Inpei Kaguya and the Dinner Party

My name is Inpei Kaguya, and this is the story of my dinner party. I’m a genius detective, and I had been investigating a suspicious group known as the Mondai Group. Thus, I invited several people with interesting ties to the Mondai Group to join me at my house for a dinner party. The plan was for me and my brother Honnoh to confront them all at once and get to the truth about the MG, as the Mondai Group called itself, but things didn’t exactly go as planned… It all started on the morning of the dinner party.

I arrived five minutes early to work, and greeted my coworker, Shakai Hachiko. While we were in the elevator, she told me that someone had threatened her into giving information about me. There were two very dangerous things I learned from this. First, as I feared, the MG was investigating me. They must know I’m on their trail after I sent out the dinner party invitations. Second, they knew about the incident Hachiko had been involved in last year. Honnoh and I kept it pretty confidential, but it was what gave us our first lead into the MG case. Thus, it only makes sense that they found out about it if they were counter-investigating me.

Later at lunch, I had a conversation with my former classmate, Kaitou Umi. She rambled on about some threatening letters, and I got to eat a really good burger. Kaitou Umi was the daughter of the local police chief, so she was an important connection, but she was even more important than that. According to my investigation, she was a high-ranking member of the Mondai Group. Thanks to her internal connections with the police, the MG was able to stay out of a lot of trouble, and avoid investigation. She keeps receiving ambiguous, threatening letters– from my brother, of course, and I’m the one who put him up to it. According to our sources, she’s actually planning to do something about me soon, and I wanted to see how she would react to direct confrontation.

The next person involved in my dinner party is my childhood friend Kiseki Shikishi. Don’t worry; she’s not in the Mondai Group. I can guarantee that. What she is, though, is a target. As someone who’s close to me, she could be kidnapped any day. I’m the Mondai Group’s #1 enemy, and so anyone with connections to me is in danger. In fact, Kaitou Umi may already be planning to kidnap her. I know that the guest list for my dinner party is in the hands of the MG, so they know she’s coming. I’ll keep an extra close watch on her tonight.

Finally, there’s the last guest I invited to my dinner party. Rokou Makoto. To be frank, I hate that guy. But I’ve been hanging out with him a lot lately. More than anything, it’s to make Kaitou-chan jealous. She’s got some weird thing for him. She doesn’t know I know, of course. He’s a bit dense, so I’ve got him convinced he’s my boyfriend, but he’s mainly my connection to the Mondai Group. He’s one of the MG’s base level members, but Kaitou wishes she could promote him. Unfortunately, his level of intelligence prevents her from doing so. Regardless, he’s going to be at the dinner party tonight, and is the biggest risk factor. Kaitou and I will both be trying to manipulate him into doing what we want.

And with that, I snapped back into it, with Shakai Hachiko standing next to me as I opened the door for Kiseki Shikishi. “Shikishi-san!” I was excited to see her, and welcomed her warmly. Shortly afterwards, the guests of honour – or, they would be if they had any honour– had arrived. Kaitou Umi and Rokou Makoto. Executive of the Mondai Group and our mutual lackey. They sat down, causing everyone else to follow, leaving me as the only one standing. “Welcome to my dinner party! I hope you all have a wonderful time!”

“Many thanks to my older brother for preparing all the food!” I continued. “I just do what I can,” he responded. “Let me know if we run out of food.” Shikishi was the first to begin digging in, and her immediate remark was “It’s delicious!” “Thank you very much for having us,” offered Makoto in an uncharacteristically polite manner, which even Umi seemed taken aback by. “Yes, I expect it will be a wonderful time,” posited Hachiko. “What gave you the idea for this dinner party anyway? You never told me.” “I’d like to know, too,” added Umi. “You’re not one for social events.” Well, I certainly wasn’t going to tell her in response to that! “Well, you know. I just thought it’d be fun.” “That’s not like you at all…” Even Shikishi could see through me… Makoto continued the sentiment: “You only ever get dinner with me if it’s somewhere close to a case you’re investigating…” He noticed? “You always have hidden motives behind everything you do,” accused Umi, “I don’t expect this party to be any different.”

I gave out a giggle to cover my tracks and came up with a new excuse. “Well, you’ve caught me. Figuring out what this party is about is actually partly the point of this party.” “You’ve always been strange, Kaguya,” reminded my 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 now, Nii-san. I’m not going to confirm that.” At that point, I heard Shikishi whispering to Hachiko. “I think I’ve heard about Christie before.. But who is that again? One of Kaguya’s coworkers?” Did Shikishi really not know? “No; an author.” responded Hachiko in a whisper. “I’m surprised you don’t know about Christie, being Kaguya’s best friend…” Me too, admittedly. “I don’t read many books,” Shikishi sheepishly confessed. I should have guessed.

