Chapter 1 The Yellow Panties of Happiness “Morning, Nagisa! What color undies are you wearing today?” “Am I in hell?” It was a mild May morning, and a girl called out to me on my way to school. Not satisfied with just hugging me from behind, she proceeded to engage in some textbook sexual harassment. Her name was Fuyuko Shirahama, and she was my classmate—though that wasn’t important. “I left home in such a great mood, you know. I was thinking, ‘Today’s gonna be an amazing day,’ and you had to spoil it in minutes. Can you not?” “Nagisa, are you seriously monologuing like you’re the main character on your way to school? Yikes.” “It doesn’t matter! It’s such a beautiful day, and now I can’t enjoy it ’cause you had to come and ask me gross questions!” “Yeah. Bright blue sky, white clouds. By the way, what color are your undies?” “Whi—…… Hey, don’t just slip back into harassing me!” Fuyuko deliberately distanced herself from my rage and laughed. I should mention that while her greetings sucked, she was a total knockout—tall and androgynous with a beautiful face. Her voice was on the deep side, and she was athletic, too. It was all so unfair. “Ha-ha. I love how you get flustered every time I tease you, Nagisa.” Wait, wasn’t she supposed to be more of a tomboy type? Talk about overdoing the character customization. Also, she couldn’t just casually drop the word love when she was so attractive. What if my brain had glitched out and taken her seriously?! Could she deal with the consequences?! “Well, I can pretty much guess what you’re wearing today. I found out how many pairs you had and what colors you liked when I broke into your house.” “Can you not suddenly go yandere on me, too? And you’re k-kidding, right?” “Hee-hee. Have I ever lied to you, Nagisa?” “You could at least tell me a white lie! I’m so scared, I’m gonna cry……” “Anyone who makes you cry will pay dearly. I’ll protect you, no matter the cost.” “Thanks. Then how about we go to the police right now?” When I suggested that, Fuyuko turned uncharacteristically serious and shook her head. “I—I actually have some trauma from the police, so I’d rather not.” “So you do have some criminal record I don’t know about?” “What do you mean by that? Huh? Does that mean you don’t trust me?” “Well, duh? How can I trust someone who grabs me and wants to know the color of my underwear first thing in the morning? And—” “Morning, Nagi, Fuyuko. You guys are already at it, huh?” Just as I was about to launch into a lecture, a flashy blond gyaru called out to us from across the street. She wore the same uniform as us (with a lot more skin showing), and she was— “Morning, Haruru. You’re as energetic as ever today.” “For sure! I grabbed a bubble tea at the station this morning!” Haruru Agarie—a gyaru who bought bubble tea first thing in the morning and a friend of me and Fuyuko. I was currently spending my high school life with the two of them. We went to school together in the mornings and ate lunch together in the cafeteria or courtyard. We sometimes hung out after school… Yeah, they were really important friends to me. Despite realizing my dream of becoming a high school girl, I had missed class most of the time because of my poor health. I had special permission to submit reports and take exams to earn credits to make up for when I couldn’t attend, which let me move up a grade. I started being able to come to school regularly about six months ago…in the fall of my second year. I was still absent a lot and didn’t really fit in, but Fuyuko and Haruru had started talking to me, and one thing led to another until we were really close. “Like, isn’t drinking bubble tea first thing in the morning really bad for you?” “No way! Morning bubble tea stops your hands from shaking, calms your heart, and gets rid of any little anxieties. Plus, you can snag a boyfriend and pull super-rare characters in mobile games.” “Is my friend really hitting me with a crazy sales pitch first thing in the morning?” “Also, my boobs got bigger. That’s legit.” “…Can you tell me where you got that bubble tea from later?” Now I understood why, for a while, every high school girl was equipped with a bubble tea in her hand. “So that’s bubble milk tea?” I said. “Is it even any good?” “Huh?! Nagi, have you never had it?” I was embarrassed to admit that I was super behind on trends thanks to being cooped up in the hospital. Fuyuko and Haruru sometimes talked about bubble tea, so I knew it existed, but I hadn’t tried it yet. “N-no. I don’t actually know what it tastes like… That’s really embarrassing, huh?” “Oh, that’s okay!” said Haruru. “You don’t need to know! Anyway—guess what my cat did!” “Why not?! Don’t blow me off—tell me! Don’t just change the subject! You’re supposed to say we should get some after school or something!” When I yelled at them, they both cracked up like they were having a great time… Ugh…why did I end up being the one everyone picks on? To be honest, in the high school life of my fantasies, I was the glamorous center of the group, while everyone else would follow my lead. But this was a lot of fun, too. The high school life I had longed for was far more radiant than I imagined in my head. I was so grateful to the two of them for brightening up my days, and I loved them. But… Amid all this, there was one more thing. There was this feeling left in my heart— “Aaah! I—I totally forgot!” Haruru suddenly