Wednesdays Smiling With Otsuberu Chapter 1
“I have not committed a single crime. And I think I can prove that I am innocent.”
Those were the beginning lines of the letter declaring his innocence discovered in the suspect's room.
The letter was left by a young twenty-five year-old man named Senji Yamagami, who had been released from juvenile prison just the other day. He wrote a testimony, claiming that he was sent to a reformation school due to a false charge against him and that he was completely guiltless. The only other statement he made was that he would take action to prove his innocence.
What action was he referring to?
Everyone knew what that was by the time they discovered the letter.
They had learned of it after two bodies were found; people who had claimed to be witnesses to his crime.
And so the media came together on this incident.
Boy A was known as the juvenile who killed the son of a well-known financiar ten years ago. Now that his real name was released by the media, the press was feverish. The hype over the matter had spread throughout the public, and it seemed like it would not cool down anytime soon.
This was because there were two remaining witnesses left who had testified against him. “Otsuberu was something else. He would have six rice threshing machines ready that made these terrifying churning sounds. The sixteen farmers rounded the machines, pressing down on the hill of rice on the one side with their feet. The straw was pushed downward steadily through it, making a new pile. The unhulled rice was gently crushed into fine dust and turned into a strange, dull yellow color like that of the desert dust clouds.” The Elephant and Otsuberu, Kenji Miyazawa
Prelude: A text file from a certain magazine journalist I was unsure where to begin, but in the end I suppose I ought to start with those two. Witnessing the meeting between them reminded me of the beginning of Kenji Miyazawa's fairy tale, the Elephant and Otsuberu.
Instead of having rice threshing machines, Otsuberu had sixteen computers set up. There would be seventeen if we included the antique that had the five inch floppy disc, but that one must be excluded because it couldn't usually be used for work.
We were all in a single room in a building filled with the clattering sound of keys instead of the churning sounds of machines. We had more employees working in our office compared to the sixteen farmers Otsuberu had, but I believe that made us feel even more constrained.
We were part of the Tokyo Branch of Iibana Publications, which was also known as the Ihatov.
After it was given that nickname, the higher-ups let it get to their heads and started behaving like the character in Kenji Miyazawa's fairy tale. They were extremely shameless about it too, despite never having published a single one of Kenji Miyazawa's works.
And we were just the seniors on the lower track of such a company. It was our job to edit the small to broad topics covered in our company's magazine, from undetermined celebrity gossip and UFO sightings to topics of gang wars or elusive urban legends. Instead of straw, we were given a mountain of ma.n.u.scripts that had a mix of handwriting and word-processor characters on them. The room was dense with cigarette smoke instead of rice dust.
There were three reasons why I compared my workplace to the place in the tale of the Elephant and Otsuberu.
The first reason being that my company was even given the nickname, “Ihatov.”
Second was that she - Rui Oton.o.be - was nicknamed Otsuberu, and we had been calling our division “Otsuberu's Farm” within the company since the very beginning.
The last reason was because of him - Yukihiro Kisa.
I thought it was appropriate to call the feared anomaly the white elephant who had wandered into Otsuberu's farm. Chapter 1 In short, she was one of those types of rulers.
She was undeniably the ruler in the workplace that reeked of smoke, but neither was she a queen that would just sit back and bark orders selfishly. And even if she was, she was the type of person to walk onto the battlefield and give orders to her soldiers herself. But if there was anything else to describe her as, she would be a snake that kept close watch of the house mice instead of a queen.
・
In the third division at the Tokyo branch of Iibana Publications in Ochanomizu.
There were multiple office desks adjoined together in a standard office room. Books and doc.u.ments were piled up on the desks with the other towering stacks of papers on the verge of collapsing, supporting one another to remain balanced. Computers were wedged between the mounds of paper, and the room's background music consisted of the clicking of keys made by the machines' operators.
One woman's voice disrupted the clattering noise.
“Here. Do it over again.”
She ordered her subordinate apathetically.
The same moment she did, she had tossed a script beside the desk offhandedly onto the pile of papers destined to be sent to the shredder.
“But um, hold on, editor-in-chief. Have I, um, missed something?”
The young employee, not understanding the reality of his work being thrown away, questioned her with a forced smile. The woman sat down at the editor-in-chief's isolated desk and moved onto a different matter unrelated to his question without looking in his direction.
“You can quit it with the ‘ums.' You're not an elementary schooler, so how about you find the reason I turned down your article on your own?”
She was being light-hearted to him, but there was an apparent firm tone to her voice. She turned to face the man and said: “I'll give a kind and thorough explanation if you hand in a similar script again.”
She had phrased her words in a considerate manner, but her voice was insincere and sounded no different from someone giving a death sentence to anyone who did not understand j.a.panese.
The woman looked away once more, not allowing any form of reb.u.t.tal, and resumed her work. The man who had his script thrown away on the other hand quietly returned to his seat as the smile vanished from his face, not comprehending the unreasonable situation.
The name of the ruler reigning over this room was Rui Oton.o.be, alias Otsuberu. She was young - only in her mid-twenties - and worked in one of the publishing company's departments. She was not the type of superior to yell at her employees twenty-four-seven, but there was an apparent temperature change in the room for the editors when she was present compared to when she was absent.
Her voice boomed throughout the room once again:
“Ah, that reminds me. We got complaints from accounting. They said to stop trying to put your own drinks under the company's social outing expenses.”
She brought up the directive in an exceedingly blunt manner without indicating any singular person. Nonetheless, even those who were not the intended recipients visibly paled hearing her shrewd and menacing voice.
Every editor kept working while listening to their superior. Although not everyone was zealous with their tasks. ‘There is a possibility the serial robber, the Bandaged Man, will commit even more crimes.'
‘There have been nine cases of theft in clubs and convenient stores alone this month.'
‘The employee at the convenient store were stabbed with a knife and are in critical condition.'
Those sentences were typed up on one screen furthest away from the editor-in-chief's desk.
