Cement Mixing Chapter – Part VIII
The following morning Kanbei wakes still very much in a daze, as does the woman at his side, her libido apparently satisfied for the time being, though he wonders how much of that was really his own doing. She gives off the impression that she's very much in love, but he really has no way to know for sure. There were too many wild factors with this one, but here she was still, and at the prospect of nothing more than having the opportunity to get inside of her again, he didn't ask her to leave.
She spends part of the morning fishing around for her clothes, but gives up pretty easily once she finds something far more interesting in her search.
It's a book – an old worn out book. One of his, probably the only one he owned that wasn't strictly academic. He doesn't say it out loud but he's had it since he was fourteen.
"Where'd you dig that old thing up from?" He asks as she starts at it curiously.
"It was just under the bed."
"Huh, really now."
"Hey is this your handwriting?"
"Yeah, it's uh -"
"This isn't your diary, is it?!" She starts flipping through it furiously, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"Wouldn't it be a journal in that case?"
"Hey, this all, like notes from school I think? Not one doodle in sight either – you were pretty good at taking notes huh? Oh, aren't these news articles?"
"Yeah something like that." What he has in her hands is less a notebook and more of a scrapbook. It was definitely old as hell, and it certainly was law and order themed, but there was a bit more to it than that.
A slip of stocky paper slips out from between some pages and lands on the floor.
She picks it up – for a moment her eyes look confused, but then they look back up at him with their usual curiousness. "Hey, isn't this a picture of -"
The moment he sees what she's got in her hands he snatches it away from her. Naturally it was that photo, the one of his father and that woman. He hadn't even realized that he'd left it in there. "Yeah that's, her, with my dad."
"I didn't know they were like that." She says a little quietly. Then she gasps. "They didn't fuck, did they?"
"Jury's still out on that one."
"All these little articles – they're all about her too, aren't they?"
"Hey, when you've held a grudge for long enough, right?"
But they weren't all like that – naturally he had all the old clippings from '93 stuffed away in there as well. He'd filled it out with everything important to him – and especially when he was younger, when things got too tedious, he'd open it up and remember what all of it was for.
And none of it ever even happened.
She stares off into the distance for a moment as though deep in thought. In the next, she stuffs the photo back in the scrapbook and slides it back under the bed. Then she grabs both his hands, slipping her fingers in-between his.
"Hey let's go on a picnic."
"Sure. I see the train of thought and everything."
"I'm being serious you know."
"I know. God forbid something came out of your mouth that wasn't."
"I told you didn't I?"
"Yeah, yeah, no need to get out your soap box."
"What's that?"
"Forget it."
To his horror he was already accustomed to the level of nonsense that came rolling off of her tongue, and it was only just the dawn of the third day. Would the sex actually continue to be worth it? Probably not, but it wasn't like he had the self control to do anything with that dull certainty.
"So are we going?" She gives him the single most phony pleading look he's ever seen in his life.
"Alright, fine."
She gives him a big kiss, and soon enough she's rummaging through the bed sheets trying to find her clothes. Just then, however, there's actually a knock on his door. It was a visitor. What a novel concept. But probably some hopeful reporter that found out where his apartment was -
"Hey, Kacchan, can I come in?" The voice is muffled, but undeniably that of his uncle.
Oh fuck.
"Hey, um, this is my uncle, so can we -"
Without any further prompt she burrows under the sheets as though to hide herself. He sighs with frustration, but then the door opens.
His uncle comes in before he can so much as button up his shirt, but arguably his own state is far worse - his hair a mess and his eyes bloodshot wearing a very dirty looking suit, he's got the same dopey smile on his face as always.
"What the hell happened to you?"
"Fuwa District does not fuck around. Wanted me to fistfight one of their mayors before they'd agree to our terms."
"That's a likely story."
"At least I don't have to ask about what you've been up to." Satoshi narrows his eyes at the small hint of a dainty foot peaking out from under the sheets.
"O-Oh, um -"
"You don't have to introduce me. I think I've got a pretty good idea of who's under there as is."
