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

Pre-chapter Eccentricities:

There'll be a character who's hair is described as looking like seaweed. Now, this can either be: wavy and slightly messy, but clearly still pretty; a bob cut like the well known character named wakame; or actual seaweed looking hair.

I have no idea what's going on until further notice. I haven't exactly been keeping myself up to date on how to talk about hairstyles in Tokyo.

Early June, as the rainy season approached, the detective association was way too free.

“I had a thought, Rouji-kun,” Junka waved his chopsticks in the air as he ate his bento at lunch, “Nessie's real, I think.”

I wondered why the guy was so many decades behind things.

“Nessie of Loch Ness. The photograph taken in 1934 by gynaecologist Robert Kenneth Wilson is very famous. That famous one with the head poking out of the lake. Originally, Christian Spurling testified that it was a trick, and so it could go either way.”

I, Suzaku Rouji, was stuffing my face with a pork-cutlet sandwich, only giving polite acknowledgment of my strange friend's discussion. Junka gained force and continued to work himself up.

“Only, it's obviously far more romantic to believe that it's there, eh? Everyone believed in Nessie back then, but no longer. Yet, has anyone proven their disbelief? Rouji-kun, I wholeheartedly support the conclusion that Nessie is real. Isn't it just more interesting that way?”

The weather beyond the window was great, and the birds sang a calming soundtrack to my ears. Here were the people of Shibuyamadai High School's class 1, 3 as they peacefully spent their lunch break as always. Boys with boys, and girls with girls, all were gathered around the desks to eat. The speaker for the school's intercom system vibrated, playing some classic song I didn't really know.

I once more turned my gaze to the lecturing boy before me: Kiriki Junka. He had such a destructive beauty that had he been female, I would have fallen for him. He was like the only colour photo in a series of black and whites; like a scene of yellow chicks with a blue one suddenly bursting forth. I couldn't put it well, but he was essentially on his own level. His appearance was that of a man with a woman mixed in, only the woman had kicked out the man. His black hair was the length of a medieval european aristocrat's, covering his ears, though there probably wasn't a haircut that wouldn't suit Junka. That was just how attractive he was.

Furthermore, I knew that his personality stood out as much as his looks. A regular healthy high schooler would likely never be prone to stripping to his boxers, drawing a hyottoko on his stomach, throwing both arms into the air, and suddenly advancing with a graceful step like a ballerina, but Junka absolutely would. Even if I hadn't witnessed that with my own eyes, it would still be well within the parameters of believable eccentricities for him. As a result, his reputation among both the boys and girls was shaky, and the fans who had only known his outward appearance dejectedly deleted their photos of him from their phones.

Lastly, he was the chairman of the slightly goofily named detective association that I was a member of. That being the case, the associations at our school required a membership of five to be official, so our recognition had yet to be obtained. We needed only one more person of great character with the perseverance and tolerance to handle Junka.

“Are you listening to me, Rouji-kun?”

Junka's voice fished me from my thoughts.

“Huh? What? What was it?”

“Come now… it is the important discussion of how we will plan our trip to Loch Ness in Scotland to photograph Nessie.”

Go by yourself.

“If your mouth's open enough to talk, stuff it with some food. Lunch's gon' end.”

“Ah, true.”

He took a hurried bite of his karaage. I checked my watch as I drank from my milk carton. We had five minutes, which was when the sliding door suddenly slammed open as a female student thrust herself into the room.

“Detective association! Kiriki Junka of the detective association, you in?”

Her soprano voice resounded as she cast her gaze over the room. Naturally, all gazes were on her.

Her hair looked like she was wearing wakame. Unsure of what to do, she nervously pushed aside the hair blocking her eyes. Her almond eyes and picturesque nose were rather attractive, but she looked a little fragile.

Finishing his coffee drink, lowering the PET bottle, and wiping his mouth, Junka stood and raised his hand.

“I am the detective association's Kiriki Junka, and?”

“Oh, you're pretty like they say.”

She sighed in admiration.

“I have a request, a request. You want requests right? I'll give you one.”

Junka's eyes sparkled.

“Is that right? Um, your name was?”

