CH 1

Part 1

“Hey! You!!”

The moment right after hearing the voice of the girl, the scarlet carpet under his feet crumpled up.

After stumbling for two or three steps, he finally lost his balance.

The tea cup from Wedgwood was wavering in the air with the oval tray that was polished to a mirror shine.

The tragedy happened after several moments emerged in Akira’s mind…

“That’s why I told you that you aren’t able to do it. Go away!”

The man who said that had the tea set which was supposed to fall onto the floor placed in his left hand. On the other side, he kept holding the cake stand in his right hand.

“This butler…is talented.”

Because the extraordinarily gorgeous rescue drama happened right in front of his eyes, Akira sighed with admiration while rolling on the floor.

The butler in black suits glanced at Akira rolling on the floor, but acted like nothing happened. He then stepped over Akira and walked towards  the girl.

“Kujou, is he okay?”

The girl mentioned concerned for him.

“Miss Yui, I will clean up the trash later, so please don’t worry.”

“Who is trash! You sadistic and horrible butler!!”

“Was that a howl from a masochist? Really… That’s because you were trying to do something that you weren’t able to. Understand it.”

While speaking, the butler called Kujou was quickly preparing for the afternoon tea.

Koushirou Kujou was the butler who worked at Hakoniwa Detective Agency. He was a tall man with long and silver hair. His age appeared to be around twenty. Even though he was a butler who was perfect for any work, he was sometimes invective towards a specific person.

According to himself, that seemed to be his individuality.

The girl whose eyes were shining while looking at the cakes by her hand was the master,Yui Mikami, of this agency.

She was a petite girl with chestnut brown hair who was very adorable with the black and white gothic lolita outfit on her. According to the general opinion, her age appeared to be close to a high school student’s; however, opposite to her appearance, she speaks like she has understood life.

And the guy who replaced the tea set which should be leaking the floor1 was a current high school student, Akira Satou. He was an ordinary man with nothing special that was worth talking about. The only thing he had that might earn praises from others was probably his superior positive way of thinking.

According to Kujou, “that guy is a masochist who has beyond a positive way of thinking.”

Part 2

Shinjuku District, Tokyo. In the gap of this street crowded by soigne high-rise buildings, there was the Hakoniwa Detective Agency.

The western-styled house with outer walls covered by bricks grabbed the attentions of spectators; trees in the garden covered the appearances of themselves,  appearing to refuse any impolite visitors.

Walking into the gigantic double doored entrance, you might have the illusion of coming into Medieval Europe. Surely, the nobles held dinner parties within this kind of house every night. The rabbit dolls with some dirt decorated on the sides of the entrance were adorable.

That was the dining room of such a detective agency.

“I think the stalker incidents have become a serious problem in Japan.”

At this moment which was suitable for afternoon tea, news commenters on the TV started their discussion.

“I can’t imagine him chasing her even after they broke up!”

“People in the world don’t think as positively as you do.”

Kujou has already finished preparing tea, and after he fixed the blanket that Akira fell on , he started being invective.

“ I am sorry about my bird brain1.”

“Oh, you have self-consciousness. That’s great.”

Although Akira’s fists trembled with anger, he seemed to care more about Yui , and turned his eye to her.

She now cared about nothing that happened in the world, focusing only on fighting with a piece of Napoleon pie that was made with many strawberries.

Akira smiled.

At approximately the same time, the oval tray made of silver fell onto his head.

“Don’t look at Miss Yui with lust, you gross kid! Anyways, you’re thinking the motions of desperately eating desserts are adorable, aren’t you??”

“You… It really hurts… By the way, how can you read my mind!”

Akira held his head and sat onto the sofa with a bitter face.

“Although Kujou works as a butler, he is also a famous detective who supports the Hakoniwa Detective Agency. It is easy for him to read your and other ordinary people’s mind.”

Yui won the mortal fight with a piece of Napoleon pie, and answered while choosing another piece.

“Eh? But I thought Yui is the one who solves all the cases.”

“I only solve the spirit-related occult events. Kujou solves all other cases. He carries out the so-called general detective businesses.”

Yui’s hands stopped choosing cakes.

“I don’t think there are cases that he isn’t able to solve.”

Hearing Yui’s words filled with trust toward Kujou, Akira showed an envious expression with a little bit of admiration. He reseated while sighing lightly.

“By the way, since when have you been able to perceive the spirits by your eyes?”

“Since I was born.”

“Oh~ That sounds great. I want that kind of special powers as well.”

“Do you think being able to perceive the spirits is special? Being unable to perceive them is common sense?”

“… Eh?…”

Akira’s words clogged in front of Kujou’s sudden question.

“… I’ve never thought about it that way… ”

“Hum. Apparently, you didn’t recognize a question as a question.”

“Oh, no… That’s right… By the way, since there are more people being unable to perceive the spirits in the world, doesn’t it mean that being unable to perceive them is natural? According to common sense, isn’t it natural being unable to perceive them?”

Using Earl Grey to slightly moisten his lips, Kujou slowly opened his mouth.

“Common sense? What do you mean by common sense?”

“What? Common sense is common sense, isn’t it?”

“… Common sense… What’s common sense is what the majority believes as natural when they view matters objectively. It includes values, knowledge, evaluation criteria, and so on. According to the majority rule, when more people believe something as natural, it’ll become common sense. So far, do you understand?”

“O… Oh…”

“Then, the foundation named common sense is actually unstable. What if common sense is a group of assumptions?”

“What? What do you mean?”

Kujou began his explanation step-by-step, just like an elementary teacher.

“I’ll give you a simple example. There are traffic lights at the crosswalks, right? Which color represents stop?”

“Isn’t it red?”

“Right. It’s red. Then which one represents go?”

“It’s green. Kujou, aren’t you fooling me?”

“No, that’s enough.”

Quickly, Kujou squinted his eyes.

“Then, what if they’re mistaken?”

“… What!?… What are you saying? No matter who you ask in the world, everyone will answer that red is stop and green is go. Isn’t that common sense!?”

“You have a red-letter brain. You are captivated by common sense too much. Listen to me… In fact, when humans look, they appear to look with eyes but they don’t. The electrical signals recognized by eyes are transported to the brain via optic nerves. Then at a place within the brain named visual cortex, the signals are projected as images. By doing so, humans are able to look. In a nutshell, humans don’t look with eyes; instead, they recognize things with their brains.”

“… Y… Yup…”

Unable to understand Kujou’s explanation, Akira nodded his head with confusion.

Noticing the turmoil within Akira’s brain, Kujou sighed once.

“Return to our topic. You said red was stop and green was go. That’s the outcome of recognizing the colors by brain.”

Kujou stopped for one breath2.

“Then does everyone in this word recognize the same red and the same green?”

“… What’s that… Are you saying that people view red as something besides red? Is that possible? Red is red, right?”

Discovering Akira’s turmoil, Yui hinted at the answer.

“That’s what’s called color-blindness.”

Kujou nodded with satisfaction.

“Yes, Miss Yui, just as you said.”

Akira show an enlightened expression while making a “Oh yes!” sound after he finally understood.

“I say it in advance: color-blindness is not an illness but a way to represent that condition. Within all Japanese people, it is said that there is one color-blind out of every twenty or thirty males and one out of every five hundred females. In a word, the color you think is red is a slightly different red in those people’s opinions.”

“Eh? But that’s because the color-blinds are mistaken… ”

“Who decided so?”

Kujou catechized in no time.

“The process of recognizing colors is entrusted to everyone’s brain. Then the majority of those personal sensations becomes common sense unreasonably. But… What if…”

“The brains of the majority are mistaken?”

After the tone of his voice settled down for a while, he influenced the atmosphere around him.

“The minority said the red traffic light was yellow while looking at it. How can you say they were actually mistaken? If the color believed to be red by the majority was actually yellow, believing by the minority, what the majority with color-blindness believed would become the common sense. Majority and minority. Can you prove which recognition between these two is correct?”

The silent time passed.

After a while, Yui gave a helping hand to Akira again.

“Since the recognition of colors is entrusted to everyone’s brain, under the condition of being unable to recognize the true color of red, it is unprovable in fact. I can probably say both the majority and the minority are correct. But that will bring inconvenience to this world, thus, everything is based on the majority.”

“Wonderful, Miss Yui. That’s very perceptive of you.”

While smiling, Kujou poured black tea into Yui’s tea cup.

“W, wait. Since matters are decided through the majority rule, is it okay for the common sense in this world to be so iffy?”

“It’s not something about okay or not. This is the reality”

“Eh, no. Umm… I feel like I have something in my mind, but… I don’t think I can express it well enough… ”

Akira soliloquized with his two arms crossed and head tilted.

“Then, let’s make it as a foundation and return to the root of our discussion. You said that being able to perceive the spirits was special and not ordinary. How can you perceive the spirits?”

“Even if you ask me, I can’t perceive them… Wait? I got it !! Yui, how can you perceive the spirits with your eyes?”

“By normally using my eyes to perceive them.”

While blissfully confirming the elasticity of blueberry bavarois with a fork, fidgety Yui answered.

“… By using eyes to perceive the spirits… ”

Akira muttered, finally understanding the purpose of Kujou’s prolix prelude. He clapped his hands once with the sound of “Bon.”

“Oh! The visual cortex is the part that perceive spirits!!”

“You finally understand it, dumb-ass boy.”

Kujou showed the most gorgeous smile of the day.

“The ability to view is completely determined by the optic cortex. Spirits and color are all the same. It is possible for the majority to be mistaken, and the minority called psychics to be correct. It may be better if people recognize the possibility that psychics are ordinary. Oh, I need to tell you that the common sense is not completely incorrect; however, if you only focus on common sense, you may lose the basic of matters.”

Kujou closed the discussion like that, and finished the black tea as if he was moistening his throat.

While Akira and Kujou were seriously discussing about the uncommon topic, Yui was trying to attack the montblanc made of astringent skinned chestnut silently.

“Excuse me.”

What marked a period to this kind of average day of the detective agency was the bell at the entrance and the voice that seemed to belong to a middle-aged male.

Part 3

He was really tall, with moderately tousled hair and a slender facial feature. The indistinct dark circles beneath his eyes probably due to anxiety.

His age was around 40. This attractive middle-aged man who naturally wore a navy blue suit without a single crease introduced himself as Kentarou Nishino.

