Youmu clapped her hands together in front of her and bowed. "Itadakimasu!" she exclaimed, before digging into her bento.

I rolled my eyes at the overly formal display, before unceremoniously biting into my tuna sandwich. We were currently eating our lunch in Ms. Saigyouji's classroom, evidently this was Youmu's idea of a calming environment. Truth be told, anywhere was better than eating in the club room, so I couldn't complain, even if the way Ms. Saigyouji stared hungrily at my sandwich made me slightly uncomfortable.

"So, what do you think Kagerou meant by 'Grassroots'?" Youmu asked, as she shoveled some rice into her mouth.

"I'd assume it's some kind of group, that or she was just trying to get in our heads," I guessed, though I assumed the former was the more likely answer.

Youmu hummed in consideration. "Lady Yuyuko, have you ever heard of a group calling themselves the Grassroots?"

Mrs. Saigyouji didn't answer, continuing to leer at the sandwich in my hands.

"Uh… Lady Yuyuko?"

With an annoyed sigh, I shoved my food back into my lunchbox.

Mrs. Saigyouji blinked and looked around in confusion, finally snapping out of her trance. "Huh? Did you say something, Youmu?"

"I asked if you had ever heard of a group named the Grassroots." Youmu huffed. "Also, please stop staring at Adam's food in such a disturbing manner, didn't you eat the lunch I prepared for you this morning?"

"S-silly Youmu! Of course I ate my lunch!" Mrs. Saigyouji giggled nervously. "As for your question, I can't say I've heard anyone in my class call themselves that, but maybe you can ask Yukari? She tends to know a lot of stuff!"

"Well, I can't deny that," I said. "In fact, I get the feeling she knows the answer to our main subject of interest."

"Are you suggesting that Lady Yukari is aware of whether or not Sekibanki is a youkai?" Youmu asked, to which I nodded. "But if that is the case, why would she tell us to investigate something she already knows?"

"Because she's Mrs. Yakumo," I flatly stated. "Think about it, she definitely has more than enough ways to figure out what Sekibanki is on her own. This is probably all just one big game to her."

"Come now, that's no way to talk about someone," Mrs. Saigyouji lightly reprimanded me. "Sure Yukari may be duplicitous, manipulative, sneaky, conniving, and overall shady, but… uh, what was I going to say again?"

Out of nowhere, I heard a sniffle, before Mrs. Yakumo suddenly emerged from a gap beside Ms. Saigyouji. Today she was wearing a white, wide-brimmed sun hat, I noted. "Honestly Yuyuko, is that how you really see me?" Mrs. Yakumo questioned, looking positively dismayed.

"Oh, hi Yukari! We were just talking about you!" Ms. Saigyouji chirped, airheaded as ever.

"Yes, I know. Hello, Yukuko…" Mrs. Yakumo exhaled sadly. "You know, it feels like nobody has my back sometimes."

"Don't worry, Lady Yukari! I'll always support you, no matter how crooked you are!" Youmu ardently declared.

"Oh Youmu, you're such a good girl. If only you were a tiny bit more intuitive," Mrs. Yakumo lamented, before facing me. "Anywho, how's the investigation I gave you coming along, Mr. Coates?"

I shrugged. "It's going. We've hit a bit of a snag though, Sekibanki's friends aren't willing to give up anything on her, let alone even talk to us. They're also all part of some group by the looks of it."

"Lady Yukari, have you ever heard of the Grassroots? Kagerou implied that was the group's name," Youmu explained.

Mrs. Yakumo closed her eyes, seeming to mull things over. "Maybe I have, maybe I haven't…" She reopened her eyes and gave us a playful smirk. "Who's to say?"

"You give us a cryptic answer like that and then wonder why nobody trusts you," I deadpanned.

"Well, what's the fun in giving you all of the answers right from the start?" Mrs. Yakumo teased. "Also, you got it wrong before."

"Huh?"

"You got it wrong," she repeated. "I don't think of this as a game, Mr. Coates."

"Ah." I realized what she was getting at. "So, what then? A test?"

Mrs. Yakumo beamed. "Very good! You get a prize."

"Oh, God." I pinched the bridge of my nose. "I'm not reaching into your hat again, if that's what you're getting at."

"No, no. That was a one-time thing," Mrs. Yakumo insisted. "Trust me, I'm not a fan of repeating the same shtick."

