Chapter 5:

Strange Tales from Pokomaru-kun's Studio (1)

The Great Detective Doesn't Fall in Love


“Are you free this Saturday?”

It was a whopper of a question, and one that I heavily suspected was laced with duplicitous intentions – it would not have been out of character for Haruhi to ask me to give up my weekend to help her move house, or to babysit her friends who were, for some odd reason, still in elementary school.

The latter was closer to the mark than I could have anticipated, and my response was apologetic. “I was actually hoping to catch up on some reading this weekend.”

“How frivolous, Watson,” she was unimpressed. “You will need a better reason than that if you want to skip club activities.”

“Club activities?” I raised an eyebrow. “Is it another mystery?”

It was only a couple of days ago that Haruhi had uncovered the truth behind the phantom baseball players; from her demeanour, however, it was clear that that mystery had not provided an adequate challenge for her grey cells, and she seemed to be somewhat restless.

“Something of that sort, yes.”

“Fine, I’m free then. Sheridan Le Fanu can wait.”

To lose one’s Saturday was a tragedy; to see the Great Detective at work, however, was a significant privilege. A worthy trade, I thought. As Le Fanu himself noted – love was a selfish thing.

***

X84 Y747 D242 N084

Without error, I entered the coordinates Haruhi texted me into my phone’s built-in web mapping application and, two buses, a train and a fifteen-minute walk in the burgeoning summer heat later, I had arrived at my destination.

Since her home was apparently nearer, Haruhi stated in her text that she would arrive ten minutes early and “get in line first”, but that there would be somebody to greet me near the entrance.

Looking up, I was greeted by a banner welcoming me to the Pokomaru World theme park; it was propped up on both sides by what I could only assume were Pokomaru-kun’s relatives: the same kind of creature, vaguely ursine, but in a different colour scheme. How terribly unoriginal, I thought to myself.

“Tanizaki Seishi?” a voice called from behind me.

I turned around to see a figure steadily approaching. He was slightly taller than I was and possessed a slim, albeit muscular, build. His rowdy light brown hair and bronzed complexion gave him the look of an athlete. Could this have been the president of the New Wave Mystery Society?

“That’s me,” I affirmed, outstretching my hand.

His handshake was firm. “Big Sis and the others are already inside.”

Big who now?

“I’m sorry,” I said, “but aren’t you the president of the New Wave Mystery Society? Sawamura, right?”

“My name is Tsukishima,” he replied. “Tsukishima Takashi. I’m the vice president’s younger brother.”

He didn’t say anything more than that. Turning around, he began to walk back towards the theme park. He flashed two tickets at the attendant manning the gate and pointed at me, and I quickly followed him into the interior of the theme park.

“You said that the others are here already? The president too, then?” I inquired.

Takashi shrugged. “I only saw Big Sis and some of the guys from the Shinsengumi. There they are now, actually. In line for the Crazy Poko Poko Teacups.”

Rather than join in at the back of the queue, Takashi immediately walked up to where his sister was standing in line, mobbed by three boys who were barely higher than her waist. I averted my eyes from the glares of the other queuers as I quickly made my way to the front of the line.

“Morning, Holmes,” I greeted.

“Watson,” she acknowledged.

For the occasion, Haruhi had chosen a tasteful blue and white sundress with a floral pattern which accentuated her slender shoulders. She also donned a boater hat which would have been classy had it not been adorned with a gaudy Pokomaru-kun pin. Mixed in with the present surroundings, she looked more like an overgrown kid to me than a classmate.

But the sight of Haruhi in her everyday clothes was striking, nonetheless. It was a juvenile thought perhaps, but I felt as though I had managed a glimpse at another side of the Great Detective.

“Shota, Riku, Hinata, meet John Watson. He also goes by Tanizaki Seishi,”

“Hijikata Toshizou.”

“Okita Souji.”

“Kondou Isamu.”

