Chapter 14: The real culprit
Finally, Mrs. Hanazaki returned and found a group of peculiar children sitting quietly around a tea table in the garden.
"Oh, what's going on here? Who are you all?" she asked.
Nokoru stood up first, breaking the silence with a graceful and polite speech:
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Hanazaki! Allow me to introduce myself. I am Imonoyama Nokoru, and this is Takamura Suoh, Ijyuin Akira form Clamp school's Elementary Student Council. This young lady is Ohkawa Mako and I guess you already know Ichikawa Seiji and Ichikawa Setsu. We all are friends of Kanon. We heard she was feeling unwell today, so we took the liberty to visit. We hope we are not causing any inconvenience to your family!"
Mrs. Hanazaki chuckled, quickly won over by the charming gentlemanly appearance of Nokoru:
"Oh, you are not a bother at all. It's a pleasure to have you all here. Let me go prepare some tea and snacks. That little Kanon is such a handful, doesn't know how to entertain guests properly."
She then disappeared into the kitchen to prepare tea and snacks for them. Before closing the door, Kanon felt like her mother was glancing at the Ichikawa brothers. As the door closed, a new debate arose, as if the previous silence had never existed.
"Is that Kanon-senpai's mother? She looks just like her, beautiful and graceful!"
Mako spoke up in a flattering tone. Kanon truly didn't want to think of the term "flattery" when referring to the elegant and proud Ohkawa princess, but what Mako was displaying now was hard to describe with any other words.
"Cough cough cough!"
Setsu choked on his own saliva, then tried to contain his laughter. Seiji noticed his cousin's discomfort and quickly patted his back to help him, but in Kanon's eyes, it wasn't just a regular pat on the back; it seemed more like they were practicing martial arts.
This is definitely not the sound of a regular pat on the back.*
"What's wrong, Setsu? Are you okay? Do you need more pats from me?"
"I-I'm... fi-fine..."
"What are you saying? I can't hear you clearly. Still choking? Let me take care of it!"
And another round of pats ensued, causing the four members of the detective team, including Kanon, to stare wide-eyed and break out in a cold sweat. It seemed that Seiji was not one to be messed with. Kanon silently felt lucky to be considered his "lady". Mako, on the other hand, remained calm amidst this public display of torture, disguised as caring concern. She modestly tucked away her story with a graceful demeanor that was indescribable, her face filled with endless sorrow that touched the hearts of all who saw her.
Seeing the "unhappy" expression of a "girl" in front of him, Nokoru immediately turned his attention to his noble mission, naturally stepping forward towards Mako, kneeling down, and gently lifting the princess-like hands of Ohkawa, asking:
- Ohkawa-hime? Are you okay? Shouldn't these eyes be filled with smiles instead of worries like this? Is there anything that the Clamp School Detective Team can help you with?
Mako shook her cute head and continued to put her story draft into her bag, but in her confusion, she accidentally dropped a piece of paper that was tucked inside the draft. The paper flew in a zigzag path and landed at Kanon's feet. Kanon, not curious or intending to see what the paper was, couldn't ignore it when it appeared right in front of her and was a matter of concern. The paper was the threatening letter she had been receiving recently, with letters cut out from the magazine "Stay Away from Student Council President Imonoyama Nokoru."
"Oh, don't look at that, it's..."
Mako exclaimed upon realizing what the paper she dropped was, but it was too late. Kanon widened her eyes as she looked at the paper, then at Mako, and at that moment, everyone at the table leaned in to read it.
At this point, the silence was greater than before.
And then, Mako herself, the one who caused the silence, broke that silence.
"Ah, honestly, I have been already exposed! I even want to send more letters to Kanon-sensei."
Now it was the turn of all six people sitting here to widen their eyes and gape at the elegant and graceful princess Ohkawa Mako, who was shaking her head with a vibrant and dreamy expression.
Skipping over many details about each person's expressions, the author didn't want to turn her work into a Clamp version of some Bollywood films.
"Well, the thing is, I just felt jealous of Imonoyama Kaichou, that's all."
The little princess Ohkawa regained her graceful demeanor, calmly poured tea that Mrs. Hanazaki brought out for them, and began her story.
"Just because of jealousy?"
