Chapter Text
Usually, when someone is asked which high school they wish to enter, most would chose one near their family home. If the person asked was ambitious or particularly brillant, they would give you a surprising answer instead, but depending on their grades and their family’s incomes, the result would still be something expected.
However, Sakuragi Ruiko was a clear and neat distinction from her peer.
Always first of her class since elementary, her grades were more than a little impressive. Pretty and friendly, she was easily approchable and without a doubt extremely popular. Which is why she was openly asked the following question;
“What was your first choice of high school?’’
This is something that not only came up in middle school while writing down their futur school form for their homeroom teacher, but also in her current high school where teachers and students alike are curious as to why someone like her would attend such a low-key school.
Not knowing of her background or family’s situation, most would expect Sakuragi to name Kaio Academy, a somewhat prestigious high school in Tokyo know for recruiting talents. A few, thinking she was some heiress from a rich family, would even adventure a guess and name Shuo High, a renowned private school renowned for educating the futur elite of the city.
But no one would imagine the answer to be Fudo High, her current school of choice.
On paper, there was absolutely nothing wrong with Fudo High. In fact, it was the first choice of multiples students, since it was easily affordable and the entrance exam wasn’t as harsh as their rival’s, Kaio Academy who was nearby.
In fact, those who failed to be recruited or accepted by Kaio Academy would then try out at Fudo High. However, with Sakuragi’s grades, she could easily enter Kaio Academy, not even needing to pass the exam. In fact, with her current abilities, most thought she would be directly recruited.
And those people would not be wrong in their assumptions. Sakuragi has indeed been invited to join Kaio Academy at the end of her second year of middle school. Furthermore, while she was no corporation’s heiress, her father did possess the money necessary for her entry in Shuo High and did once want her to be placed there.
So why is it that Sakuragi was currently attending Fudo High?
Her answers change depending on who ask her.
If it’s a classmate, she says it’s because an older friend was attending the school when she was a first year. If it’s a teacher, she says it was to not put pressure on her family who would inevitably stress over her acceptance and attendance of a school with such a vigorous curriculum. As for what she told her relatives, it was better left unsaid.
But her real reason was something far more simple yet much more difficult to understand.
Fudo high was indeed a good school, attracting students from outside Tokyo. In fact, the school has a surprising high amount of students coming from the countryside. Furthermore, while the entrance exam was less difficult than the one of Kaio Academy, it was an open secret than anyone with enough money could bribe the faculty to be accepted as a student.
In conclusion, the students attending possessed various backgrounds, certains of them more shady or suspicious than the average person. The teachers and staff probably also chosen in such an unique manner, it was without a doubt a place brimming with the potential for chaos.
And it was that same chaos that entranced, corrupted and encouraged those within to commit or be affiliated to crimes. But that was something she kept to herself, for risks to be judged by those appalled by her callous desire and expectations as an amateur mystery novelist.
However, the multiples events that followed her third and last year of high school were something even Sakuragi would have trouble imagining when first asked which school to attend. Indeed, past the sheer numbers of immoral acts that would be committed that year alone in her school, the cruelty and disregard of lives she would be exposed to was not something her past self could ever have anticipated.
After all, who would expect more than a dozens murder cases to implicate students and teachers alike from the same school, and in such a short time too.
And yet, she would find herself tied to those crimes and their investigations, encountering troubles and having fateful encounters in that year alone that would affect the rest of her life.
Ruiko woke up that morning with a tired sigh, her sleep as restless as always. Usually, she would have taken some sleeping aid, but she had the bad habit to wake up late when she did, so she opted not to last night.
Lately, she would come to school earlier than usual for her club activities. It’s not something she did often, even with her duties as president of the mystery novel club taken into account. In fact, unless the school festival was around the corner, Ruiko did not bother doing something as superflus as wasting her morning on such trivial matter others could do in her stead.
However, a certain rumour came to her ear a few weeks ago concerning the old building behind their school. From what students were saying to each others, multiples incidents involving the mysterious death of students happened in that building in the past, all of them followed by unexplainable phenomenas and therefore named the 7 mysteries of Fudo High.
