Volume Seventeen: Flow Written by Kashiwae Masato Illustrated by Chayamachi Suguro Summary by Amparo Bertram Early December, 2000

Nobuyuki has a problem. He's invited to attend Yamashina and Kiyomi's wedding, but the hall is formalwear only. He knows he's being childish, not wanting to dress up for the occasion, so he grudgingly agrees to dig up some formal clothes to wear. On his way to pick up a tour group, he receives a call from his father inviting him to go out to eat after work. Yasuyuki says that he's free to ask Sidney along if he likes, but it concerns family business, so he might not want to.

Nobuyuki meets his father at his top-class hotel. As they walk out, Henry and Sidney drive up. Nobuyuki is surprised to see them; their presence indicates that there was a murder at the hotel. He is doubly surprised when Henry greets his father with "It's been a long time," since he hadn't known Henry had ever met Yasuyuki. He still hasn't been told that Sidney and Henry once went to Tokyo.

At supper, Nobuyuki is suspicious when his father mentions that he had called Ted and heard about Beth II's death. Yasuyuki had rarely been home much less played with the neighbor's dog, which makes Nobuyuki think Ted told him the truth about Sidney, and he is reminiscing as a way of digging for information. Nobuyuki comes right out and says that he and Sidney are a couple. His father accepts the news with "as long as you're happy," to which Nobuyuki instantly replies, "I'm *very* happy." The conversation turns to Sidney's parents, particularly Clara, and Yasuyuki explains that she had always wanted more children but she kept miscarrying. She had finally given up, placing all her hope on Sidney and his future children.

When Sidney comes home that night, he and Nobuyuki snuggle on the couch and talk about the night's events. Sidney is amused by Yasuyuki's response to hearing about their relationship. He reports that he will probably have to question Yasuyuki in the morning concerning his case. Yasuyuki had come to New York to oversee a photography exhibit being sponsored by his company. The photographer, a woman known only to a few dedicated fans, was found murdered in her hotel room.

Nobuyuki suggests that when Sidney meets with his father in the morning, he should say, "I'm very happy."

At work the next day, Nobuyuki hears more about the case on the news and from Mayumi, who saw the photographer's work in magazines. The victim, Carlee Duffy, tended to shoot pictures of interior decoration that incorporated traditional weaving from Eastern cultures in a modern Western setting. Her husband, Luke, told reporters that the exhibition of Carlee's work would go on as planned.

That night, Nobuyuki packs to spend a week in Tokyo. He explains to Sidney that his father told him his grandfather had prostate surgery over the summer. His grandfather hadn't wanted to bother Nobuyuki with the news during the busy tourist season. He's reportedly doing fine, yet Nobuyuki thinks he should pay his grandparents a brief visit to see if there's any way he can help. He assures Sidney that he already has his return ticket, so he will definitely be back in a week. Sidney promises to try to keep the apartment reasonably clean in his absence.

Sidney brings Luke to Police Headquarters for questioning. The murder weapon was a pair of left-handed multi-purpose kitchen shears, found in a drawer in Luke and Carlee's home. The only ones who had keys to their condominium were Luke, Carlee, and Carlee's assistant Esther, and of the three, Luke is the only one who is left-handed. Strangely, although Luke has a special drawer for keeping his left-handed kitchen utensils, the scissors were found in a drawer with Carlee's right-handed utensils. Esther, who found the body in Carlee's hotel room, has locked herself in her apartment from shock. Sidney can't figure out why someone would go to the trouble of bringing the shears from the Duffys' condominium to the hotel, stabbing Carlee multiple times, and then taking the shears all the way back to the house to put them in the wrong drawer. What bothers him even more is that, unlike his prior murder cases, no one close to the victim is urging him to hurry up and find the murderer.

Ever since the conversation with his father, Nobuyuki has been thinking about the passage of time. He doesn't feel like he has matured much, though he will turn thirty on his next birthday. It seems like such a major life turning point, yet he hasn't cut his hair or any of the other things one is supposed to do when "grown up." The most he can say is that he is now working full-time rather than part-time. What really surprises him is how friendly his grandparents have become with Yasuyuki over the years. He hears that his father comes over to visit after work about once a week. Out of curiosity, he asks about his father's parents and is told that they have both already passed away. His father has a younger sister who is running the family inn with her husband and children; Nobuyuki hadn't even known that his father came from an innkeeper's family.

Nobuyuki has his grandmother get his one good suit, the one he wore for his mother's funeral, out of storage. He intends to wear it for Yamashina and Kiyomi's wedding. When he tries it on, his grandmother exclaims that he's grown so much. Ten years ago, he had looked as if he were playing dress up, but she assures him that now he has filled out with muscle and looks like a proper gentleman. With that out of the way, he makes a trip to thank his grandfather's surgeon for his care. At the meeting, the doctor informs him that the truth is, his grandfather had surgery for prostate cancer.

Sidney stops by the fire station to let Steve know that Nobuyuki won't be taking his Monday computer lesson. They bicker lightly, Steve mentioning that even though he intentionally holds the lessons at his brother's house with his nephew around to prevent any impropriety, sometimes he just wants to pounce Nobuyuki. Still, Steve is concerned about Sidney, who in Nobuyuki's absence looks more on edge and dangerous than usual. They stay out talking until two in the morning. Sidney is disgusted with himself for not being able to go even a few days without Nobuyuki, but upon returning home to his empty apartment, all he can think about is how cold his bed feels without Nobuyuki there.

