The Culprit is Found

The sound of the bell signaled the end of lunch. Ichinose’s friends were nowhere to be seen. Yuta had practically searched the whole building, but there was no trace of either of them.

He had found Ichinose eating alone in her classroom. Her phone was on the desk, and she scrolled through her social media.

Yuta had asked her where her friends were, but she claimed she didn’t know. ‘They are looking more suspicious by the minute…’

…

Kurosawa crossed her arms. “You’re late, Ichikawa.”

“Sorry, I got held up. I couldn’t find Ichinose’s friends anywhere.”

Hitomura gave him a slap on the back. “It’s okay, we haven’t started baking yet.”

As if Hitomura had summoned him, the teacher cleared his throat and announced that the class could start baking.

“Kurosawa, you can mix the ingredients for the lemon and sugar cookies. Shiori, you mix the ingredients for the matcha and chocolate chip cookies. Hitomura can handle the actual baking. I’ll get the ingredients out and measure them.”

Kurosawa pulled out a large bowl and set it on the counter. “Should be simple enough.”

“A-Are you sure I s-should be the one mixing?”

“Don’t worry, Shiori. You’ll be fine. It’s very easy.”

“O-Okay…”

Hitomura saluted Yuta. “I will bake these cookies to perfection, sir!” He whipped around and set the oven to the proper temperature.

“You don’t have to be so dramatic about it…”

“There’s just one problem, Yuta…” Hitomura gave a nervous laugh.

“And what is that?”

“The recipes we have don’t use the same temperature.”

“Then adjust the time. Here, let me see the recipes…” Yuta took a look at the four recipes Hitomura had on him. After studying them, he whispered instructions to Hitomura. “Just because the recipe calls for a certain temperature doesn’t mean you have to use that temperature. To adjust the temperature, all you need to do is change the time with it.”

“I see… Now I can impress Rin even more! Haha!”

“There you go, fawning over your virtual girls again…”

“They’re not just any virtual girls, Yuta…” Hitomura chuckled and pushed his glasses up. “They’re waifus!”

Kurosawa kicked his leg out from under him, bringing him to his knees. “Shut up about that stuff, would you? I swear, that’s all you ever think about.”

The baking process went without any issues, or so Yuta thought… The cookies that Kurosawa made were not mixed enough. Bits of unmixed flour caused Yuta to cringe when he bit into the cookie. Shiori’s cookies had an overwhelming amount of egg in them.

“How did you two mess up mixing ingredients?”

The two girls hung their heads, ashamed of their lack of baking skills. “We’re sorry…”

“Shiori, I put the right amount of ingredients out… Why is the egg so strong?”

“I m-may not have… mixed them enough…”

Yuta shook his head. “Mixing isn’t that hard…”

After school, he decided to try the roof. He climbed the stairs that led to the door and paused at the top, hearing voices from the other side of the door.

“You what!?”

“Some nerve you have, trying to do our job for us! How did you even know we wanted Minori to break up with the president?”

A voice Yuta didn’t recognize sounded. “I’ve been following you all for a while.”

“So? What do you want with us?”

“...Someone’s listening to us.”

Yuta flinched. ‘How did she know? Was I too loud going up the stairs?’ He was tempted to flee, but he stayed put. ‘No matter what happens, I have to find out who the person behind the letters is. This is the only way off the roof, so if I stick around, I’ll find out who she is.’

“Huh? How can you tell?”

“I pay attention, unlike you two.”

“Why you–”

“Touch me and I’ll give Ichinose proof you’re trying to ruin her relationship.”

“Ugh, you’re so infuriating!”

“Honestly, who knew a vulnerable-looking girl like you would turn out to be such a scoundrel?”

“I suggest we stop talking before the eavesdropper learns anything important. In fact…”

He could hear the sound of whispering but couldn’t make out the words. Then the door opened, forcing him back.

One of Ichinose’s friends waved to him. “Bye-bye! See you in the nurse’s office!”

‘Wha–’ Suddenly he felt himself falling backwards. The last thing he saw before tumbling down the steps was Ichinose’s friends grinning down at him. Behind them was a rather small girl with glasses.

His vision turned dark the moment he landed at the bottom of the steps.

…

Yuta gasped awake. He shot up, his breathing heavy. His sudden movement was followed by the pains of a bruised body.

Arms flew around him and squeezed tight, causing his sides to ache. Shiori buried her head into him. “I w-was so worried!”

“Shiori?” Yuta took a look around him. He was sitting in a bed in the nurse’s office. Other than Shiori, the only people in the room were Hitomura and the nurse, though Hitomura kept as much distance from her as possible.

“Yuta, you’re alive!” Tears streamed down Hitomura’s cheeks, and he clasped his hands in front of him. “Praise the otaku gods!”

“I’m not–” Yuta took a deep breath. “What happened?”

The nurse placed a hand on her hip. “Ozaki found you unconscious in front of the stairs. She found Hitomura to help carry you here. Mind telling me how you fell down the stairs?”

“I was pushed… Ichinose’s friends were on the roof talking to a girl…” He looked at Shiori. “The one that wrote the letters to you and the president.”

Ms. Sasaki narrowed her eyes. “Letter? What letter?”

Shiori turned her head toward the nurse but didn’t let Yuta go. “W-When I got to school today… Someone wrote me a letter… telling me to stay away f-from Yuta…”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. That’s why I was up there. I was searching for the culprit.”

A dangerous aura surrounded the nurse. “What does she look like?”

“She’s small, and wears glasses. She has blue hair that she wears in pigtails. That’s about all I saw.”

“I think I know who that is.”