"Ah, alright, sure..." He sighs again, pulling the sheets over her exposed foot and trying his best to pretend that she wasn't there.
"I'm sorry for interrupting too, but can you come with me for a bit?"
"Like, you want to go somewhere?"
"Sure, what's so strange about that?"
There's nothing that wasn't strange about it. He couldn't remember the last time they'd actually done anything together, even in a business capacity. "Yeah okay, sure, just give me a minute."
"No prob – I'll just wait outside."
"Looking like that? Are you crazy? One dumbass reporter is all it takes -"
"Ah come on, Kacchan. I'm not gonna cause any trouble. Promise." With that his uncle drifts out of the room the way one might first climb out of bed in the morning.
His roommate pokes her head out from under the sheets, furrowing her eyebrows as though deep in thought. "Do you think he liked me?"
"Can you manage one appropriate thought? Just one?"
"Hee hee, you first, Kacchan."
Grumbling the whole time he dresses himself while she just stays there wrapped up in the sheets. "I'll be back awhile later. You might want to just go home."
"No way, we've gotta go on our picnic first!"
"We probably can't today."
"Then that makes things easy, doesn't it?"
"Have you even eaten anything in the last twenty-four hours?"
"I can go buy something while you're out." After fumbling with it for awhile she manages to produce the remote for his television from under the bed and starts mindlessly flipping through the channels. "I'll be alright. You go have fun with your uncle. Today's gotta be a pretty big day for the both of you, right?"
She at least has a point about that. Without much further delay, he manages to put himself together and heads out into the hallway.
His uncle is waiting on the far end. He just manages to catch him taking his usual pills before he turns to face him, his smile beaming as usual. But in this light, it's extremely apparent – he was either in a fight, or drinking, or both. Something was definitely up to warrant this, but for now Kanbei fully intended to just go with whatever his uncle was here to do. Without further delay, they call the nearby elevator.
"This one seems to like you a lot." Satoshi starts.
"Based on what?"
"She's stayed the night twice so far, hasn't she?"
"How would – ah right."
"Uhuhu... That's right, I'm not still covering for Oiishi's tax fraud after all this time for him to not to tell me everything that happens."
As they step into the elevator Kanbei's mood darkens. Bits and pieces of the previous night play through his head.
"I heard it was pretty grizzly." Satoshi continues, not failing to notice. "Sorry she had to put you through that."
"I wasn't the one that got beaten into the dirt."
"Do you regret it, though?"
"I don't know."
"Hmm… Nah, I guess I wouldn't really expect you to." He pats his nephew on the back. "Either way, something like that needed to happen. Sekiguchi won't walk her into a courthouse again looking like that, that's for damn sure. Ono District's fallen right into our lap. It's been a long time coming but Sonozaki's done for. People are starting to feel safe again. You should feel good about what happened. Because let me tell you, the longer you don't, the worse it's gonna get."
"Maybe you're right."
"I know I'm right. 'Specially about that one."
Kanbei changes the subject as they come out of the elevator. "So we are we even headed today?"
"I thought we could, like, go on a picnic or something."
"There's no way."
"Well maybe that's not the word I'm looking for, but you get the idea, right?" Satoshi sighs. "Be perfectly honest I don't even know where to take you. Everything in this city fuckin' sucks."
"This whole hiding in plain sight thing isn't going to work the way you want it to, you know."
"Who said anything about hiding? We're just gonna screw around today. How about this – let's just go anywhere you feel like. Like today's just any day off."
Kanbei shrugs his shoulders.
"What, don't tell me you were brooding in a closet the last twenty years, were you?"
"It's not like that, alright?" Truth be told he was actually pretty fond of the cabaret clubs until Akasaka ruined those for him forever.
"Alright, it's settled then."
"How'd you make a decision from just that?"
"We're gonna hit the high rollers."
"You're insane."
"Don't worry, I'll get the usual guys to cover for us. It'll be all good. I've got a hundred thousand yen but we're gonna turn it into a million, got it?!" Satoshi's all fired up, but Kanbei still can't figure out if he's even being serious.
"That's an even worse idea."
