Re: Scene 1: A Typical School Day
It seemed as if none of the other children in the courtyard were going to intervene in this assault. However, just as the trio were seemingly about to drag the smaller boy off, a loud booming voice shot out across the school ground.
"JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!!" the voice, far too deep to by that of a child. In fact, it would be immediately recognizable by most of the students as those same shouts were quite often directed at them when they slacked off during athletics lessons.
Hyobe Goro, the physical education teacher, could not have been more directly the opposite of Hanako Momoko, the geisha-like teacher who was almost as tiny as her own students and dressed like a child, or the wizened Someisa Yui who seemed like everyone's grandmother and always spoke gently.
No-- Hyobe-sensei was a giant of a man in both height and girth, well known to have been a famous wrestler in the years before the birth of any of the current students of the school, though perhaps an older sibling might have been alive during those years. His exterior was always gruff and prickly, although he was known to be slow to let any real anger affect him and quite dedicated to the students.
He stormed across the courtyard as a speed that one simply would not have expected of a man of his girth, and without appearing to be running either-- simply his long stride. "Ichiro!! Put Riku down at once!!"
The lead boy, the large Owl Clan, apparently Ichiro did release the small Mantis boy, apparently named Riku, right away before backing away from the smaller boy. He gave a somewhat unconvincingly sincere bow before immediately bragging, "Hyobe-sensei! I have great news!! I, Hantei Ichiro, have personally rooted out and unmasked the infamous Cucumber Bandit!!"
Riku stumbled away a step or two upon release before looking to Hyobe Goro pleadingly. "I didn't do it! I swear it wasn't me!!" tears already streaking down his face from both the pain he must have felt from this beating, but probably more so the emotional turmoil he had suddenly been thrust into.
Hyobe Goro gave a low grunt before folding his arms and narrowing his eyes. "What is this about a Cucumber Bandit?... Has Reju Tsukitomo been putting stupid thoughts in your heads again?" It seemed that the news of the thefts hadn't reached everyone's ears.
Ichiro seemed a bit surprised at that... or at least he acted surprised, though his acting left quite a lot to be desired. "What?!! Surely you have heard of the Cucumber Bandit, Hyobe-sensei! It's been the talk around town. A child has been sneaking into the market at night and stealing all the cucumbers for the past few weeks."
The teacher's expression didn't change, still seemingly wholly unamused. "What does this have to do with you picking on Riku?"
Riku could only add, "I didn't do it..."
Ichiro grinned like a Chesire cat at the chance to be able to show off his brilliance to a teacher. Jabbing a thumb towards the more lanky Owl boy (in fact, upon closer inspection, wasn't this the same boy who implied Hiruto was behind it this morning?) "Once Asato here told me that Aika said the word is that a Mantis Clan boy was behind it, I simply looked at what each person from the Mantis clan was having for lunch. And I found that Riku here has cucumbers--"
Almost as if they had rehearsed it, the boy in the crab outfit-- a Hida if Shino was correct-- lifted Riku's upturned lunchbox from the ground. The ruined contents of Riku's lunch could then be seen and, aside from rice, he did indeed have a large amount of pickled vegetables including what was unmistakably chopped pickled cucumbers.
Ichiro grinned brilliantly as he declared, "And therefore Riku is the Cucumber Bandit and I have caught him!!"
Hyobe Goro seemed to consider this only briefly before looking to Riku and asking, "Is this true?..." But finding the Mantis boy without the ability to speak anymore for himself, he turned a glance towards Asato and said, "Well-- so get Aika. She's a witness too, right?"
For those with a keen detective mind, Ichiro's deduction here doesn't seem quite right...
(I am going to give each of you a starting clue. But if you think your character would see the other holes in this story, feel free to use those clues too.)