Then I put up my middle finger. “Second, they had to be in the same class as Yoshino, but in a different group. After all, Asuhain heard them say something about how they wished they could’ve been in the same group. Yoshino’d only say that if they were classmates.”
Then, I put up my ring finger. “Third, they had to have a swimsuit. The person who rejected Yoshino apparently left the pool first, in contrast to Yoshino, whose clothes had gotten wet and who had to wait for Asuhain to bring back a change of clothes. The only one who could do that would be someone who was wearing a swimsuit in the first place. If I remember right, the locker room had a dryer for swimsuits.”
Then, I put up my pinky. “Fourth, they needed to be someone who didn’t have an alibi at exactly nine.”
Then, I put down my index finger. “Going off just the first requirement, there were over a hundred suspects. But, by adding the second requirement, it narrowed it down to eleven girls in our class, not including Yoshino and her group.”
Then, I put down my middle finger. “Then, when you add in the third requirement, the only people who had swimsuits were those who’d chosen the marine experience course for the afternoon of the second day. The only people who chose that were Yoshino’s group and our group. But Yoshino’s group’s already not an option, meaning that the culprit had to have been one of the four girls in our group.”
Then, I put down my ring finger. “Which brings us to the fourth requirement. Out of the remaining four suspects, Yume obviously couldn’t be a suspect. Same goes for Minami-san since she was watching over the entrance of the pool, and since she was with her friends, she has a verifiable alibi. Asuhain was in the room when Yume got back from the pool, so it couldn’t have been her. The culprit was hiding in the locker room and couldn’t have gotten back to the room before Yume.”
Then, I put my pinky down. “Which leaves just one person.” I looked at my best friend’s side profile. “You were the one peeping on us, weren’t you, Isana?”
Isana Higashira was the culprit who’d been hiding in the bushes and peeping on me and Yume at nine. She silently stared at her sketchbook before groaning, her shoulders trembling slightly. The hustle and bustle from the school trip faded, and all I could see was the midafternoon shadows from the light filtering through the trees. The shadows formed a kind of barrier, separating us from the outside world. But this was normal for the two of us. Whether it was the corner of the library, the roof of the school during the cultural festival, or hanging outside of the sports festival—we’d spent so much time like this. For us, this was just another day.
“I-Incredible!” Isana’s head snapped up and she leaned towards me. She got into my personal space to the point that I thought her nose was gonna smash into me, her eyes sparkling while she excitedly continued. “I was wondering when I would be found out, but I never expected it to happen so cleanly! Wonderful job! It’s my loss! I’ve always thought you were intelligent, but you’ve gone above and beyond my expectations!”
“Is this really how the culprit should act when they’re found out? Well, I guess you’re acting exactly as planned.”
I wasn’t the type to talk a lot, but the reason I played out this solution was because I thought it’d make Isana happier...though this was beyond my wildest beliefs. Isana leaned back, placed her hand on her chest, and took deep breaths.
“Phew, that made my heart race. So this is what it feels like to be a caught culprit. I got a front row seat, even!”
“Personally, I thought you’d say, ‘What an interesting theory. Perhaps you should become an author.’”
“Oh no. I know firsthand you shouldn’t become an author.”
“Urk...” I know that too.
Then Isana shook her legs and leaned forward, looking up at me. “So? What happens next? I’m not much of a mystery reader.”
“It’s time for the culprit to confess her motive. Why did you peep on us?”
“Ah...that? I suppose I’ve no choice but to confess, then.” She began whistling the tune that plays during a certain young detective anime when the culprit is confessing. “I had two reasons.”
“You don’t have to force yourself to explain it like an intellectual when you’re not cut out for it.”
“How rude! I truly have two reasons! First, I simply wanted to watch.”
“Can I ask why?”
“Sure, why not? Yume-san mentioned that she wanted to take a shower before nine, and I guessed that meant she wanted to meet up with you around that time. Then I began thinking about what it’s like between the two of you when you’re alone.”
“I guess I get it... So what’s the other reason?”
“The other reason is that...I kind of wanted to confirm something.”
“What?”
“Similar to confronting something that frightens you... I was wondering if I would be okay if I saw you in a romantic situation with someone else.”
I fell silent, but Isana didn’t seem to be in pain or look awkward otherwise. She continued speaking in a matter-of-fact way. “It’s not that I still pine for you or anything, and I truly wish for Yume-san’s happiness with all my heart. But even so, I still wondered how I would feel when confronted with the two of you together. It’s the same kind of feelings one has when playing a horror game—fear and curiosity mix together, making it impossible not to take action. Besides, I had time on my hands.”
“So that’s why you thought you’d sneak into the pool ahead of us?”
“I did. However, right before I did, I was caught. I was beginning to have second thoughts and was indecisively loitering around the entrance to the pool. It was then that Yoshino-san came upon me. She pulled me into the pool area, simply saying that she wanted to go into the pool.”
“So even then, it wasn’t even a thought in your head that Yoshino would be asking you out.”
“Of course not! I never suspected that my first time being in a romantic situation—or at least being the one asked out—would be with a girl...and especially a gyaru.”
“Yeah, of course not...”
Even I hadn’t predicted it one bit. Maybe it was just how she acted with girls, but Yoshino wasn’t the type to wear her feelings on her sleeve. Her personality was so bright already; she probably hid everything but that and kept her true self hidden deep inside.
“This is just my own pure curiosity, but...what did Yoshino say to you?” I asked.
“She talked about how it was sad that a pool this fashionable was currently occupied by two girls. I simply nodded along until she suddenly said that the two of us should date. That’s pretty much how it went.”
“So she disguised it as a joke?”
“Most likely, if I’d reacted better, Yoshino-san would’ve backed down. But in actuality, I was so surprised that I couldn’t help but give her my unfiltered response, and as such, she dug her heels in...”
Then, I remembered what Yoshino had told me about her motivations behind asking Isana Higashira out.