The last four days of the exams went particularly well for me. Aside from being exhausted from doing nothing but sit in the same chair filling in multiple choice bubbles and writing open response essays, I felt fairly confident about my grade. When the last of the exams were finally over, a wave of relief washed over me. It was such a delightful feeling. There were only two more days of school separating me from Sunday.
Shortly after the dismissal bell rang, I gathered with Rise-san and Kanji-kun to discuss our feelings on the midterms.
"Ugh," Rise-san groaned, sinking against the wall in the hallway, just outside of my homeroom. "I'm sooo glad that's finally over!"
"I must admit, I am much relieved as well," I agreed.
"You know what?" said Rise-san, "I don't care what kind of grade I got. I've decided that there's no point in whining over something I can't help!"
"I'm truly sorry that I could not have been of more use to you," I apologized, "I would have tutored you if given the chance."
"It's alright," Rise assured me, "We got to study last Sunday, and I guess that was good enough." She looked over at Kanji-kun. "Hey, Kanji, you're being awfully quiet. Is something up?"
Kanji seemed to answer curtly before she could even finish her sentence. "'Course nothing's up! Why would you think anything like that? Huh!?"
Rise smirked. "Well, well, Kanji-kun, you sure are making it seem like that!"
"Yeah, yeah," Kanji said, crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall and refusing to make eye contact with either of us, "Shut your yap. You're sure as hell lucky you're a girl, 'cuz if you weren't I'd smack the shit outta your smug-ass face."
"Is there something wrong, Kanji-kun?" I asked, "I might be able to be of assistance, if that is the case…"
He still refused to look at me. His cold, grey eyes stared dart-like down the first year hallway. "Shut up, Naoto, there's nothing wrong." He reclusively shoved his hands in the pockets of his pants. "Christ. Why's everyone always think there's something wrong with me? Whatever, I'm outta here. I gotta go help out the old lady at the shop. Later." He began to walk off down the hallway without so much as a glance back.
Rise-san frowned as we both watched him leave. "I don't get it," she said, "Kanji's not usually like this. He's been acting all weird lately, but whenever anyone asks him if something's wrong, he gets all defensive like that."
This was news to my ears. "Really? He's not usually like this?" I contemplatively rested the side of my index finger beneath my chin. "When I first met him, back when I was investigating him for the case, he acted very much like this. He would often act as if he were very anxious, but when I would ask him if he was alright, he would get defensive then as well. That is when I began to suspect that he had some sort of inferiority complex. Truthfully, that theory has since been lingering with me in my mind." I thought to myself about why this might be, and after a while, I frowned. "Do you suppose… That maybe he doesn't like me?"
Rise-san practically laughed out loud. "No, silly! In fact, I think it might be the opposite."
I felt my face go red, and I began to sweat profusely. I wished that she would stop bringing up this ridiculous nonsense. "R-Rise-san, please! I would appreciate it if you ceased with this foolish game. It is not entertaining in the least to me!"
"Oh, quiet, Naoto-kun!" Rise snapped, "I'm not joking around this time. I think it really could be true!"
This time, her tone was serious, rather than smug. My face went from bright red to pale white. "A-are you serious? Y-you really think that Kanji-kun… Feels that way about me?"
"I've been thinking that for some time," Rise-san said, "And trust me, I know love when I see it."
The repulsive L-word forced a bad taste into my mouth. My nose wrinkled and my stomach churned the moment the dreadful word escaped her lips. "R-Rise-san… I apologize, but… I don't exactly know how to react to this theory of yours…" I began to feel woozy.
"Well," Rise-san said, "What do you think about him? Do you feel anything for him?"
I wrapped an arm around my stomach, and with the hand on the opposite arm, I pressed my knuckles into my forehead. "K-Kanji-kun…? I admit, he's a fairly interesting type, and he's bound to stir up emotions in some person, but…"
"But…?" Rise-san said eagerly.
"But… I-I don't… Really feel anything toward anyone, to be completely honest, for the time being… Such emotions are of no use to me, personally. My only interest is in bettering myself as a detective… As well as a friend."
Rise-san seemed slightly disappointed. "Aww, that's no fun! It'd be fun to pair you up with someone! You of all people deserve a nice guy, Naoto-kun."
