Translation: Darkness 09 — Vega, Descending Into Hell

2026/03/05 thu
闇09：翻訳Cloud

読みます。
Reading 闇09 source text

読みました。翻訳に入ります。

09章はシリーズの中で一番重い章だと思います。打突の起源の回想、ヤクザの事務所、鳴戸に何発殴られても「八百長じゃありません」と繰り返す場面、そして最後の川越の夜。丁寧に訳します。

Creating English translation of 闇09
ファイルが再アップロードされましたが、闇09はすでに翻訳完了しています。先ほどのコードを実行します。

コマンドを実行しました, ファイルを読み取りました

闇09、完了です。
翻訳上の処理メモ：

特記箇所：

• 「八百長じゃありません」の反復→ 何度殴られても同じ言葉を繰り返す構造を英語でそのまま維持。"It isn't fixed." の短さと静けさが力になるよう意識した。

• 「レスラーって攻撃避けちゃ駄目じゃん」→ 章全体の核心。"a wrestler isn't allowed to dodge the attack" として、内面の独白と鳴戸への発言の両方で一貫して使用。

• 鶴田師匠との回想→ 闇シリーズ初めての詳細な回想場面。土下座の場面は dogeza として注釈付きで残した。英語圏読者にも頭を地面につける行為の重みが伝わるよう。

• ヤクザの事務所描写→ 真紅の絨毯、熊の毛皮、大理石の扉。一つ一つの描写を丁寧に訳出。

• マカオの一億→一億円・十億円の規模感は数字のまま維持。注釈不要、数字が語る。

• 最後の川越の夜→ タバコのフィルターに血がついていた／二本目ではついていない。この対比を維持。

09章はシリーズ全体でも最重要の章の一つだと思います。「居場所はちゃんとあるじゃないか」で締める構造が美しい。

Darkness 09 — Vega, Descending Into Hell

 
*Shinjuku / Roppongi / Kawagoe. 1997. Age 25.*
 
Walking down the corridor.
I followed behind.
 
This bastard…… I couldn't let it go without saying something.
 
"Naruto-san……"
 
"Iwakami-kun, you really are something, aren't you~"
 
Like a man who had just watched a satisfying film, Naruto raised both arms with an expression of complete contentment and gave a theatrical, exaggerated stretch.
 
"Naruto-san……"
 
"Hmm~. I wish Unno-san could have seen that~"
 
Pretending my voice wasn't reaching him, using the conversation to cover what he had done.
 
"Naruto-san!"
 
Walking back down the corridor, I said it harder.
 
At that, he finally stopped walking.
 
"Yes?"
 
"You knew from the start this would happen, didn't you?"
 
"Well…… I didn't know it would go quite that far."
 
Shameless……
 
I said nothing more after that and stayed silent until we were out of the building.
 
In the car, Unno was looking over at us with an irritated expression.
 
"You took your time~, Naruto-kun."
 
"Hahaha, my apologies~"
 
Naruto in high spirits.
 
Watching from beside them, I felt a surge of irritation.
 
One wrong move and I could have been the one who was broken.
 
And Naruto had made me do it — that razor-thin fight……
 
For a while my head was filled with nothing but the guilt of having broken something.
 
The Rasen — a technique where one wrong move and I would be the one severely injured.
 
If I failed to deflect the incoming attack cleanly, it would come crashing straight into me.
 
To those watching, that fight probably looked like an easy win for me.
 
But it was nothing of the sort.
 
It had been decided by a paper-thin margin.
 
All those years ago, sweating blood — that hadn't been for nothing.
 
It was still there, soaked deep into my body even now.
 
Separate from the guilt I was feeling, somewhere inside me there was a part that was excited — thrilled by a life with this kind of edge to it.
 
Unno drove us back toward the building from before.
 
Surely they weren't taking me back to that casino again?
 
In a one-on-one fight I had all the confidence in the world.
 
But a sucker attack, an ambush, being rushed by a large group — I had no way to defend against that.
 
I clenched my right fist and extended my thumb sideways.
 
In the worst case, nothing left but the Datotsu……
 
No — against a group, what would taking one or two of them down accomplish?
 
What was Naruto's real purpose?
 
Unno stayed behind quietly in the car.
 
Naruto still said nothing.
 
We entered the building, but this time we stepped into an elevator rather than heading to the basement — I felt a slight wave of relief.
 
"Where are we going this time, Naruto-san?"
 
"……"
 
Inside the large, luxurious elevator car — easily twice the size of a normal one — only my voice echoed back.
 
