Chapter 63.7 - Ukiyoe Noir

I woke up to the smell of nicotine, and to my head feeling like a mess. Yet, I didn't feel like I was tired. This feeling was more like that of oversleeping. My plan to take a nap, then do a few hours of work, and go to sleep, obviously failed miserably.

It took a while, but I eventually forced myself out of the couch and spread my arms, legs and neck, filling the room with the small sounds of muscles cracking.

I then wobbled to the window. The sunlight did not pass through it, for it was closed with shutters. I put my hand on a string at the window and pulled it, releasing the shutters and letting the sunlight enter my messy office. I estimated that it was late noon, near 6 PM. Waking up at this time was late, but only for humans. For me, this is when working hours started.

After all, I was not a human for quite a while now. After certain fateful events two weeks ago, I became a creature of the night. No, I'm not talking vampires. It's more Japanese than that: I'm a youkai. In order to stop a great evil, I gave up my human soul and became Ao-Ju, the Blue Beast.

But I'm not the only youkai here. This place where I live now is also a youkai. Indeed, this entire building is a youkai from the Edo Era. I was one of the few people left in the world who still remembers the legends which spoke about spirits protecting the streets of Edo from this place, and my adoration made me want to turn this place into my home, because I too sought to be that kind of youkai. No surprise there I guess, as the human me used to be a policeman.

My face turned down and I noticed that I was still wearing my blue yukata and a mask over my face. It was strange, but I never felt this mask as such. It was more like a face than a fashion accessory, and I mean that in the most literal sense. That is, this is no cheesy phrase.

But I could also use my powers to make myself look human, thus putting a real mask onto myself. I could choose how I look, but I could not make myself look like my old self. Truly, my human past was now behind me.

Well, how I look does not matter that much. What was important was that I now had a mouth where I could stuff a cigarette, and that's what I was doing. I lit my cigarette and started filling the office with the smell of smoke.

I walked up to my table and looked over the last few cases. I helped uphold order in the shadows of Ukiyoe Town and its neighborhood, but I also worked as a detective, both for humans and the youkai. After all, everyone thinks that detectives are cool, and I was no exception.

There was a folder on atop the table, which had the large red letters "CLOSED" stamped over it. It was the case I solved yesterday, concerning a disappearance of some human's family member. Normally I would put it in a drawer, but I had to buy a new one as the current one was empty.

Underneath the folder was a piece of paper, written by me and for me. It had the red word "REJECTED" stamped over it. This case, sent by an e-mail from Lady X, was something I decided that I should not solve. I betrayed one set of my principles due to another set of principles. I folded the paper and put it in a drawer that was almost empty. After all, I did not reject many cases. Still, it annoyed me enough that I decided to put it in the safe that I had hidden behind an ukiyoe painting of an Edo Era's law enforcer.

With that done, I turned back to the table, which held another folder. This case was about a youkai smuggling ring, with the smuggled goods being human hearts, or Ikigimo as they called it. Investigation was done, now I'm waiting until they start moving, which will be in several days. I planned to ambush them and put an end to their lives. But that is not the case I can solve today, obviously.

Sighing, I sat onto my chair and looked at my computer, which stayed turned on due to my nap taking too long. I hoped to find some cases in my e-mails, when someone knocked on my door.

"Come in." I invited the person outside to enter.

The door opened and in walked a pretty young woman. She was dressed in an expensive, sleeveless, light blue dress that reached close to her ankles, wore white heels and had a long, white fur around her neck and her arms, below which, a snowflake necklace twinkled silver. Long teal and white hair fell over her shoulders and beyond, amber eyes shining with sharpness.

I recognized her. She was the daughter and heir of the local yakuza boss, who led the strongest youkai yakuza in Japan.

Indeed, there were yakuza ran by youkai in this world. If you live in Tokyo then, more likely than not, the spiritual troubles that may haunt you are their doings and your fear feeds them. They may stop if you pray to one of the Tochigami (Land Gods), but sadly it's not because the Tochigami keep them away. Instead, the Tochigami serve them and your prayers are nothing more than protection money. Feel betrayed? I know I did when I learned about it.

For me personally though though, the most important detail is that the man I call my Chief is this woman's younger brother.

"We meet again, Ao-Ju." This young woman, who goes by the name Nura Ritsura, spoke to me as she walked into my office. "You still remember me, I hope?"

"Your brother introduced us to one another." My eyes went over her. "Sorry for my intrusions, but is this how schoolgirls dress nowadays?"

"Of course not." She sat down, but chose the sofa rather than the stool in front of my desk. "I saw a fancy party and took a detour. Since it was for rich folks only, I had to choose a proper disguise. I also decided to not change back, because this is more like those Noir Detective movies. And since I was seeing a detective… well."

She spoke the truth, I had to agree with that. After all, this entire office has the Noir atmosphere around it. "I guess that answers my incoming questions on how well you are faring. I hope I'm not wrong?" Even though she was from a yakuza, I had to show her proper respect.

"I've been faring relatively well, thank you for asking." She said and looked around. "Quite a cozy place you have here. This entire building is an Edo Era youkai, as I have heard. But it doesn't look like it is from the Edo Era."

"It used to look like it was, when I moved in." I rose up from my stool and walked closer to her as I had a bad angle to look at her from my table. And that was impolite. "But as it's Fear grew, it looked more and more modern."

"It still has the ways to go then."

"It indeed does." I took out a cigar from my pocket and lightened it.

"Though I think it should stay like this. It has a nice atmosphere, just like in the movies." She put her hand behind her shawl and then I noticed a small, white bag there, through which she was browsing.

"I for one would prefer the goodies that modern stations have."

"Well, suit yourself." She took out a smoking pipe and put it in her mouth.

"Did you forget a lighter?" I was prepared to offer her my light.

"It would add to the atmosphere, but no need. I just like carrying it around." She then smiled and looked at me. "But should a law enforcer even ask that of a seventeen year old girl?"

"I don't believe that a youkai yakuza are even following such laws." My reply came with a sigh, though she was right as I completely forgot about her age. "So, why are you here?"

"Because I've a job for you, of course." She waved her pipe and gave me an intrigued smile.

"Oh really?" That was something I found hard to believe. "Why would a yakuza clan that has influence over the entirety of Tokyo need help of a freelance detective who just arrived here?"

"It's because you are a freelance detective, Mr. Ju. And I think we might need someone like that for this one."

I still found that hard to believe. "And what would that be, if I might ask?"

"Tell me, Mr. Ju, have you heard about a place called the Ukiyoe High School?"

"Yes, I sure did." I decided to play along with this child's pranks, and I hoped that her little games were just a prelude to something actually serious.

"Well, there are some very weird things going on there."

"Hoo?" I raised an eyebrow in interest, though I guessed that it was likely just one of those School Mysteries that are so popular amongst kids. "What's so weird going on at the Ukiyoe High?"

"There are some strange going-ons in my school, dear Mr. Ju." The girl explained as she looked at the ceiling, clearly reminiscing about something related to our topic of conversation. "The students are acting suspiciously, eyeing one another and sending strange signs with fingers and coded messages. I was intrigued by it at first, it looked like some fun game. But no matter how much I tried, they would not talk. What's more, after a while we realized that there are two different groups, which exchange insults and sometimes play high-caliber pranks on one another. Strange indeed, and the growing tensions make it look like it might become serious."

"Are you seriously thinking that it would be serious? Those kids probably saw a movie they felt was cool and started imitating it."

"They are high school students."

"That just makes it rarer. But it still happens, especially if they get very excited." I crossed the fingers on my hands and looked at the girl once more. "Now, give me something better otherwise I'll be very disappointed in you, young lady."

