Chapter 23: The Eldest Brother—The Thoughtful Shinichi Nakamura

There was only one car in the Aoyama household. It was always used by Aoyama Soemasa. So when Seiko Aoyama heard the sound of an engine, she thought her husband had come home early and hurried outside to check, only to find it was Aoyama Hidenobu.

“Hidenobu?” Seiko was surprised, her face full of curiosity as she asked, “What’s with this car?”

“It’s a bit inconvenient for me to go to work every day without a car, so I set aside part of the bonus I got earlier to buy a used car for commuting,” Hidenobu lied without even blinking. Seeing his sister-in-law still wearing an apron, he could tell she was cooking. “Sister-in-law, what delicious food are you making again? I’m starving.”

“Oh, right, Hidenobu—why was your bonus so large?” When she heard him mention the bonus, Seiko remembered that when she went to withdraw money from that account today, she found there was ten million yen in it.

It gave her quite a fright; that was no small sum. Now, hearing Hidenobu say he only used part of it to buy the car, did that mean the bonus was even larger?

Hidenobu locked the car and walked into the courtyard, answering as he went, “Part of it was a bonus, and part of it was a private reward from my supervisor. Since I credited her with most of the achievement, this was her way of compensating me.”

“Ah, but—that’s not right!” Seiko immediately grew anxious, stepping forward to block his path. “How can you sell your achievements to someone else? Don’t you want to return to the Metropolitan Police Department? Our family may be short on money, but you can’t trade your future for that.”

“Sister-in-law!” Hidenobu called out, resting both hands on her shoulders and gazing into her bright eyes. “It’s precisely because I want to return to the Metropolitan Police Department that I have to follow my supervisor’s instructions, understand? Besides, to me, the quality of life for our family is more important.”

Seiko was stunned for a moment, pursed her lips, and sighed softly, speaking helplessly: “If only your brother were a member of the National Diet, we wouldn’t have these problems.”

She had deep feelings for Soemasa Aoyama. Yet there was resentment in her heart, too. He once said he’d return to Tokyo to run for the Diet in no more than three years, but he’d stayed in Saitama for five; husband and wife living apart, the family spending a lot of money over the years, and yet the goal of a Diet seat seemed as distant as ever.

One reason the Aoyama family was in such financial straits was that Soemasa had spent most of their savings on his campaign for Saitama’s prefectural council. But an ordinary prefectural councilor had little real power, and even the little money Soemasa managed to scrape together went not to the family, but to maintain relationships with colleagues and curry favor with his superiors.

Soemasa Aoyama was somewhat like Ryoichi Fujimoto—both were so ambitious they’d stop at nothing, willing to eat plain rice and vegetables every day themselves if it meant treating useful colleagues or superiors to lavish feasts. But Soemasa was even more ruthless; Fujimoto at least wouldn’t let his family suffer with him, but Soemasa insisted his family endure hardship for the sake of his future.

And yet, for all his sacrifices, his career had made little progress.

Hidenobu had no fondness for such a man. In his eyes, Soemasa Aoyama was all ambition but lacking in responsibility.

“My brother is so driven—I believe he’ll become a member of the Diet one day,” Hidenobu said, trying to comfort his sister-in-law. Then, frowning and sniffing the air, he asked in confusion, “What’s that smell?”

“Oh no! My food!” Seiko suddenly remembered she’d left something on the stove, cried out, and dashed off, leaving Hidenobu behind in her haste.

Watching his sister-in-law’s flustered retreat, Hidenobu couldn’t help but laugh, shaking his head as he followed her inside. By the time he’d finished his bath and come downstairs, she’d already set the table.

A faint burnt smell lingered in the living room.

“I wanted to give you a good meal today, Hidenobu, but it turned out like this. I’m so sorry,” Seiko sat at the table, her legs together, hands folded in her lap, head bowed in embarrassment.

She was petite, her hair loosely tied at the back, still wearing her apron; she looked for all the world like a young wife who’d been scolded.