Naruto gave no answer.
 
"Naruto-san!"
 
The elevator stopped.
 
At that moment, Naruto spoke in a voice barely above a whisper.
 
"Listen…… Stay quiet. It's for your own good."
 
Just that, and he walked out ahead of me.
 
"……!"
 
A room built like this actually existed……
 
The scene before me was so grand and imposing it was hard to believe.
 
Stepping out of the elevator, I found myself instinctively looking all around.
 
A company office — I could understand that to some degree.
 
But by no measure did this look like a company.
 
Ignorant of most things' value, I had no way to price what I was seeing — but I sensed with my whole body that the vases and paintings placed along the corridor were worth enormous sums.
 
A thick, beautiful carpet dyed deep crimson.
 
Not a single thing in sight that hadn't cost a great deal of money.
 
Naruto pressed the chime beside a heavy door that looked to be made of marble, with the practiced ease of someone who had done it many times.
 
The door began to open silently.
 
Beyond it was an atmosphere dense with the feeling that ordinary people — no, that anyone normal — simply could not enter.
 
"Welcome……"
 
At the entrance to the room, two large men stood rigidly upright, positioned precisely to the left and right.
 
Both of them radiated an air that made it clear they were not ordinary men.
 
On the floor, casually spread out, was what appeared to be a genuine bear-skin rug.
 
Was it all right to walk across this with shoes on?
 
While that thought crossed my mind, Naruto walked straight across it without a care, his face bright with pleasure.
 
"Senpai（senior, the term of respect used between yakuza members）— it's been a long time!"
 
In the inner room sat a large black sofa deep enough to sink into, and on it sat two men who owned the space completely.
 
One was an older man with a calculating expression.
 
A large scar ran across his cheek.
 
The other was grotesquely obese — the kind of body that made you wonder how a person could survive inside it.
 
More than half of the backside sitting on the sofa had disappeared into the cushion.
 
Body weight over 150 kilograms, probably.
 
"Oh, it's Naruto, isn't it."
 
"How are you keeping?"
 
"Couldn't be better. Thanks to you."
 
There was Naruto — fawning and flattering in a way I had never seen from him before.
 
The powerfully built bodyguards at the entrance, the two men sitting before us — none of them were ordinary human beings.
 
I felt as though I had been dropped into a scene from a film.
 
Naruto made no move to sit on the sofa in front of him — he remained standing and addressed the two men naturally.
 
By any reading, these were yakuza bosses.
 
Not just any bosses.
The aura emanating from every inch of them made clear they were figures of considerable weight.
 
"Listen here, Naruto."
 
"Yes, what is it? Senpai."
 
The fat yakuza squeezed his voice up from his throat with apparent effort.
 
"The other day, I went to Macau（a Special Administrative Region of China famous for its casinos, the largest gambling hub in the world）. Took a hundred million yen with me."
 
"That's something else! What happened?"
 
Naruto — the man who normally never listened to anyone — was sitting there docile and obedient as a house cat. It had a strange, almost comical quality.
 
"Had some luck, didn't I~. Took it up to a billion, just like that. A billion."
 
"Incredible, Senpai!"
 
"Only thing was, customs caught me on the way back."
 
"Oh dear, oh dear."
 
"I told them straight. The money I brought in was fine, so why are you giving me grief about the money going out — what's your problem, I said."
 
"Absolutely right, I quite agree."
 
"And then — they went quiet. 'Well, you have a point,' and that was the end of it."
 
"Haha, that's you all over, Senpai~"
 
"Even the customs people didn't know what to do with me."
 
The content of the conversation was not normal.
 
A dimension entirely apart from anything I knew.
 
Listening to it, I felt I might lose my mind.
 
Strangely, even as I heard things that should have been impossible, being in this place made them feel completely real.
 
The fat boss holding a gaudy fan in his left hand, fanning himself with weary, perfunctory strokes.
 
He looked exactly like a character out of a manga.
 
"Who's the young one next to you?"
 
The yakuza with the scarred cheek asked Naruto.
 
"Ah, forgive me for the delay. This man is a new employee who just joined my operation. Well — it'd be a waste to keep him in a game parlor, so I'm thinking of starting him as my driver when the right moment comes."
 
What is this man saying……
 
The reason Naruto had been in such a good mood when he came to the shop.
 
The life-or-death fight just now.
 
And the fact that, up to this point, he had been oddly generous with me alone.
 
Had it all been leading to this……
 
By the time I understood, it was already too late.
 
"Good face on him."
 
