Tokyo Drift Arc (16)

Tokyo Drift Arc (16)

Ameko covered the unconscious Takeda Tetsuya with the torn blanket from the van. After thanking Zhang Heng, she climbed out with his support.

"Do you think he was lying before?"

"No. I just think there are some questionable parts in his story." Zhang Heng locked the car door and took the elevator to the supermarket with the girl.

"What struck me as strange was mainly Onitō's attitude toward him. If things really happened as he said—if Asano Naoto woke up in the hospital and told his uncle that he had also participated in the race—then there was no reason for Onitō not to come after him at the time. You have to know, when someone has just lost a relative, their hatred is at its strongest."

"Hmm, maybe Onitō couldn't find him. Didn't he choose to live under an assumed name after that?"

"Then how do you explain what happened six years later? The stone and the newspaper." Zhang Heng said, "Especially that sentence. Forgive me for saying so, but it doesn't sound like the kind of wording a tightly organized yakuza group would use."

Ameko thought about it. "Now that you put it that way, it really does seem strange. But the people who set fire to the shop and kidnapped me last night were definitely from Onitō."

Zhang Heng shook his head. "Like I said, the timing of this group's appearance is too strange. More than twenty years have passed since that incident. Why would they suddenly choose now to start taking revenge? And who was the mysterious person who called to warn him in advance? Someone within Onitō? Why would they help? Your father isn't stupid. He should have noticed these problems, but his mind is refusing to think right now. So we'll have to investigate this ourselves."

"But we have absolutely no connection to those people from back then." Ameko said worriedly.

"No, we have a lead right now. If Asano Naoto woke up from his coma and met someone, the nurses and doctors around him couldn't possibly have known nothing about it. As long as we find the medical staff who treated him back then, we can find out who he came into contact with during that time." Zhang Heng pushed a shopping cart to the shelf stocked with tape. "But before that, we need to make your father calm down."

They bought ten rolls of black tape and two bundles of climbing rope. Back in the van, they tied Takeda Tetsuya up securely, then Zhang Heng drove the L300 to the foot of an apartment building under Ameko's directions.

"This is where my cousin lives. She's a flight attendant who flies international routes, so she's away from home all year. She gave me a key and asked me to water the plants on her balcony whenever I had time. No one should be able to find us here."

Ameko explained as she opened the door. The apartment was small, but it had every kind of furniture and appliance, and it was kept very clean.

Zhang Heng dragged Takeda Tetsuya, still wrapped in the blanket, onto the bed. The soup bowl's unconsciousness buff had already worn off, and Takeda had woken up halfway there. He glared with wide eyes, clearly trying to say something, but tape sealed his mouth, leaving him able to make only muffled noises.

"Even if you really intend to go die, give us some time. At least don't die without us knowing why. Otherwise, wouldn't Kobayashi's sacrifice back then have been for nothing?"

Zhang Heng did not care whether the seafood shop owner could accept his advice. The man was tied up like a rice dumpling anyway, so even if he disagreed, there was nothing he could do.

After apologizing, Ameko worked with Zhang Heng to use the remaining bundle of climbing rope to secure the seafood shop owner completely to the bed. He could not even roll over. Once they were done, the two took a taxi to the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Library.

It was a public library in Minami-Azabu, Minato Ward, founded in 1973. It held around 1.8 million documents and was open to the public free of charge. They had come to look up reports related to the incident from back then. Street racing at high speed, speeding, driving against traffic, and causing two deaths was an extremely serious social incident at any time.

Nearly every newspaper had covered it at the time, so as long as they searched for the date, they could find the relevant articles. After flipping through only two papers, Ameko found the doctor who had treated Asano Naoto—Kurobe Saburo. The Asahi Shimbun had a brief interview with him.

Zhang Heng searched the name online and discovered that Dr. Kurobe Saburo had left the public hospital where he had worked at the time and transferred to a private hospital as vice director. That made things a little troublesome. Someone at that level was generally very busy and highly cautious, making him difficult to approach.

Ameko went through more than a dozen newspapers from the same period, including scanned editions from the library system. In the end, she made another discovery in a local tabloid that had since ceased publication. "Zhang, do you think this is useful?"

The girl turned the screen toward Zhang Heng. Over the past nine months, he had not only practiced and honed his driving skills, but had also kept up with his language studies. Besides his school courses, he had seized every spare minute to strengthen his vocabulary. It had finally paid off. He could now handle everyday communication in Japanese, and as for newspapers, he could understand the general idea as long as the material was not too technical.

"Hayami Rinko, a nurse from back then?" Zhang Heng's gaze was drawn to the stern-looking elderly nurse in the newspaper photograph.

"Yes. She worked at that hospital for thirty-two years. It says that when Asano Naoto was first admitted, his condition was very serious, so the most experienced nurse, Hayami Rinko, was assigned to care for him personally. She did not close her eyes for two days and two nights. Unfortunately, he still could not be saved. But at her age... she should be retired now, right?"

"Let's ask Kurobe Saburo first. If that doesn't work, we'll find a way to track down Hayami Rinko." Zhang Heng made the final decision.

The result was no surprise: Kurobe Saburo was not easy to approach. He was considered an expert in Tokyo surgery. His contact information was publicly available online, but the person who answered the phone was one of his female assistants.

Though her tone was polite, she would not budge on the requirement for an appointment in advance. Director Kurobe Saburo's schedule was already booked up for a month. The two then tried waiting for him directly outside the hospital where he currently worked. After two hours, they finally saw the man himself.

But Kurobe Saburo only said that he had no recollection of what had happened back then. Before they had exchanged more than a couple of sentences, he was already growing impatient. He opened the door of a black Mercedes-Benz. "If you need anything, talk to my assistant. I have lunch plans with a few friends from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare."

Zhang Heng did not resort to force. Kurobe Saburo was not some minor figure like Takeda Tetsuya. If he disappeared or was coerced for information, it would quickly draw public attention. Besides, the man might genuinely not remember. Surgical experts like him sometimes performed more than a dozen operations a day. After leaving the operating room, they were often so exhausted they could barely remember their own names.

Ameko watched the Mercedes-Benz drive away, then turned to Zhang Heng. "What do we do now?"

"Let's try following the Hayami Rinko lead. She worked at that hospital for decades. Even if she's retired, someone should know where she went."

I recommend a promising new novel, Demon Sage from the Abyss. It's a fantasy story written by a fellow reader from the group. Check it out if you're interested.