Yet, Ruiko has never heard of such a rumour when she first did her research on which school to attend. In fact, she has never heard anyone in school talk about such matter until this year. Quite a curious matter which immediately caught her interest.
She talked with her classmates and the members of her club, but just like her, none of them had know about those 7 mysteries until this semester. Seeking answers, she found additional informations on the school dark site and what she read only made her more inquisitive about the topic.
The headmaster of the school started to receive threatening letters around the same time students first heard of the 7 mysteries regarding the old building. Ruiko had the hypothesis the two could be related, so she brought a high quality fruits basket and went to sweet talk the school committee president.
Much to her luck, the older woman was also bothered by this matter. Unfortunately, the headmaster was a stubborn and prideful man, refusing to involve the police in what he consider a prank. But after discussing it further, Ruiko has managed to have their full approval in investigating who pulled the ‘prank’, taking the letters with her to the mystery novel club.
“I am the afterschool magician who dwells in the Northern building. I forbid you from even going near it. If you ignore my order, seven curses shall be brought upon you!’’
So here she was, reading out loud the new letter the headmaster has received this very morning, standing before the members of the club.
“Basically, the letter is the same as the others that were sent’’ comment the vice-president, a skirt-chaser in the same year as her, Makoto Makabe. He was sitting on her right, his head resting on a fist in boredom.
Takahiro Onoue, her deskmate and the treasurer of the club, was nervously looking over his notes. “It is also a message typed on a computer and printed afterward, making it impossible to tell who wrote it’’
Ruiko gave him a sideway glance, since the grammar, tone and key words used in those letters can also be considered clues in regard to the identity of the author.
Just a look at those two can tell who really deserve the mystery novel prize
She subtly look over the second female member of their club, Takashima Tomoyo, the so-called germaphobe of their school. How people could be fooled by that lie, Ruiko didn’t know.
Putting aside the heated gaze Takashima held while watching obsessively Makabe, it wasn’t normal for a playboy like the vice-president to avoid a second year so taken with him, especially one as well-endowed as her junior. To put it bluntly, those two acted in a strange manner around each others.
Still, Ruiko knew she had an advantage over others, since she was one of the few who has read Makabe’s novel as well as his handmade club reports.
How their Japanese teacher couldn’t figure out the author of a prize-worthy novel wasn’t the same author who messed up his last essay so badly he had to take supplementary classes……
“Is that all the two of you can take from this?’’ She question bluntly, not directly giving hints, but trying to encourage them to think by themselves.
The room was silent, the two boys trying to come with an answer but unable to think of something. Meanwhile, Takashima is sending daggers from her eyes at Ruiko, which she ignore.
“It’s easy for you to says, but I heard nothing from you either’’ complain Makabe, his stare at her chest level.
“Someone is taking the time to send not one, not two, but five threatening letters to the headmaster in a mere month. Nothing new is written, the message being the same every single times.’’ She wave her hand toward their investigation board, the 4 previous letters one beside the others in plain sight.
“While this fact was kept private from the students and their parents, a strange rumour about 7 mysteries involving students death inside the old building started to be spread approximately at the same time inside the school. By sheer coincidence-‘’ Ruiko stress the importance on the last word, before hitting with her index a certain part of the letter in her hand.
“Both the letters and the rumour mention someone named the afterschool magician, the rumours even going as far as to says he will kill anyone who discover the truth about the 7 mysteries’’
“The person who sent the letters and the one who spread those rumours in school is the same culprit. We already know that, that was discussed in our second meeting’’ interrupt Onoue, earning a nod from Ruiko.
“Yes. But, why is that person taking the time to spread fantastic stories about the old building among the students? They started to sent those letters after the board of directors announced their plan to demolish the old building. By logic, the headmaster is a good choice if that person want to stop the old building from being taken apart, so why did they involves the students?’’
