The Eccentric, the Beauty, and the Detective: Kiriki Junka's Mystery Log Volume 1 Chapter 2

Pre-chapter Eccentricities:

Mambo Number 5:

Unryu style entrance:

I doubt anybody doesn’t know what char siu noodle soup is, but as a reminder:

Nevertheless, Junka’s looks stood out in the class. Among the realistic faces arrayed in the classroom, only one seemed like a prince that had wandered out of a fairytale. I wouldn’t even have been surprised if he belonged to a male idol group and suddenly started doing public entertainment.

When the entrance ceremony ended, the classes would return to their classrooms, each at their appointed times.

“Well then, next is Kiriki Junka.”

“Yes, sir.”

New first year students were forced to introduce themselves, and so came Junka’s turn. Humming mambo number 5 as his theme song, after he stood up and sat back down again several times, he finally made his entrance in the unryu style.

And then, as if none of that had happened, he spoke, “I am Kiriki Junka. My personality is, well, neither proper, nor improper, but is exceedingly diligent. My favourite food is avocado. Eccentricities are my hobby. Please treat me well.”

He then burped.

Just what did that guy eat for breakfast?

Miyako Hiroshi, the homeroom teacher, then proceeded to have the rest of the students introduce themselves in turn. Finally, my turn arrived.

My greeting was brusque, “I’m Suzaku Rouji. My personality is normal. My favourite food is… char siu noodle soup, I guess. My hobby is gaming. That’s all.”

I quickly sat back down. There was a hint of embarrassment in having everyone focus on me for a short while. Furthermore, self-introductions were ridiculous since it wasn’t like anybody would seriously listen to them… or so I thought until my eyes met a feverish gaze. It was Kiriki Junka, staring at me from two seats beside my own. His gaze was far from friendly, rather more like a scientist identifying a specimen than anything else. When I looked at him, he placed his hand on his chin, smiled faintly, and slightly lowered his head.

What’s that? Gross.

The day ended unsatisfactorily after the self-introductions were over. Homeroom was to be tidied up without delay, and I was finally released from the great responsibility ―I suppose it wasn’t that big of a deal, actually― of my first day at the school.

Kiriki spoke as I stretched out my back, “So, shall we go home, Rouji-kun?”

“Why go back with me?” I responded, listlessly, “We have nothing in common.”

“Let’s talk on the way.”

“Okay, okay, let’s go.”

I stood and left the classroom with the odd, beautiful eccentric.

“I require an assistant.”

Walking along the road to the station, Kirki gracefully rubbed his chin, the sight almost looked like a painting.

“Unfortunately, I’m not good with books. In grade school I did judo for self defence, but I got injured, so I’ve been in the ‘go home’ club ever since. You can laugh if you want to.”

It seemed that he had learned his throw and arm bar in elementary school.

“Ah, well that happens. So, what kind of assistant do you need?”

“An assistant in eccentricities, of course.”

“Who would do that!?” I responded in a flash.

Kiriki then grabbed me around the nape of the neck and began to massage.

“Okay, okay, brother. Relax, relax!”

He acted like he was in a foreign B-movie.

“I was kidding, kidding. I really just need help with detective work.”

I brushed aside his hands.

“Detective work, you say?”

Not looking injured at all, Kiriki nodded with a face so at ease he seemed about to start humming a song.

“That’s right, detective work. I’ll establish a detective club here in Shibuyamadai High, and think I’ll settle all sorts of incidents within the school.”

I burst into laughter; unintentionally loudly, too.

“Have you confused fiction for reality? Incidents won’t occur. The best incident you’ll get in school is a little fight. This isn’t an anime or drama. Detective work is totally useless.”

We entered the station with our commuter passes. Junka’s mood seemed to have fallen a little.

“We won’t know if it’s useless unless we try. We might be unexpectedly busy. Well… anyway, I was thinking that I’d be the brains and you’d be the brawn.”

“So I’ll be your gofer? Don’t mess with me.”

I was irritated. I got on the train. Junka made a desperate attempt to win me over.

“You were like this earlier, weren’t you?”

He readied his fist and made a strange face. The posture was about right, but I never made such a face. He was clearly making fun of me.

“You were totally cold. In the face of a larger opponent, and four of them no less, you stayed calm and prepared to fight. Well, you’d probably have gotten seriously hurt, but you were very cool.”

Junka smiled. It was a surprisingly controlled smile.

“And we’re both in 1,3, right? That’s why I chose you. Mr. Suzaku Rouji, I’ll have you join my ‘Detective Club’ as an assistant. You will, I say.”

I sighed at the internal state of that beautiful fool.

“Don’t decide that on your own, asshole,” I intonated threateningly, “I won’t play along with that.”

“No matter what? Won’t you sweat with me in the detective club?”

“Hell no.”

Junka got off at the same station as I did. Wait… what?

“Oi how long are you going to follow me? Or did you come to rub it in about my parent’s divorce, cause I won’t hear it.”

Junka tilted his head.

“Do haven’t figured it out yet? You really are a muscle head, aren’t you?”

“What was that?”

We approached the residential district around 1 o’clock in the afternoon as the wind blew. Junka was with me the entire way. It couldn’t be…

Junka spoke with a smile as if he had read my thoughts, “That’s right. That’s exactly it.”

When I got to my house, he told me to wait, and turned to face the neighbouring one while I stood there dumbfounded.

“Oi oi, the neighbouring house…”

“That’s right, it’s my house.”

He patted the Junka family name plate.

“When we moved in yesterday, my parents came to your house to greet the neighbours. It seemed as if your parents were arguing about divorce, was that not the case? This morning the shouting could even be heard from my house; it woke me up, actually. That’s my secret. Then when I left the house, I happened to see you depart in our school uniform.”

I couldn’t close my mouth.

Seeing me like that, Junka chanted, “Duncan! You Duncan, you!” to a beat, before calmly stating, “That’s it, with you, my neighbour, as an assistant, we should be able to do our detective work thoroughly. That and I invited you. Well, today was all sorts of fun. Let’s go to school tomorrow, too, Rouji-kun.”

Junka then opened his door and went inside. All I could do was watch his graceful figure as he left.

Translator's Note:

"Okay, brother, relax, relax." That was all in Engrish, word for word. I'm not 100% sure with what to do with that. It would be highly understandable for a Japanese person, though, so I didn't put it in French or anything. It wasn't even supposed to be cool.

I don't know what's up with Duncan, sorry.

Reading this makes me realise just how much I'd adapted to Nanasawa Matari's writing style (having just finished translating The Girl Who Bore the Flame Ring). It may take awhile to adjust for me to adjust my prose to fit more naturally with Yonapu-'s.

Editor’s Note:

Hum Hum, so the evil Euin dragged me over here to work on this project now that flame ring is heading to a close (I haven't finished editing the last two chapters yet!). It seems Mhn… Interesting enough for now? It's fun that we're in the perspective of basically watson in this sherlock holmesesque teen detective story. All I hope for is proper and interesting mysteries and not a fun trip to: Why the author is so smart hehe I made an impossible crime but oh wait! Plot armor!.

Translator’s Note:

I translate as I go, so I’m hoping it’s good, too. Or at least not terrible. Don’t fail us, Yonapu-. I’m working on doing as much of this as I can so I can put an entire arc up at once. That ought to give us a bit of a taste for the quality of the mysteries.

Chapter end