Chapter 10: Finding Shizuma
Tamao's cell phone did not have a signal, so she couldn't reach the police. Peeking through a crack in the door, Kaname stood in an empty room near Nagisa's room. Keeping herself concealed, Kaname observed Tamao's distress with delight. Meanwhile, Tamao stopped other students to borrow their phones. But, their phones didn't have signals either. She looked for Sister Hamasaka, but couldn't find her in her office. Tamao was in a panic. Maybe I can find Shizuma, she thought. This was her last resort.
After receiving Nagisa's letter earlier that morning, Shizuma had gone straight to Nagisa's room to speak with her. But, when she arrived, Tamao answered the door and told Shizuma that Nagisa had fallen asleep after delivering the letter. As a result, Shizuma was now sitting in French class and couldn't focus. Something didn't feel right. It had been difficult to care about classes anyway because the semester was almost over. In an attempt to cheer herself up, Shizuma decided to pass a note to Miyuki, for old time's sake.
Once the teacher turned around to face the board, Shizuma took her chance, and reached over to Miyuki's desk, quickly placed her hand up Miyuki's heavy black Miator skirt and dropped the note there. Miyuki blushed furiously, but knew better than to speak out loud. Instead, she glowered at Shizuma. Shizuma grinned. Miyuki felt something sharp poking her thigh, and she pulled the note out of her dress. It was shaped like a Chinese star, and Miyuki wondered why the hell Shizuma had time to start folding Chinese stars in class when she should have been studying.
"Come on crybaby…open it!" Shizuma whispered.
As teacher's pet, Miyuki was terrified of getting caught.
"Shizuma, I'll open it later," she whispered back impatiently.
"No. Now."
"AHEM! Miss Hanazono," came the teacher's voice, "I expect mindless disruptions from you, but Rokujo-san, you have no excuse. Is there something you both have to share with the class?"
"No, ma'am," Shizuma said quickly, "I apologize. I was asking Miyuki what we were having for dinner tonight, and I was hoping she would say steak or crab. But, I shouldn't have been distracting her in the middle of your important lesson."
"I'm sorry, professor," Miyuki said quietly, with her head down.
"Hmmph," the teacher said, "In that case, Hanazono-san, why don't you read the entirety of the next lesson out loud in French, and answer all the questions."
Shizuma feigned a sigh of disappointment, but was able to get through the lesson quickly and with ease. Her French accent remained clear and steady. By some miracle, the teacher let Shizuma and Miyuki leave the class with the other students, giving them only a severe warning.
As they were walking along the sidewalk, Miyuki finally opened the note. It said, "So, I wrote Nagisa a letter."
That was all she had to say?! Miyuki's eye twitched.
*KA-POW!*
She walloped Shizuma over the head, then kept walking.
Shizuma painfully rubbed the top of her head. "You are fiery, Miyuki. I worry for your husband."
"Baka! I don't have a husband. Now let's keep walking."
"Geez, I'm seeing stars."
"Serves you right," Miyuki retorted. "Now let's keep walking. We're meeting up with Chikaru for lunch and tea."
When Shizuma and Miyuki arrived at the café, they ordered a teapot for three. Since the café was bound to get busy at this hour, they walked over to a table and placed their coats on the chairs. They chatted for a while, Miyuki still scolding Shizuma about doing childish things like passing notes in class or leaving her underwear on the floor. In a short time, Chikaru had arrived. She was standing in the doorway, striking a pose.
"Good afternoon, fellow knuckleheads!" Chikaru shouted to Shizuma and Miyuki. She skipped merrily into the café, twirling her handmade puppet scarf. Skipping toward Shizuma, she paused and put her hand in one of the puppets, then placed it in front of Shizuma's face. Taking on a voice for the panda puppet, she squeaked, "You look sad today, detective-sama!"
"Yeah," Shizuma replied, "I hit my head." She glared at Miyuki.
"Detective-sama?" Miyuki asked.
Before anyone could respond, Suzumi Tamao came bursting into the café, out of breath. She bounded toward Shizuma and grabbed the woman by her tie. "Listen to me! Nagisa! In trouble!" Tamao spluttered.
Shizuma turned so quickly, her chair spilled over. She threw money down on the table and dashed out the door. Miyuki, Chikaru, and Tamao followed closely behind her.