Summary
: Hana is a bit shorter than Yume was, at least from what I recorded.
: You can hear Tokio’s doorbell ringing, followed by someone pounding on his door. For reference, this is the same day Big Dick and Chizuru show up at Typhoon to investigate the murder.
: Presumably, the person ringing his doorbell is one of the generic cops, because Big Dick and Chizuru didn’t show up until after 3:00 in the afternoon.
: One thing that has changed is that Tokio now smokes every morning after he wakes up. He didn’t do this in Yume, so I guess this is a side-effect of all the weird murder ghosts.
I bought some materials. A block of rosewood.
I put it on my desk and stare at the reddish wood. Rosewood is pretty hard so it’s probably not very good for beginners. But with this wood in front of my eyes, I somehow start feeling nostalgic.
I decided to make a paper knife. I’m going to use a knife to make a knife. Like stone carving stone. Or like dirt digging up dirt. Like a star begets a star.
: It’s funny because today we have people using knives to make knives out of paper. Interestingly, I didn’t know for a fact that video existed, but somehow I just knew it existed.
: There’s nothing super important in Tokio’s email today, just this and another one of his carnivorous plant newsletters.
: “Maybe I’ll go check it out later…”
: “I started.”
: “Started what?”
: “Whittling wood. I’m making a paper knife.”
: “That’s good. Making a paper knife is like an introduction to knifework.”
: Soon, Tokio will have his own Youtube channel of nothing but him making improbable knives out of household objects.
: “I see. I didn’t know.”
: “There are many things in this world that one doesn’t know.”
: “You know…”
: “Yes.”
: “You can really get lost in it. When whittling like that, the time just flies by.”
: “Because it’s such a primitive thing. I know what you mean.”
: “So, like… it’s the same as eating food or fucking women, huh?”
: “Yes. But for women, whatever you do, you’ll never understand them, but with whittling, the more you do it the more you get the hang of it, the more you understand the wood’s features, right?”
: “I see…”
: Tokio gets woken up pretty much every day by his doorbell, which is a bit odd. At this point, the cops have already left and the only people poking around are Big Dick and maybe Morikawa.
: “Goddammit, shut up! Just fuck off… I feel like shit…”
From: S. INOHANA
To: Tokio Morishima
Subject: Contact Request
Date: Thu, July 1 1999 9:18:45How’s the Kamui investigation going? Hurry up and send reports on Kamui’s past and the recent movements of the HC Unit.
You need to be submitting regular reports. If you end up breaking your contract, you will be dealt with accordingly. I have no intention of coddling you. Get your work done as you’ve been paid to do.
: " ‘Kamui this, Kamui that’… just shut the fuck up…"
: “Huh…? Timrod…? What the hell is he doing…? Wait, huh…? Why do I know that his name is ‘Timrod’…?”
I saw something rare this morning. Some HC Unit-looking guys were hanging around my building. The guy I apparently met at Babylon. That Timrod guy, he was there.
Apparently someone in my building died last night. According to the info I got from a news site database, a younger guy who lived on the third floor jumped and killed himself. Sounds like it was right around the time I was at the bar. I feel weird.
Someone died in my building, but I didn’t see it. I didn’t hear the sound, I wasn’t told by someone else living here; I first knew of it via my computer. It doesn’t feel real. Anyway, that Timrod dude is one repellent guy.
: It’s because he’s a talking chinchilla.
: “Oh yeah.. was he there too?”
: “He was there..”
: I think Tokio needs glasses, because this looks nothing like how Kusabi sees himself or how Big Dick sees him.
: “I’m on a goddamn stakeout.”
: “I can see that.”
: “You’re just as fuckin’ cheerful as always. You got nothing for me? ‘What are you watching’ or ‘What do you talk about during times like this?’ or some shit like that. You know, reporter questions.”
: “Hm… OK then… what’re you watching?”
: “Can’t tell you.”
: “Um.. by the way…”
: “Hm? Ah, this guy? You’ve never met before, have you? OK, I’ll introduce you. This is Ballsack.”
: “Just kidding… this is Sumio. Be cool with him.”
: “Tetsu, come on back… we’re on a stakeout…”
: “He’s a serious dude, as you can see. A bit of a hardass, but still…”
: “Um…”
: “What?”
: “Are you just bored, or…?”
: “The fuck does it look like…?”
