Chapter 4: Sato Amami, Kicho Men

"Kicho? Can I help you with anything?" Sato asked. Kicho was staring at her. Or, more accurately, he was staring into her, looking at her as if she wasn't a human at all. She's not used to this kind of attention. She was just trying to clean the class room.

He simply pressed his glasses and nodded. "Sorry for being creepy," he said, and left.

Sato looked at Kicho's back. She'd seen him before. Even though he was from 2-1, often he'd stop in front of her classroom, 2-3, and stared at the room. She couldn't tell if he was looking for someone or something, but after a few minutes of the most intense stare Sato had seen, he'd leave. Recently he'd been staring at her.

She sighed. She really hated the fact that she wasn't in the same class as her two best friends from 1-1. 2-3's students weren't nasty or mean, but still... Anyway, she felt really alone in this new class, and doing people favours still couldn't stave off her loneliness. Surely her best friends could help her.

The next day, Sato did her morning routine. She usually arrived early, cleaned the desks and arranged them neatly, then left before another student arrived so that student could feel the sensation of being the first to arrive. Her morning would be perfect when she saw that student's happy face.

As she entered 2-3, she realised someone was already there, standing by the corner of the room, moving his fingers on the window sill. Kicho.

Sato's legs was ready to skedaddle. Her heart was primed, and her whole body was ready to dash for her life. Kicho is bad news, she was sure of it. The instant she noticed it was him, she started running.

"Can you wait, Sato Amami?"

"Yes. Of course." The natural instinct to escape instantly evaporated.

Kicho approached her. Dang it, Sato, she thought. This is what your friends told you would happen. Eventually a bad person will ask for a favour and you wouldn't be able to refuse.

"So you really can't say no," Kicho said.

Not this year! Sato thought. Last year she did, but she's a second year now. She could say no. Not just could, would! She would say no to whatever this creepy Kicho said!

"You were the one who cleaned the room, didn't you?" Kicho asked.

"No!" It took her few seconds to register his actual question. "Wait, yes it was me. How did you know?"

"I noticed 2-3 was cleaner than the other classrooms. At first I thought there must be another clean freak in there, but after observing the class for several months, none of them seem to have that personality."

"Wait, you observed the 2-3 students?"

"Assuming it wasn't because of the students in cleaning duty, then the room was cleaner in the first place. Why? Because someone cleaned it before the school day started. So I started observing the classroom and seeing which desks were disturbed first, as that'd mean the earliest students. After knowing the five earliest arriving students, I observed their behaviour outside the class."

"That's rather creepy."

Kicho ignored her. "None of them seem to fit the profile. The earliest student wasn't the cleaning type, as far as I can see. So I redirected my attention. My next move is to see which student would have the cleaning skills."

"Ah, that's why you were staring at me recently?"

"Yes. You're quite meticulous and comfortable in cleaning tasks. I started observing how you behave, and it's clear you like doing favours for people without needing the slightest bit of gratitude. It's not a far stretch to imagine you cleaning the room before anyone else."

"...and that's how you finally conclude I was the cleaner?"

Kicho shook his head. "No, I asked the people from 1-1 who was in my class and they told me you did the same thing in first year."

"Huh. That's a bit...disappointing. The detective don't usually end his deduction by asking someone."

"I'm not a detective, I'm just someone who pays close attention. For example, by making you listen to my deduction, you've lost the time to escape the room before the earliest student arrived."

"Eh? Sato, you're the one who cleaned the room?"

Sato turned around. It was the student who always arrived earliest.

"Can you help her?" Kicho asked.

"Of course! Sato, you should've told me! I would've helped."

"T-thanks," Sato said. She looked at Kicho, who nodded and left the room.

[break]

Tadano realised his effort to entertain Komi with a tale of high school detective had backfired. Komi looked aghast. "Sato went back to cleaning the room all by herself?"

Now Tadano felt guilty. "Yeah. Kicho asked Najimi, but I just learned about it this year." Tadano looked at Komi's face and continued. "But don't worry! Sato's not alone this year. Maeda's with her, so at least...she's not alone."

Komi remained silent although she looked slightly relieved.

"I-I'm sorry," Tadano said.

Komi shook her head. "This isn't your fault. It's nobody's fault, really…Sato is always a hard worker. I'm just worried she'll overwork herself."

"I know," Tadano said.

"I've seen Ashitano exhausted herself often, but she revived quickly as well. Tadano, have you heard this story about Ashitano and Katai?"