Kyoko bowed to the young woman standing in her office. “Thank you so much for coming all this way to see us, Ms. Kuroki. My name is Kyoko Nakamura, yoroshiku onegaishimasu.” She bowed again to the young idol. “You didn’t have to come in person, a phone call would have been sufficient.”
“Fortunately, I had some time in my schedule. And I thought it’d be better for us to do this in person,” said Ayano. “I hope I’m not intruding.”
“Not at all.” Kyoko gestured to her colleagues. “This is my staff. Noburo Tsuji and Saori Ikeda. They assist me in my investigations.”
They each bowed and offered their own greetings. Ayano did the same, but the man by her side—who still kept his sunglasses on—remained as unmoving as a statue. Finally, Ayano gestured to him. “This is Haruo Terada, my bodyguard.”
At the mention of his name, Terada finally grunted his own greeting and gave a deep bow. Almost like a robot waiting on command.
“Your message said you wanted to talk to me about Akane?”
“Yes, that’s correct,” said Kyoko. “If you wouldn’t mind joining me in my office? I have a few questions I’d like to ask.”
“Of course.”
Kyoko approached the office door and gestured inside. Ayano bowed before passing through the doorway, but she turned to Terada and held up a hand to stop him. She whispered something to him and Terada grunted out, “Hai,” or yes in Japanese and stepped away from the door.
“You can sit and make yourself comfortable if you like,” Saori told Terada. He shook his head and remained standing by the door, hands clasped in front.
“Saori, could you prepare some tea?” asked Kyoko before entering the office and closing the door behind her. She circled around her desk, which Ayano still remained standing in front of. “Sit, please.”
“Thank you.” Ayano took her seat and set her purse on her lap.
“I appreciate you coming all the way down here. We tried to arrange a meeting through your manager, but…”
Ayano gave an embarrassed smile. “I have to apologize for Mr. Miyashita. He’s somewhat overprotective of us. Didn’t want us giving any interviews to the media about Akane, just released a written statement on behalf of the group.”
“I understand you and Akane were quite close?”
“Very close.” Ayano looked down at her purse. “She was my best friend.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Your message said you’re investigating her death?” asked Ayano. “I thought it was a suicide?”
“That’s what the police think, but Akane’s parents aren’t convinced. They hired me to look into the case,” said Kyoko.
There was a knock at the door and then Saori opened it, carrying a tray with a cup of green tea. She set it on the desk for Ayano and bowed before leaving. Ayano took the cup with both hands and slowly sipped the tea.
“Do you think Akane was killed?” asked Ayano.
“That’s what I’m trying to find out,” said Kyoko. “Tell me about your friendship. About the Akane you knew.”
“We were both hired at the same time, through a contest,” said Ayano. “Hit it off right away. Had a lot of things in common. The other girls used to call us Aka and Aya.” She took another sip before setting the cup on the desk. “When we were spun off into Koibito, we were both so excited.”
“What’s the life like for an idol?”
“Busy. Really busy. Our schedules are pretty hectic and we often don’t get them until the last minute.”
“And the restrictions placed on you? The no-dating clause? How do you find that?”
“I’m not too interested in that stuff anyway, so it doesn’t really bother me,” said Ayano. “But Akane, she had a boyfriend from back home.”
“Yuki Ichikawa, right?”
Ayano nodded. “That’s right. She would sneak off to see him any chance she got.”
“Did she tell you about Yuki?”
“Oh, of course. We were practically sisters, told each other everything.”
“But then Miyashita found out. How?”
Ayano snickered. “Would you believe of all things it was a stalker?”
“Really?”
She nodded. “He was this guy that kept sending Akane letters. Security had to warn him to stay away and we thought that was the end of that, letters stopped coming. But somehow, he found out where she lived. I dunno how. Anyway, he went there and saw her with Yuki. Took pictures with his phone and sent them to her. Said if she didn’t leave Yuki, he would tell the world that she was a whore.”
“I don’t suppose you know the name of this man?” asked Kyoko.
Ayano bit her lip. “It was…Iso, I think?”
“First name?”
Ayano sighed. “Sorry, I’m not sure.”
Kyoko wrote down the name to follow up on later. “What did Akane do in response?”
“She was devastated. But Mr. Miyashita, he was furious. I never saw him so angry.”
“Did Mr. Miyashita ever get violent? Hurt Akane or anyone else?”
“No, of course not!” Her denial was firm and sharp. “He just has a temper, yells a lot. Real stickler for the rules.”
“So I’ve heard. Iso, he sent these pictures and the letter to Star Rise?”
Ayano nodded and took another sip of her tea. “Mr. Miyashita got so mad. He told Akane that she signed a contract and that if she didn’t break things off with Yuki, she’d be fired.”
“And did she?”
“That’s what she said,” said Ayano. “But then another group of pictures came. Except not in a private letter. This time, they were posted online.”
“I imagine Mr. Miyashita wasn’t very pleased.”
Ayano scoffed. “Yeah, that’s putting it one way. He’d had it with Akane and fired her on the spot. She moved to Shinsekai after that so she could be closer to Yuki.”
“Did you keep in touch with her?”
“I tried, but it was really difficult,” said Ayano. “Y’know, with my schedule being what it was, and Mr. Miyashita didn’t like us associating with her.”
“He ordered you to stay away from Akane?”