I stared blankly at her. "Believe me, Rise-san, I am definitely in no need of 'love' at the moment. My main priority is and will always be my career as a detective."
Rise-san sighed, but also smiled. "Alright. In that case, I'll try to stop bugging you about Kanji. But no promises made, alright?" she giggled in a cute yet sinister fashion.
"It would be preferable if promises were made," I said, "But thank you for your effort."
The next morning, Rise-san and I were walking up the road at Samegawa as we did quite frequently in the mornings before school. Our walks were usually quiet for the most part, but we would sometimes chat about small things that were not necessarily important. We had been exchanging opinions on certain things pertaining to school, when suddenly we were interrupted by a distant, familiar voice.
"Naoto-kun! Rise-chan!"
The high-pitched voice was indubitably Yosuke's, as I could tell before turning around to see him running up the road toward us. Initially, I braced myself for whatever useless nonsense he had to offer, until he came close enough that I could see the seriousness in his face.
"Guys," he panted once he reached us, a tone of great urgency sounding in his voice. However, he seemed to be out of breath.
"Jeez," Rise-san said, not seeming to sense the seriousness, "You should really get in better shape."
"Not now!" Yosuke snapped, "This is seriously important!"
"What is it, Yosuke-san?" I asked.
He forced the words through the heaving of his breath. "It's Narukami."
Alarm bells sounded in my mind. "Senpai!? What happened to him!?" Rise-san seemed to look concerned as well.
"He called me just as I left my house," Yosuke huffed, "He said that last night he got a letter in the mail… Telling him not to rescue any more people!"
My eyes widened.
"No way!" Rise-san gasped, even more surprised than I was, "Who was it from!?"
"Why the hell would he know who it was from!?" Yosuke-san bellowed.
"I don't know!" Rise-san squealed, "It doesn't hurt to ask!"
Yosuke growled, and then turned directly to me. "Naoto, he told me specifically that he wanted you to take a look at it."
Me? Senpai wanted me to look at it? I began to feel flushed. W-why me, in particular? Oh, right, because I am a detective… Silly me… I nodded once. "Understood. I shall see what I can tell about it."
Yosuke nodded. "As soon as school gets out, we should all meet at Junes to talk about it."
I shook my head. "No. We shouldn't meet in such a public place. We have no idea who the culprit is, and now we know that they know about us rescuing the victims. For all we know, the culprit could be watching us from where we meet. I suggest that we should gather in a more private location… Such as the roof of the school building, for example."
"Yeah, that makes sense, I guess," Yosuke said, "Alright, I'll tell the others to meet on the roof. And come as soon as school gets out! Don't wait!"
Rise-san and I nodded, and we all made our way to our respectable classes. I could barely pay attention to any of the lectures that day.
Just as Yosuke had asked, we all gathered on the roof of the school immediately after the dismissal bell rang. Fortunately, no other students were there. It was a suitable time and place to begin our analysis. When we all stood in a circle, Yu-senpai took out of an envelope a small, white piece of letter paper and showed us the note he had received.
It was a very plain piece of paper, and in the center were small words printed with no capitalization or punctuation, "dont rescue anymore". When I beheld this note, I couldn't help but chuckle quietly to myself. It was too perfect, and too cliche, as if I had actually been transported into a crime novel.
"'dont rescue anymore'..." I read aloud, "Is this a warning?"
"No punctuation or capitalization…" Chie-san said, "What a cliche."
"Ain't this just a prank?" Kanji-kun spoke up, "The kinda stuff that only happens in the movies?"
"Did you show this to your uncle?" Yosuke asked.
"I don't plan to," said Yu-senpai.
I immediately agreed with him. We would have been in deep trouble if Dojima-san had gotten too suspicious. "Senpai…" I said, "Dojima-san is trustworthy, but it may be best to keep this to ourselves. He will ask why you received such a letter, and if he were to put you under surveillance, our hands would be tied. If this letter is real, what's most important isn't what it says… It's the fact that it was delivered to the Dojima residence, addressed directly to you.
