Chapter Text
“I got you… I finally caught you… Your true self will be exposed to the entire world… Watame.” Miko’s face remains with that evil look, ready to start a new battle against a serial killer.
“Errr… Mikochi” Suisei, who right now is standing behind her crush’s desk, can’t help but feel that she has to interrupt what the pink girl is thinking or something really bad might happen. She gets close to her crush’s ear and whispers, “Mikochi, even though your evil face is super hot, plus I absolutely f*cking love everything about you… I think that accusing someone of being the killer without any evidence is not correct...”
“Shut it, Hoshimachi… You are not me… You don’t know anything…” Miko, despite not looking at Suisei while speaking, can still give her goosebumps with her cold and harsh tone.
“Better safe than sorry!” Suisei feels slightly upset at how her crush didn’t seem to listen to anything she said, still she tries to hold back her anger and continue. “Mikochi, I hate to say this… but I really think you should listen to what other people say more. Remember what you did to me? It might happen again, if you are so impulsive!”
Miko’s eyes opened a little bit in surprise, she felt guilty for a moment, but this quickly turned into anger towards her partner. “Hmmm… so now you are taking sides with her? For you to suddenly defend Watame like this…” Miko stares at Suisei with much suspicion while narrowing her eyes to investigate the blue girl’s face. “…Did Watame brainwash you?”
“…” Suisei is speechless by what Miko said. She can’t help but feel… “Mikochi, don’t tell me…” surprisingly… “You are…” super duper… “…Jealous of me and Watame!?” …HAPPY! To see that her crush seems to get jealous when she sees her talks and cares about other girls. “Oh gosh~ Mikochi is such a cute tsundere~ She loves her Sui-chan too much after all~” Right now, Suisei is in her own world, fantasizing about which dress she will wear in her and Miko's marriage ceremony. “Ouch!” Sadly, all her fantasies have to end, thanks to Miko pinching her arm super hard.
“Answer me.” Miko, without weakening her fingers that are still pinching Suisei’s arm, glares at her without looking away. She needs an answer now.
“Ouch! Ok! Ok! I will answer!” Suisei whimpers. “I didn’t get brainwashed by her! Believe me!” Miko hardened her pinching strength more, enough to tell Suisei that her answer still doesn’t satisfy the detective. “Ouch! I just simply watched her perform on the stage and didn’t find anything suspicious from her!” The pink girl is not stepping her pinching, staring at the blue girl with cold eyes. “OUCHH! ISN’T THAT ENOUGH ALREADY!?”
Before Suisei’s arm can get any more pinches and red marks, someone helps her out. “Are you two having fun gossiping loudly there?” Korone, with her usual friendly smile, asks just because she wants to join the conversation too.
“Miko-nyesan!” The other pink haired girl yells. “Next time don’t forget to include Koyo and Korone-chan into the conversation please!” Koyori says while puffing out her cheek, clearly feeling upset about something. “Besides, your faces are too close…” She mumbles quietly without letting anyone hear.
“Oh… haha, my bad.” Thanks to what she has on her mind, Miko totally forgot about her surroundings and how she and Suisei gossip that can be seen by anyone in the room. She makes a gesture with her head to her detective partner, who gets the message and returns to her desk.
Now that the conversation is over, Miko returns to reality, and that reality is the full chaos inside her classroom, with a lot of students screaming and the teacher on her knees crying helplessly for being ignored by everyone.
“Shishiron… She… Eh?” Nene says with a very weak voice as she falls back into her seat, having a blank stare on her face.
“Nenechi! Oi, are you ok!?” Polka shouts with concern. The extroverted blonde quickly stands up and tries to help her best friend, who is not responding to any attempt Polka does to release her from her mental shock.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! I KNEW IT!!! THIS SCHOOL IS CURSED!! EVERYONE IS CURSED!!” Rushia screams like a crazy woman, giving the impression to Miko that her classmate has finally lost the last bit of sanity she had.
Miko’s eyes wander around the classroom, analyzing the reaction of her classmates. She can see with surprise how Nanashi Mumei doesn’t care at all about this news, smiling creepily as always while looking outside the window. Fubuki is now helping Polka to wake up the shocked Nene. Shion remains on her seat, looking like she is doing her best to not throw up, covering her mouth. Lastly, Towa is in silence, looking with a serious expression at her desk.
“Hmhp! Dumbmachi. It’s pointless to find any other culprits when it’s pretty obvious who is the killer…” Miko thinks to herself with annoyance and stubbornness, sighing and looking somewhere else while holding her right cheek with her hand.
“EVERYONE!!!” Lamy suddenly yells, “PLEASE! JUST PLEASE! PLEASE LISTEN TO WHAT I HAVE TO SAY!” Everyone in class becomes quiet, some even are shocked to see Lamy raising her voice. The teacher, after catching her breath, continues to say “I’m sorry for yelling at you… But this is very serious, I would love everyone to calm down first, alright?” Lamy, even in this hard situation, tries her best to force a smile to calm down her beloved students. Everyone seems to agree with her, except that one person.
“No.” The green haired girl speaks, making everyone dumbfounded by what she said. “NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO… NO” Rushia keeps repeating the word ‘No’ after and after, making her look very crazy right now. But there is something worse from her waiting for them to see next. “NO NO NO!!! WHAT DID U MEAN BY CALM DOWN, YOU BITCH!? IT’S TOO LATE TO f*ckING CALM DOWN! EVERYONE IS f*ckING DEAD AT THIS POINT! THE SCHOOL IS CURSED!!! THERE IS NO TURNING BACK! CAN’T YOU SEE HOW EVERYONE IN OUR SCHOOL SLOWLY DIES AFTER ONE AND ANOTHER!? WITH NO KILLER! NO EVIDENCE! ONLY CURSED! YOU ALL ARE CURSED AND WE ARE GOING TO DIE!!! HOW ARE WE GOING TO REACT KNOWING THAT!? CALMING DOWN!? MY ASS!”
“Uruha-san…” Lamy says with shock. Not only, she is shocked, but the whole classroom as well.
“URUHA-SAN NOTHING! AND BESIDES… WHO THE f*ck ARE YOU!?” It was in this moment when everyone remembered that Rushia didn’t come to class since Mio’s death, she completely skipped Lamy’s introduction to this story.
“I-” Lamy tries to speak but again is interrupted by a crazy scream coming from the menhera girl. Rushia ends up running away from the classroom once again. Lamy is about to also do the same action as her student but while crying when a voice that comes from the speakers says…
“Attention everyone. This is an emergency call from the principal of Anzen High School. Everyone’s presence is required in the school’s gym. This includes teachers and students. I repeat, everyone has to come to the school’s gym at this exact moment.” The voice from the principal repeats this message for at least 1 minute.
“A sudden meeting?” Miko suddenly thinks to herself. “We didn’t have any meetings when Mio-sensei and Higure-san died…” Sakura thinks about this issue when suddenly she has a flashback, seeing in her head Pekora’s funeral. “Tch!”
The students again start to gossip between them when Lamy clears her throat, successfully stealing their attention this time. “Students, please pay attention.” Everyone is looking at her now. Internally Lamy really feels like screaming and doing a victory pose, but she knows that as an adult she can’t. “Your principal has something very serious to say to all of you. You guys already know the reason for this meeting, so let’s hurry up and go to our gym.”
The class 2-C (Miko and Suisei’s classroom) finally obey the instructions from their homeroom teacher and follow every single order she gives them until they arrive at the school gym. They aren’t the last ones to arrive, and yet the gym is already full of students. Our two protagonists notice how Amelia’s class (2-A), Sora’s class (2-B) are here, while Watame’s (2-D) and Botan’s (2-E) classes seem to be late.
Miko, as the class rep, is the first one in the line of her class, which means she is closer to the stage, where the principal who is a bald old man called Daisuke is waiting for the arrival of the last students. The pink haired student is doing her best to ignore all the chit chat from her detective partner, Sora’s silly attempts to call her attention and Amelia’s stare.
Sakura sighs. “This will be a pain…” She already knows the reason why Sora and Amelia want to have a conversation with her at this moment, but after that mini argument with Suisei she is not in the mood to be criticized again for blaming Watame as the culprit. “And where is that woman? Is she not going to show up? Heh, this only gives me the reason…” She thinks to herself.
