日本語 101
Japanese 101

Baka 馬鹿 means Stupid / Idiot 
Chan ちゃん means little one, an honorific usually reserved for children or people who are close friends or family members
San さん means Mr, Mrs, A universally to address people out of respect 
Kun 君 means an honorific for male 
Jiji 爺 means Old man
Matte 待って means Wait

Yawning loudly, a tired Inspector Kenmochi dragged his foot as he walked up to a hospital ward which had the name ‘Aoyama Sho’ written on its door. It has been an extremely long day for Kenmochi Isamu because of two trouble-making youngsters named Kindaichi Hajime and Aoyama Sho.

Who would have thought that happy-go-lucky scary cat Kindaichi Hajime would go ahead to make himself almost killed by confronting the perp head-on in a fist fight? As an experienced detective, he would have thought that the young detective was smart enough not to act so thoughtlessly. The Kindaichi he knew was more of a brain over brawn kind of man, but now he had proved himself to be otherwise when the occasion called for it.

Looking up at the nameplate written on the door, the blurry-eyed Inspector Kenmochi ran his hand through his short black hair and scowled at the name. He supposed that namesake was the exact source of trouble which made Kindaichi Hajime lost his sense in that one moment.

Reckless, arrogant and inexperienced, the young profiler was someone Inspector Kenmochi would never allow to step into the investigating team. But the addition of Aoyama Sho on the team did help them to uncover more information about the perp and the crime than they would normally have if they were to do it the old fashion way. It was undoubtedly that the way Aoyama could link from one clue to clue with a snap of fingers was what which helped them to discover the identity of the perp quickly. But the idea of getting the same genius who helped them solved the case previously to investigate a case was like putting a bull in a china shop.

Not that he thought that Detective Akechi Kengo’s idea was bad; in fact, it would have been brilliant, if the young profiler in question was a more of a team player than a lonesome genius.

Inspector Kenmochi let out a breath as he shook his head ruefully at the idea of a different young profiler, but glaring truth was, if Aoyama Sho was any different, she would not be the infamous Aoyama Sho of S.T. anyway.

He might have complained about those two trouble-makers, but there was something about them that endeared them to him and to some extend Detective Akechi as well.  

He would say that these two youngsters almost gave him and Detective Akechi a heart attack when they arrived on the scene after receiving Kindaichi’s out of the blue strange emergency message.

“C. Lab 110” was all the clues that Detective Akechi Kengo had then, but it did not stop the detective from snapping into action instantly. With a glance to the message received, Detective Akechi quickly issued the instructions for his team to hurry to the chemistry lab at Fudo High School while cursing the two youngsters for their reckless actions under his breath.

The first look at the scene was the worst nightmare comes true for any detective or inspector.

It was a shock having to step into the chemistry lab and witnessing two motionlessly men laying on the floor with another victim all tied up but trying her best to struggle against the bloody rope. In that brief moment, Inspector Kenmochi’s heart had feared the worst when his eyes landed upon the tearful face of a hysterical Aoyama Sho.

Inspector Kenmochi was too stunned to react until Detective Akechi who quickly tried to find a pulse in their wrists and informed him with a sharp nod of relief.

Looking back at the state of Aoyama Sho, Inspector Kenmochi would swear that he would never forget that scene because it was the first time he saw Aoyama Sho crying herself hoarse by calling out Kindaichi’s name repeatedly while struggling against her bonds. In fact, it was the first time he had seen any form of emotions on her face other than her usual smirks.

Suddenly he understood why Detective Akechi mentioned in his former assessment of the young profiler that "it would be a horrible sight for her to lose all that control," because she could easily break anyone's heart with the amount of devastation pouring out from her in the moment of shock.

“Kindaichi Hajime, wake up! Stupid Hajime, it’s not funny, Baka!” Her words might have been harsh to the ears but anyone who has seen the young girl at that time would never doubt the anguish she felt then. It was then no one could ever doubt the importance of Kindaichi Hajime to the young profiler as she fought hard against her bonds to get closer to the young detective, despite the fact that her effort only brought her more injuries and blood shed as the rope bit fiercely into her red, raw skin.

