[Chapter 1] Memento Mori Episode 14: Consciousness of Sin

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Looking at his watch, it was already past ten o'clock. Ayako quickly entered a coffee shop facing the main street, and Hiraoka and the two students followed suit. "It's cold outside," Hiraoka muttered while checking the business hours; there was still about an hour left until closing. Looking around, unlike the noisy bars, there were only a few customers in the calm atmosphere of the shop. "Would a bar have been better?" Hiraoka asked the students casually, but they replied that they could talk more calmly in a coffee shop. When the four of them sat at a table, Hiraoka introduced Ayako as "my daughter who entered the Tokyo Metropolitan International University in September."
The two students were graduate students in the Graduate School of Law. They were members of Flock and were scheduled to complete their studies next May. One of them refused to reveal his name, but the other introduced himself as Uehara. The moment he heard that name, Hiraoka suddenly remembered the list of people Naoto had brought back from the party. By coincidence, the name of a law graduate student named Yuji Uehara was on it. "I can't be certain without checking with Kanzaki, but it's possible they are the same person." Hiraoka stared quietly at the student sitting across from him. Then, Ayako, who was sitting next to him, started the conversation. "I know that Flock is an elite group that only gathers students with excellent grades, but I've also heard that the membership fee is very high."
To let her set the flow of the conversation in the beginning, Hiraoka focused on observing the students' reactions and eye movements. "Flock only accepts third and fourth-year students if they are in an undergraduate program. Otherwise, it is composed of graduate students." The student who called himself Uehara replied quietly. "Yes, and I heard that the grades from the first two years are the deciding factor for recruitment." Although Ayako had been taught some preliminary knowledge in advance, she was a little surprised to learn that the circle had a policy of selecting its members. It was not a circle that any student with excellent grades could join if they wished. It was truly an elite group. "Flock's membership fee isn't that high." The student who refused to reveal his name replied bluntly, which was contrary to the expectation that the membership fee was high. Ayako couldn't help but show a surprised expression, but Hiraoka frowned slightly and thought about how to cut into the conversation. "It seems there are factions within Flock depending on the department. I heard there are many students from the Faculty of Law."
Hiraoka decided to prioritize getting information about Ryo Aoyama. "Yes, we are also in the master's program at the Graduate School of Law. Well... the founders of the circle are a professor in the Department of Law and a retired judge." "Also, there are science students, but they don't participate in internal projects," the anonymous student interjected in a somewhat light tone. "Internal projects?" Hiraoka asked back without changing his expression. But deep in his heart, he intuited that this was the core of the problem. Ayako also didn't recognize the term, but she left the conversation to Hiraoka in silence, waiting to see what he would do next. "That is a strictly confidential matter even within the circle... so please do not speak of it to anyone." Uehara looked troubled but kept an eye on his surroundings, but the customers in the shop didn't seem interested in Hiraoka's table. When Hiraoka and Ayako nodded quietly, Uehara lowered his voice and continued calmly. "Within Flock, there is a project that gathers an even more elite group. To get in, you need a professor's recommendation, but—" "They throw strange, difficult problems at us, the professors and the top guys."
Without trying to hide his irritation, the anonymous student interjected bluntly. "Strange, difficult problems?" At Ayako's question, the anonymous student turned his face away, looking displeased. "Yes. He was supposed to participate in the internal project, but—" Saying that, he quietly sent a glance at the student sitting next to him. "I couldn't do it," the anonymous student muttered. His sulky expression gradually turned into anger. "They made me try to deceive my parents!" He said it as if spitting it out, then looked at Hiraoka and Ayako alternately. "That's why when I overheard your conversation at the bar earlier, I wanted to warn you." He said it excitedly, then looked away, perhaps out of shame. "The membership fee for Flock is not a significant amount. But the internal project is expensive." Uehara added calmly. "In other words, participating in the internal project requires a professor's recommendation and a high membership fee." As Hiraoka repeated this as if to organize the story, the students nodded. "However, even if it's a high membership fee, you don't just pay it normally."
"You are tested on how you can swindle the membership fee out of your parents." Interrupting Uehara's words, the anonymous student, who had been grumpy the whole time, began to tell his experience. "Eh?" Ayako let out a voice of surprise, but Hiraoka stopped her with his hand. "I see, you wanted to warn us, parent and child." Hiraoka spoke gently to the students and then turned his gaze toward Ayako. "Depending on the content, I'll have to rethink my daughter's joining Flock." "Flock is fine. It's a meaningful circle that also builds connections in the political world, but the internal project is dangerous. A game is held where you have to confess how you swindled the membership fee out of your parents, and they compete for who is the most despicable." Once he had spat it out, the anonymous student seemed to have regained his composure, perhaps because his heart was at ease. "Why do they make such excellent students do such terrible things?"
