Last night, I couldn't stop thinking about the final adjustment of the fluorescent powder. 6 AM. Chemistry Lab B in the East Building was still empty. Under the white glow of fluorescent lights, Mao Mao stood at the experimental bench. A homemade luminol-based powder—more precisely, something to be applied to the bookcase fixture belonging to Jinshi and transferred to the hands of whoever touched it. Harmless. Just glowing pale blue under ultraviolet light. I'd calculated the mixture last night. All that was left was confirming the final concentration. The door opened. "[sarcastic]I'm here. I'll help" Long jet-black hair, deep crimson eyes. Still missing one button on his uniform, yet his face was so perfectly composed it seemed oddly out of place even in the hallway. Mao Mao glanced at that face for one second, then returned her gaze to the test tube. "[serious]Don't touch anything" "[surprised]...Huh?" "[serious]Don't come near" Jinshi stopped mid-step. "[serious]Try not to breathe if possible" Three commands in a row. Jinshi slowly backed toward the wall. He crossed his arms and leaned against it. "[sarcastic]...Then why'd you tell me to come?" "[serious]I never said to come" Silence. Jinshi opened his mouth to say something, then stopped. He was right. Yesterday, Mao Mao had only reported "the powder will be finished tomorrow morning"—she'd never told him to come. He'd shown up on his own. Jinshi had nothing to say. He just stood there against the wall, arms crossed. Mao Mao continued working. She confirmed the final concentration of the powder, transferred it to a small plastic case. Sealed it. Applied a label. Done. "[serious]It's complete" Jinshi looked at the case. "[gentle]...That's amazing" He said it like a whisper to himself. Not the tone of someone trying to praise or butter her up. Just words that came out naturally. Mao Mao stopped her work. Half a second. Then she immediately began putting away her tools. She didn't quite understand what had happened. But that one phrase stayed with her. ──── The student council room was quiet from morning. The task of thinly applying the powder to the bookcase fixture—the side of the double-locked padlock and the edges around the doorknob—was delicate work. Mao Mao carefully applied it with a cotton swab, keeping it uniform. Jinshi, this time keeping his distance, stood at the end of the long desk with his arms crossed, watching. The door opened. "[gentle]I heard Jinshi's having a hard time" Long reddish-purple hair. Sharp golden eyes. A pen in one hand. An easygoing expression, but her eyes held something keen. A classmate from Year 2, Class 3—Rouran. Mao Mao confirmed this with a sideways glance without stopping her cotton swab work. "[gentle]I'd like to help too, if I may" Jinshi's expression softened slightly. "[cold]Thank you, Rouran. But right now—" "[gentle]I want to be of use to you" Her voice was quiet and gentle. Jinshi paused for a beat, then said "...Then just watch how things go." Rouran nodded, pulled out a chair at the long desk, and sat. Mao Mao continued working. She was unconsciously cataloging Rouran's vocal tone. The voice she used toward Jinshi and the smile she showed Mao Mao were subtly different. When Rouran looked at Jinshi, her eyes held the same tension as her fingers gripping the pen. (This person is in love with Jinshi.) Mao Mao's conclusion was simple. Romantically. The evidence: the direction of her gaze, the slight tension in her vocal cords, the way she maintained distance from Jinshi. When she processed that in her mind, something pricked at her chest. (What is this?) She tried to analyze it, but there was no corresponding data. She couldn't identify the type of pain. Her herbal database, her case files—nothing had an entry for this sensation. When you don't understand something, you shelve it. Mao Mao adjusted the angle of her cotton swab and returned to work. "[gentle]Jinshi, um—did you manage to sleep properly last night?" She heard Rouran's voice addressing Jinshi. "[sarcastic]Well enough" "[gentle]Please don't push yourself too hard" "[cold]No need to worry" While listening to that exchange, Mao Mao finished applying the powder to the fixture. It was applied uniformly. No problems. There were no problems. Yet the pricking sensation in her chest hadn't faded. For the first time, she realized her body's reaction was something she couldn't understand. ──── Afternoon came. As Mao Mao walked down the hallway, Rihaku called out to her. "[cold]Mao Mao, got a minute?" Pure white shoulder-length hair, right eye blue, left eye silver—heterochromatic. A gentle-looking face, but with a smile that suggested he was calculating something. The vice president, Rihaku. "[serious]What is it?" "[cold]Come to the information processing room. There's something I want to show you" ──── The information processing room had forty PC terminals lined up. In the quiet time before classes ended, no one was there. Rihaku booted up one terminal. "[cold]Look. An