Asian Addicts Anonymous

Tokage is cleaning his room thoroughly. He’s a very neat and tidy person. Enter Kaori who comments about not knowing someone as tidy as he is. She then proceeds to dump two bags full of cleaning supplies out on his table. She goes to start cleaning as well, but Tokage is upset since he had just finished cleaning. LOL. He tells her to put it away.

Sota comes and yells for Tokage. He hands over his consolation prize from the soy milk and it is a ticket to see a show. It will end soon so they will need to set up a time to go. Tokage says next Sunday and Sota is all happy and excited. The two then go out to play together and Kaori comments on how close the two are. Yanagida says that HQ is more like Sota’s home now. Kaori then says she is worried…where is Sota’s mother? She died shortly after the boy was born.

We then cut to a group of women outside a house looking for Yui-chan’s mother. They find the door unlocked and when they go inside they find her collapsed on the floor dead. Yamani goes and explains the case to Tokage and gang. The deceased Ayaka was apparently poisoned, but for right now the police are telling people it is a suicide until they get to the bottom of the case. Which means Tokage has to somehow infiltrate the group of mothers the woman was associated with. Yamane then gives Tokage a message from Kishimori: “Be careful of poison.” Cryptic, isn’t it? LOL, I had to chuckle when Tokage looks at his coffee cup suspiciously and and then takes a drink, smacking his lips to taste it and nodding when it seems okay.

Kishimori meets with Yamane, Terashima, and Makihara telling them he wishes to get to the bottom of Modegi’s murder. He is re-opening the case and putting Terashima in charge. This surprises Terashima nad he asks why Kishimori is only allowing this now instead of two years ago. Kishismori states that things have changed and they now have a new avenue to investigate—“the spider.” Kishimori asks if Makihara will join in the investigation, but she refuses and storms out of the room followed by Terashima.

Looks like Makihara is against reopening the case and discovering the truth…kind of weird if you ask me. I mean, yes, it will bring back painful memories, but still…isn’t it better knowing the truth? She also reminds him of Sudo’s fear of this “spider” that led him to commit suicide. She doesn’t want Terashima to end up dead as well. She walks away and Terashima looks pleased that she is worried about him like that.

Tokage will be going undercover as a substitute teacher named Hanamura. Sota asks if he knows the song “Ari-can no Hanashi.” Tokage immediately starts singing the song and this amuses Kaori. Why one earth did he learn that? He points his finger and tells her not to be stupid. Of course, little Sota follows suit. LOL. That pair is so adorable.

Tokage is apparently the music teacher at the school. No wonder he was learning the different songs. One little boy pushes a girl down for making a mistake. It’s so weird to see Tokage doing the nice, calm teacher routine with the kiddies. During lunch time he sees the girl who was pushed, Suzune, has a Soy Ranger themed lunch (that’s the show Sota got a consolation prize for). He asks if her mother made it and she happily replies she did. She then jumps up and rushes out to greet her mother who is part of the housewife organization that the poisoned Ayaka was in.

It looks like Daiichi’s mother (the little boy who pushed Suzune), Oharu Masami is quite the woman and leader of the group. She does the overly detailed and cute lunchboxes for her son and taught the other mothers how to do it. She also donates tons of expensive things for a fundraising bazaar. When she says such things are just lying at home and collecting dust, Tokage’s look shows disbelief. She also has a menu prepared to get the kids to eat their veggies and Tokage is shown a magazine article about her famous cooking blog. Sheesh. Oh, and we learn that her husband is a the son of a president of a school associated with some big university to boot. While Oharu is the perfect woman you hate and is the golden mother of the group, its equally plain to see that Suzune’s mother Shimizu is the exact opposite and is the odd one out.

The mothers get ready to leave with their children and Suzune tells Daiichi she hates him and runs off. This upsets Oharu and she complains about Shimizu setting a bad example for Suzune. Ouch. She also puts Shimizu in charge of the bazaar decorations and the other mothers of the group smirk. Of course, Tokage takes all of this in. The other mothers then go out for coffee where they bash Oharu and wonder if her perfection and ways drove Yui’s mother to suicide. Oh and let’s not forget they tease Shimizu about her husband’s job issues. This, of course, is eavesdropped on by Tokage.

