Sasao, a first-year high school student, hates doing the same things as everyone else. His childhood friend Pukka, whose real name is Habiho Yuka, loves to chat about naughty topics with him—but she attends school in the nurse's office after a conflict with a group from her middle school. Together, they join the Mystery Literature Club, founded by the club president, Tsubasa. The club has only four first-year members: Yangyang, a Chinese-Japanese boy skilled in Shaolin Kung Fu; Marble, the eccen
Mystery Literary Club in Action - The Reversal in the Rain — Sanada's Notes and My Way of Doing Things
The rain was still falling.
The sky over Kyonoto City had been blanketed by thick clouds since yesterday. The Kyonoto River, which ran through the center of the city, had swollen, turned muddy brown, and was roaring. The prefectural Kyonoto High School building was wrapped in a damp, oppressive humidity.
Sashi Susao was walking down the first-floor hallway.
A cool black bob. Narrow, sharp eyes. Dark skin. At first glance, he gave off an unapproachable vibe — a fifteen-year-old who kept people at a distance. On the back of his left hand, faint traces of the taping he'd worn during his middle school handball days still remained.
(Today's the day.)
The student council hearing. The showdown to see if he could clear the false accusation Tachikawa had orchestrated.
The note from Sanada he'd found behind the fire hydrant behind the gym on that stormy night. "Two keys to the storage room — Tachikawa has them." That single line was what kept Sashi Susao going now.
He'd been covered in mud, he'd screamed and cried, and even so, he hadn't been able to give up.
(It's not over yet.)
Sashi Susao stopped in front of the nurse's office.
He wanted to see Pukka.
He knocked lightly. Rap, rap.
"Can I come in?"
"Oh, come in. What do you want this early?"
Sashi Susao opened the door to the nurse's office.
The smell of disinfectant. White curtains. Two beds. Habifuyuka was sitting on the sofa next to the small kitchenette.
A brown short bob, pinned back on the left side with a hair clip. Large brown eyes, slightly upturned at the corners. She sat small and compact, sunk into the sofa, a thick reference book spread open on her lap.
"You looked like hell yesterday, but you're a little better today. Did you wash off the mud?"
"Shut up. You're studying in the morning? Serious as always."
Sashi Susao sat down in the chair across from Pukka.
Pukka closed her reference book. Her fingers were slender and long — the hands of someone good at crafts and sewing.
"So. Today's the day, right? The student council hearing."
"Yeah."
Sashi Susao answered briefly.
"You found something last night, didn't you. That face wasn't just about being covered in mud."
Pukka looked straight into Sashi Susao's eyes.
Sashi Susao pulled a crumpled piece of memo paper from his pocket.
"This was behind the fire hydrant behind the gym. It's Sanada's handwriting."
Pukka took the note.
"Two keys to the storage room — Tachikawa has them."
"...Sanada wrote this?"
"Yeah. Sanada was being threatened by Tachikawa. But he tried to leave the truth behind."
Sashi Susao put the note away.
"Pukka, I'm going to challenge Tachikawa today. I still don't have enough evidence. But with this note, the scratch on the club room window, and the two keys — I'll see how far I can get."
Pukka was silent for a while.
Then, slowly, she spoke.
"You've always been like this. You won't solve things the same way everyone else does."
Pukka's voice was quiet.
"You hate doing the same thing as other people. It's an escape, and it's also your individuality. That's what you told me."
Sashi Susao listened in silence.
"So you don't have to find the truth the same way, either. You can find it your own way."
Pukka looked into Sashi Susao's eyes and said that.
Deep in Sashi Susao's chest, something stirred, slowly.
(My own way... is that okay?)
Until now, being contrarian, not doing the same as others — for Sashi Susao, that had been an escape and a complex.
But Pukka had affirmed it.
"...You say something decent once in a while."
Sashi Susao said it bluntly, to hide his embarrassment.
"Idiot. I always say decent things."
Pukka laughed. When she laughed, dimples appeared.
That smile saved Sashi Susao, just a little.
"And also, this."
Pukka pulled a notebook from beside the sofa.
The cover was plain brown. A thick, handmade notebook.
"This is the notebook where I wrote my erotic novel. The one the manuscript was based on."
Sashi Susao looked at the notebook.
"I'm entrusting this to you."
Pukka held the notebook out to Sashi Susao.
"...Why me?"
"It's proof of what needs to be protected. You tried to protect what I wrote. So I'm entrusting this to you."
Pukka's hand was trembling slightly.
"As long as you protect this, I'm on your side."
Sashi Susao took the notebook.
It was heavy in his hands.
"...Got it. I'll protect it, no matter what."
Sashi Susao clutched the notebook and stood up.
"I'm going."
"Yeah. Go."
Pukka gave a small wave.
Sashi Susao left the nurse's office.
Deep in his chest, something was burning hot.
(I'll find the truth my own way.)
Sashi Susao started walking down the hallway.
After school.
The rain had let up a little.
Sashi Susao stood in front of the equipment storage room beside the gym.
Agenonozomi was next to him.
Black short hair slicked back, distinctive narrow single-lidded eyes. Short in stature, walking with his roughly five-foot-two frame swaying a little theatrically. His shoes had pin heels that added about an inch to his height.
"Sashi, so this is the storage room."
"Yeah. The storage room from Sanada's note. The one where Tachikawa has two keys."
Sashi Susao approached the storage room door.
A rusted iron door. Countless scratches around the keyhole.
"Look at these scratches. Someone tried to pry it open with something other than a key, over and over."
Sashi Susao pointed around the keyhole.
"You're right. There are so many scrape marks."
Agenonozomi crouched down and peered at the keyhole.
"But this alone doesn't tell us who did it. It's not enough to prove it was Tachikawa."
