Crawl Away: Chapter 6

       After I got home, I took a new bottle of vodka from the cabinet and walked to the window with it.  I sat down in my favorite seat and drank from the bottle as I watched the shadows of the trees sway in the light breeze of the night.  That was the only thing for a while  I could focus on and I was glad for it. The phone rang several times, but I didn't want to speak to anyone.  I started to think about Von Erich's words after awhile--after I had nearly emptied half of the bottle.  

    "I love him.  I've always loved him."

    I smiled bitterly at those words when I heard it again in my mind.

    "What the fuck do you know about it?" I replied to Von Erich in my mind and wished I had said this to him when he confessed his love for Aoshi.  The little bastard don't know the meaning of love..."  

    I took another drink and fished the small sliver of paper out of my pocket.  I read the address again.  I stared at the words, hoping in back of my mind that an answer would come to me soon.  My apartment buzzer drew me away from my intense study of the paper.  I didn't have to look out of the window to look for Okita's car parked out by the curb. I knew it would be him.

    "What?" I said into the intercom.

    "You wouldn't answer your phone," he said.

    "No, I wouldn't."

    "Will you let me in? I feel silly talking to a box."

    I considered asking him to leave, but the sober part of me knew better and let him in.  I unlocked the door for him and returned to my chair.  

    "This is a little frightening," he said when he opened the door and walked into darkness.  I heard him feeling for the light switch for a few seconds before he clicked it on.  He frowned when he saw the vodka bottle on the window sill.

    "What happened?" He said, unwrapping the scarf from around his neck.  

    I told him.  I told him everything.  I told him about the first affair we had and Aoshi's punishment from it.  I told him about Paris and the night he came to me, but left me in the morning.  I told him about Aoshi's final fate for not able to kill me. And I told him about the meeting with Von Erich.  When I finished, I turned away from him and looked out of the window as I drank a little more from the bottle.  For a long while, neither one of us said anything.  I had nothing more to say.  Alcohol was beginning to numb me and I was becoming comfortable with nothing in my mind. 

    "What do you want to do?" Okita said finally.

    I sighed and placed the bottle back on the window sill.  The yellow-tinted light of the street lamp refract light from the bottle neck and drew a bright outline along the shape of the neck. 

    "I don't know," I finally said.

    Okita walked into the kitchen and I heard him going through the pantry.  Then followed by slight noises of the tea kettle being filled and placed on the stove top, and some cups being placed on their saucers.  He walked out of the kitchen and straight toward me.  He took the vodka bottle off the sill and walked back into the kitchen again.  This time, I heard him pour the vodka down the kitchen drain.  I grinned and found myself rather pleased by Okita for no particular reason.  I watched the dark froth of the trees sway in the wind while I waited for Okita to finish whatever he had busied himself doing in my kitchen.  The kettle whistled and I heard him lift it from the stove top and set it back down on the still heated pad, the dying whistle wheezed as the cups and saucers clattered.  When Okita emerged from the kitchen, I smelled coffee.

    "Giving coffee to a drunk just makes him an awake drunk," I said as he set two cups of black coffee down on the end table. 

    "Need something to dilute that vodka," he said as he pulled up a chair. 

    "Hell, I can drink through half a case of that crap and still walk a straight line, my domesticated friend."

    "I won't try to dispute your drinking prowess," he said with his usual smile.  "But what we need to talk about, I would like the alcohol to do as little speaking as possible."

    "This doesn't concern you," I said.

    "The fact that you said you didn't know what to do, involved me."

    He picked up the scalloped-shaped cup by the small, French-curl handle with his thumb and forefinger and took a  small sip.  

    "I didn't think anyone like you could own something this delicate," Okita said as he studied the porcelain cup before setting it down.  "I am quite impressed."

    "I wouldn't spend money on something like that," I said.  "A woman I used to date was trying to coach me into being a sophisticated modern man bought it for me.  Her theory was, if I am surrounded by these things, maybe I would lose my uncouth manners." 

    He smiled and leaned back against the sofa.  He interlocked his fingers and laid them primly on his lap.

