Sket Dance 69

1
[Insert text: This smells like an incident...?!]
Kanegi: Not again...... // This is the third time now! Who on Earth is behind this...?
SomebodySpeakingEnglish: Who is at fault for breaking the window?
Girl: Hey - did you hear about the "Glass Man"?
Takako: "Glass Man"? // ......The one from those glass-breaking incidents?
Girl: Uh-huh - it looks like he's struck again! Kanegi-sensei was talking about it!
Takako: Again?! / But that's the third time now! // This can no longer be passed off as a mere prank... // This is an Incident! / A proper scoop! // Say, could you fill me in on what you know?

2
Bossun: Huh? // Total coverage?
Yagi: That's right. // It would be very helpful if you could cooperate.
Bossun: Total... Huh? So what? You want to... / ...to "cover" me? With Yagi-chan? // And do interviews or something?
Imaginary!Yagi: What is your favourite food?
Imaginary!Bossun: Satsuma jelly!
Himeko: How big an idiot are you?
Yagi: "Total coverage" does not refer to physically covering you with anything.
Himeko: Aahhhhh... that's Yagi-chan for you... doesn't even bat an eyelid at Bossun's crazy ideas...
Yagi: Essentially, what we're talking about is a documentary. Like on TV, you know? // We want to capture your everyday activities on camera. // The Sket-dan is an unusual club, after all; we thought it would make good subject material for our entry in the upcoming Media Contest.

3
Saori: Oh - / By the way, I'm Yasuda Saori, another member of the Media Club. / I was the one who suggested this project, after Yagi-san told me about your club. // I'll make sure not to get in the way of your activities. / How about it?
Bossun: Weeelll... I guess I don't really see any problem... // But I don't know that you're really gonna find much worth filming just following me about... It's always just "Oh, I dropped something, so could you help me find it?" // Or else it's "Oh, I lost something, so could you... y'know..." / Or other times, it's "I've gone and... you know... so could you... well... help me find...
Saori: Is it always just searching for lost things...?
Bossun: Well, we're always around, but it's not like big cases just crop up every day, you know? / And when we don't have a client, we pretty much just sit around doing nothing...
Switch: I really don't think you'll be impressed.
Himeko: Yeah, we just mess about doing origami and stuff, ya know? / You really wanna film that?
Bossun: Oh, hey - since there's nothing much to film, how about I pull some funny faces? // They're really funny! // How about it? // Aaahhhhhhhhhhh...
Yagi: Don't worry; I have something for you to look into.

4
Bossun: Investigating the "Glass Man"?!
Himeko: The hell's that?
Yagi: You haven't heard about it? The "Glass Man" is the culprit behind the glass-breaking incidents that have been going on around the school.
Bossun: Oh, yeah, I think I read about that in the school newspaper.
Himeko: Yeah, I've heard quite a few people talkin' about that. Not that I know much about it myself... / What happened, exactly?
Switch: The Glass Man is a mysterious criminal; every day, he breaks one pane of glass somewhere within the school. // There are no signs of anything having been stolen, so it is presumed he is doing it merely for the attention.
Yagi: The first incident took place on Thursday last week. The broken window was in Multipurpose Room [Tamokuteki-shitsu] A. // It was treated as a simple prank, but then the next day it was the window of the office [Gyoumu-shitsu]. // Then on Monday of this week, it was the window of the science laboratory [Kagaku-shitsu], and on Tuesday the Manga Society's clubroom [Manken-bushitsu]. // And yesterday, the window of the media resource room [Shichoukaku-shitsu] was smashed. // Since the culprit is causing significant damages, the school have begun treating this as a serious issue, but there have been no witnesses as yet to any of the actual crimes... // The window of the formal meeting room [Sahou-shitsu] this morning brought the total count to six.

5
Bossun: Actually, I think Chuu-san might have mentioned that...
Himeko: Roman was talkin' about it, an' all. Somethin' about being "targeted by a bad guy" or whatever.
Saori: I don't know who came up with the name, but the whole school is calling him the "Glass Man" at this point. // I daresay he's enjoying all the attention right now. / It's terrible...
Yagi: As such, we would like the Sket-dan to take on this case. // This is exactly the sort of incident that you specialise in, is it not?
[Sket Dance]
[Chapter 69: The Glass Man]
[Insert text: It's been a while since we've had a real case like this...!!]
[Newspaper title (right): Campus Times]
[Newspaper headline: The Glass Man Strikes Again]
[Newspaper subtitle: The Fifth Pane In As Many Days]

6
Bossun: All right. / Let's sort out the facts we've got. // Excluding Saturday and Sunday, there's been one window broken every day since the first incident. // So far, that makes six windows in total. // According to Yoshimura-san, the janitor on duty, the windows have all presumably been broken in the early hours of the morning, between 6:30 and 7:00. // And the only people he's seen showing up at school during that period are the baseball team, coming in for their morning practice.
Himeko: Gotcha! So all we've gotta do is go menace the baseball team until they spit out the truth, right?! / Ya can leave that to me! I'll go do it now!!!
Bossun: Wait, wait, wait, wait. // Just because there's a high possibility one of them is the culprit, that doesn't mean we know it's the case for sure. / We should start off by seeing what alibis they have, and -
Himeko: Then get all the punks without alibis together an' scare the shit out of 'em until they stop hidin' what they did?! / All right!! Sounds like good stuff!!
Bossun: You don't have to get that into it just because we haven't had a case like this for a while...
Switch: Bossun. I've gathered what information I can find.

