Near death

Mr Takahashi at first tries to deny he was at the office until the officers questioning him produce the evidence. Plus security camera footage outside the building proves he turned up there around 22:30 and went inside.

Akira rubs his sweating hands together, going to rub them dry upon his trousers.

"Yes, all right, I went to fetch Jiro, it was so late… I never liked him working so late at night. We might have got in to a bit of an argument. But I swear I never hit him."

One of the officers places the marble statue Ryūjin in an evidence bag down on the table.

"Now the fingerprints, blood and hair found on this tell us otherwise," he expresses in a firm voice.

Beads of sweat start to form upon Akira's forehead and he quickly drinks the glass of water.

"Why did you feel the need to strike Mr Suzuki over the head?"

"I… I do not know," babbles Mr Takahashi, running his fingers through his long fringe. "Things just got out of hand."

The officer shifts forward in his seat. "What got out of hand? A heated argument? I mean you did say you were not happy about Mr Suzuki. Why should that matter to you in the first place?"

Akira has another drink of water. "We live together and I was getting tired of him always finishing really late."

"So you that made you want to kill him?"

"What?! No!"

"Well, your friend is in hospital and I have just been informed he has been placed in to an induced coma because of the blow he sustained from you. Now if he dies, you do realise that it becomes murder, Mr Takahashi, hmm?"

The colour drains from Akira's face and he starts to babble, "I only wished he had given it to me."

"What was that, sir? Given what to you?"

Mr Takahashi shakes his head and quickly answers, "Nothing."

The officers look to each other, then to the two way mirror as they know the Detective is on the other side observing the interview.

They decide to hold him overnight to see if a night in a cell will get him to talk.

Back at the hospital Jiro's condition has stabilised and the swelling in his brain has not got any worse. Doctor Yamamoto is keeping a close eye on him and she hopes with the right treatment she will soon be able to bring him out of the coma. Nurse Saito also closely monitors Mr Suzuki and Detective Watanabe returns in the morning to see how he is doing. Whilst he is there drip alarms are going off and the poor man's heart-rate suddenly goes up. He steps out of the way so the doctor and nurses can treat Mr Suzuki. It is a few minutes before he is stable again and Doctor Yamamoto has to get a chest put in to stabilise his heart.

She is watching the man's vitals and shaking her head.

"Doctor, I take it things are not good?"

"No, he is now fighting for his life. We have done all we can. Whoever did this to him wanted him dead. Do you have someone?"

The Detective nods and informs her, "Yes, we have arrested him for hitting Mr Suzuki over the head. The only problem he is not telling why he wanted to kill his flat mate. All he says is they got in to heated argument about Mr Suzuki working late and things got out of hand."

Doctor Yamamoto sighs. "Out of hand? He has nearly killed him. I will do my best Detective to keep him alive in the hope he can tell you what really happened."

For over a week Mr Suzuki battles for his life and Akira is charged for the attempted murder of his friends and a judge sentences him to six month in jail.

Slowly Jiro is brought out of the induced coma and awakens to see the Doctor is seated by his bedside.

"Easy," she says, "are you able to tall me your name?"

"I am Suzuki Jiro and you are Doctor Yamamoto… What happened to me?"

The Doctor helps him to drink a glass of water whilst she explains the ordeal the man has been through. Jiro is just pleased he has pulled through and is looking forward to going home.

A few days later the Detective pays him a visit to see if he remembers anything and to inform him what has happened to his flat mate.

Mr Suzuki cannot believe his own boyfriend would try to kill him. The thing is he has no idea why he came to the office as he never did, he would always waited for him at home. He cannot even remember getting in to a fight with him. Then his eyes grow wide and he takes a deep breath.

"Wait, it had nothing to do with me working late. It was to do with our date and me telling Akira, I had been offered a job on his uncle's farm. Office life is not for me. Now he was meant to be taking to dinner to celebrate and that's when he got violent with me and did not want me to take the job. Also he was looking for my mobile… I think."

"Yes, your boss had taken it off you in the meeting."

"Yes, that's right and she forgot to give it me back. I have no idea why he wanted it so badly. I am beginning to regret letting him in to my life and allowing myself to fall in love with him," expresses Jiro, taking another breath.

Detective Watanabe can tell the man is becoming upset. "It is all right, sir, you do not have to tell me anything else. I get the picture. I think I will go and speak with the uncle."

Mr Suzuki sighs and nods. "Please don't tell him Akira and I were lovers."

"It's all right I will keep that between us," answers the Detective as he rises and walks out of the room.

That afternoon Doctor Yamamoto comes to discharge Jiro and he is allowed to return to his apartment. She makes sure he has another few weeks off work and tells him to take things easy. This is what Mr Suzuki does, he takes the time to fully heal and play console games.