Sashi Susao looked around the storage room.
The north side of the gym. A blind spot between the storage room and the fence. A place where delinquent students sometimes gathered during lunch or after school — hard to see from anywhere.
"Sanada's note said Tachikawa has two keys to the storage room. The storage room key should normally be managed by the PE teacher. Why does Tachikawa have one — and two of them, no less?"
Sashi Susao stared at the storage room door.
"Sashi, look over here."
Agenonozomi pointed at the ground along the fence.
Several footprints remained in the rain-soaked mud.
"These survived yesterday's storm. They're sunk in deep, so they're recent."
Agenonozomi walked carefully along the fence with the agility honed by his Shaolin kung fu training.
"The footprints lead from the storage room toward the fire hydrant behind the gym. And then from behind the fire hydrant, they go back to the storage room."
Agenonozomi said, pointing at the ground.
"In other words, the culprit went from the storage room to hide something behind the fire hydrant, then came back to the storage room. And opened the door with the storage room key."
In Sashi Susao's mind, the dots were starting to connect into a line.
"That file. The club journal file we found behind the fire hydrant. The culprit brought it from the storage room and hid it."
"And Tachikawa has two storage room keys. One is for opening the storage room. The other is probably a duplicate."
Agenonozomi picked up where Sashi Susao left off.
"He made a duplicate, gave it to Sanada, and had him steal the manuscript. That way, he doesn't have to get his own hands dirty."
Sashi Susao clenched his fist.
"That teacher treats students like pawns."
Agenonozomi's voice was low, tinged with anger.
"He threatened Sanada, pinned the crime on him, and used everything just to protect his own club. That's not what a teacher does."
Agenonozomi's fist was trembling.
"...Yeah. That's why we're going to expose him."
Sashi Susao looked at the storage room door once more.
The rain quietly wet the rusted iron door.
"Sashi, next class is about to start. Let's head back for now."
"Yeah."
The two left the storage room behind.
A small room at the end of the third floor of the special building.
The Mystery Literary Club room.
After school, Sashi Susao was stopped in front of the club room by Tachitsubasa.
"Sashi, I need to talk to you. Come to the empty classroom?"
Tachitsubasa said with a serious expression, her long straight black hair swaying. The red ribbon holding her hair back was her trademark. Her large, clearly double-lidded eyes looked straight at Sashi Susao.
"A club president's order? What a pain."
Sashi Susao replied bluntly.
"It's a club president's order. Please come."
Tachitsubasa's voice was different from its usual calm.
Sashi Susao followed Tachitsubasa into an empty classroom in the special building.
The sound of rain tapped against the window glass.
The classroom was dim and quiet.
Tachitsubasa stood by the window.
"Sashi, I suspected you. That you might be the one who stole the manuscript."
Tachitsubasa said, still facing away.
"Yeah, I know. It wasn't just you. Everyone suspected me."
Sashi Susao leaned against the wall.
"But last night, during the storm, I saw you crying behind the gym. Covered in mud, screaming. When I saw you like that, I thought there was no way you were the culprit."
Tachitsubasa slowly turned around.
Her eyes were slightly moist.
"So there's something I have to tell you."
Tachitsubasa took a deep breath.
"In middle school, I was on the soccer team. The girls' soccer team. I was always a substitute — I never played in a single official match."
Tachitsubasa's voice trembled.
"The coach told me. He said I was there for morale. A decoration to improve the team's atmosphere. He said if I couldn't be a starter, at least smile and cheer."
Sashi Susao listened in silence.
"It was frustrating. So frustrating, so frustrating. That's why when I got to high school, I rebuilt the Mystery Literary Club. I became president, and I made my own place. So that no one could ever tell me I was just there for morale again."
Tachitsubasa's fist was trembling.
"My sense of justice is the flip side of that humiliation. When I believe I'm right, I lose sight of everything around me. I suspected you without even hearing you out properly."
Tachitsubasa looked into Sashi Susao's eyes.
"I'm sorry. Sashi."
Tachitsubasa bowed deeply.
Sashi Susao was silent for a while.
"...You don't have to apologize. I thought you were a pain-in-the-ass club president too."
Sashi Susao said that and gave a small laugh.
"But I don't hate your sense of justice. It's stupidly straightforward and suffocatingly intense, but it's not bad."
Tachitsubasa raised her head.
"Sashi, do you have evidence? You found something last night, didn't you."
"Yeah. I found Sanada's note. It said Tachikawa has two keys to the storage room."
Sashi Susao showed the note to Tachitsubasa.
"The scratch on the club room window. That was a mark from being opened from the inside. The culprit didn't break in from outside. They opened the window from inside and stole the manuscript."
Sashi Susao moved away from the wall and approached Tachitsubasa.
"Two storage room keys. One is the legitimate key Tachikawa holds. The other is a duplicate. Tachikawa gave that duplicate to Sanada and had him open the club room lock. Sanada opened the window from inside, stole the manuscript, and hid it in the storage room."
Sashi Susao explained it all in one breath.
"...Is that true?"
Tachitsubasa's eyes went wide.
"It's still a theory. I don't have decisive physical evidence yet. But every inconsistency points to Tachikawa."
Sashi Susao clenched his fist.
"Sanada was threatened by Tachikawa and stole the manuscript. He collapsed behind the gym from the guilt. And to leave the truth behind, he hid the note."
Sashi Susao's voice was heated.
"Sashi, if you have evidence, you should have said so from the start!"
Tachitsubasa suddenly raised her voice.
"I suspected you, agonized over it all by myself, and I'm pathetic. You were fighting so desperately, and I knew nothing."
Tears spilled from Tachitsubasa's eyes.
"...Don't cry. What a pain."
Sashi Susao scratche
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