Chapter 91 - Name and Reality 14 {Single 27} (59–60: Stopping by the Boss's "Yusen" on the Way Back from Engaru Station)
This time, I have rewritten some important parts from the main story (the plot itself will not change). Since it also relates to the plot, I will avoid specific mentions, but I will state it clearly in advance just in case.
After that, as expected of the "peaceful" Engaru Station, they chatted for about an hour with Masui, who had time on his hands, and moreover, as if he had sensed the feelings of the two who didn't want to go outside, he even ordered delivery and treated them to lunch. Then, before 3:00 PM, they decided to leave the Engaru Station.
Just in case, when he checked the contents, just like back then, the tekunpe, which are Ainu hand guards (things that protect the back of the hand) that Mende Shigeyoshi's body was wearing, and such were properly contained inside. Then, holding the cardboard boxes, they left the Engaru Station building to return to Kitami.
"Isn't it a bit cooler than when we came?"
Walking through the parking lot, Yoshimura spoke to Nishida.
"I suppose so."
Nishida answered like that, but when Yoshimura inserted the key and the two entered the car at the same time, they were attacked by a terrifying heat.
"Well, it's like a greenhouse. I blew it! I should have turned on the cooler once and waited a while before coming back..."
Yoshimura regretted it like that while distorting his face, but it's a case of "regret comes too late."
While the temperature outside the car had dropped to 30 degrees, the temperature inside the car exceeded 45 degrees. Having no choice, the two placed the cardboard boxes on the back seat, started the engine, kept the cooler on high, closed the doors, and went back into the station.
"If we leave it for about 10 minutes, we'll manage somehow."
Takeshita and Nishida (T/N: possible typo in source — likely meant Yoshimura) started drinking canned coffee while sitting on the bench in the break area, but,
"However, nothing has changed, has it, the Engaru Station..."
He spat out words that suddenly seemed nostalgic as if for the first time while looking around the break area.
"Yeah, it hasn't changed at all, it's just like back then."
Nishida also responded honestly.
"It's somehow strange... While there are many events that make me feel the passage of seven years since that investigation, things and places haven't changed much. Well, it might be because it was later that I transferred from Engaru, but I sometimes get bewildered by that gap recently..."
"Now that you mention it, I have that kind of thing quite often too."
Nishida was a bit surprised because Yoshimura said something sentimental that didn't really suit him, and at the same time, he didn't even feel like saying a word as usual and was full of a desire to strongly agree. And then, the two waited in silence for the temperature inside the car to drop.
When they returned to the car after more than 10 minutes as planned, the temperature inside the car had certainly dropped considerably and had cooled to about 28 degrees.
"We can go with this."
To Yoshimura, who became cheerful while fastening his seatbelt,
"Come to think of it, since we've come all the way to Engaru, shall we stop by the Boss's place? I haven't seen him for over five years either. About 30 minutes shouldn't be a problem!"
Nishida proposed while placing his leftover canned coffee in the holder.
"That's a great idea! I've seen him even after I transferred to the Bihoro Station, but for you, Assistant Section Chief, it's been since the farewell party before you transferred... certainly, has it been five years? Yeah, even though it's close, it's not a situation where we can come easily, so let's do that!"
He was a bit excited.
"Then it's decided. So let's go quickly!"
"Yes, sir!"
Yoshimura, who saluted Nishida jokingly, started the car toward "Yusen."
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Since they were in a car, even though it was a bit out of the center, they arrived at the Boss's shop in no time.
"If it becomes a steam bath like before, it'll be a pain, so let's leave the engine on and keep the air conditioning on. It won't be stolen, right?"
Yoshimura asked Nishida for permission, but Nishida didn't even warn him and gave a casual reply.
"Well, isn't it fine?"
As a policeman's judgment, it was clearly wrong, but repeating something like before was also troublesome.
"That's the spirit!"
Yoshimura left the car with the key inserted, and the two entered the shop with the "Preparing" sign hanging.