Tears were brought to the eyes of anyone who knew the young profiler previously when they witnessed how the once aloof young profiler tried to reach the unconscious Kindaichi Hajime at the expense of herself.

“Our Aoyama-san is finally growing up and learning to feel for people,” Inspector Kenmochi chuckled at the memory in his mind's eyes like a proud father as he approached her bed in the hospital ward.

Kindaichi Hajime was right when he said that the real Aoyama Sho was nothing like what the others were saying about her. Through their meetings, Kenmochi Isamu had learned to read beyond her unfeeling words and understood her conflicting actions. It warmed his heart as he begun to see how the aloof young profiler had learned to exchange her arrogant smirks for smiles and tears.

Even if it was tears that were brought to her eyes in that dreadful moment, he was somewhat glad that she cried instead of staring at the scene with silent unblinking eyes as she would have done so before.

The same applied to the young detective whom he had met years ago but not quite the same now.

Seeing how the once passionate teen detective turned weary and tired of the late, Kenmochi Isamu was worried when he first heard of the young detective leaving the police department without mentioning a return date.

But through their recent interactions, Inspector Kenmochi was pleased to witness the rekindling passion coupled with a new sense of protectiveness in the eyes of Kindaichi Hajime; he knew that the young Kindaichi whom he once knew had returned again with a mission for a reason. The same reason which has yet to cross the minds of the two most brilliant young people he ever knew.

"The two of them meant so much to each other and are probably the smartest people I ever knew, but they could not see what is right in front of them," Inspector Kenmochi shook his head and chuckled softly to himself, "Especially you, Aoyama-san. You may be able to understand others easily due to your knowledge but ironically you knew nothing about yourself."

But that moment of laugh soon turned into a small frown when Inspector Kenmochi saw how the young profiler has chosen to hide beneath the thick blanket despite the warm weather.

“Silly girl! Sometimes I wonder if you are overrated as a genius. As smart as you are, you seem to have very little common sense.”

Like a caring father, Kenmochi Isamu moved to attempt to pull the blanket lower to allow her to breathe freely away from the stuffy blanket. But instead of seeing Aoyama Sho beneath the blanket, Inspector Kenmochi was greeted by a puffed-up pillow model with a little post-it note stuck on it.

"You got to be kidding me! Aoyama Sho, where have you sneaked off to this time?" Gasping at the pillow and the post-it note left by the young profiler in disbelief, Inspector Kenmochi could still remember that the doctor had requested for their help to keep an eye on the young profiler.

According to the doctor, he wanted Aoyama to be kept for further observation because of the relatively high dose of sedative found remaining in her system and the bad state of abrasions she had obtained from struggling against the rope.  

"Baka-Jiji, I'm getting out of here!" The young profiler wrote on the note and ended it with a smiley face.

Smacking his forehead, Inspector Kenmochi was starting to regret his decision to visit her first. The young profiler really knew how to push his buttons with her strange antics, often causing him more headaches, anger and worries.

“She should have known better than to run out of the room with her current half drowsy state of mind,” Inspector Kenmochi hissed angrily while holding the note the young profiler had left him.

If it was before he met the young profiler he was visiting, he would have told everyone he knew that “beyond any doubt, Kindaichi is the worst trouble magnet I have ever known, nothing good ever comes out from meeting him.” But now, he could not decide which is the lesser evil, Kindaichi or Aoyama.

Sighing out loud at his misfortune of meeting the two trouble-makers, Inspector Kenmochi decided that it would be a better choice to visit Kindaichi Hajime instead.

"Youngsters these days are so unpredictable!!" With a shake of the head, Inspector Kenmochi exited the room, hoping that his gut feeling was right.

Something tells him that he would probably find the young profiler inside the room of Kindaichi Hajime instead.

Just like how the doctor had previously found the young profiler, dozing in the chair beside Kindaichi Hajime.

 

 

Just as expected, falling into a deep slumber on the chair next to the bed, the sleeping young profiler did not see the bright eyes which were staring straight at her tenderly, nor did she hear that little whisper in the air, "Baka no Sho-chan," coming from the young man which was laying on the bed.

The young detective had just regained his consciousness and spent his waking moment observing the young profiler at her most vulnerable and innocent state. Taking in the sight of her bandaged wrists an