The clock within the reception office pointed to fifteen o’clock. Kujou sat onto the sofa and immediately went straight into the topic.

“As you have said over the phone, you want us to find out the offender who murdered your daughter, Azusa Nishino, this time, correct? ”

The word “murder” took Akira’s breath away.

“… Yes… ”

“Then please tell me what what you know about the case.”

Nishino opened his mouth with his face slightly facing down ponderously.

“I work as the principal of Private Jouji Girl’s High School. Azusa was a student from there.”

“My daughter was a member of the Track Club, and she jogged around the neighborhood for about an hour every night. … However, that night, Azusa did not come back even after two hours… I was worried, so I walked around to find her. I went from major roads to minor streets. Although there weren’t many people, I asked them if they have seen a girl looked like a high school student. … But my daughter wasn’t anywhere…. ”

At that moment, words such as kidnapping and abduction came to Nishino’s mind.

“And then my wife called me. I thought my daughter was home, so my heart relieved.”

The sorrow on Nishino’s face deepened when he stopped for one breath.

“… But when I answered the phone…The reality was a completely different story… ‘She was stabbed and now she’s in the hospital! We have to go there now!!’ I can never forgot my wife’s sorrowful voice even now.”

Nishino pressed onto his lacrimal caruncles1 and sniffled.

“When I rushed into the hospital, the doctors and policies were waiting for us… And… Azusa’s face was covered by a white cloth. I shook her and yelled ‘Azusa! Azusa!’ many and many times. When I touched her glamorous face, it was still warm — I could feel her warmth… But the doctor… He said… ‘I am sorry for your daughter…’”

The feeling of a father whose daughter was plundered from him was so sorrowful that it affected the atmosphere even as he attempted to restrain it.

“I heard from the police that a pedestrian saw Azusa when Azusa was about to fall down in a park within the neighborhood in Numabukuro2. It is said that the place around was a sea of blood that time. The cause of death was the hemorrhagic shock due to cutleries. The wound probably extended through the left side of her waist to her heart. Plus, the police said the ferociousness of the offender could be seen because the wound was sideways.”

Nishino used his handkerchief to wipe his endless tears when he talked about it.

“Do you have any threads or clues regarding the offender?”

“The police said they couldn’t find a single weapon, and my daughter was killed around twenty-two and twenty-three o’clock when there weren’t many pedestrians or witnesses. And both my wife and I think Azusa was modest, so we don’t think she could possibly incur the wrath of anyone… However… One time… Azusa said she was possibly tailed after by a strange man. I don’t know if that might be the reason…”

Kujou narrowed his eyes for a moment.

“Thank you very much. I understand the situation. Since it has been two weeks the case happened, is there any progress on the searching？”

“… No… I haven’t heard anything from the police after that.”

Nishino lifted up his downcast face..

“Please… I can not led her go like this. Please accept my request…”

Nishino’s eyes staring at Yui and Kujou pleadingly, scarlet and wet.

“Miss Yui, what do you think about it?”

Yui had not spoken anything but only listened to them until now. She slowly opened her mouth.

“… From earlier, I… can see a girl with black hair in a short bob hairstyle. Her height is petite. The mole near the left side of her mouth is impressive.”

Nishino was so surprised that his eyes popped out.

“That wasn’t a rumor… You can… really….”

“Of course. So, is this girl Azusa? She is standing behind you. Standing, but… ”

“What happened, Miss Yui?”

“She frequently murmures ‘… Why… Why… I don’t understand… Who…’ This represents… probably Azusa herself doesn’t know the reasons of suddenly being attacked. Even she becomes a phantom now, she is still pretty confused. I thought we could obtain useful information regarding the offender from Azusa… Then… Plus… Perhaps, this case is not so simple.”

“Why….”

After perceiving the spirit, Yui’s facial expression was clouded. Nishino was in a choked voice. The atmosphere of that place became so heavy that no one moved his body.

“… However..No matter what happened, as long as now we know what our clients and spirits want, I have the duty to respond to it. ”

“Then, Miss Yui…”

Yui spoke with dignity.

“This case, Hakoniwa Detective Agency will receive. ”

“Yes, my lady.”

Kujou hung his head, and relieved Nishino held Yui’s hands. At this point, the atmosphere in the reception room became more relaxed.

“Yui, Kujou, both of you are so awesome! You are just like real detectives!!”

After finished talking about the investigation plan from now on, Akira turned his eyes filled with curiosity toKujou after Kujou saw Nishino off at the entrance and came back.

“We are real detectives. You fool.”

“Kujou was so calm and asked about the situation, and Yui was perceiving spirits and found Azusa. You were very cool! And when Mr. Nishino vented his grievances with tears, I was also kind of feeling to cry. Like, I want to help too! I was thinking about this.”

“This is not a game for a kid. Go back home, idiot.”

“I will definitely be helpful in some ways!”

“Didn’t you hear me? You’re helpless!”

“Eh, no..but…”

“Get crushed quickly!”

“E..even though, you don’t have to…”

“You are annoying, be bald!”

“Wait you! There’s nothing to do with being bald!! ”

“Kujou, don’t say that. Aren’t we going to investigate a high school? I’m sure that Akira will be helpful. ”

Yui spoke on Akira’s behalf softly.

“But, Miss Yui…”

Yui kept speaking as she didn’t hear Kujou’s input.

“Azusa was a student from Jouji High School, so I think we can start investigating the school first. Aren’t you a high school student? As a student, you have the possibility to find out the detailed information from other students. Let’s start searching about Azusa mainly focus on students.”

“OK! I got it!!”

With the momentum that his aspiration is accepted, Akira showed a thumb-up.

Although Kujou sighed and overlooked them, he reluctantly started explaining the investigation plan from now on because this was his master’s decision.

“Mr. Nishino is the principal of Jouji High School. There won’t be any problems with sneaking into the school. I will sneak in as a substitute, you will be a student teacher, and Miss Yui will be a transfer student to investigate inside the school.”

“Yes! I got it !”

“Speaking of this, Akira, is your school okay with this?”

Yui asked an obvious question.

“Yes, that’s fine. There will be a test tomorrow, so I will be dismissed before noon. I can meet you as soon as noon.”

“Is that okay? That doesn’t affect studying for your test?”

“I am totally comfortable♪ To me, those test are super easy!!”

Immediately, their voices overlapped.

“What, so basically, you want to leave me behind?”

And then, obviously, Akira had the second time of floor leaking3 today.

Part 4

Kichijouji, Musashino1. This street, which took twenty minutes for Chuuou Line2 to get to from Shinjuku3, became a lively place for people ages from students to elders to gather around.

Turning left from the Sun Road Market Street, which was next to the north exit of Kichijoushi Station, and  a ten minute walk, there was the Jouji Girl’s High School.

In the afternoon, the three arrived at the front gate of Jouji School. Noises traveled out of the school. It seemed like the school was having an afternoon break now.

“Wow~ This school is actually really big. I’m so excited~”

“Hey! Don’t enjoy other’s misfortune. We are working.”

Kujou saw through Akira’s thoughts and urged him.

“Oh, it’s okay. I understand~ Hey, don’t just stand there in front of the gate. Let’s go!!”

Akira said triumphantly and was ready to enter the front gate.

Suddenly, Akira bumped into a person in a blue hoodie.

He stumbled for approximately two steps.

But the momentum of the person in a hoodie wasn’t cut down, and that person briskly headed in the direction opposite of the school. Staring at that person’s back, Akira didn’t move.

“Are you okay?”

Yui asked, concerned.

“…Eh!? Oh, yeah. Being bumped was fine…”

“Fine but… What happened?”

“By his voice, the one that just bumped me was definitely a guy… He murmured ‘that rascal’ while walking past…”

“That rascal?”

Kujou knitted his brows.

The three turn their attention to the direction the man headed to, but the crowds covered his figure up.

“Oh? I guess you three are… The substitute and transfer students were mentioned on the announcements this morning?”

Because of the unexpected voice, three people turned their heads back.

There stood a girl with translucent white sink and black hair with radiant cuticles all the way down to her waist.

The bangs cut around her brows and the trace of a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth exuded the aura of a flawless lady.

“And you?”

“I apologize. I am the president of the student council of this school, and my name is Mari Kitamikado.”

“I see. I am Kujou, the substitute teacher; she is Mikami, the transfer student, and so on.”

“Hey! Who is ‘so on!!’”

Mari giggled at their conversation.

“By the way, do you want to go to the principal’s office?”

“Yes. If you go into the front of the school building and turn right at the hallway, the principal’s office will be at the end. I’m supposed to guide you through school, but I have some other issues to handle… “

“That’s fine, that’s fine! Kujou, her explanation was detailed enough, right? Let’s go~~~”

Akira’s mood became better after meeting an adorable girl, and his gait started to become light. After appreciating Mari for her detailed explanation, Kujou and Yui chased after Akira.

“That girl was extremely adorable!”

“Mari Kitamikado… She is the eldest daughter of the commander of Kitamikado Plutocrat, which is composed of eight groups including finance, real estate, insurance, and so on. She is an elite within elites.”

“What is that, the winner group in real life!? So she’s a plutocratic and an extremely~ adorable lady!! I seem to have many rivals4~”

“Relax. There is no chance for an insignificant one like you. ”

Speaking of Mari, she started heading to the school building on the left, but some of the students who saw her called her “Kitamikado-senpai5!”, some invited “Let’s have lunch together,” some asked “Can I consult you next time?” and various voices became louder. She answered affably and disappeared at the school building.

“Now we are going to start our investigation of this school.”

The interior was calm and brown-based.  You can tell the antiques and many small furnishings placed within the principal’s office are expensive by only one glance.

Kujou stood up after greeting Nishino, who was sitting in a soft leather chair.

“Thank you very much. Please tell me if you have any inconveniences, and I will handle it.”

“I appreciate your solicitude. Then we will leave and start investigating now.”

Kujou opened the door in order to start the investigation within the school.

“Wow! He appeared!”

“May I take a picture with you!!”

“Teacher, please smile, please smile~”

“Eh… What’s this…!?”

Akira murmured at the numerous squeal and camera lens with a face looked like a pigeon that ate a peashooter6.

The girls crowded in front of the principal’s office.