"Something better you say? What about dozens of students sneaking into school deep in the night and then disappearing? What about two incidents where the students came to school only to find that many a window were broken, halls and floors were dirtied by paint, and even some furniture was broken? Do you know how much this costs the school money, and how much prestige it costs it? If it continues, the students at our school may become branded as vandals. Imagine trying to find a job or get in the college with such a mark on your biography."

"Hm." I scratched my ear. "Indeed, that is serious and worth stopping. But still, why me? Your clan is capable of doing their investigations themselves, and I take it that they already did so." After all, I may be a policeman and an investigator, but these are numerous youkai that live in the shadows and who better to delve into the shadows then them?

"No, they didn't. I told them not to."

"What?" I asked while raising my eyebrow.

"Whenever I or Rihan asked, the students would become anxious. And before you ask: yes, they are this anxious only around us two, while they are a bit more relaxed with others. They avoid answering any questions in both cases though. This leads us to to one likely conclusion."

"That they are careful with the Nuras?"

"You're good, but I would not be here if you weren't." The girl said with a pretty smile. "If an enemy of our clan has infiltrated the school and seeks to cause trouble for us, they may be alerted if our clan gets too interested. But if some meddlesome detective, who is not affiliated with us, comes in then they may not raise their guard as high up."

"Hmmm…" I understood what she meant. But even so, I was hesitant. It was possible that this girl tried to play a prank on me, or that she was overreacting. Also, even if it were serious, do I really want to make enemies together with the Nuras?

"We'll pay you well." She must have guessed what I was thinking for she gave me a motive to act. "Also, this is your… chief's school, no? Do you really want to put his name at risk?"

And then I sighed. This was all the reason I had to start acting. I could only hope for the best.

~)(~

And here I was. Were I to see a middle-aged man, dressed in a long gray coat and an old-fashioned hat, sneaking into a high school in the middle of the night, I would smack them in the face and arrest them as a potential pervert. Funnily enough, I was infiltrating a high school in the middle of night, and I had the form of a middle-aged man. If someone attacked me and locked me somewhere, I guess would no have right to blame them. I was dressed as a civilian, with a policeman's badge in my pocket. Yet that made me feel even more guilty, for the badge was not an actual policeman's badge, but an item related to my Fear. In other words it was technically a fake. Another reason to lock me up for a several months, and put my name into the news feeds.

But a job was a job, and I already agreed to do this. I left my office to one of my few assistants, the one which was the most sentient, and left to investigate.

If only I could say that I was alone.

"Here we are, chief!" A white-haired girl of amber eyes stood beside me. Yes, this was Nura Ritsura, though she had changed her clothes. Now she was dressed as a policewoman, though the badges showed the symbol of the Nura Clan. And annoyingly enough, her skirt was way too short and endearing. It is what made me sure that this was a cosplay rather than a stolen uniform. "Let's ruffle out these baddies, beat 'em up and then go eat some of 'em waffles!" She said as she hit her left palm with a police baton. She also decided to replace her elegant tone with a street one.

"Why are you here, Ritsura-san?" In the safety of the shadows, I finally asked this girl who just re-appeared beside me as I was already trying to get in unnoticed. "Did you not say that you could not afford to be noticed by the students?" Her clothes frustrated me. Even though it was clearly not an official design, it still looked enough like a police uniform. And that made my inner policeman want to yell at her to dress properly if she wanted to do her job properly.

"Oh, that's exactly why I was here. I had to get rid of all potential suspicions. Ahem." She said and started making fake coughs.

"What do you mea-"

"You really are a stubborn detective!" She started complaining with a high tone. "I, Nura Ritsura, have told you five times that there's nothing going on here! Couldn't we go to do some other cases?"

"Huh?" I did not grasp what she was doing, but her angry hand gestures made it clear that she wanted me to play along. So I sighed and did so. "Well this is something that intrigues me, little girl. If you have problems, why don't you turn around and leave. That is exactly what I want you to do." I did not lie there.

"Well mister, I'm bored and you still owe me. So I'll tag along." She puffed her chest. "I can't wait to see the look on your face when you finally admit that you were wrong and there is nothing interesting here!" She said with her tone still loud. It made me even more anxious to just get into the school, far from potentially dangerous ears.

And so I did. With a hasted pace, I walked into the courtyard, keeping to the walls so I would lessen the likelihood of being noticed. The girl followed after me, her miniskirt jumping around. As such, I tried not to look at her.

I slowed my pace a little, and looked at the pillar that sat atop a fountain in the middle of the courtyard. The pillar was the heart of a youkai, named Koko no Kira. It was a horrifying youkai, that brought suffering and pain to whomever meant to harm the students of the school. It was born from anguish that followed after the horrifying Nakano Incident, the incident which makes my guts turn around. And I only read about it in newspapers.

But it did remind me of something that I had to ask the endearing Yuki-Onna behind me. "Tell… if there really was something worrisome going on, wouldn't this guy have taken care of them?"

"Only if the danger in question threatened the very lives of the students." The girl was quick to answer. "But if it threatened only their names, or if the threat was focused on my family then it would not react."

"Hm, I see." I gave it another glance and continued walking. There was another thing, concerning this youkai and this case, that was worth mentioning. Many Japanese schools had Urban Legends related to them, the so-called Seven School Mysteries. At least some of them per school were actually youkai haunting the place. But as I learned from Shiori-sama, Koko no Kira did not allow other youkai to haunt it, even if it did allow them to enter it. Any school mystery that started spreading between the students would become a tale that Koko no Kira would corrupt and then use against potential interlopers. It did not mean that the culprit here was not a youkai, but it did make it less likely. But then again, who knew what tricks the culprits were capable of?

This meant that it was unlikely that other youkai would haunt the school. But due to the source of this knowledge, I decided not to speak about it to the girl who was one of Shiori-sama's enemies.

~)(~

They say that every place is spooky when the night falls and there are no lights, and I can confirm that it rings true for schools as well. It was a very long time since I went to school, and feels even more so as my human memories get cloudier due to my youkai nature, but the school hallways still wake the memories of yelling and teenage melodramas in me. To see the same kind of hallways without those feels extremely unnatural. And I thought that I got used to the world of the unnatural.

Even the Yuki-Onna who walked beside me was relatively silent, even if her (unnecessary) heeled boots caused quite a sound on the hard floor. Actually, it is not silent at all, why am I telling myself that it is? What's actually disturbing are these empty dark hallways, and the sound of her boots made it feel like a monster was preying on me.

"Would you try taking softer steps?" I tried to silence her. "I don't want us to be heard too soon."

"That's too much of a bother, boss." Surprisingly, she actually rejected my request. "I'll just widen up my Fear to keep people from noticing me."

"Then why do I hear it?"

"I guess you're paying too much attention to me." She explained. "If you didn't, you would be thinking about how silent the whole place is."

"Ah, I see." Now that I think of it, I did think about how silent it was. So it must be working, at least on those who are not aware of her presence. This does make it convenient. "Speaking of which, you are a haunting youkai, right?"

"Well, not really…"

"Yes, or no? I protect humans and my senses are good for detecting Fears of a youkai and human cries for help, but not as much for humans. Since you're having blood of a Yuki-Onna and Yuki-Onna sometimes prey on humans, shouldn't you be able to detect… potential prey?"

She puffed her cheeks. "That is no way to talk to a young lady. I'll let you know that I'm also a Nurarihyon, and the only thing they haunt is owned food and interesting houses to break in." She then looked aside. "But I am able to find humans."

"Then please do so." It was good to have my suspicions confirmed. True, the culprit could also be a youkai, but Koko no Kira's Fear is overwhelming my senses and likely hers too.

