“I’m freeeeee!” I shouted, taking up a lot of space to stretch my arms as I walked down.
The barrage of questions ended up taking my focus off rehearsal, and although I managed to come out unscathed, I was dead tired.
I’m just glad it’s time to go buy ingredients for lunch, or else I’d still be back at the gym getting interrogated.
“But wow, Asuka! You’re so cool. Not only are you incredible at sports, but you’re friends with famous people.”
“Yeah! I was so surprised when the middle school detective Hibiki Shirasato said he knew you.”
“It’s really not like that. It was more of a coincidence than anything.”
The two other first-years with me were still excited about what’d happened. The third, however, had been quiet this entire time and was just turning around to say…
“Enough with this silly chit-chat. We need to hurry if we don’t want to get in trouble.”
With that, Minatsu turned back around and stormed off.
“What’s her problem…?”
The other two girls frowned as they watched Minatsu go.
H-hey. You can’t talk to people like that, Minatsu. We’re supposed to depend on you…
I calmed the two down before scurrying forward to catch up to Minatsu.
“Hey, Minatsu. What are we making for dinner tonight?”
“…………” Minatsu just kept on walking.
Come on, now. We’re both going to the same place, either way.
The four of us were in charge of buying dinner. Minatsu was sent with us since she was the most experienced chef out of all of us.
Everyone’s counting on you, and that sure is something. It’s not just your cooking, either—you’re the best actor out of all of us by a long shot. A lot of the older students said you were perfect.
If only you weren’t so harsh all the time, you wouldn’t make yourself as much of a target…
We arrived at the supermarket, and each of us picked up a shopping basket. We were going to need a lot of baskets to buy all the ingredients we needed.
Minatsu stood in thought for a moment before stepping forward and dumping groceries into our baskets—multiple cabbages, bell peppers, tomatoes, and heads of lettuce.
Next was the meat section, where she piled up sliced pork and chicken thighs into our baskets.
“M-Minatsu… Is it just me, or are you putting all the heavy ingredients into my basket…? I have, like, five cabbages in here…”
“You’re the only one of us strong enough to carry that much cabbage, Kouzuki. We’ll split the load up before we head back to school.”
“Th-that’s true, I guess. Maybe we should’ve brought a boy or two for this, in retrospect. But I’m liking what I’m seeing, so it’s all good.”
“Oh…? Do you know what I’m going to make with all this?” Minatsu turned and stared at me with surprise.
Oh, she finally looked at me.
“Hmm, with these ingredients, I’m guessing you’re making twice-cooked pork and fried chicken. Am I wrong?”
“That’s spot-on, actually… You can tell that just by looking at the ingredients?”
“I sure can! My dad has me go out and buy ingredients for him all the time, so I can pretty much figure out what’s for dinner by looking at the shopping list.”
“If only you could use that memory for learning your lines…”
“Yeah, ha-ha… I wonder why it doesn’t work like that.”
“You really are a strange one, aren’t you?” Minatsu said with a look of disbelief and a shrug.
We paid for the mountain of ingredients before heading out of the store. Just as Minatsu promised, we split up the groceries into bags that all weighed about the same.
This time, however, it was Minatsu who was red in the face under all the weight.
“You know what, maybe I should take on a bit more of the load. You look like you’re having a hard time.”
“I-it’s fine! I can handle this much,” she said, but the way she could barely walk straight told a different story.
She’s a stubborn one.
The four of us began the trek back to school.
I helped the other two by taking on a little bit of their load, but about halfway through the trip back, Minatsu suddenly stopped.
“What’s up?”
I thought maybe the weight had finally gotten to her, but that wasn’t the issue.
“I’m sorry… I forgot to buy the doubanjiang sauce. You guys can go ahead without me.”
“I think we would be okay without the spicy bean sauce. I mean, we’re already halfway back.”
“No… It’s the most important part… I’ll go get it!” Minatsu said before turning around and heading the other way.
“Wait, I’ll go with you.”
“You two can head back first. You should make it in time for lunch.”
“Okay, we’ll tell the captain where you are.”
The two other girls nodded before picking up the heavy groceries and continuing their walk.
I watched them go a bit before hustling to catch up with Minatsu. We’d already gotten halfway back to the school, so we could end up being late. I definitely wanted to be back before afternoon rehearsal.
Minatsu knew this more than anyone, and she was walking really fast. The palms of her hands were bright red where she held the grocery bags, and I was starting to get worried.
“Here, Minatsu. Let me hold some more for you.”
“I’ll be fine… I want you to head back first.”
