Thursday morning, Natsunagi Haruka's voice echoed through the living room. "[excited]Today I'm definitely making delicious food! For everyone!" She shook her orange bob cut and tied her apron with determination. Her eyes sparkled. Dead serious. The moment her voice rang out, everyone in the living room moved. Kimisaki Kaito quietly stood up and walked toward the window. "[sarcastic]……The wind looks pretty strong out there." Siesta Rei silently picked up her book from the sofa and retreated smoothly down the hallway. "[gentle]I had a part I was reading." Saiga Shido already had his binder tucked under his arm, hand on his bedroom door. "[serious]……I have urgent records to work on." Three different excuses. But they all moved in the same direction—away from the kitchen. Last week's omelet. It was really bad. Everyone who ate it woke up the next morning without eyebrows. Saiga had recorded it as "an incident." Siesta had laughed while drawing hers back on, saying "fascinating phenomenon." Natsunagi watched the three of them leave. "[excited]Everyone's so busy~! Guess I'll do it alone!" Not bothered in the slightest. She clapped her apron and headed for the kitchen. —— Ten minutes later. "[excited]First, I gotta organize the fridge! The kitchen has to be clean before cooking!" Her voice carried to the living room. The sound of shelves opening. Bags rustling. Plastic wrap being pulled. Kaito sat quietly in the corner of the living room, nibbling toast. His own toast. Nothing dangerous about it. After a while. "[surprised]Huh? What's this?" Natsunagi pulled a pudding cup from the back of the fridge. Confiserie Luce's "Classic Pudding." Three hundred twenty yen each. The kind they sell at Super Maruhiro. That pudding that's been sitting in the back of the fridge forever. The expiration date should've passed long ago, but it still had the same look on its face. "[excited]Whose is this~? The expiration date's way past, can I throw it out?" "[sarcastic]Not mine." Saiga's voice came from the hallway. "[serious]It is not mine." Siesta's voice came from behind the book on the sofa. "[gentle]I have nothing to do with it." No one claimed it. Natsunagi pulled out a trash bag. She grabbed the pudding and opened the bag's mouth. ——That instant. "[cold]Wait." A low voice. Blunt, short, and oddly heavy. Not Siesta's usual tone. Natsunagi's hand stopped. Siesta had stood up from the sofa. She closed her book and looked at Natsunagi. Her violet eyes were fixed straight on the pudding in the trash bag. Not the lazy eyes she usually had on the sofa. Dead serious eyes. The living room went quiet. "[serious]……Siesta?" "[serious]Throwing out that pudding would be premature. We should identify the owner first before making a judgment." Natsunagi slowly placed the pudding back on the counter. "[surprised]Huh……For real?" Siesta was already at the whiteboard. She picked up a marker and wrote without hesitation. 'Pudding Investigation' Kaito's mouth fell half-open. —— The investigation was serious. Siesta wrote all the team members' names on the whiteboard and started connecting them to the pudding with arrows. "Siesta → Pudding (Relationship: Unknown)" "Kimisaki Kaito → Pudding (Relationship: Denied)" "Natsunagi → Pudding (Relationship: Discoverer)" "Saiga → Pudding (Relationship: Denied)." The arrows kept multiplying. The correlation chart was becoming impossibly complex. It was way too much for a single pudding cup. Kaito stood there with a bitter expression. "[sarcastic]……You're really doing this?" "[gentle]We're a detective team. Of course we are." "[sarcastic]The detective team is seriously investigating the owner of a pudding cup?" "[serious]Is there a problem?" Saiga had come back into the room at some point. He was holding a notepad and pen. His posture was straight. Work mode. "[serious]An investigation requires records. I'll take statements from everyone." Saiga opened his notepad. "[serious]Kaito. Do you have any leads on this pudding?" "[sarcastic]No." "[serious]Siesta?" "[gentle]No." "[serious]Natsunagi?" "[surprised]If I bought it, I'd remember! I don't know!" Saiga wrote in his notepad. 'Everyone: No knowledge.' The record was basically pointless. Kaito sighed and pulled out his wallet. "[serious]……Does anyone have a Super Maruhiro points card? We might be able to check the purchase history." "[gentle]Smart." "[excited]I'll go!" "[sarcastic]You cook." "[surprised]Oh, right." In the end, Kaito was the one who went to the supermarket. —— When he came back, the situation in the living room had gotten worse. The correlation chart on the whiteboard had multiplied further. Arrows radiated out from "Pudding" in all directions. "Purchase Route," "Estimated Purchase Date," "Motive (?)" were all written. The motive column had "Unknown" written in large letters. And Natsunagi had her upper half shoved into the refrigerator. Only her lower half was sticking out into the kitchen. "[serious]……What are you doing?" A muffled voice came out. "[excited]I thought if I became the pudding, I'd understand! What it feels like being cold and in the dark all this time!" Saiga was taking notes beside her. His eyes were dead. After a while, Natsunagi pulled