Konnichiwa, minna! KilllaKirika here, bringing you chapter 2 of The Disappearance of Osana Najimi! I'm going to be perfectly honest, though; I'm not sure whether or not I should be proud of this chapter. Regardless, enjoy~!
Disclaimer: I don't own The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya or Yandere Simulator; all rights go to their respective owners.
Chapter Two
"Alright, where was the last place you saw Osana Najimi?!"
"Eep!"
"Whoa, calm down, Haru-nyan! We know nothing about Osa-chan's disappearance!"
It was after school on the day Najimi-senpai's disappearance was announced, and in the SOS Brigade clubroom, a game of "good cop, bad cop" was taking place. Koizumi, with his ever-so-annoying smile, played the good cop as he and the bad cop interrogated Asahina-san, who had let out a little squeak in terror, and Tsuruya, who had her hands in the air and her usual grin on her face. Who was the bad cop? Well, especially considering the name Tsuruya had called the bad cop, that should be a rhetorical question.
"Don't play these games with me!" Haruhi yelled as she slammed her hands on the table Asahina-san and Tsuruya were forced to sit at (and opposite of her, at that). "Both of you were in the same class as her! You've got to know something!"
I sighed as I observed the scene before me. Even if I wasn't left out of the game due to the lack of roles at the moment, it wasn't as if I could just intervene and tell the truth about what happened. After all, if I reveal that Aishi-san had killed Najimi-senpai, she won't be the only student at North High who died within this school year. As if that wasn't already obvious, she just had to remind me….
"We regret to inform you that one of our students - third-year Osana Najimi - is no longer with us. She has gone missing, and with there being no trace of her left, it's only safe to assume that she is dead."
This announcement caused there to be a whole lot of gasps throughout the classroom, including from Okabe-sensei.
"If anyone was close to Najimi-san and feel like they need to go home," the principal continued, "please come to the office and call for a ride. That is all."
After the announcement ended, class didn't start right away; instead, many of the students were whispering among themselves. I glanced over at Aishi-san, and I saw that she had laid her head on her desk and covered it with her arms; she was probably pretending to cry, but I had a feeling that she was hiding a satisfied smirk. Suddenly, I felt Haruhi pull me back by my shirt's collar, and when I turned around to look at her, I could see a twinkle of curiosity in her eyes and a slight grin on her face.
"Kyon, I think I know what the SOS Brigade's next activity is!" she exclaimed.
"Let me guess. Investigating Najimi-senpai's vanishment?" I asked.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. The principal said it himself, Kyon. It's only safe to assume she's dead. Thus, you can't say we're investigating her disappearance," Haruhi replied. "We're going to be investigating her death!"
"Just because the principal assumed she's dead doesn't mean she is," I told her, although I knew, for a fact, that she was actually dead.
"You may be right," Haruhi said, "but this whole thing is just as suspicious as when Ryoko Asakura suddenly moved last year! I mean, disappeared without a trace? It makes no sense, no matter how you look at it!"
Oh, believe me, Haruhi. When you're a psychotic murderer, it has to make sense.
As I pretended to continue listening as Haruhi ranted on, I snuck another glance at Aishi-san. This time, however, her head was off of her desk…. And was angled in my direction, with a glare clearly on her face. Had she heard what Haruhi just said?
"Kyon? Kyon! Are you listening to me?!"
I immediately turned away from Aishi-san and back at Haruhi, who looked annoyed by my lack of attention.
"Sorry. Go ahead," I apologized.
"First off, I'll need to ask Osana's former classmates about her," Haruhi continued. "If I recall correctly, Mikuru-chan and Tsuruya were also in her class…."
After a while, Okabe-sensei finally managed to shut everyone up, and class began. The school day passed by surprisingly uneventfully, and once the final bell of the day rang, Haruhi took off to the clubroom ahead of me. Right before I could leave, though, I was pulled by my tie and forced to come face-to-face with none other than Aishi-san; her glare from that morning had significantly intensified as she spoke.
"Don't you dare let your investigation lead you toward the truth. Otherwise, I won't spare Suzumiya or the rest of your little brigade, either."
Just thinking about that girl sends chills down my spine. It was one thing to go after my life, but to target the whole SOS Brigade…. If I wanted this club gone, I would have stayed in that alternate reality Nagato created back in December. I especially didn't want Haruhi to die; she may be selfish and annoying, but there's honestly never a dull moment with her around. She was the one who caused my life to change; I think maybe I'm….
Whoa. I'm going to move on before I even think about finishing that sentence.
"Well?!" Haruhi shouted as she leaned closer to the two poor girls (well, poor Asahina-san, at least).
"Suzumiya-san, please let me handle this," Koizumi said. "You should let the good cop have a turn."
"He has a point, Haruhi," I agreed. "It's not 'good cop, bad cop' if the bad cop is asking all of the questions."
Haruhi seemed reluctant to do so, but she backed away and let Koizumi take the reigns.
