The Five Treasures of Inpei Kaguya

“Kaguya-chan!” I leapt up and hugged my coworker as she entered the office. As always, she arrived five minutes early, and we walked in together. Even better, it was my lucky day! There was an empty elevator, and we started our journey up to the ninth floor, just the two of us. That gave me just enough time to tell her about what was happening. If anyone could solve this case, it was Inpei Kaguya. “What’s wrong, Shakai-san?” Kaguya had a habit of always being so formal around people. I guess that comes from growing up in a rich and influential family. Though her brother wasn’t so much like that, so maybe it was inherent to her personality. Also, it was impressive she could tell something was wrong, when I hadn’t mentioned anything yet. “You’re always so sharp, Kaguya-chan… Yesterday, I got a letter asking me to answer a bunch of questions about you, and leave it on a public park bench. It said that if I didn’t… Well, it mentioned that incident. You know. The salmon and all. I’m really grateful to you for solving it, Kaguya-chan, and for your brother’s help, but if anyone else finds out about it… Well, you know what the problem would be. I don’t know how someone else found out about it. You don’t think…?” “What sort of questions?” Kaguya’s reply was curt, and pierced straight through the atmosphere and into my brain. I then saw she was holding the “door close” button down with her finger, and realised why she was so curt… Given that, I responded right away. “Well, it was things like when your birthday was, your work schedule, where you tend to eat out, and so on… I don’t remember everything…” “That settles it. My brother already knows all about those things. It can’t be him. The incident must have leaked somehow. I’m sorry I didn’t keep it more under control.” Kaguya released her finger from the button, and the elevator door opened. We both walked over to our desks and sat down. “I’ll talk to you about it more at our dinner party tonight, okay? I can’t meet you for lunch like usual, since I’m meeting an old classmate. She’ll be at the party too, so I’ll introduce you then.” Oh, right. Kaguya was having a dinner party tonight. I wonder what sorts of friends she has… Probably a bunch of eccentric rich people. I don’t know if I’ll fit in… On the other hand, I want to know what Kaguya acts like at home! I’ve only ever seen her at work, or when she was trying to solve the… incident… that I was involved in last year. Apologies for the vagueness, but a girl needs her privacy!

By the way, why does Kaguya come to work here anyway? That thought popped into my head as I was eating lunch, sitting alone in the break room. I wouldn’t usually be so lonely, but… Kaguya was my only friend at work, and her eating lunch with her classmate left me with no other choice. Anyway, why did she come here? From what I could gather, the Inpei family was rich and influential, and as the youngest daughter and favourite child, she inherited the family’s vast fortune. Hard to imagine a girl like that working a desk job, and yet, the first thing she did when she graduated was to start working at the previously empty desk next to mine. I’m thankful for it, since it led to the incident being solved, but I can’t imagine her motives behind it. That’s part of the reason I’m so curious about the dinner party! I’m certain that seeing Kaguya at home will give me insight into her motives… This isn’t something you can just boil down to “eccentricity”, but I’m not a deductive genius like her and her brother, so I can’t use the power of logic and reason to pinpoint her goals… I really don’t know much about the Inpei family at all… And that’s what bothers me. Why was someone blackmailing me of all people for information on Kaguya, when I hardly even know her? Sure, we’ve been coworkers for a year and a half, but… We don’t really talk much beyond casual conversation, and even during the incident, I didn’t learn much about her. I answered what few questions I did know about her, as most of them were pretty basic, but I don’t really know Kaguya. Hopefully, though, that will change during the dinner party tonight… Wait, why was I blackmailed the night before the dinner party? Surely, anyone who knows enough about me to talk about the incident must know I was invited to Kaguya’s dinner party… So they should know I would know more about her tomorrow morning, and blackmail me then. Unless… They need to know the answers before the dinner party tonight… because whoever it is will be there! Hah, maybe I can do deductions after all! I’ll have to tell Kaguya when she gets back…

“Interesting theory.” That’s all I heard from her as we went down the elevator together. “Come on.” Kaguya waved for me to follow her, after noticing that I stood outside the door without moving. I obeyed, jogging to catch up to her, until we got to her car. Oh, right. Kaguya had a car. I always bike to work, and I was planning to bike to her house, but I guess she wants me to ride with her. “But what about my bike?” “Just put it in the back. I’ll drive you and it to your house after the party.” I obeyed, and with some help from Kaguya, lifted the bike into the back of her car. Then, without any help from Kaguya, I sat myself in the passenger seat. I managed to buckle the seat belt just in time before she took off into the street lamp-covered highway.