Ayano shook her head. “No, not so much ordered. More like…suggested. Told me and the other girls that it would probably damage our image among the fans if we were seen with her.”
“We were able to gain access to Akane’s cell phone, it’s how we got your number. I saw the messages you two had sent back and forth. You still tried to keep in touch with her, didn’t you?”
“Of course. She was my friend.”
“Were you aware of the work she was doing?”
Ayano sighed. She looked away, staring at the window. Kyoko leaned forward over her desk and rested her elbows on the surface. Her face held a look of concern, a look perfected over years of interrogation and questioning.
“Ayano, please. I need to know what you know.”
The girl gave a solemn nod. “Yeah, I knew. About everything. The club. The men. The drugs. All of it.”
Kyoko’s eyebrow rose. This was the first time anyone had mentioned a word about the drugs. She leaned back in the chair. “So Akane was using amphetamines?”
“She hated her life, hated what she was doing. But those drugs, they made it easier for her to cope.”
“When was the last time you spoke to her? In person, I mean?”
Ayano looked up at the ceiling. She was searching her memory for the answer. “It was…oh wow, maybe three months ago? I had a rare day off and we went out for dinner.”
“What did you two talk about?”
“She was talking about Yuki, mostly. Said she was hoping they’d get married soon.”
Kyoko looked up. “Yuki was planning to propose?”
A shrug in response. “I don’t know. She just said that’s what she hoped.”
The detective’s pen scribbled the notes, drawing the kanji characters in quick strokes to jot them down as fast as possible. “Did she mention anything else? Anyone else?”
Ayano hesitated for a moment to think, then answered, “No.”
“Not any of her clients? Like a man named Fukui?”
She shook her head. “Akane never went into specifics about her…her work. She told me what she was doing for money, but nothing more. She never mentioned any names. And I didn’t ask.” Ayano scoffed. “Truth be told, I didn’t want to know. Just wanted to ignore the whole thing, hoping it would go away.”
“What about the night of Akane’s death? Where were you?”
“I was at a voice lesson.”
“Solo lesson? Just you and the teacher?”
“And Terada. He goes with me everywhere.”
“Could you give me the name of your teacher, Ms. Kuroki?”
“Yeah, Mai Hoshide.”
Kyoko looked up. “The Mai Hoshide?”
Ayano pursed her lips and looked at Kyoko with her head cocked slightly. “You know her?”
A smile spread over Kyoko’s face. “When I turned twenty, my dad took me to this jazz bar and she was singing there. Listened to her whenever she’d do a set. She retired about five years after that. Had no idea she was a vocal trainer.”
“If you’d like to question her, I can give you her number. Let her know to expect a call from you.”
“That would be very helpful, thank you.”
“Sure, let me see here…” Ayano took her phone from her purse and looked through her contacts for the number. “Can I have a pen and paper?”
Kyoko provided both. Ayano quickly jotted down the number and wrote Mai’s name on top. She set the paper in front of Kyoko, who stared at the sheet for a few seconds. After shaking off her moment of fangirling, Kyoko refocused her attention on the case.
“Is there anything else you can tell me that might give me some insight into what happened to Akane? Do you know where she got her drugs, for instance?”
“No, I’m sorry.”
“Yuki, perhaps?”
“Maybe, but…” Ayano sighed. “I never wanted to know. We got into a fight once. I told her she should stop using them. Even offered to help her pay for rehab. She flew off the handle at me. I was worried that if I let her loose as a friend, then things would only get worse for her. So I kept quiet about it after that.” Her head dropped and Kyoko heard a sniffle. “I’m sorry. You must think I’m an awful person.
The detective picked up a box of tissues from the corner of her desk and held it out. Ayano took one, blew her nose, then dabbed her eyes. When she looked up, some of the mascara around her eyes had smeared.
“You’ve been very helpful, Ms. Kuroki. Thank you for taking the time to come down here today.”
“So that’s it?” asked Ayano.
Kyoko rose from her seat and smiled. “That’s it.”
Ayano stood as well, and gave a deep bow. Kyoko walked her to the door. When she opened it, Kyoko looked out into the office and saw Terada standing in the same spot as before. It was almost like he was a statue. He only moved once Ayano came towards him and then he turned to the door as she did. Like he only switched on when in Ayano’s presence.
Before stepping out the front entrance, Ayano turned and looked back at the detective, having to peek to the side in order for Terada’s tall frame not to block her line of sight. “Ms. Nakamura? One more thing, if it’s okay.”
“Of course,” said Kyoko.
“Please be careful with your investigation. The people who loved Akane…her family, her friends, her fans…they’ve been through so much already. If you speak to any of them, consider their grief as you ask them your questions.”
Kyoko nodded and bowed. “I’ll do that, thank you for the advice.”
Ayano smiled and walked out. Terada followed. Once they heard footsteps receding down the stairwell, Kyoko approached her co-workers. “He say anything?”
“What, the robot? Nope,” said Saori.
“Ayano said Akane had a stalker, that’s how Star Rise found out about Ichikawa,” said Kyoko. “All she had was a last name—Iso.”
“That’s gonna take some work,” said Nobu. “Iso’s not exactly an uncommon last name. Don’t suppose she knew what characters it was written with?”
Kyoko shook her head. “Iso was all she knew. But do what you can.” She went back into her office and emerged a moment later, pulling on her leather jacket.
“Where are you going?” asked Saori.
“I’m going to see if Ichikawa has ever heard of this guy.”