Holmes of Kyoto: Volume 18 E-Book

Mai Mochizuki

• Herausgeber: J-Novel Heart
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Serie: Holmes of Kyoto
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 206

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

After the New Year, Yilin Jing comes to the Komatsu Detective Agency with a request. She wants to hire the trio as guides and bodyguards for the daughter of a Hong Kong tycoon who is visiting Kyoto in secret. Kiyotaka is forced to accept the request against his will, but luckily, Aoi comes to save the tour from becoming a total disaster. Everything seems to be going well at first, but before long, they find themselves caught up in an extraordinary incident!

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Characters

Prologue

Chapter 1: Too Good to Be True

Chapter 2: A Local Celebrity

Chapter 3: Mission Start

Chapter 4: An Accident

Chapter 5: Putting Past Skills to Use

Chapter 6: Supporter

Chapter 7: Their Values

Epilogue

Afterword

Extra: The Exorcist and the Appraiser (Inside His Mind)

Color Illustrations

Maps of Kyoto

About J-Novel Club

Copyright

Landmarks

Color Images

Table of Contents

Prologue

It was the start of a new year.

I—Aoi Mashiro—was visiting Kitano Tenmangu Shrine with my friend, Kaori Miyashita. I wished I could say we were there for the first shrine visit of the year, but we weren’t. It was already January 5th, and we had already done our first visits separately. So today was a more casual New Year’s visit.

“It’s so crowded since everyone’s still on winter break,” I remarked, craning my neck to look around while we lined up to pray.

“Uh-huh,” said Kaori. “It’s mostly middle schoolers. They’ve got entrance exams coming up, after all.”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “I bet they’re taking this prayer really seriously.”

Tenmangu shrines were dedicated to Sugawara no Michizane, the god of learning, and this was their head shrine in Japan. It was known for providing academic blessings.

As I looked at the students, I thought back to my own university entrance exams. At the time, I’d been desperate—maybe not desperate to get in, but desperate for an escape. I’d buried my head in my books in order to shake off the heartache of Holmes breaking up with me. If it wasn’t for that temporary breakup, I might not have gotten into my current school... Thinking that way made me feel conflicted. And now, time had flown by.

“We’re going to be third-years this spring, huh?” I murmured.

“Yeah.” Kaori nodded, then laughed, her bobbed hair shaking slightly. “You’re still a Tokyoite, eh?”

“Huh? Where did that come from?”

“We say ‘third-rounders’ here.”

I giggled. “Yeah, I guess that’s what people in Kyoto—or, well, all of Kansai—say.”

“I always thought it was a nationwide thing.”

“It does feel more general than a local dialect.”

As we chatted, we reached the shrine building. We bowed once and clapped twice, keeping our hands together as we closed our eyes and prayed. I asked for an educational and productive year, then gave one last bow. After finishing our prayers, we quietly left the line.

“All right, shall we go?” asked Kaori. “I can’t wait to try that castella.”

“Yeah.”

Kaori and I had two reasons for choosing Kitano Tenmangu for our New Year’s shrine visit. One was that we wanted academic blessings, but we also wanted to check out a Portuguese sweets shop that was right next to the torii gate. Their specialty was castellas, but not the kind we knew and loved. Portugal didn’t actually have a dessert called “castella”—this shop served what was said to be the castella’s predecessor, “pão de ló.” There wasn’t much to the recipe: whisk eggs and sugar together, add flour, and bake. However, people said the simple flavor was very delicious.

“I’m glad they take reservations,” I said.

“Totally. At this time of year, it’s impossible to get into places without them.”

We left the shrine grounds and looked towards the shop. It had a sake brewery-esque exterior, with a Portuguese flag and exotic curtain on display. Despite the cultural mismatch, the design worked well.

As Kaori had predicted, there was quite a long line outside. But from the look of it, most of the people were there for takeout, not to dine in the café. We hurried past the line and entered the store. The lovely, chic interior made us gasp with delight.

The staff guided us to our table, and we looked at the menu. In addition to the pão de ló, they also had the castella we were familiar with. One of the recommended sets included both, so you could compare them. It said it went well with port wine, which struck me as quite a Portuguese choice. In Japan, castellas typically would’ve been paired with coffee or tea.

Since we were there for the experience, we each ordered the comparison set and a glass of port wine. Large plates were brought to our table, adorned with castellas and three types of pão de ló. We raised our wine glasses and took a bite of the pão de ló.

“It’s delicious,” I said. “You can really taste the eggs.”

“It has a gentle sweetness.”

For some reason, even though it was my first time eating it, the flavor felt nostalgic. We took a sip of the port wine and closed our eyes in bliss.