“That one is easy. They want to put pressure on the headmaster and the board of directors by using the students and their parents’’
“From a few rumours? Apart from us, who else know about those letters? And among them, who know about the sender being the afterschool magician? Practically no one. The only thing the students knows is that something horrible happened in the past to others students in the old building and that they might face it too if they go inside the old building to learn more about the 7 mysteries’’
“So they want to keep the students from learning more about the 7 mysteries and scare them away from the old building’’
“But isn’t that strange? Until recently, the students barely went to the old building unless their club room was located here like us. And as far as we know, no one among us has ever heard anythings related to those 7 mysteries until the plan to demolish the old building was announced’’
Onoue sigh, sweats gathering on his forehead from the sudden attention the sound draw to him. “Ruiko-san, could you…stop beating around the bush and tell us what conclusion you came to?’’
She take the time to look at the 3 people beside herself gathered together in the club room this early in the morning, their fatigue, both mental and physical, unmistakable. Disappointment squeeze her heart, once more making her feel lonely despite being surrounded.
As if sensing she was evaluating them, Makabe took in his surrounding too before furrowing his brows. “Hey, wasn’t the whole club supposed to meet today? Where is Saki, or Matoba-sensei for the matter?’’
Crossing her arms over her chest, she look at the wooden locker resting on the wall on their left.
“The teachers have a meeting this morning. As for Saki-kun…..’’ Ruiko directly turn her body to face the locker, raising an eyebrow.
“How long do you plan to hide here?’’
At once, the door of the locker open while the 3 sitting students get up in surprise.
“Saki, you!’’
“Why were you in there!?’’
Ryuta Saki, the last member of their club and a first year, sheepishly rubs the back of his head, a camera inseparable from him held comfortably in his other hand.
“It was stupid to try to hide from you Sakuragi-senpai’’
Ruiko inwardly shake her head, taking a look at her wristwatch. Taking the obvious hint, Onoue look at the hour on his phone before making a sound from the back of his throat. “Classes are about to start soon. Ruiko-san, how about we conclude this meeting and postpone it for later today?’’
She want to pinch the bridge of her nose in annoyance, holding back by a smidge.
“Alright, let’s disperse for now. But before that…’’ she lock eyes with Onoue and Makabe. “This is our last year for us third year. If we leave like this, with only Takashima-chan and Saki-kun left, the club will end up dissolved. If any of you two have someone in mind for the mystery novel club, please invite them for our second meeting.’’
“Ohoh!’’ Sing Saki, a grin on his lips. “Sakuragi-senpai, did you have someone in mind already?’’
It’s hard to hold back smiling when the youngest in the club take the time to analyse the under meaning behind her words and come up with the right answer.
“Yes, I do have someone in mind…..’’ The smirk on her lips make Ruiko look even more attractive, immediately causing Makabe and by extension Takashima to react to her apparence.
“Who is it?’’
“That’s….’’ She start, igniting curiosity, drawing all eyes on her lips.
An extended finger is placed vertically over her mouth. “…a secret!’’
Ruiko wink, acting cute as the others are left bewildered and without answers, just as they had refused to give her one before.
Ruiko is musing over all the informations the mystery novel club has gathered about the afterschool magician and the 7 mysteries of Fudo up until now, her body in math class showing focus on today’s lesson while her mind was actually elsewhere.
So far, Onoue and Saki had interviewed multiples students from all classes and all 3 years about the 7 mysteries, but only 6 out of the 7 had been heard. To be more accurate, no one among the student-body know about the last mystery.
The first mystery was about a female student who accidentally hanged herself in the abandoned biology lab while trying to change a light bulb. It is said that some time after, during a power break, while a professor was grading papers using a candlestick to illuminate his surrounding, he was able to see the same female student hanging from the ceiling.
The second mystery was another incident which this time involved a male student in the old printing room. No one know how, but he apparently managed to cut off his hand and as a result, died of blood loss while being rushed to the hospital in a ambulance. His hand was never found by either the police or the school, but some students can swear to have heard strange noises coming from the printing room at night, catching glimpse of something alike a hand moving on it’s own on the ground at night.