It wasn't long until we have reached our first destination. The door that we were silently standing in front of meant nothing to a stranger that was me, but the girl's stares showed that it awoke something within her. No doubt, she knew where we were, an information that I hoped I would learn any moment now.

"This is the Home Economics classroom." With a bored voice, she gave me an answer that went far below my high expectations.

"Why would a human be in here? And at this time of hour?"

"There are a few of them." She noted. In a short silence that ensued, I dared to listen. And indeed, I could hear a few young human voices conversing inside the mysterious room. It did not take long for the girl to make a theory. "Maybe they are making a strange psychological poison and putting it into ingredients. The students would then eat it and become strange."

I nodded at this possibility. That such a vile act was being performed in this innocent school ate me from inside, and it was my duty to put a stop to it.

With my trusted thumb, I pointed at the door while looking at the girl disguised as a policewoman. She nodded and kicked the door open. "Cease what you're doing, you vile criminals!" She yelled, after which both of us rushed inside.

Yet none of us could even imagine the horror… the perversion… that awaited us inside.

Yet there we were, staring at it while it stared at us. Just this morning, this was no doubt a beautiful and well cleaned room that taught the younguns the responsibilities and beauty of home economics, but now it was a pure travesty. Flour was everywhere on the floor, whitening it's once colorful tiles while masses of broken eggs and occasional plates served as its perverted decorations. Yet all this was pretty and orderly compared to the tables… of good heavens, THE TABLES! Atrociously cut veggies, eggs and eggshells, fish guts, and numerous other carcasses that used to be called ingredients were strawn everywhere. My eyes did not even dare to look at certain plates, closing to further protect my sanity.

The five villains stood around the room, looking at us in shock and disbelief, their crimes uncovered. They were all teenagers, old as my partner here, yet I could feel little remorse for them. I tried, but when I did so the memories of the happy days with my son and my late wife, as we prepared our food together, flushed in. I clenched my fist as I tried to keep the memories, and tears, contained within me.

For I had a job to do. And so did the girl, who said the words that I should have said. "Alright guys, what the hell is going on in here?"

There were three girls, and two boys. The girls switched their glances from her to me, while the boys focused on Ritsura. And while the girls were worried about what was going on, the other side clearly had their minds, and eyes for the matter, on other things. I swear one of them even whistled.

Due to circumstances, it did not come to a surprise that it was one of the girls that answered her question. "Well… we're cooking."

"Trying to cook." Her friend corrected her with great justice.

"What are?" Ritsura tilted her head. "Are you a Club of Failed Cooks?" She put her hand on her hips and moved them to the other side. The boys raised their eyebrows in exciting anticipation that lasted for a mere moment, only to be replaced with sad looks of failure.

The girls on other hand looked at one another and then back at us. Then they nodded.

"Yes, indeed so!" A voice of another girl came from behind a table with a long tablecloth. My blood turned cold as Sadako herself rose up, her once black hair dyed red with blood.

Oh wait, that was just a red-haired human girl. Not that it made her less of a monster seeing as she was Sanmoto Shiori-sama herself, a dangerous woman ruling over hundreds of youkai that were just like Sadako.

And this made my blood turn cold. What was she doing here of all places? I knew that Ritsura was unaware of her true identity, but even so I could not but feel anxious.

Yet Sanmoto Shiori, or Ichinoe Araya as she called herself in this place, talked casually as a broken egg decorated the top of her head. "The people here, all of whom live at the dorm, are very much ashamed of their lacking cooking skills, so they sometimes come here at night to practice those skills." A powerful woman she may be, but her attempts at trying to keep it ambiguous if she was one of these people, even if she obviously was, proved that denial was strong in this one.

"So you're just a bunch of failed cooks?" The girl asked with intent of confirming what was already said.

"Well, I wouldn't call it failed cooks…" One of the boys finally spoke. "It's more like visionaries. You know, like we are meant for great things but-"

"I see." The girl said and quickly turned her back to the entire club. This time the boys tried lowering their heads a little, but their faces showed that it was of no help. "Then you're not what we're looking for."

"Sorry for rushing in like this." I looked at the floor as I apologized. I did not actually forgive them for all these atrocities, but more serious matters might be at work here. "Clean this place and go to your dorms. Don't dare leave it like that."

"Of course we will." Shiori-sama assured me and then looked at Ritsura. "By the way, Ritsu-chan."

"Yes?" The Yuki-Onna looked back at the red-haired girl.

"I'll have borrow that fine getup from you. I need it for… important stuff."

"Buy it yourself, Araya!" She put out her tongue. Somehow I had a feeling that she did not buy it either. She then turned her back to them again.

But Shiori-sama had more to say. "Another thing, Ritsu-chan!"

"Yes?" The Yuki-Onna looked back at her once again. She acted rough, but I felt like there was a surprising amount of closeness between these two girls.

"I want to use this opportunity to formally invite you to our club." She said and offered her hand, even though she was too far for the Yuki-Onna to accept it. "As a close friend of yours, I know that you belong here."

For some reason, this made the girl blush and run away.

"Jackpot!" One of the boys yelled and struck his palm, while the other grabbed his head. "I'm so joining that club!"

I did not have a lot of time to think about them, as i felt Shiori-sama's eyes on me. "Ah, somehow I did not notice you until now. What are you doing here?" She asked with a raised eyebrow while the other students turned towards the mess they made, as if there wasn't a suspicious old cop in the room.

Yet there was still a chance that the others would become more aware of my presence so I just answered Shiori-sama with a shrug and left the room with hopes that the answer would satisfy her.

I owed Nura Ritsura a (non-alcoholic) drink for remembering to keep me out of people's attention. The meeting a while ago might have been much more awkward if they actually paid attention to this strange, grown-up man who was sneaking through their school in the night.

Yet this was a clue of another kind: this girl is sharper than she sometimes lets herself look. If only I kept remembering to stay cautious of her, things later on may have developed differently…

~)(~

"Now that I think about it, we should have asked them if they knew anything." I noted as we followed the Yuki-Onna's senses to another human who should not be in the school.

"It would've been a waste of time." The Yuki-Onna gave me her opinion. "Me and Araya are good friends. If there was something going on, she would've told me about it. Heck, I even asked her about it once."

"Hm, I see." I knew that she was an acquaintance of the Chief's even before he learned about her true identity, so I had suspicions that even Ritsura-san knew her. But to learn that she considered Shiori-sama a close friend of hers… that was either surprising or unsettling. I wasn't sure myself, to be honest.

In any case, we were in front of another room. If the girl was to be believed, there was only one human here this time. And if the sign was to be believed, this was the library. "I take it that you will now say that someone might have discovered a dangerous grimoire and is now mind-controlling the students."

"Oh boss, in such a short time you've already come to understand me so well~" She said with an intrigued smile and then softly opened the doors to the library. "Gotta go in slow, can't disturb the silence in a library after all."

Having learned from the shock a moment ago, I took a deep breath before walking inside. After all, one does not know what else this strange school, which is for some reason filled with students even long after the classes are over, might have in store for me.

Fortunately, it really was just a library, and even the two students inside, a short-haired boy with glasses and a girl with black curly hair sitting in front of their respective books, seemed normal. The library itself also looked like it was a normal, modern library, and definitely not like something that preserved ancient texts on unimaginable powers.

In other words, this was just another waste of time, but since we were here we may as well ask a few questions. "Ahem!" I feigned a cough in order to grab the attention of the two students who did not even notice us two entering the library. "Just what are you two doing here at these hours?"

The two of them looked at us for a while, until the boy spoke. "Better question would be why is there a girl dressed in a police cosplay here, and why is there a suspicious middle-aged man in this place." The boy introduced us to a well-made argument.

