Chapter 8
Every day is like a typical day to Yuuto and me. As always, we will help dad in the coffee shop after we come back from school. As we’re about to close and starts cleaning the coffee shop, Ms. Shoko comes to see us. Besides her, Mr. Sakakibara is also coming with her. Dad then orders Hayato to make coffee since it’s going to be a long conversation.
“I hate to say this, but Satoru Yuuya has tricked us,” Ms. Shoko says, “He knew that we would come to save Shiori. But then again, he didn’t expect that Hayato would disguise as Dr. Frederick Choo. So, everything is a setup from the beginning. He has been aiming for Touka all this time.”
Ms. Shoko then shares the file with us. The file is about their finding related to our last mission. I can’t recall much about what happened to the surrounding area. I only remember that Shiori’s house was blown to smithereens. According to the report, there was nothing left in the scene other than the two dead bodies. The bodies were burned to crisp which makes it complicated for the coroner to identify them.
Just like the last time, there were no traces of microchip implant in their body. But they did find out traces of drugs in both of them. The drugs happen to be the same drugs used in Transhuman Development Project. But the dosage exceeded the recommended dosage. As for the identity of these men, they happened to be the members of Awatori Group. They were missing for a couple of years and were only found recently.
Apart from the dead bodies, they also found traces of surveillance devices. There were a lot of damages reported in the apartment building. Luckily, none of the residents were injured. Only a few houses in the same row as Shiori’s house had minor damages.
“Touka, I need you to clarify something,” Ms. Shoko says to me. She then transfers a picture to my smart watch. The picture which she sends me is the concierge who was present when I went there. “Was he the one you met at that time?” She asks me. I nod my head, confirming that he was the concierge I met at that time. “What happened to him?” I ask her.
Ms. Shoko takes a sip before she answers my question. “He was blown to smithereens. We weren’t so sure when that happened, but I think maybe during the time when Shiori’s house exploded.” Everyone looks terrified when Ms. Shoko says that the concierge died due to the explosion. “Oh, don’t worry,” she gestures, “That concierge was a humanoid. We happened to find traces of his parts outside of the apartment compound. There was also no sign of damage in the lobby.”
We feel relieved that the concierge was actually a humanoid. In today’s world, it’s hard to recognize human and humanoid. It’s because humanoid also possesses similar traits as human. “Sorry, I don’t mean to hide the fact. I just want to see your reaction when I told you that.” She laughs at us. “Well, I also can’t differentiate between a real human being and a humanoid too. You’ll never know that I’m also a humanoid. You can’t tell the difference anyway.”
Mr. Sakakibara then grabs Ms. Shoko’s wrist. “Hey, what are you trying to do? You’re not planning to harass me, are you?” Ms. Shoko shouts at him. Mr. Sakakibara sighs when he sees Ms. Shoko’s reaction. “Don’t worry about it, guys. She’s a human. I don’t think our technology is advanced enough to imitate a real human pulse,” Mr. Sakakibara says to us.
Ms. Shoko pouts after Mr. Sakakibara lets go of her wrist. “Shoko, what else do you find about the humanoid? I don’t think Satoru Yuuya would just blow off the humanoid for no reason, right?” Dad asks her. “We did bring the pieces back for the analysis. Even with just a tiny part, we noticed that he did hack the humanoid system. Not only that, but he also hacked the apartment’s concierge system too,” Ms. Shoko answers.
Ms. Shoko is still examining her wrist. It must be hurt for her that she keeps on examining her wrist just to see if there is any swelling. Mr. Sakakibara must have grabbed her wrist way too hard. “So, that explains why the concierge was able to know who I was and convinced me to go to Shiori’s house. Does the leasing company or the real estate developer know about this?” I ask her.
“Of course, they do,” she replies, “In fact, they felt horrified when they found out about it. They didn’t seem to care about one of the properties being damaged because of the explosion. I was wondering why they were making a fuss about this humanoid. It turns out to be that there’s a fascinating story behind this. And you’ll find it hard to believe.”
She takes another sip again before she continues. “Before that,” she says, “Do you know how the manufacturers come up with the look for the humanoid?” Everyone remains silent for a moment to think about the answer. “Is it based on what we deem perfect? Maybe something like beauty standard?” I answer. Ms. Shoko nods at me. “You’re right. They can use something like beauty standard to come up with the physical traits for humanoid.”