The third mystery was related to a vain female student who lost her compact powder in the well behind the old building. As makeup was forbidden on school ground in the past, she could not ask help from anyone else and being attached to this limited edition item, she tried to fetch it back herself during summer break only to end up falling inside by mistake. Having injured her ankle in the process and alone in the school, she could not climb back up nor call anyone to help, so she ended up dying of hunger there. Years later, it is said the water inside the well is still red from her blood.
The fourth mystery tell the story of a student who couldn’t get in contact with his friend. Unable to find him, he searched inside the old building until night, where after counting 13 steps in a set of stair who should have only 12 steps, he found his friend death body on the ground. Strange thing is, he passed by the stair earlier but his friend was nowhere to be found at the time.
The fifth mystery was about a male student who was in love with the school belle. Romantic relationship between students being forbidden at the time, he decided to not confess and watch her from afar. Unfortunately, he discovered one day she was seeing another student in secret. Jealous, he tried to destroy the umbrella* the two lovers engraved on the bark of a ginkgo tree behind the old building, but the mark being too high for him to reach with normal mean, he had to climb up the tree to attain it. No one know how it happened, but the student felt and broke his neck, instantly dying. Ever since, it is said that any couple branding their name on the same ginkgo tree would end up breaking up shortly after.
Finally, the sixth mystery tell the story of a male student who visited the library and in a rush to get a book, ended up making the statue of a goddess placed on top of the bookcase tumble down on his head, killing him on impact. Ever since, the statute of the goddess is said to appear and disappear around the library, waiting to surprise another student stupid enough to run inside the room.
Those six stories has a lot in common when you analyze them side by side. For exemple, they all involve a student dying inside the old building or outside in a certain perimeter that made it know the ground is still considered as belonging to the old building. Furthermore, apart from the fourth mystery, all of the stories talk about accidental death in a explicit manner. The one involving the 13 steps stair hint of it being also an accident, but you need to read the context to come up with this conclusion. In short, all 6 mysteries involve a student in the past dying in a accident related to the old building.
Then, all of them possess elements belonging to the supernatural or occult. But curiously, the aspect of something appearing and disappearing reappear 4 times in 6 of these stories, making Ruiko think the author of these stories may as well be the same person.
Now this is an interesting hypothesis, because while the students had never heard of the 7 mysteries of Fudo until this month, certains teachers and members of the faculty have heard of them years ago.
Fudo High was not a school with a poor reputation. While not as prestigious as their rival, Kaio Academy, their national rank was nothing to scoff at. However, it was certainly less sought after by students with ambition for the futur. It was probably why teachers and members of the faculty never worked here too long, most probably receiving better offers from Kaio and others schools.
As is it, only 3 persons have worked here for more than 5 years, one of them being the headmaster. Playing along with her for the investigation, the man admitted the existence of the 7 mysteries, saying it was an old rumour that already circulated among the student of Fudo High when he first started to work in the school, nearly 10 years ago.
In others words, someone created and spread the rumour of the 7 mysteries in Fudo High nearly 10 years ago. Old students graduated, old teachers were recruited to work elsewhere and soon, those stories were forgotten until last month someone spread them after they learned the old building was going to be demolished.
More importantly, while the headmaster did not remember words for words what were the 7 mysteries that he had first heard of a decade ago, once told what the students talked to each others about, he revealed that they were the exact version he knew.
This was quite strange. As a child, Ruiko was made to play all sort of games, one of them being the dengon game*. Children were made to sit beside each other in a circle, with one of them creating a simple code or phrase. That code would then be whispered to the person sitting beside them, who then would do the same to the person next to them. The code would be shared to everyone in the circle one by one like this until the last person would says out loud what the code was.
It was quite a funny game, because the code would rarely make it intact until the last person. In fact, most of the time, the final code had nothing to do with what the first person came up with. That’s because sharing a story by ear to one person to another has a high probability to be modified with time. That’s why a rumour has often multiples versions, not just one.
