Thunder growled again. Sighing, Akitada returned to his classroom to pass the time till darkness fell by grading his student papers.
He had to light his oil lamp early. It spread a yellow glow over his papers, but left the corners of the room in murky shadows. There was, from time to time, a far-off rumble of thunder, but the storm seemed to hold off.
He was not sure how long he had been working when he heard the sound of footsteps crunching on the gravel of the courtyard. When he glanced outside, there was still some faint light in the east. Surely it was too early! And Kobe had not arrived.
Feeling a sudden twinge of nervousness, he forced himself to remain calm by breathing deeply and concentrating on the coming encounter. The steps ascended the wooden stairs, approached to within a few feet of the open door, and then halted outside in the murky gloom.
"Please come in!" Akitada called out.
To his stunned surprise, the tall figure of Ishikawa stepped through his doorway. The student looked positively frightening in the uncertain light and against the backdrop of dark purple clouds. His face was still dreadfully disfigured by swellings and bruises. Both his scalp and his face were covered with stubbly growth that, together with his stained and torn robe, made him look like a cutthroat. Moreover, his sneering expression and distinctly threatening manner signalled that this visit was more than just ill-timed.
"Working late all by yourself?" the student scoffed, looking about with a mocking grin. "What an admirable devotion to duty!"
Akitada rinsed out his brush and laid it on its rest. "How did you get out of jail and what do you want?" he asked curtly.
Uninvited Ishikawa sat down on the other cushion in the room. "Not very hospitable, are you? I had the same problem in our municipal jail. That's why I decided to leave. That and some unfinished business here." He gave Akitada a very unpleasant smile. "You might as well relax! I mean to take my time."
Akitada's first thought was about Kobe. Did he know the student had escaped? Was he even now out searching the town for him? For a moment he debated whether it would be possible to get rid of Ishikawa, but a glance at the other's face convinced him otherwise. He snapped, "Please be brief! I expect another visitor."
Ishikawa glanced out the door. "I doubt it. A bad storm is coming. The whole place is deserted." He gave Akitada another of his menacing smiles. "Anything can happen here without a soul being the wiser. Besides, your plans mean nothing to me. People like you are always demanding respect from others, but are nothing but shams themselves. Every day you and the other teachers urge poor fools like me to study hard, but when we have done our utmost and excel, you give the prize to the highest bidder."The wind rustled in the dry shrubs outside, and Ishikawa paused to listen intently. Branches were scraping against the supports of the veranda as lighting zigzagged against the darkening sky. The flame of the oil lamp flickered, causing Ishikawa's eyes to glitter strangely. "I am referring, of course," he continued, "to that rich simpleton Okura who bought first place honors in the last examination. He is a secretary in the Bureau of Ranks now and has prospects of even higher office, while I am headed back to the gutter I came from. A prime example that money will buy anything, while a poor man cannot succeed in spite of his efforts and superior intelligence."
Akitada looked at the student coldly. "If you are trying to justify yourself, it appears to me that you have demonstrated exceptionally foolish and unethical behavior throughout this affair. Get to the point!"
"The point?" Ishikawa's eyes narrowed to mere slits. "The point is that people like you and the other professors detest students like me! I was someone who wouldn't keep quiet. Oh, yes. I know all about you. Kobe let it slip out that he arrested me on your word. Tell me, have you ever been in jail?"
Akitada shook his head. No point in telling this young hothead that there were other ways in which a man might learn about such places.
"Of course not! Well, let me inform you, Sugawara, that the so-called keepers of the peace are low animals. They are ex-criminals who do their dirty work for a daily bowl of rice and what they can extort from the prisoners. They take a sadistic pleasure in inflicting pain."
"You have only yourself to thank. You are an admitted blackmailer."
Ishikawa flared up, "Oe owed me."
"You also prostituted your education by helping Okura cheat."
"So that's it!" Ishikawa smiled unpleasantly. Outside thunder cracked and rumbled away. When all was quiet again, he sneered, "And that, of course, is the unforgivable sin to you! You make me sick! I've heard all about you from Hirata. The university's perfect graduate, the exceptional student, the promising young official with his foot on the bottom rung of the ladder to greatness!"The student leaned forward, fixing Akitada with his angry eyes. "Let me tell you something: that numskull Okura, who cannot compose so much as a sentence in Chinese without making a gross error and who has neither understanding nor intellectual curiosity, has already surpassed you and will continue to do so by many ranks and degrees. In this world neither excellence nor honesty have any value. Money and influence rule everything. And when I discovered that fact, I attempted to rectify an unfair situation by trading a bit of my intelligence for his money. I consider that an act of justice in an unjust world." He resumed his position with an air of satisfaction.
Akitada did not respond immediately, watching instead the threatening skies. The wind was picking up, he noted. In a flash of lightning, he saw that small whirlwinds of debris danced about the courtyard andthe treetops tossed their branches. The breeze blew in, almost extinguishing the lamp, and cooled briefly the sweat-soaked back of his robe. "Your act of 'justice'," he said finally, "caused one of your fellow students to take his life. Another poor young man, I believe."
Ishikawa's face contorted. He jumped up. "How dare you blame me for that!" he screamed. He advanced a few steps, his fists clenched at his side. "I had nothing to do with it, do you hear? He would have lost one way or another! If Okura had not won, I would have." Leaning over Akitada, he shook a clenched fist in his face. "I won't take any more of your sanctimonious drivel, you damned hypocrite! You ruined me! I was the best student these old fogies have had for years. I could not fail!" His voice rose shrilly. "I could not fail until you showed up! Now your damned meddling and your cursed righteousness have cost me the place I had earned with my brains and years of drudgery."
Akitada met the angry eyes without flinching and without response. After a moment Ishikawa dropped his fist and looked away. Returning to his seat, he said tiredly, "For four years I have sat in my classes all morning, cleaned up after the rich boys in the afternoons and evenings and studied during the night. All for nothing! And what have you gained by ruining me? You have preserved a corrupt system which will continue to grind good people into the dust, while putting power to rule into the hands of the incompetent."
Akitada snapped, "I disagree. A system is corrupted by its members. With the exception of you and Oe, I have found the rest of the faculty and students to be decent and hardworking people. It was precisely because of your dishonest activities that my friend Hirata asked me to investigate."
Ishikawa threw back his head and laughed. "You're a fool! There isn't one of your colleagues who wouldn't gladly have taken what Oe did. And it was one of those 'decent' fellows who killed him- a cowardly crime, for the drunken sot was dangling helplessly from Master Kung's neck when his throat was cut."
"And you made that possible," Akitada pointed out grimly.