Kami-sama no Memochou Vol 5 Chapter 1

The Origins of Hanamaru’s Soup

This was the third case that I encountered after becoming an a.s.sistant detective— In other words, it occurred after the Angel Fix uproar. As it happened when I had just started to record the cases, it was really hard to name that incident appropriately. The whole case was like the thin noodles of ramen tangled with the straps of a bra. Even though it didn’t take a long time, it was extremely confusing and idiotic. I changed the t.i.tle to the aforementioned only because of Alice’s criticism that the earlier names were too lacking and tasteless.

A lot of things did indeed happen in this period of time, but speaking from the results, it was actually just a story that happened before the ramen soup was completed.

The Yamanote Line and other private railways converged untidily at the large station near Hanamaru Ramen. One could find the shop in a dead alley with bad airing between short buildings just six minutes from the station on foot. As soon as night fell, salarymen would gather here, crowding up the shop in an instant, while the leftover customers would have to claim foldable chairs or overturned crates outside the shop— that was how the shop was.

Although the owner’s skills improved substantially recently, it was still really hard to say that the shop’s ramen was ‘tasty’ even in politeness. One of the reasons that this shop could still barely continue its business in such bad conditions was because the ice cream that the owner made due to personal interest was exceptionally scrumptious, and another was because the owner’s b.r.e.a.s.t.s were really large. Well, that was what I personally think, anyway.

Min-san, the owner of the ramen shop, was a young woman. Standing in the kitchen, she kept her long hair in a ponytail, her chest wrapped in a sarashi, and a long ap.r.o.n tied around her waist, covering the tank top she was wearing. n.o.body knew Min-san’s real name and age. A rude customer once asked for her age, and she promptly beat the person up. An even ruder customer asked for the size of her bra, and she said ‘I don’t buy these things’, and beat the person up. And I had to wash bowls and cut onions beside such a person, earning a daily pay of 700 yen with my life on stake.

Speaking of which, I would occasionally think of this— Is working under a person whose name you don’t know really in line with social norms? The school rules stated explicitly that part time jobs were forbidden, so I never mentioned this at school, and added with the fact that both of my parents weren’t at home, while my sister who was in charge of looking after me was a permissive person, she didn’t have anything to say even if I didn’t return for two days— To put it bluntly, n.o.body actually cares who I work for at all.

This was what Alice told me when I mentioned this to her.

“I do not know Master’s name as well, but I know her father’s name. Her father was Hanada Masaru, the exact same name as the 66th yokozuna, it seems. At first, he planned to use his name directly as the shop’s name, but someone said that the name sounded weak, and so he removed the tones of ‘da’ and ‘sa’ [1], thus forming the current name ‘Hanamaru’— that is how things are said to be, but I cannot affirm to its validity.”

On the third floor of the building with the ramen shop, there was a room with a signboard saying ‘NEET Detective Agency’, while the owner of the room was this strange girl who called herself Alice. The room had air-conditioners going strong in all seasons, while the walls were full of computers and equipment. The low hum of machines functioning shrouded the whole room. A large bed was at the center of the room, while the girl who wore teddy-patterned pajamas, had long black hair and large doll-like eyes, Alice, usually sat on the bed with her slender legs extended.

I got to know Alice because of the incident that happened in winter. From that time on, I was in charge of sending ramen to the picky hikkikomori girl’s room, making her eat them all up. Unknowingly, it seemed to have turned into my daily routine as well.

“Why do you only know her father’s name?”

I estimated the time for Alice to finish her ramen, took out a can of Dr. Pepper and handed it to her while asking.

“Why? Because he is the person who signed the rental contract! Of course his name is on the contract.”

“…… Contract? Oh…… So Min-san’s dad is the owner of this building?”

So that’s why a ramen shop that had long got out of fashion was here…… Just when I finally understood slightly, Alice spoke:

“No no, I am the owner of the building.”

I nearly fell on my back.

“Why are you so surprised? If I am not the owner, can I still modify the room and install surveillance cameras as I like? You’ll know this just by using your brain a little.”

Giving me a disdainful look, Alice shrugged and pointed at the sixth small monitor arranged by her bed. The monitor was connected to the high-functionality surveillance cameras recording at all times that were set up around the building. Indeed, disregarding those in her own room, setting these things outside the room as she liked was a bit overboard……

“Seriously, you really lack common sense of the community.”

You as a hikkikomori don’t have any right to say that! But I couldn’t talk back, and thus stayed mute.

“Strictly speaking, I did not sign the contract with Hanada Masaru-shi directly as well. He was already living here when I took over the building with illegal means.”

You took over the building with illegal means……? Then I think it’s better not to ask how.

“…… Which means, you kept living on the rent for the rooms, huh?”

I nodded in understanding. After all, I thought that the source of income for this hikikomori girl was a mystery from a long time before. However, Alice immediately flew into a rage when she heard my words.

“What sort of rude comment was that! The rent for the building is directly deposited into the account of the legal owner, and I never even touched it! I just required an office! Although I know that your brain of sponge will not comprehend this no matter how many times I speak of it, let me speak of this once again— I work as a NEET detective, and earn a considerable amount of pay as a detective!”

“Sorry, it’s my fault, I apologize!”

Seeing that an empty Dr. Pepper can was about to fly over, I hurriedly covered my head and maintained a low position. The girl in pajamas is really a prideful (self-proclaimed) detective.

“Actually, it is fine with me even if I don’t collect rent for Master’s store, but she is a prideful ramen shop owner as well. Even if we don’t know each other’s true names, we still respect each other very much. That is why I allow her to meaninglessly continue depositing rent into the account of a sh.e.l.l company.”

Speaking of which, I don’t think I know Alice’s real name either. I just heard that her name was Yuuko……

“Even so…… With your capabilities, aren’t you able to find out Min-san’s real name with just a little investigation?” I asked randomly while looked at the machine rack that loomed so tall behind her that they almost covered the whole wall.

“She never spoke of her name, which means she has no intention of letting me know. Don’t you even know the concept of privacy?”

