This Japanese Monogatari Isn't Lame
Chapter 393 - 272. I Must Kill You (Another 4000 Words)_2

Chapter 393: Chapter 272. I Must Kill You (Another 4000 Words)_2

"So what?" Beichuan Si looked up.

"I won’t say what you’re planning to do, nor will I interfere—of course, I might not even know what you’re up to." Gangye Yoshiko shrugged, changing lanes as she drove.

Beichuan Si put the chewing gum back in his pocket, his tone pausing slightly, "Thank you."

Gangye Yoshiko was a sharp woman; she naturally understood that Beichuan Si’s visit to Tsuchiya Motomu was not for old times’ sake, which would be meaningless.

That’s just the kind of person Beichuan Si was; he would never suddenly engage in an action without meaning.

So why did such a person suddenly want to see Tsuchiya Motomu?

Both knew the answer in their hearts.

"Remember your Sister Liangzi’s kindness."

Gangye Yoshiko teased with a chuckle, continuing to chew her gum as she drove on.

Their destination was a remote prison.

Gangye Yoshiko showed her application, flashed her police badge, then spoke at length with the officers before returning with a relaxed expression, "All set, you’ll be able to see Tsuchiya Motomu in a bit."

As she spoke, her expression revealed a hint of nostalgia, "Ah, when I first received this case, I was truly baffled. After all, the implications for society weren’t great, considering it involved the kidnapping of a girl for 40 days. I was just a rookie at the time, nearly came to blows with that Tsuchiya Motomu."

Gangye Yoshiko’s face was filled with sighs.

Beichuan Si glanced at her and followed the officer leading the way without saying much.

They were led to a small room.

A glass partition for interrogation separated them from the other side, which was empty except for a single chair.

Gangye Yoshiko and Beichuan Si had barely been seated for three minutes when the door on the other side opened, and two officers escorted a middle-aged man inside.

The man wore prison clothes, handcuffed hands hanging by his sides, and was directly led to the chair, his face indifferent.

It was Tsuchiya Motomu.

Once, he’d committed heinous deeds, and yet there he was, still living well.

The laws of Japan were truly strange, allowing such a murderer to continue living.

His noisy complaints filtered through the sound hole, "Like I said, I won’t tell you anything about Hinakabe Haru, so just give up. I—"

"Look, this guy has always been this way." Gangye Yoshiko looked to Beichuan Si, wondering what he could possibly do to shake such an unyielding man.

Tsuchiya Motomu was notoriously uncooperative, never fully disclosing everything no matter how he was pressed.

Beichuan Si just brought his mouth close to the microphone and uttered a name, "Nagako."

The previously indifferent Tsuchiya Motomu froze. His eyes widened in disbelief, "Kid, what did you just say?!"

"Nagako. More precisely, Ueno Nagako, your first love, I believe, though she seemed to have swindled your family out of their fortune and disappeared without a trace."

Beichuan Si spoke as if listing precious family jewels.

Those details were, in fact, in Tsuchiya Motomu’s record, but the police were not like Beichuan Si; they could not see the illusory dreams constructed by the tired woman Hinakabe Haru, nor could they break free from them.

"Shut your mouth! Bastard!"

Tsuchiya Motomu slammed against the reinforced glass, his middle-aged face pressed against it, looking crazed and fierce.

Beichuan Si turned a deaf ear, his expressionless face taking on a mocking air,

"Fifteen years ago, you met Ueno Nagako and spent quite a bit of money on her. You thought she loved you, but little did you expect that after she got her hands on almost three-quarters of your wealth, she’d turn around and throw herself into another’s arms."

Indeed.

Tsuchiya Motomu’s grandparents had left him a considerable estate, and while it wasn’t enough to make him rich, it certainly should have allowed him to live stably.

Yet, Tsuchiya Motomu had invested his entire fortune in a woman he’d known less than a year.

One morning, Ueno Nagako vanished without a trace, and Tsuchiya Motomu’s life was instantly thrown into hardship.

Previously unstable, he then took to chronic drinking, surviving on handouts from family relatives.

"Stop talking! Shut your mouth!" Tsuchiya Motomu was restrained by the officers, letting out several cries of anguish.