: “Looks like it to me…”
: “Huh… so I look bored, huh…?”
: “Yeah…”
: “Oh do I…?”
: “Yeah…”
: “For reals…?”
: “Uh…”
: “What?”
: “You’re dragging it on.”
: “Sorry… I’m so fuckin’ bored.”
: “I bet.”
: “So what do you want? I don’t care that you came all the way here. I’m not giving you shit.”
: “What’s the HC Unit been up to recently? A guy in my building killed himself… and the guys from your unit have been creeping around. I got a bit of info on you from them..”
: “Hm… that’s where you live? The HC Unit does all kinds of shit. So then, did you meet Hachisuka, too?”
: “Oh, her. No, but I saw Timrod.”
: “Big Dick?”
: “I told you, didn’t I? He’s Big Dick. Detectives need nicknames.”
: “What’s he doing?”
: “The fuck should I know? He’s kind of a weirdo…”
: " ‘Weirdo’? For example?"
: “He’s like a quiet, introverted teenager. But more importantly, are you rich?”
: We’ve seen this a bit in Decoyman, but Big Dick is canonically a silent protagonist, which is why a lot of people find him to be a little unnerving. Personally, I think it’s more because he’s a talking chinchilla.
: “Huh? No, I’m pretty broke.”
: I actually burst out laughing when I saw this while recording. I wasn’t surprised, but damn, I think Kusabi is more of a Hobocop than Harry DuBois is.
: “Me? If you’re gonna give me some info, then…”
: “That’s bribery.”
: “If you wanna talk bribery, I’ll talk bribery.”
: “Fuck it then. OK, you can go now.”
: “OK, whatever. See you… if you’ve got money problems, please call me anytime. For the time being I may be able to help you out, so..”
: “OK, if I change my mind.”
: “Call me, OK? See you later.”
: I was sitting here recording this, and as soon as I saw the conversation was over I went “Tokio’s gonna go home and blog about it, isn’t he?”
It took a whole pack of smokes to clear up my head. Looks like I’d been overlooking too many things.
When I first noticed that Timrod was here in my building, he was watching a kid. An elementary school-age kid. That somehow stuck with me, so I decided to ask a lady in the building whom I sort of know about it. Today, that kid dropped something and I went after him but couldn’t catch up… that’s what I told the lady to get her to tell me about the kid, and she apparently believed it right away.
His name is Koichi Sugita, and she told me he was friends with that Hikaru Kobayashi kid who died of a heart attack awhile ago. What does Timrod want with this Koichi kid? What is happening here? Something sketchy is going on.
I’m not sure whether I should get any further involved. Anyway, if the HC Unit is involved, at least I can use it as an excuse with my client.
: “I feel like shit… I’ve been smoking too much..”
When I opened my window late at night, it was raining silently. My paper knife is almost ready. It’s coming into shape. The knife I’m using to carve is just a regular climbing knife. It gradually spreads out from the base and has levels, which I use to carve the edge of the knife. At night, when I gaze at it, it glistens, silver and cold.
The carving knife is getting a bit blunt, so I’ll need to buy a sharpening stone soon. I need to master sharpening methods, too. Looks like starting something new can branch off into other unexpected things.
: “This paper knife, what do I even use it for…? I’m going to sleep.”
: “Huh…? It hasn’t gone off today…”
: “OK then… let’s see… I gotta talk to Kusabi.”
: “You again, huh? Oh yeah. Don’t worry about the money thing.”
: “Oh OK, that’s unfortunate. By the way, about Timrod…”
: “Your tone is a bit familiar there, boy. Whatever. Just watch yourself. So anyways, what about Big Dick?”
: “Do you know about his involvement with a kid named ‘Koichi’?”
: “Not my job. Whatever Big Dick does has nothing to do with me.”
: “But the HC Unit is working that suicide case at my building. That means it was a murder or something, right?”
: “Who knows… ‘the truth’ has been pretty much worked out.”
: “What has?”
: “The speculation on all this drama.”
: “Huh…”
: “I get worn out talking to you. We’ll talk some other time.”
: “Kusabi…”
: “Huh?”
: “I’ll call you again.”
: I’m gonna cut it here, because I kept recording and there is still a LOT of dialog left. I’ll leave you with this sketch from Salty Vanilla of Big Dick on a date with Chizuru.
: Don’t worry about the martini, it’s just sunflower seeds.