*** It's the year of the bunnies now! for those who celebrates lunar new year, happy chinese new year! (Well, actually, yesterday is the new year XD) Year of the BUNNIES! ***
Chapter LVI: Aku no Hana
11.40 AM
In Gumi's house, everything was well put, and the white flowers in the living room made the atmosphere brighter. A large round table was in the center of the room, with pale lilac cushions surrounding them. Not many people in Japan had sofas after all; they have cushions to sit on. The floor and walls look plain; however that room looked almost dirt free.
"I'll go get some tea." Gumi said after escorting the two of them to that room.
In the last few days, Rin studied how Japanese people sit. While Rin sat on the cushion in a 'proper' way for Japanese, Len couldn't care less and he just sat on the floor cross-legged.
From the looks of it, Rin really looked… miserable. There was a heavy guilt on her two shoulders, and nothing could take the burden off. If the yakuzas were to extinct from the world, the load from her shoulders might disappear. Though she didn't want that, yakuzas are also human beings and those people might have families and valuable lives.
"Here's the tea." Gumi carried the teapot and the cups. They could see her fingers trembled with the tray. Rin was about to help her, but Gumi already put the tray down to the round table. She poured the tea into the cups and started a conversation.
"So, what's Enbizaka like?" It's a place filled with misery where 'die' was no longer an uncommon word, thanks to a certain tailor / psychopath. Len wanted to say that, he also wanted to know if Gumi had heard about the Conchita pond and the victims, but he didn't want the 'mood' to be more depressing than it already is.
"The sento is wonderful." Len named the one thing he didn't hate about Enbizaka, the bath house. He knew Rin had to take her mind off the burning house, and he knew thathehad to take his mind off it.
"In Akane the sento is nice too; I think almost every village has its own sento." Gumi took a sip of her warm tea and added. "You know, when we first got here, the room is filled with dust and it took us a while to clean everything. It looks nice now, don't you think?" She changed the subject immediately.
"You two did a good job, everything looks more than fine. I couldn't see a single speck of dirt" Actually he could see few on the pillows, and some in the corner. Len meant to say a compliment, so he shouldn't point out all the dust in the room.
"I'm happy to hear that." Gumi said and looked at Rin. Len had replied to all her questions, while Rin said none. "Rin, are you okay?" After she asked, Rin still didn't respond. She kept looking down, and they could guess Rin had countless things in mind.
"Rin?" Gumi called out again, and that time, Rin finally answered back.
"Yes?" She didn't pay attention at all, that made Gumi worried. How could she distract Rin from what she just saw? Could it be better to tell the whole story to her?
"You're still thinking about the yakuzas aren't you?" Rin didn't need to answer, all of them knew.
"When we were small, the Yamaguchi-gumi's branch hasn't exist. After we arrived here a few days ago, we heard about the yakuzas. None of the things we heard were good at all. The leader of the branch here, he's really powerful. Everything belonged to him. If the yakuzas are short in money, she'd take them from the people. Those who go against him, he'd order his 'servants' to destroy them. Many people call him an Aku no Hana (evil flower)." Gumi told her story.
"Aku no Hana? When I imagine a yakuza, I picture a strong muscular man. People call him a flower?" Len wondered. A flower isn't very 'manly'.
"That's because the leader… likes to put on beautiful kimonos, people sometimes mistook him as a girl. All I know, he has the Yamaguchi-gumi's symbol on his palm. Although he's a beautiful flower, healmostlooks fragile, it has too many thorns (protection) he can't be harmed easily by the villagers." Rin could imagine, many houses were burnt to ashes, many lives lost, the sorrow of the suffering people, it doesn't reach his ears?
"And there's nothing we could do about it?" Rin asked. She could guess the answer, and she also guessed that the reason why Gumi told her the 'story' is because Gumi hoped that Rin would be afraid of the yakuzas and just forget about it. No, that didn't make her afraid. That made her… angry at Aku no Hana.
"Nothing. So, try to forget it okay? They're dangerous people." A tone of worry from Gumi's voice could be heard. Of course, Rin didn't want Gumi to be any more worried than that.
"I'll try." She won't, she wouldn't forget about it, though she'd try.
"Good! Anyway, let's change the subject. Gakupo runs the general store near here, we have almost everything. If you have time, stop by there and but something there, okay?" Again, Gumi changed the subject.
"What does he sell?" Rin finally went along with the conversation. That made both Len and Gumi glad. At least she spoke a few words and able to reply.
"It's near the hanami festival, so we have fireworks, sake, we even have bath equipments, do you like sento too?" The general store had so many things; Gumi couldn't remember all of them. She could only name a few, which made her change the subject, again.
"I like it, but… I'm not sure what to do there. It's relaxing, but all you do is sit in the bath and do nothing." Rin remembered her previous trip to the bath house.
'Her mood seems… normal.' It's near to her usual self, Len thought. Rather than spend the rest of his day with girls, he preferred to do something else.
"Gumi, do you know where the nearest inn is?" Len asked, they were looking for an inn before everything else happened.
"The only inn here is in front of the general shop. It's not far, east from here." Gumi pointed where she thought was east.
"I'll walk around the neighborhood. Rin, you know where the inn is right?" Rin nodded and Len continued. "Thank you for the tea." He said and left Gumi's house.
'I might as well check in, there's nothing else to do.' Len said and walked to the east. From where Len was, he couldn't see smoke. Could they have put down the fire? Maybe.