“But in this humanoid’s case,” she explains, “It was based on one of their employees. According to his record, he already passed away for more than 20 years. In fact, they made the humanoid looked exactly like him.” I don’t know whether I should be impressed or creepy when I hear this from Ms. Shoko. It feels like the humanoid technology goes the wrong way. “What makes them so infatuated with this guy? What’s so great about him?” Dad asks her.
“From what I know, this guy was so devoted to the residents who lived there. When they found out that he passed away, they insisted the management to find someone as good as him. So, they’ve decided to create a humanoid instead. They couldn’t find anyone who was just like him. They even created a humanoid which resembled him to make them feel better,” Ms. Shoko answers.
“They didn’t feel terrified at all? I mean, that guy was already dead. That sounds more like they were in denial to me,” Yuuto says to her. Ms. Shoko sighs. “Maybe they were. But that happened a long time ago. And now, most of them are new tenants. They don’t know anything about the concierge’s backstory. So, no one there will grieve over the humanoid. The apartment leasing company is the only one who grieves about it. After all, they’ve invested a lot of money to develop a humanoid which looks like him.”
After that incident, things are progressing like normal. We don’t have any leads in pursuing Satoru Yuuya. And we don’t even know what happened to Shiori after that. None of her fans are suspecting anything bad happened to her. This is all thanks to her consistent social media update status. Her updates are just like your typical idols, though. She only talks about her recording for the new single. She also feels excited about her first live performance after the major debut.
I know that it’s not her who updates the social media account. Someone must have done that. It can be her manager or someone else within the talent agency itself who updates the status on her behalf. Anyone can impersonate her, especially if they know what kind of person she is. And it’s not that difficult for them to do that considering they have gained access to her phone.
“So, the current location of her phone is in Muse Agency office?” I ask Ms. Chiyo. She nods as she begins to show me the tracking information. “Based on the GPS coordinate from her phone,” she explains, “It remains static since that day. I assume that the agency must have confiscated her phone. I don’t see any change in her GPS coordinate. I’m pretty sure they’re doing this just to be cautious about us.”
Our investigation becomes stagnant after that. It feels like we’re reaching a dead end. Does that mean we will never be able to arrest Satoru Yuuya and puts this case to end? Even if we’re reaching a dead end, I’m not going to give up just yet. I can tell that dad also doesn’t want to let go of this investigation just like that. Pretty much everyone feels the same way about this.
As much as I adore a day like this where we can have a normal life as a high schooler, it still doesn’t feel good. We don’t want our life to be so stagnant. But then again, there’s nothing much we can do other than to sit back and wait for the clues to come in. I guess that these clues will eventually come to us. Even Ms. Shoko can’t provide us with any leads anymore. Their investigation about Shi
nya Fukuyama is also facing a roadblock.
Every day feels like a typical day to both of us. The only time when we feel that it’s different than usual is when Mr. Sakakibara comes to our coffee shop. Even though he operates a bar which is only next to our coffee shop, it feels weird to see him around this time. “Why you kids look at me like you’ve never seen me? It’s not that I’ve never been here,” he says to us. He looks annoyed when he notices our surprise look.
“No, it’s just that…we rarely see you around this time. That’s all,” I say to him. He chuckles as he lights up a cigarette. “Well, I love having a peaceful day like this where I can do my usual routine and have a cup of coffee here. I bet that Minoru is getting used to this kind of life too,” he says to us as he looks at dad. Dad only smiles sheepishly because of Mr. Sakakibara’s comment. “You’re right. Sometimes, it’s not so bad when we have days like this,” dad says to us.
I guess we’re probably asking too much about this. As evening approaches, we have fewer customers in the coffee shop. The customers are getting fewer as the closing time is getting nearer. So, dad instructs us to get ready for closing. When we’re cleaning the place, a man who is in his mid-30s comes inside the coffee shop. He’s wearing a beret and sunglasses. It doesn’t look so out of place with his casual attire. He’s bringing a bag with a tablet inside.
“I’m sorry, but are you guys about to close?” He asks us. I look at dad, signaling him what I need to say to him. I can’t tell him that we’re about to close because it’s rude for me to say it to him. In fact, I don’t want the same thing to happen again. “Well, we’re about to close,” dad says to him, “But since you’re here, you can say that we’re still open.”