“I wasn’t sure about having wine with castellas, but they do go well together,” I said.

“Yeah. Drinking in the middle of the day feels immoral, huh?”

“Immoral?” I laughed. “Well, I know what you mean. It seems too extravagant for us, so it feels like a guilty pleasure.”

“Exactly. But it’s still New Year’s, so it’s fine.”

“Yeah.” We laughed together.

“How did you spend the holidays, Aoi?”

“Well...” I looked up at the ceiling and swallowed the piece of castella in my mouth before continuing. “I spent New Year’s Eve at the Yagashira residence.”

“With Holmes’s family?”

“Yeah. Ueda, Yoshie, and Rikyu were there too, and Akihito joined us later on.”

“Sounds like fun.”

“It was really fun. We played cards and board games while drinking wine. Holmes will do anything to win, so Akihito got mad at him.”

“I can imagine,” Kaori said with a laugh.

The festive mood had soared when the New Year’s bell rang. Deciding to do the first shrine visit of the year together, Holmes, Akihito, Rikyu, and I had left the house to go to Yasaka Shrine.

“It must’ve been super crowded,” said Kaori.

“It was.” I slumped my shoulders. There were so many people. I didn’t think we’d ever make it to the shrine building. “So we gave up on getting to the altar and prayed from a distance, facing it.”

“Wise decision. Gods should be able to hear your prayers even if you aren’t right in front of them.”

“Yeah.” I smiled. “We did get to do the okera mairi afterwards, though.”

“Okera mairi” was a Yasaka Shrine tradition where visitors lit a good fortune rope at the bonfire and rotated the tip as they went home so that the flame wouldn’t go out. The flame was then transferred to a candle in a household shrine or used to boil New Year’s soup as a prayer for good health. Holmes had suggested brewing coffee with it, so we had gone with him to the apartment in Yasaka where he and the manager lived.

“That sounds so nice,” Kaori said. “I bet the coffee was great.”

“It was.” I nodded. The coffee Holmes brewed that night had seemed especially delicious.

“So what happened next?”

“Since we were still up, we decided to watch the first sunrise too. So we stayed up chatting and managed to catch it, but everyone was sleepy and shaky on their feet by then.”

“Well, of course you’d be. Did you fall asleep right after?”

“Yeah. I borrowed a bed, but everyone else slept on the living room sofas and rug.”

“That’s...an incredible image,” Kaori said, crossing her arms.

“It really is.” I laughed. “In the afternoon, Holmes sent me home.” He’d wished my family a happy new year, presenting a box of sweets that he’d prepared at some point. “And he ended up having dinner with us.”

“Ooh. What was that like?”

“My mom, grandma, and brother seemed really excited, but my dad looked conflicted.”

“That’s just how dads are. Mine always has mixed feelings when he sees how spindly my sister’s fiancé is.”

“Oh, Yoneyama?”

Yoneyama was a former counterfeiter who had turned over a new leaf and was now a brilliant painter. Thinking of former counterfeiters made Ensho come to mind, but Yoneyama was completely different from him. He was delicate and had a fluffy vibe like dandelion fuzz.

“Does he visit your place often?” I asked.

“He’s actually moved in with us.”

“I had no idea.” I placed my hand over my mouth, surprised. “They’re already living together?”

“Well, he did it to learn about kimono fabrics. His room is separate from my sister’s.”

“Is he preparing to inherit the family business?”

Kaori hummed and furrowed her brow before shaking her head. “Not exactly. My parents recognize his talent and want him to continue painting. But they also think it’d be nice if he could help out with the store a bit on the side.”

“So he won’t have to stop painting, then. That’s good.” As a fan of Yoneyama’s paintings, I was happy.

“He painted a scroll to hang up at the entrance of the store, and it was so well received that some of our customers asked him to paint for them too.”

“I’m not surprised.”

“My sister’s also gotten in gear. She thinks she should be the one in charge of the store while Yoneyama supports her. I guess when two passive people get together, one of them has to take the lead,” Kaori murmured to herself.

“That’s good for her.”

Kaori shrugged. “Yeah. I wasn’t sure about it at first, but they’ll manage. I’m sure they’ll be planning the wedding soon enough.”

“Ooh.” I smiled. “Did Yoneyama join your family’s New Year’s Eve get-together, then?”

“Yep.” She nodded. “But it’s not like my family sits at home chatting the whole day.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“We do our own thing for the most part. I went to my favorite singer’s New Year’s Eve concert, and January 1st was the first cleanup of the year.”

“I see. What’s this about a ‘first cleanup’?”

