All rights reserved to Tsubako and Comico.
To read the original novel:
This is NOT an official English translation.
Translated by Sayuri (Flower Moon Translations)
Chapter 9: The Method to Skillfully Kill Him -4- (Amano and the English Literature Department)
First off, Ryouta called the police. After getting interrogated, he was given the police’s contact address in case he remembered something.
Ryouta told the police of the countless discrepancies but it didn’t even take five minutes before the conversation ended.
“How did it go?”
“It’s hopeless. It seems the investigation has ended with Kishino-san’s forced lover’s suicide. They told me that if it was this case, it was already alright. They didn’t even listen to what I said.”
“The investigation headquarters have already ceased the investigation, huh. Can’t be helped. I gave a testimony that I was confident both Hasegawa and Kishino had a romantic relationship. And they quite naturally accepted the suicide letter as it is.”
While Amano recorded down the human diagram in his notes, he gave out instructions to Ryouta concerning the schedule thereafter.
“Let’s hear from the victim’s friends. I’ll deal with Kishino’s friends, in other words, I’ll be hearing from the students of the English Literature Department. Ryouta, can you get in contact with Hasegawa’s circle of friends? It’ll be great if you can talk about the band members, and especially about that guitar.”
“Okay! Leave that to me.”
“Please be absolutely careful when getting the information. Just like the 2’oclock suspense drama or a cheap mystery novel, the next victim may in actual fact be the person who gets too close. In other words, either you or me.”
“Because we won’t know for sure who the criminal is, after all. I’ll definitely do my best to be careful.”
“After you’ve done gathering the information, let’s meet up at Kishino’s house. We might get to talk to her parents.”
“Alright. I’ll get in touch with Kishino-san’s parents.”
Once Amano parted ways from Ryouta, he headed towards the school building of the English Literature Department. It was just the right moment when the lectures have finished. He searched for a familiar-looking face inside the lecture hall then caught her as she was leaving.
“It’s been a while~ Kaneko, do you have a minute?”
“Eh? Aren’t you Amano-kun? It’s really been a long time.”
A fourth year from the English Literature Department, Kaneko Hitomi, was a person that he accepted a request from in the past.
“Thank you for that time. You really helped me out.”
“The stalker hasn’t done any harm to you anymore, has she?”
“Nope. It’s been completely fine from that time onwards. I’m really thankful.”
Kaneko was a plain girl with bob-cut style haircut and thick glasses but she had been harassed by a dominant homosexual partner. Amano had driven her away, apparently.
“Kaneko, I have a favor to ask. You must know about the incident concerning Kishino Machiko and Hasegawa Jun, right?”
As Kaneko said, ‘Yeah’, her shoulders slumped.
“What a tragic incident. There were many who got shocked within the English Literature Department.”
“Actually there’s a reason behind it but I’m investigating about Kishino. Are there any close friends of Kishino? I’d like to speak to them for a little bit.”
With a chuckle, Kaneko spoke.
“Amano-kun, you’re quite lucky, huh. Currently, inside the classroom, all the students of the English Literature Department are here.”
“Is that so? That’s assuring!”
“A girl who was close with Kishino-san, huh. Hmm. Inamato-san might be a good choice.”
Kaneko called out a girl that was still in the class and introduced her to Amano.
“This is Amano-san. He’d like to talk about Kishino-san.
Inamoto looked up towards Amano before nervously lowering her head. It was a sign that she had heard about the rumors around Amano. Looking at the appearance of the white lab coat, she became frightened. But in front of an upperclassman, even though she wanted to run away, she didn’t.
“Sorry for being too sudden but what kind of person was Kishino-san?”
“What kind of person… she was somewhat a gloomy girl. The fact that she killed a person, I really can’t believe it.”
“Is that so. This might sound frank but, does she have a habit of spouting lies?”
Inamoto showed a troubled-looking face. Even Kaneko had an unhappy expression. Amano looked at their expressions and understood.
“…She has that habit, doesn’t she?”
“…Yes.”
Inamoto while trembling in fear and looking apologetic began speaking.
“Machiko-chan had a habit of selfishly making up wild delusions of having a lover. Because of that, countless times troublesome situations happened.”
“What kind of troublesome situations had occurred?
“She would spread around deluded rumors like falling in love with an upperclassmen, classmate, or underclassmen and going out with them. She would spread the rumors to other people without hesitation…”
Kaneko lent some help.
“Kishino-san was a troublemaker of the English Literature Department. She was a tempestuous kind of person who had a tendency to fantasize false scenarios in her head like living together with a guy, talking about marriage, or even getting pregnant.”
Amano recalled Kishino’s words.
As expected, that was a farce.
Kaneko once again called out someone from the classroom.
“Hey, Yamaishi! Igarashi! Kitano! Could you come here for a moment?”
After getting called by Kaneko, three guys looking confused came.
“Amano-kun, these three were Kishino-san’s victims.”
“Victims? What do you mean by victims?”
“The ‘boyfriends’ from Kishino-san’s delusions. Even though she has never once spoken to them, she spread rumors that they were going out and followed them around.”
When the three guys heard them talking about Kishino, they showed quite sullen-looking expressions.
“I see. I’m Amano from the Medical Department. Nice to meet you.”
Amano held out his right hand towards Yamaishi. The feeble Yamaishi took it with pale and cold hands.
“Haa, hello… I’m third-year Yamaishi.”
Timidly, he shook hands with Amano.
