Kazuo inadvertently eavesdrops in front of a lodge. This is a pure coincidence; nobody planned for it. At this time, Kazuo develops a major misunderstanding. We'll find out about that later.

 

Kazuo inadvertently eavesdrops in front of a lodge.

This is a pure coincidence; nobody planned for it.

At this time, Kazuo develops a major misunderstanding.

We'll find out about that later.

He tried taking a bath, but he couldn't.

The old tiled bathroom was dimly lit, with a bare bulb hanging from the ceiling, and the lack of any windows made the whole room feel gloomy. It was the sort of bath you'd expect from a family-owned inn in the most remote parts of the countryside. It was locked with a metal bar instead of a proper inner lock, which was unbearably lame. The inside of the bathtub felt slimy, there was no shower, and it didn't have hot water. The water that came out was only lukewarm, and no matter which way he twisted the handle, it wouldn't get any warmer. He understood why Asako, Yumi, and Mikiko had shied away from it.

If he sat in it for too long, the water would get even colder. He quickly finished the bath and returned to the mattress room, shivering the whole time as he dressed and prepared to head out. Hoshizono had asked to see him.

From the back door, he went down the three stairs and stepped onto the snowy ground. The wind had picked up, and the water felt like it was sucking the warmth from his body. His ears and cheeks instantly went numb from the cold. He automatically hunched forward.

He could see the lights of the lodges dimly through the night. It seemed the generator supplied electricity to the entire lodge village. He couldn't see any poles, so the lines probably went underground.

Even though it was dark, between the light from the administration building and the lodges, it wasn't so bad that he couldn't find his way. But to Kazuo, who was used to the city's nightlife, it was still a profoundly deep darkness. The field of snow turned black and gray, and the mountain loomed above. The starry sky looked ready to fall. He couldn't see the moon; it was probably behind the mountain.

In the cold and the darkness, he walked the path dug in the snow. The chill crept up his body from the feet and nipped all over him. His breath came out pure white.

If he remembered correctly, Hoshizono was in the fourth lodge, second furthest from the administration building. There was an empty one behind it – he wished that if there was a lodge free they'd let him use it, but no, he was just an attendant. Kazuo grumbled to himself as he walked. However, he felt less upset than he had during the day, perhaps because he'd managed to have a leisurely talk with Asako.

Second, third, fourth. This was the lodge... Kazuo stopped in his tracks as he realized his mistake. The lodges were lined up to the left of the path. And on the other side, across the snowy field, was another row of lodges – This was the left path. He'd gone the wrong way.

After getting out of the bath and changing clothes, for what ever reason he'd gone back towards the bathroom and out the back door, resulting in his mistake. Going out the back door put you in front of the left path, and the front led to the right path. Hoshizono's lodge was the fourth on the right.

Man, that was confusing... He clicked his tongue and contemplated just marching across the snowfield to the right path, but decided not to. He was already freezing out here; if any snow got in his shoe, he'd probably lose a toe. It was a pain, but oh well. He'd go the long way around. He turned around and started marching back the way he came.

That was when he heard a voice.

“...You're being so selfish...”

Fragments of conversation were blown to him on the wind.

“...You aren't making sense... You're being so rude...”

Listening carefully, he thought he could make out a woman's voice. It was a scream, hysterical with emotion.

The voice was coming from a lodge. Second on the left... He remembered that was Iwagishi's lodge. The window looked like a square cut directly out of the darkness. From the gap in the slightly open curtain, a ray of light shot out like an arrow.

“...Don't say that... You're the only one...”

This time was a man's voice. It was obviously Iwagishi.

“...You aren't thinking straight... All a big misunder...ing...”

The fragments of Iwagishi's voice being carried on the wind sounded like he was petting a cat. Soothing, yet playful, trying to get the other person in the mood.

“...Don't get upset... trying to make you uncomfortable...”

Iwagishi's voice disappeared into the wind. At the same time, Kazuo suddenly saw his figure through the gap in the curtains. Iwagishi faced to the right, extended his right hand as if to embrace someone, and walked out of Kazuo's vision. It seemed he was approaching someone in the back of the room.

As he left, Kazuo felt stupid for having gotten so curious. They were just fighting. He couldn't make out exactly whose voice it was, but it was probably one of those college girls. He'd thought they were out of place, but one of them was actually the pervy president's side chick. He brought her along under the cover of a business trip – it was a common enough occurrence. The other girl must have been brought along as camouflage. If he'd only brought one girl, those around him would have immediately suspected their relationship. With that conclusion, Kazuo lost all interest. He didn't care about meaningless gossip.

He went back to the back door, crossed under the eaves of the building, and this time made his way up the right path. It was the same way he'd gone when he'd taken a look around that evening.