“It’s how KyoMore kicked off our activities for the year.”

KyoMore was short for the Make Kyoto More Beautiful Project, a student group similar to a university club. It was led by Akihito’s younger brother, Haruhiko Kajiwara.

“There was a recruitment post on the website,” Kaori continued. “A casual one, like, ‘We’re doing this; if you’re interested, please join us.’”

“Right.” I nodded. I knew that they were always advertising their activities online.

“New Year’s Eve produces a lot of litter, so Haruhiko invited us to help clean up the next morning, after our shrine visit.”

I was involved with KyoMore too, but I hadn’t expected them to be working over the holidays, so I hadn’t checked the website.

“How many people showed up?” I asked.

“Including me and Haruhiko, six in all.”

“You all check the site regularly, huh? That’s impressive.”

Kaori gave an awkward shrug. “I wasn’t actually checking it. I only knew because Haruhiko messaged me saying that he posted something.”

“Oh, I see.”

“The cleanup took us almost the entire morning, but Sada—the one who runs the Italian restaurant—saw the post and brought us boxed lunches. We ate them at the Demachiyanagi delta and everyone was amazed by how delicious they were. That’s a professional chef for you.”

“That’s a wonderful way to spend New Year’s.”

“Yep. It was a great kickoff.”

“It’s really nice that KyoMore was doing volunteer work right from the start of the year. And Haruhiko’s a great person for organizing it.”

Kaori blushed slightly. “Um, yeah, I guess.” Her eyes darted around for a second. “Oh, but more importantly, what did Holmes give you for Christmas?”

“What?” I asked, startled by the sudden change of topic.

“I mean, this is Holmes we’re talking about, so it must’ve been something crazy, right?”

It felt like she was being evasive, but I answered the question anyway. “We gave each other matching fountain pens.”

“Huh? Fountain pens?”

“Yeah. He’s always trying to give me expensive things, so I preempted him by suggesting that we get each other matching things.”

“Preempted?” Kaori repeated with a smile.

“He still seemed like he was going to give me something else, though, so I ended up saying, ‘Please don’t try to spoil me so much. I wish you’d be more understanding of the average person.’”

“What did he say to that?” Kaori peered into my face.

“He looked kind of shocked...”

“Ahh,” she murmured, crossing her arms. “I can understand why you’d say that. He always has that ‘rich socialite’ feel.”

“Yeah. I really appreciate the sentiment, but...” Since I was just an ordinary person, his gifts made me feel uneasy at times. “I do treasure all the things he’s given me, though, and I was happy when I received them.”

Kaori hummed and murmured, “Is it a fundamental difference in values?” Realizing something, she hurriedly waved her hands. “Oh, I don’t mean it in a bad way.”

“I know.” I nodded and gazed out the window. “I’ve actually wondered the same thing, but I think it’s inevitable because Holmes and I grew up in very different ways.” I looked at Kaori. “Speaking of which, you and Haruhiko probably have similar values, huh?”

The two of them were both born and raised in Kyoto. Kaori’s family ran a kimono fabric shop, while Haruhiko’s father was a leading figure in the literary world. Those were completely different occupations, but both were connected to prominent people in Kyoto, such as Holmes’s grandfather, the nationally certified appraiser Seiji Yagashira. I wasn’t sure if this was an acceptable way of saying it, but it felt like they were from the same “class” of families in Kyoto.

“Yeah, I guess...” Kaori weakly put her hand on her head. She had been acting strangely every time I brought up Haruhiko. At first I thought she had been embarrassed, but it seemed like there was more to it than that.

“Did something happen between you and Haruhiko?” I asked more forwardly than intended.

Kaori averted her gaze and blushed. “Yeah...”

I knew it. I gulped.

“To be honest, I want to tell you, but I also feel like you’ll look down on me if I do. I can’t even believe what I did.” She placed her hand on her forehead.

“I’d never look down on you. What happened?”

“You know how...we had that party at the Yagashira residence on Christmas Eve?”

“Yeah.”

“Afterwards, Haruhiko offered to walk me home. But we were both still giddy from the party, and we didn’t want to go home yet. So we went for drinks, just the two of us.”

I silently awaited her next words.

“Never mind, I can’t do this.” Kaori shook her head.

“Huh?”

“I haven’t sorted out my feelings yet, so I can’t talk about it. Can you give me some more time?”

“Of course.”

“Thanks.” She sighed.

Worried, I leaned closer and said, “But, um, there’s one thing I want to ask. Did he hurt you or make you feel uncomfortable?”

Kaori hurriedly shook her head and waved her hands. “Not at all. Haruhiko’s a perfect gentleman.”