In that exact moment is when the last two classes finally show up. As the class rep, Tsunomaki Watame is the first person in the line from her classroom, followed by Ceres Reina, a pretty green haired girl who uses glasses and is the vice class represent. And from class 2-E the only people Miko can recognize are the class reps and Gawr Gura from the council.
The pink detective can’t help but give a glance full of hate towards the blonde idol who is right next to her on her right side. The idol looks pretty normal today, dressed in her highschool uniform and not her fancy idol dress. Watame doesn’t look sad or horrified by the current situation, Miko can notice, but she can also see that Watame seems to be a bit down, chatting with Ceres Reina, who looks shocked.
Tsunomaki finally notices the evident angry stare from the pink haired girl. Her first reaction is indifference towards Miko, but then she smiles as she always uses to do. “Oh, good morning, Sakura-san. I still can’t believe the sudden news about the death of that student… Shishiro Botan, right? As the school bully she was kinda scary but still the way she died… It's kinda creepy, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, it’s indeed very horrible what happened to Shishiro-san… But well, I’m sure that you perfectly know all the details of how she died, right?” Miko smirks and looks with prideful eyes at the blonde.
Watame’s eyes show confusion. “Eh? What do you mean by that?” Suisei, who is secretly hearing this conversation, was about to call Miko’s attention as to not screw up this situation and raise unnecessary suspicion from Watame towards them, but then the sound of the mic being hit calls everyone’s attention.
“Ahem!” The bald man clears his throat loudly, just to make sure the students are paying attention to him. “Ehm… Stu-Students… As you may already know, one of our students from second year, a girl called Shishiro Botan, was found dead this morning…” He speaks in a slow old man voice that is very annoying to hear to the students, one of the reasons why they dislike him. “This is a real tragedy, we send our deepest regrets to Shishiro-san’s friends and family in this hard time.” The mic is hit again.
“..........” There is a deep silence in this gym, one that Miko is not sure if it’s because the students are shocked by the news or because they don’t care about the death of the number 1 bully from this school.
“Let’s do one minute of silence in the memory of Shishiro-san.” The silence is extended for one more minute, having periodic ring bells in between. “With that being said, I have more things to say.” A few students can’t help but release sounds of annoyance and complaints, they want to leave already after all. “Right now the police department of Hope city is outside our school.” This causes a lot of loud gossip between the students. “Silence please! Ahem! The reason for their visit is because they are here to investigate Shishiro-san's death and find clues. They are not here to interrogate you, so don’t be afraid of them. Still, in case that one of you has valuable information you want to share with them, then be respectful and polite and go talk to them.”
“Psst! Mikochi Mikochi.” Suisei whispers. “If the police are here, then that means Subaru-san and Ayame-san are here too!” Miko knows her detective partner is right about this. Is this good or bad news for her? She is now wondering about this…
The principal sighs in a clearly annoyed way. “And yes, there’s something else I would like to address with all of you, my students, before you return to your classes…” His face turns slightly red from the anger he is feeling. “Since the moment the students arrived here in this gym, I couldn’t help but hear the multiple gossips of you guys saying that… Shishiro-san was killed by the serial killer of Hope city and worse yet… That the serial killer is a student from this school…”
“!!!” A few students gasp in horror after hearing something as terrifying as that.
“That’s of course pure bullsh*t!” The sudden furious scream from the principal shocks the students and teachers. “I understand that right now all of you must be scared, but please don’t spread misinformation about our precious school!” He slams his desk with both fists. “First of all, it’s impossible that a student, a minor, is capable of killing 61 people without being caught! And besides, there is no evidence that relates the existence of that killer with our school! So I ask you to please stop with those rumors that will damage our reputation!”
“Asshole…” Miko whispers. Her eyes look furious right now, but she keeps this anger to herself to not create a fuss that will surely bring bad consequences for her. “You’re too blind to see the evidence, old man, evidence that has been there since the beginning…” In her eyes she visualizes Pekora, Nana and Mio’s body. “But well, I also can’t confirm that the serial killer is part of our school…”
The gossips return, as loud as they were before. A woman who is the secretary of the principal quickly approaches his ear to whisper what seems to be sudden information that surprised the old man for one moment. “Oh… Ehm, I have been informed that the news reporters are also here. Please don’t pay attention to them and continue with your regular school day. That’s it, please return to your classrooms now.”
Quickly the teachers give instructions to their classes to abandon the gym in peaceful order. Miko notices how class 2-D are the first ones to leave, so before her main suspects abandon the area, she says to Watame. “Don’t you dare run away, you hear me?... You and I have an important conversation waiting for us…”
Watame’s eyes can’t hide the annoyance she feels for Miko. She rolls her eyes and sighs. “Whatever you say, Sakura-san.” She doesn’t even bother to smile this time and leaves next to her classmates.
“Mikochi…” Suisei looks at her beloved crush with a mix of concern and disappointment. “She didn’t listen to me at all… She is obsessed with the idea that Watame is the culprit… Man, what can I do to stop her from making a mistake?”
The other classes start to leave, and now it’s finally a turn for class 2-C to return to their classroom. As soon as they start moving Miko looks at Lamy and says, “Lamy-sensei, can I go to the bathroom? I don’t feel so good…” She fakes a sick expression that completely convinces the emotional adult.
“Of course you can go, Sakura-san! It’s normal to feel sick after this horrible news… To be honest with you I already threw up in the morning when the principal told us, hehe.” She chuckles while Miko looks at her with disgust. She didn’t need that information for her report.
“Thanks…” She bows and waits for Lamy to move in front of her to hit Suisei’s stomach with her elbow, but doing it weakly so it doesn’t hurt her partner. “Hoshimachi, come with me. It’s time to investigate.”
“Eh!? Now!?” The blue stalker shouts with disbelief. The pink haired girl, with cold eyes, nods in response. “I see… So it’s finally our time to investigate, huh.” She smiles, she can’t help but feel excited that her moment to be alone with the woman she loves is finally here, also feeling happy that this time it was Miko who asked for Suisei’s help and not the other way as usual. “And what are we going to investigate? Don’t tell me it’s Watame…”
“Maybe.” Miko says that in a mysterious way and gives a slight smile. “For now the first thing we should do is to interrogate the people who were Botan’s friends.” The pink girl crosses her arms and looks at Suisei. “Quiz time. Tell me Hoshimachi, who were friends with Botan?”
“Mmmmm…” The blue haired girl holds her chin with one hand and then she finally remembers. “Ah! I know! We have to find the three girls from first year who were Botan’s underlings! A small green haired girl that was aggressive as a chihuahua, one that had short orange hair and loved to chew gum and lastly a girl who had long black hair and a filthy mouth!”
Miko’s slight smile looks proud for one second. “Correct. Well done Hoshimachi, you’re not as stupid as I thought.” Suisei puffs her chest and seems proud of herself, ignoring that her crush called her stupid. Sakura’s face returns to her usual cold expression. “Now let’s get moving.” Both girls nod and head towards the gym’s exit.
The duo of Highschool detectives walk inside the school building, mostly on the first floor where the first year classrooms are located. Since the situation is still kinda unstable nobody notices Miko and Suisei’s presences, who get close to each class’s windows to analyze and see the faces of every student in order to find Botan’s underlings. Unfortunately they are not having much luck so far.
“They are not here… This is the second time we do a complete check for each class and nothing. Perhaps they didn’t come to school today?” Suisei says.
“That’s a possibility… But remember they are bullies who usually break the rules. There are chances they might be somewhere in the school building, skipping classes.” The pink detective says.
“Sasuga Mikochi! As expected from my super smart future bride! Mwah!” She tries to kiss Miko’s forehead, but the cold girl stops her with a simple but effective kick in the knee.
The duo continues their exploration but continues to have no luck. In their search they took risks and explored near the principal’s room, teachers’ room and also returned to the gym, to see if the bullies were hiding here, but no, their existences are perfectly hidden. Miko and Suisei are about to give up when suddenly…
“Agh!” The sound of pain from someone comes from outside the gym. The duo of pink and blue are right now next to a window that connects with the backyard of the school, a place where people rarely go.