“A person who steals files from other people everywhere online doesn't really have the right to say that to me……”

“That is all the more reason I cannot investigate! Even in her room, the NEET Detective can still search the whole world. Before such a detective, every personal message is like a naked body. That is why I must decide on a boundary that I must follow with my strong will.”

“You don’t say……” You’re saying it like it’s real.

“Of course, there is some privacy that I do not respect. For instance, the names of the anime that you rented at Tatsuya[2] yesterday are all in my grasp. Although I cannot say that it’s bad taste, the standard of moral ethics is really baffling as people under eighteen are actually able to rent videos with such content……”

“GYAAAH, you wait just one minute!”

In a huge shock, I frantically grabbed the edge of the bed.

“Is my personal privacy really that meaningless!”

“Didn’t you rent the videos along the way when you went out yesterday to buy things for me? I only started investigation because you came back too late. This is an evident case of laziness while on duty!”

“Ngh…… But you didn’t have to check out even the contents!”

“If I did not investigate the contents thoroughly, I would have been unable to berate you effectively!”

“Aren’t you just looking for a fight? And how was I lazy while on duty! Is even going out on errands for you my job as well?”

“Is that wrong? From a long time ago, the job of an a.s.sistant detective was already to run errands for the detective and being bullied by the detective to reduce the detective’s stress!”

I weakly fell onto my knees. That’s right, I’m indeed this person’s a.s.sistant. Although I had no other choice due to various circ.u.mstances, currently, I regret it very much— and I don’t have a pay as well.

“You’re getting better at talking back recently, so it’s worth it for me to bully you. I’m really happy, you know! After all, you’re the only person who visits me here everyday like this.”

While saying that, Alice rested her chin on her raised kneecaps, her words completely unsuited with the innocent smile on her face. Seeing her look, I couldn’t say anything more as well.

Late that night, I packed away the portiere and lowered half of the steel gate. When I was noisily washing the plates and bowls, Min-san walked in from the kitchen door while carrying a cardboard box.

“Narumi, stay here for tonight.”

“…… What?”

“I’m changing the soup for the ramen. We’re going to cook soup the whole night!”

The cardboard box fell onto the desk with a ‘thud’. Inside, there were onions, carrots, dried mushrooms and thick rib bones. After that, Min-san took off her tank top, leaving only her sarashi on her upper torso— She entered battle mode.

“Um…… But I still have to go to school tomorrow……”

“You can stay at my place for the night. I already called your sister. She even said that this will save her a meal’s worth of money!”

What’s wrong with this diplomacy without regard for the party concerned!

“Is it possible…… that you’re asking me to go to school tomorrow directly from here? No no no, how can this be possible……”

“That’s fine, you can bathe at my place.” Min-san said while pointing at the door exiting the kitchen. The interior of the ramen shop connected directly to her room. Erm…… But it’s inconvenient in a lot of ways for young men and women to stay together under a roof for a night…… Can you please not do this, Aneki!

“…… Why are you changing the soup all of a sudden?”

I asked cautiously. Min-san stopped peeling the onions and glared at me.

“Do you remember the customer who came in at about eight tonight and ordered miso ramen? The one on the chair at the side.”

I pondered for a moment and remembered the customer that she spoke of.

“The one wearing shades?”

“That’s right. I saw him at the shop for the first time last week. It’s the third time this week.”

“Well aren’t you clear about this……”

“That guy ordered soy sauce, salt-flavored and miso ramen in turn, but he actually left them alone after just one mouthful. Although I don’t know what person he is, but an action like that is just plain challenging me!”

If he thought that it was bad after just a mouthful, he shouldn’t have came back again. That person was indeed rather mystifying, but how did she see that as a challenge?

However, I did not have any room for rebuke. After all, I owed Min-san too much, and even if that weren’t so, this person wouldn’t have talked things over with me nicely as well. After all, she was an action-type person who would first beat people up to shut them up.

I sighed and took out a new soup pot from under the desk to wash it.

It was already late night when I heard that noise. I was sitting before the large pot that was stewed by a gentle fire, weakly stirring the ingredients inside.

I raised my head and looked around the dark ramen shop. The aroma of the rib bones soup was almost suffocating, and only sounds of showering water came from behind me. Min-san handed me the job of looking after the pot when she went to bathes, but I started to doze off during that time.

An odd noise rang out with the sound of water once again. At first, I thought that it was Min-san’s footsteps— but the sounds of the shower did not stop, and the direction of the noise wasn’t right as well.

The sound came from the deepest part of the corridors, the direction of the front door—

And it was approaching the sounds of showering?

I was shocked. In the house— someone else was there.

I lightly rose from the round stool, took off my shoes and walked towards the dark corridors, exiting through the kitchen door. An orange light was lit a few steps in front. It came from the bathroom. Apart from that, there was a shadow blocking the light from the bathroom, stirring at the entrance of the changing room.

I was in too much shock to remember that the wall was just behind me, and took a step back without further thought. With a ‘thud’, a light impact came behind me. A sound of something falling came by my foot as well. It was a beer bottle— and not waiting for me to remember the fact, the shadow already jumped.

“…… W- Who’s there!”

As though blasted away by my voice, the shadow almost flew away. The footsteps were devoured by the darkness in the corridors in an instant. The sound of the front door being roughly pushed open broke the spell. I finally came to my senses and chased the silhouette.

The door was still open. Outside, it was the parking lot at nighttime. The light of the streetlights barely shone in the s.p.a.ce surrounded by buildings at three sides, and the silhouette just now had long disappeared without a trace.

He escaped. I weakly knelt on the cement floor of the entrance. What person was that? A thief?

“— What’s wrong?”

Sounds of speaking suddenly rang behind me, and I hurriedly turned around in shock, but instead stumbled into a sitting position on the floor.

Min-san’s face was just before me, a red flush on her skin after her bath. As she bent down to look at me with only a towel on, those b.r.e.a.s.t.s…… Um…… Wouldn’t it be harmful for your health if you keep things of that size wrapped in a sarashi? No, now isn’t the time to think about that, I have to calm down.