shouted, interrupting my train of thought. “Wh-what is it, Haruru?” “I forgot to do the DLC from yesterday’s math class!” “My friend is trying to escape reality by pretending homework is something fun…” “B-by the way, did you two do it?” “That’s a silly question. If I can’t solve a problem the same day I start it, I leave it alone.” “You’re amazing, Fuyu,” said Haruru. “I really admire how you fail every time but always manage to explain it away with dumb lines. You did it, Nagi, didn’t you?” “Of course I did. I’m taking my time at school seriously, you know.” “Hey…we’re friends, right? And we’ll always be friends?” “Don’t you realize that when a girl phrases a request like that, it’s practically blackmail?” If I refused, it would be all over. They’d tell all the other girls that I was standoffish, and then I wouldn’t have any friends—in a shoujo manga, this would be the start of the downturn into a bullying arc. “Please, please! It’s the last thing I’ll ever ask of you! I’ll even strip naked and lick your shoes like I did last time!” “We’re on the way to school! Could you not turn me into some perverted girl who makes her classmates strip and lick her shoes?! Are you trying to end my high school dreams?” “You’re coming at this all wrong, Haruru. Nagisa’s the type who wants to do the bootlicking herself.” “Is this some new form of bullying that I don’t know about?” The feelings I had in my heart… Well, I guess figuring those out could wait. I’d always yearned for times like this when I could laugh together with my precious friends. And I wasn’t going to leave such cute girls in need. “Haruru, I can show you my homework, but today I have to go to the nurse’s office as soon as I get to school. Is after okay?” “Whoa! Thank you, Nagi! But why the nurse’s office? To fix your head?” “That was totally uncalled for! You could’ve just asked if I was okay!” “That’s right, Haruru. There’s nothing wrong with Nagisa’s head. It’s her mouth that’s the problem.” “I won’t deny it, but you guys are the ones making me act up, okay? I’m just going for my usual exam,” I said. Fuyuko, who was walking beside me, nodded in agreement with a “Right.” “Is this where they check to see if there’s any problems from your heart transplant before you go back to school?” “Yes. I’ve been in such good shape, it’s scary. But if something happened to me, the school would get in trouble, too, so it’s important for multiple reasons.” A donor had miraculously provided the heart that allowed me to live as a normal high school girl, and the surgery went off without a hitch. Luck and goodwill had kept me alive. I hadn’t had the best life before now, but finding this heart had brought me the greatest happiness I could have asked for. “Can we go with you?” “Huh? Sure, but it’s not that interesting. It’ll be over quick.” “It’s fine. We’re your friends! Besides, it’s awkward with me and Fuyuko alone together. Don’t leave us like that.” “Don’t tell me this group would fall apart without me…?” Meanwhile, when Haruru said things were awkward, Fuyuko laughed weakly, her expression twisting ruefully. Stop that! We’re all good friends! It’s true! “Geez, I’m just kidding, Fuyu. So don’t make that face. It gives me the creeps. You’re still not satisfied after making me cry so much yesterday?” “I-I’m sorry… I’ll apologize if I was wrong, so please don’t hit me in the face…” “Sorry. But please don’t do a surprise reveal of your secret, twisted love-hate relationship.” If you asked me, that misinterpretation was on Fuyuko. She was teasing Haruru, the gyaru who didn’t know much about these things, and blaming her for it. To sum it up, they were the perfect pair in situations where they were both clueless. “Fuyuuu… Nagi’s gone quiet again with that weird expression on her face.” “Right, let’s get her to the nurse’s office as soon as possible. She needs to get her head checked.” I got lost in certain thoughts, and before I knew it, I was standing in front of the nurse’s office. I didn’t recall exactly what I’d been fantasizing about, but the baffling sentence “prince characters are versatile” stuck with me at the conclusion. What the heck? A woman seated in a round chair at the back of the room greeted us as we entered the nurse’s office. “Oh, I see you’re with friends today, Miss Natsunagi.” The woman was dressed in a bright, chic shirt stylishly coordinated with a midi skirt and a white school nurse’s coat over the rest of the ensemble. Her name was Koyomi Utsugi. I had my doubts about her slightly fancy way of speaking, but she was always kind to the students and concerned about my health. She got along well with us, and we affectionately called her by her first name. “Good morning, Ms. Koyomi.” “Yes, good morning, Miss Natsunagi. You too, Miss Agarie.” “Eh-heh-heh! Morning, Koyo! You give off such a grown-up lady vibe. I love it!” “Ha-ha, I’m happy to hear that. Well, Miss Natsunagi, shall we proceed with your checkup?” “Ms. Koyomi? Can you please stop casually ignoring just me? Ms. Koyomi?” Fuyuko raised her voice desperately, and Ms. Koyomi responded with an exaggerated smile. Prince characters truly were versatile. They shone even when they were being teased. “Have there been any changes to your health lately? Like fatigue, or tightness in your chest, or a racing heart even though you’re not exercising?” “I’m fine. If anything, I’ve been feeling good lately.” “Uh-huh. For