Chapter 198

## Otonoshin's Tricycle

**Otonoshin's Tricycle** (音之進の三輪車, *Otonoshin no Sanrinsha*) is the 198th chapter of the *Golden Kamuy* manga.

## Synopsis

As Koito belittles himself, Tsurumi asks him to vent his frustration out in order to calm himself. However, Koito declines, saying that he has spoken too much to someone that he has only just met. Despite being turned away, Tsurumi tells Koito that he does not believe that he has any duty to his father to fill in the hole left behind by his deceased brother.

Koito is momentarily taken aback by Tsurumi's words as Tsurumi notes that his elder brother, Heinojou was killed in the Battle of the Yalu River in the Sino-Japanese War. Koito says that his brother was thirteen years older than him and that his brother died when he was eight years old. He goes on to explain his brother's fate on the destroyed ship Matsushima and his father's reaction to his brother's death.

Koito says that he has tried to imagine what his father had seen and that if he stays on a ship for too long, he starts to think about his brother and becomes nauseous as a result. He laments that because of this condition, he could never become a great naval officer. As he takes Tsurumi down on his De Dion-Bouton, Koito tells him that his brother might be feeling lonely soon as the Koito family has to relocate to Hakodate as a result of his father's work. Tsurumi believes that Koito might enjoy his time there and says that they will meet again someday.

Two years later, a sixteen years old Koito is riding his De Dion-Bouton around Hakodate when he is kidnapped by several masked men. Four days later, the Koito family has hired someone from the Special Service agency who can speak Russian in order to help find their missing son Otonoshin. Suddenly, their back door opens as First Lieutenant Tsurumi introduces himself to the Koito family and tells them to close their curtains so as to prevent any leaks of their plans to retrieve their son.

Koito's parents, Navy Lieutenant Nakayama, and Tsurumi discusses how to get Koito back and Tsurumi believes that if Russia is involved in the kidnapping, then their situation becomes significantly more serious. Meanwhile in another building, the kidnapper feeds Koito some water as he recognizes his language being Russian and wonders if he speaks Japanese only to be promptly told to shut up. Koito says that despite his appearance, he is the son of a navy man and recognizes Russia's movements in regards to a naval base that his father is in charge of. He finishes by saying that his father will never do the bidding of Russia just for the sake of his safety.

Tsurumi points out that in order to reach the Pacific Ocean, the Vladivostok fleet would have to pass between Fort Hakodate and the Ominato Torpedo Division. He hypothesizes that Russia has kidnapped Koito in order to destroy the ships located at both bases in order to lower Japan's defenses. Nakayama thinks that Koito's kidnappers should have sent a threat to them by now so Tsurumi and Commander Koito decides to investigate the Russian consulate.

They hear a ringing coming from inside the building so Commander Koito goes to answer it. However, Tsurumi stops him, pointing out that the timing of the call is too perfect and that the Russian consulate is being watched. He tells Commander Koito to act as if nothing happened and whispers that they must think two steps ahead of their foes and to endure his frsutration. Back at the Koito residence, Tsurumi maps out every telephone users in Hakodate and manages to narrow it down so that they can increase their chances of finding Koito, reassuring his tearful mother that they will do their best to find him.

At an abandoned building, Tsurumi, Commander Koito, and Nakayama prepares to receive the call. Commander Koito says that if the kidnappers demands for Ominato Torpedo Divsion and Fort Hakodate to be rendered defenseless, it will allow for Russia to move in for an attack, leading to the start of a war. Realizing the damages that the potential war could bring about, Commander Koito says that in order to save millions of citizen's lives, his own son will have to die. Elsewhere, the kidnappers feeds Koito some anpan, which he recognizes the taste.

## Character Appearances

* Otonoshin Koito *(Flashback)*
* Tokushirou Tsurumi *(Flashback)*
* Heiji Koito *(Flashback)*
* Yuki Koito *(debut)* *(Flashback)*
* Nakayama *(debut)* *(Flashback)*