【016】Surfacing

【Inoue Reina】

“Hey, Inoue, are you listening?”

“Ah, yes!”

I snapped to attention at Sergeant Hayama’s words.

“You weren’t listening, were you?”

“Sorry…”

Sergeant Hayama let out a big sigh. I could tell he was exasperated.

“I heard you’ve been snooping around the Akigaoka area lately.”

“Snooping… that sounds bad.”

“At the station, they’re looking for the high school girl who was doing compensated dating with Tanaka Akio. If you act too conspicuously, you’ll get, you know.”

“Get what?”

“You know. I really can’t say it out loud.”

“Isn’t that harassment?”

Currently, lunch break. I quickly finished my lunch set in the cafeteria and stood up.

“I just can’t accept it.”

“Yeah, keep at it until you’re satisfied. Just don’t cause trouble for me.”

“Of course. Think of it as being on a sinking ship with me.”

“So it’s sinking…”

I bowed to Sergeant Hayama, returned my plate to the cafeteria, and went back to my investigation.

The day the groping incident occurred.

I investigated in detail the people who were on that train. It was a mind-numbingly tedious task, but I finally compiled that data yesterday.

This was a certainty.

My intuition was telling me so.

The Tanaka Akio murder case wasn’t just a simple killing. Something else was hidden behind it.

The truth should come out.

That was my belief.

“Sorry to Sergeant Hayama, but I can’t turn a blind eye after learning this much.”

On the day of the groping incident, there were five Akigaoka students on that train.

Yes, five people.

The first was Tamura Misaki. The one framed as the culprit of this incident.

The second was Satou Akane. The victim of the groping incident.

The remaining three were witnesses.

One was Nishida Kouhei.

The names of the other two were—

Nakano Nanaka and Takahashi Mika.

【Takahashi Mika】

Why is Nana in the computer room?

Nana was operating the keyboard with awkward movements. Come to think of it, I remember Nana saying she was bad with machines.

I hid behind cover.

What is she doing?

I was a little scared.

Unpleasant imaginings surfaced.

It was like that then too.

The day before Nechio died, Nana might have been with Nechio.

Nechio was apparently murdered. According to what I heard, the culprit hasn’t been caught yet.

Could it be that Nana killed Nechio—

Impossible. That’s impossible…!

There’s no way Nana would do something like that…

Nana shut down the computer and stood up. I quickly left the computer room and held my breath in a nearby empty classroom.

Nana came out of the computer room.

From beyond the door, Nana’s expression looked like she was thinking about something.

“Who’s there?”

Suddenly, Nana turned toward where I was. I instinctively moved away from the door.

“Is someone there?”

With Nana’s usual voice, footsteps approached. One step, another step.

What would happen if Nana found out I was here?

Would she laugh and say, “Why are you hiding?” Why do I think that’s impossible?

I’m scared. Just utterly scared.

I felt like Nana put her hand on the door.

“Hey, it’s past dismissal time.”

A voice called out. A male teacher’s voice.

“Coming, sorry!”

I heard Nana’s cheerful tone.

The presence moved slightly away from the door.

“Well, whatever. I need to hurry back to Misa-kun.”

Nana’s figure disappeared.

I leaned against the wall, relieved.

My breath caught. I could hear my heartbeat.

I thought Nana was scary.

Why? Why would I think she’s scary…?

And that last comment.

Who is Misa-kun…?

“This isn’t the time to space out…”

I left the empty classroom and headed to the computer room.

I sat in front of the computer Nana had been using and turned on the power.

What was Nana doing?

—Open previous page?

When I turned on the power, the computer displayed that. She must have turned off the power while still on the page she was viewing. Normally, you’d close what you were looking at before shutting down.

A mistake from Nana, who’s bad with machines.

I clicked.

What opened was a familiar site.

“The underground school site bulletin board…?”

Why would Nana be looking at something like that?

It was showing a particular comment.

#035 October 18, 3:24 PM
Girl S in my class was groped.
The culprit is her childhood friend, boy T.

It’s about Satou-san and Tamura.

From what I can see, this comment went viral and started everything.

Wait…

October 18th?

That day, I went shopping with Nana.

Oh yeah, we were on the same train. There was some commotion in the next car over. That was this groping incident.

—What are you doing?
—Hmm, just something.

A chill ran through me.

Come to think of it, Nana was doing something on her phone then.

October 18, 3:24 PM. That was around the same time as the commotion.

I stood up from my seat with a clatter.

My body was trembling.

That’s ridiculous.

There’s no way such a ridiculous story could be true.

Nana is my best friend.

There’s no way that could be—

Hey, Nana.

That’s not possible, right?

【Tamura Misaki】

In the end, we didn’t learn anything in detail.

I wasn’t too discouraged. Satou-san and I weren’t professionals to begin with. It was natural that our harvest wasn’t abundant.

When I got home, the lonely hours of solitude arrived.

That’s strange. I used to be accustomed to times like this.

Why have I come to feel so lonely?

I see.

Recently, I haven’t been alone.

Because I learned the happiness of being with someone.

That’s why I’m lonely.

“…Ahaha, what’s that?”

Since when have I been like this?

Ding-dong, the doorbell rang.

I dragged my heavy body to open the door.

“Good evening, Misa-kun.”

It was Nanaka-san. Strangely, when I saw Nanaka-san’s face, my feelings softened.

“Misa-kun, this is sudden, but would you go on a date with me this weekend?”