With a snap of her fingers, a gap briefly opened above my lunchbox, out of which fell a… bracelet? It didn't look particularly expensive, in fact, it looked like a hand-made charm bracelet.

"I don't wear jewelry," I said, as I picked it up.

"I know. It's just a little something to help out in the investigation," Mrs Yakumo coyly replied, but I couldn't imagine how something like this would prove useful in the slightest.

Youmu peered over at the trinket in my hand. "Intriguing. Perhaps it has some sort of magical property?"

"Nope! It's just a normal bracelet," Mrs. Yakumo chirped, though I hardly believed her.

"In any case, I think we're getting off track here," I pointed out, while pocketing the bracelet. "How are we supposed to prove Sekibanki is a youkai?"

"Hm…" Youmu placed a hand on her chin. "I may have a few ideas. Will you be busy after school today, by chance?"

"Oh yeah, real busy," I lied, already not liking where this was going. "I made a promise to hang out with, uh… all of the friends I don't have!"

"Hm? How can you hang out with people that don't exist?" Ms. Saigyouji asked, genuinely befuddled. At least my poorly fabricated lie worked on one person.

"Try not to think about it too hard, Yuyuko," Mrs. Yakumo allayed the ghostly teacher. "Well, whatever the two of you end up doing, I look forward to the results! Good luck." Another gap opened on the wall beside Mrs. Yakumo, as she prepared to head out to… wherever the hell she was going.

"Aw… are you sure you can't stay a little while longer?" Ms. Saugyouji asked, giving Mrs. Yakumo a puppy-dog look.

Mrs. Yakumo let out a light chuckle. "I'm sorry Yuyuko, I would love to stay and chat, but lunch is about to end in three, two…" At that, the school's bell rang, signifying the end of the lunch period. "One."

"Wow! That was incredible, Yukari!" Ms. Saigyouji exclaimed, giving her a small applause.

"Oh dear," Youmu began, her eyes filled with sorrow. "I didn't get the chance to finish my lunch…"

"Yeah, join the club," I mumbled bitterly.

After a relatively normal fifth-period, I went over to my locker and started getting my things for Mrs. Yasaka's class. However, it was becoming increasingly apparent that a certain someone was watching me. Slamming my locker shut, I glared at one of the many annoyances who had pervaded my school life. Said annoyance was currently on the other side of the hall, not-so-subtly pretending to read a book… which was turned upside down.

"Can I help you with something, Cirno?" I asked, making no attempt to hide my irritation.

The ice fairy winced as she heard me call out to her, before nervously meeting my gaze. "H-hey, Adam! Fancy seeing you here," she replied, in a failed attempt to sound nonchalant.

"Yeah, it's almost like you followed me from Ms. Keine's class or something."

"Whaaat?" she asked, in obviously fake surprise. "No, I would never do something like that!"

I let out an exasperated sigh. "If you say so. Bye." With that, I slung my backpack over my shoulder and began to head to class.

"Hey, wait!"

I half-expected her to cling to my back again, but instead she just flew in front of me, supposedly having learned her lesson from last time.

"For the love of… what is it now?"

"W-well, it's just, uh… Wonderful weather we're having, don'tcha think?!" she blurted, her face reddening.

I fixed her an unimpressed look. "Yeah, it's dandy. Now can you please leave me alone? I have to get to class."

"Oh, really? That's cool! Which one?"

"Science," I answered sharply, pushing past Cirno.

Cirno scrunched her face in disgust. "Bleh! The most boring class of the day, am I right?" she quipped as she accompanied me (against my will).

"Actually, it's my favorite subject."

"Ah, what I meant to say was, science is awesome! Yup, can't get enough of that science!" Cirno was as bad at lying as I was.

"I was joking, it's my least favorite."

"Huh?! Then why did you…? Hey, hang on a sec!" Cirno sped past me and cut me off again. "You're messing with me, aren't you?!" she yelled, with an angry pout.

"Wow, I'm impressed you managed to figure it out before school ended," I said dryly. "By the way, I know what you're trying to do. But I'm not your friend, and I never will be. Hell, even if I was, I already told you I can't get you into the Chess Club, so just drop it and move on with your life."

"No way!" Cirno fiercely refused. "I'll never, ever stop trying to get into the Chess Club! After that, everyone will finally know how strong I really am!" she proclaimed, while flexing her pitiful muscles.

"Well, good luck with that." I turned around and started walking away once more.