example, doesn’t your heart race when you talk to a boy you like?” “Wait, you meant romantically?!” “You’re in your last year of high school. It would be unhealthy for you to not have at least some experience. Don’t you fantasize about hanging out alone with a boy you like…even a little?” “W-well…not anyone in particular. But sometimes, I fantasize about a boy I like talking to me, and then I follow him without thinking and get roughed up?” “All right. I’ll prescribe some medicine, mostly for your head.” “Nagi’s such a hardcore masochist. I don’t get it.” “But sometimes, she really picks on me, and it’s the best,” said Fuyuko. “D-don’t tell me you’re all judging me? I was just honest about my fantasies!” My checkup proceeded apace, despite the humiliation. I’d been tired since the morning began…but this was the end, right? “That reminds me, it’s almost time for the school blood drive. I expect it will be tricky for Miss Natsunagi because of her heart transplant, but Miss Shirahama and Miss Agarie, will you two be participating?” The school blood drive, as the name suggested, was a donation event held at school. This time of year, it was done on a voluntary basis together with a physical…but most students did it in their first year, since they were asked over and over during enrollment to donate at least once during their time at school. “Ah, I can’t. I was told not to because I’ve had a transfusion, kinda like Nagi. I wanted to help folks, too.” Haruru’s shoulders sagged in disappointment. I remembered hearing the story after we’d been friends for a while. “You got badly injured in a car accident when you were little, right?” “Yeah. My folks died, but it was a long time ago, and I’m still alive, so it’s fine! If it hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t have this healthy body!” Please don’t lift your huge boobs to show them off after such a dark story. I get emotional whiplash. But she didn’t let a painful old story end in sadness. That was Haruru Agarie’s charm. “So that’s what happened… I had no idea.” “Don’t look so sad! Koyo, you only transferred here a few months ago, right? It’s normal not to know about my or the other students’ personal lives, you know.” Ms. Koyomi started after New Year’s, not in the spring like the other teachers. The previous school nurse had suddenly gone missing, and she was hired to fill the spot…or something. “I should at least know about the three of you, since you’re regulars in the nurse’s office. Oh! In that case, shouldn’t Miss Shirahama be able to participate in the blood drive?” “No can do, Ms. Koyomi. I’ll reconsider if a cute girl asks me to do it.” “So she says, but Fuyu’s just afraid of being stuck with a needle. Isn’t she a baby?” “Wha?! Ha-Haruru! I told you that was a secret!” Fuyuko looked a little cute when she got all ruffled at having her weakness exposed. I’d been stuck repeatedly with a needle for IVs and blood draws since I was little, so I was used to it by now—though I still didn’t like it. “Well, it is voluntary. There are some students who decline for reasons like Miss Shirahama. Well then, that concludes today’s checkup. Thank you for your time, Miss Natsunagi.” “Yes, thank you to—… Waugghh?!” As I stood up, my foot snagged on the chair leg. I nearly toppled over and crashed to the floor of the nurse’s office, but I managed to catch myself with my hands. “…That was close. I thought I was going to get injured in the nurse’s office.” I pushed myself up after catching my breath, still on all fours, and felt an unusual number of eyes on me. Three intense gazes were glued to my butt. “Oh my! Miss Natsunagi, your panties are more childish than I expected.” “I love it when an aggressive girl has childish undies. I stan, I stan!” “Nagi! I wore those panties when I was in elementary school! You match with me when I was a kid! Heh-heh-heh.” They all just said whatever popped into their heads. Did they see? They saw…my underwear! My pa-pa-pa-panties! Fearfully reaching for my skirt, I found it flipped up. They hadn’t just had a peek. They’d seen. Everything. “Waaaughhh! Th-th-this sucks! I get caught up in accidental fan service first thing in the morning, and now three girls are judging my underwear! I wanna go home!” I stood up and fixed my skirt, but it was too late. My only option now was to blind everyone in the room and then bludgeon them until they lost their memories! “You don’t need to be so embarrassed, Nagisa. Or would you rather make this go away with money? How much?” “Nagi’s the kind of high school girl who’d do anything for money, isn’t she?” “Not only did the two of you see my underwear, but now you’re painting the worst possible picture of me?!” Ugh…I felt so good when I woke up that I purposefully wore a pair I’d just bought. But now that was ruined, after only a few hours. “What a heartwarming exchange. When you grow up, you stop wearing expensive underwear because there’s no one to show it to, so I’m a bit envious of you. Hee-hee…” “Please don’t smile with so much sorrow, Ms. Koyomi.” “Oh, you reminded me of something, Miss Natsunagi. Are you all familiar with the ‘Yellow Panties of Happiness’?” “W-we’re talking about panties again, huh…” It was Fuyuko who answered her when I was about to cry for real. “People have been talking about it at school recently, right? Some kind of incident.” “‘Incident’?” I reacted to the word unconsciously. I