“Was it, Igarashi-kun? I’m Amano from the Medical Department. Nice to meet you.”
“I’m Igarashi, a third year.”
Igarashi was in his own self, overwhelmingly pretty. He was a good-looking guy who could pass off as a member of Johnny’s idol boy group. He height was as tall as Amano’s. He smoothly shook hands with Amano.
“It’s Kitano-kun, right? I’m Amano from the Medical Department. Nice to meet you.”
“Ah, yes. I’m Kitano, a second year.”
Amano, in the same manner, held out his hand towards Kitano. Out of the three, he was the chubbiest. It was a rugged and firm hand that makes people wonder if there were octopus inside his fingers.
“Recently, Kishino had killed Hasegawa who she had a crush on. Was it a well-known fact?”
Kano nodded in agreement before asking Kitano.
“Kishino-san had whimsically and suddenly changed her romantic interest. Even the day it happened was unexpected. Until quite recently, she was so enthusiastic towards you, wasn’t she?”
“Yes… It was around three months ago when she had such zealous interest towards Hasegawkun. Even if I said so, somehow she probably didn’t do it the same way she did it for us.”
Amano recalled Hasegawa’s looks and compared it to the three people in front of him.
“I’d like to ask but her tastes in guys is quite inconsistent. Why was Kishino so taken in with you three?”
“I honestly do not know…”
Yamaishi tilted his head.
“I think it may be because I picked up her fallen eraser or just accidentally met eyes with her or something.”
“In your honest opinion, was Kishino disgusting?”
Amano asked nothing but rude questions, knowing that dead man tells no tales. As expected no one readily agreed and spoke out in agreement but they broke eye contact from Amano instead. While they didn’t deny it, they didn’t react favorably either.
“I don’t want you guys to think of it the wrong way but this is just to make sure. The time Hasegawa got killed, could you tell me your alibi?”
Everyone showed strange-looking expressions. Kaneko couldn’t help but ask.
“Why? Kishino-san’s the criminal, isn’t she?”
“It might not be Kishino-san.”
“W, wait a minute. Does this mean, you’re suspecting us?”
“Yeah.”
Amano spoke straight out as if it was normal.
“Even if I say so, you guys have nothing to feel guilty of, do you? After all, this is just etiquette. I’ve heard stories from you guys. Or is there something? Did you say something to Kaneko or did something bad?”
“Nothing like that really…”
“Then it’s okay, isn’t it. Tell me honestly.”
“But something like an alibi, you can’t be serious.”
“It can’t be helped. I have to inquire about the alibis.”
Amano looking superior waved a seemingly pretentious gesture. The people from the English Literature Department couldn’t help but stay silent towards the arrogant behavior.
“First off, Kaneko. What were you doing yesterday around 5PM?”
“Yesterday, around that time, I was in class…”
“How about Inamoto-san?”
“Af, after my class ended, I was on the way back home.”
“After that?”
“I was watching TV with my little sister at home.”
Amano lightly nodded before moving his gaze towards the guys.
“Yamaishi-kun, what did you do that time?”
“I, I was on the way to my part-time job.”
“What time did your part-time start and what time did it end?”
“My shift starts at 6PM and ends until 11PM…”
“How about you Igarashi-kun?”
“That day, I only had a part-time job in the morning. I was at home.”
“After that, what did you do?”
“Was it around 6PM? I met up with my girlfriend. We had a date until late at night at Shibuya.”
“How about you Kitano-kun?”
“I was on the way back home. After that, I was in my house just watching television for quite a while.”
Aside from Kaneko, the other four people showed seemingly uncomfortable faces. They didn’t have an alibi during the exact time when Hasegawa was killed.
“I see…”
Amano crossed his arms over his chest and fell silent. Grumbling to himself under his breath, he was thinking of something. Unable to resist, Kaneko nervously asked.
“Hey, Amano-kun. Is Kishino-san not the criminal?”
“…… No, isn’t it find that Kishino was decided as the criminal?”
While showing exaggerated gestures, he showed a broad grin to stir up discomfort. And to spit it all out he spoke sounding excited.
“You guys hated Kishino-san, didn’t you? I can understand that feeling. That girl was disgusting, really ugly, she smelled bad to the point noses were scrunched up… Truthfully, aren’t you relieved now that she’s passed away? To have a habit of day-dreaming fake scenarios, that’s just a nuisance. Instead, you guys are celebrating now that she’s dead, am I right?”
“Just a minute, Amano-kun. Please stop talking.”
Kaneko held back Amano, perhaps because she was in front of her underclassmen. Inamoto was silently crying, Yamaishi showed a pale face, Igarashi had on a forced smile and Kitano’s face was red as he tightly grasped both his hands and glared at Amano.
“You’ve said too much. No matter how much she was a murderer, there are good and bad things to say, you know.”
Amano exaggeratedly spread his arms before laughing.
“Ahaha! You’re right. I’ve said too much. Please don’t get offended.”
The bell chimed announcing the start of the next class. Hearing that as his signal to leave, Amano hurriedly wrapped the conversation.
“It has become quite serious. So have a nice day.”
Leaving the dumbfounded members of the English Literature Department, Amano took his leave with cheerful steps.
* * *
(T/N Finally finished this. Took a while but I’m feeling better so I finished up this chapter today! Hopefully I can fit it on more chapter today… On another note, I don’t know whether to like Amano or hate him. Hahaha)