Tokage grabs the same bus as Shimizu and Suzune. The child is going to study. By herself? She used to go with Yui. Tokage feigns ignorance. Who is Yui-chan? Shimizu explains that one of their close friend’s mother passed away recently. Tokage says he heard about the suicide case and he asks if Shimizu knows why she did it. Shimizu says it could be for a number of reasons and doesn’t iterate what those might be.

Tokage goes to the school late at night to look at the parent and children records. He copies the data and looks through the various drawers and cupboards in a classroom taking picture of all of the kids’ drawings. He takes this stuff back to HQ and goes through it was Yanagida and Kaori. Two drawings from Yui and Daiichi were nearly identical. It showed two women angry. The theme for the drawing was what they did over break. So Oharu and Ayaka fought over break. About what? Kaori then wonders what her job will be this time (it is odd that she hasn’t already popped up in Tokage’s investigation). Tokage replies it will be difficult and dangerous and Kaori happily says she will do her best.

Terashima is looking through the case files on Modegi’s death when Kishimori approaches him. The two go up to the roof and Kishimori asks if Terashima believes The Spider is real. Terashima replies that he asked his underground connection and is fairly certain the person is real. Kishimori then talks about how large scandals hit politicians, business leaders, etc. two years ago. This made the Anzai gangs richer. So…Kishimori thinks that The Spider is somehow related to the Anzai gangs? Terashima then ponders about Tokage’s silence on his survival when Modegi died. He then turns to Kishimori and asks for the real reason he employed Tokage as an undercover PI. Kishimori smiles and asserts it is all to improve the arrest rate.

After school Tokage talks about how his wife wishes for him to get a permanent job at an illustrious school and thus Oharu invites him over for dinner and to bring his wife. Of course, Kaori’s important role is to play Mrs. Hanamura. LOL. So the two head over to the Oharu house where Oharu treats poor Shimizu as a servant. When Kaori goes to do what Shimizu was tasked with, the woman quickly rushes over and replies she was told to so she must do it. The pecking order is clearly defined in this group.

While Koari distracts the women and children with fireworks, Tokage takes Oharu’s phone and rushes upstairs to look through the office. He copies data from the phone and laptop and takes photographs of what he finds in the desk. Of course, Mrs. Oharu comes in and Kaori cannot stop her nor warn Tokage and he is nearly caught. He escapes by hanging off a ledge outside the window. Close call.

After the party, just like before at the café, the mother immediately start bashing Oharu. They part ways and Kaori and Tokage are left alone with Shimizu and Suzune. Shimizu explains that everyone caters to Oharu and pretends to be rich just in hopes of getting their children into the illustrious Keiyou School. Is that really so important? To get into the school means your kids get into a top notch university and their future is guaranteed. There is nothing a mother won’t do for her child. Kaori smiles and says she envies Saya (Shimizu’s first name). The mother says it is the first time in a long time anyone has called her Saya.

Back at HQ, the team goes through what Tokage has gathered. Looks like Yui’s mother Ayaka was making large monthly payments for some reason. Tokage also goes through Oharu’s emails and finds a back and forth with Ayaka about exposing a secret. Is this enough of a reason for Oharu to kill Ayaka? When Yanagida recovers deleted data from the computer and it turns out that Oharu was selling the exam questions for the school. Wowza. Big scandal!

Kaori gives this information to Makihara and Yamane who wonders why Kishimori brought Tokage in on the case. Is the money going to the yakuza or something? He then tells Kaori to keep having Tokage investigate the mothers while he and Makihara concentrate on the selling of the exam papers. He takes off leaving Kaori and Makihara alone. Kaori moves to sit next to Makihara and asks where Terashima is. Makihara says he’s working a different case. Is it about Modegi? Makihara refuses to answer and leaves. Kaori then asks her little brother if Makihara has seen Sota at all. Not since Modgei’s death.

At HQ, Tokage cancels his plans with Sota who reminds him that to continuing to investigate could make Tokage end up like his father. The disappointed boy walks off and Yanagida shows Tokage a picture that Sota drew of his family. It is a picture of Sota and Tokage. The upset PI then recalls himself and Modegi being tied up and beaten. Modegi said he thought it was the end and he missed his son. He closes his eyes and goes still. Did he pass out or die before he drowned? Tokage also flashes back to a moment where his father caught him lying.