“Well….. W- Why don’t you put on some clothes first?”

“Nn? But it’s really hot recently!”

Stop fanning yourself by pulling on the towel before your chest!

I first locked up the front door before pushing Min-san into the corridors to explain what happened just now.

“…… A thief?” Min-san wiped her hair with a raised eyebrow. “I don’t even have anything valuable to steal over here!”

Shouldn’t you be more concerned of your own safety? Someone actually barged in while you were stark naked! This person really didn’t have any sense of danger……

“Anyway, we’ll have to do some investigations. And also, please lock the front door well!”

“I did lock it! And besides, n.o.body even uses the door over there.”

That’s true. If so, where did that guy come in from?

“Ahhhhh!” Min-san suddenly cried out when she returned to the changing room.

“What happened?”

Her eyes burning with the flames of fury, Min-san rushed out and finally crashed into me.

“My sarashi that I left there to dry disappeared!”

The next afternoon.

“Narumi? You look really bad. Didn’t you sleep?”

Tetsu-senpai asked the instant he saw me cleaning up the road in front of the ramen shop.

“…… Really? I was sleeping through every period……”

Recently, I kept thinking of why I go to school.

“Just hurry up and drop out! It’ll be a miracle if you can move up successfully.”

Although I was rather unwilling to admit it, Tetsu-senpai was right. After all, I barely went to school during the third semester, so it was not easy at all for me to pa.s.s the make-up exam that was like a raging hurricane.

“You can always ask me if you want to know how to drop out! After becoming a NEET, you can sleep until noon everyday, and that’s better for the health as well!”

“It seems like senpai is healthy every day……”

Tetsu-senpai dropped out of the high school I am currently studying at three years ago. It is said that he was once a boxer. This person had brown skin, a thick chest, while his exposed arms were unbelievably muscular. I met him for the first time in November last year, and he was in this short-sleeved get up through the whole winter. The few people who usually haunted the ramen shop were usually oblivious to the seasons when it comes to their clothing, and senpai was one of them.

“Master, I’m starved today, so I’ll gobble up even failed works! Anything good to eat?”

Tetsu-senpai triumphantly strolled into the ramen shop that was in preparation stage and there still weren’t any customers, but ran out immediately after being roared at by Min-san: “SHUTUPANDGETOUTYOUJOBLESSb.u.mINDEBT!”

“…… Say, she seems to be in a particularly bad mood today. Did anything happen?”

Senpai hurriedly pulled me to the special seat made of worn out tires, gasoline tanks and plastic baskets for beer that was at the back of the ramen shop and continued his questions.

“And also, why is Master’s sarashi blue today? What’s that?”

“Ah— That? I heard that it was a piece of cloth left over from the portiere. Well, her sarashi went missing.”

Tetsu-senpai tilted his head in puzzlement, and I had no other choice but to explain things that occurred the day before. After hearing my words, an expression that was between a wry smile and confusion surfaced on his face. It was rather strange.

“I say, that person…… probably wasn’t a thief, but a stalker, isn’t he?” He said, “ If he wanted to steal something, he would’ve ran off when he heard sound of water from the bathroom. Not only run away, he would’ve probably be afraid of coming in if he saw lights in the bathroom, wouldn’t he?”

That sounded reasonable.

“Did you see his face?”

“It was rather dark in the house that time……”

Judging from build, it was probably a man.

“Master, did he sneak a peek in the bathroom?”

Tetsu-senpai poked his head through the kitchen backdoor.

“No matter how dense I am, I would have noticed if someone was peeking from the door, okay!”

“Shouldn’t that count as failing to peek? But why would he steal a sarashi of all things?”

“Yeah, when you mention it……”

Min-san’s hands that were cutting the cabbage suddenly stopped. She raised her head to stare at thin air.

“My sarashi going missing seemed to have happened last week as well. I even thought that I mistakenly threw it away that time.”

Wait a minute. That means—

Tetsu-senpai and I met gazes. At these times, senpai’s movements would be especially quick. He immediately took out his cellphone and started dialing.

“…… Is this Alice? Yeah, it’s me. Have you heard of Master’s issue? Not yet? Is that so, uh huh……”

He quickly explained the entire matter.

‘I understand. Call Major and Hiro over right away. Tell Master to come over to the office when the two of them reaches.’

After saying that, Alice hung up.

“Vice-admiral Fujishima, it’s been a while! I heard that you’ve successfully advanced in your education, is that true?”

After thirty minutes, those were the first words that Major spoke to me when he reached Hanamaru Ramen on his scooter. And the Vice-admiral Fujishima that he spoke of would be me.

Although Major was the same age as Tetsu-senpai, he was of a much smaller stature than I, and his skin was white and smooth like that of a primary student. That day, he was wearing his camouflage shirt and hat with baggy military trousers that had loads of pockets. A pair of goggles-styled gla.s.ses hung on his neck.

“Vice-admiral Fujishima, I’m so disappointed in you! Getting red in five subjects is an incredible chance! Not having any experience of staying the year will set you back on being an excellent NEET!”

“No, I'm not planning to be a NEET at all!”

“What are you talking about! Vice-admiral Fujishima, you don’t have any choice other than being a NEET in the future, you know that as well, don’t you?”

“Yeah yeah, hurry up and get upstairs! Alice is asking for you.”

Major’s b.u.t.t was kicked by Tetsu-senpai, and he reluctantly walked into the gorge between the buildings, clambering up the emergency stairs. I could only sigh. For some reason, these people kept thinking of pulling me into the path of a NEET. Having school attendance that barely pa.s.sed the school rules and five subjects to retake for the semester finals— does my future really look so dim to the others like this? Perhaps that’s exactly it in the others’ eyes, huh? But that was a given.

“It’s best if Master and Narumi goes as well.”

Hearing Tetsu-senpai’s words, Min-san and I glanced at each other, some distance apart.

“Why must I go as well?”