"Wait! Just give me one shot! That's all I need!" Cirno begged, as she continued to trail behind me. "There's gotta be something I can do to show you that I have what it takes! Anything! Please!"

I growled in frustration at the fairy's stubbornness, but as I went to tell her off, something Kagerou had said earlier echoed in my mind.

"While you Chess Club members might be strong, make no mistake, even the weakest youkai can be a force to be reckoned with when we all work together."

The weakest youkai, huh?

"I'll be super good, I promise! In fact, I'll be the greatest, coolest, and smartest Chess Club member ev- bweh!" Cirno bumped into my back as I stopped walking, interrupting her spiel.

"Say, Cirno… have you ever heard of a group called the Grassroots?" I tentatively asked. Don't get me wrong, the last thing I wanted to do was get Cirno involved in this of all people. But if the Grassroots really were made up of the weakest youkai in school, asking her would at least be worth a shot.

Cirno stared at me in confusion, before her eyes widened in excitement. "Oh! Oh! Do you need my help finding someone for your case?!"

"Oh God, I'm already regretting this…" I mumbled.

"Now that you mention it, I think I got a letter from those grass-whatever guys at some point."

"Wait, seriously?" I raised my eyebrows, fairly astonished. "What did it say?"

"Uh… let's see…" Cirno crossed her arms and began to rack her brain with a hard expression. I anticipated her response with bated breath. Could this have been the breakthrough we needed?

"Um… I don't remember!" Cirno eventually confessed, causing me to nearly rip my own hair out.

"Welp, thanks for wasting my time yet again, Cirno." Now more frustrated than ever, I once again turned to leave.

"Ah, wait! I think I still have it! I can find it if you give me some time! I swear!" Cirno pleaded.

"Fine, go nuts. Let me know if you find it," I flatly stated, whatever microscopic expectations I had for the ice fairy having thoroughly dried up by this point.

"You got it! Detective Cirno is on the case! I promise I won't let you down!" She gave me a salute, before flying off.

Well, at least she's finally off my back. I thought, before heading to Mrs. Yasaka's class.

Somehow, I couldn't shake the feeling that I had just made a grave mistake.

"All right, the plan is simple," Youmu started. "We perform reconnaissance on the suspect until she displays some kind of supernatural ability. Then, we capture it on video with our phones and turn it in as evidence to Principal Yukari," she explained. "What do you think?"

Admittedly, it sounded like a pretty solid plan on paper. However, I had a few reservations…

"So, we're basically going to be stalking Sekibanki?" I asked uneasily.

"W-well… I suppose some would see it that way, yes," Youmu stammered, it seemed she was just as aware of the hazy morality of this plan as I was. "But it's not as if we're doing it out of some sick pleasure, this is purely for the sake of solving the case."

"You know, something tells me repairing the Chess Club's reputation is going to be significantly harder if we're caught creeping up on a fellow student," I pointed out. "That's not going to be an easy thing to explain away, and God forbid Aya or Hatate hear about it."

"I agree, and I thought of that already," Youmu stated, to my surprise. The half-ghost proceeded to slip her backpack off and set it on the ground between us. "I asked the drama club to lend us a few disguises just for this occasion. With these, even if we are seen, there is no chance of us being recognized. Plus, they have the added bonus of rendering us entirely inconspicuous!"

"Wow… you really did think ahead. What types of disguises are they?"

"I'm glad you asked!" Youmu beamed and unzipped her bag, presenting the outfits to me. "They're perfect, right?"

…

"Uh… Adam?"

…

Welp, that does it. Time to hurl myself off a cliff.

The two of us scaled the wall at the back of the school and moved through the alleyway. Thankfully, we managed to quickly catch sight of Sekibanki as we exited onto the main road. Youmu and I collectively decided that our best course of action would be to keep as far from her as possible while still being able to see her. We would also need to hide behind things whenever we could, in order to avoid being spotted by a passerby. Why would we need to do that when we had our "inconspicuous" disguises? Well, to put it bluntly:

"Youmu, we look like a pair of serial flashers…" I whispered, as the two of us crouched behind a bush.

A pair of large, oversized trench coats that went down to our knees, a couple of fake mustaches and fedoras, accompanied by totally-not-suspicious opaque shades. Yup, we looked like flashers, all right.

"O-okay, I admit, this may not have been my best idea…" Youmu replied, shrinking behind the trenchcoat's protruding collar. "Let's just try to avoid being out in the open for too long."