“So, Inpei-kun, how’s work going?” Umi began to interrogate Honnoh. “Dad doesn’t tell me a lot about it.” “Well, he’s been acting strange today. He sent me home as soon as I got a lead on the Mondai Group.” Hearing that shook up Makoto and Umi so much that I had to let a grin slip through. “Strange,” Umi responded. “I didn’t know the police were interested in the Mondai Group.” It was her job to stop that from being the case, after all! “Aren’t they just a gang of street thugs?” That had to hurt for her to say. “That’s what I thought, too, until Kaguya told me to look into it more,” admitted Honnoh. “Oh well… I’ve been able to spend the rest of the afternoon looking for Shikishi’s necklace.” I should have noticed sooner! Shikishi wasn’t wearing the necklace! That was a valuable treasure to me, and I needed it back at some point… It seems it was stolen by someone. “At least, until I began preparing dinner.” I wouldn’t have put him in charge of dinner if I knew he was doing something so important! “Have you had any luck finding it?” asked Shikishi, bringing her hand up to her neck to touch the place she was so accustomed to the necklace hanging. “Don’t worry about it. It’s a priceless Inpei artefact, after all-- I’m just as invested in recovering it as you are.” Good! “You’ll find it,” I encouraged him, “You’re the great detective Inpei Honnoh, after all!” He had better find it! Or else!

Shikishi then gave some interesting musings: “I hope it wasn’t someone from the… uh… What did you call them again? Notorious gang of street thugs?” “The Mondai Group,” corrected Honnoh. “A bunch of notorious gangsters. Though, they might be even more than that.” “Scary… I don’t want to get caught in some sort of international necklace smuggling ring.” International smuggling, hm? Interesting thought.

At that thought, Honnoh changed the subject. “Kaguya, Hachiko, how’s work going for you two?” “It’s going well,” responded Hachiko, “Kaguya only has two months of training left.” “What’s your job, anyway, Kaguya,” asked Makoto. Did he really not know? “Yeah, you’ve told me about it before, but… I don’t remember…” An unsurprising development from Shikishi. “I think Hachiko will do a better job explaining that.” I deflected the question. “Well, it’s pretty simple,” she began, “ I think the official job title is ‘Remote Therapist’… Most of what you’re doing is 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 am… 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?” I might as well give an answer. “Well, it’s pretty simple. After solving so many mysteries and encountering so many criminals, I just felt sorry for them. So, I decided to do everything I could to help them.” I decided to throw in a bone for Umi. “In fact, a few people I’ve helped were even part of the Mondai Group… 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.”

“That sounds like a crime for someone higher up than the city police,” she retorted. “Maybe,” added Shikishi, “but so does that Mondai Group, and it sounded like Chief Kaitou was very interested in them.” “That depends on how deep it goes,” I corrected. “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.” Umi gave me a snide glare at the thought. “Really? What makes you think that? International smuggling? Weapons, even?” Giving away so much? Let’s see if she’ll take even more bait. “There’s no direct evidence of that. From what my sources can tell, the few weapons we have been able to associate with the MG were purchased domestically. Of course, it’s still illegal, but the ones getting charged with smuggling would be the dealers.” “So there’s some kind of black market for smuggling weapons,” questioned Makoto, “Sounds pretty interesting.” “Oh, I bet you’d love to know about it, wouldn’t you? Boys…” I’m surprised Umi hasn’t told Makoto even that much. I was even more surprised by how my brother responded: “Can’t say I blame him. I wouldn’t mind checking it out myself. My pistol could use an upgrade.” “Don’t you practically work for the police,” reminded Umi. “I don’t think buying smuggled pistols on the black market is good for your image. It’s a miracle you’re allowed to keep the gun you have.” “Good point,” admitted Honnoh, “But hey, at least it’ll scare the Mondai Group off from getting on my tail.” “I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Nii-san.” If only he knew.

“Well, I’m full,” Shikishi suddenly proclaimed. “The food was wonderful,” added Hachiko, “I’m looking forward to an enjoyable evening.” “Me too,” said Makoto, “Though, I think I’m going to go and clear my head.” “Of course.” An opportunity for me to talk to Umi alone. “Have fun, everyone. I’ll set up a game or something”-- something! Something, for sure! -- “to entertain you all in the dining room in a bit. For now, enjoy talking to one another.” “Thank you. A walk to clear my head is just what I need.” She clearly intended to follow Makoto. I couldn’t have that.