"Uhuhuhu. It sure is, Kacchan, which is exactly why we're doing it!" He throws his arm around his nephews shoulders as he gets out his phone and calls a number on speed dial.
"Hey old bag, it's me."
Kanbei can hear Oishi's perpetually laid back voice through the other end. "Ahh, heya Houjou-kun. You're sounding better already."
"You know that joint those boys from Kansai moved into?"
"The parlor, you mean?"
"Yeah, that one. That's still going during the day, right?"
"Sure are, but what's the story? Did we not collect from them this month? I thought I had Kuma-san drop that in little Sayaka-chan's account like you said."
"Nah, I wanna take Kacchan there today. Think you could skip the paperwork today and come help us out?"
"Ahh, that's a great idea! We wanna bring Kuma-chan along this time?"
"The hell else would we bring him for?"
"Hah, that's a good point!" Oishi lets out a loud cackle. "Alright, we'll be there in an hour."
"Make it thirty. You've gotta come by Kacchan's place first to pick us up."
"Thirty it is. Sit tight." With that the call ends.
Satoshi rubs his nephew's shoulders. "Hey it's gonna be just fine. No one's gonna print any articles or anything like that."
He could keep saying it, but it wouldn't make things any better. Not in the slightest.
What follows in the next two hours is perhaps the single most awkward gathering he's ever been in his life – three grown-ass men, one likely into his hundreds if the rumors were true, another in his forties nervously fumbling about as though he had about a year's worth of experience existing on this earth, a much younger looking but no less sleazy looking man with way fairer skin than the other two, and then him, the youngest prosecutor in whatever, perpetually looking like he was about to piss himself.
But what makes things even worse is two of them know that he'd beaten the everlasting fuck out of Mion Sonozaki the night before, yet here they all were, about to embark down an incredibly stupid road.
"Alright, so here's the plan." Satoshi starts, the four of them huddled in a circle in the parking lot outside this so called Golden Gourd Parlor, like a bunch of morons. "We're gonna run the blackjack tables first. It's Kacchan's first time so his head's gonna be spinning. O-ji, you figure out what the dealer's trick is. K-shi, you just make sure no one catches O-ji. Then we're gonna go all in twice, fleece three other dudes, then get the hell out of there. Then we'll see what we can get out of the slots. We don't wanna try the slots until we've got five hundred-k, at least. Anyone screws up, they get docked ten percent of the share. Got it?"
What, he had nicknames for them too?
"Hmm… Sounds like a plan, but what happens if Kuma-chan doesn't pull through? If they catch me we'll be out on our asses." Oishi muses.
Satoshi rubs his chin with his thumb. "Hmm… This is a good point. We need a way better contingency. Like, if they're cooking pumpkin pie in there for some reason, K-shi's gonna be totally useless."
"H-Hey, guys, I'm not that unreliable, I swear! Kacchan, don't listen to this nonsense, okay?!"
"You almost lost his big case, didn't you?" Satoshi says way too casually. "Wasn't that warrant supposed to be signed before the trail even started?"
"Yeah Kuma-chan, you've gotta earn our trust back after that one."
"B-But what about all the times I really came through?! Like how about with those street kids in the shopping district, or that kidnapper?"
"Didn't Akasaka-chan take all the credit for both of those?" Oishi asks, but the look on his face makes it abundantly clear he already knows the answer.
"I was still a huge part anyway!"
"Akasaka got the credit, so it doesn't count."
"H-Houjou-san, please..."
"Them's the rules, Kuma-chan." Oishi cackles again. "You can't let that girl walk all over you. Where's your pride as a man?"
"Alright, enough of this horseshit. O-ji, you've got the bag, right?"
"Right here. We're all set." Osihi has a large duffle bag in his hands. One could only imagine what was inside it.
"Alright. Let's roll." Satoshi throws his fist in the air as Oishi cheers and Kuma sulks. Making sure he's standing somewhere that he can easily push Kanbei along from, Satoshi walks the group into the building.