When Steve hears that Sidney had missed Nobuyuki's adolescence, he teases Sidney by commenting on how adorable Nobuyuki must have been as a teenager.

After leaving the hospital, Nobuyuki wanders around Shibuya. By chance, he runs into his old girlfriend from college. She's now a full-time housewife with a young daughter. During their brief encounter, he carefully refrains from mentioning that he's involved with another man, reasoning it might hurt her feelings. On his way home, he spots the barber shop where he used to go as a boy and decides to have his hair cut short the way he wore it as a college student. The barber saves some of the cut off hair so his grandmother can make pincushions from it.

His grandmother is surprised to see it, though she says it suits him. They converse about his grandfather's condition, and she reveals that the two of them decided that if either one succumbs to a serious health problem in the future, they will not hesistate to call Nobuyuki to come take care of them. He's glad that they still trust him after the way he acted, taking off suddenly for New York and not contacting them for six years. He's also amazed at how emotionally strong his grandmother has become.

Sidney questions Esther, who hasn't left her apartment for three days. She has decided not to attend Carlee's exhibition scheduled to be put on in Tokyo shortly, because she believes there is no longer any point. She saw the exhibitions as a way to garner interest and financial support so that Carlee could continue her work; with Carlee dead, the work can't be continued anyway. Her opinion differs greatly from Luke's, since he believes promoting Carlee's past work is what's important.

Henry and Sidney pick up Nobuyuki at the airport, Sidney recognizing Nobuyuki even from far away and running full-tilt to sweep him into his arms for a welcome-home kiss. Nobuyuki had wondered what Sidney would say about his hair, but Sidney claims he likes it either way--no matter what Nobuyuki's hairstyle, he's still the same person. Sidney admits he will miss tugging on it, though he adds that the shorter bangs frame Nobuyuki's face better...ultimately causing his concerns to increase, not that Nobuyuki has a clue why.

Later, after they have returned to their apartment for a more intimate reunion, Nobuyuki talks about his trip. He's frustrated with himself that he can't tell his grandparents about his relationship with Sidney. He wants to boast with pride that he has such a wonderful person who loves him so deeply, but somehow he can't bring himself to broach the subject with them. Sidney kisses away his tears and tells him that it's all right. Nobuyuki goes on to say that the day may come when he has to return to Japan long-term to care for his grandparents, and Sidney reassures him that no matter how long they're separated, he will be able to handle the wait. [Note: Sidney, you could barely handle a week. Whom exactly do you think you're fooling?]

Sidney had avoided ordering take-out all week, because he was trying to keep his promise of not cluttering up the apartment.

At work the next day, the Sky Travel employees are watching the news about Bush and Gore's battle over Florida. Hearing the comment that the past three Presidents have all been left-handed, Takada brings up that his son is also left-handed. Nobuyuki, having heard the details of the Duffy case, asks if his son uses left-handed scissors. Takada replies that scissors are now generally made universal so that anyone can use them, so they haven't bought any special ones. This makes Nobuyuki realize that the only reason to go out of the way to use left-handed scissors as the murder weapon is to frame Luke.

Steve shows up at the Sky Travel office and immediately proclaims his appreciation for Nobuyuki's new hairstyle. He even asks to run his hands through it, to which Nobuyuki blithely agrees.

Having figured out the key to the mystery, Nobuyuki gets Henry and Sidney to drive him around to see the various people involved and draw out the rest of the details. Luke had been having an affair with Esther, and she became pregnant. Both Luke and Carlee insisted that she have an abortion. She gave in to the pressure and did so, but then she was haunted with the knowledge that she was a murderer. Luke had left his scissors at her apartment, where he stayed over frequently. She used the scissors to stab Carlee in retribution, but she had left them there with the body. Luke found Carlee's body first, and he knew exactly who must have killed her, but he didn't want anything to interfere with the exhibition. Thus he cleaned the scissors and took them back to his condominium, leaving the police without any evidence conclusive enough to arrest someone.

Nobuyuki dresses up in his suit and tie for Yamashina and Kiyomi's wedding, though he finds it so uncomfortable that he knows he's not about to make a habit of wearing it. Later, as he oversees the New Year dinner cruise, he muses that he gave Sidney as a gift one of the pincushions his grandmother made from his hair, along with a note explaining what it is. In the note he also wrote about Clara's problem having children, hoping that it might help Sidney understand his mother a little better. He knows that people can die at any time, and once that happens, it's too late to apologize for misunderstandings. He wants Sidney and Clara to repair their relationship while they still have the chance.

[Note: The narration in this book discussing the problems Nobuyuki's mother and Clara had with childbirth mentions that when Nobuyuki was born, he stayed in the hospital over half a year, not being released until spring. This contradicts earlier information that he was only in the hospital about three months; when the Hopkins family bought Beth shortly afterward, the weather was "getting colder," which one would expect in the fall, not the spring. The author says this is simply a continuity error.]

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