While I was still thinking of a reply, the girl with the curvy hair spoke. "Oh oh! Look, the one cosplaying a cop is the Ice Princess." She informed her partner, whose brows raised as he looked at Ritsura. "You know that everything is strange around her. Better if we pretend that everything is normal."

"You're right." The boy told her and the two of them then turned towards us, this time with welcoming smiles. "How can we help the two of you?"

Basically, they did not even wait for our explanations. They just accepted me as a weirdo accompanying a regular weirdo. This is just great.

And while I was internally whining about my predicament, the clearly unaffected Ritsura-san went onto the matter of business. "Let's repeat the question then: just what're the two of you doing here at this hour? I know yeh two bookworms, but why don't yeh take the books to your rooms in the dorm and read 'em there?"

The two of them looked at one another, and then at their smartphones. "Oh, I had no idea that it was already this late." The boy noted. "The time sure flies when you read a good book."

"We better get back to our rooms then." The girl said and the two of them started opening their bags, clearly with intent to take some of the books back home.

I still had some questions for them, though. "Before you go, may we ask if you saw anything strange in the school lately, especially if you found yourself here at night just like you have now?" As I asked that question, the two of them looked at us. "Us two notwithstanding."

"Well, there is the Headmaster." The boy raised his finger. "I swear that I saw him a few nights ago, and he had only one eye!"

"Anything else?" Ritsura-san clearly did not want to continue on this specific topic.

"I'm certain that there is a student who that isn't!" This time, the female bookworm was the one to speak. "But everyone acts as if she is!"

"There is also the Supernatural Investigation Club." It was the male bookworm's turn once again. "Always something fishy going on with them."

"And the janitor! Oh, we can't forget the janitor! I'm certain that he took the newspapers from the library a while ago. They say that he's part of some secret clique, so why not check him out too?"

"Some recent transfer students are practicing some music every Tuesday and Thursday. Which means that they aren't here today."

"Speaking of music, I heard rumors that there is a family of musicians and singers, bent on ruling Japan from the shadows. Are even active in this town, they say."

"Though youkai might already be ruling Japan. This entire town is under control of a youkai mob. They even say that they infiltrated the school."

"They say that the Queen of Darkness is attending this school." The girl scratched her chin. "I wonder who that might be."

"It was not so recent, but a week or two ago… or three… some students were arguing very hard." The boy just finished packing his books while he was still telling us about the exact thing that we would be interested in. "You wouldn't believe the mess they left behind them."

"That!" Ritsura-san shouted before the other bookworm could present another of many strange things about this unusual school. "What can you tell us about it?"

"That's what you care about?" The female, who also just finished packing her things, puffed her cheeks in disappointment. "I don't really remember that well, but there were two groups of students fighting over something. They also seem to be members of some secret clubs, and sometimes I see them in the library exchanging books."

"Can you give me the names of those students?" Ritsura asked while softly hitting the palm of her hand with her small batton.

The girl, whose eyes were glued at the batton, went to answer but the boy stopped her by putting his hand on her shoulder. "And get us in trouble? No, we'll be staying out of this." He told us, while the girl nodded in approval. "But I know who they are, and they were in the library this afternoon. They seem to be planning something for tonight, based on what we overheard. So if you're looking for them, you may want to keep your eyes open and keep your ears at the ready."

"Alright. You may go home now." As a sign that I understood, I nodded and followed them with my eyes as they walked past us. The girl bowed a little, and we did the same in return. Honestly, I wanted to ask a few more questions, but being too assertive can be bad for business. "Nice kids, these two."

"They are, though I'm not sure if they are ignorant of their surroundings or perceptive." Ritsura-san noted, and I quickly decided that she was right. For a pair of students that were so engrossed by their books, they certainly seemed to to have heard a lot on what was going on. "As a matter of fact, boss, the Nura Clan is suspicious about one of their close acquaintances."

"Why so?" I looked at her, wondering why she was giving me that piece of information. Maybe it was not my place to fry in the businesses of the yakuza, but I could not abide a mystery. Besides, I grew a bit fond of these two kids, even though we just met.

"I don't know the details myself, and I fear that I can't afford to spread any information on why to outsiders either." She said and sticked out her tongue, as if telling me that she was just teasing me by raising my interest. "Be it as it may, they are a matter of future efforts. The clan has its hands full with other matters." And then she turned around. "So, what shall we do now? After all, some students are supposed to cause trouble."

"We can either wait until they come, or we can check on other leads just in case." I was not even sure why I was using the term 'we', seeing as I'm the sole detective here and she was just following me around. Maybe I was getting too used to her?

"What do you say that we take a detour first?" She seemed to be offering me another choice. "The school's Headmaster, who is conveniently a member of my clan, is watching some movies with some of his pals. What d'ya say that we ask him to give you an official approval to investigate this place, just so that other students don't start questioning your presence here?"

"Wait, we could do this? Why didn't you say that before?"

"I forgot!" She knocked on her head and continued walking while whistling.

I really couldn't understand what she was thinking. At least not at the time…

~)(~

Ritsura-san warned me that the headmaster, who was a bearded and plump one-eyed youkai called Hitotsume Nyoudo, would be watching some movies with his friends. And I already knew that the Nura clan was (in)famous for their merry spirit.

So I should not have been surprised when I found the headmaster and his friends not only watching a movie, but also shouting out of their lungs and making the whole classroom, which they have occupied, messy. I weep for whoever would need to clean this mess before the students arrived at the school.

What were they doing? Well, they were watching cowboy movies and yelling whenever it got exciting. Furthermore, they were all dressed as cowboys, supposedly to get into the mood.

But most of all, I was shocked that this headmaster treated his position, which was so important and requiring in responsibility, with so much leniency. As a matter of fact, this was abuse of his authority and power as a headmaster. If Nura Ritsura-san had not gone somewhere, I would have asked her if the rest of the clan was like this, and I would not have hidden my disappointment.

And worst of all, they forced me to sit down with them and watch the movies while they were yelling and weaving their arms around. If it were not for the fact that I actually needed the headmaster's approval to do my investigation here, I would have already left. So I had to keep them company, at least until Ritsura-san returned. Then I could ask her to order this one-eyed cowboy to write it and then I could leave this lair of corruption and debauchery behind.

"Aw man, it is a romantic scene again!" The youkai sounded displeased. "Why must they always ruin a good movie?"

"Ah well, at least we've our guest to keep us entertained." Hitotsume Nyoudo said with a wide smile and put his arm around me. "So I hear ye also use guns pal. Heck, I even hear that they are part of his very Fear!" Honestly, I wish he could have spoken without puffing the smoke right into my face. What smelly tobacco was he even using? "Care to show it to us, eh?"

"With all due respect, I'd rather not." I kind of felt like a kid around some assertive adults. But taking into consideration that this guy, and no doubt a few more of them in this room, were a few centuries older than me I was not exactly wrong for feeling that way. "They are not toys, and it would get pretty messy if they accidentally fired."

"Oh, is that so?" Hitotsume struck my shoulder a few times, but then returned to holding me down. "But ye can at least talk about yer guns, eh? Like, what you can do with 'em?"

"There are only two kinds of people that I show my abilities to: the ones who guard my back, and the ones whom I'm aiming at."

"Wheew! Well, aren't we stubborn?" Hitotsume finally let go of me. "Buy ye must have something to talk about, right? Maybe about yer old enemies?"

They were being pushy, I know that. But I also had a feeling that something more was going on. Maybe I was overthinking it, but just to be on the safe side I had decided to rise up. "With all due respect, my time is precious. Can I trust that you'll send someone to bring the written approval to me?"