Hidenobu walked over, unhesitatingly picked up a piece of slightly burnt beef, chewed it, and said with praise, “It’s fine—there’s a nice charred flavor to it. I really like it, sister-in-law.”

To be honest, it wasn’t bad at all.

“Really?” Seiko’s head shot up in surprise at his words; she stood so quickly she accidentally knocked her chopsticks off the table. As she hurried to catch them, her forearm bumped the water glass, tipping it over. “Ah!”

“Sister-in-law, are you all right?” Hidenobu immediately set down his chopsticks and reached out to steady her.

“I’m fine—the water’s just warm.” Seiko shook her head, stared ruefully at the mess on the floor, took a deep breath, and tapped her forehead in frustration. “Ah, I’ve been so clumsy today.”

Hidenobu glanced down and swallowed hard. Seiko was wearing sheer flesh-toned stockings, and the spilled water had soaked her legs, running down her ankles. The damp stockings clung to her skin, outlining the delicate curves beneath, the pale, fine skin faintly visible and strangely alluring.

“I’ll go take off my stockings.” Unaware of her brother-in-law’s gaze, Seiko broke free of his hand, walked to the sofa, sat down, slipped off her little feet from her slippers, and lifted her skirt slightly to reveal the edge of her stockings. Her plump, fair thighs were squeezed by the lace-trimmed stockings, creating a hint of tender flesh.

She bent over, pinching the wet stockings with her fingertips and slowly peeling them off. Inch by inch, her white skin was exposed to the air. After tossing one stocking aside, she began removing the other.

Hidenobu could take no more. Dinner would have to end here for tonight.

He immediately headed for the door.

“Hidenobu, where are you going?” Seiko looked up from the sofa, calling after him.

Without turning, Hidenobu replied, “I’ve got something to do—I won’t be back tonight. Don’t wait up for me.”

Danger, Mrs. Nohara!

…………………………

As the saying goes, the early bird gets eaten.

Hidenobu released the handful of Mrs. Nohara’s hair he’d been gripping, climbed out of bed, and started getting dressed, calling over his shoulder, “Thanks for your hard work, ma’am. Please get some rest.”

Behind him, her hair a mess, cheeks flushed, and eyes misty, Mrs. Nohara had no words left.

It wasn’t hard work—it was a hard life.

Her day had been anything but normal. While most people ate three meals a day, she had three days’ meals in one. If things continued like this, she was certain her body would give out.

“I’ll take some money to buy breakfast,” Hidenobu said once dressed, turning to pick her wallet off the bed. He took a few hundred yen from inside and left.

He’d slept with Nohara’s wife, left with Nohara’s phone, drove Nohara’s car to the station, and even bought breakfast with Nohara’s money to replenish his energy.

Hidenobu would always be grateful to Nohara!

Upon arriving at the station, he parked, ate a sandwich as he walked, and made his way to the office.

“Good morning, everyone.”

“Good morning, Deputy Chief.”

“Deputy Chief, have a cup of coffee to warm you up.” As soon as Hidenobu sat down, Shinichi Nakamura came over, files under his arm and a coffee in hand. He set down the coffee and handed over the file. “These are the records for the three numbers you asked me to look up yesterday.”

Such behavior naturally drew mixed reactions from colleagues. For example, Sachiko, who’d worked with him on the Takizawa murder case, thought Nakamura’s toadying was excessive and couldn’t resist quietly complaining about it to Inoue.

But Inoue, an officer in his forties, merely smiled and said nothing.

“So quick?” Hidenobu sipped his coffee, silently appreciating Nakamura’s thoughtfulness, then asked in surprise.

Nakamura, with dark circles under his eyes, bowed his head slightly. “A few friends helped out.”

“All right, you can go. I’ll take a look. If I need anything, I’ll call you,” Hidenobu waved him off.

Nakamura bowed. “Yes, sir!”