“You’re the victim! And Narumi’s the eyewitness! You might notice something if you see the video recording. Just leave the shop to me!”

“I’m making a new soup!”

“Which one is more important, your own safety or the soup?”

“The soup, of course!”

Seeing that a mystifying fight was about to occur, I hurriedly wedged myself between them.

I explained to Min-san that it probably wouldn’t take a long time and finally convinced her to head to Alice’s office with me.

Major sat on the cramped s.p.a.ce before the bed with his laptop computer open, and was talking to Alice about something. The moment we stepped into the room, Alice immediately raised her head.

“Why h.e.l.lo there, Master. It’s been a while since you came to my house…… Waaa!”

Min-san unhesitatingly walked to the bed and pushed Major away, extended her arm to pa.s.s through Alice’s armpits and raised her small body.

“W- What are you doing! Hurry up and put me down!”

“Why didn’t you grow at all? Did you really eat everything obediently? I even secretly put some more meat in them lately!”

“What? That is just too despicable! Everyone has a size suited for themselves, so don’t think that you can increase their volume just by adding carbohydrates!”

Alice struggled frantically with her feet bare, but since she was a weak hikkikomori, she was still raised high in the air for quite some time.

“Whatever, I’ll slowly increase the portion for the food after this anyway. Narumi, you’re in charge of making her eat them all up!”

With that, Min-san finally put Alice down on her bed, while Alice puffed out her cheeks in displeasure.

“So? What did you call me up for?”

“We’re searching for the images recorded by the surveillance cameras.” Major answered while his eyes were still glued to the monitor. “You said that there was a thief before this as well, didn’t you? How long ago was that?”

“A long long time ago! Do you still have a record of something that happened such a long time ago?”

“We have records of the latest two months!” Major answered triumphantly. It was said the surveillance camera system was made by Alice and Major.

“Hmm…… When was that again? I seem to recall that it was last week……?”

“It’ll take a long time if you can’t remember it. After all, it’s really hard to determine a range for the search on the screen.”

“Ah! I remember now! It was the day when the guy with shades came for salt-flavored ramen. That night, I went back to the shop again to try making soup after washing my clothes, and it went until late night.”

“The guy with shades? Who’s that?”

“Oh nothing, just a customer who annoyed me somewhat.”

That was how Min-san answered.

I suddenly felt a sense of strangeness.

The intruder— a.s.suming that the one who stole the sarashi the first time was the same one— had twice broken in on a night when the peculiar customer who ordered ramen but only ate a mouthful showed up.

What sort of relationship existed between the two? No, the man with shades was rather stocky. I thought back on the thief that I saw in the darkness. Although his facial features couldn’t be clearly seen, from his overall silhouette, it was indeed quite far apart from that customer.

“Didn’t it happen on Thursday?” “What time did that happen?” “G.o.d knows!” Can you recognize that person from the video?” “You didn’t film the shop, how do I know?”

Min-san poked her head out from behind Major while muttering.

“The entrance of Min-san’s house and the shop…… wasn’t filmed?” I tried to ask Alice.

“Didn’t I already say this? I respect personal privacy a lot. Besides, these surveillance cameras are here to prevent uninvited guests from coming to my house, so nothing is filmed except for the road outside and the area near the stairs.

Alice shrugged.

In the end, the recording was only seen about once before Min-san’s limited patience was used up. Nothing of value was discovered. Thus, she left Major and went back to the shop.

“Why you, who gave you permission to eat it?”

In the kitchen, Tetsu-senpai was holding a steaming bowl, causing Min-san to explode the instant she saw him. So Tetsu-senpai cooked some ramen to eat…… Oh please, and you actually put so much chashu!

“What matter does that make! Just treat it as my pay for taking care of the shop.”

“It matters a whole lot! And you actually ate my new work? I haven’t even tasted it myself!”

Tetsu-senpai lightly evaded Min-san’s lashing fists, finishing up the food in the bowl in an instant. As expected of an ex-boxer.

“Thanks for the meal!”

“Blast……”

After kicking Tetsu-senpai out of the kitchen, Min-san took out two new bowls, poured soy sauce soup and broth, making two bowls of soup.

“Narumi, you try it as well.”

“Ah…… Okay.”

I moved to the outer side of the counter and sat down by Tetsu-senpai’s side. After that, I picked up the spoon and swallowed a mouthful.

“…… Hmm—“

The fresh taste of kelp and fragrance of dried mackerels immediately spread out in my mouth, so it wasn’t really bad. But even though it wasn’t bad……

“How is it? Say it clearly!”

It was really a taste hard to comment on. Min-san picked up the bowl for a sip as well, and her mouth immediately bent into a へ.

The one who first broke the silence was Tetsu-senpai.

“If you’re aiming at a j.a.panese flavor…… Your old man made it better.”

Min-san’s shoulders shook visibly. As she had her head lowered with a bowl in her hands, the expression on her face couldn’t be clearly seen.

“This new soup is probably made in imitation of your old man, isn’t it? I think the previous soup tastes better.”

Min-san neither got angry nor rebuked him, but just poured away the soup in the bowl. I was rooted to my original spot, and could only look at the expressions of the two in turn.

Her old man’s soup?

Min-san wasn’t a talkative person, but she once talked to me about her father as well. I heard that her father suddenly left her daughter and the ramen shop, disappearing just like that. Because of that, Min-san gave up on her dream to become an ice cream chef, choosing to inherit Hanamaru Ramen instead.

It was a long time after that when I came to the shop. That was why I could not know what kind of taste the soup had when Min-san’s father was the chef there.

“— Narumi, what do you think?”

My gaze fell on the amber soup in the bowl, and I raised my head to look at Min-san after that.

“The taste doesn't seem well-matched…… But that might be because I was looking at the process of its production, so I just had this feel that I could recognize the ingredients inside.”

But there wasn’t any ‘ramen soup’ feel.

“Is that so……”

Min-san pursed her lips in slight self-deprecation, took down the large pot from the stove and poured the whole pot of soup and ingredients away. For a moment, the kitchen was filled with thick puffs of heat.