Suoh asked in disbelief, still not trusting his own ears and eyes. If today's story was told by his Kaichou, he would surely think that Nokoru was joking. How could there be such a reason for sending threatening letters to her own idol? Shouldn't this letter be sent to the Kaichou instead?
"Of course, it's also because I want Kanon-sensei to have more material for writing detective stories. Furthermore, staying away from Imonoyama Kaichou will make Kanon-sensei happier, more focused, and able to complete the work faster, giving her more time to rest and relax.
Mako smiled brightly as she listed all the benefits of avoiding Nokoru, making him feel more and more heartbroken.
So the case of the threatening letters to Kanon was resolved as simply as if it had never happened. The young master of Imonoyama zaibatsu sat marveling at the world. While he and his two friends ran around searching for clues, the motive of the letter writer to Kanon was unexpectedly twisted and the culprit's motivation was surprisingly simple. Nokoru thought, it seemed that more learning was needed, strengthening crime-solving skills, and expanding knowledge about women. Thinking about this, the fiery enthusiasm burned in the beautiful, passionate eyes of the young Nokoru made Suoh sigh deeply, wondering who would take care of the pile of papers for theỉ student council.
The story of the threatening letter sent to Midoriko was easier to solve. Nokoru and his two friends figured out the culprit's letter sending rountine. The culprit was very familiar with Midoriko's study and activities schedule, but did not send a letter every day. Midoriko only visited about five places at specific times, so the letters were sent each day of the week except for Saturday and Sunday. Specifically, on Monday, the letter was sent to the shoe locker because Midoriko usually arrived early on Mondays, so few people noticed when she received the letter, and no one knew when it was placed there. On Tuesday, the letter was sent to the desk in the classroom because during the second period on Tuesdays, Midoriko had a self-study session. On Wednesday, the letter was placed in the lunch tray where Midoriko set her tea cup when she came to have tea. On Thursday, the letter was placed in the book Midoriko borrowed from the library, but the letter only appeared when she brought the book outside. On Friday, the letter was tied to a lavender plant she cared for in the greenhouse.
Based on these observations during the two weeks Midoriko received threatening letters, Nokoru rechecked the list of volunteers at the cafeteria and school library, as the person who placed the letters in the tea tray and the book in the library during registration could only be a school staff member or a volunteer student. The list of volunteers was narrowed down to only five students. Staff members were eliminated first because they could only work in one place and could not hold multiple positions, so only volunteer students could work in multiple places with flexible hours. Among the five suspected students, only one had the same schedule as Midoriko. That was Kanazawa-senpai, who was in a class above her, and who had been "taught a lesson" by Midoriko when she gave gift to Nokoru in the classroom hallway.
With those clear evidence and motive, Suoh wanted to quickly solve the case, but looking at the thoughtful expression on Nokoru's face, Suoh remembered, Kanazawa-senpai was a female student. That's right, that's why all three Clamp school detectives were hiding in the greenhouse corner on Friday afternoon. The reason Nokoru chose this day and place to catch the culprit was because he didn't want anyone else to know about it, and he also wanted to hear the "female culprit" explain why she behaved that way. Usually, after 4 pm, Midoriko would come to take care of the lavender and hydrangea bushes in the east corner of the greenhouse, so the detective trio arrived here at 3 pm. As predicted, around 3:15 pm, a figure opened the greenhouse door and gently walked into the east corner. From the detectives' vantage point, they could only see the culprit's silhouette, a tall girl with shoulder-length wavy hair. Just as the girl was about to pull out a rolled-up paper to tie to a plant, Nokoru suddenly spoke up:
"Those flowers are really pretty, aren't they, senpai?"
Nokoru stepped out of hiding, confidently approaching the startled girl, who turned shakily towards him. When she confirmed that the person speaking was her idol, she frightened, dropped the letter she was holding. Suoh and Akira remained hidden, observing the situation, ready to act if anything happened, not being constrained by focusing too much on the culprit. Meanwhile, Nokoru moved closer, bending down to pick up the letter. As he raised his head, he saw the panic and deep embarrassment in the girl's eyes, her lips trembling as she stuttered:
'That... I... I... didn't..."
"Senpai, you don't need to be so scared, everything can be..."