This means the culprit knows in great detail who has been interfering with his crimes… And of all of us, he chose to deliver his message to the Dojima residence, home of a police detective. I'd have this letter checked at a crime lab if I could… But even then, I doubt they'd find anything." I thought briefly to myself, reading the words over inside my head. "dont rescue anymore"… "The text is a warning, while the subtext expresses the culprit's confidence that we can't use it to pinpoint his identity."
"So it's useless to call the police…" Chie-san said disappointedly, "In fact, that would make things worse."
"Cross your fingers it's just a prank…" said Yosuke.
"I think the chances of that are slim…" Yukiko-san said. "This message is too specific, too perfect to be a prank. But how could the killer know so much about us? Could he be watching us from somewhere…?"
"Teddie's been saying for a while that when we're over there, he senses someone watching us…" Yosuke said, "Wait… Every time we went to the other side to rescue someone, did we end up on the Midnight Channel ourselves…?"
"I-I dunno…" Chie-san looked worried. "It seems like no one else knows what we're doing. I haven't heard any rumors about us at school. Even the people who I know check that channel haven't said anything… The only gossip I heard was about the people who disappeared."
"I see," Yosuke said, deep in thought, "Come to think of it, how the Midnight Channel works is still a mystery…"
"Let's put aside for now the matter of what that world truly is," I decided, "There's too little data to go on. For now, we need to keep in mind that the culprit knows who we are… As long as we're all aware of that, it will be enough for now."
"Yeah," said Yosuke, "Guess there's no use thinking about stuff we can't understand.
Freaking out over speculation is just what the killer wants us to do… Right?"
"This could come in handy," said Yu-senpai.
"...Yeah," Chie agreed uneasily.
"We'll have to wait until the situation changes," Yu declared.
"All right," said Chie-san, "Mind if I change the subject, then? The Culture Festival's just around the corner. What's our class doing again?"
"Oh yeah," said Yosuke-kun, "It hasn't been decided yet, huh?"
"I heard we'll be voting on it soon," said Yukiko, "But aren't they still gathering ideas?"
I suddenly caught a glimpse of Yosuke-kun as he smirked deviously. I was frightened to think of what he could possibly be thinking about, but I also did not want to know.
Chie-san seemed to notice as well. "Whoa… I think Yosuke just got hit with a bolt of inspiration… Whatever it is, it'll be out there. I'd bet my lunch on it." That was a bold thing for Chie-san to say. In that case, I definitely did not want to know.
"Hey Senpai," Rise-san blushed over at Yu-kun, "Have you decided who you'll be going around the campus with during the festival? My schedule's still wide open, you lucky guy!"
"Urgh," Chie-san growled, "She just had to say something…"
I agreed. For some reason, Rise-san was irritating me slightly more than usual.
When I returned home, I nearly crashed into Yakushiji-san as he burst out through the front door. I froze in my steps as my face lightly brushed against his tie. He was wearing a sleek, black suit which looked somewhat more formal than his usual attire. In his right hand, he held a pair of simple black sunglasses.
"Oh! Er… Naoto-sama…" He seemed somewhat flustered and caught off-guard. "You're home slightly later than usual…"
"Yes, well," I cleared my throat as we both quickly backed away from each other, "I had some… Rather important matters to attend to after school…" Thinking about it briefly, I decided that just as Yu-senpai should not tell Dojima about any factor of our secret investigation, I should not tell Yakushiji-san, or even my grandfather, no matter how trustworthy either of them were. I could have endured the same fate as Senpai if my intentions were discovered, as well.
"Right, right…" Yakushiji-san nervously cleared his throat, not seeming as if he was particularly suspicious or even interested at all in what I had to say. He adjusted his tie. "Well, I suppose I'd be off, then…" He began to hurry down the front steps of the estate.
"Yes, very well," I said, hurrying up the stairs and propping open the front door. Then, I turned around, feeling confused. "Wait one moment… Yakushiji-san, what are you doing leaving so early? And why are you dressed like some sort of secret agent from a science fiction film?"
He froze in his tracks just before reaching his car. "Oh, your grandfather just called and asked me to run out to the shopping district to pick up a few things. I won't be gone long."
"...So why are you wearing a suit?"
He was silent for a few moments. "...It is my guilty pleasure."
I was about to ask what he meant by that, but I decided that I did not want to know.