We arrived at the Inpei family’s large, fancy mansion, and Kaguya slid open the paper door. “I’m home!” she called, and her brother Honnoh, who was standing at the stove making stir fry, waved at us. Then, she turned to me, and gave me a command. “Let’s start preparing for the party!” I nodded, and helped her to set the table. Before long, we heard a loud clapping sound outside of the door. Kaguya rushed over, and greeted the girl who was standing outside. It seemed her name was Kiseki Shikishi. Oh, right. I remembered her from the salmon incident, as a poor, innocent bystander.

Shortly afterwards, two more guests arrived. More people Kaguya knew… both university age, one of them a very proud looking woman, and the other one of the hoodlums that were becoming increasingly common around here. They both quickly sat down, and I and everyone else followed, leading to Kaguya announcing the beginning of the party. She stood and gave a dramatic speech. “Welcome, everyone! I hope you’re prepared for my wonderful dinner party! Many thanks to my older brother for preparing the food!” I sure am glad she’s not that dramatic at work… “I just do what I can,” smiled Honnoh, “Let me know if we run out of food.” Shikishi unceremoniously began digging in. “It’s delicious!” “Thank you very much for the party,” said the ruffian awkwardly, before the woman next to him gave him a terrible glare. “Yes, I expect it will be a wonderful time,” I added, “What gave you the idea for this dinner party, anyway?” I addressed Kaguya. “You never did tell me.” “I’d like to know, too,” said the fancy and formal woman. “You’re not usually one for social events.” “Well, you know. I just thought it’d be fun.” Kaguya smiled, and acted as if that answer would satisfy us. “That’s really not like you at all…” remarked Shikishi. Even she could tell. “You only get dinner with me if it’s somewhere close to a case you’re investigating…” complained the ruffian. “You always have hidden motives behind everything,” remarked the formal woman. At least she seemed to have a pretty good grasp of Kaguya as a person. “I don’t expect this party to be any different.” “Well, you’ve caught me,” conceded Kaguya, giggling and grinning like a happy child, “Figuring out what this party is about is actually partially the point of this party.” “You’ve always been strange, Kaguya,” remarked her brother. “I suppose it’s your mystery novel obsession. Everyone being invited to this large mansion for a dinner party with an unclear purpose… It’s supposed to be like Christie, isn’t it?” “Well, nii-san, I shall neither confirm nor deny.” At that point, Shikishi leaned over and whispered to me: “I think Kaguya has mentioned Christie before… but who is that again? One of Kaguya’s coworkers?” “No, an author,” I corrected, “I’m surprised you don’t know about Christie, being Kaguya’s best friend…” “I don’t read very many books,” Shikishi confessed to me.

The formal college woman spoke next, addressing Kaguya’s brother. “So, Inpei-kun, how’s work going? Dad doesn’t tell me a lot about it.” “Well, he’s been acting strange today,” responded Honnoh, “Sent me home just after I got a lead on the Mondai Group.” Strangely enough, that caused Kaguya to smile. “Strange,” said the formal girl, “I didn’t know the police were interested in the Mondai Group. Aren’t they just a gang of street thugs?” “That’s what I thought, too,” conceded Honnoh, “until Kaguya told me to look into them further. Not that I’ve been able to. I spent the rest of the afternoon looking for Shikishi’s necklace.” “Any luck finding it?” Shikishi asked him. “Well, I have my ways of tracking it.” Honnoh was a detective, after all, Kaguya had told me. And he certainly came through with the whole salmon incident… “I expect I’ll find it in the next few days. Don’t worry. It’s a priceless Inpei artefact. I’m just as invested in recovering it as you are. ” “You’ll find it.” Kaguya gave a confident response. “You’re the great detective Inpei Honnoh, after all.”

Shikishi nervously shifted around. “I hope it wasn’t someone from that gang… The uh…” “The Mondai Group,” repeated Honnoh. “A bunch of notorious gangsters. Though, they might be even more than that.” “Scary,” said Shikishi, “I don’t want to get caught up in an international necklace-smuggling ring…”

