The preparation for tomorrow's festival is moving right along at the Furude Shrine.
Vans and pickup trucks are bringing in tents and equipment, and the village youth group and some middle aged men are unloading them.
"I heard Rika-chama is really sick...
I hope she's okay..."
"I heard she didn't go to school again today. I hope she gets better soon..."
"Ah, Dr. Irie!
How is Rika-chama doing?"
"Well,
she had a bad cold, but she's starting to get better.
She still needs to take it easy, though.
I just went to see them, and told them to stay in bed."
"I see... Satoko-chan is sick too, huh?
With both of them staying home and sick together, I'm sure they can't help but play around, ha ha ha!"
"Considering they got sick at the same time, Rika-chama and Satoko-chan are really close, huh?"
"Ah, Kimiyoshi-saaan!
Dr. Irie just told us that Rika-chama and Satoko-chan are starting to get better."
"Oh, I see!
That's good.
By the way, about tomorrow's performance...
you don't think she'll be able to do it, do you?"
"...Hmm, she says she's going to anyway.
If you asked her, I'm sure she'd be more than happy to oblige.
But as a doctor, even if she didn't have a fever today, I'd rather not let her do it."
"Hmmmmm, that's no good.
Ah!
Ah!
Oryou-san! Rika-chama is getting better, but she still has to stay in bed."
"...Well, then...
We can't force her and then see her collapse during the ceremony. People will say it's the curse of Oyashiro-sama."
"Well... the villagers are really worried.
They say there might be a curse again this year.
...Besides, it's Satoko Houjou-chan and Rika-chama, you know...?
Some people are imagining some really horrible things."
"Nitwits!
Rika-chama is the reincarnation of Oyashiro-sama.
If she was cursed, the whole village would perish.
Don't even suggest things like that!"
"No, you're right, I'm sorry..."
"Dr. Irie.
Can I go see them?"
"Please let them rest for a while.
They're recovering, and they're at an age where they'll want to play.
Someone visiting them would be too stimulating, and they're sure to get out of bed."
"Ha ha ha ha, I see. I guess I shouldn't, eh?
Doctor, please take care of them, all right?
Not just Rika-chama, but Satoko-chan too."
Really?
That's surprising.
Oryou-san always acts as if she doesn't even see Satoko-chan.
But she just asked me to take care of Satoko-chan too.
"...Sure, absolutely!
I'll make both Rika-chan and Satoko-chan better.
You can count on me!"
"......If something happens, people will say it's the curse of Oyashiro-sama.
...Hey, Dr. Irie.
Don't you think it's foolish to talk about things like curses when we're in the 1980s? When people have gone to the moon?"
"Yes, I do."
"...During the dam conflict, we used stories like that for our own needs.
...The dam conflict is over now...
but as long as we keep talking about the curse, the dam conflict will never end..."
"Are you saying that if Satoko-chan dies, people will say
that it's the curse of the dam conflict?"
"............
The dam conflict is over.
If a village kid gets a cold, it's the elders' job to worry about her, that's all."
I already know what Oryou-san wants to say.
I want her to actually say it...
but if I made her, she might get angry.
...This is more than enough.
When she talks about the dam conflict, she doesn't just mean the war they waged against the construction itself.
She's also including how the Houjou family was ostracized after it was over.
She's saying that the dam conflict is over, including everything that happened as a result of it, and that's why she told me to take care of Satoko-chan.
"...I'm sure Satoko-chan will appreciate your concern."
"Ha ha ha ha!
Like that little rascal'd ever understand an old person's feelings!"
Oryou-san left, laughing.
I wasn't the only one watching her leave. Kimiyoshi-san and some other elders did the same.
They all understand what Oryou-san wanted to say.
The dam conflict is over now.
"Satoko-chan is a healthy girl. If she's down with fever, it must be a terrible cold.
Dr. Irie,
please take care of them.
Since we aren't allowed to visit them, please let both of them know how worried we all are."
"Sure.
They'll be happy to hear that."
I vow to myself.
Takano-san is more than likely planning something for tomorrow, taking advantage of people's belief in the curse.
...I can't let that happen.
The curse of Oyashiro-sama will end before it can happen for a fifth time.
I'm sure of that.
Ooishi couldn't accomplish the 48-hour operation alone.
He would need help from someone else.
Ooishi called up both Kumagai and the old man from forensics and told them everything.
"I know I'm repeating myself, but this is a dangerous bridge we're crossing here.
