Two years.
That was how long it had been since Hiroto Nishida ceased to exist.
Kyoto had welcomed him in the way it welcomed any stranger who knew how to keep his head down—without asking too many questions. He had changed his name, burnt every bridge behind him, and built a new façade. Now he was Kaito Shirogane, a private investigator with an office tucked away in a back lane you would never find on a tourist map.
Two years… and I still can't sleep without a cigarette, he thought, walking along the damp pavement. Dawn in Kyoto carried a quieter kind of silence than Tokyo. Here, the air smelt of aged timber and green tea, threaded with the faint smoke curling from chimney pots. His steps took him into a narrow passageway where the light barely seeped in.
At the end stood a weathered wooden door, its paint flaking, a tarnished brass plaque just about readable: Shirogane Detective Agency. He pushed it open.
Inside, the scent of strong coffee mingled with the musk of old paper. Behind a desk buried beneath files and empty mugs sat Reiko, his employer. Her hair was swept into an immaculate bun, and a pair of slim-rimmed spectacles lent her a no-nonsense air.
'Right on time, Kaito,' she remarked, not looking up from her newspaper.
'I'm always on time.' He dropped into the chair opposite her.
Reiko turned a page. 'We've work today.'
'Go on.'
'A woman's been murdered by her former boyfriend. He's been spotted lurking about Kyoto… more precisely, in Pontocho Alley.' She set the paper aside and slid a photograph across the desk. 'That's him.'
Kaito picked it up. A young face, jaw set, eyes brimming with that blend of arrogance and fear that belonged to men who spent their lives running.
The office door creaked, and in stepped a young woman with a high black ponytail, sharp eyes, and a folder tucked under her arm.
'Another case today?' she asked, glancing at the photo.
'Yes,' Kaito replied curtly.
'I'd like to come with you.'
Kaito raised an eyebrow. 'I don't need company.'
'Since you arrived, you've solved every job you've taken. I want to learn from you.'
Reiko cut in. 'It might do her some good, Kaito. She'll never learn much stuck behind that desk.'
Kaito sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.
'All right… but don't get in the way.'
The young woman grinned as if she'd just won a wager. 'I won't.'
By nightfall, Pontocho Alley had transformed into a lantern-lit corridor, neon signs shimmering in the dark waters of the Kamo River. The air was heavy with the scent of grilled fish, hot broth and warm sake. From open teahouses came the faint twang of shamisen strings and bursts of laughter.
'I've never been here before,' the young woman murmured, eyes darting about.
'We're not here for sightseeing,' Kaito muttered, scanning the crowd.
She seemed far more interested in the shopfronts, quietly noting every dish she saw. Kaito was about to tell her to focus when she froze. Her expression shifted—from wide-eyed novice to something much sharper.
'There,' she whispered, her gaze locked on a man who matched the photograph exactly.
The suspect was reaching for the handle of a restaurant door. Then he saw them. His shoulders stiffened, his eyes flicked to the side—and he ran.
'Move!' Kaito barked, sprinting after him.
The street was thick with people: tourists with cameras, couples arm in arm, waiters balancing trays of steaming food. Instinctively, Kaito and the young woman split up—he took the right-hand flank, she the left, angling to box him in.
Her fingers brushed the grip of her pistol, but she didn't draw it; firing here would be madness.
Kaito vaulted onto a bench for a better view, but the fugitive had already ducked down a side lane. He swore under his breath and pushed harder, lungs burning. For a moment he lost sight of him—until a sharp voice cut through the night:
'Stop right there!'
Kaito rounded the corner to find the man trapped at the end of a blind alley, the young woman blocking his only way out. The suspect's eyes flicked from wall to wall, calculating—then he lunged at her, only to freeze as she levelled the pistol squarely at his face.
'Don't move,' she ordered.
He lifted his hands slowly. Kaito arrived seconds later, breath misting in the cold.
'Good work,' he said.
She flushed faintly. 'Thanks.'
'Let's get him tied and take him somewhere we can talk properly.'
The "interview room" was a small, bare chamber in a building long past its prime. A single table, two chairs, a dangling light bulb. Behind the one-way glass, the young woman and Reiko observed. Reiko lit another cigarette, her face unreadable.
Kaito shoved the suspect into a chair and pulled the hood from his head.
'Tell me about the woman,' he said flatly.
'I don't know anything.'
Kaito slid a photograph of the victim across the table. The man stared at it, and the bravado drained from his face. His lips trembled.
'It wasn't me… it was the gang.'
Kaito's gaze didn't waver. Outside, the young woman leaned towards Reiko.
'Why's he gone quiet?'
'No idea,' Reiko murmured.
'Why were the gang involved?' Kaito asked at last, voice low.
The man swallowed. 'I've a gambling problem. I borrowed from them, thought I'd win it back. Lost the lot. When the time came to repay, I had nothing.'
He clenched his fists as he went on. 'One night I was at my girlfriend's place. They smashed the door in—masks, knives. Tied us both up. Wanted their money. I begged for time… they refused. Pulled a blade… killed her right there. Then they made it look as if I'd done it.'
The room felt smaller.
'Names,' Kaito said.
The man gave them, eyes downcast.
Kaito stood, stepped out into the observation room.
'Hand him over to the police,' he told Reiko.
The young woman frowned. 'Are you going after them?'
'I've not decided.'
He stepped outside, lit a cigarette. The night air bit at his skin. The young woman followed.
'If you go, take me with you.'
'I don't know if I'm going.'
'Why not?'
'Because your job's not fighting gangsters.'
'Then why did you go silent when he mentioned them?'
Kaito gave her a sidelong glance. 'Because of memories… I thought I'd buried.'
She took a step back. 'If you won't go, I will. Alone.' She turned and walked back inside.
Kaito smoked in silence, watching the ember burn down. Back on the same path? He flicked the butt away, ground it under his heel, and went back in.
'Reiko, find out everything you can on that gang,' he said.
The young woman smiled.