2.6
An hour has passed since then. I waited outside the office to see how he would show up.
Nearly right on time, a black BMW showed up.
“I'll park in the parking lot, please wait a moment.”
Tsukishiro rolled down the driver's window, pulled into the parking lot, and returned.
“I didn't know you were going to drive yourself.”
“Basically, I do most of my work alone. And I don't like to let other people drive. It's like putting your life in their hands.”
I thought he was exaggerating, but perhaps doing that serves the opposite of putting his life at risk. I sometimes think about what Tsukishiro said. I let Tsukishiro through to my office and sat him down somewhere appropriate.
“You said you might be able to meet my expectations, so do you know what I want?”
There was an eerie presence in the air alongside his constant smiling.
“Yes. It's about the Human Resource Development Project, isn't it?”
“You seem to know the details of everything, Naoe-sensei. So you didn't intend to entrust the project to me alone from the beginning.”
That day, I thought Naoe-sensei entrusted the project only to me and Kamogawa. No, it was only my own fault for interpreting it that way. It was my first big project, and Naoe-sensei could not afford to make any mistakes, so it was natural to think that he was taking out an insurance policy.
“If I collapse, will you take over this project and be in charge of its execution?”
“Maybe, maybe not.”
Of course, he wouldn’t give me a straight answer.
This man's age must not be so different from mine, but he seems to have a lot of experience with such work.
If that’s the case, it’s no wonder that he allowed Tsukishiro to supervise this project.
“No, no. I guess they'll just keep an eye out for another politician to take my place.”
If Kamogawa and I fail, another politician will take over the project.
And Tsukishiro has always been observing and collected the big picture to report back to Naoe-sensei.
“Excellent. You got it half right, Ayanokouji-san.”
“Half right?”
“Yes. I’ve been entrusted with two tasks, one of which is no different from what you’ve just described. The other is to assist the politician who’s been entrusted with the Human Resource Development Project.”
“Assistance?”
“A strong supporter. But you don’t seem to be pleased with it.”
It sounds good to have an assistant, but I'm supposed to be in charge of handling any failures as well.
“I don't understand. I don't think Naoe-sensei would rely on you, you're not much older than me.”
“It’s true that I, like Ayanokouji-san, am a young man in the world of politics. However, supporters of big politicians are always valued even if they’re young, as long as they’re good at what they do. Well, in my case, I work with anyone, not only with politicians.”
Tsukishiro didn’t even try to hide his excellence.
It isn’t that he’s overly self-conscious. He’s confident based on his track record.
“Before I ask you to do a job, there’s something I want to confirm.”
“What is it?”
I pulled out this morning's newspaper and pointed to an article in a small corner.
“Oarai town in Ibaraki prefecture. A body was found in the harbor here.”
“It's not that unusual. People are dying every second all over Japan.”
“He’s a local reporter, but I know this man. He was a lone wolf who disliked the political world, mainly the ruling Citizen's Party, and he once approached Naoe-sensei several times for an interview.”
“So? Is that relevant here and now?”
“Did you do this, Tsukishiro?”
“You’re asking very direct questions, Ayanokouji-san. Do you expect me to say yes?”
“That's not important. What I want to know is whether or not this reporter was on Naoe-sensei when he met you at the ryotei the other day.”
Tsukishiro didn’t raise an eyebrow and looked down at the article in the newspaper.
“It seems he was trying to write a gossip article about Naoe-sensei. He has a wife and child, and he's into young women. The Citizen's Party's image will inevitably be tarnished.”
Yes, that's right. This was the real reason why this man was with Naoe-sensei at a ryotei the other day. He intentionally followed Naoe-sensei and identified and took out the reporter who was following him.
Of course, he would never admit it in front of me… I clenched my fist and slammed it down hard on the table.
“It's not fear, is it? Oh no... I don't think it's anger, right?”
Tsukishiro, who had analyzed my behavior with interest, continued.
Certainly, fear, awe, and horror would be the natural response to this story. The creepy guy in front of me may have done away with a person as part of his job.
But I have no fear of Tsukishiro.
“Why wasn't I given that job... That's where the anger comes from, isn't it?”
“It's my job to do the dirty work. That's what I've always done.”
One word from sensei and I'm confident I can do as good a job as this man.
“At least I wouldn't do anything stupid that would allow them to find the body.”
“I understand that you’re very close to the Oba clan, Ayanokouji-san.”
You know us as well as we know you, don't you?
“Then you should’ve known early on that I have nothing to fear from you.”
“The Oba clan isn’t a big organization, but they have a lot of thieves. I can imagine the trouble you must’ve gone through to establish a friendly relationship with them. But a body isn’t a body unless it’s found. A mere disappearance wouldn’t have chilled the hearts of the countless rats who keep an eye on the Naoe-sensei.”
In other words, it wasn’t that he failed to hide it, but that he deliberately let his corpse be found…
Whether Tsukishiro was involved in the death of the local reporter or not is no longer relevant.
I don’t think that reaching out my arm here grabbing him by the collar to threaten him would work.
The fact that I sense that means that his strategy is already working.
