The Eccentric, the Beauty, and the Detective: Kiriki Junka's Mystery Log Volume 1 Chapter 16

Pre-chapter Eccentricities:

Yakisoba bun (yakisoba in a hot-dog-bun):

5: The Case of Takada Satoshi

With our consecutive holidays over, the air at Shibuyamadai High was astir with the upcoming midterms. After school, I invited Junka and Nao to my house for a study party for our upcoming tests. I had tidied my room in preparation, and we quietly sat around my tea table looking at our notes and textbooks.

Junka quickly flipped through what we were about to study, and sat facing the back of my chair, happily shouting, “Astronaut!”

That eccentric bastard…

“I’ll get praised by Miyako-sensei if I get good grades in Maths.” Nao had voiced her admirable aim.

She hadn’t noticed my feelings for her. I quickly tired and took a break.

My brother was preparing dinner on the first floor, the curry boiling away in the kitchen. The delectable smell had my stomach growling.

“So, Rouji, are your guests going to stay for dinner?”

“No, don’t worry about it. I’ll let them go soon.”

I took a cold bottle of black tea from the refrigerator, and poured it into three glasses. I then took the tray up the stairs.

The room I returned to was noisy. Apparently, Junka had turned the TV on. Voices from the program spoke at a loud volume.

“Now then, we’re on to the next letter. It is from a sixth grader from Arakita, Natsume Yuuko-chan. ‘I am being bullied in class…'”

I placed the glasses on the desk, and turned to face the screen. The host sat at a table in a cheap looking studio, and he was reading a letter as a female announcer occasionally interjected meaninglessly. The man’s nameplate read Segawa Shinichi.

Junka asked me, “What programme is this?”

I searched my memories.

“I think it was ‘My Note,’ or something. It’s a local programme dedicated to ending bullying that started some ten years ago.”

“You sure know a lot.”

“I used to watch it regularly. It had a different host, then though.”

“They had to substitute him in the middle of the season.”

“Yeah, I forgot his name, but he had to go after some violent incident.”

“That’s pretty bad. I think I’ve read that in the papers now that you mention it.”

Junka turned down the volume with the remote. Nao thanked me for the drink, and put the glass to her lips.

“I couldn’t bring myself to like someone who bullies.”

Nao nodded.

“That’s true.”

I tried saying a little, “Don’t both the bully and bullied have some problems?”

The two shot me icy looks.

“You’re the worst, Rouji-kun… Should I maybe punch you in the face when I walk past, how does that sound?”

“It’d piss me off.”

“I bet. And what if I said that ‘I couldn’t help it, I just punched him when I looked at that stupid face,” how would you feel?”

“I’d think you were messing with me.”

Junka pointed his finger at me, “That’s right, Rouji-kun. That is the start of bullying right there. Bullying is 100% the fault of the bully. That’s what I’m trying to tell you.”

I let out a slight groan, and turned to the TV to try and evade. Segawa gave his response to Natsume Yuuko’s letter. With a vaguely suspicious looking smile. His tanned face revealed white teeth.

“Remember that if it is too hard, you have the option of not going to school. You’ll be fine, though, because all the kids who don’t bully you are your allies. You aren’t alone…”

The next day, as I went to school with Junka, there was a sudden flash of light.

“What was that?”

It seemed to be the type from a camera. Looking beyond the world cast in shadows adance from the flashes, I could see a young girl with black rimmed glasses and short-cut hair pointing her lens at us.

“I caught you, Kiriki-san!”

Junka was blinking.

“Who are you?”

She lowered her digital camera. Her black eyes, and slightly elevated nose gave the impression that she was satisfied.

“I am Tatsuno Hinata, class 1, 1. It wasn’t polite, but I needed a candid shot of Junka, so I took it without permission. Sorry.”

It seemed like the girl— Hinata’s target was Junka, who remained composed.

“Take one, take two, take three. You might catch the very moment my soul departs from my body.”

Are you going to die?

“Will do! Thank you very much!”

I looked over the diligent looking Hinata. Unlike Nao, her skirt was long and covered the knees. She carried her red, high-grade camera as if it was her own child.

