The Eccentric, the Beauty, and the Detective: Kiriki Junka's Mystery Log Volume 1 Chapter 21

“There aren’t any other Takada Satoshis, at least not in this school. There weren’t even any in 2nd or 3rd year.”

Nao gave a little clap.

“Wonderful. What a great harvest.”

“There’s more,” Nao began proudly, “it’s about him as a person. He’s very short and very stout, and all the parts of his face are all clustered in the centre. He’s so fat, he has a double chin, or at least the teachers claim.”

I tilted my head to the side. He’s fat?

“When I saw the two run away after Koshi fell from the window, the both of them were thin, though.”

“I didn’t see anything myself, so I can’t really say… also, it seems Takadkun’s a member of the Next Wicked Dew gang. Apparently, they are always in conflict with the Silver Shadow gang of which Koshi-kun is a member.”

That was a key fact. I looked to Junka, who had a fire burning in his eyes.

“So two underlings from opposing gangs joined the same school in the same year, though in different classes? I see, well, that certainly is enough motive to defenestrate Koshi-kun. Which would mean our school got wrapped up in a gang war. They both probably hid their dark sides quite well when they entered Shibuyamadai high. I’m impressed.”

“Lastly, Takadkun’s been calmly attending school since the incident with Koshi-kun. It seems his comments on the incident were, ‘serves him right,’ and, ‘he got punished.'”

“‘Serves him right,’ and, ‘he got punished?'”

Junka put his fist to his mouth and sank his teeth into the skin.

“He’s acting like he has nothing to do with it, eh? What did the teacher have to say?”

“Nothing, I heard that from my friend in class 2. That’s all.”

Nao gave a ladylike flourish.

“So, was I of use?”

Junka greatly approved.

“Yes, wonderfully so. Iidsan, you have the makings of a detective. Good work.”

Nao blushed a little at the genuine complement. How cute.

Junka knitted his fingers together.

“This might give you a little bit o’ the willies, but I want to go to class 2 and have a chat with him. I’ll, well, do this alone. I can’t have our little detective association suffer any injuries.”

“I’m coming too,” I called, “I’m more useful in a fight, and if that face of yours got injured, your fangirls would cry.”

Junka snickered.

“Then I’ll be counting on you. If something seems like it’s about to go down, I’ll fly away.”

What a heartless bastard.

At lunch, Hinata came over from class 1 with her bento box.

“Sorry about this morning, the newspaper club was quite busy.”

Junka, Nao, and I all moved our chairs to open up space around our table. Hinata adjusted her black rimmed glasses.

“There has been a development. Kitakami-sensei seems to have called Takada Satoshi to the staff room for questioning. How much do you know about Takadsan?”

“He’s in class 2, and he doesn’t get on well with Koshi-kun from class 1… is about it.”

“Is that so? Is this a result of Nao-san’s efforts?”

“It wasn’t much, really.”

Nao wasn’t displeased, and Hinata smiled.

“Kitakami-sensei sought to confirm for himself with Takadsan, who is in his own class, the report from Mashimsan and Kaharsan that ‘Takada Satoshi threw Koshi-san out the window.'”

Junka’s gaze might have burrowed straight through Hinata.

“So what happened?”

“Takadsan was indignant: ‘Who the fuck’s babbling about me throwing Koshi out a fucking window?’

“Kitakami-sensei replied prudently, ‘I can’t tell you. Just know that there is testemony that you were seen there. Two of them, at that.’

“Takadsan then angrily spat out, ‘They’re liars. Tell me their names, and I’ll personally fucking kill them,’ and Kitakami-sensei had no choice but to let him go. Naturally, he didn’t divulge Mashimsan or Kaharsan’s name. The rest was just Kitakami-sensei telling me not to talk about this to anybody when I visited the staff room as I did odd jobs for the newspaper club.”

Hinata had loose lips. Well, I supposed it was fine since she was talking to the inner circle of the detective association.

Junka crossed his arms.

“At any rate, Takadkun is enemies with Koshi-kun, and he isn’t bothered by the incident. I don’t need to ask him now, thank you.”

“You are very welcome.”

Junka checked his watch.

“There’s still some lunch break left, so I’ll head down to class 1 for a listen.”

I stood and followed after Junka.

“I’m going too. You have some questions for Mashima and Kahara, don’t you? I’m curious.”

“Then I’m coming too.”

“I’m in class 1, so I’m obviously going to go as well.”

In the end, we all crowded in to class 1. Though some of them looked at us as we entered, after a while it was as if they hadn’t noticed us at all.

Junka asked Hinata, “Which ones are Mashimkun and Kaharkun?”

“They are the two eating over there.”

Where Hinata pointed were two boys eating quietly at a desk tucked away in the corner of the room.

Junka entered his bridge pose, and screamed “Exorcist!” while skillfully making his way towards them. They cowered as the eccentric Junka invaded their space. Junka stood up like a spring, and turned around to face them.

“I trust that you two won’t mention what you just saw.”

What a selfish remark.

“I am Kiriki Junka of 1, 3. Um, which of you is Mashimkun?”

Nervously raising his hand was a boy who looked as gentle as a puppy with gently sloping eyebrows who was clearly a weakling.

“I’m… Mashima Atsushi.”

“I see, and this other one is Kaharkun?”

“Yes, I’m Kahara Ryouji.”

Kahara was incredibly indistinct, had almost no presence, and showed us eyes that couldn’t calm down. He was unusually thin.

“Um, do you need something?” Mashima asked, subtly trembling.

Junka spoke as if it was nothing, “I would like your cooperation in my investigations of the case in which Koshi-kun was thrown from a window. Particularly, I’m interested in Takada Satoshi-kun.”

I focused on Mashima and Kahara. The two had admitted to Kitakami-sensei that they were at the scene. If they had any clues, it could certainly change things, and if they were the ones who had done it, there was no doubt they would twist their story to try and cover their tracks. If that wasn’t the case, just showing a little concern for them might have solved the whole matter. But which was it?

What met my eyes, however, was the sight of neither option. Their eyes glittered. Their eyes were those of medieval peasants who had just been blessed by the visitation of a noble beyond their means, tears flowed, and the light therein glittered pure.

It was even enough to surprise Junka. He nearly swallowed his words, and he coughed to recover.

“You were at the intersection at the time of the incident, were you not? Is it exactly as you told Kitakami-sensei?”

“Yes, it is,” confirmed Mashima.

“You two told Kitakami-sensei that ‘Takada Satoshi did it. He punished Koshi-kun, and fled.’ Is that true?”

Translator's Note:

He shouldn’t have let on that he knew what they’d told Kitakami-sensei, or at least given them an incorrect version of it, to see if their story would change.

Editor’s Note:

We seem to have had a minor miscalculation (this isn’t a note from the editor). The real edited version will be up soon.

Chapter end