“That’s good.” I placed my hand on my chest, relieved.

“It’s just that... Ugh,” she murmured, burying her face in her hands. “When I remember that night, I want to crawl into a hole and die. We’re done talking about this.”

Judging from how she’s acting, she might’ve made some kind of mistake while drunk. I had no idea something like that happened between them on Christmas Eve. Come to think of it, Ensho spent that night with his childhood friend Yoshitaka “Yuki” Sakaguchi, and Atsuko Tadokoro—a flower arrangement teacher—held a Christmas party, which led to a shocking incident. It seems like a lot of things happened last Christmas, big and small, in various places with various people.

“Oh, so where is Holmes training right now?” Kaori asked, changing the subject.

“The Komatsu Detective Agency.”

“He’s still at Komatsu’s place? Hasn’t it been more than three months?”

“Yeah.” I sipped my wine. “I think December was the three-month mark, but the office was often closed while Komatsu focused on his side job. Holmes came back to Kura during those times, so he’s going to be helping them for a little while longer.”

“Wow, how dutiful of him.”

“I think it’s a bit different from that.”

Holmes was very clear about his likes and dislikes. If he didn’t want to go somewhere, he wouldn’t do it, no matter how much someone begged him to. So he had probably decided to keep helping the Komatsu Detective Agency because he liked it there.

“Oh, right,” I said. “The Komatsu Detective Agency reopened today after the holidays. The three of them are going to meet up.”

“That’s nice.” Kaori nodded. “Ensho’s an amazing guy, eh?”

“Huh?” I looked at her.

“I didn’t really know him, so I only had the impression that he was scary. But when I saw his exhibition, I was astonished.”

“Yeah, he’s amazing.”

“Do you think he’ll have another exhibition for his next painting?”

“That’s a good question...” I tilted my head. “I hope so.”

“Did Holmes and Ensho stop fighting, by the way?”

Ensho was no longer a counterfeiter. He and Holmes were now colleagues at the Komatsu Detective Agency. However, their rivalry was still going strong, and Holmes always overreacted when it came to Ensho.

“They...fight a lot,” I said.

“Really?!” Kaori’s eyes widened.

“Yeah, but it doesn’t feel dangerous like it used to. I think they also warmed up to each other a bit after the exhibition...but I’m sure they’ll stay rivals forever,” I said with a chuckle, looking out the window.

Chapter 1: Too Good to Be True

1

Recently, the Komatsu Detective Agency had come to be known as the Gion Detectives by a select group of people. However, although the office was located in Gion, it didn’t do much to match the theme. There wasn’t a maiko solving cases, nor was there a geiko manipulating her enemies with a shamisen. Not that Gion was supposed to be like that...but anyway, the sole Gion-like aspect of the office was that it was a renovated wooden townhouse. That said, only the exterior was traditional. Inside, it was utterly normal, with wooden flooring instead of tatami mats, three metal office desks, and a reception area with a black leather sofa set. Actually, it was synthetic leather.

This completely ordinary office was occupied by three men: Katsuya Komatsu, the chief; Kiyotaka Yagashira, a sharp-minded and handsome young man known as the “Holmes of Kyoto”; and Ensho (real name Shinya Sugawara), a bald man who was now a renowned painter. Each sat at his own desk.

I’m the only normal one here, Komatsu thought for the nth time. Why are these incredibly talented people working for me?

It was their first day back at work. After gathering here and exchanging New Year’s greetings, the three men had moved on to doing their own things. Komatsu was working on his programming side job. Ensho was staring at his computer screen, languidly playing a card game that looked like Solitaire. Kiyotaka was resting his chin on one hand while staring absentmindedly at the fountain pen in his other.

Is something wrong with the kiddo? Komatsu wondered. He immediately remembered the Christmas Eve party at the Yagashira residence and decided not to ask. A curator from America named Sally Barrymore had invited Kiyotaka’s fiancée, Aoi Mashiro, to work for her in New York. Aoi hadn’t known what to say, but Kiyotaka had stood next to her, bowed, and said, “Please look after her.” Komatsu, who had been watching from nearby, hadn’t been able to hide his surprise. Kiyotaka seemed to love Aoi to the point of obsession. Sending her on a journey would have been akin to slicing off a part of himself. Yet he still made his decision out of consideration for Aoi’s future.

As Komatsu sat in silence, moved by Kiyotaka’s wonderful actions, Ensho glared at the man sitting beside him, annoyed.

“Why do you keep staring at that fountain pen?” Ensho sighed. “You’re giving me the creeps.”

