Romantic Troubles of Duanmu-kun

“Senpai is a big liar.”

Hearing these words so suddenly, Asami Yuko widened her eyes in surprise, her light-colored pupils like glass marbles rolling back and forth beneath her eyebrows.

If she had antennas growing from her head, they would have been swaying back and forth like a pendulum. After waking from her half-asleep daydream, the girl brushed aside the bangs that had fallen into her line of sight.

“…What does Assistant-kun mean?”

“Well, of course… everything.”

To enhance the persuasiveness and force of his words, one should accompany them with appropriate body gestures—so the Novelist stepped forward.

The distance between them quickly narrowed to a dangerous proximity where they could hear each other’s breathing.

“…?”

Asami-senpai seemed uncomfortable, instinctively taking a step backward. Her gaze involuntarily shifted to the side, unable to meet his eyes.

…Huh?

A sense of novelty and heightened interest rose in his heart, like discovering a brand new toy.

In fact, he wasn’t really that concerned about Asami-senpai deceiving him. But well, her reaction seemed quite adorable…

At times like this, one should think in a mischievous direction! His body moved ahead of his mind, and the Novelist kept advancing toward Senpai, who retreated step by step. Until she accidentally stumbled backward and sat back down on the sofa. Taking advantage of the moment, he extended his hand, reaching past the girl’s ear and hair, pressing against the wall.

“Meow?”

Senpai raised both hands defensively in front of her chest, while carefully lifting her small face, her gaze looking quite worried.

“Pffft… hahaha…”

He couldn’t help but laugh.

She was truly like a small cat seen on the roadside.

Wary of humans, yet unable to resist curiosity, hiding not far from passing pedestrians and peering out, a creature peeking in and out at street corners… that kind of feeling.

“…Assistant-kun is a bad person. This doesn’t resemble a famous detective’s partner at all, it’s more like a villain who’s grown desperate after having his disguise torn off!”

Seemingly realizing why the Novelist was laughing, Asami-senpai puffed her cheeks, complaining with dissatisfaction.

“Even a loyal assistant would be angry if trusted people casually deceived and concealed things, you know.”

The Novelist answered, looking down at her.

“Alright. Asami-senpai, can you tell me the rest of the truth now?”

That environment—dirty, messy, and filled with stale, fermented smells in the private room—was naturally unsuitable for discussing serious matters. The Novelist had originally planned to clean up the scene a bit, but ended up being firmly pulled out by Asami-senpai.

“The smell is terrible… let’s get out of here. Someone will come later to deal with this!”

That’s what Senpai had said.

So, who were “those people” she was referring to? They had already appeared in their conversation more than once.

…

In the clean, bright coffee shop, elegant piano music mingled with the crisp fragrance of wood burning with a “crackling” sound in the fireplace. Through the window beside their table, they could clearly see pedestrians hurrying by and the bustling scenes of the street.

In contrast, the atmosphere inside the café felt serene and peaceful. It was a good place that easily allowed people to relax and feel at ease.

The Novelist and Asami-senpai sat at opposite ends of a round table, with steaming hot tea and coffee on the surface, alongside cakes with small bites taken out of them.

“The statement that the ‘Mystery Novel Research Club’ doesn’t exist isn’t entirely correct. To be precise, it doesn’t exist on the official registered club list of Yuihara Private High School.”

Asami-senpai’s slender fingers held the spoon placed on the saucer, swaying back and forth between the cake and the red tea, occasionally dipping into the teacup to stir.

“It sounds like the kind of rumor that would circulate in school… Could it be that because the activities were too dangerous, you never applied to the school? Is Senpai really a member of this club?”

The Novelist’s gaze swept across the hot tea stains that had splashed out of the cup and fallen onto the table surface.

Asami-senpai shook her head, then nodded.

“The reason we never formally applied is because the research club’s members aren’t just students from Yuihara High. Initially, it was organized by friends with similar interests from middle school who enrolled in different high schools. The meeting place for activities was usually in temporarily requested classrooms. Through the inheritance relationship between upperclassmen and underclassmen, this tradition continued privately for several years.”

Overall, it was a very ordinary interest group in all aspects. Of course, bringing in students from other schools and providing them with meeting spaces clearly deviated from normal student activities. It wasn’t hard to understand why they would meet secretly without the school’s knowledge.

“I am indeed a member of this generation’s ‘Mystery Novel Research Club.’ But I basically never participated in activities, more of a ‘ghost member.’ I didn’t really pay attention to their affairs…”

Until one day, Asami-senpai accidentally discovered something “abnormal” about the club members. Their activities seemed to be no longer limited to reading groups, but they had begun to make contact with some social organization. This concerned her greatly.

“I believe they must have discovered something and communicated with certain people.”

Asami-senpai carefully considered her words.

“I thought about… trying to get this information from them, and I had made the necessary preparations. But unfortunately, time doesn’t easily wait for opportunities to arrive. When I was about to speak up—”

“The members of the Mystery Research Club collectively disappeared one day.”

The Novelist calmly added.

“And when they reappeared in people’s sight, which was the day before yesterday in the early morning, they had already become cold corpses.”

“…”

Asami Yuko nodded gently.

“So Assistant-kun already knows.”

I see.

So it was the club that Senpai participated in that had been caught up in the series of mass suicide incidents. That’s why she began her investigation under the name of the “Mystery Research Club”—

“Then, why didn’t Senpai notify the police afterward? And why do you believe there’s someone manipulating events behind these incidents?”

“…The police are useless.”

Asami Yuko muttered.

“There’s currently no evidence… but considering past intuition…”

“Intuition, huh…”

“M-My intuition is very powerful, you know!”

Senpai, seeming quite dissatisfied, frantically stabbed at the cake with her spoon.

“After all, I am a genuine detective.”

“…Detective?”

“That’s right.”

This time, the girl displayed a confident smile while puffing out her rather substantial chest.

“Consulting detective, Asami Yuko. Should I say nice to meet you?”