Not a detective

Page 7

Asakawa Riku knew he couldn't fool anyone anymore, so he sat down in the chair opposite him:

"Okay, I'll pay. Yoshinoya's beef bowl is 468 yen, let's call it 500. Isn't that a good deal?"

"Making two meals in the morning is very troublesome, and I live far away, plus I am disabled."

Chizuko raised her right leg. Today she was wearing slightly longer socks that covered half of her calf, and they were still white.

You clearly use your disabled status very skillfully... I misunderstood you.

Riku Asakawa pondered for a while:

"I can pick you up from school."

"Hmm? Carrying a bicycle on a motorcycle is illegal. You're 16, you probably can't get a motorcycle license yet."

Chizuko looked at her with suspicion.

"I can carry you on my back or hug you. I run very fast, probably as fast as a vehicle."

"It'll only make things more troublesome!"

Chizuko knew he was joking, but seeing his serious expression, she couldn't help but blush and shout.

It seems she had also heard the rumors about the two of them.

Asakawa Riku was at a loss. He could only ask, "Kazamatsuri-senpai, if it's just to bring an extra bento, besides paying for it, what other conditions do you need if I can meet them?"

"First, call me 'President' and let me hear it."

"President."

"Uh-huh."

Chizuko hummed contentedly and said, "I want to know why Asakawa asked me to bring her lunch... No, don't tell me yet."

Asakawa Riku was about to explain, but a hand stopped him from speaking.

"I want to reason it out myself."

The girl smiled, packed up the lunchbox, wrapped it in a handkerchief, and tied it into a pretty bow.

Is this also part of the event? This guy is a true mystery fanatic; no wonder only one person is still sticking with this club.

Asakawa Riku sat up and listened to her story:

"Asakawa-kun, you're a teenager going through puberty, right?"

"As you can see."

What is your sexual orientation?

"A mature woman."

"Adjectives are unnecessary... cough cough, what about dating history?"

"zero."

Asakawa Riku wasn't lying; he was busy with other things during junior high and didn't have time to date.

Chizuko's questioning wasn't over; this wasn't deduction, it was practically an interrogation of a criminal.

"Asakawa-san, what are your preferences for the taste of the bento?"

"You just need to make two identical servings, I don't have any dietary restrictions."

"Anything is fine with me?"

"Aside from the fact that it tastes completely unpalatable, or that it's not something humans can eat... I guess so."

Asakawa Riku was thinking, if you can eat it, there's no reason why I can't either.

"I understand!"

She called out excitedly, "Asakawa-kun, you—"

"If what you're trying to say is, 'Asakawa-kun is just being vain and wants to try the bento box that a cute girl brought for him,' then please don't say it."

Needless to say, even Asakawa Riku had guessed the direction of this reasoning. To avoid embarrassment, it was better to interrupt in advance.

"Huh...huh? Isn't that wrong?"

The president of the mystery club froze on the spot, silently lowering his raised hand.

Asakawa Riku smiled helplessly and explained the changes that had happened to his family, as well as the reason why he had no food to eat because of his poor cooking skills.

"When I got home yesterday, I ran into my parents who were on the run. They—"

...

"So this is ah……"

After some time, Asakawa Riku finished telling the whole story.

His mother used to prepare his lunchbox, but now the food he makes himself is so bad that it's "completely inedible" and can't be served as lunch.

Chizuko listened blankly, and finally nodded thoughtfully:

"Okay, Asakawa-san, I'll take care of your lunches from now on! But only school lunches!"

She agreed so readily; I thought I'd have to do a lot of persuasion.

"Really...?" Asakawa Riku's eyes lit up. "Thank you so much!"

That's great. He would never ask this senior he had just met for help unless it was absolutely necessary. Asakawa Riku is not one to like owing favors to others.

But for him, not being able to eat was far more serious than the murder threat.

Maintaining bodily functions hinges on a balanced diet. While it's not necessary to strictly control your diet like a bodybuilder, relying solely on fast food and instant noodles is far from sufficient.

For example, today's lunch was fried noodles with bread from the school store. It was alright; while not as amazing as portrayed in anime, it was still quite tasty. Asakawa Riku could understand why the students fought over it so fiercely, but it was only good as a light dessert to whet their appetites. Eating it for three years…

Riku Asakawa will definitely die.

I will always remember the life-saving grace of Chizuko-senpai.

"It's nothing, it's just making one extra portion and packaging it in two separate packages."

Chizuko smiled contentedly, as if the difficulties she had just mentioned did not exist: "After all, it is the president's duty to help the members. Asakawa-kun, you must be having a hard time adjusting to this sudden family situation. If it can help you focus on club activities, it's not a big deal."

She seemed to want to act like an older sister in front of Asakawa Riku, even though she didn't look like that at all.

But since his benefactor was before him, Asakawa Riku wouldn't voice his thoughts. He bowed respectfully.

"Thank you again. I will be here on time at noon."

"Please be on time, and come to report after school as well."