They kept saying words like ‘graceful,’ ‘cool,’ and ‘adorable,’ just like they’ve found a star with scandals and chased after as paparazzis with their smartphones to take pictures.

One of the girls stared at Yui.

“You are a high schooler, right? What’s your name?”

“Yes. I’m Yui Mikami.”

“Adorable~!!”

“Hi, Yui-chan. We’ve made some cookies before noon during Skills for Living class. Do you want to discuss the clothes that you’re wearing? ”

Yui’s eyes twinkled softly.

Probably her eyes reflected the brilliant afternoon tea parties that were waiting for her from now on. With the sparkling drool at the corner of her mouth and the immediate up-down nods, Yui walked towards the Skills for Living classroom with some female students.

She was so venerable that she fulfilled her desires immediately and got along with the female students at the same time.

“Kujou. Is Yui okay like that?”

“That is Miss Yui. There’s no need to worry about her. Let her do it.”

Girls heard their conversation and started to make noises.

“Hey, I heard that! He said ‘Miss Yui!!’”

“I wanna be called with ‘miss,’ too.”

“So he’s name is Mr. Kujou, right!”

“What about the name of the guy with black hair?”

A cough interrupted the endless questions attacking Kujou.

“You guys, stop. You are confusing the teacher. That’s enough. Please return to the classrooms.”

Following Nishino’s words, they answered with ‘Yes~’ and slowly went back to the classrooms.

So far, they investigated just as they’ve discussed at the meeting yesterday… However, Yui has started to investigate by herself already…

Akira decided to go to Grade 11 Class 3 to try to find something about Azusa Nishino when she was still alive.

The linoleum floor swept gorgeously extended to the classrooms. Akira felt a sense of humor when the female students bowed at him and passed by him.

Grade 11 Class 3.

It was an ordinary classroom that appeared in every school in Japan.

Akira asked the girl who stood near the entrance door.

“Hey, can I borrow a little bit of your time?”

“Yes? What happened, Mr. Akira？”

“Two weeks ago, wasn’t there a case about the principal’s daughter getting killed? I thought the girl named Azusa Nishino who passed away was a part of this class. What kind of girl was she?”

“Azusa? Umm, she was, if anything, kind of ordinary. She didn’t stand out in our class.”

“Did she have a lot of friends?”

“She was lively,  so I guess she had many friends. I played after school, too. ”

The other tomboyish student leaning on the wall continued.

“She worked hard in a club. She said that running cannot be missed. I think she was pretty serious about it.”

“Working hard in a club and did not stand out that much. She wouldn’t have incurred the wrath of anyone…”

“Oh, wait a minute. I remember… It wasn’t wrath but she has said something like a person was chasing after her.”

“Oh, I remember that! ‘Wasn’t that the stalker from before!!’ Although everyone said that with laughter.”

“Stalker！？”

What Nishino said in the Hakoniwa Agency floated into his mind.

“Yeah. She loved something like anime and bought many goods, so she had a part-time job. At her workplace, she seemed to receive letters7. She said she rejected him softly at first, but he eventually ambushed in order to give her letters.”

“And then?”

“And, I think she received letters every day. From one day on, she received them but started not to read them. She said both the contents and his love were disgusting. But Azusa had the habit of saying whatever she wanted to say when she accumulated a lot of stress, and probably got mad at him once. Then the man never came again. ”

“Did she go to the police?”

“Yes. She did go, but the police said they couldn’t do anything until Azusa got hurt. They were so mean, right?”

“So there was an actual stalker… Oh, is there anything else? Was there any weird things in school or something that strange happened?”

Murmuring “Umm~,” two girls had their necks slanted and looked like they realized something.

“… It wasn’t a case, but… Approximately a month ago, a teacher named Carter suddenly disappeared.”

“Mr. Carter? Why ‘suddenly?”

“Umm, I don’t really know. The principle said he was suddenly transferred to a school in Kumamoto.”

“I was surprised! Personally, I was disappointed because his face fit my preferences.”

“What’s that!? Did you aim for him?”

“A little bit~ Just kidding. But Mr. Akira is handsome, too~”

“You’re probably my type, too~”

While saying so, the distance between the female students decreased.

Blushing at the love stories and the momentum of female high schoolers, Akira immediately left after appreciating them.

Several hours after that…

The sun had slanted, it was a time that most students wouldn’t be at school. Akira wanted to go to the principal’s office so he went downstairs.

After that, even after Akira repeatedly found students from other classes and club members from Track Club to inquire about Azusa, there weren’t any rumors like that. There weren’t any conflicts regarding male-female relationships related to Azusa. Akira had to assume that Azusa enjoyed her school life perfectly.

“If that’s the case… Then there must have been something related to the stalker…”

While murmuring, he was about to reach the turning point of the hallway. A human-like figure appeared in his eyes. After hearing a high-pitched scream, Akira fell down on the ground due to the force.

“Ouch… What happened…”

When he tried to stand up from the floor, he used his arms to support himself while his was still dizzy.

“Ah!!”

“Um? Someone screamed? Wait, what is this… The tenderness and warmth that comes from my hand. What’s under me…”

Suddenly, Akira’s dizzy feeling cleared away.

“Oh!  A girl?”

When Akira turned in the hallway, he and a female student had fallen onto the floor at the moment he bumped into her. He couldn’t conceal his internal disturbance when their bodies intertwined infamously.

“Wait, eh！ What!? Wwwwhat is going on!? Why is there a girl under me? Oh, I pushed her down!? That’s impossible!! Wait, we are not dating, and this is the girl I just bumped into!? That kind of girl….”

The reality kept attacking Akira.

“My God’s Right Hand9 is rubbing a breasttttt!!”

Akira’s miserable expression gave a feeling like his life was over. Edvard Munch would be able to paint another The Scream by looking at it.

“My lady, are you ok?”

His panicked consciousness turned back to normal.

“Ah, Kujou.”

“Not the time for ‘Ah, Kujou.’ Stupid idiot. ”

While speaking, Kujou pulled Akira up, and help the girl that fell on the ground.

“I suddenly heard a scream so I rushed here. What were you attempting to do?”

Akira started hurrying to collect the papers that scattered onto the floor.  The budget of each club.  The schedule of student council’s meeting. Some  topics discussed by student council.

“What? These are… Probably… ”

“I apologized for bumping into you, Mr. Akira. Did you get hurt？”

The girl that stood there was the one that they had met near the school front door in the morning. She was the president of student council, Mari Kitamikado.

“S, sorry! I was thinking so I did not see you. How about Kitamikado? Did you get hurt anywhere? Are you ok!?”

Mari was tidying up her body, swaying her long, black hair left and right. After fixing the folds on her uniform, she smiled like nothing had happened and said, “I’m alright.”

“Oh, you’re alright. Wait? What? Where’s Yui?”

Since Akira was relieved, he started to look around and asked Kujou.

“Miss Yui said she’s going to a dessert buffet with her classmates. If I don’t pick her up early, she’ll be full before having dinner…  ”

Surprisingly, Kujou was a worldly-wise man.

“Then, what were you thinking, Mr. Akira?”

“Oh, right. Kujou, Azusa actually had a stalker!”

“… Umm… ”

Kujou reacted slowly.

Then, Kujou replied at the arm-crossed Akira with scornful expressions, “Of course.” His gaze stabbed Akira painfully, so painfully.

“Azusa… Is she the principal’s daughter, Azusa Nishino?”

Mari tilted her head.

“Yeah, that girl. Oh! Kitamikado, do you know Azusa well? Have you heard something like she was being targeted by a stalker?”

“No. I was from a different grade than Azusa, so I don’t think I’ve met her face to face; however, since I have the title of the president of student council, I’ve heard some rumors like that… ”

While speaking about it, Mari lowered her chin.

“Anyways, if there was an actual stalker, he should receive punishment, since Azusa hasn’t done anything bad. People who threatens other should be punished.”

Mari felt little uncertainty at Akira’s instantaneous question; however, she spoke with dignity like a student principal.

“Kitamikado is not only a gorgeous girl, but also a popular person in this school, you may be targeted by a stalker. Please be careful.”

Kujou smiled gently.

“Thank you for your concern. But please don’t worry… Pitifully, there hasn’t been a single man who’s that interested in me so far. ”

She replied with a gentle smile.

The cries of the ravens faded out.

“Kitamikado, I apologize for stopping you. It’s becoming darker outside, so please go home as soon as possible.”

“Thank you very much. After I place this documents into the student principal room, I will go home. And you too, please be careful.”

After a deep nod, Mari trotted upstairs.

After watching her going back, Kujou and Akira went back to the Agency. Of course, they picked Yui up on their way.

“Seriously… You talked too much to an outsider. Don’t do something that exposes our investigation. Do you understand?”

“…Oh…”

Kujou finally finished his one-hour-long sermon. After Kujou’s wrath faded away, he started to analyze the information they got from the investigation today.

“Firstly, regarding the victim, Azusa Nishino, she was a tender person with a nice impression to others according to what this kid and I have heard. It wouldn’t be possible for her to receive the malice of anyone, Plus, there weren’t any obvious quarrels or disputes related to her happened in this six months. We haven’t found her criminal history or misconduct. We’ve heard these from both students and teachers.”

“She was a girl who worked very hard on studying and clubs. She enjoyed her school life but unexpectedly got killed one day, that’s what happened.”

Yui drank Lady Grey in one breath.

“Yes. I guess the suspect is not from the school but from somewhere else.”

“So, the stalker was suspicious for sure, right!? ”

“Right. I inquired about the inside stories after that as well.”

“Inside stories?”

“Those police should have already gotten this information. But it hasn’t been published yet.  So there should be some reasons.”

“So you asked the police? Normally, will  they tell you something like that?”

“There is one police I know in the Shinjuku10 Police Department. It is easy to get one or two pieces of information. The friendship between Mr.G and me isn’t fake.”

“What? Who? Grandpa11? Is it okay for such an aged person to work as a police?”

“Is your brain variation all trash? It’s not Grandpa. It’s the alphabet G.”

Yui couldn’t hide her bitter smile at Kujou’s outrageous attitude when she heard this conversation.

“So, what did Mr.G say?”