“Ohhh, these sound good. This is gonna be a profitable article.”
A middle-aged man with an unshaved beard smirked, holding an unfolded sports newspaper which had mentioned the same story.
“It'd be great if the Bandaged Man gave us something to work off of, though.”
The man had been reading the newspaper as he smoked a cigarette within this promiscuous atmosphere, leisurely leaning far back in his chair with his legs crossed over on his office desk. His shabby business suit reeked of cigarettes, coinciding with the disorder around him.
“If he did, we'd have a more suitable article for us to write up. Right, Kashii?” The man remarked, glancing over to the young man he had called Kashii next to him. The man replied back while still facing his computer screen:
“It would be indiscreet. The convenient store worker who tried to seize him is still in a coma.”
“We wouldn't tell the public that.”
“Normally you shouldn't in the first place, Kozaki-san,” the young man - Kyouichi Kashii - remarked expressionlessly, keeping his focus on his computer screen.
The man younger than him - Kozaki - folded the newspaper and said in retaliation:
“Then we just gotta decide who gets to tell them. A suck-up like you can say anything. The newbie who'll be coming today could be all off-putting and make a joke outta it otherwise.”
“A newcomer?”
“Yeah. I heard from the personnel department that we're getting a new guy.”
Kashii made a dubious expression as Kozaki told him the news with a cigarette in his mouth.
“It's only June, you know? Are they going to be part-time?”
“Dunno. Here it doesn't matter what connections they had to get in.”
After answering Kashii's question, Kozaki added with a self-tortured smile.
“It just means Otsuberu gets another servant she can utilize, right?”
・
In the Maruno Subway, at the exit of Ochanomizu Station.
At the subway entrance located in front of a dental school, there were salarymen, office workers, and young men carrying guitars pa.s.sing by on this ordinary weekday afternoon. The people waiting at the pedestrian crossing for the light felt an eerie presence that lingered in the edges of their peripheral vision. When they glanced behind them and realized it was just a tall man, most of them relaxed. “What, it was just a really tall person?” “Even so, he's really tall,” the crowd thought to themselves before turning their attention ahead of them again. However, the people who saw the colossal man from another angle averted their gaze for a different reason.
The pedestrian walk signal turned green, and the people walking towards the ma.s.sive man opened up a path for him when he began to walk. And then from behind, one group was approaching the man, unaware. They were young, ill-bred men that spanned out across the crosswalk as though they owned the place, casually chatting with each other. The large man attempted to step around them, but one of the boys, not looking ahead, collided into him.
“The h.e.l.l man! Watch where-...”
The boy whipped around to glare at the man, refusing to acknowledge his own carelessness. The delinquents had both the menacing features and frightening personalities to terrorize others, and yet the moment they looked up at the other man they completely froze up. The boys immediately stumbled back, opening a path for the man.
“We're sorry!” The boys sputtered out with quivering voices and forced, awkward smiles. They then quickly walked around the tall man, trying to cross over the crosswalk to get away from him.
After a moment's pause, the large man turned towards the boys-
“It is alright. I was careless. My apologies,” he stated calmly.
The man noticed pa.s.serby gazing at him with bated breath when they saw his face, but he paid no mind to them and resumed walking towards his destination - the Iibana Publications building located at the bottom of the gentle slope past the JR station.
・
Iibane Publications, Third Editorial Department.
“Naturally the boss knows of the newcomer, but look, she seems entirely uninterested.”
Kozaki glanced over to the editor-in-chief's desk only to see Rui continuing to discuss work. Their superior would not say anything to Kozaki about slacking off; Kashii knew the woman who was called Otsuberu behind her back evaluated her workers based on the end results for the articles they wrote and the information they uncovered. So naturally she would not be interested in a sudden newcomer. She only valued anyone who would make good stories for their articles, regardless if they were new or seniors working for her.
“Nonetheless, I feel bad that the newcomer is sent here of all places,” Kashii commented, still facing his computer screen.
Kozaki turned back to his computer and remarked while browsing adult news sites, “if they wanted to work for us, then they probably wanted to make picture books like the guys on the floor above us. Isn't it a little harsh to have someone start here?”
Iibane Publications was originally a company that published picture novels and translations for foreign children's novels. But a few years ago their stockholders' wishes veered off, establishing the current division Kozaki and the rest belonged to. And they were fully aware that there was no one who would wish to be in this specific division for a company that primarily focused on picture books.
Journalism - that was the section Rui Oton.o.be oversaw. However, if the newcomer came to this division under the a.s.sumption they produced photographical magazines and newspaper reports, their expectations would greatly crumble.
There were numerous photos laid out on the editors' desks. The images varied from suspicious-looking objects from a mummified kappa creature or a silhouette seen in a snowy mountain to fabricated images like UFOs and ghosts. Naturally the team used those images to base their articles off of for cheap gossip excluded in modern occult magazines. On another table, there were scandalous photos of performance entertainers embracing someone on the streets at night or young idols caught smoking. And on the work computers, there was a collage of images circulating the internet displayed on the screens. However, those were still cute in comparison to another portion of their desks, which had files on gangs, cults, unlawful jobs and legal drugs on them.
Last Week Weekly. It was fairly famous as its publications were stocked in convenience stores, but their magazines were seen as an eye sore to the public eye.
They had a thirty-page feature on the infamous urban legend in Ikebukuro - the Headless Rider - in their first issue a few years ago: “What were the Illegal Agreements Made Between the Headless Rider and the Gangs!?” The article had an extraneous approach which created another kind of legend. In some instances they wrote inane gossip articles, including: “Is the Slasher Actually an Unknown Virus!?” or “A Vampire is Controlling a Politician Overseas!” They had also quickly disclosed corruption among politicians in a feature t.i.tled: “Bribes Uncovered Concerning the Construction of the Etsusa Bridge!” Last Week Weekly drew its attention from a diverse base of readers as a heterogeneous magazine that was unconventional to most trends.