"He's a find, this one."
 
Every eye in the room turned toward me.
 
An intensely unpleasant feeling.
 
"And Senpai — this man used to be a wrestler!"
 
"Oh, a wrestler, is he."
 
"Built as well as the two outside, isn't he."
 
I watched Naruto's face in silence as he spoke with flushed excitement.
 
"Hey, young man."
 
The fat yakuza spoke to me for the first time.
 
Every pore on my body seemed to open at once.
 
"Yes……"
 
Don't be swallowed……
 
I kept telling myself that desperately.
 
The extreme tension of that first meeting with President Giant Baba.
 
Even for just one brief moment, I had stood beneath that man.
 
I could not show a pathetic display here.
 
"Wrestlers — it's all fixed, isn't it? Before…… well, it was a long time ago now. But when I was running shows, I heard talk about who wins and who loses being decided in advance."
 
Pro wrestling had lost its popularity in general society — its reputation thoroughly fallen.
 
And yet wherever I went, there were still plenty of people who asked whether it was fixed.
 
What did strength mean to me?
 
I wanted to be the kind of person who could say the same thing in front of anyone.
 
No matter the situation, no matter who was listening — I wanted to give the same answer.
 
Changing your opinion depending on who you're talking to.
 
That was a sin.
 
Honestly, I was terrified.
 
If crying and begging could earn me forgiveness, I would have shed as many tears as it took.
 
I wanted to throw away all pride and appearances and run from this place.
 
The face of gentle Tsuruta-shishō floated before me.
 
That's right……
 
I am his student……
 
In front of everyone, I had always said it wasn't fixed.
 
I threw myself into that world of my own choosing, and in it I had seen hell.
 
To have that called a fixed match — how much that hurt……
 
No one would ever understand.
 
A pathetic shred of pride and a trembling heart.
 
I had nothing to do with All Japan Pro Wrestling anymore.
 
But a single action of mine could cause people to look down on where I came from.
 
That was the one thing I absolutely could not allow.
 
I closed my eyes quietly.
 
And breathed slowly.
 
All Japan Pro Wrestling — a major organization.
 
At the time I turned twenty, I had trained relentlessly with the goal of becoming a wrestler.
 
I passed the tryout smoothly and prepared to enter the training camp.
 
I had come here to become strong.
 
But as if by some act of divine mischief, the day before the camp began, I was arrested by police.
 
I had the bad luck of being spotted by officers while mixed up in a brawl with fifteen local yakuza.
 
Of course my entry into the professional world was cancelled.
 
People who had expected things from me looked at me with cold eyes and berated me.
 
Even so, I couldn't give up — I forced my way into the training camp.
 
"What are you doing here. President Baba told you not to come."
 
Turned away at the entrance.
 
At that moment, I caught sight of Master Jumbo Tsuruta from inside.
 
"Now, now — he's come all this way. Let him train with us just for today."
 
Tsuruta-shishō said that and gave me a gentle smile.
 
That was my first encounter with Tsuruta-shishō.
 
A one-day-only provisional entry — I was allowed to participate in the All Japan Pro Wrestling training camp.
 
At first I trained alongside the other wrestlers, but before long Tsuruta-shishō had started giving me his full, undivided attention.
 
I pushed as hard as I could until my legs cramped and I collapsed.
 
I was carried by a senior wrestler and given a massage in the bath.
 
And at the end I was treated to a serving of All Japan Pro Wrestling's special chanko nabe（a hearty hot pot dish）— a day that felt like a dream.
 
After completing that single day of camp, as I was about to leave, Tsuruta-shishō walked me all the way to the front entrance.
 
"Today — truly, thank you……"
 
This was goodbye to All Japan Pro Wrestling.
 
Of course there was regret.
 
But even if only for one day, I had trained in the same space as those wrestlers.
 
I bowed deeply and expressed my gratitude.
 
"Come back……"
 
From above my bowed head, I heard Tsuruta-san's voice.
 
"Pardon?"
 
"Give it another year on your own, and come back. Your body is still too thin. Put on ten to fifteen kilograms and try again next year. You have something — it'd be a shame to waste it."
 
"……!"
 
I have something?
 
No — more than that, the words come back next year were carved deep into my heart.
 
The great Jumbo Tsuruta had said that to me.
 
I was glad I had held on to pro wrestling.
 
Before I knew it I had dropped to my knees, both hands on the ground, and was giving thanks.
 
What ordinary society calls a dogeza（the deepest form of bow in Japanese culture, performed by pressing both hands and forehead to the floor）.
 