...If I get a simple warning, that's okay, but if I get reprimanded, they'll probably take away my pension."
"Ha ha ha ha!
Hey, Ooishi.
I hear you always gather your colleagues at the mahjong parlor next door and threaten them every time you have a dangerous mission.
It's the same old thing,
right?"
"Yeah, Ooishi-san!
Why don't you say 'if you don't want to lose your pension, leave while I count to ten' with more oomph in your voice, like you usually do?
Unless you say it that way, it just doesn't sound right!"
"...Well, this seriously is dangerous, Kuma-chan.
Are you really prepared to lose your pension?"
"Why don't you count to ten then!
Fine, I'll count!!
If you don't want to lose your retirement money, leave before I count to ten.
One,
two,
three!!"
"Okay, okay!!
I got it, Kuma-chan, you're serious!
But still, are you sure you're okay with it?"
"Yes!
I'm really psyched up from what I heard from Akasaka-san the other day!
I became a policeman because I believe in justice!
Someday, I want to be able to talk about the things I've been through, like Akasaka-san does!!
A dangerous mission? That sounds fantastic!
Besides, your ideas have never failed before.
So if you think this operation will succeed, then I'm all for it!"
"Ha ha ha ha!
How nice it is to be young!
You know, Akasaka-kun's become quite the inspiration for him.
He keeps talking about how he wants to be involved in secret investigations now."
"Ha... hahh...
Well, nahahahaha,
it is nice to be young, I guess...
And what about you?"
"Hah!
I'm in!
Actually, unless I help you, this operation won't succeed.
I've been neglecting my health all these years.
Frankly, I don't think I have much longer to live.
As a man, I want to do something grand before I die!"
"...My my...
You two sure are fearless...
That's why you declare a Riichi even with three flipped Dora..."
"What are you saying, Ooishi-san!
As a man, I can't refuse.
If you are going to cut something, cut it right in the middle!!
That's what you always say!"
"Mm-hmm.
He's not wrong!"
"I get it.
If your necks end up on the line, I'll be responsible!"
"...I'll have to make some preparations first.
You want to start this early tomorrow morning, right?
I have to check with both forensics and the autopsy department.
Ooishi, when all this is over, you have to treat me to something big, okay?"
"Of course!!
Look forward to it.
But please make sure to be careful who you talk to, alright...?
They told me there are some spies at the police station."
"Don't worry.
I know who I can trust!
Count on me for that, at least!"
"All right, I'm fired up!!
My detective's spirit is burning bright!!"
It had taken Ooishi all night to come to a decision, but those two had decided immediately. He couldn't help but question himself.
"Okay, I have some errands to run, so I'm going to get going.
Kuma-chan, could you please take the old man home?
Thank you for coming here on your day off."
"Nah, don't worry about that!
It's been a while since something got my blood boiling.
In all the years of my life, this is the first big stage to really test my manhood.
I'm not afraid! I'm going to enjoy this!"
"...Thank you very much, old man.
Kuma-chan too."
Ooishi thanked them after seeing them off, although they couldn't hear.
Ooishi stopped by a flower shop.
He bought a bouquet of balloon flowers.
Usually, the purple ones are the most popular,
and Ooishi was fond of that color too.
But today, he didn't buy purple flowers,
but got unusual white balloon flowers intead.
With the bouquet in hand, he headed to the cemetery across from the flower shop.
The date was June 18th.
The real anniversary would be tomorrow, but as Ooishi had to work on Watanagashi every year, he usually commemorated it on the previous day instead.
...It was the day before the anniversary of the death of the old man...
the one Ooishi considered a best friend, a brother, and father.
"...Every year,
I promise you that I'll find your right arm,
but I still haven't had any luck yet..."
Ooishi spoke to the grave.
He lay the bouquet of white balloon flowers down on top of it.
"But...... I've finally got the chance to get close to the truth.
...You know?
It's kind of funny.
...As it turns out, the Sonozaki family has nothing to do with it.
I kept promising you year after year that I'd bring Oryou here and have her grovel in apology...
but I was so wrong this whole time.
......Tahahaha, I don't know what to say.
...You'd probably smack me if you were here.
...I thought I knew the winning tiles, and after countless safe discards, I got slammed with a bad hit.
...If I hadn't made that assumption and focused on filling my hand, then I might have been able to get a big one.
...I haven't made any progress at all.
It's the same with mahjong.