There was definitely a demand for their kind of work, and if someone wanted to make a magazine of this nature they would probably prefer to join the specific division of Iibane Publications to do so from the beginning. However, there should not be anyone who would wish to work in the editorial department for this magazine when the company primarily published nothing but children's books.
At least, that was what the editors thought. For one, Otsuberu's works had an aberrant aspect to them compared to the occult and gossip magazines out there.
Despite acknowledging that the true nature of the material their boss created was wrong, Kashii stated expressionlessly, “I'd feel bad for them if they chose to come here unknowing.”
“At any rate, the young folk should know the truth. Those youngsters gotta have a taste of what I got in this crazy mess.”
“You are rather blunt.”
“Does it matter? We're all Otsuberu's slaves. They'll just run away or give up like the rest of us.”
Kozaki had lowered his voice unconsciously when he spoke ill of their superior by her nickname.
Kashii did not make a reb.u.t.tal. He must have also believed the newcomer would end up quitting soon enough. Their conversation should have wrapped up there; they were going to diverge off the topic of the new employee coming when, in coincidental timing, there was a knock on the door to the editorial office. Since the publishing company was small, the office lacked any card key locking systems or an extension phone line in the hallway for visitors.
“Oh, could it be the person in question?”
When Kozaki glanced in the direction the knocking sound came from, an employee was just opening the door.
What would this pitiful newcomer who got tossed in their division look like?
All the employees looked over to the door out of curiosity. Even Oton.o.be glanced over to the opening door momentarily from her desk.
When it opened, everyone in the room froze.
“Wh?”
Not a single person, including the editor who went to open the door, were able to see the visitor's face. The man standing in the hallway was abnormally tall, with the wall above the door obscuring his head.
“He's freakin' huge…”
“How tall is he?”
“Who is that?”
The editors murmured amongst themselves.
The man wore a white suit with a patterned dress shirt. At the very least, his clothing was only slightly different than the average businessman.
The employee standing in front of the man was able to look up and see his face, but upon doing so he froze for an entirely different reason than before. The man went from being absent minded and bewildered when he could not see his face to becoming utterly petrified from fear the moment he did. The instant the visitor bent down to pa.s.s under the door, everyone else who were shocked by his height experienced the same transition.
The second they saw the man's face as he languidly stepped into the office, the editors all felt an uncomfortable pressure forming within their gut and ceased their work with baited breath. The room instantly turned cold due to the man's trespa.s.s.
He must have been more than 190 centimeters tall. He may even be two meters tall. It was hard to imagine how much he could weigh from his height compared to the rest of them, but he did not appear to be all skin and bones. He was not obese nor did he have a physique of a bodybuilder, but his build was comparable to a slim professional wrestler.
However, their initial impression from his unusual large body was instantly brushed aside when they saw his face. He had fairly good-looking facial features, but the sharp glint in his eyes felt like he could see through anyone's mind and the large visible scar running across his face overshadowed his other features. The scar was in a straight line, yet the irregular and expansive shape of it seemed to have been made from numerous cuts of a saw blade than from a razor or j.a.panese sword.
He was like a hitman seen in mafia movies or chivalrous films. That was the editors' first impression of him anyway. Some of them did interviews with people from real organizations of that nature, but they had never met anyone they found to outwardly look like they made a dishonest living.
“Say, is he for you, Kozaki-san?” Kashii partially looked away from his monitor and asked Kozaki sitting next to him. He a.s.sumed the man was a collector looking for Kozaki since he knew of the debt Kozaki had acc.u.mulated from loan sharks.
Kozaki replied in a small voice while hiding his face behind the newspaper, “as if. Even they wouldn't come to this h.e.l.l hole.”
Despite his remark, Kozaki kept his face hidden behind the newspaper, considering the one in a million chance it was a collector. However, there were many others besides him in the editorial department doing the same. Some of the editors a.s.sumed the man was here to complain about an article in their magazine written on the gang he belonged to.
The editor closest to the stranger had lost his voice. He seemed like he would lose his footing or urinate on the spot if the man so much as spoke. His colleagues saw his condition but could not laugh at his cowardice. They also were intimidated by the man's presence and were just as tense as he was.
However, one woman warded off the unsettling atmosphere as she approached the man. It was the woman who had full reign over the office - Rui Oton.o.be.
“I'm Oton.o.be, the editor-in-chief for Last Week Weekly. How can I help you?” She inquired imposingly.
Since she was not as tall, the height difference was comparable to an adult and a child from the third person's perspective. Despite that, Oton.o.be glared up at the man expressionlessly. At a glance she appeared to be entirely unfazed, but only Kashii, who had been observing the exchange from his monitor, had noticed her hands were balled up into tight fists beside her.
After a conspicuous moment of tension, the man spoke in a low voice:
“Nice to meet you. I am Hiroyuki Kisa.”
Hiroyuki Kisa. Oton.o.be raised her eyebrow when she heard his name, having seemingly recognized it.
Even Kozaki, still covering his face with a newspaper, appeared to be familiar with the name and whispered to Kashii with a frown, “Kisa…that's the name I heard from the personnel department this morning.”
Kashii's eyes narrowed, and he looked closer at the guest's face.
The man then bowed towards Oton.o.be languidly.
“Starting today, I will be working here as an apprentice reporter.”
He made the standard greeting in a hushed tone, still towering over Oton.o.be even with his head lowered.
“I am still inexperienced as a reporter, so I would greatly appreciate your guidance and support.”
・
An hour later.
The air in the editorial department was bone chilling. But unlike the tyrannic air Rui Oton.o.be emitted, the editors had gooseb.u.mps from a far more direct source of uneasiness. There was a ma.s.sive silhouette pacing to and fro at deliberate yet impossibly nimble movements.