    "I am sincere about helping you out in this matter," he said.  

    "Thanks but no thanks.  I got into this on my own and I will get myself out."

    "For another 3 days, you are still my partner, Saitoh-san.  Whether you like it or not, we are still joined at the hip.  I know for a fact that you want to go.  I know you want to go there right now if you could and take Aoshi from Kanryu," he said.  "Aoshi has done something that no one else has ever done for you before in your life and that made him your responsibility for rest of of your life.  However, you need to weigh the facts here--Aoshi suffered for you but he had also chosen to do so on his own."

    "''Tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all'.* " I said and picked up the saucer. 

    "So you are prepared to lose him?"

    "I am never prepared to lose anything," I said and picked up the cup by the rim and took a sip of the coffee. 

    His smile widened.

    "Of course," he said.  "You are going then?"

    "I don't think it's really a question of a want, but more of a need."

    "For him or for you?"

    I took another sip of the coffee and placed the cup and saucer back on the table.  

    "I am fond of him--in the way that I am fond of people and things that gave me pleasure.  It was never a question of love, because that has never been an issue.  I like him, but I don't love him."

    Okita raised one of his eye brows and opened his mouth to say something, but didn't say anything.  He nodded for me to continue.

    "I don't like the feeling that his situation gave me.  It made me feel useless and helpless.  It made the badge and the gun I carry meaningless because the rules I go by and my principles prevented me from saving him from his pains and possibly, his death.  If he dies...I am not sure if I can genuinely care about my job anymore.  And without the badge and the gun, I don't think there's anything else because I don't know anything else."

    "By the sound of this, I think you've made up your mind to go."

    I nodded and leaned back in the chair.  I looked out of the window and sighed.

    "Of course, getting him out of there will make me feel better about myself.  I am not sure about him.  I can't give him the peace he wanted."

    "If he dies, then some things are certain.  If he lives, there are a lifetime of possibilities," he said and picked up the coffee cup and took a leisurely sip from it.  "The question of peace...he can't achieve it while the man who owns him is still alive.  If Von Erich does what he said he would do, Aoshi's got a chance to have a new life."

    "And he will become your problem," I said.

    He laughed softly.

    "I am sure Aoshi would be more pleasant to deal with than his father," he replied.  "Saitoh-san...you could also die."

    "Then everything that I was concerned about would be irrelevant," I said. 

    For a few moments, he didn't say anything but drank his coffee.

    "I'd like to go with you then," he said.  "I want you to wear a microphone so I can track your movements.  I'll run a tape of everything.  If everything goes well, I destroy the tape.  If something unplanned, let's just say, happened--and the tape can be used against Kanryu if he's still alive, it'll go to court.  I'll be outside with a car to be your backup and driver."

    "If the tape goes to court, you could lose your career."

    He shrugged.

    "I will have no regrets."

    I turned away from him and looked out of the window again.  He picked up his coffee cup and walked into the kitchen with it.  When he came back, he had another full cup.

    "We'll need to do a drive-by of that area to designate a route," I said.  "I will also need to look for a place to situate Joe as your back-up."

    He nodded and took careful sips of the coffee.

    "The plan will only work if this Von Erich follows through on his part."

    "He will," I said.  "I know he will."

    The call was unexpected and it took Kanryu a few moments to decide if he should take it.  He picked up the cordless phone and waited for a few seconds before he spoke.

    "Aoshi," he said in a low, even tone.  

    "Daddy..." 

    Kanryu gripped the phone a little tighter.  There was something that hooked him in that moment, hearing Aoshi's small voice whisper that word.  Then Kanryu remembered--Aoshi had not said that word in that fragile tone since he was a child.

    "Daddy....I want to come home..." 

    Kanryu drew in a breath.  

    My Aoshi wants to come back to me... 

    Kanryu held back his instinctive reply and let out his breath carefully.

    "Aoshi, where you are going...they'll make you better..." Kanryu said, struggling to keep his voice steady.

    "Daddy, I will be good.  Please come and take me home..."  Aoshi's voice broke and there's tears in the plea.  