“I already said I’m going with you. Wait—where are you going now?” Minatsu turned a corner we didn’t take before. This one led into a neighborhood. “It’s just a little shortcut, because we’re in a hurry.”
“You sure?”
“I live near here, so I know the area.”
Dipping through narrow alleyways and downstairs, Minatsu knew exactly where she was going.
On the other hand, I didn’t have a clue as to where we were, and I knew I’d get lost the second I lost sight of her. Just as I hurried along to match her pace, I heard…
“That’s why I’m telling you, we shouldn’t walk…”
Hm? That voice sounds familiar…
“Hey, Kouzuki. Is that…?” Minatsu stopped in her tracks as well and pointed to an open plot of land. It was a secluded spot next to a run-down factory—and there, we saw none other than Kotone and Hibiki.
I thought they were supposed to be visiting schools…
“I know, but if we just drive everywhere, this won’t be the break you need from everything— Oh!”
Kotone scrambled to cover her mouth with both hands to stop herself. She glanced awkwardly at Hibiki and responded with a shrug and a sigh.
“I knew that’s what you were up to… I figured something was up when you wanted me to come as security for you, even though there was no news of an incoming crime.”
“Well, you’ve just been so tired all the time these days. It isn’t good to overwork yourself, you know,” Kotone said worriedly.
“That doesn’t mean we should go walking through neighborhoods we’ve never been to only to wind up lost. You even made us leave our phones.”
“If we brought those, my security outfit would find us with their GPS, so it’d defeat the purpose…”
Slumping over, Kotone seemed defeated. It was hard to imagine her ever feeling that way, given her usual refreshing bravado. That being said, Kotone had to have a forceful side to her for her to drag Hibiki out of the house against his will.
“Kotone… Do you think I’m doing something wrong?” Hibiki asked, suddenly shifting to a more serious expression.
“Where’d this come from? What are you talking about?” Kotone said with a troubled look.
“You know what happened during my most recent job.”
“You mean when Phantom Thief Red appeared?”
“Yes… I knew the owner of the mansion I was guarding had stolen art within his collection. I intended on bringing this fact to light, but Red stole the art first. That meant the original crime came to light on its own, the stolen art was returned to its original owners, and the criminal was arrested. I don’t think I could’ve produced the same results this fast…,” Hibiki mumbled as if he was thinking aloud.
“Hibiki…” Kotone stared back at him.
I didn’t know Hibiki Shirasato had so much on his mind…
“Kouzuki… If you’re planning to go up and talk to them, I’d rather you do it soon.”
Minatsu, on the other hand, was eyeing me while she waited.
Whoops, sorry. It was kind of hard to butt in… Although, yeah, we should probably help them if they’re lost. The least we can do is guide them back to a main road.
“I’ll go see if they need any help. Wait here for a sec.”
I started walking away from Minatsu and toward the two—and then I noticed something from the corner of my eye.
On the opposite side of the road, there was a man coming down the street in a worker’s uniform. At a glance, he seemed like any old worker you’d see around town.
But there was something strange about it all. The way he walked, I could tell he wouldn’t be easy to sneak up on or attack. I wasn’t sure what sort of physical labor he did, but there was something distinct about his gait.
Hibiki and Kotone had their backs turned to him, so they didn’t notice him. Meanwhile, the man was making no noise at all.
I noticed a slight grin on the man’s face.
“Kotone! Behind you!” I shouted before my mind could catch up.
“?!”
Both Kotone and Hibiki looked over at me as I ran toward them.
No, not this way! Figure it out!
The man rushed toward Kotone.
He’s holding something!
“Watch out!”
Finally noticing the man, Hibiki placed himself between him and Kotone, but in that exact moment, the man pulled out something and pointed it at Hibiki.
“Gragh…!”
In the next instant, Hibiki’s body shuddered, reeling back as he fell to the ground.
Is that…a stun gun?!
“Hibiki!” Kotone ran toward her friend. “Who are—? Ack!”
The man used his stun gun on Kotone, then caught her as she collapsed to the ground.
He’s not kidnapping her, is he?!
“Not so fast!”
I started sprinting toward the man, when—
Jolt.
—I felt a shiver run down my spine.
“!”
There’s someone behind me?!
Before I could turn around to look, I felt a heavy thud on the back of my neck, and my consciousness instantly began to go.
I can’t believe this is happening… How in the world did they get so close to me without me realizing it?
Minatsu…
As my consciousness faded, I could hear voices in the background.
“What should we do with these other two?”
“Let’s take ’em,” said a deep male voice. “Kids make good hostages. Forget the detective; he can’t do anything to stop us.”
My vision went black.
I’m not…gonna let you get…away with this…