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In the Box: Part 8
16 June 2013 - New part of In the Box up! Let me assure you that this is pretty much the rock-bottom point for this arc. The only way to go now is up!

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[Narise Konohara] In the Box - Pt. 8

("The Fragile Swindler" Part 3)

This is a continuation of PART 7.

Oe took the paper bag he had received from Kitagawa home to his own apartment. If it was found in the office by the chief or by Katori, he would not be able to account for it. He took a cheap dinner at a beef-bowl franchise for under 500 yen, and got home past ten o’clock. Only the light in the doorway was on, and it appeared his wife and daughter were already asleep.

Oe went to the kitchen and took out a beer from the fridge. He took a swig, then began to lay out the investigation reports from Kitagawa on the dining table. There were about twenty reports, and he sorted them out by year.

The oldest was from four years ago. In a year, Kitagawa had commissioned three to four detective agencies for two to three months each. He supposed price-friendly agencies would charge about 400,000 yen per case at the cheapest. Continue that for four years, and it added up to 6 million yen. Going by this calculation, it meant this man had already spent this ridiculous sum of money solely for the purpose of finding one man. Oe unwittingly sighed―out of exasperation.

Oe perused the reports in order from the oldest. He could sense from the writing the kind of difficulty each agency went through because of the lack of information.

Some agencies had searched for prisoners who lived in the same cell as Kitagawa and Douno. They had probably figured they could find out about Douno from other cellmates, but it was difficult to find cellmates based on just their names. They had found one man called Kakizaki, however―“Re-arrested and currently serving in prison. Unable to secure an interview,” said the report, and that was the disappointing end of that thread.

[Narise Konohara] In the Box - Pt. 7

("The Fragile Swindler" Part 2)

This is a continuation of PART 6.

The next day, the man that Oe had been tailing finished work at ten minutes to seven and headed home without stopping anywhere along the way. Oe’s job was over the minute the man stepped into his house. The time was half past seven. It was approximately twenty minutes from the man’s house to Oe’s office. He could make it for his eight-thirty appointment without rushing.

In truth, Oe was less than eager to see the persistent man again, but he felt guilty pushing the burden onto his chief. Oe steeled himself and strode purposefully down the narrow path through the residential neighbourhood.

He was not in a rush by all means, but a sheen of sweat began to form on his forehead. The ground had still not dried from the rain, which had not let up until late last evening, and the humid air stuck to his skin. It felt like the rainy season was here already. When Oe boarded the train, he was momentarily released from the humidity by the cool air in the air-conditioned car.

[Novel] NO. 6 - Afterwords

Jump:
Volume 1 B | Volume 2 T/B | Volume 3 T/B | Volume 4 T/B | Volume 5 B
Volume 7 B (NEW)
T = tankobon = hardcover edition
B = bunko = paperback edition

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last -- 2013.06.04
Since I only have up to Volume 5 in paperback (which includes hardcover afterwords as well), I will only be able to post those up. As far as I know she has no afterwords in hardcover editions of Volume 6-9. If the paperback editions of these have afterwords that you would like to have translated, if someone can send me scans I will be more than happy to.

For more information about bunko and tankobon, please read here.

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[Narise Konohara] In the Box - Pt. 6

("The Fragile Swindler" Part 1)
Here begins the second section of In the Box.

This is a continuation of PART 5.


THE FRAGILE SWINDLER

It was the kind of wearisome day where it had been raining since morning, extinguishing any desire to go out. Rainy days were becoming more and more often since entering the last weeks of September. One’s wet umbrella had barely any time to dry before being drenched again.

It was past three in the afternoon when the doorbell in the Nishiyama Detective Agency rang. Michitoshi Oe was in the middle of typing up an investigation report on his computer. The template made his work easier, but he was not very skilled at composition to begin with. Twenty years of doing it had not made him like it any better. A sigh escaped his lips every time he got stuck on a sentence.

[Narise Konohara] In the Box - Pt. 5

My apologies for my utter lack of ability in writing titillating sentences.

This is a continuation of PART 4.

WARNING: Sexual content.

Douno resigned himself to being kissed at night, and concluded that there was nothing he could do. If he said no, Kitagawa would not listen; on the other hand, if he resisted and made a commotion, he would only cause trouble for his fellow cellmates. If he felt Kitagawa kissing him, Douno made sure not to open his eyes. He pretended to be asleep, and waited patiently for the man’s presence to leave him.

Perhaps because of his long stint in prison, Kitagawa was sensitive to the footsteps of the night guard. Sometimes in the middle of a kiss, Kitagawa would draw away suddenly. A dozen or so seconds later, the guard would come patrolling. The guard walked on the carpeted part of the hallway during rounds, and his footsteps were faint; they were not faint enough, however, to escape Kitagawa’s uncanny hearing ability.

Kitagawa was also a master of concealment. The cold pills he had given to Douno were pills he had been collecting since summertime, by lying at every medical checkup that he was ill. Collecting medicine was against the rules, and was punishable if caught. But even during spot checks of their belongings in the group cell or in the factory, Kitagawa’s pills were never found. When it came to hiding things, he was incredibly adept.