“So I just can’t make it as good as my old man’s! And I never asked for the recipe and method as well……”

While stuffing the remains of the soup into a plastic bag, Min-san said while shaking her head.

“But my old man probably never thought I would take over the shop as well……”

“So that’s why?”

“Ever since I entered a confectionery school, he seemed to have given up already, and never mentioned the matter at all. He probably thought that it didn’t matter any more. Both me and the shop, we didn’t matter to him anymore……”

It didn’t matter anymore……

So that was why he suddenly left everything and went missing? Well, I can’t say that I’m really clear of the process of Min-san’s father going missing as well.

“He might just come back one day!”

Tetsu-senpai muttered. Min-san smiled while shaking her head.

“He won’t come back anymore! It’s already been five years. He might not even remember me anymore. Or he might have died long ago!”

That was the first time I saw Min-san wearing a lonely expression.

That night, when the seats in the shop were all full and the customers were bursting out of the shop, Hiro-san hurriedly rushed into Hanamaru Ramen.

“I heard that Min-san got targeted by a stalker?”

A customer nearly stood up, another nearly spat out his ramen, while another spilled his teacup. Min-san’s hand that was holding the kitchen knife stopped, and she stared blankly at Hiro-san, who was standing at the shop entrance.

That day, Hiro-san was wearing a beige blazer with a Polo shirt and a single-colored tie. As usual, his trendy get-up was completely out of place in the ramen shop far away from the busy districts. Actually, this person was just a NEET who was the same age as Tetsu-senpai and Major.

“…… What are you talking about? Hurry up and scram to the back. Don’t bother the customers over here.” Min-san said in annoyance.

“Isn’t Hiro-san a bit late?”

Major just left Alice’s office and poked his head in from the backdoor.

“Sorry, I was driving the ladies who were drinking with me last night back to Chiba, and just came back. Ah! Sheesh, so Tetsu is here as well?”

Hiro-san said while moving to the back of the ramen shop.

Three sides of the dark s.p.a.ce behind the ramen shop was surrounded by buildings, while there were gas tanks, old tires, plastic baskets and a wooden stand that was a replacement for a table there. It had long turned into the gathering spot for NEETs.

“So the idiots are all here?”

Min-san shook her head somewhat unhappily. But since they were customers as well, I pushed the back door open and took their orders.

“Narumi, why don’t you sit down as well! We’re starting our tactical meeting.”

“Ack!”

Tetsu-senpai pulled my ap.r.o.n and forced me to sit down on the gas tank.

“But…… I still have to work……”

“As there was a limited number of surveillance cameras, we just couldn’t get a clear image……”

Completely ignoring my protests, Major started to explain by himself. Hiro-san and Tetsu-senpai leaned forward as well, staring at the laptop computer on the center of the wooden stand.

“I’m checking out a silhouette that kept loitering near the ramen shop these two weeks. He always appeared at night, about one in the morning.”

“But his face couldn’t be seen?”

“Well, the distance was too far, and the light was too dim!”

I took a look from behind at the video taken as well. Videos of the surroundings of the building appeared in a few windows, and almost all of them were so dark that they were really unclear. Only the legs of the person spying in the shadows of the opposite building shone on by the streetlights could barely be seen, or a few unnatural shadows moving in the darkness.

“Is that really the stalker?” Tetsu-senpai asked.

“Hiro-san, you understand stalkers very well, don’t you?”

“Of course! Night club ladies and those in the ‘special’ profession always face them! I even met a few stalkers directly when I stayed at women’s houses before this as well.”

As expected of a gigolo.

“Min-san, have you ever received any silent phones recently? Or did you see anything strange in your mailbox?”

Hiro-san directed his question into the kitchen through the backdoor. Say, if there were really such obvious movements, Min-san should have realized that there was a stalker no matter how dense she was. Just when I was thinking that, Min-san answered directly:

“Silent phones? Ah…… I’m getting those quite often recently.”

What did you say?

“And also…… I found a lot of my photos in my letterbox as well.”

That reeks of a stalker no matter how you look at it! I could almost hear everyone doing tsukkomis in their hearts. Seriously, why does this person ignore abnormal situations like this completely?

“W- Wait a minute, you said photos…… What kind of photos are they?” Hiro-san started to get anxious.

“Nn? Nothing really……. Just some photos of myself working in the shop or going out to buy stuff occasionally! Who on earth would take photos like this? There are really some strange people who would really do meaningless things like this.”

“It seems like the opposing party’s stealthy photo-taking skills aren’t much…… Hmph! An unprofessional stalker!”

Major muttered to himself somewhat triumphantly. Can you please not feel triumphant because of things like this!

“Oi, you bunch of jobless b.u.ms, hurry up and let Narumi come back for his work if you’re not ordering! There’s almost a hill of cutlery here now!”

Min-san roared.

“But we can’t pretend we don’t know anything in such a situation……”

Hiro-san lowered his voice. He was right, it was already an obvious criminal act.

“Do we need to call the cops?” Major asked somewhat unhappily.

“A stalker doesn’t count as a stalker if the party concerned didn’t notice him, does he?”

“So that’s why the few of us have to think of something!”

“But that person doesn’t seem like she would give us a request! She doesn’t feel like she’s a victim at all, does she?”

These people who took pride in being hardcore NEETS— although they would be bored to death without a job, they would only take action when they received a request. Or else, they would rather mutter in a dark alley, c.o.c.king their ears to listen to the voice of the city.

Thus, the gazes of the three naturally focused on myself.

Ah, here we go again……

Now that I think of it, that time, I still wasn’t accustomed to my role as an a.s.sistant detective, and seemed to be always given troublesome jobs. (Um, why does that still seem to be the case right now?)

I returned to the kitchen with the gazes of the trio outside completely focused on my back. I picked up the sponge and started to clean the bowls in the sink while asking softly.

“Erm…… Min-san……”

“What!”

Min-san was staring at the ramen dancing in the water with a solemn gaze.