With an anxious hastiness in our step, Youmu and I darted and took cover between various trees and street lights as we tailed Sekibanki. With how baggy our clothes were, it was difficult keeping up with her. Or at least it was for me. Youmu appeared to be holding up just fine, despite the extra burden. The Chess Club really were on a whole other level.

As we retreated into another alley, I took a moment to catch my breath. We were close enough to Sekibanki at this point that we could afford to take a small break. What was shocking to me however, was that nobody had managed to spot us in our Inspector Gadget cosplay yet.

"Hey, just out of curiosity, what are we going to do if Sekibanki doesn't do anything suspicious?"

"Then we'll try again tomorrow," Youmu answered resolutely. "I will try to get us better disguises though. This would be so much easier if Reisen was with us…" she added under her breath.

"I think that would be for the best." Looking down at myself, I remembered something important. "Ah crap, I just realized Dad's probably gonna ask why I'm all sweaty and out of breath when I get home."

"Why not just tell him the truth? After all, Lady Yuyuko knows about the IIC, why keep your father in the dark?"

"Are you implying that you see Ms. Saigyouji as your mother?"

"What?! Of course not!" Youmu vehemently denied, flushing all the while. "She is my mistress and nothing more! Although, I have lived with her all of my life and she is technically my legal guardian… j-just forget I said anything!" She quickly turned her back to me in a huff.

I couldn't help but chuckle at her flustered reaction. "Well, to answer your question, I mostly just don't want to worry him. Dad has enough on his plate already, especially since Mom is away on her business trip."

"Ah, I see." Youmu nodded. "It's quite admirable that you put your father's well-being before your own, but he may start to suspect something if you continue to lie to him."

Yeah, I knew that much or later, I would have to come up with a convincing enough cover story to tell my dad. "Hey, before we get too off track, can you check to see if Sekibanki's far enough away yet?"

"Oh, right. Let me see…" Youmu edged towards the entrance of the alleyway and carefully peered out. Then, her eyes widened in shock, the color draining from her face almost immediately.

"Youmu? What happened? Did she get away?" As I made my way over and followed her gaze, my heart immediately skipped a beat. Sekibanki was about a hundred feet away from our position and had stopped walking. She was also staring right at us.

Stunned into silence, Youmu and I could do nothing but watch with bated breath as the redhead continued to wordlessly eye us. Before suddenly, she grinned and fled down the block, away from us.

"What!?" Youmu shouted in surprise. "Oh no… after her!" In a flash, she sped out of the alleyway and down the sidewalk, no longer paying any mind as to who might see her.

"Youmu?! What are you-?!" With a grunt of frustration, I took off after Youmu. The weight and stuffiness of my clothes made themselves readily apparent as I ran. Suffice to say, my mobility was extremely hampered and I quickly lost sight of both Youmu and Sekibanki as they turned a nearby corner. "Hey, wait up!"

As I went around the same corner, I managed to catch a glimpse of Youmu sprinting into a cul-de-sac. Eventually, though thoroughly exhausted after my little marathon, I managed to catch up to Youmu, who had a crestfallen look on her face. Sekibanki was nowhere to be seen.

"D-dammit… where the hell did she go?!" Youmu asked through gritted teeth, clearly frustrated at our failure.

I was as lost as she was, honestly. This road was a complete dead end, with no way out besides where we had just come from. One thing was certain, if there was any doubt that Sekibanki wasn't a youkai, it was completely dashed with this.

"Youmu… we should get out of here," I suggested. While I hated to admit it, the fact of the matter was we had been duped. The only thing we could do now was regroup and try to make sense of what had just happened.

"Yes, I suppose you are right…" Youmu let out a disheartened exhale. "Come, let-"

"Eek! Flashers!"

Youmu and I whirled at the sound of the scream. A group of high schoolers stood across the street, already beginning to take photos of us with their phones.

"No, wait! It's not what it looks like!" I insisted, frantically waving my hands in front of me. "We were just- oomph!" I was taken off guard as Youmu abruptly scooped me up in her arms and launched into the air.

"There's no point! We have disguises, let's just run!" Youmu yelled, even though she was already carrying me. I desperately clung to her trench coat as we soared away from the gawking students, who continued to snap pictures of us all the while.