“It seems like Azusa did not resist against the stalker. There are records in her house that shows she went to talk to the police department in Nakano12. The suspect is a man who lives at Kurame, Taitou District. His name is Yukitoshi Tamura. He is twenty-two years old. No occupation. He seems to claim himself as an innate NEET. ”

“… ‘An innate NEET…’ Isn’t that too acerbic?”

Hearing Akira’s complaints, Yui opened her mouth.

“Since the police has information like that, isn’t the suspect the stalker for sure? Arresting him is only a matter of time.”

Kujou wrinkled between his eyebrows.

“That… That sounds like he’s telling us ‘Go find the answer yourself.’”

Yui and Kujou both crossed their arms and look downwards.

“That’s what Mr. G would probably do. Then, let’s do it. Let’s go to the suspect’s house tomorrow.”

“Yes, my lady.”

As Kujou replying dignifiedly, he started preparing immediately. Figuring out that he was left behind, Akira asked Kujou politely.

“Umm~, so~. Oh, Kujou. Can I go with you tomorrow?”

Trying to contact Nishino, the sadistic butler asserted with an acrid gaze looking at Akira.

“Didn’t you give up the test? Then come with us”

“I didn’t give up!!”

Part 5

Kuramae, Taitou District1. The place crowded by houses from the past was the so-called old town. A famous tourist place, Seisou Temple, was nearby, and the Tokyo Sky Tree could be viewed from there as well.

This old town had already been built for over twenty years, and now Tamura is living in a crappy apartment.

After the bell rung for a few seconds, the old wooden door was slowly opened with squeaky sounds.

The facial features of the man who murmured “What do you want?” were… Unkempt hair tousled due to bad sleeping positions. A stubbly beard extended as lines around his mouth and on his chin. He probably had an unbalanced diet; he was skinny overall, but his stomach protruded from his body. You couldn’t tell he was twenty-one with a single glance.

The man in a creased jersey was Yukitoshi Tamura.

He was the suspect for murdering Azusa Nishino.

Kujou started the conversation with a smile.

“We are the police. We came to ask you some questions regarding the case of Azusa Nishino. Can we have your cooperation?”

He seemed like has already been questioned for several times. He did not hide his disconcerted face.

Kujou continued interrogating.

“Where did you meet Azusa Nishino?”

“By chance, I saw her at a convenience store in Akiba2 when she was working as a cash register..”

“Then you accosted her?”

“I didn’t accost her. Accosting a woman I meet for the first time is a little… I don’t even know what to talk about.”

“I see. This is why you gave her letters?”

“… Police, do you believe in falling in love at first sight? When I first met Azusa… I was convinced of its existence.”

“However, after you have handed her the letters, you were refused by Azusa euphemistically, right?”

“My letters were received. Receiving my letters was her reply, right? She continued receiving my love. That’s why I wrote letters and handed them to her everyday from that point on.”

The man who did not read the refuse literally but believed in the action of receiving the letters written with his love instead made them felt a little bit cold.

“I once wrote that ‘I like you. Please be my girlfriend. If you like me as well, please receive my letter tomorrow.’”

Recalling what the female students had said, Akira opened his eyes.

… Although she received the letters, she stopped reading them from the middle…

This was the crucial moment when misunderstandings started to exist.

Kujou and Yui realized it as well, and their faces became clouded.

“So after that, she continued receiving your letters. Is that’s true?”

“Right. I had never thought that resonance between two people was that exhilarating.”

Tamura hadn’t shown any changes in facial expressions until now, but he smiled.

“I see, I see. Azusa probably cherished the letters filled with your love.”

Pretending to agree with Tamura’s thoughts with words, Kujou’s eyes looked through Tamura’s innermost heart.

As Kujou had expected, Tamura’s expressions became incensed immediately.

“… But… ”

“What? ‘But.’ What are you talking about?”

“… But… She… Azusa… She tore up all the letters she had received from me and all of my love right in front of my eyes! One by one!! And she said! ‘Stop bothering me! You’re gross so don’t ever come again!!’”

Tamura knocked on the door with all his strength and crazy wrath.

“….So….What was that… Why did she receive my letters… What was the resonance between us two… Who was gross… Why was she treating my love like this…. Wasn’t her heart the grossest thing… Don’t kid with me…. Why do I have to be heart-broken…. This doesn’t make any sense…. The one who should be heart-broken… The one who should be heart-broken is Azusa!! Let her disappear from this world!! ”

The murderous intent exuded from the inside of his inordinate breathing.

“What you have just said are confirming your murderous intent.”

With a faint smile, Tamura took in a huge breath. Kujou turned his unfocused and vacuous eyes to him.

“Everyone has wanted to kill somebody at one point.”

“I see, that’s true. So let’s go back to our conversation. Where were you 22 o’clock at the day of the murder？”

“… At a game center in Akiba.”

“Do you often go to game centers?”

“Eh… Sometimes… ”

“Even a social withdrawal felt it’s not enough to stay at home to play game?”

“I, I just wanted to change my mood！”

“Oh, I see. Do you have any… friends? Or any witnesses?”

“That’s impossible. If… If… If you don’t believe me, just go check the security camera at the game center.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

Kujou’s heels were ready to leave, but he recalled something and went back to Tamura.

“Mr. Tamura… Have you ever been to the Private Jouji Girl’s High School? ”

Tamura opened his eyes widely.

“Thank you very much. I appreciate your cooperation.”

Kujou smiled affably.

After leaving Tamura’s house, the three went to Akihabara on their way and started to investigate the alibi provided by him.

Because there were instructions came from the police, videos from the day of Azusa being murdered were kept. Just by looking at them, Tamura was at that single game center the whole day. Although he had left for several times, the longest one was only for twenty minutes. It would be fair to think that he went to restroom or restaurant. At least only a single way from Shinjuku to the crime scene in Numabukuro takes twenty minutes for electric train.

Furthermore, during the time of Azusa being murdered, from twenty-two o’clock to twenty-three o’clock, the figure of Tamura immersed in games stayed in the videos.

Also, according to the employees, they said that they saw a rarely seen customer wearing the same jersey and staying at the game center for a whole day three days in a row..

The videos from the security camera and the testimony provided by the employees.

Yukitoshi Tamura’s alibi was flawless.

The sky became darker, and in the dining room of Hakoniwa Detective Agency, the three including Akira were perplexed.

“Although it was unnatural that he stayed at the game center for a long time even though he rarely went; however, as a matter of fact, it was impossible for him to kill Azusa.”

“Right, what Miss Yui has just said. After that, I contacted Mr. G, and he asked, ‘Right?’ Then we ended the conversation.”

“I see. So the police had the same information as what we have obtained and are stuck now…”

“Since he still had the stalking case, he will not be acquitted…. Something like that….”

“Why… I thought the offender was surely him… ”

“Although he has alibi, we cannot remove Tamura from the suspect list easily. We have to closely examine his alibi and find possibilities besides this from now on.”

The first flush of darjeeling tea had already become cold.

Opposite to the brilliant yellowish water, the three were surrounded by a dark and heavy atmosphere.

After that, no one had opened his mouth that day.

The investigation had almost gone back to the starting point. Three days after Hakoniwa Detective Agency and the police were deadlocked,

… That case had happened…

Part 6

“The man who was investigated by the police as the suspect of the case of a female high school student being murdered was discovered lying in a park along the Sumida River1

with blood bleeding from his head. His death was confirmed later. The deceased was Yukitoshi Tamura, with an age of twenty-one. The scene contained a large amount of liquor bottles, so the police stated that it was possibly an accident. They’re trying to continue the investigation… ”

All the afternoon variety shows were discussing about this topic. Akira murmured with astonishment after watching the news at the detective agency.

“Hey, Kujou… So a case was solved… Right?”

No reply.

Akira turned his head back, and saw Kujou glaring at the TV screen with a deeper frown in between his brows than usual.

“… Inconceivable…”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Tamura had the motive to murder Azusa, but he had alibi at the same time. However… I can’t help thinking that his alibi was too perfect.”

“Perfect?”

“Yeah. Although persistently visiting a game center only before and after the case had happened works as an alibi, it’s inexplicable as an action.”

“Umm~ But even if we assume Tamura as the offender, he didn’t have time to murder Azusa, right?”

Kujou sighed once and started to contemplate after Akira asked the rhetorical question. But, he realized something in the next moment and clapped his hands.

All the attention focused on Kujou.

“The very last thing I did was asking Tamura if he had been into Private Jouji Girl’s High School. It contain the meaning of ‘have you invaded the school illegally in order to meet Azusa directly?’ Although I was actually trying to trick him into revealing the truth… His reaction seemed like nothing like that had happened.”

“Umm… I see… Then both Tamura’s death and his alibi are convincing.”

Placing the tea cup down, Yui became determined.

“Then let’s investigate the school again.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Kujou was determined as well, and bowed down his head.

“Wwwwait a moment! No, no, no, no, it’s impossible for me to understand your conversation!! What are you guys talking about!! There’s a limit to jumping topics!!”

Distraught, Akira yelled with nonsense as if it was the end of the world. However, Kujou was extremely calm.

“What? You’re the one who understand the most.”

“Eh!? Wwwhat do you mean?”

Kujou let out a long sigh.

“When we first went to Jouji School, there was guy who bumped into you at the front gate, right? That was Tamura.”

“… What? Wwwwwwwwwwhat!?”

Akira yelled with even a louder voice.

“The one with a hoodie? The one who murmured ‘That rascal?’ … But… But… Why was Tamura in the school?”

“You really make my head hurt. You’re not suitable to be a detective. Quit being a human,”

“There’s no relationship between a detective and a human!!”

“Listen to me. Tamura was meeting with someone in the school at that time, so I wondered if a quarrel had just happened. Then when he spoke of irritation unconsciously, he bumped into you. Tamura’s illegal invasion of the school and the murder suspect of Azusa, plus the excessively unnatural alibi. Consider these points as a whole, and the answer will come out.”

“Then… I’m thinking… ”

He had probably somehow realized something. Akira stopped for a breath.

“So the people regarding this series of cases are most likely within Private Jouji Girl’s High School.”

Part 7

Akira went to Jouji High School. He hadn’t been there for several days.

When the female students saw the student teacher, they went to talk to him immediately; however, there wasn’t anything that could be a clue for this case.