Honnoh then turned to me. “Kaguya, Hachiko, how’s work going for you two?” “It’s going well!” I excitedly informed them, “Kaguya only has two months of training left!” “What is your job, anyway, Kaguya?” asked the ruffian. “Yeah, you’ve told me before, but I don’t remember,” admitted Shikishi. “I think Hachiko will explain it better than I could,” Kaguya passed the question to me. “Well, it’s pretty simple,” I gave what some considered to be my catchphrase. “I think the official job title is ‘remote therapist’. Most of what you’re doing is remote therapy and counselling via chat clients. Frankly, I don’t know how helpful I am to any of these people… And sometimes it’s really stressful… But I got my degree because I wanted to help people! And I hope I do… Kaguya’s supposed to be studying under me to get her licence, but frankly, she does a far better job than I do. …Hey, Kaguya, you’ve never told me. Why did you, of all people, want to become a therapist anyway?” “Well, it’s pretty simple,” Kaguya said, imitating my inflection. “After solving so many mysteries and encountering so many criminals, I felt sorry for them. So, I decided I would do everything I could to help them. In fact, a few people I’ve helped so far were even in the Mondai Group. Actually, it’s a major source of information on the MG… I do have some personal motives, after all. Granted, our clients have anonymity and other privileges, so I can’t know who they are… But I have my ways. Don’t tell your dad about that, please, Kaitou-chan.” It seemed the formal girl’s name was Kaitou-chan. She responded, “That sounds like a job for someone higher up than the city police.” “Maybe,” added Shikishi, “but so does that Mondai Group. And it sounded like Chief Kaitou was pretty interested in them.” “That depends on how deep it goes,” corrected Kaguya. “The Mondai Group is mostly known for acting around this area, but if some of my suspicions turn out to be true, even INTERPOL could get involved.” “Really? What makes you say that?” asked the formal girl. “International smuggling? Weapons, even?” “There’s not really any evidence of that,” informed Kaguya, “From what I can tell, all of the MG’s weapons were bought domestically. Of course, it’s still illegal, but the ones getting charged with smuggling would be the dealers.” The ruffian leaned in excitedly, and spoke, “So there’s some kind of black market for smuggling weapons?” “You’d love to know about it, right?” Kaguya giggled. “I can’t blame him,” admitted Honnoh, “I wouldn’t mind to know myself. My pistol could use an upgrade, after all.” “Don’t you practically work for the police?” asked the formal girl. “I don’t think it would be good for your image to buy smuggled weapons. You’re lucky you get to keep the pistol you have.” “I guess you’re right,” admitted Honnoh, “but at least it would scare off those Mondai Group goons.” “I wouldn’t be so sure about that, nii-san,” chided Kaguya.

“Well, I’m full!” said Shikishi, looking very content. “The food was wonderful,” I added, “I’m looking forward to an enjoyable evening.” “Me too!” cut in the ruffian, “I’m going to go take a short walk to clear my head.” “Of course,” Kaguya smiled, “Have fun, everyone. I’ll set up a game to entertain you all in a little bit. For now, enjoy the company.” “Thank you,” the formal girl, Kaitou-chan, said as she stood up. “I’m going to go for a walk as well.” At that point, I got up as well, and left the dining room.

I was planning to go outside with the police girl and the guy who sat with her, but Kaguya stopped the girl, so I ended up outside in Kaguya’s garden with the rough-looking guy. He was standing on a bridge looking down at some koi fish, but when he saw me, he turned around. “Oh, hey. You’re Kaguya’s coworker, right? Hachiko-chan, I think?” “That’s right. And you?” “I’m Rokou Makoto. Kaguya’s boyfriend. Or so she says, but… She’s always doing her whole detective schtick. What’s she like at work? I, uh, really liked your speech about helping people…” “Oh, uh, thank you… She’s pretty nice at work, but like you said, it’s like she always has some hidden goal in mind. She’s really good at helping people, but… How should I put it… It’s like she convinces them to feel better? But not in the regular way. She always knows exactly what to say. It’s kind of like hypnosis… But I suppose whatever helps…” “Yeah…”

“Say, uh… Can I ask you something?” He seems pretty tough. Maybe he’ll know what to do about the blackmail situation. “Huh? Yeah, sure. Anything you want.” “Well, uh… Some of those thugs… the Mondai Group people… They’ve been sending me scary letters asking things about Kaguya. I’m not really sure what to do…” “Er… well… uh… I…” “Sorry, I understand if you can’t think of anything to do. You just looked tough, so I thought you might have an idea…” “Well, Hachiko-chan, let me be honest with you…” He started shaking and shifting his eyes back and forth. My instinct kicked in and I instantly started trying to comfort him.

“You don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to. I’m sorry for offloading my personal problems on you…” “No, you’re fine. I understand needing to talk to someone about it. To be frank, I’m glad you asked me. …I’m a member of the Mondai Group myself.” “Really? That explains why you seem so tough… Is the stuff Kaguya said true, then?” “Honestly, I’m not really sure. I’m a pretty low ranking and recent member. All I know is that the people higher up think Kaguya is dangerous, so they’re probably just using you to get information on her. You seem pretty nice, though, so I’ll do what I can to make sure nobody hurts you… No guarantees, though.” “Oh! Thank you… Let me know if you need any help. Kaguya is my friend, though, so I don’t really want to get caught in the middle of things.” “Oh, yeah, I totally understand. I’m sorry if I’ve put you in any danger by telling you this.” “It’s fine! I think it helped you, and I’m all for anything that helps people!” “Yeah, thanks.”

Around that time, I noticed that Kaguya had come up behind us. Makoto seemed like he needed some time alone, so I went inside with Kaguya and decided to see what she thought about the whole situation with Makoto.