anonymous post on the school SNS—and its IP log" She looked at the screen. The log was displayed. Mao Mao leaned closer. "[surprised]It was posted from a PC terminal in the school" "[cold]Right. And we can even narrow down the terminal number. Cross-reference it with usage records, and we'll know who posted it" "[serious]...So we're going to corner them together?" "[cold]Yeah. It'll be easier for you and me to move than dragging Jinshi into this" She considered the logic purely. They could identify the culprit. Cross-referencing usage records would narrow it down. The reasoning was sound. "[serious]Understood" The two of them stood side by side, examining the screen. Terminal number. Access date and time. Log cross-reference. ──── Meanwhile, in the student council room. The secretary reported to Jinshi. "Mao Mao went to the information processing room with Rihaku..." Jinshi stopped mid-sip of his coffee. Rouran looked up from her chair. "What's wrong?" Her hand reached out toward Jinshi's arm. Jinshi stood up without noticing her hand. "[cold]I'll go check on something" He went into the hallway. As he walked, he didn't even understand what he was going to check. The information processing room. Rihaku was handling the terminal number cross-reference. There was no real reason for him to go. He knew that. But his feet were moving anyway. He arrived at the information processing room. Through the glass, he could see Mao Mao and Rihaku sitting side by side. Their shoulders were close. Rihaku was pointing at the screen with his finger, and Mao Mao was looking at it. ...His feet stopped. (What am I doing?) He turned back. He walked down the hallway. At a corner, his shoulder bumped into a pillar. "[sarcastic]...That hurt" He said it quietly in the empty corridor. ──── They returned from the information processing room thirty minutes later. "[serious]We've identified the terminal number. Cross-referencing the usage records will narrow down the poster" In the student council room. Jinshi and Rouran were at the long desk. Jinshi looked at Mao Mao's face. "[cold]Good work. So—" Rouran stood up. She quietly positioned herself next to Jinshi, extending her hand near his arm. "[gentle]I'm here for you, Jinshi. Everything will be okay" Jinshi shifted his body slightly, avoiding her hand—whether he noticed or not was unclear. "[cold]...Thank you" His voice was normal. But his gaze returned to Mao Mao. Rouran's fingertips hung suspended in the air. For about a second. Then she said only "I see..." and quietly withdrew her hand. Her smile didn't falter. But only her fingers, gripping the pen, held more tension than usual. Mao Mao saw it from the corner of her eye. A prick. (...That was...) This time she could analyze it. It was the moment Rouran's hand was avoided. Her body's reaction was synchronized with Rouran's action. (...Strange feeling.) She processed only that much and took out her terminal notes. She had to move forward. ──── Night fell. The school building the day before the cultural festival had people staying late. Class preparation committee members carried boxes through the hallways, and the sound of cutting came from the club rooms. The hallway in front of the student council room also had someone passing through every thirty minutes. Mao Mao and Jinshi stood side by side in the shadows of a hallway corner. "[serious]The culprit may not have finished destroying evidence. If anything's left in the bookcase, they might make a move tonight" "[cold]You really think they'll come?" "[serious]Fifty-fifty" She gave an honest number. Jinshi murmured "...Is that all?" The hallway grew quiet. The sound of the preparation committee members leaving faded into the distance. One fluorescent light flickered faintly. Jinshi spoke in a low voice. "[cold]Aren't you nervous?" "[serious]My heart rate is elevated. But I can't tell if that's nervousness or something else" Jinshi looked at her. "[surprised]...Something else?" "[serious]I don't know" Jinshi was about to say something—when the student council room door made a soft opening sound. Both of them froze. From the shadows of the hallway, they peeked around the corner. A figure. Standing in front of the bookcase. Hand on the fixture. Mao Mao gripped the ultraviolet light. She flipped the switch. Blue-white light cut through the darkness. The figure's palms glowed. The sleeve cuffs glowed. The traces of fluorescent powder floated clearly into view. Jinshi held his breath. Mao Mao remained motionless, expressionless. The figure's face became clear in the darkness. —It wasn't what they expected. Jinshi started to say something in a low voice, but the figure noticed the light and turned around. For one moment, all three of them stared at each other. Mao Mao stood there, gripping the ultraviolet light. The evidence was in her hand now. Certain. All that was left was to present it before Homeroom Teacher Kataoka and the entire student body—but Mao Mao was already calculating how difficult that would be.