~ Leen says ~
This story is: alternate universe with a plot blatantly stolen from the movie Quills.
It will be: a multi-parter.
It now has: a summary of what's to come.
It will have: loads of drama, too much plot, plenty of sex and an extra horny Sendoh.
BUTTERFLY
1. Getting the Record Straight
When the term "private investigator" is used, the image that immediately comes to mind usually is that of a trenchcoat-wearing and monologue-spouting ultra-cool ace who peers out from under his rimmed hat with only the dim glow of his lighted cigarette illuminating his face. That's the usual image.
It most certainly does not invoke the image of clean-scrubbed fresh-faced shiny-eyed Hikoichi Aida – as always, armed with a notebook and pen.
"Are you ready?" he asks, flipping his notebook open.
Sitting across from him at the coffee table is Ayako. Usually strong, cheerful and aware of everything going on around her, she's now something of a shadow of her former self, lounging in the threatening-to-fall-apart leather chair that has been in Hikoichi's office since before he moved in, and with a half-smoked cigarette dangling between her fingers.
"I've been ready for months, Hikoichi," Ayako says. Her voice is soft sort of tired, and to Hikoichi's surprise, not as bitter. She then gives a little sigh. "It's just that nobody has wanted to listen. I'm glad you do, Hikoichi-san. I'm grateful."
"We in the Ryonan Underground Network have always been dedicated to uncovering the truth, no matter how people try to hide it," Hikoichi says, with more than a little pride. "And Sendoh-san was one of us. Of course we'd want to know what really happened to him."
Ayako's fingers tremble briefly at the mention of Sendoh's name. For a moment she is still, then she sits up and savagely stuffs the cigarette out on a china plate that had been on the coffee table as a makeshift ashtray. Her eyes are alive now, no longer weary. She looks directly at the young detective.
Hikoichi nods, trying to hide his excitement behind whatever professionalism he has. "Shall I recap what the 'official' records say what happened?"
Ayako gives a wry smile. "By all means. I could do with another laugh."
He knows the official record by heart, but Hikoichi flips open the notebook out of habit. Dropping into storyteller mode, he starts to recite:
"Doujinshi legend Sendoh Akira of Ryonan was held under house arrest early January last year after publishing his third piece of work that shocked the entire nation. But instead of stopping to write, Sendoh continued to publish no less than three other doujinshis within two and a half months, each one more outspoken and twisted than before. Distraught by the manner of his works, the District Minister of Kanagawa, His Excellency Lord Takatoh had Sendoh-san admitted to the Kanagawa Mental Institute in August last year under the grounds of protecting him from the public outcry against his work, and also to stop him from publishing anything more.
"But then in March earlier this year a seventh Sendoh doujinshi was somehow smuggled out of the institute and published, this one even 'filthier' than his previous ones. Lord Takatoh had his best disciplinary minister, Lord Fujima, go to the institute to stop Sendoh personally because it seemed that the then-warden, Rukawa Kaede, had not been strict enough. At first Lord Fujima was not successful, as an eighth doujinshi was released a mere few days afterward.
"But then the writings stopped, and it was perceived that Lord Fujima had succeeded. But then a fire broke out in the institute, during which Sendoh tried to escape. Lord Fujima caught him in the act of escaping, and Sendoh retaliated by brutally murdering the heroic Lord Fujima, but couldn't complete his own escape because he was then crushed under a fallen pillar and burned to death. About this time, Rukawa Kaede went insane for reasons unknown and is currently being kept under strict confinement in the institute."
Hikoichi stops and takes a deep breath. He had been watching Ayako the whole time during his recital, and her expression was something of cynical humour, and a little angry around the edges.
"That's what the official records say," Hikoichi says, his voice now lacking the impersonal recitation tone.
"What is your opinion, Hikoichi-san?" Ayako asks, looking off into the distance.
Hikoichi holds her gaze steadily. "I believe that Sendoh would never kill anyone. Not even if that person stood in the way of his escape. I believe that Lord Fujima is not the wonderful heroic person everyone believes he is. I believe that they're hiding something about what really happened in there, simply because they hate Sendoh and want to keep him the villain. They hated Sendoh, because he represented freedom of speech."
There is another pause, this one achingly long to Hikoichi. Then, not in response to his previous statement, Ayako then sighs, "So many facts wrong, so many events distorted, and one major player missing."
Hikoichi's eyebrows jump briefly. "So it's true? That there was someone else involved in this whole fiasco?"
"What have you heard?"
"Red hair," Hikochi says. "There was someone with red hair."
For the first time since she's arrived at his office, Ayako smiles. "His name was Sakuragi Hanamichi."
Hikoichi's pen jumps eagerly to his notebook as he immediately writes the name down, also managing to note with his detective's ears that Ayako used the word 'was'. "And how was he involved in all of this? Was he a nurse or orderly under you at the institute?"
Ayako takes another painful pause, but this time it looks as though she's weaving through the thoughts in her head as though to choose where to start her story, or how to start it. After a while, she says, "He was a laundry boy. Not just a laundry boy, but a tensai laundry boy, as he loved to proclaim every day. Now he's the key of the whole story. The bane and boon of the institute, as Sendoh used to put it."
"And…"
Ayako looks at the young detective sharply. "You better be ready for this, Hikoichi-san. I censor nothing, hide nothing. You can't take it or you won't believe it, and I walk. Do you understand?"
Hikoichi grips his pen. "Perfectly."
"Good. Now let's begin."
~ tbc ~