A/N: Finally finished my fall semester. I can't express how happy my tired brain is. XP
Chapter 4: Snowed In
When I woke up the next morning, it was because Kanami accidentally pushed me off the bed in her sleep. The pain from my abrupt landing, combined with a pounding headache and a parched tongue, made me feel like I was suffering from a wicked hangover. Picking myself up from the floor, my blurred vision could just make out the time on the grandfather clock in my room—it was nearly six. Sanae would be coming up soon to help me get ready.
"Kanami, get up. You should head back to your own room," I yawned, shaking my girlfriend.
Kanami was still dead to the world. Even shaking her harder and raising my voice to nearly a yell didn't work. Eventually, I had to resort to the same wakeup treatment she gave me. One hard shove later and I was rewarded with one fully-awake girlfriend.
"Owie! Hiyori-chan!"
"Go back to your room, Kanami."
Clearly just as woozy as me, due to how she couldn't even walk—or more like stagger—in a straight line, Kanami stumbled out the door. Just in time too because almost a minute later, Sanae came in to draw my bath and help me dress. Despite what I recounted to her yesterday about Fumiko, there was no change about her. The morning routine was done in its usual course. I had to give credit to Sanae—she could always appear natural even in the tensest situations.
Still fighting a splitting migraine, I entered the dining hall for breakfast, despite it still being quite early. I was not disappointed at finding the sideboard laid with several different dishes. Ryosei stood at attention next to it, giving a bow in greeting. Although the delicious smells were beckoning, I first had my usual cup of morning coffee, watching the blizzard outside. It still showed no sign of relenting.
Mirja, Chie, and Kiyoka came in, bid me good morning, and filled up their plates. As we ate, Kiyoka and I engaged in a hushed conversation about how to get out of the "Horizon Alliance", along with Mihono as our latest recruit. Despite our intense research, natto and tofu certainly did not help in making a noticeable difference in enlarging our breasts. Seeing green, I stared at Mirja and Chie talking about their latest mission. They took no notice of how I was fixed on their huge chests.
"Oh! Is that pudding I see?" came Kofuki's voice from the door. "Don't mind if I do."
"Save some for me, Fukki!" cried Mihono, who was right behind her.
Yui, Hana, and Kanami were the last to arrive. While watching them load their plates, I noticed a red mark on Hana's neck. Was that a...? My long stare was enough to attract the attention of Hana, who blushed before tugging up the collar of her school uniform. There was still no sign of our hostess, however. Perhaps Fumiko was a late-riser.
"Chii-nee, are you okay?" Mihono asked, sitting down next to Chie. "You look really tired."
It was true. Chie's eyes were baggy with dark circles around them. It was the first time I had ever seen her like this before.
With a yawn, Chie replied, "I'm fine. Just didn't take my sleeping medication last night."
Finding this answer seemingly normal, Mihono then pounced upon Kanami and I. "The mystery game was so much fun! You two should have joined us."
Looking at us above her glasses, Mirja asked, "Are you both okay, Etou Kanami? Hiyori-sama?"
"Yeah, we got a good sleep..." Kanami said before her eyes flickered towards me. Something told me she hadn't completely forgiven me for how I woke her up. But considering how she literally kicked me out of bed earlier—along with several other times in our relationship—I don't have a lot of room to regret it.
"So, who was the murderer?" I asked, taking another sip of coffee.
With a giggle, Yui replied, "That would've been me..." Thank God she was two chairs away from me.
Ryosei, who had left earlier to bring back more coffee, came in with a rather concerned look on his face. He gave a deep apologetic bow towards me.
"If you please, m'lady, I must make a rather regrettable announcement. It appears that we are snowed in," Ryosei said. "The chauffeur, Ida-san, informed me just now that the driveway, along with the mountain road, is blocked and some parts are hazardous due to the ice."
This piece of news was not well-received among the others. One could see it in their annoyed and worried expressions.
Sensing the negative change in the atmosphere, Ryosei tried to lighten everyone's consternation. "This is not an abnormal occurrence in these parts, of course. But not to worry. We have plenty of food and drink, more than enough for this short period of—"
"Could we possibly telephone for help?" I interrupted.
Relapsing into a state of discomfort, Ryosei said, "Yes, m'lady, but in this snowstorm, I should not expect help to be able to come until Monday."
"And today is only Friday," Mirja said.
Kofuki rolled her eyes. "So, we'll be trapped for days in this ghastly place with no aradama-chan!"
"Kofuki-chan..." Chie warned with a dark aura surrounding her.
"S-Sorry..." Kofuki stammered, hanging her head.
Suddenly, a female voice started screaming steadily from somewhere, her cries echoing throughout the mansion. It rose in pitch as the sounds of running feet approached closer.
"Da Hell is that noise?" Kofuki exclaimed.
All of us stood up from our chairs, watching as Kaho came bounding in, still screaming her head off like a hyena. If she wasn't a picture of extreme terror, it would've been almost comical seeing her run around in circles about the dining hall.
"Sakimoto-san, calm down! Control yourself!" Ryosei barked.
However, Kaho showed no disposition of stopping. At last, I had to stride over and give the maid a smack across the cheek. She gasped, before exhaling slowly, although her eyes were still as terrified as prey.
