"The beach?"
I perked up from the couch when I heard Shin. It was Hakase at the front door. "Hm. I won five tickets to the beach and free lodgings from a raffle. I also already asked your parents permission and they agreed. I also asked Ran-kun to come and Mouri-kun and Kisaki-kun agreed, too." I peered up from my seat and saw Shin facing me. "Shin-neechan! I wanna come! I wanna come!" If anything, Shin's eyes are sparkling.
"Alright, alright, we're going, Shin." My little brother jumped up and down and went up to his room to pack. I approached Agasa-hakase with a smile. "Ne, I have a favour to ask, Hakase." Hakase hummed and lowered his upper body as I asked him for.
I hope Shin won't get mad.
When we reached the beach, the first thing Shin said was, "WHAT IS HE DOING HERE?!"
A certain fifteen year old stood in front of us with a smile, his ginger hair always in that style as if he just woke up with his sapphire blue eyes squinting in delight. He was already wearing his trunks and a Hawaiian shirt. Is that what you call it? On his shoulder, a certain pygmy marmoset was perched.
"Ouji-kun, I'm glad you could make it." I'm happy he's here. Well, Yūjin also. "I couldn't pass the offer up, Shino-chan." He was about to ruffle my hair when Shin stood between us, hugging me close to his chest. "Don't touch her, pervert." I flicked my brother's forehead and slightly frowned at his actions.
"I thought I already told you, Ouji-kun isn't like that. Besides, he's my best friend." There was silence before Shin and Ran started snickering, making me tilt my head in confusion. Why were they snickering? I looked back at Ouji-kun and I saw a minute of sadness on his face before he smiled at me. "It's alright. Shinichi-kun just really loves you, Shino-chan."
I contemplated his words and just nodded. "Kids! C'mon, we're staying in that hotel over there." I was about to grab my luggage when my best friend picked it up. "I'll carry it." I smiled and thanked him. We walked towards the hotel, while Hakase was making arrangements for our room, the four of us were lounging around.
"Let's swim now, Samekawa!" The woman said while eating sour grapes? Ugh.
"I already told you I don't want to. Are you deaf or something? You're just a muscle head anyway." The man said in irritation, his eyebrows furrowing in anger.
"Samekawa, that's enough. You're going way too far." The other girl tried to diffuse the tense atmosphere between her two companions but it seemed her attempts were in vain.
"As if! I've had enough of Kanae. She keeps forcing me whatever she wants to do."
The trio was a group of two females and one male. This Samekawa seems to have some kind of relationship with this Kanae person. The third person is the other girl, she looks like a friend of Kanae-san. Samekawa-san looks to be in his early twenties with slick black hair and a fairly toned body. He seems to be around a hundred and ninety something centimeters high.
He has a permanent glower in his eyes and a frown on his lips as he stare at Kanae, who turned around to face away from them. Kanae-san must be in her twenties too, with a fairly muscular body that female athletes would die for. By the way her skin tone is uneven and the seemingly eye bags (that must be marks made by constant usage of goggles), I would say she's a swimmer.
The last person is shorter than the both of them, only bordering on one seventy centimeters. She doesn't have any muscle and she still has those baby fats, so she must be younger than her companions. She doesn't seem to have any experience in sports or anything physically strenuous at all. I turned around to face Shin to see what he was doing.
BU-BUMP
I suddenly froze. Wh-What was that?! I hurriedly turned around but saw locals and tourists busy with their own things. The trio I saw earlier were walking away already so what was that feeling?
BU-BUMP
There it is again!
A hand gently grabbed my shoulder and I jerked away from it. "Are you alright, young lady?" I clenched my shirt, on top where my heart is supposed to be. It was only a staff member. "Young lady? Are you alright?" I mentally shook my head and beamed at him. "I-I'm fine. Ehehe, I — "
"Is something wrong, Shino-chan?" I turned around to face Ouji-kun but froze as I see that look in his eyes again. The dull, lifeless expression on his eyes. The cold glistening in those sapphire orbs made shivers ran down my spine. "N-Nothing's wrong, Ouji-kun." I clasped both of my hands around his wrist and forcefully dragged him away as I said bye to the staff member.