her head out of the fridge. "[sad]It was cold and looked delicious……but I didn't understand anything." "[serious]I see. I'll record that." Kaito was checking the Maruhiro points card history. Three months of receipt data. The Confiserie Luce pudding had been purchased once. Six weeks ago, Monday afternoon. "[serious]The person who bought it……is one person. But I don't know who. The card's registered under my name, but I don't remember buying it." Siesta spoke while looking at the whiteboard. "[gentle]Interesting." "[sarcastic]This isn't something to find interesting." "[gentle]Six weeks ago, Monday. Kaito, do you remember what you were doing that day?" "[serious]……I think I went shopping normally. No record of it." Siesta smiled faintly. A small movement, like she was pulling the smile back in. She knew something. That's what Kaito thought—— The mailbox rattled. —— Late afternoon, Saiga checked the mail. Two flyers. And one envelope. Sender: Veritas Detective Council. When Saiga came back to the living room, something was off about his face. "[serious]……Everyone, do you have a moment?" Everyone saw the envelope just from his tone. Saiga slowly opened it. Read it. His face went pale as he read. "[serious]Fiamma's activity results for this period have fallen below the required number. If improvement is not confirmed at the inspection next Monday, the activity support fund——the annual subsidy of approximately twelve million yen from the council——will be subject to reduction measures." The heat from the pudding investigation vanished in an instant. "[serious]……How many cases are we short?" "[serious]Three. By next Monday." "[serious]Three cases in six days." Natsunagi raised her hand. "[scared]Twelve million……if that's gone, the rent and……" "[serious]'That's bad' would be an understatement. This is a serious situation." Siesta looked at the envelope once. One second. That's all. Then she quietly lay down on the sofa. Staring at the ceiling. Her expression was unreadable. "[gentle]……I see." That's all she said. Kaito glanced at Siesta. Her eyes staring at the ceiling looked a little darker. But he said nothing. "[serious]Do we have any active cases?" "[serious]None at the moment. We either wait for walk-ins or reach out to the council……" "[serious]We have to take action. We start tomorrow." Saiga started taking notes. The pudding investigation notepad became a page for inspection countermeasures. Natsunagi quietly said "[sad]Dinner's ready……let's eat." The food she'd made today was actually delicious. No one lost their eyebrows. But no one could really taste it. —— Late night, Kaito went to get water at the entrance and checked the mailbox while he was there. An envelope was inside. No sender name. No address. No stamp. It had been placed directly in the mailbox. He opened it. One piece of paper inside. Handwritten. Black ink. The handwriting was neat, but with a slight tremor like it was written in a hurry. 'To Detective Siesta. I remember what you forgot.' That was all. Kaito went back to the living room. Siesta was still awake. She was on the sofa eating cookies while reading a book. Her usual self. "[serious]This was in the mailbox." He held out the paper. Siesta looked up from her book. She took the paper. Read it. One second. Two seconds. Three seconds. Siesta's expression disappeared. The lazy face from before went completely flat. Her eyes weren't moving. Close to those sharp eyes she'd shown for a moment on the way back. The face she usually kept hidden. "[serious]……From someone you know?" Siesta took a breath. Then——she laughed. Her usual lazy, gentle smile. "[gentle]I don't know them. Probably a prank." A lie. Kaito knew. The pause before answering was too long. Her eyes fled for just a moment before the smile. The movement of her mouth was the one she used when constructing a smile. Two years together was enough to tell the difference between Siesta's genuine expression and a manufactured one. "[serious]……Siesta." He started to say something. Stopped. When Siesta didn't want to talk, pushing didn't help. He'd learned that in two years too. "[gentle]Good night, Kaito." Siesta closed her book and stood up. She headed to her room. She didn't look back once at the hallway corner. Her footsteps faded. The door closed quietly. —— Kaito was left alone in the living room. The inspection notice sat on the table. The whiteboard still had the pudding investigation chart. Arrows and names and question marks written in a chain, a diagram that may or may not have meant anything. The pudding sat on the counter. Confiserie Luce. Someone had bought it six weeks ago. Kaito pulled out his leather-bound diary. The one he'd bought at Calligraphy Hall. Eighteen hundred yen. He opened a page and wrote. ——Six days until inspection. Three cases short. Have to move tomorrow. He stopped his pen. ——I saw through Siesta's lie. But I couldn't say anything. From the living room window, the night alleys of Twami Ward spread out. Street lamps lit the asphalt. It was quiet. ——Why did that single piece of paper make Siesta look like that? More than the pudding mystery, more than the inspection, tonight he couldn't get it out of his head.