The newcomer, Hiroyuki Kisa, continuously sorted through the doc.u.ments around the room whilst standing, lacking a desk of his own.No one was able to comprehend that the newcomer was him when he introduced himself earlier. Unable to digest what the man had said due to his intimidating appearance and voice, all of them, including Oton.o.be, had looked up at the newcomer Kisa, dumbfounded. However, she had only shown her discomposure for a moment. She had instantly returned to her usual expression and told the giant:
“I see. I heard you were coming at three o'clock. But we don't have a desk for you as this was so last-minute.”
Oton.o.be bluntly stated with indifference, “that said, proofreading has yet to be completed, and we don't have the time to give you a welcome party. I'm going to have you work right away.”
“Understood. What would you like to have me do?”
“...I'll ask for good measure, but have you had any prior training?”
“I was told I would learn on the job since I am not full time.”
She gave a small sigh before dismissing him.
“I see. If you're saying you don't have a clue on how to do the work, then go do miscellaneous tasks. And while you're at it, use your eyes and ears to observe what the other writers do.”
Her subordinates had a wide range of reactions upon seeing Oton.o.be treat the large, intimidating man in front of her like the rest of them from exasperation to disapproval of her brazen behavior.
Oton.o.be addressed Kozaki, putting the responsibility of the newcomer onto him, “Kozaki-san. You're in charge of a.s.signing him tasks.”
“Wh? Ah, me?”
He gave her a forced smile from behind the newspaper yet Oton.o.be's expression remained unchanged.
“I'll be heading out for awhile, so keep working on finishing the proofreading.”And now an hour later the apprehensive atmosphere in the room lingered. Although they now knew the man was the rumored newcomer, it did not mean his characteristic, intimidating presence had diminished. If his face was just a little frightening to look at, they would have gotten used to it and relaxed eventually, but every move he made caused shivers to run up their spines.
The man made no idle talk and kept sorting the doc.u.ments in the room silently. They just hoped the work day would end with no incidents. Everyone focused on their work, antic.i.p.ating the day to be over with already, when their wish was trampled on.
“...Kozaki-san, I have finished organizing the doc.u.ments.”
His voice was like a cool-headed hitman you would see in films and suspense dramas. Being suddenly addressed by a similar voice like that from behind him, Kozaki's entire body shook momentarily before he tried to speak to him comprehensively.
“Ah, then can you restock the paper for the fax-...”
“I have already done it. I used the ones on the office supplies shelf. Was that wrong of me to do?”
Kozaki pitched a compliment to Kisa, surprised he had done an extra task while he organized the doc.u.ments, “I see. Ah, you're so thoughtful. Good work. Then, um…”
Maybe you can take a break? Just as Kozaki was about to suggest the option, he recalled that Kisa still did not have his own desk.
Kozaki tried to cover up for his pause.
“Otsuberu...our chief says old-fashioned c.r.a.p like, ‘use your eyes and ears for work,' but do you have any questions? I think I can teach you a thing or two.”
“But would that not hinder your work?” Kisa had asked out of consideration, however, Kozaki could not help but perceive a hint of a threat in the question.
“Yeah, it's fine. Don't worry about it. I've already finished proofreading the pages I had to work on.”
“You have? Then could you tell me anything that is taboo for work?”
It was necessary to know ‘what not to do' as much as what he should do as someone tossed right into the unknown workplace. It was natural for Kisa to ask this question so he could avoid repercussions. But the image of the man that came to Kozaki's mind was him causing scandals and cutting off his pinkie with a knife.
“...You asked a more solid question than what I was expecting.”
When Kozaki was asked an honest question from the chivalrous man, the words ‘intellectual gangster' came to his mind, but the giant in front of him was unmistakingly a fighter. Even when viewed in a more favorable light, the man did not look like a new employee for a publishing company. Maybe a gang got a hold on a weakness of the company and they were paying this man with protection money.
Kozaki answered Kisa's question while considering the possibility to himself.
“Well, anyway, it's just the usual. As long as you follow the law, there's not any particular taboos here or in other magazine companies. The chief is in charge of checking the final product, so whether your article is approved or not is up to Otsuberu.”
“By Otsuberu, are you referring to Rui Oton.o.be?” Kisa asked about the name Kozaki had mentioned a few times now.
Kozaki replied while averting his gaze, “yeah, her name is just like it, ain't it? Otsuberu is short for Rui Oton.o.be. Well, her name being like that isn't the only reason though...Did ya ever read the Elephant and Otsuberu in language arts cla.s.s in elementary school?”
“I did.”
“That makes this easy to explain then,” Kozaki added after hearing Kisa's prompt response. “Speaking of taboos, I guess there's one to consider here. Don't go against Otsuberu. You should avoid getting on her bad side as much as possible.”
“How come you say that?”
“The chief's got a lot of authority in this company. I'd say even more than the president.”
Kozaki stopped momentarily, and after making sure Oton.o.be was still absent he looked back to Kisa, “Otsuberu's mom is some super rich chick or big business lady or something like that… She's a huge stockholder for our company.”
“Yes, that is what I heard.”
“...? Ah, you know about that already?”
Kozaki was curious why a newcomer was aware of that fact, but he decided to let it go, considering the possibility that it was brought to Kisa's attention before he came here.
“Then this makes it quick; you can see we're a small publication company, right? Most of everything here belongs to Otsuberu's mom. Her daughter gets to do anything she wants in this division as long as it doesn't interfere with the management. Otherwise, you should have no problems with the editor-in-chief.”
“I see.”
Kozaki lightened up somewhat as Kisa listened to him earnestly. He lowered his voice and shifted the topic to complaints about their superior.
“If I can be honest, Otsuberu is a horrific dictator and always gives us unreasonable demands. We can never tell when we'll lose our job if we go against her, and there's no one to hold her back.”
Kozaki sighed and elaborated with an obstinate smile, “while it's true I don't want to get fired right now, this division itself is all pretty cool too. And that's why everyone else held up in here are fine with putting up with Otsuberu.”
Kozaki said as he made a coin shape with his fingers. Kashiii chimed in next to him:
“Please don't lump me together with you.”
“You got a problem with me?”