The interior is worthy of the 'Golden Gourd' name – everything from the walls to the ceiling and of course the marble floor is prefaced with that cheap golden look that you often see in a sketchy joint – he wouldn't have been shocked to hear that this used to be a whorehouse. But as it stood, it was without a doubt a gambling parlor, in every sense of the word.
From blackjack to pool, and of course the ever attractive slot machines, stuffed in the corner and providing just that right amount of isolation from everyone else – and for it being just past noon, it sure was crowded.
And naturally, of that crowd quite a few of them were known crooks. Some he'd only seen before, some he knew by name, and as they head further in some of them greet Oiishi and his uncle as they pass by.
The first blackjack table goes the way Satoshi had planned. Oishi manages to call the dealer's strategy perfectly from halfway across the room. To Kanbei's horror, Oishi manages to do this by disguising himself as an overweight woman wearing a wig. Apparently these dealers knew him by sight. With three players down, they move on to the next table.
The second however is no easy task – he sees through Oishi's master disguise, and switches decks after Satoshi manages his first win. It was at this point, however, that Kanbei was fixated enough on the concept of counting cards that he manages to work it out on his own. Scoring his uncle fifty thousand from that table, the group cheers for his victory, even Kuma-san, who was looking a little red in the face.
He's unimpressed, but not surprised. Of course these guys would be drinking in the middle of the day.
But despite that, he can't help but start smiling like an idiot himself. Especially with Oishi standing right there, chiding Kuma-san with that bright red lipstick on.
The third table, however, is a complete wash. They end up losing half of what they had up until that point.
"Alright we need a new plan." Satoshi sighs with defeat. "Kacchan, you take point on everything, okay?" He bows his head towards his nephew and folds his hands. Kuma-san and Oishi mimic him a moment later.
"Wait, what?"
"You're the only one with a good success rate! We suck at this!"
"Yeah, Kuma-chan sucks at this!" Oishi begs right alongside him.
"Well, we all suck at gambling."
"But it's mainly Kuma-chan!"
"Oishi-san..."
"Alright, alright, stop." Kanbei grumbles. "But there's no way in hell we're going back to those tables. What are the poker tables like?"
"There's only one guy we'd ever have a chance with, but he's still hard as nails to get a grip on." Oishi replies completely seriously. "Houjou-kun got him once, but that was only because the guys he was playing against were drunk out of their minds."
"It's too early in the day for poker, Kacchan." Satoshi sighs with defeat.
"Well that makes it pretty obvious, doesn't it?" He glances at the three men, none of them showing any signs of any kind of understanding. "We win by playing completely legitimately."
The three of them act as though he'd just spoken a foreign language.
"You mean, like, reading poker faces and shit like that?" Satoshi looks at him like he's crazy. "Kacchan, I don't know if I told you this, but these are taxpayer dollars, and - "
"No, actually, he's got a point." Oishi seems like he's caught up first. "If we go bug Shin-kun this time o' day, no shit he's gonna think we're trying to cheat."
"Right – make everyone in the room focus more on anticipating a trick than trying to play cards."
"Ahh, so we're going to mess with that expectation and sneak out an easy win… It's awfully risky, but I like it. Alright – Kacchan's our player. I'm making this executive call right now."
"Um, I'm still not following -"
"We'll give you the rundown after you sober up, okay?" Oishi pats Kuma-san on the back.
Poker is actually something that he knows how to play, so when his uncle pushes him right to the table and tells the dealer that only Kanbei will be participating, he's not exactly a deer in headlights. Even so, he wasn't expecting much of anything to come from this.
However, if there was one thing he was inherently good at, it was reading predictable people. People like that woman loitering in his apartment at that very moment doing god knows what were a distinct exception, but when it comes to something like poker, only a solid forty percent of the game is really focused on understanding the rules. The rest is a mix of luck and, depending on what movie you were starring in, a good amount of cloak and dagger going on across the table.
Somehow, though, he's matched up with a complete buffoon that calls perhaps the most obvious bluff in the world. But more than that – it's a complete buffoon with a whole lot of money. And he bets just about all of it.
By the end of that one game, Kanbei manages to secure six hundred thousand, a bit over what his uncle wanted before hitting the slots.