    "Aoshi--" Kanryu said in a gentle whisper.  "Daddy can't take you home now--I'll see you tonight...."

    "Daddy...please come and take me home.  I'll be good and I'll do everything you want me to do."

    Kanryu sat down at his desk and listened to Aoshi's soft sobs.  He reached forward and traced the frame which encased the picture of the six-year old Aoshi.  Kanryu couldn't remember Aoshi ever said those words he had said just then.  

    "Aoshi...daddy'll come and see you now, but I can't promise anything."

    "As long as I can see you now..." Aoshi whispered, recovering more control in his voice.  "I love you, daddy..."

    Kanryu stared fixedly at the picture of Aoshi, then he smiled.

    "I love you too..."

    Aoshi waited for a few more moments before he hung up.  Kanryu listened to the dial tone, his smile growing.      

    Aoshi has come back to me...

    Kanryu clicked off the phone and called for Von Erich through the intercom.  Kanryu grabbed his coat he had draped over one of the sofas and met with Von Erich as he was exiting his office.

    "Sir?" Von Erich said with a slight confusion.  

    "Prepare the car, Ian," Kanryu said as he slipped his coat on, walking past Von Erich.  "To Pavarino."

    Von Erich's face paled.    

    "H...Hai..." Von Erich whispered.  He glanced at his watch as he reached for the car key in the key box.  It was quarter to four.  Von Erich felt his heart sunk into the pit of his stomach as he took the key off the small hook.  That was when he realized his hand was shaking.  

    This can't be happening....

Aoshi

    I stared at the ceiling for some time before I reminded myself to move.  Kanryu would be here soon.  I walked to the bathroom and ran the shower as hot as I could possibly stand then stepped into it.  I sat down on the smooth tiles and wrapped my arms around the gathered knees and held them against my chest.  

    Today...I could lose everything....  

    I smiled grimly at my own voice saying those words in my head.  It was a mild comfort that everything I had suffered for, will come to an end today.

    I might have drifted into a light sleep or just into a blissful state of nothingness, until I heard his voice.  I glanced up and Kanryu was standing by the shower door, looking down at me.  I could not will myself to move and for a few seconds, all I could do was look at him.  

    "Daddy's here," he said in a gentle tone.  I shuddered but I didn't think he can tell.  

    I nodded and weakly unwrapped my arms around my knees.  He reached into the shower and turned off the water as I stood slowly.  He was ready with a towel as I stepped out.  

    "Thank you," I whispered as he wound the towel and his arms around me. 

    He held me for awhile and I stood in his embrace, breathing in the scent of his cologne and expensive cigars.  

    He kissed me on my forehead then led me back into the bedroom.  For a few minutes, he would not allow me to get into the bed. He ran his hands over the bruises on my lower back and along my left arm he had left two day ago.  I've always wondered if he looked at them with regret or pride, since he had never apologized nor smiled when he touched those bruises.  After he completed his inspection, he nodded for me to sit down on the bed.   

    "Tell me why you suddenly wanted to come home," he said and took my hands into his.

    "I don't want to go--" I said.  I didn't have to finish the sentence, he knew.  He nodded and lifted my hands up to his lips and kissed them.

    "The place where you'll be going, it will make you a better person," he said.

    "I'll be good," I said in a trembling voice that didn't sound like my own.  "I'll do anything you say..."

    He didn't say anything.

    I leaned forward and hooked my arms around his neck.

    "I promise I will be good," I said.

    For a few moments, he didn't move.  Then his arms circled around me and drew me closer to him.  Forgotten memories of everything that I had tried so hard to throw away came back to me again.  I remembered the apologies my mother said as I was led away by the man from the black market.  I remembered Kanryu's invasive eyes studying me as I cowered in the corner of the pen.  I remembered looking into Ian's kind eyes when he crouched down to speak to me when I was introduced into Kanryu's home.  I remembered Kanryu told me he loved me, and I had believed him.  I had believed him for 7 years until he raped me.  And although I do not love him anymore, he still said he loved me and I would often numbly repeat the words back to him.  