“Hey, Kaguya…” I know it was private information, but I also knew I could trust Kaguya, and this Mondai Group did sound awfully dangerous… “What’s wrong, Hachiko?” “Well, about Makoto…” “What’s the matter? Are you scared because he’s a part of the Mondai Group?” “Y-you knew?” “Of course I knew! I’d be a pretty terrible detective if I couldn’t figure out that my boyfriend was part of a criminal gang.” “Yeah, I guess you’re right… Still, what should I do about him? The Mondai Group has been blackmailing me, after all. What if he tries something more drastic? I could be in danger… and so could you!” “Don’t worry, Hachiko. I’ll make sure you’re not in any danger. For now, just treat Makoto like anyone else. He is one of my friends, after all.” “I guess you’re right. Thanks, Kaguya.” “No problem! Now, I’m off to go see Honnoh…”

We went upstairs together, and Kaguya went off to look for her brother, but I ran into her friend Shikishi. The last time I really talked to her was during the Salmon Incident, so hopefully this dinner party would go a lot better… “Shikishi-chan! Hello!” She smiled, and came over to me. “Hello, Hachiko-chan. How have things been going?” “Oh, you know. Better, I suppose. Are you doing alright?” “Pretty good, I’d say. Is something wrong?” “Well… To be honest… Can I tell you a secret? I don’t know if I should, but I know you’re Kaguya’s best friend, so you should probably know.” If she was Kaguya’s friend, she was probably also in danger from the Mondai Group, so she should know about Makoto. “I’ll do my best…” She didn’t exactly seem confident, but I had already made up my mind. “It’s about that guy, Makoto. He’s actually a part of the Mondai Group that Kaguya and Honnoh were talking about at dinner. Kaguya said she’d protect me from anything bad happening, but I’m still pretty scared.” “I thought he seemed suspicious! Well, actually… I think he’s the guy who stole my necklace. I should go try to find out for sure from him.” “I don’t know… That sounds dangerous…” As much as I wanted her to find the necklace, Makoto seemed scary, and the Mondai Group even more so. If he did steal it, I doubt he’d admit it; and if he didn’t, he’d be extra angry about the accusation. “Kaguya said she’d protect us, right? I trust her.” “I can’t blame you for that. Just be careful.”

Shikishi left, and in her place, Kaitou-chan came up the stairs. I decided to make some small talk with her, though her appearance was a little bit intimidating… “Kaitou-chan, was it? Your father is the police chief, right?” “Yeah, so I’ve heard. He never really talks about work to me, though…” “Kaguya’s similar, in that she never talks about her personal life at work… I guess they’re the same in that way.” “Haha, maybe. Dad does talk about Honnoh now and again, but I don’t really know much about Kaguya as a person…” Hm… How would I describe Kaguya? She’s so complicated… “Kaguya is a wonderful person! She’s complicated to understand, and a bit scary at times..”

“Is that so?” Kaguya popped up behind us, almost out of nowhere, causing me to jump slightly. “Kaguya! There you are!” I happily greeted her. The conversation was getting kind of awkward, to be frank, and I hadn’t seen much of her the whole night. “Of course,” she said, “I came here to tell you that the entertainment for the night is almost ready. Why don’t we head to the dining room and we’ll get started?” “Sure, whatever,” said Umi. Kaguya headed downstairs, and we went down after her, and headed into the dining room.

Before we could even get seated, Honnoh and Shikishi had come into the dining room from outside and sat across from us. I thought Kaguya was following behind us, but she was nowhere to be seen, and Honnoh seemed awfully confused about it. “Where’s Kaguya,” he asked, “Preparing for the party, I guess?” “Who knows,” said Kaitou, “I don’t think anyone can keep track of her. Speaking of… Where’d Makoto get off to? Is he out looking for trouble again?” “He’s been out at the koi pond,” Shikishi informed her. “Yeah, I haven’t seen him much tonight,” I added. “No surprise.” Kaitou didn’t seem to care too much. “He’s definitely not a people person. Let’s just wait for Kaguya to get here.”

I’m pretty sure Kaguya was waiting to hear her name, because she popped into the room as soon as Kaitou said it. “Hey, everyone! I’m back! Oh? We’re missing someone, it seems, aren’t we?” “Indeed,” replied Honnoh, “Makoto’s been having a rough day, so we decided to give him some alone time.” Kaguya gave out a little pout, and then contested: “That won’t do! We need everyone here! He was out at the koi pond, I think. Let’s all go together and get him.”

Nobody wanted to disobey Kaguya, so we collectively darted through the door into the garden, narrowly avoiding a traffic jam. Strangely enough, Makoto didn’t seem to be anywhere around. I leaned over the railing to see if the fish had any idea, when I saw it and let out a scream-- it was Makoto’s body! It was floating there in the koi pond, with a shiny necklace next to it reflecting the moonlight…