Case 16: Love Letters Redux (Part II)

Yua looked surprised at this accusation, but I could already see the fireworks going off in her eyes. For her, this was an unexpected yet very welcome challenge.

“Did I hear you right?” she asked excitedly. “You claim that two students actually saw me doing this? I would love to hear all about this, where are they?”

“…Right here, actually,” said one, stepping ahead.

“Sagara?” I asked in surprise at seeing my friend. He might’ve already been there and I simply hadn’t noticed.

“Sagara-kun?” added Hitomi, similarly surprised. “Are you claiming that you saw Shiomi-san place letters inside the shoe lockers?”

“Yup,” he confirmed, looking directly at the aforementioned girl.

“Oh? Let’s hear it, then—when was it, exactly, that you allegedly saw me?”

“This morning, like a minute before the first bell. I was kinda in a hurry, so it was just for a brief moment… but I did see you open a few lockers and place something inside them,” he explained.

Yua laughed. “Is that all? What a bold-faced lie. I came to school about half an hour before that! Incidentally, by which time I already found letters in my own locker!”

“And yet, you were almost late to homeroom,” noted Sawatari from the side.

“—Err.” Yua twitched. “W-well, that’s true, but it was something completely different!”

“…There’s no way you are the culprit, right?” I asked her.

“My very own assistant doubts me?!”

“What were you doing, then, that you were nearly late?” It was now Takai’s turn to ask.

“I… well…” Yua looked around, then finally relented. “If you really have to know, I was in the little ladies’ room. That’s all.”

“A likely story,” said Sawatari.

“Got any alibi or something, Shiomi?” spat Sagara, glaring at her.

“Well… strictly speaking, no.” Yua shrugged. “So I’d like to know why you’re in cahoots with the culprit—or maybe it’s just you?”

“The hell does that mean?” said the bleach-haired boy, starting to grow angry.

“I mean, you’ve already tried tricking me once…”

“Hmph, that was just a nice little test. I wasn’t hurting nobody.”

After thinking a little, I decided to break their argument. “Say, wasn’t there supposed to be a second witness?”

“Yes… um, that’s me,” said a very hesitant voice, belonging to a boy in glasses.

Apparently I missed yet another person who was present there, another one of my classmates, probably owing to him being as quiet and unimpressive as always.

“Itou-san… was it?” asked Yua.

“Yes,” supplied the bespectacled teacher. “He was actually the one who first came to me to complain.”

“He remembered me being there as well, so sensei fetched me for my own testimony as well,” further explained Sagara.

“Ah… so both of you are claiming to have seen me putting letters in lockers this morning?” Yua said, one hand on her hips. “And I assume you have some proof for this? Or proof you aren’t colluding on this?”

“C-colluding?!” sputtered Itou.

Sagara side-eyed him. “Sure, we are classmates, and all that… but me and that twerp? No way.”

“I also still remember that trick you pulled on us,” grumbled Itou, frowning. “I won’t play along with someone who accused me for no reason!”

I did find it hard to believe—their personalities hardly meshed together—but he probably had no way to prove that.

“And I’m supposed to take you on your word, hmm? Sensei, don’t tell me you actually think it’s me?”

Sawatari narrowed her eyes. “You have been quite the troublemaker this entire school year, Shiomi… Disturbing the peace of this school in many different ways.” But then she gave a brief smile, one that vanished almost as soon as it appeared. “However, I don’t think you’re one to conduct such a large-scale prank. On the other hand, I don’t think these boys have some agenda against you, either.”

“Yeah… I mean, she’s helped me before and all that. I’ve got nothin’ against the pipsqueak,” mumbled Sagara.

I briefly glanced at Hitomi, but she had no reaction. Apparently, she was still wholly unaware of things.

“I have another question for you, then,” said Yua, widening her smile. “Can you please recreate what happened as you remember it?”

“Recreate?” said the wide-eyed Itou.

“Yes. We’re actually right here at the so-called scene of the crime, right? Can you tell me where both of you stood, and where you saw me?”

“Fair enough,” said Sagara and started walking. He came to the very entrance. “See that row of lockers to your right? You were standing next to it.”

“Like this?” asked Yua, walking toward the designated spot.

“Yeah, just like that.”

“And what about you, Itou-kun?”

“M-me?” asked the startled boy. He really had to do something about that personality of his. “Uh, I was further behind…” He took unsteady steps, moving past Sagara and outside.

Sagara smirked as he saw him. “Yeah, I remember now. This twerp behind me shouted, ‘I’m going to be late!’ the moment I entered. He then rushed past me.” The boy actually flushed a little at this description.

“And what was ‘Yua’ doing then?” asked Yua.

“Hmm, I saw you messing around with the lockers, and then you ran away, too.”

Yua’s smile widened even further. “However, do all of you notice something interesting?” She tapped the shoe racks next to her, looking at us. “None of them could see me properly from that angle, right?”

“Now that you mention it…” said Takai.

Yua turned to the two boys again. “Do you claim to have seen my face?”

Sagara thought a little, rubbing his chin. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Maybe a glimpse?” mumbled Itou. “But then again, maybe not…”

“So here comes the next question: how did you know that was me?”

“Short, twintails, dark hair,” said Sagara, counting on his fingers. “And holding a giant bag of potato chips.”

I realized what this meant at almost the same time Yua talked again.

“Aha!” she said triumphantly. “So that’s the trick—you were being made to recognize me!”

She was probably right.

After all, her general physical characteristics were likely shared with many girls in this school. As for the last detail, it was like a trademark of sorts.

“Basically, you saw someone that more or less looks like me, including my well-known penchant for snacks, and so you assumed it was me, despite not even seeing my face or anything.”

“Now that you word it like that… well, yes,” said Sagara, looking somewhat embarrassed for a change.

“But it makes sense, right…?” asked Itou.

“What are you saying, then?” asked Takai, her arms crossed. “That someone disguised herself as you?”

“Yup. Take a look at Yokoo-san, for example… a few minor modifications and she can resemble me pretty easily.”

“Me?” said Hitomi. “We look nothing alike!”

“Yeah, what’re you blaming her for?” spat Sagara as well.

“Hmm, I can sort of see it,” I said.

“Hey!”

“Sorry, I’m not trying to blame you or anything,” I said, raising my hands.

“I’m taller than her,” argued Hitomi, “and my hair isn’t—”

“They saw ‘Yua’ only for a few moments, and these things can be adjusted,” Yua cut her off. “Sorry, I’m not trying to say it’s actually you. Don’t worry about it. Anyway, there’s one final thing that intrigues me—what did ‘Yua’ do once you clearly caught her in the act?”

“Ran over there,” said Sagara, pointing with his thumb to the left corridor. Itou also gently nodded.

Wait, wasn’t there something odd about this? Once again, I was just about to put it together when Yua noted it first.

“Oh? So I went left, while the first-year classrooms are to the right? In that case, I never would’ve made it in time to class! And yet, sensei can confirm that I have!”

“Hmm, that’s true,” said Sawatari, her eyes widening behind her glasses.

As always, Yua looked very cute whenever she solved a mystery successfully. Her eyes sparkled like small diamonds filled with stars.

“That means that you were duped by a fake!” she announced. “Now, the only thing that remains is to identify who it was!”