[Narise Konohara] In the Box - Pt. 4

This is a continuation of PART 3.

There were many ways you could feel another’s affection: in his facial expressions, words, attitude, and the way he favoured you over everyone else. But if all of them were direct to you at once? This was precisely Douno’s current predicament.

Kitagawa became inseparable from Douno, and his attachment was enough to raise the eyebrows of those around him. He never left Douno’s side for a moment, through lunch break, and after dinner until lights-out. They had been close enough before because they sat beside each other; now, Kitagawa was practically nestled up to him.

“What’re you reading?” he would peek over and ask, whenever Douno was reading a book. At first Kitagawa would be content to read with him, but when he grew bored, he would pester Douno with suggestions to play go or shogi instead. Douno was unskilled at both, but since Kitagawa insisted, he played one or two games. When he tried to wrap up, Kitagawa would stubbornly protest that he wanted to keep playing. When Douno refused, he pouted and sulked, but still did not leave Douno’s side.

[Narise Konohara] In the Box - Pt. 3

This is a continuation of PART 2.

Thanks to the pills he was given in the morning, noon, and evening, Douno’s cold passed its worst stage, and he began to recover little by little. By the time the next checkup day came, his condition had improved so much, he felt like he would not need medicine at all. His gratitude towards Kitagawa was more than words could describe, and he was unsure of how to express it.

Kitagawa was a man of few words, and when he did speak, he was often brusque; he also rarely initiated conversations with Douno. But Douno came to feel that perhaps this man had taken a liking to him. For example, when they were served one of the tastier dishes at mealtime, Kitagawa never failed to share his portion with Douno. Douno never asked for it; Kitagawa simply tranferred some onto Douno’s plate when no one was looking. Douno thought perhaps Kitagawa did it to everyone, but it did not seem to be the case. The man was generous and kind, but never asked for anything in return. Douno felt relieved to know that there was someone in his life who would help him out of goodwill when he was ill or troubled. Compared to when he had been unable to trust anyone else, Douno felt very much put at ease.

It was the end of December, their last exercise day of the year. Douno’s lengthy cold had recently gone away at last, and he was reluctant to go out into the cold grounds. But in order to be excused, he was told that he had to write a request slip to the guard in charge and get a medical exam, which seemed like too much trouble.

[Narise Konohara] In the Box - Pt. 2

This is a continuation of PART 1.

Douno was intent on finding the man to whom his parents had paid a staggering three million yen. That man had clawed the money from them at a time when they were already suffering so much because of Douno’s situation. Douno was incensed, but he had no idea who it could be. His parents and his sister were the only people who knew which prison he was in. As long as the three of them remained silent, no one else was supposed to have known.

While mulling over the different possibilities, Douno wondered suddenly if it may have been Mitsuhashi. But Mitsuhashi was neither short nor fat. Those physical features were hard to disguise; the man could not be him. Then who was it? Douno thought night and day of the man who had stolen three million from his parents.

Sewing at work about three days after his mother had come to see him, Douno caught himself trying to put the upper thread where the bobbin was supposed to go. The mistake jarred his nerves, but he figured it was just because he was lost in thought. But while fixing a spot he had sewed accidentally, Douno grabbed a pair of scissors thinking he was reaching for a seam ripper, and did not realize his mistake until he had cut a chunk of the cloth clean off. The succession of mistakes that he normally never made scared Douno and made him feel as if he were losing his mind. He knew that if he kept thinking about the three million, it would get to him. But no matter how much he tried to distract himself, every free moment he had, he found his thoughts gravitating back to it again.

[Narise Konohara] In the Box - Pt. 1

This update is a whopper because I wanted to give you a good chunk of the novel to get a feel for it. If you're used to No. 6, here are a couple things I noticed about this novel:

• Things are much slower. If you've read the synopsis, you'll think, "and just when the hell are they going to get together?" They will. Very eventually and with many, many obstacles.
• It gets worse before it gets better. I think putting characters through utter misery is a trademark of Narise Konohara. The journey to the end will be gut-wrenching.

IN THE BOX


I’ve done nothing wrong.

After two weeks of newcomer training, Takafumi Douno was assigned to Factory 8 of N. Penitentiary. He was ordered by a prison guard, clearly years younger than him, to spend the morning observing the routines. So he obeyed, and stood to the left of the two desks lined up beside the manager’s station. The factory area was about the size of two classrooms put together. The room was divided into four sections by two walkways intersecting in a cross. The work areas were raised about twenty centimetres higher than the walkway.

Factory 8 mainly handled sewing, and several dozen sewing machines were placed in neat, equally-spaced rows from the front of the work area to the back. A steady dut-dut-dut echoed in the air, like the rumbling of an earthquake.

It was the beginning of September, and the temperature was still high. Douno could feel the sweat slowly drench his back just by standing on the spot. The distinct smell of a gang of males, a scent that mingled with body odour, irritated his nose. The barred window to his left was thrown open wide, yet there was no breeze. There were, of course, no fans in this factory. To top it off, these men in their mousey grey factory uniforms were perspiring at the brow, frantically sewing none other than ladies’ fur coats.