He looked at me for a while, with annoyance written over his eye. "I'll write it now. Hey, someone bring me some paper!" He yelled, and the youkai around started arguing. Finally, one decided to rise up and slowly walk to a pile of papers, and then walked back to Hitotsume. I must have been more annoyed than I expected, as I was frustrated by how long it all took.

Though Hitotsume was even more annoying. "Let us see, what should I write… uhm, dear whomever it may concern… no…" After a few whole minutes, he finally wrote a basic explanation, signed it and gave me the paper filled with words painted over. "Ojou-sama is still not here though. Will you-"

"No, she can find me if she so desires." I said while putting the written approval into my jacket's front pocket. "Enjoy our time, gentlemen."

And with those words, I left the classroom. But my thoughts that Ritsura-san would have to find me dispersed when I heard her talk from a neighboring classroom. I instinctively went there to tell her that we are going to investigate some of the other leads. It took me a few moments to realize that telling her to come with me is unnecessary, but by that time I had already got too close to the classroom, close enough to hear what she was saying inside. And I could not hold back from eavesdropping.

"Yes yes, you do that." She mumbled, and then I could hear her walking towards the exit. "You don't need to call me though, unless something occurs. Don't worry, I'll learn about it another way." By now, she was already at the doors, and I leaned against the wall. "Yes, hear ya later."

She then opened the door and came out. And once again, she had a wardrobe change. Yet, it was not a change into something normal. This time, she had a white desperado hat on he head and a blue bandana under her head. She was also wearing a blue and white checkered shirt , and a brown leather vest over it. The skirt and black boots were also gone, replaced by tight brown pants and cowboying brown boots. In other words, she must have gotten a set of cowboy (well, cowgirl to be precise) clothes from those guys and changed into them. And of course, she added a star with a Nura clan insignia onto the vest.

"Oh, yer are already here, sheriff? Eavesdropping on a poor farmgirl, are ya?" She puffed and put her hands on her hips. "I know I'm a cute deputy, but as a sheriff ye need appearances to keep, ye know that right?"

"...please stop trying to have an American accent." I had to give my best not to let it be clear that her impression was both horrible and humiliating. "Let's go, I already spent too much time in there."

"Ah, sorry about that." She said while following after me, and thankfully she had dropped the fake accent. "I guess I should have changed quicker and not have spent so much time talking on the phone. By the way… how much did you overhear?"

"I just arrived so I only heard the farewells. Now, let us visit the place where these transfer students would practice music." Annoyed at everything that was going on, I took a cigar and lightened it. "Lead the way."

~)(~

It did not take long for us to reach the gym. It was empty, and there was nothing strange inside. Still, this is not a day when the suspicious students would practice, so that is just as expected.

"Just so you know, no instruments are missing from the clubs. They are guarded like treasure. I know, I tried to borrow one once, even if it isn't fit for a sheriff's deputy." The girl spoke while walking around the gym. "And they also won't be amongst the supplies. The school's staff checks up on them regularly."

"Thank you, but I expected as much. Otherwise, the school would have cracked up on these kids." I took out my cigar, released a smoke into the air and started walking, all while hitting the floor with my shoes.

"What are you doing?" The girl asked me, but started imitating me. "Hear the sound that out footsteps emit? It's clear that the wooden boards are not put on the ground, but above it."

"Oh, I see! So the instruments might be hidden below!" She started hitting the ground more enthusiastically. Due to the fact that she kept her hands on her hips, she looked like she was an average cowgirl model. "But when do we know we found something?"

"When the sound is different or, more likely, when a floorboard moves. Slow down with your strikes, and pay attention at the boards as you do."

"I see, I see… you sure have experience with this, sheriff. Your deputy is proud!"

"It's something from my old life. A lot of people hide their things below the floor." Visions of my old life tried to peer into my head, but they were so blurry. It made me slightly depressed, as it proved that my humanity was gradually fading. But I knew that would happen, even before I became a youkai. Not that I'm angry about it. I feared that I would immediately lose everything, so I'm grateful for being able to keep these precious memories for a while longer.

And then one of the floorboards moved. "Found it."

"Found it!" Unexpectedly, but maybe not surprisingly, the girl shouted the same words, even though she was halfway to the other end of the gym. We looked at one another, nodded, and then removed our respective floorboards.

"Thre!" The girl shouted. "I found it!"

"I see." I said and followed it with a sigh. I guess that a part of me was competing in a contest of luck, on who will find the prize and who will find useless loot.

"What did you find, Sheriff?" My self-proclaimed deputy asked.

"Nothing, just some jewels." I said and moved to the girl. "What did you find?"

"Everything!" She pushed her hand into the hole and took out a long microphone. "Two mics, an electric guitar, a bass, a trumpet and some other stuff." She returned the mike down and took out a book. "Several books too. 'Music for Dummies', 'Songs of a Warrior's Soul', 'Winter Mountain Songs - Second Modern Edition',and 'Guitars for Weasels'."

And then I sighed.

"What is wrong, sheriff?" She looked at me blinking.

"These students have nothing to do with the musicians trying to rule the world."

"Oh, I see! Those musicians would not need these amateurish books!" She said while looking at the book in her hand. And then put the book back down. "So it was a waste of time!"

"Indeed so. Return the board back." I turned back to my loot, and walked to it. I knelled back down, originally with an intent to close this loot.

But then I decided to check up on these items that I found. When I first looked down, I saw a few jeweled and golden necklaces. I thought that, at worst, they were stolen items. But now that I took a better look, this was not exactly jewelry.

No, these were something else. "This are occultist items." I said when the girl reached the place. "But they feel a bit… alien."

"Indeed." The girl kneeled down. "These things are not Buddhist or Shintoist. I saw a fair share of onmyouji items, and I'm pretty sure this isn't it either." She spoke as I browsed through. Most items were hand-made amulets, some carved out of wood, others from different materials. I took one made out of white was tied with a small brown rope, and had a black pentagram drawn on it. "The Onmyouji often use pentagrams but… I somehow don't feel like this is the same."

"Yet, it still feels familiar." I took an armband into my hand. It was made out of silver. Professional craft that part, but the ruby put onto it was a different thing. It looked like someone clumsily added it there. It was probably this person's first handiwork.

"Ah, I think I see it now! I often saw similar things on TV when I was a kid… in some foreign teenage shows about witches." She said as she took into her hands what looked like a small green notebook with hard covers. "This is western occult… witchcraft maybe?" She then looked over the notebook. There were some words in Latin words on the cover, but they were not in English language. She also could not open it, as there was a golden lock on it.

"Normally I'd be worried about it, but these things seem to have been here for a long while." I said as I checked on dust. "Whoever it was, they must have graduated by now."

"I see. But even so, should ome be worried about mere toys?" She said and put the book back down-

"Have your senses for Fear dulled, girl?" I said as I put the items back where I found them. "These things are real deal." But even so, I did not intend to take them out. Maybe some other time, when I have a box or something to put them in. "But this is a mystery for another time. Let's leave this place." I said and put the board back where it was, and then I rose up. I looked over the gym some more, wondering if more things have been hidden here. But that too was a mystery for another time. I already found the answer I was looking for.

"So what next, Sher-" The girl started, but then my phone rang.

Wondering what it was now, I sighed and answered it. "Hello?"

"Chief, I think we may have some trouble around here." The youkai who was in charge of keeping my office safe replied.

"What is going on?"

"There were some strange fellows gathering in a street nearby. They looked like youkai, and groups of youkai often mean trouble. So I went, eavesdropped a little and it seems like they intend to rob someone. Should we take them down? Or will you come?"

