Chapter 227

## Partners in Crime

**Partners in Crime**, or **Accomplices** (共犯, *Kyōhan*) is the 227th chapter of the *Golden Kamuy* manga.

## Synopsis

Tsurumi stops Usami from stomping on Takagi and as he holds the boy, suggests that they call a doctor. Usami says that Tsurumi told them that they should have their match in the spacious area next to the dojo. Tsurumi tells Usami that if he had known that he would hurt his best friend, then he wouldn’t have suggested it, but Usami expresses hatred towards Takagi for getting in the way of his time with Tsurumi. He states that he could forgive Takagi for several incidents but he cannot forgive Takagi being told by Tsurumi that he is stronger than him and that Tsurumi’s acknowledgment had meant everything to him.

Tsurumi begins to embrace Usami, saying that he had thought Takagi would give up and go home if he had told him those words and that Usami is still number one to him. Usami is overjoyed to hear Tsurumi’s words and wonders if Takagi is dead, calling both himself and Tsurumi partners in crimes. Tsurumi then comes up with a cover story that Takagi had been kicked by Tsurumi’s horse, resulting in Takagi’s father shooting the horse in a fit of rage.

Two years later, Usami looks back on the grounds at the dojo, noting that it is the place where he had first killed a person. He reveals that he has come to the dojo countless times to reminisce about that day but that he had heard from Takeda that Tsurumi had been demoted from the 2nd Division as a result of Takagi’s death in order to cover up for him. Tsurumi says that it is alright as being farther from the central command allows him to act with more freedom than he might have had otherwise.

Tsurumi also declares that it would be a waste if someone as interesting as Usami ends up being destroyed and invites him to join the 7th Division when he gets older. He later has a talk with Takeda on how to ensure that his men would kill their enemies and that he has discovered how to motivate them to do so, citing love for their comrades as being the main reason over hatred or fear. He also states that there are also those who are born as soldiers who are aggressive, loyal, and has no remorse about killing, calling them “dogs” as being vital to being a part of his troops.

As Usami reads the newspaper about the Sapporo killer, he says that he is not a thief and that he is only killing for the sake of killing and that he will definitely return to the scene of the crime, something that he himself understands very well. At the clinic used by the 7th Division, Nikaidou is panicking that his prosthetic hand has gone missing and Koito claims that someone may have hidden it due to Nikaidou always playing the knife game. Inkarmat offers to use her clairvoyance to find it and points in the direction of Koito, who is shocked and reveals that he has Nikaidou’s hand all along.

Koito begins to chew an ikema root that Inkarmat had sold to him, causing Tsukishima to scold Inkarmat for trying to swindle Koito. Koito suggests that Tsukishima has Inkarmat divine him as well, but Tsukishima declines it. Inkarmat wonders about Tanigaki who hasn’t come to see her and thinks it is because she is a hostage, but Tsukishima just stays silent on the matter. Meanwhile, Nikaidou is frustrated that his chopsticks aren’t coming out of his prosthetic hand and finds that Koito has stuffed a youkan into it.

## Character Appearances

* Tokushirou Tsurumi *(Flashback)*
* Tokishige Usami
* Tomoharu Takagi *(Flashback)*
* Takeda *(Flashback)*
* Hajime Tsukishima
* Otonoshin Koito
* Hyakunosuke Ogata *(Flashback)*
* Kikuta
* Kouhei Nikaidou
* Inkarmat
* Igogusa *(Flashback)*