Monday afternoon, Kimisaki Kaito pushed open the shared living room door with shopping bags in both hands. Two bags from Super Maruhiro. Ingredients for tonight's dinner, tofu Saiga Shido had asked for, and chocolate snacks Natsunagi Haruka insisted he "absolutely had to buy." Perfect. "……" Kaito stopped after a single step. Someone was on the sofa. More precisely, a person was sprawled across it entirely. Long silver hair draped quietly, a blue ribbon caught against the cushion's edge. A cookie in one hand, and in the other——a telescope. Siesta Rei. Nineteen years old. Bearer of the "Great Detective" title, held by only seven people in the world. A charismatic figure of Fiamma. Current posture: completely horizontal, legs stretched out, telescope aimed toward the balcony. "[sarcastic]……What are you doing?" "[gentle]Research." "Research." "[gentle]Shar's gymnastics routine. The movements change slightly every week. Today her left shoulder rotation opened about thirty degrees more outward than last week. Worth documenting." As she spoke, Siesta never took her eye from the telescope, scribbling something into a notebook at her side with surprising speed. "[sarcastic]That's not research. That's voyeurism." "[gentle]The concept of voyeurism doesn't exist in a great detective's observational activities." "……" No comeback came to mind. Siesta lowered the telescope and turned the empty cup toward Kaito with a smooth motion. The gesture was completely natural. She wasn't even making a "here, take this" expression. Just the face of someone for whom this was inevitable. "[gentle]A refill, if you please." Kaito sighed. He set the shopping bags on the floor and picked up the teapot. This is their daily life, Kaito thought. He brews tea, and Siesta sprawls on the sofa doing something or other. The world's greatest detective, lounging on an apartment sofa in this ward with a telescope and cookies——what would that look like from the outside? But strangely, he didn't hate it. "[gentle]Kaito, I'm in the mood for taiyaki." She said it right after he handed her the teacup. "You can go yourself." "[gentle]There might be something interesting along the way. ……Though if you'd rather not come, that's fine too." Even as she said it, Siesta was already standing. Five seconds flat. She threw on her coat, straightened her blue ribbon, and headed toward the entrance. She didn't look back. Kaito grabbed his wallet. "Can't be helped." —— Hanamichi Street shopping arcade was its usual bustling self. People moved beneath the covered walkway, and the smell of croquettes from Delica Minato drifted through the air. A line of over ten people had formed in front of "Taiyaki Yamabuki." One hundred eighty yen each——the most popular taiyaki shop in Tomi Ward. Natsunagi's favorite place too. "[gentle]We should line up." She naturally took her place at the back of the line. Kaito stood beside her. While they waited in line together, Siesta didn't particularly talk about anything. She simply looked around slowly. Her gaze naturally drifted toward the various shops along the arcade. Not observing in any deliberate sense. Just looking. But her eyes were definitely catching something. Kaito glanced at her profile. Her silver hair caught the afternoon light, glowing white. (What does she see at times like this, I wonder.) That's when—— "[scared]Is anyone here!? The sales money——the envelope is gone!!" A woman burst out from the neighboring Japanese sweets shop. A shop owner in her sixties, wearing an apron, hand pressed to her forehead. Her face was pale. "[scared]I had it in the drawer! It was stolen!?" The surrounding crowd stirred. People from the shopping arcade gathered around. "What happened?" "What's going on?" Kaito instinctively stepped forward——Siesta pinched his sleeve. "[gentle]Don't break the line." "But——" "[gentle]I can see enough from here." Siesta kept her ticket number and stared toward the entrance of Mitsuki-do. Two minutes. Three minutes. Not doing anything in particular. Just looking. Kaito stood there, ticket number in hand. Then Siesta spoke. "[gentle]Shop owner." Her calm voice cut through the commotion. The Mitsuki-do owner turned around. "[gentle]Around the drawer handle——aren't there three cat hairs? Orange tabby ones?" "……Huh?" "[gentle]You keep your shop window open this time of year, don't you? The orange tabby's territory around here runs right along this street. Check the gap