“Hoshimachi!”
“I know!” Suisei knows what her partner needs from her. She is taller, so she jumps high and takes a quick look outside the window. She lands on her feet and says, “Yeah, it’s her! It’s that green chihuahua girl, Mikochi!” Miko nods as both women quickly run to the outside of the school, where they could see how the police were trying to have the news reporters under control.
Hoshimachi and Sakura arrive at their destination, and both are surprised to see that the green haired girl with red highlights is not alone. There is another person here, someone both detectives recognize as a girl from their class. Tokoyami Towa.
“Nggggh… It hurts…” The long purple haired girl is on the ground, holding her stomach with both hands. Miko’s eyes quickly notice that her classmate is covered in multiple wounds all over her face, arms and legs, a clear signal that both bully and victim have been in this situation a long time.
“Tokoyami-san!” Sakura quickly bends down to check the condition of her classmate. “Hey, are you ok!?” Suisei stands next to her crush, not knowing if she should also bend down or not since she doesn’t care for Towa’s health.
“HUH!? WHO THE f*ck ARE YOU!?” The green haired bully shouts with fury. Both detectives look at her with cold eyes. Suisei doesn’t like when someone yells at her girlfriend, so her cold is filled with a murderous aura. “Oh… I remember you girls now…” Botan’s underling has a flashback from the moment Suisei and Miko saved Lamy-sensei from being assaulted by Botan and her friends.
“Eh? Class rep…? Sui-chan…? What are you two doing here…?” Towa speaks in a voice that shows the suffering she is feeling on her body right now.
Miko helps her classmate to sit with her legs extended. “It’s alright Tokoyami-san, please don’t talk. You are safe now, we won’t let this person keep hurting you so don’t worry. Hoshimachi and I will handle this situation from now on.” Miko stands up and gives her back to the injured Towa. The truth is that Sakura would like Towa to stand up and just leave, her presence is a bother here for the interrogation, but there is nothing she can do to make her leave under these circ*mstances.
Towa, visibly shocked by being saved, looks with confusion at Miko’s back to then look at Suisei’s face. The blue haired girl is not giving any kind of attention to the poor Towa, who keeps switching her view from Sui’s face to Miko’s back. “I see… So that’s why you saved me that day… It wasn’t because you wanted to save me, but because Sakura-san told you, right Sui-chan…” She says inside her head. Towa appreciates Sakura’s help, but she can’t deny that she is also upset to see the pink girl at this moment, more if Suisei is also here too.
The pink detective and her partner now stare with cold angry eyes at the bully. “Now tell me, what are you doing here? Why were you hurting our classmate? Your boss died and this is the first thing you do? Is this how you want to honor her memory?” Miko says, sounding visibly upset.
“Tch!” The small green haired woman lowers her head, biting her lower lip with so much strength and fury that it bleeds. “Stop calling me ‘You’ so many times! My name is Azukaaa!!” Azuka shouts. “Listen to me bitch, you’re no one to come here and scold me! Who the f*ck you think you are!? My mom!?”
“Oi! Don’t talk to my girlfriend like that if you don’t want to receive a beating from me!” Suisei quickly shouts, preparing her fists to engage in combat in case it is necessary. Azuka remembers by what Botan told her that Suisei is stronger than her, which causes the underling to feel very intimidated. Towa on her part felt an ache in her heart when she heard the word ‘girlfriend’.
Miko sighs. “You and I are not girlfriends, stupid.” The pink girl gives a painless slap in the back of the head of Suisei. The blue girl smiles and chuckles, seeing this as a good progress from her relationship with the cold woman. “Anyways, you’re right Azuka-san. I’m not your mom, so you don’t owe me an explanation.” This surprises the delinquent and Hoshimachi. “But yet what you did was not correct, you shouldn’t have hurt Tokoyami-san like this. Before this situation turns worse for you, can you at least explain to me why you were attacking her?”
Azuka lowers her face again as she clenches both fists, fists that have a bit of blood on them, blood that doesn’t belong to her. “That woman…” She speaks slowly thanks to the fury she feels inside, pointing her finger at Towa as she speaks. “That woman didn’t get inside the gym… She decided to skip Boss Botan’s funeral… I felt so f*cking furious by this attitude from her that I followed her and want to know what I saw?” She looks at Miko and Suisei in the eyes. “She was smiling! She was happy that my boss died! Both of you who love to play detective should know what this means!” Azuka points her finger with more intensity at Towa’s face. “This woman is the boss’ killer!!!”
Suisei and Miko instantly turn back to look with surprise on their faces at the purple haired woman, who remains sitting on the ground and also looking surprised. “Eh? Tokoyami-san is the killer? What makes you believe that?” Suisei asks.
“Easy. That f*cking whor* hated my boss and us, her underlings! I knew she hated us! I could see it in her eyes everytime we were beating her ass. By the way she was looking at us I knew she wanted revenge, she wanted to give us pain… And boss Botan was the perfect target, the number one bully of the school… Think about it! I’m not crazy, I know she is the culprit!!”
The blue haired girl looks at Miko, trying to see what her beloved is thinking about this testimony from the bully, but to her surprise Miko looks like she doesn’t care about what she said. Sakura shakes her head in just three seconds after hearing that. “No, that’s impossible. I already know who is the real culprit of this crime, and I’m telling you it’s not Tokoyami-san.” She is so confident in the idea that Watame is the killer that she smiles co*ckily.
“Mikochi…” Suisei looks at her partner with clear disappointment in her face, even shaking her head and doing a facepalm. “God, what did you do to my girlfriend? Am I now the smart detective of the relationship?” She thinks to herself thanks to the stubbornness of her partner.
“SHUT UP! You don’t know anything about boss Botan and us! You’re just a kid pretending to be an adult! There’s no way you already know the identity of the culprit if you weren’t here with us! I know that f*cking purple bitch hated boss Botan to death! If you don't believe me, then ask her yourself!!” Again Azuka points her finger at the injured woman.
Miko and Sui turn back one more time, both watching with attention at Towa, who is slowly standing up. The look in her face reveals that what Azuka said is true. The eyes of the purple woman reveal hate and fury, but below there her lips are forming an evil smile. “If I hated Botan? That sh*tty bully who turned my life into a living hell in just 4 months? The f*cking person who hurt me so much that I really considered suicide to escape from that endless suffering!?” She is so furious that her body is shaking.
“Tokoyami-san…” Miko says. The pink and blue detectives look at her with their cold eyes while Azuka looks shocked to see the usually shy weak girl finally snap.
“Haha… Haha… Hahaha!” Towa laughs a crazy smile while covering her face with her left hand. “OF COURSE I’M HAPPY RIGHT NOW!!! THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!! THAT f*ckING BOTAN IS FINALLY DEAD! I’M FREE! I’M VERY GLAD SHE IS GONE FOREVER!!!” The shy girl screams so loudly that Miko fears that the police and reporters are going to hear that.
“YOU BASTARD!!!” Azuka screams in fury, she also snapped. Miko and Suisei were so shocked by the snap of their classmate that they didn’t have time to stop the first year student who quickly moved between them and gave a direct and strong punch in Towa’s face. The purple student fell unconscious to the ground with blood coming out from her nose. “Haaa! Haaa! Haaa!” Azuka breathes heavily. “I’m gonna kill her!!!”
“Idiot! Calm down!!” Miko finally reacts and holds Azuka’s arms from behind, stopping her from making this situation even worse. Her blue partner quickly joins her, holding the bully and keeping her one meter away from the unconscious girl.
“I think I heard a scream over there!” The voice from an adult man suddenly shouts from some meters away.
“sh*t it’s the police!!!” Suisei and Miko thought at the same time. The pink detective quickly made up a plan to escape from this situation. Still holding Azuka, she whispers in her ear. “Listen to me! If you don’t want the police to be involved and get in trouble, then come with us!” The underling has doubts, but she is afraid of what her mom might say if the police tell her she almost killed a student, so she nods and accepts the offer. “Alright! Hoshimachi, you carry Tokoyami-san! The four of us have to hurry! Let’s go to the school infirmary! Now!”
