"..." Togami frowned and sat back in his seat with a low sigh.
This wasn't working. The old man's little outburst threw everything off.
He finished his bowl of noodles with his brow knitted, as he went over what he knew so far.
Abe-san had been found dead, with his throat cut, three days ago, the morning after a severe storm. He had been found near a tomb belonging to someone named Kintaro, which was by an old palace. The tomb was said to be cursed, and that any who entered would die, and any who disturbed the entombed would open a gate to hell. Abe-san had been relieved of his possessions before he was found. His throat had been cut with a sharp, edged object, likely a blade, and cut jagged off in a different direction toward its end. There were no other obvious wounds on the body. Prior to his death, Abe-san had apparently been trying to gain an audience with the mayor.
He took a deep breath before he asked, more out of curiosity than anything else.
"Ikeda-san. Who was Kintaro, by the by?"
"Mo?" Ikeda cocked his head, paying attention again. "Kintaro is one of the legendary three brothers of Mashinnomura!"
"L-legendary three brothers?" Fukawa looked up. She'd been scribbling in her book in between shooting dirty looks at the old man.
"Well, you've got my interest. Go on." Togami leaned on his hand. At least he was talking again. He met the man's eyes ."a local legend?"
"I'm surprised you don't know it," Ikeda said with a nod. "It's the big one!"
"Well. I am from rather far afield of Mashinnomura."
"I suppose our legends don't travel all that far these days," Ikeda agreed. "Alright, let me take care of the noodles and then I'll tell you, ne?"
Ikeda stepped back to fuss with some things in the kitchen. Meanwhile, the old man had finished his bowl. He stood, left some money on the counter, and headed to the door.
"You." Togami turned to face him quickly. "Your name. I have a few questions for you regarding Abe-san."
The man ignored him completely, hurrying out the door.
Once he was gone, the little girl who had been sitting against the wall grabbed her drawings and came over and sat where the old man had been. On the top one, Togami could see a crude drawing of an eye.
He leaned over to look at it. "Isn't that an interesting picture. Very artistic."
Fukawa flushed as Byakuya leaned into her space. "Ah..." she made a soft noise.
The little girl,meanwhile, nodded seriously and held the drawing out to Togami. Underneath it was another one, with a large red scribble.
"Mo, Haru-chan, I hope you're not bothering the customers, sweetie," Ikeda said as he came back to the counter.
Togami took a moment to look at the drawing the girl had drawn, and the one under it. "No, no. She's not," Byakuya promised with a look of mild amusement on his face. "The young lady's got the makings of an artist."
The red smear resolved into... maybe it was some kind of figure in red. They had an angry face, and were holding a scythe.
Ikeda chuckled and rubbed the girl's hair. "That's my Haru-chan."
"..." Togami raised his eyebrow
Grim subject matter, that's for sure.
"Who's that irritable looking individual?" He asked , pointing a finger towards the figure in red on her page.
The girl looked up at him with big brown eyes. "Red Cape-san."
Togami leaned on his hand "Red Cape-san? Sounds frightful."
Haru nodded seriously.
"A local legend? His scythe is..." He glanced at Fukawa "it's a lot, isn't it? A bit dramatic."
Ikeda smiled. "I see Haru-chan got the jump on the legend. Do you want to tell it, sweetie?"
The little girl shook her head and pointed at her father.
"Well." Togami smirked. "She seems pretty adamant about it. Looks like you're the storyteller today, my friend."
"Well that doesn't bother me, ne? Alright, the three brothers of Mashinnomura," he settled into a storytelling posture, with his hands crossed on the bar. "Once upon a time, the lord of the village had three sons, triplets. All identical. And he named them Kintaro, Gintaro and Shintaro."
"Identical triplets." Togami mused. "Kintaro, Gintaro and Shintaro...I see."
And the first of them's tomb is where Abe-san died, of course
"Kintaro was considered the oldest of the three, and he was a great warrior. Shintaro was the second, and he was a clever merchant. Gintaro was the youngest, a wise young man who could see through the veil of spirits."
Fukawa had her chin in her hands, listening to the story with a cautiously interested expression.
"Each highly skilled in a different area." Togami nodded. "...how interesting."
"As the eldest and the warrior, Kintaro was presumed to inherit their father's position, ne? But at that time Mashinnomura was filled with spirits. And it turns out that the demon princess fell in love Gintaro."
"A demon princess, hm? " Togami asked, finishing up his bowl of ramen. "The heart wants what the heart wants, in the end."
"Y-yeah, its true," Fukawa said quietly, listening more intently now.
"Exactly," Ikeda nodded. "Gintaro's father gave his blessing on the match, and because a marriage between the village's lord and the princess would bring peace between the human and the spirit world, he decided to make Gintaro his heir, which seemed like the natural choice, ne?"
"Absolutely. It would, of course, bring the greatest benefit to the clan and to the town." Togami said "...but I imagine his brother did not feel the same way about the loss of his birthright."
"You might think... but actually, Kintaro swore an oath that he would serve as his brother's bodyguard and captain, and defend his life and the good of the village."
"How romantic," Fukawa said dreamily.
Ikeda smiled. "But he didn't know that oath would be tested so soon."