Coming away from the table, the three men just gape at him, faces utterly pale.
"What?"
"How the hell did you beat Sakai on your first try?!" Oishi bellows.
"He's the best poker player at the Golden Gourd, Kacchan." Satoshi speaks, barely above a whisper.
"There's no way that asshole could've been that good, right? He's the most obvious dude in the world."
"Alright, sit down Kacchan." His uncle orders him, pulling a chair off from the side and making him sit in it.
The three men tower over him.
"You need to tell us everything." Even Kuma-san is totally invested in this.
"W-What the hell are you talking about?"
"You don't come in here and beat the poker king without years of experience no matter how lucky you are. You've gotta have some kind of secret." Oishi explains, once again, completely seriously.
"A-Are you some kind of god, Kacchan?!" Kuma-san looks like he's about to pass out.
"Hey, enough of this, alright?!" Kanbei manages to push them away. "So, does no one that comes here actually know how to play poker?"
The three of them trade shrugs, and Oishi breaks out into another laugh as Kanbei sighs yet again.
By the time the four of them emerge from the parlor it's dusk. They end up coming away with the full one million that Satoshi was aiming for. Apparently the real expectation was to walk out with half of what they'd started with and spent what was left on drinks, which was apparently their usual, but now they had some actual cash, and could actually split the winnings four whole ways.
Of course by the time they actually start dolling the cash out, Oishi and Kuma-san are drunk out of their minds, and Satoshi is a little buzzed. In the end, Satoshi ends up with the lion's share after convincing Oishi repeatedly that he didn't take any of his cut, and pawning off Oishi's cross dressing duffle bag to Kuma-san as his part.
Oishi and Kuma-san go staggering off into the evening as Satoshi and Kanbei take a long aimless walk in a random direction. One thing he was familiar enough with was that this was his uncle's typical way of walking off what drinking he did.
"You know I wasn't sure if I was gonna get Kuma-san to fall for that. What a chump."
"Are you sure no one's gonna circulate any of this?"
"Hah, no way. We might be a bunch of assholes but we had that part figured out, no worries."
They end up stopping in a local park as Satoshi's senses largely return to him.
"That was pretty good, wasn't it?" Satoshi looks at him expectantly.
"It was different, that's for sure. But – yeah, I guess it was pretty fun by the end."
"Good, that's good… Welp -" He reaches into one of his pockets and pulls out an envelope. "Now that we've got my stipend for this month covered, the rest goes to you." He hands the envelope to Kanbei, who just looks up at him confused.
Opening it, and unraveling the letter within, his eyes widen.
"What the hell…?"
"It's the whole deed. No strings attached. First thing I took care of. Day one with my hands on the Ono District. Not bad, huh?"
"Was – was there anyone living in it?"
"Nope. Left it completely untouched. Probably a lot of your dad's stuff is still in there, totally untouched."
"There's no way I can just go back. Like nothing ever happened."
"That's exactly what you're gonna do, Kacchan. And besides, I need you down there to make a point till December."
"I don't – I mean, I can't - "
"There needs to be a Maebara in that house. Take that cute girl with you, too. And try to pump a kid or two out of this one, will you?"
A sloppy mix of frustration, confusion and guilt bubbles to the surface. "This shouldn't be mine. I broke someone's bones for this and I don't even know if they really deserved it."
"Sure she did. It doesn't matter what she looked like on the surface. Don't forget about all that heinous shit that came up during the trial. She was evil, and you did the right thing. It'll hurt for awhile, but it'll go away. I promise. Go home, Kacchan. You earned the right to take it back."
Then it gives way. Wordlessly he embraces his uncle, who pats him on the back.
"I've got a car all set up, for tomorrow morning. I'll send the rest of your stuff over, so don't worry – there's more to this than just the house."
Kanbei looks up at him.
"Your mom – her grave. We found it."
His eyes widen.
And that really just set it all in stone.
Tomorrow he would venture into Shirakawa-go, without question.
Finally he could see it. There was a light, somewhere that approximated the end of the tunnel. And he simply has no choice. He has to chase it.