The blue haired girl catches the order and nods. Suisei hurries and carries the unconscious Towa in her back. The four girls run as fast as they can from this place, successfully escaping from the police without being caught. Already in the school infirmary and with Towa sleeping in one of the beds, Azuka is resting in one of the seats, Miko and Suisei standing in front of her.
“Alright, now that we’re safe I'd like to begin the interrogation. Is that ok with you, Azuka-san?” Sakura says with her usual cold voice and eyes. The bully understands she is safe from danger thanks to Miko, so she sighs and finally gives up, accepting to be interrogated. “Thanks. Now tell me, when was the last time you saw Botan?”
“It was one week ago, last friday… Boss Botan was a big fan of the school idol Watame-chan, you know? So she went to her concert with great excitement and happiness. She was so excited for this event that she invited my friends and I, but in the end only I accepted to come with her.” She plays with her green hair while speaking, having a sad look on her face. “The concert was great… I’m not a fan of idols and that kind of stuff, but I enjoyed Watame-chan’s music as much as her fans… But of course nothing could beat the fanaticism of the boss.” In her mind Azuka remembers how Botan, who was wearing an orange afro and a Watame shirt, was shaking her idol sticks a lot to the rhythm of music. She smiles thanks to that memory, but this smile quickly vanishes. “Once the concert ended I invited the boss to go to the theaters with me to watch a movie, but she rejected the invitation, she said she had something else to do…”
“Other things to do? And what was that?” Miko asks. The pink girl is taking notes of what the witness is saying by writing in a small notebook.
“I-I have no idea… I asked the boss but she reacted with embarrassment and said it was a secret, so I didn’t insist.” At that moment Suisei realized what this secret activity Botan was planning to do. Confess her feelings to Watame and ask her to be her girlfriend after the end of the concert. The blue detective looks in silence at her partner, wondering if this is the reason why Miko is so sure Watame is the killer. “After that we chatted a bit and then said goodbye… The next day I sent messages to boss Botan’s line, but she didn’t reply to any of them. She saw the first ones I sent on the morning of Saturday, but after that it was total silence from her until… Until I heard the news today.”
“I see… I’m sorry for your loss, Azuka-san.” Miko feels identified with this girl, both lost someone who was important for them. “And there is something else that you thought was weird that day? Either with Botan or someone who was at the concert, like Watame for example.” Her cold green eyes focus on the younger girl as Suisei sighs again.
“Something weird? Yeah, I saw something. I saw her.” She points her finger at Towa, who remains sleeping. “She was trying to sneak to the gym but Calli-senpai didn’t let her. She looked very pissed off. She saw the boss and I and she looked at us with hate. As I was leaving I took the opportunity to give her a lesson, but she didn’t look afraid at all. She said that she was not in the mood to be intimidated by us, and that if the boss or I dared to bully her as usual… Then she wouldn’t hold back.” She looks at Miko and Suisei in the eyes, staying in silence for a few seconds. “After that I won’t deny that I felt intimidated, so I decided to let her be. As I was leaving I noticed how she was still trying to sneak into the gym, so I believe that maybe the boss saw her and bullied her as usual, and then… And then…” She can’t keep talking anymore and cries.
The pink haired girl gives her some pats on her shoulder. “It’s alright, Azuka-san. Thanks for your testimony. Now you can go, now my partner and I’ll take care of this situation.” She looks straight into her eyes and says, “I’ll make sure that the person who killed your friend pays.”
After saying what seemed to be a threat towards Watame (In Suisei’s opinion), Azuka bows and leaves the room, crying and running. Hoshimachi thought that Sakura would wait for Towa to wake up, interrogate her and listen to her version of the story, but the pink detective couldn’t care less for the purple haired woman and left the infirmary.
“Mikochi! Wait a moment!” Suisei shouts. She also left the infirmary and now runs after her partner. “Tokoyami-san is now a suspect! You’re not going to interrogate her?”
“That would be a waste of my time.” Miko replies with a cold tone without even looking at her. “I already know Watame is the person who murdered Shishiro-san. Azuka-san believes Tokoyami-san is the culprit, but that’s only because she is being carried away by her emotions. Watame is the only real suspect here.”
“..... In my opinion it’s you the one who is being carried away by your emotions…” Suisei says in a low voice that unfortunately was heard by Miko. The shorter pink girl instantly turns back and aggressively walks very near Hoshimachi’s face, looking at her with angry eyes.
“You… What did you mean with that?” Her voice sounds pissed off.
“No, nothing! I just…” Suisei feels intimidated by the aggressive attitude from Miko, one that looks as scary as the time the pink girl almost killed her. “Mikochi… To be honest with you, I think you’re making judgements based on your emotions more than logic as you usually do…”
“Hm? What makes you think that?” She crosses her arms and keeps the grumpy expression.
“Because you’re obsessed with the idea of blaming Watame as the culprit!” Suisei shouts. “Look, I don’t know what happened in the past between you two, but it’s obvious that you hate her! You already decided she is the killer even when so far there is no evidence of that! And worse yet, judging by the information we just gathered, Tokoyami-san is a potential suspect and you’re ignoring that possibility just because you want to screw up Watame!” The blue haired girl holds her chest in pain. She hates to be arguing with Miko, but she knows that her dear partner is making a mistake by acting like this, so even if it hurts her, she knows that their first argument as a couple has begun.
“Tch!” Sakura is more pissed off than before, lowering her gaze and clenching both fists. “You have no idea what you’re saying, Hoshimachi…” She speaks in a voice that shows she is doing her best to not explode. “But yeah, there is one thing you’re not wrong.” She looks her detective partner in the eyes. Suisei is surprised by seeing the burning hate that her crush’s eyes have. “Indeed, I do hate Watame.”
“Why? How did you end up hating a person as bright as Watame? The idol that the whole city loves…”
“That’s none of your business!” She shouts near Suisei’s face. “I don’t trust you enough to share my private information with you! If you want me to trust in you, then stop questioning me and keep your mouth shut while I work!” Miko turns back and sighs angrily. “Now I’ll go to interrogate Watame. Are you coming with me or what?”
“Of course! I will come with you till the end of the world!” Hoshimachi quickly runs after her crush, despite everything she said towards Miko… Suisei is still Suisei, the biggest simp of Sakura Miko. And besides, couples fight all the time, is what the crazy girl is saying to herself, fangirling a little bit by seeing the growth of their relationship.
After a few minutes, the two detectives finally arrive at the front door of class 2-D, the class of Watame-chan, our famous school idol and main suspect (According to Miko).
“And what do we do now, Mikochi?” Suisei turns her head to talk to the short pink girl. “EH!? MIKOCHI???” …Just to see that she is not there with her. To be more specific, Miko already got inside the room, even before Sui could notice or say anything. “Ah! Good grief!!!” Hoshimachi, who doesn’t want her partner to cause any unnecessary outbursts, quickly opens the door and gets inside as well.
“There you are, Mikochi!” After getting inside the class, Suisei immediately goes to where Miko is to make sure to complain to the pink girl. “Before you do something… Tell me beforehand, please!” She puffs out her cheek to look cuter, but unfortunately Sakura ignored her. Right now, what Sakura Miko focuses on is only the figure that sits in the middle of the classroom.
That figure is no one other than, Tsunomaki Watame. She is sitting there and surrounded by her classmates, with them asking a lot of questions. “Watame-chan! It’s been a while since you came to our class! The idol work must be pretty rough and hard right? Tell us how it is, please!” The white haired girl asks Watame with much curiosity and admiration towards the idol.
“Unun~ It’s really hard and rough to be an idol~ Especially when you have to work and study at the same time, Watame-chan is really sorry for not coming to class so often~” Watame replies in a cute and high pitched voice, much to Miko’s disgust who feels like puking.
“Don’t worry, Tsunomaki-san! We all understand you!… Still can I ask what you do to make your skin so smooth!? It’s so bright and shiny, I’m so jealous~!” Another blonde classmate asks her with a sparkle in her eyes.
Watame smirks before replying with “It’s an idol secret~❤️” while using finger to touch her lips. Gaining “Eh~” from everyone in her class who is interested in learning more about Hope city’s idol. Seeing this, Watame gives everyone a cute giggle before replying with a adorable smile. “Just kidding~! It’s not a secret at all~ You just need to eat good healthy food and sleep a lot~! Then your skin will be healthy and PIKAPIKAPIN like Watame-chan~✨” Watame winks at her friends, this is enough to melt the heart of every human being, but not with Miko.