At the school, Saya and everyone else are working on the bazaar decorations. Can she really do this all by herself? Saya tells Tokage that she used to work in a shop so she’s used to doing such projects. Tokage says he pictured her more in a an office. He looks at the white spot on her collar and the cuts above her French manicure. Hmm…what about it? Enter the children. Suzune is bouncing up and down all happy to have scored 100 points. Saya is happy for her daughter until Suzune comments that the great Daiichi only received 75. This upsets Oharu and Saya scolds Suzune for boasting. Oharu then comes up and calls Saya’s decorations tacky and plain. Aigoo. What a horrible woman.

Later that day Kaori rides the bus with Suzune and asks why she didn’t tell Saya about being first. Is that a surprise? Suzune replies that her mother isn’t home at night. Suspicious. This surprises Kaori and she looks back to where Tokage talks with Saya. Tokage asks her about the cold treatment and Saya replies that it’s been like this since Suzune started getting better grades. If the parents are like that…then that sets a bad example for the children. Saya replies it’s okay as it is all for their children’s sakes. She then gets off with Suzune and Kaori goes to sit by him. She says that Saya must like cleaning as she smells of bleach. Tokage then notices a sign and recalls Yui’s and Daiichi’s drawings.

He has discovered where the women had their fight. He will stay in the area to investigate. He looks around and sees Saya coming out of a building with a cleaning cart. So she’s hiding the fact she works nights. Probably has something to do with her husband’s job troubles.

After the debriefing at police HQ, Terashima runs in and asks Yamane what he wants. The older man wants Terashima to use his connections to get information about the exam question sales in hopes of bringing down someone big. Terashima wonders if this would be Spider, but Yamane only asks for his help and leaves. Makihara then says there is no stopping him from doing that is there. Terashima can’t back down because of a scary opponent or else he would shame himself and Modegi’s memory. Doesn’t Makihara also want revenge? No matter what, the truth will be revealed.

Yanagida says it is time to shake things up between their two prime suspects. Kaori happily jumps to her feet and rushes towards Tokage. His look stops her and she backs off a bit. He then tells her to do exactly as he says. During the bazaar preparations, Kaori talks to Oharu about Saya spreading rumors that you can buy the school’s entrance exam while Tokage talks to Saya about Oharu spreading rumors about her cleaning job. He also mentions that he saw Oharu talking to the police the other day. The bait has been placed. Will the women take it up?

The day of the bazaar dawns and we see someone slipping poison into some milk in the fridge. Hmm. Saya looks rather nervous. When the time comes to serve the cream soup, Oharu puts in the poisoned milk and Saya asks her to taste it. Enter Tokage to stop her and distract her. While this is happening, Kaori takes two bowls of soup over to Suzune. This freaks Saya out and she rushes over to her daughter knocking the food away saying she is sure Oharu poisoned it. Daiichi and Suzune are sent outside while Oharu looks positively stunned.

Tokage walks over to Saya and asks if she is the poisoner. Saya denies this and says it must be Oharu since she was questioned by the police. Enter the police who say that she is obviously not the killer since she has an alibi. However trading in entrance exams is illegal and both Oharu and the principal are taken away. Tokage says that Saya brought this on herself just to keep her part-time job hidden. That is why she poisoned Yui’s mother and tried to poison Oharu. Tokage shows video footage of her slipping poison in the stew. Kaori asks if that was enough of a reason and Saya says it is as it was all for her daughter. Saya then drinks the soup to commit suicide and Tokage says it is no use since there is no poison in it. She should live and take care of her daughter, shouldn’t she? Suicide is too selfish? Saya cries and says she just wanted her daughter to be happy. Is that so wrong? Tokage asks if Saya really thinks Suzune is happy. Sure, she’s energetic, but that doesn’t mean she’s happy. Tokage then leaves.

The police then rush to the office of the gang that was selling the exam questions, but the office is empty. It was like that two years also. That means there is a mole. The number of people who knew about the raid was very limited. The team then spots Tokage. What is he doing there? Chasing down the Spider of course. Terashima demands to know what happened two years ago and Tokage says that he himself wishes to know the answer to that questions himself and he rushes off on his bike.

Ah, so complicated. I’m sure we won’t know the full story until the final episode.