The man smiles when we tell him that we’re still open. He then walks and takes a seat which is far from the public view. The place itself is isolated, but some people love this spot if they need personal space. Some will prefer to sit near the counter because they want to have a chat with dad. I do know that some women are trying to speak to Hayato, but he never talks to them other than smiling at them.
The man looks around as he takes his seat. I realize that he’s looking at the guys who are outside of the coffee shop. Those guys cringe when they see that he’s entering here. These guys can choose to come and cause a ruckus here, but they don’t. I wonder if those men are pursuing him. “Please give me this set,” he says to me as I begin to take his order. “Sir, I don’t mean to be nosy,” I ask him, “But are these guys out there following you around?”
He looks surprised when I broach this subject to him. I assume that he will refuse to answer my question, but he doesn’t hesitate at all to tell me. “Yes, they are. They’ve been following me around for the past few days. The only place they never step inside is this coffee shop and the bar next door,” the man says to me.
From the look of it, they must be people who are stalking him. But what prompts them to stalk someone like him? Who is he? “Are you Mr. Nishikawa?” Mr. Sakakibara asks him. The man then turns to him. He smiles when he sees Mr. Sakakibara. “Oh, I’ve never thought that I will see you here, Mr. Uehara. Now I feel relieved when you’re around,” the man says. It feels weird to hear the man addressing Mr. Sakakibara with a fake name. But we’ll get used to it.
“So, you know each other?” Dad asks him. Mr. Sakakibara nods at dad. “Yup, he’s one of the people who frequent my bar. He’s the only one who always drinks until he’s so drunk that he can’t even get up. I have to call a taxi just to send him home,” Mr. Sakakibara replies. The man only smiles sheepishly. He feels embarrassed with what Mr. Sakakibara says about him. Mr. Sakakibara then introduces us to him. His name is Koutarou Nishikawa.
“Why they’re following you?” I ask Mr. Nishikawa as I serve his order. He doesn’t say anything to me. I assume that he’s avoiding the question. “Look, sir,” Yuuto interrupts, “It will be your fault if these buffoons come and make a ruckus in this place. If you don’t tell us, we can only tell the police that you did this. It’s clear that these people are after you. So, you’d better tell us before anything happens.”
Mr. Nishikawa snickers when Yuuto threatens him. Before Yuuto gets into the fight with him, Hayato pats his shoulder. “Let me handle him,” he says to Yuuto. Hayato isn’t the kind of person who gets involved in a petty fight like this. I guess maybe he can handle this situation far better than Yuuto.
Hayato carries a metal fork as he stands right in front of Mr. Nishikawa’s table. “What now? Are you going to threaten me just like that brat?” He’s mocking Hayato. Hayato remains silent without arguing back. As Mr. Nishikawa feels like he’s winning, Hayato begins to bend the metal fork right in front of him. He throws the fork at him, making Mr. Nishikawa looking terrified.
“We mean what we say, sir,” Hayato says to him, “We can always hand you over to them. Whatever happens to you after that is none of our business. I’m pretty sure that those guys out there can bend a metal fork just like me.” Mr. Nishikawa looks horrified when he sees Hayato’s expression. I think Hayato looks a lot more terrifying than those guys out there.
“Okay! Okay! I tell you guys,” he screams at us. He finally gives up and begins to tell us why these guys are after him. “Well, I don’t know why the guys from Awatori Group are after me. But I think it must have something to do with my blog.” So, those guys are after him because of his blog? Hey, he can’t be serious about that, right?
He looks annoyed when we don’t believe in what he says. “Just take a look at my blog. You’ll know why once you just take a look at my latest blog post,” he says to us as he gives us the link to his blog. We begin to have a look at his blog once he provides us with the link. We thought that he must be writing something that threatens the Awatori Group. But that’s not even the case.
His blog is about the idol industry. It’s not a gossip blog featuring the idols. Instead, he writes about the shady business of the idol industry. Most of the posts are about Muse Agency. It’s hard to know whether the posts about Muse Agency on Tako Forum are rumors or not. So, his blog is more like confirming whether the rumors are true or not. He also includes the evidence to support his arguments.