Sakura, who is on the verge of puking, can’t hold it anymore. “Uuk… Hoshimachi… This is too much for me…” The pink detective looks kinda sick, so her blue partner caresses her back until she looks slightly better. “Thanks.” Miko says, whipping her mouth. “Alright then… The moment I have been waiting for is here…” The pink girl wants to take the next step and say right into Watame’s face that she is a f*cking killer that will rot in prison, but…
“Watame-chan! Watame-sama! Watame-saaaaaaaaan!!” The classmates of the blonde idol keep screaming her name with all kinds of intense emotions. The idol just giggles and happily chats with the girls.
“.........” At such an image that the detective has in front of her, she loses all the courage and bravery she had. “This is not the correct moment… Not when all those fangirls are surrounding her as her meat shield.” Miko sighs, she knows that if she accuses the idol for being responsible of Botan’s murder nobody will believe her, and worse yet, Watame’s classmates and surely the rest of the school will turn her into their enemy. “Hoshimachi is right… I should calm down and… Not be so impulsive and stubborn.”
The pink girl turns back and starts to walk out of the classroom much to Suisei’s disbelief. “Eh!? Mikochi!? Wha-What happened now!?” The blue girl again is very confused, the only thing she can do is to run after her crush while class 2-D is little by little far away from them.
“Have you changed your mind about Watame now, Mikochi?” Suisei asks, part of her is a bit relieved to see her crush not actually that reckless. What Suisei receives is just the shaking head in denial from the shorter girl which makes Hoshimachi tilt her head in confusion.
“It’s not the time yet…” Miko replies. “…And you were a bit right, Hoshimachi.” The pink haired girl scratches her own cheek softly in embarrassment. “I should calm down and not be too st-”
“MIKOCHIIIII!!!” Suisei, right now with her eyes full of tears, jumps at Miko to give her a big hug. Feeling a bit like a proud mother that her kids finally understand what she tried to teach them for years. “I AM SO PROUD OF YOU!!! SO YOU REALLY DID LISTEN TO WHAT I SAID BWAAAHHHH!!!”
“HEY! GET OFF ME! I JUST SAID YOU WERE ‘A BIT’ RIGHT! JUST A BIT!” Miko, who can notice how all the people from the hallway are looking at them, can’t help but get embarrassed, trying to kick Suisei out of her. “GET OFF! YOU ARE HEAVY!”
“NO~ I WANT TO BE WITH MY MIKOCHI LIKE THIS FOREVER~”
“Fufufu Can I too?”
““Huh?”” Both Miko and Suisei freeze at the sudden interference from someone else in their conversation. Miko, in a response, uses this chance to successfully kick Suisei out of her.
“It’s nice to see you again, Miko-san. Oh and also you too, Suisei-san.” Watson Amelia, the current student president of Anzen highschool, greets the two detectives with her usual warm yet mysterious smile.
“It’s you…! The woman who loves to stick to someone else’s girlfriend!” Suisei immediately points her finger at the face of the student with the dark school jacket. Miko quickly slaps her partner’s arm away to stop her from being rude to the president.
“Haha, Suisei-san loves to make silly jokes as always, huh? But yes, it’s good to see both of you in high spirits after this morning’s bad news.” Amelia turns to look at the hallway, where it can be seen that most of the people here are depressed or in low energy.
“Quit the chit chatting, president. I know you have something to say to me about Shishiro-san's case, right? Since at the gym, I could see how much you were looking at me.” Miko, who is not in the mood to chat, quickly tells the president to go straight to the point.
“As expected for Miko-san! You can really see through anything! And yes, my name is Watson Amelia not president, I think I already informed you of that.” Watson winks, making Miko groan in annoyance since she knows what the blonde wants. “But I see, so you noticed me and yet you were ignoring me, huh?” She touches her own lower lip while looking slightly sad, but then she smiles teasingly and gets surprisingly very close to Miko. “Fufufu, you are acting difficult but you really like having my attention, don't you?” She keeps getting closer while keeping this teasing aura.
“Tch, so pushy.” Sakura thinks to herself. “Presi-, I mean, Watson-san, you're too close. I want my privacy please.” Amelia giggles and stops teasing the cold woman.
Suisei on her side is trembling by what her blue eyes just saw. “This woman… What's wrong with this woman!? She-She-She totally wants to steal my Mikochi from me!!” She screams inside her head. The jealous woman feels like barking at the blonde, but she does her best to hold back to not upset her crush.
Miko sighs and crosses her arms. “Anyways. Miss Watson Amelia… Now could you please get straight to the point?” She has no time to waste but when it comes to this blonde person, she always has a hard time dealing with her.
“It’s about Tsunomaki Watame.” Watson says with a proud smile, making Miko’s eyes widen.
“TELL ME ABOUT IT!” Miko yells at the top of her lungs, while grabbing Amelia’s shoulder very hard. All thanks to the hope and excitement of dragging that evil woman down to hell.
“Fufufu, Miko-san~ If you want to hold me so badly, we can do this in private you know?” Ame says this in a playful voice, saying it loud enough that the nearby students and Suisei perfectly hear it, all of them thinking these two look like a couple. This was shocking even for Sakura, who blushed a little bit while looking shocked. Ame laughs and then hugs Miko closely enough for her to whisper something into the pink haired girl’s ear. “Miko-san, please calm down first. Everyone is looking at our way.” Ame whispers. “Let’s keep hugging each other for a bit more, so no one will be suspicious of us trying to investigate if the famous school idol is actually the serial killer, alright?”
“You… How did you find out that I think Watame is a serial killer.” Miko whispers into Ame’s ear, holding the president closely.
“You are easy to notice, Miko-san. I can see it from how you looked at Watame-san last week… And today at the gym.” Amelia responds with more whispering. “I know you want to find more information about Watame-san, I can help you with that.” Miko can feel that Amelia’s lips are rising up into a smirk. “But surely, talking about this in the hallway is not a good thing… Wanna do it inside my room instead?” Then Ame, who right now has a wide smile on her face, pulls Miko out from her arms.
Miko, whose cheeks are still red, has a dumbfounded face, unconsciously repeating what Amelia said to herself, which is loud enough for Suisei to hear. “Eh…? Do it in your room? Huh? Eh… in which sense…?” Our pink detective’s head is about to burst from this, until something pops in her mind. “Oh, the student council room.” Miko finally gets what the president means. “Ahem! Sure.” Now that she gets it, her cold attitude returns as if nothing happened. “Watson-san, please lead me the way.”
“Fufu! Then please follow me.” Amelia giggles a little bit before slowly reaching her hand down to grab Miko’s hand, but that has to stop thanks to the hard slap of the jealous blue girl in the middle of their hands, who quickly uses this chance to grab the pink girl’s hand.
“STOP! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING TO DO!?” Suisei, who surprisingly could hold her anger until now, yells with fury. As someone who gets jealous easily, she very much dislikes the idea of letting her crush go alone with someone suspicious like Watson Amelia. Especially in her own f*cking room, literally a f*cking room. (What Suisei thinks.)
“Haa… Give me a break, Hoshimachi.” Miko sighs. Right now, she is tired of arguing with her salty blue partner. “It’s about investigation, nothing else.” She tries to explain the situation to Suisei, but she notices how her partner is so salty that she doesn't even listen to what she says. So Miko just makes everything easier by... “Forget it, just wait here.”
What Sakura Miko just said makes Suisei go speechless, her body feels numb and doesn’t know how to react to this order of her partner. And what makes it worse? Before they go, Watson Amelia just turns back to smile at her. “Thanks for letting me borrow your Miko-san for a bit, Suisei-san~” She says, making Hoshimachi’s blood boil in fury and hate.
“I swear… One of these days… I will kill that bitch.” Suisei mumbles while biting her nails.
Back to our cold detective and the president of Anzen highschool, right now they arrived at the student council room, where Miko could notice how there is no one but them inside the room.
“Where are the other council members?” Miko asks with curiosity.