“Hey, leave him alone.” Komatsu’s face stiffened.

Ensho hadn’t attended the party, but he knew what had happened with Kiyotaka and Aoi. Komatsu was sure of this, because he was the one who had told him. Ensho lived on the office’s second floor, so there were often opportunities to talk to him, and Komatsu had found himself blabbing about all kinds of things. The point was, Ensho knew about Kiyotaka’s situation, and yet he still didn’t show any restraint.

“Actually,” Kiyotaka said, turning around with a relaxed smile, “this fountain pen was a Christmas present from Aoi.”

“So you just wanted to show off. Can you be any more annoying?”

“That wasn’t my intention. I was just looking at it and thinking.” Kiyotaka carefully returned the pen to his chest pocket.

“So what’d you give the little miss, kiddo?” Komatsu asked, curious.

“Since it’s Holmes, I bet he went, ‘I prepared the perfect gift for you: a painting by Chagall.’”

Ensho’s imitation was so spot-on that Komatsu burst out laughing. “You sound just like him. Surely even the kiddo wouldn’t get her Chagall, right?”

“It ain’t out of the question.”

“True.”

“Am I that far removed from reality?” Kiyotaka asked with a displeased sigh.

“You’re only questioning it now?” Ensho spat.

“Well, yeah, you are,” Komatsu said.

“Aoi said the same thing to me,” Kiyotaka replied.

“Huh?” Komatsu and Ensho looked at him.

As it happened, before Christmas, Aoi had told Kiyotaka, “Holmes, why don’t we give each other matching presents? Wouldn’t that be great?”

Kiyotaka had realized that she was worried about receiving something expensive, so by giving each other the same thing, she could ensure that it would be reasonably priced. Her eyes had shone as she made her suggestion, and it had been adorable.

“That’s a good idea,” Kiyotaka had said. “What shall we get?”

After discussing it, they had decided on fountain pens. A deep indigo one for Aoi, in Kiyotaka’s image, and a scarlet one for Kiyotaka, in Aoi’s image. They had engraved each other’s names on them, so that even when they were apart, they could look at the pens and remember that their hearts were together. It was romantic, and Aoi’s blushing face at the time had been the sweetest thing in the world.

“Get to the damn point,” Ensho said, interrupting Kiyotaka’s passionate spiel. “We don’t need your personal opinion on every little thing.” He clicked his tongue, annoyed.

“Seriously,” Komatsu agreed with him. His brow had furrowed as well.

“My apologies.” Kiyotaka placed his hand on his chest. “I felt that a fountain pen alone wasn’t enough, so I tried to give her something else, but she refused, saying...”

“Please don’t try to spoil me so much. I wish you’d be more understanding of the average person.”

“Ah, yeah,” said Komatsu and Ensho.

“I get where the little miss is coming from.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Is that so?” Kiyotaka frowned.

“You’re basically a Marie,” said Ensho.

“Marie?”

“Antoinette.”

Komatsu burst out laughing again, while Kiyotaka’s frown deepened.

“Marie Antoinette? I come from a normal merchant family. I do think like an average person.”

“No way,” said Ensho. “You stopped being an average person the moment you took your girlfriend on a luxury overnight train in Kyushu.”

“What’s wrong with that? It was our very first trip. I splurge when the occasion calls for it. Besides, I don’t live my daily life like that. In fact, I even read supermarket flyers, and when I find a good deal, I happily go to buy it.”

“Huh, I had no idea you did that stuff,” said Komatsu.

“I do it regularly. See? I’m a normal person,” Kiyotaka said proudly.

“No, I know you ain’t,” said Ensho. “Why’re you only a cheapskate some of the time?”

“I take offense to being called a cheapskate. I pay when it’s time to pay and save when it’s time to save. More specifically, when it’s something I want to pay for, I pay without reserve, and when it’s not, I try to save as much as possible.”

“I see,” Komatsu said, crossing his arms. “That does sound like what a merchant would do.”

“So basically, you’ll squander all your money if it’s for Aoi,” said Ensho.

“Would you stop phrasing things like that?” Kiyotaka frowned.

“But doesn’t that just mean your sense of values is different from the little miss’s?” Komatsu asked.

“Huh?”

“Yeah, people say the number one reason for divorce is a difference in values,” said Ensho. “It doesn’t matter as much when you’re just a boyfriend and girlfriend flirting all the time, but when you become life partners for real, she’s gonna go, ‘I think this might not work out between us,’” he continued, mimicking Aoi’s way of speaking.

Wow, Komatsu thought, impressed. Even though Ensho looked and sounded completely different from Aoi, Komatsu could see her in him.