"Oh? Is he in the house in the back? I'll go check."
Yoshimura told Nishida and went out.
"Does he live in the back of the shop?"
Nishida heard that for the first time, but Yoshimura went out before he could confirm. He returned before long and reported,
"He wasn't there. No one came out even when I rang the intercom, and besides, it was locked. Where did he go?"
"It can't be helped... But the shop isn't locked, and I don't think he's gone that far, so let's wait for about five minutes."
"Let's do that."
Yoshimura accepted Nishida's instruction, and the two waited for the Boss to appear at the counter seats.
And after 10 minutes of waiting, just when they thought about giving up, the Boss came in carrying about two plastic bags.
"Oh! You surprised me! Setting aside Yo-chan, this is a nostalgic face, hey! Nishida-san? Right! How many years has it been?"
The Boss had the same casual feeling as always, but his handsome face had also become aged, suggesting he was in his late 60s. They couldn't help but feel the passage of five years.
"Hello, it's been a long time! It's been since the farewell party you held for me in March '97."
"I see, five years... I've been getting emails from Yo-chan, but are you both working in Kitami now?"
Nishida hadn't heard that Yoshimura and the Boss were exchanging emails, but he thought it was the times.
"Yeah, we're working as a duo again. I'm sure you've heard various things from Yoshimura."
Nishida said it with some implication, but,
"No, no, Yo-chan is happy to be paired with Nishida-san again, right, Yo-chan!"
The Boss slapped Yoshimura's shoulder. Nishida jokingly gave a look as if to doubt it, saying,
"Really?"
But Yoshimura immediately asked as if to dodge,
"Setting that aside, were you out shopping?"
"Yeah, yeah. I was short on snacks and vegetables. Did you wait?"
"Not even 15 minutes. However, I don't approve of not locking up."
"In this place, there's no such thing as a thief breaking in. You both were detectives here, so you should know, right? Besides, there's nothing here that could be stolen!"
To the Boss who laughed loudly at Yoshimura's complaint,
"But you have the Rosanjin, right?"
Yoshimura countered. He must have been talking about the tableware made by Kitaoji Rosanjin.
"Well, I have some, but I don't put the really important ones out in the shop anymore. Besides, I don't have anything that expensive... Ah, that's an irrelevant story. So, how is it, can you stay long?"
When asked about the situation by the Boss, the two answered,
"No, we probably can't stay even 30 minutes. It's just because we stopped by after having business at the Engaru Station."
They answered while also considering the time they were kept waiting.
"I see, you can only stay for that long... Understood. Some fresh shirogai (T/N: Sunray surf clam) came in, so I've made a miso dressing. Eat some! I'd like to say beer too, but it seems you've come by car, so that's impossible."
While saying that, the Boss went into the kitchen, took out a plastic container from the refrigerator, and served it on a small plate.
"It's not anything particularly valuable, but the taste is light, and it's a clam more suited for cooking than sashimi. Come on, eat!"
"Then, since you've gone to the trouble, I'll help myself without hesitation."
The two said that and immediately started eating. Certainly, the miso went perfectly with the plain taste.
"Oh, miso fits well."
To Nishida's impression,
"Right? It's a material that tests the skill of the cook!"
He puffed out his chest.
"By the way, since it was empty, I went to the house, but your wife wasn't there?"
When Yoshimura checked with the Boss at the right timing,
"Ah, that... Actually, she's been hospitalized for about half a year. I was attending to her at the (Engaru) National Health Insurance Hospital until past noon today too,"
He said sadly.
"Was that so... And... how is she?"
To Nishida, who asked about the condition timidly,
"Well, it's not like something's going to happen right now, but since the old lady has been hospitalized for half a year, it's doubtful whether she can be discharged as she is... The doctor isn't saying very good things either. It's hepatitis, after all. I wonder how long she'll last..."
He told them with a serious expression unlike the Boss.