    Then I realized that I was crying.  Tears were flowing freely and I didn't know why I was crying.  I know I was not afraid of dying and I had prepared myself for this outcome years ago.  The more aware I was of my crying, the less control I had over it.  Kanryu held me tighter and ran his fingers through my hair.  He said nothing and let me cry.    

    As soon as Okita cut around the curb toward the club, he put the brakes on.  We had stopped three buildings away and Okita smoothly parallel parked his car behind a taller SUV.

    "Something's wrong," he said.  

    There were three identical silver Mercedes parked along the curb and Von Erich was leaning against the doorway of the club smoking a cigarette with one of his men.  

    "Since when does a small group of security guys drive to their details in Mercedes? Didn't you say that Von Erich's not suppose to show for at least another couple of hours?" Okita said and looked over to me.  "I say we scrap this and go back.  This is a set up." 

    I put my hand up when Okita's hand reached for reverse gear.

    "If this is a set-up, they are too professional to do it this sloppy," I said.  "I think Von Erich's waiting for me to tell me about the change of plans.  My guess would be that daddy's come to see his baby a little earlier than expected."

    "More of a reason why we should pull out of this," he said.  

    I shook my head.

    "I have a worse feeling about leaving than going forward," I said.  "I'll walk to him.  This is a good distance, wait here for me."

    He opened his mouth to say something but I shook my head and he held it back and sighed.

    "Good luck," he said and clicked on the tape recorder in the backseat.  

    I nodded and walked out toward Von Erich.  He saw me coming and he dismissed his subordinate as he came to me.  

    "He's here," he said in a low voice.  "I don't know why but he suddenly wanted to come early."

    I shrugged and went into my pocket for a my cigarettes.

    "You still have to get him out of here now," he said.

    I pressed a cigarette between my lips and lit it.  

    "Or we should wait until Kanryu leaves," I suggested.

    He shook his head. 

    "I don't know what's going to happen in the next few hours.  I can't take a chance of Kanryu taking him from here.  Once Aoshi leaves that building, I don't even know if I can track him anymore."

    "Tell me what you've got in mind."

    "I'll escort you upstairs.  Right before we go in, draw your gun and take Aoshi out.  I'll give the stand down order to my men while you leave with him.  As soon as I see you and Aoshi in the car and leave, I'll take care of Kanryu and my men."

    I visualized his plan in my mind and it appeared that it might actually work.  Okita's frowning at that moment, I knew.  

    "I have a wire on," I said as I dropped the half-smoked cigarette on the ground and rubbed it out with the toe of my shoe.  "And it's being recorded."

    His lack of interest confirmed to me that he was speaking the truth.

    "I don't care what you record," he said.  "Just take Aoshi away from this place."

    I nodded and gestured for him to lead me. 

    The club's nearly empty, except for two middle aged women sitting in the olive drab colored lobby smoking and reading the newspaper.  They probably took care of Aoshi, since they looked too ragged to be the women who worked the clubs.  They looked up when Ian and I passed them to get to the stairs.  They didn't look very interested and glanced back to their newspapers again.  Three of the security details emerged from another room and eyed me suspiciously.  Von Erich spoke to them in German and they nodded, then walked back to where they came from.  We climbed three flights of stairs and at the bend of each stairway, stood a security detail with either a shotgun or a small automatic machine gun.  Von Erich paid them no attention as they greeted him with an honorific bow as we passed. 

    On the third floor, there were four men--two men on each side of the doorway with their shotguns held port-arms.

    "Stand-by in the vehicles," he said.  "And wait for my instructions."

    They nodded and walked downstairs, never lost the port-arm and stiff-shouldered posture as they did so. 

    "Impressive," I said to Von Erich.  "I wish I could make my subordinates do that."

    Von Erich gave me a puzzled look then ignored what I said.  He reached into his jacket and pulled out his Glock and nodded for me to pull out my piece.  I did.

    "No security detail in there," I said and cocked the hammer back on gun.

    "No," he said.  "The only way the security downstairs will know what's going on is when I call over the radio.  I'll clear the way for you as soon as you have Aoshi."