"Oh, Len!" He turned around the second Len heard that voice. Len recognized it was Kaito's voice instantly.
"Are you done 'researching'? Or are you out on a stroll?" Len stared at the lantern on Kaito's hand, and a shopping bag filled with... Who knows what.
"I'm preparing myself. I'll break inside tonight. Can you believe Japan doesn't have a torch? Instead they have lanterns." Kaito lowered his voice. Any of those people could be listening. He met one strange villager; he didn't want to 'attract' yet another stranger.
"It's true, they don't even have light bulbs here." All they have is candles, Len thought. "What are you doing now?" Len spent most of his day 'trapped' inside his mansion, either reading or playing the piano. The problem was, none of those two things were there in Japan. It'd be a miracle if there's a piano somewhere in Akane. And of course, he didn't believe in miracles. The only thing he could do was to read the rest of the documents that they found in Enbizaka.
"I'm looking for a bath house…" Of course. It's common for bath houses to have ice cream, and Len had no interest in them. "And, hey. I just found out that Gakupo runs the general store there." Kaito pointed at the general store he was just in. Perfect, the inn is in front of the general store. Len's search was over.
"Have fun with your search." Len said and went for the inn.
"You're going to the inn?" Kaito halted him, and he gave his lantern and bag to Len.
"I don't want to be seen carrying a lantern in every step I take." He added.
10.20 PM
At first Kaito wanted to break in at midnight, but he couldn't. He felt really tired, and he felt a slight regret that he walked around the village the whole day. Kaito didn't regret 100% since he found what he was looking for.
He carried the unlit lantern on his left hand, so Kaito could everything else with his right hand. No one was there, Kaito could tell since no light candles were there. Just to be safe, he blocked the windows with the cloth he bought from the general store. That means he could safely use his lantern. That task done, Kaito lit up his lantern and explored the administration building.
'It should be at the back of the room… Shouldn't it?' Kaito guessed.
After a few minutes of searching, Kaito finally found it. Every door he tried to access so far was locked except that. Lucky for him, the door wasn't a sliding door, it needs a key in order to get in. Kaito could pick lock, and he had his basic tools with him. The general store didn't have everything, but at least the basic of the basic were there. 1. A screwdriver. 2. A paperclip. Kaito put down his lantern and straighten his paperclip. He bent it 90 degrees, close to the other end. Kaito turned his screwdriver clockwise, then counterclockwise. He tried to feel the stiffness. If he turned the lock the wrong way, he could feel it hard and stiff.
A few turns later, Kaito used his bent paperclip and insert it in the keyhole. He had to push all of the spring in the keyhole up. Kaito could hear a 'click' from the small hole. That was a sign that the door could be opened. He carried the lantern with him and went inside the room. After he got in, Kaito examined the room. A simple room crowded cupboards. The only thing that Kaito could think of that was inside the cupboard were the documents. Luckily, he didn't need to pick another lock, since all the keys were hanged there in the room.
'The girl's right, there's no security at all.' Kaito said and opened the first cupboard.
Kaito didn't think what he did was crime. He wouldn'ttakethe documents, he'd read the documents, memorize them, and then he'd leave. Kaito just need to rewrite everything so that Len could read the data he found.
Every villager in Akane was listed there, complete with their data. Name, place of birth, date of birth, everything.
'I wonder if I could finish reading them all… There are more documents than I had expected. Maybe I'll just read… fast.' Kaito gave a limit to himself. Finished or not, he had to leave the building by 2 AM.
2.15 AM
'Done.' Kaito said to himself. He put all the documents back to their rightful place and left the building with his lantern off. He remembered the path he took, so light wasn't necessary. Kaito only needed light for the 'reading'. He made the building looked exactly the same as before. Kaito put down all the cloth and went outside.
He reviewed everything that he read in that room, and from all the documents he read, one was suspicious. A teacher named Hiyama Kiyoteru, he spent half of his life in England, but he went back to Japan 4 years ago.
'What's he doing here in Japan…?' Kaito asked to himself. Hiyama Kiyoteru gave his lessons to children in his own house. His house was a like a 'school' for the children in the village.
"Impressive. I'm guessing you've found what you want? You don't look disappointed, so I'm guessing you've found it." The girl he saw from before, she stood with the same position and expression just like earlier afternoon.
"I guess you could say that." Kaito didn't mind telling her that, she wasn't a police. Or was she? Ignoring the question would make the girl more suspicious, it's better to answer shortly Kaito thought.
"You know, I thought you'd take something from there. But it looks like… you don't have anything taken from there." The girl looked at the bag in Kaito's hand. It's filled with his tools.
"No, I didn't steal anything. I went inside, then I went out." Kaito answered. That was what happened, he didn't lie. He just didn't tell her that he memorized every word from the documents he just read. Of course, the girl didn't believe Kaito.
"Let's trade information then. I'll tell you what I found there, and you give me an answer to my question." There's something that Kaito wanted to ask her the moment he saw the girl. She nodded, and they just had an agreement.
"I memorized the words in the documents I read inside, because I'm looking for someone. Is my answer satisfying enough?" The girl didn't believe him, so Kaito continued on."I have eidetic memory, also known as photographic memory. It's a talent, so I could remember anything and I could never forget it no matter how hard I try."Thatanswer was satisfying.
"And your question is…?" The girl asked.
"I want to know your name." Kaito might know who she was, he knew all the villagers' names, he just didn't know which one was which.
"My name is Namine Ritsu. People often call me Aku no Hana. It's nice to meet you." The girl said.