“I do agree that chief Oton.o.be has self-righteous qualities, but I do enjoy this job in itself.”
“Like I said, suck ups don't-...”
The office door clicked open as he was about to retaliate with something, and Oton.o.be stepped into the room.
Kozaki instantly hunched over and whispered in a low voice so she would not hear him, “anyway, it's as I said. Don't p.i.s.s off Otsuberu. This tip will do you good around here.”
If Kisa was a normal newcomer, one would usually give him a pat on the back right now, but in addition to not being able to reach his back Kozaki was not they type of person to casually get physical with someone.
“Anyway, what else? Do you have anything else you want to ask? Like good places to have lunch?”
After Kozaki proposed that, he became unsure if it was a good idea to tell this man of restaurants he frequented.
“Ah, well, food options aside, there's um...Ah yeah, I was a reporter for TV stars before. You can ask me all about the scoop on them. You remember that time the actor Yuuhei Hanejima secretly met with Ruri Hijiribe at his apartment a few years ago? I went all the way to Ikebukuro and got a picture of the two,” Kozaki stated proudly.
Kisa cast his gaze downward apologetically, “Hijiribe...I apologize. I do not know of her.”
“Oh, really? ...She's still a top idol even now though…”
“My apologies. I do not have an interest in the idol industry.”
Kisa lowered his head as he confessed he was someone out of touch with the topic in the editorial department for a gossip magazine.
Kozaki attempted to drop the topic, intimidated when the other's face had drawn closer to him, “ah, it's fine. Anyway, the most important stuff to follow are what I mentioned earlier.”
Kozaki glanced over to Oton.o.be out of the corner of his eye but had accidentally made eye contact with her instead.
“s.h.i.t-”
Oton.o.be addressed the two, wedging herself in their conversation, “Are you conspiring with him, Kozaki-san?”
“Oh no, that would be absurd.”
Oton.o.be ignored Kozaki and looked over Kisa as she crossed her arms.
“He must have listed off a lot of ill-rumors about me, correct? That I'm a dictator or that I'm just a swindler who got this position due to my parents.”
“I didn't go as far to call you a swindler!”
Kozaki was quick to deny the claim, but Oton.o.be ignored him once more. She then stated with a fearless smile:
“These are all true.”
Oton.o.be followed up with another resolute remark, as though proud of being called a dictator.
“I do what I want, and I don't consider any of you to be more than replaceable pieces. If you got a problem with how I work, you can quit whenever you want to.”
Kisa bowed deeply after Oton.o.be made her cold proclamation.
“Understood. Thank you,” He expressed his thanks at a particularly odd moment before giving a dissenting view on Oton.o.be's claim.
“However, I do not believe you are a dictator.”
“Why's that?”
“I hardly believe there are many dictators out there who would allow their workers the choice to quit. And even if you are a dictator, I think you are a good person.”
“...”
Oton.o.be fell silent, eyebrows furrowed. All the other editors were also dumbfounded while Kozaki pretended he did not hear anything, burying himself in the newspaper.
After a few moments of silence, Oton.o.be spoke, “I don't know if that was an attempt in flattery or satire, but if you honestly believe that, then you are heavily mistaken.”
Oton.o.be then glanced around the area and noticed it was different than the usual.
“...Did you do this by yourself?”
The editors turned their focus to the room they were in. What they saw was a neatly organized works.p.a.ce, unlike the disordered one like earlier.
Their books were sorted by genre, and the doc.u.ments were compiled in order by date to avoid confusion. Furthermore, the articles written by authors were separated by colored labels. Official doc.u.ments sent to them from other companies were also sorted by date, and the previous jumbled pile of clips and pens were arranged in a practical way.
The editors and even Kozaki who had instructed Kisa to sort through their data were slightly surprised to see the scene before them. All of them were so focused solely on Kisa's presence that they did not notice the results of his work.
“Yes. I am still inexperienced to office work, so I simply organized the doc.u.ments by date. If this organization is inefficient, please let me know and I will resort them.”
Kisa had addressed this to Oton.o.be as well as the rest of the editors, but no one in particular spoke up about the arrangement. Someone this tactful could organize doc.u.ments efficiently even on their first job, but how tidy it was done was so unfitting for Kisa it was almost comical. But no one could bring themselves to express that emotion outwardly.
After Oton.o.be examined the room for a couple seconds more, she asked Kisa, expression unchanged, “do you have any previous work experiences?”
“No. It is embarra.s.sing to admit, but I have never had a steady job. I have only helped my family's business a little bit.”
Off his words alone it sounded like a newcomer just froze up, but as the statement came from Kisa everyone could not help but feel there was a different meaning behind it.
After a few moments of thought, Oton.o.be told Kisa: “...Alright. That's enough of organizing. Next, I'll have you go out and take interviews.”
All the editors' expressions twitched slightly the moment they heard the overly familiar term for the editorial department of a gossip magazine: interviews.
“It's begun.”
“Even someone that frightening has to do it.”
People began to whisper amongst themselves, but their comments did not reach the pair's ears.
Everyone was making a face as though they were recalling unpleasant memories from their pasts, but Kisa only nodded readily in response to Oton.o.be's order, regardless if he noticed their expressions or not.
“Understood. Who will I be a.s.sisting?”
“Who said you'd be accompanying someone?”
“?”
“You're going out by yourself. I'll instruct you on how to write articles later, so for now learn how to obtain information for a story.”
Oton.o.be had demanded for the unreasonable out of the newcomer, yet none of the editors looked surprised. Rather, they turned pale when they saw Kisa's eyes narrow.
“I take it I can proceed with the interviews under my own discretion then?”
“Interview efficiency is different for every person. It is not something taught, so you have to figure it out for yourself. Just don't do anything that would cause trouble for us.”
“I understand now.”
Kisa nodded expressionlessly in understanding despite the illogical statements Oton.o.be made.