    I nodded and gestured for him to open the door.  He did.

    Aoshi was crying.  That was the first thing I saw when I came into the room.  Aoshi was naked and was barely covered in the bed sheet.  His body was covered in fading and fresh bruises and welts and he was much thinner than I remembered. Kanryu held him in his arms and was stroking Aoshi's hair.  For a few seconds, neither one of them moved.  Aoshi glanced over to me and there's no change in his expression. Then Kanryu turned his head too look at me but he didn't look too surprised.  I wanted to kill him so badly that my hand that held the gun was shaking. 

    "You have some nerve..." Kanryu said in a low voice that resembled a growl. 

    "Aoshi," I said.  "Come to me."

    Aoshi pushed himself away from Kanryu and drew the sheets up to his chest as he moved back further into the corner of the bed.  He started to tremble.  There weren't any signs of recognition in his eyes. 

    "It's okay," I said.  "Aoshi..."

    "He is not yours to take..." Kanryu said, his voice full of hate.  He leaned forward and reached to touch Aoshi.  A small whimper came from Aoshi and terror filled his eyes then.  

    "Don't touch him," I said and took a step forward.  "Don't ever touch him again..."

    Kanryu's hand froze in mid-motion, short of touching Aoshi's face.

    "Who the hell are you to tell me that--" he said and looked over to me.  He looked like he'd finally lost his mind.  

    "Get away from him now," I said as I moved in closer to Aoshi.  "You don't know how much I want to blow your fucking brains out right now."

    He didn't move for awhile.  Perhaps he was waiting for his men to burst in but no one came.  Then suddenly he stood up and walked away to the other side of the room.  I watched him as I moved closer to Aoshi.

    "Come on," I said and touched his arm with my free hand.  "I'm taking you out of here."

    Aoshi didn't move.  I closed my hand around his arm and I was ready to pull him up and out of the bed when he finally started to move on his own.  

    "How far do you think you can go, bastard?" Kanryu said with an annoying grin.  "Aoshi, if you go with him--I swear I will see to that you will die slowly in the cage where I found you."  

    Aoshi froze.  I glanced over to Aoshi for a moment when he tried to pull  his arm out of my grip.  That few seconds was also a mistake.  Kanryu reached into his jacket and fired his gun at me while it was still holstered.  I reacted to the sound more than anything else, when I returned fire.  I've been shot before but this was the closest I've ever been hit.  The momentum of it threw me against the wall and I felt the weight of a sledge hammer being struck against my chest.  I nearly blacked out.  By the time I gathered my bearing, I heard Von Erich speak over the radio outside the room telling his men to stay where they were.  Kanryu was faced down in middle of the room, lying in the pool of blood that was rapidly growing.  I had shot him through his neck, by the look of the exit wound that ripped open a large hole in back of his throat.  

    I sank down to my knees--I had problem breathing.  I looked down and realized my left hand was covered with blood.  

    "Think I might need your help, Okita-san..." I said toward the mike and looked up at Aoshi.  He had retreated back into the corner of the bed and clung onto the thin white sheet that had been splattered with my blood.  I put the gun down and touched his tear-stained face and left some blood on his face as I did so.  He was still quivering and he was crying harder.  I don't think he saw me.  His eyes stared fixedly at Kanryu's body on the ground.

    "Don't cry," I said.  It was the only thing I could think to say to him then.  I wanted to hold him but the left side of my body's become numb.  I couldn't feel my left arm.  "You're free now..."

    I sank down to my knees.  I was tired.  Very tired.  I rested my head on Aoshi's lap and closed my eyes.

    "You don't have to cry anymore..." I said then slipped into nothingness.

    I came in and out of consciousness for the next five days. I didn't regain full consciousness until the sixth day.  I vaguely remembered colleagues, former and occasional lovers, and friends came by and visited me.  My room had become a small florist shop, once I became aware of the surrounding.  I asked the nurses to remove them.  They made the room feel like a funeral home.  The chief and Okita came in to see me as the women were carefully carting the flowers away.

    "Came to fire me or charge me?" I said.