I threw off my backpack and collapsed onto my bed with a soft thud. My whole body was still sore from everything that happened, and I wanted nothing more than to drift to sleep and forget all of my troubles. Unfortunately, that wasn't in the cards for me just yet, as Youmu had said she would text me about the case after she dropped me off at my house. With a groan of pain, I sat up and started idly browsing through my phone, waiting for said text to arrive.

After a while, my phone buzzed, a notification popping up at the top.

[Unknown: I just don't understand any of it.]

There she was. I did the usual drill of adding her to my contacts.

[Me: Same here.]

[Youmu: She didn't give any indication that she knew we were following her and we remained relatively well-hidden the entire time. How did she manage to suddenly figure it out?]

[Youmu: Oh, sorry. It's Youmu by the way.]

That made me roll my eyes.

[Me: Yeah, I know. And as for your question, I can think of a couple answers.]

[Youmu: Lay them on me.]

[Me: Well, either the Grassroots tipped her off or she used her youkai abilities to sniff us out. Either one is entirely possible.]

[Youmu: So, we're certain that she's a youkai now, correct? I guess between this and her disappearing as we were chasing her, there aren't really other alternatives…]

You can say that again, I thought. Still, one thing that was bothering me…

[Me: Why do you think Sekibanki is so desperate to hide it? That she's a youkai, I mean.]

[Youmu: I honestly don't know, there could be any multitude of reasons. Though I don't really feel that's what's important right now.]

I frowned at how easily Youmu hand-waved my question, but at the same time I knew she was right. There were far more pressing matters to discuss.

[Me: So, let me address the elephant in the room: the Grassroots.]

It took a lot longer than normal for her to respond this time. The message Youmu is typing… appeared and disappeared at least three times from the bottom of the screen before she finally replied.

[Youmu: I don't even know where to begin on that subject. The fact that no one has even heard of them before is significantly worrying to me.]

[Me: Well, maybe not no one, per se.]

[Youmu: What do you mean?]

I fidgeted, contemplating whether to tell Youmu or not.

[Me: Don't get angry but…I may have asked Cirno about them.]

There was a very long beat.

[Youmu: What]

[Youmu: why would you do that]

[Me: To be honest, I just wanted to get her off my back.]

[Me: But she did say she got a letter from them at some point, if she finds it, maybe we can get some insight into the Grassroots?]

[Youmu: Be that as it may, please do not make decisions that could seriously affect the case behind my back. What if Cirno decides to investigate the Grassroots herself and jeopardizes our search?]

I winced at Youmu's reproachful message, now heavily remorseful about my actions.

[Me: I'm sorry, I don't know what I was thinking. I promise it won't happen again.]

[Youmu: I'm not angry with you, I just don't want us to be uncoordinated. If we're going to solve this case, we need to be able to communicate and trust each other.]

[Me: Yeah, I know. Sorry again.]

[Youmu: I suppose what's done is done. Please inform me if Cirno discovers anything useful, okay?]

Had she forgotten that this was Cirno we were talking about?

[Me: Got it.]

[Me: So… what now?]

[Youmu: Well, now that Sekibanki knows we were following her, our work probably just got a lot more difficult. However, one thing is certain, if we're going to discover the truth about Sekibanki, we'll need to gather more information about the Grassroots first.]

[Me: Plus there's still that bracelet Mrs. Yakumo gave us.]

[Youmu: Urgh. There are far too many questions floating around in my head right now. I do have to wonder what Lady Yukari's angle is in all of this, she's not one to do things without purpose.]

I heavily disagreed with that statement, but chose to keep it to myself for now.

[Youmu: Regardless, we'll have to come up with another plan going forward. Don't hesitate to tell me if you get any ideas.]

[Me: Gotcha. See you at school tomorrow.]

[Youmu: Likewise.]

I prepared to put my phone away, but just as I did, there was another message from Youmu.

[Youmu: Oh, and while we should solve this case in a timely manner, please do not let it stress you out too much or distract you from your studies. Your health and grades come first, after all.]

I paused. For some reason, it seemed like my room had gotten just a tiny bit warmer.

[Me: Right, thanks.]

Placing my phone on my nightstand, I decided to take Youmu's advice and wind down after my long and arduous day. Surely the answers would come to me eventually, right? Well, even if they didn't, it wouldn't be that much of a big deal. My life was already at nearly its lowest point, so regardless of what the future held, there was literally nowhere to go but up.

Or at least, that's what I told myself.

With my nerves somewhat assuaged, it wasn't long before my eyes fluttered shut as I allowed the comforting embrace of sleep to take me away.