“Wouldn’t it be better if you request Alice and the three to look into this?”

“Look into what?”

“And you’re asking me what to look into…… Didn’t your house get broken in recently?”

“I’ll lock the doors and windows properly! If they can still break in even so, wouldn’t beating them up suffice?”

I could only sigh. As I saw Min-san knocking out four drunken thugs looking for trouble with my own eyes, I knew that the reasoning of ‘a woman living alone will often encounter dangerous situations’ could not convince her.

So what should I do?

I pondered for some time and finally steeled myself to speak.

“…… Your sarashi…… Wasn’t it stolen?”

Min-san’s brows furrowed when she heard those words when she was piling up a small hill of onions and bean sprouts.

“Right now, the offender must be using the sarashi in disastrous matters.”

“Huh? What kind of disastrous matters?”

“…… Say, something like picking it up and sniffing it?”

Min-san’s expression changed visibly.

“Shut up! Why are you saying such disgusting things!”

“Sheesh! So the thief only stole her sarashi?” a frequent customer with his face red because of the consumption of two bottles of beers started to laugh. As the shop was quite small, even conversations in a low voice could be clearly heard by the customers on the counters.

“So that’s why you’re wearing a sarashi with color?”

Another frequent customer on the neighboring seat stared at Min-san’s b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

“That’s true……. Stealing a thing like that, it can’t be used in any way other than sniffing it……”

“For me, I’ll sniff it as well.”

“If it’s Min-san’s, count me in.”

After gulping down alcohol, the drunken customers started to say so one after another. Min-san cried out with her face green:

“Why are everyone saying that! Shut up, it’s really gross!”

“I……” want to sniff too— I nearly said that out loud with them, but fortunately stopped myself in time. I won’t do something like that. Of course not.

After that, Min-san stayed silent, but would occasionally lower her head to look at her b.r.e.a.s.t.s while cooking ramen. It seemed like my words had an effect on her.

But I really couldn’t say it was something to show off for.

Min-san only muttered while keeping the poached eggs in a container when the customers on the seats gradually left, and the peak hour of business pa.s.sed.

“…… I get it already! If you can find a way, do whatever you like!”

Just when I was about to forward the words to them after opening the door, Tetsu-senpai, Major and Hiro-san had long stood up energetically. Hiro-san held his cellphone by his ear and was happily talking on the phone: “Oh, Alice? Yeah, it’s me. Min-san gave us the request. Yeah, we’re starting right away…… Yep, yep, we’re counting on you then.” Seriously, so these loafers kept eavesdropping with their ears perked up?

Anyway, the NEET Detective Squad started moving just like that. That was on the second night after the incident happened.

Speaking of which, though they started their movements, I didn’t have any particular task. I still had to go to the ramen shop after school as usual, stay up to accompany Min-san who was making a new soup, send food to Alice, and being bullied by her along the way.

“It’s natural that an a.s.sistant detective is like this! The word ‘useless’ is included in its definition as well.”

Alice said such overboard things without even batting an eyelid.

“And also, do not think that you can contribute anything to the world. Perhaps you care for this world very much, but this world actually does not particularly care for you.”

Holding a can of Dr. Pepper, Alice waved her sockless legs on her bed while sneering at me.

“That thought is really too much……”

I leaned my back on the side of the fridge and sat on the floorboards while stirring the vanilla ice cream with cranberry sauce in the paper cup, muttering to myself in despair.

“But this is the truth! Humans can only grow after learning about this. Well, many people do not realize this in their whole lives, dying in vain just like that as well……”

If so, continuing to be an innocent child seems fine as well. Speaking of which, why must my life be criticized by a hikkikomori NEET like this?

“It’s okay, Narumi. Even if everything else in this world ignores your existence, only I will still be worried for you.”

Those words really couldn’t help but make people’s hearts accelerate, but Alice continued after that:

“After all, if you do not come here anymore, I will have to get the Dr. Pepper from the fridge by myself.”

I sighed and leaned my head on the fridge.

“You can pick a better way of saying things if you want to console me. Do I really have nothing else that I can do?”

“I was not consoling you, but merely describing the truth. That’s right, hand the ice cream over after you finish stirring it!”

I somewhat unhappily handed the paper cup containing ice cream to Alice. The girl in pajamas really had weak arms, as the action of stirring the hard ice cream with a spoon was enough to make her breathless.

“Try thinking of the conditions that G.o.d bestowed upon you that Tetsu, Major and Hiro does not have. Please do use your brain sometimes.”

Conditions that the three did not have, and was only owned by me.

I thought for awhile and thought of something.

“…… Only I am working at the ramen shop?”

“Exactly. Which means, you are the closest with the target that we are protecting. Well, although you had next to no effect when the intruder appeared last time…… That is why I am telling you to keep your ears peeled, eyes open and focus on washing the dishes. If you notice anything or see any strange people, tell me immediately.”

After that, I remembered the odd customer in shades that only came ate a mouthful after ordering miso ramen who came to the shop on the day the burglar appeared. Speaking of which, it seemed like I had not mentioned that to Alice yet.

“Although this might be somewhat unrelated—“

When I spoke of the matter, Alice’s brows immediately twitched.

“You…… Why did you not speak of this earlier! Your denseness makes me speechless. The decay of protons is fast compared with the speed of your brain moving. On what basis do you judge that the person is irrelevant to the matter? How do you know without further investigation? If you continue to keep your mouth tightly closed like a clam……”

“I’m sorry……”

If I left her alone, I would probably get a twenty minutes scolding, so I could only interrupt Alice and apologize, while she immediately turned her head around to face the monitor.

“Anyway, I will have to search first. Although a recording of the shop premise does not exist, he should be captured on a surveillance camera when he enters or exits. As we can lock on to a date and time, things will be much simpler.”

It was already over five in the evening when I left the detective agency and returned to the lower floor. Min-san was about to flip the wooden sign on the door with ‘In Preparation’ to ‘Open Now’, while by her side was Major, who was unusually early. He knelt on the floor, holding a peculiar gadget that looked like a mini magnifying gla.s.s, checking out the sliding door of the ramen shop entrance.