Oton.o.be added when Kisa did not show any signs of dissatisfaction, “I'll tell you ahead of time; you don't have to come back here until you find anything that can be used in our magazine's articles. But for the record, I will treat this as you on the clock no matter how many days it takes,” she had stated coldly.
“I'll tell you this: the more time you take, the more likely I won't accept what you bring back as legit sources.”
“Understood.”
Everyone grew anxious as Kisa accepted the conditions earnestly. They worried if the newcomer truly understood how unfair the demands were for him right now.
Oton.o.be was the only one whose expression remained the same as she looked up at Kisa.
“I'll at least give you a hint in the right direction. I can't let you bring back any material that doesn't suit our magazine.”
“I appreciate the offer.”
After Kisa bowed his head once more, Oton.o.be picked up the latest edition of Last Week from a nearby desk. She then stated as she handed the magazine over to Kisa, “this is our magazine. I think you can get the gist of what we do if you read through it. I'll give you a copy as a gift for joining the company.”
“I will greatly oblige.”
Kisa formerly expressed his grat.i.tude before she offered a hint for conducting interviews - except her advice was hardly elaborate.
“Let's see. Try and catch a kappa or take a photo of celebrities kissing someone. Or you could interview the criminal called the Bandaged Man that's hot in the news as of late. Anyway, just get me an impactful story of that caliber.”
Kozaki smiled bitterly with a frown when he heard her mention the Bandaged Man. He did not expect their superior to mention the name of the serial robber that was the main story in the newspaper he had been reading earlier. Naturally the culprit was still on the loose and had not been identified at this time.
What she had proposed had far pa.s.sed being unreasonable, reaching levels of absurdity. Even the editors who knew the circ.u.mstances looked at Oton.o.be skeptically, making a face that said, “that's asking too much.” They then looked over to Kisa to observe his reaction with baited breath, expecting him to get upset with Oton.o.be for making fun of him and lash out violently in response.
However, they worried for nothing.
“I will comply with your request. I will begin right away.”
Kisa had seemingly decided Oton.o.be's advice was helpful and accepted it earnestly, thoroughly unbothered by the request.
Oton.o.be also raised an eyebrow, surprised there was not a single trace of annoyance on his face. Kisa paid no heed to the reactions around him and turned his gaze towards Kozaki.
“Thank you for providing me with your guidance while you were busy.”
“What? Me? Ah, yeah, it's totally fine, yessir.”
Following Kozaki's vague response, Kisa bowed again.
“I will be taking my leave for the day. I believe I was a bother to you, but I am grateful for your teachings.”
After Kisa politely thanked the other editors in the room, he ducked beneath the doorway just like he did when he arrived, vanishing from the editorial department.
He had used vocabulary unfitting for a casual workplace, and Kisa's voice had been solemn, creating an impression that differed from most folks. If he had said those words with a gentle smile, they would have just laughed it off as an overly proper new employee, but accompanied with Kisa's intimidating presence everyone could only perceive even his standard polite speech as a threat.
Kashii and the other editors had felt that way, and after a full ten seconds pa.s.sed since the door clicked shut Kozaki commented jokingly, a forced smile etched on his face, “he said, ‘I will comply with your request,' with such a deadpan expression...He's got the vibes of a hitman the mafia would hire.”
The editors were relieved to hear Kozaki's joke, having the same train of thought, and their smiles returned one by one. But their smiles vanished almost immediately when the woman who was compared to the mafia spoke.
“I take it if you have the time to joke around, then you all finished your work, correct?”
・
The next day in the early morning - somewhere in the city.
The man cowered.
He was running with all his might down the back of an alley, despite being the type of person to strike fear in others mere seconds earlier. And he was aware of what type of person he was and even felt a twisted sense of joy by living up to his role.
And yet in just one instance - in the very moment he turned the corner on his bicycle, he immediately degraded to the cowered one.
“What, ha, what in the-...what in the h.e.l.l! Who is he!? That motherf.u.c.ker!”
The man had cursed someone foully with ragged breath, but there was no resentment visible in his expression, only fear and boundless desperation.
He had been fleeing on his bicycle only a couple seconds prior. However, it was more accurate to say he had been retreating as according to a plan rather than running away out of fear. He had looked thoroughly pleased with himself too. However, in the instant he turned onto another street from a small back alley on his bike, he was overcome by a strange floating sensation.
The sensation of being afloat switched to an abrupt jolt akin to someone slamming on the brakes. His muscles tightened up throughout his whole body as a chill rushed through him, and in the following second he realized he had fallen on his back onto the ground.
He was in a narrow alley people pa.s.sed by. Someone within the shadows of that alley had reached out to him as they pa.s.sed by and had lifted him off the bicycle forcibly.
Once the man realized what had happened to him, he searched for the person responsible as he scrambled onto the ground. His sight was engulfed by his attacker a few moments later.
His attacker stood in the shroud the alley cast under the dim lighting of the early morning. The instant the man saw his attacker's face, the pain in his throat had been entirely forgotten as he dashed off at full speed.
In that moment, the man's plight transitioned from a harmonious retreat to that of imminent doom.“s.h.i.t! G.o.ddammit! Why is this-...!?”
The man kept running with so much desperation that he did not care if his legs tore off. If he stopped running, if he could not escape, he did not have a chance. He was convinced it would be over for him if he was caught and continued to run recklessly. But as though to trample on his resolve, the mysterious man closed in on him.
In the following second, there was a glint of a blade in the dark alley. Yet it was the man fleeing for his life who held the blade.
“Don't come any closer! I'll gut you!”
The man's voice cracked when he shouted, swinging the blade behind him as he ran. It was almost comical to watch if it was not for the fact he was wielding a knife - a real one given its sharp edge.
However, his attempt to ward off his enemy would simply end in vain. His attacker was unintimidated of the knife being swung at him, and he shifted over to the man's side.
The distance between them in the narrow alley was closing. The moment the fleeing man gave a shriek and whipped the hand holding the knife to his side. The a.s.sailant seized his arm. The man lost his balance and collapsed, the knife tumbling out of his grip. He had no experience in martial arts, but when his attacker wrapped his arms around him he instantly knew: his arms would break. The force being applied to the bones in his arms made that fact apparent.