I don’t remember much about the rumors I’ve read on Tako Forum. But it seems like the rumors posted there are true. This is according to what Mr. Nishikawa had discovered. “How do you know about this?” I ask him. I wish he only makes things up, but it doesn’t look that way no matter how hard I try to deny it. Maybe he can fake the evidence, but I doubt that he’ll go that far just to make his posts credible.
“Well, I got this information from an insider from Muse Agency. Sorry, I can’t tell you much about this guy. This is the only thing I can tell you,” he replies. Judging by the way he responds to my question and also his body language, I don’t see any doubt in his answers. “Wow, it’s great to know that you have someone who can supply information to you. He must be convenient to have around,” I say to him.
Mr. Nishikawa snickers at me. “Kid, you don’t understand people,” he says to us, “Do you think he will tell me everything without any compensation? That’s not going to happen! I can only get the information in exchange for something else. It can be another information or money. Those sorts of people will never care about you if you don’t have anything valuable to give to them.”
Well, what he says is true, though. I don’t think he can get the information he wants that easily without any exchange involved. “Who are you then? You don’t look like an average blogger to us. I don’t think an ordinary blogger will go that far just for a blog update. It’s understandable that the blogosphere itself is competitive. But I don’t believe that it’s worth the trouble to do something so drastic,” Yuuto says to him.
Mr. Nishikawa sighs when Yuuto asks him. “Well, you’re right about that. If I’m just an ordinary blogger, I don’t think I will go that far just to increase my blog readership. Back in the old days, I used to work as a writer in Peppermint Magazine. Finding scoops
for the magazine is what we do all the time. So, I have no problem with finding scoops for my blog,” he answers.
I remember that Shiori used to say that Peppermint Magazine covers a lot of idol groups. They even talk about the smallest one. But they’re mostly focusing on the rising idols. Shiori gave me an issue with her on the cover before, so I know a bit about the magazine. The magazine is more like an introduction to the idol world, so it’s perfect for the beginner idol otaku.
“I quit writing for Peppermint Magazine. They always shunned me for writing something negative about Shinya Fukuyama. If I attempt to do that, not only I will bring trouble to the publication, but I will also put them out of business. He’s not the kind of person that you want to mess with, considering how influential he is in the idol industry. You can say that every media will suck up to him because of that,” he says to us.
“So, this is why you start a blog instead? That sounds like you’re declaring a direct fight against Shinya Fukuyama. What makes you think you have a better chance to win against him? Even the police don’t feel like messing up with him. He’s not that different from the guys from Awatori Group,” dad says to him. Dad is being harsh on him, but what he says is true. Sometimes, the best way to win is to stay out of it.
Mr. Nishikawa sighs. He clenches his fist when dad asks him about it. “I know that I have no chance of winning against him. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to sit down and do nothing. This is my job as a journalist to tell the truth about him and the Muse Agency. On top of that, I don’t want the same thing happened to Sayaka Minami will also happen to another idol. If what I write will make the press and the police take action, then my job is done.”
Mr. Sakakibara sighs when he hears Mr. Nishikawa’s answer. “Do you think writing a blog post about this will make the police take action? It’s not so simple.” Somehow, what Mr. Sakakibara is saying seems to ruffle Mr. Nishikawa’s feathers. “Of course, I know that,” he says while slamming his hand on the table. He almost spills the coffee when he does that.
“I’m currently supplying information to someone in Public Security Bureau. I heard that they’re trying to convict Shinya Fukuyama for sex trafficking. But they lack evidence. This is what I’m doing right now. Of course, the reward is a lot too, but I’m not doing this because of the reward alone,” he says to us.
He looks rather emotional when Mr. Sakakibara is criticizing his action. But we’re glad to know that he’s working together side-by-side with Public Security Bureau. I think this is where Ms. Shoko gets their information from. She already has someone else to infiltrate the agency as one of their staffs. But it doesn’t hurt for them to receive information from another source. What matters is it helps with making their investigation moving forward.
“Is that alright for you to say it out loud about it? Those guys out there won’t let you off the hook if they overhear your confession,” dad says to him. He only looks at dad. “I’m okay with that. Besides, I feel much safer when I’m here. I don’t know why, but you guys give me the same aura like the guys I’ve met in Public Security Bureau.”