“Major, what are you doing?”

“Investigating the invasion route of the criminal.”

It takes a thief to catch a thief, the words suddenly floated into my mind.

“He didn’t come in from the shop, because I was sitting right over there that time.”

I pointed at the counter.

“You were probably dozing off while sitting there, weren’t you?”

Min-san was spot on, and I could only shrink my neck.

“Hmm, he would probably be filmed on the surveillance camera if he came in from the front, so it’s actually quite impossible. But to be sure, it’s best if we check it out.”

Major spoke while standing up.

“The door at the back didn’t have any sign of being pried open as well…… Min-san, have you ever dropped your keys?”

“But all of my keys are here.”

“Then perhaps he came in from the windows? How puzzling…… Vice-admiral Fujishima, did the suspect immediately throw the front door open and scarper? Did he take a long time to open the door?”

“Well……” I tried hard to recall the situation that night. “He did indeed open the door to run away right away.”

“If one chose to climb in from the windows, an expert of illegal infiltration like me will definitely affirm a route of escape, that is common sense. But to a guy who’s spying on people when he couldn’t even take photos without permission…… It’s hard to imagine that he has such intelligence!”

Hey hey hey, I won’t pretend I never heard that, you know? A person like you…… actually avoided capture up till today, you’re just too lucky.

“In any case, let’s strengthen the security first! We can start by pasting anti-theft film and installing an anti-theft bolt on the windows. It’s safer to change the lock of the front door as well.”

“The front door?”

Min-san crouched through the counter to return to the kitchen and frowned when she was tying up her ap.r.o.n.

“The lock of the front door…… can’t be changed.”

“Why? Even though the lock didn’t have any signs of being pried open, such an outdated spring lock is still very unsafe!”

“Just don’t. Do whatever you want with the windows, just don’t touch the front door.”

Min-san’s tone was rather stern. Major and I exchanged glances. Why? Was it because she didn’t want to deal with it due to being troublesome? But the landlady was Alice, so we didn’t need to tell her all of the details at all. Besides, wouldn’t it be fine just to hand it all to Major?

“Narumi, prepare to start work!”

“Ah, okay.”

I only rushed into the kitchen in a fl.u.s.ter when Min-san started to roar at me.

That night, I was still accompanying Min-san in her quest to make a new soup. It felt like I didn’t go home for a whole week already. I had almost forgotten what my sister looked like.

Late night, only the low hum of the ventilator could be heard in the kitchen. The Rishimi kelp (specially for business, the type that’s cut into thin strips) had long been half used up, as she had to use a whole pot of kelp to stew her new soup.

“…… It stinks of seaweed.”

After adding some soy sauce, I sipped a mouthful of soup and immediately expressed my thoughts. Min-san’s expression clouded over, but it seemed like she felt unsatisfied as well, so she did not get angry.

“The taste of kelp seems more obstructive now. Would it be better if we don’t add in dried mushrooms?”

“Is that so?”

“It feels less and less like soup for ramen. Did the ones made by your father taste like this?”

I only realized my mistake after asking, and could only sneak a peek at Min-san’s expression. Her gaze was full of confusion, like a cheetah mistakenly kept in an elephant zoo. It was the first time I saw her with an expression like that.

“Actually I don’t really remember them now.” Min-san said while showing a slightly lonely smile. “Before this, I kept making ice cream and would get into fights whenever I meet my old man, so I didn’t eat his ramen often at all.”

“It’s already nice that you can squabble with him. I don’t even have any impression of having spoken to my dad at all.”

“Hmph!” Min-san smiled coldly. “So you want to change dads with me? Let me tell you, that guy always acts impulsively! Once, he suddenly said that he felt like fishing on a Sat.u.r.day night, and then dragged me to run all along to a beach at Chiba……”

“R…… Ran all along?”

“He’s an idiot who likes to work out!”

Min-san said while narrowing her eyes in nostalgia.

“Why…… Now that I think back on it, maybe he just didn’t know what to say to me? My mom died quite suddenly as well. It just feels like…… he only started to be more oppressive when only the two of us were left.”

Hearing those words, I suddenly realized that Min-san’s circ.u.mstances were quite similar to that of mine. My mother pa.s.sed away long ago, and my father turned strange after that as well.

“Even though he knew that I didn’t like it, he still forced me to follow him everywhere. If it’s not a snowy mountain somewhere around, it would be a super faraway island.”

“That’s probably because…… he was lonely, huh?”

When the words came out, Min-san suddenly showed a gentle smile.

“That might be so! Men are really stupid. Won’t saying it out be fine!”

I thought that n.o.body was harder than frankly expressing our own troubles. That was one of the facts that I learnt using a whole winter.

“Actually going missing all of a sudden as well…… Then why did he insist that I had to inherit the ramen shop before this! In the end, he just thought that it didn’t matter what I did!”

With her hands on the chopping block, Min-san lowered her head. Did she still resent her father?

Or perhaps— she actually wants to see him again?

My gaze fell on the large amount of kelp swimming in the pot. His father’s soup— Min-san couldn’t inherit its taste.

Perhaps because she realized my thoughts, Min-san raised her head.

“Enough about my old man, he’s irrelevant to this matter. It’s just because the appraisals on his ramen’s taste wasn’t bad.”

Min-san smiled faintly and poked my forehead.

That moment, the ringtone of ‘Colorado Bulldog’ rang. It was Alice.

‘Come over to the office for a moment. I have something to confirm with you.’

I looked at Min-san. She said : “It’s fine, just go. I’m going to take a bath after clearing away the stuff.”

“I’ll go right away.”

I answered. After that, I put away my phone.

“I’ve watched all of the recordings and noticed something peculiar.”

On the bed in the detective agency, Alice told me with her back on me while typing on the keyboard.

“Regarding the strange person with shades that we mentioned before this, he did indeed come to the shop last Thursday and Monday the week before, correct?”