All the lodges on the right side had their lights on. One, two, three... the next lodge was the one he was looking for. He stopped halfway down the path. There wasn't any path from the main path to the lodge. Squinting into the darkness, he could barely make out footprints in the snow that appeared to have been left by Hoshizono.

Following them, he approached the lodge. It was a small, cheap looking building that resembled an amusement park's ticket office. It seemed some effort had been made to make it look like a log cabin, but the only logs used were pillars in the four corners, which looked ugly. The rest of the building was made of the same sort of wood as the administration building, and this one was also raised three steps high on stilts. The entrance stood suspended in the air.

Kazuo climbed the stairs and knocked on the wooden door.

“It's Sugishita.”

“Ah, come in,” replied Hoshizono's laid back voice.

When he opened the door, the fluorescent lights temporarily blinded him.

The inside also had paneled walls. Large bunk beds had been placed on either side, making the room feel oppressively cramped. The top bunks looked like they were touching the ceiling. Next to each bed was a window with loose-hanging, light green curtains. It was a room with no purpose but to sleep, feeling more like a mountain hut than a lodge. Climbing equipment was displayed on the wall, hanging near the ceiling. From left to right hung an ice axe, an oil lantern, and a tight bundle of mountain climbing rope. The lantern had an old-fashioned cylindrical shape, and although a fan of mountain climbing would probably call it charming, it was ungainly and impractical.

To the left of the entrance stood a built-in wardrobe. In the narrow space between the beds was a small table and four stools.

Near the table, a stove had been placed, and Hoshizono was sitting by it writing something.

On top of the stove, on an old kerosene burner, an equally old kettle was steaming, probably a makeshift humidifier. It was big and bulky with a rugged design, like the one used by the university rugby club 20 years ago.

“Pardon me.”

Kazuo went over to the table and took a casual look at the open notebook.

“For Leos, your fortune is a bit down this week. If you're too selfish, your boyfriend might not like you. So this week, try to be patient. If you stay patient, your luck will improve next week. But being passive is even worse, so put on your favorite outfit, look your best, and head out on the town.”

Perhaps noticing Kazuo's look, Hoshizono snapped his notebook shut. Then, he glanced up at Kazuo.

“Please take a seat.”

“Ah, excuse me.”

As he was told, Kazuo planted himself on one of the small stools. Across the table was the handsome nobleman face of Hoshizono. His eyes were a bit sunken in, and his long eyelashes were curled.

“Now then, Kazuo.”

Hoshizono crossed his arms and arched his back a bit. He appeared fixed in place, like a portrait of a European aristocrat.

“I've heard a bit about you.”

“Ahh...”

Kazuo nodded uncertainly, thinking he'd probably only heard rumors.

“I'm sure you'll return to Production eventually, but until then, you'll be working with me. So, I think to minimize difficulties, we should try to get to know each other better.”

The stove dyed Hoshizono's chiseled features red.

“Just as I can't get a genuine understanding about you just from hearing about you from others, I don't think you understand everything there is to know about me.”

Hoshizono said in a deep voice that sounded genuinely thoughtful. Kazuo thought he knew plenty, thanks, but...

“Do you have a dream, Kazuo?”

Suddenly, Hoshizono said something creepy. He even threw in his signature “finger to the ceiling” pose. There was no one else here, who was he showing off for?

“Ah, a dream?”

Kazuo felt sick. It wasn't like this guy was trying to convert him into a fan like those college girls.

“I do have a dream... or maybe it's more of a goal. But it's such a grand goal that I think it's more like a dream. But, Kazuo. I need something to reach my dreams. Do you know what it is?”

“...No.”

Please don't talk about love or romance or something creepy, I've got enough goosebumps as is.

“It's simple, Kazuo.”

Hoshizono stared directly into Kazuo's eyes.

“Money.”

“...Huh?”

Kazuo couldn't help but be taken aback. Hoshizono had suddenly said something completely unromantic. However, the other man completely ignored his reaction and kept going in a serious tone.

“It's money, and a lot of it. Kazuo, I don't mind sacrificing what little pride I have if it'll bring me closer to my dream. That's what I think. I don't care if I'm hated. I'm determined to ignore what others think about me. Everything is for the sake of my goal.”

His eyes looked straight at him. They were two lakes of jet black.

Overwhelmed, Kazuo timidly asked:

“Um... and what is your goal?”

Hoshizono's eyes suddenly softened.

“Kazuo, what were you doing nine years ago?”

He answered with a question.

“Nine years ago, I think I was struggling with entrance exams.”

Unable to find the meaning in his question, Kazuo answered hesitantly. Hoshizono replied.

“I see. That was the year I graduated from university.”

He turned away and looked off into the distance. What did that have to do with money? Ignoring Kazuo's bewilderment, Hoshizono continued with a far-off look in his eyes.

