This morning, on another school day, Meiki and Seira happened to have saw a girl in their uniform while they were heading to school, but neither of them recognized her.
"Look at her..." Meiki said.
"She goes to our school? Let's go introduce ourselves."
"Yeah. She must be new." They go walking up to her. "Hi."
"Oh...Hello." She said.
"Are you new to the school?"
"No, I just haven't been here in a while..."
"Oh. Well, I'm Meiki Asuka and this is my friend, Seira Saruwatari."
"Nice to meet you."
"Hello. My name is Elly Saila."
iSaila? Now where have I heard that name before?/i She thought. As they continued to walk and conversate, they realized that they all had the same class together. "Wow. We have the same class..."
"Where did you sit?"
"In the front."
"Oh. No wonder we didn't know who you were..."
"Thanks guys for walking with me."
"No problem. We're always looking forward to making new friends." She takes her seat and the Sister comes in.
"Good morning, everyone..." Then, she sees her. "Elly? Are you sure it's Okay for you to--" iHuh?/i Meiki thought.
"I'm fine, Sister. Thanks for your concern."
"I'm so happy to hear that." Then, she gets on with the lecturing.
After class, during lunchtime.
"Hey, Elly."
"Hey, you guys."
"You wanna sit with us?"
"Sure." They all sat at one table. On the opposite side, Meiki sees two familiar figures.
"Hi, Ren! Hi, Ten!"
"H-h-h-hi...Mei-i-i-iki," They said, stuttering.
"You must've really scared them...what did you do?"
"i...Magic./i"
"You can do magic?" The 'new' student asked.
"Yeah. Watch this..." While Meiki was showing her trick, Minoru and Seiji was walking to their table.
"Wow, you can do magic?" Minoru said.
"Huh?" Getting distracted, she screwed up the trick. "Oh...hi."
"Where'd you learn to do that?"
"TV Show," she lied. iDon't worry, Mom, I'm keeping my part of the bargain.../i She thought.
"Oh really?" Seiji intruded. "bWhat/b TV Show?"
"That's none of your business!" She exclaimed.
"Whatever. Minoru, let's go." They left to go to their table.
"Who was that?"
"Oh, that's Minoru, he was new to this--"
"No...ihim/i," She said, pointing to Seiji.
"Oh, that jerk? That's Seiji, Minoru's friend."
"Could you introduce us?"
"What? No...I can't do that. I don't even know him like that..."
"I don't know," she said. "You sure speak to him like you do..."
"I don't! I'm sorry, but you're on your own with that..."
"Oh...did I offend you? I didn't mean to. I--"
"(sigh) I'll see what I can do..."
"Oh, thank you!"
"By the way, pardon me asking, what is it you like about him, anyway? He's rude, noisy and obnoxious..."
"I don't know...I just feel like...I know him...really well."
"Um...Ok."
"I believe I've met him before school..."
"Oh..."
"So you're really gonna help me?"
"I'll introduce you to him, but that's it. I can't force him to do anything. You're on your own afterwards."
"I understand."
"C'mon." They got up and went over to the males' table. "Hey, jerk!"
"What do you--" Then, he saw her. "Elly...I can't believe it's really you..." He gets up and holds her.
"Seiji...you remembered..."
"How could I forget? It was one of the best days of my life..." iWow. Guess she was right...but I'm sensing something...it's kinda like...a mystery! Looks like I have another case to solve!/i She thought.
"Could you meet me after school?"
"Of course." iLooks I have some snooping to do...I'll have to go bundercover/b./i
After school.
"Ok, I understand that she seems to have a mysterious past behind her," her best friend said. "but why do I have to come with you...dressed like this!?" She shouted, dressed with a wig and nerdy glasses.
"It's to disguise us, Seira. You don't want her to know that we're following her, do you?"
"Why does it have to be we?"
"'Cause that's what friends do..."
"Please don't make me do this..."
"...All right."
"But tell me how it goes, Ok?"
"Sure thing, Captain." Then, she sees them. iAll right...let's solve this case./i
As they were walking by, she snuck behind some bushes.
"Are you sure you're Ok?" He said.
"Yes...Seiji. I...missed you."
"Huh?" They stop and Meiki stays behind the tree.
"I know it was an accident when we met, but I really enjoyed our time together..."
"Me, too. But...they said it would take days for you to get out..." iGet out? Was she...in jail!?/i She thought.
"Seiji, it's been months..."
"Well...I'm still..."
"Shh. Don't worry so much. I'm fine. They treated me there. It worked." iI can't believe she's been in the joint.../i
"I'm happy to hear that." Then, they stop at her house. "Well, here you are."
"I was wondering...if you'd...I don't know...like to go out...with me."
"Huh?"
"Go out with me."
"...I can't."
"Huh?"
"I'm sorry...there's..."
"...Someone else?" He slowly nods. "I see...thanks for walking me home."
"No problem."
"Bye." She left.
"Bye." iWhy you.../i "All right, you can stop it now," He said. Her eyes went wide. iHe knew all this time?/i She gets from behind the tree. "Why were you following us?"
"I was worried about her...who knows what you boys are capable of..."
"Hold on. Who are you to start judging me? You don't even know me..."
"I..."
"You have some nerve, but whatever. It's not like I care..." He then walks away. iWhy...do I feel bad?/i
"Hey! Wait!" She goes running to him, but he keeps walking. She grabs his arm. "Look...I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."
"Then what did you mean?"
"I just said something without thinking, that's all."
"Then answer my question."
"Huh?"
"Why were you following us?"
"Well...Elly seemed quite..."
"Oh, I get it. You wanted to find out what happened to her..." iHow'd he figure it out?/i
"Yeah. The teacher seemed really worried once she saw her, and then, she remembers you..."
"I'll tell you, if you want..."
"You would?"
"Yeah."
"I would really like to know."
"All right, but if I do, you'll have to do something for me."
"Huh?"
"Deal?" iI don't know.../i
"All right. Deal." They shook hands. "So what happened?"
"Well...I met Elly at the hospital..."
"So it wasn't the jailhouse..."
"Of course not. I've never been in jail."
"Right."
"Anyway, she seemed like a nice girl and she seemed alone at the moment. She told me about...her condition..."
"What is it?"
"I can't tell you."
"Why not? We made a deal..."
"Yes, we did. Now I need you to understand that I can't tell you about her condition. Only she can."
"...I understand. Go on."
"Good. Then, our teacher came in. The doctors told her of Elly's condition and she visited her once a week."
"Oh That's good..."
"Yeah. So that's pretty much it."
"Wow...you know what? I take it back..."
"Huh?"
"You're not such a jerk after all..."
"Thanks...hey!" He shouted. She ran off.
"Thanks for the story. Bye!"
"Strange girl."
End of Case 4