“What are your hobbies?” “Do you like desserts?”  “Let’s have lunch together!” “Do you have a girlfriend?” “You kind of look like a dog.”

“The last one was unnecessary!!” Akira was about to yell, but he had no energy left because of the storm of questioning. He decided to go to the rooftop because he also wanted to change his mood.

Since there were railings on the rooftop of the school, it was always open to the students.

Akira went upstairs and through the wide open door. The weather was nice, and his sight was whited out because of the sunshine.

After a few seconds, he saw the blue sky and a girl. She looked like she was reading a book about something.

“What are you reading?”

Leaning on the fence, she raise her head.

“U~h… Are you Mr. Satou?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“This is an English novel.”

“Ah… My weakest subject!”

The girl grinned after hearing this and introduced herself as Kyouko Akihara.

“Kyouko, do you like English?”

“Yes!! I want to be a translator and create subtitles for foreign movies. ”

Her light brown hair was tied in a ponytail and she smiled. She was an adorable girl with impressive and noticeable canines.

“Aren’t English novels more complicated than what you learn at school? You can read that?”

“It was extremely complicated at first, but I started to understand them during the process of looking up words by myself.”

While saying this, an English-Japanese dictionary was placed beside her. Her steady endeavor would probably bear fruit.

“Then, aren’t English classes boring?”

“No, that never happens. Studying grammar and some basic things are very useful… But…”

Different then the light tone until now, she turned slightly clouded and continued the conversation.

“Since we currently have a Japanese teacher, I’m not satisfied.”

“Oh? What does that mean?”

“The teacher pronounces words in a Japanese way. Should I say that it’s not authentic?”

“Eh? So the teacher before was authentic, which means the teacher was a foreigner!?”

“That’s right. He’s a man named Robert Carter and was born in America.”

“Wow, an American teacher. Then, of course, comparing this teacher to Mr.Carter… ”

Akira stopped when he spoke to that.

Within the abrupt silence, Kyouko looked into Akira’s face, questioning.

“Mr. Sadou?”

“Kyouko. Was Mr. Carter the teacher who was transferred to Kumamoto1?”

“Ehh, yes. You’ve heard about it.”

“… Oh, no… I forgot about him completely…”

Akira recalled the name Carter from the investigation on the first day.

Kujou said the man who bumped into Akira at the front gate was Tamura Yukitoshi. He’s the one who murmured ‘That rascal.’

The person he was meeting with until that.

“Then… That man was… ”

Hearing Akira’s whisper, Kyouko arched her neck.

“Kyouko, please tell me whatever you know. What do you know about Mr. Carter? Why was he transferred suddenly?”

“I don’t really know the reason why he was transferred, but I remember it was actually suddenly. He was a thoughtful, tender, and intelligent teacher. His language skills were also impressive. He said he knew English, Japanese, French, and German. I think… He’s worked here since two or three years ago. His lessons were easy to understand and he answered my questions politely when I went to ask him during the break. He was not only tall but also handsome… To my knowledge, I don’t think I’ve heard any negative rumors about him from either students or teachers… ”

“I see.”

“And… He never mix official business with… Private affairs… He was a wonderful teacher.”

The last sentence Kyouko had said revealed some sorrow..

But, Akira would never notice that slight change and kept talking with optimism.

“Back to our conversation. Kyouko, you really look deeply into people.”

“I am the moral monitor, so normally I’ll hear or see some things..”

Kyouko returned joyful, like the sadness had been blown away.

“You’re the moral monitor!? I’m scared!”

“Ha, ha, ha, I am very serious ~ No one can violate the school rules as long as my eyes are still black2!”

“Oh no~ Kyouko is very serious, so I feel bad for everyone else~”

“What do you mean by you feel bad, stop!”

Kyouko became angry very adorably, and she started to leave, “I’m going to return to the classroom..”

Akira chased after her from behind quickly.

“Is it easy for outsiders to sneak into the school?”

“Outsiders? Umm~ I don’t know about that. But there are security guards outside, so I don’t think people can come in easily.”

“Then, are there many authorized people entering and exiting the school? Such as student teachers like me and substitute teachers.”

“Sometimes, I think. Probably once for every half year. Oh, but the merchants are often seen.”

“Merchants?”

“Right. They sometimes carry goods to the school’s store and sometimes deliver textbooks to the Chemistry stockroom. They are people wearing blue hoodies.”

“… Blue hoodies… ”

Because she cared that Akira stopped unexpectedly, Kyouko turn back and stopped.

“… It can’t be wrong… Carter was the one who met with Tamura when Tamura wore that merchants’ hoodie… Which indicates that Carter prepared the hoodies… But, then, what did they talk about when they met at school…”

Mumbling, Akira organized his thoughts in a low volume. Hearing his voice, Kyouko became astonished.

“Mr.Carter was there!?”

Kyouko asked while shaking Akira’s hand strongly.

“Eh? Oh, no. I just thought that perhaps he was there.”

Akira was surprised a little and he smiled bitterly, Kyouko showed her sad face.

“Kyouko, you really yearn to meet Mr. Carter that much?”

“Eh… No… That was… Because his transfer was so sudden that I didn’t get to say goodbye to him… It’s not like… I like him or something like that… ”

Hearing that, Akira smiled and said,

“Kyouko? I’ve never asked you, ‘Who do you like?’ Right?”

Realizing that she jumped to the conclusion too hastily, Kyouko became flushed all the way to her ears and looked down hesitantly.

When they was ready to start walking again, there came a familiar voice from the stairs.

“Oh, is it Mr.Akira and Kyouko?”

When they looked, they saw Mari Kitamikado, the president of the student council.

Kyouko hid her face back.

“What’s going on, Kitamikado？”

She answered Akira’s question with her gentle Mari smile.

“Since I heard talking voices from the rooftop, I wanted to remind them that the break was about to end.”

“Teacher, I am going to be late to class, so I’ll leave right now.”

Then Kyouko bowed to Akira and went downstairs without so much as a glance at Mari.

After watching Kyouko’s actions, Mari turned around.

“What did you two talk about?”

“Like something about herself and something about Mr. Carter.”

“Mr. Carter… He was the English teacher who was transferred several days ago, right?”

“Ah, yes, yes. Speaking of which, Kitamikado, do you know why Mr. Carter was transferred?”

“No, I don’t know that many details.”

“Kyouko was the same, sure that no one knows the reason~”

Affected by Akira laughing out “Ahaha,” Mari smiled as well.

“Oh! I want to ask something else. Was Mr.Carter very familiar with the merchants?”

“About the merchants… They are the people who carry the goods into the school, right? No, I don’t know it that many details, since I hadn’t talked with Mr. Carter that much.”

She answer regrettably and knitted her eyebrows.

“I see. Sorry, I asked a weird question.”

“No, that’s fine.”

She smiled sweetly.

They went downstairs until they reached 12th grade classrooms, Akira said goodbye to Mari, and slowly went downstairs.

“Did Kyouko talk about anything else?”

Unexpectedly, a question came from behind.

When Akira turned back, smiling Mari reflect in his eyes.

“No, nothing besides that… ”

… A moment of silence…

Her shining black hair waved intensely in the wind.

“I see. Then, I still have my next class period, so I’m leaving. ”

Her gentle voice as usual, she left after a deep bow.

“…That was my illusion… Right?”

Finishing their dinner for that night, the three decided to exchange information from the investigation in the living room of the detective agency.

The English teacher who named Carter. Blue hoodies that merchants wore when entering and exiting the school. Akira explained his conclusion from those to Kujou and Yui

“Your conclusion was too abrupt. Why do you think Carter was the offender?”

Kujou replied very calmly.

“Didn’t Takura bump into me at the front door? He was meeting with Carter there. And them for some reason I heard he said ‘that rascal’ because he was mad. Wasn’t Carter a teacher worked at that school? It shouldn’t be hard for him to get a blue hoodie!!”

“Then, you conclusion assumes that Carter, who was transferred, met with Tamura, who sneaked into the school, for some reason and then they did something, right?”

“Oh, right. However… Since I don’t understand the reason, I have to catch and ask him…”

Suddenly, Kujou smiled.

“This is your kind of thinking that is very direct. If you feel confident with your conclusion then go head.”

“Oh, oh, oh! I’ll do it!! I’ll solve the mystery with my conclusion!! Wahahahahaha!”

Akira felt a little surprised with Kujou’s unexpected response. Knowing that he was supported, he revealed all his triumph and enthusiasm.

“So what happened on your side?”

Kujou and Yui had been investigating the death of Tamura.

“The night before Tamura’s death, a person witnessed some people quarreling in the park. Since there weren’t that many street lights in the park, the witness said he didn’t know any details, like their faces; however, the person who was noisy seemed to have unkempt hair and wear a jersey.”

“What were they quarreling about?”

“Unfortunately, that witness did not hear those details. It was just two people quarreling loudly.”

“Usually, you would think that Tamura being killed after this argument is what would have happened.”

Yui was fighting with fondant au chocolat and she answered with a little chocolate stuck on her lip.

Agreeing with that, Kujou replied, “Yes.”

“Eh? But… Wait a second. But don’t we not know if he was killed by Carter? What about the possibility they said on the news? Something like he was drunk so he fell down.”

“That’s impossible. In the past, he had acute alcohol intoxication and couldn’t drink after that. In the first place, he seemed to be a non-drinker who couldn’t even handle a single drop of alcohol. His families and a few of his old acquaintance provided testimonies like that.”

“So the bottles near deceased Tamura were fake… Then, as I thought…”

Akira felt the the possibility of murder became higher. Information about Carter was lacking, which they wanted more of. Yui read Akira’s thoughts when he crossed his arms, and she gave off a tone of voice indicating to end this conference.

“Let’s survey the teacher named Carter, who was investigated by Akira, at first. Tomorrow, let’s talk to Kentarou together.”

Part 8

The next day, the three went to the school as soon as possible.

Separate from the other two people, Yui went to the classroom. Kujou asked straightforward questions to Nishino, who greeted them kindly in the principal’s office.

“I have some questions regarding Mr. Robert Carter, the original English teacher.”

“Eh?” Nishino was slightly astonished and stopped what he was doing.

“Where did you hear that from?”

“I heard it from my students. They said something like ‘The pronunciation of the previous English teacher was authentic.’”

“Yes, since he was American.”

