Romantic Troubles of Duanmu-kun

A familiar sensation crawled up from the base of his spine, transmitting like electricity to the depths of his brainstem in the blink of an eye. But this time, it wasn’t a rush of excitement—it was spreading fear.

“Even if you die here… oh my, why are you making that face, Jin-san?”

The male high school student approached him, maintaining the same smile as before.

He instinctively pressed down on the sofa’s armrest, pushing himself up.

“I think you must have heard about it, right? It’s impossible that you haven’t, after all, the three Mass Suicide Incidents have caused quite a stir throughout society and online.”

…Someone like him, who profited from shady websites, was actually among the first to sense shifts in social trends. Come to think of it, thanks to those incidents, the number of fools being tricked into attending these gatherings had been increasing lately.

The mentality of these people was truly incomprehensible. Was it something similar to electronic pets, songs, or clothing fads? He really couldn’t understand what they were thinking.

“The ‘suicide wave’ that’s capturing public attention—there must be some inevitable connection between those three incidents. Don’t you think so, Jin-san?”

“…W-what are you trying to say?”

Jin swallowed, taking a deep breath as he tried to calm himself down.

“I’m saying there’s a mastermind behind the incidents.”

The other party raised his finger with a grin.

As he explained, the distance between them unconsciously shortened again.

“Someone… through some method, orchestrated multiple mass suicides with unclear motives to this day. And by the looks of it, this person has no intention of stopping and seems to be planning to continue causing major chaos in society. They say this person even sent a Crime Announcement to the police! Impressive, isn’t it?”

“…W-why are you telling me this? It… it has nothing to do with me, right?”

The young man felt his limbs and forehead growing cold like the sweat on his brow, gradually becoming stiff. What if he couldn’t move? Shouldn’t he try to resist?

“Even the mastermind behind the incidents occasionally makes miscalculations. After all… suitable scenes aren’t so easy to create, and accidents inevitably happen. At those times, to compensate for the mistake, they have no choice but to employ slightly less gentle methods.”

The high school boy jokingly took out a utility knife from his pocket, extended the blade, and slowly moved it toward Jin’s face, the tip dangerously pointing at the center of his pupil.

“Despite some people still being alive, they have to personally finish off all survivors. ‘Fabricating a suicide scene’… that sort of thing. Just thinking about such cleanup work seems super exhausting, don’t you agree?”

“THUD!”

A violent noise suddenly came from the adjacent room. The sound vibrated Jin’s eardrums and brain, startling him into jumping up from the sofa.

Jin didn’t dare look back and scrambled to leave the room, abandoning all other options, thinking only of escaping before the other person could react and rush in.

…But he was kicked from behind and knocked down—

“Hey, hey, leaving in the middle of a conversation without saying goodbye is too impolite, isn’t it? You scumbag.”

What followed was a sharp pain and numbness throughout his body, leaving only blankness in his mind. His limbs froze in mid-air as he toppled sideways like a plaster statue.

Before his chin could smash hard against the floor, Jin’s dilated pupils caught sight of a female high school student with long hair falling past her waist entering from outside the door.

“Senpai, how did it go?”

The Novelist rubbed his slightly sore cheeks, which felt strained from his exaggerated expressions during the performance. He put the stun gun he had received from Miyagi-san back into his pocket.

Asami Yuko threw the mechanical devices in her hand to the ground. They were clearly hidden cameras. Subsequently, all the secret recording equipment hidden in the room was dismantled.

“Seems like we’ve had quite a successful haul.”

This guy lying on the floor was the one who relied on such despicable methods to gather material to threaten others.

However, there was no trace of happiness on Asami-senpai’s face. If anything, she looked even more gloomy than when she woke up earlier.

The Novelist understood her thoughts.

Because—

“No accomplices, no conspirators, no murder weapons, no prohibited items… this guy is nothing but a small-time criminal through and through.”

To satisfy his vile desires, he chose to use fraud to prey on girls intent on suicide. This was certainly unforgivable, but the man had no other misdeeds beyond this. Even the drugs he provided to everyone only had a calming effect, with no particularly harmful consequences.

“I just bluffed him a little earlier.”

The Novelist sighed.

“As a result, he doesn’t seem to know the inside story of the previous mass suicide incidents. Of course, this point still needs further…”

“No, that won’t be necessary.”

Asami-senpai tucked her hands into her sleeves and answered calmly.

“I’ll have someone handle the rest.”

“…I see.”

The Novelist didn’t object, nodding slightly. No, to be honest, he had no grounds to argue. After all, from the beginning, he had been dragged here with some strange reasoning.

“So, what do you plan to do next? Are we saying goodbye here?”

“Hmm… it feels a bit anticlimactic, doesn’t it?”

Asami-senpai tilted her head, murmuring.

“You’re right. What should we do?”

Let’s have a “genuine” date! Depending on her reaction afterwards, I’ll decide whether to treat it as a joke.

“Since we rarely have an opportunity like this…”

Without realizing it, Senpai seemed to have fallen into her own world of thoughts again. The Novelist observed the girl’s profile with familiar appreciation.

At that moment, his pocket vibrated.

For an instant, he thought the stun gun was leaking electricity. But he quickly realized it was coming from elsewhere. The Novelist took out his mobile phone.

“Hello—”

The female teacher’s voice came through from the other end of the line.

“Hey you, what exactly are you doing?”

Nogami Sachiyo’s first sentence was an accusation that left him bewildered. This was something he had grown accustomed to in their past interactions and communications.

“…What’s the matter?”

“Didn’t I tell you to properly choose a club and participate in extracurricular activities? I even sent someone to pick you up at that time…”

…Ah.

Sachiyo… was this her intention from the beginning?

“In any case, didn’t I already submit the application form with signatures to you as promised?”

“Yes, as far as results go, you could be considered qualified. But you, kid, what’s this ‘Mystery Novel Research Club’ you wrote…”

Sachiyo’s tone paused for a moment.

“Our school doesn’t have a club with that name, you know?”

…

…Huh?