But even that didn't feel like enough to express the gratitude and joy I felt.
 
"Tsuruta-san…… truly, thank you……"
 
I pressed my forehead to the ground.
 
"Come on now, stop this right here."
 
"I'll work hard……"
 
And so I resolved to spend a year in hardship.
 
Two years: from 65 kilograms to 85 kilograms.
 
Twenty kilograms of pure muscle.
 
Most of what I earned from work went to food.
 
Even so, I was happy.
 
Every day I could feel my body growing, gradually, little by little.
 
That alone was enough.
 
And I passed the second tryout, and I was on the road toward becoming a wrestler.
 
Until the day that incident destroyed my left elbow……
 
Why was I remembering All Japan Pro Wrestling now, of all moments?
 
The place I was in right now was, by any measure, a yakuza office.
 
A significant figure, in all likelihood.
 
My whole body was trembling.
 
I was genuinely frightened.
 
But I believed in myself.
 
I believed in the road I had walked.
 
Because a wrestler isn't allowed to dodge the attack……
 
I drew a deep breath and opened my mouth.
 
"I'm sorry…… Pro wrestling is not fixed."
 
The fat yakuza's eyes went wide at my words.
 
Part of me wanted to burst out laughing — but my nerve didn't quite reach that far.
 
Shishō is watching over me from somewhere.
 
That's how it felt……
 
"What did you say, young man?"
 
"It isn't fixed."
 
I said it again, slowly.
 
In that instant, sparks flew.
 
From directly beside me, Naruto had hit me with everything he had.
 
"What the hell do you think you're saying?! What kind of mouth are you using in front of Senpai, you little punk!"
 
Naruto's shrill voice.
 
But strangely, I felt no fear.
 
The sucker punch had caught my nose, and blood began pouring down.
 
That hurts, you bastard……
 
Too frightened to say it out loud.
 
I turned toward Naruto and held his gaze steadily.
 
"Because it isn't fixed……"
 
Sparks again.
 
Naruto completely losing it now — he hit me in the face again.
 
I made no move to dodge. I took the punch squarely, head-on.
 
"A wrestler — no matter what gets thrown at you, you must never break."
 
Shishō's words came back to me.
 
Right — a wrestler must never break.
 
Another jolt of pain.
 
That hurts, Shishō……
 
But a wrestler isn't allowed to dodge, right?
 
Naruto was screaming something hysterically, hitting me in the face again and again.
 
"Naruto-san…… A wrestler…… isn't allowed to dodge the attack!"

Naruto's hand stopped.
 
The room fell completely, utterly silent.
 
"Because it isn't fixed……"
 
Bleeding from both nose and mouth — a considerable amount — I did not change my position.
 
Getting hit……
 
Of course it hurts……
 
Terrifying as hell……
 
If I could run, I would.
 
But if I did that, everyone watching would feel nothing.
 
The opponent throws everything into the attack. You take it without flinching.
 
That's what pro wrestling is.
 
That's why you're not allowed to dodge!
 
This was one thing I would not bend on.
 
This one thing……
 
I poured every ounce of strength into my eyes, and no matter how many times I was hit, I kept them fixed on Naruto.
 
I lost count of how many punches landed.
 
And still, my spirit did not break.
 
Did not change.
 
I thought I saw a flicker of something — something like fear — enter his eyes.

"That's enough, Naruto."
 
"But……"
 
"What? Are you talking back to me?"
 
"N-no…… Not at all……"
 
The fat yakuza stopped him.
 
The man — far above Naruto — was now looking at me and only me.
 
"I understand, young man. I apologize."
 
"N-no…… I'm the one who should apologize……"
 
The trembling that had gripped my whole body had, without my noticing, stopped.
 
"Young man — do you play mahjong?"
 
"Uh……"
 
"Mahjong?"
 
"Y-yes…… a little……"
 
What was this man suddenly saying, in a moment like this?
 
I had no idea what he was getting at.
 
"Come sit at the table with me tonight, won't you."
 
"……"
 
"I'm terrible at mahjong, honestly."
 
"That's right — Senpai is weak at mahjong, Iwakami!"
 
Even Naruto was joining in now.
 
You spent the last few minutes beating someone who wasn't even fighting back — and now you're talking out of that same mouth……
 
Hmm — wasn't I strangely calm right now?
 
Then think.
 
This was probably the real test.
 
I see…… I understood the intent.
 
"With respect…… What would the stakes be?"
 
