Xyunvi

Zaregoto Series by Nisioisin

I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING.

It’s the vacation of a lifetime, a trip to a remote island filled with geniuses–and murder.

On Wet Crow’s Feather Island, a tiny speck in the Sea of Japan, lives Akagami Iria, the exiled daughter of a powerful family. Born into great wealth, she was a princess of the highest pedigree–until she was cut off by the leader of the Akagami Foundation. For the last five years, she’s lived on Feather Island with her maids. But she hasn’t been alone. She has invited the best minds Japan has to offer to come and stay with her.

And so nineteen-year-old college student Ii-chan and his best friend, computer genius Kunagisa Tomo, find themselves as Iria’s guests at her elaborate mansion. Surrounded by fascinating women–a chef, a fortune-teller, a scholar, and an artist, not to mention his own friend Tomo–Ii-chan is feeling a little overmatched intellectually. But the sudden discovery of a grisly murder sends the island into shock. And Ii-chan discovers that he does possess a bit of genius: the ability to discover what is real and what is fake... Who is who they claim to be–and who is a killer.

The Kubikiri Cycle (Zaregoto Series #1)

I awoke to a loud knocking. My head still swirling with sleep, I got up and opened the door only to have Hikari-san charge into the room and grab me by the collar.


No, this wasn't Hikari-san, I realized. The day Hikari-san says something like "You bastard!" is the day I change my name to Samantha. To say something like that and grab me by the collar was, for Hikari-san, literally impossible. She lacked that ability. This was most likely not Teruko-san either… So it must be… Akari-san?


"Because of you, this—goddammit! You shithead!"


Even for Akari-san, this was pretty uncharacteristic behavior. In a complete frenzy, she looked as if she was going to start pummeling me any second. Or actually, she had already beaten on my chest several times at this point. I was just too surprised by her behavior to notice the pain.


"I'm so tired of this happening." She was panting and trembling. "No more of this… It's just too awful. It's too awful. Why? Why?!"


"Take it easy, Akari-san." I grabbed her shoulders and gave her a firm shaking. "Did something… Happen?"


She shot me a glare. It was a look of true resentment. Vengeful indignation from the core of her being.


Hadn't Hikari-san said something yesterday along the lines of "We've been trained to maintain our composure"? It wasn't likely that Hikari-san had undergone training that Akari-san hadn't. Yet here she was, out of her mind. What the hell had happened?


At last, she shook her head gently. "I'm so sorry. Please excuse me, my behavior was very inappropriate." She hung her head in shame. "It's not even your fault. This terrible thing isn't your fault…"


"Hey, don't worry about it… But what exactly happened?" I repeated my question. "Whatever it was, please tell me."


Instead of answering directly, she spun around with her back to me. "Please come with me to the first-floor storage room," she said and began walking.


I stood frozen. "W-what? But that's…"


Akari-san and Teruko-san had supposedly spent the night on the mainland; when had they gotten back? According to the watch Kunagisa had fixed for me, it was already ten o'clock in the morning (although it was hard to read since the numbers were backward). It was unlike me to have overslept. How embarrassing.


But now was no time for such thoughts. When Akari-san had returned and how long I overslept were far too trivial matters at this point.


I had a bad feeling about this. Who was down there?


And the feeling was probably right. There was a pattern developing here.


Kunagisa sleepily raised her head. She wore a strangely content expression like she had been having a nice dream.


"It seems like now's not the time for that."


She rubbed her eyes. "That means I don't have to wash my face, either."


The Second Decapitation (Part 1)