"Asahina-san, Tsuruya-san," Koizumi asked calmly, "could you please tell us what you know about Najimi-san?"
Asahina-san, who was a bit less terrified now, was the first to speak…. And I swear to God, she was blushing as she spoke! Koizumi, what the hell did you do to her that caused her to blush?!
"W-well…. Najimi-san was a really nice girl, b-but she was really cold sometimes, too," Asahina-san began, stuttering slightly.
"She was a tsundere, nyoro~!" Tsuruya chimed in. "Her tsundere ways were especially aimed toward a boy in our class, Taro Yamada!"
I immediately recognized that name; I had heard it during the conversation between Aishi-san and Najimi-senpai right before the latter's death. It was a name so painfully dull that I was sure that he-
"That name is so painfully dull that the actual guy must be just as boring!" Haruhi exclaimed.
Damn it, Haruhi. I didn't need for you to finish my inner monologue for me.
"He is, actually," Tsuruya said. "I mean, he's a nice guy and all, but that's pretty much it. Looks-wise, he isn't much, either."
"He and Najimi-san were childhood friends, though," Asahina-san commented.
Huh. A childhood friend named Osana Najimi. What are the odds? [1]
"Yep! Osa-chan also had this huge crush on Yamada-kun, but she was always like, 'D-don't get the wrong idea! I-it's not like I l-like him or anything, b-baka!' Uh-huh. That's what all the tsunderes say," Tsuruya said, acting like a tsundere when quoting her former classmate.
"I-I think I heard Najimi-san was going to c-confess to Yamada-kun on Friday," Asahina-san said, her face turning bright red when she mentioned confessing, for some reason.
"Oh, way to go, Osa-chan!" Tsuruya exclaimed. Her expression then changed to a rather solemn one as she continued, "If only I could have told her that…."
Asahina-san then nodded before tears started to fall from her eyes. Koizumi promptly ran around to the other side of the table, embraced her, and comforted her by reassuring her that her classmate was in a better place.
"Koizumi, get your hands off of Asahina-san, you bastard!" is what I thought about saying, but upon closer inspection, it looked like Asahina-san was looking like she felt slightly better in Koizumi's arms; thus, I decided not to say anything.
"Hmm…. Taro Yamada, huh?" Haruhi said, having a thoughtful look on her face. "This is just a feeling I have, but…. Something tells me Osana's death has something to do with him. I don't think he was the one who committed the crime, though."
"I know you like Yamada-senpai."
Remembering, once again, what Aishi-san had said to Najimi-senpai, I knew Haruhi was right; Yamada did have something to do with it, but it wasn't him to killed her.
"Is he still at school right now? He might have gone home early because of his friend's death," Haruhi asked.
"Oh, no. Yamada-kun's pretty upset about this, but he still managed to come to school," Tsuruya answered. "He's friends with the Cooking Club President, Amai Odayaka, and she's been helping him with overcoming Osa-chan's disappearance. I think they're still at the Cooking Club right now."
"Then that's where we're heading next!" Haruhi exclaimed, suddenly standing up. "Tsuruya, you're free to go. The rest of the SOS Brigade, come with me!"
Tsuruya left the clubroom first, but not before thanking us for being some help in the investigation. Once she was gone, Haruhi ran straight out the door to go to the Cooking Club, with Koizumi and Asahina-san following after her. I was about to do the same thing when I suddenly felt a small hand tug on my uniform from behind. (Geez, what's with people grabbing me by my uniform today?!) When I turned around, Nagato, who had been sitting in her normal chair and reading a book the whole time, was staring up at me; she had her normal, emotionless look on her face, but I could see a hint of worry in her eyes.
"What's wrong, Nagato?" I asked her.
"...Please be careful around Ayano Aishi," she warned me, "especially when it comes to Taro Yamada."
She didn't need to warn me; I already knew to be careful around Aishi-san.
….Wait, how did Nagato know about that?
….Oh, right. She's from that Data Integration Thought Entity or something; she probably has data from that event.
"Right. I'll take you up on your advice," I told her. "Now, we should probably get going. Everyone else has gone on ahead, and I doubt Haruhi's willing to wait for us."
Nagato silently nodded in response, and we walked to the Cooking Club together. When we got there, a boy with messy, black hair and black eyes and a girl with short, light brown hair and green eyes were already being interrogated.
"When was the last time you saw Osana Najimi?!" was the first thing Nagato and I heard upon entering the pink clubroom; I'm sure you can guess who asked that question based on the tone.
"The last time I saw Osana…. It was on Friday, the day she went missing," the boy answered. "She wanted to meet me at the park where we first met because she had something she wanted to tell me…. But she never…."
Before he could finish, the boy broke down crying, and the girl reached over, gently patted him on the back, and spoke to him with a soft voice.
"It's okay, Taro-kun. I'm sure Osana-san is in a better place now."
The boy - Taro Yamada - looked at his friend and said, "I-I guess you're right, Amai-san."