“That year... Nine years ago, there was an incident in a rural village in the Toube District in Okayama Prefecture. A small village by the name of Aza-Higashino. A quintessential quiet country village.”

Hoshizono sounded nostalgic, as though he were recounting his own past.

“It was a robbery-murder. In a house on the outskirts of the village, an elderly man who lived alone was brutally murdered, and what little savings he had were stolen. It was a heinous incident, unprecedented in such a remote community. But the circumstances behind the crime were even more unusual, as the incident occurred in a perfect locked room.”

“A perfect locked room...?”

“Yes, a so-called impossible crime. I understand the body was found in inexplicable circumstances. It was a difficult case that left even the police baffled, but officially, it was solved easily. The person with the most suspicious motive committed suicide right after the incident. So in the end, the investigation ended with the prime suspect dead and no charges being filed.”

The conversation had turned unexpectedly heavy, and Kazuo sat with his back straight. He had no idea what the connection between the violent incident in the past and Hoshizono's obsession with money was, but from his grave tone of voice, it must have been something serious.

“So, Kazuo.”

Hoshizono gave Kazuo a soft smile, as though trying to distract from his feelings.

“That's where I lived. Aza-Higashino, Toube District, Okayama Prefecture – That's where I was born.”

“Ah...”

“And I have my doubts about the police's official ruling. The person who committed suicide, who was believed to be the culprit... I think they were innocent. That's why I want to somehow prove their innocence and clear their name.” 

Hoshizono's voice was calm, but it carried incredible determination.

“However, at the time of the incident, I'd already left the village to attend university. After the murder, I immediately returned to try and learn more, but the police wouldn't share information about an ongoing investigation with a civilian. The people of the village weren't talking, either. There was nothing I could do. That's why, Kazuo. I need power. The power to influence the local authorities, to get close to the police and those involved in the incident, the power to freely gather data in a village trapped by old customs... and the key to all power is money. That's why I still haven't even filled out my change of address.”

“I see...”

Kazuo gave a pretty uninspiring reply, but Hoshizono didn't seem upset.

“It's for tax purposes. Like most small towns, that village is experiencing population decline, and its finances are tight, so if I could make enough money...”

“I see, you'd pay higher taxes.”

Kazuo nodded, and Hoshizono answered with a dazzling smile.

“That's how it is. In rural areas, those who pay high taxes are modern day lords, and village heads are also bound by their money. To become powerful in a place like that... I could force the police and villagers alike to answer my questions. I'd have a power nobody could resist, even if I tried to re-litigate something that happened nine years ago... But to achieve that, I have no choice but to become the top taxpayer in the region. I need to become rich enough to buy out the entire village. And the statute of limitations for robbery-murder is 15 years – I'm running out of time. In six more years... the real culprit will be out of reach of the law. Before that happens, I have to buy out the village. I don't have the luxury of thinking about appearances or methods. Do you understand?”

Although Hoshizono spoke calmly, Kazuo was shocked. At the same time, he felt the scales fall from his eyes.

Why did this man lead the ridiculous life of the Star Watcher?

For the money.

He knew what he was doing.

He understood everything.

Kazuo understood, too. His revolting behavior, his sickly sweet words, his status as a pseudo-talent who only appealed to lonely women, the way he shamelessly whored himself out to the media. In the end, the man before him was simply playing the role of “Shiro Hoshizono”.

He saw his beauty and eloquence as commodities, and chose the ridiculous life of a cultural talent as a way to make the most of them – it was just business. He just did it for the money. The talent business could be highly lucrative if you played your cards right. You could make incredible amounts of money. He'd gone into this industry chasing the sort of money he'd never be able to obtain working a nine-to-five. Given the time pressure, there was probably no other way he could use his gifts so efficiently. That was what he'd concluded.

He had to make money fast, or he wouldn't make it in time. In the face of that need, the shady one-man business known as the Star Watcher was born. Even then, he still needed to hurry.

The incident that had happened nine years ago in the Okayama countryside.

Perhaps the person suspected of being the culprit was someone close to Hoshizono. Otherwise, there'd be no reason for him to be so dedicated, and there'd be no explanation for why the police and the other villagers had been so unwilling to talk to him. Because he was close to a suspected criminal, those around him had treated him coldly. It was for that person's sake that Hoshizono was humiliating himself for money. It might have been a relative, a close friend, or even a lover. Of course, Kazuo couldn't ask for such intimate details, but the enthusiasm Hoshizono demonstrated was already enough to move his heart.

Aza-Higashino, Toube District, Okayama Prefecture.

He'd never heard of the place before, but somehow, he had a premonition.

