Case 4: Love Letters (Part I)

After going through quite the turbulent first day as a freshly-minted detective’s assistant, school was over and I finally had some time to spend with Yua again.

Just like 24 hours prior, I found the small detective inhabiting the same empty room, in the same pose even, and she reacted the same way, perking up upon my entry.

Although I only knew her for a mere day, something about seeing her welcoming me like this felt reassuring, especially when I was still so tired.

Welcome back, Amari-kun! Would you like some snacks? Juice, perhaps? Or maybe… go out with me?

—She obviously said none of that.

“Oh, it’s you,” she said plainly, her head gently plopping back onto the desk.

Never mind… maybe this long day was far from being nice to me.

Softly sighing, I just took the seat opposite to hers. “Is that how you treat your new and helpful assistant?”

“Hmph. You have done some relatively decent work this morning, but mostly by mistake, right? Your trial period’s far from over.”

“Sure.”

Well, there was no need to get too depressed, yet. We were just getting started.

Actually, us being alone in this empty room was perfect for me to get to know Yua better and grow closer to her. Slowly but surely, I would worm my way into my heart.

I was about to open my mouth when Yua perked up yet again. As I turned away from her and looked to the door, I could see why.

“Hello. …Sorry, was there another client? I can come back later…”

A girl stood at the door. Judging from her mature appearance and her blue ribbon, she was two years our senior. She had wavy hair hovering above her shoulders.

“Client? Nah, that’s my assistant. Do come in,” Yua said casually, then went straight to business mode with a smile. “How can I help you?”

In response, the girl pulled out something from her bag. “I need your help in figuring out something. I’ve heard the rumors, but will this suffice as payment…?”

She presented what looked to be a box of mushroom-shaped chocolate cookies, upon which Yua smiled.

“Yes indeed! Thank you very much,” Yua replied, cheerfully accepting it. She then threw it over to me, to my surprise. “Store it with the others, Amari-kun!”

That gave me some pause. “Uh… the others?”

“Oh, haven’t I told you yet? I keep most of my snacks in that closet in the corner,” she said, pointing to it.

Really? It didn’t seem to me like she was getting that many requests in order for her to have a large hoard, so maybe most of them were just her own.

“Sorry, let’s get down to business. What do you require my expertise for?” I heard Yua say behind me while I set out on my task.

“Well, you see… someone’s been leaving certain messages in my shoe rack,” the girl explained. “More specifically, love letters.”

Meanwhile, I reached the aforementioned closet with the chocolates in hand and opened it. I was consequently buried in an avalanche of snacks, never to be seen again.

…Or well, at least that was what it felt like when several bags and boxes fell from the top shelf, hitting me. The closet was stuffed full way beyond my expectations.

“Ow.”

Turning around to face the two girls while rubbing my head, I could actually see the small detective wear an apologetic expression. “Sorry, I forgot it was packed full like that… Alright, Amari-kun, that’s your next job, then!”

Alright, I was the one who offered to become her assistant, but this wasn’t quite what I had in mind.

Anyway, while I was busy trying to fix this mess, I also listened to the case’s details as the two girls conversed behind me.

The girl—apparently called Toyama Chisa—started explaining this incident.

“These last two weeks, I found a love letter inserted into my shoe rack on several occasions.”

Ah, the classic.

A bit old-fashioned, but depending on the other party, it could be extremely effective. Some girls found that sort of stuff exciting and romantic.

Judging from Toyama’s troubled tone, however, she wasn’t one of them.

“Ah, I see,” said Yua, and I could hear the excitement from her voice; her eyes must have been sparkling again. “Do you happen to remember all of those occasions?”

Toyama began to explain—apparently, there were three cases in all. About two weeks ago, about a week ago, and two days ago. For the first and last time, she found the letters right as she left school, but on the second occasion it was there right when she arrived, instead.

“Can you show me these letters?” prompted Yua.

“I, err, actually threw them away… The first one was somewhat fine, but then it started getting a bit disturbing…”

“Disturbing?” I piped while finally closing the closet after a successful reorganizing operation. “Was it… well, sexual?”

“No, more like desperate, or obsessive. Talked about how he couldn’t help but admire me from afar, or something like that… I started becoming scared I had some kind of stalker…” the girl answered, shuddering. “I need to know who’s behind this. I did speak to a teacher, but he didn’t seem to take me seriously. Plus, I tried rushing straight to the shoe racks every break to try and catch the guy in the act, but I never found who it was… Can you please help me?”

I glanced at the girl a few times, but mostly I was looking at Yua—whose eyes sparkled brighter and brighter the more she listened.

This challenge was apparently right up her alley.

“Say no more! Well, I already accepted your payment, so I’ll obviously take on the case,” she announced, tapping her chest with a fist.

“Thank you so much!” said Toyama, bowing.

“Incidentally,” said Yua, “do you have any candidates in mind? For example, let’s say, someone you noticed stealing glances at you?”

“Well…” said the girl after thinking a little. “I guess there’s Naoto-kun’s friend…”

“And who’s that? Naoto-kun, I mean.”

The girl’s cheeks turned crimson. “Shimura Naoto is, um, a classmate.” Definitely much more than a classmate, from her tone and expression. “Some part of me hoped that he was the sender, but… now I actually hope to prove it isn’t him.”

“And his friend?” I asked.

Toyama looked surprised for a moment, as if she forgot about my existence. Yua also gave me a short glare that seemed to say Hey! I’m the one asking questions here, assistant.

“He’s called Taira Kyou-kun. I did catch him looking at me a few times… Actually, there was this time Kamiya-sensei shouted at him for not paying attention, and I noticed Taira-kun was looking right at me. But I never got the feeling he’s a bad guy or anything.”

Yua placed a finger against her chin. “Hmm. Well, that gives us a start, at least. —Alright, I might have some questions for you later, but I’m already starting to form a few plans.”

“Really? Already?”

“Yes, really.” As she turned to me with those electrifying eyes of hers, I felt a shiver, but it wasn’t a pleasant one, because I could somewhat anticipate her next words. “Amari-kun, I’m counting on you. —It’s time for you to stand watch in front of those shoe racks!”