When the Detective Work is Done, I'll Die

Chapter 15

"Ah! That's right!"

Miiko looked up at the crucial moment. The mood was ruined by her blank stare. Or maybe she deliberately cut me off because she had been about to confess to me.

It had been an over-the-top fantasy, yet for some reason I'd let myself hope.

Well, maybe it wouldn't be a love confession. She might just ask to keep solving mysteries as the perfect pair, to stay the same friends forever.

If that happened, so be it. As long as I could stay by her side, I'd gladly accept it.

"Miiko, what's up all of a sudden? Did you want to say something?"

"Y-yeah..."

My heart was shouting "What is it, what is it?" as I waited for her to speak.

"So, that is..."

"...a call from my big brother..."

"Huh...?"

The words I'd hoped for never came. What slipped from her lips was about the club president.

"Looks like I got a call! I totally forgot! What did he want?"

Crushed by disappointment, I gave a half-hearted reply and rattled off something random.

"Uh, the stapler ran out of refills, so he told me to go buy some."

"Oh... I wonder if they sell them at the convenience store."

"Wouldn't the bookstore in front of the station be better? It's not much farther, and they carry lots of stationery, so they're bound to have them."

"Then I'll go there!"

Reluctantly, she left my side. Her black hair swayed in the night, waving at me. Sometimes she shows that mysterious side. Sometimes this childlike innocence.

I'm sure I'll see that radiant smile again tomorrow.

One last wave as she walked away.

"See you at the next club meeting!"

"Yeah! See you!"

The night deepened. Watching her disappear, I couldn't help thinking—

Dawn will never come again. An endless night has fallen, pouring rain that won't stop. That's how it felt.

A north wind blew, and the cold took over my body. I clenched my trembling frame to keep my nose from running and turned down a side street. I must be exhausted and depressed. Negative thoughts popped up out of nowhere.

I should hurry home, soak in a hot bath, and chug a cola.

If I sprint through the underpass ahead, I'll be home in no time. I'll dash right down.

"All right... huh?"

Just when I'd psyched myself up, someone got in my way. My smartphone rang. I figured it was the president again, but the caller was Miiko.

Maybe she's lost? But if so, she could just check the map. The bookstore couldn't be closed already—it's just past six. Most stay open till eight for students on their way home.

Puzzled, I answered as casually as ever.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Please! You're nearby, right? Help me!"

Her voice and breathing—this was no joke. She wasn't calling to tease me.

"...What happened?!"

"I'm being chased by some creepy guy! Please, help!"

"If I take the normal route to the bookstore, I'll meet you?"

"Y-yeah! Hurry!"

Miiko was definitely in trouble. A suspicious person—or maybe the stalker. I had to go help while keeping her on the line to confirm she was safe.

I spun around—away from the underpass—

"Hey...! Been a while, hasn't it..."

My eyes met the detective's.

The one who'd botched the investigation at the crime scene and run away. I didn't have time to talk.

"Out of my way! I'm in a hurry!"

The reply was ice-cold.

"I don't care about your plans. I don't care what happens to you..."

"Seriously, move or I'm calling the police...!"

"Go ahead."

"Hey..."

The detective's expression didn't change. Pale sparks crackled from his hand as he brandished a weapon at me.

"If you think you can, go on."

"Don't mess with me!"

No mistaking it—the weapon was a stun gun. One hit and it's over.

"Who's faster? Me... or you calling the police?"

I considered charging him while he talked, but he grabbed my shoulder with his right hand.

"Hey! Knock it off! I'm in a rush!"

"Ah... ah... stop! Please, stop... ugh..."

The voice came from my smartphone. Miiko had been caught. Terror and urgency let me break free of the detective.

But the detective struck my arm with the stun gun in his left hand.

"Gah...! Ugh!? Guh..."

Indescribable pain shot through my arm, and I dropped the phone. I tried to run anyway, but he stomped on my foot.

"How dare you shame me... the Utopia Detective Agency!"

"Like I care! You self-destructed all on your own!"

I struggled to run, but my foot wouldn't move under his weight. Miiko's anguished cries kept coming. The sound of something being crushed, and of choking.

No way—was someone strangling her?! I had to hurry, or the maniac would kill her!

"Aaa... ugh... gah...!"

While I was distracted, he shoved me toward the underpass. Then, stun gun in hand, he charged at me.

If this keeps up, I won't be able to save anyone.

Someone... anyone...!

"Utopia Detective Agency—may light shine upon all detectives!"

"Ugh..."

From the phone came the sound of someone collapsing. No scream. Had Miiko been killed?

Helplessness washed over me; my body wouldn't move right. Still, as I tried to dodge his charge—

My foot tangled with the smartphone and I tripped, tumbling down the underpass stairs. My arm, shoulder, head must have hurt, but I felt nothing.

What hurt was my heart. I wanted to die and be free of the pain.

My consciousness faded. No follow-up attack from the detective—maybe I was already dead.

Sensing that, my eyelids closed.

When I came to, a foul stench assaulted me.

The reek of a gutter woke me. In an instant I knew where I was and looked around.

No one was there.

The detective must've fled, thinking I was dead.

...But something mattered more. Miiko. I had to know what had happened to Miiko.

My smartphone lay at my feet, giving off a faint glow. It had stuck with me and fallen into the underpass.

The call from Miiko had cut off.

No matter how many times I dialed, she didn't answer. She'd been attacked by a suspicious man and her phone taken. She had to be alive.

Just as I clung to that hope, I spotted an app icon on the screen I didn't remember installing.

Wondering what it was, I tapped it—and my breath caught.

On the screen appeared Miiko's face—more precisely, a 3-D model of Miiko's face.

"Miiko...?! Miiko?! It's you, right?! Hey! What are you doing?!"

The background was dyed pink—clearly not the real world. She was inside a virtual realm.

Noticing my voice, she stared straight at me.

"Hyoga...?!"

The voice was exactly the same.

It can't be—was she alive?! She must be locked in some room, forced to play at being a Vtuber!

I decided to ask where she was and go rescue her—

"Hey, I'm coming right now, so wait, okay?!"

"No, this place isn't anywhere. It's nowhere in the world..."

"Huh?"

"Don't cry, no matter what."

"Wh-What!? Hey, Miiko!? You don't have to say anything more! I'm tracing the GPS signal you're broadcasting from here...!"

"It's useless. My location can't be pinpointed. The spot keeps shifting. Even if you track the stream, the murderer will probably get away..."

"Huh!?"

The murderer!? I didn't want to hear another word. But before I could cover my ears, she said it.

"I'm an AI video-streamer created by analyzing her personality, the memories left in her brain, and her vocal cords. She—Miiko Ishii—just passed away."

"Eh...?"

"But it isn't your fault. Please, carve that into your heart above all else."

Emotional collapse. Memories of meeting her, laughing together, falling in love—everything flashed through my mind.

Tears and laughter burst out of me like I'd gone mad. I didn't even understand what was happening, yet I could say this much:

Miiko is dead.

I couldn't save her...!

After the screen showing her went dark, I made up my mind.

I hate the detectives—the ones who became the reason Miiko died, the ones who robbed me of my life, my family, my friends, the villains who dig up cases for their own glory.

I'll wipe every last detective off the face of the earth. Absolutely—absolutely!