in2ebook Chapter 1323 Your Loyal Friend
Chapter 1323 Your Loyal Friend
Chapter 1323 Your Loyal Friend
The concert hall lights went out, and apart from the conspicuous fluorescent green emergency exit sign, only the stage, which was still temporarily empty, remained brightly lit.
It was at this moment that Shinichi Kudo, who had been absent-minded and somewhat uneasy, noticed that on the terrace directly in front of them, on the terrace below, there were no chairs set up, but the curtains were drawn.
The performance venue, with its wraparound theater structure, has strict seating requirements, even for those of them sitting in the side boxes. The number of people that can be seated and how the chairs are arranged are determined by the organizer.
Having a private room without any seats available can only mean it belongs to a very wealthy VIP or insider.
This Domoto concert was an inauguration ceremony, so there were no tickets available to the public; it was all by invitation only. You can easily guess the identity of the person who occupied such a special spot.
"I'm going to the restroom." With that thought, Shinichi Kudo whispered to Ran Mouri beside him, and while everyone's attention was drawn to Issei Domoto as he stepped onto the organ stage, he bent down and stood up.
After the performance ends, Akiba Reiko and the others will cooperate with the police to provide testimony and take the person away for interrogation. If there is any chance to confront the criminal and confirm that he will not do anything else harmful, then now is the only time left.
Hurry up and go, there's still time to come back and listen to Reiko Akiba's "Amazing Grace".
Ran Mouri glanced at him silently, looking helpless, but she didn't stop him, only nodding slightly.
Although Shinichi's "return" this time is once again involved in a case, and he's constantly running around and out of sight, knowing exactly what he's doing actually reduces the sense of unease.
Whatever he's busy with, hopefully he'll get what he wants.
With a reassuring smile, Shinichi Kudo tiptoed aside the curtain beside him, passed through the private room, and went to the room on the next floor. As expected, he found the score and the craftsman there.
On stage, Domoto Kazuki and Yamane Shion were ready. Under the lights, Akiba Reiko, in a snow-white dress, slowly walked forward to the center of the stage. The concert was about to begin.
Pu Hejiang merely turned his head, glanced at the person who had suddenly appeared in his room, and then looked away, continuing to gaze at the stage.
"I remember when they introduced you before, they said you seemed to be a somewhat famous detective." Fu and Takumi pushed up their glasses, looking at Akiba Reiko with a complicated expression. "I've already called the police, young man. Right now, I just want to enjoy a concert."
His gaze was very calm, especially when the only bright spot in the entire venue, the stage, reflected the light off his glasses, making his lifeless eyes appear even more dim.
"Have you given up on the original plan?" Shinichi Kudo asked in a question, but his tone was quite calm. He took a few more steps forward. "However, since Mr. Hansmura attended the performance as scheduled and even helped adjust the organ, your plan has actually failed. It's not surprising."
While accompanying Akiba Reiko to observe the organ tuning, he watched Hansmura fiddling with a reed pipe that was out of tune on the right side of the organ section. After his meticulous adjustments, he finally found the real reason why the reed pipe was out of tune.
A small device, no bigger than half a palm, was pasted on the pipe wall. Because it was very close to the air outlet, although the effect was small, it still affected the vibration of the pipe assembly after the airflow passed through, causing a subtle shift in pitch.
This was something he had noticed during the rehearsal, and it was first pointed out by Akiba Reiko during the fine-tuning phase, which Hansmura confirmed after careful examination.
Shinichi Kudo almost immediately guessed the motive behind the murderer's targeting of Reiko Akiba, as well as his many questions about the case.
"If I'm not mistaken, you are Ms. Akiba's fiancé and Soma Hikaru's biological father, right?" Shinichi Kudo first made a shocking assessment, then jumped to another point, "However, I still think that your attacks on Mizuguchi Yosuke and Renjo Takehiko were just incidental. Your main goal was probably to get Kawabe Kanade to quit the show."
For the same reason, it is unknown whether Hikaru Soma knew that Fuwa and Takumi were his biological fathers, but there is no reason why Fuwa and Takumi would not know that Hikaru Soma was his son.
Nowadays, it's difficult to discern their bloodline from their appearances alone. That's because Fu and Takumi have aged, making comparisons difficult. When Shinichi Kudo accompanied Reiko Akiba to meet Ikki Domoto, he noticed the photo of them together on Domoto's desk. Honestly, Fu and Takumi, now 20 years younger, are practically identical to Hikaru Soma.