    Chief shrugged and pulled a chair up to my bed.  A nurse helped me sit up and then took the last batch of flower arrangements from the window sill and left us alone.

     "Neither," he said.  "The board's already done a review and Kanryu's own security even provided verbal statements those coincided with the results of 'self-defense' and 'defense of others' findings.  I guess you did close Kanryu's case after all."

    "No I didn't.  I killed one man.  His heir's just going to move right in and become your new case."

    "It's very quiet there now.  No one knows what's going on and no one knows where this golden heir is.  I'm more concerned about the yakuza moving in than anything else.  It'll be a long and bloody war if the yakuza tried to close in right now."  He folded his arms across his chest and leaned back.  "The doctor said your left hand's going to be fine, although you will lose partial use of it.  We can medically retire you..."

    I shook my head.

    "And do what? This is all I know. All I need is my shooting hand and it's fine," I said.  "What became of Aoshi?"

    "Kanryu's son?"

    "He's not Kanyru's son.  Kanryu bought him from a black market when he's toddler then put the adoption papers in so he can take him into Japan.  For Chrissake, Kanryu fucks him."

    "So is he the heir?"

    I nodded.

    "Where is he now?"

    "Probably still holed up in the mansion, who knows? Their lawyers wouldn't let us see him."

    "I am not understanding any of this," I said.  "He's a prime witness to a homicide--"

    "Which was cleared," the chief cut in.  "Decision to let him go was made from above my level.  Aoshi's become a subject of legal issue, not a criminal one. We can't detain him.  No one from the district chief level on down could have stopped the paperwork Kanryu's lawyers were flagging."

    "No one did a follow-up on this?" I said.  I was getting angry and so was the Chief.  Okita finally spoke up.

    "Chief, don't you have a meeting to go to this afternoon?" 

    The Chief looked at his watch and got up.  He gave a nod to us and left without another word.

    "He didn't," Okita said and sat down on the empty chair. "But you are about to make him cry."

    I sighed.

    "I am not asking for much, just some basic police work to be done," I said.  "What happened that day?"

    "As soon as I heard the gunshots and you asking for help, I went in.  I met with Von Erich in the stairs.  He was carrying Aoshi.  He told me that you've been shot but still alive.  Kanryu's dead.  I went up the stairs and he left. The day after, myself and three investigators went to Takeda manor speak to Aoshi or Von Erich.  That's when we were met with lawyers with paperwork that barred us from making contact with anyone from that estate.  When I went to the judge to get a warrant, that's when the phone call from the commissioner--who got a phone call from the governor, came.  Hands off completely until we receive direct permission from their lawyers.  It's rather peculiar, but no one really have the answers.  I asked Joe to keep an eye out in the non-official channels.  He told me that the word is, no one's heading Kanryu's businesses.  A team of lawyers' been the one that's keeping all parts of the estate afloat.  Aoshi and Von Erich has not been seen since the shooting."

    "Foul play?"

    "Everything points to it, but maybe it's just a case of Aoshi needing time to recover before he comes back on scene.  Kanryu's dead and the will named him as the heir.  It will be a matter of time before he comes forward to makes it official, then he will come to us and make a statement and close the Kanryu homicide."

    "I hope so, Okita-san," I said.  "I certainly hope so."

Three months later. Tokyo Criminal Investigation Headquarter: Homicide Division

    I was surprised that I kept the Assistant Director appointment.  The Chief remarked that it was ironic for me to end my time in his department with a homicide, then crossed over to take over the Homicide Investigations.  I was disappointed at the amount of bureaucracy I had to deal with with the new job although I was essentially, part of it.  I can't complain.  My left shoulder had not healed and my left hand sometimes refused to cooperate with what I wanted it to do.  It might be another half a year before I can regain most control over my left arm.  A posh office job was about as ideal as it could get, although I hated the mandatory meetings that occurred every few hours.  