"Wh-Why do-don't we go a-and find — " I stopped talking when Ouji-kun pulled me in front of the elevator. "They're already in our rooms. Yūjin came with them since Ran seemed attached to him." A 'ding' resounded and we entered the machinery. I kept fidgeting in my spot when my best friend suddenly held my chin and raised it up so I was looking at him.
I gulped when I saw how dull and cold his eyes were. "Shino-chan, I don't want you hanging around other guys when Shinichi-kun or I aren't with you, okay?" Life suddenly returned to his eyes as he smiled down at me. What happened? I'm extremely confused by what happened. It was as if Ouji-kun had a split personality but he would have told me already if that was the case.
DING
He grabbed hold of my hand and lead me to our rooms. We found the three of them in front of room 302 and 303. "Ah, you're late, Shinobu-kun. Please don't wander around, okay?" I sheepishly smiled. "Why two rooms, Hakase?"
"I figured you and Ran wouldn't want to room in with the boys is all." I discreetly glanced at Ouji-kun before beaming at the inventor. "Thank you for being so thoughtful, Agasa-hakase." Once we entered our room, I told her to change. "Okay, Shinobu-neechan." I sat down on the bed with pursed lips and furrowed eyebrows.
Maybe I should ask Ouji-kun what was that all about instead of figuring it out myself. But would he tell me if I asked? "Nee-chan, it's your turn!" I looked up and found Ran in a cute blue one piece swimsuit. I smiled and fave her a thumbs up. "Shin's also wearing blue trunks. Did you two plan to matched?" Her face flushed red in embarrassment and she started stuttering gibberish, which was quite adorable.
Man, Shin and Ran are such an adorable couple.
Yūjin, according to Shin, decided to stay back at their room and soundly slept. I stayed under my umbrella since the blistering heat of the sun (I'm exaggerating since unfortunately, my skin is sensitive) felt painful on my exposed skin. I might go in later but not now. Thankfully, I brought my book about the ABC Murders by Agatha Christie.
"Stupid spoiled woman. Always forcing people to do what she wants."
I peered up from my book and found Samekawa-san walking in front of me, grumbling things about Kanae-san. It seemed like they haven't made up still. "Tch, one day, I'll make sure she'll never see the light of day again." I stiffened and soundlessly gasped in shock but he still seemed to notice me.
"What the fxck are you looking at, brat?" I subtly flinched at the way he glowered at me. "Sir, please stay away from her. She didn't even do anything of annoyance that concerns you." A familiar voice said from behind Samekawa-san and I was beyond relieved when I did so. No matter how mysterious he is, Ouji-kun is still my friend.
The older man scoffed and glowered once more before moving on. I breath out in relief as I smiled thankfully at my best friend. "Thank you for saving me from his apparent, and obviously misdirected, anger, Ouji-kun." He plopped down behind me, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me against his chest.
I felt his chin on the top of my head. "What are you doing?" He hummed before saying, "Making sure everyone knows that you're with me and making sure that no one messes with you again." I chuckled. "Is that so?"
"Yes."
Without any more words said, I snuggled in his arms and searched for a comfortable spot before resuming reading my book. Come to think of it, it's early in the afternoon and Samekawa-san smelt of beer. I inwardly frowned, whenever a person drinks this early, something bad is bound to happen.
And sometimes, I really hate it when I'm right. Back in my previous life, whenever I thought about something 'bad' is about to happen, some way or another, I was always right. There was this one time when there was a group of bandits on the loose and the police still hasn't caught them. I planned to withdraw some money from the bank that day.
I had been wearing a brown hoodie with the Wings of Freedom at the back and tight jeans with black converse. I was a street away from the nearest bank when I had felt my stomach churn and saw broken pieces of glass at the sole of my shoes when I had looked down. Obviously, I took this as a bad omen, especially when I realized that a black cat was licking my shoes.
I was not one for superstitions back then but that day, I had told myself that maybe I should do it another time. The moment I turned on the television in my living room that night, the news flashed about a hostage incident at the bank I was supposed to go that afternoon. I felt a huge amount of relief washed over me and thanked God I went home.
After that day, whenever I felt that something bad is about to happen, I followed my instincts. Oh, but this time, I'm going to confront this ominous event waiting to happen. I won't run away because why would I? I became a detective to seek the thrills every case gives me. Adrenaline pumping through my veins was always a rush of excitement.