Maybe someday, perhaps even someday soon, Kazuo and Hoshizono would journey to that village... To uncover the truth behind the locked room murder from nine years ago before the statute of limitations ran out.

But still... As Kazuo stealthily glanced back at Hoshizono's handsome face, which looked as though it had been blessed by Aphrodite herself, he thought that people often weren't what they seemed. He had no idea that such a relaxed-looking man carried such a heavy burden. There was no way to understand the true nature of a person until you knew their circumstances. Come to think of it, Akane Kusabuki had been the same way. Even though she wrote romance novels, her personality was dry and realistic. After all, humans were complicated creatures. That man carved from marble wasn't the pretentious buffoon his male viewers thought he was. As young girls screamed at him, adults laughed at him, and all of that was calculated... and Kazuo had been laughing at him behind his back since yesterday. Remembering that, he felt painfully embarrassed. He was the sort who judged people and looked down on them based on appearances, and his opponent had seen right through him. When he remembered the way he'd been treating Hoshizono since yesterday, he felt like his face was on fire. He wished the earth would open up and swallow him, but unfortunately, the floor of the cabin was in the way, so instead, he stood up and spoke.

“I'm sorry.”

He bowed deeply.

“I misunderstood you. I'm very sorry. I didn't know about your circumstances, and I thought incredibly rude things about you, and I'm sorry.”

His face turned read with remorse and he couldn't bring himself to look up.

“I just wanted you to understand. Now, please take a seat.”

Hoshizono still sounded calm, and Kazuo felt like his soul had been saved.

Kazuo sat back down, enjoying the feeling of casting off the tightness in his chest.

“From now on, we'll be working together, so while I don't care what anyone else thinks, I don't want there to be any tension when it's just the two of us. That's why I asked you to come here, so I could say all this. Now, enough with the formalities. We spent a long time talking about some pretty boring things. Do forgive me.”

Hoshizono smiled at him. Kazuo hadn't been the only one feeling anxious on the train. He once again felt like an idiot to have been so insensitive.

“Geez, if it's like that, say something sooner... it's all your fault.”

Kazuo couldn't get over his embarrassment and complained.

“You could have told me yesterday.”

“No, Director Kawasaka was there. He doesn't know the real me at all.”

“Oh, I see.”

“He thinks I really am the man I present as.”

“That's why you said all that boring nonsense back there.”

Kazuo made eye contact with Hoshizono. They grinned at each other, then burst out laughing like old friends.

“In that case, it seems like my role here is pointless,” Kazuo said cheerfully.

“Your role?”

“The director ordered me to keep watch on you and make sure you didn't get in any trouble with the women.”

“Haha, so that's why he insisted on attaching a manager to someone like me?”

Seeming to immediately understand, Hoshizono also chuckled.

“But I'm sure you understand now that there's no need for that.”

“I understand.”

This guy who'd deceived TV viewers across the country would never do anything to decrease the value of his product.

“You wouldn't. You aren't like President Iwagishi.”

“What about President Iwagishi?”

“Ah, no, just now I...”

Kazuo explained what he'd overheard in front of the lodge.

“Well, we can't just leave him like that, can we?”

Hoshizono gave an exaggerated shrug.

“It's just one of those college girls,” Kazuo said.

Hoshizono slightly raised an eyebrow.

“I agree.”

“Um, would you listen to my story now? Since we're trying to understand each other.”

“Of course.”

Hoshizono nodded, and Kazuo opened his mouth. He didn't mind telling because it was the same story he'd shared with Asako earlier. Compared to Hoshizono's personal confession, his worries were starting to feel minor, and that made him feel a bit better. It was strange to think how much he had talked about his own life tonight. Hoshizono listened in silence the whole time. Then he nodded again and gave an accepting smile.

It was like a weight lifting off his shoulders.

After leaving Hoshizono's lodge, Kazuo started heading back to the administration building.

The cold wind blew through his hair, but it couldn't spoil his mood.

As he made his way, he looked up at the sky.

The stars were so beautiful he wanted to take a handful of them home. Small sparkles shone bright in the sky. The view was clear, serene, majestic, and absolutely divine.

A shooting star flew by.

He wondered if he should have made a wish. I wish I could return to the Production Department soon. That was too long to say three times, he thought with a smile. I wish the day I can go to Okayama with Hoshizono would come soon... That was also too long. Suddenly, Asako's face appeared in his mind. If I wish upon a star...What am I thinking, we've only just met! That smile formed again.

Then, just as he started walking again, a dark shadow fell across his chest. He stopped again. That voice – the woman's voice he heard from Iwagishi's lodge. It could have been Asako. The president of a real estate company and an author's secretary...

No... Kazuo shook his head and ran off. Overhead, the sky was full of the light of falling stars.

 

Previous Chapter                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Next Chapter