I'm a fool for getting ideas into my head and then not doubting them even a bit.
Ta ha ha ha..."
Ooishi already had a vague idea.
...The way Irie had phrased it, he could already guess.
There was no dark secret...
behind the old man's dismemberment murder.
The events that followed were separate incidents.
That particular murder was an individual incident
and it had nothing to do with anything else.
Since the main culprit was the only one who wasn't caught, Ooishi needed someone to blame, and the mysterious Sonozaki family was the perfect target.
The drama of revenge that Ooishi believed in never existed.
".........I'm thinking of doing something really dangerous.
Considering the risk, there isn't much in terms of reward.
...If anything... I might find out the truth.
...But...
I feel like I can finally forgive myself."
Ooishi bowed deeply to the grave...
And then he heard footsteps behind him.
...It had to be someone else who knew the old man.
That person can't come on the day of Watanagashi every year either, so they come on the day before, just like Ooishi does.
They always bring blue hydrangeas.
...Purple balloon flowers and those blue flowers don't go well together.
That's the reason why Ooishi always picks white ones.
Usually the hydrangeas are already there by the time he arrives, but as Ooishi had his secret meeting with Kumagai early in the morning, he came straight to the graveyard afterward and arrived before this person did.
Visiting a grave isn't a race.
It's a spiritual matter.
Ooishi was curious about the other person who brings flowers every year, so he looked up.
".........Well... well.
Are you visiting someone's grave too?"
Ooishi stated the obvious.
But... from one glance, he could guess everything.
Upon seeing the hydrangeas in her arms, it all made sense.
"Oh, my!
Aren't you supposed to be working?
What are you doing here?"
Akane Sonozaki laughed as she handed a bouquet of hydrangeas to her daughter, Shion.
Shion, not knowing what to do, was caught between her mother and Ooishi.
"...Hey, how long are you going to stand there?
Come on, move over."
Ooishi moved over as told, and spoke.
"...So you're the one leaving hydrangeas every year?"
"Aren't they beautiful?
They're from my backyard.
Hydrangeas are beautiful in June.
Your balloon flowers are fairly unusual.
White ones, huh?
They're nice."
"Ah, Mr. Ooishi, excuse me.
Can I put the flowers down?"
Shion knelt down in front of the grave and got the flowers ready. She put the hydrangeas in the vase alongside the balloon flowers.
The flowers looked beautiful in the vase together, reminding their onlookers that summer was about to start.
"What a coincidence. They match very well.
It makes a nice contrast with the white and the blue."
"...I saw blue hydrangeas every year I came.
I thought blue flowers wouldn't go well with purple ones."
"I see, then we should get along just fine, huh?"
"...Yeah, I guess.
Na ha ha ha."
"What's the matter?
Anything unusual on the X-rays?
You're being unusually quiet today, and it's disturbing."
"Oh, do you think that might be it?
Since you've been good to us,
I'll bring some hydrangeas to your grave too, don't worry!
Oh, by the way, you still owe us at one of our shops, don't you?
I'll bring a bill too."
"Na ha ha ha...
Oh boy, you two never run out of things to say, do you?
Well, I don't plan on leaving this world quite yet.
It won't be long until my retirement, but I'm still going strong!!"
"That's good, then!
As a citizen of Okinomiya, I'm glad to hear such reliable words!
Ha ha ha ha!"
Their conversation should have been coated in social courtesies, yet... something felt a little off about it.
"...Can you tell me one thing?
The Guardians and the old man, the site manager, they didn't get along, did they?
So... why bring flowers for him?"
"No, we didn't get along at all!
We were mighty enemies!
Right, Shion?"
"Yeah!
That old geezer was a bastard that pissed me off!
I bit him, I elbowed his stomach, and I even scratched up his car with a ten-yen coin!"
"...Shion, the statute of limitations isn't up yet."
Shion stuck out her tongue and hid behind her mother in embarrassment.
"So if you hated him that much, why do you come here?"
"Well, the dam conflict is over.
...Although he was our enemy, we did many unpleasant things to him too..."
"........."
"What? You don't get it?
The war is over now.
Even in a rugby game, once a game is over, no one is on opposing sides.
Nothing more than that."
Akane said it as though it was a normal thing, but Ooishi just couldn't understand.
First of all, they hated each other.
They hated each other, they spat at each other... How could they even feel like bringing flowers to his gravesite?
However, Akane said that it was normal.