"Deeply romantic." Togami agreed with his assistant, brushing his golden hair away from his face. "but I can sense the tragedy coming."
"You're not wrong. While preparations for the wedding were being made, Kintaro chanced to overhear a meeting between the demon princess and one of her minions called Red Cape. the princess told Red Cape to kill Gintaro after the wedding, so that she could lay claim to Mashinnomura and drag it to hell."
"O-oh..." Fukawa flushed again, biting her lip.
"...ah." Togami said with a soft sigh. "I see where this must be going..."
"Of course... Kintaro ran to warn his brother, but Red Cape had seen him and came after him. He struck him down, but before he could finish him Gintaro found his brother, who told him what had happened with his dying breath. Red Cape fled Gintaro, because he had the power to banish spirits..."
"..." Togami nodded slowly. "...and now he knew of the plan."
"He knew of the plan," Ikeda nodded. "He broke off the engagement and repudiated his demonic fiancee. Using the energy of Kintaro's sacrifice he wove a powerful spell to banish the spirit world from Mashinnomura and seal the princess and her demons away. However, because the Red Cape was hiding from Gintaro, it is said that he alone escaped the spell."
"But the princess, and all her demons were sealed in the Portal to hell you people have under your feet." Togami snorted. "While the red cape..." he pointed to the monster in the girl's drawing "runs free?"
"They say that he still lurks in the village, trying to take revenge on behalf of the princess."
"Does this tale tie into the 'curse' of Kintaro's tomb?"
Ikeda nodded. "You're correct. Kintaro's spirit guards the portal to hell himself, defending his brother and the town for all eternity. Disturbing his sacred duty would destroy the spell that Gintaro wove."
"And unleash the demon princess and all her devils. ...a real tragic tale, isn't it?" He paused for a moment before he asked "and what of the middle brother?"
"Shintaro, after the death of his elder brother, and having his younger brother take over the village- he decided to make his fortune out in the world. I am told that he went to the capital and founded a very successful merchant house. But he never returned to Mashinnomura."
"A very successful merchant house." Togami chuckled softly "and that's that...the tragedy of the three brothers..."
Ikeda nodded. "The tragedy of the three brothers and the legend of Mashinnomura."
Fukawa bit her lip. "It's not a bad story. A little bit predictable, but most fairytales are."
"Formulaic, "but...well,. I suppose I rather like it." He shook his head. "Is it widely believed around these parts?"
"I'd say so." Ikeda nodded."It's something every child knows, ne, Haru-chan?"
Haru nodded seriously.
"Not to disturb the tomb, and to be careful walking at night?" Togami smirked.
"Uhuh," Haru nodded.
"B-be careful walking at night is always good advice, a-amittedly," Fukawa aded.
"It certainly is." Togami agreed. "Even a town as small as this has it's dangers."
"Usually I would say Mashinnomura is pretty safe, but..." he shook his head. "I've been keeping Haru-chan close for the last few days."
"Probably for the best, given. But, I'll be looking into the matter, myself. "
"Oh? Looking into it?" Ikeda cocked his head. "Like an investigation?"
"That's right." Togami nodded, "I'm investigating the death of Abe-san on behalf of the Togami family." he said "and for my own peace of mind."
"I see... I hope you can find the answers you're looking for. I know Inspector Akagi is also looking into the matter."
"He didn't seem to have many leads." Togami drawled. "and had a lot of sleep to catch up on. So I'll be assisting in the matter."
"Let me know if there's anything more I can do to help, ne?" Ikeda asked. "and lunch is on me."
Togami raised his eyebrow. "Are you sure? I don't know if I can feel right not paying the man for the best ramen I've had in ages."
He bowed politely. "I couldn't possibly accept it. Besides, if you're investigating that means you'll be in town for a while, ne?"
"I guess t-that's what it means," Fukawa murmured.
"That's right. Until I figure out what's going on, at the very least."
"Then I'm sure you'll be back in my shop," Ikeda said with a smile. "So the first one is on me."
Togami smirked, and nodded once, conceding the point. "Touche. Alright. I'll accept the free meal, and greatly look forward to the next."
"As do I, Togami-san."
Haru-chan nodded too- and offered Byakuya her two drawings.
Byakuya took them graciously with a nod. "And thank you, young lady. I'll hold onto these for you." He chuckled. "Maybe they'll help me find this elusive Red Cape, hm?"
Haru-chan nodded. "Good luck."
"Thank you, Haru-chan." He said seriously. "I'll do my best."
"Y-yeah, me too," Fukawa agreed. The little girl gave her a very serious thumbs up.
Ikeda reached over and fluffed his daughter's hair again. "She's very precocious."
"She absolutely is." Togami said with amusement. He stood and brushed his hair from his face. "ready to set out, Fukawa-san?"
Fukawa pushed her empty bowl aside and closed her book of notes.
"A-any time you are, Togami-sama!"
"I'm ready." he said with a nod, and patted her shoulder, before sauntering with confidence out of the ramen shop.
Fukawa made a soft noise as he touched her, and her expression softened and phased out for a moment, before she came back to attention and nodded sharply, hurrying to follow him out of the shop.