The idea to leave this case behind felt attractive, but I did not feel like giving up now that I have come this far. At least not for some mere troublemaking. "Gather everyone you can, and lurk from the shadows. The moment they do something bad, jump in, resolve any trouble and take them into the cells."

"Roger that!" The voice answered and ended the call. It was clear that they were in hurry, and a bit nervous. They were still weak so I started second-guessing my decision, but I could not babysit them forever. They do grow stronger as my Fear grows, but they still need to gather some experience and Fear of their own. No, this was the correct decision.

"Has something happened?" The girl asked me with a tilt of her head, which led to her having to catch her hat before it fell down.

"Nothing." I said as I put the phone back into my pocket. "Let us go back to the library."

~)(~

"Sorry if your deputy sounds stupid, but why're we here again?"

"I'm continuing my last investigation." I said while throwing up and down a necklace that I found below the ground.

"Sheriff… did you steal that?" The girl looked at me with narrowed eyes.

"I am merely confiscating it." I said and looked down at it. I wanted to memorize the way it's Fear felt before I started looking for something similar to it. I took a deep breath and looked around. "I can't believe I'm so lucky." I said and started walking.

"Huh? What?" The girl behind me was utterly confused. "What is going on?"

"I wanted to check if there was something with similar smell somewhere in this library." I said and walked to a bookshelf that was located somewhere in the farthest corner of the library. "The chances were low, but my intuition proved to be correct." The bookshelf was tall until it barely touched the ceiling, and very long. But all of them were like it.

"Why did you even think that something would be here?"

"It was a mere hunch." I said with a shrug. "If I had to find a reason, it would be because this was all done by an amateur and they had to learn their stuff from somewhere. And since the school was judged as the best place to keep their trinkets…"

"They may have used more hiding spaces." The girl said and started browsing through the books. "So? Which one of these books is the culprit?"

"None. The sensation comes from behind it." I said and the girl looked at me. So I decided to make it stranger. "Three meters behind it."

"Eh? That makes no sense. There should be a wall behind it."

"Should." I pointed at the keyword and looked over the trinket that I brought with me. It was made out of porcelain, just like another one I held back in the gym. But the porcelain of this one was yellowish, the rope was black and the pentagram was red. "You know, of all trinkets, this style was most common. And amongst them, this one was the strongest."

"So…?"

"I have more intuitions." I said and looked around. My eyes fell on the floor, or more precisely on the old red carpet, which was under half of the library. It felt like it was made out of high quality materials, and the patterns on it were indescribable but beautiful. "Why is there a carpet here?"

"I don't know.. Wait, I do! I heard once that it was a treasured gift to the school. It's very valuable, and all students take extreme care to not dirty it."

"I see." I also noticed that it ended just in front of this rows of bookcases. So I knelled down, grabbed it and pulled it away. "Well would you look at that. What do you think this means, dear Watson?"

"Another point for your intuition, holmes." She said and looked at it. "It looks like… this bookcase had moved." She correctly concluded as she looked at the marks on the wooden floor.

"And what else do you conclude?" I asked, to which she replied with confused blinking. "It nullifies one of our earlier conclusions."

"Ah!" Her eyes widened and then she quickly put her fingers on the markings. "Some of these are… fresh."

"Indeed so. Our witch may still be here." I had to admit, I was getting pretty excited over all this.

"So? What do we do now? Do we move the bookshelf?"

"Don't be ridiculous. This is heavy, and all books would fall down."

"Then do we move the books away?"

"Do you think our witch would do that?" i said and the girl got another moment of epiphany.

"Does she use a spell?"

"Maybe, but my intuition wants to challenge destiny once again." I looked at the trinket one more time and then over the cupboard. "If I wanted to make it that way, then would I put it behind the books?" I talked to myself, while the girl scratched her head in confusion. "That would be a good hiding place, but if you want to close the door behind you… no, there are only two places where it could work, and one of them should be…" I walked to the window and then looked at the side of the bookshelf. "Here!"

"Another point for your intuition. But what did you find?"

"A lock." I said and touched it with the trinket. I could feel it getting warmed, shaking a little, and then the bookcase started moving towards me.

"Woah!" Ritsura-san was surprised, and I moved back to her position. We looked as the bookshelf moved forward, and then to our then we were standing in front of secret part of the library, filled with some ancient books. There was also a table at the other end of the wall, with a large tome sitting atop of it.

"You've to be kidding! Why would something like this be at our school? It makes no sense!" The girl became delirious. "A bookcase that moves after you touch it with a western occultist trinket! How… what… this makes no sense!" She then calmed down and looked at the place that I put the trinket on. It was a simple symbol with a circle and a pentagram inside of it, carved into the wood. "So that is the lock… and the trinket is the key?"

"Yes… if I had to guess, the other trinkets were this witch's earlier works. The witch either tried to make the spell that makes the cupboard move, or they wanted to make a key to make it move." I looked at the key again. "I believe there are two locks. This one is used to enter the room and close it. Another is probably on the backside of the shelf, used to open it from inside." I then looked over the library again. "The moved bookcase blends with the one behind it, while the position here and positions of other shelves keeps most eyes from seeing this. And the speed at which it moves allows it all to be done quickly and cleanly."

"I see… But who might it be? I mean, this trinket wasn't touched for years, while the bookcase moved fairly recently…" she thought with a finger under her chin. But she did not need to make me explain. "Someone else made their own key."

"Indeed… I believe there was one or two, maybe even more, witches here. And now there is another one." I crossed my arms and thought about it thoroughly. "If the witch is even the correct term."

"Who cares?" Ritsura-san shrugged and took a step forward. "Let us investigate this place."

"NO!"

A scream stopped us both from moving. A strong and malevolent Fear engulfed the area around us.

"Do not get close!"

A voice that sound like it came from a crying girl warned us. Was this the book? No, this Fear had a different smell.

"Those who don't know what they are doing shall curse the entire school!"

A voice of an angry boy told us. All the voices sounded frightened.

"Let the slumbering demon lie. Wake it, and the students will be in mortal danger when they come to the school!"

A voice of a scared boy said. I now knew this was. It was Koko no Kira itself.

"You have to be kidding me!" Ritsura-san argued with the voices. "If this is so dangerous-"

"You don't know what you are doing!"

"Your ignorance will cost everyone lives!"

"Return when you are ready. Otherwise, we shall strike you down!"

And then the voices and the aura dissipated.

"What the hell…" Ritsura-san was clearly annoyed. But I knew what I had to do? "Hey, what are you doing?"

"Closing the doors, obviously." I said after touching the lock with the trinket. "If Koko no Kira says that this is dangerous, I trust it. After all, it is a youkai born from a fanatical desire to protect lives. It even bothered to speak." I said all that, but she was still not convinced.

"This is a youkai born from Urban Tales, likely a member of the Hyaku Monogatari. Who is to say that it isn't protecting its master?"

I'm created by the very same person, dear girl. But I better not tell her that. "Even if it did, think about it? Do you really want to touch something that dangerous without knowing what is going on?"

She looked at me and at the bookcase a few times, and then sighed. "You're right. I'll leave it alone for now, but I will return eventually." And then she walked past me. "In any case, I've lost interest in our last mystery, and grew an interest in this new mystery. Do you mind if I leave you now?"

"Not at all, girl." And finally, I was free of her.

Or so I thought at the time.

~)(~

The prophesied troubles have not yet begun, so I turned to another mystery. One which had been haunting me for quite a while ever since I started checking up this school.

But this investigation was of different nature. I was still in the library, sitting on a stool and checking up information on my smartphone. Modern technology sure is convenient, especially when you need to check up on things.

So it did not take me too long to find out why there are so many strange kids in this school, and even why it is so large that it needs a dorm.