Just as Asakawa Riku was about to leave the activity room, Chizuko suddenly said something unexpectedly:

"Asakawa-kun, thank you for your concern, but actually I don't feel lonely eating alone."

A sentence without any beginning or end.

However, Asakawa Riku smiled. He didn't turn around and said before closing the door:

"Yes, sir... President."

It seems the president of the mystery club isn't just a figurehead after all.

The door slammed shut with a crisp sound, and at the same time, the book on the table turned to its last page.

Spring of the Earth Spider: Chapter Twelve - The Detective's Cheating Tool

I see Chizuko twice a day, which feels like more times than I see some teachers of less popular courses.

After school, Asakawa Riku participated in club activities.

When I opened the door, I found her struggling to stand on tiptoe, fiddling with some scattered papers.

"What is this?" Asakawa Riku put down his schoolbag and reached out to help.

"Oh, just nail it to the blackboard, thank you."

Chizuko kept everyone in suspense as usual, but Asakawa Riku quickly deduced the contents from the text: "Is this a file?"

There were seven sheets of paper pinned to the blackboard, all in the same format, like resumes submitted when looking for a job. Their ID photos were in the upper right corner, along with densely packed personal information.

There were four boys and three girls in total, all wearing the school uniform in the photo.

"Ah."

Chizuko finished her work, clapped her hands, and looked up at the blackboard: "I told you, Asakawa-san, they were last year's [victims]."

Asakawa Riku's expression suddenly turned serious.

Even if he himself doesn't care much about this "incident," he still feels sympathy and concern for the victims.

"So far... there's still no trace of them?"

"Yes, the police search also yielded no results, but I have no way to obtain the police search records; these are the school's files."

Chizuko explained, "I finally got my hands on it after a long time, and I've kept it for a year. Now it finally has a use."

"How did you get it?"

Just as she asked the question, she suddenly remembered the information she had gathered earlier: "Oh, you said your family has connections with the principal here..."

“No, that’s not it.” Chizuko shook her head. “No matter what, you can’t grant me this unreasonable request. I sent a ghost to the archives to get a copy.”

"Isn't this even more willful...!"

Asakawa Riku was taken aback: "Instead of saying that this is a crime, isn't it?"

"Hey, I don't think so... I didn't sneak into the police station, I was just inside the school."

Of course, when she said this, you could clearly see her guilty fake smile: "Besides, I only made a copy, and I put the original back."

Well... Asakawa Riku still can't fully accept the existence of "monsters," after all, this is only Chizuko-senpai's side of the story, and she might have gone to steal it herself.

The existence of ghosts must be incredibly convenient for detectives...it's practically a cheat code.

He naturally raised a question:

"Since you can control ghosts, you should have been able to see who the murderer was last year, right?"

Isn't this a natural "camera"?

The biggest obstacle to modern deduction is cameras, but if there were a ghost that was 100% invisible and existed anytime and anywhere, wouldn't that be the absolute nemesis of murderers?

"First of all, Asakawa-kun, I need to correct your statement. It's not 'manipulation,' Kiku will be unhappy if she hears that. My relationship with the yokai is that of friends."

Chizuko raised a finger and shook it: "Secondly, don't forget that a year ago, I was just a freshman in high school, just like you. Nobody expected something like this to happen. How could they have sent a ghost to monitor us beforehand? I only found out about this later. I had no idea what happened back then."

"right……"

No one has the ability to predict the future; that's for sure.

“But this time it’s different.” Chizuko smiled, withdrew her finger, and clenched her small fist. “I’ve been preparing for a whole year, waiting for the day school starts after winter break, the day the new students enroll. On this day, I used a yokai to monitor all 146 new students in the first year of high school, and finally I found the love letter.”

"Asakawa-kun, it's you. This time, the [murderous love letter] is only targeting you."

"146 people..."

Asakawa Riku murmured, finding it hard to believe that this guy's ability to act was truly terrifying.

He had to interrupt here. Although he couldn't completely believe Chizuko's "monster theory" and didn't know if the ghost and surveillance claims were true, he decided to continue thinking based on this premise for the time being in order to solve the case. Otherwise, if he denied and doubted every word, there would be no point in having any conversation.

Just as he took the love letter from the shoe cabinet, Chizuko-senpai happened to appear behind him. What a coincidence... How could this have happened if there were no youkai?

"Does that mean I'm the only unlucky one this year?"

He looked back at the list on the blackboard.

As expected, it was a student file from the school. The information inside wasn't very complete, containing only basic details like name, age, date of birth, blood type, and address.

Besides that, there are the parents' names, job titles, and contact numbers; that's about all.

After all, these students had only been enrolled for a week before they disappeared, without having left any further information...

Takahiro Uemura, Yoshihiko Arimura, Tetsuji Sugino, Kentaro Yamane, Airi Hirata, Yumiko Esaki, and Kōko Hino.

These are the seven missing students.

Asakawa Riku only glanced at it briefly, knowing he would most likely forget it.

I've been here for sixteen years, and I still haven't fully gotten used to remembering names with more than three characters.