Haruhi shot me a conspiratorial smile. “Aren’t they cute, Watson? They like to pretend that they’re the Shinsengumi,” she added at the end, “do try to humour them, won’t you?”

Somehow, she said this with a straight face – although her skills of deduction were evidently top notch, it seemed like she was completely lacking in self-awareness. If this were any other person, it might even have been infuriating; in this particular instance though, I found the contrast between her social awkwardness and the pure rationality I knew she possessed to be quite charming.

“I’ll try,” I winked.

The teacups gradually began to stop, and its current occupants began to exit hastily; as they did so, the attendant lifted a barrier and beckoned us to come forward. The three heroes from old Edo rushed forward and took their seats in one of the cups – awkwardly, I noticed that the teacup only had space for one more person.

“I’ll take this one,” Takashi said, sliding past me and into the oversized teacup. “That green one over there is free. Looks like it’s for couples, eh? Well, have fun then,” he grinned, pulling the guardrail into place.

As it turned out, the teacup that he had pointed out to us was not for couples, but for young families. Haruhi and I now sat diagonally from each other, with just enough space between us for a young child.

“Maybe we should ask Okita to join us?” I suggested sheepishly.

“Shota? No, it wouldn’t be fair to separate him from his friends,” Haruhi replied without much consideration.

A ten second interval passed, and the teacups had not yet been put into motion. I was genuinely curious, so I pressed Haruhi further.

“How do you even know those kids, Holmes?”

“The Shinsengumi, you mean?” she was smiling faintly. “They’re a club, of sorts. Takashi started it, actually, when he was in elementary school. He’s like their great senpai.”

“You were never a member yourself?” I asked.

“The Shinsengumi had no female members,” she sniffed.

“Sherlock Holmes wasn’t female either, you know.”

It was the kind of witty remark that, if you asked my parents, I was particularly skilled at although I normally managed to restrain myself around my classmates. This was, to be frank, an inopportune time to slip up. Haruhi was staring daggers at me, and I was expecting to be chewed out any moment.

Providence, however, seemed to be on my side as a tyke clamoured across Haruhi’s lap and into the space between us. At first, I thought it was one of the Shinsengumi members, but it was immediately obvious that this was not the case.

It was a little girl, no more than eight or nine years old.

Whatever Haruhi intended to say to me, she couldn’t well say it now. Her anger hadn’t subsided though, but she contented herself by outstretching her legs and clipping me on the ankle. I accepted it with good grace, as the machinery began to shift, and the teacup sent the three of us hurtling through the first rotation.

I stifled a holler at the first sudden change of direction, conscious of the fact that I was sharing a teacup with Haruhi; looking over, I could see that she was not suffering from the same inhibitions, and her excited yelps could only be rivalled by the shrieks of delight coming from the Shinsengumi’s teacup.

Another sudden snap caused Haruhi’s long hair to strike the little girl in the face, and she spluttered as some loose strands got caught in her mouth. Haruhi was too busy having fun to notice, and I burst out laughing at the farcical scene.

By the time the teacups grinded to a halt, I was still chuckling lightly to myself. Seeing that the attendant had given the all-clear, I shook off the dizziness and stood up. As I did so, I could feel small, clammy fingers tighten around my hand – disappointedly, it was the little girl.

She tugged as though she had something to say to me, so I crouched down until my ear was level with her head. Haruhi had already exited the teacup and was eyeing us both curiously. The young girl leaned in to whisper, and her words sent a jolt through my entire body.

“Somebody is following me.”

AWiddleStar
icon-reaction-1
Alyssa Aurinia
icon-reaction-1
Armorien
icon-reaction-1
Robin Paharya
icon-reaction-2
Dracors
icon-reaction-4
potadd
icon-reaction-4
Parademero
icon-reaction-1
F.C Fondness
icon-reaction-1
WALKER
icon-reaction-1
rainmaker
icon-reaction-3
Yammu
icon-reaction-1