Chapter 1

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Chapter 1

The protagonist of the story I am going to say next was a man who really amazed me.

To be honest, I am not too familiar with this man, and I never met him and talked with him. Moreover, the little information about him was all rumors. The most ridiculous thing is that he practically never appeared in this story. Even so, this is still a story that belongs to him.

His nickname was the “Bear Punch” (Bare Knuckles), and it was said that he earned this ridiculous nickname because he once beat a bear to death with his bare hands. However, that was what everyone called him as, no matter whether he was in Afghanistan, Yugoslavia or Congo. Perhaps that is because j.a.panese names are harder to p.r.o.nounce?

He used to be a mercenary that went through many countries, but retired once when he was in his thirties, the age of his physical prime. That was because, when he returned to his hometown of j.a.pan, he met a woman, and fell in love.

n.o.body granted their blessings for this romance, but they still conceived a girl. He could not engage in illegal acts while raising a child, so he decided to wash away the stench of cigarettes and the stains of blood as he settled down in Tokyo.

n.o.body knew why they chose to run a ramen store. Perhaps there might be some sort of significance to it. The history of j.a.panese ramen was that it inherited the essence of Chinese ramen, came over from the mainland, from the seas, but the soup absorbed the food cultures from all kinds of different countries, and finally became an authentic j.a.panese cuisine. Unexpectedly, this matched the background of the daughter both of them had.

However, after his wife died earlier, he abandoned his daughter and the ramen shop on a certain day and went back to the battlefield as the “Bear Punch” again. The only proof of him staying in this peaceful country, running a ramen shop, was the shutters of the shop.

His actual name was Hanada Masaru.

It was said that when he thought of using his own name as the shop’s name, his wife complain that it was too ‘primitive’, and got rid of the ‘da’ and ‘sa’. [1].

—“Ramen Hanamaru”

The story of Hanada Masaru began and ended here, at this shop with that name.

Page 12 ところで、ここのところすっかり忘れていたのだけれど、僕は高校二年生で、もうすぐ十七歳になろうとしていた。 By the way, I had forgotten all about it at that time, but I was a high school soph.o.m.ore, and was poised to become seventeen-years-old soon.

それを思い出したのは、なんと教室でクラスメイトと話している最中だった。 I remembered it in my cla.s.sroom during the midst of a conversation with my cla.s.smates.

そんな馬鹿な。 How ridiculous.

心の病気かよ。 I must have some psychological disorder.

  Page 13 でもとにかく、こんな会話だ。 But anyway, it was such a conversation.

「あとーヶ月だから、藤島くんも十月中はあんまりバイト入れないで準備手伝ってね」 "For one month more, so Fujishima-kun, I won"t be able to work part-time much during October; since I have to come over, and help with preparations"

昼休み開始のチャイムと同時に、そんな女の子の声が聞こえた。 At the same time as the chime for lunch break started, I heard the voice of such a girl.

顔を上げると、ジョートカットに気の強そうな眉に人懐っこそうな瞳が目に入る。 When I raised my face, I caught sight of a short haircut, strong-willed eyebrows and friendly looking eyes.

彩夏だった。 It was Ayaka.

僕は午前中の授業をすべて寝て過ごしていたので、頭がぼうっとしていて、話の流れがうまく呑み込めなかった。 I spent all the morning cla.s.ses sleeping, so my head was in a daze, and I was not able to take in the flow of the conversation very well.

彩夏以外の女子たちまで僕の机のまわりにわらわら集まってきた理由もわからなかった。 I did not know the reason for why Ayaka and the other girls had gathered bustling around my desk.

「・・・・・・あと一ヶ月って？」 "・・・・・・For one more month?"

なんかあんの？ Was something happening?

「話聞いててよ！またホームルームの間ずっと寝てたんでしょ、なんで藤島くんは学校に昼寝しに来るかなっ？」 "Listen to what I say! Fujishima-kin you were sleeping during homeroom again weren"t you, why did you come to school just to take a nap?"

最近トラブル続きで疲れてるんだよ、と言い返そうとしたら、脇から女子たちが口を挟む。 When I tried to retort that I was tired from the series of recent troubles, the girls interjected from the sidelines.