The moment the man realized that, his pleas filled the alley.
“Please stoooop! Please. I'm begging you!”
It dawned on him that he was no longer a fugitive; he had become prey. And the next action the prey's attacker took was-
・
Noon, at the editorial department of Last Week Weekly.
Kisa had not returned to the editorial department even as the clock pa.s.sed noon. With the thread of the editors' anxiety having been cut and proofreading finalized and submitted for publication, some workers began to whisper amongst themselves and made bets as to when Kisa would return. However, not a single person had yet to touch the sections Kisa had went through, leaving them just as nice and tidy as when he left them.
Kozaki stretched as he looked at the state of the room.
“I'd feel more at ease if the place was in disarray.”
“You feel that way because there is something wrong with you.”
“Nah, don't ya get it? ...If we made a mess by the time he gets back, he may get p.i.s.sed, ya know? So we're all scared to move anything out of place.”
“I can see your point of view.”
Kashii conversed with Kozaki while still facing his computer screen as always, ostensibly acting as calm as he did the day before.
“But I'm glad to have a clear view of the TV now.”
An afternoon variety show was playing on the television at the moment. The program was directly affected by their work, but right now they were having a corner where they introduced popular restaurants.
Kozaki, having finished all his work, leisurely watched television instead of helping his other colleagues still working. After a few minutes pa.s.sed, he started talking with Kashii again.
“Hey, Kashii. Dontcha think Otsuberu was being more harsh to that newbie than usual?”
Kashii made a small nod.
“Indeed, it was a bit unusual for her.”
Oton.o.be had demanded for the newcomer to retrieve information without being taught another on his first day on the job. Kashii had went through a similar experience on his first day as well.
Oton.o.be's ridiculous orders were a form of independent ritual in this editing division, and aside from the employees who were in the department since the beginning like Kozaki everyone had to go through with the trial.
“I should've quit around the time you guys came in. It was pretty s.h.i.tty to go from being trained to make picture books to working in a different field entirely.”
Even after Kozaki confirmed Oton.o.be was absent he kept his voice low as he talked to Kashii.
“But in the end, we can't go up against the dear daughter of our stockholder.”
“I do understand chief Oton.o.be's goal to an extent. You are expected to do something similar in a self-development seminar.”
“Ah, you mean where they dump you in a town you don't know anything about and tell you, ‘anything is fine, just work in the city and make us some money,' right? I know a writer who did a reportage on the experience.”
“There are quite a few reasons to do it that way, such as to promote self-motivation and to remove boundaries with other people, but they usually throw you out into the world without any explanation. The satisfaction you get when you overcome your boundaries after experiencing that first huge dilemma is embedded into your memory after all.”
After hearing Kashii's take on the matter, Kozaki heavily sighed, “I guess Otsuberu's pointers and hints are better than that alternative.”
“Indeed. But under that definition, what she did this time was a bit harsh.”
After Kashii saved his work on the computer, he elaborated as he stretched his neck, “the pointer she gave me for my first time was to get information on an urban legend that was a popular topic in schools at the time.”
“Sounds like it was real easy for ya.”
“However, I did not know how to talk to children, so I nearly got reported to the police,” Kashii had said plainly, but his voice seemed to contain a mix of slight resentment and exasperation towards Oton.o.be. “I believe he'll have the same problem I had back then, considering the task he was given yesterday.”
“Nothing will be taken unless it's something as grand as catching a kappa or interviewing a robber. What else are we supposed to do if we have to rely on tip-offs for celebrities kissing to get by?”
The truth was most of the newcomers that were given the same task when they came to this division rarely were able to bring anything of value back. Most were unable to finish the interviewing process and came back to Oton.o.be without any information and begging. In worst case scenarios, some had copied articles from the internet other companies had written. And some newcomers never returned at all after several days and eventually sent a resignation form.
Oton.o.be did not care what the new workers brought her; she would be harsh at times and in others she would be kind when needed, but she ultimately made sure they would not go against her.
Kozaki had seen her do this several times over, so he knew full well to not oppose Oton.o.be in this editorial department.
“Anyway, our boss is the greatest evil out there.”
“If so, then Kisa is being looked down on for calling her a nice person.”
Kashii had remarked, still facing away from him. Kozaki replied as he kept watching the television, “That aside, he hasn't even got a company business card, right? There's no way he can do proper interviews.”
“He may ignore the chief's advice, but if he insists on carrying out an interview without a business card he will get reported.”
“Outward appearances are against him. The guy won't come back for a different reason than the usual. Maybe he'll get locked up in a cell.”
“If word gets out, you may find yourself at the bottom of the ocean,” Kashii retorted when Kozaki made an imprudent joke.
Just then, someone had spoken from beside the two, making their smiles freeze, “you sure seem interested in this newcomer.”
Kozaki and Kashii jumped when they heard the voice and turned around to see who it was. And when they saw Oton.o.be's face they paled.
“Ch-chief!”
They did not hear her return to the office because of the how loud the TV was.
Kozaki forced a smile and asked her with upturned eyes, “how long have you been standing there?”
“I just came in.”
“Ah, I see.”
Oton.o.be glared at Kozaki coldly when he sighed in relief.
“I will tell you one thing as the ‘most evil person out there.'”
“...”
Oton.o.be ignored Kozaki as he began to panic and continued on nonchalantly, “I don't really care whether that newcomer comes back or not.”
“You sure seem to dislike him when you put it that way.”
“It's not like I feel anything towards him as an individual. At the very least, you all prefer him out of the office, right?”
Kozaki averted his gaze and fell silent. She had raised her voice to address not only Kozaki but the other writers working as well, “I never expected an editorial department to be frightened by some newcomer so much you ceased working. You all have interviewed yakuza.”
“Hold on, that's only natural! He isn't normal! What kind of connections did he have to get in here in the first place!?”
