Well? How is it? Do they have food like this in Lungmen?
Hoshiguma
(Continues shoveling rice)
Detective
Would you look at that. Tell me, just how long has it been since you've enjoyed a proper Higashinese meal?
Hoshiguma
(Shoves chop into mouth)
Detective
Whatever... eat up.
Hoshiguma
(Noisily chews and crunches cabbage)
Hoshiguma
(Gulps water)
Hoshiguma
(Tilts head back and dumps remaining contents of bowl into mouth)
Hoshiguma
(Puts down empty bowl)
Hoshiguma
Phew.
Detective
Tastes like home, doesn't it?
Hoshiguma
It's not a home or nostalgia thing, Detective-san. I'm just hungry.
Detective
Why you——
Hoshiguma
Actually, I had a fried meatchop with rice right before I left Lungmen. Next time, could you get me something else? Like some oden from the place you dragged me out of? It smelled amazing—I didn't even get a sip of the broth.
Hoshiguma
And for the record, when I was footing the bill to feed suspects back in Lungmen, I always ordered cheongfun.
Detective
I suggest you start taking this a bit more seriously, Hoshiguma. You're the suspect this time.
Hoshiguma
Me? I haven't even been in Mitsukue for twenty-four hours. What could you possibly suspect me of?
Detective
A suspect in a case from twenty years ago isn't a suspect?
Let's run another lap. How about it, partner? Think you can keep up with me?
Hoshiguma
Looks like you're good. Let's go.
Hoshiguma
(Is that the lady's car?)
The single-horned oni lays across the vehicle, sizes up the end of the straightaway, then charges dead ahead.
The howling winds make it hard for her to tell just how far her pursuers are.
Hoshiguma
What brings you here, ma'am?
Fumizuki
I'm just stopping by. I don't plan on staying long.
Fumizuki
Yenwu told me that before Swire set out for New Siesta, she tidied up all internal affairs, to lighten the load for those of you left behind.
Hoshiguma
Yeah. If Missy hadn't wrapped things up before leaving, how could I have found the time to come here?
Fumizuki
That's true. Then what is it that's troubling you, Inspector Hoshiguma?
Hoshiguma
You can see it in my face, huh?
Fumizuki
I wouldn't say so.
Fumizuki
However, if repeatedly pushing the pedal to the metal still leaves you wrestling with anxiety, you shouldn't bottle all that emotion up on your own.
Fumizuki
You and I are both Higashinese. When Little Ch'en and Swire aren't here, I have to act in their stead.
Hoshiguma
We are... aren't we?
Fumizuki
Indeed we are. Higashinese.
Hoshiguma
I can't hide anything from you, ma'am. I recently received a letter...
'Dear Madam,
Summer's end is nigh, yet the stubborn heat still lingers—please mind your good health. Twenty years have passed with nary a word between us. Much has transpired—things best left unwritten. Yet I feel compelled to write to you, though I regret any trouble this may cause.
This letter is written for no other reason than the decade or so that we spent together in our hometown of Kajimachi, which is soon to vanish from the map.
Though the land is unaware, its people still have feelings; therefore, I have humbly taken it upon myself to organize the funeral rites for Kajimachi, which will be held soon.
In my waning years, to see old friends once more would be a grand blessing.
Sincerely,
Tessai'
Fumizuki
What a solemn, I mean, traditional letter.
Fumizuki
This is the man who arranged for your refuge in Lungmen—the so-called 'father' of Hannya?
Hoshiguma
That's right. I called him Uncle Tessai. It's been so many years, he must be in his seventies or eighties by now.
Hoshiguma
I lived in Kajimachi before I left Mitsukue.
Fumizuki
And so, is it not only proper to return to Kajimachi one last time, before it is no more?
Hoshiguma
To be honest, when I first came to Lungmen, I considered settling here for good. I thought about moving elsewhere if things didn't work out, even leaving Yan altogether, the same way I left Higashi—but the one thing I never considered was going back home.
Hoshiguma
It's been twenty years. I don't even know what Mitsukue is like these days. Instead of going back home, I might as well come here for a ride and to grab a plate of street food—stir-fried noodles—to put my mind at ease.
Fumizuki
Don't you have a good reason to go home? The funeral, no?
Hoshiguma
......
Fumizuki
You've volunteered to serve as a mighty guardian of Lungmen, throwing yourself into the fight without hesitation. Yenwu, myself, Lin, and all your friends—we've seen it with our own eyes.
Fumizuki
But you shouldn't limit yourself. You're more than that.
Fumizuki
Little Ch'en is gone, and Yühsia has more or less taken over for her father. One L.G.D. Commissioner alone won't keep this operation afloat.
Hoshiguma
I have neglected my responsibilities.
Fumizuki
Nonsense.
Fumizuki
Before Little Ch'en left Lungmen, you had words with her. They eventually reached my ears as well, whether I wanted to hear them or not.
Fumizuki
Even if the problems you've bottled up inside can never be resolved, simply going back to have a chat with him while he still walks among the living is worth your while, yes?
Hoshiguma
You're right.
Fumizuki
By the way, don't forget to bring back a few packs of proper Higashinese senbei for me?
Hoshiguma
Senbei?
Fumizuki
A 'jianbing' shop opened up near the L.G.D. I thought it was Higashinese senbei, with the name translated, so I went and placed an order.
Fumizuki
It wasn't until the piping-hot pancake came out—stuffed with fowlbeast egg, crispy meat, and scallions—that I realized it wasn't a senbei at all, but a Jiangqi jianbing. These are completely different dishes.
I think we've resolved any and all misunderstandings between us, right Detective Koretou?
