2

The Beginning of a Crucial Investigation

"You knew about this the entire time, Otani." Risa stated with a stern voice towards Otani realizing that he knew of Nobuko and Nakao's relationship faltering.

Otani then started to get agitated by the fact that Risa was trying to scold him for not confessing up this secret. This was their way of trying to cope with the barren news that Risa just learned an hour prior to the conversation with Otani. However, for what was to be said next would end up being a shocker to not only Otani but for Risa as well.

"Maybe we should investigate the truth into why Nobuko and Nakao broke up in the first place." Risa blurted out the first thing that came into her mind.

"What are you crazy or something, Koizumi? We know that they are our friends and all but wouldn't that make them get angry at us for doing such a thing." Otani said while in the agitated mood.

That ended up resulting in a brief argument between Risa and Otani which lasted for a while before a knock came from their apartment door. Risa went to check to see who it was and she was very surprised to see the person that was standing in front of her. It was none other than Nobuko, Risa's best friend and she was standing there in a depressed mood.

"Oh, Nobu-chan. I am very surprised to see you here and from the way you are it does not look good." Risa stated once Nobuko came into the apartment.

Otani then stood up from the sofa and went into the kitchen to start making a pot of tea for everyone that was in the apartment. Risa who was still a little upset with Otani tried to comfort her best friend while trying to control her emotions and not tell Nobuko that she knew about the break up. Sometime later, Otani came back with two glasses of tea which he had given to Risa and Nobuko.

"What happened, Nobu-chan?" Risa stated out of concern for her best friend.

Before Nobuko could respond to Risa's question she turned her attention to Otani and gave him a death glare. This caused Otani to get nervous into why Nobuko was acting this way towards him.

"Risa, I really can't explain what caused me and my darling to break up. Unless that little twat midget of a boyfriend of yours knows something that we don't know about." Nobuko responded with a very stern voice.

"Look I have not talked to Nakao in two months. I just found out about your break-up from Koizumi when I came back from university." Otani stated in a calm tone trying to not think of any scolding attempts between Risa and Nobuko.

Nobuko then understood that Otani was trying to be honest with not holding any crucial information about Nakao's actions prior to their break-up. Immediately, Otani had picked up the finished glasses of tea and placed them on the sink. While Otani was in the kitchen, Risa was pulling out something from underneath the sofa and wanted to show it to her friend.

"Risa, what is that?" Nobuko asked out of curiosity.

"Well it is a quilt I made at school a couple of weeks ago. I wanted it to be kept secret from Otani." Risa responded with honesty.

Otani made his way back into the living room and he had overheard the conversation all the way from the kitchen. Not realizing that Otani knew what she said, Risa with a nervous look on her face hid the quilt behind the sofa. Nobuko thought that it was a crazy idea for Risa to do such a thing and eventually made the look she had upon entering the apartment to a complete 180-degree turnaround.

"Koizumi, why are you trying to hide a quilt from me? I can see it all the way from here." Otani stated once he got to the living room.

"Umm… real funny. how did a quilt end up here behind the sofa?" Risa responded with complete nervousness in her face.

Observing what was going on Nobuko got upset that her best friend was flat out lying to her boyfriend who is standing just a few feet away. If there was one thing that Nobuko cannot deal with that is liars. Because it reminded Nobuko of a key reason why her and Nakao's relationship flattered despite that out of their group of friends it was the most powerful love relationship out all of them.

"Risa, stop trying to lie towards Otani. Dang it please tell him the truth." Nobuko said right as she was tempting to slap Risa in the face.

That is when Risa confessed to the truth about the quilt towards Otani and apologized to him for lying about it in the first place. However, it provided somewhat of a clue about the break-up between Nobuko and Nakao. This was unbeknownst to Otani and Risa who were tempted to investigate the origin of the break-up in the first place. The fact that a part of Nobuko's personality was something that Risa had overlooked until she had to confess the truth behind the quilt she made for Otani.

"Anyways, I got to head back home now. Thanks for letting me visit you guys." Nobuko stated as she was leaving Risa and Otani's apartment.

Risa waved goodbye to Nobuko while Otani was cleaning up the living room. In that moment, Risa had started to figure out possible ideas for investigation. This however gave Otani a very suspicious look since he was the one that told Risa it was a crazy idea to investigate on their friends' break-up right before Nobuko randomly showed for a visit.

"Why are you giving me that look, you midget?" Risa asked using the one term that Otani does not like the most.

"Because you are still going through with this crazy idea of yours. Will you please stop calling me a midget, Koizumi." Otani responded with a sigh underneath his breath.

With a big sigh underneath her breath, Risa proceeded to head to the bathroom so she can take her shower. Otani then glanced at a note that Risa wrote which she listed ideas about a possible reason why Nobuko and Nakao's relationship ended. This pondered Otani's mind until Risa got out of the shower to notice that Otani was still in the living and he read the note that she wrote.

"If this investigating thing is something that you want to do, Koizumi. Then I will be more certainly to help you out." Otani stated once he saw Risa standing there in the living room.

That surprised Risa hearing what Otani said just now and she felt a bit happy about him wanting to cooperate with her "investigation". However, it made sense since Nakao is Otani's best friend and wanted to be more curious about this ordeal even though that is very uncharacteristic for him doing such things anyways.