But before he could finish his sentence, the girl snatched the letter from his hand and ran out of the greenhouse. However, because she was running too fast in her distressed state, she ran in the wrong direction. Nokoru worried and immediately chased after her.
"There, that's..." Suoh exclaimed, horrified as he remembered the map he had seen earlier of the greenhouse area where the girl and Nokoru were heading was the southern corner, where they were preparing to plant new trees. The ground was all dug up and messy as part of the land renovation process, with deep wide holes dug for transfering mature fruit trees into. It wouldn't be good if someone accidentally fell into one of those holes.
Suoh and Akira both rushed to intervene, knowing that Nokoru was aware of the danger and was chasing after the girl. But in her panicked state, she wouldn't stop for anything. As predicted, the girl reached the southern corner and fell into one of the holes. Nokoru used all his strength to rush forward and managed to grab her hand just as she fell, but the ground was soft and loose, causing him to slip as well. If it had been a rock, there would have been something to hold onto, but unfortunately, the sandy soil had been recently sifted, leaving no grip. Nokoru couldn't find anything to hold onto, while Suoh and Akira were still some distance away. Suoh looked around desperately for something to use as a rope to pull them up, but all he had on him were weapons. A thin steel wire was too fragile and could risk cutting Nokoru's hand. Suoh took a risk and threw a kunai into the collapsing ground in front of Nokoru. Nokoru grabbed it, but because the ground was too soft and both of them were heavy, they continued to slip down. At that moment, Nokoru thought of the worst case scenario of throwing himself down to cushion the fall for the girl, but both he and the girl seemed to be held back by a very strong force and were lifted up.
At that moment, Nokoru thought of the worst-case scenario: to throw himself down first to cushion the fall for the girl. Miraculously, their combined strength held them back, and they were able to pull themselves up. The sandy ground below also stopped sinking, becoming firm and providing a solid base for Nokoru to hold onto and pull the girl up. Just as half of the girl was pulled up from the mouth of the pit, the soil continued to collapse. Suoh and Akira then rushed forward to grab their Kaichou and pull him up along with the girl.
After that, the Detective Team had helped Kanazawa-senpai calm down, explained to Midoriko what had happened, and reconciled the two of them in order to rescue the souls of those fangirls from the dark and confusing idol obsession. Kanon did what she could, she had tried her best to buy time to save Nokoru and that senior so they could hold on until Suoh and Akira arrived. However, she suspected that with Nokoru's extraordinary mind, he would eventually figure out something was amiss. Despite her thoughts, Kanon was not afraid at all because why would Nokoru doubt her?
Throughout the week, Kanon had been contemplating her situation, the physical changes within her, and she believed she was gradually getting used to this body, or one could say she had completely merged with this body and this world, which made her emotional expressions clearer. However, she was unaware of the mysteries hidden within her original self, and she would continue to act as if she didn't know until someone volunteered to tell her. She was very experienced in avoiding her own curiosity, as it would only lead to opening a Pandora's box of dangers, for which she would have no one to blame but herself. She would wait for the secrets to reveal themselves, and when they did, she would accept them without resistance, as she was not one to oppose fate. Honestly, waiting for fate to unfold upon her head was quite thrilling.
While Kanon eagerly awaited, Seiji and Setsu observed her from a large tree branch. Seiji appeared to have known for a while but was still amazed, while Setsu had a twisted expression as if he was in a deep internal struggle.
"Setsu, there's no need to look so unpleasant, right? You're embarrassing our samurai reputation too much!"
Seiji spoke up, his tone slightly teasing. Setsu, at this point, didn't bother to pay attention, just incredulously asked:
"Isn't she the one..."
Before he could finish, Seiji covered his mouth, and after a while, he let go, looking at his younger cousin's flushed face due to lack of breath, he said in a low voice:
"That is not something to be said casually."
"Isn't it?"
At this point, Setsu was truly horrified and fell silent.
Seiji now looked towards Kanon's figure on the other side, his gaze becoming more determined. Indeed, two years ago, he had decided to protect this girl. Back then, he was worried if the time came for the clan to find the person they truly needed to protect, would he have to leave her? But luckily, incredibly lucky, she turned out to be the chosen one. Ignoring Setsu still catching his breath there, Seiji jumped down and walked towards Kanon.