“Mmm… I know that Ina and Gura are helping the teachers to resolve some issues as part of the student council. For Kiara, it’s about her news club. And for Calli… Honestly, even though we have been working together for a few months now, I still don’t know much about her.” Amelia speaks as she walks back to her working desk which has a lot of papers and documents on it. “I know it’s a bad thing for me, the student council president, to not learn more about her coworkers. But it’s really hard to know what Calli is thinking sometimes…”
“I see…” Even Miko doesn’t spend much time with Calli like Amelia, she kinda agrees at the part that Calliope is indeed hard to read. Still she also can’t help but get surprised to know that there’s someone that even Watson doesn’t know much about. “Calliope Mori… One of the people, I have little information about… I really have to find time to investigate her too.” Sakura thinks to herself.
Watson waits for Sakura at her desk for a while and when she notices that Miko doesn’t follow her, she quickly signals her guest to come by waving her hand “C’mon, Miko-san! Please don’t be shy, it’s only you and me here in this room!” Hearing that, the pink girl quickly snaps out of her thoughts and walks to where Amelia is. “Hehe, thanks.”
“And what is the info from ‘Tsunomaki Watame’ that you have? The one you were talking about earlier.” Miko gets straight to the point to not waste any more time.
“Here, take a look at this for me.” Amelia doesn’t say much, just hands Miko one of the documents on her desk, causing the pink girl to give her an annoyed look. “Open and read before judging me, please. I promise, this time is not out of topic.”
Miko sighs before opening the document, hoping it’s not one of Amelia’s tricks that gets her into helping the blonde with more work. “This is…!” Sakura’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Watame’s house address…”
“Yes, it’s Watame-san’s house address.” Amelia says with a smile. What the blonde says, helps Miko to confirm that what her eyes see is true, not an illusion. And this is also helping her to confirm that Watson Amelia is a scary person, someone that she will try to not be on a bad side with unless the situation requires it.
“H-How did you know that I want to get this…?” Miko can’t help but feel slightly scared by the president of Anzen highschool’s foreseen power. “f*ck… Did this woman just read my mind or something?” She thinks to herself with annoyance.
“You think I can read your mind?” The blonde says with a teasing smile, something that gives Miko goosebumps. “Fu… Fufufu! Miko-san, you are so cute! Your reaction is just the best…!” Amelia laughs so hard with Miko’s reaction, making the person she laughs at blush a little bit by the embarrassment she feels. “I am a normal person, I can’t read someone else’s mind, even if I want to!”
“Then care to explain how did you know I want this!?” Miko yells, looking frustrated and upset but cute at the same time by the blush in her cheeks.
“Easy! Remember the talk about Watame-san we had back on Friday? When you told me about your story with her and why you dislike her.” Yes, Miko forgot about that. Thanks to Amelia, now she remembers. “After listening to what you said, I also considered the idea of her being the serial killer of Hope city, so I tried to investigate her, starting from her personal information. And thanks to my position as student council president, I could get my hands on student's information easily… Same for this Watame girl.” Miko can’t help but admire the blonde’s detective skill. “I kinda went and checked on her house address too.” Amelia turns serious before speaking next thing. “Turn out, this house address of hers is fake.”
“!?” Miko is surprised by what the president just said. “So you mean… What is in this document… Everything about her data in our school is fake?”
“Correct.” Ame confirms Miko’s question with a serious nod. “Still, it makes sense if it’s because of her job as an idol… As she wants to hide all her identity from the public as much as possible.” The blonde picks up another document on her desk, and opens it to read what is inside. “…Still it’s worth learning more, right? As someone who loves detective stories, I can sense that there’s something fishy going on. I know you feel the same way as me, Miko-san.” She says while reading the document.
“But what do we do now? The information you have been gathering turns out to be fake. I at least need the real evidence from her place, so what I need right now is to go search it myself at Watame's house.” Miko bites her nails, having a deep focus and kinda scary look in her eyes.
“I know.” Amelia says while handing the document she just finished reading to Miko. “If we can’t find any good information from our main suspect, Watame-san. Then we should go find information from the one who is with her the most, her best friend.” As Miko begins to open the document, Ame continues. “Watame-san’s best friend. That person, someone you already know, someone that I’m sure I saw with Watame-san after the concert…”
What Miko can see in the document is the information and picture of someone with green hair in a twintails style, wearing a pair of glasses. Miko remembers her now. Her name is…
““Ceres Reina”” Miko and Amelia say in sync while looking at each other.
While the conversation between Amelia and Miko was happening, the blue haired student known as Suisei was doing exactly what her crush told her to do. Wait for her outside the council room. She sighs while having a sad face, looking like a wet dog. “Mikochi… You’re so mean… You know I’m feeling jealous right now and yet you decide to ignore me…”
“Hey, what happened to you now? Don’t tell me you and my cousin are having a lover’s quarrel or something? Hehe.” A voice that sounds like the mix of woman and a duck suddenly says. Suisei turns to her left side and discovers that the two police officers who help Miko from time to time, Subaru and Ayame, are here inside the school.
“Yo! Sui-sui, how are ya doing~? Why the sad face~? Haha~” The white haired cop hugs Suisei with one arm while doing a cute giggle.
Suisei as usual feels disgusted by so much human contact, but she is not in the mood to pull back the arm from the extrovert woman, she feels too emo right now after all. “It’s nothing serious… Mikochi is talking with the student council president at this moment and told me to wait for her outside…”
“Ahhhhhh, I see.” Ayame says in a curious voice. She removes her arm from the student but keeps smiling. “You must be very sad and jealous because Miko-chan is alone with another woman now, right? Hehe.”
“Of course I am! That f*cking student council president wants to steal my girlfriend! I can see her true evil intentions in her eyes!” The blue girl narrows her eyes and grits her teeth angrily, doing a weird face.
“She’s not your girlfriend tho.” Subaru replies with a deadpan voice. “Leaving your highschool love drama aside, we have serious business going on here, remember?” Subaru turns serious, something that Ayame and Suisei follow. “Tell me Suisei-san, what has my cousin been up to after she heard the news?”
Hoshimachi explained in detail to both officers everything that happened today, putting special emphasis on Miko's obsession for blaming Watame and the fact that Amelia is a bitch who wants to break their relationship. “Naruhodo, so that’s what happened.” Subaru says in a thoughtful voice while holding her chin.
“Subaru-san, do you know the reason why Mikochi hates Watame-chan that much?” Suisei asks with concern.
The cop shakes her head. “No, I don’t know. Until now I had no idea that Miko hated the idol from Hope city. She and I don’t talk much in our free times, just doing it when it’s work related, so the truth is that I don’t know much of her personal life.” Subaru grabs her cop hat and scratches her short black hair. The officer feels bad at the realization she doesn’t know much of her cousin. “But yes, this is the first time that Ayame and I have heard that Watame-chan is a potential suspect… The police department still is gathering information about Botan’s death as we speak, but Tsunomaki Watame is someone who is far from being considered as the suspect…”
Suisei nods. “Yes, I agree with you. I think that Mikochi is doing the same mistake she did back when she thought I was the serial killer of Hope city. She is too stubborn to realize she is being carried away by her emotions and hate for Watame-chan…” The blue girl lowers her head. Suddenly she remembers the only evidence that can link the idol to this murder. “Oh yeah, Botan was a huge fan of Watame. She told Mikochi and I that she planned to confess to her last Friday, after the concert was over.”
“Eh? Last friday?” Ayame asks with surprise. Suisei nods, confused by the reaction of the cop. The two officers look at each other with surprise before looking back at the blue haired girl. “I’m sorry for our reaction, but yes, we’re surprised… You see, Sui-Sui, the reports say that Botan-chan was seen for the last time last friday.” Suisei opens her eyes wide with this revelation. “Botan-chan’s mom reported her daughter's disappearance this tuesday. When the police interrogated her, she said that she was used to her rebellious daughter going outside the house and returning two or three days later, but this time she didn’t send any messages, called or give any sign of life, so she took 3 days before reporting she was missing.”
“I-I see… So that means that Botan disappeared after the concert?” Suisei asks.