“Oh, sorry, I forgot. Tachibana Mana, class 2, 1. No time now, so I'll be back after school. That's how it is, so wait for me, Kiriki.”

Junka opened both hands, pressed his thumbs on either side of his nose, and called, “Understood, I shall be waiting.”

Before Tachibansenpai could get angry, I made sure to stop his actions by visiting upon him a suitable body blow.

Junka smiled faintly at the first case in several days. As that smile floated across his face, he ate some sushi that only he could see, and burped.

“What're you grinning about? It's creepy.”

Once fifth period had ended, after a short pause, Iida Nao had chided Junka for his revelry. She had lively short hair, big brown eyes like a rabbit, a button nose, and sensual lips. She didn't match up to Junka, but was fairly attractive in her own way. Her ears were also round.

I was in love with Iida Nao, but I was hiding those feelings deep within my heart because I knew that she was in love with the homeroom teacher of class 1, 3, Miyako Hiroshi. Furthermore, she was determined to spend her high school years studying, and only studying. Hitting that determination with a hammer wouldn't have caused a crack. She likely intended on confessing to Miyako-sensei after graduation.

That Nao was also a member of the detective association. If you asked whether I was happy, I would say yes, and if you asked whether I was pained, I would say yes. I could do naught but
hide my feelings away.

Junka smiled at her.

“Iidsan, aren't you having fun? We have been given a matter to resolve. Is there nothing more exciting than this in life?”

Nao narrowed her eyes, “What are you talking about? It just adds needless work. I'm in the detective association so I'll tag along, but you can do all the resolving by yourself, Kiriki-kun.”

Junka began to shout “Huzzah! Huzzah!” while violently beating his stomach like a drum. He then returned to normal as if nothing had happened.

“I don't believe in my own inerrancy. If I don't get feedback from Iidsan, Rouji-kun, Tatsuno-san, or someone else, I won't be able to tell if my reasoning is my own self-righteousness or not.”

Nao tossed the topic to me, “What do you think, Suzaku-kun?”

I had a hard time replying.

“Well, all the cases up until now have been settled by Junka all by himself, so…”

Excluding Tatsuno Hinata's work in class 1, 1, every other member of the detective association was essentially assigned duty as a Junka assistant.

“Well, it's probably best for us to just give Junka our regular opinions like we did with the case of the strange customer. It'll be helpful for Junka's speculations… that's it,” a thought flashed through my mind, “let's solve this one on the deductions of all the other members of the detective association. We've got to show we can do things on our own from time to time.”

“Sounds like a pain,” spoke Nao, moderately displeased, though she quickly regained her mood, “but it really would be irritating to become known as the detective association that's basically just Junka doing all the work. It can't be helped, then. Let's do that.”

Junka was ignoring us as he built himself a house of cards in a trance. Nao angrily mowed it down with the palm of her hand. The hapless tower crumbled, and Junka shot a look of protest at Nao.

You're the one in the wrong, here, Junka.

Translator's Note:

Sometimes Rouji narrates in present tense, but I don't want to do any tense shifting. Technically, it's fine in this kind of narrative prose, but it just feels weird to have basically:

“Nao chided Junka. She looks good. I'm in love with her, but I'm hiding my feelings deep down… I could do naught but hide my feelings.”

Is the author implying this narration is in past tense, but narrated from a time in which Nao still looked exactly the same? Does she still look as she did when chiding Junka? Is the author implying that Rouji will remain in love with Nao for the entirety of the plot since he ‘is' in love with her, and ‘is' hiding his feelings deep down, but he ‘had' to hide his feelings even back when whatever was happening happened? Do tense-shifts not matter in Japanese?

Alright, so this is the second series I've translated, and also the second series in which the author has a weird tendency to reintroduce characters as if we've never met them before. Do the Japanese obsess over introductions to the point that they can't hold themselves back even when it's meaningless?

On another note, who do you think will carry the team with Junka not in play as much? My money's on Hinata.

Editor's Note:

I hope Rouji grows out of his crush somehow. Also… I get the feeling that Junka might actually be acting like he does on purpose, otherwise he'd never be left alone by people who admire him. Or he's just eccentric to the core.

Chapter end