There were many girls who wanted to take pictures of Junka. Even the second and third years would stop him for photos. Everyone was captivated by his womanly charms and used his picture as a wallpaper on their smartphones or just wanted to have a portrait of him. Junka didn’t bother himself over those fans, and just let them take pictures. If those young women ever looked at him long enough to spot his eccentricities, they would delete him from their phones right away.

I had figured Hinata to be among their number, so her next words came as a surprise.

“I want to write an article about you, Kiriki-san!”

“An article?” Junka seemed interested at last, “An article about me… could you be in the newspaper club, Tatsuno-san?”

Hinata replied with vigour, “Yes I am! I participate in the daily publication of our Shibuyamadai High Student Paper.”

I was puzzled, “Why an article about Junka? ‘Shibuyamadai’s Number One Pretty Boy’ or something?”

“Not at all. I want to write an article about the abilities of the chairman of the detective association who solved the cases of the ‘Tears of Blood,’ ‘Broken Chalk,’ and ‘Strange Customer.'”

I had to adjust my footing.

“Why do you know that? I thought Junka was being fairly confidential about it.”

“I asked Nao-san about it. She’s been my friend since middle school, and when I mentioned that I was looking for content, she kindly informed me of Kiriki-san.”

Nao was apparently quite chatty. Well, it wasn’t like it was really a secret.

“What do you say, Kiriki-san?”

He glanced back at her, “I have a condition. Can you participate in our detective association? Also as a member of the newspaper club, of course. If you do, I’ll tell you everything.”

It didn’t seem like a bad deal for her, and she quickly boasted a joyful countenance.

“Thank you very much! Then, I shall gladly be inducted into the detective association.”

Well, our association was basically just the go-home-club if we didn’t have a case. Likely having heard that from Nao already, she didn’t seem troubled at all.

Junka stretched out his hand.

“That concludes our negotiations, then, Tatsuno-san. Now, we’ll have to take some time after school.”

She returned his handshake.

“We will!”

That was how our detective association added Tatsuno Hinata to its ranks as our fourth member.

At the end of lunch break, an incident unexpectedly occured.

“Aoyagi-sensei and Minakawa had a fight!”

The one who had given that announcement to the otherwise peacefully eating class 1, 3 was Hisakawa, who was known for a love of rumors and festivals.

It surprised me as well, and I almost dropped my yakisoba bun.

Aoyagi-sensei and Minakawa… it wasn’t a fight between students, Aoyagi Touru-sensei was class 1, 1’s homeroom teacher. I didn’t know who Minakawa was, but he was probably a student as there wasn’t any teacher by that name. That meant it was a fight between a teacher and a student.

Junka stuffed his karaage in his mouth.

“Then what happened?”

Translator's Note:

Junka claimed that bullying is 100% the bully’s fault, but his own example proved him wrong. Why? Well, if Junka did start being needlessly mean to Rouji, who would be the one to get bullied? Junka would. The only reason Junka isn’t bullied is because a stand-up guy like Rouji is vouching for him, but the second he loses that, he’s socially finished. There is an entire group of people who don’t socialise properly and end up being mid-tier bullies. I’m sure you’ve all encountered the cowards that act tough, but are actually pathetic losers. Those guys are the most obvious case of bullying being the fault of the bullied because their own detestable actions drive away anybody that would have otherwise stood up for them, and probably elicits mistreatment even from others who wouldn’t be considered bullies. Naturally, the “bigger” bullies can smell the weakness of those mid-tier guys and target them without consequence because nobody likes them anyway. Does that mean that anybody should be bullied? No, it doesn’t, but their being bullied is a direct consequence of their own actions.

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

– Jesus (Matthew 5:43-48)

Editor’s Note:

Whilst there are cases of people being bullied because they do something that go against social norms or somehow "Offend" the leaders in the class and their petty pride, there's also bullies that bully for other reasons. In several cases I've heard of, the bully might simply be venting onto others injustices they experience in their personal lives, their parents might be breaking up, they might be getting beaten at home, have substance abusers or alcoholics as parents or just feel a lack of love and affection. For some children, the most logical answer to making sure everything is equal isn't to try to (re)gain what they don't have but instead take it away from someone else. People aren't evil by nature, people don't just wake up and decide: I'm going to go bully that kid. And so whilst bullying others is terrible and fault lies with the bully, punishing the bully won't necessarily fix the issue, and sometimes, the bully might be in greater need of help than the bullied.

Chapter end