Since he already knew that Soma Hikaru was his son and how his son died, what was he waiting for by remaining inactive for the past three years? Was he waiting for God to hear Akiba Reiko's song and strike these four bastards dead with a bolt of lightning?
This could be considered a different kind of ABC murder case. Kawabe Kanade was his target, but he concealed the fact that this targeted selection was done by another group of people with whom he also had a grudge, and it was just a convenient thing to do.
"I really want to refute your accusations, but if I answer this question honestly, after examining my own actions, I can't deny that I never wanted Ms. Kawabe to be able to participate in the performance smoothly from the very beginning. However, my control over the situation was limited, and I had to choose a target from the concert roster to carry out a precise attack on her. Compared to other innocent young people, these four bastards deserve to die a little more." Faced with this accusation that could be described as ruthless, Fu and Takumi's attitude could be described as candid.
"I thought you'd also blame Domoto Ikki for choosing those two." Shinichi Kudo wasn't surprised, having guessed that he'd already been dealt with by the Phantom Thieves. "Kawabe Kanade isn't too happy with their abilities."
Pu Hejiang pursed his lips, not responding immediately.
While they were saying those few words, the performance had already officially begun.
Amidst the gentle melody, Reiko Akiba's voice rang out.
That incredibly penetrating, clear, and high-pitched female voice instantly filled the empty, dark theater, making everyone unconsciously relax.
Even without Kawabe Kanako's involvement, if Akiba Reiko had learned about the concert and strongly recommended herself, Chigusa Lala would likely have been no match for her.
Her singing had an unparalleled impact on organ playing, as Domoto Kazuki said, transcending the discussion of whether it was pleasant to listen to or not, and was like humanity questioning God.
After listening quietly as she sang a few lines of "Ave Maria," the score and the craftsman finally answered the somewhat pointed question.
"Yihui respects his music more than anyone else; he can't possibly mess it up. It's not their problem that Ms. Hebian thinks that way."
"Oh?" Shinichi Kudo raised an eyebrow, feeling he had touched on the core issue. "You mean, their skill level is acceptable? But I heard from Ms. Akiba that—"
"It's my problem." With a heavy heart, Sho and Takumi spoke slowly, as if they found it extremely difficult to express what they were saying. "Ms. Kawabe was dissatisfied with their loss of precise control over tone during their performance, and their inability to bring out the best in their instruments. But that was actually because I had a problem."
"Ah—so that's how it is—" Shinichi Kudo, having fully grasped the meaning, suddenly understood.
Before the explosion, Kawabe Kanade had sent a text message to Akiba Reiko expressing her dissatisfaction with Mizuguchi Yosuke and Renjo Takehiko, just as Akiba Reiko had been dissatisfied with Yamane Shion's performance, believing that they "did not have the timbre that I needed."
However, what truly caused this discrepancy was not their lack of ability, but rather that the practice equipment used by Renjo Takehiko, a pianist at the time, was the piano that had been moved from the Domoto family to the academy and was always tuned by Sho and Takumi.
The pitch and the craftsman's sense of pitch were off; though subtle, his tuning was inaccurate.
This wouldn't be a big problem for an average person, and Liancheng himself might not even have noticed it, but it couldn't escape Kawabe Kanade's ears. She was extremely dissatisfied with this minor discord and, out of habit and preconceived biases about the cast list, blamed it on the performers.
However, the real problem was with the piano.
"So, is this your real motive for wanting to destroy Mr. Domoto's concert?" Having organized his thoughts, Shinichi Kudo quickly arrived at the most fundamental conclusion: "There's something wrong with your ears, but you haven't realized it, have you?"
"—No wonder you became a famous detective." Fu and Takumi sighed again, their voices blending into Akiba Reiko's ethereal high-pitched chanting, making it indistinct. "I wish I had your keen perception."
This keenness refers to both auditory keenness and emotional keenness.
The reason why today's pu and taku remained silent, numb, and withdrawn throughout was largely because he finally chose to communicate directly with Domoto Ikki face to face, and then heard the true cause of the entire change from this old friend whom he thought had abandoned him.