“Yep.”

Alice turned over and pointed at the six monitors arranged on the floor by the bed.

“But the surveillance camera did not capture such a person at all. Did you mistake the date? I even checked out the recordings one day before and after as well.”

“…… Eh? Why’s that?”

“That’s what I want to ask you! From the recordings, I lifted the features of the men in the shop. You can confirm if the person is among them.”

Alice waved at me. Although I was somewhat nervous, I still clambered onto the bed, approaching her side. One of the monitors displayed a full screen of portraits.

“These are the customers who came to the shop these few days. Do not miss anything. It is possible that the person put on his sungla.s.ses only after he entered the shop.”

I repeatedly looked through the portraits of the tens of people for about half an hour. As they were images lifted from a recording, some people were not facing the camera, and the quality was rather rough as well, so it was quite hard to identify anyone.

“…… I don’t see that person.”

“Is that so? Fine, I shall trust your eyes and ears for now. After all, you barely have any other strengths. Your good eyesight and hearing might be gifts from G.o.d to you.”

Oh, shut up.

“However, there is something that I am puzzled about.”

“Didn’t you say that there aren’t any surveillance cameras directly facing the interior of the shop? Besides, that person could avoid the other surveillance cameras deliberately while entering and exiting.”

“Although it is not impossible, people who can do so must clearly know the positions of the six surveillance camera. Regarding the installation of the cameras, I only told the tenants of the building. Basically, it is not likely for outsiders to know of this.”

But…… It’s possible that he just wasn’t filmed on coincidence, isn’t it? Alice seemed to have seen through my naïve thoughts, and she spoke:

“I shall consider the possibility. I just feel that this matter is not like a simple theft, so the inability to attack actively is very vexing. Currently, I can only ask Hiro and Tetsu to help keep an eye open, and ask Major to strengthen the security measures. The lock of the front door was just an ordinary spring lock, so it will be easy to pry it open if one wishes to do so.”

“But Major said that there weren’t any signs of it being pried open after he checked it out. Does any other people have keys to Min-san’s house?”

“I have a spare key on me over here, and Master should have two there instead. Why are you looking at me with this gaze? Are you perhaps suspecting someone of stealing the spare key from me?”

“No…… Not really, I’m just thinking of the possibility……”

“Please do not look down on the security system of my room. Bringing Persephone back from the underworld will be easier than taking the spare keys away from me.” Alice said while puffing out her flat chests triumphantly. “But still, changing the lock will be more appropriate. Didn’t Major say that he could do that already?”

“That’s true……” I thought back on Min-san’s odd reaction that time. “But Min-san wasn’t willing to do it, so we couldn’t change the lock.”

Alice’s eyes completely lost its color in an instant. Then, her large eyes widened even more.

“…… I see…… So that’s why. I understand now.”

Alice nodded by herself, as though she just realized something.

“So that’s why things are like this…… The door was open in the first place. The surveillance camera didn’t manage to film him as well. So that’s why…… Hmm……”

“…… What is is? Did you think of something?”

“Yes, I have understood everything.”

The detective proclaimed thus directly. I was dazed, and could only stare at the side of the doll-like face.

Understood…… everything?

“What…… happened?”

“Just that. The features of the case have surfaced more or less, oh……”

Seeing that I was about to open my mouth once again, Alice suddenly pressed her index finger on my lips. I was shocked, and reflexively swallowed my questions while taking a large step back.

“Do not ask now. I have once said, the NEET Detective can grasp the truth even when she is on this bed, but that is the truth, but not the facts.”

“But—“

“And there is another thing. Unfortunately, the truth that I have just obtained is completely unhelpful to the victim, Min-san. And telling her would cause her to scold you as well. Hoho…… Facing the people happily living below the sunlight, the messenger of the dead is helpless to the extent of despair, because we can only dig out words that were lost.”

Alice’s gaze moved away from my face.

The helplessness of facing the world.

The shadow of fate in Alice’s heart— I once got a glimpse at it during my previous cases as well. But she didn’t need to be so self-berating even with such a small matter, did she? At least, that was what I personally thought.

She extended her small hands and covered her eyes, staring at blank air while muttering:

“That is why…… You must call me when you catch the criminal. I must once again reaffirm if I am able to muster whatever courage I have to step out of this castle, touching this world with my own hands, and to turn the truth to facts through questions and the answers of the criminal.”

After a long time, Alice finally turned around to face me.

“This is a promise.”

Those eyes looked wet because of the overflowing of tears.

I stayed silent for some time, and finally lightly held the hand that Alice extended.

About eight that night, the man in shades appeared in Hanamaru Ramen for the fourth time.

That afternoon, I played handball for two consecutive hours during P.E period, and I rode my bike to a handicrafts shop to buy new cloth to be used as Min-san’s sarashi before my part time job started, so I was tired to half death when I returned to the shop. It just had to be on this kind of day that there were a lot of customers. The customers sitting outside ordered beer and fried dumplings one after another, so I didn’t notice for a moment that the man was already sitting on a temporary beer crate seat.

“…… Ah, welcome.”

It felt like my gaze met the guy in shades’ directly. The man before my eyes was about fifty something. He was stout as a bear, while his shoulders and chest were quite muscular as well.

When I sent iced water to him, I only managed to control the trembling of my hands after a huge effort.

“Sesame ramen!”

The man ordered ramen in a rough voice.

Back in the kitchen, I signaled to Min-san, and she immediately nodded, signifying that she already noticed long ago.

What kind of person was he?

After sending him the sesame ramen, I originally wanted to continue staring at him nonchalantly, but there were just too many customers in the shop, so I couldn’t manage to notice so much at all.

I poked my head out of the backdoor to take a look at the area near the emergency backstairs, but only saw Hiro-san texting on his cellphone, sitting on the gas tank by himself.

“What is it?”

Hiro-san noticed me and shifted his gaze form the liquid plasma screen. I tried to tell him that the man in shades was in the shop with only my physical movements.

Hiro-san glanced at the front of the shop from