"Stakes? In the mahjong you lot play, how much is a riichi（a mahjong term for declaring readiness for a winning tile, typically accompanied by a bet）?"
 
"Most people use the tenpin（a common rule set where one unit equals 100 yen）rule, so that would be one hundred yen……"
 
"Riichi for a hundred yen…… Fine then. We'll bring our stakes down a little too. How about five thousand yen per riichi?"
 
Fifty times the rate?
 
You can't be serious……
 
At those stakes, how much money would move in a single night?
 
No.
 
Don't be misled.
 
Don't make a mistake here, of all places……
 
"You've got real backbone, young man. And I thought I'd let you earn yourself a little pocket money."
 
Don't be fooled.
 
Find a way to refuse gracefully.
 
There is no such thing as an easy offer.
 
And besides — money is not what moves me.
 
Me, as a yakuza?
 
Not a chance.
 
How would I explain it to my grandfather?
 
How could I ever face him?
 
"With the greatest respect…… I am deeply grateful for the invitation. But the level of play here is in a different world from mine. So I'm afraid I must decline this time……"
 
"Hey, Iwakami! Senpai is making you this offer — what do you think you're saying?"
 
Naruto grabbed my shoulder and glared.
 
"Naruto-san…… If I had no one and nothing, I would be the one asking from my side. But at home there's my grandfather, my younger brother…… my family. And if I became that, there are many people who would be heartbroken…… Please, forgive me……"
 
The grip Naruto had on my shoulder gradually loosened.
 
I could feel the gaze that had been concentrated on me pulling back all at once.
 
They had lost interest in me.
 
My whole body was drained of strength.
 
From that point on, the conversation between Naruto and the others didn't reach my ears at all.
 
I couldn't even remember what was being said.
 
Before I knew it I was in the car on the way back, and we had returned to the shop in Shinjuku.
 
Takahashi Hiroshi, the nominal president of game parlor Vega.
 
Seeing my face covered in blood, all he could do was tremble from head to foot.
 
Understandably.
 
He had never been through anything like the place I had just come from……
 
No — a situation like that probably would never happen to me again in my entire life.
 
Not while under Naruto……
 
I couldn't make out what was being said, but all three of them were speaking in hushed voices.
 
I stared at the ceiling and lit a cigarette.
 
Exhaled a thick cloud of smoke.
 
The cigarette filter had my blood on it.
 
Proof that what had just happened was not a dream.
 
After a while, both owners Naruto and Unno left.
 
I lit a second cigarette.
 
Takahashi Hiroshi kept his back to me and made no move to turn around.
 
Only silence ruled the shop.
 
What was I sitting here quietly for?
 
My mind was already made up, wasn't it?
 
Staying in enemy territory with no plan was something only a fool would do.
 
I began gathering my things.
 
I stood up and walked toward the door.
 
"Iwakami-san…… What on earth happened……"
 
Only then did Takahashi speak.
 
He had been worried about me, genuinely.
 
This man — clearly skimming from the shop's money.
 
If Naruto found out, he would probably be killed.
 
He had given that dirty money to me, time and again.
 
And I had taken it, guilt and all.
 
He was certainly not a good person.
 
But toward me — how had he been?
 
He had treated me with kindness.
 
There was no other reason he would have given me the money he skimmed.
 
He was a decent person underneath it all.
 
He had complained before about Unno showing him a false machine setting, calling his host friends in and having them deceived.
 
That was probably true.
 
He had also explained he was skimming a little each day to pay back his host friends.
 
That was probably a lie.
 
But strangely, I couldn't bring myself to dislike this man.
 
I could tell him the truth — but he was still going to stay here.
 
The resolve he needed first.
 
That had to come first.
 
"Do you have the resolve to keep this between us? I've been somewhere quite dangerous."
 
"What?! You mean — the people backing this place?"
 
I grabbed one of the shop's oshibori（a wet towel, standard at Japanese restaurants and bars）without asking and wiped the blood from my face.
 
Takahashi watched without a word.
 
"Do you have that resolve? If you do, I'll tell you everything — honestly, all of it."
 
"I-I'm sorry…… I hate to say it, but I don't want to know. I'm not proud of it, but there's nothing I could do to help you……"
 
"That's all right."
 
I said it with a gentle smile.
 
Now — there was one last thing I had to do.
 
"I need to speak with Naruto-san. May I use the shop phone?"
 
"Y-yes……"
 
Between today's casino visit and the yakuza office — Naruto had gone too far.
 
I needed to say it to him clearly.
 
"Hello, what is it~?"
 
Naruto answered his mobile phone.
 
