Volume 2, 3: Uchimaku Hayabusa @ Shibuya Girl A(1/7)
Part 1
The value of land inside the ZR Yamanote Line was generally ridiculously expensive, but Ochanomizu was a student district. That meant a thorough enough search would turn up apartments cheap enough for a student.
But that meant the apartment was meant for a student. Normally, a single man with a job would be ashamed to live in one. In fact, the landlord would usually refuse someone like me, but I had managed to avoid that.
It seemed the female college students felt safer when they knew a police officer lived in the same apartment building.
I was a bit annoyed that the landlord used my private information as a sales point, but it was the best place I could find. As a pitiable public servant, I could not afford to do anything about it.
And so...
I was in the living room the apartment had despite only being meant for students. The table held quickly-made toast, milk, a premade salad, and simple scrambled eggs made in the microwave. While I ate that breakfast, my cell phone rang.
It was my sister-in-law’s number.
It was likely about the cardboard boxes in the corner of my room.
“Did you get them?” she asked.
“Yes, unfortunately. Three boxes is going too far.”
“Don’t be picky. They contain Intellectual Village-made rice, summer vegetables, soy sauce, miso, mirin, and sake. You would have to wait to even make a reservation to get that from a restaurant.”
That was true. And if word got out I had it, it would probably bring in tons of thieves and robbers.
“Please, give me a break. You know I can’t cook.”
“Um, this may be an awkward question, but how do you survive, Hayabusa-kun?”
“These days, you can make a dinner by buying a premade salad and side dish at the supermarket, throwing a pack of white rice in the microwave, and adding hot water to a cup of miso soup.”
“That is not how to live a happy life.”
I wanted to protest that I simply used the extra time for things other than food.
But before I could, I heard the sound of a struggle over the phone.
“Um, nee-san? What is going on?”
“The Yuki Onna and Nekomata are fighting behind me. They cannot agree whether to watch The Unknown Secrets of the Antarctic or The Pet Café that Cats Love. ...Now, now, stop that! If you keep acting that selfishly, Shinobu will grow to hate you.”
The sounds of a struggle immediately ceased.
My nephew’s rare disposition seemed to have taken effect once more. Weren’t the Yuki Onna and Nekomata both deadly Youkai? Then again, my disposition making them hate me and my brother’s disposition making them fear him were quite something too.
After being sure the commotion was over, I returned to the conversation.
“Could you at least send cucumbers or tomatoes or something else you can slice up and eat as is? I don’t even know what to do with a squash. I don’t like getting a long line of brand-name crops the gourmets of Akasaka would drool over and just watching them rot.”
“I will take that into consideration, but I cannot do anything about what I already sent you. If you are not going to learn to cook, you can use them to get to know your neighbors.”
Having said that, my sister-in-law ended the call.
She probably just ran away because she did not like how the conversation was going.
But...
I was the one police officer living in an apartment building meant for students. I was never going to get to know my neighbors very closely. There would be a larger rift between us than between an elementary school student and a frightening looking PE teacher. If I rang my neighbor’s doorbell, they would probably think some incident had happened.
Then again, I couldn’t stand for brand-name crops on a level where a bunch of grapes cost 30 thousand yen to rot away into organic fertilizer, so I nervously headed to the neighboring room.
I rang the doorbell and a female voice so unambitious I wondered if she had low blood pressure came over the intercom.
“What is it...?”
“Um, my family went a little overboard in sending me summer vegetables, so do you have room for any?”
I heard frantic footsteps, a crash, and then a shout of “Slippers!? Where are my slippers!?” from beyond the door.
The door shot open and a college girl in a track suit with a towel around her neck and a compress on her shoulders charged out with a full-faced smile.
“How wonderful, you Kasajizou!! Now I can escape this life of soaking ramen in water to infinitely double it in size!!”
“How low on money are you!?”
Part 2
Despite all that trouble, I still had to leave for work at the same time. As much as I would have loved some more time. After closing the front door of my apartment, I headed on foot to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.
My workplace was in a nice place like Sakuradamon. That was why I wanted a place to live in Ochanomizu.
“Oh, if it isn’t the detective.”
“What the hell are you doing here, mystery freak?”
When I turned around toward that sudden voice from behind, I’m betting my expression was not a pleased one. A girl with twintails named Hishigami Enbi was smiling at me.