And yet, just like the 7 mysteries from 10 years ago was in accordance with those of this year, the version reported by each students interrogated by Onoue and Saki was also the same one. There was one possible reason for that in Ruiko’s mind.
The rumour must have first been shared not in a oral manner, but in writing! She looked inside the school dark site, but first found nothing. Then, she tried to search deleted posts and lo and behold, she found an old post about one of the 7 mysteries, one viewed by at least 1 students out of 3 inside the school. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to put together all of them, but it did give her an invaluable new hint.
What if the reason the last mystery isn’t know is because the afterschool magician did not post it yet? If so, why wait nearly a month after the first 6 were shared before telling this one? Unless the afterschool magician had no plan to ever share it? If so, why?
By logic, the last mystery must also be about the accidental death of a student involving a specific place inside or around the old building. Was there something wrong with the place used in the story? That could explain why the afterschool magician not only didn’t share the details of the last mystery, but also why he wanted to stop the old building from being demolished.
But here lay a new problem. The culprit doesn’t want the old building to be demolished, for whatever reason, so he sent threatening letters to the headmaster. That’s because he want to scare the headmaster and by association the board of directors so they would change their mind.
Up until now, the old building was used and visited by a few clubs. After the rumour started to be spread, those clubs did not stop using the old building, but students started to cut short their time inside their club’s room. You can says that those rumour did scare them away from the old building. But, those rumour did not exist until a few weeks ago. In others words, the culprit did not feel the need to kept students from exploring the old building until the school decided to demolish it.
Like Onoue said, the rumour could have been spread to the student-body to put pressure on the headmaster. But, in that case, why was the content of those threatening letters not spread alongside the rumour?
Ruiko muse about the matter and think back about the origin of the rumour dating back from 10 years ago. While Onoue and Saki were sent to investigate the content of the stories amidst the student-body, Tsukishima and Makabe were tasked with searching clues in the school’s past events.
The newspaper club was one if not the oldest existing club of Fudo High. They also happen to preserve copies of their old printed journals inside their club room, not missing any numbers unlike in the library. Makabe being on friendly term with their current president, he was allowed inside their storage room to read them.
From what he and Tsukishima reported, while a few incidents did happen inside the school in the past, none of them involved accidental death. Furthermore, nothing about the specific incidents described in the 7 mysteries matched with what was written in those journals. Going as far as nearly 20 years back in time, Makabe and Tsukishima had found nothing about the 7 mysteries of Fudo in the newspapers.
While the newspapers club always made sure to never report anythings about the occult, which could explain the lack of mention of the rumour inside their past published papers, the lack of similarities between the reported incidents and those told inside the 7 mysteries stories point out the fact they were probably all fictional.
So, 10 years ago, someone created the 7 mysteries and spread the rumour in Fudo High to kept students away from the old building.
10 years later, in order to stop the old building from being demolished, someone sent threatening letters to the headmaster which mention ‘7 curses’. At the same time, the same rumour is spread amongst the student-body, with the exception of the seventh mystery.
Japanese citizens are superstitious by nature. They avoid the number 4 and 9 because they sound similar to the words ‘death’ and ‘suffering’. To ignore and shy away from the occult is also a normal reaction, which is why the 7 mysteries make students wary of the old building. It is therefore logical for the author of the 7 mysteries to have come up with them in order to stop students from exploring the old building.
But, by omitting to explain what the last mystery is, that purpose become flawed as the missing mystery invoke curiosity. As it is, while Ruiko had inspected the locations of the 6 known mysteries, she had met a a few curious students. The thing is, they were only loitering around the well spoken about in the third mystery and the gingko tree mentioned in the fifth mystery. Which mean, while the schools did mostly avoid the old building, they were less fearful of locations outside the building.
The rumour did not put pressure on the headmaster nor did it scare everyone away from the named location mentioned in the 7 mysteries of Fudo. In the end, what was the point of spreading an old forgotten rumour in the school?
This is where the typography of those 5 letters become important.