"Shinobu-neechan! Look, look, this nice lady taught me how to swim!"
I looked up from my book and saw Ran holding the hand of the woman I saw this earlier, Kanae-san. I returned a smile of my own. "That's great, Ran. Shin can't tease you anymore, now can he?" The Mouri girl grinned in triumph and stuck her tongue out at Shin, who was ankle-deep into the sea water. I snickered. That's what my little brother gets for being such an arrogant brat.
Ouji-kun tightened his hold around me when Ran and Kanae-san approached us. "This is Miyamura Kanae-neesan, Shinobu-neechan!" I dipped my head and greeted the swimmer. She had an expression of discomfort as she stares at me and my best friend. "It's nice to meet you, Kanae-san. I'm Kudo Shinobu and this is my best friend, Kobayashi Ouji-kun."
She slowly nodded her head before recognition flashed through her eyes. "Kudo Shinobu? You mean, THAT Kudo Shinobu, the youngest detective that helped the police force solve a case?" I beamed in pride and nodded. I may not like my fans chasing me but I'm always happy with their praises and how a stranger knows my name. I'm getting quite popular, aren't I?
"Woah, it's nice to finally meet you! As this little angel said before, I'm Miyamura Kanae and the captain of the swim club in our university!" She said this with unmountable pride and there wasn't an ounce of arrogance in her voice. She might be pushy from what I've seen and heard but she's definitely a kind person. She glanced at the nearby clock tower. "Oops, gotta go. I need to get my swimsuit and start my daily training. Well, I'm honoured to meet you, Kudo-chan. I'll see you whenever, Ran-chan!"
Kanae-san waved goodbye and jogged back to the hotel. Well, she was in a bikini. "I'm gonna go to Shinichi, Nee-chan." I casually waved her off and smiled as she tackled my poor brother to the water.
Like I said, those two are adorable.
"Shino-chan." I hummed in response. "Don't move, okay? I'm going to take a short nap." I nodded and let him rest his cheek on top of my head.
And then, I continued reading my book.
I didn't realize I fell asleep. The moment I opened my eyes, I was staring at Ouji-kun's face watching something. I groaned and sat down, catching his attention. "Had a nice nap?" I sleepily nodded before yawning. "How long was I out?"
"Well, I've only been awake for twenty minutes so I can't say."
After stretching my arms and legs, I pulled Ouji-kun up to his feet. "The heat isn't so bad anymore.blets go swim!" Upon hearing the excitement in my voice, his eyes sparkled like the ocean or sparkling like a sapphire under the moonlight. It was honestly captivating that I stopped and stared at his eyes. "Is something on my face?"
I shook my head. "Nope~ "
After a tiring day and after we all washed up, we went to the restaurant just beside the hotel. We ate our dinner there and there wasn't much to talk about. Well, Yūjin did make quite a mess and Ouji-kun had to reprimand the pygmy marmoset. On our stay there, I noticed the third person in that trio where Kanae-san belongs.
She was alone in that corner and she keeps looking around as if she was being followed and just plain paranoid about the surrounding. I curved an eyebrow at this. I wonder why she looks so nervous and why does she keep glancing at her phone. Something's up, and something's telling me it's something bad.
We returned to the hotel after Ouji-kun finished cleaning the monkey up, the woman going back before us by twenty minutes earlier. I was about to unlock our room when suddenly —
"KYAHHHH!"
My feet automatically lead me to the scream and when I rounded the corner, I found the woman from the restaurant on her buttom, pointing inside the open room with trembling hand. "K-K-K-K-K-KANAE!" The moment I looked inside, I saw the corpse of the woman who had been nice to Ran this afternoon.
My blood ran cold and adrenaline pumped through my veins. People were about to enter when I stopped them. "No one enters the crime scene! You might alter something inside that could be a possible clue." And I noticed the same staff member from this early afternoon. The authority in my voice was obvious and once Ran and others arrived, the girl gasped and cried.
Shinichi was nice enough to comfort the girl. "Ouji-kun, call the police."
"On it!"
Well, something bad did happen. Now that I think about it, I might actually become a Murder Magnet like the Original Shinichi.
One word: Damn.