“I'm sorry to hear that, but that proves how much Naoe-sensei is putting into his Human Resource Development Project, and since he decided to select you, he didn't want you to cross a dangerous bridge just to sink a reporter. Even if this one incident becomes a problem, it will only be someone else who will be blamed for it—someone who’s unknown.”
This man’s dangerous, but he’s good, and if he’s a quick talker when he knows what he's doing.
I guess I’d have to be able to handle the man in front of me to reach the heights of success.
“I don't like a lot of things about you, but it can’t be helped.”
“That's the right answer. We should keep our personal feelings out of it.”
Any more chit-chat is a waste of time.
Let me cut to the chase.
“I was just now interviewing staff for the new institute. We’ve a good prospect of finding a certain number of people, but we’re still lacking a decisive factor. It’ll take time to find someone again.”
“You're asking me to find someone for you? And quickly at that.”
“If you know of any. But I'm not looking for a half-assed job.”
“Don't worry, I know someone who’s good enough to convince Ayanokouji-san.”
“Oh?”
“But whether I introduce them to you or not is another story. You know what I mean?”
Most of this world is business.
Whether you like them or not, whether your relationship is thick or thin, is meaningless.
“I know. How much?”
We have nothing to complain about if we get something in return for what we pay.
“The theory is that money’s the best solution, but I have my own policy. I’m willing to sit down and talk with potential clients. First of all, would you be willing to do it here?”
“That's funny. Just a few minutes ago I was interviewing for a job, and now I'm on the receiving end.”
What a joke. But it's foolish to throw away an opportunity for a little time and pride.
“All right. Do whatever you want.”
I'll play along with Tsukishiro's game and see if I can use him.
“Thank you very much.”
Tsukishiro took out a light blue clear file and pulls out some papers from it. I wonder if it was all calculated to bring us to this point.
“Ayanokouji Atsuomi, age 31. Male. Born in Aso City, Kumamoto Prefecture.”
“Wait a minute. Why do you need to confirm all that in an interview?”
“It's important.”
He may not be joking, but his wan smile makes me want to vomit.
“You and I are equals. Or maybe we’re not even equal. You’re free now to decide what our hierarchy is, you decide. If you would rather swear in your gut, please feel free to say it out loud.”
He's smiling, but I wonder how serious he is.
Though, I’ve already made my decision.
“I know that we have different, yet similar personalities. I haven’t been reserved in the past, but I was still held back due to my position being under Naoe-sensei. From now on, let me respond to you without reservation in the true sense of the word.”
“That's better.”
After smirking, Tsukishiro began to speak again.
“I've followed your career as far as I could. Your life hasn’t been easy, and it seems that you had a poor and needy childhood.”
I'm not sure how much research he’d done, but he seems to have done a fair amount.
It was very likely that he was in contact with people who knew me as a child and student.
“I've also been able to find out about your family history. I understand that your parents abandoned you when you were very young and your paternal grandparents raised you.”
From the way he spoke, it seems that spouting out a poor lie would have the opposite effect.
“I have no parents, no money, and no decent house… I can't help it if I'm judged that way.”
“No decent house? What kind of place did you live in?”
“A shack for farm equipment ran by the adults in the neighborhood. It had a crude tin roof and no electricity or gas. We took a bath only once or twice a week with hot water boiled in a cassette stove.”
This isn’t a past to be proud of, and to others, it may sound rather self-deprecating.
But I’m not pessimistic about my past.
I even think it’s given me a life of determination to rise to the top.
“My grandfather died when I was in middle school. But it was a turning point. We received a small amount of insurance money and my grandmother and I were able to buy an old house nearby and moved in.”
It wasn’t the kind of house you'd want to live in.
However, I remember how happy I was to have such a big castle.
“Is your grandmother still alive?”
“No. She died when I was over 20, I think.”
“That's very irresponsible of you.”
“I didn't see her die, and I don't care about that. I was too busy living for myself.”
I received one phone call from a distant, distant relative, but I didn’t attend the funeral. I paid only the minimum expenses and let them take care of everything.
I don't even know where the grave is or where the remains of my grandfather and the others are buried.
“I see that after all the hard work she put into raising you, her end wasn’t a good one.”
“Hard—hard, huh? I don't know about that.”
Of course, I know how hard it is to raise a child, though raising me was different.
“But it's true that it was all for naught. The son who was supposed to raise him with all his might abandoned him and disappeared, and the grandchild he left behind didn’t even try to help her. For decades, they lived in poverty and never had the luxury of living in the lap of luxury.”
If I had lived as my grandmother, I would’ve described it as a living hell.
“Looking at the situation objectively now, how does it feel? Does it hurt?”
“No. Nothing has changed. It’s no more than that. My grandmother led the life of a loser and died a loser. At least if she'd abandoned me, her grandson, and made good use of my grandfather's insurance money, she'd have had a somewhat better life.”
I have no intention of leading such a miserable life.
I can say that she was the closest thing I have to a role model.
“When did you decide to become a politician?”
“When I was a host, a woman who came as a guest told me a story—politicians can make money and gain power.”
In fact, there were many members of the Japanese Parliament who played around at cabarets.