「昼寝っていうか朝からずっと寝てるよね」 "A nap, rather he was sleeping all morning"

「たまに放課後七時くらいまで寝てる」 "Sometimes he"ll sleep after school until around 7:00"

「体育の授業中に寝てたって聞いたけど」 "And I heard was sleeping during PE"

「マジそれすごくない？どうやるの？」 "Really, isn"t that amazing? How do you do that?

僕も知りたいよ。 I would like to know that as well.

どんだけ尾ひれつけてんだよ。 Such an exaggeration was made.

「藤島くんは寝ることに関しては才能あるんだよ」 "Fujishima-Kun is talented when it comes to sleeping"

彩夏はなぜか胸を張った。 For some reason Ayaka puffed out her chest proudly.

「いつだった、寝言であたしと会話してたもん」 "Sometime ago, I had a conversation with him while he was sleep talking"

Page 14 「起こせよそれは」 "When did that occur"

思わず他人事みたいにつっこむ。 I unintentionally made a tsukkomi as if it was another persons affairs.

「ええと。 Um. 話がそれた。 About what you were talking about. 来月？ Next month? なにかあるの？ Is something happening?」

女子たちの視線が一斉に氷河期に突入した。 The girls rushed in all at once with icey glances.

僕は机にかじりついてそれを避けつつ、必死に思い出そうとした。 While avoiding them as I was glued to the desk, I was trying to remember desperately.

今日で九月が終わるんだっけ？ Today is the last day of September right?

ええと、ちょうど一ヶ月後だとすると、十月・・・・・・十月末・・・・・・ If you think of just one month later, in October・・・・・・the end of October・・・・・・

「あ、僕の誕生日だ」 "Oh, my birthday"

「知らないよ！」 "I wouldn"t know that!"

「はいはいおめでとう」 "Yes yes congratulations"

「何歳になんの？老人ぼけ始まってるみたいだし七十七歳くらい？」 "How old are you? Since it seems like you"re an old man who"s begun going senile are you seventy-seven-years-old?

なんでここまで総攻撃されなきゃいけないんだ。 Why was an all-out attack being launched on me.

しかしここで僕はようやく思い出す。 However it finally made me remember.

もうすぐ十七歳だ。 I would be seventeen soon.

そういえば僕ってまだ高校生なんだよな。 Come to think of it I"m still a High School student am I not.

この高校に転校してきてから、一年しか経っていないんだった。 Only one year had pa.s.sed since I transferred to this high school.

話せば長いが、僕は私立探偵事務所の助手というバイトをやっている。 It"s a long story, but I"m doing a part-time work as an a.s.sistant to a private detective agency.

自分で書いた事件簿を読み返してみたら、この一年だけでなんと十回も、立派に刑事事件として立件できそうな揉め事に遭遇していた。 I reread the case files That I myself wrote, and already it seemed as if over this one year I have encountered disputes that were ten times the prerequisite for prosecution for a criminal case

高校生活はきっかり半分残っている。 Exactly half my high school life remained.

このぺースだと卒業までに十五回くらい事件に巻き込まれる計算だ。 I calculated that at this pace I would be involved with incidents about fifteen times before graduation.

なんか気が遠くなってきた。 I felt it had become something very far away.

高校卒業前に人生卒業しちゃったらどうしよう。 What would I do if I graduated life before I graduated high school.

しかし彩夏が僕の顔をのぞき込んできて現実に引き戻す。 But I was pulled back to reality when Ayaka looked into my face.

Page 15 「藤島くんのことじゃなくて十一月の三日のこと。なんの日かわかってるよね？」 "It"s not about Fujishima-Kun it"s about the 3rd of November. Do you know what day that is?"

「・・・・・・いいお産の日？」 "・・・・・・The day of good child birth?"

「文化の日だよ！いくら藤島くんがほとんどニート同然で年中休日状態で国民の祝日に疎いからって」 "The day of the Cultural Festival! Even if Fujishima-Kun is practically the same as a NEET who has the day off all year long you"re still out of touch with the current state of national holidays"

「僕には軽くボケる権利すらもないのか・・・・・・」 "Don"t I even have the right to play dumb・・・・・・"

「文化祭の日も憶えてないなんて」 "You didn"t even remember the day of the Cultural Festival"

え、文化祭？ Eh, Cultural Festival?

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