“Mmmmm no, not quite.” Subaru says, using a detective voice. “The last person who saw Shishiro Botan was her own mom.” The blue haired girl is more surprised now by hearing this information. She really wasn’t expecting this twist. “Her mom told the police that last Friday her daughter came back home from school around 15 pm. She noticed her daughter was down and sad, something she described as odd, since Botan usually acted aggressive and disrespectful towards her. They ate lunch together but Botan was silent all that time. It was between 17-18 pm when her mom told us that Botan said she was going outside, looking excited compared to hours ago, even smiling…”
“That’s… Yeah, that’s very odd…” Suisei speaks while covering her mouth with her hand. Yes, the crazy woman finally is using the detective mode just like her crush. “Mikochi and I know more of the context behind why Botan was sad. She was rejected by Watame. It makes sense she came back home like that, but… Why was she so happy hours later? Is it related to Watame-chan again or… Someone else?” In her mind Hoshimachi considers the idea that maybe Towa could be involved here, but she quickly realizes this wouldn’t explain why Towa’s bully would be happy to hang out with her. “Oh right, I forgot about that.”
“Hm? What did you forget?” Ayame asks with curiosity.
“A very important detail that I think you guys should know.” Suisei looks with her serious blue eyes at the officers. “One of Botan’s friends, a first year student called Azuka told Mikochi and I that after the concert she sent Botan a few messages through Line. The thing is, those messages were seen for the first and last time on saturday’s morning from last week. That means that Botan was still alive at that moment… Or maybe…”
“Or maybe the one who saw those messages was the killer, is what you’re thinking?” Subaru says, to which Suisei nods. “Yeah, that’s indeed a possibility.” The black haired woman remains silent for a few moments, deep in her thoughts. “Anyways, thanks for the information that Miko and you gathered, Suisei-san. We will ask for more information from Azuka-san later today, and yes, the police department is already trying to locate Botan’s phone location. Her phone’s chip contains her GPS address, so we’re trying to locate that signal and find more important info that surely is inside her mobile.”
“I see. Good luck to both of you, Subaru-san and Ayame-san. If Mikochi and I discover something else, we’ll tell you.” Suisei bows, to which the two officers smile.
“Yeah, I say the same. As soon as we get more evidence from the chip we’ll give you a call.” Subaru does the call gesture with her left hand. The two cops are preparing to leave, but before they go Subaru says, “Suisei-san, please take care of my cousin. If she dares to do something crazy and stupid again, please stop her… And if you can’t stop her, then at least follow her and make sure that she doesn’t die.”
Suisei feels so moved by this that her heart starts beating like crazy. “Yes! I promise you that I’ll protect Mikochi until the day I die!” She feels happy that her relationship with Miko has been approved by the pink girl’s only family member. Subaru and Ayame giggle and say goodbye to Hoshimachi.
As the two cops are walking away, Subaru releases a cheerful giggle. “Man, this school really has not changed at all~ Haha~ How nostalgic!”
“Oh? Subaru-chan, don’t tell me that you studied in this school in your youth?” Ayame asks with curiosity and interest.
“Don’t say ‘your youth’! I’m still young in case you forgot!” Subaru yells like a duck as Ayame sticks out her tongue in a silly way. “And yes, I studied here a few years ago… Before the serial killer of hope city appeared…” Subaru and the mood turns depressing, so the white haired cop quickly tries to find a topic to enlighten the mood.
“In my case I studied in another school. It was very peaceful honestly, so peaceful that it was kinda boring.” The cop whistles in a silly way while having her arms at the back of her head. Subaru on her side looks at her with annoyance. “This is my first time coming to this school… But well, one of my nieces studies here.”
“Oh? So you have a niece, huh… I feel kinda bad for not asking about your family before…” The black haired cop feels a bit guilty. “And tell me, how is your niece called? Maybe she and my cousin can become friends, haha~”
“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea~ But yeah, since you never asked about me or my family before, I won’t tell you as a punishment~” Ayame places one finger on her lips as she smiles. “Sorry Suba-chan, but this will be a secret to you~”
“Oiiiiiii!! Don’t f*ck with me!!” The angry woman yells like a duck as the scared students look at her with fear.
Five minutes later Sakura finally leaves the student council room and returns with Suisei. “I’m back.” The cold girl says without much emotion. Her green eyes look slightly surprised by the fact that Suisei is still here waiting patiently for her, not making any fuss or screaming as she expected. “Hoshimachi… Are you ok?”
“Hm? Why do you ask that, Mikochi? Does my face look weird or something?” She points her finger at her own face with confusion.
“Huh, no, forget it.” The pink girl sighs. “Anyway, I have information to share with you, Hoshimachi.”
“Fufufu.” Suisei giggles teasingly. “What a funny coincidence, Mikochi~ You see, it results that Sui-chan also has information to share with you too~” Miko raises an eyebrow at this, but still she decides to listen to her detective partner.
Both girls shared the information they gathered since the last moment they saw each other. “Naruhodo, so that’s what my serious and strict police cousin said.” Miko says in a deductive voice. “So Shishiro-san returned home after the concert… Huh, I wasn’t expecting that…” She looks deep in her thoughts, but then looks at Suisei with serious eyes. “But well, that doesn’t change the fact that Watame is the main culprit. In fact, after learning what Shishiro-san’s mom said, it makes more sense that Watame is the one who kidnapped her.”
Suisei sighs, kinda tired to see her crush be so annoying with blaming the idol. “And again you keep blaming her… I agree with the idea that she was depressed because Watame rejected her, but then why would she be so happy at the moment of leaving the house? Did she do that just to fool her mom? At least if I was in her position, I wouldn’t recover from a heart break so quickly if I was rejected by you.”
Miko raises an eyebrow. “I already rejected you multiple times tho.”
“Hehehe, come on darling~ I know that you’re just teasing me when you say mean stuff like that, hahaha~” Sui giggles in a dumb way.
Sakura sighs and continues. “Anyways, about what Shishiro-san said before disappearing has two possible explanations for me. The first one was that indeed she was pretending to be happy just to not worry her mother. The second option is that she was indeed rejected by Watame to become her girlfriend… But listen to this. What if she rejected her but offered her friendship to Botan?”
“Yes, friendship.” Miko crosses her arms and smiles slightly. “Idols usually are kind and friendly to their fans, so I’m sure that when Watame rejected her, she was forced to act super friendly and say some dumb bullsh*t like-” Miko forces a girly face and girly voice to mimic her hated enemy. “Hehehe~ I’m glad that Watame-chan made such an impact in your heart~ Fufu, but I’m sorry Botan-tan~ The truth is that I can’t accept your feelings… Watame-chan is everyone’s idol after all, and idols can’t date~ We’re forever single and seiso!” Miko shakes her fists in a cute and funny way in her imitation. “But we can be friends! Hehehe, isn’t that nice~?” She drops her faked friendly and cute attitude after that, looking as dead inside as always.
“Cute…” Suisei thinks to herself. “Man, such a cute and girly Mikochi… I only thought she would exist in my dreams…” She thinks to herself, feeling how her soul is leaving her body.
“Ew, I feel gross now… Man, why the f*ck did I just do that?” Miko now wants to punch herself in the stomach as a punishment. “Anyways, Watame remains to be a potential suspect, and the information related to the phone’s location will be a very important clue that will prove my theory that she is the killer.”
“Okok, I get it.” Suisei says with a tired voice. “And now tell me, what are you planning to do now?”
“Easy. We’re going to have a conversation with Ceres Reina, Watame’s best friend. She has the answers we’re looking for.” The girl with the cold green eyes looks in silence at the blue eyes of her partner, who nods in agreement with the plan.
Suisei and Miko after this moment tried to search for Reina’s location, but then the school ring made a loud sound through the entire school, saying that classes were about to continue from their break, but despite that signal, the situation is still very chaotic, with most of the students talking about Botan’s death in the school’s hallways. The same applies to the teachers, who are not in the classrooms as our two protagonists can see as they walk.
“Lamy-sensei surely is the only teacher inside a classroom. Knowing how pathetic she is, I can see that.” Suisei says that without much emotion in her face and voice.
“Hey, don’t call her pathetic…” Miko scolds her, but even so she agrees with the idea that her homeroom teacher must be the only person doing that.