I started envying those people who were playing around with the money that was wrung out with the public's blood.
“You ran for office for the first time at the age of 25, but the number of votes you received was hopeless, and you failed miserably with the forfeiture of your deposit.”
Tsukishiro read my profile containing his research.
“You announced your intention to run again when the House of Representatives was dissolved when you were at the age of 27, and Naoe-sensei took a liking to you and encouraged you to run again for the first time.”
“I admit that it was the most desperate time of my life. As a former host, I used women to get close to Naoe-sensei. Of course, that alone wouldn’t have won me his approval, but I’m proud to say that he bought my persistent contact, enthusiasm, and ambition.”
Tsukishiro nodded his head in satisfaction, though I expected him to dig deeper into the matter.
“Thank you very much for the details.”
Closing the file, Tsukishiro turned to face me.
“Fine. I accept you as my client.”
Saying this, Tsukishiro pulled out a new file.
“Wait! You're going to accept me as a client just because of this?”
“You may lack some knowledge, but that isn’t important. You’re blessed! You can replace your brain and your body with any number of alternatives. What’s important are your ideas. Your ambition, tinged with evil, which you cannot hide, is a very good quality in a politician.”
I look down at the file in front of me.
“I'm sure you'll find him a very capable man.”
Did he know that I contacted him because I wanted a researcher?
No, maybe Naoe-sensei is backing me up behind the scenes.
“How much?”
“Not this time. It would be best if you return the favor in the future with a big payout. You might make it big someday. That's the main reason I decided to take the job.”
“Don't make me laugh. How many politicians have you whispered the same thing to?”
Even this man, who claimed to have recognized my qualities in this way, only decided to cooperate because of my background.
“Of course, I'm sure it's not just one or two people.”
He simply admitted it and stood up.
“The more competent you are, the more enemies you make in politics. The stakes are high, and your political life is at risk. Your wickedness and ambition may be overpowered by a more powerful force.”
“I won't be crushed by a higher power.”
“I know you won't. If you find yourself in a situation where you’re about to be killed, you won’t hesitate to take them with you. Such an existence will survive.”
As a novice in politics, I can do nothing without Naoe-sensei’s backing.
As I left the office with Tsukishiro, a young man in a white coat came up to me.
“He’s the one you’re looking for. I told him to come at this time.”
“You've been planning this all along?”
“Of course, I had no intention of letting you meet him if you had not passed my interview.”
After saying that, Tsukishiro bowed and left the office.
Time for another interview was added to my schedule.
On his resume, he wrote a rather unusual name: Suzukake Tanji.
“Hello.”
“Have a seat.”
Tsukishiro, despite being someone introduced by Naoe-sensei, is someone I can’t be too careful of.
The hirer must be questioned in detail and checked for any problems.
The entering man named Suzukake Tanji looked like a sloppy middle-aged man with his stubble beard, but he was two years younger than me. He graduated from the University of Tokyo at the top of his class and came to the U.S., but he has never made any significant achievements.
He was a man who had no title but only his head on his shoulders, so to speak, but I still don't know why Tsukishiro recommended such a man to me.
“Your resume seems to be very blank, what did you do abroad?”
“I was doing what I wanted to do.”
“...What did you want to do?”
“Well, a lot of things.”
“That's not very clear. I'm not sure I understand.”
“Observe people.”[8]
It's good to see so many people today who can't even use proper honorifics.
You’ve learned that it’s somewhat better to be spoken to casually than with half-assed honorifics.
“Now tell me why you decided to take this interview.”
“I heard it pays well. I need money to stay abroad.”
“The cost of living is much higher than in Japan, that's understandable.”
If you have the ability, you should stay and work there, but judging from this man's attitude, I don't need to question him about the difficulty of doing so.
“I have a question for you too…”
“What is it?”
“Before that, you need to stop using those disgusting honorifics. You can look at me like I'm an insect all you want, but if you really want the job, I need to know who you really are.”
“...I see. That's fine, but won't that just mean I'll have to leave?”
I don't have to be in human skin if that’s what he wants.
He shifted to an upright posture a little and crossed his legs.
“You're not hired at the moment, Suzukake. You deserve credit for your brains, having graduated at the top of your class from all the prestigious schools you attended, but you haven't left anything behind after that.”
“It's just that the stage wasn't prepared for me to leave anything behind.”
He replied, then quickly continued.
(TL Note : This sentence is not using the honorifics that would be expected when speaking politely)[8]
“I’m not seeking fame or a title, but I do want to understand the human mechanism. I thought that the Human Resource Development Project's policy would be the perfect opportunity for me to answer my questions.”
“You don't want a title, huh? If you meet our expectations, you’ll be rewarded in ways you haven’t been able to achieve in the public eye. And if the White Room project is successful, you can ask for the honor.”
I handed him the materials on the White Room, and Suzukake immediately began to look through them.
I have to hang a lot of carrots for these guys in front of me and let them show me their talent without regret. That was what I assumed, but you never know with researchers.
His eyes lit up like a child's, he checked the facilities and environment, and began to murmur his hopes and ideals.
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