The Eccentric, the Beauty, and the Detective: Kiriki Junka's Mystery Log Volume 1 Chapter 4

Pre-chapter Eccentricities:

Les Six: a group of French composers lumped together by a critic named Henri Collet because they were a bit of a reaction against Wagner, Strauss, and Debussy. Also because he wanted a snappy title for his article, “The Russian Five, the French Six, and M. Erik Satie”. Les Six include Darius Milhaud, Francis Poulenc, Arthur Honegger, Georges Auric, Louis Durey, and Germaine Tailleferre.

Francis Poulenc’s Caprice Italien, Napoli: 

Junka forcefully dragged me to Hatanaksensei. She noticed us, and once the energy she had for the class dissipated, an uneasy expression returned to her face.

“Did you need something?”

“You don’t seem to be feeling well, Hatanaksensei,” spoke Junka in a soft tone, “Is something troubling you?”

She faintly shook her head.

“It’s nothing.”

“Hasn’t this something to do with the missing Chopin portrait?” Junka put on the heat.

“Eh?” Hatanaksensei placed a hand on her chest in shock.

It looked like he hit the nail on the head.

I jumped in, “So has somebody stolen Chopin’s portrait?”

If somebody had, it would have been larceny. That would place it under the jurisdiction of the police, and there would be no unveiling of the curtains on Junka’s detective association. I had lost interest. Probably having seen through my intentions, Junka shot me a sharp look before handing Hatanaksensei a business card. He had just recently made them, and so they had vague statements such as ‘Detective Association     Bring your troubles to Kiriki Junka of Class 1, 3. Let’s have a pleasant chat.’

“I am running a detective association. Please contact me if you feel my assistance is necessary. We will even search for lost items. Naturally, we shall maintain your confidentiality.”

Junka had spoken softly with a smile that could bewitch any woman. Hatanaksensei became flustered.

“T-thanks.”

“Now then…”

Junka made his retreat: dancing a limbo dance under a rod only he could see with no explanation.

“Hatanaksensei didn’t come.”

We had waited to the end of the day, but she hadn’t set foot in 1, 3. Ignoring Junka’s sigh, I shouldered my bag, and yawned deeply.

“She either didn’t trust you, or it wasn’t a big deal. One of the two.”

“I thought I might finally have been able to sell a jar for containing evil spirits for 100 000 yen.”

Are you a con man?

“I’m heading home, then.”

I decided to leave the classroom without him, but as I was about to enter the hallway, I bumped into someone.

“Ah!”

The short, high-pitched yelp had come from Hatanaksensei. She did come…

“Oh, sorry, Sensei.”

“No, it was my own fault… Where’s Kiriki-kun?”

Junka was grinning at us with his chin in his hands. Damn irritatingly, too.

“Thank you for stopping by, Sensei.”

“I’m glad you hadn’t left yet. Are you good for time?”

“No problems at all. Shall we talk here?”

“Yes, the music room is a little scary…”

Just what would make the music teacher afraid of the music room?

Junka addressed me, “You’re free, too, aren’t you? Do stay.”

Hatanaksensei lowered herself into a seat recommended by Junka, and the three of us looked at eachother from our chairs.

“Don’t say a word about this, or rather, I’m uneasy about it, so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone. I’d like you to promise me that first.”

Junka nodded, as did I to such an intriguing preface. Once she had been assured, Hatanaksensei smiled and got to her main topic.

“I’ve recently been coming in at 6:00 in the morning. I’ve been intending on entering a piano competition, specifically the A1 category of Grandmuse, a competition that doesn’t allow entrants over the age of 23. The idea was to practice for that. Preliminaries require the memorisation of a piece between five and seven minutes long, and I’ve been learning Francis Poulenc’s Caprice Italien, Napoli.”

Junka gave an impressed sigh.

“Poulenc, the one of Les Six? That song is about five minutes, then.”