didn’t know why myself. “Yeah. It’s a strange case. After PE or club, people come back to the locker room and find a brand-new pair of yellow panties in a bag stuck to their locker door. Oh, and it only happens to girls.” “What kind of case involves some major pervert? That was a waste of time.” “I agree. This is obviously a case for a private dick. As expected of a pervert who likes panties.” I ignored the ridiculously inappropriate thing Fuyuko had just said and turned to Ms. Koyomi. “And? What’s with the yellow panties?” “Like Miss Shirahama said, the incident itself isn’t serious. The girls at school have been saying whoever receives the yellow panties will become happy.” “At least leave a handkerchief. Why underwear? What’s the point?” “As a teacher, I can’t turn a blind eye. There’s trespassing in the locker room to consider, and if the culprit is a boy, it could quickly become a very disturbing incident.” “That’s for sure… It’s not really hurting anyone, but it’s just plain creepy to imagine.” Our school gave a locker key to every student when they enrolled. No one wanted their wallet or phone stolen, so even though it was a girls-only space, most students used that key to avoid worrying about theft of underwear or valuables. “That said, it’s also a fact that the school doesn’t want to make a big fuss over it. As long as no harm is done, they’d like to avoid calling the police or holding a school assembly… So about that,” Ms. Koyomi said, looking at the three of us. “I’d like to ask for your help. After school, would you assist me with patrol duty?” In other words, she wanted us to volunteer. But the three of us looked at each other awkwardly, since we’d rather enjoy our time after school. “Koyo, is there anything in it for us? Like giving our grades a boost if we catch the culprit or something like that?” said Haruru. Ms. Koyomi nodded her head at Haruru’s suggestion. “Of course,” she said. “It’s fun to solve mysteries after school, you know? When I was in high school, I used to do ciphers with one of my classmates who loved to read. We used to pretend to be detectives in mystery novels.” My heart was captivated by the unexpected word Ms. Koyomi had said: “detectives.” It felt like I’d been powerfully attracted to the idea since I was a little girl, even though I’d never fantasized about mystery-solving before in my life. “Heh-heh. You’re the only one who looks intrigued, Miss Natsunagi.” “Oh, no! I didn’t mean…” Ms. Koyomi commented, like she could see right through me, and I instinctively denied it. “Hey, speaking of detectives, that reminds me,” said Haruru. “Didn’t you try to find someone recently, Nagi? That anonymous boy who keeps showing up in the news and stuff. He’s being hailed as an ace detective or something—” I shook my head slightly. “I was just curious. I told you I’m not seriously thinking of finding him.” It was said there was a boy in town who just happened to be present at various incidents and helped solve them—everything from minor to complex cases. “If it was just simple curiosity, you’d have easily forgotten about it. Besides, I thought you said you’d been feeling strange since the surgery.” “Oh? Miss Natsunagi, you need to tell me if you’re feeling unwell.” Ms. Koyomi had interpreted Fuyuko’s words the way a school nurse typically would. “I-it’s not that…,” I said. “But it’s really strange. For example, I started wanting to read mystery novels, which I wasn’t really interested in before, and when something happens on the news, I try to solve it.” It was like I’d become obsessed with mysteries. “I never cared about them when I was younger. But sometimes, when it comes to solving mysteries, I feel like I’m not even myself.” “I see. I’ve heard some cases of people’s tastes and personalities changing after an organ transplant. That could be affecting you. In that case…” Ms. Koyomi clapped her hands lightly and voiced her idea: “Why don’t you try your hand at solving the case of the Yellow Panties of Happiness? If the rumors about this detective boy are true, you might even get to meet him.” “What? …I wonder if I can?” I couldn’t help but be puzzled at Ms. Koyomi’s words. “He’s apparently present at many cases and helps solve them. Don’t you think such a mysterious boy might be involved in this incident in one way or another?” “It’s definitely possible…I guess?” “The opportunity will certainly present itself if you become a detective. And it will satisfy the desire to solve mysteries that’s swirling in your heart.” This would be my chance to size him up. If the extraordinary deductive powers and insight that led him to get involved in all those incidents were the real deal— The greatest mystery I wanted him to solve was… He might be able to help me find the owner of this heart. My mouth was already moving before I knew it. “I’ll do it, Ms. Koyomi,” I answered, adding in one condition. “I can’t be a detective, but if you’ll settle for a proxy detective, I’ll take the job.” It was like someone else lurking within me made me say it. When I finished, I was surprised by my own words and covered my mouth…but it looked to be a little too late. “Hee-hee, I don’t mind. Well, I’ll be counting on you, Miss Proxy Detective Natsunagi. And your assistants, Miss Shirahama and Miss Agarie. If you run into any problems, I’ll of course lend a hand!” In the end, that was how Ms. Koyomi pushed me into it. Shortly