Chapter One Minami’s Crush on Hideki
“Hey, what are you reading?”
“N-Nothing!”
Minami hurriedly hid her girls' comic under her desk so Hideki couldn’t see it.
“Hey, what’s there to hide about? Isn’t it just a mystery novel like always?”
“It’s a secret!”
Minami and Hideki became freshmen high school students. Their relationship hadn’t changed and Minami still liked to read mystery novels.
However, recently, Minami started to read romance novels and girls' comics. This was because she realized she had a crush on Hideki. She wanted to know how to show her feelings of love, how to succeed in going out with Hideki.
“You seem weird lately. You used to be so open and frank!”
“N- no, I’m the same as always!”
Minami turned away so that Hideki couldn’t see her flushing.
The season for school festival came, and Minami finally decided to ask Hideki out. She couldn’t tolerate any longer, and she decided it was okay even if she may fail. Also, since Hideki was popular, she didn’t want any other girls to ask him out before her.
She spent a lot of time choosing her clothes and makeup and practiced her phrase several times in front of her mirror.
When she went to school, Hideki was doing the receptionist of the class project. Minami already knew what time Hideki was going to finish. When the guests were away, Minami spoke to Hideki.
“Hideki, can you come to our secret spot at noon?”
“How come?”
“There’s... there’s something I want to tell you.”
“Okay, see you later!”
Minami was in charge of guarding the exhibitions, but she was quite distracted. Her mind was full of questions and thoughts about Hideki. What if I can’t say it in the right way? What if he says no? What if he feels uneasy about this?
Finally, noon came and Minami went to the backside of the gymnasium and into the forest. There was a tree that had a red handkerchief on it. This was their secret spot. After waiting for several minutes, Hideki came along, saying “Sorry, I’m late!”
Minami’s head turned dizzy and her legs wobbled.
“You seem pale. Are you alright?” Hideki seemed a little worried.
'Oh no, I need to get a grip!' Minami thought. “Hideki, I-“
Bam! Just then, there was the sound of a gun being shot.
Minami started running right away. Hideki followed her. The sound of the gun came from the roof of the main building. There weren’t many areas where there weren’t many people during the school festival.
When she reached the roof, a man was lying with blood running from his head. He held a gun in his right hand.
“Hideki, call the police right away!”
“Okay!”
The police arrived within several minutes. According to the police’s investigation, the man who died was Shu Muroi, and he was a graduate of this school and was now a businessman. He was visiting the school festival with his wife Kanako Muroi, who was his former classmate and his friend Kouichi Takizawa, who was also his former classmate and seemed to be flirting with his wife.
“So, nobody came near the corpse after you arrived?” Policeman Kishi asked Minami.
“That’s right!” Minami answered.
“Oh hello, Minami! It’s nice to see you again!” Policeman John Matsushita, who was from a foreign country waved at Minami from behind Policeman Kishi.
'Oh no, it’s him again.' Minami made a face and tried to hide behind Hideki.
“Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it!” Shu's wife Kanako came running to the roof of the school building.
“Shu, how can it be...” Shu's friend Kouichi came running after Kanako. The two of them tried to go closer to the corpse, but was stopped by the police.
“Don’t come in!”
“But...” Kanako kneeled down and cried. Kouichi put his hand on her shoulder.
“What were you two doing while he was gone?”
“I was watching the dance in the gymnasium.”
“I was watching the play in a different part of the gymnasium.”
“Were there any people you two knew nearby?”
“No, we've graduated fifteen years ago...”
“Then you two don’t have alibis.”
“A-are you suspecting that we killed him!?”
“He held a gun in his right hand, so it was probably a suicide. We’re asking just in case.”
“Policeman Kishi, please look closer!” a policewoman said. “This blood spot is strange! Somebody must have stepped on it.”
Minami had already noticed this, but she felt a little vexed that the policewoman said it before her.
“Good point, Ms. Mishima!”
The policewoman Yui Mishima winked at Hideki proudly.
Minami frowned, but at that moment, she realized something.
“The criminal must have gone to the toilet one floor below! Otherwise, we would have encountered the criminal in the staircase!” Minami exclaimed.
When everybody reached the toilet, there were some bloody black clothes left, but nothing else was found. The criminal must have worn gloves and different clothes underneath. There were no fingerprints on the black clothes.
Also, a classmate named Tetsuro Yamagata, who had a crush on Kanako, and a classmate named Eiko Yoshimiura, who used to like Shu, were at the school festival. They didn’t have alibis, so they became suspects as well.
However, no blood was found on the shoes of the four suspects, including Kanako and Kouichi. The criminal must have already gotten rid of the bloody shoes.