7
Switch: It seems our target has made a fatal blunder.
Bossun: The heck are you doing in that trenchcoat?!!
Switch: Well, it's been a while since we've has a case like this, so I'm just getting into the spirit...
Bossun: That's not called "getting into the spirit", that's called "screwing around"...! // Ah, whatever. What have you found, then, Switch?
Switch: Oh, I like the sound of that. Very detective-ish.
Himeko: It's your own goddamn nickname!
Switch: It seems that this was found lying about in the Multipurpose Room where the first window was broken. // Presumably, our culprit broke the window with this.
Bossun: This is...... // A baseball? / It's the baseball team's... // All right! Let's go pay the baseball team a visit!

8
Bossun: Would you be the team manager, Takashima-san?
Takashima: That's me. // Who comes in for morning practice? // Only three people, recently.
Bossun: Could you give me their names?
Takashima: Let's see... there's our shortstop, Ozaki Mamoru-kun... // Our number-four batter, Shima Takao-kun...

9
Takashima: ...and finally, my "special person"... he's not a regular, but he says he'll take me all the way to Koshien... // Our reserve pitcher, Hiraizumi Eiichi-kun.
[TN: Koshien being Japan's famous national high-school baseball tournament. It's a big deal.]
Bossun: We didn't ask for that much information!
Takashima: But why do you want to know - ?
Bossun: Don't worry about it - just something we're looking into. / Thanks for this! // Ozaki, Shimasaki and Hiraizumi...... // One of these guys is our Glass Man.
[TN: If it is one of them, I'll eat my hat. Takashima and Saori look like the most suspicious characters to me at this point. ~_~]
Ozaki: I'm Ozaki Mamoru! A pleasure to meet you! // Between 6:30 and 7:00 AM? Sure! I'm always doing my running work at that point.

10
Bossun: On your own?
Ozaki: Sure!
Bossun: What's your route?
Ozaki: Sure! First of all, I head around behind Multipurpose Room A, and turn the corner by the office! Then I go through the path alongside the special-classroom building, and take a U-turn at the literary clubroom block, just by the Manga Society clubroom! From there, I head over towards the media resource room, and round behind the formal meeting room...
Bossun: Could you GET more suspicious?!!
Hiraizumi: Alibi? // I do my pitching practice alone, I'm afraid. // So I can't prove anything.
Himeko: C'mon, admit it - you're the culprit, aren't ya?!
Hiraizumi: Culprit? // I just spend each morning practising my pitching in silence. // I made a promise with my girlfriend, after all. // I've gotta take Sakiko...

11
Hiraizumi: ...all the way to Koshien...
Himeko: Man, he's worse than Switch......... / This guy could easily end up breakin' a pane of glass or two... // C'mon, you are the culprit, right? Give it up already.
Hiraizumi: Give it up...?
Shimasaki: I'm the number-four batter, Shimasaki Takao. // At the time in question, I was doing practice swings on my own. // Listen, okay? // To me, my bat is a weapon; it exists to defeat the enemy. // When I'm swinging this bat... // I can get a little... heated up. And what's more...

12
Shimasaki: I feel like smashing up everything around me! // Hahahahahah...!! // Ahahahah!!
Bossun: Every single one of 'em is way too suspicious!!
Switch: But the fact that none of them have any kind of alibi also rules out the presence of any witnesses.
Himeko: The hell... so we can't do a thing 'cause there's no proof?!
Bossun: And we still don't know why the culprit is doing this. / If there was some kind of connection between the targets...

13
Bossun: Is there some kind of meaning to the different types of classrooms............? // ...............No... // I'm not seeing it.
Someone: A code or something?
Bossun: Hm? / Mm... it's a possibility.
Switch: If this is a simple prank, as it were, then the culprit is simply trying to cause a stir, to draw attention. // We're talking about the kind of person who craves the limelight. / He may well have done something to identify himself somewhere in the process.
Bossun: Hmmm... identifying himself... / A name? // A code......

14
Bossun: Of course!! // It isn't important what the classrooms are used for...! // It's a code!!
Himeko: A code?
Bossun: Yeah. / He must have done it like this... // No, that's not it... / Scrambled, then...? // All right!

15
Bossun: This is my speciality. / Taki... // Takika... // Ma... // No... // Shi... // Shika... // Tama... // Tamaka... // Sa...... // Ta... / Ka...... // !!!
[TN: lol Takashima Sakiko]

16
Bossun: Wheeew!!!! // *cough*! / I've... / *cough* *cough* / I've got it...!!
Switch: Your face is entertaining, but it does worry me how you do that.
Himeko: What is it?! Have you worked somethin' out?!
Bossun: Tomorrow morning... // The Glass Man will strike in the Reception office [Ousetsu-shitsu].

17
Bossun: That's the Reception window over there.
Himeko: Is he really gonna show up...?
Bossun: He will. / If my deductions are correct... // He's encoding his own name in the locations he strikes. // This is the only room that fits for the next target.

18
Bossun: He'll be here. // Ready, everyone? / When he shows, we all move in and grab him! // There he is!! // The Glass Man!! // NOW!!!

19
Bossun: STOP RIGHT THERE!! // GLASS-MAN!! // Oh, no you don't! / You can't get away that easily! // I know exactly who you are! // Now give it up already. // We're the Sket-dan.
[Insert text: The culprit is right before their eyes!!]