Many students at the Tokyo Metropolitan International University are children from wealthy families. If it's a membership fee for a club with high social status that can build connections in the political world, parents should be able to provide it without any problems. If a child raised in a greenhouse is forced to betray their parents, they would likely be mentally broken. "Is it like a rite of passage?" "It feels like that. Well, your ability to act is tested. However, the target of the betrayal is your parents. It can't be a total stranger." "So, even if a problem occurs, it means you should settle it within the family." Hiraoka compared this in his head with the information Watanabe had obtained from Araki. There was a student who involved others and turned it into a police matter, but the parents covered it up. "The activities of Project M are top secret, so no one knows, but I've only heard that they start working in earnest after becoming members of society."
Uehara replied quietly. "Project M..." Ayako muttered to herself, and then, "There is talk that they are poached by foreign countries, but that is just a rumor. Membership is four times a year. Graduate students can also participate." "Actually, the son of an acquaintance of mine is a member, and he is a student in the Department of Education." Hiraoka decided to bring up the topic directly. If it's just rumors and doesn't go beyond speculation, he should investigate Ryo Aoyama's involvement now. "Ah, the new member this autumn was a third-year student in the Department of Education." The students mentioned that it was a rare case where a student was selected from the Department of Education for the first time. Because of that, some students in the Department of Law went out of control and almost caused a problem. Hiraoka listened silently to such gossipy talk, but, "That would be Ryo Aoyama," he decided to ask with clear conviction. The students fell silent and nodded quietly.
According to the students, Ryo Aoyama is the first student from the Department of Education to be a member of Flock. Hiraoka found out that Ryo Aoyama is participating in Flock's internal Project M. All that's left is to gather information on this Project M. The fact that full-scale activities begin after becoming a member of society hints at the possibility of a spy training program, but he ruminated on Watanabe's words, "Rehabilitation is not our job," in his heart. "Aoyama was able to join as an exception because Professor Itsuki's recommendation was significant." "Professor Itsuki of the Department of Education seems to have influence." Hiraoka had not predicted that Professor Itsuki and Ryo Aoyama would be connected here, but a sense of exhilaration, as if dots were being connected, brushed through his chest. "Professor Itsuki was sent from Europe as a visiting professor and seems to be highly regarded even among the faculty."
"I see. Speaking of Europe, I heard there is a beautiful French doctor." Hiraoka suppressed his interest and asked with a laugh. "Has it finally become famous outside the campus?" The student laughed along, and the tense atmosphere eased a little. "That doctor, even if his nationality is French, I think the place he lived was Switzerland." "I think the story is that he came to Japan from a university in Zurich on a sabbatical, right?" Released from the tension, the students' expressions became more lively, and they gradually became talkative. "Anyway, I couldn't swindle the membership fee out of my parents, and I tried to make up for it by using someone else as a sucker, but I failed." When the anonymous student confessed with self-mockery, Hiraoka asked immediately. "Can you withdraw from Project M?" "I don't know. It ended before I could join..."
Ayako was listening to the conversation between Hiraoka and the students in a daze, but she was still objectively grasping how the strange customs of the elite group rampant in the university were alienated from ordinary people. This is because she is aware that her own family line is also a little different from the ordinary. "Project M starts its full-scale activities after becoming a member of society, but as the first rite of passage, you are taught to deceive your parents." The student, who had been speaking in a rough tone until a while ago, now had enough peace of mind to speak calmly. "Young lady, I think you should think carefully before joining." Saying that, he gave a thin smile. "Thank you for the meaningful talk. I look forward to the day when excellent students like you will be active as members of society." Hiraoka expressed his gratitude to the two and turned his gaze to Ayako. It was a signal to wrap up the investigation.
When Ayako looked around, preparations for closing were already underway. "Thank you for tonight. I learned a lot." When Ayako bowed energetically, the students looked relieved and left the coffee shop. While Ayako watched them leave the shop out of the corner of her eye, "Uncle, what does that mean? Why is deceiving your parents the first rite of passage?" She asked with a frown. There were no other customers in the shop besides Hiraoka and Ayako. "Individualism must be thorough. It's a world of meritocracy." Hiraoka stood up from the table and lowered his gaze. "When you become a member of society, you will be entrusted with various dirty work." "Ugh, that's the worst." Hiraoka laughed and replied to Ayako, but in his head, he was already prepared to report on the investigation of Ryo Aoyama's conduct. The problem is how Watanabe will persuade the Aoyama couple.