That mystery freak could be summed up as “a suspicious person who frequently appears at the crime scenes of bizarre murders”.
The mystery freak preferred to wear revealing outfits such as swimsuits, but now she was wearing the obvious outfit of a student: a short-sleeved blouse and a wine-red pleated skirt. I was fairly certain it was the uniform of a nearby high class girl’s school. I had no idea if the kneesocks were a designated part of the uniform.
Knowing her, she would say she chose to wear them herself because they were necessary to solve a murder. But as long as you did not look too deeply, she was just a nice rich girl.
There were even banks and heavy industry companies that used the name Hishigami.
If you flipped through the channels during primetime, you would probably find a commercial for a company affiliated with her family.
“I’m just headed to school. You’re the one out of place here, detective. I thought you usually used the subway.”
“Why do you think I would be walking to work in this horrid heat while dressed in a suit, mystery moron?”
“Hah hahn. The suit looks cheaper than necessary, but it also looks new. Did your boss tell you to hurry up and break it in so you can run around in it?”
“...That’s right, dammit,” I replied in annoyance.
Police detectives did not wear cheap suits because they had no fashion sense. While it was not as bad as the police dramas where everything was resolved in 60 minutes, a police detective was one of the few jobs that required physical labor in a suit. The suit would get muddy, bloody, and torn by suspects armed with blades. And so no one would wear a custom-made high-class suit.
And since we had to run around a lot, a brand new suit could be a bit restrictive. That was why we intentionally put an extra burden on a new suit to break it in.
For that reason, police detectives gave the impression of being the public servants with zero fashion sense who wore cheap mass-produced suits that were horribly beat up.
“By the way, detective, what are you pursuing now?”
“I can’t tell a civilian that. Employees have a duty to keep secrets.”
“I’m feeling a bit depressed. You could always let me join in if it’s something I would enjoy.”
“?”
The mystery freak pouted her lips, but we had arrived near the famous rich girl’s school. Enbi waved and then left.
Afterwards, I wiped away my sweat with a handkerchief and stopped at a convenience store for water when I couldn’t stand it anymore. Finally, I made it to my workplace in Sakuradamon.
It was the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, the symbol of the city’s law and order.
Due to the influence of police dramas, it seemed to have become the symbol of Japan’s police force as a whole. Looking at that awe-inspiring building was enough to improve even my mood a bit. It always made me realize my job would directly affect people’s lives for better or worse.
The uniformed police officer standing in front of the entrance gave me a faithful salute.
However, the usual fastidious greeting did not accompany it.
Instead, a middle-aged police officer whispered to me.
“Oh, Uchimaku-san. You probably shouldn’t look inside right now.”
“Eh? Is something going on? Things do seem a bit noisy... Are they filming a drama?”
The front of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department was one of the leading location filming spots in all of Japan. But to prevent terrorism, the inside shots were all done on sets back at the studio. I highly doubted a request to directly film inside would have been approved.
In response, the middle-aged police officer shook his hand side to side and said, “No, no. Um, it’s summer break, so it seems a group of elementary school children is being given a tour. Naturally, they weren’t allowed to bring in their cell phones or any other recording devices.”
“Oh... Yeah, I don’t want to get caught up in that.”
With that offhand comment, I peered through the glass door and into the front lobby. Even through the glass, I could hear a chaotic deluge of voices.
“Do you have katsudon!?”
“Where’s Investigator Itako from TV?”
“Can you show us the investigation headquarters!?”
There were a lot more kids than I had expected. It looked like more than 100 but not quite 200. A young female police officer was waving a small flag in front of them, so she looked somehow like a bus tour guide.
I whispered to the middle-aged police officer who was still hanging around for some reason.
“Looks like the Sakura Police have plenty to do. Oh, wow. Look at the face of the big guy from the organized crime countermeasures division. I’ve never seen him look so exhausted. I gotta snap a photo of this.”
“Wait, don’t do that, Uchimaku-san! If he notices, he’ll constrict your carotid artery!!”
“You say that, Nakada-san, but I can see your shoulders shaking as you try to hold back laughter.”
Just as I held up my phone, my eyes met with those of the big man displayed on the small screen.
That fifth dan in judo (openweight) opened wide the eyes of his stone-like face and pointed straight at me.
“That’s a detective from Department 1!!”
“Bh!?” I spat out.