after, the bell rang, and we had to leave the nurse’s office. “Nagisa. If you really don’t want to, I can go refuse for you?” Fuyuko asked me, looking concerned while I was lost in thought. “Oh, no, it’s fine. I was just…wondering why I said that. The moment I heard the word ‘detective,’ I thought, ‘That’s not right.’” “I can’t be a detective, but if you’ll settle for a proxy detective, I’ll take the job.” I had a sense of déjà vu, like I had said those words to someone a long time ago. I didn’t think I’d had the chance to say that, considering I didn’t have any friends. “I’ll do it. I want to try being a proxy detective. But doing it alone worries me… Fuyuko, Haruru…will you help me, too?” “Good grief. If you want to be a detective, you should listen to people, Nagisa.” “Good grief. Nagi lacks insight, doesn’t she?” I’d shyly asked them, all red-faced, but then they just sneered faintly, like that made no difference to them. “Ms. Koyomi said she’d be counting on all of us.” “That’s right. We were planning on supporting you to the max from the start! Like they say, ‘Three heads in one’!” “You mean ‘three people means good head,’ Haruru. You’re so silly.” “Three heads are better than one, huh? Hmm, I actually think it might go more smoothly if I investigate alone…but…” I took Fuyuko’s and Haruru’s big, warm hands that my own small hands couldn’t completely cover. “Thank you. I can do anything with you two on my side.” That might have been a bit of an exaggeration, though. “Ah! I’d do anything for the two of you, Nagisa and Haruru!” “Yeah! And I trust Nagi and Fuyu with my life!” My precious friends didn’t make fun of my words or ignore them. They responded directly, with the same enthusiasm. Oh, wow. I really loved them. “While we’re at it, how about we give our team a name? Does ‘Nagisa’s Pure Girls’ work?” “Of course it doesn’t work! What gives, making us sound like an idol group from last century?” “You know, the other students call us ‘Summers’—all our names have a summer vibe. Natsunagi, Shirahama, and Agarie. I love it.” “Yikes! I was happier not knowing that! It sounds like an entertainer group, too, and ‘Summers’ makes it sound like I’m the ringleader who brought you two together! I hate that even more!” “Ha-ha. That’s not true, boss ma’am. We’re always equals.” “Friends who are equals don’t call their friends boss or ma’am!” While we were talking nonsense in front of the nurse’s office— “In that case, how about writing the name as ‘Spring, Summer, Winter’ with the reading as ‘Autumnless’? We have Miss ‘East Inlet in Spring,’ Haruru Agarie, Miss ‘Calm Summer Shores,’ Nagisa Natsunagi, and Miss ‘White Sandy Beach in Winter,’ Fuyuko Shirahama—but no autumn! Heh-heh.” “Don’t tell me Ms. Koyomi’s going to join in?!” The painful team name debate was somehow dropped when the bell rang to announce the start of homeroom. (Although “Autumnless” intrigued me a bit.) Given the details of the incident, I wasn’t too keen on solving it. But I felt my spirits rising a little at becoming a proxy detective. They lifted even further with the hope that I might be able to meet him. Incidentally, Haruru completely forgot to copy my notes, and she wound up getting a stern scolding from the teacher during math class—along with Fuyuko. “So if we’re going to investigate the Yellow Panties incident, why exactly do we need to go to the mall in front of the station?” After school, we made our way to the fashion floor inside the mall. It had been Fuyuko’s suggestion that we come here. “Actually, I’m friends with a girl who got her hands on some yellow panties. Could you just…stand near the wall and shield me from the chest down?” Haruru and I took our positions, like we were cornering Fuyuko against the wall, as she requested. “Ah, this is great. I feel like I’m being kabedoned by two beautiful girls—I’m so happy!” “If you’re making us do this for your own happiness, we might just mug you here.” “Ha-ha. Nagisa, your smile isn’t reaching your eyes. It’s not like I got you two surrounding me just to fulfill my desires. I’m just a little embarrassed showing them in public.” With that, Fuyuko put both hands under her skirt and reached up under—wait, huh?! “Wh-what are you doing? That gesture’s completely…pa-pa-pa—” “You’re gonna take off your panties, huh?” “Haruru! A young woman should at least think twice about saying things like that in public!” “I mean, Nagisa, you just publicly called it the ‘Panties incident’ a few minutes ago?” Sh-she was right. A high school girl in the throes of adolescence should never mention panties. While I was busy nearly dying of embarrassment, Fuyuko commenced her counterattack. “I told you, Nagisa. I’m kinda embarrassed to show the yellow panties I borrowed from my friend in public. Panties are meant to be worn, and they’re an item forbidden to men. Meaning, if I don’t do this, I can’t show them to you.” “C-c-can’t you just take them off in the bathroom?!” “You want me to come all the way back here from the bathroom in a vulnerable pantyless state? That’s too cruel. Unless…if things were the other way around, would you do that for me?” In other words, she was asking if I’d hold down a flimsy piece of fabric to stop it from riding up in a crowded space while it was still light out—with guys from our class around. It was definitely a no from me… Telling me to walk through a crowd of people without wearing