Shibotsu Shokora
~ Shi Ouji ~

Soft footsteps fell on the brick pathway of St. Marie Academy. The person dressed in a male school uniform glanced up at the strange statue while placing a hand over her eyes. While she still wasn't speaking well with her grandfather, when he passed on the message that her mother's school was needing some help with a mystery she found herself unable to resist.

"Why would they have a fairy statue at a school of all places?" Naoto sighed.

"Shirogane-san? I'm Henri Lucas, the grandson of Marie Lucas who founded the academy." A voice came from a young man who nodded his head at her. "Are you a bit curious about the school?"

"Well... yes. I honestly choose to follow in the footsteps on my father's side of the family so I actually know more about my father and what he did then my mother. The school is rather... pretty." The small female took a deep breath. "I am not really comfortable with this kind of place. I wish I was back with the gang in Inaba."

"This is a school for patisserie chefs. You at least know that correct?" The man smiled at her.

"I got the material and I studied up on the techniques. I was lucky enough to have a friend who knows how to cook well and explained a lot of the material to me." Naoto let out a deep sigh at the point. "It took awhile with the other girls trying to help."

"We had to due some rearranging this year due to the death of a particular student. Actually, one of our students who was allowed to advance a year decided to take the rest of the year off to due self-study and is coming back at this grade level." The man stated. "But I really need to tell you about the school. It will help you understand the situation better. Why don't we go up to Mari's room. She kindly came back along with me to teach this year. We can explain the situation without students overhearing, though most are already in their dorms."

The female detective found herself sitting in a room with a pretty lady that rivaled even Rise. She took a deep drink of the tea the woman had prepared and wondered how she would coma pare to the other students who had far more experience then her. The female simply smiled and set the her cup down. "I guess I'll explain how the classes work."

"We take French, math and science along with the patisserie classes because they will help a professional once they get going. Each class is broken up into classes and each class is being broken up into six groups. The middle school only has one class per grade level but the high school has three grades. We'll be having you take a test to see how your skill measures out and so we can figure out which group you'll be in."

"Completely understandable." Nanato nodded her head.

"You'll also be dorming with Kashino Makoto." Mari stated as she smiled at the female detective.

Henry though balked suddenly. "That would be the male dorms..."

"I know the incident occurred in the female dorms but the truth is we can't have a male staying in the female dorms."

"We can't have a female staying in the male dorms." Henry said as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Wait... you mean to tell me Shirogane Naoto is a girl." Mari suddenly found herself paling. "But... a male uniform was requested."

"The would be my fault. I've never dressed in female clothing in my life except perhaps when my mother was still alive." Naoto let out a deep sigh. "I actually wore a male uniform at my last school despite being a girl."

"I see..." The pretty female let out a deep sigh. "Henry... you know we can't change the arrangements at the last minute. The students are also expecting a male student."

"We'll think of a solution this situation after we explain the case to her."

"We have a student... had a student... who was very gifted. She could differentiate between different tastes to the point she could tell where things came from. She was the top student for her grade and was in stiff competition with Kashino Makoto until he went into the grade above her. They also were dating each other and they worked verywell with each other but... there were times that they didn't get along."

"Apparently that was one of those day and Kashino-san says that he had been planning her Valentine's Day gift with her best friend for a month but Asano Ichigo thought he was cheating on her. He didn't deny her accusations and simply let her accuse him before storming off to make the chocolate he was going to give her."

"Don't girls normally give the guys chocolate on Valentine's Day?" Naoto blinked a couple of times.

"Some of the more talented males will give chocolates to their girlfriends those days." Henry spoke up. "This is a patissiere school."

"Someone dropped a chocolate box off in her dorm room and left it there. It was poisoned. She thought it was from her boyfriend. However, when she ate it... well, you get the picture."

"For awhile the police tried placing the blame on Kashino and her roommate because they were having an affair behind her back or they tried blaming Amano and said she tried killing herself. The school chairman stepped in constantly and finally the case became cold."

"If the chocolates were in the girls dorm that mean one of two things. Who ever killed Asano Ichigo was a female or it was a male who got a female involved and the said female doesn't want to speak up for fear of incriminating herself." Naoto placed a hand on her chin.

"Then wouldn't it be best if Shirogane stayed in the female dorm as she would likely find out more." Mari asked rather suddenly.

"You are going under the assumption that girls will easily gossip with other girls but something we have to remember is that they aren't likely to open up to other females." The female detective folded her arms. "I'm new so I doubt I'll easily be getting anyone's trust male or female."

"Let's worry about the testing." Henry stated. "However, if you do very well we might place you in with the Sweet Princes who have the top group for the year."

"We can't guarantee that. Remember when Amano came in here and she knew nothing about cooking. The girls were livid about the fact she got placed in with the best group."

"I thought you said she was gifted?" Shirogane blinked a couple of times.

"With her taste. She had no formal training before she got here. She learned quickly though." Henry spoke up.

"Then the suspect pool would include the entire female population."

"And the male if you go into the fact that she was very pretty." Mari smiled. "She had a few admires, the top contenders being the Sweet Princes."

"Why are they called the Sweet Princes?"

"Perhaps we should let the other students tell you that one."