Well over 100 children all turned to look in my direction.
“A detective?”
“A detective from Department 1!”
“Investigation Department 1 is where they shoot handguns all the time to kill the criminals!!”
“Th-th-that bastard!! He turned them on me because Department 1 is more popular!!”
Just to be clear, detectives in Investigation Department 1 did not shoot handguns all the time. It would be a lot easier if we could, but we prided ourselves at being the best in the world when it came to capturing criminals alive.
The middle-aged police officer then said, “Uchimaku-san! If you’re going to run, do it quickly! You can enter through the materials delivery entrance. Otherwise, the children will surround you!!”
“No, it’s a bit late for that! Wah! This is like a store during a really good sale!!”
I need to turn their focus somewhere else!! But is there any job more popular than a detective from Department 1!?
Just as I started to panic, a god of salvation appeared.
Mezu Gen. He was an older man with deep wrinkles on his face. His hair was a very shiny black because it was dyed. While he was not as muscular as the large man from the organized crime countermeasures division, his sharp gaze held enough force to silence a fifth dan in judo. He was the leader of my department. However, he was often called “cute” by the young female police officers because of his habit of wearing the necktie he received as a father’s day present.
“...What is this commotion?”
Instead of answering his simple question, I pointed at him and raised my voice as loud as I could to announce, “That’s the chief of Department 1!!”
To make a long story short, he slammed his fist down on my head later on.
But do not forget that the department chief pointed at a man in the prime of his life who came running up after a jog around the imperial palace (accompanied by an extremely annoyed looking bodyguard in black) and shouted “That’s the superintendent general!!”
Part 3
I worked for Investigation Department 1 of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.
But that did not mean I was always having meetings at the investigation headquarters or rushing out to suspects’ houses based on an important new piece of investigative information.
Sometimes not much was going on.
The department chief would not call out to a low-ranking detective like me often, yet he suddenly did just that.
“Uchimaku, you have the safety class today, right?”
“...What?”
Since I had nothing better to do, I had been trying to work up my own original blend by mixing together several different types of coffee beans, but now my eyes opened wide.
The department chief went on to say, “Y’know, the safety class where you head out to a school to put on a puppet show and kamishibai. The materials you need are here. Be there in half an hour. That is all.”
“Wait, wait, wait! That isn’t a job for Department 1. What about the Life Safety Division or Traffic Division? In fact, why is anyone from the main police department doing it? Can’t an officer from the school’s area handle it?”
“Normally, yes. But it seems middle and high school students these days don’t like kamishibai or puppet shows, so they keep falling asleep. They want a detective who has felt real danger to more effectively explain the recent SNS trouble. Someone who reeks of blood should give it more tension.”
“Geh.”
As the department chief breathed a heavy sigh, I recalled a certain fact.
It had been me who had brought an end to the SNS murders back in May.
“But won’t we get complaints if we use an actual incident to draw their attention?”
“The police’s job is not just to resolve crimes that have been committed. We must also prevent crimes before they are committed. We will use whatever means we have available to us. But be careful. Make sure to hide all personal information.”
The department chief placed a giant envelope on my desk and quickly left.
I had no choice but to check inside the envelope.
“How am I supposed to know what to say when I have to be there in half an hour?”
“I can still hear you, Uchimaku. I did not tell you until now because I did not want to deal with your complaining. Do you understand now? Then get going.”
The safety class was a school activity, so I could not be late. I glanced through the materials, put them back in the large envelope, and left.
While I rode the elevator to the first floor, it stopped midway down. A detective from the Life Safety Division got on. Unlike me, he was the type of detective that always wore a nice suit.
“Hey, Uchimaku.”
“Toujou-san.”
“I heard you have to go out in this heat to present a safety class at a middle school. This is the middle of summer break, so the students probably won’t be happy about it. Try not to lose the attention of every single student in the school while they’re gathered in the gym. Nee ha ha.”
“Chehh. I take it I was the only one that didn’t know about this ‘surprise party’.”
“You need to be around some living people every once in a while. It’s not healthy to deal with nothing but murder cases.”
Once the elevator reached the first floor, Toujou-san left.
While it was true I dealt with nothing but murder cases, I did try to keep my focus on living people.
Part 4
The middle school was within walking distance. Most of the police officers gathered there were uniformed officers from the “usual” station. I felt out of place as the only murder case detective in the bunch.
