Unsung Heroes (いつか、ヒーロー)

I have finally found my dream.

Watch over me.

- So you're heading off from there? -Yes.

Take care of yourself, alright?

After his graduation, he was struck by someone

and slept for twenty years?

He would go on to become the architect behind Japan's lost decades.

The brilliant fund manager…

Kuroki Seiji.

Seriously? The chairman is on a call with the prime minister.

He said to tell you, "The Black Jaguar has come to take revenge."

It's been a long time,

Akayama-san, the Black Jaguar.

Actually, it's Kuroki-san, right?

It seems my reputation precedes me.

Of course, at Path of Hope you went by Seichan.

Seichan, hero of the people.

Seichan, who suddenly went off the grid for twenty years.

You were hit in the head, right?

…by someone who wanted you out of the way.

Then the headmaster mysteriously became ill soon after.

And his wife was tricked into giving up ownership.

Something like that.

Not that I would know.

Why did you target Path of Hope?

To make money.

You're in no position to criticize. You left a trail of destruction.

Right, Ohara-san?

-And the children? -I put them back.

I taught them the taste of the candy and of the whip before it was too late.

So… a reformed vulture capitalist…

and extortionist.

What do two fish on the death migration want with me?

I'm glad we've cleared everything up.

You lay another finger on those children…

…and I will destroy you.

You gonna help?

Whoa.

Too much?

Yeah.

-I'm back. -Welcome back.

What's with the welcoming party?

That's it?

What's with him?

I have something very important to discuss.

This is a critical question that will determine your tomorrow.

For dinner…

Fried chicken or hamburg steak?

-That's silly! -I got all nervous for nothing!

-You were nervous? -Yes!

-It's life or death. -No it's not!

This is freaking good, who made this?

-We all did. -Seriously?

You gotta make this again when Yuki comes back.

When Yuki comes back?

-Quit grinning like an idiot. -Rui.

-You don't even know if Yuki is alive! -He's alive.

-You don't know that! -Yuki's alive!

We haven't seen him for twenty years! Twenty years!

-A lot can happen in twenty years! -But Seichan--

He was asleep, I know! That's what annoys me.

I don't know what you're thinking.

Seichan…

Why did you keep something so important from us?

You really slept for twenty years.

-Normally you'd open with that. -Seriously!

You didn't do anything wrong, so why keep it from us?

Why come back after twenty years like nothing happened? Why!?

That's why you were so out of it.

Take that!

Crab pincer!

Yet you act just the same.

Obviously he's the same! He was asleep!

A real life Urashima Taro! Did you meet the princess?

Why?

How could I tell you…

…after seeing everything you guys had to face?

That's the reason?

And it's true, for twenty years… I wasn't able to be there--

Idiot. You don't have to act tough for us.

We're not kids, we're thirty years old.

Ibuki's a mom now.

You disappearing isn't the cause of all our problems!

We've been fighting to survive all on our own!

Yes… you're right.

Enough with the nice guy act.

-What! -Take it easy.

But it's true!

Everything from Path of Hope might have been a charade!

That's ridiculous.

-Akayama isn't his real name. -Calm down.

-Vulture!? -You were married?

You're no boy scout!

Shut up!

Okay? I'll ask him.

You said you would build a school in Cambodia.

Was that a lie?

Are you kidding me!? We held a graduation ceremony!

You said you'd be back in three years.

-We made decorations and everything! -So?

I wasn't going to Cambodia…

-I was going to prison. -Prison?

-What did you do? -You were on the wanted list?

Financial crime.

It was before I had met all of you.

A three-year sentence?

Very likely.

My crime was the type that would be difficult to prove

without a confession.

So I was going to turn myself in.

Instead of Cambodia you were going to Alcatraz?

You're talking about this?

The Richter Fund, it was a hugely famous foreign investment firm.

Vulture…

You were a genius-level stock trader yet you were blown away by my stupid video.

What? You were on TV?

15,000 views!?

You're bigger than Yazawa Eikichi!

-You humiliated Nono! -Not helping.

No, I really was impressed with the video.

Look, who's this Kuroki?

Are you Akayama or Kuroki?

Kuroki.

He said Kuroki…!

When I joined Path of Hope…

Headmaster Morimoto told me to change my name.

My name was too well-known among certain circles.

What you did was that horrible?

What did you do?

I bought up the weakened Japanese companies…

cut out the unprofitable dead weight…

…and sold them off once their value rose.

Is that really so horrible?

Yes.

Nothing was off the table.

That's when I first teamed up with the old man.

We'd find legal loopholes.

Whatever it took to make a profit.

The layoffs…

…were merciless.

People were driven to suicide.

That's way worse than what I was doing.

Ouch.

I was twisted…

…back then.

How'd you end up like that?

You told me before…

You had loving parents. You watched the Black Jaguar with your father.

Yes.

As we would eat dinner together…

We couldn't take our eyes off the TV.

You had a good father. Why…?

He was too good.

He was cheated… out of the family business he inherited.

He killed himself.

A year later… my mother fell ill.

I blamed the world and the money.

You were all alone?

No one came to save you?

I realized that the weak become prey for the strong.

In that case, I wasn't going to be someone else's meal.

I'd be the predator.

Then you joined your relatives in America?

Seichan, you can speak English?

It's hard to imagine.

After college, you joined an investment bank.

You became a stock market expert.

I had assumed you were a high school dropout.

Then you returned to Japan and started buying everything up.

You felt like you were getting your revenge?

Weakness is unforgivable…

Japan's weakness…

And my father's too.

So I didn't hold back.

It's their own fault for being weak.

There was no one to stop you?

What about your wife? She was your childhood friend.

Nishigori-san told us her sister was kind and honest.

She didn't say anything about your work?

No…

What was she thinking back then…

Why did she marry me…

What things did we talk about…

I can't even remember anymore.

One day…

I had shut down another company's unprofitable department.

It was a factory in the town we both grew up in.

Three thousand people lost their jobs.

Two people killed themselves.

On the day we learned about the two suicides…

She took the car…

…and rammed into a highway barrier.

Nishigori-san said it was suicide.

There were no skid marks.

But you don't for sure, it could have been an accident.

Exactly, she knew you were a vulture when she married you.

How could she not have been bothered?

The person she loved had a job like this--

-You think she loved him? -Seriously?

-You can't assume she didn't love him! -I know.