“Have you not considered he might prefer his freedom?”

“You can only appreciate freedom if you have alternatives,” said Siri. “It seems freedom is his only option.”

Daeng dropped the subject. She knew her husband was already on Beer’s case. There was no arguing with him. He’d probably already drawn up a list of employment opportunities.

They arrived at the JICA office long before the staff was expected to be there. But the security gate was open and there was a motorcycle parked out front. Kyoko was at her desk with kanji sheets in front of her. She jumped for joy—literally—when Siri and Daeng appeared in the doorway. She didn’t know whether to wai or hug, so she did both.

“Uncle! Auntie!” she squealed. “We’re almost there.”

“Where?” asked Daeng.

“The conclusion,” said Kyoko. “Come. Sit down. Have tea.”

She poured green tea from a ceramic pot into three delicate bowls. Daeng decided that only a Japanese would travel to a third-world country with such breakable objects in their suitcase. Daeng sipped the tea politely. Siri slurped and decided it needed sugar to stop it from tasting like liquid grass. But he kept his mouth shut.

“I’m a fanatic,” said Kyoko. “I’ve become an authority on yokai. I can’t believe I wasted my formative years studying sociology and psychology when there was a world of demons out there I hadn’t even delved into.”

Siri and Daeng stared at her.

“I’m not even sure if she’s serious,” said Daeng.

“Oh, I am, Daeng-sama,” she said.

“So you’ve found Toshi’s alter ego?” said Siri.

“I have—we have,” said Kyoko. “But he wasn’t a yokai. His name was Minamoto Yorimitsu and he was a warrior dispatched by the lords of the land to rid them of Shuten Doji. Doji was the leader of the Oni devils. The legend went that Shuten Doji put on a hideous mask when he was drunk one night and was never able to take it off. He spent all his time drinking sake and murdering young virgins. And here, my friends, is where the fictional writing of Toshi may have come together with reality. My sensei tells me that a group of senior officers did go to Thakhek around the time of the Japanese surrender. One of them was the general, Shosen Umiji, who had become infamous in the region because it was he who was instrumental in implementing the atrocities in China. He had been Toshi’s commanding officer for a time.”

“Damn, I do believe he’s the one who condemned Toshi to death at the Vietnamese hospital,” said Siri.

“If Toshi had been tormented by the horrors in Manchuria, General Shosen would have had a traumatic influence on his life. If Toshi was actually using the diary as therapy, what better way to slay his demons than to confront the general in whatever form?” said Kyoko.