Case 8: Call the Police (Part I)

Three full weeks passed since I first met the girl called Shiomi Yua, and although the start had been quite eventful, we settled into a sort of a routine after this.

A case would come in from time to time, Yua would solve it with breathtaking deductions and brilliant reasoning, and we continued to amass snacks.

I was honestly pleased at this progress. I managed to tease out a little about her, and we were definitely growing closer. Progress was neither too fast nor too slow.

However, I started increasingly thinking about moving to the next stage. Now that she was used to my presence, I needed to slowly and carefully plant the seeds of love.

While I knew that my original plans with Takai Hana were going to be quite difficult, I was still unsure whether this current path was more or less of a hurdle.

—I was pondering about all of this and more while watching Yua’s distancing back, her twintails bouncing as she walked away.

Another day passed without any cases for us to solve, so I walked with her all the way to the gate, where we said our goodbyes.

Probably still too early for me to suggest walking home together, although I briefly entertained the idea. Besides, she apparently lived on the other side of town anyway.

Soon, perhaps. there was no need to rush this.

“…Hmm?”

The moment Yua was about to turn around the corner, I noticed something odd.

Namely, that a man who’d clearly been watching from nearby suddenly moved. He glanced left and right, and then took a few quick steps, vanishing around the same corner.

I stood there for a moment, blinking.

Maybe I was just being paranoid? The case of Kamiya-sensei was still fresh in my mind. That was the only reason I thought something like that was suspicious. Right?

However, I couldn’t shake off my worries, so I started half-running before I noticed.

Even if this wasn’t some crazy lolicon stalker or something, I couldn’t discount the possibility that a smart girl like Yua had angered the wrong people before… So while I prayed this was nothing, I decided to follow them a little, just in case.

As I turned around the same corner, I could see both Yua and the man still walking in the same direction. There were other people around, but none of them seemed to give this any attention. I surveyed the man.

He seemed to be in his early forties or so, and was dressed rather shabbily. He moved ahead carefully but with clear purpose, crossing the same street after Yua did.

I probably should have messaged Yua at this point, but I only recalled this sensible option a bit later. Right then, my mind was clouded over with worry. I sped up, coming right behind the man.

Humming under her breath while popping ball-shaped chocolates into her mouth, Yua looked completely innocent and unguarded.

She sure had her cute moments.

Wait, I was getting distracted.

The middle-aged man, stout and unshaven, kept creeping closer and closer as we approached a nearby park. There weren’t many people around.

I clicked my tongue. I could no longer bear to just watch—the man was clearly aiming at her!

“Shiomi-san, watch out!” I called out loud, practically leaping at the man. “Someone’s after you!”

“Eh?” the girl blurted, turning around in surprise.

“W-wait, who are you!” the man also grunted in surprise, raising his hands to block me. He was larger than me, so I wasn’t convinced I could beat him in a fight.

“Run away, call the police!” I insisted.

“What? You don’t understand, I’m—” the man started while struggling with me.

“…Amari-kun, please let go of poor Inspector Mochizuki,” Yua’s voice said very calmly.

I froze, then looked between the two. “Wait a minute… you know each other?”

Yua smiled. “You said something about calling the police… but he’s a policeman!”

“Eh?”

Since we caused a little bit of a scene after I was shouting like that, we moved into the nearby park to seek refuge. The middle-aged man—apparently a plainclothes cop—looked apologetic as he sat down on a bench.

“Sorry, sneaking up on people is my bad habit,” he said. “So you saw it from afar, eh?”

“I… yes. Um, I humbly apologize,” I said, bowing.

Even now that I got a good look at him, my impression of him as a shabby-looking man remained unchanged. Not only did he look like he hadn’t shaved in days, but he probably also hadn’t slept just as long; there were great dark circles under his eyes.

He waved a hand. “It’s fine, it’s fine. Still, young lady… when’d you get such a reliable boyfriend?”

“Hmm? Oh, he’s not a boyfriend. He’s my assistant,” she answered nonchalantly.

The way she replied without even batting an eyelid… I felt like it would’ve been better for me if she got flustered and fervently denied it, but oh well. Baby steps.

“Assistant… ah, for your detecting stuff?” said the man, laughing heartily.

“It somehow turned out like this, yeah… Oh, and sorry for the belated introduction—I’m Shiomi-san’s assistant, Amari Seiji.”

“Mochizuki Makoto, at your service,” he said, grabbing my hand for a powerful handshake.

“Anyway,” said Yua. “What are you doing here? You really should stop sneaking around. And are you getting enough sleep?”

“Sorry…” he rubbed the back of his head. “I’ve been fighting the creatures of the night again… shape-shifting demons and all that…”

“Huh?” He said that with a completely straight face, which caught me off guard.

Yua sighed. “Ignore him, just one of his stupid jokes,” said, waving a hand. “But seriously, stop stalking people like that.”

“Sorry, young lady… Just feels awkward approaching you out of the blue. I only wanted to make sure you were alone so it wouldn’t look bad…”

That literally made it look worse, though.

“You could just give me a call, you know?”

“Eh, wouldn’t feel right, saving the number of a girl my daughter’s age in my phone.”

Again, that man had a very skewed sense of what was appropriate or not.

Yua probably felt the same, since she gave another theatrical sigh. “Well, let’s leave it aside. What is it this time? Spill it out. Do you need my help again?”

Ooh! Now I get it.

Since he was (supposedly) a police officer, it was probably that pattern where the force used Yua as an unofficial consultant because she was so smart or something.

But maybe I was just misunderstanding things as usual.

“Weeell, there’s been a small incident, and I’d really appreciate your help in solving it.”

So I wasn’t wrong after all!

“Denied,” she said, hmphing away and waving her hand. “I told you, I don’t do murders.” She then actually shuddered, hugging herself, looking pale. “I might faint just hearing about the details.”

“Really?” I asked her with a teasing smile. “Isn’t bloody murder a detective classic?”

“Heh, not for this one. Not like I’ve seen it myself, but apparently her body shuts down at the sight of blood.”

Yua shuddered again. “I’ve had some horrible experiences with nosebleeds, like that one class a couple of months ago… please don’t ask.”

Mochizuki took this opportunity to speak again. “But please, young lady, it’s nothing like that. There’s no blood involved, it’s not an official case but a small matter back at the station, it’s just that it’s a bit of a pain…”

“Hmm, I don’t know… I have this show I want to watch soon…”

“Please! I’ll buy you whatever snacks you want! Last time I couldn’t get that limited-edition cherry mochi, but I’ll try really hard…!”

Yua tried concealing it, but I saw that her facade was beginning to crack from the slightest sparkles in her eyes. “I mean, you can’t just bribe me like that…”

“Also,” said Mochizuki, his tone dropping and becoming more serious, “it’s a closed room crime.”

Fireworks now crackled within Yua’s eyes.

“Tell me everything!” she said.

The man really knew how to push her buttons… I ought to take notes.

Mochizuki made a hoarse laugh. “Haha, that’s the spirit. Now, let’s hurry up, it’s a bit of a sensitive thing. Nice meeting you, kid,” he said, nodding at me.

“I’m coming too,” I declared.

“Ah?”

“I don’t really get what’s going on, but if you’re taking Yua there… I also need to be there as her assistant.”

“I don’t know about…” The man scratched at his unshaven chin.

“No, Amari-kun’s right. Since he’s my assistant, I want him to see this through!” Yua said as well.

It warmed my heart seeing the small detective stand up for me like that.

“Ah, very well.” The man said, looking resigned. “Let’s go, then.”