    There weren't any news from the Takeda estate, according to Okita.  Aoshi had not staked his claim on the Takeda fortune and the lawyers were still running the business.  Aoshi, in fact, had not been seen again since the shooting.  For some reason, especially on the nights that rained, I expected Aoshi to come to me then.  I didn't think I would, but I missed him and I found myself thinking about him more than I should.  I wasn't worried about him.  He had Von Erich to protect him, and he's been freed.  He's probably living modestly somewhere else in the world and threw everything in his past away.  Maybe that was the only way to find the peace he wanted.    

    I was on my way to another meeting when I got an unexpected call from an old friend.    

    "How is it over there?" Joe asked.

    "Just more and more fuckin' meetings to talk about what to talk about in the next meeting," I said.  "What is it?"

    He didn't say anything for a few seconds.

    "Aoshi is dead."

    Inside me, I felt a part of me being knifed.

    "I figure someone like you in the upper food chain won't know about this but I think you should go in and see for yourself," he said.  "A badly decomposed body was fished out of Yamagawa two days ago, no ID and no match with the prints or DNA in missing persons.  Expected, since Kanryu had never registered him in the social services or schools."

    "Then how did you know it was him?" I said.  

    "The body was still carrying your mark," Joe said.  

    I listened to the phone static crackle for awhile and waited for the tightness in my throat to subside so I could speak.

    "I'm sorry," he said.  "I wanted to find him for you, so I pursued his leads after you left the bureau."

    "Thank you, Joe," I said in a coarse voice that barely concealed the unsteady tone of it.  "Yes, I needed to know."

    I heard him sigh again and he said "take care" then hung up.  I drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly.  The knot in my throat was still there and it tightened moment by moment.  

    "Saitoh, you are going to be late!" 

    I looked up toward the voice and saw Director Akizuki gesturing for me to come by the door way.  

    "Please excuse my absence," I said after I gathered my composure.  "I need to go to Yamagawa to identify a body."

    I gave him a small apologetic bow and grabbed my jacket.  He said something to me as I walked past him, but I was walking away too quickly to hear it.  In my mind, all I can think of was asking Aoshi not to cry that day when I shot Kanryu.  Another part of me refused to believe that Aoshi could die like this, after he had survived Kanryu.

    I was driven to the Yamagawa Station by one of the rookie detectives who doubled as the headquarter chauffer when he wasn't on call.  I looked at my watch.  It was almost 5 p.m. and the coroners would have already gone home for the day.  

    "Find out who's in charge of this Station and have him report to me now," I said to the young lieutenant in charge.  "Also call in the coroner in charge of the 2 day old case involving a body that drawn out of river here."  

    The young man nodded and fumbled for the phone at his desk as I directed one of the desk sergeants to let me into the basement, where the coroner's office and lab was.

    "I am not sure if..." he started, a thin film of sweat started to appear over his balding head.

    "I own your supervisors," I said. "Do you think they would object to any request I make to you?"

    "No, no...of course not, sir..." he said and grabbed the master keys from the key box and led me down the stairs.  He unlocked the main office and when he was about to unlock the room where the drawers of bodies were, I shook my head.

    "Just bring me this week's autopsy reports," I said and pulled out a chair.  The desk sergeant carried a small stack of folders to me and placed it neatly in the center of the desk.

    "Ask your supervisors to come down here as soon as they arrive," I said and pulled the folders to me.  From the corner of my eye, I saw him gave me a departing bow and back away toward the door, then ran upstairs.  

    I flipped through the folders and scanned through the summaries until I found the report that matched Joe's description.  There was a thick pack of crime scene photos inside large brown envelope and I realized I couldn't open it.  I smoked a cigarette before I was able to read the report.  

    The nude body was found when it washed ashore the shallow Yamagawa bank.  The body had decomposed badly and was skeletal in parts.  There were no facial features left.  The coroner estimated the victim died nearly a month ago, and it had been in the waters for at least a week.  By the soil residue in the nails and the skin, the victim might have been buried for some time before the body was unearthed and thrown into the river.  The victim's ankles and wrists were tightly bound with thin metal wires.  Extensive signs of torture was evident through out the body or at least what was left of the body.  The victim's back was stripped of his skin from the base of his neck down to his waist.  The doctor theorized the lack of blood in the body meant the victim was skinned alive.  A piece of a blue terry cloth, cut from a towel, was wadded down the victim's throat.  The cloth lodged  deep enough to cause asphyxiation--which was the cause of death.  