“But I heard that he was suddenly transferred about a month ago.”

Nishino started to wipe away the sweat over his forehead.

“We suspect that Mr. Carter was related to the case of Azusa. Will you please tell us what you know about him? For example, the reason he was transferred suddenly.”

Kujou eyes were glittering profoundly. Nishino slowly opened his mouth with Kujou’s sharp gaze on him.

“In our school, there is a mailbox in front of the student council room. The students can submit whatever they are concerned about for their school life or what they want to suggest. It is a so-called suggestion box. One day after school, at the time when almost all teachers left, Kitamikado, the president of the student council, came to me with a letter. She wanted me to read the contents without asking first… Then I read it as she told me to do so…”

“What was written on it?”

“… It exposed that… Mr.Carter was in a romantic relationship with a female student in our school.”

“Ehh… Harsh….”

Akira expressed his disapproval instinctively when he heard the exposal.

“This was the first time something like that happened, so I am considering how to fix it. Personally, I think love itself should be free; however, the relationship between a teacher and a student is… People always have some thoughts on it… Plus, the female student is still a minor…”

“Then what did you do, Mr. Nishino?”

“I held a staff meeting. I was thinking about asking for the opinions of everyone.”

“I see.”

Kujou gave approval and sipped the green tea.

“Since it was related to the reputation of the school, did you handle it gently?”

Nishino answered, “Yes,” while wiping his sweat.

“Then, did Mr. Carter admit the truth?”

“Yes, he admitted it. He seemed to understand the positions of a student and a teacher; however, he said the student was such a gorgeous lady that he couldn’t control himself. He said it was all his fault.”

Umm, Kujou breathed out.

“I heard that Mr.Carter was transferred to Kumamoto1. Is this correct?”

“Right. He was transferred to Higo2 First High School.”

“Did he come back recently at any point?”

“No… I don’t think so. I have never heard about him being called back here after his transfer.”

“… Tamura didn’t go to Kumamoto; instead, Carter came to Tokyo… Also, why did they have to meet in the school… ”

Hearing Akira’s murmur, Kujou gave a side glance at him, then directed a question at Nishino.

“May I ask one more question? Did Mr. Carter say the name of the female student who he was in love with?”

“No. He said he couldn’t hurt who he loved, so in the end, he didn’t say.”

“That’s enough. Much appreciated.” Kujou bowed and urged Akira to leave the principal’s office together..

However, when he was at the door, he turned back.

“I forgot something. I have one last question. Did the letter from the mailbox have the name of the sender on it?”

“No. It was anonymous.”

“I see… Then who knew about the contents of the letter in this school ? ”

“Including me and Kitamikado, there are only two. I only said it during the conference, and Kitamikado knew the contents, but she said she brought it to me without telling anyone else.”

“I see. I understood. I appreciate your help.”

Satisfied, Kujou bowed with a smile.

The sounds of the two’s footsteps resounded in the hallway.

Kujou’s expression turned serious.

“We are going back to the agency right now.”

“What? Right now!?”

Even though it was early in the afternoon, Kujou said to return. His steps were fast for some reason.

“By the way, Kujou, where did Yui go? I thought she came to the school with us.”

“Ah!” Kujou recalled and stopped walking immediately.

“She said she’s participating in dessert making from this morning in the Skills for Living classroom…”

“Yui’s ability of smelling desserts is at the Devil Level3… Should we pick her up… ”

Roughly one hour after that, at the detective agency.

“Which. One. Should. I. Choose?”

Failing to have desserts at school, the sullen Yui returned to a good mood looking at the cluster of bite-sized puddings prepared by Kujou

“I just thought about it, is our investigation finished today? We’ve only asked about Carter.”

“Oh, that’s enough. By the way, kid, for two days starting tomorrow, your time is mine.”

“… Eh?… What?… Are you eulogizing your love for me!?”

“Go die!!”

One photograph was flying onto Akira’s face. There was a girl in it.

“Wait, this girl… Isn’t she… Kyouko?”

“Yes. She is Kyouko Akihara, form Grade 11 Class 1 of Private Jouji Girl’s High School. She was the one who told you about Carter.”

“Uh….So what’s going on with this girl?”

Kujou said after he squinted his eyes and dropped his tone of voice.

“Akihara will be attacked during this break.”

Akira’s eyes widened.

“The offender of this case has a time limit and knows the police and we are investigating and chasing after them. As proof, the offences are escalating. That’s why the cornered offender pursued an outcome… Let’s start now.”

“Wait a second. Isn’t Carter loved by Kyouko?”

“Carter is in love with someone else.”

“Eh…Why…”

Recalling of Kyouko’s sorrowful face, Akira gritted his teeth.

“There is a place I must go right now. I think I’ll be back soon, but before I come back, you have to guard Akihara.”

… To guard…

That also meant protecting Kyouko selflessly if she was actually attacked.

Anxiousness ran through Akira’s body.

“If you are afraid, you can choose not to do it.”

Yui said gently.

There was silence, as if they were waiting for Akira’s reply.

“… I am…  An idiot,  so I can’t make skillful conclusions like Kujou can; I can’t perceive spirits like Yui can either. But… I wanted to do something… I was always trying to find… If there’s something that I’m able to do. This case will be solved for Mr. Nishino. For that to happen, Kyouko has to be protected, right? Then I’ll do it!! ”

Akira thumped his chest with a fist while speaking.

“Good.”

Yui accepted Akira’s determination.

Akira, Yui, and Kujou looked at each other and smiled.

Part 9

During the evening of that day, Akira was guarding Kyouko. Although Kujou said it was fine to start the next day, Akira could not wait there leisurely, since Kyouko might be attacked.

It was now past eighteen o’clock. The Sunroad Shopping Street at Kichijouji1 was crowded by shoppers and people who were trying to get home. According to Kujou’s profiling, offenders would not attack Kyouko at a crowded place. It’s when Kyouko is walking through a place with less people by herself that he has to pay attention on.

… The man named Carter…

If he was an American, he should be tall and strong. If a man like that appeared around Kyouko, it would be very distinct. Thinking of this, Akira turned to look at the flow of the people on the shopping street; however, he did not see any one who looked like that.

After nineteen o’clock, Kyouko said goodbye to her friends, and rode the subway in order to get home.

The Inokashira Line of the subway was pretty crowded due to the commuter rush. Focusing on an English book, Kyouko let her body tremble with the subway.

Seven minutes after the subways started moving,  she got off the subway at Takaido Station. Akira followed her.

Takaido Station intersected a major road named Kanjouhachigosen. In front of the lively station, there were many people passing it.

After examining the tickets, Akira looked back.

There wasn’t anybody who looked suspicious.

To be safe, Akira ran after Kyouko.

Kyouko’s home was located in a quiet residential area after a ten minute walk from the station.

It was a very ordinary house.

An ordinary girl from an ordinary family.

“…Why will someone like her become the victim…”

Looking at Kyouko who disappeared at the entrance, Akira murmured.

Nothing unusual happened today.

The second day of guarding.

This day, nothing related to the case happened either. With a red bean bun in his mouth, Akira spent the peaceful time chasing after a high school girl who was enjoying her break.

However, this peaceful time was broken on the next day.

The third day of guarding.

A little before noon, the door of the Akihara family’s house was opened and Kyouko came out dressed in her uniform.

“What? Isn’t there no school today?”

With this simple question, Akira started to follow her.

Kyouko rode the subway to Kichijouji.

Passing through Sun Road, she went to the gym after arriving at Jouji School.

“I see. I think she’s part of the Volleyball Club.”

Seeing of her retreating figure, Akira crossed his arms as if he was thinking.

Robert Carter.

The words ‘The rascal’ that Tamura said when he illegally enter the school and bumped into Akira. And then the teacher who was exposed for falling in love with a student and was transferred to Kumamoto. That person was aiming at Kyouko.

What was his motive? Akira closed his eyes.

Kujou said Carter was in love with someone besides Kyouko, which meant Kyouko discovered someone else as his lover, and it seemed possible that she put the letter into the mailbox.

…The revenge of the transfer…

Akira’s conclusion was logical. Because of the man’s selfish reason,  the anger was accumulating.

“Damn it… How can this happened! Carter, I will break your intrigue!!”

The sun had completely sunk and the sky was dominated by darkness. It was half past twenty right now.

Because the competition was around the corner, all the club members practiced intensely; however, the long club meeting was about to end.

Kyouko finished changing and left the school. She went through the shopping street and headed the station of Inokashira Line as usual, however…

“… What?… ”

Starting his tailing again, Akira felt something wrong.

She even passed the Kijijouji Station, and kept going towards the south alone.

Is she not going back home? … Akira chased after her anxiously.

The road which led to the Onshi Park in Inokashira.

There were some folk art shops, hot dog stands, and fry chicken stands on both sides. But she went straight into the park without a single glance at them.

There was an enormous lake at the center of this park. Couples usually rode boats during weekends. Sakura bloomed everywhere within the park in spring, so the park was a famous cherry-blossom viewing spot.

Although this park was crowded during the day, it became unpopular during the night. This park was managed thoughtfully, but it wasn’t bright everywhere. The black and deep street walk was dominated by darkness.

Akira made a deep sound at the back of  his throat and tightened his breath.

Kyouko walked around the park for about ten minutes and then went past the bushes. She sat onto the bench, which was in the corner of a playground with large tracks. There was a famous museum near the park.

There was no one around. Since the light was far away, the area around the bench was pretty dark.

Akira held his breath and hid within the shadow of the trees.

A few seconds later, she turned on her phone to check the time and then turned it off immediately to look at the night sky.

“… What if… She’s just waiting for her boyfriend…?”

Her joyful and peaceful daily life from the past two days flashed through Akira’s mind.

“But… If that’s the case… It will be so awkward to keep on watching her.”

Akira didn’t have the hobby of peeking at other’s privacy. Now he attempted to look away.

The shadow behind Kyouko… Swayed.

Akira was rubbing his eyes to check if he had seen an illusion, but the shadow became darker and moved behind Kyouko silently.

The next moment, the jet black shadow moved abruptly.

Within the street lights’ dim light, a dull metal piece reflected a beam of light.

“It’s a knife!!”

Yelling, Akira ran out of the shadow of the trees at his fastest speed.

“Run away, Kyouko! He’s behind you!!”

