Karasu no Tengoku

Chapter Five: Under the Night Sky

(Hideki woke up, with a headache again, sat slowly on his bed’s edge, putting on his slippers he dragged himself to the bathroom, he splashed water on his face, thinking it might help him wake up, and MIGHT ease the headache, washed his teeth quickly and walked/dragged himself out of his room, there was a clock on the hallway that connected his bedroom to the stairs and the other rooms, he took a glimpse at it…)
“Ugh…that explains the terrible headache…”
(Two o’clock in the afternoon, it was fairly late to wake up, even for him, he walked slowly through the hallway to the room in which Kaito was staying, knocked the door, no answer came, so he came in, peeked inside before coming all the way in, the room was empty, so it was obvious Kaito was already awake, his clothes and stuff were still there so he hadn’t left…)
“Damn Kaito…”
(He went to the kitchen, wondering if Kaito was there, and yes, he was, eating a sandwich)
“Oh…I see you’re finally awake…I was beginning to think you were dead…”
“You wish…I want coffee…have you been generous enough as to make coffee or do I have to make it myself??”
“Mmm…I don’t know your kitchen very well…soo…”
“…you liar…brat…”
(After making and drinking the coffee, the headache was almost gone, so they began talking about what will they do with the data they’d just got)
“So…now that your head can begin working...let’s see what we’ll do with the data we hacked from the English government…”
“Why don’t you begin searching for clues while I take a bath??”
“Ok”
(Kaito opened the CD in Hideki’s new laptop, and began scrolling down sheets and sheets…and eventually more sheets, without finding anything at all, finally Hideki came out of the bathroom, wrapped up in a loooot of towels, went to his room, Kaito kept on scrolling down sheets, and more sheets, without anything at all yet, at last, Hideki came out of his room, his hair was still wet, and actually his clothes were kind of wet too, but that was just NORMAL with him, he straddled a chair next to Kaito)
“Found anything?”
“No…nothing…I also searched in the naturalization files and there isn’t anything…you’re going to catch a cold like that someday…”
“How come??”
“How come you’re going to catch a cold?? Or the guy??”
“The guy stupid…”
“Ooooh…like this, there is always the registry of the merchant, Eiji, in every census, there is his complete data, but he never mentioned anyone living with him, nor is there any kind of information in the naturalization files…it’s like he didn’t exist at all…”
“So we lost time and money in London for nothing…”
“Pretty much like that…”
“Oh well...there’s no way around it…”
(Hideki stood from the chair and went for coffee, sat back on the chair)
“So…what are we going to do??”
“I really am at a loss here…I think I better go home...”
“Ok…you know I’ll help you but I’m too tired…”
“Yeah right…call me if you find anything interesting…”
“Ok…”

(Five days later, Hideki was coming back from visiting his sister [yes, he has one, a never mentioned, almost unknown sister, but she EXISTS for sure] and found a note thrown under the entrance door, it read)
”Come meet me at the Tokyo Tower at 3:00 a.m. in 4 days, look for someone wearing a dark red coat, and don’t look exactly under the tower, but walk down Sakurada-Dori until the first intersection, facing Shiba Park…”
(He meditated about going or not going for a while, four days later, the conclusion by 9 p.m.: it’s stupid, but he still went, near the crossroad of Sakurada-Dori, the Tokyo Tower was perfectly visible, and there was a little café also, called “MidoriYama”, outside, leaning over one window there was the figure of a thin and not very tall man, leaning on the window facing Sakurada-Dori, dark red coat with arrangements on the sleeves and sash in black, and a black hat covering almost all the face, the street was almost deserted, no cars, no people, not even dogs or cats, it was as if suddenly they weren’t in Tokyo anymore, the stranger suddenly lift a bit the hat, still covering from the nose up, and smiled a bit, ’So you’ve noticed me…’, thought Hideki, at the very same time the stranger began to walk towards him, Hideki came to a halt, the stranger noticed this and stopped just at the brink of the sidewalk, swinging a bit playfully)
“You’re standing in the middle of the road…isn’t that dangerous?? A car could just pass by and run over you…”
(Hideki’s skin began crawling again, ’This can’t be happening…’)
“I’ll be more careful if the traffic was as the Sakurada-Dori’s usual one…”
“Good…do you mind getting closer?? We’re on a deserted road yes, but, that doesn’t mean that our conversation must be heard…besides, not only people can hear…”
(’Now, that’s weird…and he’s got the same accent as Kaito…’, Hideki went near to the stranger and now he leaned on the window, the stranger took off the hat and smiled, a creepy smile, the same icy blue eyes, and the same dead-like pale face…Hideki’s skin just began crawling more, but he ignored it…)
“Are we going to stay here while we talk?? You said yourself this place isn’t safe…”
“Yeah…but I have no plans on going anywhere else since I didn’t think you’ll actually come in the first place…”
“Oh man…well, I guess then here it will be, soo…why am I here? And first of all, who are you??”
(The stranger leaned upon the window next to him, the creepy smile still in place)
“My name is of no importance right now…as to why are you here, it’s simple, I think I could be an important source of information to your investigation…”
(Hideki faced him suddenly and he only saw the creepy smile, no intention at all in the stranger’s eyes, ’Not necessarily a good sign…’)
“Yes…I know of your investigation if that’s what surprises you, but that’s not the point…”
“Yes of course…and, what would make you think you could be any useful to it??”
“That I know, personally, and from a long time the person who you are trying to find…”
“Oh…and if may I ask, why would you want to help me?”
“That’s none of your business yet…”
“Oh…so…should we meet again? I don’t think you want to spill out all the information just right now, do you??”
“Hahahahahaha…I like your sense of humour…no, of course not…”
(’He sounds just like a bourgeois spoiled brat…’, thought Hideki)
“So…if you want to know any information about the so-called shinigami, come to this café and ask for Sakamoto Gin…”
(Hideki kept staring at the presentation card that the stranger gave him and didn’t notice when he left, the traffic went back to normal as he kept staring, confused at it all…)
“Sakurada-Dori’s back to normal…”