And...
“...You can’t be serious.”
“Is something the matter?” asked the school’s female director in a refined manner.
That was a very difficult question to answer.
Outside the window of the faculty room, I could see the mystery freak waving at me with a big smile on her face.
This is her school?
A very bad feeling wrapped around me despite having no proof anything was going to happen. But just as I expected, my cell phone rang. After receiving the never-before-heard threat of “come on out or I’ll charge into the faculty room and kiss you”, I had no choice but to exit the school building.
“Hello, detective.”
“What do you want, mystery freak? I’m kind of busy.”
“So am I. I need to get to the gym soon for the school assembly. But let’s talk first. If you ignore me, I’ll forcibly have my way with you here.”
I let out a heavy sigh.
My mental state was similar to some chocolate melting under the hot sun.
“If you’re interested, I take it this is about some kind of incident.”
“That’s right. What about you, detective? Why are you here for this SNS safety class? Are you using it to get into the school because you caught the same scent I’m after?”
“?”
I had no ulterior motive for being here, but was something actually happening around the mystery freak?
“If it’s urgent, I’ll hear you out. Despite how you act, you are civilian and I am a police officer.”
“So you understand.”
I had tried to warn her by emphasizing the fact that she was a civilian, but the mystery freak did not give in at all.
She glanced away from me and beckoned someone over with her hand.
“Okay, Tomoe-chaaan. This is the detective I was talking about. There’s no distinction or division between adult and child with him, so he’s our ally.”
I do too have a division and distinction there!!
It would be a major problem if I still acted like a middle schooler at this age!!
“...Detective?”
A face peered out from behind a pillar along a nearby outside pathway.
She was a girl with an appearance that made you think her braided hair was to help with her school records. She wore glasses, but she looked more like an athlete or martial artist than a bookish girl. Her body was wrapped in supple muscles. She appeared to have a better figure than the mystery freak.
However, both her muscles and figure did not look natural. It may have been the popular thing to do, but it appeared she had done a fair bit of “grooming”. She was the type who would have tons of diet ebooks on her phone.
You weren’t supposed to push yourself too hard while still growing, but the world was a harsh place.
“No, Enbi. It can’t be a detective. I don’t think he can help us.”
She seemed openly hostile, but it would have been jumping the gun to assume she was hiding something she felt guilty about. During some sort of incident, even the most innocent normal citizen did not want to approach the police.
“Tomoe, he isn’t that kind of detective.”
“Enbi, I decided to ask you for help because you gather information using several different routes, but I am opposed to using him. Forget my request. I’ll do this on my own.”
This Tomoe-chan turned her back on us and muttered one last comment.
Her voice was quiet, but it possessed a piercing sharpness.
“I can’t trust the police. They can’t do anything.”
After watching Tomoe-chan leave, Enbi sighed.
Now then...
“I’m not trying to show off, but explain to me what is going on. This smells really fishy to me.”
“Fine, but neither of us has much time. We can continue this in the afternoon. Let’s finish with this school day first.”
Part 5
As expected, the best I could manage in the SNS safety class was to make sure it did not absolutely fail. There was no way I could give much of a presentation when I was suddenly thrown up on stage with no script or rehearsal time. Think of it as the school expecting some high-level acrobatic flying while all I delivered was a safe emergency landing. That required some skill too, but it was tragically difficult for others to tell.
But at least the mystery freak had managed to suppress her laughter while listening to me speak.
After finishing with the school day, Enbi and I met up outside of the school.
“Detective, do you want to get lunch somewhere?”
“It’s exactly noon. Everywhere will be busy.”
“...Oh. That’s a sad statement that shows what sort of restaurant you eat at.”
“More importantly, tell me if you know of anything that might be a serious issue.”
“We can speak while we walk.” The mystery freak raised her index finger while taking the lead. “I will omit any uncertain information if that is okay with you.”
“Just tell me what you can.”
“Lately, Jinmensou have been spreading among high school girls in Shibuya.”
“...In Shibuya?”
I had thought every restaurant in a student district like Ochanomizu would be packed at lunchtime, but we found an empty café a bit off the major roads where the employees were dressed as masters and maids. The mystery freak swiftly moved to a table in the back like she had done it a thousand times before.
“This place makes all the sales it needs for the day with the morning meals they sell in front of the station. Everything else is just a hobby.”