"Because my perfect pitch was trained for a career in piano tuning, I was too confident in my ears. As I got older, they became like an old piano, gradually losing their shape and becoming impossible to tune accurately. My tuning became problematic, and I could no longer serve as the personal tuner for top pianists. Yi Hui knew my personality and understood that if he stopped working with me, I wouldn't be able to work for anyone else either. After careful consideration, he decided to simply change direction and turn to the organ. Knowing me well, he felt that telling me the truth directly would be too cruel, so he chose the gentler path I'm on now."
"Call me extreme, call me emotional, I won't deny it. It's just that I really tried. If being the manager could help the Tang family, then it wouldn't be bad to protect this place. But in the end, I only have some talent in sound mixing. I can't be a good manager. If I lose the sound mixing job, I'll have nothing, I'll have accomplished nothing—"
Pu Hejiang's voice was low and slightly hoarse, sounding hollow and dejected.
When it rang out along with Akiba Reiko's voice, it was as if it were swallowed up by a speck of dust in the light. Shinichi Kudo took two more steps closer before he could barely hear them clearly.
Pu and Takumi didn't offer much explanation for themselves. Shinichi Kudo, who had already mentally analyzed the logic many times, didn't need him to say anything; he had already figured out the whole process.
Domoto Ikki's prediction of Sho and Takumi's personalities was actually not wrong. He was a stubborn old man who would rather die than live in dishonor. If he knew that it was his fault that Domoto Ikki gave up the piano, self-blame and self-harm would drive him to self-destruction and cause a rift in their friendship that would be difficult to repair.
Hiding the truth and explaining the work arrangements for Pu and Jiang Xin by changing the direction was well-intentioned and wouldn't have caused any problems in the first place.
Unbeknownst to Domoto Ichiki, the seemingly solitary sculptor, Pu and Jiang, had actually had a lover and an illegitimate child.
For various reasons, he did not start a family, but he was not entirely without feelings for Soma Hikaru's mother and Soma Hikaru himself. However, these feelings could not transcend his own life and choices, and he was somewhat indifferent.
Two years ago, when Domoto Kazuki told Fu and Takumi about his new plans, Fu and Takumi were in a terrible state, having already lost the woman they loved and their only son. Domoto Kazuki's announcement was the last straw that broke the camel's back, causing Fu and Takumi's mental support to collapse completely.
He then tried to be a good museum director and regain his confidence as a manager, but he found that he was not good at management positions at all, having worked in technical jobs all his life. In the end, the position naturally belonged to Domoto Kazuki's son, Domoto Genya, and he was more like a figurehead who was there to retire.
His fragile emotional relationships crumbled with the deaths of his wife and son, and his career failures made his initial decision to sacrifice his family for his professional future seem utterly ridiculous.
With a confluence of factors, he became fixated on a single point and made an extreme choice. This was quite logical, and upon closer examination, it evokes sympathy and sighs.
It may seem logical, but Shinichi Kudo just can't understand it.
As the song ended and the theater erupted in restrained applause, he finally voiced his thoughts.
"Mr. Fuwa, these words shouldn't be spoken to me, a stranger who only knew a little about the situation, now that it's too late to turn back. If you had told Mr. Domoto these things earlier, you would have received answers and a loyal friend, and none of this would have happened. If my friend had done this, I would have thought he was thinking of me, and I would have only worried that something I didn't know about had happened, or that my friend might have been hurt. Why can't you trust your friends a little more?"
If you believe the other person has done something wrong or betrayed you, shouldn't the best thing to do be to ask them directly?
The closer the relationship with his friends, the more readily he dares to ask for their help, because he is certain that when they need it, he will do the same without hesitation—and he has always done so. He also believes that they will make the same choice for the same reasons.
When I learned that the other person had made a choice that went against our past understanding, my first thought was whether the other person had difficulties or something had happened that made them want to take care of my feelings so they didn't tell me.
This kind of relationship, where there's no need to be careful or worry about hurting each other, is the true, unreserved friendship.
For Shinichi Kudo, your loyal friend is never just a "Respectfully yours" left on paper.
Pu and Takumi didn't turn around to look at Shinichi Kudo's expression, as if they were afraid of being hurt by the expression on that young face.
Thirty-five years of companionship, complex changes and relationships, family and career, changes in distance, differences in status, and anxieties that constantly change with age —
All sorts of complex emotions and the passage of time lingered in his throat.
"Really? That's enviable, young man. Cherish such a friend."
In the end, however, all that Pu and Jiang could do was sigh like that.