"I see... You're having a hard time too, Boss."
"Well, partly because of that, I'm thinking of closing the shop soon, Yo-chan."
Since he said something unexpected,
"No, no, Boss, can't you do something about that? It's too sad that I won't be able to eat your cooking, Boss,"
Yoshimura lamented seriously.
"I'm grateful you say that, but I'm old too. My spirit can't keep up..."
After those words, he rested his chin on his hand at the counter and sighed. Listening to the series of stories, Nishida and the others also felt somewhat depressed, and the three were silent for a while.
"Ah, I'm sorry for making it gloomy with only depressing stories. How about it? Since it's hot today, why don't you have some cider? It should refresh your mouth."
The Boss said that, opened the refrigerator again, took out cider, and poured it into three glass cups.
"How about it? Especially since it's been a long time with Nishida-san, let's have a toast to celebrate our reunion!"
At this time only, the Boss spoke vigorous words.
"Then, without hesitation!"
Nishida also responded, and the three glasses made a clear sound.
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They killed time with small talk for a while, but if they talked too much, they would miss the timing to go home, so they ended the conversation almost forcibly, and the two left the Boss's shop.
They said "I'll come again" for form's sake, but depending on the investigation status, those words would become a lie, and the two also thought that the possibility of them becoming a lie was unfortunately quite high.
"The Boss had lost a bit of weight since the last time I met him directly... I guess things like his wife are tough."
While speeding toward Rubeshibe on Route 242, Yoshimura said that. Although his expression was not clear because of the sunglasses for measures against the direct sunlight pouring down relentlessly from the gradually setting sun, he seemed to be seriously worried for Yoshimura.
"Yeah. Especially since it's been five years for me, he's originally a youthful person, but this time I was made to feel his age."
"You thought so too, Assistant Section Chief? But when I met him before, he was youthful as usual..."
Yoshimura said that and then,
"But did the Boss attend the memorial ceremony for the Yubetsu mine explosion where his father died? It was the 60th year this year since the accident, if I recall."
It was a conversation while they were cooling off sufficiently with the natural wind blowing in through the fully open windows, as the temperature had already dropped and the cooler was already stopped.
"You should have asked him, right?"
When asked by Nishida,
"In that flow, I didn't want to talk about such dark things,"
He said bluntly.
"You read the room for once."
"As expected. Even I read it..."
For Yoshimura, it was a tone as if he didn't talk back to Nishida's jab and just accepted it.
Since the atmosphere became somewhat awkward, around the time they entered Ikutahara, Nishida began to read the booklet he had received for Takeshita. He had glanced through it earlier, but as expected, he couldn't see any value in looking at it again from there.
On the other hand, partly because the strong sunlight was attacking the two from the front of the windshield and partly because of the pleasant wind blowing into the car, Nishida was gradually becoming sleepy. Since Yoshimura next to him was driving while fighting the direct sunlight, he thought it was bad, but around the time they crossed the Kanehana Pass, which is the watershed between Ikutahara and Rubeshibe, he finally couldn't win against the sandman. Nishida began to nod off while holding the booklet.
And a little after his consciousness faded, Nishida suddenly felt the wind blowing strongly against his body, and at the same time his eyes opened slightly, he felt the sensation of water hitting his face with great force.
"Whoa! What is this rain! It's unbelievably terrible!"
To the shouting Yoshimura, the sleepy-eyed Nishida didn't accurately grasp the situation, but Yoshimura next to him was hurriedly closing the windows with the power windows.
Even so, a considerable amount of rain had already blown into the car. The amount of rain hitting the windshield was also considerable, to the point where the wipers couldn't keep up. Since he couldn't secure visibility, Yoshimura pulled the car over to the shoulder and stopped.
"I was surprised! I thought a sudden gust of wind blew, and then a heavy sideways rain started falling with great force!"
Yoshimura grumbled while unfastening his seatbelt as soon as he stopped.