Kozaki delved into the matter with Kisa as to dismiss the fact she had overheard him calling her a villain. Meanwhile, Kashii pretended to be working and wrote a sentence before deleting it so Oton.o.be could not see it: ‘you were scared too before you realized he was the newcomer.'
Oton.o.be ignored the two and stated coldly, “it doesn't matter how. What's important is if he'll be my subordinate or not. Put simply, he's in the same position as the rest of you. So there is absolutely no reason for you to be so skittish around him. You got it?”
Oton.o.be had expressed with enough force to indicate she could frighten them more than Kisa did if they talked back before she went to continue. But she stopped before she did. Her focus was turned towards the opening office door. Shortly after, Kisa ducked through the doorway with the same, dull movements as the day before.
“...I apologize for being late.”
His voice was as intimidating as it was yesterday. That aspect alone made the air in the editorial room freeze over.
It had not even been twenty-four hours since he had left the editorial department yesterday. Perhaps he had already given up and came to plead to Oton.o.be? Or maybe he got frustrated with the unreasonable trial and came to fight her?
Numerous speculations arose in the editors minds, and they were unable to move their attention away from Kisa. But as though to dispel the mood, Oton.o.be walked over to Kisa at her usual, calm pace.
“What's wrong? Did you forget something?” Oton.o.be asked oppressively while glaring up at Kisa. “Or are you here to say you finished conducting your interviews?”
“Yes, I have.”
“...?”
Question marks appeared in everyone's mind when Kisa affirmed the question readily.
“I thought I would finish the debriefing before work began. I overestimated myself.”
“Debriefing?”
Oton.o.be unconsciously frowned when Kisa had used a term he had learned indirectly.
It was possible to imagine Kisa forcing interviews on people, but he still lacked any form of identification.
“What do you mean? What did you interview for?”
“I followed the advice you had given me yesterday…”
Kisa took out a voice recorder from his pocket as he spoke.“...I have interviewed the Bandaged Man.”This time the room had been crushed into complete silence. For a moment, n.o.body - not even Oton.o.be - comprehended what the giant in front of them had just said. She did not know virtually anything about Kisa and what type of person he was. All the other editors felt the same. And so even after they understood the meaning of what he said they still could not fathom Kisa's intentions.
Is this guy the type of person to make a joke? Or is he a fantasist?
Or maybe he has an entirely different motive and is testing us?
But maybe we just misheard?
Several thoughts came and went in everyone's minds. But they all did not acknowledge the one possibility. It was the most obvious answer, but if it was true it was the toughest to swallow so they pretended to not consider it. What Kisa had said was the most simple answer after all.
The TV was the only thing making any sound in this heavy atmosphere where otherwise the sound of someone swallowing in antic.i.p.ation could be heard. And not long after, even the sound coming from the TV had changed in perfect timing.
‘We've got breaking news.'
The spokesperson who was introducing popular restaurants not too long ago began to read off a script with a forced expression.
‘We have received a follow-up regarding the tenth robbery case committed by the Bandaged Man in the Tokyo area. We just got the news that the suspect has given himself up outside the jurisdiction of the police.'
Everyone in the room was watching the TV in awe, as though having a dream.
‘I repeat. We have received word that the suspect behind the robberies made by the Bandaged Man has given himself up to the authorities. A male pa.s.serby had seized the culprit as he was fleeing the scene, and after some persuasion the man had brought the culprit to the police where he turned himself in.'
Oton.o.be and the other editors slowly looked over towards Kisa after hearing the news on TV.
‘When the man had been apprehended by the pa.s.serby he was apparently wielding a knife, but the citizen was unharmed.'
There was no other wound on Kisa's person besides an old scar on his face.
‘The man who turned himself in had testified he just copied the original culprit and had no correlation with the other nine burglaries, so the police are proceeding in the investigation with discretion.'
Kisa's expression had changed the moment the spokesperson of the variety show announced that. His eyes narrowed and his eyebrows furrowed. Kisa c.o.c.ked his head curiously while his gaze contained a glint in his eye that could pierce someone's heart.
“That is odd.”
“What is, newcomer?”
Oton.o.be finally spoke after Kisa had muttered something.
Kisa replied to her, his expression conflicted, “there is some discrepancy with the answer he gave me in my interview with him.”
“Discrepancy?”
Kisa bowed deeply and apologized, “I am terribly sorry, chief Oton.o.be.”
Kisa was being sincere; they could not sense any ulterior motive behind his words.
“...What are you apologizing for?”
“There is a possibility the information I collected from the interview could be inadequate.”
He had only reported more on the details concerning the robbery. Kozaki and the other editors could not help but cower, and even Oton.o.be felt a shiver run down her spine.But unlike everyone else, Oton.o.be had a pleased smile on her face when she shook - as though she had just found the best scoop in her own interview.
Translation Notes: Ihatov is a coined word by Kenji Miyazama of his idea of a utopia. I translated the quote from the Elephant and Otsuberu tale myself as I did not find a professional English translation. However, this is fairly old j.a.panese and it had some dialect, so there may be some discrepancy. I did look up some blog entries on the tale though, and my consensus generally matched theirs. My translation for that quote is done with the best of my knowledge. This work is the latest addition to the Naritaverse. It shares a universe with: Baccano!, Vamp!, Durarara!!, and Etsusa Bridge. I'm not going to list all the references as there is numerous per chapter, but in general anything about gangs and immortals in America is Baccano!, anything supernatural is Vamp,! and Durarara!! involves yakuza and an urban legend known as a Headless Rider in Ikebukuro Tokyo. Since Etsusa Bridge takes place in the future, there are less references as much as lore explored in this story. Rui Oton.o.be's name is written as 乙野辺ルイ. 乙 can be read as Otsu. 辺 can be read as "he" or in this case "be." So 乙辺ル = オツベル (otsuberu) ----
Translation: Kaede726
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Editor: agallimaufryofoddments
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