempted murder, he didn't seem like a fundamentally bad person.
"That aside, from what I've heard, it seems Kuroda-san really hates yakuza. Even with his old friend Motohashi-san, it was barely enough to maintain the relationship, yet Motohashi-san introduced you to Kuroda-san, even though you had no prior connection. Was there a reason?"
"You've got a sharp eye for interesting points, don't you!"
Immediately after he spoke, an unexpected answer was given.
"Both Kuroda-han and I have been passionate fans since the old Taiyou Whales days! Now, as you know, they're the Yokohama BayStars. If you're talking about baseball fans in Kansai, it's the Tigers, then the Giants, or in the Central League, maybe Hiroshima or Chunichi? After that, maybe the three major private railway teams of the Pacific League: Kintetsu, Hankyu, and Nankai? Except for Kintetsu, the parent companies have all changed now... Anyway, people who said they were Whales fans here in Kansai were very rare before... Because of that, Aniki decided to introduce me to Kuroda-han as a 'fellow enthusiast'! Even though I was a yakuza, I was an exception just like Aniki. Apparently, Kuroda-han had been complaining for a long time that he 'had no comrades.' So the choice fell on me. However, as I said before, whenever I met Kuroda-han, Aniki would strictly tell me, 'Avoid flashy patterns and don't come wearing clinking jewelry!' It couldn't be helped, so when I couldn't find suitable clothes, I even went to see the two of them wearing a Whales replica uniform."
As he reminisced, he laughed nostalgically, perhaps remembering those days.
"I see. Now that you mention it, there probably weren't many Taiyou fans in Kansai back then."
Takeshita nodded deeply in agreement.
"Yeah, it was really awkward... Now, with the '98 championship, I've started to see them here and there even around here."
He crushed his finished cigarette into the ashtray.
"But why on earth were you a Whales fan here?"
To Takeshita's natural question, he began to speak.
"Most people have forgotten, but the Whales actually operated in Osaka as the 'Youshou Robins' for about two years, using Osaka Stadium as their home field. You didn't know, did you?"