"Ah, I was also surprised because water hit my face while I was dozing off, but is it a squall?"
"Yeah. It was unusually hot today. Cumulonimbus clouds must have developed..."
Yoshimura was wiping the rain that hit his face after taking off his sunglasses while saying that.
When Nishida also looked closely, his dress shirt was soaked enough to be transparent. Not only that, perhaps because of the sideways rain, the inside of the car was also considerably wet.
"This is bad. A towel is..."
Nishida took out a small towel from the glove compartment of the dashboard, but it wasn't at a level to wipe the faces and clothes of the two and the inside of the car. A handkerchief also became soaking wet immediately with that amount of water (Author's Note: Regarding the descriptions of weather after "Name and Reality," I have described them after checking on the Meteorological Agency's site, but on the weather records of this day, there is no record that it rained in this vicinity on that day. Since I myself had an experience of being hit by a momentary heavy rain of an incredible amount of water when I passed through this vicinity in my family's car on a hot summer day a long time ago, I created the story based on that. Please understand).
They also mobilized the tissue paper that was in the car, but since there wasn't much in it, it also ran out immediately. However, perhaps the rain outside was a kind of momentary passing shower, it stopped in a few minutes, and the clear sky was returning rapidly. Seeing that, Yoshimura opened the door and went outside.
Then suddenly,
"Ah, here again!"
He raised a voice as if there were some history.
"What's wrong?"
When he asked hesitantly,
"Look at that!"
He pointed toward the opposite lane.
There was a white, long, and narrow sign that said "Entrance to the Jomon Tunnel Construction Martyr Memorial."
"At the end of the year seven years ago, I almost ran over an old man here, and this time I'm soaking wet... I guess it's the curse of the tako-beya labor victims!"
While returning to the car with an expression of "I'm beat,"
"What shall we do about this... Both the clothes and the inside of the car are soaking wet. The booklet I got in Engaru also got quite wet. It's a bit much to send it to Takeshita-san like this..."
He said regretfully.
"Since it's not good to start driving like this, let's enter the side road going to the Kanehana Station right there and calm down for a bit,"
Nishida spoke. If you let someone drive while they're irritated, they really do have accidents. He judged that they should reset for the time being.
"Then, shall we take a break and think about how to deal with the water..."
Saying so, Yoshimura slowly released the parking brake.
Even so, during the time from the sudden stop until now, no car had overtaken them, and no car had passed in the opposite lane. Certainly, even though it's a national highway, this section is in the mountains, so it's not a section with much traffic to begin with, but even so, it was a quite rare situation for the daytime.
Before the car had even moved 20 meters, it slowly entered the side road from the national highway. While looking at the Kanehana Station, which looked like a shack, in front of them and passing several empty houses along the street, they proceeded to the small square in front of the station.
Then, in front of the station building ahead, they saw that the old man who had appeared before Nishida and the others twice in '95 was standing as usual with an old radio-cassette player.
"Ah! Is it that old man! He was still alive!"
In December seven years ago, on the evening Nishida was told of the "withdrawal" by Criminal Investigation Director Ootomo, he had almost run him over in this vicinity and had trouble, so Yoshimura spat out abuse toward the other side of the windshield, but no anger matching the words could be seen in his expression. It must have been a story that wasn't worth holding onto anger for seven years.
When the car approached the station building and pulled up in front of it, the old man walked up smoothly. Seeing that, when Nishida opened the side window he had closed once, a white mass was suddenly thrust in through the gap as if being squeezed in.
"Use this!"
Looking closely, it seemed to be rolled-up towels, and because the timing was so good, Nishida forgot to say thanks and was stunned, but the old man walked away toward the national highway without saying anything. And immediately, the "Jinsei Gekijo" by Murata Hideo began to play at a loud volume from the radio-cassette player, and the two just listened in amazement.
"What was that..."
Yoshimura was watching him go as if dumbfounded, but Nishida unrolled the mass he received, and since it was four hand towels,
"Since we got them, shall we wipe with these?"