“I don’t care about the restaurant. Tell me about this incident. What was that about high school girls in Shibuya? I’ve never seen those creatures except on TV.”
You could say they were synonymous with lies.
Most anyone could easily tell just how much truth there was in any rumor that began with “according to some high school girls in Shibuya”.
The police received a lot of unreliable-sounding reports and tips, but the credibility dropped considerably if that term was mentioned.
After ordering a hot sandwich and an iced coffee produced in some place with a horribly long foreign-sounding name, the mystery freak said, “Well, just think of that as a symbol or a framework that was easy to use. The Jinmensou problem has reached one of our students. That would be middle school girl in Ochanomizu. It might have reached some elementary school students as well. Think of it as being a problem for all minors who hang out in Shibuya.”
“Just to check: are you sure there really is something to this?”
“Of course.”
I glanced through the menu and grimaced.
Why is there not a single thing on the menu spelled with less than 50 characters?
The mystery freak ignored my hesitation and ordered something for me without asking.
“Jinmensou, those giant tumors in the shape of a human face, are spreading among those girls. You came from an Intellectual Village, so you know what a Jinmensou is, right?”
“...A Youkai.”
“The story goes that they appear as a symbol of evil deeds when a person has lied or sinned too much. It’s the same as the Futakuchi Onna. But they do not have the ability to kill as they merely appear on the surface of the body.”
Seeing one in an Intellectual Village was one thing, but it bothered me a bit that Jinmensou were appearing in the great metropolis of Tokyo.
Youkai disliked modern cities, so they tended to gather in rural areas. It was possible someone was forcibly altering that aspect of the Youkai so the Jinmensou would spread through these Shibuya high school girls.
The mystery freak put mustard on the hot sandwich when it arrived which made the picky master frown.
“These Jinmensou are a very serious problem when they appear in the sensitive adolescent school society. You would likely be isolated if those around you found out something that creepy had appeared on your body. ...And that goes double for a girl’s skin. They hold irresponsible dreams in regards to their skin.
“Would they really be purged like that?”
“It wouldn’t be so bad with a simple scar or burn. After all, it isn’t your fault if you get hurt. But a Jinmensou is a Youkai. And it appears in response to lies and sins. Not only does an ugly tumor several centimeters large appear, but everyone assumes it’s your fault. These people can’t help but be socially purged at an accelerated rate.”
Isolation.
Ostracism.
A student who had no place in the inescapable framework of a school might feel enough fear to end their own life.
Was that the issue the mystery freak was worried about?
No.
That did not include a “criminal” which is what she would be most interested in.
“I understand that this leaves a lot unknown about the appearance of the Jinmensou,” she continued. “But what if this is a Youkai-related Package that allows someone to freely make these face-shaped tumors appear or disappear? That would give this person the ability to ostracize any student in a school at any time. Doesn’t that sound like it would lead to crime? For example, it could be used to control the frightened girls affected by it.”
If that was true, it was indeed a problem with a great risk.
If the situation only advanced below the surface due to the restrictions of a school society, talk of it could definitely spread around without the organizations of adults learning of it.
But...
“...? What’s wrong, detective?”
“Nothing.”
I was unable to work up any motivation without a murder or a corpse and this seemed outside the usual realm of her twisted interests.
“Hm? Are you feeling unmotivated because it’s outside the jurisdiction of Department 1?”
“My job can be rather vague. You could say it’s my job to resolve any major incidents or matters that are not handled by other departments.”
And if I went back to the office, I would just be given another annoying job by the department chief.
I decided to make up a lie about feeling sick from the anxiety of suddenly going up on stage so I could avoid heading back for a while.
“Let’s do some investigation. Where should we start?”
“Shibuya, of course. I’m meeting someone there.”
“Who?”
“One of the rumored high school girls. We won’t get anywhere without first seeing one of these Jinmensou for ourselves.”
Part 6
We rode the train to the ZR Shibuya station.
“Did you meet this high school girl on the internet?”
“Yes, but I’m not entirely sure it was really a high school girl I was talking with. It might have been some group of gaudy guys who are trying to become kidnappers. That’s why I asked you to come along, detective.”
“...”
“Just as you explained in the gym today, SNSs are filled with dangers. It only makes sense to bring along some insurance. Kee hee hee.”
Please d-->>