Both she and the jet black shadow shouted in surprise.

However, the violent action did not stop.

The high-held piece of metal attacked Kyouko with murderous intent and greed.

Akira did not have any fear. The only thing in his mind was to protect Kyouko, so he hit the jet black shadow with his body.

The two people fell onto the ground.

Akira looked up to check Kyouko.  She was holding her left hand and aching. He could tell that there was blood bleeding from that hand.

The close call, or the fatal injury, was avoided… But.

“…Damn it… She was injured…”

There was no time to regret.

The shadow was aiming at Kyouko’s life for sure. After fixing their position, they tried to hurt Kyouko again. But Akira had not simply fallen onto the ground. He had held the hand holding the knife tightly when he fell.

“Carter… I won’t release my hand… No matter what will happen!! ”

A person aimed at Kyouko’s life. A person protected it.

Their determinations collided and attacked each other in the dim darkness.

“No matter if you’re an American… If you’re an adult… I don’t care! I will protect Kyouko no matter what will happennnnnn!!”

Hearing that ghastly yell, the shadow used its full force violently.

Imaging the strength of an American, an adult, Akira used his full force to withstand it.

“I won’t let your hand go! This hand!”

“Won’t let it go… ”

“Let it go… Eh?… ”

Akira did not release his hand but showed an incredulous expression. He was trying to withstand a strength that would easily throw him away, so he used all his strength…

Contrary to his expectations, the right hand holding the knife could not even move under Akira’s force.

“That’s it!”

A familiar voice came from a close place.

Kujou came out from another shadow.

“Don’t worry. Although your wrist was hurt, it’s no big deal.”

Yui said in order to comfort Kyouko, who was sitting on the bench and aching.

Kujou stood next to Akira.

“The murders of Azusa Nishino and Yukitoshi Tamura. And the murder attempt to Kyouko Akihara. Those offences were all done by you”

Kujou shined his light on the jet black shadow who was holding a knife with murder intent.

“Mari Kitamikado.”

“What!?”

… The face that was lit…

Beautiful long, black hair and delicate facial features. Mari Kitamikado, the person who was the principal of the student council, who was overwhelmingly popular in the school and had greeted the three courteously, was there.

“… W, Why… Why are you here, Kitamikado? By the way, isn’t Carter the offender…!?”

Kujou continued depriving Mari from the knife.

“Carter isn’t the offender. He is, if anything, the victim.”

“What!? Carter is the victim!?”

“If Toshiyuki Tamura had killed Kyouko Akihara, then I reckon the series of cases would have been buried in the darkness.”

“Wait, wwwhat’s going on!?”

Kujou took a deep breath.

“This is an exchange murder.”

“An… Exchange murder!?… What’s that!?”

Kujou started to unravel the mysteries of these tangled cases.

“We considered the case of the murder of Azusa Nishino and the case of the murder attempt of Kyouko Akihara as completely different cases. We and the police only suspected the stalker Yukitoshi Tamura when Azusa Nishino was murdered from the side of his motivation. However, it was impossible for him to murder Azusa since he had an alibi.”

“Of course the person who killed Azusa Nishino was not Toshiyuki Tamura… Because it was Mari Kitamikado, who was right here.”

“Wwwwwwwwwwwhat!!”

“And there’s one more case: Yukitoshi Tamura preparing to murder Kyouko Akihara.”

“W, wait a second, Kujou. Are you saying Kitamikado had reasons for killing Azusa? And does Tamura had reasons for killing Kyouko?”

“That is the key of this mystery. According to common sense, we know that killing a person requires motives. It is natural for people with motives to be suspected. However, you took advantage of the common interest between you two, and utilized it to do something that went against common sense.  ”

Kujou turned his exceptionally serious gaze onto Mari Kitamikado.

“The person Yukitoshi Tamura wanted to kill was Azusa Nishino. The person Mari Kitamikado wanted to kill was Kyouko Akihara. This is the truth. But if they do it directly, they will show up to the police without a doubt. Thinking about that, you suggested exchanging victims. ”

“Exchanging the victims?”

“Yes. Yukitoshi Tamura would murder Kyouko Akihara, and Mari Kitamikado would murder Azusa Nishino. By doing this, the people who were related to the victims were able to create a perfect alibi. You told Tamura, right? To stay in a game center with a security camera near the scheduled date for the murder.”

“I see, that’s why Tamura had a perfect alibi. ”

“You finally understand, stupid.”

Kujou smiled gently.

“However… This did not go well in reality. You murdered Azusa Nishino according to the plan,  and after that, Tamura was scheduled to murder Akihara, but I guess he said something like he really could do it and started complaining. So you two argued. Both in the school and in the park. Your anger increased day after day because you murdered Azusa first, and it finally exploded… And you let the momentum lead you to kill Tamura.”

The desolate park became even more silent.

After a while, Mari Kitamikado, who had listened without saying a word until now, slowly opened her mouth.

“Mr. Kujou, even if your inference is correct, I don’t have any reasons to murder Kyouko.”

“… Right… That was what I worried the most about, but then I suddenly realized, what if Mr. Carter was a key to this mystery?”

Mari’s eyes trembled slightly,

“Akihara, are you calm right now?”

Kujou turned around and tended to Kyouko.

Sitting beside Yui on the bench, Kyouko nodded.

“Then I have a few private questions to ask. I want you to answer me as soon as you can. Akihara, you like Mr. Carter. Is that true?”

Kyouko’s reaction showed her astonishment.

Then she replied silently, “… Yes… ”

“Have you told your feeling to the teacher? If you do not feel uncomfortable, I would like you to tell me something about it.”

Kujou urged her gently.

“I… Told him about my feelings. Since… I was the moral monitor… I’ve… Hesitated for a long time… I had to be the model of other students… However, at last… I was swept away by the will to tell him about my feeling…”

“And what was Mr. Carter’s response?”

“‘I’m happy about your feelings. Thank you. But as long as our relationship is teacher and student, I cannot answer to your feelings.’ He said to me.”

“… He never mixed official business with private affairs…” Akira finally understood the sentence Kyouko said on the rooftop.

“Is it okay for me to ask another question?”

Although what Kujou had asked was for solving the case, he continued asking ruthlessly.

“I have an important question to ask… You had an idea that Kitamikado and Mr. Carter were in love with each other, correct?”

Akira opened his mouth with silence and astonishment, like an idiot.

Kyouko hesitated to start speaking out the memory she sealed in her mind, which she could never forgot.

“… That was… A day when the meeting of moral monitors was prolonged… When I was walking in the hallway and thinking about leaving school as soon as possible… I saw the door to the student council room was slightly ajar… I was thinking, ‘Who would be here at such a late time?’… When I peeped into the room from the door crack… I saw… That Mr. Carter and Kitamikado were… Kissing…”

Kyouko’s grief disappeared onto the ground with her tears.

“… If that was the case… He did not…He did not have to lie to me… He could have directly said that… He was already in love with someone else… And reject me… ”

No one was able to stop a heart’s cry, which became sobbing. Yui hugged her, who was doing that, gently.

“… I… ”

After a while, Kyouko slightly raised her face.

“… After I saw that… I was crying all the way at home… But when I was very tired and could not think of anything… There was suddenly a fire lighting in my heart. It was lighting faintly even on the next day I woke up… ‘Keep it down… Keep it down…’ I kept thinking that, but… When I met Kitamikado at school… I accidently… Spoke out…”

“What did you say?”

“I said, ‘Although love is unconstrained, as the moral monitor, I have some thoughts on the romantic relationship between a teacher and a student within the school. Since you are the president of the student council, please be prudent about secretly meeting with Mr. Carter in school…’”

“I see… A while after that, Mr. Carter was transferred, correct?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

Calming down, Kyouko showed an relaxed expression.

Kujou looked like he was satisfied as he turned around.

“I was thinking that Akihara had a romantic relationship with Mr. Carter at first, because the person who brought the letter from the suggestion box to the principle was you, Kitamikado; however, if that’s what was happening, I couldn’t find any reason for you aiming at Akihara. So I thought about it in a different direction. Then I found the reason why you had to murder Akihara.”

The empty park.

This place, which was dominated by darkness and silence, became even more quiet, as if it had something to confess.

Kujou narrowed his eyes silently.

“If the exchange murder went as planned, then there would probably be no way to prove it; however it failed, so there is evidence that shows that you had committed two murders and one murder attempt. I reckon it would be very clear if we checked your alibi. I think this is enough. Can you tell the whole truth? Kitamikado, you attempt to be perfect at everything.”

“… Oh, well.”

Being stared at by everyone, Mari sighed once and crossed her arms. As a lady, she organized her thoughts into words elegantly.

“It was a coincidence that I met Tamura. I witnessed him chasing after Nishino after school. But I left him there. If I did not know anything about Nishino, then that man did not matter to me. He would do nothing to my life.  ”

“Then how did you get to know Tamura?”

“I didn’t mean to get close with him… Until… I saw that. It was all Kyouko’s… Your faults.”

“On… Me…?”

Kyouko murmured with astonishment.

“You are a great moral monitor. As a model for everyone in school, you controlled the atmosphere of it in a good way. I was impressed.”

Mari smiled gently.

“However… You failed. You fell in love with a wrong person. This is what you should know through your experience,”

“…”

Now Mari’s negative spirit showed up from the depths of her smile.

“When I received the advice from Akihara, I contacted Tamura.”

“… Mr. Kujou… Mr. Tamura was a really pitiful person…When his zealous love was broken in front of him… That heartlessness and humiliation… Can you understand?”

Mari sympathized with Tamura’s sorrow with her face down.

“But you seduced Tamura.”

“‘Seduced’ is such a bad word to use. It was Tamura who changed his love into hate. By chance, our interests were the same. We both wanted someone to disappear from this world. That’s all.”

“Wait a second. What do you mean by ‘That’s all?’ You didn’t have to kill people!! Plus, exchanging victims means you were going to kill a person you didn’t even know!? How can you do that so easily!”

Akira’s common sense made him disdainful of Mari’s explanation, which went against common sense.

“I don’t expect a person like you to understand. To remove the one that may threaten ourselves was the family rule when Kitamikado Plutocrat2 was established. However… Mr. Tamura could not understand our sublime teaching.”

“Then… How did you…”

“I gave him a reward.”

