The Mystery of the Bento Box

Haru Kenji is a senior in a private high school in Nishinomiya. He is his high school's star baseball player. He is popular and social, yet reserved. Haru believes there’s no future in baseball. In the future, he prefers to be a simple salaryman, living in a small apartment surrounded by his comic book collection and a modest fish tank with 6-8 medaka. He wants the slow life, except for the hardships of earning a buck, just enough for his living expenses; he craves the feeling of coming home exhausted to his cosy bed and his comics. That’s a very specific plan, and yet quite a good plan for a 16-year-old.

See, Haru Kenji likes to keep things simple. He joined his school baseball team only because he found the American sport quite interesting. And he found the sport interesting only because he started visiting baseball stadiums for the popular ‘stadium bento’ boxes. Ever since he was a child, he has always known what he wanted and has always done whatever he felt he was good at. A tryout revealed his 20/15 vision, great hand-eye coordination, and an atypical nonchalance when facing aggressive pitchers—clearly, he was built to be a star batter.

Haru had no girlfriend, and he wasn’t interested in the dating scene. He was happy to exist. He joined gatherings when he found them nearby, ate a simple, clean diet, spoke when spoken to, and called it a night as soon as the sun was down. Calling Haru Kenji simple is an understatement.

Haru lived alone. That’s uncommon. His parents were kind enough to get him a tiny apartment close to school to avoid the total 4-hour commute he would have to endure every day if he stayed back in Wakayama. He was not far from his ideal life; all he had to do was graduate, follow the Daigaku (university) path and find a job—replacing his studies with a profession.

What started as a typical Saturday (on a school day at the private school Haru attended) would soon turn into an interesting plot twist. Haru was just not aware of it yet. After an intense academic day, followed by a quick huddle for his baseball team, at 1:30 PM, Haru was finally free. He was looking forward to going home, getting a Kappu Ramen on the way, and dissolving into his bed with his comics. It all went according to plan; at least 99 per cent of it. After Haru finished his ramen and discarded the cup, he decided to chew on the Saki-Ika (seafood jerky) he had in his bag. As soon as he opened the zipper, he noticed a neatly placed stadium bento in his bag. He paused for far too long and then frowned—that wasn’t supposed to be there.

To be continued.