(AN: You know, I thought that with Naoto being a consulting detective (a fictional occupation almost exclusive to Sherlock Holmes), there would be some Sherlock Holmes-y stories starring her on this website, but there aren't. Welp, whatever. This just means I'm the first. :) There have been mysteries starring Naoto, but are nothing like Doyle's works. I'm not saying that they're bad stories, but you'd think there'd be at least one starring an intellectually OP Naoto. Anyway, this is written from Kanji's point of view much like how Sherlock Holmes novels are written from Watson's point of view. And it's not really a mystery, just a little comedy to get my feet wet for a possible full-length story. Doubt I'll ever get around to doing that, though. Hope you guys enjoy. No seriously, I really hope you do. This is my first fanfic afterall. PS: I only put the honorifics in dialogue because it was quite annoying and repetitive otherwse.)
"Naoto Does Some Deductions"
Yosuke had it coming. Naoto Shirogane's trademark invasion of privacy.
It was an evening in the middle of summer vacation, the last brilliant rays of the sun were shinin' on the roof of the supermarket Junes. It was a about year after we met SEES, saved Labrys, and squashed that punk Sho Minazuki. The Investigation Team plus Marie and Nanako were supposed to meet up at the usual table in Junes' food court, but Yosuke was missing. At the time, I thought somethin' important came up. We all got melon sodas and talked about little things that I wasn't really payin' attention to. Marie was tellin' Yu her plans for the weather (while Rise was pouting), Chie and Yukiko were goin' on about some dog, Teddie was stuffing his face with topsicles while Nanako was laughin' her head off, and Naoto was talking to me about a case or somethin' Got distracted a little too much by her to pay attention. As I was sitting there wonderin' whether or not I should knit her somethin' pretty, Yu, who almost didn't say a single thing by that point, spoke up.
"Hey Kanji-kun, where's Yosuke?"
"I dunno." I replied, "He said he was coming. Maybe he had extra work dumped on him."
"I texted him a few moments ago." Yukiko piped in. "He didn't reply"
There was a pause before a voice shouted towards us.
"Hey guys!" Everyone looked towards the voice. It was Yosuke. He was dressed in a fancy suit minus the jacket. And let me tell ya, it looked kinda awkward in the middle of a supermarket's food court. It was like a turd in a punch bowl. He also was really smiley and it weirded me out. I mean, he's usually really happy lookin', but this was a lot even for him. He took a soda and said, "Sorry to keep you waiting."
Naoto took one look at him, sniffed the air sharply before mutterin', "Oh, so that's where you were.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Yosuke asked, confused.
"Are you sure you want to know?" Naoto asked.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" Yosuke said. Naoto shrugged and gave a look that said, you asked for this.
"You were on a dinner date with Labrys-chan at your house."
He did a spit take while everyone's eyes went as wide as frisbees.
"You have actually been seeing her for quite some time now," Naoto continued, "Some movies and holding each other fondly were involved and she left for urgent reasons."
Judgin' from Senpai's reaction, she guessed right. We were all sitting there, jaws on the floor and my head went completely numb because HOW THE HELL DID SHE FIGURE THAT OUT!? Yosuke recovered from the shock and asked nervously, "Okay, how did you know that? Did you stalk me?"
Naoto leaned back in her chair with a satisfied smirk on her face. She took a sip from her soda and started talking.
"We all must have observed Senpai's uncharacteristically elegant clothing," She said, "He never wears anything like that ever, even when going to meetings for his family's business. What would a teenage boy in the small town of Inaba need a suit for? It cannot be for a funeral, because his face is joyous. It must be that he was on a dinner date. The smell of perfume, the trace of lipstick on your lips, and the tiny stain on your shirt confirms that. The perfume also suggests that the two were in rather close proximity to each other, so they most likely held each other before or after they ate. Now you may naturally ask, why Labrys-chan? The odor of motor oil and metals left on Yosuke-senpai may suggest someone who deals with mechanical engineering. However, that is unlikely as Senpai has no friends who deals with such handicraft. So, the next logical assumption is that Senpai has been working such craft himself. Again, that is unlikely because no one wears a suit for such work. So I wondered, what if Yosuke-senpai's lover doesn't work with machines, but is a machine. Labrys-chan fits that description and knows us well. She is our most likely culprit."
"What about the movie?" Yosuke asked.
"Is that not what couples normally do while holding each other?" Naoto answered coolly, "Balance of probability, Yosuke-senpai."
"And how did you know it was at home?"
"There isn't a single restaurant in Okina City or Inaba where it may be necessary to dress like that," she says as she points to his clothing.
"And how did you know they've been seein' each other for a while?" I asked, wonderin' how she could even answer that. But as soon as that left my mouth, everyone (minus Nanako) looked at me like I said somethin' stupid.
"Kanji-kun, who in their right mind would wear something like that to their first few dates?" Rise asked.
"I dunno," I said. I really didn't.
"Anyways," Naoto continued, "I knew she left for important reasons because if Yukiko-senpai were to have texted Yosuke-senpai with Labrys-chan still around, he would most likely would have ignored it or at least invited her to come with. So she must have left before that time. Now, it may be evening, but it is still a little too early for the average couple to part ways. And no one plans a date on a day when they have something else going on later. So, why would she leave early when nothing else is planned on that day and it is a bit too early to do so? Urgent reasons, that is why. Am I right?"
Yosuke nodded. And with that, Naoto finished. Everyone jus' stared. And I was beginnin' to wonder, how long was she able to do that? Does she use it on everyone she sees? Does she know about you-know-what? Finally, Yu broke the silence.
"That was impressive, Naoto-kun."
"I didn't know that Labrys-chan could eat," Chie said, "We should take her out for steak one of these days!"
"That's what you have to say to that?" Yosuke said, amazed at her passion for meat.
"Big Bro, who is 'Labrys-chan'? And why did Naoto-kun say she was a machine?" Nanako asked.
Everyone soon went back to their own conversations. After a little while, Naoto turned towards me.
"Oh and Kanji-kun?" Naoto said.
"Y-Yeah?" I answered, scared at what she might say next.
She smiled at me and said, "I did not know you could sew."
!
All I remember next is me dashin' to the elevator, cheeks burning hot with embarrassment.
(AN: That was fun to write. Please leave a comment and tell me what you thought about the story. If enough people like it, I may turn it into a series of one-shots.)
(Dear God, please let the reviews be positive *insert sad puppy image*)