Volume 1
Chapter 1-1
Chapter 1 – Speaking of Flags, if You Don’t Pay Them Any Notice, They’ll Snap.
Part 1
“Morning, old man Yamaguchi”
“Oh, delivering newspapers this time? You’re a bustling one Tomo-boy.”
“The Empire’s Golion Blu-Ray box set is coming out next month! Since the Nen○roid only comes with the first edition I’m desperate to get it!”(1)(2)
“Stop with the fancy words boy. I don’t understand that jargon of yours at all.”
“Well next time, I’ll be spreading the faith, so just get your prayers ready! See you around!”
After exchanging some quick morning greetings with the other regulars around the neighbourhood, I kicked my bicycle into the next gear. Following the road for a bit, I accelerated into a left turn. The view of the area opened up into a 360 panorama as I approached the descent of a steep slope.
Current Location Nickname: Detective Hill.
Going down this particular hill was like an invitation to an oasis filled with treasures; going up it however, was a 300-metre invitation to heartbreak desert. Along the road of the hill hung an old sign which read Sakashita Detective Agency. It was an object of much attention amongst grade-schoolers over the years, resulting in that particular name for the hill.
“Uoooo……”
Just as I drew close to the descent of the slope, a strong breeze came from behind, nudging both me and my bike along.
The middle of spring break had just passed. With April due to arrive tomorrow, the morning air would be less chilly. The scenery of the fluttering, dancing petals of the cherry blossom trees lining the road were already inspiring a sense of warmth in my heart. With the comfortable wind now pushing at my back, the sudden steepness of the hill led into a sudden acceleration….
“Uh-oooooooooooh!”
Although having just started the descent, I was already forced to squeeze both lever brakes with every ounce of my strength, causing me to decelerate sharply.
“Pedestrians check! Cars check! Speed check! All green!”
I paused and counted off all three with my fingers. After counting I slowly headed down the side of the road. At any rate, since last year, there’s been some strong criticism against bicycles, so much so it feels like a joke.
Anyway, as it already is, I no longer get the feeling of thrills and spills like back when I was a kid, where I’d go at full speed around corners all over town whilst competing with the cars along the road, hoping to defeat the machines. But….
“Because rules are rules, yeah.”
Well it’s not as though I’m grumbling like some old man about how hard living in the world has become. I’m not really the sort of person to complain about the downsides of life, like having an accident or something. There are other people who might be more vocal about such things. I guess that kind of thing is part of the journey to adulthood.
Anyhow, running alongside the slowly descending, dancing cherry petals is also a perfect way to enjoy the great feeling of the season.
“Aaah, the fluttering cherry blossoms feel so warm….”
Whilst still gripping the brakes with my hands, I let go of the tension in my body, gazing dreamily up at the sky. The sky was already showing all the signs of spring: white clouds faintly trailing across the bright blue sky along with the scattering pink of the cherry petals. There was also the sun, shining noticeably brighter than its diminished winter self, and the miniature moon, stubbornly hanging out there until past daybreak. As I continued gazing up at the sky, a round, unidentified flying object, larger and closer than the two heavenly bodies, flew past my sight.
“…Huh?”
A large, round, unidentified flying object soaring through the skies….
“N-no way! Is that a UFO…?”
Before I could begin to confirm my suspicions, the unknown flying object landed before me, tumbling and rolling softly on the hill. It would have been more appealing had it flown a little bit longer….
“It’s a hat…?”
It seems like the unknown flying object wasn’t a red straw hat, as I first thought, but a white beret instead. On closer inspection, I could see that the surface area of the object along with the weak wind was not enough to make it fly very far. (3)
Hm actually…wait no, colour has nothing to do with it.
And so while I was mulling over my trivial thoughts about the object….
“A,aaaaah! Please waiiittt!”
All of a sudden, the wind picked up, carrying with it an audible voice.
“Huh….”
In that moment, my body seemed to react of its own accord. Grasping the brakes of the bicycle with all my strength, I tried to look behind me, stretching as far as the muscles in my neck would allow. Without overly straining myself, I managed to see that the owner of this loud, clear-yet-delicate voice was likely at the top of the hill….
“My hat!!!”
“Ah….”
I looked back over to the top of the hill. There was a girl, around my age, standing, uncertain as to what to do. However my eyes were dazzled as they were drawn in by that white one-piece dress, those white legs, those white….
No, colour had nothing to do with all this…I think.
The girl stood there with her right arm stretched out towards the hat, which continued to roll down the hill in a dexterous manner. With her left hand she held down her hair from being blown by the wind. That being said, she lacked the hands to hold down her skirt. Well…in any case, there was the waiting owner of the hat.
“It’s gone…aah!”
“Ah….”
When her gaze turned from her distant hat back to closer surroundings, her eyes inevitably met mine. With the same seemingly troubled expression, she was now alternating her gaze between me and the hat.
“Wait up!”
“Eh?”
I did not know what that girl’s gaze was trying to say. However…well, there was an inexorable feeling about this current development, it was as though I was a surfer committed to riding the biggest waves.
“Uooooooh!”
And that’s why I’m now heading down the hill, hitting the pedals of the bicycle as hard as I can.
“Oooooooo….uoh, yeah!”
Then on second thought, I got off the bicycle, carefully putting down the foot stand.
“Here I go again uoooooooooooo!”
And, now on my own two legs, I ran down with all my might. Although doing this would compromise both my speed and style, there were no two ways about it. After all, this is in accordance with this country’s respected road etiquette when it comes to chasing after something. It’s dangerous and risky that I’m sprinting at full speed although if I did the alternative, which is to walk, I probably won’t have to go through any community service.
Hooray for Vulnerable Road Users!(4)
Translation Notes and References
1. The Empire’s Golion refers to the anime Beast King Golion (百獣王ゴライオン), a rather old mecha anime from the 1980s.
2. Nen○roid refers to Nendoroid, those little big headed figurines.
3. The Red Straw Hat Tomoya mentions is a reference to none other than Luffy from One Piece. Alternatively it could be as mentioned in the comments below a reference to a rather old anime called Kimagure Orange☆Road.
4. To clarify, Vulnerable Road Users are likely a group of people with conditions (think sickness, old age, pregnancy) which would put them at risk. Think of all the priority seating signs your public transport might have for the elderly etc.