    I closed the folder and smoked another cigarette.  If Aoshi's dead, then Von Erich must be also.  There's not many people that would be good enough to take out someone like Von Erich or Aoshi, especially when they had the entire Takeda estate at their disposal.  It had to be an inside job and it had to be someone already close enough to have access to Aoshi to take him.  The nature of the killing, however, puzzled me.  It ruled out yakuza.  Their killings were straightforward.  There weren't any reason for the yakuza to torture Aoshi before killing him.  There weren't any recent yakuza take-overs or movements toward the Takeda estate for months.  If the yakuza killed Aoshi to acquire the estate, then they had nearly a month to do it. Whoever killed Aoshi must have known him and had a relationship with him..  The only person I could think of that could have killed Aoshi in this manner was already dead.  

    "The will," I blurted out loud a few seconds later even before I understood why I said it.  "The fucking will...."  

    Aoshi's the sole heir and now he's dead.  Suddenly, the list of people capable of Aoshi's murder lengthened.  I wanted to be angry, but all I can feel was a vast emptiness inside me.  I sat in the chair and stared at the brown envelope with the pictures, smoking one cigarette after another until I heard footsteps coming down the stairs.  I rubbed out the cigarette I was smoking and stood as Yotomoto, the coroner and Ozaki, the Station chief, entered the room.  After a brief explanation that I received a tip on the victim that I may be able to identify, they looked relieved.

    "Saitoh-sama, we are honored that you are personally assisting us with this case," Ozaki said.  

    I shrugged.

    "Yotomoto-san, please let me view the body," I said although I was struck with a sudden urge to leave that place.  I didn't even want to see the body, but I know I had to.

    Yotomoto nodded walked to the one of the doors at the far end of the office.  He gestured for us to come as he unlocked it.  The blast of cold air and strong scent of rubbing alcohol and formaldehyde rushed out to greet us.  Yotomoto handed to us two cotton pads to hold over our nose and mouth then led us to the lockers.  He scanned through the drawers and read the names he had given to the nameless victims and pulled one out.  The stench of the corpse was something I abhor, but it was something I was used to.  As Yotomoto started to lift the sheet, I stopped him.

   "No point uncovering his head for me," I said through the cotton pad.  "The head's nearly skeletal, from your report.  Show me the tattoo that was on his leg."

   Yotomoto nodded and dropped that end of the sheet and picked up the other one.  He slowly lifted the sheet to reveal browned, leather-textured flesh, spotted with black spots that could have been bruises, on the bone-thin legs.  Yotomoto paused at the thighs.  The flesh there was a lighter shade of brown and there was the unmistakable mark of a tattoo there.  I walked around to the other side and looked at the design closer. 

   My heart sunk. 

   "Wrap him up," I said and turned away.  Ozaki followed me back into the office and Yotomoto came in after he secured the drawer.  I took out a cigarette and offered the pack to them.  They both took one, but they didn't inhale it.  They smoked the cigarettes like the way I see many cops did after a crime scene, just to cover the stench of death that followed them out.  We smoked in silence.  They waited for me to says something but I couldn't form any coherent thoughts.  I rubbed out the cigarette into the filled ash tray and started to walk toward the stairs.

   "Saitoh-sama?" Ozaki said as I reached the doorway.

   "His name was Aoshi," I said.  "He's the adopted son of the deceased Kanryu Takeda.  You can get the background on Kanryu's death through Organized Crime Division's Okita Souji.  You probably won't get much info on Aoshi since Kanryu bought him.  Thank you for your assistance, gentlemen. Goodnight."

   I left. 

   I dismissed the young driver and walked aimlessly toward south of the Station and stepped into the first bar I came to.  That time, I was not just drinking to forget Aoshi--I needed to numb myself before the pain came.

 ~Narcissus

* Quote from Tennyson: In Memoriam XXVIII