The girl - Amai Odayaka - blushed slightly when Yamada looked at her. Does this mean….?
Damn, Yamada. There has to be a harem anime where you're the protagonist if you can get two - maybe even three, Aishi-san considered - to have crushes on you.
Odayaka-san then looked at Haruhi and told her, "I'm sorry, Suzumiya-san, but I don't know anything about what happened to Osana-san. We never really talked much other than an occasional visit to the Cooking Club."
"An occasional visit, huh….?" Haruhi repeated as she stared at Odayaka-san suspiciously, much to the older girl's confusion.
My guess is that Haruhi thinks Odayaka-san was the one who killed Najimi-senpai. Even if I didn't already know who the killer really was, I could see where she was coming from; however, I'd have to disagree with her, as although I've only known her for a short time, she's way too sweet, no pun intended. [2]
Suddenly, a "ding" sound came from the pink oven in the room, and the delicious smell of cookies that had been roaming around the room before became more obvious than ever.
"Oh! They're ready!" Odayaka-san exclaimed cheerfully as she ran to the oven.
"Amai-san makes the best cookies," Yamada, slightly cheered up now, explained. "In fact, her overall cooking skills are far beyond her age! Osana and I used to come here sometimes just to eat whatever she's cooked up next, even though neither of us were interested in joining any of the clubs."
"Why don't you join the SOS Brigade?" Haruhi said. "I mean, we're different from all of those other clubs, especially considering that I'm the Brigade Chief! You'll be able to hang out with an alien, a time traveler, and an esper should we find them!"
"What's the point of recruiting a third-year now?" I tried not to ask. There was also the fact that there were already one of each in the brigade, but since I'm supposed to be keeping that, as well as Haruhi's own powers, a secret from Haruhi herself, I decided not to mention that, either.
"I think I'll pass. Thanks for the offer, though," Yamada responded.
"Here you go, Taro-kun! Everyone else can have some, too," Odayaka-san said in a sing-song tone of voice as she placed a silver tray on the table.
On the tray were a bunch of small, animal-shaped cookies. They looked and smelled delicious, and if what Yamada said was anything to go by, they must have tasted delicious, too; however, there was no way I was going to know if he was right if I didn't taste some myself.
Suddenly, before anyone could take any, Haruhi swiped one cookie from the tray - a cat-shaped cookie that sort of reminded me of my own cat, Shamisen - and took a bite out of it. As she chewed and then swallowed, the suspicious look she had on her face turned into one of pure bliss.
"Looks like it's now poisonous," I heard her mutter. Haruhi then announced, "These taste amazing! Everyone, try one!"
Thus, the entire SOS Brigade, plus Yamada, took at least one of the cookies and ate them. The taste of the cookie I ate reminded me of Asahina-san's tea; both were tastes that made me feel like I was in heaven, and looking around the room, it looked to me like everyone else agreed with me. Meanwhile, Odayaka-san watched as we ate with a pleasant smile on her face.
Let me just say this; if Odayaka-san confesses to Yamada and ends up marrying him one day, she is going to make an excellent wife.
Once we had finished our respective cookies, Odayaka-san put the rest of the cookies into six small, plastic bags and gave them to each of us to eat later. Haruhi then decided that the investigation would continue tomorrow and allowed everyone in the SOS Brigade to go home for the day. Despite everything that had happened that day, the walk down the hill North High was on was relatively peaceful, and I was hoping the rest of the trip home would have the same feel; I was hoping not to think about how I had a murderer for a classmate and another secret to keep.
My hopes were shattered when I foolishly answered a phone call from an unknown number.
"Hello?" I asked upon answering.
"Hello, Kyon."
The unfamiliar, feminine-sounding voice who had said my nickname in a mocking tone made me stop dead in my tracks.
"How do you know who I am, and how did you get my number?!" I asked.
"Oh, I have my ways," the voice replied. "Sure, the SOS Brigade may be kind of infamous, but my information network runs much deeper than that."
"Who the hell are you, anyway?!" I asked.
The voice paused for a bit before answering.
"Just call me Info-chan."
[1] - In case you don't know, "childhood friend" in Japanese is "osananajimi", hence Osana's name.
[2] - "Amai" is Japanese for "sweet".
I decided to add those notes not only because there may be readers who are too lazy to Google what I mean (no offense), but also because of The Indignation of Haruhi Suzumiya; if you're confused as to what I mean, go read that light novel RIGHT NOW. As you can see, I've been getting further into the Haruhi Suzumiya light novel series, but at this rate, I may be getting close to Hiatus Hell! Anyway, I can't remember if there was a Cooking Club at North High or if it was even mentioned; thus, I made the Cooking Club like Akademi High's Cooking Club for the story's sake, as Amai is going to play a somewhat-important role in this story. With that being the case, please don't get angry at me. Remember, this is an alternate universe; if it wasn't, there wouldn't be any Yandere Simulator characters in this story, as they would be in a different school! Anyway, chapter 3 is in the works. Look forward to it~!