“I am the afterschool magician who dwells in the Northern building. I forbid you from even going near it. If you ignore my order, seven curses shall be brought upon you!’’
The second part, the I forbid you from even going near it go in concordance with the theory the rumour was spread to isolate the building by scaring the student-body.
The seven curses mentioned link the rumour with the threatening letters, making it seem the afterschool magician will start to kill students if the headmaster don’t do something, an information only the sender and recipient of the letters would know.
The two point out the culprit had the intention to spread the rumour since the beginning and he wanted to use it to scare away the student. Yet, this backfired since the last mystery was not revealed.
This can only mean that the culprit had the intention to spread the story about the seventh mystery but held back as a last minute decision. Just like how students avoided the old building out of fear, the afterschool magician avoided the seventh mystery for the same reason.
That’s because the afterschool magician was especially afraid the truth of the last mystery would be discovered, so he hide the location of the last mystery in order to make sure no one would know where it was. In conclusion, he wanted to protect the secret hidden inside the old building from being found out, but he was the most cautious and anxious about one specific emplacement.
That fear the culprit was feeling was quite intense, seeing as he went as far as sent 5 threatening letters repeating the same nonsense, indicating he was getting desperate the longer the matter involving the old building was put on hold.
And now, here come the most important hint written in those letters. The first part says I am the afterschool magician who dwells in the Northern building. The name the culprit give himself link once more those letters to the story of the 7 mysteries circulating in the school. But what Ruiko is more interested in is the term Northern building, which immediately caught her eyes.
This term is used to mention the building behind the school, but she has never once heard anyone call it the northern building. In fact, the students called it the ‘old building’ or the ‘decrepit building’. The teachers and members of the faculty also called it with similar names such as the ‘building behind the school’ or the ‘building planned for demolishment’.
As it is, Ruiko has only heard the old building being named the Northern building by two persons up until now. The first was the headmaster, the recipient of the threatening letters. The second was Matoba-sensei, the physics teacher and the advisor of the mystery novel club. Both also happened to be 2 of the 3 persons who have worked in Fudo High for more than 5 years. To be more specific, the headmaster started working here 10 years ago, while Matoba-sensei started to teach nearly 30 years ago.
She thought at first the reason the 7 mysteries have made a reappearance was because someone found an old article about them, but if the newspapers club never once published something related to them, who did? Maybe a student who attended a few years ago was curious and noted it down in a notebook he or she then lost inside the school. Then, a student found it and spread the rumour on the school dark site, which only students attending Fudo know about.
But, that is a lots of maybe or what if scenarios. If Ruiko was to follow the Occam’s razor theory of problem-solving, the simplest answer with the less complications was more often than not the right conclusion to come up with.
The term Northern building is used by people who have worked in Fudo High for more than 10 years, because the old building wasn’t considered decrepit or old when they first started to work here. The afterschool magician referred to the old building as such, because he was already working here 10 years ago.
In that case, could it be the reason he knew the 7 mysteries and remember them so well because he was the person who created and then spread the rumour 10 years ago?
Ruiko has the following theory: something happened in the old building 10 years ago. To cover it up and scare away the student, the culprit created and spread the story of the 7 mysteries around the school. In order to kept an eye on the old building, that person stayed in Fudo High all these years, slowly losing his vigilance and letting the rumour be erased from everyone memories.
Then, 1 month ago, the board of directors announced their plan to demolish the old building which made the afterschool magician start to panic. Alarmed, that person sent his first threatening letter to the headmaster and start to post the stories about the 7 mysteries on the school dark site. Afraid of the truth from 10 years ago being found, the culprit ommit the story of the seventh mystery.
However, as days pass by without the board of directors changing their decision, the afterschool magician mounting fear increase and not knowing what to do, he sent 4 others letters.
The first lesson her father taught Ruiko when it come to writing is the importance of the 5W.
Who which is the english word for who, When which is the english word for when, Where which is the english word for where, What is the english word for what and Why which is the english word for why. It is the basis for novelists and journalists alike to know when writing their work.