Detective Koretou
The oyabun of the Kinsekikai yakuza clan sent you a letter, inviting you to the funeral in Kajimachi, his turf. And after some persuading from a particular individual of similar origin, you've decided to go back there—am I right?
Hoshiguma
That's right.
Detective Koretou
This particular individual...
Hoshiguma
Her identity is not important.
Detective Koretou
Is it not? If it was not for her, would you dare walk the streets of Mitsukue?
Hoshiguma
Of course I would!
Detective Koretou
......
Detective Koretou
Alright. If it really isn't important, then you can stay here a good twenty-four hours.
Detective Koretou
The station's quiet these days anyway. Hardly any of the calls we get are real emergencies.
Hoshiguma
Then what are they about?
Detective Koretou
They're reporting signs of a kaidan they want me to investigate.
Hoshiguma
A kaidan...? Like an urban legend? Ghost story?
Detective Koretou
Ha. You really haven't been back to Mitsukue for a while, huh?
Detective Koretou
This place doesn't even feel like a real police station any more—the townies have been treating us like cops from the Spiritual Affairs Station for a while now...
Detective Koretou
Who is it?
Officer on Patrol
There's someone outside for you... it's... Mifune-san.
The weary-looking detective glances at Hoshiguma, then out the door; hatred is seared across his face.
Officer on Patrol
If you're in the middle of something here, do you want me to stall him for a bit?
Detective Koretou
You? Stall him? You won't even get three words in before he calls someone else—and then that call will be routed straight to us.
Officer on Patrol
......
Detective Koretou
Send him in——
Before the detective can finish speaking, a tall Phidia strides into the room. Ignoring the officers around him, he makes a beeline for Hoshiguma.
Hoshiguma
Kinbee?!
Kinbee?
Never fear, Hoshiguma. As long as I'm here, the police can't touch you.
Detective Koretou
(Laughs dryly) Ha, ha. Kouhei Mifune-san—been a while since someone called you by your old name, from before you made it big, huh?
Mifune
Well, why don't you try it then?
Detective Koretou
......
Mifune
Good. Knowing when to yield is a virtue.
Hoshiguma
Mifune——
Mifune
Hoshiguma, you will always address me as Kinbee.
Mifune
Come. Let's go home.
Officer on Patrol
Detective Koretou still hasn't——
Mifune
Still hasn't what? Hasn't explained the basis for this arbitrary detention? Don't tell me this is about that case from twenty years ago?
Mifune
What a pity—the statute of limitations already expired, many years ago actually. The Northern Court may have revised its penal code, but that doesn't give you southerners the right to bend the law.
Officer on Patrol
Spare me the mudslinging. Even if the statute of limitations is up——
Mifune
Yes, the statute of limitations is up, so on what grounds are the police still detaining people? I want a justification—one that can withstand a Diet inquiry, a televised hearing, and the court of public opinion.
Officer on Patrol
This is intimidation!
Mifune
This is me exercising my rights under the law!
Officer on Patrol
Detective Koretou!
Detective Koretou
...Let them go.
Hoshiguma
Kinbee, Uncle Tessai sent you to get me?
Mifune
The entire Kinsekikai is awaiting your return. Let's go. Stop arguing with the cops.
They exit the police station, turn right, and cross the street.
Nita Street unfolds before Hoshiguma, in broad daylight.
The harsh white sun shines down on the street, draining the buildings of their neon shimmer and baring the raw concrete beneath.
The morning commute is in full swing. Expressionless office workers hurry past shops that are either still closed or trying half-heartedly to drum up business—none of them look nearly as glamorous as they did under the moonlight.
Who was it that threw up on the street last night? Which man was persuaded to empty his wallet at the club? Under the light of day, they all look the same.
How many years has it been?! How're things in Lungmen? Still good? We hadn't heard a peep from you all this time. I was afraid something had happened to you. I was worried sick!
Hoshiguma
I figured, after all this time, nobody thought of me as one of the Kinsekikai anymore.
Mifune
How? No matter how fate plays its tricks or how long you've been incommunicado—as long as you come back, then you're still family.
Mifune
Over the past two decades, has the Kinsekikai ever issued you an 'expulsion' or 'no-contact' notice? Never.
Mifune
Say what you will, but even now, at every official meeting, the seat to the Old Man's left is still left empty. You've always been the Kinsekikai's wakagashira—the heir apparent.
Hoshiguma
And you...?
Mifune
Why, I'm just the wakagashira-hosa, the wakagashira's second.
Mifune
Don't for a minute think the Old Man's gone senile. Everyone agrees with his decision.
Mifune
If you hadn't offed that Diet candidate twenty years ago, before I could get to him too, the Kinsekikai would've been driven out of Kajimachi—crushed under the weight of his public pressure campaign.
Mifune
Then, you made sure the rest of us were in the clear, taking all the heat for the killing. You fled to Lungmen alone, which allowed the Kinsekikai to survive.
Mifune
You've sacrificed so much for us. If we just turned our backs on you, what kind of family would that make us?
Hoshiguma
Don't say such things.
Mifune
It's all facts, clear as day, so why can't I state the facts?
Hoshiguma
Kinbee, we can talk ancient history later.
Hoshiguma
Uncle Tessai mentioned in his letter that he was holding a funeral for Kajimachi. Do you know about this?
Mifune
A what?!
Mifune
A funeral...? No... What are we talking about with a funeral?
Mifune
Madame Oni, we really don't have time to wander the streets right now. We need to get back to Kajimachi and find him as quick as we can to straighten all this out.
The tall Phidia hastens his steps and hurries off towards Kajimachi.
He walks so fast, and with such long strides, that Hoshiguma has to break into a jog just to keep up.