......Their moral standards weren't matching up.
"Actually, you're the one I can't understand.
I think the dam conflict has ended, yet in your head, it's still going, isn't it?"
"Nfu fu!
Oh, no.
It's over for me.
I can't even imagine hearing all that noise anymore. You've got to be kidding me."
"Then what's wrong with the Sonozaki family visiting his gravesite?
Come on, move over.
I brought something for him, too."
Akane took out a small package from her bag and put it down in front of the grave.
"I see that package every year... what's in it?"
"This is ohagi, specially made by the virago.
Drinkers usually don't like sweets, so she made them without sugar."
"...Are you saying that Oryou-san made ohagi for the site manager's anniversary?"
"She does it every year.
You did just say that you see it every time you come here, didn't you?"
Ooishi was stunned.
...Oryou was the biggest hardliner in the Onigafuchi Guardians, no question about that.
...Ooishi had believed for a long time that she was the mastermind behind the old man's murder.
Because of that, he just couldn't believe that she had been making ohagi every year for his anniversary.
"Hey, don't give me that look.
Let's not do this anymore, okay?"
"...Do what?"
"Pretend that the Sonozaki family shouldn't visit the site manager's grave..."
"........."
"It won't be long now until it's 1990.
By then, even the Emperor might be dead.
How much longer are you planning to drag out this war, which has already ended?"
"...Please.
I don't even want to think about the dam conflict.
There's nothing better than peace."
"The government was at fault.
They should think about what they've done.
But we were at fault too.
That's why we have regrets.
And when things are done, that's it. There is no point dragging them out.
We need to wrap up the era of our forefathers, and young people need to create a new one.
...What happened was very unfortunate, and I regret that the old man had to die.
If he was still alive, we could have shared a toast together and made up.
...But he's dead.
So we can't reconcile.
......I think that's very sad."
"........Well, that's what happens when someone dies..."
"But you're still alive."
"That's right, I am.
And so are you."
"...Then maybe a day will come when we can get along, huh?"
"Na ha ha ha...
Well, I don't know about that..."
"Shion, why don't you give this to the priest?
And then wait in the car, okay?"
"...Sure."
Akane took out an envelope from her pocket and gave it to Shion.
Shion took the envelope, bowed to Ooishi, and then ran off.
"......During the dam conflict, I thought she was such a feisty little girl.
She sure has grown up..."
"How long do you think it's been since then?
She's hit puberty, and we even went bra shopping together...
She isn't a little girl anymore.
That's how long it's been."
"...Yeah, many years have passed.
...Time is dense for young people, but diluted for old folks."
"The old ones are the ones who don't change.
But young people keep growing.
And before we know it, they pass us by.
Then we simply withdraw ourselves and watch over them.
See how it works?"
"Yeah, I guess.
I can't believe I'm getting a talking-to from the Demon Princess of Shishibone, Akane Sonozaki..."
"Hey, I can't believe you still remember that name!
I'm a Lady of Shishibone nowadays, you know.
I'd appreciate it if you kept that name to yourself."
"Heh heh heh!
Yeah, I guess, since the dam conflict is over now, huh?"
"That's right.
It's all over."
The two of them watched Shion and the priest exchange words in front of the main temple building.
Both were silent, but the air between them was comforting.
There was no breeze... and a cabbage-white butterfly flittered around them.
"...You're supposed to be at work...
But how about a round?
Up for some fresh, cold sake?"
"Maybe not today.
I have to drive and so do you, right?"
"Heh heh heh heh.
That's too bad.
Well, maybe next time, eh?"
"Yeah.
Next time..."
Something that had been sitting inside Ooishi for a long time had started to dissipate.
Something that had coagulated was melting away.
"I better get going.
Your daughter is waiting too, right?"
"Yeah, she is.
We've gone through a lot,
but let's forget about it all. How about that?"
"We'll have a party one of these days.
We will."
Akane turned around with a big smile on her face.
But all of a sudden, it changed into an impish grin.
"Hey, Officer Ooishi!
Since we made up just now...
Eh heh heh heh!
I got a traffic ticket yesterday
and I was so mad that I ripped it in half!
Do you think you can do something about that?"
"Just go to the nearest police station for that.
Maybe I can give you a priority spot in the waiting line.
Nfu fu fu...!"
"Tch.
What are friends even for, huh?
Heh heh heh heh."
"Na ha ha ha ha ha...!!!"
Their laughter echoed under the blue sky...