So far, Ruiko identified the Where as the old building and the When as to 10 years ago. She guess that something happened in that building 10 years ago which is the Why behind those threatening letters. As for the Who, she currently narrowed it down to 3 suspects which were the headmaster, Matoba-sensei and Tachibana-san, the security guard who work night shift at school since 10 years ago.
The only thing she wasn’t able to guess with the informations she has gathered so far was the What. 10 years ago, inside the old building, one of the 3 suspects did something that he is trying to hide to this day. The question is, what is it?
Ruiko didn’t know, but she has the feeling whatever it is, it must be quite the story for this secret to force someone to work in Fudo High for over a decade.
If it was me, I would have set the building on fire, turning to ashes any proofs of my wrongdoing.
While it may sound like an extreme reaction, for proof of a secret to remain existing even after 10 years…..it was without a doubt something big that could warrant such a thought.
Ruiko close her eyes in apprehension, fearing the worst.
Yet, this remain a mere suspicion since she has no physical evidences to provide behind her theories.
Ruiko isn’t a detective, she is an amateur novelist. She has her own way to find the truth, which has little to no value in front of a court or a police officer.
That’s why, under the guise of recruiting new members for their club, she found someone that would find those evidences for her.
How Ruiko found that person was unexpected, even for her. The first time she met him, it was inside the girl’s locker room as her class was getting ready for P.E.
The week before, an hidden camera had been found inside the same room, which elicited the anger of the girls and their parents. Unfortunately, the school hasn’t been able to find out who it belonged to and this type of items being easy to buy, it was impossible to pinpoint the culprit.
Nevertheless, it had the effect of rising the caution of the girls when changing clothes and creating tensions among the students. Perhaps this is why the smallest of noise coming from an isolated locker as the girls were chatting loudly inside the locker’s room was immediately detected.
Unlucky for the male student hiding inside at the time, the group of third year were prepared for such a scenario and managed to catch him in the act. They used rough duct type usually favoured by movers and detained him inside the metal locker while one of them called their P.E teacher.
The peeping tom was a second year student, Kindaichi Hajime. Upon identifying him, a few exasperating sighs were immediately heard. Anyone with a friend a year below knew about him. He was indeed the ‘loser’ and ‘troublemaker’ of their age group, his grades awful and his bad habit of flipping up skirts or stealing panties a secret to no one.
Yet, the name Kindaichi not being common and reminding Ruiko of a famous detective, Kindaichi Kosuke, she abstained from making an hasty judgment. Hacking into the school database, she came to know he was indeed related to him, being his grandson.
Looking further inside the record Fudo kept on him, she was surprised to find that his IQ was once evaluated to be higher than 180 as a result of a test all students must pass in middle school. Reminded of something from her past, Ruiko was surprised to have never once heard of him before.
Her interest caught, she tried to find further informations about him to no avail. It wasn’t until the newly retired president of the student council and a classmate of her’s disappeared during the golden week's leave that she once more heard of him.
To be more precise, after Tono Eiji was declared death and a quiet private funeral was held by his family, an article about a serial killer hunting down tourists during a competition was published by the freelancer Itsuki Yosuke. The date of the killer’s death not only matched Tono’s, but the company who held the competition, Mizuki travel, belonged to his father’s. More importantly, the person acknowledged as the one who solved the case was a second year high school student and the grandson of an anonymous famous detective.
By coincidence, during the training camp of the drama club of Fudo High, two students ended up murdered. And the one who solved the case was a student invited to participate by one of the members of the club. Curiously, Nanase Miyuki, the girl once rumoured to be Tono Eiji’s girlfriend, is a member of the drama club. Students of the second year also often talk of her strange friendship with the ‘loser’ of their year.
Could it be anyone else than Kindaichi Hajime?
So, the pervert with bad grades in their second year was the grandson of famous detective Kindaichi Kosuke and a secret genius with an IQ over 180 that had resolved 2 murder cases this year.