“A reward?”

Mari smiled coquettishly at the confused Akira and spoke with a sweet voice.

“Yes. He looked like he did not know a single woman, so I used my body to teach him.”

The obscene words leaked out from the lady were insane.

“As Mr. Kujou said, it was an exchange murder. As long as we could exchange victims, everything would be successful. Thus, I gave him two things to show my determination to Mr. Tamura: my body and the murder of Azusa… However… He was such a jerk.”

Mari pointed to her cheek with her finger, and posed a cute troubled face.

“Then you asked Tamura to come to the school.”

Kujou calmly analyzed Mari’s words, which were said with madness.

“I even prepared the merchant hoodies, but he did nothing. At last, he wanted my body again, so I gave him a slap instead.”

“… I see… And then he bumped into me in front of the door.”

All the mysteries were solved.

“Even after a while, Tamura didn’t even show me his intention to murder Akihara. That’s why you cornered Tamura this time.”

Mari was still smiling with insanity.

“That night, at the park, Tamura was finding excuses frantically for himself.”

The situation right before Tamura’s death showed up.

He appealed with tears:

”I know your determination. Just give me a little bit more time. With a little bit more time, I will set my heart. I can set my determination. So I want to push it back a little bit… In order to kill Kyouko Akihara… In order to kill her, before killing her, let me have sex with you!!”

When Tamura’s desire gushed out, Mari’s jet black darkness was detonated.

“… By the time I realized… I was holding rocks covered by my blood.”

Lit by the moon coming out from the clouds, Mari’s ecstatic smile showed her strange view of life.

When she murdered Azusa Nishino, to her, it was just a phase she had to go through. It might have been triggered by the teaching of the Kitamikado Plutocrat, or the fault of the empty heart she was born with. No, both of them were possible reasons.

The heart of the arrogant lady was finally broken and went berserk.

Unable to bear seeing that anymore, Kujou changed the topic.

“By the way, you said that it was all Kyouko’s fault, which means she discovered the romantic relationship between you and Mr. Carter, right? Can you tell me more regarding that?”

The night wind slightly messed up Mari’s hair.

She looked down, and started to talk as if she was yearning to recall the past.

“I started to date Mr. Carter about half year ago. He was intelligent and humorous, and most importantly, he was mature. He would accept my willfulness without a single frown.”

Mari suddenly looked up to the moon

“Since I was very small, I was taught that I must act perfect in front of people. So in school, I must act like a popular and perfect president of the student council. One day, he appeared in front of me. At first, we talked in the student council room. And after that lunch, in the morning, I spent all my extra time with him. That was when I realized, that I was not my usual self when I was with him… I could take off the mask I was always wearing… That was the moment I felt my new life had begun. I felt I had received a brilliant school life that I did not have before. ”

A princess who had found her prince was over there. Such hope-filled eyes became a color of nothingness that swallowed everything up when facing Kyouko.

“You broke our relationship.”

A voice lacking emotions came out from the mouth distorted in the shape of a new moon,

Kyouko’s face cramped up due to fear.

“She saw what she shouldn’t have seen. However… She should have hidden it at the bottom of her heart without ever saying it out loud. Her degrading heart caused by the envy emerging from her lover being taken away broke everything… Understand? Miss Bitch?”

“… Oh?… Hearing that, I have a question.”

Kujou showed the face of a detective.

“Oh, really? What is it?”

“The person who brought the letter to the principal office was you, Kitamikado, correct? If that’s true, then normally, the one who wrote the letter would be Akihara. Then I want to ask Akihara: Did you put the letter in the box in front of the student counselor office in order to expose that Kitamikado and Carter were in love?”

“No. I’ve never done that.”

Detesting the word of expose, Kyouko denied straightforwardly.

“Yes. That’s what I thought.”

As usual, Kujou was staring at Mari all the time.

“Mr. Kujou, you are such a playful person. In fact, you’ve already solved the case, right?”

Suddenly, Kujou smiled.

“I have no match for you… As you see, that letter was written and posted by me.”

“Eh!? Wait a minute! Why did you do something that would strangle yourself!?”

After thinking about it, Akira screamed at Mari’s absurd actions.

Mari opened her arms up wide at the starry sky.

“Kitamikado Plutocrat… Does not allow me, who is always perfect… To have a single blemish. Furthermore, it’s ridiculous to let someone to have an advantage over me.”

Then she spoke in a refreshing tone, as if she got rid of everything.

“So… Before he became my blemish, I let him go.”

Mari’s joyful laughter continued.

“… Y… ou… What the heck… ”

The repressed murmur could not be heard by her.

“What the heck! Are you kidding me!!”

Akira’s feeling that accumulated over and over exploded.

“Kitamikado!! Don’t you know Carter well!? When had Carter betrayed you! Wasn’t he the only person with whom you were able to take your mask off and trust!! Hadn’t you loved him from the bottom of your heart?”

Mari calmly received the question filled with wrath and sorrow.

“Flowers are… Most glamorous when they are picked at the moment they bloom… The same is with love… I wanted to preserve it as a beautiful memory within me before it got dirty. What’s wrong with that?”

A loud sound.

There was a sound of a big slap echoing in the park.

“Let me tell you, idiot. Carter did not tell anyone about you even at the end. He really cared about you! And You! Discarded him!”

Kyouko held the hand that she slapped Mari with strongly, and tears dropped. She was crying out front her heart with all her voice.

“… No… It shouldn’t have happened… ”

Mari looked down weakly.

“You couldn’t even believe the man you loved, but you believed in others when murdering people. Ridiculous. That’s why you betrayed Tamura as well.”

Kujou’s strict voice slapped her ears.

“Trust is not a thing to be provided with. It’s received from a person who knows you well. Know that trust created by interests is even thinner than a piece of paper. ”

Kujou took one step forward as he told her in a gentle voice different from before.

“… And then… I have to tell you another thing… That what Akihara had said was true. I went to Kumamoto during those two days.”

Mari’s hair swayed slightly.

“Mr. Carter continued working as an English teacher vigorously. So after talking with him for a while, I asked him about his relationship with you. I even told him that I’ve heard everything from the principal of Jouji School… And what do you think he said?”

Kujou’s face was clouded with sorrow.

“… To the very end… He didn’t say anything about his relationship with you… ”

Mari’s shoulders trembled silently. Then she frantically tried to stop the voice leaking out with hands.

However, when she knew the truth, she couldn’t control the torrent of feelings that had already overflowed once.

Several translucent teardrops wetted her feet.

Thus, this case came to an end.

Part 10

A few days after Mari was arrested.

This case had been reported on TV for several days in a row. Compared to the truth, the main point of the reports was mostly focusing on how bad and inhuman the offender was.

Sometimes, freedom of reports would become the their violence. It was the same for this case. Every station tried every way to attack Mari, the suspect.

Akira took a deep breath.

“There is no value watching this.”

While speaking, Yui powered the TV off.

“Hey, Yui… Kitamikado… Was she an abnormal person like they said she was on TV…? ”

Akira murmured in a soft voice,

“Do you agree with that?”

“No… I don’t think so… It might be weird…”

“Kitamikado’s sense of value… Was same as the colors of the traffic lights.”

“… The color of the… Traffic lights… ”

Akira looked up at the ceiling and recalled the majority and minority conversation that Kujou had talked about.

“… The color she had been seeing… What kind of color was it…”

“At least not the color that the majority sees. And that’s her common sense, and all her values.”

“Had she been seeing the wrong color?”

“I cannot say it’s wrong… Her way to express the color… Was simply incorrect.”

While saying that, Yui sipped the black tea with a little sense of loneliness.

Wishing to blow away the heavy atmosphere,  Akira asked with an abnormal amount of energy.

“Speaking of which, Kujou, have you reported to Nishino about this case?”

“Of course! It is the basics for a detective to report to the client swiftly and courteously. Don’t compare me to your bird brain1.”

After reminding Akira like that, Kujou took a deep breath.

“… Well… But… I had a complex facial expression… Even though the case was solved, the offender was a student from his own school.”

“But,” Yui smiled joyfully.

“When I said that ‘The spirit of Azusa behind Kentarou is smiling happily,’ he was delighted from the bottom of his heart. That report was probably the most delightful ever.”

“ I see. Azusa felt happy about that.”

Influenced by Yui, Akira laughed happily.

However, he recalled something, and turned his face to Kujou.

“Hey. Since when did you discover that Carter was not the offender?”

“Since the very beginning.”

“What!? You lied!! Didn’t you feel  that Carter was the offender like me!!”

“Then, little kid, why did you think Carter was the offender?”

“Eh!? That’s because… When Tamura bumped into me at the front gate of the school, he said ‘That rascal2’ when he passed by me, so I thought the offender might be a man since the beginning. Then after some investigation, there were only two men who were suspicious.”

“Did Tamura say ‘That rascal3?’”

“I’m not lying! He said ‘That rascal4’ for sure!!”

“No. I am asking whether you heard the word ‘That rascal’ in Kanji or not.”

“What!?” Akira opened his eyes widely.

“N… No… I am sure that I heard ‘That rascal’ in Kanji… So… That was…”

Kujou sighed once.

“You mixed Tamura’s ‘That rascal’ in Hiragana with ‘That rascal’ in Kanji. With different ways of expression, your brain arbitrarily converted ‘That rascal5,’ which represented the indignation of expressions, into ‘That rascal6,’ which separated the two genders. Was that the inception?”

“BBBBut, usually when people hear ‘Rascal7’, don’t they feel like it was referring to a man!?”

“Seriously… That’s why I said this in the beginning. Be careful about this: if you only focus on common sense, you may lose the basic of matters. As a loser and trash and idiot you really make me want you to disappear, and the dizziness makes me want to die.”

“Wait, wait, wait!!”

Akira attacked Kujou, who was criticizing, with his positive way of thinking. Then Yui smiled looking at them.

Today, the usual voice of curses, confusion, and laughter at Hakoniwa Detective Agency returned.

Akira felt the horror brought by the living darkness, which was darker than the phantoms, by himself.

However…

The case regarding humans that Kujou dealt with.

And the case regarding spirits that Yui dealt with.

Both of them were work that would help a person that would help someone.

Akira thought that with confidence.

In his opinion, he enjoyed this part of the detective agency.