"What is going on?" I demanded.
"Oh, Ojou-sama! It's Fumiko-sama!" Kaho cried.
Something twisted sharply in my gut, as I looked at the others in the room. They looked just as dumbfounded as me, their mouths partly hanging open. Only Kofuki was trying to stifle her laughter, probably from Kaho's passionate display of fright.
"Kanami, come with me. You too, Nagata Ryosei," I ordered. "Kitora Mirja, could you keep everyone else here?"
"Assuredly, Hiyori-sama," was the immediate reply.
My eyes then shifted to Kiyoka, who was starting to look just as terrified as Kaho was. For a split second, I was afraid she too would start going to pieces.
"Someone, give Kiyoka a glass of water," I added, before leaving the dining hall.
With haste, Kaho led Kanami, Ryosei, and I to Fumiko's study. What struck me at once was the blast of frigid cold air. My teeth started chattering in an instant and I pulled my cardigan tighter in the poor attempt to shield my body. Then, I stopped dead, the others accidentally bumping into me from behind.
From the open windows came violent winds that swung Fumiko's body back and forth ever so slightly, her neck hanging from a noose. At her feet was a chair, apparently knocked over. Reeling a little, we all stepped inside, our eyes fixed on the dead girl.
"What happened, Sakimoto-san?" Kanami questioned.
Sniffing and trying to dry her tears with her white apron, Kaho said, "I went to Fumiko-sama's bedroom to help her get ready for the day as always, but found she wasn't there. So, I decided to check her study—she'd sometimes work late doing paperwork and end up falling asleep at her desk. Well, I found the door was locked from the inside, so I knocked. But when I got no answer, I took my own master key, opened the door, and that's...that's when I found her."
Right after she finished speaking, she burst into a fresh wave of tears. Ryosei helped her to a chair near the fireplace. With her forehead creased together, Kanami went over to one of the open windows. Snow was piled in a heap inside, forming large puddles underneath.
Looking back up into Fumiko's grey face, I murmured under my breath, "At least the cold keeps her from stinking."
Meanwhile, Ryosei was transfixed on a piece of paper on Fumiko's desk. It was kept from blowing away by a gold paperweight in the shape of a dragon. It was a typed note.
I AM A MONSTER. I DO NOT DESERVE TO LIVE ANYMORE.
"Suicide, do you think?" I asked, turning to my girlfriend.
Kanami was once again peering at the body with attentive eyes. "No, that doesn't explain this. Look at the tips of her fingernails, Hiyori-chan. They're cracked and have traces of dried blood—wounds that are very recent."
She took a chair before stepping up onto it, looking closer at the noose. "Just as I thought. Blood marks on the rope. Fumiko-sama was fighting for her life. She was trying to undo the noose around her neck while hanging in mid-air...but was overpowered."
It was like a switch had been flipped in Kanami's brain. Just a few minutes ago, she was her usual lazy self, complaining about having to wake up. And now, like the other several times I witnessed, she had transformed back into her private investigator-in-training persona. Like two split personalities.
"I'm guessing that the time of death would have probably been at about eleven o'clock last night. Of course, the open windows make it difficult to determine. But I'd say death occurred definitely between ten and midnight."
"The open windows...do you think someone could've escaped that way?" Ryosei asked though the tone of his voice suggested uncertainty.
With an arched eyebrow, I exclaimed, "In this weather? Us being miles away from the nearest town with all the roads blocked...a person trudging through the snow and in the freezing dark? Highly unlikely."
"We're all going to be murdered in our beds," Kaho whimpered.
Still frowning, Kanami demanded, "Who else has a copy of the master key to this room?"
The question certainly made Ryosei and Kaho flinch noticeably. "Only the two of us, Etou-san," was their in-sync reply.
"And what were you both doing last night from ten o'clock to midnight?"
"W-We were up late with the other staff, playing cards as we normally do," Kaho stammered.
I went over to one of the windows and peered out. If the murderer escaped through one of them and went around the house to get back inside, the blizzard had wiped away any traces of possible footprints.
Crossing my arms, I asked, "What staff do you have here?"
"Well, there's Sakimoto-san and myself," Ryosei answered, holding up his fingers. "And the cook, Ogura Koji, and the chauffeur, Ida Shun. As Sakimoto-san said, we were playing several rounds of cards from half past eight to two o'clock in the morning. We lost track of the time quite frankly. Your lady's maid even joined us."
"Sanae played with you the whole time?" I asked.
"Yes, m'lady."
"And did anyone get up at any time during that period?" I asked, my stomach churning more with each passing second.
"No one, m'lady."
"We all stayed at the big table in the servants' hall, playing until two o'clock, Ojou-sama," Kaho insisted.
All four servants, along with Sanae, were accounted for. No one left the table from half past eight to two o'clock. The full impact of what that meant hit me as realization started to sink in.
My eyes growing as wide as an owl's, I breathed, "Then if that's the case, that means..."
Kanami nodded. "The murderer is most definitely a member of the Akabane Sword Team."
A/N: Murasaki Fumiko has been murdered and her death staged to look like a suicide. Whodunnit and will Kanami and Hiyori find out? Feel free to leave your thoughts in the reviews!