Ruiko didn’t believe in a controversial topic such as fate, but with her current investigation about the afterschool magician reeking of danger and the apparition of someone like Kindaichi in Fudo High, what else could it be if not predisposed luck?
Climbing up the stair, she was finishing her carton of soy milk while thinking of a way to induce a slacker like Kindaichi to join the mystery novel club. As far as she know, that boy only has two interests in life, the first being his childhood friend Nanase Miyuki and the second being naked women.
Ruiko know of her own appeal, being confident in her physical appearance and the allure she has on boys. From what her father kept telling her in the past, it was something she inherited from her mother. She just didn’t know how far she was willing to go to get Kindaichi’s help.
Unfortunately, while she was popular in school and has many acquaintances, Ruiko has no close friends to speak. That’s mainly because girls her age either admired her too much to really form close bond with her or were jealous and spiteful because of the attentions she kept gathering from boys.
That’s why she has the feeling getting close to Nanase Miyuki would be difficult, especially if it was to get closer to her childhood friend.
While stressing over her plan of action, she has already reached the door leading to the roof and could hear noises coming from outside.
“You already finished my homework I asked for this morning? Thank you’’
“You should do your own homework. If I always do it, it won’t help Hajime-chan’’
Discreetly opening the door, she found her target sitting on the ground with a girl looking down at him from her standing position.
“You’re being cheap. You were a lot nicer in kindergarten!’’
“No means no’’
It look like the two were arguing about his lacklustre attitude when concerning his studies.
“That is indeed the trash of the school, Hajime Kindaichi’’
“Trying to force Miyuki to do his homework in his stead, what a bully!’’
“I can’t believe the smartest and prettiest girl in our year is childhood friend with that loser. It really make no sense’’
Nearby, 3 others female students were whispering about the duo in such a loud manner it was impossible for anyone currently on the roof to not hear them. Ruiko guessed they were the friends of the girl scolding Kindaichi, their attitude grating on her nerves.
“Meanie, please?’’
“No!’’
Seeing the occasion for what it was, Ruiko didn’t waste time to profit from the situation in front of her. Walking toward the two, she take hold of the paper Nanase was waving in her hand and looked it over.
It was an english homework due today. Only requiring basic skill in reading and writing in a foreign language, Ruiko could certainly finish it under 5 minutes.
Still, if she wanted him to do his homework himself, why tell him now and not yesterday?
“Just leave the girl alone. If she doesn’t want to help you, why not try your chance with me?’’
“Sakuragi-senpai! What do you mean? Are you going to do my homework for me?’’
She take a glance at Nanase who appear befuddled, then turn her head to look at Kindaichi, the wind making her long hair fly around her, shining under the sun. She smile his way and watch with satisfaction as his eyes glaze over in a way similar to Makabe’s when he’s thinking dirty thoughts about her.
“Sure, I don’t mind’’
Nanase sense she is losing control of the situation and interrupt them. She cough low in her throat. “Excuse me, but who…?’’
“Who, me? I’m Sakuragi Ruiko, third year and president of the mystery novel club. Nice to meet you, Nanase-san, the smartest and prettiest girl in second year.’’
Knowing of the close relationship between her target and Nanase, she know it was unwise to make a crack at the girl’s expense, but Ruiko couldn’t help herself. Both she and Kindaichi have clearly heard what the friends Nanase brought with her on the roof said about them, yet the girl continued to argue Kindaichi without rebutting or defending him.
Ruiko might not know how to maintain close friendship with anyone, but she had least know that letting close acquaintances badmouth Kindaichi who Nanase was always hanging around wasn’t a good sign of her character.
Looking her over, Ruiko couldn’t help but found her lacking.
Ignoring the girl reddening face, she turn back her full attention to Kindaichi.
“Kindaichi-kun, I don’t mind doing your homework, but in return, I would like to ask a favour’’
She smile prettily, showing her teeth in the process.
“It’s something only you can do’’
Nanase Miyuki may take for granted her childhood friend, however Ruiko plan to use him to the fullest.
Now, what are you hiding, afterschool magician?