We’re somewhat surprised with his remark, but none of us are giving any clues that we’re from PSIA. So, I guess we’re safe for now. “You say that you’re not doing this for reward. So, why you’re willing to help Public Security Bureau? Do you realize what sort of trouble you’re getting into?” Yuuto asks him. I bet that he’s trying to avert Mr. Nishikawa’s attention from suspecting us any longer.
Mr. Nishikawa smiles when he asks him that. He begins to tell us the reason why he does it as he sits down. “Well, I’m doing this for Sayaka Minami, the late popular idol. I felt that I needed to do this when I found out that she didn’t die because of suicide. She died because of someone else’s fault. He was the one who caused her to die in the first place. Not only that, but even Shinya Fukuyama also wanted her to die.”
I can tell how frustrated Mr. Nishikawa is when he’s telling us about Sayaka Minami. “I’m sorry for not knowing much about her,” I say to him, “But how did she die? And how did you know that this person was the one who caused her to die?” Mr. Nishikawa takes a deep breath before he begins to tell us everything.
“This was based on my own investigation. I was still working for Peppermint Magazine back then,” he says, “She died because a truck hit her. She was crossing the street at that time. She didn’t realize that the traffic light for the pedestrian has already turned red. So, she just crossed the road without noticing that there was a truck speeding ahead. The police concluded that she was just careless. But that wasn’t the case at all.”
Judging by Mr. Nishikawa’s story, there’s nothing bizarre about her death. It sounds like an excuse to hide the fact that she attempted to commit suicide. There are so many cases where the person committed suicide using the same method. They’re trying to do this just to make it look like they died because of an accident. Only people who want to claim their life insurance will do such thing.
Mr. Nishikawa continues with his story about Sayaka Minami’s death. “Her fans knew all along that she was suffering from depression. We were happy to know that she was getting better through her blog. The ironic part was she updated her blog just a few hours before she died. If she did want to commit suicide, she would have never bothered to update her blog. Even before that, she never said anything about wanting to end her life.”
I agree with what Mr. Nishikawa says about this. Her death seems like an orchestrated death to me. For the time being, I can only say that Shinya Fukuyama must be behind this. Everyone then keeps listening to Mr. Nishikawa’s story. “I began to investigate about this because I felt suspicious about her death. Throughout the investigation, I found out that she suddenly acted weird and started to run off on her own. It was unthinkable to people around her at that time.”
For some reason, I can feel where the story will lead us to. From the way Sayaka Minami was behaving at that time, it sounds more like she has a microchip implant. And the microchip implant triggered her to commit suicide. So, that explained why she was acting weird before she died. I can only think of this as a possibility. But we have yet to find out if Satoru Yuuya is involved with Shinya Fukuyama and the Muse Agency.
“Later that year, I came across this topic on Tako Forum. It was about using a microchip implant as a mind control device,” he continues, “I didn’t believe it. It sounded silly to me. Despite not believing it, I felt like investigating about this. After doing my own investigation, I found out that the microchip implant was real. And it was possible to use it as a mind control. Even the finding from Public Security Bureau confirmed my investigation.”
“So, you think Sayaka Minami already had a microchip implant at that time? And you suspected that the microchip implant was the actual cause of her death?” I ask him. Mr. Nishikawa nods. “Yes. At that time, I only thought of it as a possibility. I began to be sure about it when I found out about a guy named Satoru Yuuya. He was the one who gave her a microchip implant. I didn’t know much about him other than him being a close aide to Shinya Fukuyama.”
I feel frustrated when I hear the name again. Now, everything about his involvement with Shiori makes sense. Mr. Nishikawa then continues with his story. “I thought that this Satoru Yuuya guy was related to Awatori Group. But he didn’t seem to have any connection with anyone there. But I know that Shinya Fukuyama did have a connection with them. It’s nothing surprising because it’s normal for the talent agency to have a link with a yakuza group.”
After listening to Mr. Nishikawa’s story, everything seems clear to me now. Satoru Yuuya is indeed working side-by-side with Shinya Fukuyama. We’re happy that we finally have a lead about his current whereabouts. But we don’t get why he wants to work together with someone like Shinya Fukuyama. Somehow, I feel that his cooperation with Shinya Fukuyama is nothing but a catastrophe.