When the Detective Work is Done, I'll Die

Chapter 19

By the time I, dazed, snapped to my senses, the hallway was empty. When I realized I'd been left behind, I was already lost inside the school.

The hallway floor had been polished to a slippery sheen; run and you'd slide. At least it meant someone cleaned it thoroughly.

I was flustered and pitched forward. Reflexes failed me; my face smacked the floor.

I was glad no one had seen it. If I'd been exposed to curious eyes, I'd have been too embarrassed to stay at this school.

"Meow—"

When I lifted my head, a white cat stared back. Even animals had watched. "Even animals seeing this is mortifying!" I thought, but the silky-furred cat casually set a paw on my head.

Was it trying to comfort me? Or reminding me it was in charge—don't resist?

After removing its paw, the white cat licked itself and began washing its face. I had no idea what it wanted now. Even if I could read human hearts, I could never fathom an animal's thoughts.

So a different question occupied me.

"Why is there a cat inside the school...?"

I didn't have to wonder long; the mystery solved itself.

"Hey! Lop! You can't run off—!"

Someone had brought the white cat inside.

The voice belonged to a girl, coming from farther down. I glanced at myself—couldn't let a stranger see me looking so foolish. I jumped up, momentum unchecked; my feet slipped again and I toppled backward.

"Whoa—!?"

A searing pain shot through my back; I couldn't stand right away. In that interval the girl arrived.

A dark-featured girl with chestnut twin-tails regarded me—an unknown boy—with suspicious eyes. To her, I was clearly suspicious.

Mortified, I felt my whole body burn with heat.

"What on earth are you doing?"

"Sorry, I just... tripped... I'm, uh, really embarrassed."

"...Stand up already."

She smoothly offered her hand. I took her icy fingers and let her pull me to my feet. Carefully this time, I shifted my feet so I wouldn't fall again.

I bowed to the unknown girl. I had questions for her too.

"Th-thank you... um, also—"

"Yes?"

"I need to visit the PC Club. Do you know where they meet?"

"Perfect timing."

"Huh? Perfect how?"

She pressed a finger to her lips and smiled daringly. Then she revealed who she was.

"I'm the PC Club president, Kanbara Mahiru, second year. You're Hyoga, the boy who said he'd come today, right? Your club president's already here."

"Ah, thank you for having me!"

I bowed again. She too was a victim dragged into this by the president. I was grateful she'd cleared her schedule for today.

All that remained was to let her guide me to the clubroom. She scooped up the cat, said "Follow me," and started walking. I matched her stride and asked a question.

"Oh, speaking of which—just now you called it 'Lop,' right? That cat."

"Yep. Lop."

"Kanbara-senpai, do you bring your own cat to school?"

"Not at all."

"Huh?"

She explained: the cat was a stray that had taken up residence in the school. Kanbara-senpai had found it by chance and taken to grooming and caring for it.

Chatting about the cat, we were about to head deeper down the hallway.

A strange sensation prickled between my shoulder blades—something cold. I realized it was a stare quicker than expected. Curious eyes I could understand; I was a novelty. But this gaze felt cruelly cold. It was like a wave of rejection so icy my back went numb.

I whispered softly to Kanbara-senpai.

"Um... ever since a minute ago..."

"You feel it too, huh? Don't worry about it."

"Huh... are you sure it's okay?"

"Yep. That one can't lay a finger on us. No problem."

"C-can't lay a finger—how can you be so certain!?"

"If a teacher laid hands on a student, that'd be bad, right?"

Kanbara-senpai's words made me stop in shock. Why was a teacher following us? That unknown made it creepy. Did this school have some pervert teacher who enjoyed chasing students?

"Ugh..."

"Better not to brood."

"Huh?"

She must have noticed me groaning aloud.

"More precisely, don't think too hard. In this school, digging too deep is a sin. The wolves will devour you."

At the same moment Lop the cat let out a meow, and terror clawed at me. While the wind from the window fluttered her twin-tails, she began to speak.

I thought it was a joke, but her eyes weren't smiling in the slightest.

"Huh? Senpai...?"

"Everyone here lives burdened with doubt—that's the custom of this school. If you don't want doubts, just follow someone. Quietly follow me too. Then the wolves won't eat you."

"Uh, um..."

Cold sweat trickling down, I ventured a question.

"What's wrong, Hyoga-kun?"

"Well, you keep saying 'wolf, wolf,' but why wolves? This isn't some school in the middle of a forest."

"Oh? The school's name didn't ring a bell?"

"High school... Jinrou School... ah!"

"Exactly. Some people call this place something else: the lycanthrope academy, where human wolves live."

Lycanthropes—European monsters that blend in as humans by day, transforming into wolves at night, said to kill and devour someone each time they change.

Compared to such monsters, I'd better finish my business quickly and get out.

Still feeling those eyes, I was led to the PC Club room. Ishii, the president, was already there, absorbed in the computer screen Senior Urakawa was operating. They didn't even notice us enter.

One more person, slightly older than us, was grading what looked like a test, papers spread across the desk. She was probably a teacher—the PC Club's faculty adviser. She addressed Kanbara-senpai with gentle reproach.

"You're late..."

Without acknowledging the teacher, Kanbara-senpai headed toward the computer Ishii and Urakawa-senpai were watching.

After greeting the teacher with a "Good afternoon," I settled in to listen to the Vtuber lecture they were about to start.

"3D models," "voice," and more—none of the difficult jargon stuck in my head. I kept thinking about Kanbara-senpai's attitude instead.