As they keep walking they try to find Reina’s, but so far there is no luck, and they have already explored the whole school building. “She really is nowhere to be seen. Mikochi, what if she didn’t come to school today?”
The pink girl nods. “Yeah, that’s indeed a possibility… But well, there is still one place we haven’t checked yet. That place is our last hope to find Ceres Reina today.” The two detectives return to the second floor of the building, stopping outside the school library. The two girls open the room, their eyes seeing this big place that is full of bookshelves, books, tables and chairs, and of course, a few students.
After exploring the library a bit they finally find the person they were looking for. “Finally! There you are! Do you have an idea how much time we spent looking for you!?” Suisei complains while crossing her arms, looking upset.
The green haired nerd girl with square shaped glasses is sitting on a chair and has a red book very close to her face, giving the impression she was very focused in the reading. The green girl slowly moves the book from her face, looking with visibly annoyed eyes at the blue haired person. “Umm, excuse me? Do I know you?”
Sui shakes her head. “No, not me, but surely you recognize my girlfriend, right?” She points with her thumb at the small pink haired girl, who gives a brief disgusted look at her partner.
“Oh, you’re…” Reina holds her chin with her left hand while analyzing Miko’s face. “Yeah, I know you… You’re Sakura-san, the class rep from class 2-C.” With the recognition of a familiar face the nerd girl finally feels safe to leave the book on the table, exposing her pretty face and body to these two students. “Sakura-san, why are you and… your girlfriend (?), looking for me?”
“First of all, she is not my girlfriend, and second, we were looking for you because we need to know something about… Your best friend.”
“Eh!? You want to know about Watame-chan!? Then why don’t you go and ask her in person!? Why are you assuming I’m her best friend!?” The green haired girl screams in panic. The nearby students shush her, to which she apologizes by bowing multiple times.
“Hm? So you’re not?” Miko and Suisei ask in a cold voice, both having their arms crossed and a deadpan face.
This was a trick question and unfortunately for Reina, she fell for it. “Huh!? O-Of course I’m her best friend! Watame-chan and I are so close that we have visited each other’s houses a lot of times! Hmph! Those fans from her surely would love to be in my position! She and I chat a lot in her freetimes! Can they do that!? No, they can’t! 1 point for Reina, 0 points for those otakus losers!” She smirks and also crosses her arms, looking very proud of herself.
Miko and Suisei look at each other without saying anything, but the look in their eyes says everything. “Thanks for confirming our suspicions, Ceres-san.” Sakura says. Ceres realizes her mistake and covers her mouth, feeling dumb inside. “Let me ask you, did you go with Watame after the concert was over?”
“Hm? Why do you want to know that?”
“Stop asking questions and reply already.” Miko says with a surprisingly aggressive voice that shocks Suisei. She can see that her partner is very frustrated now.
“O-Ok! Yeah, after the concert was over Watame-chan and I met behind the scenario. Usually she invites me to her concerts, and since this time it was here in our school she gave me the opportunity to watch her from behind the scenes. I replied to your question, so now you have to reply to mine. Why are you asking this?”
“Well, it’s because the deceased student from our school that you surely heard about, Shishiro Botan, was a huge fan of Watame and she died hours later after the concert was over. I wanted to know if you saw something weird on Watame that day, or if she and Botan interacted while you were there.” Miko says.
“Eh? Shishiro-san? Why would you want to know what Watame-chan was doing when-” In that moment the nerd realizes Miko’s true intentions. “You… You suspect that Watame-chan is the person who murdered that student!?”
Suisei and Miko look at each other before looking back at the nerd. “Yeah, you’re right. Watame is the main suspect from Shishiro Botan’s death in my opinion, so I want to interrogate you and get the information that might confirm or deny my theory that she is the culprit of this case.” Sakura says with her usual cold voice.
Slap! The sound of a hand slapping a face very hard can be heard through the entire library. “You! How dare you disrespect my best friend like that!?” Ceres Reina is so furious that she grabs Miko’s clothes around the shoulders area while the pink girl is shocked caressing her red cheek. “Do you think I’m going to betray my best friend to a hot but annoying girl like you!? Well, you’re very wrong! f*ck you!!!” She pushes Sakura away from her.
Miko is so shocked by this attack that she doesn’t react. The students inside the library are also shocked, looking in deep silence at this tense confrontation. Suisei on her side is super pissed off by what her blue eyes just saw. She is even more pissed off than Reina. “I’ll kill you bitch.” Her eyes look very deadly after saying that.
“Huh!? What the f*ck is wrong with you too!? You want to ki-ki-kill me!? You’re f*cking crazy! If you dare to get close to me ever again, then I’ll call the police! Stay away from me, you creep!” Reina grabs her backpack that was on the chair and quickly exits the library.
“Yeah! Run away like the little bitch you are! We don’t care about your stupid threats anyway! f*ck you, ugly green nerd! Your hair looks more like my snot than real hair!” Suisei screams as she watches her escape.
“Stupid.” Miko suddenly says from behind. Suisei turns back to look at her, seeing the always cold face from her partner. “Because of you we lost our chance to convince Reina to reveal information.”
“Are you serious? She was very pissed off by what you said before she ran away from me.”
“Yes, I know she was angry at me, but still I’m sure that I could convince her to speak. Now she will call the police as soon as she sees you because she thinks you’ll kill her…” Miko does a facepalm and sighs. “Next time I come to interrogate her, I’ll go alone.”
“Hey! That’s not fair! You’re also responsible for making her explode! It’s not entirely Sui-chan’s fault!” The blue haired girl kept complaining as she and her partner left the library and returned to their classroom, this while Miko continued to ignore her.
Miko was not in the mood to continue with her investigation after what happened with Reina and Suisei, so she decided to leave that on standby and return to class to chat with Koyori and Korone, her two best friends to cheer up, but as soon as they arrived at the classroom, the voice from the speakers said…
“Students, the situation with the reporters, TV news and police is turning more chaotic and unstable as more time passes by, so with my deepest regrets I have to inform all of you that the rest of today’s classes will be canceled. Because of this, today's schedule will be moved to tomorrow, which means that you’ll have to come to school on saturday. That was the important message, thanks for your understanding.”
Suisei and Miko perfectly heard some students from other classes shout “f*ck you, Daisuke!” But they paid no mind to it. After this moment everyone was forced to leave the school and return home, a chance that Sakura would have loved to secretly follow and spy on Watame to discover her house’s location, but unfortunately the idol was picked up by a limousine that surely belongs to her manager. The car quickly abandoned the school area to avoid the news reporters, so the pink detective didn’t have the chance to follow them.
With nothing else to do, Sakura Miko returned home in the company of her best friend, Korone. Sakura knew Suisei was stalking her from a long distance, but she was too angry with her to invite her partner to join her and Korone. The cold pink girl in the middle of her walk continues to plan what to do about Reina as her brown haired friend keeps talking.
“Miko-Miko, are you sure you are ok? You look so down that Korone can’t help but feel worried about you…” Inugami has a very worried look on her face as she walks.
“It’s ok Korone, I’m ok… It’s just that my tummy hurts a bit, haha.”
“I see…” Korone doesn’t look that convinced, but she still has a smile on her face. “Alright then. Knowing you, I’m sure you’re hiding something from me, but that’s ok, you want privacy after all. But yes, just let me say something. If you feel that you need help, don’t feel afraid to ask for my help, ok? The same applies for Koyo-Koyo too.”
Miko nods, smiling a litte bit. “Un. Thanks Korone, I’ll keep that in mind.” The brown haired girl nods and walks more cheerfully now.
Miko suddenly gets a great idea thanks to her childhood friend. “Alright, I have decided what I’m going to do. Thanks Korone, I think I’ll have to borrow yours and Koyori’s help to execute my plan tomorrow.” The pink girl thinks to herself. She smiles at Korone and gives her a friendly hug with one arm. This makes her childhood friend laugh, glad to see that her dear friend is better now.
“Mikochi… Why do I have the feeling that you’re planning something that is not good?” Suisei says as she watches from behind the corner the two women in front of her. Hoshimachi feels concern in her chest, holding it tightly as she hopes this painful feeling vanishes soon.