The school, or more precisely the Ukiyoe Town, seems to be popular on the Internet amongst the enthusiasts of youkai and other supernatural phenomenons. This meant that kids with strange interests liked moving here, while others were kids of people who moved here to live amongst the strange happenings.

Basically, is was the Nura Clan's fault. Figures.

But it still did not explain the hidden room in the library. Are there other such places here?

That required another extensive search. This time I did not check social media and messageboards, but different source,s ones dealing with history of the town. I got my answer, and some more. I even might have found our very first witch.

"Still nothing, eh?" I looked through the window. I started doubting what those two bookworms told me, but I decided to stay here for a while longer. "Maybe I should check up on the janitor?"

~)(~

"A detective investigating some strange happening in a high school?" The young janitor started commenting as he returned the headmaster's written approval to me. "You're quite desperate for jobs, my good man."

"Well, I have my reasons." I wish I could argue with this, but I really could not. Looking at it from a different angle, this scenario does look ridiculous. Maybe I should look back at my life and my choices.

But for now I am here and I may as well continue. The young bookworms said that the janitor himself is suspicious, but I am not so sure. I was here for another reason.

"Do you often stay here late in the night?" I asked as I sat on the other side of the table from him. We were in a small room in the school that belonged to him, and his tools of trade were scattered everywhere around the room. Even so, it was neat around the table and I could not find traces of him ever putting his tools onto it.

"Yes, but that's because I have my own room at the dorm. Saves me from having to travel to work, you see." The janitor said and grabbed a chocolate cookie from a bowl on the table. "Why do you ask? Am I… a suspect?" He grinned at the idea.

Good thing that Ritsura-san was not here as she may have said that he was. And then I might have died from embarrassment. "No, you are clear obviously. I just wanted to ask if you know about any strange happenings in this school?"

"Now that's a bad question, ser. This entire school is famous amongst weirdos. We even built them a dorm."

"Yes, I learned about that recently. But what about recent weeks?"

"Let us not jump around the bush, mister detective." The janitor leaned forward. "What precisely interests you?"

"I want to learn more about the event that happened weeks ago, when the school was dirtied with paint and-"

"You want to learn more about that one?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Do you know anything about it?"

"Go home, Mr. Detective. Just… go home."

"Why? Is something going on?" This started to sound like it wa more serious than I anticipated. ;Maybe the witch was related to this? No, I better not jump at conclusions.

"Please don't look at me with such eyes." The janitor put his hands together and rested his head on them. "There are some things… you don't want to know. Just go home, you will be happier that way."

I opened my mouth to speak, when my eye saw something through the window. A group of kids was coming.

It was time I finally solved this mystery. "Well, thank you for your warning, good man. I better get going."

"You want to go home. Trust me."

~)(~

Two groups of students met on another in front of the school. Standing atop the ground that had various drawings done by colorful chalks on them, the students held plastic guns in their hands. Water guns to be precise.

One group of students was dressed in black and yellow, and was composed of four girls and two boys. The other one was composed of three boys and three girls, dressed in white and teal. The clothes looked cheap, and I had this feeling that they would throw them into a trashcan once it was all over and done.

You could smell the tension in the cold, night air. These boys and girls were waiting for this eagerly, and they were ready to draw blood of their enemies… or to smear their enemies with painted water.

The leaders of both groups, a girl in the black-clad group and a boy in the white-clad group, exchanged some words and then both groups pointed their weapons at one another.

That was when I made my entrance. "What do you think you're doing, kids?"

The tension between kids moved to between me and the kids. They looked at me with confusion at first, and then pointed their weapons at this creepy middle-aged man in a long, gray coat, with a brown hat on the head.

"Who're you?" The boy who lead the white group asked, his weapon still pointed at me.

"I'm a detective." I said and took out my policeman badge. It was not a legal badge of the local police force, but the kids would probably not notice that. "I was hired by… concerned parties to investigate the recent vandalism in the school, and take care that it doesn't happen again."

The kids looked at one another, and then lowered their plastic weapons.

"Uhm, that won't happen again, mister." The girl that led the black group said. "We are not using paintball anymore, just water guns with some paint. Easy to wash."

"And this concrete had recently been used by the art club for one of their activities." A boy from the black girl explained. "It's supposed to be washed tomorrow morning, so we can't ruin anything really."

"And even back then…" A girl from the white group joined in. "It wasn't our fault… exactly."

"What do you mean it wasn't your fault?"

The same girl answered my inquiry. "I don't really understand… but that boy, Ryuzan… they say he is an Onmyouji, and he said that some youkai was controlling us."

"Yeah! It was supposed to be a competition in volleyball, but something just… clouded our minds." The girl that was the leader of the black group explained. "But the Onmyouji says the troublemaking youkai is gone now, so we won't do such stupid things again. Honest!"

"Alright… I can actually see that." What they said was true, and I had seen the signs of their preparations everywhere. This really was just a bunch of children keen on having some fun. "But what are you kids competing about anyway?"

"Well, we are…" They gave me the answer.

"Wait, what?" I could not believe what I just heard.

"As she said, we are…"

"I… can you repeat it again. Just this one more time?" At this point, I fully understood why the janitor gave that warning. It was not because it was dangerous but because…

"We, the lack group, are the Nura Rihan fanclub. The white group are members of the Nura Ritsura fanclub."

The wind blew over me, making my coat waver. The old breeze then came, gently touching my face, cooling down the veins that were trying to pop on my head.

I truly hate this school.

"You… you guys are fans of your fellow students?"

"Fellow students?!" One of the black girls sounded offended. "Nura Rihan-sama is not just a student, but the coolest guy in the entire town!"

"And hottest too!" The leader of the black group joined her.

"It's my dream to be just like him!" One of the boys from the black group added. "He's the very epitome of cool and fearless!"

"But Ritsura-sama is better!" The boy that led the white group spoke up. "A girl she may be, but she is so dependable and strong. I once saw her beat up two buffed delinquents! Man, that was something!"

"And she's beautiful!" Another boy from the white group spoke. "Elegant but cute too! And such a tease!"

"Yeah, not like that stuck up guy!" One of the white girls raised her gun into the air.

"Oh yeah?" A girl from the black group was outraged, and the entire group raised their weapons. "Well at least Rihan-sama doesn't fool around like a child."

Why am I even here? I am too old for this. "I'll let you continue in a moment, kids." I said with my hand raised. "Before you start with… whatever you think you are doing… you should tell the Headmaster that you are going to play around. He is at the school and-"

"Huh? But he already knows about this." The leader of the white group said something that took me by surprise.

"Are… you sure about this?"

"Yes." They nodded. "He was very forthcoming after all that we did last time, so we felt like it was our responsibility to tell him about it personally."

"Last time… he knew what happened last time?"

"Yes." A white-clad girl confirmed it. "It was Ritsura-sama and Ryuzan-kun who saved us. And they vouched for us."

"Huh… then why…" After a moment of confusion, I finally realized it. "That… that little vixen!"

I did not care about my appearances anymore. I turned around and started running as fast as I could. I ran through the gates of the campus, and then turned around. There were no humans near me, so I relinquished my human disguise as soon as I reached a part of the street where there was no light. And then I started moving even faster.

It took me only a small few moments to solve the real mystery. Yet, that just made me more frustrated, for it took so long for me to realize what the real mystery even was. I shall never get over this feeling of defeat.

The moment my station appeared in my field of vision, I materialized my burning gun and took a leap.

I broke through the window, and my eyes immediately turned towards the safe. I saw it open, but the folders were still inside with a hand having just raised itself from it. With no hesitation, I aimed my gun and shot at it, blowing up the walled safe and burning everything in it into smithereens.