any panties was just— “N-no, absolutely no waaay!” I shouted without thinking, immediately clapping both hands over my mouth. “You’re really cute with your face all red and your breath all heavy. But I’m not taking off my panties. I was just kidding when I stuck my hands under my skirt, and I never said anything about taking them off in the first pla… HURK!” I brought my golden right hand down upon the head of my smooth-talking bad friend. I didn’t want to hear her gurgling in pain, so it was just a chop. A clean strike, just powerful enough to not split Fuyuko’s head in two. Just barely, not with my full strength. “Nn, ugh…Ha-Haruru. Is my head still there?” “Hmm? It’s still attached, but I wouldn’t say it’s okay! Can you round pi to the nearest hundredth?” “What am I, a supercomputer or something? You shouldn’t hit those that hard, either.” “Sometimes, computers work better afterward! More importantly, are those the infamous panties?” Haruru smoothly pulled a piece of fabric from Fuyuko’s anguished hands and showed it to me. “So these are the yellow panties of happiness, huh? From what I can see, they’re normal underwear? They feel nice to the touch, they don’t smell, and they aren’t damp.” “You just stuck your face into those… Even if they are brand-new…you really scare me, Nagisa.” “If you haven’t worn them, it’s fine. Also, my friends aren’t that bad. So the brand tag is…huh?” My gaze moved from the brand name on the tag to the merchandise displayed in the window of the shop in front of me. “It’s the same brand?” “Exactly. This is the only lingerie store near the school, so if the yellow panties were sold here, I thought we could stake out the place.” “I get it. Then, like Fuyuko said, we just need to mark down the students from our school who come here. And the one who buys yellow panties is our prospective culprit.” “Wow! That’s smart for Fuyu! If I give her a few more whacks on the head, she might get even smarter!” “Haruru…put your fist down. I thought of that before Nagisa hit me. I’m not a magic mallet or a drum. Hitting me won’t do anything, you know?” I disregarded the princely girl being accosted by the violent gyaru and scanned the store again. There were mostly female customers in their twenties at this time of day but also high schoolers—none from our school, though, judging by their uniforms. “Well, let’s get right to our stakeout-slash-fake-shopping-trip.” Three girls after school, staking out an underwear store. What an amazing slice of youth this was. Was this…the high school life I dreamed of from my hospital bed? Ha…ha-ha. “I think I’m gonna cry.” “What’s wrong? You wanna talk about it, Nagisa?” “Fuyuko. Don’t act like a nice guy I’m not that close to who has ulterior motives.” “Oh, come on, you idiots! Look at that couple over there!” “You’re talking like you’re not an idiot yourself! What’s wrong with you, geez…” Haruru was pointing at a boy and girl from our school. They were probably first-years; their uniforms still looked new. The two of them were blushing and picking out expensive underwear. “That’s the type of girl who comes to an underwear store as a couple, flirts with her boyfriend, and buys the sexy underwear the guy likes! Let’s snuff them out here and now to protect the healthy boys!” “I think a savage girl like you is the one who should get snuffed.” “Okay, Haruru. I’ll give you the signal in three seconds. I’ll take the right, like usual. You take the left.” “Hang on just a second. Do you two always do things like this?!” But I understood how they felt. When I went to buy underwear, I honestly felt kinda weird with boys in the store. That said, it didn’t mean I wanted to subdue them by force. “Stop saying dumb things. We’re continuing our stakeout.” “Since we’re already here, you should buy some undies, Nagisa. We’ll choose for you.” “Mind your own business. Ah, hey…!” Fuyuko picked up a nearby pair of black panties (a thong!) and placed them on top of my skirt with the hanger still attached. “Yep. I knew black would suit you, Nagisa. Her eyes glistening with a hint of sadness, she signals to him that she doesn’t want to go home tonight… The black peeking through the gaps in her unbuttoned shirt seems to promise a passionate night.” “You’re way off, Fuyu! Nagi’s totally red! She aggressively reels in the boy she likes to bed with a blazingly passionate seduction… She’s a classic man-eater!” Even though it was over my skirt, the two of them took turns holding their underwear choices against me and having unauthorized fantasies about me. Wasn’t this horribly obscene? My face was burning from all the harassment. “S-stop—! I don’t need new underwear or anything! Besides, the ones I’m wearing today are brand-new!” “No, those are lame. They’d make a guy wilt.” “That’s right, Nagi. Imagine getting in the mood with your boyfriend, and then he sees those and goes, ‘……Sorry, Nagisa. I just can’t today.’ What then?!” “He sighs softly, muttering, ‘Good grief,’ as he re-dresses and goes to sleep. Nagisa, watching his back, wets her pillow with tears. She’s so miserable. But that’s good. She wants it to be that way.” “Don’t construct elaborate scenarios about me in your heads! Besides, I’m not ready for that yet.” Forcefully pushing the lingerie away, I made a run for it and bolted out of the underwear store. Fuyuko and Haruru were quick to chase after me, cackling and patting me on the head. “I just can’t. You’re really so cute, Nagi. You get instantly embarrassed over being teased just a little… I want to write pathetic with the furigana for cute over it.” “There, there. I love how shy you are, Nagisa. Well, you’ll be fine even without winning underwear. And if you meet a guy you want to test your underwear with, I’ll kick his ass. I’ll protect you from any undesirable guys.” “Haruru aside, I’m terrified of Fuyuko… Hey, there’s a bench. I’m tired, so can I rest a little there?” “No, let’s investigate tomorrow if you’re tired. I don’t think we’ll be getting anything useful from this store anyway.” “Huh? What do you mean, Fuyuko?” “I actually showed the clerk the yellow panties of happiness during our stakeout and asked if any high school girls had bought the same pair recently. And they said the stock hadn’t moved at all.” That meant the culprit hadn’t purchased the underwear used for the crime here, at least. In hindsight, if they’d bought several pairs at an underwear store near the school, they would have been easy to trace… “By the way, why didn’t you tell me that earlier? You might as well have checked as soon as we went into the store. Right?” In response, Haruru and Fuyuko exchanged glances and laughed theatrically. I see. So that’s it. “You already knew, but you wanted to play with me. Is that it?” “…Hee-hee-hee!” “…Ah-ha-ha!” “I’ll forgive one of you. Whoever buys me something to drink first gets off the hook. Ready, go!” I watched my two best friends take off at full speed, and then I returned to the underwear store. Picking up the two pairs of panties that had been foisted on me earlier, I secretly compared them to the pair I currently had on in the store’s dressing room. “They’re not lame… They’re not lame at all.” But if I bought underwear they recommended, somehow it felt like losing a battle. Instead, I’ll wear my brand-new pair with perfect poise…! The next day, we went somewhere other than the day before. If we couldn’t pin them down in the act of buying underwear, we could catch them at the scene of the crime. The three of us had discussed it over the phone until late, and the place we’d decided to meet up was— “First underwear, then swimsuits—it’s like an anime fan-service episode. Well, this was my idea.” There was an indoor swimming pool on the school grounds. It was originally used by a powerhouse of a swim team, but that was many years before our time. The swim team had since disbanded, and now it was only used for gym classes and training by other sports clubs in the summer. “Well, asking was definitely worth a shot. Ms. Koyomi worked hard and apparently got us permission to use it for about two hours.” Fuyuko had emerged from the locker room after me. Her height gave her long limbs that looked great in a competition swimsuit. She was like a model; even the girls couldn’t take their eyes off her. “Nagisa, why’re you standing there in a daze? You okay? Wanna touch my thighs?” “How would touching your thighs help?” “There must be some nourishment you can only get from them. Well, I’m used to being ogled. People used to peep at me in the locker room in junior high. I miss that.” “Don’t you think it’s weird that you’re reminiscing about it that way?” “No! Because it was a really nice memory!!” “Whoa! Don’t suddenly yell with that huge grin on your face!” Was Fuyuko an exhibitionist…? I felt embarrassed being looked at, even by other girls. Even now, I truly hated wearing a competition swimsuit like this. “There’s no point in getting worked up over my body. There’s an even more impressive one coming—look.” Saying that, Fuyuko pointed to where my friend—? No, to where two melons on legs were. The melons were melony melons. Melons with legs? Melons sprouting on legs? This was undoubtedly an unsolvable mystery—too enormous for me to figure out. “Nagi, Fuyu! Thanks for waiting! Well, the swimsuit the school loaned me is a bit small. Especially around the boobs. It looks like I’m in bondage! Ha-ha-ha!” The melons that shook with every step…huh? Wait, that was just a hallucination. When I looked closer, they were Haruru. She had her hair tied up in a bun, which made her look different than usual. But this was… “The worst! A slender, beautiful girl and a voluptuous, innocent gyaru! And I’m sandwiched in between them like an NPC with no features at all!” “It’s supposed to be flowers in both hands, not on both sides!” “Like, if Fuyuko is a rose, and Haruru is a sunflower…then I’m just a fleabane at best?” “Hey, you should’ve matched our seasonal names with the flowers. Roses bloom in early summer, sunflowers in the summer. Fleabanes are spring. They’re also called ‘poverty grass,’ Nagisa.” “So basically ‘poor luck’ in a literal sense… Also, it’s kind of annoying that you know so much about flowers. Especially since it kinda works for you.” “It’s okay, Nagi. If we’re gaudy flowers, you can be one that blooms with all its might. A dandelion, at least!” “All right, challenge accepted. I’ll cut you down like the flower you are.” “I’m sorry! At least let a hot guy pick me when I’m on display at the flower shop.” I had a hunch that let a hot guy take me home was closer to what she meant… They were so noisy. Sigh. I’d been pretty confident, too. I thought I might cry. “Wait, I don’t want to be a rose; I want to accentuate your beautiful breast, Nagisa. I should be a dandelion instead. You know, the ones