Seeing the shop's number, he probably assumed it was Takahashi.
 
"It's Iwakami……"
 
A brief silence.
 
"Ah, yes…… What is it?"
 
"Starting today — at minimum a month…… Please let me quit then. If someone new comes in before that, I'll leave right away……. No — I'm sorry. I'd like to quit right now, actually."
 
"……"
 
Naruto said nothing.
 
"I won't take no for an answer…… Then, goodbye."
 
When I hung up, Takahashi came over with urgent questions.
 
I said nothing deliberately — just smiled.
 
Outside the shop, I took the blood-soaked oshibori and threw it at the building.
 
After the shift ended I went home to Kawagoe.
 
On a day when something like this had happened, there was no way I could go straight home.
 
More than anything, I wanted to hold a woman……
 
But I knew women were not so simple that you could seduce one in this state of mind.
 
Then where would I go?
 
With no destination in mind, I found myself naturally moving toward home.
 
"……"
 
Even standing at my own front door, I couldn't bring myself to open it.
 
A light was on next door.
 
Tonkatsu Hiromu, where Okabe-san worked.
 
Right, I'll go in for a drink……
 
If someone asks about my swollen face, what do I say?
 
Find a way to talk around it.
 
That's fine.
 
This was Kawagoe.
 
Not Shinjuku Kabukichō.
 
I pushed through the automatic door and went in.
 
As always, Nohara-san, the master of Jackpot（a local bar in Kawagoe）, was sitting at the counter drinking an ume sour（a sweet-sour Japanese cocktail made with pickled plum and shōchū）.
 
The sight of him stabbing at a pickled plum with his chopsticks like it had done him a personal wrong made me burst out laughing before I could stop myself.
 
"W-what's with you~, Tomoichirō."
 
No matter what you've been through, there are things in this world that make you laugh without condition.
 
"Hey, Tomoichirō — welcome."
 
Both of them were looking at my face, but neither one said a word about the injuries.
 
I sat down.
 
I honestly had no desire to tell Okabe-san and Nohara-san about today.
 
"Hey — anything interesting happening in Shinjuku?"
 
In response to that question, I picked out only the funny parts and made them laugh.
 
There was no reason to tell a story that would leave a bad taste in anyone's mouth.
 
Right now, sitting here talking nonsense and drinking and laughing — that was happiness enough for me.
 
Naruto, who had terrified me so completely — strip away the surface and that was all he amounted to.
 
I was proud to have been, even briefly, part of the world of pro wrestling.
 
No one else needed to understand.
 
Because what I experienced then was still living right here inside me, solidly, even now……
 
Home really is something.
 
The reason I commuted an hour all the way to Shinjuku every day was probably because I loved this place so much.
 
No — don't dress it up for yourself like that.
 
It was because I had no money. That's all.
 
Unemployed starting tomorrow……
 
But tonight at least, I wanted to drink until dawn and get completely, helplessly drunk.
 
And Nohara-san, smiling, stayed with me all the way through.
 
"Tomoichirō. That bruise on your face — tell me slowly how it happened."
 
Nohara-san set down his ume sour and said it quietly.
 
I looked at Okabe-san's face. He met my eyes slowly and gave a single nod.
 
I sorted through the events of the day one by one and told it in order.
 
Both of them listened without a word.
 
When six in the morning came, Okabe-san said "All right, I'm closing up" and pulled down the shutter — and even then, with it closed, we kept drinking until we were soaked through.
 
When we came out, I saw Nohara-san off.
 
Step outside and my house was right next door.
 
So I could be lying on my futon and asleep in moments.
 
"I'm sorry for keeping you until morning, Nohara-san."
 
"Tomoichirō."
 
"Yes?"
 
"When something rotten happens — I'll drink with you any time."
 
"Thank you……"
 
Pleasantly drunk, I lit a cigarette.
 
No blood on the filter this time.
 
What happened today felt like something that had occurred inside a dream.
 
But I had lived through it, in the flesh.
 
Thanks to Nohara-san and Okabe-san, the jagged, raw edges of my spirit had found their way back to something like warmth.

I bowed deeply to Nohara-san's retreating back, and went home.
 
All this time I had been searching for somewhere I belonged.
 
I hadn't found it at Asakusa View Hotel, and I hadn't found it in Shinjuku Kabukichō.
 
But it was only that I hadn't noticed.
 
I bowed my head toward Tonkatsu Hiromu, where Okabe-san was probably still cleaning up.
 
A place where I belonged……
 
It had been right here all along.