“I would unlock the music room at 6:10 and sit at the piano to practice. I got caught up in playing around the same time today. It was already 6:30 before I’d realised it, and it was then that I noticed a strange sound.”

I had found myself listening to her story intently.

“A strange sound?”

Hatanaksensei nervously looked around to see if anybody was secretly listening in.

“The sound of water dripping onto the floor.”

“It snowed today, so it must’ve been that.”

“That’s what I thought at first, too, and went back to the keyboard, but when I glanced at the portraits in the music room, I couldn’t help but scream.”

Hatanaksensei closed in for her secret talk, and lowered her voice, “What shocked me was the sight of bright red blood dripping from both of Chopin’s eyes. Tears of blood…”

Hatanaksensei was at a loss for words as she held her elbow. She shuddered with terror, and even looked about to cry. I too felt chills run up and down my spine. A painting crying tears of blood was serious occult level stuff. Junka, on the other hand, looked most thoroughly interested by the strange tale. His usual eccentricities lay dormant, and there was a maddening glint in his eyes.

“Tears of blood, you say? Are you sure they weren’t flowing before you entered the room, and you simply didn’t notice until you took a break? Or did they begin during your performance?”

Perhaps to appear calm even as she trembled, Hatanaksensei raised her voice, “I didn’t hear the sound of dripping blood when I first entered the room, and though it was only in my peripheral vision, I didn’t notice any tears dripping from the portrait. They clearly started flowing after I entered the room.”

The chill I felt on my spine wasn’t from the snow.

“It’s a curse. The curse of Chopin must be causing those tears of blood.”

Junka looked at me in scorn.

“There’s no way. If it was, I’d give up too.”

Hatanaksensei was teary eyed, “I was horrified by the event, and fled the room. I was going to run to the staff room for help, but I stopped en route. If I told someone about Chopin, it might get out to the students. If they found out, they might find the music room creepy. That’s why I didn’t tell any of the other teachers even though I really wanted to.”

She wiped the corners of her eyes.

“Fortunately, I still had time, so I borrowed a step-ladder from the janitor, and went back to the music room alone. I removed the weeping Chopin, and wiped up the blood off the floor with a cloth as if nothing happened. It was really scary.”

“A gallant tale. That was why you seemed pale this morning, I take it.”

Junka stroked his hair.

“Where are the painting and cloth now?”

“I hid them in the music prep room.”

Junka carelessly said, “Now let’s go see the scene of the crime, and the articles themselves.”

“Eh?”

Hatanaksensei’s face went blue, as did mine. Junka however, stood calmly.

“What? Poulenc held Chopin in high esteem. I’m sure that Chopin was moved to tears by your rendition. Is it so scary when you think of it like that?”

We nervously entered the music room, turned on the fluorescent light, and were met by all the portraits but the third one from the left.

“Let’s have a look at him, Miss.”

Hatanaksensei was seized with fear.

“I don’t really want to get close to it, but… it can’t be helped.”

Junka and I entered the music prep room behind Hatanaksensei. The problem portrait of Chopin was placed atop a desk. The teary visage of Chopin gazed directly at us, and I couldn’t meet his eyes for fear of a curse. I was also assailed by a distinctly unpleasant smell.

“What’s that smell?”

Hatanaksensei was hiding behind Junka, who wasn’t worried and inspected the painting in an easygoing manner, carefully checking to see if he could determine anything.

Translator's Note:

I still instinctively add Miss in front of the female teacher's names sometimes when I'm reading along. Then I have to catch myself and add a sensei, or just leave it for our editor. Hopefully we don't end up with any Miss Hatanaksensei popping up.

Editor's Note:

So supposed occult occurrence… could it merely be some kind of chemical reaction of some substance or as the room is heated by the school heating system, some substance melted, thus is most likely some kind of prank. Find out in the next Chapter released next week today!

Translator's Note:

If only Japan had working heating systems… or so I say, but technically it's insulation that's the issue. That and a lack of central-heating everywhere but Hokkaido.

Chapter end