He proposed.
Even though they were rolled up, the texture was like they were brand new rather than used.
"No, well, that's fine, but he gave us exactly the right thing... I thought he suddenly jumped out in front of the car, and then he's unusually kind, what is that old man... His appearance hasn't changed at all from seven years ago either. It's like time has stopped."
While tilting his head, Yoshimura received the towels from Nishida.
When the two opened the doors and went outside, they wiped the moisture with the towels while checking their whole bodies. When they looked closely at the towels, they saw from the letters printed on the towels that they were towels from the "Onsen Ryokan Yumoto Shochikubai," which was owned by Matsushige Yusaku, the chairman of the Jomon Tunnel Research Group, and which they had also used in the investigation.
He was probably a local and had gone to take a bath in Onneyu Onsen and received them without using the new ones.
When they finished wiping, although Nishida's sleepiness had been blown away by the heavy rain, he stretched his body back and forth while taking a deep breath to prepare so he wouldn't be attacked by the sandman again. And when he discovered a vending machine, he inserted coins and purchased two colas to serve as a wake-up call. Holding them, he said to Yoshimura, who was now wiping the inside of the car that had become soaking wet,
"Drink this and refresh yourself."
He offered them.
"Ah, sorry, I'll have one! Ah, I'll do it after I finish wiping this."
While carefully wiping the moisture from the booklet to be sent to Takeshita, Yoshimura didn't receive it yet at that time and first thanked his superior after glancing at him.
"You didn't dislike cola, did you, Yoshimura?"
When Nishida spoke again from outside the car, although he didn't react for a while, after a bit, he turned toward Nishida from inside the car with a serious face.
"Assistant Section Chief, did you look at this until the end?"
"Eh? No, I was looking at it halfway, but as expected, the content was almost the same as Takeshita's article, so I stopped looking halfway. After that I became sleepy, and then that mess happened... However, if it's only that much, it might not be worth sending it to Takeshita..."
Before Nishida could finish saying it, Yoshimura cut in.
"You didn't look until the end!? Then this! Look at this! Look at the list of the dead from the accident at the very end here!"
He suddenly thrust the last page, which had become wrinkled with moisture, toward Nishida while stretching his body.
"Whoa, what is it!?"
Nishida restrained him like that and took the booklet into his hand suspiciously.
"It's in syllabary order, so please look from the top properly!"
"Tch, alright."
While clicking his tongue, he followed the names from the top with his eyes.
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I would be grateful if you could refer to the links (I think the image of the setting of this novel will also spring up if you watch the videos on YouTube. I am grateful to the uploader. Even so, it has become a convenient era where things filmed in such remote or depopulated areas, which are not even tourist spots, can be easily seen with one click).
◯ On-board video from Rubeshibe side to Ikutahara on Route 242 (After 1 minute and 20 seconds, the location of the stairs leading to the high ground where the memorial is, and after 1 minute and 40 seconds, the sign for the branch of the forest road probably leading to the Jomon Tunnel can be seen)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8taD8bCMoo
◯ The state from around the old Kanehana Station to the Jomon Tunnel Memorial (Incidentally, there is a comment from the uploader that mysterious bones appear in the video, but it is probably a bone of a deer or something that a crow picked up and dropped. Since the place is what it is, as in the comment, there must have been a considerable sense of fear)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLbuF0AddkE
Incidentally, at the time of posting in the main story, the Kanehana Station existed, but it became a closed station in March 2016 and is now just a signal station (a facility where trains stop for passing on a single-track railway). It has become a quite valuable video. I would like the uploader to keep it posted as it is. It was the end in the 102nd year since the station opened.
◯ Jomon Tunnel passage scene from Kanehana Station toward Ikutahara (I think you can see that the tunnel is winding, but it seems it didn't become a straight line due to a surveying or construction error. Also, you can see that it is very narrow)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bci_c2pUWvA