Honnoh and Shikishi walked away to talk about the necklace, and Makoto went outside, with Hachiko following him. Umi tried to follow, too, but I managed to stop her. “Kaitou-chan! Did you bring any of those letters to the party, like I said you should?” I was hoping to get my hands on them for a little bit. They’d be a pretty powerful bargaining chip against both Umi and Honnoh. “Sorry, I forgot to bring them. I got distracted when I was getting ready.” Yeah, right. I’m sure that’s exactly what happened. Oh well. If Umi didn’t have the letters, I could be sure I wasn’t getting anything useful out of her. I’d just have to get it from Makoto instead. “What a shame! Helping you out with those letters was going to be my party favour to you! Now I’ll have to think of something different.” “Don’t worry about it,” she responded, trying to drop the issue. “I’m sure they’re no big deal anyway. Probably just a prank.” “You never know!” I decided to get one last thought in the back of her mind, to hopefully throw her off for the rest of the night. “Better safe than sorry!”

When she finally realised she wasn’t going to be able to get past me to Makoto, she relented and went the other way. At last, I had a chance to go outside and speak to Makoto myself. However, when I made it to the koi pond, Makoto was confessing to Hachiko that he was part of the Mondai Group. She seemed worried, and wanted to talk to me about it, so I headed back inside with her…

“Hey, Kaguya?” “What’s wrong?” Of course, I had a pretty good idea, but I wanted to help her feel better. A nervous Hachiko could fall into the hands of Umi… “It’s about Makoto.” “Are you scared of him because he’s a part of the Mondai Group?” “How do you know that?!” “I’m a detective! It doesn’t take long to realise that your boyfriend’s a part of a criminal gang. Besides, I just heard him say as much to you…” “Oh, that makes sense… But he’s still part of the Mondai Group! We already know they’re trying to blackmail me, and after what you said at dinner, they sound extra dangerous!” “Don’t worry about him, Hachiko. I’ll protect you from any danger. For now, just act like Makoto is a normal guy. Well, as normal as one of my friends could be, hehe.” “Alright. Whatever you say. Thanks, Kaguya.” “No problem! Now, I’ve got to go see Honnoh…” Honnoh had been collecting tons of information on the Mondai Group, so if I wanted some particularly powerful weapons to use against Umi, I’d have to get in contact with him… My best bet was to check his office, so I headed upstairs with Hachiko, but we split up when she saw Shikishi.

Unfortunately, his office was empty, though his laptop was on and out on his desk, and all of the candles were burning… He couldn’t be too far away, so I decided to go back downstairs, and it’s a good thing I did, for I almost ran straight into him in the sitting room. “Kaguya! Just who I wanted to see! I have a pretty interesting update for you.” Oh boy! If Honnoh says something is interesting, it definitely will be! “Well, let’s hear it, then! This is shaping up to be a terribly interesting night!” “I’ve managed to deduce the location of the necklace. It’s inside the house.” What interesting news indeed! If that’s the case, it’s pretty obvious who stole it! This only served to confirm my suspicions. “You’d already know exactly where it was if you had paid attention at dinner, nii-chan!” “Makoto, right? I did hear him arguing with Kaitou-chan about something earlier… I suppose that’d explain why.” “Now that’s a valuable tidbit! Thank you for the tip!” I had all I needed from Honnoh for the night, so I headed upstairs to make sure everything else was falling into place.

As I arrived, I heard Hachiko calling me scary, so I decided to prove her right by popping up right behind her and Umi. “Is that so?” I interjected, causing them both to turn around in surprise. “Kaguya! There you are!” Hachiko was happy to see me. “Of course!” I responded. “I came here to let you two know that the entertainment I’ve been preparing is just about ready. Why don’t we head downstairs to the dining room and we’ll get started.” “Sure, whatever you say,” Umi said, not sounding particularly excited. Regardless of their levels of excitement, both Hachiko and Umi followed me down the stairs. They went straight into the dining room, and I made a brief trip through the kitchen to pick up something.

“Let’s just stay here and wait for Kaguya,” I heard Umi saying, giving me the perfect setup to make my entrance. “Hello, everyone! I’m back! But it looks like someone else is still missing…” “Yes,” said my brother, “Makoto has been having a bad day, so we decided to let him stay outside.” “That won’t do at all,” I complained, “We need to make sure we have everyone together! For the sake of the party! He’s out in the garden, in the koi pond, right? Let’s go get him.”

All at once, they rushed out the door, and into the garden. They listened so well! I picked up my cell phone and made a call, only briefly interrupted by a scream from Hachiko.

“Hello, Mama? Yes, it’s Shyouga. Yes, I accomplished the task. They’re all arguing with each other. I think I’ll be able to unite them against the Mondai girl. Once she’s out of the picture, they’ll stop stealing our sales, at least for a while. Gogei? Oh, yes. His handwriting skills have been quite useful, but I agree, he’s too close to the police. Quite a danger. As soon as we have Kaitou out of the way, he’ll be next in line. The Inpei family is about to make a huuuge comeback!”

I put my phone away and walked out into the garden, watching as everyone else began to argue about what had happened to Makoto. All according to plan!