It was a history he absolutely didn’t want to face, the deepest scar he had hidden away.

How did Beichuan Si come to know?

Beichuan Si spoke with icy detachment, without a care in the world:

"Coincidentally, Ueno Nagako bears a resemblance to Hinakabe Haru from Ochasaki Middle School. Each time you saw her going to and from school, your heart was gradually filled with rage and jealousy, until one day, you finally acted against Hinakabe Haru, who was alone."

"Stop talking!"

Tsuchiya Motomu made the chair rattle thunderously.

He frantically banged his head against the table in front of him, pleading, "Stop, please! I will answer whatever you ask, just please don’t say any more! That’s right, aren’t you wanting to know about the body of Hinakabe Haru—"

"The body has already been found, so we can spare you the trouble of worrying," Beichuan Si retorted sarcastically: "Wasn’t it Mr. Tsuchiya who decided not to confess to everything at first?"

"I..." Tsuchiya Motomu turned pale.

Unattended by the officers, his head struck the corner of the table, and blood gushed out.

But it was not the pain that brought that expression on his face; it was Beichuan Si’s intent to continue speaking.

Beichuan Si continued regardless.

He might not be clear about the forty-day case process, but he knew the data of Ueno Nagako, the alias, all too well.

After all, the first thing Tsuchiya Motomu did after being conned was to seek help from the police; during that time, some information about this woman was retained in Tsuchiya Motomu’s file.

Coincidentally, the information that Gangye Yoshiko gave to Beichuan Si also included data on Ueno Nagako, and Beichuan Si instantly figured out all the reasons behind it.

Tsuchiya Motomu’s motive for murder was simple.

Because Hinakabe Haru resembled Ueno Nagako, Tsuchiya Motomu already harbored hatred and admiration for Ueno Nagako.

Combined with Tsuchiya Motomu’s unstable mental state, he acted against Hinakabe Haru.

The reason he didn’t kill Hinakabe Haru outright was that Tsuchiya Motomu wanted to torment her, to vent his resentment, and to give his twisted soul some semblance of relief in being alive.

The ’lover’ of the past, locked up by himself, being tormented endlessly, no matter how she begged, there was no escape...

How could that not make him happy?

By the end, Tsuchiya Motomu had gone from initially being haughty to slumping over in the chair like a lump of mud.

He stared blankly ahead, muttering to himself: "I just can’t understand... why me...? I loved her so much... I sold most of my belongings for her... She said she wanted to live somewhere else... I was already working hard to find a new address."

Regret painted Tsuchiya Motomu’s face, as he buried it in his hands in agony, aged beyond his years: "Why, why am I always so unfortunate?"

"Is that so? I feel there’s not a shred of you that merits anyone’s sympathy," Beichuan Si’s voice was utterly emotionless.

"A murderer is just a murderer, no matter how much drama you add for yourself, it’s futile. If you truly had a conscience, you couldn’t have tormented Hinakabe Haru for forty long days."

"By the way, Ueno Nagako is doing very well; she doesn’t miss you one bit—I doubt anyone would have sympathy for a death row inmate."

Beichuan Si finished and stood up.

Not missing me... not one bit???

Tsuchiya Motomu screamed in agony, pressing his face against the glass, shaking his head frantically: "Impossible! That can’t be! I don’t believe it! I absolutely refuse to believe it!"

A flash passed in Beichuan Si’s eyes, as a wave of resentment pierced through the glass and entered Tsuchiya Motomu’s arms.

After all this, Beichuan Si took two steps back, watching as Tsuchiya Motomu was restrained back into his seat, nodding expressionlessly: "It’s true, I’ve never met Ueno Nagako, never even spoke to her."

"Then why?..."

Tsuchiya Motomu was stunned, his mouth gaping.

"I lied to you. In fact, most of what I just told you was fabricated based on the alias data of Ueno Nagako."

Beichuan Si answered without hesitation.

I lied to you.

A mix of embarrassment, shame, anger, and irritation reddened Tsuchiya Motomu’s face, as he glared at Beichuan Si venomously: "I will kill you! I will become a vengeful spirit and I will kill you!!!!!"

But to his threat, Beichuan Si simply nodded:

"Then wait until you become a vengeful spirit to come after me."