in the back of the shelf. I think the cat brought the envelope in there." The owner, half-skeptical, went back into the shop. Silence. Thirty seconds later. "[surprised]Found it!! The envelope is here!!" A crumpled envelope emerged from the gap in the back shelf. Cat hair and small wood chips were packed around it. Nesting material. The shopping arcade erupted. "[surprised]Amazing! Solved it without moving a step from the line!?" "[surprised]That's someone with the Great Detective title from the Veritas Detective Council——the organization that certifies official detectives! The real deal!" "[excited]Just as expected from a great detective!!" Cheers went up. People gathered around Siesta. Siesta smiled and gave a light bow. Completely natural. A practiced motion. Kaito——stood slightly behind her, ticket number still in hand. All the shopping arcade people's gazes were on Siesta. Of course they were. She'd solved it. (All I did was……hold the ticket number.) He was impressed. Genuinely amazed. That was real. In that short time, she'd seen the cat hair, observed how the window was open, understood the cat's territory——all without moving from the line. But somehow. It was just a little bit lonely. "[gentle]Kaito, they're calling your number." Siesta came close and whispered in his ear. "[surprised]Oh, right." He hurried to the counter. Took two red bean taiyaki, handed one to Siesta. She took it without saying "thank you," completely naturally, and bit into it. Her expression turned delighted. —— On the way back, the two walked side by side down Hanamichi Street. Beyond the arcade, the early evening sky spread out. The blue was beginning to fade. Siesta walked while eating her taiyaki. She wasn't mentioning the incident from earlier. It was over, her manner suggested. Kaito didn't say anything either. It wasn't that he had nothing to say——he just couldn't find the words. He could say it was amazing. But that was all. He couldn't say "it would've been the same without me." And even if he could, there was no point. It wasn't Siesta's concern. "……" Then Siesta suddenly stopped. Kaito, walking a step ahead, turned back. Siesta was looking toward the edge of the street. Beyond the crowd. Near where the arcade ended, there were several passersby. Just ordinary evening people. But. Her eyes——had changed. Not the lazy, gentle violet eyes from before. Sharp. Quiet. Seeing something. The eyes of the world's greatest detective. The eyes she normally kept hidden, surfacing for just a moment. "[serious]What's wrong?" Siesta took a breath. Then, softly. She returned to her usual lazy smile. "[gentle]Nothing. The wind was blowing in an interesting direction." "……The wind." "[gentle]Let's go. I want iced barley tea when we get back." Siesta started walking again. Eating her taiyaki, saying things like "Yamabuki's red bean paste really is the best." Kaito watched her back for a second, then caught up. (What was that expression.) He almost asked. But the words wouldn't come. If he asked "what were you looking at," Siesta would just laugh and say "nothing." He knew that. Which was why he couldn't ask. They walked side by side. The evening wind passed through. —— Back home, after pouring barley tea and watching Siesta flop onto the sofa, Kaito returned to his room. He pulled a leather-bound diary from his desk drawer. The one he'd bought at Calligraphy Hall——eighteen hundred yen. He picked up a ballpoint pen and opened a page. He wrote. ——Today, all I did was brew tea, stand in line, and take a ticket number. I watched Siesta's deduction from beside her. The shopping arcade people only looked at Siesta. Am I her partner? Or am I really just an escort? He set down the pen. Looked up at the ceiling. No answer came. When he opened the refrigerator for barley tea, he noticed the pudding in the back again. "Classic Pudding" from Confiserie Luce. The expiration date should have passed, but it looked unchanged. Everyone claimed it wasn't theirs. Fiamma's greatest unsolved case. Kaito closed the refrigerator. Siesta's eyes from earlier lingered in his mind. That one moment of sharpness. Eyes that didn't match her answer at all——that the wind was blowing in an interesting direction. He went back to the diary and added just one more line. ——How long has that pudding been there? It might not matter. The pudding and Siesta's eyes were probably separate things. But something kept catching in his chest.