The Case of the Fan Happeita Kaburagi
The Case of the Fan Happeita Kaburagi (ファン・鏑木八平太の場合, Fan: Kaburagi Happēta no Baai) is a short story that is part of an anthology of short stories based on the Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan series. It was written by Katsuie Shibata and published by Shueisha. "The Case of the Fan Happeita Kaburagi" is included in a collection named Rohan Kishibe Does Not Laugh with three other stories, which released for sale on December 18, 2024.
A mysterious tale of a fan that loves Rohan's works.
Summary
Rohan meets an overzealous fan, Happeita Kaburagi (鏑木 八平太, Kaburagi Happēta), at an autograph show commemorating the publication of his artbook in Tokyo. Kaburagi leaves little impression on Rohan except for requesting a drawing of The Man Without a Shadow (影のない男, Kage no Nai Otoko), a minor character featured in the sixth part of Pink Dark Boy. This request first irritates Rohan who suspects Kaburagi is an elitist fan quizzing his memory, trying to show off his breadth of knowledge on the franchise. However, Kaburagi's intent behind his request proves to be wholesome; the first chapter of Pink Dark Boy he ever read as an 11-year-old boy was part of the story arc revolving around this character. Two months afterwards Rohan meets Kaburagi again while shopping for shampoo at a drugstore in Morioh, who reveals he had moved to the town. In the following days Kaburagi wears Rohan's patience thin as he pretends to meet him by chance wherever he goes. Fed up, Rohan orders Kaburagi to leave him alone with Heaven's Door. A week later a woman claiming to be Kaburagi's friend, Jun Masuma (増馬 純, Masuma Jun), visits Rohan. He asks Masuma if she is his fan, and only after obtaining a negative response is she permitted to enter his house. After leading her to the reception room, Rohan uses Heaven's Door on her to discover that she had been the one to introduce Pink Dark Boy to Kaburagi after lending him an issue of Shonen Jump. She had come to apologise for Kaburagi's behaviour; moreover, he had assaulted multiple people in the past for disagreeing with him on Pink Dark Boy and been released only recently from behind bars. Rohan becomes more alarmed as he reads Masuma further, only to learn that Kaburagi is already inside of his house from her.
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