I looked at the scene for a while. The wall was charred and broken, my precious safe utterly destroyed. Yet, I felt satisfaction and relief as I gazed upon the flames in it. I seem to have made it in time after all.

After a short while, I turned my attention towards the person who tried to rob the safe… at the girl who concocted such a plan just to rob the safe.

"Tz. Just a few seconds more… and I'd have gotten it all." Nura Ritsura clicked her tongue and sat onto the table, with a face of annoyance. She had changed her clothes again, and now wore a pink blouse and a pink miniskirt, together with purple heels.

"What's with that apparel?"

"Do you like it?" She said with her arms outstretched. "This time, there is even a point to my cosplay: should someone come, they'd think I was your secretary and I could interrogate them." She then put a finger on her now slightly pink lips and winked, though the annoyance was still sitting in her eyes. "Not to mention that I could continue exploring the office even while they were standing right behind me. A much better course of action than hiding, wouldn't you agree?"

"So even that was a part of your plan? You sure thought through everything, hadn't you?" I put my gun down and crossed my arms, while still retaining my youkai form. "First, you get me out of the office and follow after me, all while making it look like you were fooling around."

"I can't believe that you didn't suspect me immediately." She said while softly flicking her hair. "I guess I'm just too good at making people think that I'm just a very playful girl."

"A little snake is what you are. Not only you, but even the Headmaster was knowing what was going on. But I want to know… did you know that the students would play around tonight, or did you make them do so?"

"After what happened last time, they would hardly act out of their own. Using a few indirect means, I gave them a little push."

"Were those trinkets and that bookcase also your doing?"

"No, that caught me by surprise. For a short while, I even forgot about my real mission."

"In any case, your next step was to clear my station, or at least reduce the number of youkai in it. To do that, you sent your followers to attract attention, and follow after them. Then you waited until they called me, which you took as a sign that it was time to leave me and raid my office. Am I on the right trail?"

"Indeed so." She confirmed my theories.

"But why bring me to school? Why not take me with the others?"

"If you were there, youkai may have died. I wanted to minimize the victims, so I took you somewhere I knew you wouldn't kill anyone. After all, I know you're a strong enemy."

"I see… And what if you failed to bring others out, or what if I solved your case prematurely?"

"Then I'd try next time." She leaned forward a little. "And by hanging around you, I take it that I would win some of your trust." And then she pulled back and straightened her body. "In any case, congratulations. You solved the mystery."

"There is nothing to congratulate me for." I felt angry, but not at her. "I should have immediately suspected that you were Lady X." It was the folder containing the case I was given by someone via email, a person that called herself Lady X, that were in the safe. And that this girl wanted to get those files. If she got her hands on it… it could have led to a disaster.

"Right, you should have. You know, part of me thought that you would see through my plans the moment I entered your office. After all, this is a matter concerning the Nura Clan."

"I suspected that it was someone from your clan, but not you. I even thought your mother to be the more likely person." I sighed at my own naivety. "That a young girl like you was dealing with such important issues… it did not cross my mind."

"As I heard, you were human until recently. So it makes sense that you would underestimate me." She tilted her head to her right. "And even though you call my even younger brother your master… you should know that any youkai over the age of thirteen is a threat."

"I know that now. So, what happens next?"

"Tell me Ao-Ju… why did you reject my case?" She asked with a frown, once again showing her annoyance. "Isn't this a bad work ethic?"

"It is, but sometimes one has to break their work ethics. And if you think that I'd answer your question… you are horribly wrong."

"I see. Well, then we have nothing more to talk about." She said and jumped from the table.

"I hope we don't have to be enemies again." I said words that I felt would not come true. "And that you won't try to fool me again."

"Oh Ao-Ju… I'm a yakuza and you're a cop." She waved her hand as she left the office. "We yakuza exist to play games of deception with the cops." And so she left, closing the doors behind her.

I walked to my seat at the table and threw myself onto it. I felt relieved when I blew up the safe, but now I'm not so sure. What if she was returning the folder, and I just thought that she was going to pick it up? There are several notes, documents and photos in it, and it would be bad if she read any of those documents or notes, or if she saw even one photo. And now that it is all gone, I can't even check i she took something out of the folder and had me fooled that I destroyed all the case files.

I should have destroyed the folder as soon as I solved the case. That way, I would never have had to worry like this. Shiori-sama even suggested doing so. But in truth, I kept it because I was still considering giving it to Rihan-sama, even if Shiori-sama asked me not to.

I should call them and tell them about this. If Nura Ritsura saw just one of those…

But as my hand touched the phone, I could feel a fragrance of a woman's perfume. Did Nura Ritsura return? No, she had a different perfume on her.

I slowly raised my head to look at the intruder. What I saw was a person in blue jeans and a white blouse. She was a young- black-haired woman in her twenties. Yet the look in her eyes… it was like the gaze of an evil demon. They were so… filled with contempt.

"Who are you?" I asked her, just to buy time for me to consider my options. I could feel that she was no youkai, but even so my entire body felt tense.

"I'm Sanmoto Otone." She said without moving and with her hands behind her back. "And I'd appreciate it if you allowed things to continue moving as they already are."

"I can't do that."

"I came here to order, not to ask."

I took out my weapons, ready to shoot her. Human or not, I could let her be.

But then her lips parted and…

~)(~

Damn it… had Ao-Ju arrived only a half a minute later, I would have gotten my hand on the folder. But I didn't… it took em so long to find that hidden safe, and as much time to break into it. And when I did, I held the folder in my hands… only to return it inside when a photo fell down. It was facing downward, and the wind took it all the way to the other end of the office.

Then I'd felt Ao-Ju's Fear quickly moving towards me. I had no time to grab the folder… but I had barely enough time to fold the photo into a paper plane and throw it through the window. I did try to grab the folder from the safe, but then Ao-Ju just had to blow it all up.

Now here I was, in front of his office… searching for the photo, and hoping that Ao-Ju does not see me. If he did, he would realize what was going on.

But I found it in time, right there in some bushes. I took it and ran away through a few streets. Then I checked it… and I got my prize.

A prize I wish did not exist.

~)(~

I was still in my office, smoking a cigar.

I looked back at this crazy day, on all that occurred. That case and its silly ending… figures that nothing would come out of it. That spoiled girl should have found someone else to fool around with.

My eyes then fell on my safe… or what was left of it. A little bird sang at my window, and my hands instinctively moved to destroy these files. I sure am getting paranoid.

Well, at least nothing dangerous occurred. Everything is right.

So why do I feel like something is terribly wrong?

I-I-I-I-I

Author Notes

- This omake was commissioned by Citsimsan, and came out of a certain joke we had over PMs as a result of discussing the strange clubs of Ukiyoe High, including certain fanclubs. And somehow it grew to be more than just a joke in the final few scenes

- Since the main character of this omake is a policeman doing some detective work, I decided to give it a Noir atmosphere by imitating some Noir works I saw in other media. So we have a monologue, a dirty detective office and a pretty but shady lady coming in and giving the detective a new job. And what all things does one learn about a character when one delves into their very thoughts… ouch!

- I can't really remember: did Rikuo ever smoke that pipe of his or did he just carry it around for fun? Would be useful to know

- Indeed, I did have to use the opportunity to have Ritsura change her clothes several times

- I have no doubts that some of the readers will remember that Shiori is so bad at cooking that once she turned a kitchen into an avatar of Gordon Ramsay himself

- So many unsolved mysteries in this omake. Some relate to the current arc, others to a future one

- I wonder how many people expected Ritsura to be the main antagonist of this fic?

- What photo did Ritsura get? What was Lady X's case about? What did Otone do? Certain things that will take place in main story will maybe have more value to those that read this omake to the end