they garnish sashimi with!” “Those aren’t dandelions; they’re edible chrysanthemums. Idiot.” “And fleabanes are related to chrysanthemums! What a twist, Nagisa! Well done!” “True, thank you. Unrelated, but the world record for holding your breath underwater is about twenty-four minutes. So should we swim together?” “Y-your eyes say you’re about to cause an accident that isn’t an accident! A twenty-five minute one!” Getting back on topic, we decided on our goal for the day while warming up. “Do you really think the culprit behind the Yellow Panties incident will go into the locker room while we’re swimming?” I asked. “Nagisa, you’re being really half-assed about this, considering it was your idea. The sports club rooms have been on high alert lately, so it’ll be hard to infiltrate them. But not many people use the pool locker rooms…” “And fewer people around makes it the perfect place for a crime. While we’re playing around in the pool, the culprit will secretly sneak into the locker room, and…gotcha!” Haruru threw her arms around Fuyuko from behind, and the two of them looked at me smugly. Though the decoy plan started as my idea, the two of them had fleshed out the details, and this was the result. “It’ll be fine. Ms. Koyomi is guarding the pathway that leads from the school building to the pool. All we need to do is get loud in here…so they’ll hear it outside!” Having said that, Fuyuko finished her warm-up and dived into the pool, swimming the full twenty-five meters in one go in a graceful front crawl before climbing out the opposite side. Waving her hand happily, she almost seemed to shine. “Isn’t Fuyu great? She’s always upbeat and drags us along with her.” Standing next to me, Haruru watched Fuyuko with just a hint of envy in her eyes. “Yeah. I think so, too. When I first came back to school, I was kind of out of place, right?” “Hm? You definitely were. What about it?” “She spoke to me like we were friends who’d just hung out yesterday…smiling like always.” “Mm-hmm. That’s what’s great about Fuyu. Well, she’s got her quirks. Maybe you two sensed you had something in common? Me too, of course!” I thought about the day I first talked to Haruru and Fuyuko. I’d been looking forward to high school. But I was even more nervous about the thought of every day at school. The two who’d appeared before me were undoubtedly heroes. “It’s incredible. She’s so interesting, and kind, and cool.” “Right! You don’t find a cute girl who cares about her friends like that every day!” As the two of us reminisced about old times, Fuyuko returned. “Oh, the idiot’s back.” “You’re right. Here comes the idiot swimming with the full force of an idiot.” “What’s this all of a sudden?! What a couple of mean girls! You have too much fun talking behind my back! By the way, why aren’t you two swimming? Is it too hard on Nagisa’s heart or something?” “Oh, don’t worry about that. Surprisingly, I can even run and stuff. But there’s something I want to do today, so I brought this with me!” I retrieved a certain something from the plastic bag I’d placed by the poolside. “This! An assortment of SuperBalls! In this TV drama I saw when I was little, there was a scene where students competed to see how many of these they could grab during swimming class. I’ve always wanted to do it, too.” It was probably something lots of kids had experienced themselves in real life, just like in the drama. But in that hospital room—in my old world—it was a glittering fantasy. The plastic balls sparkled as they reflected the sunlight, like beautiful jewels. “So I wanted to do it with you two… That was the thought anyway. D-do you think it’s childish of me? Ha-ha.” I suddenly felt embarrassed and tried to laugh it off like I was doing an imitation of Haruru. How dumb of me. A high schooler playing like an elementary schooler during class. Even if I would enjoy it, there was no way they would. “Ready, Haruru?” “’Course I am, Fuyu. Well then…here we go!” Haruru grabbed a bunch of balls from my palm and tossed them into the pool as hard as she could. I was shocked, and Fuyuko tapped me on the back. “What’re you spaced out for, Nagisa? I’ll grab them all before you!” “I will, too! Oh, and the one with a diamond on it is worth ten points, ’kay?” With a splash, the two of them left me behind and dived into the pool headfirst. The water splashed and wet my cheek. My two precious friends were like elementary school kids, eager to search for the sunken treasure at the bottom. “W-wait! I’ll go in, too! There’s no way I’ll lose to you two!” I followed suit and dived into the pool. As long as my breath lasted, I desperately scrambled for the plastic balls… It was kind of fun. Something I hadn’t been able to do before with my old heart. It was a world full of the fantasies and ideals I’d imagined as a child. I could really feel that fantasy had become reality. Ah, geez. What now? I knew being a high school girl would be tons of fun! “Ahh, that was fun! But an hour of that was probably a little too much.” We sat on a bench by the pool, drinking sports drinks that Fuyuko had bought. Even I had to admit this was a classic high school experience. Yeah, I was feeling emotional. I turned to my right. “Sports drinks after exercising are the best! Right, Haruru?” I asked, and she gave me an uncertain look. “Hmm. I’m kinda conflicted. It’s too sweet for me to really enjoy…”
Chapter 2
39 min read